"Permanently?" asked the captain, shooting a quizzical glance at her from under his heavy brows.
"You wretch!" said Mrs. Weston, flushing. "Just to Hong-Kong, I mean."
That night about ten o'clock the captain, who happened to be crossing the steerage deck, came quite unexpectedly upon Percival and Bobby groping their way through the dark.
"Roberta!" he called sternly. "What are you doing out here?"
"Roberta," he called sternly, "What are you doing out here?"
"Oh," cried Bobby, breathlessly, feeling her way around the hatch, "we've been out on the prow for hours, and it was simply gorgeous. All inky black except the phosphorescence, miles and miles of it! And some dolphins, all covered with silver, kept racing with us and leaping clear out of the water, like wriggly bits of fire. And the stars—why, Mr. Hascombe's been telling me the most fascinating things I ever heard about stars. We've had a perfectly wonderful time, haven't we, Mr. Hascombe?"
"Topping!" said the Honorable Percival.