"Any further questions, Mr. Salisbury?" asked the captain, bestowing a
bored look upon the executive officer.
"Nothing more, Captain Battleton."
"Dr. Connelly?"
"Nothing, captain."
"Now, gentlemen, I will thank you to retire to the ward room, and I
will send for you to hear my decision," continued the commander, and
the cousins retired together, and both of them appeared to be as
good-natured as though they were in perfect accord on the question
in dispute.
"What is your opinion, Mr. Salisbury?" asked the captain, when the
claimants had retired, careful not to indicate his own conclusion.
"While I acknowledge that I am somewhat prepossessed in favor of the
Lieutenant Passford who came on board this morning, I do not think
he has established his claim to be the true Lieutenant Christopher
Passford. The other uses some peculiarly Southern phrases, as though he
had been 'raised' in the South, and he is not perfect in the geography
of Bonnydale. I think the commission is the only evidence upon which you
can properly rely," replied the first lieutenant.
"Your views, if you please, Dr. Connelly."
"One of these officers is evidently a Confederate, and the other a loyal
citizen. The commission, as Mr. Salisbury suggests, outweighs all the
rest of the evidence.
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