“But you have wind on the stomach all the same,” laughed she. “But here comes the captain, and you must mind him till you are perfectly well.” Louis assured the commander that he was quite well; he had eaten plenty of the soup, and he felt like a new man. He wanted to see the steamer. What was the use of being a millionaire, and owning a steam-yacht of six hundred tons, if he could not see her? “You may look the cabins over first; and then if you are all right, I will take you on deck, and introduce the officers to you,” replied Captain Ringgold, after taking a careful survey of his young friend. “We are now in the main cabin, and it is sometimes called the state cabin. It is the apartment of the owner. It has four staterooms on each side, two of which have bathrooms attached to them, so that the owner can be as comfortable as at the finest hotel in the city of New York. This cabin is nearly in the centre of the ship, where the motion is the least perceptible.” Louis looked into all the staterooms. The two forward ones on each side were very large, and were as elegantly fitted up as the cabin itself. At the after end of the cabin there was a broad staircase leading to the social hall on deck. At the stern of the vessel was another cabin, fitted up handsomely, and having a stateroom and four berths on each side, but for which there seemed to be no use at present. “How do you feel, Mr. Belgrave?” asked the captain, after he had shown the state cabin to his owner. “Very well indeed, sir,” replied Louis. “But why do you call me Mr. Belgrave? You have never been in the habit of mistering me.” “Sparks!” called the captain to the cabin steward. “Go on deck, and ask Mr. Boulong to call as many of the officers as can be spared from their duties to the quarter-deck.” “I may call you Louis when we are alone, but everybody on board must call the owner Mr. Belgrave; for it would be highly improper for any officer or seaman to address him by his first name, or to leave off the handle to the last one,” the captain explained. “Well, I suppose I can stand it if you and the officers can,” replied Louis, who felt well enough to laugh by this time. “I have served my time in the navy, though I was a young man then; but on board ship a certain amount of ceremony is necessary. Even on board merchantmen the mates are called mister.” They commenced the ascent of the grand staircase together. CHAPTER XXXII A FORMAL PRESENTATION Louis and the captain stopped in the social hall at the head of the stairs, with a door on each side of them. It was provided with divans in every practicable place, and contained quite a library. Passing through one of the doors, they entered what was called the _boudoir_. It was quite a roomy apartment, with an upright piano between the doors, and the after part was a half-circle.