BLOW THE MAN DOWN

A ROMANCE OF THE COAST

By Holman Day

Copyright, 1916, by Harper & Brothers

TO MY GOOD FRIEND

Captain John W. Christie

 BRITISH MASTER MARINER WHO HAS SUNG ALL THE SHANTIES AND HAS SAILED ALL THE SEAS

 "_O, blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down! Way-ay, blow the man down. O, blow the man down in Liverpool town! Give me some time to blow the man down. " --Old Shanty of the Atlantic Packet Ships. _

CONTENTS:

I ~ CAPTAIN BOYD MAYO GETS OUT OF SOUNDINGS

II ~ THEN CAPTAIN MAYO SEES SHOALS

III ~ THE TAVERN OF THE SEAS

IV ~ OVER THE "POLLY'S" RAIL

V ~ ON THE BRIDGE OF YACHT "OLENIA"

VI ~ AND WE SAILED

VII ~ INTO THE MESS FROM EASTWARD

VIII ~ LIKE BUGS UNDER A THIMBLE

IX ~ A MAN'S JOB

X ~ HOSPITALITY, PER JULIUS MARSTON

XI ~ A VOICE FROM HUE AND CRY

XII ~ NO PLACE POR THE SOLES OP THEIR FEET

XIII ~ A CAPTAIN OP HUMAN FLOTSAM

XIV ~ BEARINGS FOR A NEW COURSE

XV ~ THE RULES OF THE ROAD

XVI ~ MILLIONS AND A MITE

XVII ~ "EXACTLY!" SAID MR. FOGG

XVIII ~ HOW AN ANNUAL MEETING WAS HELD—ONCE!

XIX ~ THE PRIZE PACKAGE FROM MR. FOGG

XX ~ TESTING OUT A MAN

XXI ~ BITTER PROOF BY MORNING LIGHT

XXII ~ SPECIAL BUSINESS OF A PASSENGER

XXIII ~ THE MONSTER THAT SLIPPED ITS LEASH

XXIV ~ DOWN A GALLOPING SEA

XXV ~ A GIRL AND HER DEBT OF HONOR

XXVI ~ THE FANGS OF OLD RAZEE

XXVII ~ THE TEMPEST TURNS ITS CARD

XXVIII ~ GIRL'S HELP AND MAN'S WORK

XXIX ~ THE TOILERS OF OLD RAZEE

XXX ~ THE MATTER OP A MONOGRAM IN WAX

XXXI ~ THE BIG FELLOW HIMSELF

XXXII ~ A GIRL'S DEAR "BECAUSE!"

BLOW THE MAN DOWN

I ~ CAPTAIN BOYD MAYO GETS OUT OF SOUNDINGS

 When in safety or in doubt, Always keep a safe lookout; Strive to keep a level head, Mind your lights and mind your lead. --Pilot-house Ditty. 

For days he had been afraid of that incredible madness of his as a manfears a nameless monster. But he was sure of his strength even whileadmitting his weakness. He was confident that he had the thing securelyin leash. 

Then all at once it happened!

Without preface of word or look he whirled and faced her, swept herinto his arms and kissed her. He did not attempt to absolve himselfor mitigate his offense by telling her that he loved her. He wasvoiceless--he could not control his speech. He did not dare to show suchpresumption as talk of love must seem to be to her. He knew he must notspeak of love; such proffer to her would be lunacy. But this greaterpresumption, this blind capture of her in his arms--this was somethingwhich he had not intended any more than a sane man considers flight tothe moon. 

He did not understand; he had been himself--then, instantly, in timemeasured by a finger-snap, he had become this wretch who seemed to besomebody else. 

He had ceased, for an insane moment, to be master of all his senses. Buthe released her as suddenly as he had seized her, and staggered to thedoor of the chart-room, turning his back on her and groaning in suprememisery. 

In that moment of delirium he had insulted his own New England sense ofdecency and honor. 

He was afraid to look back at her. With an agony of apprehensionhe dreaded the sound of her voice. He knew well enough that she wasstriving to get command of herself, to recover from her utter amazement. He waited. The outrage must have incensed her beyond measure; thesilence was prolonged. 

In the yacht's saloon below a violin sang its very soul out upon thesummer night, weaving its plaint into the soft, adagio rippling of apiano's chords. 

He searched his soul. The music, that distant, mellow phrasing of thecall of love, the music had unstrung him. While he paced the bridgebefore her coming that music had been melting the ice of his naturalreserve. But he did not pardon himself because he had acted the fool. 

He stared at the night framed in the door of the chart-house. Littlewaves were racing toward him, straight from the moon, on the sea-line, like a flood of new silver pouring from the open door of plenty!

But the appealing beauty of that night could not excuse theunconscionable insult he had just offered her. He knew it, and shivered. 

She had come and leaned close to him over the outspread chart, herbreath on his cheek--so close to him that a roving tress of her hairflicked him. But because a sudden fire had leaped from the touch to hisbrain was no reason for the act by which he had just damned himself as apresumptuous brute. 

For he, Boyd Mayo, captain of her father's yacht, a hireling, had justpaid the same insulting courtship to Alma Marston that a sailor wouldproffer to an ogling girl on the street. 

"I'll jump overboard, " he stammered at last. "I'll take myself out ofyour sight forever. "

The ominous silence persisted. 

"I don't ask you to forgive me. It is not a thing which can be forgiven. Tell them I was insane--and jumped overboard. That will be the truth. Iam a lunatic. "

He lurched through the door. In that desperate moment, in the whirlof his emotions, there seemed to be no other way out of his horriblepredicament. He had grown to love the girl with all the consumingpassion of his soul, realizing fully his blind folly at the same time. He had built no false hopes. As to speaking of that love--even betrayingit by a glance--he had sheathed himself in the armor of reservedconstraint; he had been sure that he sooner would have gone down on hishands and knees and bayed that silver moon from the deck of the yacht_Olenia_ than do what he had just done. 

"Captain Mayo! Wait!"

He waited without turning to look at her. Her voice was not steady, buthe could not determine from the tone what her emotions were. 

"Come back here!"

She was obliged to repeat the command with sharper authority before heobeyed. He lowered his eyes and stood before her, a voiceless suppliant. 

"Why did you do that?" she asked. It was not the contemptuous demandwhich he had been fearing. Her voice was so low that it was almost awhisper. 

"I don't know, " he confessed. 

The violin sang on; the moon shone in at the door; two strokes, likegolden globules of sound, from the ship's bell signaled nine o'clock. Only the rhythm of the engines, as soothing as a cat's purring, and theslow roll of the yacht and the murmuring of the parted waves revealedthat the _Olenia_ was on her way through the night. 

"I don't know, " he repeated. "It doesn't excuse me to say that I couldnot help it. "

And he understood women so little that he did not realize that he wasmaking the ages-old plea which has softened feminine rancor ever sincethe Sabine women were borne away in their captors' arms and forgavetheir captors. 

She stared at him, making once more a maiden's swift appraisal of thisyoung man who had offered himself so humbly as a sacrifice. His brownhands were crossed in front of him and clutched convulsively his whitecap. The cap and the linen above the collar of his uniform coat broughtout to the full the hue of his manly tan. The red flush of his shockedcontrition touched his cheeks, and, all in all, whatever the daughter ofJulius Marston, Wall Street priest of high finance, may have thought ofhis effrontery, the melting look she gave him from under lowered eyelidsindicated her appreciation of his outward excellencies. 

"I suppose you are thoroughly and properly ashamed of what you havedone!"

"I am ashamed--so ashamed that I shall never dare to raise my eyes toyou again. I will do what I promised. I will jump overboard. "

"Captain Mayo, look at me!"

When he obeyed, with the demeanor of a whipped hound, his perturbationwould not allow him to show as much appreciation of her as she haddisplayed in the secret study of him, which she now promptly concealed. He surveyed her wistfully, with fear. And a maiden, after she hasunderstood that she has obtained mastery over brawn and soul, does notcare to be looked at as if she were Medusa. 

She stole a side-glance at her face in one of the mirrors, and thentucked into place a vagrant lock of hair with a shapely finger, therebysuggesting, had there been a cynical observer present, that Miss AlmaMarston never allowed any situation, no matter how crucial, to take herattention wholly from herself. 

There was no mistaking it--had that cynical observer been there, he would have noted that she pouted slightly when Mayo declared hisunutterable shame. 

"You will never get over that shame, will you?"

And Captain Mayo, feverishly anxious to show that he understood theenormity of his offense, and desiring to offer pledge for the future, declared that his shame would never lessen. 

Her dark eyes sparkled; whether there was mischief mingled withresentment, or whether the resentment quite supplanted all otheremotions, might have been a difficult problem for the cynic. But whenshe tilted her chin and stared the offender full in the eyes, proppingher plump little hands in the side-pockets of her white reefer, Captain Mayo, like a man hit by a cudgel, was struck with the suddenand bewildering knowledge that he did not know much about women, forshe asked, with a quizzical drawl, "Just what is there about me, dearcaptain, to inspire that everlasting regret which seems to be troublingyou so much?"

Even then he did not grasp the full import of her provocative question. "It isn't you. I'm the one who is wholly to blame, " he stammered. "Ihave dared to--But no matter. I know my place. I'll show you I know it. "

"You _dared_ to--What have you dared to do--besides what you just did?"

"I cannot tell you, Miss Marston. I don't propose to insult you again. "

"I command you to tell me, Captain Mayo. "

He could not comprehend her mood in the least and his demeanor showedit. Her command had a funny little ripple in it--as of laughtersuppressed. There were queer quirks at the corners of her full, redlips. 

"Now straighten up like your real self! I don't like to see you standingthat way. You know I like to have all the folks on the yachts look atour captain when we go into a harbor! You didn't know it? Well, I do. Now what have you dared to do?"

He did straighten then. "I have dared to fall in love with you, MissMarston. So have a lot of other fools, I suppose. But I am the worst ofall. I am only a sailor. How I lost control of myself I don't know!"

"Not even now?" Still that unexplainable softness in her voice, thatstrange expression on her face. Being a sailor, he looked on this calmas being ominous presage of a storm. 

"I am willing to have you report me to your father, Miss Marston. I willtake my punishment. I will never offend you again. "

"You can control yourself after this, can you?"

"Yes, Miss Marston, absolutely. "

She hesitated; she smiled. She lowered her eyelids again and surveyedhim with the satisfied tolerance a pretty woman can so easily extendwhen unconquerable ardor has prompted to rashness. 

"Oh, you funny, prim Yankee!" she murmured. "You don't understand evennow just why you did it!"

His face revealed that he did not in the least understand. 

"Come here, " she invited. 

He went three steps across the narrow cabin and stood in an attitude ofrespectful obedience before her. 

"What now, sir?" It was query even more provocative--a smile went withit. 

"I apologize. I have learned my lesson. "

"You need to learn a lot--you are very ignorant, " she replied, withconsiderable tartness. 

"Yes, " he agreed, humbly. 

What happened then was so wholly outside his reckoning that thepreceding events of the evening retired tamely into the background. Ithad been conceivable that rush of passion might drive him to break allthe rules of conduct his New England conscience had set over him; butwhat Alma Marston did overwhelmed him with such stupefaction that hestood there as rigid and motionless as a belaying-pin in a rack. She putup her arms, pressed her two hands on his shoulders, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him on his lips. 

"There, foolish old Yankee, " she said, softly, her mouth close to his;"since you are so ashamed I give you back your kiss--and all is maderight between us, because we are just where we started a little whileago. "

His amazement had so benumbed him that even after that surrender hestood there, close to her, his countenance blank, his arms dangling athis side. 

"What on earth is the matter with you?" she asked, petulantly. 

"I don't know! I--I--I don't seem to understand. "

"I'm going to be honest with you. You are so honest you will understandme, then, " she told him. It seemed to him that he must be mistaken, buthe certainly felt her arms were slipping up his shoulders and had metbehind his neck. "I saw it in your eyes long ago. A woman always knows. I wanted you to do what you did to-night. I knew I would be obliged totempt you. I came up here while the moon and the music would help me. Idid it all on purpose--I stood close to you--for I knew you were justmy slow old Yankee who would never come out of his shell till I poked. There! I have confessed!"

His mad joy did not allow him to see anything of the coquette in thatconfession. It all seemed to be consecrated by the love he felt forher--a love which was so honest that he perceived no boldness in theattitude of this girl who had come so far to meet him. He took her intohis arms again, and she returned his kisses. 

"Tell me again, Boyd, that you love me, " she coaxed. 

"And yet I have no right to love you. You are--"

"Hush! Hush! There goes your Yankee caution talking! I want love, forI am a girl. Love hasn't anything to do with what you are or what I am. Not now! We will love each other--and wait! You are my big boy! Aren'tyou?"

He was glad to comply with her plea to put sensible talk from them justthen. There was nothing sensible he could say. He was holding JuliusMarston's daughter in his arms, and she was telling him that she lovedhim. The world was suddenly upside down and he was surrendering himselfto the mad present. 

In the yacht's saloon below a woman began to sing:

 "Love comes like a summer sigh, Softly o'er us stealing. Love comes and we wonder why To its shrine we're kneeling. Love comes as the days go by--"

"That's it, " the girl murmured, eagerly. "We don't know anything at allabout why we love. Folks who marry for money make believe love--I havewatched them--I know. I love you. You're my big boy. That's all. That'senough. "

He accepted this comforting doctrine unquestioningly. Her sereneacceptance of the situation, without one wrinkle in her placid browto indicate that any future problems annoyed her, did not arouse hiswonderment or cause him to question the depths of her emotions; it onlyadded one more element to the unreality of the entire affair. 

Moon and music, silver sea and glorious night, and a maid who had been, in his secret thoughts, his dream of the unattainable!

"Will you wait for me--wait till I can make something of myself?" hedemanded. 

"You are yourself--right now--that's enough!"

"But the future. I must--"

"Love me--love me now--that's all we need to ask. The future will takecare of itself when the time comes! Haven't you read about the greatloves? How they just forgot the whole petty world? What has love to dowith business and money and bargains? Love in its place--business in itsplace! And our love will be our secret until--"

He pardoned her indefiniteness, for when she paused and hesitated shepressed her lips to his, and that assurance was enough for him. 

"Yes--oh yes--Miss Alma!" called a man's voice in the singsong of eagersummons. 

"It's Arthur, " she said, with snap of impatience in her voice. "Whywon't people let me alone?"

He released her, and she stood at arm's-length, her hands againsthis breast. "I have thought--It seemed to me, " he stammered, "thathe--Forgive me, but I have loved you so! I couldn't bear to think--thinkthat he--"

"You thought I cared for him!" she chided. "That's only the man myfather has picked out for me! Why, I wouldn't even allow my father toselect a yachting-cap for me, much less a husband. I'll tell him so whenthe time comes!"

Mayo's brows wrinkled in spite of himself. The morrow seemed to playsmall part in the calculations of this maid. 

"Money--that's all there is to Arthur Beveridge. My father has enoughmoney for all of us. And if he is stingy with us--oh, it's easy enoughto earn money, isn't it? All men can earn money. "

Captain Mayo, sailor, was not sure of his course in financial waters anddid not reply. 

"Miss Alma! I say! Oh, where are you?"

"Even that silly, little, dried-up man, " she jeered, with a duck of herhead in the direction of the drawling voice, "goes down to Wall Streetand makes thousands and thousands of dollars whenever he feels like it. And you could put him in your reefer pocket. They will all be afraid ofyou when you go down to Wall Street to make lots of money for us two. You shall see! Kiss me! Kiss me once! Kiss me quick! Here he comes!"

He obeyed, released her, and when Beveridge shoved his wizened face inat the door they were bending over the chart. 

"Oh, I say, we have missed you. They are asking for you. "

She did not turn to look at him. "I have something else on my mind, Arthur, besides lolling below listening to Wally Dalton fiddlelove-tunes. And this passage, here, Captain Mayo! What is it?" Herfinger strayed idly across a few hundred miles of mapped Atlantic Ocean. 

"It's Honeymoon Channel, " replied the navigator, demurely. His newecstasy made him bold enough to jest. 

"Oh, so we are learning to be a captain, Miss Alma?" inquired Beveridgewith a wry smile. 

"It would be better if more yacht-owners knew how to manage their owncraft, " she informed him, with spirit. 

"Yes, it might keep the understrappers in line, " agreed the man atthe door.. "I apply for the position of first mate after you qualify, Captain Alma. "

"And this, you say, is, Captain Mayo?" she queried, without troublingherself to reply. Her tone was crisply matter of fact. 

Beveridge blinked at her and showed the disconcerted uneasiness of a manwho has intruded in business hours. 

Captain Mayo, watching the white finger rapturously, noted that it wassweeping from the Arctic Circle to the Tropic Zone. "That's Love Harbor, reached through the thoroughfare of Hope, " he answered, respectfully. 

"Oh, I say!" exclaimed Beveridge; "the sailors who laid out that coursemust have been romantic. "

"Sailors have souls to correspond with their horizon, Arthur. Would youprefer such names as Cash Cove and Money-grub Channel?"

Mr. Beveridge cocked an eyebrow and stared at her eloquent back; also, he cast a glance of no great favor on the stalwart young captain of the_Olenia_. It certainly did not occur to Mr. Beveridge that two youngfolks in love were making sport of him. That Julius Marston's daughterwould descend to a yacht captain would have appeared as incredible anenormity as an affair with the butler. But there was something aboutthis intimate companionship of the chart-room which Mr. Beveridge didnot relish. Instinct rather than any sane reason told him that he wasnot wanted. 

"I'm sorry to break in on your studies, Miss Marston, " he said, a bitstiffly. "But I have been sent by your father to call you to the cabin. "Mr. Beveridge's air, his tone of protest, conveyed rather pointed hintthat her responsibilities as a hostess were fully as important as herstudies as a navigator. 

"I must go, " she whispered. 

Relief was mingled with Captain Mayo's regret. He had feared that thisimpetuous young woman might rebel against the summons, even though theword came from her father. And her persistent stay in his chart-room, even on the pretext of a fervid interest in the mysteries of navigation, might produce complications. This wonderful new joy in his life was tooprecious to be marred by complications. 

She trailed her fingers along his hand when she turned from thechart-table, and then pinched him in farewell salute. 

"Good night, Captain Mayo. I'll take another lesson to-morrow. "

"I am at your service, " he told her. 

Their voices betrayed nothing, but Beveridge's keen eyes--the eyes whichhad studied faces in the greatest game of all when fortunes were atstake--noted the look they exchanged. It was long-drawn, as expressiveas a lingering kiss. 

Mr. Beveridge, sanctioned in his courtship by Julius Marston, was notespecially worried by any inferences from that soft glance. He could notblame even a coal-heaver who might stare tenderly at Miss Alma Marston, for she was especially pleasing to the eye, and he enjoyed looking ather himself. He was enough of a philosopher to be willing to have otherfolks enjoy themselves and thereby give their approbation to his choice. He excused Captain Mayo. As to Miss Marston, he viewed her frivolity ashe did that of the other girls whom he knew; they all had too much timeon their hands. 

"Give the poor devils a chance, Alma. Don't tip 'em upside down, " headvised, testily, when she followed him down the ladder. He stood at thefoot and offered his hand, but she leaped down the last two steps anddid not accept his assistance. "Now, you have twisted that skipper ofours until he doesn't know north from south. "

"I do not care much for your emphasis on the 'now, '" she declared, indignantly. "You seem to intimate that I am going about the worldtrying to beguile every man I see. "

"That seems to be the popular indoor and outdoor sport for girls inthese days, " he returned with good humor. "Just a moment ago you wereraising the very devil with that fellow up there with your eyes. Ofcourse, practice makes perfect. But you're a good, kind girl in yourheart. Don't make 'em miserable. "

Mr. Beveridge's commiseration would have been wasted on Captain BoydMayo that evening. The captain snapped off the light in the chart-roomas soon as they had departed, and there in the gloom he took hishappiness to his heart, even as he had taken her delicious self to hisbreast. He put up his hands and pressed his face into the palms. He inhaled the delicate, subtle fragrance--a mere suggestion ofperfume--the sweet ghost of her personality, which she had left behind. Her touch still thrilled him, and the warmth of her last kiss was on hislips. 

Then he went out and climbed the ladder to the bridge. A peep over theshoulder of the man at the wheel into the mellow glow under the hood ofthe binnacle, showed him that the _Olenia_ was on her course. 

"It's a beautiful night, Mr. McGaw, " he said to the mate, a stumpylittle man with bowed legs, who was pacing to and fro, measuring strideswith the regularity of a pendulum. 

"It is that, sir!"

Mr. McGaw, before he answered, plainly had difficulty with somethingwhich bulged in his cheek. He appeared, also, to be considerablysurprised by the captain's air of vivacious gaiety. His superior hadbeen moping around the ship for many days with melancholy spelled inevery line of his face. 

"Yes, it's the most beautiful and perfect night I ever saw, Mr. McGaw. "There was triumph in the captain's buoyant tones. 

"Must be allowed to be what they call a starry night for a ramble, "admitted the mate, trying to find speech to fit the occasion. 

"I will take the rest of this watch and the middle watch, Mr. McGaw, "offered the captain. "I want to stay up to-night. I can't go to sleep. "

The offer meant that Captain Mayo proposed to stay on duty until fouro'clock in the morning. 

Mate McGaw fiddled a gnarled finger under his nose and tried to findsome words of protest. But Captain Mayo added a crisp command. 

"Go below, Mr. McGaw, and take it easy. You can make it up to me sometime when there is no moon!" He laughed. 

When all the cabin lights were out and he realized that she must beasleep, he walked the bridge, exulting because her safety was in hishands, but supremely exultant because she loved him and had told him so. 

Obedience had been in the line of his training. 

She had commanded him to live and love in the present, allowing thefuture to take care of itself, and it afforded him a sense of sweetcompanionship to obey her slightest wish when he was apart fromher. Therefore, he put aside all thoughts of Julius Marston and hismillions--Julius Marston, his master, owner of the yacht which swept onunder the moon--that frigid, silent man with the narrow strip of frostybeard pointing his chin. 

Mayo walked the bridge and lived and loved. 

II ~ THEN CAPTAIN MAYO SEES SHOALS

 There's naught upon the stern, there's naught upon the lee, Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we. But there's a lofty ship to windward, And she's sailing fast and free, Sailing down along the coast of the high Barbaree. --Ancient Shanty. 

The skipper of the _Olenia_ found himself dabbling in guesses andwonderment more than is good for a man who is expected to obey withoutasking the reason why. 

That cruise seemed to be a series of spasmodic alternations betweenleisurely loafing and hustling haste. 

There were days when he was ordered to amble along at half speedoffshore. Then for hours together Julius Marston and his two especialand close companions, men of affairs, plainly, men of his kind, bunchedthemselves close together in their hammock chairs under the poop awningand talked interminably. Alma Marston and her young friends, chaperonedby an amiable aunt--so Captain Mayo understood her status in theparty--remained considerately away from the earnest group of three. Arthur Beveridge attached himself to the young folks. 

From the bridge the captain caught glimpses of all this shipboardroutine. The yacht's saunterings offshore seemed a part of the summervacation. 

But the occasional hurryings into harbors, the conferences below withmen who came and went with more or less attempt at secrecy, did not fitwith the vacation side of the cruise. 

These conferences were often followed by orders to the captain to threadinner reaches of the coast and to visit unfrequented harbors. 

Captain Mayo had been prepared for these trips, although he had not beeninformed of the reason. It was his first season on the yacht _Olenia_. The shipping broker who had hired him had been searching in hisinquiries as to Mayo's knowledge of the byways of the coast. The youngman who had captained fishermen and coasters ever since he was seventeenyears old had found it easy to convince the shipping broker, and theshipping broker had sent him on board the yacht without the formality ofan interview with the owner. 

Mayo was informed curtly that there was no need of an interview. He wastold that Julius Marston never bothered with details. 

When Julius Marston had come on board with his party he merely noddedgrim acknowledgment of the salute of his yacht's master, who stood atthe gangway, cap in hand. 

The owner had never shown any interest in the management of the yacht;he had remained abaft the main gangway; he had never called the captaininto conference regarding any movements of the _Olenia_. 

Captain Mayo, pacing the bridge in the forenoon watch, trying to graspthe full measure of his fortune after troubled dreams of his master'sdaughter, recollected that he had never heard the sound of JuliusMarston's voice. So far as personal contact was concerned, the yacht'sskipper was evidently as much a matter of indifference to the owner asthe yacht's funnel. 

Orders were always brought forward by a pale young man who was taciturneven to rudeness, and by that trait seemed to commend himself to Marstonas a safe secretary. 

At first, Alma Marston had brought her friends to the bridge. But afterthe novelty was gone they seemed to prefer the comfort of chairs asternor the saloon couches. 

For a time the attentive Beveridge had followed her when she cameforward; and then Beveridge discovered that she quite disregarded him inher quest for information from the tall young man in uniform. She camealone. 

And after that what had happened happened. 

She came alone that forenoon. He saw her coming. He had stolen a glanceaft every time he turned in his walk at the end of the bridge. He leanedlow and reached down his hand to assist her up the ladder. 

"I have been nigh crazy all morning. But I had to wait a decent time andlisten to their gossip after breakfast, " she told him, her face closeto his as she came up the ladder. "And, besides, my father is snappyto-day. He scolded me last night for neglecting my guests. Just as ifI were called on to sit all day and listen to Nan Burgess appraise herlovers or to sing a song every time Wally Dalton has his relapse oflovesickness. He has come away to forget her, you know. " She chuckled, uttering her funny little gurgle of a laugh which stirred in him, always, a desire to smother it with kisses. 

They went to the end of the bridge, apart from the man at the wheel. 

"I hurried to go to sleep last night so that I could dream of you, myown big boy. "

"I walked the bridge until after daylight. I wanted to stay awake. Icould not bear to let sleep take away my thoughts. "

"What is there like love to make this world full of happiness? Howbright the sun is! How the waves sparkle! Those folks sitting back thereare looking at the same things we are--or they can look, though theydon't seem to have sense enough. And about all they notice is that it'sdaylight instead of night. My father and those men are talking aboutmoney--just money--that's all. And Wally has a headache from drinkingtoo much Scotch. And Nan Burgess doesn't love anybody who loves her, Butfor us--oh, this glorious world!"

She put out her arms toward the sun and stared boldly at that blazingorb, as though she were not satisfied with what her eyes could behold, but desired to grasp and feel some of the glory of outdoors. If CaptainMayo had been as well versed in psychology as he was in navigationhe might have drawn a few disquieting deductions from this frank andunconscious expression of the mood of the materialist. She emphasizedthat mood by word. 

"I'll show you my little clasp-book some day, big boy. It's where Iwrite my verses. I don't show them to anybody. You see, I'm telling youmy secrets! We must tell each other our secrets, you and I! I have putmy philosophy of living into four lines. Listen!

"The future? Why perplex the soul? The past? Forget its woe and strife!Let's thread each day, a perfect whole, Upon our rosary of Life. "

"It's beautiful, " he told her. 

"Isn't it good philosophy?"

"Yes, " he admitted, not daring to doubt the high priestess of the newcult to which he had been commandeered. 

"It saves all this foolish worry. Most of the folks I know are alwaystalking about the bad things which have happened to them or are peeringforward and hoping that good things will happen, and they never oncelook down and admire a golden moment which Fate has dropped into theirhands. You see, I'm poetical this morning. Why shouldn't I be? We loveeach other. "

"I don't know how to talk, " he stammered. "I'm only a sailor. I neversaid a word about love to any girl in my life. "

"Are you sure you have never loved anybody? Remember, we must tell eachother our secrets. "

"Never, " he declared with convincing firmness. 

She surveyed him, showing the satisfaction a gold-seeker would exhibitin appraising a nugget of virgin ore. "But you are so big and fine! Andyou must have met so many pretty girls!"

He was not restive under this quizzing. "I have told you the truth, MissMarston. "

"For shame, big boy! 'Miss Marston, ' indeed! I am Alma--Alma to you. Sayit! Say it nicely!"

He flushed. He stole a shamefaced glance at the-wheelsman and made aquick and apprehensive survey of the sacred regions aft. 

"Are you afraid, after all I have said to you?"

"No, but it seems--I can hardly believe--"

"Say it. "

"Alma, " he gulped. "Alma, I love you. "

"You need some lessons, big boy. You are so awkward I think you aretelling me the truth about the other girls. "

He did not dare to ask her whether she had loved any one else. With allthe passionate jealousy of his soul he wanted to ask her. She, who wasso sure that she could instruct him, must have loved somebody. He triedto comfort himself by the thought that her knowledge arose from theefforts either men had made to win her. 

"We have our To-day, " she murmured. "Golden hours till the moon comesup--and then perhaps a few silver ones! I don't care what Arthurguesses. My father is too busy talking money with those men to guess. I'm going to be with you all I can. I can arrange it. I'm studyingnavigation. "

She snuggled against the rail, luxuriating in the sunshine. 

"Who are you?" she asked, bluntly. 

That question, coming after the pledging of their affection, astonishedhim like the loom of a ledge in mid-channel. 

"It's enough for me that you are just as you are, boy! But you're not aprince in disguise, are you?"

"I'm only a Yankee sailor, " he told her. "But if you won't think thatI'm trying to trade on what my folks have been before me, I'll say thatmy grandfather was Gamaliel Mayo of Mayoport. "

"That sounds good, but I never heard of him. With all my philosophy, I'ma poor student of history, sweetheart. " Her tone and the name she gavehim took the sting out of her confession. 

"I don't believe he played a great part in history. But he built sixteenships in his day, and our house flag circled the world many times. Sixteen big ships, and the last one was the _Harvest Home_, the Chinaclipper that paid for herself three times before an Indian Ocean monsoonswallowed her. "

"Well, if he made all that money, are you going to sea for the fun ofit?"

"There are no more Yankee wooden ships on the sea. My poor fatherthought he was wise when the wooden ships were crowded off. He put hismoney into railroads--and you know what has happened to most of thefolks who have put their money into new railroads. "

"I'm afraid I don't know much about business. "

"The hawks caught the doves. It was a game that was played all over NewEngland. The folks whose money built the roads were squeezed out. Longbefore my mother died our money was gone, but my father and I did notallow her to know it. We mortgaged and gave her what she had always beenused to. And when my father died there was nothing!"

Her eyes glistened. "That's chivalry, " she cried. "That's the spirit ofthe knights of old when women were concerned. I adore you for what youdid!"

"It was the way my father and I looked at it, " he said, mildly. "Myfather was not a very practical man, but I always agreed with him. AndI am happy now, earning my own living. Why should I think my grandfatherought to have worked all his life so that I would not need to work?"

"I suppose it's different with a big, strong man and a woman. She needsso much that a man must give her. "

Captain Mayo became promptly silent, crestfallen, and embarrassed. Hestared aft, he looked at the splendid yacht whose finances he managedand whose extravagance he knew. He saw the girl at his side, and blinkedat the gems which flashed in the sunlight as her fingers tucked up thelocks of hair where the breeze had wantoned. 

"I think my father works because he loves it, " she said. "I wish hewould rest and enjoy other things more. If mother had lived to influencehim perhaps he would see something else in life instead of merely pilingup money. But he doesn't listen to me. He gives me money and tells me togo and play. I miss my mother, boy! I haven't anybody to talk with--whounderstands!"

There were tears in her eyes, and he was grateful for them. He feltthat she had depths in her nature. But keen realization of his position, compared with hers, distressed him. She stood there, luxury incarnate, mistress of all that money could give her. 

"Anybody can make money, " she declared. "My father and those men aresitting there and building plans to bring them thousands and thousandsof dollars. All they need to do is put their heads together and plan. Every now and then I hear a few words. They're going to own all thesteamboats--or something of that kind. Anybody can make money, I say, but there are so few who know how to enjoy it. "

"I have been doing a lot of thinking since last night--Alma. " Hehesitated when he came to her name, and then blurted it out. 

"Do you think it is real lover-like to treat my name as if it were ahurdle that you must leap over?" she asked, with her aggravating littlechuckle. "Oh, you have so much to learn!"

"I'm afraid so. I have a great many things ahead of me to learn and do. I have been thinking. I have been afraid of the men who sit and schemeand put all their minds on making money. They did bitter things to us, and we didn't understand until it was all over. But I must go among themand watch them and learn how to make money. "

"Don't be like the others, now, and talk money--money, " she said, pettishly. "Money and their love-affairs--that's the talk I have heardfrom men ever since I was allowed to come into the drawing-room out ofthe nursery!"

"But I must talk money a little, dear. I have my way to make in theworld. "

"Thrifty, practical, and Yankee!" she jested. "I suppose you can't helpit!"

"It isn't for myself--it's for you!" he returned, wistfully, and witha voice and demeanor he offered himself as Love's sacrifice beforeher--the old story of utter devotion--the ancient sacrifice. 

"I have all I want, " she insisted. 

"But _I_ must be able to give you what you want!"

"I warn you that I hate money-grubbers! They haven't a spark of romancein them. Boyd, you'd be like all the rest in a little while. You mustn'tdo it. "

"But I must have position--means before I dare to go to your father--ifI ever shall be able to go to him!"

"Go to him for what?"

"To ask him--to say--to--well, when we feel that I'm in a position wherewe can be married--"

"Of course we shall be married some day, boy, but all that will takecare of itself when the time comes. But now you are-- How old are you, Boyd?"

"Twenty-six. "

"And I am nineteen. And what has marriage to do with the love we areenjoying right now?"

"When folks are in love they want to get married. "

"Granted! But when lovers are wise they will treat romance at first asthe epicure treats his glass of good wine. They will pour it slowly andhold the glass up against the light and admire its color!" In her gaymood she pinched together thumb and forefinger and lifted an imaginaryglass to the sun. "Then they will sniff the bouquet. Ah-h-h, howfragrant! And after a time they will take a little sip--just a weenylittle sip and hold it on the tongue for ever so long. For, when it isswallowed, what good? Oh, boy, here are you--talking first of all aboutmarriage! Talking of the good wine of life and love as if it were afluid simply to satisfy thirst. We are going to love, first of all!Come, I will teach you. "

He did not know what to say to her. There was a species of abandon inher gaiety. Her exotic language embarrassed one who had been used tomariners' laconic directness of speech. She looked at him, teasing himwith her eyes. He was a bit relieved when the pale-faced secretary camedragging himself up the ladder and broke in on the tête-à-tête. 

"Mr. Marston's orders are, Captain Mayo, that you turn here and go west. Do you know the usual course of the Bee line steamers?"

"Yes, sir. "

"He requests you to turn in toward shore and follow that course. "

"Very well, sir. " Captain Mayo walked to the wheel. "Nor' nor'west, Billy, until I can give you the exact course. "

"Nor' nor'west!" repeated the wheelsman, throwing her hard over, andthe _Olenia_ came about with a rail-dipping swerve and retraced her wayalong her own wake of white suds. 

Miss Marston preceded the captain down the ladder and went into thechart-room. "A kiss--quick!" she whispered. 

He held her close to him for a long moment. 

"You are a most obedient captain, " she said. 

When he released her and went at his task, she leaned upon his shoulderand watched him as he straddled his parallels across the chart. 

"We'll run to Razee Reef, " he told her, eager to make her a partner inall his little concerns. "The Bee boats fetch the whistler there so asto lay off their next leg. I didn't know that Mr. Marston was interestedin the Bee line. "

"I heard him talking about that line, " she said, indifferently. "Sometimes I listen when I have nothing else to do. He used a naughtyword about somebody connected with that company--and it's so seldom thathe allows himself to swear I listened to see what it was all about. Idon't know even now. I don't understand such things. But he said if hecouldn't buy 'em he'd bu'st 'em. Those were his words. Not very elegantlanguage. But it's all I remember. "

Before he left the chart-room Mayo took a squint at the barometer. "I'msorry he has ordered me in toward the coast, " he said. "The glass is toofar below thirty to suit me. I think it means fog. "

"But it's so clear and beautiful, " she protested. 

"It's always especially beautiful at sea before something bad happens, "he explained, smiling. "And there has been a big fog-bank off tos'uth'ard for two days. It's a good deal like life, dear. All lovely, and then the fog shuts in!"

"But I would be happy with you in the fog, " she assured him. 

He glowed at her words and answered with his eyes. 

She would have followed him back upon the bridge, but the stewardintercepted her. He had waited outside the chart-room. 

"Mr. Marston's compliments, Miss Marston! He requests you to join him atcards. "

She pouted as she gave back Mayo's look of annoyance, and then obeyedthe mandate. 

Mr. Marston was stroking his narrow strip of chin beard with thumb andforefinger when she arrived on the quarter-deck. The men of businesswere below, and he motioned to a hammock chair beside him. 

"Alma, for the rest of this cruise I want you to stay back here withour guests where you belong, " he commanded with the directness of attackemployed by Julius Marston in his dealings with those of his ménage. 

"What do you mean, father?"

"That--exactly. I was explicit, was I not?"

"But you do not intimate that--that I have--"

"Well?" Mr. Marston believed in allowing others to expose theirsentiments before he uncovered his own. 

"You don't suggest that there is anything wrong in my being on thebridge where I enjoy myself so much. I am trying to learn somethingabout navigation. "

"I am paying that fellow up there to attend to all that. "

"And it gets tiresome back here. "

"You selected your own company for the cruise--and there is Mr. Beveridge ready to amuse you at any time. "

"Mr. Beveridge amuses me--distinctly amuses me, " she retorted. "Butthere is such a thing as becoming wearied even of such a joke as Mr. Beveridge. "

"You will please employ a more respectful tone when you refer to thatgentleman, " said her father, with severity. But he promptly fell backinto his usual mood when she came into his affairs. He was patronizinglytolerant. "Your friend, Miss Burgess, has been joking about your suddendevotion to navigation, Alma. "

"Nan Burgess cannot keep her tongue still, even about herself. "

"I know, but I do not intend to have you give occasion even forjokes. Of course, I understand. I know your whims. You are interested, personally, in that gold-braided chap about as much as you would beinterested in that brass thing where the compass is--whatever they callit. "

"But he's a gentleman!" she cried, her interest making her unwary. "Hisgrandfather was--"

"Alma!" snapped Julius Marston. His eyes opened wide. He looked her upand down. "I have heard before that an ocean trip makes women silly, I am inclined to believe it. I don't care a curse who that fellow'sgrandfather was. _You_ are my daughter--and you keep off that bridge!"

The men of business were coming up the companion-way, and she rose andhurried to her stateroom. 

"I don't dare to meet Nan Burgess just now, " she told herself. "Friendships can be broken by saying certain things--and I feelperfectly capable of saying just those things to her at this moment. "

In the late afternoon the _Olenia_, the shore-line looming to starboard, shaped her course to meet and pass a big steamer which came rolling downthe sea with a banner of black smoke flaunting behind her. 

The fog which Captain Mayo had predicted was coming. Wisps of it trailedover the waves--skirmishers sent ahead of the main body which marched inmass more slowly behind. 

A whistling buoy, with its grim grunt, told all mariners to 'ware RazeeReef, which was lifting its jagged, black bulk against the sky-line. With that fog coming, Captain Mayo needed to take exact bearings fromRazee, for he had decided to run for harbor that night. That coastline, to whose inside course Marston's orders had sent the yacht, was toodangerous to be negotiated in a night which was fog-wrapped. Therefore, the captain took the whistler nearly dead on, leaving to the largersteamer plenty of room in the open sea. 

With considerable amazement Mayo noticed that the other fellow wasedging toward the whistler at a sharper angle than any one needed. Thatcourse, if persisted in, would pinch the yacht in dangerous waters. Mayogave the on-coming steamer one whistle, indicating his intention to passto starboard. After a delay he was answered by two hoarse hoots--a mostflagrant breach of the rules of the road. 

"That must be a mistake, " Captain Mayo informed Mate McGaw. 

"That's a polite name for it, sir, " averred Mr. McGaw, after he hadshifted the lump in his cheek. 

"Of course he doesn't mean it, Mr. McGaw. "

"Then why isn't he giving us elbow-room on the outside of that buoy, sir?"

"I can't swing and cross his bows now. If he should hit us we'd be theones held for the accident. "

Again Mayo gave the obstinate steamer a single whistle-blast. 

"If he cross-signals me again I'll report him, " he informed the mate. "Pay close attention, Mr. McGaw, and you, too, Billy. We may have to gobefore the inspectors. "

But the big chap ahead of them did not deign to reply. He kept onstraight at the whistler. 

"Compliments of Mr. Marston!" called the secretary from the bridgeladder. "What steamer is that?"

"_Conorno_ of the Bee line, sir, " stated Captain Mayo over his shoulder. Then he ripped out a good, hearty, deep-water oath. According toappearances, incredible as the situation seemed, the _Conorno_ proposedto drive the yacht inside the whistler. 

Mayo ran to the wheel and yanked the bell-pull furiously. There werefour quick clangs in the engine-room, and in a moment the _Olenia_ beganto quiver in all her fabric. Going full speed ahead, Mayo had calledfor full speed astern. Then he sounded three whistles, signaling as therules of the road provide. The yacht's twin screws churned a yeasty riotunder her counter, and while she was laboring thus in her own wallow, trembling like some living thing in the extremity of terror, the bigsteamer swept past. Froth from the creamy surges at her bows flickedspray contemptuously upon Julius Marston and his guests on the_Olenia_'s quarter-deck. Men grinned down upon them from the highwindows of the steamer's pilot-house. 

A jeering voice boomed through a megaphone: "Keep out of the way of theBee line! Take the hint!"

An officer pointed his finger at Marston's house flag, snapping fromthe yacht's main truck. The blue fish-tail with its letter "M" hadrevealed the yacht's identity to searching glasses. 

"Better make it black! Skull and cross-bones!" volunteered the megaphoneoperator. 

On she went down the sea and the _Olenia_ tossed in the turbulent wakeof the kicking screws. 

Then, for the first time, Captain Mayo heard the sound of JuliusMarston's voice. The magnate stood up, shook his fist at his staringcaptain, and yelled, "What in damnation do you think you are doing?"

It was amazing, insulting, and, under the circumstances as Mayo knewthem, an unjust query. The master of the _Olenia_ did not reply. He wasnot prepared to deliver any long-distance explanation. Furthermore, theyacht demanded all his attention just then. He gave his orders and sheforged ahead to round the whistler. 

"Nor'west by west, half west, Billy. And cut it fine!"

The fog had fairly leaped upon them from the sea. The land-breezehad been holding back the wall of vapor, damming it in a dun bank tosouthward. The breeze had let go. The fog had seized its opportunity. 

"Saturday Cove for us to-night, Mr. McGaw, " said the master. "Keep youreye over Billy's shoulder. "

Then the secretary appeared again on the ladder. This time he did notbring any "compliments. "

"Mr. Marston wants you to report aft at once, " he announced, brusquely. 

Mayo hesitated a moment. They were driving into blankness which had shutdown with that smothering density which mariners call "a dungeon fog. "Saturday Cove's entrance was a distant and a small target. In spite ofsteersman and mate, his was the sole responsibility. 

"Will you please explain to Mr. Marston that I cannot leave the bridge?"

"You have straight orders from him, captain! You'd better stop the boatand report. "

The skipper of the _Olenia_ was having his first taste of theunreasoning whim of the autocrat who was entitled to break intoshipboard discipline, even in a critical moment. Mayo felt exasperationsurging in him, but he was willing to explain. 

The whistler and Razee Reef had been blotted out by the fog. 

"If this vessel is stopped five minutes in this tide-drift we shall loseour bearings, sir. I cannot leave this bridge for the present. "

"I'm thinking you'll leave it for good!" blurted the secretary. "You'rethe first hired man who ever told Julius Marston to go bite his ownthumb. "

"I may be a hired man, " retorted Mayo. "But I am also a licensedshipmaster. I must ask you to step down off the bridge. "

"Does that go for all the rest of the--passengers?" asked the secretary, angry in his turn. He dwelt on his last word. "It does--in a time likethis!"

"Very well, I'll give them that word aft. "

Captain Mayo caught a side glance from Mate McGaw after a time. 

"I have often wondered, " remarked the mate to nobody in particular, "howit is that so many damn fools get rich on shore. "

Captain Mayo did not express any opinion on the subject. He clutched thebridge rail and stared into the fog, and seemed to be having a lot oftrouble in choking back some kind of emotion. 

III ~ THE TAVERN OF THE SEAS

 Now, Mister Macliver, you knows him quite well, He comes upon deck and he cuts a great swell; It's damn your eyes there and it's damn your eyes here, And straight to the gangway he takes a broad sheer. --La Pique "Come-all-ye. "

Into Saturday Cove, all during that late afternoon, they camesurging--spars and tackle limned against the on-sweeping pall of thegray fog--those wayfarers of the open main. 

First to roll in past the ledgy portals of the haven were the venerablesea-wagons--the coasters known as the "Apple-treers. " Their weatherwiseskippers, old sea-dogs who could smell weather as bloodhounds snifftrails, had their noses in the air in good season that day, and knewthat they must depend on a thinning wind to cuff them into port. Oneafter the other, barnacled anchors splashed from catheads, draggingrusty chains from hawse-holes, and old, patched sails came sprawlingdown with chuckle of sheaves and lisp of running rigging. 

A 'long-coast shanty explains the nickname, "Apple-treers":

 O, what's the use of compass or a quadrant or a log? Keep her loafin' on her mudhook in a norther or a fog. But as soon's the chance is better, then well ratch her off once more, Keepin' clost enough for bearings from the apple-trees ashore. 

Therefore, the topsail schooners, the fore-and-afters, the Bluenoseblunt-prows, came in early before the fog smooched out the loom ofthe trees and before it became necessary to guess at what the old cardcompasses had to reveal on the subject of courses. 

And so, along with the rest of the coastwise ragtag, which was seekingharbor and holding-ground, came the ancient schooner _Polly_. Fog-maskedby those illusory mists, she was a shadow ship like the others; but, more than the others, she seemed to be a ghost ship, for her lines andher rig informed any well-posted mariner that she must be a centenarian;with her grotesqueness accentuated by the fog pall, she seemed unreal--apicture from the past. 

She had an out-thrust of snub bow and an upcock of square stern, andsag of waist--all of which accurately revealed ripe antiquity, just asa bell-crowned beaver and a swallow-tail coat with brass buttons wouldidentify an old man in the ruck of newer fashions. She had seams likethe wrinkles in the parchment skin of extreme old age. She carried awooden figurehead under her bowsprit, the face and bust of a woman onwhom an ancient woodcarver had bestowed his notion of a beatific smile;the result was an idiotic simper. The glorious gilding had been wornoff, the wood was gray and cracked. The _Polly's_ galley was entirelyhidden under a deckload of shingles and laths in bunches; theafter-house was broad and loomed high above the rail in contrast to themere cubbies which were provided for the other fore-and-afters in theflotilla which came ratching in toward Saturday Cove. 

The _Polly_, being old enough to be celebrated, had been the subject ofa long-coast lyric of seventeen verses, any one of which was capable ofproducing most horrible profanity from Captain Epps Candage, her master, whenever he heard the ditty echoing over the waves, sung by a satiristaboard another craft. 

In that drifting wind there was leisure; a man on board a lime-schoonerat a fairly safe distance from the _Polly_ found inclination and liftedhis voice:

 "Ow-w-w, here comes the _Polly_ with a lopped-down sail, And Rubber-boot Epps, is a-settin' on her rail. How-w-w long will she take to get to Boston town? Can't just tell 'cause she's headin' up and down. "

"You think that kind o' ky-yi is funny, do you, you walnut-nosed, blue-gilled, goggle-eyed son of a dough-faced americaneezus?" bellowedCaptain Candage, from his post at the _Polly's_ wheel. 

"Father!" remonstrated a girl who stood in the companionway, her elbowspropped on the hatch combings. "Such language! You stop it!"

"It ain't half what I can do when I'm fair started, " returned thecaptain. 

"You never say such things on shore. "

"Well, I ain't on shore now, be I? I'm on the high seas, and I'm talkingto fit the occasion. Who's running this schooner, you or me?"

She met his testiness with a spirit of her own, "I'm on board here, where I don't want to be, because of your silly notions, father. I havethe right to ask you to use decent language, and not shame us both. "

Against the archaically homely background the beauty of the young girlappeared in most striking contrast. Her curls peeped out from under thewhite Dutch cap she wore. Her eyes sparkled with indignant protest, herface was piquant and was just then flushed, and her nose had the leastbit of a natural uptilt, giving her the air of a young woman who had awill of her own to spice her amiability. 

Captain Candage blinked at her over the spokes of the wheel, and in hisfather's heart acknowledged her charm, realizing more acutely thathis motherless girl had become too much of a problem for his limitedknowledge in the management of women. 

He had not seen her grow up gradually, as other fathers had viewed theirdaughters, being able to meet daily problems in molding and mastery. 

She seemed to reach development, mental and physical, in disconcertingphases while he was away on his voyages. Each time he met her he wasobliged to get acquainted all over again, it appeared to him. 

Captain Candage had owned up frankly to himself that he was not able toexercise any authority over his daughter when she was ashore. 

She was not wilful; she was not obstinate; she gave him affection. Butshe had become a young woman while his slow thoughts were classing herstill as a child. She was always ahead of all his calculations. Inhis absences she jumped from stage to stage of character--almost ofidentity! He had never forgotten how he had brought back to her from NewYork, after one voyage, half a gunny sackful of tin toys, and discoveredthat in his absence, by advice and sanction of her aunt, who had becomeher foster-mother, she had let her dresses down to ankle-length and hadbecome a young lady whom he called "Miss Candage" twice before he hadmanaged to get his emotions straightened out. While he was wonderingabout the enormity of tin toys in the gunny sack at his feet, as he satin the aunt's parlor; his daughter asked him to come as guest ofhonor with the Sunday-school class's picnic which she was arranging asteacher. That gave him his opportunity to lie about the toys and allegethat he had brought them for her scholars. 

Captain Candage, on the deck of his ship, found that he was able tomuster a little courage and bluster for a few minutes, but he did notdare to look at her for long while he was asserting himself. 

He looked at her then as she stood in the gloomy companionway, aradiant and rosy picture of healthy maidenhood. But the expression onher face was not comfortingly filial. 

"Father, I must say it again. I can't help saying it. I am so unhappy. You are misjudging me so cruelly. "

"I done it because I thought it was right to do it. I haven't beentending and watching the way a father ought to tend and watch. I neverseemed to be able to ketch up with you. Maybe I ain't right. Maybe I be!At any rate, I'm going to stand on this tack, in your case, for a whilelonger. "

"You have taken me away from my real home for this? This is no place fora girl! You are not the same as you are when you are on shore. I didn'tknow you could be so rough--and--wicked!"

"Hold on there, daughter! Snub cable right there! I'm an honest, God-fearing, hard-working man--paying a hundred cents on the dollar, andyou know it. "

"But what did you just shout--right out where everybody could hear you?"

"That--that was only passing the compliments of the day as compared withwhat I can do when I get started proper. Do you think I'm going to letany snub-snooted wart-hog of a lime-duster sing--"

"Father!"

"What's a girl know about the things a father has to put up with when hegoes to sea and earns money for her?"

"I am willing to work for myself. You took me right out of my goodposition in the millinery-store. You have made me leave all my youngfriends. Oh, I am so homesick!" Her self-reliance departed suddenly. Shechoked. She tucked her head into the hook of her arm and sobbed. 

"Don't do that!" he pleaded, softening suddenly. "Please don't, Polly!"

She looked up and smiled--a pleading, wan little smile. "I didn't meanto give way to it, popsy dear. I don't intend to do anything to make youangry or sorry. I have tried to be a good girl. I am a good girl. But itbreaks my heart when you don't trust me. "

"They were courting you, " he stammered. "Them shore dudes was hangingaround you. I ain't doubting you, Polly. But you 'ain't got no mother. I was afraid. I know I've been a fool about it. But I was afraid!" Tearssprinkled his bronzed cheeks. "I haven't been much of a father becauseI've had to go sailing and earn money. But I thought I'd take you awaytill-till I could sort of plan on something. "

She gazed at him, softening visibly. 

"Oh, Polly, " he said, his voice breaking, "you don't know how pretty youare-you don't know how afraid I am!"

"But you can trust me, father, " she promised, after a pause, with simpledignity. "I know I am only a country girl, not wise, perhaps, but I knowwhat is right and what is wrong. Can't you understand how terribly youhave hurt my pride and my self-respect by forcing me to come and bepenned up here as if I were a shameless girl who could not take care ofherself?"

"I reckon I have done wrong, Polly. But I don't know much-not aboutwomen folk. I was trying to do right-because you're all I have in thisworld. "

"I hope you will think it all over, " she advised, earnestly. "You willunderstand after a time, father, I'm sure. Then you will let me go backand you will trust me-as your own daughter should be trusted. That's theright way to make girls good-let them know that they can be trusted. "

"You are probably right, " he admitted. "I will think it all over. As soon as we get in and anchored I'll sit down and give it a goodoverhauling in my mind. Maybe-"

She took advantage of his pause. "We are going into a harbor, are we, father?"

"Yes. Right ahead of us. "

"I wish you would put me ashore and send me back. I shall lose myposition in the store if I stay away too long. "

His obstinacy showed again, promptly. "I don't want you in thatmillinery-shop. I'm told that dude drummers pester girls in stores. "

"They do not trouble me, father. Haven't you any confidence in your owndaughter?"

"Yes, I have, " he said, firmly, and then added, "but I keep thinking ofthe dudes and then I get afraid. "

She gave him quick a glance, plainly tempted to make an impatientretort, and then turned and went down into the cabin. 

"Don't be mad with me, Polly, " he called after her. "I guess, maybe, I'mall wrong. I'm going to think it over; I ain't promising nothing sure, but it won't be none surprising if I set you ashore here and send youback home. Don't cry, little girl. " There were tears in his voice aswell as in his eyes. 

The lime-schooner vocalist felt an impulse to voice another verse:

 "Ow-w-w, here comes the _Polly_ in the middle of the road, Towed by a mule and paving-blocks her load. Devil is a-waiting and the devil may as well, 'Cause he'll never get them paving-blocks to finish paving hell. "

Captain Candage left his wheel and strode to the rail. All the softnesswas gone from his face and his voice. 

"You horn-jawed, muck-faced jezebo of a sea-sculpin, you dare to yapout any more of that sculch and I'll come aboard you after we anchor andjump down your gullet and gallop the etarnal innards out of ye! Don'tyou know that I've got ladies aboard here?"

"It don't sound like it, " returned the songster. 

"Well, you hear what _I_ sound like! Half-hitch them jaw taakuls ofyours!"

Captain Candage's meditations were not disturbed after that. 

With the assistance of his one helper aboard ship, "Oakum Otie, " a grayand whiskered individual who combined in one person the various officesof first mate, second mate, A-1 seaman, and hand before the mast-aswell as the skipper's boon companion-the _Polly_ was manoeuvered to heranchorage in Saturday Cove and was snugged for the night. Smoke began tocurl in blue wreaths from her galley funnel, and there were occasionalglimpses of the cook, a sallow-complexioned, one-eyed youth whose chiefand everlasting decoration provided him with the nickname of "Smut-nosedDolph. "

Then came some of the ocean aristocrats to join the humbler guests inthat tavern of the seas. 

Avant couriers of a metropolitan yacht club, on its annual cruise, arrived, jockeying in with billowing mountains of snowy canvas spread tocatch the last whispers of the breeze. Later arrivals, after the breezefailed, were towed in by the smart motor craft of the fleet. One by one, as the anchors splashed, brass cannons barked salute and were answeredby the commodore's gun. 

Captain Candage sat on the edge of the _Polly's_ house and snappedan involuntary and wrathful wink every time a cannon banged. In thathill-bound harbor, where the fog had massed, every noise was magnifiedas by a sounding-board. There were cheery hails, yachtsmen bawled overthe mist-gemmed brass rails interchange of the day's experiences, andfrisking yacht tenders, barking staccato exhausts, began to carry men toand fro on errands of sociability. In the silences Captain Candage couldhear the popping of champagne corks. 

"Them fellers certainly live high and sleep in the garret, " observedOakum Otie. He was seated cross-legged on the top of the house and washammering down the lumps in a freshly twisted eye-splice with the end ofa marlinespike. 

"It has always been a wonder to me, " growled Captain Candage, "how dudeswho don't seem to have no more wit than them fellows haw-hawing overthere, and swigging liquor by the cart-load, ever make money the waythey do so as to afford all this. "

On that point Captain Candage might have found Mate McGaw of the_Olenia_ willing to engage in profitable discussion and amicableunderstanding!

"They don't make it-they don't know enough to make it, " stated Otie, with the conviction of a man who knew exactly what he was talking about. "It has all been left to 'em by their fathers. "

The bearded and brown men of the apple-tree crews leaned the patchedelbows of their old coats on the rails and gloomily surveyed theconviviality on board the plaything crafts. Remarks which they exchangedwith one another were framed to indicate a sort of lofty scorn for thesefrolickers of the sea. The coasting skippers, most of whom wore hardhats, as if they did not want to be confounded with those foppish yachtcaptains, patrolled their quarter-decks and spat disdainfully over theirrails. 

Everlastingly there was the clank of pumps on board the Apple-treers, and the pumps were tackling the everlasting leaks. Water reddenedby contact with bricks, water made turbid by percolation throughpaving-blocks, splashed continuously from hiccuping scuppers. 

Captain Ranse Lougee of the topsail schooner _Belvedere_, laden withfish scraps for a Boston glue-factory, dropped over the counter into hisdory and came rowing to the _Polly_, standing up and facing forward andswaying with the fisherman's stroke. 

He straddled easily over the schooner's scant freeboard and came aft, and was greeted cordially by Captain Candage. 

"Thought I'd show them frosted-cakers that there's a little sociabilityamongst the gents in the coasting trade, too, " he informed hishost. "Furthermore, I want to borry the ex-act time o' day. _And_, furthermore, I'm glad to get away from that cussed aromy on board the_Belvedere_ and sort of air out my nose once in a while. What's the goodword, Cap?"

Captain Candage replied to the commonplaces of the other skipper inabstracted fashion. He had viewed Lougee's approach with interest, andnow he was plainly pondering in regard to something wholly outside thischatter. 

"Captain Lougee, " he broke in, suddenly, in low tones, "I want youshould come forward with me out of hearing of anybody below. I've got alittle taakul I want you to help me overhaul. "

The two walked forward over the deckload and sat on the fore-gaff, whichsprawled carelessly where it had fallen when the halyards were let run. 

"My daughter is below, there, " explained Captain Candage. 

"Vacation trip, eh?"

"I don't think it can be called that, Captain Lougee, " stated the host, dryly. "She is having about as good a time as a canary-bird would havein a corn-popper over a hot fire. "

"What did she come for, then?"

