"I do not know that you are authorized to do so," replied the principal; "but I am very glad to see this spirit of accommodation on your part."
"I don't think the new plan is so fair as the old one; but I wish to have a fair trial of it. The new method was got up by the nobs in the cabin—"
"The what?" inquired the principal, with a smile.
"The nobs, sir."
"If by an accident, or by any extra exertion on your part, you were elected to an office in the cabin, would you be a nob?"
"Yes, sir."
"Though you do not seem to use the word in an offensive sense, I prefer some other form of expression. You say that the plan was devised by the cabin officers."
"Yes, sir."
"But we consulted the seamen, and they agreed to the plan before the meeting. It would have been a unanimous vote if Scott had not got up an opposition just for the sake of a joke," said De Forrest, rather bitterly.
"I opposed the thing in my own way, and I never agreed to it; but we all consent to it now."