When he had come up quite close he said again, "Yes,
sir?" interrogatively. Still silence. The mate didn't like to be stared
at in that manner, a manner quite new in his captain, with a defiant and
self-conscious stare, like a man who feels ill and dares you to notice
it. Franklin gazed at his captain, felt that there was something wrong,
and in his simplicity voiced his feelings by asking point-blank:
"What's wrong, sir?"
The captain gave a slight start, and the character of his stare changed
to a sort of sinister surprise. Franklin grew very uncomfortable, but
the captain asked negligently:
"What makes you think that there's something wrong?"
"I can't say exactly. You don't look quite yourself, sir," Franklin
owned up.
"You seem to have a confoundedly piercing eye," said the captain in such
an aggressive tone that Franklin was moved to defend himself.
"We have been together now over six years, sir, so I suppose I know you a
bit by this time. I could see there was something wrong directly you
came on board."
"Mr. Franklin," said the captain, "we have been more than six years
together, it is true, but I didn't know you for a reader of faces.
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