"_Pro bono publico!_ There you touch me where I am weak. For the public good I would sacrifice this poor body to gout and dyspepsia. I would eat grand dinners, as the aldermen do, at the public expense; I would accept any fat office in which I had nothing to do but draw my salary; I would be governor or president, and receive the homage of the people, for the public good. There's my weak point." "You know Cantwell?" "Do I know him! Do I not know him? Am I unacquainted with the blooming youth who thinks he must wind up the universe every morning, or something will break before night? Ought not the deck to be carpeted when he walks upon it? Ought we not to have a guard of marines to present arms to him when he appears in the waist? Haven't I worn out three caps in saluting him?" "You understand him, then?" "Mr. Cantwell is a great man; Mr. Cantwell is a profound scholar; Mr. Cantwell knows what's what. Why, he is so much above us common, humdrum sort of fellows, that we ought to get down on our knees when he condescends to show himself." "Exactly so, Scott. And, unless we can get this change in the tenure of office--" "Hold on! Will you oblige me by translating that high-flown expression?" "Of course you know what the expression means," replied Beckwith, impatiently. "Perhaps I do; but I want to know what _you_ mean by it." "I mean a change in the manner in which the offices are obtained and held." "You mean right, as you always do." "Well, unless we get this change at once, Cantwell will be the next captain." "He can't well be captain, and he can't well be otherwise." "That's so." "And you intend to put a stopper on him?" "He isn't fit to be captain, and he can't well be, as you say. In one word, are you with us? Yes or no." "Yes or no. I must have time to think about it. When you attack a fellow's inalienable rights, and all that sort of thing, I'm rather inclined to go in for the bottom dog. The captaincy for next month lies between Cantwell and me. For the public good, I am willing to waive my own right, but I am not quite so clear that I ought to waive the right of Mr. Cantwell, who is, by all odds, the greatest man in the ship." "You will do the right thing, Scott; I know you will," said Beckwith, moving off. "Of course I will. I can't possibly do otherwise."