"I knew the boy drank wine when he was at home," replied the principal; "and if he is ruined, his father must blame himself."
"But it is really shocking!" exclaimed the chaplain as he tossed one of the bottles of wine over the rail. "How can a parent permit his son to drink wine, when he knows that more men are killed by intemperance than by war and pestilence? I am amazed!"
"So am I, Mr. Agneau."
"The boy is hardly to blame for his conduct, since he contracted this vicious habit under the eye of his father."
"The discipline of the ship must be preserved."
"Certainly, Mr. Lowington."
"And the boy is just as much to blame for his act of disobedience as though it had been done in his sober senses."
"But you can afford to pardon him, under the circumstances."
"I will do that when he is willing to make a proper acknowledgment of his offence in the presence of the ship's company, before whom the act was committed."
"He is quite ready to do so now."