"I made her come. I shanghaied her. "

"That's no way to treat wimmen folks, " declared Captain Lougee. "I'veraised five daughters and I know what I'm talking about. "

"I know you have raised five girls, and they're smart as tophet andright as a trivet--and that's why I have grabbed right in on the subjectas I have. I was glad to see you coming aboard, Captain Lougee. I wantsome advice from a man who knows. "

"Then I'm the man to ask, Captain Candage. "

"Last time I was home--where she has been living with her Aunt Zilpah--Iketched her!" confessed Candage. His voice was hoarse. His fingers, bentand calloused with rope-pulling, trembled as he fingered the seam of histrousers. 

"You don't tell!" Lougee clucked, solicitously. 

"Yes, I ketched her buggy-riding!"

"Alone?"

"No, there was a gang of 'em in a beach-wagon. They was going to aparty. And I ketched her dancing with a fellow at that party. "

"Well, go ahead now that you've got started! Shake out the mainsail!"

"That's about all there is to it--except that a fellow has been beauingher home from Sunday-school concerts with a lantern. Yes, I reckon thatis about all to date and present writing, " confessed Candage. 

"What else do you suspect?"

"Nothing. Of course, there's no telling what it will grow to be--withdudes a-pestering her the way they do. "

"There ain't any telling about anything in this world, is there?"demanded Captain Lougee, very sharply. 

"I reckon not--not for sure!"

"Do you mean to say that because your girl--like any girl should--hasbeen having a little innocent fun with young folks, you have dragged heron board this old hooker, shaming her and making her ridiculous?"

"I have been trying to do my duty as a father, " stated Captain Candage, stoutly, and avoiding the flaming gaze of his guest. 

Captain Lougee straightened his leg so as to come at his trouserspocket, produced a plug of tobacco, and gnawed a chew off a corner, after careful inspection to find a likely spot for a bite. 

"I need to have something in my mouth about this time--somethingsoothing to the tongue and, as you might say, sort of confining, so thattoo much language won't bu'st out all at once, " he averred, speakingwith effort as he tried to lodge the huge hunk of tobacco into acomfortable position. "I have raised five nice girls, and I have alwaystreated 'em as if they had common sense along with woman's nat'ralgoodness and consid'able more self-reliance than a Leghorn pullet. AndI used 'em like they had the ordinary rights and privileges of humanbeings. And they are growed up and a credit to the family. And I haven'tgot to look back over my record and reflect that I was either a Chinymanor a Turkeyman. No, sir! I have been a father--and my girls can comeand sit on my knee to-day and get my advice, and think it's worthsomething. "

He rose and walked toward his dory. 

"But hold on, " called Captain Candage. "You haven't told me what youthink. "

"Haven't I? I thought I had, making it mild and pleasant. But if youneed a little something more plain and direct, I'll remark--still makingit mild and pleasant--that you're a damned old fool! And now I'll goback and be sociable with them fish scraps. I believe they will smellbetter after this!" He leaped into his dory and rowed away. 

Captain Candage offered no rejoinder to that terse and meaty summing up. Naturally, he was as ready with his tongue as Captain Ranse Lougee orany other man alongshore. But in this case the master of the _Polly_was not sure of his ground. He knew that Captain Lougee had qualified asfather of five. In the judgment of a mariner experience counts. Andhe did not resent the manner of Captain Lougee because that skipper'sbrutal bluntness was well known by his friends. Captain Candage hadasked and he had received. He rested his elbows on his knees and staredafter the departing caller and pondered. 

"Maybe he is right. He probably _is_ right. But it wouldn't be shipboarddiscipline if I told her that I have been wrong. I reckon I'll go aftand be pleasant and genteel, hoping that nothing will happen to rile myfeelings. Now that my feelings are calm and peaceful, and having takencourse and bearings from a father of five, I'll probably say to her, 'You'd better trot along home, sissy, seeing that I have told you how tomind your eye after this. '"

IV ~ OVER THE "POLLY'S" RAIL

 O Stormy was a good old man! To my way you storm along! Physog tough as an old tin pan, Ay, ay, ay, Mister Storm-along! --Storm-along Shanty. 

Without paying much attention to the disturber, Captain Candage had beena bit nettled during his meditation. A speed boat from one of the yachtskept circling the _Polly_, carrying a creaming smother of waterunder its upcocked bow. It was a noisy gnat of a boat and it kicked acontemptuous wake against the rust-streaked old wagon. 

When it swept under the counter, after Captain Candage was back on hisquarter-deck, he gave it a stare over the rail, and his expression wasdistinctly unamiable. 

"They probably wasted more money on that doostra-bulus than thisschooner would sell for in the market today, " he informed Otie. 

"They don't care how money goes so long as they didn't have to sweatearning it. Slinging it like they'd sling beans!"

Back on its circling course swished the darting tender. This time thepurring motor whined into silence and the boat came drifting alongside. 

"On board _Polly!_" hailed one of the yachtsmen, a man with owner'sinsignia on his cap. 

The master of the old schooner stuck his lowering visage farther overthe rail, but he did not reply. 

"Isn't this _Polly_ the real one?"

"No, it's only a chromo painting of it. "

"Thank you! You're a gentleman!" snapped the yachtsman. 

"Oh, hold on, Paul, " urged one of the men in the tender. "There's aright way to handle these old boys. " He stood up. "We're much interestedin this packet, captain. "

"That's why you have been making a holy show of her, playing ring arounda rosy, hey?"

"But tell me, isn't this the old shallop that was a privateer in the warof eighteen twelve?"

"Nobody aboard here has ever said she wasn't. "

"Well, sir, may we not come on board and look her over?"

"No sir, you can't. "

"Now, look here, captain--"

"I'm looking!" declared the master of the _Polly_ in ominous tones. 

"We don't mean to annoy you, captain. "

"Folks who don't know any better do a lot of things without meaning to. "

Captain Candage regularly entertained a sea-toiler's resentment for menwho used the ocean as a mere playground. But more especially, duringthose later days, his general temper was touchy in regard to dapperyoung men, for he had faced a problem of the home which had tried hissoul. He felt an unreasoning choler rising in him in respect to thesechaps, who seemed to have no troubles of their own. 

"I am a writer, " explained the other. "If I may be allowed on board I'lltake a few pictures and--"

"And make fun of me and my bo't by putting a piece in the paper totickle city dudes. Fend off!" he commanded, noticing that the tender wasdrifting toward the schooner's side and that one of the crew had set aboat-hook against the main chain-plate. 

"Don't bother with the old crab, " advised the owner, sourly. 

But the other persisted, courteously, even humbly. "I am afraid you donot understand me, captain. I would as soon make jest of my mother as ofthis noble old relic. "

"Go ahead! Call it names!"

"I am taking off my hat to it, " he declared, whipping his cap from hishead. "My father's grandfather was in the war of eighteen twelve. I wantto honor this old patriot here with the best tribute my pen can pay. If you will allow me to come on board I shall feel as though I werestepping upon a sacred spot, and I can assure you that my friends, here, have just as much respect for this craft as I have. "

But this honest appeal did not soften Captain Candage. He did notunderstand exactly from what source this general rancor of his flowed. At the same time he was conscious of the chief reason why he did notwant to allow these visitors to rummage aboard the schooner. They wouldmeet his daughter, and he was afraid, and he was bitterly ashamed ofhimself because he was afraid. Dimly he was aware that this everlastingfear on her account constituted an insult to her. The finer impulse toprotect her privacy was not actuating him; he knew that, too. He wasmerely foolishly afraid to trust her in the company of young men, andthe combination of his emotions produced the simplest product of mentalupheaval--unreasonable wrath. 

"Fend off, I say, " he commanded. 

"Again I beg you, captain, with all respect, please may we come onboard?"

"You get away from here and tend to your own business, if you've gotany, or I'll heave a bunch of shingles at you!" roared the skipper. 

"Father!" The voice expressed indignant reproof. "Father, I am ashamedof you!"

The girl came to the rail, and the yachtsmen stared at her as if shewere Aphrodite risen from the sea instead of a mighty pretty girlemerging from a dark companion-way. She had appeared so suddenly! Shewas so manifestly incongruous in her surroundings. 

"Mother o' mermaids!" muttered the yacht-owner in the ear of the mannearest. "Is the old rat still privateering?"

The men in the tender stood up and removed their caps. 

"You have insulted these gentlemen, father!"

Captain Candage knew it, and that fact did not soften his anger in theleast. At the same time this appearance of his own daughter to read hima lesson in manners in public was presumption too preposterous to beendured; her daring gave him something tangible for his resentment toattack. 

He turned on her. "You go below where you belong. "

"I belong up here just now. "

"Down below with you!"

"I'll not go until you apologize to these gentlemen, father!"

"You ain't ashore now, miss, to tell me when to wipe my feet and notmuss the tidies! You're on the high seas, and I'm cap'n of this vessel. Below, I say!"

"These gentlemen know the _Polly_, and they will find out the name ofthe man who commands her, and I don't propose to have it said that theCandages are heathens, " she declared, firmly. "If you do not apologize, father, I shall apologize for you. " She tried to crowd past him to therail, but he clapped his brown hand over her mouth and pushed her back. His natural impulse as commander of his craft dominated his feelings asa father. 

"I'll teach ye shipboard discipline, Polly Candage, " he growled, "evenif I have to take ye acrost my knee. "

"Hold on there, if you please, captain, " called the spokesman of theyachtsmen. 

Captain Candage was hustling his daughter toward the companionway. Butthere was authority in the tone, and he paused and jutted a challengingchin over his shoulder. 

"What have any of you critters got to say about my private business?"

The formality of the man in the tender was a bit exaggerated in hisreply. "Only this, sir. We are going away at once before we bring anymore trouble upon this young lady, to whom we tender our most respectfulcompliments. We do not know any other way of helping her. Our protests, being the protests of gentlemen, might not be able to penetrate; ittakes a drill to get through the hide of a rhinoceros!"

The skipper of the _Polly_ did not trouble himself about the finershadings in that little speech, but of one fact he felt sure: hehad been called a rhinoceros. He released his daughter, yanked themarlinespike away from Otie, who had been holding himself in thebackground as a reserve force, and stamped to the rail. He poised hisweapon, fanning it to and fro to take sure aim. But the engineer hadthrown in his clutch and the speed boat foamed off before the captaingot the range, and he was too thrifty to heave a perfectly goodmarlinespike after a target he could not hit, angry as he was. 

The girl faced her father. There was no doubting her mood. She was arebel. Indignation set up its flaming standards on her cheeks, and thesignal-flames of combat sparkled in her eyes. 

"How did you dare to do such a thing to me--those gentlemen looking on?Father, have you lost your mind?"

Otie expressed the opinion tinder his breath that the captain, on thecontrary, had "lost his number. "

Otie's superior officer was stamping around the quarterdeck, kicking atloose objects, and avoiding his daughter's resentful gaze. There wasa note of insincerity in his bluster, as if he wanted to hideembarrassment in a cloud of his own vaporings, as a squid colors waterwhen it fears capture. 

"After this you call me Cap'n Candage, " he commanded. "After thisI'm Cap'n Candage on the high seas, and I propose to run my ownquarter-deck. And when I let a crowd of dudes traipse on board here topeek and spy and grin and flirt with you, you'll have clamshells forfinger-nails. Now, my lady, I don't want any back talk!"

"But I am going to talk to you, father!"

"Remember that I'm a Candage, and back talk--"

"So am I a Candage--and I have just been ashamed of it!"

"I'm going to have discipline on my own quarterdeck. "

"Back talk, quarter-deck discipline, calling you captain! Fol-de-rol andfiddlesticks! I'm your own daughter and you're my father. And you havebrought us both to shame! There! I don't want to stay on this old hulk, and I'm not going to stay. I am going home to Aunt Zilpah. "

"I had made up my mind to let you go. My temper was mild and sweet tillthose jeehoofered, gold-trimmed sons of a striped--"

"Father!"

"I had made up my mind to let you go. But I ain't going to give in to amutiny right before the face and eyes of my own crew. "

Smut-nosed Dolph had arrived with the supper-dishes balanced in his armswhile he crawled over the deckload. He was listening with the utmostinterest. 

"Your Aunt Zilpah has aided and abetted you in your flirting, " raged thecaptain. "My own sister, taking advantage of my being off to sea tryingto earn money--"

"Do you mean to insult everybody in this world, father? I shall go home, I say. I'm miserable here. "

"I'll see to it that you ain't off gamboling and galley-westing withdudes!"

In spite of her spirit the girl was not able to bandy retort longer withthis hard-shelled mariner, whose weapon among his kind for yearshad been a rude tongue. Shocked grief put an end to her poor littlerebellion. Tears came. 

"You are giving these two men a budget to carry home and spread aboutthe village! Oh, father, you are wicked--wicked!" She put her hands toher face, sobbed, and then ran away down into the gloomy cabin. 

There was a long silence on the quarter-deck. Otie recovered hismarlinespike and began to pound the eye-bolt. 

"Without presuming, preaching, or poking into things that ain't none ofmy business, I want to say that I don't blame you one mite, cap'n, " hevolunteered. "No matter what she says, she wasn't to be trusted amongthem dudes on shore, and I speak from observation and, being an oldbach, I can speak impartial. The dudes on the water is just as bad. Themfellows were flirting with her all the time they was 'longside. Real menthat means decent ain't called on to keep whisking their caps off and onall the time a woman is in sight--and I see one of 'em wink at her. "

Captain Candage was in a mood to accept this comfort from Oakum Otie, and to put out of his contrite conscience the memory of what CaptainRanse Lougee had said. 

"Don't you worry! I've got her now where I can keep my eye on her, andI'm cap'n of my own vessel--don't nobody ever forget that!" He shook hisfist at the gaping cook. "What ye standing there for, like a hen-coopwith the door open and letting my vittels cool off? Hiper your boots!Down below with you and dish that supper onto the table!"

The skipper lingered on deck, his hand at his ear. 

The fog was settling over the inner harbor. In the dim vastness seawarda steamer was hooting. Each prolonged blast, at half-minute intervals, sounded nearer. The sound was deep, full-toned, a mighty diapason. 

"What big fellow can it be that's coming in here?" the captain grunted. 

"Most likely only another tin skimmer of a yacht, " suggested the mate, tossing the eye-splice and the marline-spike into the open hatch of thelazaret. "You know what they like to do, them play-critters! They stickon a whistle that's big enough for Seguin fog-horn. " He squinted underthe edge of his palm and waited. "There she looms. What did I tell ye?Nothing but a yacht. "

"But she's a bouncer, " remarked the skipper. "What do you make her?"

"O--L, " spelled Otie--"O--L--_Olenia_. Must be a local pilot aboard. None of them New York spiffer captains could find Saturday Cove throughthe feather-tide that's outside just now. "

"Well, whether they can or whether they can't isn't of any interest tome, " stated the skipper, with fine indifference. "I'd hate to be ina tight place and have to depend on one of them gilded dudes! I smellsupper. Come on!"

He was a little uncertain as to what demeanor he ought to assumebelow, but he clumped down the companion-way with considerable show ofconfidence, and Otie followed. 

The captain cast a sharp glance at his daughter. He had been afraid thathe would find her crying, and he did not know how to handle such caseswith any certainty. 

But she had dried her eyes and she gave him no very amiablelook--rather, she hinted defiance. He felt more at ease. In his opinion, any person who had spirit enough left for fight was in a mood to keep onenjoying life. 

"Perhaps I went a mite too far, Polly, " he admitted. He was mild, buthe preserved a little touch of surliness in order that she might notconclude that her victory was won. "But seeing that I brought you off tosea to get you away from flirting--"

"Don't you dare to say that about me!" She beat her round little fist onthe table. "Don't you dare!"

"I don't mean that you ever done it! The dudes done it! I want to doright by you, Polly. I've been to sea so long that I don't know muchabout ways and manners, I reckon. I can't get a good line on things asI ought to. I'm an old fool, I reckon. " His voice trembled. "But it mademe mad to have you stram up there on deck and call me names before 'em. "

She did not reply. 

"I have always worked hard for you--sailing the seas and going withoutthings myself, so that you could have 'em--doing the best I could everafter your poor mother passed on. "

"I am grateful to you, father. But you don't understand a girl--oh, youdon't understand! But let's not talk about it any more--not now. "

"I ain't saying to-night--I ain't making promises! But maybe--we'llsee how things shape up--maybe I'll send you back home. Maybe it 'll beto-morrow. We'll see how the stage runs to the train, and so forth!"

"I am going to leave it all to you, father. I'm sure you mean to doright. " She served the food as mistress at the board. 

"It seems homelike with you here, " said Captain Can-dage, meekly andwistfully. 

"I will stay with you, father, if it will make you happier. "

"I sha'n't listen to anything of the sort. It ain't no place aboard herefor a girl. "

Through the open port they heard the frequent clanging of thesteam-yacht's engine-room bell and the riot of her swishing screws asshe eased herself into an anchorage. She was very near them--so nearthat they could hear the chatter of the voices of gay folk. 

"What boat is that, father?"

"Another frosted-caker! I can't remember the name. "

"It's the _Oilyena_ or something like that. I forget fancy names prettyquick, " Otie informed her. 

"Well, it ain't much use to load your mind down with that kind ofsculch, " stated Captain Candage, poising a potato on his fork-tines andpeeling it, his elbows on the table. "That yacht and the kind of folksthat's aboard that yacht ain't of any account to folks like us. "

The memory of some remarks which are uttered with peculiar fervorremains with the utterer. Some time later--long after--Captain Candageremembered that remark and informed himself that, outside of weatherpredictions, he was a mighty poor prophet. 

V ~ ON THE BRIDGE OF YACHT "_OLENIA_"

 O the times are hard and the wages low, Leave her, bullies, leave her! I guess it's time for us to go, It's time for us to leave her. --Across the Western Ocean. 

Captain Mayo was not finding responsibility his chief worry while the_Olenia_ was making port. 

It was a real mariner's job to drive her through the fog, stab theharbor entrance, and hunt out elbow-room for her in a crowded anchorage. But all that was in the line of the day's work. While he watched thecompass, estimated tide drift, allowed for reduced speed, and listenedfor the echoes which would tell him his distance from the rocky shore, he was engaged in the more absorbing occupation of canvassing hispersonal affairs. 

As the hired master of a private yacht he might have overlooked thataffront from the owner, even though it was delivered to a captain on thebridge. 

But love has a pride of its own. He had been abused like a lackey in thehearing of Alma Marston. It was evident that the owner had not finishedthe job. Mayo knew that he had merely postponed his evil moment bysending back a reply which would undoubtedly seem like insubordinationin the judgment of a man who did not understand ship discipline andetiquette of the sea. 

It was evident that Marston intended to call him "upon the carpet" onthe quarter-deck as soon as the yacht was anchored, and proposed tocontinue that insulting arraignment. 

In his new pride, in the love which now made all other matters of lifeso insignificant, Mayo was afraid of himself; he knew his limitations inthe matter of submission; even then he felt a hankering to walk aftand jounce Julius Marston up and down in his hammock chair. He did notbelieve he could stand calmly in the presence of Alma Marston and listento any unjust berating, even from her father. 

He tried to put his flaming resentment out of his thoughts, but he couldnot. In the end, he told himself that perhaps it was just as well! AlmaMarston must have pride of her own. She could not continue to love a manwho remained in the position of her father's hireling; she would surelybe ashamed of a lover who was willing to hump his back and take alashing in public. His desire to be with her, even at the cost of hispride, was making him less a man and he knew it. He decided toface Marston, man fashion, and then go away. He felt that she wouldunderstand in spite of her grief. 

Then, turning from a look at the compass, he saw that the yacht's ownerwas on the bridge. Half of an un-lighted cigar, which was soggy with thedampness of the fog, plugged Marston's-mouth. 

He scowled when the captain saluted. 

"You needn't bother to talk now, " the millionaire broke in whenMayo began an explanation of his delay in obeying the call to thequarter-deck. "When I have anything to say to a man I want his undividedattention. Is this fog going to hold on?"

"Yes, sir, until the wind hauls more to the norrard. "

"Then anchor. "

"I am heading into Saturday Cove now, sir. "

"Anchor here. "

"I'm looking for considerably more than a capful of wind when it comes, sir. It isn't prudent to anchor offshore. "

Marston grunted and turned away. He stood at the end of the bridge, chewing on the cigar, until the _Olenia_ was in the harbor with mudhookset. Mayo twitched the jingle bell, signaling release to the engineer. 

"I am at your service, sir, " he reported, walking to the owner. 

Marston rolled the plugging cigar to a corner of his mouth and inquired, "Now, young man, tell me what you mean by saluting a Bee line steamerwith my whistle?"

"I did not salute the _Conomo_, sir. "

"You gave her three whistles. "

"Yes, but--"

"You're on a gentleman's yacht now, young man, and not on afishing-steamer. Yachting etiquette doesn't allow a steam-whistle tobe sounded in salute. Mr. Beveridge has just looked it up for me, and Iknow, and you need not assume any of your important knowledge. " Marstonseemed to be displaying much more irritation than a small matterwarranted. But what he added afforded more light on the subject. "Themanager of the Bee line was on board that steamer. You heard him hootthat siren at me!"

"I heard him give me cross-signals in defiance of the rules of the road, sir. "

"Didn't you know that he whistled at me as an insult--as a sneer?"

"I heard only ordinary signals, sir. "

"Everything is ordinary to a sailor's observation! You allowed him tocrowd you off your course. You made a spectacle of my yacht, splashingit around like a frightened duck. "

"I was avoiding collision, sir. "

"You should have made your bigness with my yacht! You sneaked and dodgedlike a fishing-boat skipper. Was it on a fishing-boat you were trainedto those tricks?"

"I have commanded a fishing-steamer, sir. "

"On top of it all you gave him three whistles--regular fishing-boatmanners, eh?"

Captain Mayo straightened and his face and eyes expressed the spirit ofa Yankee skipper who knew that he was right. 

"I say, " insisted Marston, "that you saluted him. "

"And I say, sir, that he cross-signaled, an offense that has lostmasters their licenses. When I was pinched I gave him three whistles tosay that my engines were going full speed astern. If Mr. Beveridge hadlooked farther in that book he might have found that rule, too!"

"When I looked up at the bridge, here, you were waving your hand tohim--three whistles and a hand-wave! You can't deny that you weresaluting!"

"I was shaking my fist at him, sir. "

Within himself Captain Mayo was frankly wondering because the owner ofthe _Olenia_ was displaying all this heat. He remembered the taunt fromthe pilot-house of the _Conomo_ and understood vaguely that there weredepths in the affair which he had not fathomed. But he was in no mood toatone vicariously for the offenders aboard the _Conomo_. 

"If I could have found a New York captain who knew the short cuts alongthis coast I could have had some decency and dignity on board my yacht. I'm even forgetting my own sense of what is proper--out here wastingwords and time in this fashion. You're all of the same breed, youdown-easters!"

"I am quite sure you can find a New York captain--" began Mayo. 

"I don't want your opinion in regard to my business, young man. When Ineed suggestions from you I'll ask for them. " He flung his soggy cigarover the rail and went down the ladder, and the fog closed immediatelybehind him. 

Captain Mayo paced the bridge. He was alone there. A deck-hand hadhooded the brass of the binnacle and search-light, listening while theowner had called the master to account. Mayo knew that the full reportof that affair would be carried to the forecastle. His position aboardthe yacht had become intolerable. He wondered how much Marston wouldsay aft. His cheeks were hot and rancor rasped in his thoughts. In thehearing of the girl he adored his shortcomings would be the subject fora few moments of contemptuous discourse, even as the failings of cooksform a topic for idle chatter at the dinner-table. 

Out of the blank silence of the wrapping fog came many sounds. Noisescarried far and the voice of an unseen singer, who timed himself tothe clank of an Apple-treer pump, brought to Mayo the words of an oldshanty:

 "Come all you young fellows that follow the sea, Now pray pay attention and lis-ten to me. O blow the man down, bullies, blow the man down! Way-ay, blow the man down. O blow the man down in Liverpool town! Give me some time to blow the man down. 'Twas aboard a Black-Bailer I first served my time, And in that Black-Bailer I wasted my prime. 'Tis larboard and starboard on deck you will sprawl, For blowers and strikers command the Black Ball. So, it's blow the man down, bullies--"

Alma Marston's voice interrupted his somber appreciation of thesignificance of that ditty. "Are you up there, Boyd?" she asked, incautious tones. 

He hurried to the head of the ladder and saw her at its foot, halfhidden in the mists even at that short distance. He reached down hishand and she came up, grasping it. 

She was studying his expression with both eagerness and apprehension. "Icouldn't stay away from you any longer, " she declared. "The fog is goodto us! Father could not see me as I came forward. I must tell you, Boyd. He has ordered me to stay aft. "

He did not speak. 

"Has he dared to say to you what he has been saying below about you?"

"I don't think it needed any especial daring on your father's part; I amonly his servant, " he said, with bitterness. 

"And he--he insulted you like that?"

"I suppose your father did not look on what he said as insult. I repeat, I am a paid servant. "

"But what you did was right! I know it must have been right, for youknow everything about what is right to do on the sea. "

"I understand my duties. "

"And he blamed you for something?"

"It was a bit worse than that from my viewpoint. " He smiled down ather, for her eyes were searching his face as if appealing for a bit ofconsolation. 

"Boyd, don't mind him, " she entreated. "Somebody who has been fightinghim in business has been very naughty. I don't know just what it's allabout. But he has so many matters to worry him. And he snaps at me justthe same, every now and then. "

"Yes, some men are cowards enough to abuse those who must look to themfor the comforts of this world, " he declared. 

"We must make allowances. "

"I'll not stay in a position where a man who hires me thinks he cantalk to me as if I were a foremast hand. Alma, you would despise me if Iallowed myself to be kicked around like a dog. "

"I would love you all the more for being willing to sacrifice somethingfor my sake. I want you here--here with all your love--here with me aslong as these summer days last. " She patted his cheek. "Why don't youtell me that you want to stay with me, Boyd? That you will die if wecannot be together? We can see each other here. I can bring Nan Burgesson the bridge with me. Father will not mind then. Let each day take careof itself!"

"I want to be what you want me to be--to do what you want me to do. ButI wish you would tell me to go out into the world and make something ofmyself. Alma, tell me to go! And wait for me!"

She laid her face against his shoulder and reached for his fingers, endeavoring to pull one of his arms about her. But both of his handswere clutching the rail of the bridge. He resisted. 

"Are you going to be like all the rest? Just money and trouble andworry?" She stretched up on tiptoe and brushed a kiss across his fog-wetcheek. "Are you asleep, my big boy? Yesterday you were awake. "

"I think I am really awake to-day, and that I was dreaming yesterday. Alma, I cannot sneak behind your father's back to make love to you. Ican't do it. I'm going to give up this position. I can't endure it. "

"I say 'No!' I need you. "

"But--"

"I'll not give you up. "

There was something dramatic in her declaration; her demeanor expressedthe placid calm of absolute proprietorship. She worked his unwillingfingers free from the rail. 

"I love you because you can forget yourself. Now don't be like all theothers. "

He realized that a queer little sting of impatience was pricking him. The girl did not seem to understand what his manhood was prompting. 

"You mustn't be selfish, Boyd!"

She put into words the vague thought which had been troubling him inregard to her attitude; and now that he understood what his thought hadbeen he was incensed by what seemed his own disloyalty. And yet, thegirl was asking him to make over his nature!

"I'm afraid it's all wrong. These things never seem to come out right, "he mourned. 

"You are trying to turn the world upside down all at once--and allalone. Don't think so much, you solemn Yankee. Just love!"

He put his aims about her. "I'm sailing in new waters. I don't seem toknow the true course or the right bearings!"

"Let's stay anchored until the fog lifts! Isn't that what sailorsusually do?"

He confessed it, kissing her when she lifted her tantalizing face fromhis shoulder. 

"Now you'll let the future alone, won't you?" she asked. 

"Yes. " But even while he promised he was obliged to face that future. 

Julius Marston, at the foot of the ladder, called to his daughter. "Areyou up there?" he demanded, sharply. 

"Yes, father. "

"Come down here. "

She gave her lover a hasty caress and obeyed. 

Captain Mayo was obliged to listen. Marston, in his anger, showed noconsideration for possible eavesdroppers. 

"I have told you to stay aft where you belong. "

"Really, father, I don't understand why--"

"Those are my orders! I understand. _You_ don't need to understand. Thisworld is full of cheap fellows who misinterpret actions. "

Captain Mayo grasped the rails of the bridge ladder and did down to thedeck without touching his feet to the treads. He appeared before thefather and daughter with startling suddenness. 

"Mr. Marston, I am leaving my position on board here as soon as you canget another man to take my place. "

"You are, eh?"

"Yes, sir. "

"You signed papers for the season. It is not convenient for me to makea change. " Marston spoke with the crispness of a man who had settled thematter. 

Captain Mayo was conscious that the girl was trying to attract his gaze, but he kept his eyes resolutely from her face. 

"I insist on being relieved. "

"I have no patience with childishness in a man! I found it necessary toreprimand you. You'll probably know your place after this. " He turnedaway. 

"I have decided that I do not belong on this yacht, " stated Mayo, withan emphasis he knew the girl would understand. "You must get anothermaster!"

"I cannot pick captains out of this fog, and I allow no man to tellme my own business. I shall keep you to your written agreement. Holdyourself in readiness to carry telegrams ashore for me. I take it thereis an office here?"

"There is, sir, " returned Mayo, stiffly. 

The girl, departing, bestowed on him a pretty grimace of triumph, plainly rejoicing because his impetuous resignation had been overruledso autocratically. But Mayo gave a somber return to the raillery of hereyes. He had spoken out to Marston as a man, and had been treated withthe contemptuous indifference which would be accorded to a bond-servant. He was wounded by the light manner in which she viewed that affront, even though her own father offered it. 

He stood there alone for a time, meditating various rash acts. Butunder all the tumult of his feelings was the realization that theresponsibility for that yacht's discipline and safety rested on hisshoulders and he went about his duties. He called two of the crew andordered the gangway steps down and the port dinghy cleared and lowered. Then he went to the chart-room and sat on a locker and tried to figureout whether he was wonderfully happy or supremely miserable. 

Marston promptly closeted himself with his three wise men of businessafter he went aft. "We'll frame up those telegrams now and get themoff, " he told them. "I thought I'd better wait until I had worked thebile out of my system. Never try to do sane and safe business whenyou're angry, gentlemen! I'm afraid those telegrams would not havebeen exactly coherent if I had written them right after that Bee linersmashed past us. "

"I have been ready to believe that Tucker would come in with us on theright lay, " said one of the associates. 

"So did I, " agreed Marston. "I have thought all his loud talk has beenbluff to beat up a bigger price. But, after what he did to-day! Ohno! He is out to fight and he grabbed his chance to show us! I do notbelieve a lot of this regular fight talk. But when a man comes up andsmashes me between the eyes I begin to suspect his intentions. "

"There's no need of dickering with him any longer, Mr. Marston. Hemade his work as dirty as he could to-day--he has left nothing open todoubt. "

"I'm sorry, " said another of the group. "Tucker has let himself getugly. "

"So have I, " replied Marston, dryly. "And I'm growing senile, too, I'mafraid. I went forward and wasted as much anathema on that skipper ofmine as I would use up in putting through a half-million deal with anopposition traffic line. Next thing I know I'll be arguing with, thesmoke-stack. But I must confess, gentlemen, that Tucker rather took mybreath away to-day. Either he has become absolutely crazy or else hedoesn't understand the strength of the combination. "

"He hasn't waked up yet. He doesn't know what's against him. "

"That may be our fault, in a measure, " stated one of the men. "Wehaven't been able to let men like Tucker in on the full details. "

"In business it's the good guesser who wins, " declared Marston. "Ourmerger isn't a thing to be advertised. And if we do any more explainingto Tucker the whole plan _will_ be advertised, you can depend on it. The infernal fool has been holding us up three months, demanding moreknowledge--and he can't be trusted. There's only one thing to do, gentlemen! That!" He drove his fist into his palm with significant thud. 

"Is the Bee line absolutely essential in our plans?"

"Every line along this coast is essential in making that merger stock anair-tight proposition. "

"It's a new line and is not paying dividends. "

"Well, for that matter, it's got nothing in that respect on some of theother lines we're salting down in the merger, " suggested a member of theparty, speaking for the first time. 

"I'm afraid you said it then, Thompson! American bottoms seem to beturned into barnacle-gardens, " declared the man who had questioned thematter of Tucker's value. 

"Gentlemen, just a moment!" Julius Marston leaned forward in hischair. His voice was low. His eyes narrowed. He dominated them by hisearnestness. "You have followed me in a number of enterprises, and wehave had good luck. But let me tell you that we have ahead of us thebiggest thing yet, and we cannot afford to leave one loose end! Notone, gentlemen! That's why a fool like Tucker doesn't deserve anyconsideration when he gets in our way. Listen to me! The biggest thingthat has ever happened in this world is going to happen. How do I know?I am not sure that I do know. But as I have just told you, the man whoguesses right is the winner. " His thin nose was wrinkled, and the stripof beard on his chin bristled. Sometimes men called Marston "the fox ofWall Street. " He suggested the reason for his nickname as he sat thereand squinted at his associates. "And there's an instinct that helps somemen to guess right. Something is going to happen in this world beforelong that will make millionaires over and over out of men who haveinvested a few thousands in American bottoms. "

"What will happen?" bluntly inquired one of the men, after a silence. 

"I am neither clairvoyant nor crystal-gazer, " said Marston, grimly. "ButI have led you into some good things when my instinct has whispered. Isay it's going to happen--and I say no more. "

"To make American bottoms worth while the whole of Europe will have tobe busy doing something else with their ships. "

"All right! Then they'll be doing it, " returned Marston. 

"It would have to be a war--a big war. "

"Very well! Maybe that's the answer. "

"But there never can be another big war. As a financier you know it. "

"I have made some money by adhering to the hard and fast rules offinance. But I have made the most of my money by turning my back onthose rules and listening to my instinct, " was Marston's rejoinder. "Idon't want to over-influence you, gentlemen. I don't care to discuss anyfurther what you may consider to be dreams. I am not predicting a greatwar in Europe. Common sense argues the other way. But I am going intothis ship-merger proposition with every ounce of brains and energy andcapital I possess. The man who gets in my way is trying to keep thesetwo hands of mine off millions!" He shook his clutched fists abovehis head. "And I'll walk over him, by the gods! whether it's Tuckeror anybody else. We have had some good talks on the subject, firstand last. I'm starting now to fight and smash opposition. What do youpropose to do in the matter, gentlemen?"

They were silent for a time, looking at one another, querying withoutwords. Then out of their knowledge of Julius Marston's uncannyabilities, remembering their past successes, came resolve. 

"We're in with you to the last dollar, " they assured him, one after theother. 

"Very well! You're wise!"

He unlocked a drawer of his desk and secured a code-book. He pressed abuzzer and the secretary came hurrying from his stateroom. 

"We'll open action, gentlemen, with a little long-distance skirmish overthe wire. "

He began to dictate his telegrams. 

VI ~ AND WE SAILED

 O Johnny's gone to Baltimore To dance upon that sanded floor. O Johnny's gone for evermore; I'll never see my John no more! O Johnny's gone! What shall I do? A-way you. H-e-e l-o-o-o! O Johnny's gone! What shall I do? Johnny's gone to Hilo. --Old Hauling Song. 

The taciturn secretary fumbled his way forward and delivered to CaptainMayo a little packet securely bound with tape. 

"Orders from Mr. Marston that you take these ashore, yourself. They areimportant telegrams and he wants them hurried. "

The master called his men to the dinghy, and they rowed him away throughthe fog. It was a touchy job, picking his way through that murk. Hestood up, leaning forward holding to his taut tiller-ropes, and moreby ears than his eyes directed his course. A few of the anchored craft, knowing that they were in the harbor roadway, clanged their bellslazily once in a while. Yacht tenders were making their rounds, carryingparties who were paying and returning calls, and these boats wereavoiding each other by loud hails. Small objects loomed largely andlittle sounds were accentuated. 

The far voice of an unseen joker announced that he could find his waythrough the fog all right, but was afraid he had not strength enough topush his boat through it. 

But Mayo knew his waters in that harbor, and found his way to the wharf. His real difficulties confronted him at the village telegraph office. The visiting yachtsmen had flooded the place with messages, and theflustered young woman was in a condition nearly resembling hysteria. Shewas defiantly declaring that she would not accept any more telegrams. Instead of setting at work upon those already filed she was spending hertime explaining her limitations to later arrivals. 

Captain Mayo stood at one side and looked on for a few moments. A gentlenudge on his elbow called his attention to an elderly man with stringywhiskers, who thus solicited his notice. The man held a folded papergingerly by one corner, exhibiting profound respect for his minuteburden. 

"You ain't one of these yachting dudes--you're a skipper, ain't you?"asked the man. 

"Yes, sir. "

"Well, then, I can talk to you, as one officer to another--and glad tomeet one of my own breed. I'm first mate of the schooner _Polly_. Mr. Speed is my name. "

Captain Mayo nodded. 

"And I need help and advice. This is the first tele-graft I ever had inmy hands. I'd rather be aholt of an iced halyard in a no'easter! I'vebeen sent ashore to telegraft it, and now she says she won't stick itonto the wire, however it is they do the blasted trick. "

Captain Mayo had already noticed that the messengers from the yachtswere killing time by teasing the flustered young woman; it wasgood-humored badinage, but it was effectively blocking progress at thatend of the line. 

He felt a "native's" instinctive impulse to go to the relief of theyoung woman who was being baited by the merrymakers; the responsibilityof his own errand prompted him to help her clear decks. But he waited, hoping that the yachtsmen would go about their business. 

"From the _Polly_, Mr. Speed?" he inquired, amiably. "Is the Polly inthe harbor? I didn't notice her in the fog. "

"Reckon you know her, by the way you speak of her, " replied thegratified Mr. Speed. 

"I ought to, sir. She was built at Mayoport by my great-grandfatherbefore the Mayo yards began to turn out ships. "

"Well, I swanny! Be you a Mayo?"

The captain bowed and smiled at the enthusiasm displayed by Mr. Speed. 

"By ginger! that sort of puts you right into _our_ fambly, so to speak!"The mate surveyed him with interest and with increasing confidence. "I'min a mess, Cap'n Mayo, and I need advice and comfort, I reckon. I washeaded on a straight tack toward my regular duty, and all of a sudden Ifound myself jibed and in stays, and I'm there now and drifting. Seeingthat your folks built the _Polly_, I consider that you're in the fambly, and that Proverdunce put you right here to-night in this telegraftoffice. Do you know Cap'n Epps Candage?"

Mayo shook his head. 

"Or his girl, Polly, named for the _Polly?_"

"No, I must confess. "

"Well, it may be just as well for ye that ye don't, " said Oakum Otie, twisting his straggly beard into a spill and blinking nervously. "ThereI was, headed straight and keeping true course, and then she looked atme and there was a tremble in her voice and tears in her eyes--and thenext thing I knowed I was here in this telegraft place with this!" Heheld up the folded paper and his hand shook. 

Captain Mayo did not understand, and therefore he made no remarks. 

"There was a song old Ephrum Wack used to sing, " went on Mr. Speed, getting more confidential and making sure that the other men in the roomwere too much occupied to listen. "Chorus went:

 "I ain't afeard of the raging sea, Nor critters that's in it, whatever they be. But a witch of a woman is what skeers me!

"There I've been, standing by Cap'n Epps in the whole dingdo, and shegot me one side and looked at me and says a few things with a quiver inher voice and her eyes all wet and shiny and"--he paused and looked downat the paper with bewilderment that was rather pitiful--"and I walkedright over all common sense and shipboard rules and discipline andeverything and came here, fetching this to be stuck on to the wire, orwhatever they do with telegrafts. But, " he added, a waver in his tones, "she is so lord-awful pretty, I couldn't help it!"

Still did Captain Mayo refrain from comment or question. 

"The question now is, had I ought to, " demanded Mr. Speed. "I'm takingyou into the fambly on my own responsibility. You're a captain, you're anative, and I need good advice. Had I ought to?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me, sir. The matter seems to beprivate, and, furthermore, I don't know what you're talking about. "

"She says it's to the milliner so that the milliner will hold the jobopen. But I'm suspicioning that it's roundabout to the beau that's inlove with her. That's the style of women. Cap'n Epps shanghaied her toget her away from that fellow. Now she has got it worked around so thatshe is going back. But there's a beau in it instead of a milliner. Shewouldn't be so anxious to get word to a milliner. That's my idee, and Ireckon it's yours, too. "

"I really have no ideas on the subject, " returned Captain Mayo. "Butif you have promised a young lady to send a telegram for her I wouldcertainly keep that promise if I were in your place. "

The next moment he regretted his rather impetuous advice, for Mr. Speedslapped the paper against a hard palm and blurted out: "That's all Iwanted! Course and bearings from an a-number-one adviser. New, how'll Igo to work to send this thing?"

"I have been figuring on that matter for the last few minutes, myself, "acknowledged the captain. "It's about time to have a little action inthis place. "

He was obliged to elbow his way through the group of men who surroundedthe telegraph operator. Oakum Otie followed on his heels, resolved tostudy at close range the mystery of telegraphing, realizing what heneeded for his own instruction. 

"These telegrams are important and they must go at ore, madam, " Mayoinformed the flustered young woman. 

"I can't send them. I am bothered so much I can't do anything, " shestammered. 

"Oh, forget your business, skipper, " advised one of the party. 

"It is not my business, sir. " He laid the packet of messages before theoperator on her little counter and tapped his finger on them. "They mustgo, " he repeated. 

"In their turn, " warned the yachtsman, showing that he resented thisintrusion. "And after the party is over!"

"I intended to confine my conversation to this young lady, " said Mayo. He turned and faced them. "But I have been here long enough to see thatyou gentlemen are interfering with the business of this office. Perhapsyour messages are not important. Mine are. "

The yachtsman was not sober nor was he judicious. "Go back to your job, young fellow, " he advised. "You are horning in among gentlemen. "

"So am I, " squawked Mr. Speed, with weather eye out for clouds of anysort. 

Captain Mayo gave his supporter a glance of mingled astonishment andrelish. "We'd better not have any words about the matter, gentlemen, ''he suggested, mildly. 

"Certainly not, " stated the spokesman. "If you'll pass on there'll be nowords--or anything else. "

"Then we'll dispense with words!" The quick anger of youth flared inMayo. The air of the man rather than his words had offended deeply. "You'd like to have this room to yourself so that you can attend to yourbusiness, I presume?" he asked the operator. 

"Yes, I would. "

Oakum Otie laid his folded paper upon the packet of Captain Mayo. 

"You will leave the room gentlemen, " advised the captain. 

Mr. Speed thrust out his bony elbows and cracked his hard fiststogether. "I have never liked dudes, " he stated. "I have been brought upthat way. All my training with Cap'n Epps has been that way. "

"How do you fit into this thing?" demanded one of the yachtsmen. 

"About like this, " averred Mr. Speed. He grabbed the young man by bothshoulders and ran him out into the night before anybody could interfere. Then Mr. Speed reappeared promptly and inquired, "Which one goes next?"

"I think they will all go, " said the captain. 

"Come on, " urged one of the party. "We can't afford to get into a brawlwith natives. "

"You bet you can't, " retorted Oakum Otie. "I hain't hove bunches ofshingles all my life for nothing!"

Mayo said nothing more. But after the yachtsmen had looked him over theywent out, making the affair a subject for ridicule. 

"Hope I done right and showed to you that I was thankful for goodadvice, " suggested Mr. Speed, seeking commendation. 

"Just a bit hasty, sir. "

"Maybe, but there's nothing like handing folks a sample just to show upthe quality of the whole piece. "

"I thank you--both of you, " said the grateful operator. 

"You'd better lock your door, " advised Mayo. "Men are thoughtless whenthey have nothing to do except play. "

"I am so grateful! And I'm going to break an office rule, " volunteeredthe girl. "I shall send off your telegrams first. "

"And I hope you can tuck that little one in second--it won't takeup much room!" pleaded Oakum Otie. "It's to help an awful prettygirl--looks are a good deal like yours!"

"I'll attend to it, " promised the young woman, blushing. 

Outside in the village street Mr. Speed wiped his rough palm against theleg of his trousers and offered his hand to the captain. "I'll have tosay good-by to you here, sir. I've got a little errunting to do--fig o'terbacker and a box of stror'b'ries. I confess to a terrible tooth forstror'b'ries. When the hanker ketches me and I can't get to stror'b'riesmy stror'b'ry mark shows up behind my ear. I hope I have done right insending off that tele-graft for her--but it's too bad that a landlubberbeau is going to get such a pretty girl. " Then Oakum Otie sighed andmelted away into the foggy gloom. 

When Captain Mayo was half-way down the harbor, on his way back to theyacht, he was confronted by a spectacle which startled him. The fogwas suddenly painted with a ruddy flare which spread high and flamedsteadily. His first fears suggested that a vessel was on fire. The_Olenia_ lay in that direction. He commanded his men to pull hard. 

When he burst out of the mists into the zone of the illumination hismisgivings were allayed, but his curiosity was roused. 

A dozen yacht tenders flocked in a flotilla near the stern of a rustyold schooner. All the tenders were burning Coston lights, and fromseveral boats yachtsmen were sending off rockets which striped the pallof fog with bizarre colorings. 

The stern of the schooner was well lighted up by the torches, and Mayosaw her name, though he did not need that name to assure him of heridentity; she was the venerable _Polly_. 

The light which flamed about her, showing up her rig and lines, wasweirdly unreal and more than ever did she seem like a ghost ship. The thick curtain of the mist caught up the flare of the torches andreflected it upon her from the skies, and she was limned in fantasticfashion from truck to water-line. Shadows of men in the tenders werethrown against the fog-screen in grotesque outline, and a spirit crewappeared to be toiling in the top-hamper of the old schooner. 

Captain Mayo ordered his men to hold water and the tender drifted closeto the flotilla. He spied a yacht skipper whom he had known when bothwere in the coasting trade. 

"What's the idea, Duncan?"

His acquaintance grinned. "Serenade for old Epps Candage's girl--handedto her over his head. " He pointed upward. 

Projecting over the schooner's rail was the convulsed countenance ofCaptain Candage. Choler seemed to be consuming him. The freakish lightpainted everything with patterns in arabesque; the captain's face lookedlike the countenance of a gargoyle. 

Mayo, observing with the natural prejudice of a "native, " detectedmockery in the affair. He had just been present at one exhibition of theconvivial humor of larking yachtsmen. 

"What's the special excuse for it?" he asked, sourly. 

"According to the story, Epps has brought her with him on this trip tobreak up a courting match. "

"Well, does that have anything to do with this performance?"

"Oh, it's only a little spree, " confessed the other. "It was planned outon our yacht. Old Epps made himself a mucker to-day by sassing some ofthe gents of the fleet, and the boys are handing him a little something. That's all! It's only fun!"

"According to my notion it's the kind of fun that hurts when a girl isconcerned, Duncan. "

"Just as serious as ever, eh? Well, my notion is that a littlegood-natured fun never hurts a pretty girl--and they say this one issome looker! Oh, hold on a minute, Boyd!" The master of the _Olenia_ hadturned away and was about to give an order to his oarsmen. "You ought tostop long enough to hear that new song one of the gents on the _Sunbeam_has composed for the occasion. It's a corker. I heard 'em rehearsing iton our yacht. "

In spite of his impatient resentment on behalf of the daughter of EppsCandage, Captain Mayo remained. Just then the accredited minstrel ofthe yachtsmen stood up, balancing himself in a tender. He was clearlyrevealed by the lights, and was magnified by the aureole of tinted fogwhich surrounded him. He sang, in waltz time, in a fine tenor:

 "Our Polly O, O'er the sea you go; Fairer than sunbeam, lovely as moon-gleam, All of us love thee so! While the breezes blow To waft thee, Polly O, We will be true to thee, Crossing the blue to thee, Polly--Polly! Dear little Polly, Polly--O-O-O!"

He finished the verse and then raised both arms with the gesture of achoral conductor. 

"All together, now, boys!"

They sang with soul and vigor and excellent effect. 

Ferocity nearly inarticulate, fury almost apoplectic, were expressed bythe face above the weather-worn rail. 

"They say that music soothes the savage breast, but it don't look likeit in this case, " observed Captain Duncan with a chuckle. 

"Clear off away from here, you drunken dudes! I'll have the law on ye!I'll have ye arrested for--for breaking the peace. "

That threat, considering the surroundings, provoked great hilarity. 

"Give way all! Here comes a cop!" warned a jeering voice. 

"He's walking on the water, " explained another. 

"The man must be a fool, " declared Captain Mayo. "If he'd go below andshut up, they'd get tired and leave in a few minutes. "

However, Captain Candage seemed to believe that retreat would be greatlyto his discredit. He continued to hang over the rail, discharging ascomplete a line of deep-water oaths as ever passed the quivering lips ofa mariner. Therefore the playful yachtsmen were highly entertained andstayed to bait him still further. Every little while they sang the Pollysong with fresh gusto, while the enraged skipper fairly danced to it inhis mad rage and flung his arms about like a crazy orchestra leader. 

Mr. Speed came rowing in his dory, putting out all his strength, splashing his oars. "My Gawd! Cap'n Mayo, " he gasped, "I heard 'emhollering 'Oh, Polly!' and I was 'feard she was afire. What's thetrouble?"

"You'd better get on board, sir, and induce Captain Candage to go belowand keep still. He is fast making a complete idiot of himself. "

"I hain't got no influence over him. I ask and implore you to step onboard and soothe him down, sir. You can do it. He'll listen to a Mayo. "

"I'd better not try. It's no job for a stranger, Mr. Speed. "

"He'll be heaving that whole deckload of shingles at 'em next!"

"Get his daughter to coax him. "

"He won't listen to her when he's that fussed up!"

"I'm sorry! Give way men!"

His rowers dropped their oars into the water and pulled away withevident reluctance. 

"Better stay and see it out, " advised Captain Duncan. 

"I don't care much for your show, " stated Mayo, curtly. 

The cabin curtains were drawn on the _Olenia_, and he felt especiallyshut away from human companionship. He went forward and paced up anddown the deck, turning over his troubled affairs in his mind, but makingpoor shift in his efforts to set anything in its right place. 

There were no indications that the serenading yachtsmen were becomingtired of their method of killing time during a fog-bound evening. Theyhad secured banjos and mandolins, and were singing the Polly song withbetter effect and greater relish. And continually the hoarse voice ofthe _Polly's_ master roared forth malediction, twisted into new forms ofprofanity. 

But Captain Mayo, pacing under the damp gleam of the riding-light, paidbut little heed to the hullabaloo. He was too thoroughly absorbed inhis own troubles to feel special interest in what his neighbors weredoing. He did not even note that a fog-sodden breeze had begun to puffspasmodically from the east and that the mists were shredding overhead. 

However, all of a sudden, a sound forced itself on his attention; heheard the chuckling of sheaves and knew that a sail was being hoisted. The low-lying stratum of fog was still thick, and he could not perceivethe identity of the craft which proposed to take advantage of thesluggish breeze. The "ruckle-ruckle" of the blocks sounded at quickintervals and indicated haste; there was a suggestion of viciousdetermination on the part of the men who were tugging at the halyards. Then Captain Mayo heard the steady clanking of capstan pawls. He knewthe methods of the Apple-treers, their cautiousness, and their leisurelyhabits, and he could scarcely believe that a coasting skipper wasintending to leave the harbor that night. But the capstan pawls began toclick in staccato, showing that the anchor had been broken out. 

Protesting shouts from all about in the gloom greeted that signal. 

There was no mistaking the hoarse voice of Captain Candage when it wasraised in reply; his tones had become familiar after that evening ofmalediction. 

"Dingdam ye, I know of a way of getting shet of the bunch of ye!"

"Don't try to shift your anchorage!"

"Anchorage be hossified! I'm going to sea!" bellowed the master of the_Polly_. 

"Down with that hook of yours! You'll rake this whole yacht fleet withyour old dumpcart!"

"You have driv' me to it! Now you can take your chances!"

The next moment Mayo heard the ripping of tackle and a crash. 

"There go two tenders and our boat-boom! Confound it, man, drop yourhook!"

But from that moment Captain Candage, as far as his mouth was concerned, preserved ominous silence. The splintery speech of havoc was moreeloquent. 

Mayo could not see, but he understood in detail what damage was wroughtupon the delicate fabric of yachts by that unwieldy old tub of aschooner. Here, another boat-boom carried away, as she sluggishly thrusther bulk out through the fleet; there an enameled hull raked by herrusty chain-plate bolts. Now a tender smashed on the outjutting davits, next a wreck of spidery head-rigging, a jib-boom splintered and aforetopmast dragged down. If Captain Mayo had been in any doubt as tothe details of the disasters he would have received full informationfrom the illuminating profanity of the victims. 

He knew well enough that Captain Candage was not performing with wilfulintent to do all that damage. In what little wind there was the schoonerwas not under control. She was drifting until she got enough headway tobe steered. In the mean time she was doing what came in her way to do. The _Polly_ had been anchored near the _Olenia_. As soon as her anchorleft bottom the schooner drifted up the harbor. Mayo knew, in a fewminutes, that Candage was bringing her about. An especial outbreak ofsmashing signaled that manouver. 

Mayo sniffed at the breeze, judged distance and direction, and then herushed forward and pounded his fist on the forecastle hatch. 

"Rout out all hands!" he shouted. "Rouse up bumpers and tarpaulin!"

With the wind as it was, he realized that the schooner would point up inthe _Olenia_'s direction when Candage headed out to sea. 

At last Mayo caught a glimpse of her through the fog. His calculationhad been correct. Headed his way she was. She was moving so slowlythat she was practically unmanageable; her apple-bows hardly stirreda ripple, but with breeze helping the tide-set she was comingirresistibly, paying off gradually and promising to sideswipe the bigyacht. 

Mayo had a mariner's pride in his craft, and a master's devotion toduty. He did not content himself with merely ordering about the men whocame tumbling on deck. 

He grabbed a huge bumper away from one of the sailors who seemeduncertain just what to do; he ran forward and thrust it over the rail, leaning far out to see that it was placed properly to take the impact. He was giving more attention to the safety of the _Olenia_ than he wasto what the on-coming _Polly_ might do to him. 

Under all bowsprits on schooners, to guy the headstays, thrustsdownward a short spar, at right angles to the bowsprit; it is called themartingale or dolphin-striker. The amateur riggers who had tinkered withthe Polly's gear in makeshift fashion had not troubled to smooth offspikes with which they had repaired the martingale's lower end. CaptainMayo ducked low to dodge a guy, and the spikes hooked themselves neatlyinto the back of his reefer coat. Mr. Marston had bought excellent andstrong cloth for his captain's uniform. The fabric held, the spikes werewell set, the _Polly_ did not pause, and, therefore, the master of the_Olenia_ was yanked off his own deck and went along. 

All the evening Mayo's collar had been buttoned closely about his neckto keep out the fog-damp, and when he was picked up by the spikes thecollar gripped tightly about his throat and against his larynx. His cryfor help was only a strangled squawk. His men were scattered along theside of the yacht, trying to protect her, the night was over all, and noone noted the mode of the skipper's departure. 

The old schooner scrunched her way past the _Olenia_, roweling theyacht's glossy paint and smearing her with tar and slime. It was asif the rancorous spirit of the unclean had found sudden opportunity todefile the clean. 

Then the _Polly_ passed on into the night with clear pathway to the opensea. 

VII ~ INTO THE MESS FROM EASTWARD

 Farewell to friends, farewell to foes, Farewell to dear relations. We're bound across the ocean blue-- Bound for the foreign nations. Then obey your bo's'n's call, Walk away with that cat-fall! And we'll think on those girls when we can no longer stay. And we'll think on those girls when we're far, far away. --Unmooring. 

For the first few moments, after being snatched up in that fashion, Mayohung from the dolphin-striker without motion, like a man paralyzed. He was astounded by the suddenness of this abduction. He was afraid tostruggle. Momentarily he expected that the fabric would let go and thathe would be rolled under the forefoot of the schooner. Then he began togrow faint from lack of breath; he was nearly garroted by his collar. Carefully he raised his hands and set them about a stay above his headand lifted himself so that he might ease his throat from the throttlinggrip of the collar. He dangled there over the water for some time, feeling that he had not strength enough, after his choking, to lifthimself into the chains or to swing to the foot-rope. 

He glanced up and saw the figurehead; it seemed to be simpering at himwith an irritating smile. There was something of bland triumph in thatgrin. In the upset of his feelings there was personal and provokingaggravation in the expression of the figurehead. He swore at it as if itwere something human. His anger helped him, gave him strength. He beganto swing himself, and at last was able to throw a foot over a stay. 

He rested for a time and then gave himself another hoist and was ableto get astride the bowsprit. He judged that they must be outside theheadland of Saturday Cove, because the breeze was stronger and the seagurgled and showed white threads of foam against the blunt bows. Hisstruggles had consumed more time than he had realized in the dazedcondition produced by his choking collar. 

He heard the popping of a motor-boat's engine far astern, and wascheered by the prompt conviction that pursuit was on. Therefore, he madehaste to get in touch with the _Polly's_ master. He scrambled inboardalong the bowsprit and fumbled his way aft over the piles of lumber, obliged to move slowly for fear of pitfalls, Once or twice he shouted, but he received no answer, He perceived three dim figures on thequarter-deck when he arrived there--three men. Captain Candage wasstamping to and fro. 

"Who in the devil's name are _you?_" bawled the old skipper. "Get off'mhere! This ain't a passenger-bo't. "

"I'll get off mighty sudden and be glad to, " retorted Mayo. 

"Well, I'll be hackmetacked!" exploded Mr. Speed shoving his face overthe wheel. "It's--"

"Shut up!" roared the master. "How comes it you're aboard here as astowaway?"

"Don't talk foolishness, " snapped Captain Mayo "Your old martingalespikes hooked me up. Heave to and let me off!"

"Heave to it is!" echoed Oakum Otie, beginning to whirl the tiller. 

Captain Candage turned on his mate with the violence of a thunderclap. "Gad swigger your pelt, who's giving off orders aboard here? Hold onyour course!"

"But this is--"

"Shut up!" It was a blast of vocal effort. "Hold your course!"

"And _I_ say, heave to and let that motor-boat take me off, " insistedMayo. 

Captain Candage leaned close enough to note the yacht skipper's uniformcoat. "Who do you think you're ordering around, you gilt-striped, monkey-doodle dandy?"

"That motor-boat is coming after me. "

"Think you're of all that importance, hey? No, sir! It's a pack of 'emchasing me to make me go back into port and be sued and libeled andattached by cheap lawyers. "

"You ought to be seized and libeled! You had no business ratching out ofthat harbor in the dark. "

"Ought to have taken a rising vote of dudes, hey, to find out whether Ihad the right to h'ist my mudhook or not?"

"I'm not here to argue. You can do that in court. I tell you to comeinto the wind and wait for that boat. "

"You'd better, Cap Candage, " bleated Oakum Otie. "This is--"

"Shut up! I'm running my own schooner, Mr. Speed. "

"But he is one of the--"

"I don't care if he is one of the Apostles. I know my own business. Shutup! Hold her on her course!"

