CHAPTER XV Farewell to the Ship
It would be difficult if not impossible to convey to the reader the consternation that fell upon Captain Taber’s mind when the decision of his fellows were made known to him. How he fought against, not only their sentence, but his own convictions, for during the long hours that he had lain there sensible that the strength and vigour that he once possessed had gone from him and gave no sign of returning, he had been compelled to acknowledge that at last he had, as he put it, come up against a difficulty that he could neither get around nor leap over. And as soon as they were gone, he turned his face to the bulkhead and shed the bitter tears of a strong soul compelled to admit complete defeat.
And then came a gleam of comfort. In his dire distress of mind
