I told Deverell enough to make him understand, without my saying so, that the Queen had told me her life story, and, knowing this, he talked quite freely. From what he said I satisfied myself that not only had the elder Crofton been an out-and-out pirate but his bewitching daughter had done honor to his name, for two or three years at least. We visited the machine shop, which was quite elaborately fitted up for the repair of ship and guns, and walked through the village, where he pointed out men who had lost arms or legs in the service of the Queen and her father, and others who had been retired for age and were now pensioners. Deverell was a true pirate and told me with delight of some of their exploits. His reverence for the Queen amounted to idolatry. If his love for her had been returned I would not have been surprised for, though lacking some of the finer instincts of a gentleman, as could well be imagined from his surroundings for years, he was an unusually likable chap and of a type that ordinarily appeals strongly to women. He was about forty years old, two inches less than six feet tall, and had the figure of an Apollo. His steel gray eyes sparkled with friendship or shot sparks, and his brown hair fairly bristled when he was angry. He impressed one as being altogether a man, the soul of loyalty, a perfect friend, and brave to the last drop of his blood. After luncheon the Queen and I set off toward the mountain top, nearly one thousand feet above us, but we did not reach it, for the heat was intense. “Well, what do you think of us now?” she asked, on our way down, after I had told her how I had spent the forenoon. “I think enough of you to devote my whole life to your service,” I quickly replied. She gave me a long, searching look, that seemed to go right through me and lay my whole soul open before her, then took the lead and, without a word, walked rapidly on to her bungalow, and I walked on to mine. When I came back to dinner she was waiting for me in her bower. As she came to meet me and extended her hand she said, earnestly and almost sadly, “I believe you were honest and sincere in what you said this afternoon, but I can only say ‘Thank you.’ What you suggested is impossible.”