Elsie noted that Count Edouard de Poincilit came with the rest, and sat
beside Isobel. Courtenay put in an appearance later to partake of a
hasty meal. He gave monsieur a black look, but, of course, catching
Elsie's eye instantly, he meekly sat down and said nothing--nothing,
that is, of an unpleasant nature. All good ladies will recognize such
behavior as one of the points of a man likely to become a model husband.
Dr. Christobal and Gray were in great form, while Tollemache actually
told a story. When the captain sent Boyle down from the bridge, Elsie
made Tollemache repeat it--a simple yarn, detailing an all-night search
for a Devonshire village, which he could not find because some rotter
had deemed it funny to turn a sign-post the wrong way round.
"Huh, that's odd," said Boyle. "Reminds me of a thing that happened to
a friend of mine, skipper of the _Flower of the Ocean_ brig. Brown his
name was, an' he had a wooden leg. The day his son an' heir was born,
he dropped into a gin-mill to celebrate, an' his stump stuck in a rope
mat. He swore a bit, but he chanced to see on one of the half doors
the name 'Nosmo,' an', on the other, 'King.
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