But she shook her head, as one might shake off sleep or a dream, saying: "I have known it all my life.

It was my father's name for my mother." "It is my phrase too," I said stubbornly.
"For your mother ?" "No," I answered, and she questioned no further, though I could have sworn her eyes retained for some time a mocking, teasing expression.
With the foremast in, the work now went on apace.

Almost before I knew it, and without one serious hitch, I had the mainmast stepped.

A derrick-boom, rigged to the foremast, had accomplished this; and several days more found all stays and shrouds in place, and everything set up taut.

Topsails would be a nuisance and a danger for a crew of two, so I heaved the topmasts on deck and lashed them fast.
Several more days were consumed in finishing the sails and putting them on.