“I—yes—I don’t know. It—it’s my first experience.”
Gale regarded me with an amazement that was akin to respect.
“Oh, Lord!” he gasped. “Never been to sea before and planned a trip to the South Pole! What’s a bluff without a show-down!”
“Do you think I’ll be like this all the way?” I asked.
“Oh, pshaw! No! I’ll have Bill give you some of his tablets. You’ll be all right enough by lunch time.”
The suggestion of a food tablet at this particular time was the last thing needed. I went hastily below.
Gale’s prediction was not quite realized. I was absent from luncheon, but before evening the spirit of my ancestors rose within me—perhaps because there was nothing else left for that purpose—and I ascended to the dinner table.
“Well, you’ve concluded that this voyage is no dream, have you?” greeted Gale.
“A good many more will come to that conclusion before it’s over,” growled Captain Biffer, who was present.
Across the table, the place of Ferratoni was vacant. Edith Gale, radiant, beamed upon me. I could afford to laugh, now, and did so.