“Oh, it was dreadful!” she murmured. “Poor Miss Morrison was lost, was she not?”
“If that was the name of the lady you were kneeling by I regret to say that she was. It was impossible to save her; for though I tried my best I could not lift her. As you call her Miss Morrison I presume she is not a close relation.”
“No, she had been my governess since I was a child, and has been a mother to me. Oh, to think that she is dead while I am saved!”
“You must remember that it might have been worse,” Will said; “you certainly cannot require a governess many more years, and will find others on whom to bestow your affection. How old are you?”
“I am fourteen,” the girl said.
“Well, here is my ship, and we will all do our best to make you comfortable.”
“Your ship!” the girl said in surprise; “do you mean to say that you are in command of her? You do not look more than a boy.”
“I am not much more than a boy,” he said with a smile, “but for all that I am the commander of this vessel, and this young gentleman is my second in command.”