"I'm sure you ought to know each other by this time, if you don't already!" "Glad to meet you, sir, glad to meet you," cried the Captain in his bluff hearty way.

"I've often heard of you, especially since Master Bob here has been down at Southsea." "Ah! I have to thank you for the kind way in which you've made their stay here pleasant for him and my little girl," rejoined the other warmly as the two shook hands.

"But, there was little need, Captain Dresser, for my sister to introduce you.

She's told me so much about you, that I seem to have known you already for years!" "Oh, yes," said the Captain; "your sister is one of my oldest friends." "What's that you're saying about my being an old friend ?" exclaimed Mrs Gilmour, pretending to be indignant.

"You speak as if I were an aged person; but, I'd have you to know, that, although I'm not quite a chicken, sure, I'm not as old as old Methuselah yet!" "No, no, I didn't mean that," chuckled the Captain; and turning to her brother he remarked on the likeness between him and Mrs Gilmour.