in the afternoon, the first dog watch was on duty, and there was not
much that could be called work for any one to do. Mr. Lillyworth, the
second lieutenant, had the deck, and Christy had retired to his cabin
to think over the events of the day, especially those relating to the
Scotian and the Arran. He had not yet read his orders, and he could not
decide what he should do, even if he discovered the two steamers in
his track. He sat in his arm chair with the door of the cabin open,
and when he saw the first lieutenant on his way to the ward room,
he called him in.

"Well, Mr. Flint, what do you think of our crew?" asked the captain,
after he had seated his guest.

"I have hardly seen enough of the men to be able to form an opinion,"
replied Flint. "I am afraid we have some hard material on board, though
there are a good many first-class fellows among them."

"Of course we can not expect to get such a crew as we had in the
Bellevite. How do you like Mr. Lillyworth?" asked the commander, looking
sharply into the eye of his subordinate.

"I don't like him," replied Flint, bluntly. "You and I have been in some
tight places together, and it is best to speak our minds squarely."

"That's right, Mr. Flint. We will talk of him another time. I have
another matter on my mind just now," added Christy.

He proceeded to tell the first lieutenant something about the two
steamers.