Ferrier thought, "I'm all well except for the active inhabitants of the cabin.

They seem to be colonizing my person and bringing me under cultivation; barring that I'm not so ill off.

If I can ease my patient, that is something to the good." So he claimed the boy's assistance for the night, and determined to divide his time between soothing Withers and lending a hand on deck.

Skipper Larmor was composed, as men of his class generally are; you rarely hear them raise their voices, and they seldom show signs of being flurried.

As quietly as though he had been wishing his passenger good evening, he said-- "We're blowing away from them, sir, and we can't du much.