"You want a match.

'Ere you are!" Whether Coke was wishful to deny or admit the _Andromeda's_ shortcomings--even the ship herself might have protested against the horror of a long "e" in the penultimate syllable of her name--the other man's rapid proffer of a light stopped him.

He puffed away in silence; there was an awkward pause; for once in his career, Verity regretted his cultivated trick of covering up a significant phrase by quickly adding some comment on a totally different subject.

But the sailor smoked on, stolidly heedless of a sudden lapse in the conversation, and the shipowner was compelled to start afresh.

He was far too shrewd to go straight back to the topic burked by his own error.