“The gal wriggled ’er shoulders agin and went on reading, but she gave the cook a look out of ’er innercent baby eyes that nearly made ’im drop the mop.

“‘Them’s my orders,’ ses the skipper, swelling his chest and looking round, ’to everybody.  You know wot’ll ’appen to you, Joe, if things ain’t right when I come back.  Come along, Bill, and lock the gate arter me.  An’ mind, for your own sake, don’t let anything ’appen to that gal while I’m away.’

“‘Wot time’ll you be back?’ I ses, as ’e stepped through the wicket.

“‘Not afore twelve, and p’r’aps a good bit later,’ he ses, smiling all over with ’appiness.  ’But young slab-chest don’t know I’m out, and Winnie thinks I’m just going out for ’arf an hour, so it’ll be all right.  So long.’

“I watched ’im up the road, and I must say I began to wish I ’adn’t taken the job on.  Arter all, I ‘ad on’y had two pints and a bit o’ flattery, and I knew wot ’ud ’appen if anything went wrong.  Built like a bull he was, and fond o’ using his strength.  I locked the wicket careful, and, putting the key in my pocket, began to walk up and down the wharf.

“For about ten minutes the gal went on reading and didn’t look up once.  Then, as I passed, she gave me a nice smile and shook ’er little fist at the cook, wot ’ad got ’is back towards ‘er.  I smiled back, o’ course, and by and by she put her book down and climbed on to the side o’ the ship and held out her ’and for me to ’elp her ashore.

“‘I’m so tired of the ship,’ she ses, in a soft voice; ’it’s like a prison.  Don’t you get, tired of the wharf?’

“‘Sometimes,’ I ses; ‘but it’s my dooty.’

“‘Yes,’ she ses.  ’Yes, of course.  But you’re a big, strong man, and you can put up with things better.’

“She gave a little sigh, and we walked up and down for a time without saying anything.

“‘And it’s all father’s foolishness,’ she ses, at last; ’that’s wot makes it so tiresome.  I can’t help a pack of silly young men writing to me, can I?’

“‘No, I s’pose not,’ I ses.

“‘Thank you,’ she ses, putting ’er little ’and on my arm.  ’I knew that you were sensible.  I’ve often watched you when I’ve been sitting alone on the schooner, longing for somebody to speak to.  And I’m a good judge of character.  I can read you like a book.’

“She turned and looked up at me.  Beautiful blue eyes she’d got, with long, curling lashes, and teeth like pearls.

“‘Father is so silly,’ she ses, shaking her ’ead and looking down; ’and it’s so unreasonable, because, as a matter of fact, I don’t like young men.  Oh, I beg your pardon, I didn’t mean that.  I didn’t mean to be rude.’

“‘Rude?’ I ses, staring at her.

“‘Of course it was a rude thing for me to say,’ she ses, smiling; ‘because you are still a young man yourself.’

“I shook my ’ead.  ‘Youngish,’ I ses.

“‘Young!’ she ses, stamping ’er little foot.