“Did I look so darn foolish?”

Bull’s eyes were smiling, and Nancy laughed again.

“Just about as foolish as that fellow with the Rye whisky you were talking about.”

The man settled himself comfortably.

“That’s tough.  And I guess I was doing my best, too.  Say,” he went on with a laugh, “just look at those flapping sea-gulls, or whatever they are out there.  Makes you wonder to see ’em racing along over this fool waste of water.  Look at ’em fighting, struggling, and using up a whole heap of good energy to keep level with this old tub.  You know they’ve only to turn away westward to find land and shelter where they could build nests and make things mighty comfortable for themselves.  I don’t get it.  You know it seems to me Nature got in a bad muss handing out ordinary sense.  I’d say She never heard of a card index.  Maybe Her bookkeeper was a drunken guy who didn’t know a ledger from a scrap book.  Now if She’d engaged you an’ me to keep tab of things for Her, we’d have done a deal better.  Those poor blamed sea-gulls, or whatever they are, would have been squatting around on elegant beds of moulted feathers, laid out on steam-heat radiators, feeding on oyster cocktails and things, and handing out the instructive dope of a highbrow politician working up a press reputation, and learning their kids the decent habits of folk who’re yearning to keep out of penitentiary as long as the police’ll let ’em.  No.  It’s no use.  Nature got busy.  Look at the result.  Those fool birds’ll follow us till they’re tired, in the hope that some guy’ll dump the contents of the Myra’s swill barrel their way.  Then they’ll have one disgusting orgy on the things other folks don’t fancy, and start right in to fly again to ease their digestions.  It’s a crazy game anyway.  And it leaves me with a mighty big slump in Nature’s stock.”

Nancy listened delightedly to the man’s pleasant fooling.

“It’s worse than that,” she cried, falling in with his humour.  “Look at some of them taking a rest, swimming about in that terribly cold water.  Ugh!  No, if we’d fixed their sense we’d have made it so they’d have had enough to get on dry land, like any other reasonable folk yearning for a rest.”

The man studied the girl’s pretty profile, and a great sense of regret stirred him that the Skandinavia had been able to buy her services.  What a perfect creature to have been supported by in the work he was engaged on.

“That sounds good,” he said.  “Reasonable folks!” He shook his head.  “Nature again.  Guess we’re all reasonable till we’re found out.  No.  Even the greatest men and women on earth are fools at heart, you know.”

The girl sat up as the vessel lurched more heavily and flung their chairs forward, straining dangerously.

“How?” she questioned, glancing down anxiously at the moorings of her chair.

“They’re safe—­so far,” Bull reassured her.  Then he leant back again, and produced and lit a cigar.  “Guess I’ll smoke,” he said.  “Maybe that’ll help me tell you—­’how.’”