"Of course you may, my dear boy," he answered.  "It is a very natural question.  Well, the fact is that certain very curious happenings have taken place on board this ship since she sailed out of the Thames."  And he proceeded to repeat to me the story that Carter had already told me as to the disappearance of the original captain and his successor. "Now," he continued, "Captain Matthews's death may have been a perfectly natural one.  I don't say that it was not, but up to the hour of his death he looked strong and healthy enough to have lived out the full term of his life.  Moreover, he was a most temperate man in every respect.  I have, therefore, found it very difficult indeed to discover a satisfactory explanation of his very sudden demise.  And, between you and me, although Burgess, the ship's surgeon, has never said as much in words, I firmly believe that the occurrence puzzled him as much as it did me; indeed, his very reticence over the affair only strengthens my suspicion that such is the case.  But, puzzling as were the circumstances connected with Captain Matthews's death, I consider that those associated with the death of Mr Mowbray, who took command of the ship in place of Captain Matthews, were at least equally so.  Mr Mowbray was a man of some thirty-five years of age, very quiet, unassuming, and gentlemanly of manner; a married man with, as I have understood, a small family to provide for, and consequently very anxious to rise in his profession; ambitious, in his quiet, unassuming way, and evidently a thoroughly steady and reliable man, for I understand that he had served under Captain Matthews for several years.  No one of us ever saw him touch wine, spirits, or drink of any description; yet only four days after he had attained to what we may consider the summit of his ambition, by securing the command of this fine ship, he was missing. Williams, our present skipper, offers us the exceedingly improbable explanation that the poor fellow jumped out of his cabin window, and was drowned, while intoxicated.  I do not believe it for a moment, nor do any of the rest of us.  For my own part I very strongly suspect foul play somewhere, and the very extraordinary explanation which Williams offers of the occurrence only strengthens my suspicion that--well, not to put too fine a point upon it, that he knows more of the matter than a perfectly honest man ought to know.  And, in addition to all this, Williams is a secret drunkard, and a man of most violent and ungovernable temper, as you will see for yourself ere long.  You will therefore not be very greatly surprised to learn that since he took the command there has been a great deal of uneasiness as well as unpleasantness in the cuddy; and I, for one, am rejoiced to find a naval officer and a party of man-o'-war seamen on board.  For I know that after what I have said you will keep your eyes and ears open, and will not hesitate to interfere if you see good and sufficient reason for so doing.  You navy fellows have a trick of cutting in where you consider it necessary without pausing to weigh too nicely the strict legality of your proceedings.  And if perchance you occasionally step an inch or two beyond the strict limits of the law, you are generally able to justify yourselves."