And then, aloud, he answered,—
“Anything I can get. Did your grace ever try trolling from a steamboat?”
“No,” said the lady, with a laugh. “My grace never did. Why do you call me that?”
“It was the nearest I could come to it,” said Chap. “I should be glad to know just what to say.”
“So long as we are not in Spain, madam will do very well,” said the countess. “And now tell me, how did you come to get on board here, at night, all by yourself?”
Chap freely related the reasons for his coming on board the Winkyminky, which greatly interested the countess; and then, working backward with his story, he told what had happened since he left home. This account took a long time, and was only interrupted by the hauling in of one large cat-fish, which greatly horrified the countess, and induced her to ask Chap to put up his line and confine himself to his story, which she found more entertaining than her novel.
In spite of the fact that Chap did not belong to an aristocratic circle, the countess was very glad to talk to him, for he was the only person on board in whom she could take the slightest interest, and they soon became very well acquainted.
She was going, with her negro servant, to join her husband in Jacksonville, and had intended to take passage from Enterprise in the Von Glode; but she was too late for that boat, and was obliged to take the Winkyminky. This inconvenient little boat did not suit her taste at all; but she had to make the best of it, and was very glad to have on board such an original and pleasant boy as Chap.
