PIRATES TWAIN
At last I was back in the regular liners of the Prince ships. My work on the Heraldine had been appreciated by Lord Hawkes, the manager, and his lordship was no piker.
He refused Boldwin my company when that worthy but thirsty skipper asked to have me back in the old Prince Alfred, where a certain lady whom I admired greatly was stewardess.
The new Prince George, twenty-five thousand tons and a twenty-two-knot vessel, was wanting a first officer, and old man Hall was somewhat disposed to give me "a chance," as the saying is at sea when an officer applies for a berth.
"You may report to the captain to-morrow at the dock," said his lordship, and our interview was at an end. Boldwin looked sour, for I had been a good mate to him, and he wanted me badly, but the manager's word was law.
I found the giant liner all that modern improvements could make her. From her six-hundred-foot keel to her four immense funnel tops, she was a beauty.
It would take a week to describe her many qualities, and I must admit it gave me a feeling of responsibility when I stepped upon her flying bridge and looked her over.
There I would be in command every four hours, and when I gazed over her immense length and breadth it seemed indeed that I must be a person of some small ability to hold the job.