"Does he know you?"

"No."

"Do you know him?"

"Yes, by proxy. I've heard a lot about him, and that's why I'm in his
employ and resolved to stay there. If a man sails under the Blue Star
flag long enough and behaves himself and displays a little human
intelligence from time to time sooner or later he gets his chance.
Cappy Ricks does all the hiring and firing for the fleet, and whenever
he has a good job to fill, he never goes outside his own employ to
fill it. He always promotes the deserving. You cabled him, of
course, that Captain Kendall has been killed."

"Yes, I did. And I cabled him also to cable me authority to draw
drafts, as skipper, in order to disburse the vessel."

"Just like a kid! Just like a kid!" Mr. Murphy groaned. "That
finishes you, Matt. Cappy'll think you're fresh and you'll be ten
years proving to him you are not."

"It proves I'm on the job," Matt protested doggedly.

"No matter, Matt. Cappy Ricks will go over the list of his skippers
due for promotion into a larger ship and more pay, and right away
he'll start Captain Noah's successor for Cape Town to bring the ship
home."

"If he does, Mike, he's crazy."