" He inserted
the word above the line in its proper place, and gave it back to the
copyist. It was clear enough that Mulgrum was disappointed in the result
of this interview; but he took the letter and returned to the table.
At the end of another quarter of an hour, he brought the first copy of
the letter. He knocked as before, and though Christy told him in a loud
tone to come in, he did not do so. He repeated the words, but the
conspirator, possibly aware of the blunder he had made before, did
not make it again. Then he wrote on his tablet, after the captain had
approved his work, that he found the table very uncomfortable to write
upon while the ship was pitching so smartly, and suggested that he
should be allowed to make the rest of the copies on the desk in
the state room, if the captain did not desire to use it himself.
Unfortunately for the writer, he did desire to use it himself, and he
could not help smiling at the enterprise of the deaf mute in his attempt
to obtain an opportunity to forage among the papers in his drawers.
Mulgrum certainly did his work nicely and expeditiously, for he had
finished it at three bells in the forenoon watch.
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