She turned her head for a second to hide her amusement, and in that second Mr. Tredgold favoured the captain with a glance the significance of which was at once returned fourfold.  She looked up just in time to see their features relaxing, and moving nearer to the captain instinctively placed her hand upon his knee.

“I hope,” said Captain Bowers, after a long and somewhat embarrassing silence—­“I hope the conversation isn’t going to be above my head?”

“Mr. Tredgold was talking about uncles,” said Prudence, maliciously.

“Nothing bad about them, I hope?” said the captain, with pretended anxiety.

Edward shook his head.  “I was merely envying Miss Drewitt her possession of you,” he said, carelessly,” and I was just about to remark that I wished you were my uncle too, when she came indoors.  I suppose she wanted you to hear it.”

Miss Drewitt started violently, and her cheek flamed at the meanness of the attack.

“I wish I was, my lad,” said the admiring captain.

“It would be the proudest moment of my life,” said Edward, deliberately.

“And mine,” said the captain, stoutly.  “And the happiest.”

The captain bowed.  “Same here,” he said, graciously.

Miss Drewitt, listening helplessly to this fulsome exchange of compliments, wondered whether they had got to the end.  The captain looked at Mr. Tredgold as though to remind him that it was his turn.

“You—­you were going to show me a photograph of your first ship,” said the latter, after a long pause.  “Don’t trouble if it’s upstairs.”

“It’s no trouble,” said the captain, briskly.

He rose to his feet and the hand of the indignant Prudence, dislodged from his knee, fell listlessly by her side.  She sat upright, with her pale, composed face turned towards Mr. Tredgold.  Her eyes were scornful and her lips slightly parted.  Before these signs his courage flickered out and left him speechless.  Even commonplace statements of fact were denied him.  At last in sheer desperation he referred to the loudness of the clock’s ticking.

“It seems to me to be the same as usual,” said the girl, with a slight emphasis on the pronoun.

The clock ticked on undisturbed.  Upstairs the amiable captain did his part nobly.  Drawers opened and closed noisily; doors shut and lids of boxes slammed.  The absurdity of the situation became unbearable, and despite her indignation at the treatment she had received Miss Drewitt felt a strong inclination to laugh.  She turned her head swiftly and looked out of window, and the next moment Edward Tredgold crossed and took the captain’s empty chair.

“Shall I call him down?” he asked, in a low voice.

“Call him down? “repeated the girl, coldly, but without turning her head.  “Yes, if you——­”

A loud crash overhead interrupted her sentence.  It was evident that in his zeal the captain had pulled out a loaded drawer too far and gone over with it.  Slapping sounds, as of a man dusting himself down, followed, and it was obvious that Miss Drewitt was only maintaining her gravity by a tremendous effort.  Much emboldened by this fact the young man took her hand.