Empire of Ivory Page 0,50

oiled sand, for Lily to rest her head upon. I am very sorry to have to trouble you, but we are quite at a loss where they are to be stowed: we must have them near the dragondeck, in case she should have a fit of sneezing and we must change them out quick."

As the acid of a Longwing was perfectly capable, unchecked, of eating through an entire ship straight down to the hull and sinking her, this topic naturally engaged all the interest which could be imagined, of the ship's captain, and Riley answered her with energy, his discomfort forgotten in the practical concern. They settled it that the tubs should be stored in the galley, directly below the dragondeck, and this decided, Catherine nodded and thanked him, adding, "Will you dine with us to-night?" - an inconvenient friendliness, but of course her prerogative: to make a technical point of the matter, she was Laurence's superior officer, as formally their assignment remained to form a part of Lily's formation, although Temeraire had operated under independent orders now for so long that Laurence himself scarcely remembered the fact.

But it was delivered informally, at least, so it did not seem offensive when Riley said, "I thank you, but I must be on deck to-night, I am afraid," a polite excuse, which she accepted on its face, and nodding her farewells left him alone with Laurence once again.

It was awkward to resume, with the first natural impulse of anger thus blunted, but with a will they rose to the occasion, and after only a few more moderate exchanges, Riley's "And I hope, sir, that I need never again see the ship's crew or her boats subjected to, I am sorry to call it so, outright interference, under not only the permission but the encouragement - " progressed very neatly to Laurence's reply,

"And for my part, Captain Riley, I would be glad to never again be witness to such a positive disdain not only for all the generally understood requirements of courtesy, but for the very safety of her passengers, from the crew of one of His Majesty's vessels - I will not say deliberate insult - "

They were soon in such fine form as might be expected from two men both in the habit of command, and of full voice, whose former acquaintance made it no difficulty to touch upon such subjects as might provoke the most dramatic reaction. "You cannot claim," Riley said, "not to have a proper understanding of precedence in these matters; you can make no such excuse. You know your duty perfectly well. You set your beast deliberately onto the ship's crew, without permission. You might have asked for a chair, if you wished one slung - "

"If I had imagined that such a request needed to be made, upon what I had supposed to be a well-run ship, when a lady was to come aboard - " Laurence said.

"I suppose we must mean a little something different by the term," Riley retorted, sarcastic and quick.

He at once looked heartily embarrassed, when the remark had escaped him; but Laurence was in no way inclined to wait for him to withdraw, and said angrily, "It would grieve me indeed to be forced to impute any un-gentlemanlike motive - any selfish consideration, which might prompt a gentleman to make remarks so nearly intolerable upon the character and respectability of a clergyman's wife, and a mother, wholly unknown to him and therefore offering no grounds whatsoever to merit his scorn - save perhaps as an alternative, preferable to the examination of his own conscience - "

The door flung open without a knock; Berkley thrust his head into the cabin. They stopped at once, united in appalled indignation at this perfect disregard for privacy and all shipboard etiquette. Berkley paid no attention to their stares. He was unshaven and gaunt; Maximus had passed an uncomfortable night after his short flight aboard, and Berkley had slept no more than his dragon. He said bluntly, "We can hear every damned word on deck; in a moment Temeraire will pull up the planking and stick his nose in. For God's sake go knock each other down somewhere quietly and have done."

This outrageous advice, more suitable for a pair of schoolboys than grown men, was not heeded, but the quarrel was necessarily ended by the open reproof; Riley begged to be excused, and went at once away.

"I must ask you to go-between for us, with Captain