quite enough to think about without queens.
Titty, Roger, and mother climbed down from the jetty into Swallow , as she lay there with flapping sail, ready to start.
“Will you take the tiller, mother, while I cast off?” said Captain John.
“Not I,” said mother. “Queen or no queen, I’m a passenger, and I want to see how you manage by yourselves.”
“Right,” said Captain John. “Mister Mate, will you come forward to cast off. Send the crew below to keep their heads out of the way of the boom.”
“Aye, aye, sir,” said Mate Susan. “Get down on the bottom, you two.” The boy and the able-seaman crouched in the bottom of the boat with their heads below the gunwale. John took the tiller. Susan untied the painter from the ring on the pier, put the end of it through the ring, and held it.