" Cappy
waved his hands. "Huh!" he said. "Simple!"
"I believe I comprehend," Mr. Skinner admitted. "But what are you
going to do about it? We can scarcely discharge Kjellin without a
hearing and without proof that he is to blame."
"What am I going to do about it?" Cappy echoed. "Why, I'm going to
send a judge and a jury aboard the Quickstep, try this Finn, Kjellin,
and if he's guilty of dereliction of duty I'll bet you a plug hat to
one small five-cent bag of smoking tobacco I'll know all about it
inside of a week."
"Do you mean to put a secret-service operative aboard disguised as a
deckhand?"
"Huh! Skinner, you distress me. I'm going to put Matt Peasley aboard
the Quickstep as second mate, and let Nature take its course."
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sir," Mr. Skinner advised. "That
rowdy Peasley and a man like Kjellin will not get along together for
one voyage; then Kjellin will fire him, and first thing you know
you'll be groping around in the dark again."
"Oh, I know this Finn is a pet of yours," Cappy retorted acidly, "but
Matt Peasley is a pet of mine. If we put them together in the same
ship maybe we'll have one of those skin-glove contests you referred to
a minute ago, but between their mutual recriminations you can bet your
hopes of Heaven I'll catch a glimpse of the truth and act accordingly.
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