"
"You never were more mistaken in your life, Master Miles Wallingford,"
answered Marble, solemnly. "I thought of all this the moment I
recognised the ship, and that was as soon as I saw her; and my mind
was made up from that instant. I cannot be so mean as to come in at
the seventh hour, and profit by your courage and skill. Besides, I
have no legal right to command here. The ship was more than
twenty-four hours in the enemy's hands, and she comes under the usual
laws of recapture and salvage."
"But the owners, Captain Marble--remember there is a cargo to be taken
in at Canton, and there are heavy interests at stake."
"By George, that would make me so much the more firm. From the first,
I have thought matters would be better in your hands than mine; you
have an education, and that's a wonderful thing, Miles. As to sailing
a ship, or stowing her, or taking care of her in heavy weather, or
finding my way across an ocean, I'll turn my back on no man; but it's
a different thing when it comes to figures and calculations."
"You disappoint me greatly in all this, sir; we have gone through so
much together--"
"We did not go through _the recapture of this vessel_ together,
boy."
"But it was _your_ thought, and, but for an accident, would have
been your _deed_.
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