"Who are you, anyhow?"
"My name is Ballard. I told you who I was last night."
"What did you tell me?"
"See here, captain, it ain't necessary to go over all that passed between us last night. If you don't wart to take me on with you, say so, and I'll get ashore."
Denman laughed in a merry manner, and said:
"I reckon it's all right."
"I can prove it's all right, captain."
"How so?"
Ballard ran his eye over the yacht's rigging, and said:
"Would you take any suggestions from a man who had plenty of experience in crafts of this sort?"