“Nonsense,” said the lady, smiling.
“You’re as like as two peas,” persisted the mate. “I made sure you were sisters when I saw you first.”
“You ain’t the first that’s thought that,” said the other, laughing softly; “not by a lot.”
“I like to see ladies about,” said the mate, who was trying desperately for a return invitation. “I wish you could always sit there. You quite brighten the cabin up.”
“You’re a flatterer,” said his visitor, as he replenished her glass, and showed so little signs of making a move that the mate, making a pretext of seeing the engineer, hurried up on deck to singe his wings once more.
“Still reading?” he said softly, as he came abreast of the girl. “All about love, I s’pose.”
“Have you left my mother down there all by herself?” inquired the girl abruptly.
“Just a minute,” said the mate, somewhat crestfallen. “I just came up to see the engineer.”
“Well, he isn’t here,” was the discouraging reply.
The mate waited a minute or two, the girl still reading quietly, and then walked back to the cabin. The sound of gentle regular breathing reached his ears, and, stepping softly, he saw to his joy that his visitor slept.