"Quite, thanks," and Nora Sayers smiled. "Aren't you just a trifle independent with your superior officers, Mr. Barnes? I thought all sailors were very polite——"
Barnes grinned. "Oh, me and Van? Don't pay any attention to that, Miss Sayers. He was just trying to show his authority in front of you and Miss Maggs."
"Oh!" Nora Sayers laughed. "Isn't it mutiny to refuse to obey orders?"
"Not aboard this packet. The skipper has been hitting the pipe all morning and now he's got us headed slap for Borneo. Lord knows why; I don't."
Ellen Maggs smiled shyly.
"You're the most happily irresponsible person I ever met, Mr. Barnes," she said. "And so is this ship. Every voyage in her must be a delightful adventure, if it's like this one! Have you been with her long?"
"This is my first and last," said Barnes drily. "You can't say that you've enjoyed yourselves so far, can you?"
"I have, every minute of it!" exclaimed Ellen Maggs, an unwonted sparkle in her eyes.
"And so have I," asserted Nora Sayers with energy. "Look at the queer people we've met! This funny little man down the table, who stares and giggles——"
"He's part idiot," interjected Jim Barnes. "But who else?"