and looked round the little room, as if he did not clearly understand where he was, or in what company.
"You are deep, Captain Cuttle," pursued Carker, with the easy and vivacious frankness of a man of the world who knew the world too well to be ruffled by any discovery of misdoing, when it did not immediately concern himself, "but you are not quite out of soundings, either—neither you nor your absent friend, Captain. What have you done with your absent friend, hey?"
Again the Captain laid his hand upon his chest. After drawing another deep breath, he conjured himself to "stand by!" But in a whisper.
"You hatch nice little plots, and hold nice little councils, and make nice little appointments, and receive nice little visitors, too, Captain, hey?" said Carker, bending his brows upon him, without showing his teeth any the less: "but it’s a bold measure to come here afterwards. Not like your discretion! You conspirators, and hiders, and runners-away, should know better than that. Will you oblige me by going?"
"My lad," gasped the Captain, in a choked and trembling voice, and with a curious action going on in the ponderous fist; "there’s a many words I could wish to say to you, but I don’t rightly know where they ’re stowed just at present. My young friend, Wal’r, was drownded only last night, according to my reckoning, and it puts me out, you see. But you and me will come alongside o’ one another again, my lad," said the Captain, holding up his hook, "if we live."
"It will be anything but shrewd in you, my good fellow, if we do," returned the Manager, with the same frankness; "for you may rely, I give you fair warning, upon my detecting and exposing you. I don’t pretend to be a more moral man than my neighbours, my good Captain; but the confidence of this House, or of any member of this House, is not to be abused and undermined while I have eyes and ears. Good day!" said Mr. Carker, nodding his head.
Captain Cuttle, looking at him steadily (Mr. Carker looked full as steadily at the Captain), went out of the office and left him standing astride before the fire, as calm and pleasant as if there were no more spots upon his soul than on his pure white linen, and his smooth sleek skin.
The Captain glanced, in passing through the outer counting-house, at the desk where he knew poor Walter had been used to sit, now occupied by another young boy, with a face almost as fresh and hopeful as his on the day when they tapped the famous last bottle but one of the old Madeira, in the little back parlour. The nation of ideas, thus awakened, did the Captain a great deal of good; it softened him in the very height of his anger, and brought the tears into his eyes.
Arrived at the Wooden Midshipman’s again, and sitting down in a corner of the dark shop, the Captain’s indignation, strong as it was, could make no head against his grief. Passion seemed not only to do wrong and violence to the memory of the dead, but to be infected by death, and to droop and decline beside it. All the living knaves and liars in the world, were nothing to the honesty and truth of one dead friend.
The only thing the honest Captain made out clearly, in this state of
