The captain was pointing at a word.
"'Pirate,'" Charles read, sounding puzzled. "'Pirate, originally a criminal who attacked and robbed ships at sea (see: Earth, planet) now obsolete in this sense. At present, term applied to—'" Charles hesitated—"'to persons engaged in space salvage, especially to captains of vessels employed in such work.'"
Charles turned red. Betty flushed. Cousin Aurelia started laughing her head off.
"Times change," the captain said soberly. "Do you want me to show you my license?"
The Buttons were much too embarrassed to answer.
"Well, if you don't, I hope you'll excuse us. Aurelia and I would like to sit in the swing and look at the stars for a while."
"I want to be told just how far away Boston is," she said as he helped her to rise. She wrinkled her nose. "I'm certainly glad that here on Sugar Plum we're safe from the wrong kind of people—all those horrible Victorians."
The captain's arm went around her.
He winked at the Buttons.
"A few of them weren't so bad," he said gently. "A few of the real ones."