Harrigan, his mouth full of egg, paused and glared at the captain.

"For the captain of a ship, McTee," he said coldly, "your head is
packed with fool ideas. Eat your fish an' don't spoil the appetites of
others."

He turned to Kate.

"These eggs are new-laid--they're--they're not more than twenty-four
hours old."

His glance dared McTee to doubt the statement. The captain accepted the
challenge.

"I suppose you watched 'em being laid, Harrigan?"

Harrigan sneered.

"I can tell by the taste partly and partly"--here he cracked the shell
of another egg and, stripping it off, held up the little white oval to
the light--"and partly by the color. It's dead white, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"That shows it's fresh. If there was a bit of blue in it, it'd be
stale."

McTee breathed hard.