? ? ? ? 'To obey as a sailor would obey his captain?'
? ? ? ? Yes,' she answered. 'It was stupid of me, I know.'
? ? ? ? 'Then you must promise something else,' I ventured.
? ? ? ? 'Readily.'
? ? ? ? 'That you will not say, "Please, please," too often; for when you do you are sure to override my authority.'
? ? ? ? She laughed with amused appreciation. She, too, had noticed the power of the repeated 'please.'
? ? ? ? 'It is a good word-' I began.
? ? ? ? 'But I must not overwork it,' she said.
? ? ? ? Then she laughed weakly, and her head drooped again. I left the oar long enough to tuck the blankets about her feet and to pull a single fold across her face. Alas! she was not strong. I looked with misgiving toward the southwest and thought of the six hundred miles of hardship before us- aye, if it were no worse than hardship.
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