He took two turns along the quarter-deck, squinting up into the night. 

"Look here, Candage, you and I are going to have a lot of trouble witheach other if you don't show some common sense. I must get back to myyacht. "

"Jump overboard and swim back. I ain't preventing. I didn't ask you onboard. You can leave when you get ready. But this schooner is bound forNew York, they're in a hurry for this lumber, and I ain't stopping atway stations!" He took another look at the weather, licked his thumb, and held it against the breeze. "Sou'west by sou', and let her run! Andshut up!" he commanded his mate. 

Mayo grabbed one of the yawl davits and sprang to the rail. 

"We're some bigger than a needle, but so long as the haystack staysthick enough I guess we needn't worry!" remarked Captain Candage, cocking his ear to listen to the motor-boat's exhaust. 

"Hoi-oi!" shouted Mayo into the night astern. He knew that men hearindistinctly over the noise of a gasoline-engine, but he had resolved tokeep shouting. 

"This way, men! This way with that boat!"

"'Vast heaving on that howl!" commanded Candage. 

But Mayo persisted with all his might. His attention was confined whollyto his efforts, and he was not prepared for the sudden attack frombehind. The master of the _Polly_ seized Mayo's legs and yanked himbackward to the deck. The young man fell heavily, and his head thumpedthe planks with violence which flung him into insensibility. 

When he opened his eyes he looked up and saw a hanging-lamp that creakedon its gimbals as it swayed to the roll of the schooner. He was in the_Polly's_ cabin. Next he was conscious that he was unable to move. Hewas seated on the floor, his back against a stanchion, his hands lashedbehind him by bonds which confined him to the upright support. But themost uncomfortable feature of his predicament was a marlinespike whichwas stuck into his mouth like a bit provided for a fractious horse, and was secured by lashings behind his head. He was effectually gagged. Furthermore, the back of his head ached in most acute fashion. He rolledhis eyes about and discovered that he had a companion in misery. A verypretty young woman was seated on a camp-chair across the cabin. Her faceexpressed much sympathy. 

He gurgled a wordless appeal for help, and then perceived that she waslashed into her chair. 

"I wish I could take that awful thing out of your mouth, sir. "

He gave her a look which assured her that he shared in her desire. 

"My father has tied me into this chair. I tried to make him stop hisdreadful talk when the boats came and burned the lights. He put medown here and made a prisoner of me. It is terrible, all that has beenhappening. I can't understand! I hope you will not think too hard of myfather, sir. Honestly, he seems to be out of his right mind. "

He wanted to return some comforting reply to this wistful appeal, buthe could only roll his head against the stanchion and make inarticulatesounds. 

"He seemed to be very bitter when he brought you below. I could notmake him listen to reason. I have been thinking--and perhaps you're thegentleman who led the singing which made him so angry?"

Mayo shook his head violently in protest at this suspicion. 

"I didn't mind, " she assured him. "I knew it was only in fun. " Shepondered for a few minutes. "Perhaps they wouldn't have teased one oftheir city girl friends in that way--but I suppose men must have a goodtime when they are away from home. Only--it has made it hard for me!"There were tears in her eyes. 

Mayo's face grew purple as he tried to speak past the restraining spikeand make her understand his sentiments on the subject of that serenade. 

"Don't try to talk, sir. I'm so sorry. It is shameful!"

There was silence in the cabin after that for a long time. He looked upat the swinging lamp, his gaze wandered about the homely cabin. But hiseyes kept returning to her face. He could not use his tongue, and hetried to tell her by his glances, apologetic little starings, that hewas sorry for her in her grief. She met those glances with manifestembarrassment. 

After an absence which was prolonged to suit his own sour will in thematter, Captain Candage came stamping stormily down the companionway. He stood between his captives and glowered, first at one and then at theother. 

"Both of ye blaming me, I reckon, for what couldn't be helped. "

"Father, listen to me now, if you have any sense left in you, " cried thegirl, with passion. "Take that horrible thing out of that gentleman'smouth. "

"It has come to a pretty pass in this world when an honest man can'tcarry on his own private business without having to tie up meddlers soas to have a little peace. " He walked close to Mayo and shook a monitoryfinger under the young man's nose. "Now, what did ye come on board herefor, messing into my affairs?"

The indignant captain put forth his best efforts to make suitableretort, but could only emit a series of "guggles. "

"And now on top of it all I am told by my mate, who never gets around todo anything that ought to be done till it's two days too late, thatyou are one of the Mayos! Why wasn't I informed? I might have madearrangements to show you some favors. I might have hove to and taken achance, considering who you was. And now it's too late. Everybody seemsto be ready to impose on me!"

Again Mayo tried to speak. 

"Why don't you shut up that gobbling and talk sense?" shouted the irateskipper, with maddening disregard of the captive's predicament. 

"Father, are you completely crazy? You haven't taken that spike out ofhis mouth. "

"Expect a man to remember everything when he is all wrapped in his ownbusiness and everybody trying to meddle with it?" grumbled Candage. Hefumbled in his pocket and produced a knife. He slashed away the ropeyarn which lashed the marlinespike. "If you can talk sense I'll helpyou do it! I reckon you can holler all you want to now. Them dudes can'tfind their own mouths in a fog, much less this schooner. Now talk up!"

Mayo worked his aching jaws and found his voice. "You know how Ihappened to get aboard, Captain Candage. I am skipper of the _Olenia_. Put back with me if you want to save trouble. "

"Not by a tin hoopus, sir! I ain't going about and tackle them reefs inthis fog. I've got open sea ahead, and I shall keep going!"

Mayo was a sailor who knew that coast, and he admitted to himself thatCandage's stubbornness was justified. 

"I ain't responsible for your getting aboard here. I'll land you as soonas I can--and that covers the law, sir. "

During a prolonged silence the two men stared at each other. 

"At any rate, Captain Candage, I trust you will not consider that youhave a right to keep me tied up here any longer. "

"Now that there's a better understanding about who is boss aboard here, I don't know as I'm afraid to have you at large, " admitted the skipper. "I only warn you to remember your manners and don't forget that I'mcaptain. "

He flourished his clasp-knife and bent and cut the lashings. Then hestrode across the cabin and performed like service for his daughter. 

"I reckon I can afford to have _you_ loose, too, now that you can't tellme my business in front of a lot of skylarkers throwing kisses right andleft!"

"Father! Oh, oh!" She put her hands to her face. 

Captain Candage seemed to be having some trouble in keeping up hisrôle of a bucko shipmaster; he shifted his eyes from Mayo's scowl andsurveyed his daughter with uncertainty while he scratched his ear. 

"When a man ain't boss on his own schooner he might as well stop goingto sea, " he muttered. "Some folks knows it's the truth, being in aposition to know, and others has to be showed!" He went stamping up thecompanionway into the night. 

Captain Mayo waited, for some minutes. The girl did not lift her head. 

"About that--What he said about--You understand! I know better!" hefaltered. 

"Thank you, sir, " she said, gratefully, still hiding her face from him. 

"Men sometimes do very foolish things. "

"I didn't know my father could be like this. "

"I was thinking about the men who came and annoyed him. I can understandhow he felt, because I am 'a 'native' myself. "

"I thought you were from outside. "

"My name is Boyd Mayo. I'm from Mayoport. "

She looked up at him with frank interest. 

"My folks built this schooner, " he stated, with modest pride. 

"I'm Polly Candage--I'm named for it. "

"It's too bad!" he blurted. "I don't mean to say but what the name isall right, " he explained, awkwardly, "but I don't think that eitherof us is particularly proud of this old hooker right at the presentmoment. " He went across the cabin and sat down on a transom and, testedthe bump on the back of his head with cautious palm. 

She did not reply, and he set his elbows on his knees and proceeded tonurse his private grouch in silence, quite excluding his companionfrom his thoughts. Now that he had been snatched so summarily from hishateful position on board the _Olenia_, his desire to leave her was notso keen. After Mayo's declaration to the owner, Marston might readilyconclude that his skipper had deserted. His reputation and his licenseas a shipmaster were in jeopardy, and he had already had a bitter tasteof Marston's intolerance of shortcomings. If Marston cared to botherabout breaking such a humble citizen, malice had a handy weapon. Butmost of all was Mayo concerned with the view Alma Marston would take ofthe situation. She would either believe that he had fallen overboardin the skirmish with the attacking Polly or had deserted withoutwarning--and in the case of a lover both suppositions were agonizing. His distress was so apparent that the girl, from her seat on theopposite transom, extended sympathy in the glances she dared to givehim. 

"How did you tear your coat so badly in the back?" she ventured at last. 

"Spikes your excellent father left sticking out of his martingale, " hesaid, a sort of boyish resentment in his tones. 

"Then it is only right that I should offer to mend it for you. "

She hurried to a locker, as if glad of an excuse to occupy herself. Sheproduced her little sewing-basket and then came to him and held out herhand. 

"Take it off, please. "

"You needn't trouble, " he expostulated, still gruff. 

"I insist. Please let me do a little something to make up for the_Polly's_ naughtiness. "

"It will be all right until I can get ashore--and perhaps I'll neverhave need to wear the coat again, anyway. "

"Won't you allow me to be doing something that will take my mind off mytroubles, sir?" Then she snapped her finger into her palm and there wasa spirit of matronly command in her voice, in spite of her youth. "Iinsist, I say! Take off your coat. "

He obeyed, a little grin crinkling at the corners of his mouth--aflicker of light in his general gloom. After he had placed the coat inher hands he sat down on the transom and watched her busy fingers. She worked deftly. She closed in the rents and then darned the raveledplaces with bits of the thread pulled from the coat itself. 

"You are making it look almost as good as new. "

"A country girl must know how to patch and darn. The folks in thecountry haven't as many things to throw away as the city folks have. "

"But that--what you are doing--that's real art. "

"My aunt does dressmaking and I have helped her. And lately I havebeen working in a millinery-shop. Any girl ought to know how to use herneedle. "

He remembered what Mr. Speed had said about the reason for her presenceon the _Polly_. He cast a disparaging glance around the bare cabin anddecided in his mind that Mr. Speed had reported truthfully and with fullknowledge of the facts. Surely no girl would choose that sort of thingfor a summer vacation. 

She bent her head lower over her work and he was conscious of warmersympathy for her; their troubled affairs of the heart were in similarplight. He felt an impulse to say something to console her and knew thathe would welcome understanding and consolation from her; promptly he wasafraid of his own tongue, and set curb upon all speech. 

"A man never knows how far he may go in making fool talk when he getsstarted, " he reflected. "Feeling the way I do to-night, I'd better keepthe conversation kedge well hooked. "

Now that her hands were busy, she did not find the silence embarrassing. Mayo returned to his ugly meditations. 

After a time he was obliged to shift himself on the transom. Theschooner was heeling in a manner which showed the thrust of wind. Heglanced up and saw that the rain was smearing broad splashes on thedingy glass of the windows. The companion hatch was open, and when hecocked his ear, with mariner's interest in weather, he heard the windgasping in the open space with a queer "guffle" in its tone. 

Instinctively he began to look about the cabin for a barometer. 

Already that day the _Olenia's_ glass had warned him by its downwardtendency. He wondered whether further reading would indicate somethingmore ominous than fog. 

Across the cabin he noted some sort of an instrument swinging from ahook on a carline. He investigated. It was a makeshift barometer, theadvertising gift of a yeast company. The contents of its tube wereroiled to the height of the mark which was lettered "Tornado. "

"You can't tell nothing from that!" Captain Candage had come down intothe cabin and stood behind his involuntary guest. "It has registered'Tornado' ever since the glass got cracked. And even at that, it's aboutas reliable as any of the rest of them tinkerdiddle things. "

"Haven't you a regular barometer--an aneroid?" inquired Captain Mayo. 

"I can smell all the weather I need to without bothering with one ofthem contrivances, " declared the master of the schooner, in lordlymanner. He began to pull dirty oilskins out of a locker. 

Mayo hurried up the companionway and put out his head. There were bothweight and menace in the wind which hooted past his ears. The fog wasgone, but the night was black, without glimmer of stars. The whitecrests of the waves which galloped alongside flaked the darkness withominous signalings. 

"If you can smell weather, Captain Candage, your nose ought to tell youthat this promises to be something pretty nasty. "

"Oh, it might be called nasty by lubbers on a gingerbread yacht, butI have sailed the seas in my day and season, and I don't run for aninshore puddle every time the wind whickers a little. " He was fumblingwith a button under his crisp roll of chin beard and gave the other mana stare of superiority. 

"You don't class me with yacht-lubbers, do you?"

"Well, you was just on a yacht, wasn't you?"

"Look here, Captain Candage, you may just as well understand, now andhere, that I'm one of your kind of sailors. Excuse me for personaltalk, but I want to inform you that from fifteen to twenty I was aGrand-Banksman. Last season I was captain of the beam trawler _Laura andMarion_. And I have steamboated in the Sound and have been a first matein the hard-pine trade in Southern waters. I have had a chance to findout more or less about weather. "

"Un-huh!" remarked the skipper, feigning indifference. "What about it?"

"I tell you that you have no business running out into this mess that ismaking from east'ard. "

"If you have been so much and so mighty in your time, then youunderstand that a captain takes orders from nobody when he's on boardhis own vessel. "

"I understand perfectly well, sir. I'm not giving orders. But my ownlife is worth something to me and I have a right to tell you that youare taking foolhardy chances. And you know it, too!"

Captain Candage's gaze shifted. He was a coaster and he was naturallycautious, as Apple-treers are obliged to be. He knew perfectly well thathe was in the presence of a man who knew! He had not the assurance todispute that man, though his general grudge against all the world atthat moment prompted him. 

"I got out because they drove me out, " he growled. 

"A man can't afford to be childish when he is in command of a vessel, sir. You are too old a skipper to deny that. "

"I was so mad I didn't stop to smell weather, " admitted the master, bracing himself to meet a fresh list of the heeling _Polly_. Heevidently felt that he ought to defend his own sagacity and absolvehimself from mariner's culpability. 

"Very well! Let it go at that! But what are you going to do?"

"I can't beat back to Saturday Cove against this wind--not now! Shewould rack her blamed old butts out. "

"Then run her for Lumbo Reach. You can quarter a following sea. Sheought to ride fairly easy. "

"That's a narrow stab in a night as black as this one is. "

"I'll make a cross-bearing for you. Where's your chart?" Mayo exhibiteda sailor's alert anxiety to be helpful. 

"I 'ain't ever needed a chart--not for this coast. "

"Then I'll have to guess at it, sir. " He closed his eyes in order toconcentrate. "You gave a course of sou'west by sou'. Let's see--it wasnine-fifteen when I just looked and we must have logged--"

"It ain't no use to stab for such a hole in the wall as Lumbo Reach, "declared Candage in discouraged tones. 

"But you've got your compass and I can--"

"There ain't no depending on my compass within two points and a half. "

"Confound it, I can make allowance, sir, if you'll tell me yourdeviation!"

"But it's a card compass and spins so bad in a seaway there ain't notelling, anyway. In my coasting I haven't had to be particular. "

"Not as long as you had an apple-tree in sight, " jeered Mayo, beginningto lose his temper. 

"I don't dare to run in the direction of anything that is solid--we'llhit it sure, 'n' hell-fire will toast corn bread. We've got to stay tosea!"

Captain Mayo set his teeth and clenched his fists and took a few turnsup and down the cabin. He looked up into the night through the openhatch of the companion-way. The pale glimmer of the swinging lamp tosseda mild flare against the blackness and lighted two faces which werelimned against that pall. Both Oakum Otie and Smut-nosed Dolph were atthe wheel. Their united strength was needed because the schooner wasyawing madly every now and then when the mightier surges of the frothingsea hoisted her counter, chasing behind her like wild horses. Thosefaces, when Mayo looked on them, were very solemn. The two werecrouching like men who were anxious to hide from a savage beast. Theygrunted as they struggled with the wheel, trying to hold her up when the_Polly_ tobogganed with rushes that were almost breath-checking. 

Mayo hastened to the girl. "I must have my coat, Miss Candage. I thankyou. It will do now. "

She held it open for his arms, as a maid might aid her knight with hisarmor. "Are we in danger?" she asked, tremulously. 

"I hope not--only it is uncomfortable--and needless, " he said, with someirritation. 

"Must I stay down here--alone?"

"I would! It's only a summer blow, Miss Candage. I'm sure we'll be allright. "

Captain Candage had gone on deck, rattling away in his stiff oilskins. 

Mayo followed, but the master came down a few steps into thecompanionway and intercepted the volunteer, showing a final smolder ofhis surliness. 

"I want to notify you that I can run my own bo't, sir!"

"Yes, run it with a yeast barometer, a straw bottom, a pinwheel compass, and your general cussedness of disposition, " shouted Mayo into the whirlof the wind, his anxiety whetting his much-tried temper. 

"If you're feeling that way, I don't want you up here. "

"I'm feeling worse than you'll ever understand, you stubborn old fool!"

"I let one man call me a fool to-day and I didn't make back talk--but Iknow where to draw the line, " warned Candage. 

"Look here, I propose to start in with you right now, sir, on a basisyou'll understand! I say you're a fool and need a guardian--and from nowon I'm going to make my bigness aboard here! Get out of my way!"

Captain Mayo then emphasized his opinion of Captain Candage by elbowingthe master to one side and leaping out on deck. 

"That may be mutiny, " stated Mr. Speed through set teeth, checking thestartled exclamation from his helper at the wheel. "But, by the JudasI-scarrot, it's a Mayo that's doing it! Remember that, Dolph!"

VIII ~ LIKE BUGS UNDER A THIMBLE

 Up comes the skipper from down below, And he looks aloft and he looks alow. And he looks alow and he looks aloft, And it's, "Coil up your ropes, there, fore and aft. " With a big Bow-wow! Tow-row-row! Fal de rai de, ri do day! --Boston Shanty. 

Captain Mayo strode straight to the men at the wheel. "Give me thosespokes!" he commanded. "I'll take her! Get in your washing, boys!"

"Ay, ay, sir!" assented Mr. Speed, giving the resisting Dolph a violentshove. 

When Captain Candage began to curse, Captain Mayo showed that he had avoice and vocabulary of his own. He fairly roared down the master of the_Polly_. 

"Now shut up!" he ordered the dumfounded skipper, who faced him, mouthagape. "This is no time for any more foolishness. It's a case of worktogether to save our lives. Down with 'em, boys!"

"That's right, " declared the mate. "She don't need much of anything onher except a double-reefed mitten with the thumb brailed up. "

The wind had not attained the velocity of a gale, but it did have anugly growl which suggested further violence. Mayo braced himself, readyto bring the schooner about in order to give the crew an opportunity toshorten sail. 

Captain Candage, deposed as autocrat for the moment, seemed to beuncertain as to his duties. 

Mayo, understanding mariner nature, felt some contrition and wasprompted by saner second thought. 

"You'd better take the wheel, Captain Candage. You know her tricksbetter than I do in a seaway. I'll help the boys take in sail. "

The master obeyed with alacrity. He seemed to be cowed. Anger no longerblinded him to their predicament. 

"Just say what you want done, and I'll try to do it, " he told Mayo, ina voice which had become suddenly mild and rather beseeching. Then hecalled to his daughter, who had come to the foot of the companion steps, "Better blow out that cabin light, Polly girl! She's li'ble to dancebad, and we don't want to run the chance of fire. "

Mayo got a glimpse at her face as he hurried upon the house on his wayto the main halyards. Her face was pale, but there was the firm spiritof her Yankee ancestry of the sea in her poise and in her very silencein that crisis. She obeyed without complaint or question and the cabinwas dark; even the glimmer of the light had held something of cheer. Nowthe gloom was somber and depressing. 

The schooner came round with a sort of scared hurry when the masterthrew the wheel hard over and trod on the spokes with all his weight. Assoon as the bellying mainsail began to flap, the three men let it go onthe run. They kept up the jumbo sail, as the main jib is called; theyreefed the foresail down to its smallest compass. 

Mayo, young, nimble, and eager, singly knotted more reef pointsthan both his helpers together, and his crisp commands were obeyedunquestioningly. 

"He sartinly is chain lightning in pants, " confided Dolph to Otie. 

"He knows his card, " said Otie to Dolph. 

Captain Mayo led the way aft, crawling over the shingles and laths. 

"I hope it's your judgment, sir, that we'd better keep her into the windas she is and try to ride this thing out, " he suggested to the master. 

"It is my judgment, sir, " returned Captain Candage, with officialgravity. 

Hove to, the old _Polly_ rode in fairly comfortable style. She was deepwith her load of lumber, but the lumber made her buoyant and shelifted easily. Her breadth of beam helped to steady her in the sweepingseas--but Captain Mayo clung to a mainstay and faced the wind andthe driving rain and knew that the open Atlantic was no place for the_Polly_ on a night like that. 

Spume from the crested breakers at her wallowing bow salted the rain onhis dripping face. It was an unseasonable tempest, scarcely to be lookedfor at that time of year. But he had had frequent experience with thevagaries of easterlies, and he knew that a summer easterly, when itcomes, holds menacing possibilities. 

"They knowed how to build schooners when your old sirs built this one atMayoport, " declared Captain Candage, trying to put a conciliatory toneinto his voice when he bellowed against the blast. "She'll live whereone of these fancy yachts of twice her size would be smothered. "

Mayo did not answer. He leaped upon the house and helped Dolph and Otiefurl the mainsail that lay sprawled in the lazy-jaeks. They took theirtime; the more imminent danger seemed to be over. 

"I never knowed a summer blow to amount to much, " observed Mr. Speed, trying to perk up, though he was hanging on by both hands to avoid bringblown off the slippery house. 

"It depends on whether there's an extra special squall knotted into itsomewhere to windward, " said Mayo, in a lull of the wind. "Then it canamount to a devil of a lot, Mr. Speed!"

The schooner washed her nose in a curving billow that came inboardand swept aft. With her small area of exposed sail and with the windbuffeting her, she had halted and paid off, lacking steerageway. She gotseveral wallops of the same sort before she had gathered herself enoughto head into the wind. 

Again she paid off, as if trying to avoid a volleying gust, and anotherwave crested itself ahead of the blunt bows and then seemed to explode, dropping tons of water on deck. Laths, lumber, and bunches of shingleswere ripped loose and went into the sea. The _Polly_ appeared to beshowing sagacity of her own in that crisis; she was jettisoning cargofor her own salvation. 

"Good Cephas! this is going to lose us our decklo'd, " wailed the master. "We'd better let her run!" "Don't you do it, sir! You'll never get herabout!" Mayo had given over his work on the sail and was listening. Above the scream of the passing gusts which assailed him he was hearinga dull and solemn roar to windward. He suspected what that soundindicated. He had heard it before in his experience. He tried topeer into the driving storm, dragging the rain from his eyes with hisfingers. Then nature held a torch for him. A vivid shaft of lightningcrinkled overhead and spread a broad flare of illumination across thesea. His suspicions, which had been stirred by that sullen roar, werenow verified. He saw a low wall of white water, rolling and frothing. Itwas a summer "spitter" trampling the waves. 

A spitter is a freak in a regular tempest--a midsummer madness ofweather upheaval. It is a thunderbolt of wind, a concentration of gale, a whirling dervish of disaster--wind compactly bunched into one almightyblast--wind enough to last a regular gale for a whole day if the stockwere spent thriftily. 

"Don't ease her an inch!" screamed Mayo. 

But just then another surging sea climbed aboard and picked up more ofthe laths and more of the shingles, and frolicked away into the nightwith the plunder. Captain Candage's sense of thrift got a more vital jabthan did his sense of fear. His eyes were on his wheel, and he had notseen the wall of white spume. 

"That decklo'd has got to be lashed, " he muttered. He decided to runwith the wind till that work could be performed. He threw his helm hardover. Mayo had been riding the main boom astraddle, hitching himselftoward the captain, to make him hear. When the volunteer saw the masterof the _Polly_ trying to turn tail to the foe in that fashion, he leapedto the wheel, but he was too late. The schooner had paid off too much. The yelling spitter caught them as they were poised broadside on the topof a wave, before the sluggish craft had made her full turn. 

What happened then might have served as confirmation of mariners'superstition that a veritable demon reigns in the heart of the tempest. The attack on the old _Polly_ showed devilish intelligence in team-work. A crashing curler took advantage of the loosened deckload and smashedthe schooner a longside buffet which sent all the lumber in a slidingdrive against the lee rail and rigging. The mainsail had been onlypartly secured; the spitter blew into the flapping canvas with all itsforce and the sail snapped free and bellied out. 

The next instant the _Polly_ was tripped!

She went over with all the helpless, dead-weight violence of a man whohas caught his toe on a drooping clothes line in the dark. 

The four men who were on deck were sailors and they did not needorders when they felt that soul-sickening swing of her as she toppled. Instinctively, with one accord, they dived for the cabin companionway. 

Undoubtedly, as a sailor, the first thought of each was that theschooner was going on to her beam-ends. Therefore, to remain on deckmeant that they would either slide into the water or that a smashingwave would carry them off. 

They went tumbling down together in the darkness, and all four ofthem, with impulse of preservation as instant and true as that of thetrap-door spider, set their hands to the closing of the hatch and thefolding leaves of the door. 

Captain Mayo, his clutch still on a knob, found himself pulled underwater without understanding at first just what had happened. He let gohis grip and came up to the surface, spouting. He heard the girl shriekin extremity of terror, so near him that her breath swept his face. Heput out his arm and caught her while he was floundering for a footing. When he found something on which to stand and had steadied himself, hecould not comprehend just what had happened; the floor he was standingon had queer irregularities. 

"We've gone over!" squalled Mr. Speed in the black darkness. "We've goneclear over. We're upside down. We're standing on the ceiling!"

Then Mayo trod about a bit and convinced himself that the irregularitiesunder his feet were the beams and carlines. 

The _Polly_ had been tripped in good earnest! Mr. Speed was right--shewas squarely upside down!

Even in that moment of stress Mayo could figure out how it had happened. The spitter must have ripped all her rotten canvas off her spars as sherolled and there had been no brace to hold her on her beam-ends when shewent over. 

Captain Candage was spouting, splashing near at hand, and was bellowinghis fears. Then he began to call for his daughter in piteous fashion. 

"Are you drownded, Polly darling?" he shouted. 

"I have her safe, sir, " Mayo assured him in husky tones, trying to clearthe water from his throat. "Stand on a beam. You can get half of yourbody above water. "

"It's all off with us, " gasped the master. "We're spoke for. "

Such utter and impenetrable blackness Mayo had never experienced before. Their voices boomed dully, as if they were in a huge hogshead which hadbeen headed over. 

'"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, '"quavered the cook. "If anybody knows a better prayer I wish he'd sayit. "

"Plumb over--upside down! Worse off than flies in a puddle of Porty Reekmolasses, " mourned Mr. Speed. 

The master joined the mate in lamentation. "I have brought my baby tothis! I have brought my Polly here! God forgive me. Can't you speak tome, Polly?"

Mayo found the girl very quiet in the hook of his arm, and he put hisfree hand against her cheek. She did not move under his touch. 

"She has fainted, sir. "

"No, she's dead! She's dead!" Candage began to weep and started tosplash his way across the cabin, directed by Mayo's voice. 

"She is all right--she is breathing, " the young man assured the father. "Here! This way, captain! Take her. Hold her up. I want to see whetheranything can be done for us. "

"Nothing can be done!" whimpered Candage. "We're goners. "

"We're goners, " averred Oakum Otie. 

"We're goners, " echoed Dolph. 

Mayo gave the girl into the groping arms of her father and stood for afew moments reflecting on their desperate plight. He was not hopeful. Inhis heart he agreed with the convictions which his mates were expressingin childish falsetto. But being a young sailor who found his head abovewater, he resolved to keep on battling in that emergency; the adageof the coastwise mariner is: "Don't die till Davy Jones sets his finalpinch on your weasen!"

First of all, he gave full consideration to what had happened. The_Polly_ had been whipped over so quickly that she had been transformedinto a sort of diving-bell. {*} That is to say, a considerable amount ofair had been captured and was now retained in her. It was compressedby the water which was forced up from below through the windows andthe shattered skylight. The pressure on Mayo's temples afforded himinformation on this point. The _Polly_ was floating, and he feltcomforting confidence that she would continue to float for sometime. But this prospect did not insure safety or promise life to theunfortunates who had been trapped in her bowels. The air must eitherescape gradually or become vitiated as they breathed it. 

 * The strange adventure of the _Polly_ is not an improbability of fiction. A Bath, Maine, schooner, lumber- laden, was tripped in exactly this fashion off Hatteras. Captain Boyd Mayo's exploit has been paralleled in real life in all details. My good friend Captain Elliott C. Gardner, former skipper of the world's only seven-master, the _Thomas W. Lawson_, furnished those details to me, and after writing this part of the tale I submitted the narrative to him for confirmation. It has received his indorsement. --H. D. 

There was only one thing to do, he decided: take advantage of anyperiod of truce which their ancient enemy, the sea, had allowed in thatdesperate battle. 

A sailor is prey to hazards and victim of the unexpected in theever-changing moods of the ocean; he must needs be master of expedientsand ready grappler of emergencies. 

"Where are your tools--a saw--a chisel?" demanded Mayo. He was obligedto repeat that query several times. His companions appeared to be whollyabsorbed in their personal woes. 

At last Mr. Speed checked his groans long enough to state that the toolswere in "the lazareet. "

The lazaret of a coaster is a storeroom under thequarter-deck--repository of general odds and ends and spare equipment. 

"Any way to get at it except through the deck-hatch?"

"There's a door through, back of the companion ladder, " said Mr. Speed, with listless indifference. 

Mayo crowded his way past the ladder after he had waded and stumbledhere and there and had located it. He set his shoulders against theslope of the steps and pushed at the door with his feet. After he hadforced it open he waded into the storeroom. It was blind business, hunting for anything in that place. He knew the general habits of thehit-or-miss coasting crews, and was sure that the tools had been thrownin among the rest of the clutter by the person who used them last. Ifthey had been loose on the floor they would now be loose on the ceiling. He pushed his feet about, hoping to tread on something that felt like asaw or chisel. 

"Ahoy, you men out there!" he called. "Don't you have any idea in whatpart of this lazaret the tools were?"

"Oh, they was probably just throwed in, " said Mr. Speed. "I wish youwouldn't bother me so much! I'm trying to compose my mind to pray. "

There were so much ruck and stuff under his feet that Mayo gave upsearching after a time. He had held his breath and ducked his head underwater so that he might investigate with his bare hands, but he foundnothing which would help him, and his brain was dizzy after his effortsand his mouth was choked by the dirty water. 

But when he groped his way back into the main cabin his hands came incontact with the inside of the lazaret door. In leather loops on thedoor he found saw, ax, chisel, and hammer. He was unable to keep back afew hearty and soul-satisfying oaths. 

"Why didn't you tell me where the tools were? They're here on the door. "

"I had forgot about picking 'em tip. And my mind ain't on tools, anyway. "

"Your mind will be on 'em as soon as I can get forward there, " growledthe incensed captain. 

Mayo was not sure of what he needed or what he would be obliged to do, therefore he took all the tools, holding them above water. When he wadedpast Captain Can-dage he heard the old skipper trying to comfort thegirl, his voice low and broken by sobs. She had recovered consciousnessand Mayo was a bit sorry; in her swoon she had not realized theirplight; he feared hysterics and other feminine demonstrations, and heknew that he needed all his nerve. 

"We're going to die--we're going to die!" the girl kept moaning. 

"Yes, my poor baby, and I have brought you to it, " blubbered her father. 

"Please keep up your courage for a little while, Miss Candage, " Mayopleaded, wistfully. 

"But there's no hope!"

"There's hope just as long as we have a little air and a little grit, "he insisted. "Now, please!"

"I am afraid!" she whispered. 

"So am I, " he confessed. "But we're all going to work the best we knowhow. Can't you encourage us like a brave, good girl?" He went stumblingon. "Now tell me, mate, " he commanded, briskly, "how thick is thebulkhead between the cabin, here, and the hold?"

"I can't bother to think, " returned Mr. Speed. 

"It's only sheathing between the beams, sir, " stated Captain Candage. 

"Mate, you and the cook lend a hand to help me. "

Oakum Otie broke off the prayer to which he had returned promptly. "What's the use?" he demanded, with anger which his fright madejuvenile. "I tell you I'm trying to compose my soul, and I want thisrampage-round stopped. "

"I say what's the use, too!" whined Dolph. "You can't row a biskitacross a puddle of molasses with a couple of toothpicks, " he added, withcook's metaphor for the absolutely hopeless. 

Mayo shouted at them with a violence that made hideous din in thatnarrow space. "You two men wade across here to me or I'll come afteryou with an ax in one hand and a hammer in the other! Damn you, I meanbusiness!"

They were silent, then there sounded the splash of water and they came, muttering. They had recognized the ring of desperate resolve in hiscommand. 

Mayo, when he heard their stertorous breathing close at hand, gropedfor them and shoved tools into their clutch. He retained the hammer andchisel for himself. 

"That's about all I need you for just now--for tool-racks, " he growled. "Make sure you don't drop those. "

The upturned schooner rolled sluggishly, and every now and then thewater swashed across her cabin with extra impetus, making footinginsecure. 

"If I tumble down I'll have to drop 'em, " whimpered Oolph. 

"Then don't come up. Drowning will be an easier death for you, " declaredthe captain, menacingly. He was sounding the bulkhead with his hammer. 

The tapping quickly showed him where the upright beams were located onthe other side of the sheathing. In his own mind he was not as sanguineas his activity might have indicated. It was blind experiment--hecould not estimate the obstacles which were ahead of him. But he didunderstand, well enough, that if they were to escape they must do sothrough the bottom of the vessel amidship; there, wallowing though shewas, there might be some freeboard. He had seen vessels floating bottomup. Usually a section of the keel and a portion of the garboard streakswere in sight above the sea. But there could be no escape through thebottom of the craft above them where they stood in the cabin. He knewthat the counter and buttock must be well under water. 

"Have you a full cargo belowdecks?" he asked. 

"No, " stated Captain Candage, hinting by his tone that he wondered whatdifference that would make to them in the straits in which they wereplaced. 

Mayo felt a bit of fresh courage. He had been afraid that the _Polly's_hold would be found to be stuffed full of lumber. His rising spiritsprompted a little sarcasm. 

"How did it ever happen that you didn't plug the trap you set for us?"

"Couldn't get but two-thirds cargo below because the lumber was sawed solong. Made it up by extra deck-lo'd. "

"Yes, piled it all on deck so as to make her top-heavy--so as to be sureof catching us, " suggested Mayo, beginning to work his hammer and chiselon the sheathing. 

"'Tain't no such thing!" expostulated Captain Candage, missing theirony. "Them shingles and laths is packet freight, and I couldn't put'em below because I've got to deliver 'em this side of New York. And youdon't expect me to overhaul a whole decklo'd so as to--"

"Not now, " broke in Mayo. "The Atlantic Ocean has attended to the caseof that deckload. "

"My Gawd, yes!" mourned the master. "I was forgetting that we are upsidedown--and that shows what a state of mind I'm in!"

Mayo had picked his spot for operations. He drove his chisel through thesheathing as close to the cabin floor as he could. Remembering thatthe schooner was upside down and that the floor was over his head, theaperture he was starting work on would bring him nearest the bilge. Whenhe had chiseled a hole big enough for a start, he secured the saw fromthe mate and sawed a square opening. He lifted himself up and worked hisway through the hole and found himself on lumber and out of water. It was what he had been hoping to find, after the assurance from themaster: the partial cargo of lumber in the hold had settled to the deckwhen the schooner tipped over. Investigating with groping hands, heassured himself that there were fully three feet of space between thecargo and the bottom of the vessel. 

"Come here with your daughter, Captain Candage!" he called, cheerily. "It's dry in here. "

He kneeled and held his hands out through the opening, directing themwith his voice, reaching into the pitchy darkness until her hands foundhis, and then he brought her up to him and in upon the lumber. 

"It's a little better, even if it's nothing to brag about, " he told her. "Sit over there at one side so that the men can crawl in past you. I'llneed them to help me. "

"And what do you think now--shall we die?" she asked, in tremulouswhisper. 

"No, I don't think so, " he told her, stoutly. 

They were alone in the hold for a few moments while the others werehelping one another through the opening. 

"But in this trap--in the dark--crowded in here!" Her tone did notexpress doubt; it was pathetic endeavor to understand their plight. "Myfather and his men are frightened--they have given up. And you told methat you are frightened!"

"Yes, I am!"

"But they are not doing anything to help you. "

"Perhaps that is because they are not scared as much as I am. It oftenhappens that the more frightened a man is in a tight place the more hejumps around and the harder he tries to get out. "

"I don't care what you say--I know what you are!" she rejoined. "You area brave man, Captain Mayo. I thank you!"

"Not yet! Not until--"

"Yes, now! You have set me a good example. When folks are scared theyshould not sit down and whimper!"

He reached and found a plump little fist which she had doubled into areal knob of decision. 

"Good work, little girl! Your kind of grit is helping me. " He releasedher hand and crawled forward. 

"This ain't helping us any, " complained Captain Candage. "I know what'sgoing to happen to us. As soon as it gets daylight a cussed coast-guardcutter will come snorting along and blow us up without bothering to findout what is under this turkle-shell. "

"Say, look here, Candage, " called Captain Mayo, angrily, "that's enoughof that talk! There's a-plenty happening to us as it is, without yourinfernal driveling about what _may_ happen. "

"Isn't it about time for a real man to help Captain Mayo instead ofhindering him?" asked the girl. Evidently her new composure startled herfather. 

"Ain't you scared any more, Polly? You ain't losing your mind, are you?"

"No, I have it back again, I hope. "

"Your daughter is setting you a good example, Captain Candage. Now let'sget down to business, sir! What's your sheathing on the ribs?"

"Inch and a half spruce, if I remember right. "

"I take it she is ribbed about every twelve inches. "

"Near's I remember. "

"All right! Swarm forward here, the three of you, and have those toolshandy as I need 'em. "

He had brought the hammer and chisel in his reefer pockets, and set atwork on the sheathing over his head, having picked by touch and senseof locality a section which he considered to be nearly amidship. Itwas blind effort, but he managed to knock away a few square feet of thespruce boarding after a time. 

"Hand me that saw, whoever has it. "

A hand came fumbling to his in the dark and gave him the tool. He beganon one of the oak ribs, uncovered when the boarding had been removed. It was difficult and tedious work, for he could use only the tip of thesaw, because the ribs were so close together. But he toiled on steadily, and at last the sound of his diligence appeared to animate the others. When he rested for a moment Captain Candage offered to help with thesawing. 

"I think I'll be obliged to do it alone, sir. You can't tell in the darkwhere I have left off. However, I'm glad to see that you're coming backto your senses, " he added, a bit caustically. 

The master of the _Polly_ received that rebuke with a meekness thatindicated a decided change of heart. "I reckon me and Otie and Dolphhave been acting out what you might call pretty pussylaminous, as Iheard a schoolmarm say once, " confessed the skipper, struggling with thebig word. "But we three ain't as young as we was once, and I'll leave itto you, sir, if this wasn't something that nobody had ever reckoned on. "

"There's considerable novelty in it, " said Mayo, in dry tones, runninghis fingers over the rib to find the saw-scarf. The ache had gone out ofhis arms, and he was ready to begin again. 

"I'm sorry we yanked you into all this trouble, " Can-dage went on. "Andon the other hand, I ain't so sorry! Because if you hadn't been alongwith us we'd never have got out of this scrape. "

"We haven't got out of it yet, Captain Candage. "

"Well, we are making an almighty good start, and I want to say here inthe hearing of all interested friends that you're the smartest cuss Iever saw afloat. "

"I hope you will forgive father, " pleaded Polly of the _Polly_. He felther breath on his cheek. She was so near that her voice nearly jumpedhim. "I don't mean to get in your way, Captain Mayo, but somehow I feelsafer if I'm close to you. "

"And I guess all of us do, " admitted Captain Candage. 

Mayo stopped sawing for a moment. "What say, men? Let's be Yankeesailors from this time on! We'll be the right sort, eh? We'll put thisbrave little girl where she belongs--on God's solid ground!"

"Amen!" boomed Mr. Speed. "I have woke up. I must have been out of mymind. I showed you my nature when I first met you, Captain Mayo, and Ireckon you found it was helpful and enterprising. I'll be the same fromnow on, even if you order me to play goat and try to butt the bottom outof her with my head. " "Me, too!" said Smut-nosed Dolph. 

IX ~ A MAN'S JOB

 O Nancy Dawson, hi--o! Cheer'ly man! She's got a notion, hi--o! Cheer'ly manl For our old bo'sun, hi--o! Cheer'ly man! O hauley hi--o! Cheer'ly man! --Hauling Song. 

Boyd Mayo soon found that his ancestors had put no scrub timber into the_Polly_. The old oak rib was tough as well as bulky. The task of sawingwith merely the tip of the blade in play required both muscle andpatience, and the position he was obliged to assume added to hisdifficulties. He rested after he had sawed the rib in four places, anddecided to give Oakum Otie something to do; the mate had been beggingfor an opportunity to grab in. He was ordered to knock away as much ashe could of the sawed section with hammer and chisel. Mayo figured thatwhen this section of rib had been removed it would leave room for a holethrough the bottom planks at least two feet square--and there were noswelling girths in their party. 

The mate had strength, and he was eager to display that helpful spiritof which he had boasted. He went at the beam with all his might. 

Mayo's attention had been centered on his task; now, with a moment'sleisure in which to note other matters, he was conscious of somethingwhich provoked his apprehension; the air under the hull of the schoonerwas becoming vitiated. His temples throbbed and his ears rang. 

"Ain't it getting pretty stuffy in here?" asked the master, puttingwords to Mayo's thoughts. 

"I have been feeling like a bug under a thimble for some little time, "stated Otie, whacking his chisel sturdily. 

"Her bottom can't be awash with all this lumber in her. If we can onlyget a little speck of a hole through the outside planking right now, we'd better do it, " suggested Candage. 

"That's just what I have been doing, " declared Mr. Speed. "I'm rightafter the job, gents, when I get started on a thing. Helpful andenterprising, that's my motto!"

The next moment, before Mayo, his thoughts busy with his new danger ofsuffocation, could voice warning or had grasped the full import of thedialogue, the chisel's edge plugged through the planking. Instantlythere was a hiss like escaping steam. Mayo yelled an oath and set hishands against the mate, pushing him violently away. The industrious Mr. Speed had been devoting his attention to the planking instead of to thesawed beam. 

Wan light filtered through the crevice made by the chisel and Mayoplanted his palm against the crack. The pressure held his hand as if itwere clamped against the planks, and the hissing ceased. 

The schooner, as she lay, upside down in the sea, was practically adiving-bell; with that hole in her shell their safety was in jeopardy. The girl seemed to understand the situation before the duller minds ofher father and his mates had begun to work. She frenziedly sought forMayo's disengaged hand and thrust some kind of fabric into it. 

"It's from my petticoat, " she gasped. "Can you calk with it?"

"Hand me the chisel, " he entreated. 

As soon as she had given the tool to him he worked his hand free fromthe crack and instantly drove the fabric into the crevice, crowding itfold by fold with the edge of the chisel. 

"Hope I didn't do anything wrong, trying to be helpful, " apologized Mr. Speed. 

"I'll do the rest of this job without any such help, " growled thecaptain. 

"But what are you stopping the air for when it's rushing in to liven usup?" asked Dolph, plaintively. 

"It was rushing out, fool! Rushing out so fast that this lumber wouldhave flattened us against the bottom of this hull in a little while. "

"I would have figgered it just t'other way, " stated Mr. Speed, humbly. "Outside air, being fresh, ought nat'rally to rush in to fill the holeswe have breathed out of this air. "

Mayo was in no mood to lecture on natural phenomena. He investigated thecut which had been made by the incautious mate and estimated, by whathis fingers told him, that the schooner's bottom planks were threeinches thick. He settled back on his haunches and gave a little thoughtto the matter, and understood that he had a ticklish job ahead of him. Those planks must be gouged around the complete square of the proposedopening, so that the section might be driven out in one piece by a blowfrom beneath. That section must give way wholly and instantly. They weredoomed if they made a half-job of it. In that pitchy blackness he hadonly his fingers to guide him. That one little streak of light from theopen world without was tantalizing promise. On the other side of thoseplanks was God's limitless air. The poor creatures penned under thathull were gasping and choking for want of that air. Mayo set bravely towork, hammering at the chisel-head above him. 

All were silent. They felt the initial languor of suffocation and knewthe peril which was threatening them. 

"If there is anything I can do--" ventured Otie. 

"There isn't!"

Captain Mayo felt the lack of oxygen most cruelly, because he wasworking with all his might. Perspiration was streaming into his eyes, hewas panting like a running dog, his blows were losing force. 

He found that Otie had partly cleared out the rib before thattoo-willing helper had taken it into his head to knock a hole throughthe planking. The rib must come away entirely! The tough oak resisted;the chisel slipped; it was maddeningly slow work. But he finished thetask at last and began to gouge a channel in the planking close to theother ribs. Torpor was wrapping its tentacles about him. He heard hiscompanions gasping for breath. Then, all at once, he felt a little paton his shoulder. He knew that tap for what it was, though she did notspeak to him; it was the girl's reassuring touch. It comforted him to betold in that manner that she was keeping up her courage in the horriblesituation. He beveled the planks as deeply as he dared, and made his cutaround three sides of his square. He was forced to stop for a moment andlay prostrate, his face on the lumber. 

"Take that saw, one of you, and chunk off a few short lengths of plank, "he whispered, hoarsely. The rasp of the hand-saw informed him that hehad been obeyed. 

He held his eyes wide open with effort as he lay there in the darkness. Then he struggled up and went at his task once more. Queerly coloredflames were shooting before his straining eyes. He toiled in partialdelirium, and it seemed to him that he was looking again at thephantasmagoria of the Coston lights on the fog when the yachtsmen wereserenading the girl of the Polly. He found himself muttering, keepingtime to his chisel-blows:

 "Our Polly O, O'er the sea you go--"

In all the human emotions there is no more maddening and soul-flayingterror than the fear of being shut in, which wise men callclaustrophobia. Mayo had been a man of the open--of wide horizons, drinking from the fount of all the air under the heavens. This hideousconfinement was demoralizing his reason. He wanted to throw down hishammer and chisel and scream and kick and throw himself up against thepenning planks. On the other side was air--the open! There was still oneside of the square to do. 

Again that comforting little hand touched his shoulder and he wasspurred by the thought that the girl was still courageous and had faithin him. He groaned and kept on. 

Lapse of time ceased to have significance. Every now and then the hammerslipped and bruised his hand cruelly. But he did not feel the hurt. Bothtools wavered in his grasp. He struck a desperate--a despairing blow andthe hammer and chisel dropped. He knew that he had finished the fourthside. He fell across Polly Candage's lap and she helped him to hisknees. 

"I'm done, men, " he gasped. "All together with those joists! Striketogether! Right above my head. "

He heard the skipper count one--two--three. He heard the concerted blow. The planks did not give way. 

"We don't seem to have no strength left, " explained the mate, in hoarsetones. 

They struck again, but irregularly. 

"It's our lives--our lives, men!" cried Mayo. "Ram it to her!"

"Here's one for you, Captain Mayo, " said Candage, and he thrust a lengthof plank into the groping hands. 

"Make it together, this time--together!" commanded Mayo. "Hard--one, two, three!"

They drove their battering-rams up against the prisoning roof. Fury anddespair were behind their blow. 

The glory of light flooded into their blinking eyes. 

The section had given way!

Mayo went first and he snapped out with almost the violence of a corkpopping from a bottle. He felt the rush of the imprisoned air past himas he emerged. Instantly he turned and thrust down his hands and pulledthe girl up into the open and the others followed, the lumber pushingunder their feet. 

It seemed to Captain Mayo, after those few frenzied moments of escape, that he had awakened from a nightmare; he found himself clinging to theschooner's barnacled keel, his arm holding Polly Candage from slidingdown over the slimy bottom into the sea. 

"Good jeero! We've been in there all night, " bawled Captain Candage. Helay sprawled on the bottom of the Polly, his hornbeam hands clutchingthe keel, his face upraised wonderingly to the skies that were floodedwith the glory of the morning. Otie and Dolph were beside him, mouthsopen, gulping in draughts of the air as if they were fish freshly drawnfrom the ocean depths. 

There was a long silence after the skipper's ejaculation. 

Thoughts, rather than words, fitted that sacred moment of theirsalvation. 

The five persons who lay there on the bottom of the schooner stared atthe sun in its cloudless sky and gazed off across the sea whose blue wasshrouded by the golden haze of a perfect summer's day. Only a lazy rollwas left of the sudden turbulence of the night before. A listless breezewith a fresh tang of salt in it lapped the surface of the long, slow surges, and the facets of the ripples flashed back the sunlightcheerily. 

Captain Candage pulled himself to the keel, sat upon it, and foundspeech in faltering manner. 

"I ain't a member of no church, never having felt the need of j'ining, and not being handy where I could tend out. But I ain't ashamed to sayhere, before witnesses, that I have just been telling God, as best Iknow how, hoping He'll excuse me if I 'ain't used the sanctimonious way, that I'm going to be a different man after this--different and better, according to my best lights. "

"I believe you have spoken for all of us, Captain Can-dage, " said Mayo, earnestly. "I thank you!"

They all perceived that the _Polly_ had made offing at a lively paceduring her wild gallop under the impetus of the easterly. 

Mayo balanced himself on the keel and took a long survey of the horizon. In one place a thread of blue, almost as delicate as the tracery of avein on a girl's arm, suggested shore line. But without a glass he wasnot sure. He saw no sign of any other craft; the storm had driven allcoasters to harbor--and there was not wind enough as yet to help themout to sea again. But he did not worry; he was sure that something, some yacht or sea-wagon, would come rolling up over the rim of the oceanbefore long. The faint breeze which fanned their faces was from thesouthwest, and that fact promised wind enough to invite shipping tospread canvas. 

Only the oval of the schooner's broad bilge showed above water, and theold Polly was so flat and tubby that their floating islet afforded onlyscant freeboard. 

Mayo shoved his arm down into the hole through which they had escaped. After the air had been forced out the lumber was within reach from theschooner's bottom. He fumbled about and found the ax. Some of the shortbits of lumber which they had used as battering-rams were in the jawsof the hole. He busied himself with hewing these ends of planks into bigwedges and he drove them into cracks between the planks near the keel. 

"It may come to be a bit sloppy when this sou'wester gets its gait on, "he suggested to the skipper. "We'll have something to hang on to. "

Captain Candage's first thankfulness had shown a radiant gloss. Buthe was a sailorman, he was cautious, he was naturally apprehensiveregarding all matters of the sea, and that gloss was now dulled a bit byhis second thought. 

"We may have to hang on to something longer 'n we reckon on. We're toofar off for the coasters and too far in for the big fellers. And unlesssomething comes pretty clost to us we can't be seen no more 'n as if wewas mussels on a tide reef. We'd ought to have something to stick up. "

"If we could only work out one of those long joists it would make alittle show. " Captain Mayo shoved his arm down the hole again. "But theyare wedged across too solidly. "

"I think there's a piece of lumber floating over there, " cried the girl. She was clinging to one of the wedges, and the composure which she felt, or had assumed, stirred Mayo's admiration. The plump hand which she heldagainst her forehead to shield her eyes did not tremble. From the littleDutch cap, under the edge of which stray locks peeped, down over herattire to her toes, she seemed to be still trim and trig, in spite ofher experiences below in the darkness and the wet. With a sort of mildinterest in her, he reflected that her up-country beau would be veryproperly proud of her if he could see her there on that schooner's keel. 

"What a picture you would make, Miss Candage, just as you are!" heblurted. She took down her hand, and the look she gave him did notencourage compliments. "Just as you are, and call it 'The Wreck, '"he added. 

"Do I look as badly as all that, Captain Mayo?"

"You look--" he expostulated, and hesitated, for her gaze was distinctlynot reassuring. 

"Don't tell me, please, how I look. I'm thankful that I have no mirror. Isn't that a piece of lumber?" she inquired, crisply, putting a stop onfurther personalities. "Wait! It's down in a hollow just now. "

The sea lifted it again immediately. Mayo saw that it was a longstrip of scantling, undoubtedly from the deckload that the _Polly_had jettisoned when she was tripped. It lay to windward, and that factpromised its recovery; but how was the tide? Mayo squinted at the sun, did a moment's quick reckoning from the tide time of the day before, andsmiled. 

"We'll get that, Miss Candage. She's coming this way. "

Watching it, seeing it lift and sink, waiting for it, helped to pass thetime. Then at last it came alongside, and he crawled cautiously down thecurve of the bilge and secured it. After he had braced it in the holein the schooner's bottom with the help of Mr. Speed, the girl gave him acrumpled wad of cloth when he turned from his task. 

"It's the rest of my petticoat. You may as well have it, " she explained, a pretty touch of pink confusion in her cheeks. 

Mr. Speed boosted Mayo and the young man attached the cloth to thescantling and flung their banner to the breeze. Then there was not muchto do except to wait, everlastingly squinting across the bright sea tothe horizon's edge. 

X ~ HOSPITALITY, PER JULIUS MARSTON

 Hoo--oo--rah; and up she rises! Hoo--oo--rah! and up she rises! Early in the morning. What shall we do with a saucy sailor? Put him in the long boat and make him bail 'erv Early in the morn--ing! --Old "Stamp-and-go. "

Mayo saw the sail first. It was coming in from the sea, and was very farand minute. He pointed it out with an exclamation. 

"What do you make it, sir?" asked Captain Candage. "Your eyes areyounger 'n mine are. "

"I reckon it's a fisherman bound in from Cashes Banks. He seems to belying well over, and that shows there's a good breeze outside. He oughtto reach near enough to see us, judging from the way he's heading. "

That little sail, nicked against the sky, was something else to watchand speculate on and wait for, and they forgot, almost, that they werehungry and thirsty and sun-parched. 

However, Captain Mayo kept his own gaze most steadfastly on the landwardhorizon. He did not reveal any of his thoughts, for he did not wantto raise false hopes. Nevertheless, it was firmly in his mind that nomatter what might be the sentiments of Julius Marston in regard to hisrecent skipper, the mate and engineer on board the _Olenia_ were loyalfriends who would use all their influence with the owner to urge him tocome seeking the man who had been lost. 

The fact that a motor-boat had come popping out of Saturday Cove inpursuit of the schooner suggested that Mate McGaw had suspected what hadhappened, and was not dragging the cove-bottom for a drowned man. 

Mayo had plenty of time for pondering on the matter, and he allowed hopeto spice his guesses. He knew Mate McGaw's characteristics and decidedthat the yacht would get under way early, would nose into a few near-byharbors where a gale-ridden schooner might have dodged for safety, andthen would chase down the sea, following the probable course of a craftwhich had been caught in that nor'easter. Mate McGaw was a sailorly manand understood how to fit one fact with another. He had a due portion ofmariner's imagination, and was not the sort to desert a chum, even ifhe were obliged to use stiff speech to convert an owner. Therefore, Mayopeered toward the blue shore-line, coddling hope. He wondered whetherMate McGaw would have courage to slip a word of encouragement to AlmaMarston if she asked questions. 

Mayo was elated rather than astonished when he spied a smear of drabsmoke and was able to determine that the craft which was puffing thatsmoke was heading out to sea, not crawling alongshore. 

"That's a fisherman all right, and he's bound to come clost enough tomake us out, " stated Captain Candage, his steady gaze to southward. 

"But here comes another fellow who is going to beat him to us, "announced Captain Mayo, gaily. 

"And what do you make it?" asked the skipper, blinking at the distantsmoke. 

"A yacht, probably. "

"Huh? A yacht! If that's what it is they'll most likely smash rightpast. They'll think we're out here on a fishing picnic, most like. That's about all these yacht fellers know. "

The girl gave her father a frown of protest, but Mayo smiled at her. 

"I think this one is different, sir. If I am not very much mistaken, that is the yacht _Olenia_ and she is hunting me up. Mate McGaw is oneof our best little guessers. "

A quarter of an hour later he was able to assure them that the on-comingcraft was the _Olenia_. 

"Good old Mate McGaw!" he cried, rapturously. In his joy he wished hecould make them his confidants, tell them who was waiting for him onboard that yacht, make them understand what wonderful good fortune washis. 

After a time--the long time that even a fast yacht seems to consume incovering distance to effect the rescue of those who are anxious--theOlenita's whistle hooted hoarsely to assure them that they had beenseen. 

"The same to you, Mate McGaw!" choked Captain Mayo, swinging his cap inwide circles. 

"Seeing that things have come round as they have, I'm mighty glad foryou, Captain Mayo, " declared Candage. "I ain't no kind of a hand toplaster a man all over with thanks--"

"I don't want thanks, sir. We worked together to save our lives. "

"Then I'm hoping that there won't be any hard feelings one way or theother. I have lost my schooner by my blasted foolishness. So I'll saygood-by and--"

"Good-by?" demanded Mayo, showing his astonishment. "Why are you sayinggood-by to me now?"

"Because you are going aboard your yacht. "

"The rest of you are going there, too. "

"It ain't for poor critters like us to go mussing--"

"Look here, Captain Candage, I am the captain of that yacht, and I saythat you are coming on board and stay until I can set you ashore at thehandiest port. "

"I'd just as lieve wait for that fisherman, sir. I'll feel more at homeaboard him. "

"You ought to think of your daughter's condition first, Captain Candage. She needs a few comforts right away, and you won't find them on board afisherman. "

He turned to the girt who sat on the keel, silent, looking away to sea. She seemed to show a strange lack of interest in the yacht. Her prettyface exhibited no emotion, but somehow she was a wistfully patheticfigure as she sat there. Mayo's countenance showed much more concernthan she expressed when she faced about at the sound of his voice andlooked at him. Color came into his cheeks; there was embarrassment inhis eyes, a queer hesitancy in his tones. 

"There is a young lady--there are several young ladies--but there is Mr. Marston's daughter!" he faltered. "She is on the yacht. I--I know shewill do all she can for you. She will be good to you!" His eyes fellunder her frank and rather quizzical gaze. 

"She might not care to be bothered with such a ragamuffin. "

"I can speak for her!" he cried, eagerly. He was now even more disturbedby the glance she gave him. He had read that women have intuition inaffairs of the heart. 

"I am quite certain you can, Captain Mayo, " she assured him, demurely. "And I am grateful. But perhaps we'd be better off on board that othervessel--father and the rest of us. "

"I insist, " he said, but he did not dare to meet her searching eyes. "Iinsist!" he repeated, resuming the decisive manner which he had shownbefore on board the _Polly_. 

The _Olenia_, slowing down, had come close aboard, and her churningscrews pulled her to a standstill. Her crew sent a tender rattling downfrom her port davits. As she rolled on the surge her brass rails caughtthe sunlight in long flashes which fairly blinded the hollow eyes ofthe castaways. The white canvas of bridge and awnings gleamed in snowypurity. She was so near that Dolph smelled the savory scents from hergalley and began to "suffle" moisture in the corners of his mouth. 

