out here?"

"Oh," cried Bobby, breathlessly, feeling her way around the hatch,
"we've been out on the prow for hours, and it was simply gorgeous.
All inky black except the phosphorescence, miles and miles of it! And
some dolphins, all covered with silver, kept racing with us and leaping
clear out of the water, like wriggly bits of fire. And the stars--why,
Mr. Hascombe's been telling me the most fascinating things I ever
heard about stars. We've had a perfectly wonderful time, haven't we,
Mr. Hascombe?"

"Topping!" said the Honorable Percival.

VIII

IN THE CROW'S-NEST

The sea-voyage of thirty days, which in the beginning had threatened
to stretch into eternity, now seemed to be racing into the past with a
swiftness that was incredible. To Percival the one desirable thing in
life had come to be the sailing of the high seas under favoring winds,
in a big ship, with Bobby Boynton on board, and a conscience that had
agreed to remain quiescent until port was reached.

Not that Percival's conscience succumbed without a struggle; he had to
assure it repeatedly that he would refrain from rousing in Bobby any
hopes that might be realized. The moment she showed the slightest sign
of taking his attentions seriously he would kindly, but firmly, make her
understand. It would not be the first time he had had to do this. He
recalled several instances with sad complacency. But a man cannot always
be sacrificing himself. A mild flirtation, with a girl whom he never
expected to see again was surely a harmless way of consoling himself for
the harsh treatment he had recently received from another of her sex.

The one fly in his amber these days was Andy Black; only Andy was not a
fixed object. His activities were endless, and, strangely enough, they
exerted a powerful influence on Percival, causing him to change his
entire mode of life from his hour of getting up to his hour of retiring.
In order to get half an hour's conversation with Bobby Boynton it was
necessary to outwit Andy, and he was devoting himself assiduously to
the task.

What complicated the matter was that Andy had embraced him in his
general affection for humanity, and despite persistent snubbing
continued to treat him as the friend of his bosom. Percival could hate
him contemptuously when he was out of sight, but he found it difficult
to keep up the dislike when the fat, boyish fellow sat on the sofa
opposite his berth and poured out his innermost conf