Your dink of a company chartered the boat, and we will not pay
such a ridiculous claim."
"I do not care whether you do or not. That libel will keep you from
canceling my charter, although when you failed to cancel when I failed
to make the payments as stipulated, your laxity must be regarded in
the eyes of the law as evidence that you voluntarily waived that
clause in the charter; and after you have voluntarily waived a thing
twice you'll have a job making it stick the third time."
"If I had only known!" groaned Skinner miserably.
"Besides," Matt continued brightly, "I have a cargo in that vessel,
and she's under charter to my company at six hundred dollars a day.
Of course you know very well, Mr. Ricks, that while the United States
Marshal remains in charge of her I cannot discharge an ounce of that
cargo or move the ship, or--er--anything. Well, naturally that will
be no fault of the Pacific Shipping Company, Mr. Ricks. It will be up
to the Blue Star Navigation Company to file a bond and lift that libel
in order that I may have some use of the ship I have chartered from
you. If you do not pull the plaster off of her of course I'll have to
sue you for heavy damages; and I can refuse to pay you any moneys due
you."
"We'll lift the libel in an hour," Mr.
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