They who waited on the barnacled hulk of the Polly, faint with hunger, bedraggled with brine, unkempt and wholly miserable after a night oftoils and vigil, felt like beggars at a palace gate as they surveyed herimmaculateness. 

A sort of insolent opulence seemed to exude from her. Mayo, her captainthough he was, felt that suggestion of insolence more keenly than hiscompanions, for he had had bitter and recent experience with the moodsof Julius Marston. 

He did not find Marston a comforting object for his gaze; thetransportation magnate was pacing the port alley with a stride that wasplainly impatient. Close beside the gangway stood Alma Marston, spotlessin white duck. Each time her father turned his back on her she put outher clasped hands toward her lover with a furtive gesture. 

Polly Candage watched this demonstration with frank interest, andoccasionally stole side-glances at the face of the man who stood besideher on the schooner's bottom; he was wholly absorbed in his scrutiny ofthe other girl. 

Mate McGaw himself was at the tiller of the tender. His honest face wasworking with emotion, and he began to talk before the oarsmen had easedthe boat against the overturned hulk. 

"I haven't closed my eyes, Captain Mayo. Stayed up all night, tryingto figure it out. Almost gave up all notion that you were aboard theschooner. You didn't hail the boat we sent out. "

"I tried to do it; perhaps you couldn't hear me. "

Captain Candage's countenance showed gratitude and relief. 

"This morning I tried Lumbo and two other shelters, and then chasedalong the trail of the blow. "

Mayo trod carefully down the bilge and clasped the mate's hand. "I waslooking for you, Mr. McGaw. I know what kind of a chap you are. "

McGaw, still holding to the captain's hand, spoke in lower tones. "Hada devil of a time with the owner, sir. He was bound to have it that youhad deserted. "

"I was afraid he would think something of the sort. "

The mate showed frank astonishment. "You was afraid of _what?_ Why, sir, I wanted to tell him that he was a crazy man to have any such ideasabout you! Yes, sir, I came nigh telling him that! I would have done itif I hadn't wanted to keep mild and meek whilst I was arguing with himand trying to make him give me leave to search!"

"We have had a terrible time of it, Mr. McGaw, " stated Mayo, avoidingthe mate's inquisitiveness. "I am going to take these folks on board andset them ashore. "

"Ay, sir, of course. "

The two of them stood with clasped hands and held the tender close tothe wreck until the passengers embarked. When they reached the foot ofthe _Olenia_'s steps Captain Mayo sent his guests ahead of him. 

Marston paused in his march and scowled, and the folks on thequarter-deck crowded to the rail, showing great interest. 

Captain Mayo exchanged a long look with Alma Marston when he came upthe steps. Love, pity, and greeting were in his eyes. Her countenancerevealed her vivid emotions; she was overwrought, unstrung, half-crazedafter a night spent with her fears. When he came within her reachcaution was torn from her as gossamer is flicked away by a gale. Impulsehad always governed her; she gave way to it then. 

"I don't care, " she sobbed. "I love you. They may as well know it!"

Before he understood her intentions or could prevent her rashness sheflung her arms about his neck and kissed him repeatedly. 

Marston stood in his tracks like a man stricken by paralysis; his cigardropped from his open mouth. This exhibition under his very nose, withhis guests and the whole crew of his yacht looking on, fairly stunnedhim. 

"If you had died I would have died!" she wailed. 

Then her father plunged toward her, elbowing the astonished Beveridgeout of his way. 

Captain Mayo gently unhooked the arms of the frantic girl from about hisneck and stepped forward, putting himself between father and daughter. He was not taking sensible thought in the matter; he was prompted by aninstinctive impulse to protect her. 

Mayo had no word ready at his tongue's end, and Mar-ston's anathema wasmuffled and incoherent. The girl's rash act had tipped over the sane andmanly self-possession of both of them. The captain was too bewilderedto comprehend the full enormity of his action in standing guard over thedaughter of Julius Marston, as if she needed protection on her father'squarter-deck. He did not move to one side of the alley when Marstonjerked an impatient gesture. 

"I want to say that I am wholly to blame, sir, " he faltered. "I hope youwill overlook--"

"Are you presuming to discuss my daughter's insanity with me?" Henoticed that the sailors were preparing to hoist the tender to thedavits. "Drop that boat back into the water!" he shouted. There was anugly rasp in his voice, and for a moment it seemed as if he were aboutto lose control of himself. Then he set a check on his temper andtongue, though his face was deathly white and his eyes were as hard asmarbles. Resolve to end further exhibition in this incredible businessdominated his wrathful shame. 

"If you will set us ashore--" pleaded Mayo. 

"Get back into that boat, you and your gang, whatever it is!"

"Mr. Marston, this young woman needs--"

"Get into that boat, or I'll have the bunch of you thrown overboard!"The owner spoke in low tones, but his furious determination wasapparent. 

"We will go without being thrown, sir. Will you order us set aboard thatfisherman?" He pointed to the little schooner which was almost withinhailing distance. 

"Get off! I don't care where you go!" He crowded past Mayo, seized hisdaughter's arm, and led her aft. 

She seemed to have expended all her determination in her sensationaloutburst. 

The captain met her pleading gaze as she turned to leave. "It's for thebest, " he declared, bravely. "I'll make good!"

The pathetic castaways from the _Polly_ made a little group at thegangway, standing close to the rail, as if they feared to step upon thewhite deck. Mate McGaw intercepted Mayo as he was about to join them. 

"Hadn't I better stretch Section Two of the collision act a mite andscare him with the prospect of a thousand-dollar fine?" asked the mate, eagerly. "My glory, Captain Mayo, I'm so weak I can hardly stand up!Who'd have thought it?"

"We'll go aboard the schooner, Mr. McGaw. It's the place for us. "

"Maybe it is, but I'll speak up if you say the word, and make him setyou ashore--even if I leave along with you?"

"Keep your job, sir. Will you pick up my few little belongings in mystateroom and bring them to me, Mr. McGaw? I'd better stay here on deckwith my friends. " He emphasized the last word, and Captain Candage gavehim a grateful look. "I'm sorry, mates! I can't say any more!" CaptainMayo did not allow himself to make further comment on the melancholysituation. The others were silent; the affair was out of theirreckoning; they had no words to fit the case. Polly Candage stoodlooking out to sea. He had hoped that she would give him a glance ofunderstanding sympathy, at least. But she did not, not even when hehelped her down the steps into the tender. 

Mate McGaw came with the captain's bag and belongings, and promptlyreceived orders from the owner from the quarter-deck. 

"Go on to the bridge and hail that schooner. Tell her we are headed forNew York and can't be bothered by these persons!"

Mr. McGaw grasped Mayo's hand in farewell, and then he hurried to hisduty. His megaphoned message echoed over their heads while the tenderwas on its way. 

"Ay, ay, sir!" returned the fishing-skipper, with hearty bellow. "Gladto help sailors in trouble. "

"And that shows you--" blurted Captain Candage, and stopped his say inthe middle of his outburst when his daughter shoved a significant fistagainst his ribs. 

Captain Mayo turned his head once while the tender was hastening towardthe schooner. But there were no women in sight on the yacht's deck. There was an instant's flutter of white from a stateroom port, but hewas not sure whether it was a handkerchief or the end of a wind-wavedcurtain. He faced about resolutely and did not look behind again. Shame, misery, hopelessness--he did not know which emotion was stinging himmost poignantly. The oarsmen in the tender were gazing upward innocentlywhile they rowed, but he perceived that they were hiding grins. Hishumiliation in that amazing fashion would be the forecastle jest. Through him these new friends of his had been subjected to insult. Hefelt that he understood what Polly Candage's silence meant. 

The next moment he felt the pat of a little hand on the fist he wasclenching on his knee. 

"Poor boy!" she whispered. "I understand! It will come out right if youdon't lose courage. "

But she was not looking at him when he gave her a quick side-glance. 

The fisherman had come into the wind, rocking on the long swell, dingysails flapping, salt-stained sides dipping and flashing wet gleams asshe rolled. Her men were rigging a ladder over the side. 

"I want to say whilst we're here together and there's time to say it, "announced Captain Candage, "that we are one and all mighty much obligedfor that invite you gave us to come aboard the yacht, sir, and we allknow that if--well, if things had been different from what they was youwould have used us all right. And what I might say about yachts and thekind of critters that own 'em I ain't a-going to say. "

"You are improving right along, father, " observed Polly Candage, dryly. 

"Still, I have my own idees on the subject. But that's neither here northere. You're a native and I'm a native, and I want ye should just lookat that face leaning over the lee rail, there, and then say that now weknow that we're among real friends. "

It was a rubicund and welcoming countenance under the edge of a rustyblack oilskin sou'wester hat, and the man was manifestly the skipper. Every once in a while he flourished his arm encouragingly. 

"Hearty welcome aboard the _Reuben and Esther_, " he called out when thetender swung to the foot of the ladder. "What schooner is she, there?"

"Poor old _Polly_, " stated the master, first up the ladder. In his hasteto greet the fishing-skipper he left his daughter to the care of CaptainMayo. 

"That's too bad--too bad!" clucked the fishing-skipper, full measure ofsympathy in his demeanor. "She was old, but she was able, sir!"

"And here's another poor Polly, " stated Captain Candage. "I was foolenough to take her out of a good home for a trip to sea. "

The skipper ducked salute. "Make yourself to home, miss. Go below. Houseis yours!"

Then the schooner lurched away on her shoreward tack, and the insolentyacht marched off down across the shimmering waves. 

Mayo shook hands with the solicitous fisherman in rather dreamy andindifferent fashion. He realized that he was faint with hunger, but herefused to eat. Fatigue and grief demanded their toll in more imperiousfashion than hunger. He lay down in the sun in the lee alley, put hishead on his crossed arms, and blessed sleep blotted out his bitterthoughts. 

XI ~ A VOICE FROM HUE AND CRY

 But when the money's all gone and spent, And there's none to be borrowed and none to be lent, In comes old Grouchy with a frown, Saying, "Get up, Jack, let John sit down. " For it's now we're outward bound, Hur-rah, we're outward bound! --Song of the Dog and Bell. 

Captain Mayo, when he woke, had it promptly conveyed to him thathospitality on board the _Reuben and Esther_ had watchful eyes. While hewas rubbing feeling back into his stiffened limbs, sitting there in thelee alley, the cook came lugging a pot of hot coffee and a plate heapedwith food. 

"Thought you'd rather have it here than in the cuddy. The miss is asleepin the house, " whispered the cook. 

Captain Candage came to Mayo while the latter was eating and sat down onthe deck. Gloom had settled on the schooner's master. "I don't want tobother you with my troubles, seeing that you've got aplenty of your own, sir. But I'm needing a little advice. I have lost a schooner that hasbeen my home ever since I was big enough to heave a dunnage-bag overthe rail, and not a cent of insurance. Insurance would have et up all myprofits. What do you think of my chances to make a dollar over and aboveproviding I hire a tugboat and try to salvage?"

"According to my notion your chances would be poor, sir. Claims in suchcases usually eat up all a craft is worth. Besides, you may find thoseyachtsmen on your back for damages, providing you get her in where shecan be libeled. "

"I shouldn't wonder a mite, " admitted Captain Can-dage. "The more somefolks have the more they keep trying to git. "

"I was looking her bottom over while we sat there, and it must be ownedup that her years have told on her. "

"I hate to let her go. "

"That's natural, sir. But I have an idea that she will be reported asa menace to navigation, and that a coastguard cutter will blow her upbefore you can get around to make your salvage arrangements. "

"When a man is down they all jump on him. "

"I can agree with you there, " affirmed Captain Mayo, mournfully. 

"She showed grit--that girl, " ventured Candage, giving the other mankeen survey from under his grizzled brows. 

"I must ask you to furl sail on that subject, sir, " snapped Mayo, withsailor bluntness. 

"I only said it complimentary. Lots of times girls have more grit thanthey are given credit for. You think they're just girls, and then youfind out that they are hero-ines! I thought I had some grit, but my ownPolly has shamed me. I was just down watching her--she's asleep in Cap'nSinnett's bunk. Made the tears come up into my eyes, sir, to ponderon what she has been through on account of my cussed foolishness. Ofcourse, you haven't been told. But confession is good for a man, and I'mgoing to own up. I took her with me to get her away from a fellow who iscourting her. "

Mayo did not offer comment. He wanted to advise the skipper to keepstill on that subject, too. 

"I don't say he ain't good enough for her. Maybe he is. But I 'ain'tbeen realizing that she has growed up. When I found she was beingcourted it was like hitting a rock in a fairway. You are young, and youare around consid'able and know the actions of young folks. What's youradvice?"

"I don't know anything about the circumstances, sir. "

"But speaking generally, " insisted Captain Candage. "I want to do what'sright. There ain't many I can bring myself to ask. I'm a poor old fool, I'm afraid. Won't you kind of grab in on this, Captain Mayo? I do need alittle advice. " His rough hands trembled on his knees. 

"If the young man is worthy--is the right sort, " returned Mayo, ingentler tones, "I think you are making a great mistake by interfering. "

"I'll go look that young fellow over--re-survey him, as ye might say, "stated the skipper, after a moment's meditation. 

"I don't know your daughter very well, sir, but I have much faith in herjudgment. If I were you I'd allow her to pick her own husband. "

"Thanks for that advice. I know it comes from a man who has shown thathe knows exactly what to do in emergencies. I have changed my mind abouther being courted, sir. "

"Honest love isn't a question of money, Captain Candage. Many good girlsare ruined by--" He was speaking bitterly and he checked himself. "Whereis Captain Sinnett going to set us ashore?"

"Maquoit. He is going to take his fish to the big market. But he said hewould set us ashore anywhere, and so I said Maquoit. I might as well bethere as anywhere till I know what I'm going to do. "

"Same thing holds good for me, I suppose. I don't feel like going to thecity just yet. "

Captain Sinnett came rolling into the alley, and when Mayo started tothank him for the trouble he was taking he raised in genial protest ahand which resembled in spread a split codfish. 

"Trouble! It ain't trouble. Was going to call into Maquoit to ice up, anyway. I know my manners even if them yachting fellows didn't. "

Captain Candage preserved the demeanor of innocence under Mayo'sscrutiny. 

"I've missed you off the fishing-grounds--didn't know you had gone on toa yacht, sir, " pursued Captain Sinnett. "Hope to see you back into thefishing business again; that is, providing you don't go on one ofthem beam trawlers that are hooking up the bottom of the Atlantic andsp'iling the thing entire for us all. "

"I agree with you about the trawler; that's why I quit. And as toyachting, I think I'll go after a real man's job, sir!"

"So do! You'll be contenteder, " replied the other, significance in histones. 

Mayo knew that his secret had been exposed, but he had no relish for anargument with Captain Candage on the subject of garrulity. He finishedhis coffee and went forward where the fishermen were coiling thegang-lines into the tubs. 

The fisherman made port at Maquoit late in the afternoon, and was warpedto her berth at the ice-house wharf. 

The castaways went ashore. 

Maquoit was a straggling hamlet at the head of a cove which nicked thecoast-line. 

Captain Candage, an Apple-treer, who knew every hole alongshore whererefuge from stress of weather was afforded, led his party through thevillage with confidence. 

"There's a widder here who will put us up for what time we want tostay--and be glad of the money. I knowed her husband in the coastingtrade. I like to get into a place like this that 'ain't been sp'iledby them cussed rusticators and the prices they are willing to pay, "he confided to Mayo. He slyly exhibited a wallet that was stuffed withpaper money. "I ain't busted, but there's no sense in paying more 'nfive dollars a week anywhere for vittles and bed. She will make plentyoff'n us at that rate. You just let me do the dickering. "

The widow proved to be a kindly soul who, in the first excitement ofher sympathetic nature, resolutely refused to consider the matter of anypayment whatever. 

"You are shipwrecked, and my poor husband's body wouldn't rest quietwherever it is in the Atlantic Ocean if I grabbed money from shipwreckedfolks. "

However, in the end, Captain Candage worked her up from three dollarsto five per week, and she took Polly Candage into her heart and into thebest chamber. 

Captain Mayo came back to supper after a moody stroll about the village. Skipper Candage was patrolling the widow's front yard and was exhibitingmore cheerfulness. 

"It's God's Proverdunce and your grit that has saved us, sir. I havecome out of my numb condition and sense it all. What's your plans?"

"I don't seem to be able to make any just yet. "

"I'm going to stay right here for a spell, and shall keep Dolph and Otiewith me. We shall be here on the coast where we can hear of somethingto grab in on. As soon as Polly gets straightened around I'll let her gohome to her aunt. But, of course, hanging around here doesn't offer youany attractions, sir. You're looking for bigger game than we are. "

"I have about made up my mind to leave in the morning on the stage. I'llgo somewhere. "

The widow tapped her knuckles on the glass of a near-by window. "Supper!" she announced. "Hurry in whilst it's hot!"

"I always do my best pondering on a full stomach, " said Captain Candage. "And I smell cream-o'-tartar biskits and I saw her hulling fieldstrorb'ries. Better look on the bright side of things along with me, Captain Mayo. "

Captain Mayo failed to find any bright side as he turned his affairsover in his mind. He had only a meager stock of money. He had used hismodest earnings in settling the debts of the family estate. The outlookfor employment was vague--he could not estimate to what extent thehostility of Julius Marston might block his efforts, provided themagnate troubled himself to descend to meddle with the affairs of suchan inconspicuous person. His poor little romance with Alma Marston hadbeen left in a shocking condition. He did not talk at the supper-table, and the widow's wholesome food was like ashes in his mouth. He went outand sat on the porch of the widow's cottage and looked into the sunsetand saw nothing in its rosy hues to give him encouragement for his ownfuture. 

Polly Candage came timidly and sat down beside him. "Father says youthink of leaving in the morning!"

"There's nothing for me here. "

"Probably not. "

A long silence followed. 

"I suppose you don't care to have me talk to you, Captain Mayo?"

"I'll listen to you gratefully, any time. "

"I'm only a country girl. I don't know how to say it--how to tell youI'm so sorry for you!"

"That one little pat on my hand to-day, it was better than words. "

"It's all I can think about--your unhappiness. "

"That touches me because I know that you have enough sorrow of yourown. "

"Sorrow!" She opened her eyes wide. 

"Perhaps I have no business speaking of it, " he returned, withconsiderable embarrassment. 

"And yet I have been so bold as to speak to you!"

There was a touch of reproach in her voice, and therefore he ventured:"Your father told me--I tried to stop him, but he went on andsaid--Well, I understand! But I have some consolation for you and I'mgoing to speak out. He says he is going to allow you to marry your youngman. "

"Did he dare to talk such matters over with you?"

"He insisted on doing it--on asking my advice. So I advised in a way tohelp you. I am glad, for your sake, that he is coming to his senses. "

"I thank you for your help, " she said, stiffly. 

"Of course it's none of my business. I'm sorry he told me. But I wishyou all happiness. "

She rose as if to go away. Then she stamped her foot and sat down. "Myfather ought to be muzzled!"

She realized that he might misinterpret her indignation, for he said:"I'm ashamed because I meddled in your affairs. But from what you sawto-day in my case, I felt that I ought to help others who are in thesame trouble. "

"But my father has mistaken my--" She broke off in much confusion, notunderstanding the queer look he gave her. "I--I am glad my father iscoming to his senses and will allow me to--to--marry the young man, " shestammered. "And now I think I may be allowed to say that I hope you mayhave the girl you love, some day. Would you like to have me talk to youabout her--how dear and pretty I think she is?"

"No, it hurts! But I do want you to know, Miss Can-dage, that I'm notout fortune-hunting. I love her for herself--just herself--nothingmore!"

"I know it must be so. "

"And I know that a young man you would choose is worthy of you. I toldyour father--"

"No matter. _That_ hurts, too! We both understand. We'll leave itthere!"

After the declaration of that truce they were frankly at ease and beganto chat with friendly freedom. The dusk came shading into the west, theevening star dripped silver light. 

"It's a peaceful spot here, " she suggested. "Everybody seems to becontented. "

"Contentment--in a rut--that may be the best way of passing this life, after all. "

"But if you were in the rut, Captain Mayo, you might find thatcontentment would not agree to come and live with you. "

"Probably it wouldn't! I'd have to be born to the life here like thischap who is coming up the hill. You can see that he isn't worrying abouthimself or the world outside. "

The man was clumping slowly along in his rubber boots; an old cap wasslewed awry on his head, its peak drawn down over one ear. He cocked upthe other ear at sound of voices on the porch and loafed up and sat downon the edge of the boarding. Captain Mayo and the girl, accustomed tobland indifference to formality in rural neighborhoods, accepted thisinterruption without surprise or protest. 

"'Tain't a bad night as nights go, " stated the caller. 

"It's a beautiful night, " said Polly Candage. 

"I reckon it seems so to you, after what you went through. I've beenharking to your father telling the yarn down to the store. "

They did not reply, having their own ideas as to Captain Candage'sloquacity. 

The caller hauled a plug of tobacco from his pocket, gnawed off a chew, and began slow wagging of his jaws. "This world is full of trouble, " heobserved, "It seems to be, " agreed Captain Mayo. 

"Them what's down get kicked further down. "

"Also true, in many cases. "

"Take your case! It's bad. But our'n is worse!" The caller pointed tothe dim bulk of a small island which the cove held between the bold jawsof its headland. "The old sir who named that Hue and Cry Island musthave smelt into the future so as to know what was going to happen theresome day--and this is the day!" He chewed on, and his silence becameirritating. 

"Well, what has happened?" demanded the captain. 

"It hasn't happened just yet--it's going to. "

Further silence. 

"Tell us what's going to happen, can't you?"

"Of course I can, now that you have asked me. I ain't no hand to buttin. I ain't no hand to do things unless I'm asked. There's seventeenfam'lies of us on Hue and Cry and they've told us to get off. "

"Who told you?"

"The state! Some big bugs come along and said the Governor sent 'em, andthey showed papers and we've got to go. "

"But I know about Hue and Cry!" protested Mayo. "You people have livedthere for years!"

"Sure have! My grandfather was one of the first settlers. Most all of uswho live there had grandfathers who settled the place. But according towhat is told us, some heirs have found papers what say that they ownthe island. The state bought out the heirs. Now the state says get off. We're only squatters, state says. "

"But, good Caesar, man, you have squatter rights after all these years. Hire a lawyer. Fight the case!"

"We ain't fighters. 'Ain't got no money--'ain't got no friends. Mighthave fit plain heirs, but you can't fight the state--leastways, poorcusses like us can't. "

"Where are you going?"

"Well, there's the problem! That's what made me say that this world isfull of trouble. You see, we have taken town help in years past--had todo it or starve winters. And we have had state aid, too. They say thatmakes paupers of us. Every town round about has served notice that wecan't settle there and gain pauper residence. Hue and Cry 'ain't everbeen admitted to any town. Towns say, seeing that the state has orderedus off, now let the state take care of us. "

"And men have been here, representing the state?"

"You bet they have. "

"What do they say?"

"Say get off! But they won't let us settle on the main. Looks like theywanted us to go up in balloons. But we hain't got no balloons. Got tomove, though. "

"I never heard of such a thing!"

"Nor I, neither, " admitted this man, with a sort of calm numbness ofdiscouragement. "But that ain't anyways surprising. We don't hear muchabout anything on Hue and Cry till they come and tell us. Speaking formyself, I ain't so awful much fussed up. I've got a house-bo't totake my wife and young ones on, and we'll keep on digging clams fortrawlers--sixty cents a bucket, shucked, and we can dig and shuck abucket a day, all hands turning to. We won't starve. But I pity the poorcritters that 'ain't got a house-bo't. Looks like they'd need wings. Iain't worrying a mite, I say. I had the best house on the island, andthe state has allowed a hundred and fifty dollars for it. I consider I'mwell fixed. "

The plutocrat of the unhappy tribe of Hue and Cry rose and stretchedwith a comfortable grunt. 

"If it ain't one thing it's another, " he said, as he started off. "We'vegot to have about so much trouble, anyway, and it might just as well bethis as anything else. " %

"Why, that's an awful thing to happen to those people!" declared thegirl. "I must say, he takes it calmly. "

"He is a fair sample of some of the human jellyfish I have found hiddenaway in odd corners on this coast, " stated Captain Mayo. "Not enoughmind or spirit left to fight for his own protection. But this thing isalmost unbelievable. It can't be possible that the state is gunning anaffair like this! I'll find somebody who knows more about it than thatclam-digging machine!"

A little later a man strolled past, hands behind his back. He wasplacidly smoking a cigar, and, though the dusk had deepened, Mayo couldperceive that he was attired with some pretensions to city smartness. 

"I beg your pardon, sir, " called the young man. "But do you knowanything about the inwardness of this business on Hue and Cry Island?"

"I can tell you _all_ about it, " stated the person who had been hailed. He sauntered up and sat down on the edge of the porch. He showed the airof a man who was killing time. "I'm in charge of it. "

"Not of putting those people off the island?"

"Sure! That's what I'm here for. I'm state agent on pauper affairs, acting for the Governor and Council. "

"You say the state is back of this?" demanded Mayo, incredulously. 

"Certainly! It's a matter that the state was obliged to take up. Statehas bought that island from the real heirs, has ordered off thosesquatters, and we shall burn down their shacks and clear the land up. Of course, we allow heads of families some cash for their houses, ifyou can call 'em houses. That's under the law regulating squatterimprovements. But improvements is a polite word for the buildings onthat island. It is going to cost us good money to clear up for that NewYork party who has made an offer to the state--he's going to use theisland for a summer estate. "

He flicked the ashes from his cigar and broke in on Mayo's indignantretort. 

"It had to be done, sir. They have intermarried till a good many of thechildren are fools. The men are breaking into summer cottages, after theowners leave in the fall. They steal everything on the main that isn'tnailed down. They have set false beacons in the winter, and have wreckedcoasters. Every little while some city newspaper has written them up aswild men, and it has given the state a bad name. We're going to break upthe nest. "

"But where will they go?"

"Fools to the state school for the feeble-minded, cripples to thepoorhouse. The able-bodied will have to get out and go to work atsomething honest. "

"But, look here, my dear sir! Those poor devils are starting out withtoo much of a handicap. After three generations on that island theydon't know how to get a living on the main. "

"That's their own lookout, not the state's! State doesn't guarantee togive shiftless folks a living. "

"How about using a little common sense in the case of such people?"

"You are not making this affair your business, are you?" asked thecommissioner, with acerbity. 

"No. "

"Better not; and you'd better not say too much to _me!_" He rose anddusted off his trousers. "I have investigated for the Governor andCouncil and they are acting on my recommendations. You might just aswell advise nursing and coddling a nest of brown-tail moths--and we arespending good money to kill off moths. We don't propose to encourage thebreeding of thieves. We are not keeping show places of this sort alongthe coast for city folks to talk about and run down the state after theygo back home. It hurts state business!" He marched away. 

Captain Mayo strode up and down the porch and muttered some emphaticopinions in regard to the intellects and doings of rulers. 

"You see, I know the sort of people who live on that island, MissCandage. I have seen other cases alongshore. They are blamed for whatthey don't know--and what they are led into. Amateur missionaries willload them down in a spasm of summer generosity with a lot of truckand make them think that the world owes them a living. The poordevils haven't wit enough to look ahead. When it comes winter they arestarving--and when children are hungry and cold a man will tackle aproposition that is more dangerous than a summer cottage locked up forthe winter. Next comes along some chap like that state agent, who prideshimself on being straight business and no favors! He puts the screws to'em! There's nobody to help those folks in the real and the right way. Ipity them!"

"I live in the country and I know how unfeeling the boards of selectmenare in many of the pauper cases. When it's a matter of saving money forthe voters and making a good town record, they don't care much how poorfolks get along. "

Mayo continued to patrol the porch. "I'm in a rather rebellious state ofmind just now, I reckon, " he admitted. "Seems to me that a lot offolks, including myself, are getting kicked. I'm smarting! I havea fellow-feeling for the oppressed. " He laughed, but there was nomerriment in his tones. "It's the little children who will suffer mostin this, Miss Candage, " he went on. "They are not to blame--they don'tunderstand. "

"And of course nothing can be done. "

"Nothing sensible, I'm afraid. " He walked to and fro for many minutes. "You see, it's none of my business, " he commented, when he came and satdown beside her. 

"I suppose there's not one man in the world to step forward and say agood word for them, " said the girl, softly, uttering her thoughts. 

"Words wouldn't amount to anything--with the machinery of the stategrinding away so merrily as it is. But this matter is stirring mycuriosity a little, Miss Candage. That's because I am one of theoppressed myself, I reckon. " Again his mirthless chuckle. "I intended totake the stage out of here in the morning, but I have an idea that I'llstay over and see what happens when that gentleman who represents ourgrand old state proceeds to scatter those folks to the four winds. "

"I was hoping you would stay over, Captain Mayo. " She declared that withfrank delight. 

"But you don't expect me to do anything, of course!"

"It's not that. You see, I'd like to go down to the island and--andfather is so odd he might not be willing to escort me, " she explained, trying to be matter-of-fact, her air showing that she regretted heroutburst. 

"I volunteer, here and now. "

She rose and put out her hand to him. "I have not thanked you for savingmy life--saving us all, Captain Mayo. It is too holy a matter to beprofaned by any words. But here is my hand--like a friend--like asister--no"--she held herself straight and looked him full in the facethrough the gloom and tightened her hold on his fingers--"like a man!"

He returned her earnest finger-clasp and released her hand when herpressure slackened. That sudden spirit, the suggestion that she desiredto assume the attitude of man to man with him, seemed to vanish from herwith the release of her fingers. 

She quavered her "Good night!" There was even a hint of a sob. Then sheran into the house. 

Mayo stared after her, wrinkling his forehead for a moment, as if he haddiscovered some new vagary in femininity to puzzle him. Then he resumedhis patrol with the slow stride of the master mariner. Hue and Cryraised dim bulk in the harbor jaws, showing no glimmer of light. It wasbarren, treeless, a lump of land which towns had thrust from them andwhich county boundaries had not taken in. He admitted that the state hadgood reasons for desiring to change conditions on Hue and Cry, but thiscallous, brutal uprooting of helpless folks who had been attached tothat soil through three generations was so senselessly radical thathis resentment was stirred. It was swinging from the extreme ofill-considered indulgence to that of utter cruelty, and the poor devilscould not in the least understand!

"There seem to be other things than a spiked martingale which can picka man up and keep him away from his own business, " he mused. "Whatfool notion possesses me to go out there to-morrow I cannot understand. However, I can go and look on without butting into stuff that's noaffair of mine. "

Two men were shuffling past in the road. In the utter silence of thatsummer night their conversation carried far. 

"Yes, sir, as I was saying, there he lays dead! When I was with him onthe _Luther Briggs_ he fell from the main crosstrees, broke both legsand one arm, and made a dent in the deck, and he got well. And a weekago, come to-morrow, he got a sliver under his thumb, and there he laysdead. "

"It's the way it often is in life. Whilst a man is looking up into thesky so as to see the big things and dodge 'em, he goes to work and stubshis toe over a knitting-needle. "

"That's right, " Captain Mayo informed himself; "but I can't seem to helpmyself, somehow!"

XII ~ NO PLACE POR THE SOLES OP THEIR FEET

 Don't you hear the old man roaring, Johnny, One more day? Don't you hear that pilot bawling, One more day? Only one more day, my Johnny, One more day! O come rock and roll me over, One more day. --Windlass Song. 

When the subject of the proposed expedition to Hue and Cry was broachedat the breakfast-table, Captain Epps Candage displayed prompt interest. 

"It's going to be a good thing for the section round about here--roust'em off! Heard 'em talking it over down to Rowley's store last evening. I'll go along with you and see it done. "

Mayo and Polly Candage exchanged looks and refrained from comment. It was evident that Captain Candage reflected the utilitarian view ofMaquoit. 

Mayo had put off that hateful uniform of Marston's yacht, and the girlgave him approving survey when he appeared that morning in his shoresuit of quiet gray. With the widow's ready aid Polly Candage had madeher own attire presentable once more. When they walked down to the shoreshe smiled archly at Mayo from under the brim of a very fetching strawpoke. 

"I ran down to the general store early and bought a boy's hat, " sheexplained. "I trimmed it myself. You know, I'm a milliner's apprentice. Does it do my training credit?"

He was somewhat warm in his assurances that it did. 

"I ought to be pleased by your praise, " she said, demurely, "becausewomen wear hats for men's approval, and if my customers go home and hearsuch nice words from their husbands my business career is sure to be asuccess. "

"Your business career?"

"Certainly, sir!" She bobbed a little courtesy. "I have money, sir!Money of my own. Five thousand dollars in the bank, if you please! Oh, you need not stare at me. I did not earn it. My dear mother's sisterleft it to me in her will. And some day when you are walking down thecity street you'll see a little brass sign--very bright, very neat--andthere'll be 'Polly' on it. Then you may come up and call on the greatmilliner--that will be this person, now so humble. "

"But that young man!" he protested, smiling at her gaiety. 

"Oh, that young man?" She wrinkled her nose. Then she flushed, consciousthat he was a bit surprised at her tone of disdain. "Why, he will wear afrock-coat and a flower in the buttonhole and will bow in my customers. You didn't think my young man was a farmer-boy, did you?"

She hurried ahead of him to the beach, where her father was waiting withhis men. Captain Candage had borrowed a dory for the trip. He installedhimself in the stern with the steer-oar, and the young man and the girlsat together on the midship seat. The skipper listened to their chatwith bland content. 

"There's a fellow that's one of our kind, and he ain't trying to courtmy girl, " he had confided to Mr. Speed. "He is spoke for and she knowsit. And under them circumstances I believe in encouraging young folks tobe sociable. "

It was still early morning when they arrived at the island, but thestate agent was there ahead of them. They saw him walking briskly aboutamong the scattered houses, puffing on his cigar. 

He was making domiciliary visits and was transacting business in a loudtone of voice. That business was paying over the money which the statehad allowed for "squatter improvements. " In the case of the settlers onHue and Cry the sums were mere pittances; their improvements consistedof tottering shacks, erected from salvaged flotsam of the ocean andpatched over and over with tarred paper. 

There was only one building on the island which deserved

the name of dwelling; from this their communicative caller of thepreceding evening was removing his scant belongings. His wife andchildren were helping. He set down a battered table when he met Mayo andhis party. 

"I'm the only citizen who can get away early and--as you might callit--respectable, gents. I took my hundred and fifty and bought thathouse-bo't out there. " It was an ancient scow, housed over, andevidently had grown venerable in service as a floating fish-market. "They can't drive me off'n the Atlantic Ocean! The others 'ain't wokeup to a reelizing sense that they have got to go and that this all meansbusiness! I'm getting away early or else they'd all be trying to climbaboard my bo't like the folks wanted to do to Noah's ark when they seethat the flood wasn't just a shower. " He lifted his table upon his headand marched on, leading his flock. 

All the population of the island was out of doors. The women and thechildren were idling in groups; the men were listlessly following thecommissioner on his rounds. No spirit of rebelliousness was evident. Themen acted more like inquisitive sheep. They were of that abject varietyof poor whites who accept the rains from heaven and bow to the reign ofauthority with the same unquestioning resignation. 

But Mayo discovered promptly an especial reason for the calmnessexhibited by these men. Their slow minds had not wakened to fullcomprehension. 

"What do you men propose to do?" demanded Captain Mayo of a group whichhad abandoned the commissioner and had strolled over to inspect thenew-comers. 

"There ain't nothing we can do, " stated a spokesman. 

"But don't you understand that this man is here with full power from thestate to put you off this island?"

"Oh, they have threated us before. But something has allus come up. Wehaven't been driv' off. "

"But this time it's going to happen! Why don't you wake up? Where areyou going?"

"That's for somebody else to worry about. This ain't any of our pickingand choosing. "

"What's the use of trying to beat anything sensible through the shellsof them quahaugs?" snarled Captain Candage, with 'longcoast scorn forthe inefficient. 

"Not much use, I'm afraid, " acknowledged the young man. "But look at thechildren!"

Those pathetic waifs of Hue and Cry were huddled apart, dumb with terrorwhich their elders made no attempt to calm. They were ragged, pitiful, wistful urchins; lads with pinched faces, poor little snippets of girls. Their childish imaginations made of the affair a tragedy which theycould not understand. Under their arms they held frightened cats, helpless kittens, or rag dolls. The callous calm of the men mystifiedthem; the weeping of their mothers made their miserable fear more acute. They stared from face to face, trying to comprehend. 

"What can I say to them?" asked Polly Candage, in a whisper. "It'swicked. They are so frightened. "

"Perhaps something can be done with that agent. I'm trying to think upsomething to say to him, " Mayo told her. 

An old man, a very old man, sat on an upturned clamhod and yawled adiscordant miserere on a fiddle. His eyes were wide open and sightless. A woman whose tattered skirt only partly concealed the man's trousersand rubber boots which she wore, occasionally addressed him as "father. "She was piling about him a few articles of furniture which she waslugging out of their home; that house was the upper part of a schooner'scabin--something the sea had cast up on Hue and Cry. She was obliged tobend nearly double in order to walk about in the shelter. Dogs slinkedbetween the feet of their masters, canine instinct informing them thatsomething evil was abroad that day. The children staring wide-eyed andwhite-faced, the weeping women, the cowed men who shuffled and mumbled!Among them strode the god of the machine, curt, contemptuous, puffinghis cigar! He came past Captain Mayo and his friends. 

"I beg your pardon, sir, " called the captain; "but are you sure that youare doing this thing just right?"

"Let's see--if I remember, I had a little talk with you last night!"suggested the agent, frostily. "Whom do you represent?" "Myself. "

"Just how do you fit into this matter?" "I don't think I do fit--thereseem to be too many sharp corners, " stated Mayo, not liking the other'sinsolent manner. "Well, I fit! I have state authority. " "So you havetold me. May I ask you a question?" "Go ahead, but be lively. This ismy busy day. " "These people are being rooted up; they don't seem to knowwhat's to become of them. What will be done?"

"I told you last evening! Fools in an institution; able-bodied must goto work. The state proposes--" "When you say 'state' just what do youmean, sir?" "I mean that I have investigated this matter and I'm runningit. "

"That's what I thought! The state usually doesn't know much about whatits agents are doing. "

"You are not doubting my authority, are you?"

"No, but I'm doubting your good judgment. "

"Look here, my man!"

"We'd better not lose our tempers, " advised Mayo, calmly. "You are astate servant, you say. Then a citizen has a right to talk to you. Let'sleave the state out of this, if you question my right. Man to man, now!You're wrong. "

The population of the island had drawn close circle about them. 

"That's enough talk from you, " declared the agent, wrathfully. 

"You are trying to make over all at once what it has taken threegenerations to bring about, " insisted Mayo. "You can't do it!"

"You watch me and see if I can't! When I transact any business I'm paidto transact it gets transacted. I might have given these people a fewmore days if you had not come sticking your oar in here. But now Ipropose to show you! I'll have 'em off here by nightfall, and everyshack burned to the ground. "

"Do you mean to say you're going to rub it into these poor folks justbecause I have tried to say something to help them?"

"I'll show you and them that it isn't safe to monkey with the state whenthe state gets started. "

"Oh, the state be condemned!" exploded Mayo, feeling his own tempergetting away from him. "This isn't the state--it's a case of a man'sswelled head!"

"Get off this island, you and your meddlers, " commanded the agent. 

"Yes, when we are ready to leave, sir. "

Mayo was wondering at his own obstinacy. He knew that a rather boyishtemper, resentment roused by the other man's arrogance, had considerableto do with his stand in the matter, but underneath there was protestat the world's injustice. He felt that he had been having personalexperience with that injustice. He knew that he had not come out to Hueand Cry to volunteer as the champion of these unfortunates, but nowthat he was there and had spoken out it was evident that he must allowhimself to be forced into the matter to some extent; the agent haddeclared in the hearing of all that this interference had settled thedoom of the islanders. Polly Candage was standing close to the champion, and she looked at him with eyes that flashed with pride in him andspirit of her own. She reached and took one of the frightened childrenby the hand. 

"If I have been a little hasty in my remarks I apologize, " pleaded thecaptain, anxious to repair the fault. "I don't mean to interfere withyour duty. I have no right to do so!"

"You hear what your friend says, after getting you into the mess, "shouted the agent, so that all might hear. "Now he is getting ready totrot away and leave you in your trouble. "

"You are wrong there, my friend. If you are angry with me, go ahead andhave your quarrel with me. Don't bang at me over the shoulders of thesepoor folks. It isn't a square deal. "

"They go off to-day--and they go because you have butted into thematter. The whole of you have got to be shown that the state doesn'tstand for meddlers after orders have been given. " Then he added, withmalice: "You folks better ride this chap down to the beach on a rail. Whatever happens to you is his fault!"

This attempt to shift responsibility as a petty method of retaliationstirred Mayo's anger in good earnest. 

The agent was dealing with men who were scarcely more than children intheir estimates of affairs; they muttered among themselves and scowledon this stranger who had brought their troubles to a climax. 

"I'm not going to allow you to get away with that kind of talk, Mr. Agent. You know perfectly well that people on the main will not hirethese men, even if they _are_ able-bodied. Everybody is down on them. You said that to me last evening. They will be kicked from pillar topost--from this town to that! They will be worse than beggars. And theymust drag these women and little children about with them. I will exposethis thing!"

"That exposure will sound fine!" sneered the commissioner. "Exposing astate officer for doing what the Governor and Council have ordered!"

"Yes, ordered on your advice!"

"Well, it has been ordered! And I'll be backed up! As soon as I can getto a justice I shall swear out a warrant against you for interferingwith a state officer. " He flung down the stub of his cigar. "Listen, youpeople! Get off this island. Anybody who is here at sunset--man, woman, or child--will be arrested and put in jail for trespassing on stateland. Now you'd all better give three cheers for your meddling friend, here!"

"They have allus let us stay, even when they have threated us beforenow, " whimpered a man. "He has poured the fat into the fire for us, that's what he has done!" He pointed his finger at Mayo. 

"It's wicked!" gasped the girl. "These poor folks don't know any better, they are not responsible!"

"Say, look here, you folks!" shouted Mr. Speed, who had been holdinghimself in with great difficulty. "It's about time for you to wake up!"

The plutocrat of the house-boat had come up from the beach and had beenlistening. The whimpering man started to speak again, and the magnate ofthe island cuffed him soundly; it was plain that this man, who had livedin the best house, had been a personage of authority in the tribe. 

"I'm ashamed of the whole caboodle of ye, " he vociferated. "Here's agent that's been standing up for us. He's the only man I ever heard saya good word for us or try to help us! Nobody else in the world ever doneit! Take off your hats and thank him!"

"I'm in it!" whispered Mayo to the girl. "For heaven's sake, what am Igoing to do?"

"Do all you can--please, Captain Mayo!"

He stepped forward. The agent began to shout. 

"Hold on, sir!" broke in the captain with quarter-deck air that made forobedience and attention. "You have had your say! Now I'm going tohave mine. Listen to me, folks! I'm not the man to get my friends intotrouble and then run off and leave 'em. All of you who are kicked outby the state--all men, women, and children who are ready to go towork--come over to me on the main at Maquoit with what stuff you canbring in your dories. I'll be waiting for you there. My name is BoydMayo. "

"I'll remember that name, myself, " declared the angry agent. "You'll beshown that you can't interfere in a state matter. "

"You have turned these folks loose in the world, and I'm going to give'em a hand when they come to where I am. If you choose to call thatinterference, come on! It will make a fine story in court!"

He did not stop to shake the grimy hands which were thrust out to him. He pushed his way out of the crowd, and his party followed. 

"Meet me yonder on the main, boys, " he called back with a sailorheartiness which they understood. "We'll see what can be done!"

"Well, what in the infernal blazes can be done?" growled CaptainCandage, catching step with the champion. 

"I don't know, sir. "

"You can't do nothing any more sensible with them critters than youcould with combined cases of the smallpox and the seven years' itch. "

"Father!" cried the girl, reproachfully. 

"I know what I'm talking about! This is dum foolishness!"

"Captain Mayo is a noble man! You ought to be ashamed of hanging backwhen your help is needed. "

"I don't blame you for sassing that skewangled old tywhoopus, sir, "admitted the old skipper. "I wanted to do it myself. But--"

"I'm afraid I don't deserve much praise, " said Mayo. "I've been gettingback at that agent. He made me mad. I'm apt to go off half-cocked likethat. "

"So am I, sir--and I'm always sorry for it. We'd better dig out beforethat tribe of gazaboos lands on our backs. "

"Oh, not a bit of it! I have given my word, sir. I must see it through. "

"But what are you going to do with 'em?"

"Blessed if I know right now! When I'm good and mad I don't stop tothink. "

"Suppose I meet 'em for you and tell 'em you have had a sudden death inyour family and have been called away? They won't know the difference, "volunteered Captain Candage. "And a real death would be lucky for youbeside of what's in store if you hang around. "

"I shall hang around, sir. I can't afford to be ashamed of myself. "

"I think you have said quite enough, father, " stated Polly Candage, withvigor. 

'"I have heard of adopting families before, " said the irreconcilableone, "but I never heard of any such wholesale operation as this. I'mthinking I'll go climb a tree. "

They embarked in the dory. Mr. Speed and Dolph splashed their oars androwed, exchanging looks and not venturing to offer any comment. 

"You might auction 'em off to farmers for scarecrows, " pursued CaptainCandage, still worrying the topic as a dog mouths a bone. "They ain'tfit for no more active jobs than that. "

"I do hope you'll forgive my father for talking this way, " pleaded PollyCandage. She raised brimming eyes to the sympathetic gaze of the youngman beside her. "He doesn't understand it the way I do. "

"Perhaps I don't exactly understand it myself, " he protested. 

"But what you are doing for them?"

"I haven't done anything as yet except start trouble for them. Now Imust do a little something to square myself. "

"There's a reward for good deeds, Captain Mayo, when you help thosewho cannot help themselves. I believe what the Bible says about castingbread on the waters. It will return to you some day!"

He smiled down on her enthusiasm tolerantly, but he was far fromrealizing then that this pretty girl, whose eyes were so brightbehind her tears, and whose cheeks were flushed with the ardor of heradmiration, was speaking to him with the tongue of a sibyl. 

XIII ~ A CAPTAIN OP HUMAN FLOTSAM

 O what is that which smells so tarry? I've nothing in the house that's tarry. It's a tarry sailor, down below, Kick him out into the snow! Doo me axna, dinghy a-a-a ma! Doo me ama-day! --Doo Me Ama. 

Captain Candage growled and complained so persistently during the tripto the main that Mayo expected to be deserted by the querulous skipperthe moment the dory's prow touched the beach. But the skipper camedogging at his heels when Mayo set off up the one street of Maquoit. 

"May I come along with you?" asked the girl at his side. "I can see thatyou are thinking up some plan. I do Hope I may come!" He gave her hisaim for answer. 

"I haven't been into this port for some time, Captain Candage, but thelast trip I made here, as I remember, a man named Rowley, who runs thegeneral store, was first selectman. "

"Is now, " grunted the skipper. "They've got into the habit of electinghim and can't seem to break off. "

When they arrived in front of the store Captain Candage took the lead. 

"I may as well go in and introduce you, whatever it is you want of him. I know Rufe Rowley as well as anybody ever gets to know him. "

Mr. Rowley leaned over his counter and acknowledged the introductionwith a flicker of amiability lighting his reserve. But his wan smilefaded into blankness and he clawed his chin beard nervously when Mayoinformed him that he had invited the evicted folks of Hue and Cry toland on the mainland that day. 

"As overseer of the poor in this town I can't allow it, Captain Mayo!"

"Those people must land somewhere. "

"Yes, yes, of course!" admitted Selectman Rowley. "But not here! I'mbeholden to the taxpayers. "

"And I suppose the officers of all the other towns about here will saythe same?"

"Yes, yes! Of course. "

"Do you still own that old fish-house?" asked the captain, afterhesitating for a few moments; "the sardine-canning plant?"

"Yes, sir. "

"You're not using it now?"

"No, sir. "

"It isn't paying you any revenue, eh?"

"No, sir. "

"Then you ought to be willing to let it pretty cheap--month-to-monthlease!"

"Depends on what I'm letting it for. "

"I want to stow those poor people in there till I can arrange furtherfor them, either show the matter up to the state, or get work for them, or something! Will you let me have it?"

"No, sir!" declared the selectman, with vigor. 

"It's only monthly lease, I repeat. You can prevent them from gettingpauper residence here, in case none of my plans work. "

"Don't want 'em here--won't have 'em! I consider taxpayers first!"

"Don't ye ever consider common, ordinary, human decency?" roared CaptainEpps Candage. 

It was astonishing interruption. Its violence made it startling. Mayowhirled and stared amazedly at this new recruit. 

Captain Candage yanked his fat wallet from his pocket and dammed it downon the counter with a bang which made the selectman's eyes snap. 

"You know _me_, Rowley! We've got the money to pay for what we order andcontract for. Them folks ain't paupers so long as we stand be-hind 'em. We are bringing 'em ashore, here, because it's right to help 'em getonto their feet. Hold on, Captain Mayo; you let me talk to Rowley! Himand me know how to get sociable in a business talk!"

However, Captain Candage seemed to be seeking sociability by bellowingferociously, thudding his hard fist on the counter. Mayo was not easilysurprised by the temperamental vagaries of queer old 'longcoast crabslike Captain Candage, but this sudden conversion did take away hisbreath. 

"When a close and partickler friend of mine, like this one I've justintroduced, comes to you all polite and asks a favor, I want generalpoliteness all around or I'll know the reason why, " shouted theintermediary. "Look-a-here, Rowley, you pretend to be a terribleChristian sort of a man. When I have been fog-bound here I've tended outon prayer-meetings, and I have heard you holler like a good one aboutdying grace and salvation is free. I've never heard you say much aboutliving charity that costs something!"

"I claim to be a Christian man, " faltered Rowley, backing away from thebanging fist. 

"Then act like one. If you don't do it, blast your pelt, I'll post youfor a heathen from West Quoddy to Kittery!"

"God bless you, my dad!" whispered the girl, snuggling close to theskipper's shoulder. 

"Furthermore, Rowley, besides paying you a fair rental for that oldfish-house we'll buy grub for them poor devils out of your store. "

Mr. Rowley caressed his beard and blinked. 

"They're like empty nail-kags, and they'll eat a lot of vittles andwe've got the money to pay!"

"I have a wallet of my own, " stated Captain Mayo. He had not recoveredfrom his amazement at the sudden shift about of Captain Candage. Afterall the sullen growling he had been tempted to ask the old skipper tostop tagging him about on his errand of mercy. 

"Hear that, Rowley? This is the best friend I've got in the wholeworld! Brought him in here! Introduced him to you! Here's my daughter!Interested, too! Now, whatever you say, you'd better be sure that youpick the right words. "

"Well, I'm always ready to help friends, " stated Mr. Rowley. 

"Yes, and do business in a slack time, " added Captain Candage. 

"I'm willing to show Christian charity to them that's poor andoppressed. But what's the sense in doing it in this case?"

"A great many folks in this life need a hard jolt before they turn toand make anything of themselves, " said Captain Mayo. "The people on Hueand Cry have had their jolt. I do believe, with the right advice andmanagement, they can be made self-supporting. They have been allowedto run loose until now, sir. I have been pulled into the thing all ofa sudden, and now that I'm in I'm willing to give up a little time andeffort to start 'em off. I haven't much of anything else to do justnow, " he added, bitterly. 

"Come into my back office, " invited Mr. Rowley. 

"Much obleeged--we'll do so, " said Captain Candage. "You're a brightman, Rowley, and I knowed you'd see the p'int when it was put up to youright and polite. "

The business in the back office was soon settled satisfactorily, anda busy day followed on the heels of that momentous morning. When nightfell the men, women, and children whom a benevolent state--through its"straight-business" agent--had turned loose upon the world to shift forthemselves, were located in a single colony in the spacious fish-house. 

A few second-hand stoves, hired from Rowley, served to cook the foodbought from Rowley, and the families grouped themselves in rooms andbehind partitions and arranged the poor belongings they had salvagedfrom their homes. Even the citizen who had at first resolved to gofloating on the bosom of the deep joined the colony. 

"It's more sociable, " he explained, "and my wife don't like to give upher neighbors. Furthermore, I know the whole bunch, root and branch, whims, notions, and all, and they can't fool me. I'll help boss 'em!" Hebecame a lieutenant of value. 

This community life under a better roof than had ever sheltered thembefore in their lives seemed to delight the refugees. Old and young, they enjoyed the new surroundings with the zest of children. They hadnever taken thought of the morrow in their existence on Hue and Cry. Given food and shelter in this new abode, they did not worry aboutthe problems of the future. They roamed about their domain with thesatisfaction of princes in a palace. They did not show any curiosityregarding what was to be done with them. They did not ask Captain Mayoand his associates any questions. They surveyed him with a dumb andsort of canine thankfulness when he moved among them. He himself triedquestions on a few of the more intelligent men, hoping that they wouldshow some initiative. They told him with bland serenity that they wouldleave it all to him. 

"But what are you going to do for yourselves?"

"Just what you say. You're the boss. Show us the job!"

It was borne in upon him that he had taken a larger contract than he hadplanned on. Rowley and the taxpayers on the main looked to him on oneside, and his dependents on the other. 

"It seems to be up to me--to us, I mean, " he told the girl, ruefully, when they were on their way to the widow's cottage that evening. "It'sup to me most of all, however, for I'm the guilty party--I have pulledyou and your father in. I'm pegged in here till I can think up some sortof a scheme. "

She had been working all day faithfully by his side, a tactful andindefatigable helper. He would have been all at sea regarding the womenand children without her aid, and he told her so gratefully. 

"Both my hands and my heart are with you in this thing, Captain Mayo. And I know you'll think of some way out for them--just as you helped usout of the schooner after we had given up all hope. "

"Getting out of the schooner was merely a sailor's trick of the hands, Miss Candage. I don't believe I'll be much of a hand at making overhuman nature. I have too much of it myself, and the material down inthat fish-house would puzzle even a doctor of divinity. "

"Oh, you will think of some plan, " she assured him-with fine loyalty. "If you will allow me to help in my poor way I'll be proud. "

"I'll not tell you what I think of your help; it might sound like softtalk. But let me tell you that you have one grand old dad!" he declared, earnestly; but although he tried to keep his face straight and his tonessteady he looked down at her and immediately lost control of himself. Merriment was mingled with tears in her eyes. 

"Isn't he funny?" she gasped, and they halted in their tracks andlaughed in chorus with the whole-hearted fervor of youth; that laughterrelieved the strain of that anxious day. 

"I am not laughing _at_ your father--you understand that!" he assuredher. 

"Of course, you are not! I know. But you are getting to understand him, just as I understand him. He is only a big child under all his bluster. But he does make me so angry sometimes!"

"You can't tell much about a Yankee till he comes out of his shell, andI agree with you as to the aggravating qualities in Captain Candage. I'mnot very patient myself, when I'm provoked! But after this he and I willget along all right. "

They walked on to the cottage. 

"Good night, " he said at the door. 

"And you have no plan as yet?"

"Maybe something will come to me in a dream. "

The dream did not come to him, for his sleep was the profound slumber ofexhaustion. He went down in the early dawn and plunged into the sea, andwhile he was walking back toward the cottage an idea and a convictionpresented themselves, hand in hand. The conviction had been with himbefore--that he could not back out just then and leave those poor peopleto shift for themselves, as anxious as he was to be off about his ownaffairs; his undertaking was quixotic, but if he abandoned it at thatjuncture a queer story would chase him alongcoast, and he knew what sortof esteem mariners entertained for quitters. 

However, deep in his heart, he confessed that it was not merely sailorpride that spurred him. The pathetic helplessness of the tribe of Hueand Cry appealed with an insistence he could not deny. He understoodthem as he understood similar colonies along the coast--children whom anindifferent world classed as man and treated with thoughtless injustice!Work was prescribed for them, as for others! But, they did not know howto work or how to make their work pay them. 

The idea which came to him with the conviction that he must help thesefolks concerned work for them. 

After breakfast he took Captain Candage into his confidence, much to theskipper's bland delight at being considered. 

"I hope it's something where we can fetch Rowley in, " confessed theskipper. "I don't care anything for them critters, " he added, assumingbrusqueness. "Don't want it hinted around that I'm getting simple in myold age. But they give me an excuse to bingdoodle Rowley. "

"To carry out that plan I have outlined we need some kind of a packet, "said Mayo. 

"Sure! We'll go right to Rowley. He'll know. If there's anything inthis section that he 'ain't got his finger on some way--bill of sale, mortgage, debt owed to him or expecting to be owed, then it ain't worthnoticing. "

Mr. Rowley listened in his back office. He stroked his beard contentedlyand beamed his pleasure when he saw the prospect of making anotherprofitable dicker with men who seemed to be reliable and energetic. 

"I had a mortgage on the _Ethel and May_ when Captain Tebbets passed onto the higher life, " he informed them. "Widder gave up the schooner whenI foreclosed, she not desiring to--er--bother with vessel proputty. So Ihave it free and clear without it standing me such a terrible sum! Shallbe pleased to charter to you gents at a reasonable figure. Furthermore, seeing that industry makes for righteousness, so we are told, your planof making those critters go to work may be a good one, providing you'lluse a club on 'em often enough. "

"From what I've heard of your talk in prayer-meeting I should thinkyou'd advise moral suasion, " suggested Captain Candage, plainlyrelishing this opportunity to "bingdoodle. "

"I use common sense, whether it's in religion or politics or business, "snapped Rowley, exhibiting a bit of un-Christian heat. 

"It's advisable to ile up common sense with a little charity, and thenthe machine won't squeak so bad. "

"I wouldn't undertake to trot a dogfish on my knee or sing him to sleepwith a pennyr'yal hymn, Captain Candage. "

"I think we can show results without the club, " interposed Mayo, withmild intent to smooth the tone of this repartee. 

The clerk called Mr. Rowley out into the store on some matter of specialimportance, and the selectman departed, coming down rather hard on hisheels. 

"The old Adam sort of torches up through his shell once in a while, "commented Candage. 

"We'd better settle the charter price, sir, before you lay aboard himtoo much, " advised the young man. 

"I just natch'ally can't help harpooning him, " confessed the skipper. "He's a darned old hypocrite, cheating widders and orphans by choicebecause they 'ain't got the spunk to razoo back, and I've allus enjoyedfighting such as him. Him and me is due for a row. But I'll hold off thebest I can till we have got him beat down. "

Mayo's plan involved the modest venture of chartering a craft suitablefor fishing. There was no material for real Banksmen in the Hue and Crycolony, but the run of the men would serve to go trawling for ground andshack fish a few miles off the coast. It was the only scheme whichwould afford employment for the whole body of dependents; older and moredecrepit men and the women and children could dig and shuck clams forthe trawl bait. In order to encourage ambition and independence amongthe abler men of the colony, Mayo suggested that the fishermen be takenon shares, and Captain Candage agreed. 

