“Off the ship, d’ye mean?” inquired the other.
“No, no,” said the jurist. “Pretend he’s ill and can’t see anybody. By gum, I’ve got it.”
He slapped the table with his open hand, and regarded the other triumphantly.
“Let him turn into his bunk and pretend to be dead,” he continued, in a voice trembling with pride at his strategy. “It’s pretty dark down your fo’c’sle, I know. Don’t have no light down there, and tell him to keep quiet.”
Captain Thomsett’s eyes shone, but with a qualified admiration.
“Ain’t it somewhat sudden?” he demurred.
Captain Stubbs regarded him with a look of supreme artfulness, and slowly closed one eye.
“He got a chill going in the water,” he said quietly.
“Well, you’re a masterpiece,” said Thomsett ungrudgingly. “I will say this of you, you’re a masterpiece. Mind this is all to be kept quite secret.”
“Make your mind easy,” said the eminent jurist.