"There is no getting away from it, Jim, you have a good opinion of yourself."
This gave Jim a certain shock as the expression of his face showed.
"I was only joshing," he said, and there was a slight sense of hurt in his tones that Berwick was quick to recognize.
"That's all right, old chap," he said, "your head is level."
This straightened out, they went and took a look at the old sailor's two boats in the cove. One was painted white with a red stripe, and the other was as black as a Venetian Gondola.
"That's a beauty," exclaimed Jim enthusiastically, looking at the lines of her, and he pointed to the black boat.
"She oughter be, I built her myself," said the old sailor, "and I know somethin' about boats, too."
"Got speed?" ejaculated Jim.
"Enough to burn a streak across this bay, boy."
Jim laughed good-naturedly, and the old sailor was evidently pleased with his appreciation.