When Mr. Rowley came back into the office he found his match waiting forhim in the person of Captain Candage, primed and ready to drive a sharpbargain. At the end of an hour papers representing the charter of the_Ethel and May_ were turned over. 

"I reckon it's a good job, " affirmed the skipper, when he and Mayowere outside the Rowley store. "I have made up my mind to let poorold _Polly_ go to Davy Jones's locker. I wrote to the shippers and theconsignees of the lumber last night. If they want it they can go afterit. I may as well fish for the rest of this season!" He regarded CaptainMayo with eyes in which query was almost wistftul. "Of course, you candepend on me to see to it that you get your share, sir, just as if youwere aboard. "

"I'm going aboard, Captain Candage. "

The old man stopped stock still and stared. 

"I haven't anything in sight just now. You need help in getting thething started right. I'm not going away and leave that gang on yourhands until I can see how the plan works out. I'll go as mate with you. "

"Not by a blame sight you won't go as no mate with me, " objectedCandage. "You'll go as skipper and I'll be proud to take orders fromyou, sir. "

They were wrangling amiably on that point when they returned to thewidow's cottage. Polly Candage broke the deadlock. 

"Why not have two captains? That will be something brand new along thecoast!"

"The rest of it is brand new enough without that, " blurted her father. "But considering what kind of a crew we've got I guess two captainsain't any too much! I'll be captain number two and I know enough to keepmy place. "

"I do not think you and I will ever do much quarreling again!" smiledCaptain Mayo, extending his hand and receiving Candage's mighty grip. "I am going to start out a few letters, and I'll go now and write them. Until those letters bring me something in the way of a job I am withyou, sir. "

Captain Candage walked down toward the fish-house with his daughter. "Polly, " he declared, after an embarrassed silence, "I have been allwrong in your case, girl. Here and now I give you clearance papers. Sailfor home just as soon as you want to. I'm asking no questions! It's noneof my business!"

"My little affairs must always be business of yours, father, " shereturned.. "I love you. I will obey you. "

"But I ain't giving off no more orders. I ain't fit to command in thewaters where you are sailing, Polly dear. So run along home and be mygood girl! I know you will be!"

"I have changed my mind about going home--just now!" Her eyes met hisfrankly. "I have written to Aunt Zilpah to send me some of my clothes. Father, " there was feminine, rather indignant amazement in her tones, "do you know that there isn't a single woman from Hue and Cry who knowshow to use a needle?"

"I might have guessed it, judging from the way their young ones and menfolk go looking!"

"Do you realize that those children don't even know their A-B-C's?"

"Never heard of any college perfessers being raised on that island. "

"I am going to take a vacation from the millinery-shop, now that I amdown here. I'll show those women how to sew and cook, and I'll teachthose children how to read. It's only right--my duty! I couldn't go homeand be happy without doing it!"

"Calling that a vacation is putting a polite name to it, Polly. "

"If you could have seen their eyes, father, when I promised to helpthem, you wouldn't wonder why I am staying. "

"I don't wonder, Polly, my girl! If you had gone away and--and leftus--Mayo and me--I should have been mighty disappointed in ye! But Ireally never thought much about your going--'cause you wouldn't go, Iknew, till you had helped all you could. " He put his arm around her. "I have been worrying about having brought you away. But I guess God hadit all figgered out for us. I didn't know my own girl the way I ought tohave knowed her. I'd been away too much. But now we're sort of growingup--together--sort of that, ain't we, Polly dear?"

She put her arms about his neck and answered him with a kiss. 

XIV ~ BEARINGS FOR A NEW COURSE

 And now, my brave boys, comes the best of the fun, It's hands about ship and reef topsails in one; So it's lay aloft, topman, as the hellum goes down, And clew down your topsails as the mainyard goes round. --La Pique. 

At the end of that week the _Ethel and May_ had delivered at market herfirst fare of fish and her captains had divided her first shares. Mayodecided that the results were but of proportion to the modest returns. He was viewing the regeneration of the tribe of Hue and Cry. In theircase it had been the right touch at the right time. For years theirhopes had been hungry for a chance to make good. Now gratitude inspiredthem and an almost insane desire to show that they were not worthlessdrove them to supreme effort. The leaven of the psychology ofindependence was getting in its work. 

The people of Hue and Cry for three generations had been made to feelthat they were pariahs. When they had brought their fish or clams to themainland the buyers were both unjust and contemptuous, as if they weredealing with begging children who must expect only a charitable giftfor their product instead of a real man's price. Prices suited thefish-buyers' moods of the day. The islanders had never been admittedto the plane of straight business like other fishermen. They had alwaystaken meekly what had been offered--whether coin or insults. Therefore, their labor had never returned them full values. 

They who bought made the poor wretches feel that it constituted aspecial favor to take their fish at any price. 

They seemed to come into their own that first day at market when the_Ethel and May_ made her bigness in the dock at the city fish-house. Masterful men represented them in the dealings with the buyers. The crewhid their delighted grins behind rough palms when Captain Epps Candagebawled out bidders who were under market quotations; they gazed with aweon Captain Mayo when he read from printed sheets--print being amystery they had never mastered--and figured with ready pencil and evencorrected the buyer, who acknowledged his error and humbly apologized. No more subservient paltering at the doors of fish-houses!

Back home the women and the children and the old folks had a good roofover their heads; the fishers had the deck of a tidy schooner undertheir feet. Shiftlessness departed from them. After years of oppressionthey had found their opportunity. More experienced men would havefound this new fortune only modest; these men grasped it with juvenileenthusiasm. 

They were over the side of the schooner and out in their dories whenmore cautious trawlsmen hugged the fo'c'sle. On their third trip, because of this daring, they caught the city market bare on a Thursdayand made a clean-up. 

"I'm told that Saint Peter started this Friday notion because he wasin the fish business, " stated Captain Candage, sorting money for theshares. "All I've got to say is, he done a good job of it. "

Mr. Speed, sailing as mate, always found ready obedience. 

Smut-nosed Dolph never listened before to such praise as was lavished bythe hungry men over the pannikins which he heaped. 

Captain Mayo, casting up accounts one day, was honestly astonished tofind that almost a month had passed since he had landed at Maquoit. 

"That goes to show how a man will get interested when he is picked upand tossed into a thing, " he said to Polly Candage. 

"You are making real men of them, Captain Mayo!" She added, with alaugh, "And you told me you were no kind of a hand at making over humannature!"

"They are doing it themselves. "

"I will say nothing to wound your modesty, sir. "

"Now I must wake up. I must! There's nothing worth while in the profitfor both your father and myself. I want him to have the propositionalone. There'll be a fair make for him. I didn't intend to stay here solong. I guess I sort of forgot myself. " He went on with his figures. 

"But I knew you could not forget, " she ventured, after a pause. 

He glanced up and found a queer expression on her countenance. Therewere frank sympathy and friendliness in her eyes. He had revolved bitterthoughts alone, struggling with a problem he could not master. In suddenemotion--in an unpremeditated letting-go of himself--he reached out forsomebody in whom to confide. He needed counsel in a matter where no mancould help him. This girl was the only one who could understand. 

"There may be letters waiting for me in the city--in the big citywhere I may be expected, " he blurted. "I haven't dared to send any. " Hehesitated, and then gave way to his impulse. "Miss Polly, I haven't anyright to trouble you with my affairs. I may seem impertinent. Butyou are a girl! Does a girl usually sit down and think over all thedifficulties--when she doesn't get letters--and then make allowances?"

"I'm sure she does--when she loves anybody. "

"And yet it may seem very strange. I am worried out of my senses. Idon't know what to do. "

She was silent for a long time, looking away from him and twistingher hands in her lap; she was plainly searching her soul forinspiration--and courage!

"You think she will understand the situation?" he insisted. 

"She ought to. "

"But no word from me! Silence for weeks!"

Her voice was low, but she evidently had found courage. "I have notheard one word--not a letter has come to me--since I left my aunt'shome. "

"Do you feel sure that he loves you just the same? You don't needletters?"

"Oh no! I don't need letters. "

"But in my case?"

"I could see that she loves you very much. She stood out before themall, Captain Mayo. That sort of a girl does not need letters. "

"You have put new courage in me. I believe you understand just how agirl would feel. You know a Yankee! He expects to find a friend justwhere he left him, in the matter of affection. "

"A girl does not need to be a Yankee to be that way in her love. "

"I can't sneak around to her by the back way--I can't do that!" hecried. "I don't want to be ashamed of myself. I don't want to bringmore trouble to her. Don't you think she will wait for me until I cancome--and come right!"

"She will wait for you, sir. It's the nature of women to wait--when theylove. "

"But I cannot ask her to wait forever. That's why I must go away andtry to make good. " He set his teeth, and his jaw muscles were ridged. "I believe a man can get what he goes after in the right spirit, MissPolly. " He swing off the porch and left her. 

The fog was heavy on shore and sea that day, holding the _Ethel and May_in port. He disappeared into the stifling mist, and the girl sat andstared into that vacancy for a long time. 

Mayo rowed out to the schooner, which was anchored in the harbor roads. He was carrying his accounts to Captain Candage. 

Standing and facing forward as he rowed, he came suddenly upon a bigsteam-yacht which had stolen into the cove through the fog and wasanchored in his course. She was the _Sprite_, and he had formed a'longshore acquaintance with her skipper that summer, meeting himin harbors where the _Sprite_ and _Olenia_ had been neighbors in theanchorage. He stopped rowing and allowed the dory to drift. He notedthat the blue flag was flying at the main starboard spreader, announcingthe absence of the owner, and he understood that he could call for theskipper without embarrassing that gentleman. One of the crew was puttingcovers on the brasswork forward. 

"Compliments to Captain Trott, and tell him that Captain Mayo is at thegangway. "

The skipper appeared promptly, replying to the hail before the sailorhad stirred. "Come aboard, sir. "

"I'll not bother you that much, captain. I can ask my question just aswell from here. Do you know of any good opening for a man of my size?"

The captain of the _Sprite_ came to the rail and did not reply promptly. 

"I have left the _Olenia_ and I'm looking for something. "

Captain Trott started for the gangway. "Oh, you needn't trouble to comedown, sir. "

"I'd rather, Captain Mayo. " After he had descended he squatted on theplatform at the foot of the ladder and held the dory close, grasping thegunwale. "What are you doing for yourself these days?"

Mayo had no relish for a long story. "I'm waiting to grab in onsomething, " he replied. 

Captain Trott did not show any alacrity in getting to the subject whichMayo had broached. "It has set in pretty thick, hasn't it? I have beenordered in here to wait for my folks; they're visiting at some bigestate up-river. "

"But about the chance for a job, captain!"

"Look here! What kind of a run-in did you have with the _Olenia_ owner?"

Mayo opened his mouth and then promptly closed it. He could not revealthe nature of the trouble between himself and his former employer. 

"We had words, " he said, stiffly. 

"Yes, I reckon so! But the rest of it!"

"That's all. "

"You needn't tell me any more than you feel like doing, of course, " saidCaptain Trott. "But I have to tell _you_ that Mr. Marston has come outwith some pretty fierce talk for an owner to make. He has made quite abusiness of circulating that talk. I didn't realize that you are of somuch importance in the world, Mayo, " he added, dryly. 

"I don't know what he is saying. "

"Didn't you leave him in the night--without notice, or something of thekind?"

"It was an accident. "

"I hope you have a good story to back you up, Captain Mayo, for I haveliked you mighty well ever since meeting you first. What is behind it?"

"I can't tell you. "

"But you can tell somebody--somebody who can straighten the thing outfor you, can't you?"

"No, Captain Trott. "

"Well, you know what has happened in your case, don't you?" The skipperof the _Sprite_ exhibited a little testiness at being barred out ofMayo's confidence. 

The young man shook his head. 

"Marston claims that you mutinied and deserted him--slipped away in thenight--threw up your job on the high seas--left him to work to New Yorkwith a short crew--the mate as captain. "

"That's an infernal lie!"

"Then come forward and show him up. "

"I cannot talk about the case. I have my reasons--good ones!"

"I'm sorry for you, Mayo. You are done in the yachting game, I'm afraid. He'll blacklist you in every yacht club from Bar Harbor to Miami. Ihave heard my folks talking about it. He seems to have a terriblegrudge--more than a big man usually bothers about in the case of askipper. "

Mayo set his oar against the edge of the platform and pushed off. Theskipper called after him, but he was instantly swallowed up by the fogand did not reply. 

On board the _Ethel and May_ his ragged but cheery crew were baiting up, hooking clams upon the ganging hooks, and coiling lines into tubs. Themen grinned greeting when he swung over the rail. He scowled at them; heeven turned a glowering look on Captain Candage when he met the latteron the quarter-deck. 

"Yes, sir! I see how it is! You're getting cussed sick of this two-centgame here, " said Candage, mournfully. "I don't blame ye. We ain't inyour class, here, Captain Mayo. " He took the papers which the young manheld out to him. "I suppose this is the last time we'll share, you andme. I'll miss ye devilish bad. I'd rather go for nothing and let youhave it all than lose ye. But, of course, it ain't no use to argue orcoax. "

Mayo went and sat on the rail, folding his arms, and did not reply. Theold skipper trudged forward, his head bowed, his hands clutched behindhis back. When he returned Mayo stood up and put his hand on the oldman's shoulder. 

"Captain Candage, please don't misunderstand me. Just at present I feelthat the only friends I have in the world are here. Don't mind the wayI acted just now when I came on board. I have had a lot of trouble--I'mhaving more of it. I'm not going to leave you just yet. I want to stayaboard until I can think it all over--can get my grip. That is, ifyou're satisfied to have it that way!"

"Satisfied! Jumping Cicero!" exploded Captain Can-dage. He took the doryand rowed ashore. He found his daughter gazing into the fog from theporch of the widow's cottage. "He is going to stay a while longer, " heinformed her, rapturously. "Something has happened. Do you suppose thatgirl has throwed him over?"

"Father, do you dare to chuckle because a friend is in trouble?"

"I'll laugh and slap my leg if he ever gets shet of that hity-titygirl, " he rejoined, stoutly. 

"I am astonished--I am ashamed of you, father!"

"Polly dear, be honest with your dad!" he pleaded. "Do you want to seehim married off to her?"

"I certainly do. I only wish I might help him. " Her lips were white, hervoice trembled. She got up and hurried into the house. 

"I'll be cussed if I understand wimmen, " declared Captain Candage, fiddling his finger under his nose. "That feller she has picked out forherself must be the Emp'ror of Peeroo. "

Captain Mayo did not come ashore again before the _Ethel and May_sailed. 

The fog cleared that night and they smashed out to the fishing-groundsahead of a cracking breeze, and had their trawls down in the early dawn. At sundown, trailed by a wavering banner of screaming gulls who gobbledthe "orts" tossed over by the busy crew cleaning their catch, they weredocking at the city fish-house. 

"Lucky again, " commented Captain Candage, returning from his sharpdicker with the buyer. "The city critters are all hungry for haddock, and that's just what we hit to-day. " He surveyed his gloomy partner withsympathetic concern. "Why don't you take a run uptown?" he suggested. "You're sticking too close to this packet for a young man. Furthermore, if you see a store open buy me a box of paper collars. Rowley hain't gotmy size!"

Mayo, unreconciled and uneasy, hating that day the sound of theflapping, sliding fish as they were pitchforked into the tubs forhoisting, annoyed by the yawling of pulleys and realizing that hisnerves were not right at all, obeyed the suggestion. He had asecret errand of his own, yielding to a half-hope; he went to thegeneral-delivery window of the post-office and asked for mail. He knewthat love makes keen guesses. The _Olenia_ had visited that harborfrequently for mail. But there was nothing for him. He strolled aboutthe streets, nursing his melancholy, forgetting Captain Candage'scommission, envying the contentment shown by others. 

In that mood he would have avoided Captain Zoradus Wass if he had spiedthat boisterously cheerful mariner in season. But the captain had him bythe arm and was dancing him about the sidewalk, showing more affabilitythan was his wont. 

"Heifers o' Herod! youngster, " shouted the grizzled master, "have youcome looking for me?"

"No, " faltered Mayo. "Did you want to see me?"

"Have worn taps off my boots to-day chasing from shipping commissioner'soffice to every hole and corner along the water-front. Heard you hadquit aboard a yacht, and reckoned you had got sensible again and wantedreal work. "

"If you had asked down among the fish-houses you might have got on trackof me, sir. " Mayo's tone was somber. 

"Fish! You fishing?" demanded Captain Wass, with incredulity. 

"Yes, and on a chartered smack at that--shack-fishing on shares!" Mayowas sourly resolved to paint his low estate in black colors. "And I haveconcluded it's about all I'm fit for. "

"That's fine, seaman-like talk to come from a young chap I have trainedup to master's papers, giving him two years in my pilot-house. I wasafraid you were going astern, you young cuss, when I heard you'd goneskipper of a yacht, but I didn't think it was as bad as all this. "

"My yachting business is done, sir. "

"Thank the bald-headed Nicodemus! There's hopes of you. Did anybody tellyou I've been looking for you?"

"No, sir!"

"Glad of it. Now I can tell you myself. Do you know where I am now?"

"I heard you were on a Vose line freighter, sir. "

"Don't know who told you that--but it wasn't Ananias. You're right. She's the old _Nequasset_, handed back to me again because I'm theonly one who understands her cussed fool notions. First mate got drunkyesterday and broke second mate's leg in the scuffle--one is in jail andt'other in the hospital, and never neither of 'em will step aboard anyship with me again. I sail at daybreak, bade to the Chesapeake for steelrails. Got your papers?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Come along. You're first mate. "

"Do you really want me, sir?"

"Want you? Confound it all, I've got you! In about half a day I'll haveall the yacht notions shaken out of you and the fish-scales strippedoff, and then you'll be what you was when I let you go--the smartestyoungster I ever trained. "

Mayo obeyed the thrust of the jubilant master's arm and went along. "I'll go and explain to Captain Can-dage, my partner. "

"All right. I'll go along, too, and help you make it short. "

As they walked along Captain Wass inspected his companion critically. 

"High living aboard Marston's yacht make you dyspeptic, son? You look asif your vittles hadn't been agreeing with you. "

"My health is all right, sir. "

"Heard you had trouble with Marston, " proceeded the old skipper, withbrutal frankness. "Anybody who has trouble with that damnation piratecomes well recommended to me. He is trying to steal every steamboat lineon this coast. Thank Gawd, he can never get his claws on the old Voseline. Some great doings in the steamboat business are ahead, Mayo. Reckon it's a good line to be in if you like fight and want to make yourbigness. "

Mayo walked on in silence. He was troubled by this added informationthat news of his affair with Marston had gained such wide currency. However, he was glad that this new opportunity offered him a chance tohide himself in the isolation of a freighter's pilot-house. 

Captain Candage received the news with meek resignation. "I knowed itwould have to come, " he said. "Couldn't expect much else. Howsomever, itain't comforting. "

"Can't keep a good boy like this pawing around in fish gurry, " statedCaptain Wass. 

"I know it, and I wish him well and all the best!"

Their leave-taking, presided over by the peremptory master of the_Nequasset_, was short. 

"I'll probably have a chance to see you when we come here again, " calledMayo from the wharf, looking down into the mournful countenance of theskipper. "Perhaps I'll have time to run down to Maquoit while we aredischarging. At any rate, explain it all for me, especially to yourdaughter. "

"I'll tell all concerned just what's right, " Captain Candage assuredhim. "I'll tell her for you. "

She was on the beach when the skipper came rowing in alone from the_Ethel and May_. 

"He's gone, " he called to her. "Of course we couldn't keep him. He's toosmart to stay on a job like this. "

When they were on their way up to the widow's cottage he stoleside-glances at her, and her silence distressed him. 

"Let's see! He says to me--if I can remember it right-he says, says he, 'Take my best respects and '--let's see--yes, 'take my best respects andlove to your Polly--'"

"Father! Please don't fib. "

"It's just as I remember it, dear. 'Especial, ' he says. I remember that!'Especial, ' he says. And he looked mighty sad, dear, mighty sad. " Heput his arm about her. "There are a lot of sad things in this world foreverybody, Polly. Sometimes things get so blamed mixed up that I feellike going off and climbing a tree!"

XV ~ THE RULES OF THE ROAD

 Now the _Dreadnought's_ a-sailing the Atlantic so wide, Where the high, roaring seas roll along her black side. Her sailors like lions walk the deck to and fro, She's the Liverpool packet--O Lord let her go! --Song of the Flash Packet. 

On a day in early August the _Nequasset_ came walloping laboriouslyup-coast through a dungeon fog, steel rails her dragging burden, cautionher watchword. 

The needle of her indicator marked "Half speed, " and it really meanthalf speed. Captain Zoradus Wass made scripture of the rules laiddown by the Department of Commerce and Labor. There was no trickyslipping-over under his sway--no finger-at-nose connivance between thepilot-house and the chief engineer's grille platform. No, Captain Wasswas not that kind of a man, though the fog had held in front of him twodays, vapor thick as feathers in a tick, and he had averaged not muchover six nautical miles an hour, and was bitterly aware that the rate offreight on steel rails was sixty-five cents a ton. 

"And as I've been telling you, at sixty-five cents there's about as muchprofit as there would be in swapping hard dollars from one hand to theother and depending on what silver you can rub off, " said Captain Wassto First-mate Mayo. 

The captain was holding the knob of the whistle-pull In constant clutch. Regularly every minute _Nequasset's_ prolonged blast sounded, strictlyaccording to the rules of the road. 

Her voice started with a complaining squawk, was full toned for a fewmoments, then trailed off into more querulousness; the timbre of thattone seemed to fit with Captain Wass's mood. 

"It's tough times when a cargo-carrier has to figger so fine that shecan lose profit on account of what the men eat, " he went on. "If you'retwo days late, minding rules in a fog, owners ask what the tophet'sthe matter with you! This kind of business don't need steamboat men anylonger; it calls for boarding-house keepers who can cut sirloin steakoff'n a critter clear to the horn, and who are handy in turning sharpcorners on left-overs. I'll buy a book of cooking receets and try toturn in dividends. "

The captain was broad-bowed, like the _Nequasset_, he sagged on shortlegs as if he carried a cargo fully as heavy as steel rails, his whitewhiskers streamed away from his cutwater nose like the froth kicked upby the old freighter's forefoot. He chewed slowly, conscientiously andcontinuously on tobacco which bulged in his cheek; his jaws, moving assteadily as a pendulum swings, seemed to set the time for the isochronalwhistle-blast. Sixty ruminating jaw-wags, then he spat into the fog, then the blast--correct to the clock's tide!

The windows of the pilot-house were dropped into their casings, sothat all sounds might be admitted; the wet breeze beaded the skipper'swhiskers and dampened the mate's crisp hair. While the mate leanedfrom a window, ear cocked for signals, the captain gave him more of thecritical inspection in which he had been indulging when occasion served. 

Furthermore, Captain Wass went on pecking around the edges of a topicwhich he had been attacking from time to time with clumsy attempt atartful inquisition. 

"As bad as it is on a freighter, I reckon you ain't sorry you're offthat yacht, son?"

"I'm not sorry, sir. "

"From what you told me, the owner was around meddling all the time. "

"I don't remember that I ever said so, sir. "

"Oh, I thought you did, " grunted Captain Wass, and he covered hismomentary check by sounding the whistle. 

"Now that you are back in the steamboat business, of course you're asteamboat man. Have the interests of your owners at heart, " he resumed. 

"Certainly, sir. "

"It would be a lot of help to the regular steamboat men--the good oldstand-bys--if they could get some kind of a line on what them WallStreet cusses are gunning through with Marston leading 'em--or, atleastways, he's supposed to be leading. He hides away in the middle ofthe web and lets the other spiders run and fetch. But it's Marston'sscheme, you can bet on that! What do you think?"

"I haven't thought anything about it, Captain Wass. " "But how couldyou help thinking, catching a word here and a word there, aboard thatyacht?"

"I never listened--I never heard anything. "

"But he had them other spiders aboard--seen 'em myself through myspy-glass when you passed us one day in June. "

"I suppose they talked together aft, but my duty was forward, sir. "

"It's too bad you didn't have a flea put into your ear about getting aline on Marston's scheme, whatever it is. You could have helped the realboys in this game!"

Mayo did not reply. 

Captain Wass showed a resolve to quit pecking at the edges and make adab at the center of the subject. He pulled the whistle, released theknob, and turned back to the window, setting his elbows on the casing. 

"Son, you ain't in love with that pirate Marston, are you?"

"No, sir!" replied the young man, with bitterness that could not bedoubted. 

"Well, how about your being in love with his daughter?" The caustichumor in the old skipper's tones robbed the question of some of itsbrutal bluntness, and Mayo was accustomed to Captain Wass's brandof humor. The young man did not turn his head for a few moments; hecontinued to look into the fog as if intent on his duty; he was tryingto get command of himself, fully aware that resentment would not work inthe case of Zoradus Wass. When Mayo did face the skipper, the latterwas discomposed in his turn, for Mayo showed his even teeth in a cordialsmile. 

"Do you think I have been trying the chauffeur trick in order to catchan heiress, sir?"

"Well, there's quite a gab-wireless operating along-coast and sailorsdon't always keep their yawp closed after they have taken a man's moneyto keep still, " stated Captain Wass, pointedly. "I wouldn't blame youfor grabbing in. You're good-looking enough to do what others have donein like cases. "

"Thank you, sir. What's the rest of the joke?"

"I never joke, " retorted the skipper, turning and pulling thewhistle-cord. _Nequasset's_ squall rose and died down in her brazenthroat. "Her name is Alma?" he prodded. "Something of a clipper. IfMarston ever makes you general manager, put me into a better job thanthis, will you?"

"I will, sir!"

The skipper gave his mate a disgusted stare. "You're a devil of a manto keep up a conversation with!" He spat against the wall of the fog andagain let loose the freighter's hoarse lament. 

From somewhere, ahead, a horn wailed, dividing its call into two blasts. 

"Port tack and headed acrost us, " snarled the master, after a sniff atthe air and a squint at the sluggish ripple. 

"Why ain't the infernal fool anchored, instead of drifting aroundunderfoot? How does he bear, Mr. Mayo?" He was now back to pilot-houseformality with his mate. 

"Two points and a half, starboard bow, sir. And there's another chapgiving one horn in about the same direction. "

"Another drifter--not wind enough for 'em to know what tack they'rereally on. Well, there's always Article Twenty-seven to fall back on, "grumbled the skipper. He quoted sarcastically in the tone in which thatrule is mouthed so often in pilot-houses along coast: '"Due regard shallbe had to all dangers of navigation and collision, and to any specialcircumstances which may render a departure from the above rulesnecessary, and so forth and et cetry. Meaning, thank the Lord, that asteamer can always run away from a gad-slammed schooner, even at halfspeed. Hope if it ever comes to a showdown the secretary of the bureauof commerce will agree with me. Ease her off to starboard, Mr. Mayo, till we bring 'em abeam. "

The mate gave a quick glance at the compass. "East by nothe, Jack, " hecommanded. 

"East by nothe, sir, " repeated the quartermaster in mechanical tones, spinning the big wheel to the left. 

It was evident that the _Nequasset_ had considerable company on the seathat day. A little abaft her beam a tugboat was blowing one long and twoshort, indicating her tow. She had been their "chum" for some time, andMayo had occasionally taken her bearings by sound and compass and knewthat the freighter was slowly forging ahead. He figured, listening againto the horns, that the Nequasset was headed to clear all. 

"You take a skipper who studies his book and is always ready to lookthe department in the eye, without flinching, he has to mind hisown business and mind the other fellow's, too, " said Captain Wass, continuing his monologue of grouch. "Dodging here and there, keeping outof the way, two days behind schedule, meat three times a day or elseyou can't keep a crew, and everybody hearty at meal-time! My owners havenever told me to let the law go to hoot and ram her for all she's worth!But when I carry in my accounts they seem to be trying to think uplanguage that tells a man to do a thing, and yet doesn't tell him. What's that?" He put his head far out of the window. 

Floating out of the fog came a dull, grunting sound, a faint andfar-away diapason, a marine whistle which announced a big chap. 

"I should say it is a Union liner, sir--either the _Triton_ or_Neptune_. "

They listened. They waited two long minutes for another signal. 

"Seems to be taking up his full, legal time, " growled Captain Wass. "Since Marston has gobbled that line maybe he has put on a specialregister to keep tabs on tooting--thinks it's waste of steam and willreduce dividends. Expects us little fellows to do the squawking!"

The big whistle boomed again, dead ahead, and so much nearer that itprovoked the skipper to lash out a round oath. 

"He is reeling off eighteen knots for a gait, or you can use my head fora rivet nut!" He yanked the cord and the freighter howled angrily. Theother replied with bellowing roar--autocratic, domineering. With irony, with vindictiveness, Captain Wass pitched his voice in sarcastic nasaltone and recited another rule--thereby trying to express his irateopinion of the lawlessness of other men. 

"Article Sixteen, Mr. Mayo! He probably carries it in his watch-caseinstead of his girl's picture! Nice reading for a rainy day! 'Asteam-vessel hearing apparently forward of her beam the fog signal of avessel, the position of which is not ascertained, shall, so far as thecircumstances of the case permit, stop her engines and then navigatewith caution until all danger of collision is over. ' Hooray for therules!"

Captain Wass hooked a gnarled finger into the loop of the bell-pull andyanked upward viciously. A dull clang sounded far below. He pulled againand the vibration of the engine ceased. 

"Gad rabbit it! I'll go the whole hog as the department orders! If hebangs into me we'll see who comes off best at the hearing. "

He gave the bell-loop two quick jerks; then he shifted his hand toanother pull and the jingle bell sounded in the engine-room--the_Nequasset_ was ordered to make full speed astern. 

The freighter shook and shivered when the screw began to reverse, pulling at the frothing sea, clawing frantically to haul her to a stop. The skipper then gave three resentful, protesting whistle-blasts. 

But the reply he received from ahead was a hoarse, prolonged howl. Init there was no hint that the big fellow proposed to heed the protestof the three blasts. It was insistence on right of way, the insolence ofthe swaggering express liner making time in competition with rivals; ithinted confident opinion that smaller chaps would better get out of theway. 

The on-comer had received a signal which served to justify that opinion. Captain Wass had docilely announced that he was going full speed astern, his whistle-blasts had declared that he had stepped off the sidewalkof the ocean lane--as usual! The big fellows knew that the little chapswould do it!

Mate Mayo leaned from the window, his jaw muscles tense, anxiety in hiseyes. 

The big whistle now was fairly shaking the curtains of the mists and wasnot giving him any comforting assurance that the liner was swinging toavoid them. 

The quartermaster was taking the situation more philosophically than hissuperiors. He hummed:

 Sez all the little fishes that swim to and fro, She's the Liverpool packet--O Lord let her go!

"Does that gor-righteously fool ahead there think I blowed threewhistles to salute Marston's birthday or their last dividend, Mr. Mayo?"shouted Captain Wass. 

Fogs are freaky; ocean mists are often eerie in movements. There arestrata, there are eddying air-currents which rend the curtain or shredthe massing vapors. The men in the pilot-house of the _Nequasset_suddenly found their range of vision widened. The fog did not clear; itbecame more tenuous and showed an area of the sea. It was like a thinveil which disclosed dimly what it distorted and magnified. 

In a fog, experienced steamboat men always examine with earnest gazethe line where fog and ocean merge. They do not stare up into the fog, trying to distinguish the loom of an on-coming craft; they are ableto discern first of all the white line of foam marking the vessel'scutwater kick-up or her wake. 

"There she comes, sir!" announced the mate. He pointed his finger at afoaming upthrust of tossing water. 

"Yes, sir! Eighteen knots and both eyes shut!" But there was reliefmingled with the resentment. His quick glance informed him that theliner would pass the _Nequasset_ well to starboard--her bow showed adivergence of at least two points from the freighter's course. But thenext instant Captain Wass yelped a shout of angry alarm. "Yes, both eyesshut!" he repeated. 

Right in line with the liner's threshing bow was a fisherman's Hamptonboat, disclosed as the fog drifted. 

The passenger-steamer gave forth a half-dozen "woofs" from her whistle, answering the freighter's staccato warning, but gave no signs ofslowing. But that they were making an attempt to dodge the mite in theirpath was made known by a shout from their lookout and his shrill call:"Port! Hard over!"

The fisherman had all the alertness of his kind, trained by dangers andever-present prospect of mischance to grab at desperate measures. He leaped forward and pulled out his mast and tossed mast and sailoverboard. 

He knew that he must encounter the tremendous wash and wake of therushing hull. His shell of a boat, if made topheavy by the sail, wouldstand small show. 

"He's a goner!" gasped Captain Wass. "She's a-going to tramp him plumbunderfoot--unless she's going to get up a little more speed and jumpover him!" he added, moved to bitter sarcasm. 

They saw the little boat go into eclipse behind the black prow, thefirst lift of the churning waters flipping the cockleshell as a coinis snapped by the thumb. The fisherman was not in view--he had thrownhimself flat in the bottom of his boat. 

"He's under for keeps, " stated the skipper, with conviction. "If herbilge-keel doesn't cooper him, her port propeller will!"

So rapidly was the liner moving, so abrupt her swoop to the right, thatshe leaned far over and showed them the red of her huge bilge. Her highspeed enabled her to make an especially quick turn. As they gaped, her two stacks swung almost into line. Her shearing bow menaced the_Nequasset_. 

"The condemned old hellion is going to nail _us_, now!" bellowed CaptainWass. In his panic and his fury he leaped up and down, pulling at thewhistle-cord. 

She was almost upon them--only a few hundred yards of gray waterseparated the two steamers. 

She was the _Triton!_

Her name was disclosed on her bow. Her red hawse-holes showed likeglowering and savage eyes. There was indescribably brutal threat in thissudden dart in their direction. It was as if a sea monster had swallowedan insect in the shape of a Hampton boat and now sought a real mouthful. But her great rudder swung to the quick pull of her steam steering-gearand again she sheered, cutting a letter s. The movement brought her pastthe stern of the _Nequasset_, a biscuit-toss away. The mighty surge ofher roaring passage lifted the freighter's bulk aft, and the huge wavethat was crowded between the two hulls crowned itself with frothingwhite and slapped a good, generous ton of green water over the smallersteamer's superstructure. 

Captain Wass grabbed down his megaphone; he wanted to submit a fewremarks which seemed to fit the incident. 

But the captain of the Triton was beforehand with a celerity whichmatched the up-to-date speed of his craft. He was bellowing through thehuge funnel which a quartermaster was holding for him. His languagewas terrific. He cursed freighters in most able style. He asked why the_Nequasset_ was loafing there in the seaway without steering headway onher! That amazing query took away Captain Wass's breath and all powerto retort. Asking that of a man who had obeyed the law to the letter! Afellow who was banging through the fog at eighteen knots' speed blaminga conscientious skipper because the latter had stopped so as to get outof the way!

And, above all, going so fast when he asked the question that he was outof ear-shot before suitable answer could be returned!

Captain Wass revolved those whirling thoughts in a brain which flamedand showed its fires through the skipper's wide-propped eyes. 

Then he banged his megaphone across the pilot-house. It reboundedagainst him, and he kicked it into a corner. He began to whack his fistagainst a broad placard which was tacked up under his license as master. The cardboard was freshly white, and its tacks were bright, showing thatit had been recently added as a feature of the pilot-house. Big lettersin red ink at the top counseled, "Safety First. " Other big lettersat the bottom warned, "Take No Chances. " The center lettering advisedshipmasters that in case of accident the guilty parties would feel allthe weight of Uncle Sam's heavy palm; it was the latest output fromthe Department of Commerce and Labor, and bore the signature of thehonorable secretary of the bureau. 

Mayo noted that his chief was wholly absorbed in this speechlessactivity; therefore he pulled the bells which stopped the backwardchurning and sent the freighter on her way. They passed the fisherman inthe Hampton boat; he was bailing his craft. 

"That was a rather close call, sir! I am glad that I have been trainedby you to be a careful man. You took no chances!"

"And where have I got to by obeying the United States rules and nevertaking chances, Mr. Mayo? At sixty-five I'm master of a freight-scow, sassed by owners ashore and sassed on the high seas by fellows like thatone who just slammed past us! If that passenger-steamer had hit me thelawyers would have shoved the tar end of the stick into my hands! It'sall for the good of the hellbent fellows the way things are arrangedin this world at the present time. I'll be lucky if he doesn't lodgecomplaint against me when he gets to New York, saying that I got in hisway!" He cut off a fresh sliver of black plug and took his position atthe whistle-pull. "You'd better go get an heiress, " he advised his mate, sourly. "Being an old-fashioned skipper in these days of steam-boatingis what I'm too polite to name. And as to being the other kind--well, you have just seen him whang past!"

However, as they went wallowing up the coast, their old tub sagging withthe weight of the rails under her hatches, Mate Mayo felt considerableof a young man's ambitious envy of that spick-and-span swaggerer whohad yelled anathema from the pilot-house of the _Triton_. It wasreal steamboating, he reflected, even if the demands of owners anddividend-seekers did compel a master to take his luck between his teethand gallop down the seas. 

XVI ~ MILLIONS AND A MITE

 To Tiffany's I took her, I did not mind expense; I bought her two gold ear-rings, They cost me fifty cents. And a-a-away, you santee! My dear Annie! O you New York girls! Can't you dance the polka! --Shanty, "The Lime Juicer. "

Mr. Ralph Bradish, using one of the booth telephones in the Wall Streetoffices of Marston & Waller, earnestly asked the cashier of an up-townrestaurant, as a special favor, to hold for twenty-four hours thepersonal check, amount twenty-five dollars, given by Mr. Bradish theevening before. 

Ten minutes later, with the utmost nonchalance and quite certain thatthe document was as good as wheat, Mr. Bradish signed a check for onemillion two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

That amount in no measure astonished him. He was quite used to signingsmashing-big checks when he was called into the presence of JuliusMarston. Once, the amount named was two millions. And there hadbeen numbers and numbers of what Mr. Bradish mentally termed "pikerchecks"--a hundred thousand, two and three hundred thousand. And he hadnever been obliged to request any hold up on those checks for want offunds. Because, in each instance, there had been a magic, printed linealong which Mr. Bradish had splashed his signature. 

Before he blotted the ink on this check Bradish glanced, with onlyidle curiosity, to note in what capacity he was serving this time. Theprinted line announced to him that he was "Treasurer, the ParamountCoast Transportation Company, Inc. " He remembered that in the pasthe had signed as treasurer of the "Union Securities Company, " the"Amalgamated Holding Company, " and for other corporations sponsoringrailroads and big industries with whose destinies Julius Marston, financier, appeared to have much to do. It was evident that FinancierMarston preferred to have a forty-dollar-a-week clerk do the menialwork of check-signing, or at least to have that clerk's name in evidenceinstead of Marston's own. 

That modesty about having his name appear in public on a check seemed toattach to the business habits of Mr. Marston. 

Mighty few person were ever admitted to this inner sanctuary whereBradish sat facing his employer across the flat-topped desk. And men whosaw that employer outside his office did not turn their heads to stareafter him or point respectful finger at him or remark to somebody else, "There's the big Julius Marston. " In the first place, Mr. Marston wasnot big in a physical sense, and there was nothing about him which wouldattract attention or cause him to be remarked in a crowd. And only a fewpersons really knew him, anyway. 

He sat in his massive chair; one hand propped on the arm, his elbowakimbo, and with the other hand plucked slowly at the narrow strip ofbeard which extended from his lower lip to the peaked end of his chin. 

"Very well, Mr. Bradish, " he remarked, after the latter had lifted theblotter from the check. 

Bradish rose and bowed, and started to leave. He was a tall and shapelyyoung man, with a waist, with a carriage. His garb was up-to-the-minutefashion--repressed. He was a study in brown, as to fabric of attire andits accessories. One of those white-faced chaps who always look a bitbored, with a touch of up-to-date cynicism! One of those fellows wholisten much and who say little!

"Just a moment, Bradish, " invited Marston, and the young man stopped. "I like your way in these matters. You don't ask questions. You show nosilly interest in any check you sign. "

Bradish reflected an instant on the check in the restaurant cashier'sdrawer, and pinched his thin lips a little more tightly. 

"I'm quite sure you don't do any broadcast talking about the nature ofthese special duties. " The financier pointed to the check. "I'll sayquite frankly that I didn't select you for this service until I hadascertained that you did no talking about your own affairs in the officewith my other clerks. "

Bradish inclined his head respectfully. 

"In financial matters it is necessary to pick men carefully. I trustyou understand my attitude. These transactions are quite legitimate. But modern methods of high finance make it necessary to manipulate thedetails a little. Your attitude in accepting these duties, as a matterof course is very gratifying from a business standpoint. As a littlemark of our confidence in you, you will receive seventy-five dollars perweek hereafter. "

"Thank you. "

Mr. Martson allowed himself a quick, dry smile. "This isn't a bribe, you understand. There is nothing attached to this nominal service whichrequires bribing. We merely want to make it worth while for a prudentand close-mouthed young man to remain with us. "

A buzzer, as unobtrusive as were all the characteristics of FinancierMarston, sounded its meek purr. 

"Yes, " he murmured into the receiver of the telephone which communicatedwith the watchful picket of the Marston & Waller offices. "Who? Oh, shemay come in at once. "

"Wait here a moment, if you please, Mr. Bradish. It is my daughter whohas dropped in for a moment's word with me. I have something more foryou to attend to. "

Bradish walked to one of the windows. He stared sharply at the girl whohurried in. Her hat and face were shrouded in an automobile veil, andthe cloistered light of the big room helped to conceal her features. But Bradish seemed to recognize something about her in spite of thevagueness of outline. When she spoke to her father the young man's eyessnapped in true astonishment. 

"I couldn't explain it very well over the telephone, papa, so I cameright down. Do forgive me if I bother you for just a minute. " Sheglanced quickly at the young man beside the window, but found him merelyan outline against the light. 

"Only one of our clerks, " said her father. "What is it, my girl?"

"It's Nan Burgess's house-party at Kingston! There's to be an automobileparade--all decorated--at the fête, and I want to go in our big car, and have it two days. I was afraid you'd say no if I asked you over thetelephone, but now that I'm right here, looking you in the eyes with allthe coaxing power of my soul, you just can't refuse, can you, papa?"

"I think perhaps I would have consented over the telephone, Alma. "

"Then I may take the car?" Her playful tones rose in ecstatic crescendo. The impulsiveness of her nature was displayed by her manner in acceptingthis favor. She danced to her father and threw her arms about him. She exhibited as much delight as if he had bestowed upon her a gift ofpriceless pearls. The exuberance of her joy appeared to annoy him a bit. 

"Gently, gently, Alma! If you waste your thanks in this manner for alittle favor, what will you do some day for superlatives when you arereally eager to thank some-body for a big gift?"

"Oh, I'll always have thanks enough to go around--that's my disposition. The folks who love me, I can love them twice as much. You're a dear olddad, and I know you want me to run along so that you can go to making alot more money. So I'll just take myself out from underfoot. "

When she turned she glanced again at the person near the window, andthis time she got a good look at his face. Even the veil could nothide from Bradish the color which spread into her cheeks. She was soconscious of her embarrassment and of her appearance that she did notturn her face to her father when he spoke to her. 

"One moment, Alma! Seeing that my big car is going to have a two days'vacation in the country, I may as well make it do one last businesserrand for me. "

He called Bradish to the desk by a side jerk of the head. 

"I want that check put into the hands of the brokerage firm of MowerBrothers as quickly as possible. My car is at the door, and it may aswell take you along. Alma, allow this young man of ours to ride with youto the place where I'm sending him. "

He did not present Bradish to Miss Marston. Bradish did not expect thefinancier to do so. But this dismissal of him as a mere errand-boy--withthe young lady staring him out of countenance in a half-frightenedway--did cut the pride a bit, even in the case of a mere clerk. Andthis clerk was pondering on the memory that only the night before hehad clasped this young lady--then a party unknown who was evidently bentupon an escapade _incog_. --had encircled this selfsame maiden with hisarms during many blissful dances in one of the gorgeous Broadway publicball-rooms. And he had regaled her and a girl friend on viands for whichhis twenty-five-dollar check had scarcely sufficed to pay. 

Bradish was pretty familiar with the phases and the oddities of thedancing craze, but this _contretemps_ rather staggered him. 

They had asked no questions of each other during those dances. They hadbeen perfectly satisfied with the joy of the moment. She had looked athim in a way and with a softness in her eyes which told him that shefound him pleasing in her sight. She had been enthusiastic, with thatsame exuberance he had just witnessed, over his grace in the dance. Theyhad promised to meet again at the ball-room where social conventions didnot prevent healthy young folks from enjoying themselves. 

"Good heavens!" she whispered to him, as she preceded him through thedoor. "You work in my father's office?"

"You are surprised--a little shocked--and I don't blame you, " hereturned, humbly. "As for me, I am simply astounded. But I am not agossip. "

She stole a look at his pale, impassive face, and some of her father'sinstinct in judging men seemed to reassure her. 

"One must play a bit, " she sighed. "And it's so stupid most of the time, among folks whom one knows very well. There are no more surprises. "

As he shut the door softly behind them Bradish heard Marston, once moreimmersed in his affairs of business, directing over the telephone thatone Fletcher Fogg be located and sent to him. 

"I apologize, " said Bradish, in the corridor. They were waiting for theelevator. 

"For what?" She lifted her eyebrows, and there was no hint of annoyancein her dark eyes. 

"For--well--seeing how the matter stands, it almost seems as if I hadpresumed--was masquerading. I am only a clerk, and--"

"But you are a clerk in Julius Marston's offices, " she said, with pride, "and that means that you are to be trusted. I require no apology fromyou, Mr. --er--"

"My name is Ralph Bradish. "

"I dodged away from dullness last evening; I was hoping to have a bitof a frolic. And I found a young gentleman who asked no impertinentquestions, who was very gracious, and who was a delight in the dance. Itwas all very innocent--rather imprudent--but altogether lovely. There!"

"I thank you. "

"And--well, after Nan Burgess's house-party, I--"

She glanced up at him, provocation in her eyes. 

"But I don't dare to hope, do I, that you will condescend to come againand dance with me?"

"Julius Marston has taught his daughter to keep her promise, sir. If Iremember, I promised. "

He did not reply, for the elevator's grille door clashed open for themto enter. 

And in the elevator, and later in the car, he was silent, as became theclerk of Marston's offices in the company of Marston's daughter whenthere were listeners near. 

Her eyes gave him distinct approval and her lips gave him a charmingsmile when he alighted at his destination. 

Bradish stood for a moment and gazed after the car when it threaded itsway into the Broadway traffic. 

"She's a flighty young dame, with a new notion for every minute, " hetold himself. "You can see that plain enough. It's probably all jolly onher part. However, in these days, if a fellow keeps his head steady andhis feet busy, there's no telling what the tango may lead to. This maybe exactly, what I've been paying tailors' bills for. "

Indicating that in these calculating times the spirit of youth in theardor of love at first sight is not as the poet of romance has paintedit. 

XVII ~ "EXACTLY!" SAID MR. FOGG

 "O I am not a man o' war or privateer, " said he, Blow high, blow low, and so sailed we! "But I'm an honest pirate a-looking for my fee, Cruising down along the coast of the High Barbaree. " --Shanty of the "Prince Luther. "

Mr. Fletcher Fogg privately and mentally and metaphorically slappedhimself on the back whenever he considered his many activities. 

He was perfectly certain that he was the best little two-handed generaloperator of an all-around character that any gentleman could securewhen that gentleman wanted a job done and did not care to give explicitinstructions as to the details of procedure. 

The look of grief and regret that the fat face of Mr. Fogg could assumewhen said gentleman--after the job was done--blamed the methods asunsanctioned, even though the result had been achieved--that expressionwas a study in humility--humility with its tongue in its cheek. 

If Mr. Fogg could have advertised his business to suit himself--beingnot a whit ashamed of his tactics--he would have issued a card inscribedabout as follows:

 "Mr. FLETCHER FOGG: Promoting and demoting. Building and busting. The whole inside of any financial or industrial cheese cleaned out without disturbing the outside rind. All still work done noiselessly. Plenty of brass bands for loud work. Broad shoulders supplied to take on all the blame. "

Mr. Fogg, in the presence of Julius Marston, was properly obsequious, but not a bit fawning. He wiped away the moisture patches beside hisnose with a purple handkerchief, and put it back into his outside breastpocket with the corners sticking out like attentive ears. He crossed hislegs and set on his knee an ankle clothed in a purple silk stocking. Onaccount of his rotundity he was compelled to hold the ankle in place inthe firm clutch of his hand. He settled his purple tie with the otherhand. 

"I'm glad I was in reach when you wanted me, " he assured Mr. Marston. "I'm just in on the _Triton_. And I want to tell you that you're runningthat steamboat line in the way an American business man wants to haveit run. If I had been on any other line, sir, I wouldn't have beenhere to-day when you were looking for me. Everything else on the coastprowling along half-speed, but down slammed the old _Triton_, scattering'em out from underfoot like an auto going through a flock of chickens, but not a jar or a scrape or a jolt, and into her dock, through two daysof thick fog, exactly on the dot. That's the way an American wants to becarried, sir. "

"I believe so, Mr. Fogg, " agreed Julius Marston. "And that's why we feelit's going to be a good thing for all the coast lines to be under onemanagement--our management. "

"Exactly!"

"It's true progress--true benefit to travelers, stockholders, and allconcerned. Consolidation instead of rivalry. I believe in it. "

"Exactly!"

"As a broad-gauged business man--big enough to grasp big matters--youhave seen how consolidation effects reforms. "

"No two ways about it, " affirmed Mr. Fogg. 

"That was very good missionary work you did in the matter of the Sound &Cape line--very good indeed. "

"It's astonishing what high and lofty ideas some stockholders haveabout properties they're interested in. In financial matters the poorestconclusion a man can draw is that a stock will always continue to paydividends simply because it always has done so. I had to set off apretty loud firecracker to wake those Sound & Cape fellows up. I had toshow 'em what damage the new deals and competition and our combinationwould do to 'em if they kept on sleeping on their stock certificates. Funny how hard it is to pry some folks loose from their par-valuenotions. " Mr. Fogg delivered this little disquisition on theintractability of stockholders with reproachful vigor, staring blandlyinto the unwinking gaze of Mr. Marston. "I don't want to praise my ownhumble efforts too much, " he went on, "but I truly believe that insideanother thirty days the Sound crowd would have been ready to cash in atfifty, in spite of that minority bunch that was hollering for par. Thatwas only a big yawp from a few folks. "

"Fifty was a fair price in view of what's ahead in the way ofcompetition, but we have made it a five-eighths proposition in order toclinch the deal promptly. I just sent one of our boys around with thecheck. "

Mr. Fogg beamed. He used his purple handkerchief on his cheeks oncemore. He allowed to himself a few words of praise: "They'll understandsome day that I saved 'em from a bigger bump. But it's hard to show somepeople. "

"Now, Mr. Fogg, we come to the matter of the Vose line. What's theoutlook?"

Mr. Fogg looked sad. "After weeks of chasing 'em, I can only say thatthey're ugly and stubborn, simply blind to their best interests. "

"Insist on par, do they?"

"Worse than that. Old Vose and his sons and those old hornbeamdirectors--retired sea-captains, you know, as hard as old turtles--theyhave taken a stand against consolidation. They belong in the dark agesof business. Old Vose had the impudence to tell me that forming thissteamboat combine was a crime, and that he wouldn't be a party to abetrayal of the public. He won't come in; he won't sell; he's going tocompete. "

Mr. Marston stroked his strip of beard. "In order for our stock to bewhat we intend it to be, the Paramount Coast Transportation has gotto operate as a complete monopoly, as you understand, Mr. Fogg. Abeneficent monopoly--consolidation benefiting all--but neverthelessa monopoly. With one line holding out on us, we've got only a limpingproposition. "

"Exactly!"

"What are we going to do about the Vose line?"

"Let it compete, sir. We can kill it in the end. "

"Possibly--probably. But that plan will not serve, Mr. Fogg. "

"It's business. "

"But it is not finance. I'm looking at this proposition solely as afinancier, Mr. Fogg. I hardly know one end of a steamboat from theother. I'm not interested in rate-cutting problems. I don't know howlong it would take to put the Vose line under. But I do know this, as afinancier, handling a big deal, that the Paramount stock will not appealto investors or the bonds to banks unless we can launch our project asa clean, perfect combination, every transportation charter locked up. I handle money, and I know all of money's timidity and all ofmoney's courage. You think the Vose directors are able to hold theirstockholders in line, do you?"

Mr. Fogg uncrossed his legs, put both feet on the floor, hookedhis hands across his paunch, and gazed up at the ceiling, evidentlypondering profoundly. 

"I repeat, I'm not viewing this thing as a steamboating proposition, not figuring what kind of tariffs will kill competition, " stated Mr. Marston. "I'm not estimating what kind of tariffs will make a profit forthe Paramount. I'd as soon sell sugar over the counter. My associatesexpect me to make money for them in another way--make it in big lumpsand on a quick turn. The Vose line, competing, kills us from thefinancial viewpoint. "

"Exactly. "

There was silence in the room for some time. 

"There's never any telling what stockholders will do, " remarked Mr. Fogg, his eyes still studying the panels of the ceiling. 

Mr. Marston did not dispute that dictum. 

His field-marshal slowly tipped down his head and gave his superioranother of those bland stares. 

"So I'll go right ahead and see what they'll do, sir. "

He rose and kicked the legs of his trousers into place. 

"You understand that in this affair, as in all matters where you havebeen employed, there must be absolutely clean work. There must be nocome-back. Of course, I have instructed you to this effect regularly, but I wish to have you remember that I have repeated the instructions, sir. "

"Exactly!" Mr. Fogg's eyes did not blink. 

"You will be prepared to testify to that effect in case the need everarises. "

"Exactly!"

Mr. Fogg delivered that word like a countersign. Into it, in hisinterviews with Julius Marston, he put understanding, humility, promise. 

"May we expect quick action?" asked the financier. "The thing mustn'thang fire. We have a lot of our nimble money tied up as it is. "

"Exactly!" returned Mr. Fogg, on his way to the door. "Quick action itis!"

"This is probably the craziest idea that ever popped into a man's headwhen that man was sitting in Julius Marston's office, " reflected Mr. Fogg, marching through the anteroom of this temple of finance. "There'sone thing about it that's comforting--it's so wild-eyed it will neverbe blamed on to Julius Marston as any of his getting up. And that's hisprincipal lookout when a deal is on. It seems to be up to me to deliverthe goods. "

He sat down on a bench in the waiting-room and rubbed his knuckles overhis forehead. 

"Just let me get this thing right end to, " he told himself. "How didthe idea happen to hit me, anyway? Oh, yes! Old Vose bragging to me thatevery stockholder in the Vose line was behind him, and that the annualmeeting was about to come off, and then I would see what a condemnedpoor show I stood to get even the toe of my boot into the crack of thecompany door. He's a Maine corporation. I've known of cases where thatfact helped a lot. There are plenty of ifs and buts in this thing, buthere goes!"

He applied himself to one of the office telephones, asked for severalnumbers, one after the other, and put questions with eagerness andrapidity. 

The information he received seemed to disturb him considerably. He cameout of the booth and scrubbed his cheeks with his purple handkerchief. 

"Their annual meeting at ten o'clock to-morrow morning, four hundredmiles from here! Well, I suppose I ought to be thankful that it's notbeing held right now, " Mr. Fogg informed himself, determined to fan thatone flicker of hope with both wings of his optimism. "But I've got toadmit that twenty-four hours is almighty scant time for a job of thissort, even when the operator is the little Fogg boy himself. Damme, Ihaven't come to a full, realizing sense yet of all I've got to do andhow I'm going to do it. "

He hurried out, dove into an elevator, and was shot down to the street. 

He was lucky enough to find a taxi at the curb. 

"Grand Central, " he told the driver. "I've got five dollars thatsays you can beat the Subway express and land me in season for theten-o'clock limited for Boston. "

As soon as it became evident to Mr. Fogg that his driver had seen hisduty and was going to do it, traffic squad be blowed, the promotersettled back, and his thoughts began to revolve faster than the taxi'swheels. 

"It's going to be like the mining-camp 'lulu hand, '" was his mentalpreface to his plans. "It can be played only once in a sitting-in; ithas got to be backed with good bluff, but it's a peach when it works. And what am I a promoter for? What have I studied foreign corporationlaws for?"

Mr. Fogg took off his hat and mopped his bald spot, wrinkling hiseyelids in deep reflection. 

"The idea is, " he mused, "I'm a candidate for the presidency of the Voseline at to-morrow's meeting. But I haven't been elected yet!"

However, Mr. Fogg's preliminary sniffing at the affairs of the Vose linehad informed him where he could pick up at least ten scattered shares oftheir stock. He figured that before midnight he would have them in hispossession. As to the next day and the next steps, well, the nerve of areal American plunger clings to life until the sunset of all hopes, evenas the snake's tail, though the serpent's head be bruised beyond repair, is supposed to wriggle until sunset. 

He despatched a telegram at New Haven. He received a reply atProvidence, and he read it and felt like a gambler who has drawn acard to fill his bobtail hand. When a design is brazen and the game islargely a bluff, plain, lucky chance must be appealed to. 

The telegram had been addressed to Attorney Sawyer Franklin, in a Mainecity. It had requested an appointment with Mr. Franklin on the followingmorning. 

The reply had stated that Mr. Franklin was critically ill in a hospital, but that all matters of business would be attended to by his officeforce, as far as was possible. 

Attorney Sawyer Franklin, as Mr. Fogg, of course, was fully aware, wasclerk of the Vose line corporation, organized according to the Mainelaw as a "foreign corporation, " under the more liberal regulations whichhave attracted so many metropolitan promoters into the states of Maineand New Jersey. 

XVIII ~ HOW AN ANNUAL MEETING WAS HELD--ONCE!

 O, a ship she was rigged and ready for sea, And all of her sailors were fishes to be! Windy-y-weather, Stormy-y-weather! When the wind blows we're all together! --The Fishes. 

Fletcher Fogg, suave, dignified, radiating business importance, freshened by a barber's ministrations, walked into the Franklinlaw-offices the next morning at nine-thirty. 

He announced himself to a girl typist, and she referred him to a youngman who came forth from a private room. 

"I have power of attorney from Mr. Franklin to transact his routinebusiness, " explained the young man. "Of course, if it's a new case or aquestion of law--"

"Neither, neither, my dear sir! Simply a matter of routine. But, " heleaned close to the young man's ear, "strictly private. "

Mr. Fogg himself closed the door of the inner office when the two hadretired there. 

"One of your matters to-day, I believe, is the annual meeting of theVose line. I am a stockholder. "

Fogg produced a packet of certificates and laid them on the desk. 

"Are there to be any officers or other stockholders present?" he asked, showing just a bit of solicitude, in spite of himself. 

