"Suppose you weren't sure who was in command?"
"I'd make sure," she answered promptly.
Bill glowered sullenly. The spell of the morning was loosening its grip.
"Well, aboard this yacht it appears that everybody does as he pleases," said Bill, helping himself to more coffee and ignoring her proffered assistance.
His mood pleased her. She would not, of course, show him that it did; but her innermost self accepted it as a tribute, no matter how ungraciously the tribute might be disguised.
"That's something new, isn't it?" she inquired. "At sea I always thought the captain was a czar. Have we a soviet, or something like that?"
"I'm not sure we have even that much. More coffee?"
"No, thank you."
He appeared determined to relapse into a silence, but Mary would not have it so. She had not been wholly tranquil when she came on deck; she was somewhat uncertain about the night before. But now everything suited her very well.
"Do you go ashore here?" she asked.