"
Then, turning to me suddenly, he cried, "Ben, what's the course according
to the log?"
The angry red of Captain Talk's face deepened, but before he could speak, I
had seen and repeated it:--
"Northeast by north."
Roger smiled. "Go on," he said. "Read the statement."
The statement was straightforward enough for the most part--more
straightforward, it seemed to me, than either of the two men who probably
had collaborated in writing it; but one sentence caught my attention and I
hesitated.
"Well," said Roger who was watching me closely, "is anything wrong?"
"Why, perhaps not exactly wrong," I replied, "though I do think most of the
men forward would deny it."
"See here," cried Captain Falk, cutting off Kipping, who tried to speak at
the same moment, "I tell you, Mr. Hamlin, if you thrust your oar in here
again I'll thrash you within an inch of your life! I'll keelhaul you, so
help me! I'll--" He wrinkled up his nose and twisted his lips into a sneer
before he added, almost in a whisper, "I'll do worse than that."
"No," said Roger calmly, "I don't think you will. What's the sentence,
Benny?"
Without waiting for another word from anyone I read aloud as follows:--
"'And the captain and the chief mate tended Hayden carefully and did what
they might to make his last hours comfortable.
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