"The old man looks up and says like ice: 'You got my signal yesterday afternoon?' "'I did, sir.' "'Then why did you not turn back and come in by the other channel?' "'Sir,' says Chiz, 'may I be allowed a few words?' "'Very few. What have you to say?' "'Sir,' says Chiz, 'I have been trained to believe that the one word a naval officer should not know is fear. In our navy, sir, we reverence the tradition of your own Admiral Nelson, who at the siege of Copenhagen put his glass to his blind eye and said: "I see no signal to withdraw!" and continued the fighting to a victory.' "'Have you a blind eye, too?' "'My sight is good, thanking you, sir, for inquiring, but in my own navy we also have the tradition of Admiral Farragut, who at Mobile Bay said: "Damn the torpedoes--go on!" and his fleet went on to victory. And there was Admiral Dewey, who said: "Damn the mines!" at Manilla, and went on to victory.' "'What are you coming at?' roars the old man. 'Did you get my signal?' "'I did, sir. And my first instinct--the instinct of all our naval officers--is to obey all orders of our superiors, sir. But I was well into that channel when I got the signal, sir. And as I have said, sir, my first instinct was to obey orders. But also I stop and reflect, for I have also been trained to believe that hasty judgments work many evils, sir, and I consider and find myself saying to my deck officer: "This ship, Mac, is 300 feet long, and under her stern there are two big propellers. If ever we turn this 300-foot ship in this channel with those two propellers churning and there's any loose German mines around, there won't be a blamed one of 'em she'll miss. But if I keep her straight on, there's a chance. So hell's afire!" I says to Mac--"there's only one thing for us to do now and that is to keep straight on!" And I kept straight on, sir--and, I beg leave to report it now, sir--we made our mooring safely.' "And that's all there was to that," concluded Mac. There was a long silence in the smoke-room when Mac had done, and then a voice asked: "If Chiz had gone to sea and come in by the other channel--it was almost dark at the time--he would have been too late to make the barrage, wouldn't he?" "He sure would," said Mac. "Which would mean that he would be kept turning his wheels over outside the net all night?" "He sure would." "As it was, he got in in plenty of time for that little game up-stairs last night?" "He was in a little game," admitted Mac. Another silence, and then another voice: "Well, poker or no poker, Chiz's dope on that damn-the-torpedo stuff isn't the worst in the world!" FLOTILLA HUMOR--ASHORE The incident reported in the previous chapter was not young Chisholm's first interview with the British admiral.