"Say, ain't it a dandy night?" he observed, unable to keep silence any longer.
The girl made no answer, but the remark aroused McPhulach from the reverie into which he, also, had fallen. Rising to his feet, he knocked the ashes out of his pipe and yawned.
"Gin I bide here any langer, I'll be consooming anither pipe o' bacca; so I'll wish ye a verra guid nicht, Miss Fletcher," he said.
"Good-night, McPhulach," answered the girl, who rarely used the prefix "Mr." when addressing her companions.
The engineer strolled off towards his cabin and the mate, to his great satisfaction, was left alone with her. For some time he sat fidgeting, anxious to speak, yet unable to think of anything to say. He watched her furtively out of the corner of his eye, secretly gloating over the outlines of her shapely figure, the delicate poise of her head, and the fascinating profusion of her wonderful hair.
Suddenly the girl rose to her feet, and, seeing the mate, started.
"I didn't know you were there," she said.
The mate made as if to speak, but uttered no sound. He rose unsteadily, and as the girl was about to move away, strode to her side.
"I want you," he said in a hoarse, quivering voice.
He made a movement as if to encircle her waist with his arm, but, before he could do so, her left fist shot out and, catching him unexpectedly squarely between the eyes, sent him reeling into the scuppers.