I sat up.

"Don't say you want me to make love to you!"

"Not much!" This emphatically.

"Ah, glad of a change, I suppose."

There was a silence, while she eyed me suspiciously. At length:

"I shall ask you to leave my cove if you're not careful," she
said.

"Mermaid," I said, "I apologize. I was unaware that I had the
honour to speak to the lady of the manor."

"Well, if you didn't really know who I was-- But you mustn't be
dull."

I drew her attention to a sailing ship in the distance. "Now,
that," I said, "is what I call a really good ship."

"Barque!"

"Barque, I mean. It must be- "

"About five thousand tons"

"Burthen. Exactly. By the way, I never know what that really
means unless it means that, if you wanted to lift it, you