"Yes, for the present," he answered.  "For how long I may be permitted to retain that position is quite another affair.  I am given to understand that the men are extremely dissatisfied that I should have spared your life--our motto, you must know, is: `Dead men tell no tales', and we have acted in strict accordance with it thus far, which doubtless accounts for the immunity that we have so long enjoyed.  Yours is the first life that I have ever spared."