with serene impertinence. "We shall
probably never have the pleasure of knowing him on land, so why stumble
over Dutch names or titles? He has come on board 'Lorelei' to be our
skipper, hasn't he? So he would probably prefer to be _called_
'Skipper.'"

Starr leaned down to pat Tibe, shaking all over. "Ha, ha, ha!" he
gasped. "I never _saw_ such a funny tail; I do hope it isn't going to
give me hysterics."

But nobody else laughed, and Miss Rivers was gazing at her stepsister in
a shocked, questioning way, her violet eyes saying as plainly as if they
spoke----

"My darling girl, what possesses you to be so rude to an inoffensive
foreigner?"

I should have liked to ask the same question, in the same words; but I
said nothing, did nothing except turn the wheel with the air of that
Miller who grinds slowly but exceedingly small, and smile a hard,
confident smile which warned the enemy----

"Oh yes, you _are_ going to know me on land, and love me on land, so you
might as well make up your mind to what has to come."

She caught the look, which forcibly dragged hers down from my hat-brim,
and I am convinced that she read its meaning. It made her hate me a
degree worse, of course; but what is an extra stone rolled behind the
doors of the resisting citadel, or a gallon more or less of boiling oil
to dash on the heads of the besiegers? If they are determined, it comes
to the same thing in the end.

Fortunately for the spirits of the other players who were "on" in this
scene (in a subordinate capacity), the fair Enemy was not of the nature
to sulk. True, of free will she did not address me; but having shown her
opinion of and intentions toward the person deserving punishment, she
did not weary her arm with continued castigation. Instead, she gave
herself up heart and soul to delight in her first taste of "botoring."
She basked in it, she reveled in it; had she been a kitten, I think she
would have purred in sheer physical enjoyment of it.

"_My_ boat! My _boat_!" she repeated, lingering over the words as if
they had been cream and sugar. "Oh, I wonder if it _knows_ it's My Boat?
I wish it could. I should like it to get fond of me. I _know_ it's
alive. Feel its heart beat. What Tibe is to Lady MacNairne, 'Lorelei' is
going to be to me. We never lived before, did we, Phil? And aren't you
glad we came? Who knows what will become of us after this, for we
certainly never can go home again and take up life where we left it
o