with a light jerk which put it
wholly into his possession.

The senator's eyes blazed, but when he saw that Hugh's, though as much
too wide as his own, looked out of a face as set and hard as ever, he
recovered his suavity, puffed his cigar, waved it abroad, and said:
"That's all right. Take that to the captain at once, will you?"

"No," replied Hugh, the wrestler's nimble art being as far, far away
from him as the "happy land" of the children's hymn, which the cornet
was essaying below.

"No?" questioned the tolerant senator.

"No." Small knots of passengers, the squire in one, the general in
another, had drawn within eavesdropping range and Hugh lowered his
voice. "Not till I hear what you couldn't write," he said. "When you've
explained _that_ I'll hand him _this_. No one's in his room, come
there."

As they reached its door and the senator passed in, Hugh was joined by
the grandfather and Watson and detained some moments in private council,
with Watson as chief speaker. Then the commodore returned leisurely
forward toward the captain's chair while Watson sought the texas roof
and pilot-house, and Hugh shut himself in with the senator.

They sat with the writing-table between them. "I wish," said the
senator, "I had a son like you. I'd say: 'My son, the worst notion in
this land to-day is that always the first thing to do is fight, and that
the only thing to fight with is hot shot. Don't you believe it! Don't
think every man's your enemy the moment he differs with you. He may be
your best friend. And don't think every enemy wants to stab you in the
back.' But, Lord! I needn't offer a father's advice to you, with such a
father--and grandfather--as you've got.

"Now, here we are. It's idle for me to tell you what we wanted to put in
that paper and couldn't, if you can't believe that maybe, after all, I'm
a peacemaker and your friend, hunh? I don't set up to be your only
friend or only your friend or your friend only for your sake. Frankly,
my ruling passion is for the community as a whole; the old Jacksonian
passion for the people, sir. If I'm meddling it's because I see a
situation that right on its surface threatens one misfortune, and at
bottom another and bigger one, to them, the people--a public misfortune.
I don't want to avert just the cholera, here to-day, gone to-morrow; I
want to avert the lasting public misfortune of a Courteney-Hayle feud.
There, sir! That's my hand! Cards right down on the table! O