"I think not, " returned the young man. "Nothing has been said about it. The proxies and instructions have been sent in, as usual, by registeredmail. " He indicated documents stacked on the desk. "I was just about tobegin on the matter. "

"I suppose our proxies run to the clerk of the corporation, as usual, with full power of substitution, clerk to follow instructions, " saidMr. Fogg, a bit pompously, using his complete knowledge of corporationroutine. 

"Yes, sir. We handle most of the corporation meetings that way when it'sall cut and dried. In this case, it's simply a re-election of the oldofficers. "

"Exactly!"

Mr. Fogg pulled his chair closer, dabbed his purple handkerchief oneach side of his nose, and inquired, kindly and confidentially: "My son, what's your name?"

"David Boyne. "

"Law student here--secretary, eh?"

"Yes, sir. "

"Exactly--and a long, hard pull ahead of you. It's too bad you're not inNew York, where a young man doesn't have to travel the whole way around, but can cut a corner or two. I could give you a lot of examples ofbright young chaps who have grabbed in when the grabbing was good. 

"But I haven't the time. You take my word for it. I'm a plain, outspokenbusiness man, and I'm in with the biggest financial interests in NewYork. And I'm going to offer you the grandest opportunity of your liferight now, David. "

He picked up his certificates and arranged them in one hand, as a playerarranges his cards. 

"I have here ten shares, say, and each share is owned by a differentindividual--all good men. You don't know them, but I do. They areconnected with our big interests. And I'm right here as a stockholder. Do you realize, David, that instructing you to hold this meeting withouta single stockholder present is really asking you to do something that'snot strictly legal?"

"We usually do it this way, " faltered Boyne. 

"Exactly! Men like those who are running the Vose line are always askingan innocent man to do something illegal. I'm going to come right tothe point with you, David. Those old moss-backs who have sent thoseinstructions are trying to wreck the Vose line. I want you to disregardthose instructions. I am anxious to be president and general managerof the line. I want you to elect as directors these stockholders. " Hetapped his finger on the certificates. 

The young man was both frightened and bewildered. He turned pale. "Ican't do that, " he gasped. 

"Yes, you can. There are the proxies. It's up to you to vote 'em as youwant to. They allow full power of substitution, usual fashion!"

"But I can't disobey my instructions. "

"I say you can, if you've got grit enough to make a good thing foryourself. "

"Such a thing was never done here. "

"Probably not. It's a new idea. But new things are being done rightalong in high finance. You ought to be up where big things are happeningevery day. You stand in with me, and I'll put you there. You see, I'mgetting right down to cases on this matter with you, David. Vote thoseproxies as I direct and I'll hand you five thousand dollars inside oftwo hours, and will plant you in a corking job with my people as soon asthis thing calms down. I could have palavered a long time before comingto business in this way, but I see you're a bright young fellow anddon't need a lot of hair-oil talk. I don't ask you to hurt anybody inespecial. You can elect the old treasurer--we don't want to handle themoney--this is no cheap brace game. But I want a board of directorswho will put me in as general manager until certain reforms can beinstituted so as to bring the line up to date. Five thousand dollars, mind you, and then you'll be taken care of. "

"But I'll be put into state prison. "

"Nonsense, my boy! Why would you vote those proxies according to yourinstructions? Why, because it would be for your interest to do so ifI hadn't come in here with a better proposition. Now it's for yourinterest to vote 'em as I tell you. The most they can make out of itis a breach of trust, and that amounts to nothing. With five thousanddollars in your mitt, you wouldn't need to hang around here to takea lot of slurs. I'll slip you another thousand for your expenses on alittle trip till the air is all clear. "

Boyne stared at this blunt and forceful tempter; his hand which clutchedthe chair-arms trembled; "I'm going to be still more frank with you, my boy. And, by the way, you must know that I'm no mere four-flusher. You've heard of Fletcher Fogg, eh? You knew who I was when you got thatwire from me yesterday?"

"Why, yes, I know of you through our corporation work, sir. "

"Exactly!" Mr. Fogg assumed even more unctuously the manner of an oldfriend. "Now, as I say, I'm going to be frank--take you in on the groundfloor. Of course, they can have another--a special meeting of the Voseline after a thirty days' notice to the stockholders. They will probablycall that meeting, and I don't care if they do. But I have an ambitionto be general manager of the line for those thirty days to make--well, Iwant to make a little investigation of general conditions, " declared Mr. Fogg, resorting to his purple handkerchief. "That's all I care to say. At the end of thirty days we may--I'm speaking of the big interestsI represent--we may decide to buy the line and make it really worthsomething to the stockholders. You understand, I hope. It's strictlybusiness--it's all right--it's good financiering. After it's all overand those old, hardshell directors wake up, I'll venture to say they'llbe pleased all around that this little turn has been made. In themean time, having been taken care of, you needn't mind whether they'repleased or not. "

Boyne looked at the sheaf of certificates in Fogg's hand; he bentfrightened gaze on the documents stacked on the desk. They lay thererepresenting his responsibility, but they also represented opportunity. The sight of them was a rebuke to the agitated thoughts of treasonwhich assailed him. But the mere papers had no voice to make that rebukepointed. 

Mr. Fogg did have a voice. "Five thousand dollars in your fist, my boy, as soon as I can work the wire to New York--and there's no piker aboutthe man who can have five thousand flashed in here when he asks for it. You can see what kind of men are behind me. What do you care about oldman Vose and his crowd?"

"There's Mr. Franklin! I'll be doing a mighty mean trick, Mr. Fogg. No, I'll not do it. "

Mr. Fogg did not bluster. He was silent for some time. He pursed hislips and stared at Boyne, and then he shifted his gaze to the ceiling. 

"It's too bad--too bad for a young fellow to turn down such anopportunity, " he sighed. "It can be done without you, Boyne, in anotherway. The same result will happen. But you might as well be in on it. Now let me tell you a few instances of how some of the big men in thiscountry got their start. "

Mr. Fogg was an excellent raconteur with a vivid imagination, and it didnot trouble his conscience because the narratives he imparted to thiswide-eyed youth were largely apocryphal. 

"You see, " he put in at the end of the first tale, "what a flying startwill do for a man. Suppose that chap I've just told you about sat backand refused to jump when the road was all open to him! You don't hearanybody knocking that man nowadays, do you? And yet that's the trick hepulled to get his start. "

With a similar snapper did Mr. Fogg touch up each one of his stories ofsuccess. 

"I--I didn't have any idea--I thought they managed it some other way, "murmured David Boyne. 

"Your horizon has been limited; you haven't been out in the worldenough to know, my son. "

"I have heard of all those men, of course. They're big men to-day. "

"You didn't think they got to be millionaires by saving the money out ofclerks' salaries, did you? Of course, Boyne, I admit that in thisaffair you'll be up to a little sharp practice. But you're not stealinganything. Nobody can lug off steamships in a vest pocket. It's only adeal--and deals are being made every day. "

Fogg was a keen judge of his fellow-men. He knew weakness when he sawit. He could determine from a man's lower lip and the set of his nosewhether that person were covetous. And he knew now what signified theflush on Boyne's cheeks and the light in his eyes. However, there wassomething else to reckon with. 

"I will not betray Mr. Franklin's confidence in me. Positively, I willnot, " said the young man. "He's sick, and that would make it worse. "

"How sick is he?"

"He is very, very ill. It was an operation, and he has had a relapse. But we hope he's coming out all right. "

"What hospital is he in?"

Boyne gave the name. 

"I think I'll call up and ask when it is expected that he can seevisitors, " announced Fogg, with business briskness. "I wish Franklin hadbeen here on deck--Franklin, himself. "

"I don't believe Mr. Franklin would turn a trick of this sort, " assertedthe clerk. "I'd hate to face him, after doing it myself. "

"Franklin would be able to see further into a financial deal than ayoung chap, " said Mr. Fogg, severely, and then he found his number andmade his call. "Good heavens!" he blurted, after a question. "I am inhis office. Yes, I'll tell Boyne. "

With a fine affectation of grief and surprise, he snapped thetransmitter upon the hook and whirled on Boyne. His back had been towardthe young man--he had spoken with hand across the receiver. 

"He has just died--he's dead! Franklin has passed away. "

"I would have been notified, " gasped Boyne. 

"They were just going to call you. You heard me say I'd inform you. "

"But I must call the hospital--offer my services. I must go up there. "

Mr. Fogg put out his hand and pressed the young man back into his chair. "A lulu must be played quick and the pot raked sudden, " he reflected. 

"Just a moment, my son. Now you're standing on your own bottom. Youwon't have to explain to Mr. Franklin. "

He pointed to the clock. His stories had consumed time. The hour wasten-thirty-five. 

"That annual meeting of the Vose line was called for ten of the clockto-day. Mr. Franklin was alive at that hour. He was the clerk of thatcorporation. What happens now will not embarrass you so far as he'sconcerned. Be sensible. Make a stroke for yourself. You're out of a job, anyway. Go to it, now. "

Fogg spoke sharply, imperiously. He exerted over the young man all theforce of his personality. 

"Five thousand dollars--protected by my interests--slipped out of sightfor a few months--it's easy. Sit down there and make up your records;vote those proxies. Vote 'em, I say. This meeting was held at teno'clock. Make up your records. "

He stood over Boyne, arguing, promising, urging, and the young man, at last, sweating, flushed, trembling, bent over his documents, sortedthem, and made up his records. 

"We'll send on a copy to the office of the Vose line by registeredmail, " commanded Fogg. "Attest it as a copy of the true record bynotary. When it drops in on 'em I will be there, with my directors andmy little story--and the face of Uncle Vose will be worth looking at, though his language may not be elevating. You come out with me, Boyne. I'm going to the telegraph office. "

"But I must get in touch at once with Mr. Franklin's family--offer myservices, " pleaded the clerk. 

"There isn't a thing you can do right now, " snapped the masterfulgentleman from New York. "I suggest that you close the office. Send thegirl home. You should do that much out of respect to your employer'smemory. "

Ten minutes later the record had been mailed and the flustered Boynewas trotting around town with Mr. Fogg. The latter seemed to have atremendous amount of business on his hands. He hired a cab and washustled yon and thither, leaving the young man in the vehicle, withinstructions to stay there, whenever a stop was made. But at last Mr. Fogg returned from an errand with some very tangible results. He put apacket of bank-notes into Boyne's shaking hands. 

"Did you ever see as much real money before, my son?" asked Fogg, genially. "That's your five thousand. And here's five hundred towardthat expense money we promised. I'm suggesting that you leave townto-night. Tuck that cash away on yourself and duck out of sight. "

Having secured the money and placed that powerful argument in the youngman's hands, Mr. Fogg's hurry and anxiety seemed to be over. When he hadseen the packet buttoned inside Boyne's coat he smiled. 

"The trade is clinched and the job is done, son, and I feel sure that, being a healthy young American citizen with plenty of cash to pay yourway, you're not going to let go that cash nor do any foolish squealing. "

"I've gone too far to back out, " admitted Boyne, patting the outside ofhis coat. "But it seems like a dream. "

"I've heard a little piece of good news while I've been runningaround--forgot to tell you, " said Fogg, in a matter-of-fact way. "That fool attendant at the hospital must have misunderstood me, or Imisunderstood him. Franklin isn't dead. "

"He-isn't-dead?"

"No. Last report is that he's better this forenoon. But that's the waysome of these crazy attendants mix things up when anybody inquires at ahospital. Now, of course, seeing that the registered copy is on its wayand Franklin is getting better, that's all the more reason why you don'tcare to hang around these diggings and be annoyed. I've got a scheme. Itwill take you out of town in a very quiet style. I have telephoned downto the docks, and there's a Vose freighter in here discharging rails. Doyou live at home or at a boarding-place?"

"I board, " said Boyne, still wrestling with the sickening informationthat he had betrayed an employer who was alive; somehow the sentimentthat it was equally base to betray a deceased employer had not impresseditself on his benumbed conscience. He was now keenly aware that hefeared to meet up with a living and indignant Lawyer Franklin. Foggquestioned, and Boyne gave his boarding-house address. 

"We'll drive there, and I'll wait outside in the cab until you canscratch together a gripful of your things. Don't load yourself down toomuch. Remember, you've got plenty of cash in your pockets. "

A little later Fogg escorted the young man up the gang-plank of the_Nequasset_, from whose hold the last of her load of clanging rails wasbeing derricked by panting windlass engines. To Captain Zoradus Wass, who was lounging against the rail just outside the pilot-house, Mr. Foggmarched with business promptitude, and spoke with assurance. 

"Captain, my name is Fletcher Fogg. Within forty-eight hours thedirectors of the Vose line will elect me president and general manager. That news may be rather astonishing, but it's true. "

The veteran skipper did not reply. He shifted a certain bulge from onecheek to the other. 

"Well?" queried Fogg, a bit sharply. 

"I ain't saying anything"

"You believe what I tell you, don't you?"

"I don't know you. "

"This young man is David Boyne, acting clerk of the Vose linecorporation. The annual meeting has just been held in this city. He madethe official records. He will tell you that a new board of directors hasbeen chosen--the old crowd is out. "

"That is so, " stated Boyne, obeying the prompting of Fogg's quickglance. 

"I don't know you, either. "

Mr. Fogg was not abashed. "It isn't especially necessary that you knowus. How soon do you leave?"

"We're going out light as soon as them rails are on the wharf. "

"I am sending Mr. Boyne with you on a tour of inspection, captain. Please give him quarters and use him right. "

"Nothing doing till I get orders from the owners, " declared CaptainWass. 

"Haven't I told you that I shall be general manager of this lineto-morrow, or next day, at the latest?"

"When you're general manager come around and give off your orders, sir. "

"I'll do it. I'll come aboard in New York--"

"I'm ordered to Philadelphia, " prompted Captain Wass. "That's whereyou'll find me. "

"Philadelphia, then! I'll come aboard and fire you. "

"Do just as you feel like doing. "

"You refuse to take along this young man?"

"This ain't a passenger-boat. I don't know you. Show orders fromowners--otherwise nothing doing. "

Mate Mayo had come out of his cabin, near at hand. With a young man'squicker perception of possibilities and contingencies he realized thathis skipper might be letting an old man's obstinacy block common sense. 

The first mate had an eye for men and their manners. He had beenlistening to Mr. Fogg. That gentleman certainly seemed to know what hewas talking about. And young Mate Mayo, having a nose for news as wellas an eye for men, understood that the coast transportation businesswas in a touchy state generally. He gave Mr. Fogg further inspection anddecided that a little skilful compromising was advisable. 

"Captain Wass, will you step aside with me a moment?" asked the mate. 

"What for?"

"I want to have a word with you. "

"Have it right here, " said the captain, tartly. "I never have anybusiness that's got to be whispered behind corners. " He scowled when hismate gave him a wink, both suggestive and imploring. "Spit it out!"

"The law doesn't allow us to take passengers, as you suggest. Andnaturally you don't like to act without orders from owners. " He lookedat Mr. Fogg as he spoke, plainly offering apology to that gentleman. "But we need a second steward and--"

"We don't!" Captain Wass was blunt and tactless. 

"I beg pardon--we really do. And we can sign this young man in a--a sortof nominal way, and then when we get to Philadelphia we'll probably findthe matter all straightened out. "

"What's your name?" asked Mr. Fogg. 

"Boyd Mayo, sir. First mate. "

"Mr. Mayo, you're a young man with a lot of common sense, " declaredFogg. 

To himself, staring at the young man, he said: "I'm going to play thisgame out with two-spots, and here's one ready for the draw!"

"I'll see you in Philadelphia, Mr. Mayo, " he continued, aloud. "I amexactly what I say I am. Captain Wass, you've got something coming toyou. Mr. Mayo, you've got something coming to you, also--and it'sgood!" His assertiveness was compelling, and even the captain displayedsymptoms of being impressed. "It isn't at all necessary that my agentmake this trip with you, Captain Wass. Perhaps I had no distinct rightto bring him here. But I am a hustling sort of a business man and I wantto get at matters in short order. However, I ask no favors. Come on, Boyne!"

"We'll sign him on as steward to cover the law, " proffered the captain, as terse in consent as he was in refusal. 

"Very well, " agreed Fogg. "You've got an able first mate, sir. " Heflipped his watch out. "I've got a train to make, gentlemen. Good day!"

He took Boyne by the arm and led him to the ladder from the bridge. "Son, " said he, "you dig into that Mayo chap till you know him up anddown and through and through. I'm going to use him. And you keep yourmouth shut about yourself. " He backed down the ladder, feeling hisway cautiously with his fat legs, trotted to the waiting cab, and waswhirled away. 

At high noon the next day Fletcher Fogg marched into the generaloffices of the Vose line in company with ten solid-looking citizens. Imperturbable and smiling, he allowed President Vose to shriek anathemaand to wave the certified copy of the record of the annual meeting underthe snub Fogg nose. 

"What you say doesn't change the situation in the least, " affirmed Mr. Fogg. "You'll find the actual records of the meeting deposited in theusual place in the state of your incorporation. If you think thesenew directors are not lawfully and duly elected, you can apply to thecourts. "

"You confounded thief, it's likely to take a year to get a decision. This is damnable. It's piracy. You know what courts are!"

"Poke up your courts, then. It isn't my fault if they're slow. "

The new directors filed into the board-room and with great celerityproceeded to elect Fletcher Fogg to be president and general manager ofthe Vose line. 

"What are you going to do?" pleaded the deposed executive head. "Mymoney is in here--my whole life is in it--my pride--my intention to seethat the public gets a square deal. You infernal rogue, what are yougoing to do with my property?"

"That's my own business, " said Fletcher Fogg. 

"You can't get away with it--you can't do it!" raged Vose. "I'll getat the inside of how that meeting was conducted. You'd better takebackwater right now, Fogg, and save yourself. I'm not afraid to tellyou what I'm going to do. I'll have a temporary injunction issued. I'llprove fraud was used at that meeting--bribery, yes, sir!"

Mr. Fogg smiled and sat down at the president's desk. "First he'll haveto find a young man by the name of David Boyne, " he told himself. 

"Vose, " said the new president, "all you can show a court is the recordof an annual meeting, duly and legally held. And if the judge wants tohave a look at me he'll find me running this line a blamed sight betterthan you have ever run it. "

"It's a cheap, plain trick, " bleated the aged steamship manager. "Yourcrowd is going to sell out to the Paramount--it's your plot. "

"Oh no! We're not inviting injunctions and law and newspaper talk andslurs and slander, Mr. Vose. If there's ever any selling out you'll bethe first to suggest it; I never shall. You see, I'm just as frank withyou as you are with me. Selling this line to the Paramount right now, just because the new board is in, would be ragged work--very coarsework. Thank Heaven, I have a proper respect for the law--and what it cando to bother a fool. I am not a fool, Mr. Vose. "

XIX ~ THE PRIZE PACKAGE FROM MR. FOGG

 Our captain stood on his quarter-deck, And a fine little man was he! "Overhaul, overhaul, on your davit tackle fall, And launch your boats to the sea, Brave boys! And launch your boats to the sea. " --The Whale. 

A slowing, tug, tooting fussy and staccato blasts which Captain Wasstranslated into commands to hold up, intercepted the _Nequasset_ inHampton Roads. 

Mr. Fletcher Fogg was a passenger on the tug. In a suit of natty gray, he loomed conspicuously in the alley outside the tug's pilot-house. Hecursed roundly when he toilsomely climbed the ladder to the freighter'sdeck, for the rusty sheathing smutched the knees of his trousers. 

"I'm doing a little better than I promised you, captain, " he stated whenhe arrived finally in the presence of the master. "I said Philadelphia. But here I am. Do you know me now?"

"Your name is Fogg, " returned Captain Wass, exhibiting no specialdelight. 

"And I'm manager of this line. As it seems to be pretty hard for you toget anything through that thick nut of yours, I'll ask you to glance ata paper which will save argument. "

The paper was an attested notification, signed by the directors, statingin laconic legal phrase what Mr. Fogg had just declared. 

"You recognize my authority, do you?"

"Your bill o' lading reads O. K. , " assented the skipper. 

"Very well! Exactly! Then you take your orders. Proceed to an anchorageoff Lambert Point below Norfolk, pick a berth well off the channel, andput down both hooks. The boat is going out of commission. I find you'renot making any money for the owners. "

"It ain't my fault. With charters at--" began the master, indignantly. 

"I haven't any time for a joint debate. You are laid off. Bring youraccounts to the main office as soon as you have turned the steamer overto the caretaker--he'll come out from Norfolk. " Manager Fogg turned onhis heel to meet Mate Mayo. "You will report at the main offices, too, Mr. Mayo. Have you master's papers?"

"I have, sir--Atlantic waters, Jacksonville to East-port. "

"Very good--you're going to be promoted. I shall put you aboard thepassenger-steamer _Montana_ as captain. " He looked about sharply. "Whereis my agent?"

"There, in the quartermaster's cabin. We gave him that, " replied CaptainWass, gruffly. "I'm glad I'm out of steamboating. I've learned how torun a boarding-house and make money out of it. "

Mr. Fogg did not understand that sneer, and he paid no attention to thecaptain's manner. He started for the cabin indicated. 

"Well, you can swell around in gold braid now and catch your heiress, "observed Captain Wass to his mate. 

"I'm sorry, skipper, " said the young man, with real feeling. "You arethe man to be promoted, not I. It isn't right--it doesn't seem real. "

"There isn't any real steamboating on this coast any longer. It is--Idon't know what the devil it is, " snarled the veteran. "I have beensniffing and scouting. I'd like to be a mouse in the wall of them NewYork offices and hear what it is they're trying to do to us poor cusses. Ordered one day to keep the law; ordered the next day to break the law;hounded by owners and threatened by the government! I'm glad I'm out ofit and glad you've got a good job. That last I'm specially glad about. But keep your eye peeled. There are queer doings round about you!"

Fogg entered the cabin and shut the door behind him. He found Boynesitting on a stool and looking somewhat apprehensive. "Hiding?" inquiredFogg. 

"I thought I wouldn't show myself till I was sure about who was on thattug, " said the young man. 

"That's the boy, David, " complimented Fogg, with real heartiness. "You're no fool. Nothing like being careful. Pack your bag and go aboardthe tug. " He marched out. 

"Philadelphia charter has been canceled, eh?" asked Captain Wass. Thetone of his voice did not invite amity. 

"It has, sir. "

"Seems queer to turn down a cargo that's there waiting--and the old boatcan carry it cheaper than anybody else, the way I've got expenses fineddown. "

"Are you trying to tell me my business?"

"I have beep steamboating forty years, and I know a little somethingabout it. "

Mr. Fogg looked at the old mariner, eyes narrowed. He wanted to informCaptain Wass that the latter knew altogether too much about steamboatingfor the kind of work that was planned out along the coast in thoseticklish times. 

"Then I ain't to expect anything special from now on?" asked theskipper. In spite of his determination to be crusty and keep his upperlip stiff, he could not repress a little wistfulness, and his eyes rovedover the old freighter with affection. 

"Not a thing, sir!" Mr. Fogg was blunt and cool. He started for theladder. He slapped the shoulder of Mayo as he passed the young man. "Here's the kind of chap we're looking for nowadays. The sooner youreport, my boy, the better for you. "

With Boyne following him, he climbed down the swaying ladder, and waslifted from the lower rungs over the tug's rail to a secure footing. 

After the lines had been cast off and the tug went floundering away ata sharp angle, Captain Wass scuffed into his pilot-house and gave thebells. 

"She seems to feel it--honest she does!" he told Mate Mayo. "She goesoff logy. She doesn't pick up her heels. Nor could I do it when I walkedin here. Going to be scrapped--the two of us! Cuss their picking andstealing and fighting and financing. They ain't steam-boating anylonger. They're using good boats to play checkers in Wall Street with. Well, son, " he mourned, hanging dispiritedly over the sill of the windowand staring up the wind-swept Chesapeake, "I ain't going to whine--butI shall miss the old packet and the rumble and racket of the old machinedown there in her belly. I'd even take the job of watchman aboard her ifhe would hire me. "

"He seems to fancy me a bit. I'll ask him to hire you, " proffered themate, eagerly. 

"I reckon you didn't get the look in his eye when he fired me, " saidCaptain Wass. "I won't allow you to say a word to him about me. You goahead, boy, and take the job he has offered. But always remember thathe's a slick operator. See what he has done to Uncle Vose; and wehaven't been able to worm it out of that passenger how it was done, either. Financing in these days comes pretty nigh to running withoutlights and under forced draught. It gets a man to Prosperity Landing ina hurry, providing he doesn't hit anything bigger than he is. They'regoing to haul up this freighter and blame it on to me because I ain'tmaking money for the owners. They'll have plenty of figgers to show it. Look out that they don't lay something worse and bigger to you. They'regoing to play a game with the Vose line, I tell you! In the game of bigfinance, 'tag-gool, ' making 'it' out of the little chap who can't runvery fast, seems to be almighty popular. "

He slowed the freighter to a snail's pace when he approached the dredgedchannel, and at last the leadsman found suitable bottom. Both anchorswere let go. 

The old skipper sounded the jingle, telling the chief engineer that theengine-crew was released. In a speaking-tube the captain ordered bothboilers to be blown off. 

"And there's the end of me as master of my ship, " he said. 

Mate Mayo's eyes were wet, but words of sympathy to fit the case did notcome to his sailor tongue, and he was silent. 

When the tug was near Newport News, Manager Fogg took David Boyne apartfrom all ears which might hear. He gave the young man another packet ofmoney. 

"The rest of your expenses for a good trip, " he said. "You seem to bea chap who knows how to mind his own business--and able to get at theother fellow's business in pretty fair shape. You haven't told such anawful lot about young Mayo, but it's satisfactory to learn that he haslived such a simple and every-day life that there isn't much to tell. "

"I never saw a man so sort of guileless, " affirmed Boyne. "Not that Ihave had a lot of experience, but in a lawyer's office you are bound tosee considerable of human nature. "

"He is no doubt a very deserving young man--and I'm glad I can use him, "said Fogg, not able to keep all the grimness out of his tones. "Now, son, " he went on, after a moment of pondering, "you stay on board thistug till I have been gone five minutes. There are a lot of sharp eyesaround in these times, and some of Vose's friends would be glad to runto him with a story about me. After five minutes, you take your bag andwalk to Dock Seven and go aboard the freighter _Ariel_--go just as ifyou belonged there. Tell the captain that you are Daniel Boyle--get thename--Daniel Boyle. And never tell anybody until you hear from me thatyour name is David Boyne. That freighter leaves to-night for Barbadoswith sugar machinery. You'll have a nice trip. "

"I don't care how far away I get, " declared Boyne, rather bitterly. "Ihave done a tough trick. I'm pretty much of a renegade. No, I don't carehow far I go. "

"Nor I, either, " agreed Fogg, but a smile relieved the brutality of thespeech. "You see, son, both of us have special reasons why it's just aswell for you to be away from these diggings for a time. If some folksget hold of you they'll bother you with a lot of foolish questions. Whenyou get tired of Barbados go ahead and pick out another nice trip, andkeep going, and later on we'll find a good job for you up this way. Keepme posted. Good-by. "

The tug had docked and he hurried off and away. 

"It's quite a game, " reflected Mr. Fogg. "I've bluffed a pot with onetwo-spot. Work was a little coarse because it had to be done on shortnotice. The work I do with my second two-spot is going to be smoother, and there won't be so much beefing after the pot is raked in. Too muchhollering, and your game gets raided! I can see what would happen tome--Julius Marston doing it--if I give the strong-arm squad an opening. But if they see the little Fogg boy slip a card in the next deal he'sgoing to make--well, I'll eat the _Montana_, if that's the only way toget rid of her. "

Boyd Mayo lost no time in obeying his orders to report in New York. Hegave his name to a clerk at the offices of the Vose line and asked tosee Mr. Fogg. He presented himself a bit timorously. He was not at allsure of his good fortune. It is rather bewildering for a young man tohave the captaincy of a twin-screw passenger racer popped at one ascarelessly as tossing a peanut to a child. He crushed his cap betweentrembling palms when he followed the clerk into the inner office. 

Mr. Fogg rose and greeted Mayo with great cordiality. "Good morning, captain, " said the manager. "Allow me to hope that you're going to be aslively in keeping to schedule time as you have been in getting here fromNorfolk. "

"I didn't feel like wasting much time, considering what was promisedme, " stammered Mayo, not yet sure of himself. 

"Afraid I might change my mind?"

"It seemed too good to be true. I wanted to get here as soon as I couldand make sure that I had heard right, sir. Here are my papers. "

He laid them in the manager's hand. Fogg did not unfold them. He fannedthem, indicating a chair. 

"Sit down, Captain Mayo. You understand that new management has takenhold of the Vose line in order to get some life and snap into thebusiness. We have strong competition. A big syndicate is taking overthe other steamship properties, and we must hustle to keep up with theprocession. I'm laying off freighters that are not showing a properprofit--I'm weeding out the moss-covered captains who are not up withthe times. That's why I'm putting you on the _Montana_ in place ofJacobs. "

"He's a good man--one of the best, " ventured Mayo, loyalty to his kindprompting him. "I'll be sorry to see him step aside, as glad as I am tobe promoted--and that's honest. "

"That's the way to talk; but we've got to have hustle and dash, andyoung men can give us what we're after. It doesn't mean that you've gotto take reckless chances. "

"I hope not, Mr. Fogg. My training with Captain Wass has been the otherway. And if you could only give him--"

"Captain, you've got your own row to hoe. Keep your eye on it, " advisedthe general manager, sharply. "I'm picking captains for the Vose boats, and I think I understand my business. Now what I want to know is, do youhave confidence in me? Are you going to be loyal to me?"

"Yes, sir!" affirmed Mayo, impressed by his superior's brisk, brusquebusiness demeanor. 

"Exactly! And the only talk I want you to turn loose is to the effectthat you believe I'm doing my best to make this line worth something tothe stockholders. Where are you stopping?"

Mayo named a little hotel around the corner. 

"I'll put you aboard the _Montana_ just as soon as I can arrange thedetails of transfer. I may let Jacobs make another trip or so. Reporthere each morning at nine. For the rest of the time keep within reach ofthe hotel telephone. "

Mayo saluted and went out. 

Fogg called the observer at the weather bureau on the telephone andasked some questions. He was informed that the wind had swung into thenorthwest and that the long-prevailing fog had been blown off the coast. 

Mr. Fogg appeared to feel somewhat peevish over this sudden departureof the weather phenomenon which bore his family name. He slammed thereceiver on to the hook and said a naughty word. A person overhearingmight have wondered a bit, for here was a steamboat manager cursing theabsence of the fog instead of preserving his profanity to expend on thepresence of the demoralizing mists. But the reign of the north wind inlate summer is never long; three days later the breeze shifted, and thegray banks of the fog marched in from the open sea. 

Mayo was awakened early by the clamor of the whistles of river craft, for the little hotel was near the water-front. He saw the fog driftingin shredded masses against the high buildings, shrouding the towers. He had been waiting his call to duty with much impatience, finding theconfinement of the hotel irksome in the crisp days of sunlight, eager tobe out and about this splendid new duty which promised so much. 

It was the _Montana's_ sailing-day from the New York end. 

He had gone to sleep thrilling with the earnest hope that he would becalled to take her out. But when he looked out into that morning, sawthe draping curtains of the stalking mists, heard the frantic squallingsof craft in the harbor, frenzied howls of alarm, hoarse hootings ofprotests and warnings, he was suddenly and pointedy anxious to havehis elevation to the pilot-house of the _Montana_ deferred. Better thesmoky, cramped office of the little hotel where he had been chafing indismal waiting. He was perfectly willing to sit there and studyover again the advertising chromos on the walls and gaze out on theeverlasting procession of rumbling drays. But at eight o'clock thetelephone summoned him. 

"This is General-Manager Fogg, " the voice informed him, though he didnot require the information; he knew those crisp tones. "I am speakingfrom my apartments. Please proceed at once to the _Montana_. I'll comeaboard within an hour. "

"Do you expect me to take command--to--take her out to-day?" falteredMayo. 

"Certainly. Captain Jacobs will transfer command as soon as I get down. "

Mayo had just been rejoicing in his heart because Jacobs would beobliged to bear the responsibility of that day's sailing; he had beenperfectly sure that a new man would not be summoned under the conditionswhich prevailed. He wanted to suggest to Manager Fogg that makingthe change just then would be inadvisable. He cleared his throat andsearched his soul for words. But a sharp and decisive click told himthat Mr. Fogg considered the matter settled. He came away from thetelephone, dizzy and troubled, and he was not comforted when herecollected how Manager Fogg had received meek suggestions in the past. He paid his modest account, took his traveling-bag, and started for theVose line pier. 

When he saw her looming in the fog--his ship at last--he felt likerunning away from her incontinently, instead of running toward her. 

Mayo had all of a young man's zeal and ambition and courage--but he hadin full measure a sailor's caution and knowledge of conditions; he hadbeen trained by that master of caution, Captain Zoradus Wass. He wasreally frightened as he stared up at the towering bow, the mightyflanks, the graceful sweep of superstructure, and realized that he mustguide this giant and her freightage of human beings into the whitevoid of the fog. In his honesty he acknowledged to himself that he wasfrightened. 

The whole great fabric fairly shouted responsibility at him. 

He was confident of his ability. As chief mate he had mastered theproblems of courses and manoeuvers in the fog along that same routewhich he must now take. But until then the supreme responsibility haddevolved upon another. 

Men were rushing freight aboard on rattling trucks--parallel lines ofstevedores were working. There were many trunks, avant couriers of thepassengers. 

He went aboard by the freight entrance and found his way to the row ofofficers' staterooms. He recognized the gray-bearded veteran who waspacing the alley outside the pilot-house, though the man was not inuniform; it was the deposed master. 

"Good morning, Captain Mayo, " he said, without any resentment in histones. "I congratulate you on your promotion. "

"I hope you understand that I didn't go hunting for this job, " blurtedMayo. 

"I believe it's merely a matter of new policy--so Manager Fogg tells me. Understand me, too, Captain Mayo! I harbor no resentment, especially notagainst you. "

He put out his hand in fine, manly fashion, and was so distinctlythe best type of the dignified, self-possessed sea-captain of the oldschool, that Mayo fairly flinched at thought of replacing this man. 

Captain Jacobs opened the door lettered "Captain. " "All my truck is outand over the rail. I'll sit in with you, if you don't mind, until Mr. Fogg arrives. You're going to have a thick passage, Captain Mayo. "

"It doesn't seem right to me--putting a new man on here in this fog, "protested Mayo, warmly. "I ought to have her in clear weather till Iknow her tricks. In a pinch, when you've got to know how a boat behaves, and know it mighty sudden in order to avoid a smash, one false move putsyou into the hole. "

"They seem to be running steamboat lines from Wall Street nowadays, instead of from the water-front, " said Captain Jacobs, dryly. "It's allin the game as they're playing it in these times. There's nothing to besaid by the men in the pilot-house. "

"I'm a sailor, and a simple one. I think I know my job, Captain Jacobs, or else I wouldn't accept this promotion. But I've got no swelled head. It's the proper and sensible thing for you to take the _Montana_ outtonight and let me hang around the pilot-house and watch you. If I canprevail upon Mr. Fogg to allow it, will you make another trip?"

"I would do it to help you, but I'll be blasted if I'll help Fogg--notif he would get down now and beg me, " declared Captain Jacobs, showingtemper for the first time. "And if you had been pitchforked out asI've been after all my years of honest service you'd feel just as I do, Captain Mayo. You don't blame me, do you?"

"I can't blame you. "

"You know the courses, and you'll have the same staff as I've had. You'll find every notation in the log accurate to the yard or thesecond. She's a steady old girl and, knowing tide set and courses, asyou do, you can depend on her to the turn of a screw. You have my bestwishes--but I'm done. "

He put the fervor of final resolve into the declaration. But, withsailor's fraternal spirit of helpfulness he sat down and went intothe details of all the Montana's few whims. He called in the mates andintroduced them to the new master. They seemed to be quiet, sturdy menwho bore no malice because a new policy had put a new man over them. 

Then arrived General-Manager Fogg, and in this strictly businesspresence Mayo did not presume to voice any of his doubts or his opinionof his inefficiency. 

The rather stiff and decidedly painful ceremony of speeding the formercommander was soon over, and Captain Jacobs departed. 

"Why haven't you put on your uniform?" asked Fogg. "You have fixedyourself out with a new one, of course?"

"Yes, sir. " Mayo's cheeks flushed slightly when he recollected how hehad strutted before the mirror in his room at the hotel. But he had beenashamed to hurry into his gilt-incrusted coat in the presence of CaptainJacobs. 

"Get it on as soon as you can, " ordered the general manager. "I want youto make a general inspection of the boat with me. "

They made the tour, and in spite of his misgivings, when he saw themists sweeping past the end of the pier Captain Mayo, receiving thesalutes of respectful subalterns, felt the proud joy of one who has atlast arrived at the goal of his ambition. 

Master of the crack _Montana_, queen of the Vose fleet, at the age oftwenty-six!

He glanced into each of the splendid mirrors of the great saloon to makesure of the gold letters on his cap. 

The thick carpet seemed grateful to his step. The ship's orchestra wasrehearsing in its gallery. 

If only that devilish fog would lift! But still it surged in from thesea, and the glass, down to 29. 40, promised no clearing weather. 

"Safety to the minutest detail--that's my motto, " declared Manager Fogg. "Order a fire drill. "

It was accomplished, and Mr. Fogg criticized the lack of snap. He wasrather severe after the life-boat drill, was over. He ordered a secondrehearsal. He commanded that the crew do it a third time. The warmthof his insistence on this feature of shipboard discipline was verynoticeable. 

"And when you put those boats back see to it that every line is free andcoiled and every cover loose. It costs a lot of good money if you killoff passengers in these days. " Then he hurried away. "I'll see youbefore sailing-time, " he informed Captain Mayo. 

The new skipper was glad to be alone and to have leisure for study ofthe steamer's log-books. He had been accustomed to a freighter'sslower time on the courses. He did a little figuring. He found that atseventy-five revolutions per minute the _Montana_ would log off aboutthe same speed that the freighter made when doing her best. He resolvedto make the fog an excuse and slow down to the _Nequasset's_ familiarrate of progress. He reflected that he would feel pretty much at homeunder those circumstances. He was heartened, and went about the shiplooking less like a malefactor doomed to execution. 

When General-Manager Fogg, bustled on board a few minutes prior to theadvertised sailing-time at five o'clock, he commented on Captain Mayo'simproved demeanor. 

"Getting one of the best jobs on this coast seemed to make considerableof a mourner out of you. Perhaps a mirror has shown you how well youlook in that new uniform. At any rate, I'm glad to see you have chirkedup. And now I'll give you a piece of news that ought to make you lookstill happier: I'm going along on this trip with you. If you show methat you can do a good job in this kind of weather you needn't worryabout your position. "

The expression on Captain Mayo's face did not indicate unalloyed delightwhen he heard this "good news. " Unaccustomed as he was to the ship, hecould not hope to make a smooth showing. 

"And still you refuse to cheer up!" remonstrated the manager. 

"I am glad you are going along, sir. Don't misunderstand me. But asailor is a pretty serious chap when he feels responsibility. I'mundertaking a big stunt. "

"It's the best way to find out whether you're the man for thejob--whether you're the man I think you are. It's a test that beatssailing ships on a puddle. "

"I'm glad you're aboard, " repeated the captain. "It's going to shadedown my responsibility just a little. "

"It is, is it?" cried Manager Fogg, his tones sharp. "Not by a blamedsight! You're the captain of this craft. I'm a passenger. Don't try toshirk. You aren't afraid, are you?"

They were standing beside the dripping rail outside the pilot-house. Far below them, in the spacious depths of the steamer, a bugle soundedlong-drawn notes and the monotonous calls of stewards warned "Allashore!"

The gangways were withdrawn with dull "clackle" of wet chains overpulleys, and Captain Mayo, after a swift glance at his watch, to makesure of the time, ordered a quartermaster to sound the signal for "Castoff!" The whistle yelped a gruff note, and, seeing that all was clear, the captain yanked the auxiliary bell-pulls at the rail. Two for theport engine, two for the starboard, and the _Montana_ began to back intothe gray pall which shrouded the river. 

Captain Mayo saw the lines of faces on the pier, husbands and wives, mothers and sweethearts, bidding good-by to those who waved farewellfrom the steamer's decks. He gathered himself with supreme grip ofresolve. It was up to him! He almost spoke it aloud. 

Tremors of doubt did not agitate him any longer. It was unthinkingfaith, nevertheless it was implicit confidence, that all those folksplaced in him. They were intrusting themselves to his vessel with theblind assurance of travelers who pursue a regular route, not caring howthe destination is reached as long as they come to their journey's end. 

The hoarse, long, warning blast which announced to all in the river thatthe steamer was leaving her dock drowned out the shouts of farewell andthe strains of the gay air the orchestra was playing. 

"See you later, " said General-Manager Fogg. "I think I'll have an earlydinner. "

Captain Mayo climbed the short ladder and entered his pilot-house. 

It was up to him!

XX ~ TESTING OUT A MAN

 Now the first land we made is call-ed The Deadman, The Ramhead off Plymouth, Start, Portland and Wight. We sail-ed by Beachy, By Fairlee and Dungeness, Until we came abreast of the South Foreland Light. --Farewell and Adieu. 

With starboard engine clawing her backward, and the port engine drivingher ahead, the Montana swung her huge bulk when she was free of thepenning piers. The churning propellers, offsetting, turned her in hertracks. Then she began to feel her way out of the maze of the traffic. 

The grim, silent men of the pilot-houses do not talk much even when theyare at liberty on shore. They are taciturn when on duty. They do notrelate their sensations when they are elbowing their way through theEast River in a fog; they haven't the language to do so. 

A psychologist might make much out of the subject by discussingconcentration sublimated, human senses coordinating sight and soundon the instant, a sort of sixth sense which must be passed on into thelimbos of guesswork as instinct. 

The man in the pilot-house would not in the least understand a word ofwhat the psychologist was talking about. 

The steamboat officer merely understands that he must be on his job!

The _Montana_ added her voice to the bedlam of river yawp. 

The fog was so dense that even the lookout posted at her fore windlasseswas a hazy figure as seen from the pilot-house. A squat ferryboat, whichwas headed across the river straight at the slip where her shore gong'was hailing her, splashed under the steamer's bows, two tugs loafednonchalantly across in the other direction--saucy sparrows of the rivertraffic, always underfoot and dodging out of danger by a breathlessmargin. 

Whistle-blasts piped or roared singly and in pairs, a duet of steamvoices, or blended at times into a puzzling chorus. 

A steamer's whistle in the fog conveys little information except toannounce that a steam-propelled craft is somewhere yonder in the whiteblank, unseen, under way. No craft is allowed to sound passing signalsunless the vessel she is signaling is in plain sight. 

Captain Mayo could see nothing--even the surface of the water was almostindistinguishable. 

Ahead, behind, to right and left, everything that could toot was busyand vociferous. Here and there a duet of three staccato blasts indicatedthat neighbors were threatening to collide and were crawfishing to thebest of their ability. 

Twice the big steamer stopped her engines and drifted until the squabbleahead of her seemed to have been settled. 

A halt mixes the notations of the log, but the mates of the steamer madethe Battery signals, and after a time the spidery outlines of the firstgreat bridge gave assurance that their allowances were correct. 

Providentially there was a shredding of the fog at Hell Gate, ashore-breeze flicking the mists off the surface of the water. 

Then was revealed the situation which lay behind the particularlyemphatic and uproarious "one long and two short" blasts of a violentwhistle. A Lehigh Valley tug was coming down the five-knot current withthree light barges, which the drift had skeowowed until they were takingup the entire channel. With their cables, the tug and tow stretched forat least four thousand feet, almost a mile of dangerous drag. 

"Our good luck, sir, " vouchsafed the first mate. "She was howling soloud, blamed if I could tell whether she was coming or going. She's gotno business coming down the Sound. "

Captain Mayo, his teeth set hard, his rigid face dripping with moisture, as he stood in the open window, stopped the engines of his giant chargeand jingled for full speed astern in order to halt her. He had no desireto battle for possession of the channel with what he saw ahead. 

At that moment Manager Fogg came into the pilothouse, disregarding the"No Admittance" sign by authority of his position. He lighted a cigarand displayed the contented air of a man who has fed fully. 

"You have been making a pretty slow drag of it, haven't you, CaptainMayo? I've had time to eat dinner--and I'm quite a feeder at that! Andwe haven't made the Gate yet!"

"We couldn't do a stroke better and be safe, " said the captain over hisshoulder, his eyes on the tow. 

"What's the matter now?"

"A tug and three barges in the way. "

"Do you mean to say you're holding up a Vose liner with eight hundredpassengers, waiting for a tugboat? Look here, Mayo, we've got to hustlefolks to where they want to go, and get them there in time. "

"That tow is coming down with the current and has the right of way, sir. And there's no chance of passing, for she's sweeping the channel. "

"I don't believe there's any law that makes a passenger-boat hold upfor scows, " grumbled Fogg. "If there is one, a good man knows how toget around it and keep up his schedule. " He paced the pilot-house at theextreme rear, puffing his cigar. 

He grunted when Mayo gave the go-ahead bells and the throb of theengines began. 

"Now ram her along, boy. People in these days don't want to waste timeon the road. They're even speeding up the automobile hearses. "

Captain Mayo did not reply. He was grateful that the dangers of HellGate had been revealed. The mists hung in wisps against North BrotherIsland when he swung into the channel of the Gate, and he could see, far ahead, the shaft of the lighthouse. It was a stretch where closefiguring was needed, and this freak of the mists had given him a finechance. He jingled for full speed and took a peep to note the bearing ofSunken Meadow spindle. 

"Nothe-east, five-eighths east!" he directed the quartermaster at thewheel. 

The man repeated the command mechanically and brought her to her coursefor the Middle Ground passage. 

After they had rounded North Brother, Whitestone Point tower wasrevealed. It really seemed as if the fog were clearing, and even in thechannel between Execution Rocks and Sands Point his hopes were rising. But in the wider waters off Race Rock the _Montana_ drove her blacksnout once more into the white pall, and her whistle began to brayagain. 

The young captain sighed. "East, a half nothe!"

"East, a half nothe, it is, sir!"

At least, he had conquered East River, the Gate, and the narrows beyond, and had many miles straight ahead to the whistler off Point Judith. Hewas resolved to be thankful for small favors. 

He hoped that with the coming of the night and on account of theprevalence of the fog he would find that shipping of the ordinary sorthad stopped moving. However, in a few minutes he heard telltale whistlesahead, and he signaled half speed. A lumbering old lighter with ayawing derrick passed close aboard. An auxiliary fisherman, his exhaustsnapping like a machine-gun, and seeming to depend on that noise forwarning, was overtaken. 

"Can you leave that window for a minute, Captain Mayo?" asked thegeneral manager. 

The captain promptly joined Mr. Fogg at the rear of the spaciouspilot-house. 

"See here, Cap, " remonstrated his superior, "I came down through thesewaters on the _Triton_ of the Union line the other day, and she made hertime. What's the matter with us?"

"I'm obeying the law, sir. And there are new warnings just issued. " Hepointed to the placard headed "Safety First" in big, red letters. "Theword has been passed that the first captain who is caught with the goodswill be made an example of. "

"Is that so?" commented Fogg, studying the end of his cigar. His tonewas a bit peculiar. "But the _Triton_ came along. "

"And she nigh rammed the _Nequasset_ in the fog the last trip I made upthe coast. It was simply touch and go, Mr. Fogg, and all her fault. Wewere following the rules to the letter. "

"And that's one way of spoiling the business of a steamboat line, "snapped Fogg. He added, to himself, "But it isn't my way!"

"I'm sorry, but I have been trained to believe that a record for safetyis better than all records for speed, sir. "

"I let Jacobs go because he was old-fashioned, Mayo. This is the age oftaking chances--taking chances and getting there! Business, politics, railroading, and steam-boating. The people expect it. The right folks doit. "

"You are general manager of this line, Mr. Fogg. Do you order me to makeschedule time, no matter what conditions are?"

"You are the captain of this boat. I simply want you to deliverup-to-date goods. As to how you do it, that is not my business. I'm nota sea-captain, and I don't presume to advise as to details. "

Captain Mayo was young, He knew the 'longcoast game. He was ambitious. Opportunity had presented itself. He understood the unreasoning temperof those who sought dividends without bothering much about details. Heknew how other passenger captains were making good with the powers whocontrolled transportation interests. He confessed to himself that he hadenvied the master of the rushing _Triton_ who had swaggered past as ifhe owned the sea. 

Till then Mayo had been the meek and apologetic passer-by along theocean lane, expecting to be crowded to one side, dodging when the bigfellow bawled for open road. 

He remembered with what haste he always manouvered the old _Nequasset_out of the way of harm when he heard the lordly summons of the passengerliners. Was not that the general method of the freighter skippers? Whyshould he not expect them to get out of his way, now that he was one ofthe swaggerers of the sea? Let them do the worrying now, as he had donethe worrying and dodging in the past! He stepped back to his window, those reflections whirling in his brain. 

"This is no freighter, " he told himself. "Fogg is right. If I don'tdeliver the goods somebody else will be called on to do it, so what'sthe use? I'll play the game. Just remember--will you, Mayo--that you'vegot your heart's wish, and are captain of the _Montana_. If I lose thisjob on account of a placard with red letters, I'll kick myself on boarda towboat, and stay there the rest of my life. "

He yanked a log-book from the rack and noted the steamer's averagespeed from the entries. He signaled to the engine-room through thespeaking-tube. 

"Give her two hundred a minute, chief!" he ordered. 

And fifteen seconds later, her engines pulsing rhythmically, the bigcraft was splitting fog and water at express speed, howling for littlefellows to get out from underfoot. 

Down in the gleaming depths of her the orchestra was lilting a gaywaltz, silver clattered over the white napery of the dining-room, menand women laughed and chattered and flirted; men wrote telegrams, makingappointments for the morrow at early hours, and the wireless flashedthem forth. They were sent with the certainty on the part of the sendersthat no man in these days waits for tide or fog. The frothing watersflashed past in the night outside, and they who ventured forth upon thedripping decks glanced at the fan of white spume spreading into the fog, and were glad to return to cozy chairs and the radiance of the saloon. 

High up forward, in the pilot-house, were the eyes and the brains ofthis rushing monster. It was dark there except for the soft, yellowgleam of the binnacle lights. It was silent but for the low voice of amate who announced his notations. 

Occasionally the mates glanced at each other in the gloom when asteamer's whistle sounded ahead. This young captain seemed to be a chapwho carried his nerve with him! They were used to the more cautioussystem of Captain Jacobs. 

The master did not reduce speed. He leaned far out, his hand at his ear. The third time an unknown sounded her blast he took a quick glance atthe compass. 

"Two points shift--so she shows, " he said aloud. "We'll pass her allright. "

The change in the direction of the sound had assured him. A few minuteslater the whistle voiced a location safely abeam. But the next whistlethey heard sounded dead ahead, and increased in volume of sound onlygradually. They were overtaking a vessel headed in the same direction. 

Captain Mayo pulled the cord oftener and sounded more prolonged, moreimperious hoots. He ordered no change in his course. He was headedfor the Point Judith whistler, and did not propose to take chances onfumbling by any detours. The craft ahead at last seemed to recognize thevoice of its master. The sound of the whistle showed that it had swungoff the course. 

The mate mumbled notations. 

"All ears out!" ordered the captain. "We ought to make that whistler!"And in the next breath he said: "There she is!" He pointed a wet handahead and slightly to port. A queer, booming grunt came to them. "You'reall right, old girl, " he declared. "Jacobs wasn't over-praising you. "He reached over the sill and patted the woodwork of his giant pet. He turned to the quartermaster. "East, five-eighths south, " was hisdirection. 

"East, five-eighths south, sir!"

"What's the next we make, captain?" asked the general manager from thegloom at the rear of the pilot-house. 

"Sow and Pigs Lightship, entrance of Vineyard Sound, sir. "

"Good work! I'm going to take a turn below. See you again! What canI tell any uneasy gentleman who is afraid he'll miss a businessappointment in the morning?"

"Tell him we'll be on time to the dot, " declared the captain, quietly. 

Mr. Fogg closed the pilot-house door behind himself and chuckled when heeased his way down the slippery ladder. 

Mr. Fogg sauntered through the brilliantly lighted saloon, hands in hispockets, giving forth an impression of a man entirely at ease. Nobodyappeared to recognize the new general manager of the Vose line, and heattracted no special attention. But if any one had been sufficientlyinterested in Mr. Fogg to note him closely it would have been observedthat his mouth worked nervously when he stood at the head of the grandstairway and stared about him. His jowls sagged. When he pulled out hishandkerchief his hand trembled. 

He descended the stairs to the main-deck and peered about in thesmoking-quarters, running his eyes over the faces of the men gatheredthere. All at once he lifted his chin with a little jerk and climbed thestairs again. A big man tossed away a cigar and followed at a respectfuldistance. He pursued Mr. Fogg through the saloon and down a corridor andwent into a stateroom on the general manager's heels. 

"By gad, Burkett, I'm getting cold chills!" exploded Mr. Fogg, as soonas the door was closed. 

"Don't understand just why. "

"Those people out there--I've just been looking 'em over. It's monkeyingwith too big a proposition, Burkett. You can't reckon ahead on a thinglike this. "

"Sure you can. I've doped it right. "

"Oh, I know you understand what you're talking about, but--"

"Well, I ought to know. I've been pilot for the re-survey party on theshoals for the last two months. I know every inch of the bottom. "

"But the panic. There's bound to be one. The rest of 'em won'tunderstand, Burkett. It's going to be awful on board here. I'll be heremyself. I can't stand it. "

"Look here, governor; there won't be any panic. She'll slide into thesand like a baby nestling down into a crib. There isn't a pebble inthat sand for miles. Half of this bunch of passengers will be abed andasleep. They won't wake up. The rest will never know anything specialexcept that the engines have stopped. And that ain't anything unusualin a fog. It's a quiet night--not a ripple. Nothing to hurt us. Thewireless will bring the revenue cutter out from Wood's Hole, and she'llstand by till morning and take 'em off. "

"The theory is good. It's mostly my own idea, and I'm proud of it, and Iwas mighty glad to find a man of your experience to back me up with thepractical details, " said Fogg, trying to fortify his faith with wordsbut failing. "But now that it's coming down to cases I'm afraid of it. "

"Well, it's up to you, of course, governor. I insist it can be done, anddone smooth, and you'll lay off this steamer nice, slick, and easy!That will put a crimp into the Vose line and make them stockholders takenotice the next time a fair offer is made. "

"It's the thing to do, and I know it. The conditions are just right, and we've got a green captain to make the goat of. All set! But it'san awful thing to monkey with--eight hundred people, and no knowing howthey'll take it! It came over me while I stood there and looked at 'em!"

"Sand is sand, and the whole, round earth is braced up under that sand. She can't sink. She'll simply gouge her way like a plow into a furrow, and there she'll stick, sitting straight, solid as an island--and itwill be a devil of a while before they'll be able to dig her out. It'sa crimp for the Vose line, I say, governor!" Malevolence glowed inBurkett's little eyes. 

"Of course, the money I'm getting for this job looks good to me, governor, but my chance to put a wallop into anything that old Vose andhis sons are interested in looks just as good. I wouldn't be in thisjust for the money end of it. I'm no pirate, but when they kicked meout of the pilot-house and posted me up and down this coast, they putthemselves in line to get what's coming to 'em from me. "

"But have you considered every side of it?" pleaded Fogg. "You're thepractical man in this proposition. What can happen?"

"If you do exactly what I tell you to do nothing can happen but what'son our program. Just let me stiffen you up by running the thing overonce more. "

He pulled a hand-smutched, folded chart from his breast pocket andspread it over his knees. With blunt forefinger he indicated the pointsto which he made reference in his explanation. 

"When he fetches Nobska horn on his port, bearing nor'west by west, he'll shift his course. After about five miles he's due to shift again, swinging six points to nor-rard. You'll hear the mate name the bearingof West Chop steam-whistle. Then you walk right up to the left of thecompass and stand there. You may hear a little tongue-clattering fora few seconds. There'll be a little cussing, maybe, but you won't becussed, of course. You stand right there, calm and cool, never battingan eyelid. And then it will happen, and when it does happen it will be asurprise-party all right. "

"It's wrecking a seven-thousand-ton passenger-steamer in the night!"mourned the general manager. 

"It isn't! It's putting her into a safe cradle. "

"But at this speed!"

"That chap in the pilot-house is no fool. He'll get his hint in time tosave her from real damage. You needn't worry!"

Fogg opened his traveling-bag and lifted out a strip of metal. Hehandled it as gingerly as if it were a reptile, and he looked at it withan air as if he feared it would bite him. 

"That's the little joker, " said Burkett. "About two points deviation bylocal attraction will do the business!"

"I'm tempted to throw it overboard and call it all off, Burkett. I haveput through a good many deals in my life in the big game, but this looksalmost too raw. I can't help it! I feel a hunch as if something wasgoing to miscue. "

"I've got no more to say, governor. "

"My crowd doesn't ask questions of me, but they expect results. If Idon't do it, I suppose I'll kick myself in the morning. " He cocked uphis ear and listened to the bawling of the liner's great whistle. "Butit seems different in the night. "

"You ain't leaving any tracks, " encouraged Burkett. "And this being hisfirst run makes it more plausible. You're here all naturally, yourself. It might seem rather queer if you made another trip. It's his first runon her, I remind you. If he makes a slip-up it won't surprise the wiseguys-a mite. "

"It seems to be all set--I've got to admit it. By gad, Burkett, I havealways put a thing through when I've started on it! That's why theycall in the little Fogg boy. I'd rather apologize to my conscience thanto--Well, never mind who he is. " He tucked the strip of metal into hisinside coat pocket and buttoned the coat. "Blast it! nothing that's verybad can happen in this calm sea--and that last life-boat drill went offfine. Here goes!" declared Fogg, with desperate emphasis. 

"That's the boy!" declared Burkett, encouraged to familiarity by theirassociation in mischief. 

The general manager found the night black when he edged his way alongthe wet deck to the pilot-house. The steamer's lights made blurredpatches in the fog. Now she seemed to have the sea to herself; therewere no answering whistles. 

"I'm back again, Captain Mayo, " he said, as he closed the door againstthe night. "I hope I won't bother you folks here. I'll stay out fromunderfoot. " He sat down on a transom at the extreme rear of the houseand smoked his cigar with nervous vehemence. 

Another quartermaster succeeded the man at the wheel, the mate made hisnotations of dead reckoning and pricked the chart, the usual routine wasproceeded with. Mayo continued at the window, head out-thrust, exceptwhen he glanced at chart or compass or noted the dials which marked thescrews' revolutions. 

Every now and then he put his ear to the submarine-signal receiver. At last he heard the faint, far throb of the Sow and Pigs submarinebell--seven strokes, with the four seconds' interval, then the sevenstrokes repeated. 

