Fraser shook his head somewhat despondently. “I’m not much of a swimmer,” said he.
“But you’d go in for anybody if you saw them drowning?” persisted Miss Tyrell, in a surprised voice.
“I don’t know, i’m sure,” said Fraser. “I hope I should.”
“Do you mean to say,” said Miss Tyrell, severely, “that if I fell into the river here, for instance, you wouldn’t jump in and try to save me?”
“Of course I should.” said Fraser, hotly. “I should jump in after you if I couldn’t swim a stroke.”
Miss Tyrell, somewhat taken aback, murmured her gratification.
“I should go in after you,” continued the mate who was loath to depart from the subject, “if it was blowing a gale, and the sea full of sharks.”
“What a blessing it is there are no sharks round our coast,” said Miss Tyrell, in somewhat of a hurry to get away from the mate’s heroism. “Have you ever seen one?”
“Saw them in the Indian Ocean when I was an apprentice,” replied Fraser.
“You’ve been on foreign-going ships then?” said the girl. “I wonder you gave it up for this.”