“What's it got to do with you if I stay out all night?” pursued the skipper.
“Nothing,” said the other, feebly.
“What did you go to the police about me for, then?” demanded the skipper.
“Me?” said the mate, in the shrill accents of astonishment. “Me? I didn't go to no police about you. Why should I?”
“Do you mean to say you didn't report my absence last night to the police?” said the skipper, sternly.
“Cert'nly not,” said the mate, plucking up courage. “Why should I? If you like to take a night off it's nothing to do with me. I 'ope I know my duty better. I don't know what you're talking about.”
“And the police haven't been watching the ship and inquiring for me?” asked the skipper.
The mate shook his bewildered head. “Why should they?” he inquired.
The skipper made no reply. He sat goggle-eyed, staring straight before him, trying in vain to realize the hardness of the heart that had been responsible for such a scurvy trick.
“Besides, it ain't the fust time you've been out all night,” remarked the mate, aggressively.