im a nod and
indicated a chair.

"I understand you did not arrange for Barbara to meet you and go to the
dock?" he said.

"No, sir. I didn't expect to meet Miss Hyslop. I was talking about the
boat and thought Miss Hyslop might like to see her."

Cartwright turned and the electric light touched his face. He looked
thoughtful, but somehow Lister imagined he was not thinking about his
step-daughter.

"Oh, well!" he said, as if the matter were not important, and went on:
"I might have got you a post had you looked me up. What boat are you on
board?"

"_Ardrigh_. Perhaps you know her?"

"Yes. Belfast model; long bow and fine lines aft. Don't know if I
approve the type. Give you speed, at the cost of carrying power, but
makes a wet ship in a head sea."

"She is wet," Lister agreed with a smile. "Last run we couldn't keep the
water out of the stokehold. Had to cover and batten gratings, and then a
boat fetched adrift and smashed the engine skylights."

"What's your rating?" Cartwright asked.

Lister told him and he remarked: "You have made some progress!"

"I was lucky. She burst some boiler tubes in my watch. We were steaming
hard, head to an ugly sea, with a lot of cattle on board, and were
forced to keep her going. Two firemen were scalded, but I was able to
put the patent-stoppers in the tubes. I used a trick I'd learned on a
Canadian lake boat; rather risky, but it worked. Afterwards the company
moved me up."

Cartwright was not surprised. He knew men and saw the young fellow was
all he had thought. All the same, it might be worth while to get some
particulars about the accident from the _Ardrigh's_ owners.

"You won't go far in the cross-channel trade. Why did you not try for a
berth with an Atlantic line!"

"There was some trouble about your Board of Trade rules and I might have
been required to prove my qualifications for an English certificate.
While I was inquiring I heard an engineer was wanted on board _Ardrigh_.
The regulations don't apply to coasting voyages."

"You might have got your certificate. Would it not have been worth
while?"

Lister hesitated. His main object for joining the _Ardrigh_ was that she
sailed from Liverpool and he wanted to see Barbara now and then. As a
rule, he was frank, but he did not think it prudent to enlighten
Cartwright.

"I don't know," he said. "You see, I may go back to the railroad soon."

He wondered whether Cartwright did see and thought he had remarked