Now,
had it been the skipper--"
Boyle hardly knew what to think--"had it been the skipper."
CHAPTER XII
ENLIGHTENMENT
The captain was enthusiastic when he heard of Elsie's idea for the
protection of the main deck--"an excellent notion," he termed it, but
he scouted the suggestion that she should undertake the work herself.
"You little know what hauling taut heavy canvas means," he said when
they met at lunch. "It would tear the skin off your hands. No, Miss
Maxwell, we can put our Chileans on to that job. I have something
better for you to do. Can you map?"
"I have copied heaps of plans for my father," she told him.
"Excellent! At noon to-day I took an observation, so I intend to
devote an hour to revising the chart. Will you help? Joey is in the
scheme already. Then the Admiralty will gracefully acknowledge the
survey supplied by Miss Elsie Maxwell, Captain Arthur Courtenay, and
Joey, otherwise known as 'the pup.'"
His allusion to the dog by name recalled "Jose the Wine-bag," but Elsie
thought she would retain that tiny scrap of detective information for
the present.
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