CHAPTER VI.

SETTLING DOWN.

“NOW then, kiddie.”

Jim’s hand touched her arm, and Norah looked round. They had passed the Gellibrand light and were heading towards the wider spaces of Port Phillip Bay. Across the water the sunlight lay golden on the beaches and the wooded shores. To the right a little steamer was coming lazily in from Geelong.

“Do you want me, Jim?” Norah tried to make her voice steady.

“Well, I think you might as well come and get your cabin ship-shape,” Jim said. “You’ve got two or three hours of daylight and smooth water; and once you get outside the Heads there may be any sort of weather, and you may be any sort of sailor. Not that I believe any of us will be sea-sick—this huge old ship can’t toss about much, unless she meets a hurricane.”

“Well, you never know,” said Norah, prudently. “And if I’m going to be ill I won’t feel like getting ship-shape then, I suppose. All right, Jimmy, I’ll go down. How do I get there?”