"You see," continued Captain Parsons, "that the young lady being aboard my ship puts her under my care."
"Just so," said Mr. Higginson.
"Therefore I'm her guardian, and it's my duty to look after her."
"Just so," murmured Mr. Higginson.
"Now, I suppose you're aware, sir," continued the captain, "that the master of a British merchantman is fully empowered to marry any couple aboard his ship?"
"Empowered by what?" asked Mr. Higginson.
"He has the right to do it, sir," answered the captain.
"It is a subject," exclaimed Mr. Higginson nervously, "upon which I am hardly qualified to give an opinion."
"Is a shipboard marriage legal, or is it not legal?" demanded the captain.
"I cannot answer as to the legality," answered the lawyer, "but I believe there are several instances on record of marriages having taken place at sea; and I should say," he added slowly and cautiously, "that in the event of their legality ever being tested, no court would be found willing, on the merits of the contracts as marriages, to set them aside."