"You're as like as two peas," persisted the mate. "I made sure you were
sisters when I saw you first."
"You ain't the first that's thought that," said the other, laughing
softly; "not by a lot."
"I like to see ladies about," said the mate, who was trying desperately
for a return invitation. "I wish you could always sit there. You quite
brighten the cabin up."
"You're a flatterer," said his visitor, as he replenished her glass, and
showed so little signs of making a move that the mate, making a pretext
of seeing the engineer, hurried up on deck to singe his wings once more.
"Still reading?" he said softly, as he came abreast of the girl. "All
about love, I s'pose."
"Have you left my mother down there all by herself?" inquired the girl
abruptly.
"Just a minute," said the mate, somewhat crestfallen. "I just came up to
see the engineer."
"Well, he isn't here," was the discouraging reply.
The mate waited a minute or two, the girl still reading quietly, and
then walked back to the cabin. The sound of gentle regular breathing
reached his ears, and, stepping softly, he saw to his joy that his
visitor slept.
"She's asleep," said he, going back, "and she looks so comfortable I
don't think I'll wake her."
"I shouldn't advise you to," said the girl; "she always wakes up cross.
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