The appointment would have doubled your present pay,
which, though better than nothing, is far below your merits. But your
opinion settles the question otherwise, and I must burn my letter. Let
us lose no more time. Mrs. Stubbard will call me a savage, for keeping
you away so long."
"Important business," replied the Captain, "will not wait even for
ladies, or, rather, they must try to wait for it, and give way to more
reasonable urgency. Some time is required for considering this matter,
and deciding what is most for the interest of the nation. Oblige me with
your spy-glass, Admiral. There is one side on which I have neglected
to look out, and that may of all be the most important. A conclusion
arrived at by yourself and Nelson is not to be hastily set aside. Your
knowledge of the country is so far beyond mine, though I may have
had more to do with land-works. We ought to think twice, sir, if the
government will pay for it, about a valuable job of this kind."
With these words Captain Stubbard began to use the telescope carefully,
forming his opinion through it, and wisely shaking his head, now and
then, with a longer and longer focus. Then he closed the glass, and his
own lips firmly--whereby a man announces that no other should open his
against them--and sternly striding the yard exact, took measurement for
the battery. The hill was crowned with a ring of Scotch firs, casting
a quiet shade upon the warlike haste of the Captain.
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