"
"But we manage to get somewhere just the same," he smiled.
"So did Noah."
"That was the main thing."
"For an antediluvian."
She took another lingering look at the _Martha_, then turned to Sheldon.
"You are a slovenly lot down here when it comes to boats--most of you
are, any way. Christian Young is all right though, Munster has a slap-
dash style about him, and they do say old Nielsen was a crackerjack. But
with the rest I've seen, there's no dash, no go, no cleverness, no real
sailor's pride. It's all humdrum, and podgy, and slow-going, any going
so long as you get there heaven knows when. But some day I'll show you
how the _Martha_ should be handled. I'll break out anchor and get under
way in a speed and style that will make your head hum; and I'll bring her
alongside the wharf at Guvutu without dropping anchor and running a
line."
She came to a breathless pause, and then broke into laughter, directed,
he could see, against herself.
"Old Kinross is setting that fisherman's staysail," he remarked quietly.
"No!" she cried incredulously, swiftly looking, then running for the
telescope.
She regarded the manoeuvre steadily through the glass, and Sheldon,
watching her face, could see that the skipper was not making a success of
it.
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