to the sea and wished to make her welcome.

"And now," said Miss Frazier, delightedly, to the captain, "she's
a real ship, isn't she? It seems only the other day father gave the
order for her, and now--and now--isn't she a beauty?" The girl was
proud of the firm, and talked as though she were the controlling
partner.

"Oh, she's no so bad," the skipper replied, cautiously. "But I'm
sayin' that it takes more than the christenin' to mak' a ship. In the
nature o' things, Miss Frazier, if ye follow me, she's just irons and
rivets and plates put into the form of a ship. She has to find herself
yet."

"But I thought father said she was exceptionally well found."

"So she is," said the skipper, with a laugh. "But it's this way wi'
ships, Miss Frazier. She's all here, but the parts of her have not
learned to work together yet. They've had no chance."

"But the engines are working beautifully. I can hear them."

"Yes, indeed. But there is more than engines to a ship. Every inch of
her, ye'll understand, has to be livened up, and made to work wi' its
neighbor--sweetenin' her, we call it, technically."

"And how will you do it?" the girl asked.

"We can no more than drive and steer her and so forth; but if we have
rough weather this trip--it's likely--she'll learn the rest by heart!