Breaking Away by Oliver Optic — Read

It was useless for me to remain any longer in the wheel-house, and I / descended by the forward ladder to the deck. I was indignant, but I / was determined to "face the music. " The best of friends are liable to / "fall out" at times, and no better than Vallington and myself had ever / existed. He was burdened by the responsibility of the position he had / assumed, and perhaps did not feel just right about the course he had / taken. These things may have made him irritable. Though I had never / before known him to be unkind or uncourteous, he had certainly / "pitched into me," on the present occasion, in a manner which my / self-respect would not permit me to endure.

I had been acting, in charge of the wheel, to the best of my ability; / and I was perfectly confident that nothing would have gone wrong with / the steamer if the engineer had not stopped the wheels. However I felt / on the general question of duty, I was quite satisfied that I had been / faithful to the interests of the expedition upon which we had / embarked; and I could not bear to be "snapped up," and treated like an / inferior in knowledge and skill, even by my chosen leader. I was / "chief of navigation," at least; and I felt that the general had / interfered with my part of the work. He accused me of causing the / mischief, when he had been the author of it himself; and this was so / plain to me that I could not help resenting it.