"I also told George, the watchman, to tell 'em the same thing, if they
came round again worrying," said Joe, proudly.

The skipper patted him on the shoulder again.

"One o' these days, Joe," he remarked, "you shall know all about this
little affair; for the present it's enough to tell you that a certain
unfortunate young female has took a fancy to a friend o' mine named
Robinson, but it's very important, for Robinson's sake, that she
shouldn't see me or get to know anything about me. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly," said Joe, sagely.

His countenance was calm and composed, but the cook's forehead had
wrinkled itself into his hair in a strong brain effort, while Ben was
looking for light on the deck, and not finding it. Flower, as a sign
that the conversation was now ended, walked aft again, and taking the
wheel from the mate, thoughtfully suggested that he should go below and
turn in for five minutes.

"I'll get through this all right, after all," he said, comfortably. "I'll
lay up at Seabridge for a week or two, and after that I'll get off the
schooner at Greenwich for a bit and let you take her up to London. Then
I'll write a letter in the name of Robinson and send it to a man I know
in New York to post from there to Miss Tipping."

His spirits rose and he slapped Fraser heartily on the back. "That
disposes of one," he said, cheerily. "Lor', in years to come how I shall
look back and laugh over all this!"

"Yes, I think it'll be some time before you do any laughing to speak
of," said Fraser.

"Ah, you always look on the dark side of things," said Flower, briskly.

"Of course, as things are, you're going to marry Miss Banks," said
Fraser, slowly.

"No, I'm not," said the other, cheerfully; "it strikes me there's plenty
of time before that will come to a head, and that gives me time to turn
round. I don't think she's any more anxious for it than I am."

"But suppose it does come to a head," persisted Fraser, "what are you
going to do?"

"I shall find a way out of it," said the skipper, confidently.
"Meantime, just as an exercise for your wits, you might try and puzzle
out what would be the best thing to do in such a case."

His good spirits lasted all the way to Seabridge, and, the schooner
berthed, he went cheerfully off home. It was early afternoon when he
arrived, and, Captain Barber being out, he had a comfortable _tete a
tete_ with Mrs. Church, in which he was able to dilate pretty largely
upon