"The judge walked two or three times fore and aft; then a thought seemed to strike him--he looked out as if at the decks and through below the awnings, then shut the door and came back to me again. 'By-the-way,' said he seriously, and changing his tone, 'since this extraordinary acknowledgment of yours, sir, something occurs to me which makes me almost think your presence in the vessel in one sense opportune. I have reason to entertain a high opinion of naval officers as technical men, professionally educated in His Majesty's regular service, and--you look rather a _young_ man--but have you had much experience, may I ask?' 'I have been nine or ten years at sea, sir,' replied I, a little taken aback, 'in various parts of the world!' 'I have some suspicion lately,' he went on, 'that this vessel is not navigated in a--in short, that at present, probably, we may be in some danger--do _you_ think so, sir?' 'No, Sir Charles,' said I, 'I don't think she _is_, as matters stand--only in a troublesome sort of quarter, which the sooner she's out of the better.' 'The commander is, I find, dangerously unwell,' continued he, 'and of the young man who seems to have the chief care of the vessel, I have no very high--well--_that_, of course I----Now, sir,' said he, looking intently at me, 'are _you_ capable of--in short, of managing this Company's vessel, should any emergency arise? I have seen such, myself--and in the circumstances I feel considerable alarm--uneasiness, at least--Eh, sir?' 'Depend upon it, Sir Charles,' I said, stepping toward the door, 'in any matter of the kind I'll do my best for this ship! But none knows so well as a seaman, there are cases enough where your very best can't do much!' "The judge seemed rather startled by my manner--for I _did_ feel a little misgiving, from something in the weather on the whole; at any rate I fancied there was a cold-bloodedness in every sharp corner of his face, bilious though his temper was, that would have let him see _me_ go to the bottom a thousand times over, had I even had a chance with his daughter herself, ere he'd have yielded me the tip of her little finger: accordingly 'twas a satisfaction to me, at the moment, just to make him see he wasn't altogether in his nabob's chair in Bengal yet, on an elephant's back.