g
your duty to give notice of it, sir," exclaimed the captain, in an angry
voice, turning towards him.

"I am very sorry, sir," replied Iffley. "I am aware of what I ought,
strictly speaking, to have done, but I did not like to hurt the
character of a shipmate. He always seemed a very respectable man, and I
fully believed that I must have been mistaken. It is only now that the
things are found in his bag that I can believe him guilty."

"You are ready to swear to this?" asked the captain.

"Quite ready, sir, certainly," replied Iffley calmly. "I add nothing
and withhold nothing on the subject."

Even I was startled by what Iffley said, and the way he said it. I
could not help supposing that he believed what he said.

"Have you anything more to say in your defence, Weatherhelm?" said the
captain.

"Nothing, sir, except that those men are mistaken. I can only hope that
they believe what they say," I answered, with a firmer voice than I had
before been able to command.

"I am very sorry for it, and do not just now altogether believe it," I
heard Dr McCall observe as he walked off. "You will expect your
punishment--six dozen," said the captain. "Pipe down."

Could a painter at that moment have observed Iffley's countenance, it
might have served him as a likeness of Satan when he is assured that Eve
has fallen. The officers walked aft, the crew dispersed, and I was
placed under charge of the master-at-arms.

Two days passed by. How full of agony and wretchedness they were! The
pain I was to expect was as nothing compared to the disgrace and
degradation. I who had always borne an unsullied name, whose character
had always stood high both with my officers and messmates, to be now
branded as a thief! How could I ever face those I loved, conscious of
the marks of the foul lash on my back? There was no one on board to
speak in my favour; no one who had known me before--and how incapable I
was of the act imputed to me--except Iffley; and he, I felt too well
assured, would do his utmost to destroy me.

The two days passed--no circumstance occurred, as I had hoped it might,
to prove that I was innocent--when the boatswain's call summoned all
hands on deck to witness punishment. This time I was to be the victim.

The boatswain's mates stood ready. One of them was Iffley. He played
eagerly with his cat as I was led forward. "If come it must." I
ejaculated, "the Lord have mercy on me--I will bear my puni