"I'm sure we're very much obliged for the offer," said Portia, "but in the
emergency which has arisen we cannot say how much obliged we are until we
know what your experience amounted to. Before relying upon you we ought to
know how far that reliance can go--not that I lack confidence in you, my
dear madam, but that in an hour of peril one must take care to rely upon
the oak, not upon the reed."

"The point is properly taken," said Elizabeth, "and I wish to say here
that I am easier in my mind when I realize that we have with us so
level-headed a person as the lady who has just spoken. She has spoken
truly and to the point. If I were to become queen again, I should make her
my attorney-general. We must not go ahead impulsively, but look at all
things in a calm, judicial manner."

"Which is pretty hard work with a sea like this on," remarked Ophelia,
faintly, for she was getting a trifle sallow, as indeed she might, for the
House-boat was beginning to roll tremendously, with no alleviation save an
occasional pitch, which was an alleviation only in the sense that it gave
variety to their discomfort. "I don't believe a chief-justice could look
at things calmly and in a judicial manner if he felt as I do."

"Poor dear!" said the matronly Mrs. Noah, sympathetically. "I know exactly
how you feel. I have been there myself. The fourth day out I and my whole
family were in the same condition, except that Noah, my husband, was so
very far gone that I could not afford to yield. I nursed him for six days
before he got his sea-legs on, and then succumbed myself."

"But," gasped Ophelia, "that doesn't help me--"