So he schooled himself to be patient, and put in his time to good
profit taking the measures of his shipmates and learning his way about
ship.
The Sybarite seemed unnecessarily large for a pleasure boat. Captain
Monk had designated her a ship of nine hundred tons. Certainly she had
room and to spare on deck as well as below for the accommodation of
many guests in addition to the crew of thirty required for her
navigation and their comfort. A good all-weather boat, very steady in a
seaway, her lines were nevertheless fine, nothing in her appearance in
the least suggested a vessel of commercial character--"all yacht" was
what Monk called her.
The first mate, a Mr. Swain, was a sturdy Britisher with a very red
face and cool blue eyes, not easily impressed; if Lanyard were not in
error, Mr. Swain entertained a private opinion of the lot of them,
Captain Monk included, decidedly uncomplimentary. But he was a civil
sort, though deficient in sense of humour and inclined to be a bit
abrupt in a preoccupied fashion.
Mr. Collison, the second mate, was another kind entirely, an American
with the drawl of the South in his voice, a dark, slender man with eyes
quick and shrewd.
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