Those brutes ought to have mastered us a dozen times.
I almost lost faith when I heard Tollemache shout that the saloon was
in danger, but I could not leave the after deck, where four of us were
keeping fifty in check. The least sign of yielding would have caused
an overwhelming rush. Well, all's well that ends well. And not a
sailor living can squeeze his best girl and do his work at the same
time. Off with you, or I shall never bring you on a voyage in my ship
again."
With her soul singing a canticle of joy she passed from the bridge to
the lower deck. Mr. Boyle was waiting there, holding a lantern.
"Huh!" he growled, when he saw her, "p'raps you'll believe what I tell
you before your hair turns gray, if not sooner. Luck! Did any man
ever have such luck as the skipper? Why, if he fell off Mong Blong
he'd find a circus net rigged up to catch him."
"I agree with you so fully, Mr. Boyle," she whispered, "that I am going
to marry him."
"I guessed as much," he answered. "At any rate I fancied it wouldn't
be for want of axing on his part." He whirled off into a tempest of
wrath because a sailor beneath had failed to keep a guide-rope taut.
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