arrangements he had made
for the comfort of myself and my men, which I begged he would allow me
to acknowledge in the only way I then could, namely by assisting his
crew to replace the lost spars of the ship, which I assured him we could
and would do, unaided if necessary, before noon next day. He flushed up
a little, stammered something unintelligible, and finally declined the
assistance rather curtly.

I saw no more of Don Luis or his daughter until after the commencement
of the first watch that evening, when the former joined me and proposed
a little private chat on the poop.

I of course acceded to the proposal at once and followed my stately
friend to the poop, fully expecting to be severely reproached for having
presumed to entangle the affections of his daughter.

I quite looked for an exhibition of righteous anger; but in this I was
agreeably disappointed. Whatever Don Luis' feeling might have been he
remained, outwardly at least, perfectly calm, speaking throughout our
short interview in a low, sonorous, and steady voice.

"Since meeting you so unexpectedly on the quarter-deck this afternoon,"
he commenced, "I have had a private conversation with my daughter, which
has resulted in a full and complete explanation by her of the singular
scene I then witnessed, and of all that has led up to it. I will not
reproach you with anything that is past, because I feel that it is
really _I_ who am more to blame than anybody else for it. I have never
thought it necessary to provide my daughter with any staid female
companion--any duenna--to watch and control her actions; she has been
allowed to run wild about the place from her infancy, and to have her
own way in everything. I ought to have remembered this, and to have
provided against all that has happened, before I ventured to introduce
two young men beneath my roof. However, there is no very great harm
done, so far--a few love-letters, and so on, but nothing serious. Now,
young sir, I wish you to understand me clearly; I am quite willing to
forget everything that has happened--but so must you. I am fully aware
that, so long as we all remain on board the same ship, it will be quite
impossible that you and my daughter should avoid meeting more or less;
and after the scene of this afternoon on the quarter-deck I do not
choose to excite comment and curiosity by forbidding your speaking to
each other. But let me remind you that I am a parent, and that I
possess r