Elsie felt Christobal’s critical eye on her; she was shading the outlines of the map, and trusted that her head was bent sufficiently to hide the tell-tale color which leapt to her face. But Courtenay wished to hear more of this.
“I hope you do not credit everything my chief officer says about me,” he said, glancing over her shoulder at the drawing. “Nor about himself,” he added, as she was too busy to look up. “To my knowledge, he has refused the command of two ships since we both joined the Kansas.”
“Home orders!” cried Boyle, who was certainly beyond himself. Probably he missed his regular vocal exercise owing to lack of a crew. “My missus says to me, ‘You just stick to Captain Courtenay, young feller-me-lad. He’s one of the get-rich-quick sort. P’raps you’ll learn from him how to dodge Board of Trade inquiries.’ You stand on what I told you, Miss Maxwell. You remember? Commodore! Huh!”
Something must be done to stem the long-pent flood of Mr. Boyle’s gossip. Elsie turned on him desperately.
“How do you expect me to listen to you, and work at the same time?” she said.
“Sorry,” he answered, composing himself to sleep.
Courtenay glanced at the chronometer.
“I must be off,” he announced. “Tollemache may need some help with his bombs, and those Chileans require looking after.”
Christobal, too, quitted the chart-room to visit his patients. He had said very little while he sat there, and Elsie did not know whether to laugh or cry at the tragic-comedy of her environment. She was only certain of one thing—she would like to box Boyle’s ears. She was completely at a loss to account for his persistent efforts to drag in references to their prior conversation. She dared not catechize him. That would be piling up more difficulties for the future. But what possessed him to blurt out such embarrassing details in the presence of the two men whom she most wished to remain in ignorance of them?
She peeped at Boyle sideways. His eyes were closed, the cigar was between his teeth, and he had a broad grin on his face. She could not guess that the once taciturn chief officer of the Kansas was saying to himself: