It was the first time he had dropped the “Miss,” but he dropped it purposely now.  Miss Ricks noticed the omission, which probably imbued her with the courage to voice again her excess of sympathy.  Said she:  “Oh, I’m so sorry, Matt!”

He thrilled at that.  “Well,” he answered humorously, “for the first time I’m glad I’m not a captain any more!”

Followed another brief silence, while Florry groped for the hidden meaning behind that subtle retort; then he continued:  “Your father thinks I was a little presumptuous in calling at the house.  He spoke to me about it, Florry, so I’m not going to call any more until he invites me.  It’s his house, you know.  But he didn’t say anything about not telephoning to you or seeing you outside his confounded house, so I suppose there’s no necessity for me feeling badly about it, is there?”

This was a pretty direct feeler, but Florry parried it with feminine skill.

“Of course you can telephone me whenever you get to port.  You mustn’t take dad too seriously, Matt.  Really he’s very fond of you.”

“Professionally, yes.  Socially, no.  I think he wants to give me a good chance to do something for myself in a business way later on, but he made it pretty plain that he is the only member of the Ricks family I’m to take seriously.  Of course I expect to have something to say about that myself, Florry, but I didn’t tell him so.  He’s your father, you know, and besides, a man can’t make a very good showing on seventy-five dollars a month.  But if the Unicorn lives to complete her charter I’ll be up on Easy Street, even if I’ll only be a plain sea captain when I come into that money.  Of course now I’m only a second mate on the worst little steam schooner your father owns and I cannot say the things I want to say—­I don’t mean to your father, Florry, but to you—­”

“But you’re a captain now,” Florry interrupted, in delicious terror hastening to obstruct any further discussion of what a seventy-five dollar man might have to say were he but in position to say it.  “Why should you go to work as a second mate—­”

“I’ve been a captain of sail, Florry.  Of course, if I had never been master of a vessel of more than five hundred tons net register, or my sailing license had been limited to vessels of that tonnage, I should have to work up from second mate to master in steam.  But any man who has been master of a vessel of more than five hundred tons net register for more than one year is entitled to apply for a license as master of steam vessels, and if he can pass the examination he can get his license.”

“Then why don’t you do that, Matt?” Florry inquired.