Ruby said that he was glad to hear it; but he thought a great deal more than he said, and among other things he thought that the lieutenant might perhaps be rather in the way; but as his presence was unavoidable, he made up his mind to try to believe that he, the lieutenant, would in all probability be an engaged man already. As to the possibility of his seeing Minnie and being indifferent to her (in the event of his being a free man), he felt that such an idea was preposterous! Suddenly a thought flashed across him and induced a question—
"Is the lieutenant married, uncle?"
"Not as I know of, lad; why d'ye ask?"
"Because—because—married men are so much pleasanter than——"
Ruby stopped short, for he just then remembered that his uncle was a bachelor.
"'Pon my word, youngster! go on, why d'ye stop in your purlite remark?"
"Because," said Ruby, laughing, "I meant to say that young married men were so much more agreeable than young bachelors."
"Humph!" ejaculated the captain, who did not see much force in the observation, "and how d'ye know the leftenant's a young man? I didn't say he was young; mayhap he's old. But here he is, so you'll judge for yourself."
At the moment a tall, deeply-bronzed man of about thirty years of age walked up and greeted Captain Ogilvy familiarly as his "buck", enquiring, at the same time, how his "old timbers" were, and where the "bit of baggage" was.
"She's to be at the end o' the pier in five minutes," said the captain, drawing out and consulting a watch that was large enough to have been mistaken for a small eight-day clock. "This is my nephy, Ruby. Ruby Brand—Leftenant Lindsay. True blues, both of ye—