A bit later he got, sweet and low as an elfland horn, the lightship'schime whistle. It was dead ahead, which was not exactly to hiscalculation. The tide set had served stronger than he had reckoned. Heordered the helmsman to ease her off a half-point, in order to make safeoffing for the turn into Vineyard Sound. 

Well up in the sound the bell of Tarpaulin Cove reassured him, and aftera time he heard the unmistakable blast of the great reed horn of Nobskauttering its triple hoot like a giant owl perched somewhere in themists. 

"Nobska, " said the mate. "We are certainly coming on, sir. "

"Nobly, " agreed Captain Mayo, allowing himself a moment of jubilation, even though the dreaded shoals were ahead. 

"Are you going to keep this speed across the shoals, Captain Mayo?"asked the general manager, displaying real deference. 

"No, sir!" stated the captain with decision, bracing himself to giveMr. Fogg a sharp word or two if that gentleman advanced any more of his"business man's reasons" for speed. "It would not be showing due care. "

"I'm glad to hear you say that, " affirmed Mr. Fogg, heartily. "It maybe a little out of place, right now, but I want you to know that I feelthat I have picked out just the right man to command this ship. I'm gladof a chance to say this where your mates can hear me. "

"Thank you, Mr. Fogg, " returned the young man, gratefully. "This isa soul-racking job, and I'm glad you are here to see what we are upagainst. I don't feel that we'll be wasting much time in crossing theshoals if we go carefully. We can let her out after we swing east ofMonomoy. She's a grand old packet. "

In the gloom Fogg ran his fingers gingerly over the outside of his coatto make sure that the strip of metal was in its place. 

There was silence in the pilot-house after that. Ahead there wasticklish navigation. There were the narrow slues, the crowding shoals, the blind turns of Nantucket Sound, dreaded in all weathers, but amariner's horror in a fog. 

Nobska's clarion call drew slowly abeam to port, and after due lapseof time West Chop's steam-whistle lifted its guiding voice in the mistsahead. 

"Better use the pelorus and be careful about West Chop's bearing afterwe pass her, Mr. Bangs, " Captain Mayo warned his first mate. 

As a sailor well knows, the bearing of West Chop gives the compassdirection for passage between the shoals known as Hedge Fence and SquashMeadow--a ten-mile run to Cross Rip Lightship. In a fog it is vitallyimportant to have West Chop exact to the eighth of a point. 

Fogg was glad that he was alone where he sat. He trembled so violentlythat he set an unlighted cigar between his teeth to keep them fromrattling together. 

The mate was outlined against the window, his eyes on the instrument, his ear cocked. Every half-minute West Chop's whistle hooted. 

"Right, sir!" the mate reported at last, speaking briskly. "I make itwest by nothe, five-eighths nothe. "

Fogg rose and half staggered forward, taking a position just to the leftof the wheel and compass. 

"East by south, five-eighths south, " the captain directed the helmsman. "Careful attention, sir. Tide is flood, four knots. Make the coursegood!"

The quartermaster repeated and twirled his wheel for the usual number ofrevolutions to allow a three-points change. 

Captain Mayo stepped back and glanced at the compass to make certainthat his helmsman was finding his course properly. "What in tophet'sname is the matter with you, man?" he shouted. "Bring this ship around!Bring her around!" He grabbed the wheel and spun it. "You're slower thanthe devil drawing molasses, " raged Mayo, forgetting his dignity. 

"She must have yawed, " protested the man. "I had her on her course, sir. I supposed I had her over. "

"You are not to suppose. You are to keep your eyes on that compass cardand move quicker when I give an order. "

The helmsman's eyes bulged as he stared at the compass. While hehad winked his eyes, so it seemed to him, the true course had fairlystraddled away from the lubber line. 

In his frantic haste Captain Mayo put her over too far. He helpedthe man set her on the right course. Then he signaled half speed. Thedevious and the narrow paths were ahead of them.. 

"That's an almighty funny jump the old dame made then, " pondered thequartermaster. But he was too well trained to argue with a captain. Heaccepted the fault as his own, and now that she was on her course, heheld her there doggedly. 

Even the _Montana's_ half speed was a respectable gait, and the silentcrew in her pilot-house could hear the sea lathering along her sides. 

"What do you make of that, Mr. Bangs?" the captain asked, after aprolonged period of listening. 

"Bell, sir!"

"But the only bell in that direction would be on Hedge Fence Lightshipin case her whistle has been disabled. "

"Sounds to me like a vessel at anchor. "

"But it's right in the fairway. " Captain Mayo convinced himself by aglance at the compass. "No craft would drop her hook in the fairway. That's no bell on the Hedge Fence, " reflected the captain. "It's aschooner's bell. But sound often gets freaky in a fog. We're on ourcourse to the fraction, and we've got to keep going!"

And after a moment the bell ceased its clangor. It was a distant sound, and its location was indefinite even to a sharp ear. 

"It strikes me that sounds in general are a little warded all of asudden, " said the captain to his mate. "I'll swear that I can hear HedgeFence's five-second blasts now. But there she howls off the starboardbow. The clouds must be giving us an echo. We've got to leave it to thecompass. "

A skilful mariner is careful about forsaking the steady finger of aproved compass in order to chase sounds around the corner in foggyweather. He understands that air strata raise the dickens withwhistle-blasts. There are zones of silence--there is divergence ofsound. 

Fogg held his position, his legs braced, and nobody paid any especialattention to him. They in the pilothouse were too busy with otheraffairs. 

There is one sound in thick weather that tells a navigator much. It isthe echo of his own whistle. 

The big steamer was hoarsely hooting her way. 

Suddenly there was a sound which fairly flew up and hit Captain Mayoin the face. It was an echo. It was the sound of the _Montana's_whistle-blast flung back at him from some object so near at hand thatthere was barely a clock-tick between whistle and echo. 

The captain yelped a great oath and yanked his bell-pulls furiously. "That echo came from a schooner's sails, " he shouted. 

Then, dead ahead, clanged her bell. The next instant, plunging alongat least eight miles an hour, in spite of engines clawing at full speedastern, the towering bow smashed into the obstacle in her path. 

It was a mighty shock which sent a tremor from stem to stern of thegreat fabric. They saw that they hit her--a three-masted schooner atanchor, with her sails set, dingy canvas wet and idle in the foggy, breathless night. But their impact against her was almost as if they hadhit a pier. The collision sent them reeling about the pilot-house. Asthey drove past they saw her go down, her stern a splintered mass ofwreckage, in which men were frantically struggling. 

"That's a granite-lugger! See her go down, like a stone!" gasped MateBangs. "My God! What do you suppose she has done to us forward?"

"Get there. Get there!" roared Captain Mayo. "Get there and report, sir!"

But before the chief mate was half-way down the ladder on his waythe wailing voice of the lookout reported disaster. "Hole under thewater-line forward, " he cried. 

"There are men in the water back there, sir, " said a quartermaster. 

"We're making water fast in the forward compartment, " came a voicethrough the speaking-tube. 

Already they in the pilot-house could hear the ululation of women in thedepths of the ship, and then the husky clamor of the many voices of mendrowned the shriller cries. 

Captain Mayo had seen the survivors from the schooner struggling in thewater. But he rang for full speed ahead and ordered the quartermaster toaim her into the north, knowing that land lay in that direction. 

"Eight hundred lives on my shoulders and a hole in her, " he toldhimself, while all his world of hope and ambition seemed rocking toruin. "I can't wait to pick up those poor devils. "

In a few minutes--in so few minutes that all his calculations as to hislocation were upset--the _Montana_ plowed herself to a shuddering halton a shoal, her bow lifting slightly. And when the engines were stoppedshe rested there, sturdily upright, steady as an island. But in hersaloon the men and women who fought and screamed and cursed, beating toand fro in windrows of humanity like waves in a cavern, were convincedthat the shuddering shock had signaled the doom of the vessel. Half-dressed men, still dizzy with sleep, confused by dreams whichblended with the terrible reality, trampled the helpless underfoot, seeking exit from the saloon. 

The hideous uproar which announced panic was a loud call to the masterof the vessel. He understood what havoc might be wrought by the brutalsenselessness of the struggle. He ran from the pilot-house, stepping onthe feet of the general manager, who was stumbling about in bewilderedfashion. 

"Call all the crew to stations and guard the exits, " Captain Mayocommanded the second mate. 

On his precipitate way to the saloon the captain passed the room of thewireless operator, and the tense crackle of the spark told him that theSOS signal was winging its beseeching flight through the night. 

Three men, half dressed, with life-preservers buckled on in hit-or-missfashion, met him on the deck, dodged his angry clutch, and leaped overthe rail into the sea, yelling with all the power of their lungs. 

A quartermaster was at the captain's heels. 

"Get over a life-boat on each side and attend to those idiots!" roaredMayo. 

He thrust his way into a crowded corridor, beating frantic men back withhis fists, adjuring, assuring, appealing, threatening. He mounted upon achair in the saloon. He fairly outbellowed the rest of them. Men of thesea are trained to shout against the tempest. 

"You are safe! Keep quiet! Sit down! This steamer is ashore on asand-bank. She's as solid as Bunker Hill. " He shouted these assurancesover and over. 

They began to look at him, to pay heed to him. His uniform marked hisidentity. 

"You lie!" screamed an excited man. "We're out to sea! We're sinking!Where are your life-boats?"

Bedlam began again. Like the fool who shouts "Fire!" in a throng, thisbrainless individual revived all the fears of the frenzied passengers. 

Mayo realized that heroic action was necessary. He leaped down from thechair, seized the man who had shouted, and beat the fellow's face withthe flat of his hard hand. 

That scene of conflict was startling enough to serve as a real jolt totheir attention. They hushed their cries; they looked on, impressed, cowed. 

"If there's any other man in this crowd who wants to tell me I'm a liar, let him stand out and say so, " shouted Captain Mayo. "You're makingfools of yourselves. There's no danger. "

He released the pallid and trembling man of whom he had made an exampleand stepped on to a chair. He put up his hand, dominating them until hehad secured absolute silence. 

"You--you--you!" he said, crisply, darting finger here and there, pointing out individuals. "You seem to have more level heads than therest, you men! Go forward where the man is casting the lead. Cast thelead yourselves. Come back here and report to these passengers, as theircommittee. I'm telling you the truth. There's no water under us to speakof. " He remained in the saloon until his committee returned. 

The man who reported looked a bit sheepish. "The captain is right, ladies and gentlemen. We could even see the sand where she has plowed itup--they've got lanterns over the rail. There's no danger. "

A steward trotted to Captain Mayo and handed him a slip of paper. Thecaptain read the message and shook the paper in the faces of the throng. 

"The revenue cutter _Acushnet_ has our wireless call and is starting, and the _Itasca_ will follow. I advise you to go to bed and go to sleep. You're perfectly, absolutely safe. You will be transferred when it'sdaylight. Now be men and women!"

He hurried out on deck. His men were hoisting aboard the three dripping, sputtering passengers who had run amuck. 

"And those same men would look after a runaway horse and sneer that hedidn't have any brains, " remarked Captain Mayo, disgustedly. 

For the next half-hour he was a busy man. He investigated the_Montana's_ wound, first of all. He found her flooded forward--her noseanchored into the sand with a rock-of-ages solidity. 

His heart sank when he realized what her plight meant from the wreckingand salvage viewpoint. In those shifting sands, winnowed constantly bythe rushing currents of the sound, digging her out might be a Gargantuantask, working her free a hopeless undertaking. 

His tour of investigation showed him that except for her smashed bowthe steamer was intact. Her helplessness there in the sand was the morepitiable on that account. 

He had not begun to take account of stock of his own responsibility forthis disaster. The whirl of events had been too dizzying. As master ofthe ship he would be held to account for her mishap. But to what extenthad he been negligent? He could not figure it out. He realized thatexcitement plays strange pranks with a man's consciousness of linkedevents or of the passage of time. He could not understand why thesteamer piled up so quickly after the collision. According to his ampleknowledge of the shoals, he had been on his true course and well off thedangerous shallows. 

His first mate met him amidship. "I sent off one of our life-boats, sir. Told 'em to go back and hunt for the men we saw in the water. They foundtwo. Others seem to be gone. "

"I'm glad you thought of it, Mr. Bangs. I ought to have attended to it, myself. "

"You had enough on your hands, sir, as it was. She was the _LucretiaM. Warren_, with granite from Vinal-haven. That's what gave us such anawful tunk. "

"Who are the men?"

"Mate and a sailor. They've had some hot drinks, and are coming alongall right. "

"We'll have a word with them, Mr. Bangs. "

The survivors of the _Warren_ were forward in the crew's quarters, andthey were still dazed. They had not recovered from their fright; theywere sullen. 

"I'm sorry, men! Sailor to sailor, you know what I mean if I don't sayany more. It's bad business on both sides. But what were you doing inthe fairway?"

"We wa'n't in the fairway, " protested a grizzled man, evidently themate. He was uneasy in his borrowed clothes--he had surrendered his owngarments to a pantryman who had volunteered to dry them. 

"You must have been, " insisted Captain Mayo. 

"I know we was all of two miles north of the regular course. I 'ain'tsailed across these shoals for thirty years not to know soundings whenI make 'em myself. Furthermore, she'll speak for herself, where she'ssunk. "

The captain could not gainsay that dictum. 

The mate scowled at the young man. 

"I've got a question of my own. What ye doing, yourself, all of twomiles out of your course, whanging along, tooting your old whistle asif you owned the sea and had rollers under you to go across dry groundwith, too?"

"I was not two miles out of my course, " protested the captain, and yetthe sickening feeling came to him that there had been some dreadfulerror, somewhere, somehow. 

"When they put these steamers into the hands of real men instead ofhaving dudes and kids run 'em, then shipping will stand a fair show onthis coast, " declared the mate, casting a disparaging glance at Mayo'snew uniform. "It was my watch on deck, and I know what I'm talkingabout. You came belting along straight at us, two points out of yourcourse, and I thought the fog was playing tricks, and I didn't believemy own ears. You have drowned my captain and four honest men. When Istand up in court they'll get the straight facts from me, I can tell youthat. And they tell me it's your first trip. I might have knowed itwas some greenhorn, when I heard you coming two points off your course. You'd better take off them clothes. I reckon you've made your _last_trip, too!"

It was the querulous railing of a man who had been near death; itwas the everlasting grouch of the sailing-man against the lordlysteamboater. Mayo had no heart for rebuke or retort. What had happenedto him, anyway? This old schooner man seemed to know exactly what he wastalking about. 

"If you don't believe what I'm telling you, go out on deck and see ifyou can't hear the Hedge Fence whistle, " advised the mate, sourly. "Ifshe don't bear south of east I'll eat that suit they're drying out forme. And that will show you that you're two miles to the norrard of whereyou ought to be. "

On his way to the pilot-house Captain Mayo did hear the hollow voiceof the distant whistle, with its double blast and its long intervalof silence. The sound came from abaft his beam and his disquietudeincreased. 

Then the acute realization was forced in upon him that he had thegeneral manager of the line to face. The captain had not caught sightof his superior during the excitement; he wondered now why Mr. Fogg hadeffaced himself so carefully. 

The red coal of a cigar glowed in a corner of the pilothouse. From thatcorner came curt inquiry: "Well, Captain Mayo, what have you got to sayabout this?"

"I think I'll do my talking after I have had daylight on theproposition, sir. "

"Don't you have any idea how you happened to be off your course so far?"asked Fogg, his anxiety noticeable in his tones. 

"How do you know I was off my course?"

"Well--er--why, well, you wouldn't be aground, would you, if you hadn'tlost your way?"

"I didn't lose my way, Mr. Fogg. "

"What did happen, then?"

"That's for me to find out. "

"I'm not going to say anything to you yet, Captain Mayo. It's toosudden--too big a blow. It's going to paralyze the Vose line. " Mr. Foggsaid this briskly, as if he were passing small talk on the weather. 

"I'm thankful that you're taking the thing so calmly, sir. I've beendreading to meet you. "

"Oh--a business man in these days can't allow himself to fly to piecesover setbacks. Optimism is half the battle. "

But Mayo, sitting there in that dark pilot-house for the rest of thenight, staring out into the blank wall of the fog and surveying thewreck of his hopes, was decidedly not optimistic. 

XXI ~ BITTER PROOF BY MORNING LIGHT

 Bad news, bad news to our captain came That grieved him very sore; But when he knew that all of it was true, It grieved him ten time more, Brave boys! It grieved him ten times more! --Cold Greenland. 

Morning brought to him neither cheer nor counsel. The winds swept thefog off the seas, and the brightness of the sunshine only mocked thegloom of Captain Mayo's thoughts. 

He was most unmistakably far off his course. He took his bearingscarefully, and he groped through his memory and his experience forreasons which would explain how he came to be away up there on HedgeFence. Two of the masts of the sunken stone-schooner showed above thesea, two depressing monuments of disaster. He took further bearings andtested his compass with minute care. So far as he could determine it wascorrect to the dot. 

It was a busy forenoon for all on board the steamer. The revenue cutterstook off the passengers. Representatives of the underwriters came outfrom Wood's Hole on a tug. The huge _Montana_, set solidly into its bedof sand, loomed against the sky, mute witness of somebody's inefficiencyor mistake. 

Late in the day Captain Mayo and General-Manager Fogg locked themselvesin the captain's cabin to have it out. 

When the master had finished his statement Mr. Fogg flicked the ash fromhis cigar, studied the glowing end for a time, and narrowed his eyes. 

"So, summing it all up, it happened, and you don't know just how ithappened. You were off your course and don't know how you happened to beoff your course. You don't expect us to defend you before the steamboatinspectors, with that for an explanation, Mayo?"

"All I can do is to tell the truth at the hearing, sir. "

"They'll break you, sure as a mule wags ears. There are five deadmen inside that wreck yonder. Don't you reckon you'll be indicted formanslaughter?"

"I shall claim that the collision was unavoidable. "

"But you were off your course--were in a place you had no business to bein. That knocks your defense all to the devil. You are in almighty bad, Mayo. You must wake up to it. "

The young man was pale and rigid and silent. 

"The Vose line is in bad enough as it is, without trying to defend you. I suppose I'll be blamed for putting on a young captain. Mayo, I amolder than you are and wiser about the law and such matters. Why don'tyou duck out from under, eh?"

"You mean run away?"

"I wouldn't put it quite as bluntly as that. I mean, go away and keepout of sight till it quiets down. If you stay they'll put you on therack and get you all tangled up by firing questions at you. And whatwill you gain by going through the muss? You've got to agree with methat the inspectors will suspend you--revoke your license. Here's thissteamer here, talking for herself. If you stay around underfoot, and allthe evidence is brought out at the hearing, then the Federal grandjury will take the thing up, probably. They'll have a manslaughter caseagainst you. "

Still Captain Mayo did not speak. 

"If you simply drop out of sight I don't believe they'll chase you. Personally, having watched you last night, I don't believe you areguilty of any very bad break. It simply happened wrong. We don't wantall the notoriety a court trial would bring to the line. And here's whatI'll do, Mayo. I'll slip you a few hundred for expenses so that you cango away and grab into the shipping game somewhere else. A fellow likeyou can land on his feet. "

"Mr. Fogg, a renegade steamboat man stands a mighty poor show. I may besuspended, and worse may happen to me, but I'm not going to ruin myselfand my good name by running away. That's confession! It's wrecking allmy prospects forever--and I have worked too hard for what I've got. I'mgoing to stay here and face the music--tell my story like a man. "

"It will make a fine story--and you have told me yourself that theyare just waiting to make a smashing example of somebody, " sneered Fogg. "You, a cub captain, broke the navigation rules last night by running atleast fifteen knots in the fog. Your log and the testimony of your mateswill show that. I'm not blaming you, son. I'm showing you how it looks!You got off your course and rammed a schooner at anchor, and you didn'teven stop to pick up her men. I saw that much. Mayo, the only sensiblething for you to do is to duck out from under. It will save the linefrom a lot of scandal and bad advertising. By gad! if you don't do thatmuch for us, after the offer I've just made you, I'll go onto the standand testify against you. "

"You seem to be mighty ready and anxious to make me the goat in thisthing, " blazed the young man, his temper getting away from him. He hadbeen without sleep for many hours, his soul had been crucified by thebitter experiences he had been through. 

"Are you looking for a fight?"

"No, Mr. Fogg, I'm looking for a square deal. I haven't done anythingintentionally to make me a fugitive from justice. I won't run away. "

"You won't be the first witness who has helped big interests by keepingout of sight and out of reach of the lawyers. It's business, Mayo. "

"It may be, Mr. Fogg. I don't know the inside of the big deals. I'm onlya sailor. I associate with sailors. And I've got a little pride in mygood name. "

Mr. Fogg looked at this recalcitrant with scorn. He wanted to tell thisstubborn individual that he was merely a two-spot in the big game whichwas being played. But the expression on Mayo's face encouraged neitherlevity nor sneers. 

"I'll give you a thousand dollars expense money for your trip and willtalk job with you next year after you get your license back, " profferedthe general manager. 

Captain Mayo fixed flaming eyes on the tempter. "What special, privatereason have you got for wanting to bribe me?" demanded the young man, with such heat that Fogg flinched. "You are making something verymysterious out of what should be open and aboveboard. That may be WallStreet tactics, Mr. Fogg, but it doesn't go with a sailor who has earneda master's papers and is proud of it. "

"Well, pass on then, " directed Fogg. "There's a tug alongside to takethe underwriters back to Wood's Hole. Go along--to jail, or wherever itis you'll fetch up. "

"I shall stay aboard this ship as her captain until I am relievedaccording to the formalities of the admiralty law, " declared CaptainMayo, with dignity. "I don't propose to run away from duty orpunishment, Mr. Fogg. "

The general manager pursed a contemptuous mouth and departed from thecabin. He went away on the tug without further word to Mayo. 

During the next two days small craft buzzed about the stricken giantlike flies around a carcass. There were insurance men, wreckers withplans and projects, sightseers, stockholders--and one visitor wasCaptain Zoradus Wass. 

"Nothing else to do just now, boy, except to come and sympathize withyou. " He clucked his tongue against his teeth as he looked the steamerover. It was condolence without words. "Now tell me the story ofit--with all the fine details, " he demanded, after they were closetedin the captain's cabin. He sat with elbows on his knees and gazed at thefloor during the recital, and he continued to gaze at the floor for sometime after Mayo had ceased speaking. 

"I admit that the quartermaster let her off for just a minute--less thana minute, " repeated the young man. "I had only just looked away for aninstant. I helped him put her over. We couldn't have done more than cuta letter S for a few lengths. But the more I think of it, the queerer itseems. Two points off, almost in a finger-snap!"

"Tell that part of it over and over again, while I shut my eyes and getit fixed in my mind as if I had seen it, " requested Captain Wass. "Whowas there, where did they stand, and so forth and et cetry. When a thinghappens and you can't figger it out, it's usually because you haven'tpawed over the details carefully enough. Go ahead! I'm a good listener. "

But after he had listened he had no comments to make. He went out of thecabin after a few minutes' wait which was devoted to deep meditation, and strolled about the ship, hands behind his back, scuffing his feet. A half-hour later, meeting Captain Mayo on his rounds, the veteraninquired:

"How do you happen to have Oliver Burkett aboard here?" "I don't knowhim. "

"You ought to know him. He is the captain the Vose line fired off the_Nirvana_ three years ago. He gave the go-ahead and a jingle when he wasmaking dock, and chewed up four fishing-boats and part of the pier. Hehad to choose between admitting that he was drunk, crazy, or bribed bythe opposition. And I guess they figured that he was all three. Was heaboard here the night it happened?"

"I don't know, sir. "

"According to my notion it's worth finding out, " growled Captain Wass. "I'm not seeing very far into this thing as yet, son, and I'll admitit. But if dirty work was done to you, Burkett would have been a handiertool for Fogg than a Stillson wrench in a plumbing job. No, don't askme questions now. I haven't got any consolation for you or confidence inmyself. I'm only thinking. "

The next day the wounded _Montana_ was formally surrendered to theunderwriters. 

Captain Boyd Mayo was ordered to appear before the United Statesinspectors, and he went and told his story as best he could. But hisbest was an unconvincing tale, after all. He left the hearing after histestimony and walked down to the little hotel by the water-front to waitfor news. 

Captain Wass came bustling down to the little hotel, plumping along atan extra rate of speed, setting his heels down hard, a moving monumentof gloom. 

His protégé, removing disconsolate gaze from the dusty chromos on theoffice walls, did not require verbal report; Captain Wass's demeanortold all. 

"And you couldn't expect much of anything else, " declared the oldman. "I made the best talk I could for you after you had finished yourtestimony and had gone out. But it was no use, son! The department hasbeen laying for a victim. Both of us have known that right along. Theyhave soaked it to you good and proper. "

"How long am I suspended for?" faltered Mayo. 

"That's the point! Indefinitely. You were meat. Everybody watching thecase. They trimmed you. "

Mayo set his hands into his thick hair, propped his head, and stared atthe floor. 

"Indefinitely doesn't mean forever, but there ain't much comfort inthat. I'll tell you what it does mean, boy. It means that if there hasbeen crooked work we've got to show it up in order to reinstate you. And now get a good brace on yourself. I've taken a peek in at the UnitedStates court. "

The young man, without lifting his head, gave the veteran a piteousside-glance. 

"Fletcher Fogg is buzzing around the outside of that hive. He hasBurkett along for an understrapper. They are marshaling in witnessesbefore the grand jury--those men from the _Warren_, and you know whatthey'll say, of course! Your mates and quartermasters, too! Mayo, they're going to railroad you to Atlanta penitentiary. They have putsomething over on you because you are young and they figured that you'dbe a little green. It seemed queer to me when Fogg was so mighty nice toyou all of a sudden. But they don't lay off a man like Jacobs and put ina new man just to be nice. They either felt they couldn't work Jacobs, or else they felt a green man would give 'em a good excuse for whathappened. "

"But they couldn't arrange to have a schooner--"

"That was probably more than they figured on. But as long as it hashappened they're going to use it to best advantage. You're going to haveboth tin cans tied to you, son. Every cussed bit of influence is goingto be used against you. Poor devils on the outside, like you and I, don't understand just how slick the ways can be greased. Mayo, I'm goingto give you good advice. Duck out!"

"Run away like a confessed criminal? That's the advice Fogg gave me. Idon't think your advice is good, Captain Wass. I won't run away. "

"It may not be good advice. I ain't wise enough to know everythingthat's best. But if they put you behind the bars in Atlanta, son, you'llstay there till your term is up. No matter what is found out in yourcase, it will take money and a lot of time to get the truth before theright people. But if you ain't in prison, and we can get a line on thiscase and dig up even a part of the truth, then you've got a fightingchance in the open. If we can get just enough to make 'em afraid to putyou onto the witness-stand, that much may make 'em quit their barking. You're a sailor, boy! You know a sailor can't do much when his hands aretied. Stay outside the penitentiary and help me fight this thing. "

"I don't know what to do, " mourned the young man. "I'm all in a whirl. I'm no coward, Captain Wass. I'm willing to face the music. But I'm sohelpless. "

"Stay outside jail till the fog lifts a bit in this case, " adjured hismentor. "Are you going to lie down and stick up your legs to have 'emtied, like a calf bound for market? Here are a few things you can do ifyou duck out of sight for a little while. I'll go ahead and--"

Suddenly he checked himself. He was facing the window, which commandeda considerable section of street. He wasted no further breath on goodadvice. 

"I know those men coming down there, " he cried. "They're bailiffs. I sawthem around the court-house. They're after you, Mayo! You run! Getaway! There must be a back door here. Scoot!" He pulled the unresistingscapegoat out of his chair and hustled him to the rear of the office. 

A young man may have the best intentions. He may resolve to be a martyr, to bow to the law's majesty. But at that moment Mayo was receivingimperious command from the shipmaster whose orders he had obeyed for solong that obedience was second nature. And panic seized him! Men were athand to arrest him. There was no time to reason the thing out. Flight isthe first impulse of innocence persecuted. Manly resolve melted. He ran. 

"I'll stay behind and bluff 'em off! I'll say you're just out for aminute, that I'm waiting here for you, " cried Captain Wass. "That willgive you a start. Try the docks. You may find one of the boys who willhelp. "

Mayo escaped into a yard, dodged down an alley, planning his movementsas he hurried, having a mariner's quickness of thought in an emergency. 

He made directly for the pier where steam-vessels took water. A hugeocean-going tug was just getting ready to leave her berth under thewater-hose. Her gruff whistle-call had ordered hawsers cast off. Mayo's'longcoast acquaintance was fairly extensive. This was a coal-barge tug, and he waved quick greeting to the familiar face in her pilot-house andleaped aboard. He climbed the forward ladder nimbly. 

"I reckon you'll have to make it hello and good-by in one breath, mate, "advised the skipper. "I'm off to take a light tow down-coast. Norfolknext stop. "

"Let her go--sooner the better, " gasped the fugitive. "I'll explain whyas soon as you are out of the dock. "

"You don't say that you want to take the trip?"

"I've got to take it. "

The skipper cocked an eyebrow and pulled his bell. "Make yourself tohome, mate, " he advised. "I hope you ain't in so much of a hurry to getthere as you seem to be, for I've got three barges to tow. "

Mayo sat down on the rear transom and was hidden from all eyes on thepier. 

There was no opportunity for an explanation until the barges had beenpicked up, for there was much manouver-ing and much tooting. But hefound ready sympathy after he had explained. 

"The law sharps are always hankering to catch a poor cuss who is tryingto navigate these waters and suit the inspectors and the owners at thesame time, " admitted the master of the tug. "I have read everything thepapers had to say about your case, and I figured they didn't give you afair show. Newspapers and lawyers and owners don't understand what afellow is up against. I'm glad you're aboard, mate, because I want tohear your side, with all the details. "

The threshing over of the matter occupied many hours of the long wallowdown the Jersey coast, and the tug captain weighed all features of thecase with the care of a man who has plenty of time on his hands and withthe zest a mariner displays in considering the affairs of his kind offolk. 

"If I didn't know you pretty well, Mayo, and know what kind of a manyou got your training with, I might think--just as those law sharpswill probably say--that you were criminally careless or didn't know yourbusiness. But that dodge she made on you! Two points off her course!You've got to put your finger right on there and hold it! Let me tellyou something. It was a queer thing in my own case. That was a queerthing in your case. Stand two queer things in our business up besideeach other and squint at 'em and you may learn something. "

"She was on her course--I put her there with my own hands, " persistedMayo. 

"Sure! You know your business. If this thing was going to be left tothe bunch that know you, you'd go clear. But here's what happened in mycase: I had a new man in the wheel-house, here, and he almost rammed meinto Cuttyhunk, gave me a touch and go with the Pollock Rip Lightship, and had me headed toward Nauset when the fog lifted. And he was steeringmy courses to the thinness of a hair, at that! Say, I took a suddentumble and frisked that chap and dragged a toad-stabber knife out of hispocket--one of those regular foot-long knives. It had been yawing offthat compass all the way from a point to a point and a half. When didyou shift wheel-watch?"

"Before we made Vineyard Sound. "

"And no trouble coming up the sound?"

"Made Nobska and West Chop to the dot. "

"Then perhaps your general manager, who was in that pilot-house, had aniron gizzard inside him. Most of them Wall Street fellows do have!" saidthe skipper, with sarcasm. 

"There's something going on in the steamboat business that I can'tunderstand, " declared Mayo. "It's high up; it hasn't to do with uschaps, who have to take the kicks. Fogg brought a man aboard the old_Nequasset_, and he didn't bring along a good explanation to go withthat man. I have been wondering ever since how it happened that Fogg gotto be general manager of the Vose line so almighty sudden. "

"Them high financiers play a big game, mate. And if you happened to bea marked card in it, they'd tear you up and toss you under the tablewithout thinking twice. If you'll take a tip from me, you lay low anddo a lot of thinking while Uncle Zoradus does his scouting. What are yougoing to do when you get to Norfolk?"

"I haven't thought. "

"Well, the both of us better think, and think hard, mate. If the UnitedStates is really after you there'll be a sharp eye at every knot-hole. Ican't afford to let 'em get in a crack at me for what I've done. "

"I'll jump overboard outside the capes before I'll put you in wrong, "asserted Mayo, with deep feeling. 

That night the captain of the tug took a trick at the wheel in person. 

His guest lay on the transom, smoking the skipper's spare pipe, andracking his mind for ways and means. After a time he was conscious thatthe captain was growling a bit of a song to relieve the tedium of histask. He sang the same words over and over--a tried and true Chesapeakeshanty:

 "Oh, I sailed aboard a lugger, and I shipped aboard a scow, And I sailed aboard a peanut-shell that had a razor bow. Needle in a haystack, brick into a wall! A nigger man in Norfolk, he ain't no 'count at all!"

Mayo rolled off the transom and went to the captain's side. "There'smore truth than poetry in that song of yours, sir, " he said. "You havegiven me an idea. A nigger in Norfolk doesn't attract much attention. And I haven't got to be one of the black ones, either. Don't you supposethere's something aboard here I can use to stain my face with?"

"My cook is a great operator as a tattoo artist. "

"I don't think I want to make the disguise permanent, sir, " stated theyoung man, with a smile. 

"What I mean is, he may have something in his kit that he can use topaint you with. What's your idea--stay there? I'm afraid they'll nailyou. " >

"I'll stay there just long enough to ship before the mast on a schooner. There isn't time to think up any better plan just now. Anything to keepout of sight until I can make up my mind about what's really best to bedone. "

"We'll have that cook up here, " offered the captain. "He's safe. "

The cook took prompt and professional interest in the matter. "Sure!" hesaid. "I've got a stain that will sink in and stay put for a long time, if no grease paint is used. Only you mustn't wash your face. "

"There's no danger of a fellow having any inducement to do that whenhe's before the mast on a schooner in these days, " declared the tugcaptain, dryly. 

An hour later, Captain Boyd Mayo, late of the crack liner _Montana_, was a very passable mulatto, his crisply curling hair adding to thedisguise. He swapped his neat suit of brown with a deck-hand, andreceived some particularly unkempt garments. 

The next night, when the tug was berthed at the water station, heslipped off into the darkness, as homeless and as disconsolate as anabandoned dog. 

XXII ~ SPECIAL BUSINESS OF A PASSENGER

 O Ranzo was no sailor, He shipped on board a whaler. O pity Reuben Ran-zo, Ran-zo, boys! O poor old Reuben Ranzo, Ranzo, boys! --Reuben Ranzo. 

Captain Mayo kept out of the region of the white lights for some time. He had a pretty wide acquaintance in the Virginia port, and he knew thebeaten paths of the steamboating transients, ashore for a bit of a blow. 

He lurked in alleys, feeling especially disreputable. He was not atall sure that his make-up was effective. His own self-consciousnessconvinced him that he was a glaring fraud, whose identity would berevealed promptly to any person who knew him. But while he sneaked inthe purlieus of the city several of his 'longshore friends passed himwithout a second look. One, a second engineer on a Union line freighter, whirled after passing, and came back to him. 

"Got a job, boy?"

"No, sir. "

"We need coal-passers on the _Drummond_. She's in the stream. Comeaboard in the morning. "

But it was not according to Mayo's calculation, messing with steamboatmen. "Ah doan' conclude ah wants no sech job, " he drawled. 

"No, of course you don't want to work, you blasted yaller mutt!" snappedthe engineer. He marched on, cursing, and Mayo was encouraged, for theman had given him a thorough looking-over. 

He went out onto the wider streets. He was looking for a roving schoonercaptain, reckoning he would know one of that gentry by the cut of hisjib. 

A ponderous man came stumping down the sidewalk, swinging his shoulders. 

"He's one of 'em, " decided Mayo. The round-crowned soft hat, undented, the flapping trouser legs, the gait recognized readily by one who hasever seen a master mariner patrol his quarter-deck--all these marked himas a safe man to tackle. He stopped, dragged a match against the brickside of a building, and relighted his cigar. But before Mayo could reachhim a colored man hurried up and accosted the big gentleman, whippingoff his hat and bowing with smug humility. Mayo hung up at a littledistance. He recognized the colored man; he was one of the numerousNorfolk runners who furnish crews for vessels. He wore pearl-graytrousers, a tailed coat, and had a pink in his buttonhole. 

"Ah done have to say that ah doan' get that number seven man up to now, Cap'n Downs, though I have squitulate for him all up and down. But ahdone expect--"

Captain Downs scowled over his scooped hands, puffing hard at his cigar. He threw away the match. 

"Look-a-here! you've been chasing me two days with new stories aboutthat seventh man. Haven't you known me long enough to know that youcan't trim me for another fee?"

"Cap'n Downs, you done know yo'self the present lucidateness of thesailorman supply. "

"I know that if you don't get that man aboard my schooner to-night orthe first thing to-morrow morning you'll never put another one aboardfor me. You go hustle! And look here! I see you making up your mouth!Not another cent!"

The colored man backed off and went away. 

Mayo accosted the captain when that fuming gentleman came lunging alongthe sidewalk. "Ah done lak to have that job, cap'n, " he pleaded. 

"You a sailor?"

"Yas, sir. "

"How is it you ain't hiring through the regular runners?"

"Ah doan' lak to give all my money to a dude nigger to go spotein' on. "

"Well, there's something in that, " acknowledged Captain Downs, softeninga bit. "I haven't got much use for that kind myself. You come along. Butif you ain't A-1, shipshape, and seamanlike and come aboard my vesselto loaf on your job you'll wish you were in tophet with the torcheslighted. Got any dunnage laying around anywhere?"

"No, sir. "

"Well, then, I guess you're a regular sailor, all right, the way thebreed runs nowadays. That sounds perfectly natural. " The captain led theway down to a public landing, where a power-yawl, with engineer and amate, was in waiting. "Will she go into the stream to-night, Mr. Dodge?"asked Captain Downs, curtly. 

"No, sir! About four hundred tons still to come. "

Schooner captains keep religiously away from their vessels as long asthe crafts lie at the coal-docks. 

"Come up for me in the morning as soon as she is in the stream. Here'sa man to fill the crew. If that coon shows up with another man kick thetwo of 'em up the wharf. "

"Will the passenger come aboard with you, sir?"

"He called me up at the hotel about supper-time and said something aboutwanting to come aboard at the dock. I tried to tell him it was foolish, but it's safe to reckon that a man who wants to sail as passenger fromhere to Boston on a coal-schooner is a fool, anyway. If he shows up, let him come aboard. " Captain Downs swung away and the night closed inbehind him. 

Mayo took his place in the yawl and preserved meek and proper silenceduring the trip down the harbor. 

When they swung under the counter of the schooner which was theirdestination, the young man noted that she was the _Drusilla M. Alden_, a five-master, of no very enviable record along the coast, so far as themethods and manners of her master went; Mayo had heard of her master, whose nickname was "Old Mull. " He had not recognized him under the nameof Captain Downs when the runner had addressed him. 

The new member of the crew followed the mate up the ladder--only a fewsteps, for the huge schooner, with most of her cargo aboard, showed lessthan ten feet of freeboard amidships. 

"Sleepy, George?" asked the mate, when they were on deck. 

"No, sir. "

"Then you may as well go on this watch. "

"Yass'r!"

"We'll call it now eight bells, midnight. You'll go off watch eightbells, morning. "

Mayo knew that the hour was not much later than eleven, but he didnot protest; he knew something about the procedure aboard coastwisecoal-schooners. 

Search-lights bent steady glare upon the chutes down which rushed thestreams of coal, black dust swirling in the white radiance. The greatpockets at Lambert Point are never idle. High above, on the railway, trains of coal-cars racketed. Under his feet the fabric of the vesseltrembled as the chutes fed her through the three hatches. Sweating, coal-blackened men toiled in the depths of her, revealed below hatchesby the electric lights, pecking at the avalanche with their shovels, trimming cargo. 

The young man exchanged a few listless words with the two negroes whowere on deck, his mates of the watch. 

They were plainly not interested in him, and he avoided them. 

The hours dragged. He helped to close and batten the fore-hatch, and later performed similar service on the hatch aft. The main-hatchcontinued to gulp the black food which the chute fed to it. 

Suddenly a tall young man appeared to Mayo. The stranger was smartlydressed, and his spick-and-span garb contrasted strangely with thegeneral riot of dirt aboard the schooner. He trod gingerly over thedust-coated planks and carried two suit-cases. 

"Here, George, " he commanded. "Take these to my stateroom. "

Mayo hesitated. 

"I'm going as passenger, " said the young man, impatiently, and Mayoremembered what the captain had told the mate. 

Passengers on coal-schooners, sailing as friends of the master, were notunknown on the coast, but Mayo judged, from what he had heard, that thisperson was not a friend, and had wondered a bit. 

"I am not allowed to go aft, sir, without orders from the mate. "

"Where is the mate?"

"I think he is below, sir. "

"Asleep?"

"I wouldn't wonder. "

Mayo did not trouble to use his dialect on this stranger, a merepassenger, who spoke as if he were addressing a car-porter. The toneproduced instant irritation, resentment in the man who had so recentlybeen master of his ship. 

The passenger set down his baggage and pondered a moment. He looked Mayoover in calculating fashion; he stared up the wharf. Then he pickedup his bags and hurried along the port alley and disappeared down thecompanionway. 

He returned in a few moments, came into the waist of the vessel, and made careful survey of all about him. There were two sailors farforward, merely dim shadows. For some reason general conditions on theschooner seemed to satisfy the stranger. 

"The thing is breaking about right--about as I reckoned it would, " hesaid aloud. "Look here, George, how much talking do you do about thingsyou see?"

"Talking to who, sir?"

"Why, to your boss--the captain--the mate. "

"A sailor before the mast is pretty careful not to say anything to acaptain or the mates unless they speak to him first, sir. "

"George, I'm not going to do anything but what is perfectly all right, you understand. You'll not get into any trouble over it. But what youdon't see you can't tell, no matter if questions are asked later on. Here, take this!" He crowded two silver dollars into Mayo's hands andgave him a push. "You trot forward and stay there about five minutes, that's the boy! It's all right. It's a little of my own privatebusiness. Go ahead!"

Mayo went. He reflected that it was none of his affair what a passengerdid aboard the vessel. It was precious little interest he took in thecraft, anyway, except as a temporary refuge. He turned away and put themoney in his pocket, the darkness hiding his smile. 

He did not look toward the wharf. He strolled on past the forward house, where the engineer was stoking his boiler, getting up steam for theschooner's windlass engine. When he patrolled aft again, aftera conscientious wait, he found the passenger leaning against thecoachhouse door, smoking a cigarette. The electric light showed hisface, and it wore a look of peculiar satisfaction. 

Just then some one fumbled inside the coach-house door at the stranger'sback, and when the latter stepped away the first mate appeared, yawning. 

"I'm the passenger--Mr. Bradish, " the young man explained, promptly. "Ijust made myself at home, put my stuff in a stateroom, and locked thedoor and took the key. Is that all right?"

"May be just as well to lock it while we're at dock and stevedores areaboard, " agreed the mate. 

"How soon do we pull out of here?"

The mate yawned again and peered up into the sky, where the first grayof the summer dawn was showing over the cranes of the coal-pockets. "In about a half-hour, I should say. Just as soon as the tug can usedaylight to put us into the stream. "

The roar of the coal in the main-hatch chute had ceased. The schoonerwas loaded. 

"Go strike eight bells, Jeff, and turn in!" ordered the mate, speakingto Mayo. 

"Well, I'll stay outside, here, and watch the sun rise, " said Bradish. "It will be a new experience. "

"It's an almighty dirty place for loafing till we get into the streamand clean ship, sir. I should think taking an excursion on a coal-luggerwould be another new experience!" There was just a hint of grim sarcasmin his tone. 

"The doctor ordered me to get out and away where I wouldn't hear ofbusiness or see business, and a friend of mine told me there were plentyof room and comfort aboard one of these big schooners. That cabin andthe staterooms, they're fine!"

"Oh, they have to give a master a good home these days. That's a Wintoncarpet in the saloon, " declared the mate, with pride. "And we've got aone-eyed cook who can certainly sling grub together. Yes, for a cheapvacation I dun'no' but a schooner is all right!"

The two were getting on most amicably when Mayo went forward. He wasdog-tired and turned in on tie bare boards of his fo'cas'le berth. 

No bedding is furnished men before the mast on the coal-carriers. 

If a man wants anything between himself and the boards he must bring itwith him, and few do so. At the end of each trip a crew is dischargedand new men are hired, in order to save paying wages while a vessel isin port loading or discharging. Therefore, a coastwise schooner harborsonly transients, for whom the fo'cas'le is merely a shelter betweenwatches. 

But Mayo was a sailor, and the bare boards served him better thanbedding in which some dusky and dirty son of Ham had nestled. He laidhimself down and slept soundly. 

The second mate turned out the watch below at four bells--six in themorning. The schooner was in the stream and all hands were needed towork hose and brooms and clear off the coal-dust. Mayo toiled in thewallow of black water till his muscles ached. 

There was one happy respite--they knocked off long enough to eatbreakfast. It was sent out to them from the cook-house in one huge, metal pan without dishes or knives or forks. 

A white cook wash dishes for negroes?

Mayo knew the custom which prevailed on board the schooners between thecoal ports and the New England cities, and he fished for food with hisfingers and cut meat with his jack-knife with proper meekness. 

When he was back at his scrubbing again the cook passed aft, bearingthe zinc-lined hamper which contained the breakfast for the cabin table. That this cook had the complete vocabulary of others of his ilk wasrevealed when the man with the hose narrowly missed drenching thehamper. 

"That's right, cook!" roared Captain Downs, climbing ponderously onboard from his yawl. "Talk up to the loafing, cock-eyed, pot-coloredsons of a coal-scuttle when I ain't here to do it. Turn away that hose, you mule-eared Fiji!" He turned on Mayo, who stood at one side and waspoising his scrubbing-broom to allow the master to pass. "Get to work, there, yellow pup! Get to work!"

Ordinarily the skipper addresses one of his sailors only through themate. But there was no mate handy just then. 

"One hand for the owners and one hand for yourself when you're aloft, but on deck it's both hands for the owners, " he stated, as he ploddedaft, giving forth the aphorism for the benefit of all within hearing. 

The passenger was still on deck, and Mayo heard Captain Downs greet himrather brusquely. 

Then the cook's hand-bell announced breakfast, and before the captainand his guest reappeared on deck a tug had the _Alden's_ hawser and wastowing her down the dredged channel on the way to Hampton Roads and tosea. 

Mayo went at his new tasks so handily that he passed muster as anable seaman. If a sailor aboard a big schooner of these days is quick, willing, and strong he does not need the qualities and the knowledgewhich made a man an "A. B. " in the old times. 

While the schooner was on her way behind the tug they hoisted her sails, a long cable called "the messenger" enabling the steam-winch forward todo all the work. Mayo was assigned to the jigger-mast, and went aloftto shake out the topsail. It was a dizzy height, and the task tried hisspirit, for the sail was heavy, and he found it difficult to keep hisbalance while he was tugging at the folds of the canvas. He was obligedto work alone--there was only one man to a mast, and very tiny insectsdid his mates appear when Mayo glanced forward along the range of themasts. 

The tug dropped them off the Tail of the Horseshoe; a smashingsou'wester was serving them. 

With all her washing set, the schooner went plowing out past the capes, and Mayo was given his welcome watch below; he was so sleepy that hishead swam. 

When he turned out he was ordered to take his trick at the wheel. Theschooner had made her offing and was headed for her northward run alongthe coast, which showed as a thin thread of white along the flashingblue of the sea. 

Mayo took the course from the gaunt, sooty Jamaican who stepped awayfrom the wheel; he set his gaze on the compass and had plenty to occupyhis hands and his mind, for a big schooner which is logging off sixor eight knots in a following sea is somewhat of a proposition for asteersman. Occasionally he was obliged to climb bodily upon the wheel inorder to hold the vessel up to her course. 

Captain Downs was pacing steadily from rail to rail between the wheeland the house. At each turn he glanced up for a squint at the sails. Itwas the regular patrol of a schooner captain. 

In spite of his absorption in his task, Mayo could not resist takingan occasional swift peep at the passenger. The young man's demeanor hadbecome so peculiar that it attracted attention. He looked worried, illat ease, smoked his cigarettes nervously, flung over the rail one whichhe had just lighted, and started for the captain, his mouth open. Thenhe turned away, shielded a match under the hood of the companionway, andtouched off another cigarette. He was plainly wrestling with a problemthat distressed him very much. 

At last he hurried below. He came up almost immediately. He had the airof a man who had made up his mind to have a disagreeable matter overwith. 

"Captain Downs, " he blurted, stepping in front of Old Mull and haltingthat astonished skipper, "will you please step down into the cabin withme for a few moments? I've something to tell you. "

"Well, tell it--tell it here!" barked the captain. 

"It's very private, sir!"

"I don't know of any privater place than this quarterdeck, fifteen milesoffshore. "

"But the--the man at the wheel!"

"Good Josephus! That ain't a man! That's a nigger sailor steering myschooner. Tell your tale, Mr. Bradish. Tell it right here. That fellowdon't count any more 'n that rudder-head counts. "

"If you could step down into the cabin, I--"

"My place is on this quarter-deck, sir. If you've got anything to say tome, say it!" He began to pace again. 

Bradish caught step, after a scuff or two. 

"I hope you're going to take this thing right, Captain Downs. It maysound queer to you at first, " he stammered. 

"Well, well, well, tell it to me--tell it! Then I will let you knowwhether it sounds queer or not. "

"I brought another passenger on board with me. She is locked in astateroom. "

Old Mull stopped his patrol with a jerk. "She?" he demanded. "You meanto tell me you've got a woman aboard here?"

"We're engaged--we want to get married. So she came along--"

"Then why in tophet didn't ye go get married? You don't think this is aparsonage, do you?"

"There were reasons why we couldn't get married ashore. You have to havelicenses, and questions are asked, and we were afraid it would be foundout before we could arrange it. "

"So this is an elopement, hey?"

"Well, the young lady's father has foolish ideas about a husband for hisdaughter, and she doesn't agree with him. "

"Who is her father?"

"I don't intend to tell you, sir. That hasn't anything to do with thematter. "

Captain Downs looked his passenger up and down with great disfavor. "Andwhat's your general idea in loading yourselves onto me in this fashion?"

"You have the right, as captain of a ship outside the three-mile limit, to marry folks in an emergency. "

"I ain't sure that I've got any such right, and I ain't at all certainabout the emergency, Mr. Bradish. I ain't going to stick my head into ascrape. "

"But there can't be any scrape for you. You simply exercise your rightand marry us and enter it in your log and give us a paper. It will beenough of a marriage so that we can't be separated. "

"Want to hold a hand you can bluff her father with, hey? I don't approveof any such tactics in matrimony. "

"I wouldn't be doing this if there were any other safe way for us, "protested Bradish, earnestly. "I'm no cheap fellow. I hold down a goodjob, sir. But the trouble is I work for her father--and you know how italways is in a case like that. He can't see me!"

"Rich, eh?"

"Yes, sir!" Bradish made the admission rather sullenly. 

"It's usually the case when there's eloping done!"

"But this will not seem like eloping when it's reported right in thenewspapers. Marriage at sea--it will seem like a romantic way of gettingrid of the fuss of a church wedding. We'll put out a statement of thatsort. It will give her father a chance to stop all the gossip. He'll beglad if you perform the ceremony. "

"Say, young fellow, you're not rehearsing the stuff on me that you usedon the girl, are you? Well, it doesn't go!

"Captain Downs, you must understand how bull-headed some rich men are inmatters of this kind. I am active and enterprising. I'll be a handy manfor him. He likes me in a business way--he has said so. He'll be allright after he gets cooled down. "

"More rehearsal! But I ain't in love with you like that girl is. "

"We're in a terrible position, captain! Perhaps it wasn't a wise thingto do. But it will come out all right if you marry us. "

"What's her name?"

"I can't tell you. "

"How in the devil can I marry you and her if I don't know her name?"

"But you haven't promised that you will do your part! I don't want toexpose this whole thing and then be turned down. "

"I ain't making any rash promises, " stated Captain Downs, walking to therail and taking a squint at the top-hamper. "Besides, " he added, on histramp past to the other rail, "he may be an owner into this schoonerproperty, for all I know. Sixteenths of her are scattered from tophet toTar Hollow!"

"You needn't worry about his owning schooner property! He is doing quitea little job at putting you fellows out of business!"

Curiosity and something else gleamed in Captain Downs's eyes. "Chancefor me to rasp him, hey, by wishing you onto the family?"

This new idea in the situation appealed instantly to Bradish as apossibility to be worked. "Promise man to man that you'll perform themarriage, and I'll tell you his name; then you'll be glad that you havepromised, " he said, eagerly. 

"I don't reckon I'd try to get even with Judas I-scarrot himselfby stealing his daughter away from him, sir. There's the girl to beconsidered in all such cases!"

"But this isn't stealing! We're in love. "

"Maybe, but you ain't fooling me very much, young fellow. I don't saybut what you like her all right, but you're after something else, too. "

"A man has to make his way in the world as best he can. "

"That plan seems to be pretty fashionable among you financing fellowsnowadays. But I'm a pretty good judge of men and you can't fool me, Isay. Now how did you fool the girl?"

It was blunt and insulting query, but Bradish did not have the courageto resent it; he had too much need of placating this despot. The loverhesitated and glanced apprehensively at the man at the wheel. 

"Don't mind that nigger!" yelped Captain Downs, "How did you ever getnigh enough to that girl to horn-swoggle her into this foolishness?"

"We met at dances. We were attracted to each other, " explained Bradish, meekly. 

"Huh! Yes, they tell me that girls are crazy over hoof-shaking thesedays, and I suppose it's easy to go on from there into a general stateof plumb lunacy, " commented Old Mull, with disgust. "You show you ain'treally in love with her, young man. You'd never allow her to cut up thiscaper if you were!"

He stuck an unlighted cigar in his mouth and continued to patrol hisquarter-deck, muttering. 

Bradish lighted a cigarette, tossed it away after two puffs, and leanedagainst the house, studying his fingertips, scowling and sullen. 

Mayo had heard all the conversation, but his interest in the identity ofthese persons was limited; New York was full of rich men, and there weremany silly daughters. 

"Look here, " suggested the captain, unamiably, "whatever is done later, there's something to be done now. It's cruelty to animals to keep thatgirl shut up in that stateroom any longer. "

"She didn't want to come out and show herself till I had had a talkwith you, sir. I have spoken to her through the door a few times. " Hestraightened himself and assumed dignity. "Captain Downs, I call itto your attention--I want you to remember that I have observed all theproprieties since I have been on board. "

Captain Downs snorted. "Proprieties--poosh! You have got her into anice scrape! And she's down there locked in like a cat, and probablystarving!"

"She doesn't care to eat. I think she isn't feeling very well. "

"I shouldn't think she would! Go bring her up here, where she can getsome fresh air. I'll talk to her. "

After a moment's hesitation Bradish went below. He returned in a littlewhile. 

In spite of his efforts to pretend obliviousness Mayo stared hard atthe companionway, eager to look on the face of the girl. But she did notfollow her lover. 

"She doesn't feel well enough to come on deck, " reported Bradish. "Butshe is in the saloon. Captain Downs, won't you go and talk to her andsay something to make her feel easy in her mind? She is very nervous. She is frightened. "

"I'm not much of a ladies' man, " stated Old Mull. But he pulled off hiscap and smoothed his grizzled hair. 

"And if you could only say that you're going to help us!" pleaded thelover. "We throw ourselves on your mercy, sir. "

"I ain't much good as a life-raft in this love business. " He started forthe companionway. 

"But don't tell her that you will not marry us--not just now. Wait tillshe is calmer. "

"Oh, I sha'n't tell her! Don't worry!" said Captain Downs, with a grimset to his mouth. "All she, or you, gets out of me can be put in aflea's eye. "

He disappeared down the steps, and Bradish followed. A mate had comeaft, obeying the master's hand-flourish, and he took up the watch. In alittle while Mayo was relieved. He went forward, conscious that he wasa bit irritated and disappointed because he had not seen the heroine ofthis love adventure, and wondering just a bit at his interest in thatyoung lady. 

An hour later Mayo, coiling down lines in the alley outside theengine-room, overheard a bulletin delivered by the one-eyed cook to theengineer. 

The cook had trotted forward, his sound eye bulging out and thus mutelyexpressing much astonishment. "There's a dame aft. I've been making teaand toast for her. "

"Well, you act as if it was the first woman you'd ever seen. What's thespecial excitement about a skirt going along as passenger?"

"She wa'n't expected to be aboard. I heard the old man talking with her. The flash gent that's passenger has rung her in somehow. I didn't getall the drift be-cause the old man only sort of purred while I was inhearing distance. But I caught enough to know that it ain't according toschedule. "

"Good looker?" The engineer was showing a bit of interest. 

"She sure is!" declared the cook, demonstrating that one eye is ashandy, sometimes, as two. "Peaches and cream, molasses-candy hair, handsas white as pastry flour. Looks good enough to eat. "

"Nobody would ever guess you are a cook, hearing you describe a girl, "sneered the engineer. 

"There's a mystery about her. I heard her kind of taking on before thedude hushed her up. She was saying something about being sorry that shehad come, and that she wished she was back, and that she had alwaysdone things on the impulse, and didn't stop to think, and so forth, andcouldn't the ship be turned around. "

Mayo forgot himself. He stopped coiling ropes and stood there andlistened eagerly until the cook's indignant eye chanced to take a swingin his direction. 

"Do you see who's standing there butting in on the private talk of twogents?" he asked the engineer. "Hand me that grate-poker--the hot one. I'll show that nigger where he belongs. "

But Mayo retreated in a hurry, knowing that he was not permitted toprotest either by word or by look. However, the cook had given himsomething else besides an insult--he had retailed gossip which kept theyoung man's thoughts busy. 

In spite of his rather contemptuous opinion of the wit of a girl whowould hazard such a silly adventure, he found himself pitying herplight, guessing that she was really sorry. But as to what was going onin the master's cabin he had no way of ascertaining. He wondered whetherCaptain Downs would marry the couple in such equivocal fashion. 

At any rate, pondered Mayo, how did it happen to be any affair of his?He had troubles enough of his own to occupy his sole attention. 

Their spanking wind from the sou'west let go just as dusk shut down. Ayellowish scud dimmed the stars. Mayo heard one of the mates say thatthe glass had dropped. He smelled nasty weather himself, having thesailor's keen instinct. The topsails were ordered in, and he climbedaloft and had a long, lone struggle before he got the heavy canvasfolded and lashed. 

When he reached the deck a mate commanded him to fasten the canvascovers over the skylights of the house. The work brought him withinrange of the conversation which Captain Downs and Bradish were carryingon, pacing the deck together. 

