"No: she died when I was a little baby. That's the reason, I suppose, the captain took me in charge."
"Then perhaps he had no legal right to do so."
"I don't know about that. But I'm sure he had no legal right to bang me around the way he did."
"Certainly not. And he shall not do so in the future."
Then Phil asked me about myself, and I told him much of my history. He was not very old, but the sharp knocks he had received had given him a wisdom beyond his years.
Talking made the time pass more swiftly, and before we knew it the sun was sinking in the west. It would not be long ere the night would be upon us.
"Let us lose no time, but sail along as far as we can," I said.
"How about sailing by the stars?"
"I don't know anything about that."
"I know a little."