"I hoped you would deem me sufficient company."
"Why, what impudence! I want the company of young ladies."
"But you don't object to my company—do you?"
"Certainly not, in your proper place, at the helm of the yacht."
Though I was not skilled at all in woman's ways, I thought the fair girl was struggling between two fires. She rather liked Mr. Waterford, on the one hand, and was very unwilling to commit herself by accepting any of his delicate attentions, or by appearing to be pleased by his compliments. In a word, I thought she liked him, but was afraid of him. He was, as I have before intimated, a very good-looking fellow, elegant and agreeable in his manners and speech. If he had been half as good as he looked, he would have been worthy the beautiful girl at his side. It was not very difficult for me to believe, after what I had heard her father say, that she had been warned against him, and that duty and inclination were struggling against each other in her mind.
"It is half past eleven, Phil," said Mr. Waterford, consulting his watch. "Shall we have any dinner to-day?"
"Certainly, if you desire it," I replied, presenting myself before the skipper in the standing-room.
"Whippleton says you are a cook, Phil. Is that so?"
"I can cook," I replied, modestly.
"Can you get up a dinner fit for a lady?" laughed Mr. Waterford.