Evening star., 1924-01-27
Twenty Knots to the Bishops
DRAKE
il. o. Is

himself. If the Old Man had hap
| pened to be on the bridge or the
boat deck there would have been
the mischief to pay, and none knew
| 1t better than Charley. You can not,
you must not, forget the time at sea.
OF course you will say 1t was alb
surd to think that a man and a girl
| wouldn't talk together without there
being anything else TO it. But you
don't rut two splendid animals near
each other, even If one wears gold
lace and responsibility, without a
spark resulting.
IS x y i:
THE fourth days run passed by
without any Incident, and
scarcely saw Miss Lamar The next
afternoon an extraordinary incident
occurred.
About tea time I went forward on
''B" deck to attend a passenger, and
on my way back CHANGED to walk
down the stay board alleyway. 1t
WAS quite deserted. I was half way
behold Charley Hansen step quickly
out OIL one OIL the CABINS. W SdN
each other at the same instant.
l stopped dead in my tracks,
could scarcely believe my eyes, for
when they saw Charley Hansen step
out of Miss Lamars cabin, they saw
that the second officer had thrown
away his career and ruined himself
In his profession. We stared at each
other for a moment, and then / strobe
up to him.
Go to your cabinr' I commanded.
His black eyes flashed and he stiff
ened all over.
"Confound il, what d'you--
| Go to your cabin this instant, Mr.
Hansen I repeated. He lowered his
defiant eyes, glanced at the four
gold rings on my sleeve, and sullenly
tramped off. l stepped quickly into
the cabin and shut the door behind
me. 1t was the sitting room of one
Of the best suites on the ship. Miss
Lamar had half risen from the settee;
she was dressed in a beautiful silk
tea gown Of some sort.
Leave my cabin this moment!
How dare you burst in" she cried
Her voice was positively thick with
rage, and her face was not pretty to
look az.
81 am doctor. madam, and old
enough to be your father" 1 re-
piled harshly' t;be good enough to sit
down."
II do not need your services. DR..
Hough. nor do wish to say anything
to YOU
But I intend to say something to
you, ma'am."
She turned like fash and pressed
the button for the steward. l sat
down on the settee. Almost imme-
diately. the steward knocked.
Come in," she commanded. The
man entered-old Banks
Steward" said Miss Lamar, "go
interrupted her: Banks. stand
still where you are and close the
door"
YES. sir" he replied instantly and
obeyed turned to the woman. do
you wish the steward TO listen to
what have to say to you, madam"
She stared at me fixedly. After
quite a pause, she sat down slowly
on a chair, without a word. turn
ed to the steward.
'fYou will go. Banks; Miss Lamar
made q mistake"
Yes, sir" He closed the door
softly behind him.
Miss Lamar, It is possible that you
did not realize what it means for
ships officer to be in your room, nor
why 1 ordered Mr.. Hansen to his
cabin. I Will inform you. Apart
from any technical questions Of sea-
manship, there are two inf1exible
rules in this company which officers
must obey; first, an officer must never
be drunk on his ship. off duty, in port
or otherwise, and second, an officer
must never enter a lady's cabin under
any circumstances. Disobedience
means immediate dismissal from the
company. Dismissal from this COM
pany means virtual dismissal from
the merchant service. His career is
ruined Mr.. Hansen knows all this
as we'll as / do. In other words, my
girl, you are pleased to amuse your
self for a few days with a man who