"Question! question!" shouted some of the officers, who were inclined to retaliate upon the joker by using his own tactics. "Mr. Scott has the floor," interposed the chairman. "Thank you, Mr. Chairman; but I'm not to be floored so easily. Every fellow that knows me knows that I go in for fair play." "That's so," cried the crowd of his supporters, with a round of applause. "And what I give to others I ask for myself," continued Scott. "I'm a modest fellow." (Tumultuous applause.) "I'm a modest fellow, Mr. Chairman, and it gores my soul to feel compelled to speak of my own merit; but this whole thing is a conspiracy against my rights." ("Hear, hear.") "I have belonged to the ship about a year; I haven't the purser's books in my trousers' pocket, and can't say to a day how long, but about a year. I have faithfully discharged every duty, and even done a great many things that were not required of me. I have eaten my grub with untiring fidelity, except when I was seasick at the beginning." (Applause.) "I have slept my eight hours out of the twenty-four with exemplary diligence and punctuality; and even done more than this, when the emergency seemed to require it, without grumbling." (Applause.) "I have kept my watch below without flinching." (Applause.) "I have worn my pea-jacket in cold and heavy weather without deeming it a hardship." (Applause.) "I have never objected to going on shore to see a city, or to take a tramp in the country, or to go 'on a time' of any sort." (Applause.) "Indeed, I have always been willing to make myself as comfortable as the circumstances would permit. And I have tried to use every fellow about right, the officers as well as the seamen. I have helped the fellows spend their money, when they needed my assistance" (applause), "for I don't like to be selfish about these things. When a fellow had any cake, fruit, or other good thing, I have taken hold like a man, and helped him eat it." ("That's so," shouted several.) "I have always been willing to let any fellow get my lessons for me, or do my share in holy-stoning the deck. When any petty officer, having a soft thing in the way of duty, such as coxswain of a boat, on a long pull, was sick, I have always been willing to take his place, and not charge him anything, either." (Applause.) "It's my nature to be unselfish; and I would do as much for the captain, or any other officer, as for a seaman." "Mr. Chairman, I rise to a point of order," interposed Beckwith. "Will the gentleman state his point?" "That the gentleman is not speaking to the question," snapped the first master, who was determined, if possible, to get even with Scott. "The speaker stated in the beginning that the proposed measure, and the action of this meeting in connection therewith, were a conspiracy against his rights; and the chair decides that he is in order," said the chairman, with dignity. "But, sir, must we listen to his biography?" demanded Beckwith.