"Ye dinna say!"
"It's quite true, he had to be carried off the bridge half an hour ago."
"Weel, weel," murmured the engineer, "he always was a michty quare mon."
"And Smith, as I suppose you know, has broken his leg."
"Aye, ane of the firemen was tellin' me."
"Therefore," she went on, "I have decided to take command of the Hawk, since no one, except myself, is capable of navigating her."
She had expected the engineer to show some sign of surprise, even resentment, and was prepared to combat it. But, for all the emotion McPhulach exhibited, she might have been telling him that she had decided to alter her time of getting up or going to bed. He did not even appear interested, but, stooping down, proceeded to take off one of his boots.
"It's verra bad policy to buy ye'r boots second-hand unless ye'r sairtain they'll fit," he remarked, and then remained silently staring at a hole in his sock as though it were a subject for long and earnest meditation.
"I suppose you think I am taking a great deal on myself," she said, wishing to force some comment from him.
The engineer jerked his head in a manner which might have been a nod or a shake, agreement or disagreement. His eyes were still fixed on the gaping aperture in his sock. But at last he spoke, slowly and incisively as a man might who had come to a momentous conclusion after much mental tribulation.