He resolved to probe a little deeper.
"Miss Columbine is a very reliable guide," he remarked.

"If you and Adam have been her instructors in shore-craft, she does you credit." His remark went into utter silence.

Rufus, with huge hands loosely clasped between his knees, appeared to be engrossed in watching the progress of the boat as she drifted gently on the rising tide.

His face was utterly blank of expression, unless a certain grim fixity could be described as such.
Knight became slightly exasperated.

Was the fellow no more than the fool Columbine believed him to be after all?
He determined to settle this question once and for all at a single stroke.
"I suppose she has all you fellows at Spear Point at her feet ?" he said, with an easy smile.