An ordinary man would have run down and interrupted them; the master of
the Jessica thought he could attain his ends more certainly by
diplomacy, and so careful was his demeanour that the couple in the cabin
had no idea that they had been observed--the mate listening calmly to a
lecture on incipient idiocy which the skipper thought it advisable to
bestow.

Until the mid-day meal on the day following he made no sign. If anything
he was even more affable than usual, though his wrath rose at the
glances which were being exchanged across the table.

"By the way, Jack," he said at length, "what's become of Kitty Loney?"

"Who?" inquired the mate. "Who's Kitty Loney?"

It was now the skipper's turn to stare, and he did it admirably.

"Kitty Loney," he said in surprise, "the little girl you are going to
marry."

"Who are you getting at?" said the mate, going scarlet as he met the
gaze opposite.

"I don't know what you mean," said the skipper with dignity. "I'm
allooding to Kitty Loney, the little girl in the red hat and white
feathers you introduced to me as your future."

The mate sank back in his seat, and regarded him with open-mouthed,
horrified astonishment.