He knew that there were two persons, an old man and a little girl, present besides himself, and the momentary flash of the match, as it was drawn across the sand-paper, did not reveal to him a third, for Lily was sitting in the darkest shadow of the room, and he was not looking that way. The old man readily assented to the proposition to talk in the dark a bit, and the shadows of the peaceful summer night lay about the room undisturbed. But the Captain appearing to consider that his proposition was too abruptly made, and scarcely justifiable, he being a stranger and almost an intruder, added immediately,
"That is, if you have no objection, and if you will pardon me for suggesting it."
"No apology is necessary," replied the old man, "from one accredited as you are, and coming on such an errand."
"It's a Captain's fancy," said the stranger.
"And it's yours by right, as Captain of the Fancy," observed the old man, in a gentle and courteous tone.
"You are kind enough to say so. Of all the hours of the twenty-four, I love that the most during which the day steals away to the other side of the world. There's no time at sea so pleasant as night, when it is fine and balmy, as this summer's night is, and when you can look over the bulwarks into the water, and see it wake into living light as the ship sails on. Then, when the moon rises, the heavens, as well as the water, are filled with glory; though, for the matter of that, they are always filled with natural beauty, whether it is dark or light."
He spoke like a sailor, heartily though gruffly, and it almost seemed as if the salt of the sea had got into his voice, and had given it a flavour. So the old man thought evidently, and thought the flavour was of the pleasantest (but there could be no mistaking that), for he encouraged the Captain to proceed by asking,
"How's the moon to-night, Skipper?"
Thus showing that he had read of the sea, or at some time of his life had travelled on it.
"'Tis a few days old, and soon we shall see it, pure and clear and bright--like truth, like modesty, like virtue, like the heart of an innocent maid, like anything that is good."