"Of course I don't want to throw down anybody, captain, " Bradish wassaying. There was an obsequious note in his voice; it was the tone of aman who was affecting confidential cordiality in order to get on--to wina favor. "But I have a lot of sympathy for you and for the rest of theschooner people. I have been right there in the office, and have hada finger in the pie, and I've seen what has been done in a good manycases. Of course, you understand, this is all between us! I'm not givingaway any of the office secrets to be used against the big fellows. ButI'm willing to show that I'm a friend of yours. And I know you'll be afriend of mine, and keep mum. All is, you can get wise from what I tellyou and can keep your eyes peeled from now on. "

Mayo heard fragmentary explanation of how the combination of steamboatand barge interests had operated to leave only pickings to theschooners. The two men were tramping the deck together, and at the turnswere too far away from him to be heard distinctly. 

"But they're putting over the biggest job of all just now, " proceededBradish. "Confound it, Captain Downs, I'm not to be blamed for runningaway with a man's daughter after watching him operate as long as I have. His motto is, 'Go after it when you see a thing you want in this world. 'I've been trained to that system. I've got just as much right to goafter a thing as he. I'm treasurer of the Paramount--that's the trustwith which they intend to smash the opposition. My job is to ask noquestions and to sign checks when they tell me to, and Heaven only knowswhat kind of a goat it will make of me if they ever have a show-down inthe courts! They worked some kind of a shenanigan to grab off the Voseline; I wired a pot of money to Fletcher Fogg, who was doing the dirtywork, and it was paid to a clerk to work proxies at the annual meeting. And then Fogg put up some kind of a job on a greenhorn captain--workeda flip trick on the fellow and made him shove the _Montana_ onto thesands. I suppose they'll have the Vose line at their price before I getback. "

Mayo sat there in the shadow, squatting on legs which trembled. 

This babbler--tongue loosened by his new liberty and by the antagonismhis small nature was developing, anticipating his employer's enmity--haddropped a word of what Mayo knew must be the truth. It had been atrick--and Fletcher Fogg had worked it! Mayo did not know who FletcherFogg's employer might be. From what office this tattler came he did notknow; but it was evident that Bradish was cognizant of the trick. Asa result of that trick, an honest man had been ruined and blacklisted, deprived of opportunity to work in his profession, was a fugitive, adespised sailor, kicked to the Very bottom of the ladder he had climbedso patiently and honorably. 

Furious passion bowled over Mayo's prudence. He leaped down from the topof the house and presented himself in front of the two men. 

"I heard it--I couldn't help hearing it!" he stuttered. 

"Here's a nigger gone crazy!" yelped Captain Downs. "Ahoy, there, for'ard! Tumble aft with a rope!"

"I'm no nigger, and I'm not crazy!" shouted Mayo. 

The swinging lantern in the companionway lighted him dimly. But in thegloom his dusky hue was only the more accentuated. His excitement seemedthat of a man whose wits had been touched. 

"I knew it was a trick. But what was the trick?" he demanded, startingtoward Bradish, his clutching hands outspread. 

Captain Downs kicked at this obstreperous sailor, and at the same timefanned a blow at his head with open palm. 

Mayo avoided both the foot and the hand. "What does the law say aboutstriking a sailor, captain? Hold on, there! I'm just as good a man asyou are. Don't you tell those men to lay hands on me. " He backed awayfrom the sailors who came running aft, with the second mate marshalingthem. He stripped up his sleeve and held his arm across the radiance ofthe binnacle light. "That's a white man's skin, isn't it?" he demanded. 

"What kind of play-acting is all this?" asked Old Mull, with astonishedindignation. 

In that crisis Mayo controlled his tongue after a mighty effort tosteady himself. He was prompted to obey his mood and announce hisidentity with all the fury that was in him. But here stood the man whohad served as one of the tools of his enemies, whoever they were. Forhis weapon against this man Mayo had only a few words of gossip whichhad been dropped in an unwary moment; he realized his position; heregretted his passionate haste. He was not ready to put himself into thepower of his enemies by telling this man who he was; he remembered thathe was running away from the law. 

Bradish gaped at this intruder without seeming to understand what it allmeant. 

"Passengers better get below out of the muss, " advised Captain Downs. "Here's a crazy nigger, mate. Grab him and tie him up. "

Mayo backed to the rack at the rail and pulled out two belaying-pins, mighty weapons, one for each hand. 

Bradish hurried away into the depths of the house, manifestly glad toget out from underfoot. 

"Don't you allow those niggers to lay their hands on me, " repeated theman at bay. "Captain Downs, let me have a word to you in private. " Hehad desperately decided on making a confidant of one of his kind. Hebitterly needed the help a master mariner could give him. 

"Get at him!" roared the skipper. "Go in, you niggers!"

"By the gods! you'll be short-handed, sir. I'll kill 'em!"

That threat was more effective than mere bluster. Captain Downsinstinctively squinted aloft at the scud which was dimming the stars; hesniffed at the volleying wind. 

"One word to you, and you'll understand, sir!" pleaded Mayo. He put thepins back into the rack and walked straight to the captain. 

There was no menace in his action, and the mate did not interfere. 

"Just a word or two to you, sir, to show you that I have done more thanthrow my hat into the door of the Masters and Mates Association. " Heleaned close and whispered. "Now let me tell you something else--inprivate?" he urged in low tones. 

Captain Downs glanced again at the bared arm and surveyed this sailorwith more careful scrutiny. "You go around and come into the for'ardcabin through the coach-house door, " he commanded, after a littlehesitation. 

Mayo bowed and hurried away down the lee alley. 

That cabin designated as the place of conference was the dining-saloonof the schooner. He waited there until Captain Downs, moving his bulkmore deliberately, trudged down the main companionway and came into theapartment through its after-door which no sailor was allowed to profane. 

"Can anybody--in there--hear?" asked Mayo, cautiously. He pointed to themain saloon. 

"She's in her stateroom and he's talking through the door, " grunted theskipper. "Now what's on your mind?"

Mayo reached his hand into an inside pocket of his shirt and drew fortha document. He laid it in Captain Downs's hand. The skipper sat down atthe table, pulled out his spectacles, and adjusted them on his bulgingnose in leisurely fashion, spread the paper on the red damask cloth, andstudied it. He tipped down his head and stared at Mayo over the edge ofhis glasses with true astonishment. 

"This your name in these master's papers?" he demanded. 

"Yes, sir. "

"You're--you claim to be the Captain Mayo who smashed the _Montana?_"

"I'm the man, sir. I hung on to my papers, even though they have beencanceled. "

"How do I know about these papers? How do I know your name is Mayo? Youmight have stolen 'em--though, for that matter, you might just as wellcarry a dynamite bomb around in your pocket, for all the good they'll doyou. "

"That's the point, sir. They merely prove my identity. Nobody else wouldwant them. Captain Downs, I'm running away from the law. I own up toyou. Let me tell you how it happened. "

"Make it short, " snapped the captain, showing no great amiability towardthis plucked and discredited master. "The wind is breezing up. "

He told his story concisely and in manly fashion, standing up whileCaptain Downs sat and stared over his spectacles, drumming his stubbyfingers on the red damask. 

"There, sir, that's why I am here and how I happened to get here, " Mayoconcluded. 

"I ain't prepared to say it isn't so, " admitted Old Mull at last, "nomatter how foolish it sounds. And I'm wondering if next I'll find theKing of Peruvia or the Queen of Sheba aboard this schooner. New folksare piling in fast! I know Captain Wass pretty well, though I never laideye on you to know you. Where's that wart on his face?"

"Starboard side of his nose, sir. "

"What does he do, whittle off his chaw or bite the plug?"

"Neither. Chews fine cut. "

"What's his favorite line of talk?"

"Reciting the pilot rules and jawing because the big fellows slam alongwithout observing them. "

"Last remark showing that you have been in the pilothouse along withCaptain Wass! Examination is over and you rank one hundred and the boardstands adjourned!" He rose and shook hands with Mayo. "Now what can I dofor you?"

"I don't suppose you can do much of anything, Captain Downs. But I'mgoing to ask you this, master to masted. Don't let a soul aboard thisschooner know who I am--especially those two back there!" He pointed tothe door of the main saloon. 

"Seems to be more or less of a masked-ball party aboard here!" growledthe skipper. 

"That man you call Bradish, whoever he is, knows what kind of a gamethey played on me. I want to get it out of him. If he knows who I am hewon't loosen! I was a fool to break in as I did. He was coming across toyou. "

"Seemed to be pretty gossipy, " admitted the captain. "Is trying to be myspecial chum so as to work me!"

"Don't you suppose you can get some more out of him?"

"Might be done. "

"I feel that it's sailors against the shore pirates this time, sir. Won't you call that man out here and ask him some questions and allow meto listen?"

"Under the circumstances I'll do it. Sailors first is my motto. You stepinto the mate's stateroom, there, and put ear to the crack o' the door. "

But when Bradish appeared, answering the captain's summons, all hischattiness had left him. He declared that he knew nothing about thetrouble in the _Montana_ case. 

"But you said something about a scheme to fool a green captain?"

"It was only gossip--I probably got it wrong. I have thought it over andreally can't remember where I heard it or much about it. Might have beenjust newspaper faking. "

He kept peering about the dimly lighted room. 

"You needn't worry, young man. That nigger isn't here. "

"But he said he was a white man. And how does he come to be interested?"

"It's a nigger gone crazy about that case--he has probably been readingfake stories in the papers, too, " stated Captain Downs, grimly. "I mustremind you again, Bradish, that you were talking to me in pretty livelystyle. "

"Oh, a man lets out a lot of guesswork when he is nervous about his ownbusiness. "

"Well, I might fix it so that you'd be a little less nervous, providingyou'll show a more willing disposition when I ask you a few questions, "probed the skipper. But this insistence alarmed Bradish and his blinkingeyes revealed his fears and suspicions. 

"I don't know anything about the _Montana_ case. I don't intend to doany talking about it. "

Captain Downs tapped harder on the table, scowled, and was silent. 

"Anything else, sir?" inquired Bradish, after a pause. 

"Guess not, if that's the way you feel about it!" snapped Captain Downs. 

Bradish went back into the main saloon, and the eavesdropper venturedforth. 

"I don't know just what the dickens to do about you, now that I know whoyou are, " confessed the master, looking Mayo up and down. 

"There isn't anything to do except let me go back to my work, sir. "

"I'm in a devil of a position. You're a captain. "

"I shipped on board here before the mast, Captain Downs, and knewexactly what I was doing. I'll take my medicine. "

"I don't like to have you go for'ard there among those cattle, Mayo. "

"Captain Downs, it was wrong for me to make the break I did on yourquarter-deck. I ought to have kept still; but the thing came to me sosudden that I went all to pieces. I'd like to step back into the crewand have you forget that I'm Boyd Mayo. I'll sneak ashore in Boston andlose myself. "

The captain tipped up his cap and scratched the side of his head. "Seemsas if I remember you being at the wheel, Mayo, when that fellow wasunloading some pretty important information on to me. "

"I couldn't help hearing, sir. "

"So you know he's eloping with a girl?" The old skipper lowered hisvoice. 

"Yes, sir. "

"Did you ever hear of such a cussed, infernal performance? And I havetalked with the girl, and she really doesn't seem to be that sort atall. She's flighty, you can see that. She has been left to run loose toomuch, like a lot of girls in society are running loose nowadays. Theythink of a thing that's different, and, biff! they go do it. She iswishing she hadn't done this. That shows some sense. " He studied theyoung man. "Do you know anything about this right a captain has toperform marriage ceremonies?"

"Nothing special. "

"It will probably be a good thing for that girl to be married andsettled down. She seems to have picked out Bradish. Mayo, you're oneof my kind, and I want to help you. I'll take a chance on my right toperform the ceremony. What say if we get Bradish back in here and swap amarriage for what he can tell us about the _Montana_ business?"

"Captain Downs, a fellow who will put up a job of this kind on a girl, no matter if she has encouraged him, is a cheap pup, " declared Mayo, promptly and firmly. "I don't want to buy back my papers in any suchfashion. "

"Then you don't approve of my marrying them?"

"I haven't any right to tell you what you shall do, sir. I'm talkingmerely for myself. "

Captain Downs pondered. "If he's her father's right-hand man, he'sprobably just as good as most of the land pirates who have been courtingher. If she goes home married, even if it is only marriage on the highseas, contract between willing persons with witnesses and the master ofthe vessel officiating, as I believe it's allowed, she'll have her goodname protected, and that means a lot. I don't know as I have any rightto stand out and block their way, seeing how far it has gone. What doyou think, Mayo?"

"I don't believe I want to make any suggestions, sir. "

At that moment the door aft opened. Mayo was near the door of the mate'sstateroom in the shadows, and he dodged back into his retreat. He heardBradish's voice. 

"Captain Downs, this young lady has something to say to you and I hopeyou'll listen!"

Then the girl's voice! It was impetuous outburst. She hurried her wordsas if she feared to wait for second and saner reflection. 

"Captain Downs, I cannot wait any longer. You must act. I beg of you. Ihave made up my mind. I am ready!"

"Ready to get married, you mean?"

"Yes! Now that my mind is made up, please hurry!"

Her tone was high-pitched, tears were close behind her desperation, herwords rushed almost incoherently. But Mayo, staring sightlessly in theblack darkness of the little stateroom, his hearing keen, knew thatvoice. He could not restrain himself. He pulled the door wide open. 

The girl was Alma Marston. 

Her eyes were bright, her cheeks were flushed, and it was plain that herimpulsive nature was flaming with determination. The shadows were deepin the corners of the saloon, and the man in the stateroom door was notnoticed by the three who stood there in the patch of light cast by theswinging lamp. 

"I ask you--I beg you--I have made up my mind! I must have it overwith. "

"Don't have hysterics! This is no thing to be rushed. "

"You must. "

"You're talking to a captain aboard his own vessel, ma'am!"

From Mayo's choking throat came some sort of sound and the girl glancedin his direction, but it was a hasty and indifferent gaze. Her ownaffairs were engrossing her. He reeled back into the little room, andthe swing of the schooner shut the door. 

"You are captain! You have the power! That's why I am talking to you, sir!"

"But when you talked with me a little while ago you were crawfishing!"was Captain Downs's blunt objection. 

"I am sorry I have been so imprudent. I ought not to be here. I havesaid so. I do too many things on impulse. Now I want to be married!"

"More impulse, eh?"

"I must be able to face my father. "

There was silence in the saloon. 

Mayo shoved trembling fingers into his mouth and bit upon them to keepback what his horrified reason warned him would be a scream of protest. In spite of what his eyes and ears told him, it all seemed to be somesort of hideous unreality. 

"It's a big responsibility, " proceeded Captain Downs, mumbling his wordsand talking half to himself in his uncertainty. "I've been trying to getsome light on it from another--from a man who ought to understand moreabout it than what I do. It's too much of a problem for a man to wrasslewith all alone. "

He turned his back on them, gazed at the stateroom door, tipped his capawry, and scratched his head more vigorously than he had in his pastponderings. 

"Say, you in there! Mate!" he called, clumsily preserving Mayo'sincognito. "I'm in a pinch. Say what you really think!"

There was no word from the stateroom. 

"You're an unprejudiced party, " insisted the skipper. "You have goodjudgment. Now what?"

"Who is that, in there?" demanded Bradish. 

"Why should this person, whoever he is, have any-thing to say about myaffairs?" asked the girl. 

"Because I'm asking him to say!" yelped the skipper, showing anger. "I'mrunning this! Don't try to tell me my own business!" He walked towardthe door. "Speak up, mate!"

"It's an insult to me--asking strangers about my private affairs!" Theprotest of the girl was a furious outburst. 

"I resent it, captain! Most bitterly resent it, " stated Bradish. 

The old skipper walked back toward them. "Resent it as much as youcondemned like, sir! You're here asking favors of me. I want to do whatis right for all concerned. You ought to be married--I admit that. Butwhat sort of a position does it leave me in? Are you going to tell methis girl's name?"

"I'm Alma Marston!" She volleyed the name at him with hystericalviolence, but he did not seem to be impressed. "I am Julius Marston'sdaughter!"

The skipper looked her up and down. 

"Now you will be so good as to proceed about your duty!" she commanded, haughtily. 

"Well, you can't expect me to show any special neighborly kindness tothe Wall Street gouger who kept me tied up without a charter two monthslast spring with his steamboat combinations and his dicker deals!"

"How are we to take that, sir?" asked Bradish. 

The girl was staring with frank wonder at this hard-shelled mariner whomshe had not been able to impress by her name or her manner. 

"Just as you want to. "

"I demand an explanation. "

"Well, I'll give it to you, seeing that I'm perfectly willing to. Takeit one way, and I'm willing to wallop Julius Marston by handing himthe kind of a son-in-law you'd make; take it the other way, and I ain'tparticular about doing anything to accommodate anybody in the Marstonfamily. " He eyed them sardonically. 

"So, you see, I'm betwixt and between in the matter! It's like settlinga question by flipping a cent. And I'll tell you what I'm going to do!"He smacked his palm on the table. He strode back toward the stateroomdoor. "Mate, ahoy, there! Sailor to sailor, now, and remember that youhave asked something of _me!_ If you were captain of this schooner wouldyou marry off these two?"

They waited in silence, in which they heard the whummle and screechof the wind outside and the angry squalling of the sheathing of theplunging schooner's cabin walls. 

The voice which replied to Captain Downs's query did not sound human. Itwas a sort of muffled wail, but there was no mistaking its positiveness. 

"No!" said the man behind the door. 

Back to the table lurched Captain Downs. He pounded down his fist. "Thatsettles it with me!" Then he poised his big hand on the edge of thetable-cover. "I was ready to tip one way or the other and it neededonly a little push. I have tipped. " Down came the palm flat on thetable-cloth with final and decisive firmness. "Young man, " he informedBradish, "there's an extra stateroom, there, off this dining-saloon. Youtake it!"

"What can I tell my father?" wailed the girl, the fire of herdetermination suddenly quenched by sobbing helplessness. 

"You can tell him that I temporarily adopted you as my daughter at threebells on this particular evening, and I'll go to him and back you up ifit becomes necessary. " He opened the door leading aft and bowed. "Now, you trot along to your stateroom, sissy!"

After hesitating a few moments she hurried away. The skipper locked thedoor and slipped the key into his pocket. 

"Do you think I'm going to--" began Bradish, angrily. 

"I ain't wasting any thoughts on you, sir. I'm saving 'em all for the_Drusilla M. Alden_ just now. "

The craft's plunging roll gave evidence that the sea was making. Atthat instant the first mate came down a few steps of the forwardcompanionway, entering through the coach-house door. 

"She's breezing up fresh from east'ard, sir!" he reported. 

"So I've judged from the way this sheathing is talking up. I'll be ondeck at once, Mr. Dodge. "

That report was a summons to a sailor; Mayo came staggering out of thestateroom. He looked neither to right nor left nor at either of the menin the saloon. He stumbled toward the companionway, reaching his handsin front of him after the fashion in which a man gropes in the dark. 

"Are you letting a nigger--and a crazy one at that--decide the biggestthing in my life?" raged Bradish. 

"I know what I'm doing, " Captain Downs assured him. But the skipper wasmanifestly amazed by the expression he saw on Mayo's face. 

"I won't stand for it! Here, you!" Bradish rushed across the room andintercepted Mayo. 

"Come away from that man!" commanded the skipper. 

But Bradish was not in a mood to obey authority. "There's somethingbehind this and I propose to be let in on it! Stop, you!" He pushedMayo back, but the latter's face did not change its expression of dull, blank, utter despair which saw not and heard not. Mayo recovered himselfand came on again, looking into vacancy. 

"If you have a grudge against me, by the gods, I'll wake you up and makeyou explain it!" shouted Bradish. He drew back his arm and drove a quickpunch squarely against the expressionless face. The blow came with alurch of the vessel and Mayo fell flat on his back. He went down asstiffly as he had walked, with as little effort to save himself as astore dummy would have made. 

But he was another man when he came upon his feet. 

Bradish had awakened him!

The master of the _Alden_ hurried around the table, roaring oaths, andtried to get between them, but he was an unwieldy man on his short legs. Before he was in arm's-length they were at each other, dodging here andthere. 

Bradish was no shrimp of an adversary; he was taller than hisantagonist, and handled his fists like a man who had been trained as anamateur boxer. 

They fought up and down the cabin, battering each other's face. 

The indignant master threatened them with an upraised chair, tried tostrike down their hands with it, but they were in no mood to mind amediator. They fought like maddened cats, banging against the cabinwalls, whirling in a crazy rigadoon to find an opening for their fists;Captain Downs was not nimble enough to catch them. Uttering awfulprofanity, he threatened to shoot both of them and rushed into the mainsaloon, unlocking the door. 

"I'm coming back with a gun!" he promised. But the fight ended suddenlyin a wrestling trick. 

Mayo closed in, got Bradish's right hand in a grip, and doubled the armbehind his adversary's back. Then he tripped the city man and laidhim backward over the table and against its edge with a violence thatbrought a yell of pain and made Bradish limp and passive. Mayo held himthere. 

"My grudge, eh? My grudge!" the victor panted. "Because you wouldn'ttell me how the sneaks ruined me? No! The girl isn't here now. I'll tellyou! It's because you stole her self-respect and her good name, and itmakes you too dirty a dog to be her husband!"

He picked up Bradish and threw him on the floor. When he turned he sawthe girl's white, agonized, frightened face at the crack of the saloondoor. 

"Captain Downs!" she shrieked, "that negro is killing him. He's killingRalph!"

The victor turned his back on her and lurched around the table on hisway out. He stroked blood from his face with his palm, and was glad thatshe had not recognized him; and yet, her failure to do so, even thoughhe was such a pitiable figure of the man she had known, was one moreslash of the whip of anguish across his raw soul. For a moment they hadstood there, face to face, and only blank unrecognition greeted him; itmade this horrible contretemps seem all the more unreal. 

Mayo did not pause to listen to the ravings of Captain Downs, whocame thrusting past her. Dizzy, bleeding, half blind, he rushed up theforward companionway and went into the black night on deck. 

The mate was bawling for all hands to shorten sail, and Mayo took hisplace with the toilers, who were manning sheets and downhauls. 

XXIII ~ THE MONSTER THAT SLIPPED ITS LEASH

 And there Captain Kirby proved a coward at last, And he played at bo-peep behind the mainmast, And there they did stand, boys, and shiver and shake, For fear that that terror their lives it would take. --Admiral Benbow. 

Rain came with the wind, and the weather settled into a sullen, driving, summer easterly. 

Late summer regularly furnishes one of those storms to the Atlanticcoast, a recrudescence of the wintry gales, a trial run of the elements, a sort of inter-equinoctial testing out so that Eurus may be sure thathis bellows is in working condition. 

Such a storm rarely gives warning ahead that it is to be severe. Itseems to be a meteorological prank in order to catch mariners napping. 

At midnight the _Alden_ was plunging into creaming seas, her five maststhrummed by the blast. With five thousand tons of coal weighting her, she wallowed like a water-soaked log. 

Mayo, who was roused from his hideous agony of soul at four bells, morning, to go on deck for his watch, ventured as near the engine-roomdoor as he dared, for the rain was soaking his meager garments andthe red glow from within was grateful. The ship's pump was clanking, acircumstance in no way alarming, because the huge schooners of the coaltrade are racked and wrenched in rough water. 

The second mate came to the engine-room, lugging the sounding-rod to thelight in order to examine the smear on its freshly chalked length. 

He tossed it out on deck with a grunt of satisfaction. "Nothing tohurt!" he said to the engineer. "However, I'd rather be inside the capesin this blow. The old skimmer ain't what she used to be. Johnson, doyou know that this schooner is all of two feet longer when she is loadedthan when she is light?"

"I knew she was hogged, but I didn't know it was as bad as that. "

"I put the lead-line on her before she went into the coal-dock thistrip, and I measured her again in the stream yesterday. With a cargoshe just humps right up like a monkey bound for war. That's the way withthese five-masters! They get such a racking they go wrong before theowners realize. "

"They'll never build any more, and I don't suppose they want to spendmuch money on the old ones, " suggested the engineer. 

"Naturally not, when they ain't paying dividends as it is. " He steppedto the weather rail and sniffed. "I reckon the old man will be droppingthe killick before long, " he said. 

Mayo knew something of the methods of schooner masters and was notsurprised by the last remark. 

In the gallant old days, when it was the custom to thrash out a blow, the later plan of anchoring a big craft in the high seas off theDelaware coast, with Europe for a lee, would have been viewed with acertain amount of horror by a captain. 

But the modern skipper figures that there's less wear and tear if heanchors and rides it out. To be sure, it's no sort of a place for asqueamish person, aboard a loaded schooner whose mudhook clutchesbottom while the sea flings her about, but the masters and crews ofcoal-luggers are not squeamish. 

Mayo, glancing aft, saw two men coming forward slowly, stopping atregular intervals. The light of a lantern played upon their drippingoilskins. When they arrived at the break of the main-deck, near theforward house, he recognized Captain Downs and the first mate. Thesecond mate stepped out and replied to the captain's hail. 

"Bring a maul and some more wedges!" commanded the master. 

"_Drusilla_ is getting her back up some more, " commented the secondmate, starting for the storeroom. "I don't blame her much. This is noplace for an old lady, out here to-night. " He ordered Mayo to accompanyhim. 

In a few moments they reported to the captain, the mate carrying thetwo-headed maul and the young man bearing an armful of wedges. 

Captain Downs bestowed on Mayo about the same attention he would haveallowed to a galley cockroach. He pointed to a gap in the rail. 

"There--drive one in there, " he told the mate. "Let that nigger hold thewedge. " There was rancor in his voice--baleful hostility shone in hissnapping eyes; no captain tolerates disobedience at sea, and Mayo haddisregarded all discipline in the cabin. 

The young man kneeled and performed the service and followed the partydutifully when they moved on to the next gap. 

The pitching schooner groaned and grunted and squalled in all herfabric. 

Every angle joint was working--yawing open and closing with dullgrindings as the vessel rolled and plunged. 

"By goofer, she's gritting her teeth in good shape!" commented the firstmate. 

"She ought to have been stiffened a year ago, when she first began toloosen and work!" declared Captain Downs. His anxiety stirred both histemper and his tongue. "I was willing to have my sixteenth into herassessed for repairs, but a stockholder don't have to go to sea! I wishI had an excursion party of owners aboard here now. "

"When these old critters once get loose enough to play they rattle topieces mighty fast, " said the mate. "But this is nothing specially bad. "

"Find out what we've got under us, " snapped Captain Downs. The wedgeshad been driven. "Let this nigger carry the lead for'ard!"

It was a difficult task in the night, because the leadline had to bepassed from the quarter-deck to the cathead outside the shrouds; therails and deck were slippery. Plainly, Captain Downs was proposing toshow Mayo "a thing or two. "

He let go the lead at command, and heard the man on the quarter-deck, catching the line when it swung into a perpendicular position, reporttwenty-five fathoms. 

Again, answering the mate's bawled orders, Mayo carried the lead forwardand dropped it, after a period of waiting, during which the schoonerhad been eased off. He was soaked to the skin, and was miserable in bothbody and mind. He had betrayed himself, he had made an enemy of the manwho knew something which could help him; he felt a queer sense of shameand despair when he remembered the girl and the expression of her face. He tried to convince himself that he did not care what her opinionof him was. What happened to that love she had professed on board the_Olenia?_ What manner of maiden was this? He did not understand!

Five times he made his precarious trip with the lead, fumbling his wayoutside the rigging. 

In twenty fathoms Captain Downs decided to anchor, after the mate, "arming" the lead by filling its cup with grease, found that they wereover good holding ground. 

When the _Alden_ came into the wind and slowed down, slapping wetsails, the second mate hammered out the holding-pin of the gigantic portanchor, and the hawse-hole belched fathom after fathom of chain. 

All hands were on deck letting sails go on the run into the lazy-jacks, and the big schooner swung broadside to the trough of the sea. She madea mighty pendulum, rolling rails under, sawing the black skies with hertowering masts. 

There are many things which can happen aboard a schooner in thatposition when men are either slow or stupid. A big negro who was payingout the mizzen-peak halyards allowed his line to foul. Into the triangleof sail the wind volleyed, and the thirty-foot mizzen-boom, the rollof the ship helping, swung as far as its loosened sheets allowed. The"traveler, " an iron hoop encircling a long bar of iron fastened at bothends to the deck, struck sparks as a trolley pulley produces fire from asleety wire. 

With splintering of wood and clanging of metal, the iron bar waswrenched from its deck-fastenings and began to fly to and fro across thedeck at the end of its tether, like a giant's slung-shot. It circled, itspun, it flung itself afar and returned in unexpected arcs. 

Men fled from the area which this terror dominated. 

The boom swung until it banged the mizzen shrouds to port, and then cameswooping back across the deck, to slam against the starboard shrouds. The clanging, tethered missile it bore on its end seemed to be searchingfor a victim. When the boom met the starboard shrouds in its headlongrush, the schooner shivered. 

"Free that halyard and douse the peak!" roared the first mate. 

A sailor started, ducking low, but he ran back when the boom came acrossthe deck with such a vicious swing that the iron bar fairly screamedthrough the air. 

"Gawd-a-mighty! She'll bang the mast out of her!" clamored CaptainDowns. "Get some men to those halyards, Mr. Dodge! Catch that boom!"

The mate ran and kicked at a sailor, shouting profane orders. He seizedthe fellow and thrust him toward the pins where the halyards werebelayed. But at that instant the rushing boom came hurtling overheadwith its slung-shot, and the iron banged the rail almost exactly wherethe fouled line was secured. The mate and the sailor fell flat on theirfaces and crawled back from the zone of danger. 

"Get some rope and noose that boom! Lassoo it!" commanded the master, touching up his orders with some lurid sea oaths. 

But the men who stepped forward did so timidly and slowly, and dodgedback when the boom threatened. The flying bar was a terrible weapon. Nowit swung in toward the mast--now swept in wider radius. Just where itwould next sweep the deck between the masts depended on the vagary ofwave and wind. It was perfectly apparent that anybody who got in itspath would meet death as instantly as a fly under a housewife's spanker. 

Life is sweet, even if a man is black and is toiling for a dollar-a-daywage. 

And even if a man is a mate, at a higher wage and with moreresponsibility, he is inclined to think of himself before he figures onsaving a mast and gear for a schooner's owners. 

"What kind of a gor-rammed crew have I got aboard here?" shrieked themaster. 

"About the kind that all wind-jammers carry these days, " said a voice athis elbow. 

Captain Downs whirled and found Mayo there. "How do you dare to speak tome, you tin-kettle sailor?" demanded the master. In his passion he wenton: "You're aboard here under false pretenses. You can't even do yourwork. You have made this vessel liable by assaulting a passenger. You'reno good! With you aboard here I'm just the same as one man short. " Buthe had no time to devote to this person. 

He turned away and began to revile his mates and his sailors, his voicerising higher each time the rampaging boom crashed from side to side. One or two of the backstays had parted, and it was plain that beforelong the mast would go by the board. 

"If that mast comes out it's apt to smash us clear to the water-line, "lamented the captain. 

"If you can make your herd of sheep give me a hand at the right time, I'll show you that a tin-kettle sailor is as good as a wind-jammerswab, " said Mayo, retaliating with some of the same sort of rancor thatCaptain Downs had been expending. In that crisis he was bold enough topresume on his identity as a master mariner. "I'd hate to find this kindof a bunch on any steamboat I've ever had experience with. "

Then he ran away before the captain had time to retort. He made a slideacross the danger zone on his back, like a runner in a ball game. Thismove brought him into a safe place between the mainmast and the mizzen. There was a coil of extra cable here, and he grabbed the loose end anddeftly made a running bowline knot. He set the noose firmly upon hisshoulders, leaped up, and caught at the hoops on the mizzenmast. 

"See to it that the line runs free from that coil, and stand by fororders!" he shouted, and though his dyed skin was dark and he wore thegarb of the common sailor, he spoke with the unmistakable tone of themaster mariner. The second mate ran to the line and took charge. 

"This is a bucking bronco, all right!" muttered Mayo. "But it's for thehonor of the steamboat men! I'll show this gang!"

He poised himself for a few moments on the crotch of the boom, clingingto the cringles of the luff--the short ropes with which the sail isreefed. 

As he stood there, gathering himself for his desperate undertaking, waiting for opportunity, taking the measure of the lashing and insensatemonster whom he had resolved to subdue, he heard Captain Downs bawl animpatient command:

"Passengers go below!"

Mayo looked aft and saw Alma Marston clinging to the spike-rack of thespanker mast. The coach-house lantern shone upon her white face. 

"Go below!" repeated the master. 

She shook her head. 

"This is no place for a woman. "

"The vessel is going to sink!" she quavered. 

"The schooner is all right. You go below!"

How bitter her fear was Mayo could not determine. But even at hisdistance he could see stubborn resolution on her countenance. 

"If I've got to die, I'll not die down there in a box, " she cried. "I'mgoing to stay right here. "

Captain Downs swore and turned his back on her. Apparently he did notcare to come to a real clinch with this feminine mutineer. 

The great spar crashed out to the extent of its arc, and the sailvolleyed with it, ballooning under the weight of the wind. Thereef-points were no longer within Mayo's reach. He ran along the boom, arms outspread to steady himself, and was half-way to its end before thetelltale surge under him gave warning. Then he fell upon the huge stick, rolled under it, and shoved arms and legs under the foot of the sail. Barely had he clutched the spar in fierce embrace before it began itsreturn journey. It was a dizzy sweep across the deck, a breath-takingplunge. 

When the spar collided with the stays he felt as if arms and legs wouldbe wrenched from his body. He did not venture to move or to relax hishold. He clung with all his strength, and nerved himself for the returnjourney. He had watched carefully, and knew something of the vagariesof the giant flail. When it was flung to port the wind helped to holdit there until the resistless surge of the schooner sent it flying wildonce more. He knew that no mere flesh and blood could endure manyof those collisions with the stays. He resolved to act on the nextoscillation to port, in order that his strength might not be gone. 

"See that the cable runs free!" he screamed as he felt the stick liftfor its swoop. 

He swung himself upward over the spar the moment it struck, and themomentum helped him. He ran again, steadying himself like a tight-wireacrobat. He snatched the noose from his shoulders, slipped it overthe end of the boom, and yelled an order, with all the strength of hislungs:

"Pull her taut!"

At that instant the boom started to swing again. 

Standing on the end of the spar, he was outboard; the frothing sea wasunder him. He could not jump then; to leap when the boom was sweepingacross the deck meant a skinful of broken bones; to wait till the boombrought up against the stays, so he realized, would invite certaindisaster; he would either be crushed between the boom and shrouds orsnapped far out into the ocean as a bean 'is filliped by a thumb. On theextreme end of the spar the leverage would be so great that he could nothope to cling there with arms and legs. 

A queer flick of thought brought to Mayo the phrase, "Between the deviland the deep sea. " That flying boom was certainly the devil, and thefoaming sea looked mighty deep. 

Her weather roll was more sluggish and Mayo had a moment to look aboutfor some mode of escape. 

He saw the sail of "number four" mast sprawling loose in its lazy-jacks, unfurled and showing a tumbled expanse of canvas. When he was inside therail, and while the boom was gathering momentum, he took his life in hishands and his grit between his teeth and leaped toward the sail. He madethe jump just at the moment when the boom would give him the most help. 

He heard Captain Downs's astonished oath when he dove over that worthymariner's head, a human comet in a twenty-foot parabola. 

He landed in the sail on his hands and knees, yelling, even as healighted: "Catch her, boys!"

They did it when the spar banged against the stays. They surged on therope, tightened the noose, and before the vessel rolled again had madehalf a dozen turns of the free end of the cable around the nearestcleats. 

Mayo scrambled down from the sail and helped them complete the work ofsecuring the spar. He passed near Captain Downs when the job had beenfinished. 

"Well, " growled the master of the _Alden_, "what do you expect me to sayto that?"

"I simply ask you to keep from saying something. "

"What?"

"That a steamboat man can't earn his pay aboard a wind-jammer, sir. Idon't like to feel that I am under obligations in any way. "

The master grunted. 

"And if the little thing I have done helps to square that break I madeby licking your passenger I'll be glad of it, " added Mayo. 

"You needn't rub it in, " said Captain Downs, carefully noting that therewas nobody within hearing distance. "When a man has been in a nightmarefor twenty-four hours, like I've been, you've got to make someallowances, Captain Mayo. This is a terrible mixed-upmess. " He squintedat the mizzen rigging where the lanterns revealed the damage. "And bythe way those backstays are ripped out, and seeing how that mast iswabbling, this schooner is liable to be about as badly mixed up as thepeople are on board of her. "

Mayo turned away and went back to his work. They were riggingextra stays for the mizzenmast. And he noted that the girl near thecoach-house door was staring at him with a great deal of interest. Butin that gloom he was only a moving figure among toiling men. 

An hour later the mate ordered the oil-bags to be tied to the catheads. The bags were huge gunny sacks stuffed with cotton waste which wassaturated with oil. 

In spite of the fact that her spanker, double-reefed, was set in orderto hold her up to the wind, weather-vane fashion, the schooner seemeddetermined to keep her broadside to the tumbling seas. The oil slickhelped only a little; every few moments a wave with spoondrift flyingfrom it would smash across the deck, volleying tons of water betweenrails, with a sound like thunder. At these times the swirling torrent inthe waist would reach to a man's knees. 

Mayo did not take his watch below. The excitement of his recentexperience had driven away all desire for sleep, and the sheathing inthe fo'c'sle was squawking with such infernal din that only a deaf mancould have remained there in comfort. 

However, he was not uneasy in regard to the safety of the schooner. Ina winter gale, with ice caking on her, he would have viewed theirsituation in different light. But he had frequently seen the seasbreaking over the wallowing coal-luggers when he had passed them atanchor on the coast. 

He made a trip of his own along the main-deck, scrambling upon the sparsto avoid the occasional deluge which swept her amidship. The battenedhatches were apparently withstanding the onslaughts of the waves. Hecould feel less weight in the wind. It was apparent that the crisis ofthe blow had passed. The waves were not so savage; their crests were notbreaking. But just then the second mate rushed past, and Mayo overheardthe report he gave the captain, who was pacing the lee alley:

"The mizzenmast is getting more play, sir. I'm afraid it's raising thedevil with the step and ke'lson. "

"Rig extra stays and try her again for water, " ordered the master. 

Mayo, returning to the mizzen, found the entire crew grouped there. The mast was writhing and groaning in its deck collar, twisting itscoat--the canvas covering at its foot where it entered the deck. 

The dusky faces were exhibiting much concern. They had flocked where theship was dealing herself a wound; the sailor sixth sense of impendingtrouble had drawn them there. 

"Four of you hustle aloft and stand ready to make fast those stays!"commanded the first mate. 

"Rest of you make ready tackle!" shouted the second mate, followingclose on Mayo's heels. 

The negroes did not stir. They mumbled among themselves. 

"Step lively!" insisted the mate. 

"'Scuse us, but dat mast done goin' to tumble down, " ventured a man. 

"Aloft with you, I say!"

Just then the schooner slatted herself on a great roller, andthe starboard stays snapped, one after the other, like mammothfiddle-strings. The mast reeled and there was an ominous sound below thedeck. 

"She done put a hole into herself!" squealed a sailor. 

In the gloom their eyes were gleaming with the fires one beholds in theeyes of frightened cats. 

"Dere she comes!" shouted one of them. He pointed trembling finger. 

Over the coamings of the fore-hatch black water was bubbling. 

Yelping like animals, the sailors stampeded aft in a bunch, bowling overMayo and the mates in their rush. 

"Stop 'em, captain!" bellowed the first mate, guessing their intent. He rose and ran after them. But fright gave them wings for theirheels. They scampered over the roof of the after-house, and were on thequarter-deck before the skipper was out of the alley. They leaped intothe yawl which was swung at the stern davits. 

"You renegades!" roared the master. "Come out of that boat!"

With the two mates at his heels he rushed at them. They grabbed threestruggling men by the legs and dragged them back. But the negroeswriggled loose, driven to frantic efforts by their panic. They threwthemselves into the boat again. 

"Be men!" clamored Mayo, joining the forces of discipline. "There's awoman aboard here!"

But the plea which might have affected an Anglo-Saxon did not prevail. Their knives were out--not for attack on their superiors, but to slashaway the davit tackle. 

"Come on, boys! Throw 'em out!" shouted the master, leading the way intothe yawl over the rail. 

His two mates and Mayo followed, and the engineer, freshly arrived fromforward, leaped after them. But as fast as they tossed a man upon thequarter-deck he was up and in the boat again fighting for a place. 

"Throw 'em overboard!" roared the master, venting a terrible oath. Heknocked one of the maddened wretches into the sea. The next moment thecaptain was flat on his back, and the sailors were trampling on him. 

Most of the surges came riding rail-high; sometimes an especiallyviolent wave washed the deck aft. 

Following it, a chasm regularly opened under the vessel's counter, aswirling pit in the ocean twenty feet deep. 

There was good fortune as well as misfortune in the affair of the yawl. When at last it dropped it avoided the period of the chasm. 

In spite of the efforts of the captain and his helpers the sailorssucceeded in slashing away the davit tackle. A swelling roller cameup to meet the boat as the last strand gave way and swept it, with itsfreight, out into the night. But as it went Mayo clutched a davit pulleyand swung in midair. 

The dizzy depths of the sea opened under him as he dangled there andgazed down. 

An instant later all his attention was focused on Alma Marston, whostood in the companionway clutching its sides and shrieking out herfears. The lantern showed her to him plainly. Its radiance lighted himalso. He called to her several times, angrily at last. 

"Where is that man, Bradish?" he demanded, fiercely. 

It seemed as if his arms would be pulled out. He could not reach thedavit iron from where he hung; the schooner's rail was too far away, though he kicked his feet in that direction. 

"Don't be a fool! Stop that screaming, " he told her. "Can Bradish!"

"He is sick--he--he--is frightened, " she faltered. 

"Come out here! Pull on that rope! Swing me in, I can't hold on heremuch longer. Do you want to see me drown?"

She came along the rail, clinging to it. 

"No, not that rope! The other one! Pull hard!"

She obeyed, fighting back her fear. The davit swung inward slowly, andhe managed to slide his legs up over the rail and gain the deck. 

"Thank you!" he gasped. "You're quite a sailor!"

He had been wondering what his first words to her would be. Even whilehe swung over the yawning depths of the sea the problem of his love wasso much more engrossing than his fear of death that his thoughts werebusy with her. He tried to speak to her with careless tone; it had beenin his mind that he would speak and bow and walk away. But he could notmove when she opened her eyes on him. She was as motionless as he--asilent, staring pallid statue of astounded fright. The rope slippedslowly from her relaxing fingers. 

"Yes! It's just the man you think it is, " he informed her, curtly. "Butthere's nothing to be said!"

"I must say something--"

But he checked her savagely. "This is no place to talk over folly! It'sno place to talk anything! There's something else to do besides talk!"

"We are going to die, aren't we?" She leaned close to him, and thequestion was hardly more than a whisper framed by her quivering lips. 

"I think so, " he answered, brutally. 

"Then let me tell you--"

"You can tell me nothing! Keep still!" he shouted, and drew away fromher. 

"Why doesn't Captain Downs come back after us?"

"Don't be a fool! The sea has taken them away. "

They exchanged looks and were silent for a little while, and thepride in both of them set up mutual barriers. It was an attitude whichconspired for relief on both sides. Because there was so much to saythere was nothing to say in that riot of the sea and of their emotions. 

"I won't be a fool--not any more, " she told him. There was so distinctlya new note in her voice that he stared at her. "I am no coward, " shesaid. She seemed to have mastered herself suddenly and singularly. 

Mayo's eyes expressed frank astonishment; he was telling himself againthat he did not understand women. 

"I don't blame you for thinking that I am a fool, but I am not acoward, " she repeated. 

"I'm sorry, " stammered the young man. "I forgot myself. "

"There is danger, isn't there?"

"I'm afraid the mast has pounded a bad hole in her. I must run forward. I must see if something can't be done. "

"I am going with you. " She followed him when he started away. 

"You must stay aft. You can't get forward along that deck. Look at thewaves breaking over her!"

"I am going with you, " she insisted. "Perhaps there is something thatcan be done. Perhaps I can help. "

The girl was stubborn, and he knew there was no time for argument. 

Three times on their way forward he was obliged to hold her in the hookof his arm while he fought with the torrent that a wave launched uponthe deck. 

There was no doubt regarding the desperate plight of the schooner. Shewas noticeably down by the head, and black water was swashing forwardof the break of the main-deck. The door of the galley was open, and theone-eyed cook was revealed sitting within beneath a swinging lantern. Heheld a cat under his arm. 

"Bear a hand here, cook!" called Mayo. 

But the man did not get off his stool. 

"Bear a hand, I say! We've got to rig tackle and get this long-boatover. "

The schooner's spare boat was in chocks between the foremast and themain. Mayo noted that it was heaped full of spare cable and held theusual odds and ends of a clutter-box. He climbed in hastily and gave ahand to the girl to assist her over the rail. 

"It will keep you out of the swash, " he advised her. "Sit there in thestern while I toss out this truck. "

But she did not sit down. She began to throw out such articles as herstrength could manage. 

Again Mayo hailed the cook, cursing him heartily. 

"Oh, it ain't any use, " declared the man, with resignation. "We'regoners. "

"We aren't gone till we go, you infernal turtle! Come here and pitchin. "

"I hain't got no heart left for anything. I never would have believedit. The Old Man going off and saving a lot of nigger sailors instead ofme--after all the vittles I've fixed up for him. If that's the kind ofgratitude there is in the world, I'm glad I'm going out of it. Me andthe cat will go together. The cat's a friend, anyway. "

Mayo lost his temper then in earnest. All his nature was on edge in thatcrisis, and this supine surrender of an able-bodied man whose two handswere needed so desperately was peculiarly exasperating. He leaped out ofthe boat, ran into the galley, and gave the cook an invigorating beatingup with the flat of his hands. The cook clutched his cat more firmly, braced himself on the stool, and took his punishment. 

"Kill me if you want to, " he invited. "I've got to die, and it don'tmake a mite of difference how. Murder me if you're so inclined. "

"Man--man--man, what's the matter with you?" gasped Mayo. "We've got achance! Here's a girl to save!"

"She hain't got no business being here. Was sneaked aboard. It's nouse to pound me. I won't lift a finger. My mind is made up. I've beendeserted by the Old Man. "

"You old lunatic, Captain Downs got carried away by those cowards. Wakeup! Help me! For the love of the Lord, help me!"

"Rushing around will only take my mind off'n thoughts of the hereafter, and I need to do some right thinking before my end. It ain't any use tothreaten and jaw; nothing makes any difference to me now. "

Mayo saw the uselessness of further appeal, and the fellow dangled aslimply as a stuffed dummy when the young man shook him. Therefore Mayogave over his efforts and hurried back to the long-boat. The spectacleof the girl struggling with the stuff she was jettisoning put newdetermination into him. Her amazing fortitude at the time when he hadlooked for hysterics and collapse gave him new light on the enigma offemininity. 

"Did you tell me that Bradish is ill?" he asked, hurriedly. 

"He is in the cabin. He would not talk to me. I could not induce him tocome on deck. "

"I must have help with the tackle, " he told her, and started aft on therun. 

He found Bradish sprawled in a morris-chair which was lashed to aradiator. He expected hot words and more insults, but Bradish turned tohim a face that was gray with evident terror. His jaw sagged; his eyesappealed. 

"This is awful!" he mourned. "What has happened on deck? I heard thefighting. Where is Miss Mar-ston?"

"She is forward. There has been an accident--a bad one. We have lost thecaptain and crew. Come on. I need help. "

"I can't help. I'm all in!" groaned Bradish. 

"I say you must. It's the only way to save our lives. "

Bradish rolled his head on the back of the chair, refusing. His manner, his sudden change from the fighting mood, astonished Mayo. The thoughtcame to him that this man had been pricked to conflict by bitter grudgeinstead of by his courage. 

"Look here, Bradish, aren't you going to help me save that girl?"

"I'm not a sailor. There's nothing I can do. "

"But you've got two hands, man. I want to get a boat overboard. Hurry!"

"No, no! I wouldn't get into a small boat with these waves so high. Itwouldn't be safe. "

"This schooner is sinking!" shouted Mayo. He fastened a heavy clutchupon Bradish's shoulders. "There's no time to argue this thing. You comealong!"

He hauled Bradish to his feet and propelled him to the companionway, and the man went without resistance. It was evident that real danger andfear of death had nearly paralyzed him. 

"There's nothing I can do!" he kept bleating. 

But Mayo hurried him forward. 

"Ralph!" cried the girl, fairly lashing him with the tone in which shedelivered the word. "What is the matter with you?"

"There's nothing I can do. It isn't safe out here. "

"You must do what this man tells you to do. He knows. "

But Bradish clung to the gunwale of the long-boat and stared out at theyeasty waves, blinking his eyes. 

"If I only had a couple of men instead of these two infernal tapeworms, "raged Mayo, "I could reeve tackle and get this boat over. Wake up! Wakeup!" he clamored, beating his fist on Bradish's back. 

"Ralph! Be a man!" There were anger, protest, shocked wonder in hertones. 

Suddenly Mayo saw an ominous sight and heard a boding sound. Thefore-hatch burst open with a mighty report, forced up by the aircompressed by the inflowing water. He wasted no more breath in argumentand appeals. He realized that even an able crew would not have time tolaunch the boat. The schooner was near her doom. 

In all haste he pulled his clasp-knife and cut the lashings which heldthe boat in its chocks. That the craft would be driven free from theentangling wreckage and go afloat when the schooner went under he couldhardly hope. But there was only this desperate chance to rely upon inthe emergency. 

In his agony of despair and his fury of resentment he was tempted toclimb into the boat and leave the two cowards to their fate. But hestooped, caught Bradish by the legs and boosted him over the gunwaleinto the yawl. A sailor's impulse is to save life even at the risk ofhis own. Mayo ran to the galley and kicked the cook off the stool andthen drove him headlong to the longboat. The man went along, hugging hiscat. 

"What will happen to us?" asked the girl when Mayo climbed in. 

"I don't know, " he panted. "I reckon the devil is pitching coppers forus just now--and the penny is just hopping off his thumb nail!"

His tone was reckless. The excitement of the past few hours was havingits effect on him at last. He was no longer normal. Something that wasalmost delirium affected him. 

"Aren't you frightened?" she asked. 

"Yes, " he admitted. "But I'm going to keep hustling just the same. "

Bradish and the cook were squatting amidships in the yawl. 

"You lie down under those thwarts, the two of you, and hang on, " criedMayo. Then he quickly passed a rope about the girl's waist and made theends of the line fast to the cleats. "I don't know what will happen whenthe old tub dives, " he told her. "Those five thousand tons of coal willtake her with a rush when she starts. All I can say is, hold tight andpray hard!"

"Thank you, " she said, quietly. 

"By gad, she's got grit!" muttered the young man, scrambling forwardover the prostrate forms of the other passengers. "I wonder if all thewomen in the world are this way?" He was remembering the bravery ofPolly Candage. 

There was a huge coil of rope in the bow, spare cable stored there. Mayomade fast the free end, working as rapidly as he was able, and bundledabout half the coil into a compact mass--a knob at the end of some tenfathoms of line. And to this knob he lashed oars and the mast he foundstowed in the boat. He knew that if they did get free from the schooneronly an efficient sea-anchor or drag would keep the yawl right side up. When this task was finished he crouched low in the bow and looked at thegirl. 

"We're about ready to start on our journey, " he called to her. "If Idon't see you again, good-by!"

"I shall not say good-by to you, Captain Mayo--not yet!"

XXIV ~ DOWN A GALLOPING SEA

 I saddled me an Arab steed and saddled her another, And off we rode together just like sister and like brother, Singing, "Blow ye winds in the morning! Blow ye winds, hi ho! Brush away the morning dew, Blow ye winds, hi ho!" --Blew Ye Winds. 

With anxiety that was almost despairing Mayo looked up at the shrouds, stays, and halyards, which were set like nets to right and left andoverhead. 

A big roller tumbled inboard and filled the space forward of the breakof the main-deck. The swirling water touched the sides of the long-boatand then receded when the stricken schooner struggled up from thewelter. A scuttle-butt was torn from its lashings and went by the board, and other flotsam followed it. 

Mayo found that spectacle encouraging. But the longboat sat high in itschocks; when it did float it might be too late. 

Another wave roared past, and the long-boat quivered. Then Mayo took achance without reckoning on consequences. He made a double turn of thecable around his forearm and leaped out of the boat and stood on deck, his shoulder against the stem. The next wave washed him to his waist, tore at him, beat him against the long-boat's shoe, but he clung fastand lifted and pushed with all his strength. 

That push did it!

The boat needed just that impetus to free her from the chocks. Shelifted and rushed stern foremost to lee, and the young man dragged afterher. 

When the boat dipped and halted in a hollow of the sea he clutchedthe bow and clambered in. Tugging mightily, he managed to dump thesea-anchor over. 

The next wave caught her on the quarter and slopped a barrel of waterinto her. But she kept right side up, and in a few moments the cablestraightened and she rode head into the tumult of the ocean; thesea-anchor was dragging and performing its service. 

Mayo was obliged to kick the two men with considerable heartiness beforehe could stir them to bailing with the buckets. The bedraggled cat fledto the shelter of the girl's arms. Mayo struggled aft, in order to takehis weight from the bow of the boat, and when he sat down beside thegirl she was "mothering" the animal. 

"It's coming in faster than I can throw it out!" wailed Bradish. 

"Bail faster, then! Bail or drown!"

"She's leaking, " announced the cook. "She has been on deck so long shehas got all dried out. "

"Bail or drown!" repeated Mayo. To the girl he said: "This seems to bethe only way of getting work out of cowards. They'll have to do it. I'mabout done for. "

The waves were lifting and dropping them in dizzying fashion. There wassuddenly a more violent tossing of the water. 

"That's the old packet! She went under then!" Mayo explained. "Thank theLord we are out of her clutches! I was afraid we were stuck there. "

"Is there any hope for us now?" she inquired. 

"I don't know. If the boat stays afloat and the wind doesn't haul andknock this sea crossways, if somebody sees us in the morning, if wedon't get rolled onto the coast in the breakers and--" He did notfinish. 

"It seems that a lot of things can happen at sea, " she suggested. 

"That fact has been proved to me in the past few weeks. "

"You mean in the past few hours, don't you?"

"Miss Marston, what has happened on that schooner is a part of thebusiness, and a sailor must take it as it comes along. I wish nothingworse had happened to me than what's happening now. "

She made no reply. 

"But no matter about it, " he said, curtly. 

The two men, kneeling amidships, clutching a thwart and bailing withtheir free hands, toiled away; even Bradish had wakened to the fact thathe was working for his own salvation. 

In the obscurity the waves which rose ahead seemed like mountains toppedwith snow. Hollows and hills of water swept past on their right andleft. But the crests of the waves were not breaking, and this fact meantrespite from immediate danger. 

"I'm sorry it was all left to you to do, " ventured the girl, breakinga long silence. "I thought Ralph had more man in him, " she added, bitterly. "I feel that he ought to apologize to you for--for severalthings. "

He, on his part, did not reply to that. He was afraid that she intendedto draw him into argument or explanation. Just what he would be able tosay to her on that topic was not clear to him. 

"It seems as if years had gone by instead of hours. It seems as if Ihad lived half a life since I left home. It seems as if I had changedmy nature and had grown up to see things in a different light. It is allvery strange to me. "

He did not know whether she were talking to herself or to him. He didnot offer comment. 

There was a long period of silence. The sound of rushing waters filled, that silence and made their conversation audible only to themselves whenthey talked. 

"I don't understand how you happened to be on that schooner--as--as youwere, " she said, hesitating. 

"I didn't rig myself out this way to play any practical jokes, MissMarston, " he returned, bitterly. 

"I would like to know how it all happened--your side of it. "

"I have talked too much already. "

There was no more conversation for a long time. He wondered how she hadmustered courage to talk at all. They were in a predicament to try thecourage of even a seasoned seaman. In the night, tossed by that wildsea, drifting they knew not where, she had apparently disregardeddanger. He asked himself if she had not merely exhibited feminineignorance of what their situation meant. He had often seen cases whereapparent bravado was based on such ignorance. 

"I must say that you told me at least one truth a while ago--you are nota coward, " he said at last. 

She was comforting the wretched cat. "But I am miserably frightened, "she admitted. "I don't dare to think about the thing. I don't dareto look at the waves. I talked to you so as to take my mind off mytroubles. I didn't mean to be prying. "

"I'll tell you what has been done to me, " he blurted. "Hearingsomebody's troubles may take your mind off your own. "

While the two men amidships bailed doggedly and weariedly, he told hisstory as briefly as he could. The gray dawn showed her face to him aftera time, and he was peculiarly comforted by the sympathy he saw there. Hedid not communicate to her any suspicions he may have entertained. Withsailor directness he related how he had hoped, and how all had beensnatched away from him. But on one topic the mouths of both seemed to besealed!

After a time Bradish and the cook were enabled to rest from the work ofbailing. The planks of the boat swelled and the leak was stopped. 

"You'd better crawl aft here and sit beside Miss Marston, " advised Mayo. "Be careful how you move. "

He passed Bradish and took the latter's place with the cook, and felta sense of relief; he had feared that the one, the dreaded topic wouldforce itself upon him. 

"I don't see no sense in prolonging all this agony, " averred hisdespondent companion. "We ain't ever going to get out of this alive. We're drifting in on the coast, and you know what that means. "

"You may jump overboard any time you see fit, " said the skipper of thecraft. "I don't need you any longer for bailing!"

"If that's the way you feel about it, you won't get rid of me so easy, "declared the cook, malevolence in his single eye. 

Mayo noticed, with some surprise, that after the two had exchanged a fewwords there was silence between Bradish and the girl. The New-Yorker waspale and trembling, and his jaw still sagged, and he threw glances toright and left as the surges galloped under them. He was plainly andwholly occupied with his fears. 

When day came at last without rain, but with heavy skies, in whichmasses of vapor dragged, Mayo began eager search of the sea. He hadno way of determining their whereabouts; he hoped they were far enoughoff-shore to be in the track of traffic. However, he could see no sail, no encouraging trail of smoke. But after a time he did behold somethingwhich was not encouraging. He stood up and balanced himself and gazedwestward, in the direction in which they were drifting; every now andthen a lifting wave enabled him to command a wide expanse of the sea. 

He saw a white ribbon of foam that stretched its way north and southinto the obscurity of the mists. He did not report this finding at once. He looked at his companions and pondered. 

"I think you have something to say to me, " suggested the girl. 

"I suppose I ought to say it. I've been wondering just how it ought tobe said. It's not pleasant news. "

"I am prepared to hear anything, Captain Mayo. Nothing matters a greatdeal just now. "

"We are being driven on to the coast. I don't know whether it's theDelaware or the New Jersey coast. It doesn't make much difference. Thebreakers are just as bad in one place as in the other. "

"Why don't you anchor this boat? Are you going to let it go ashore andbe wrecked?" asked Bradish, with anger that was childish. 

"The anchor seems to have been overlooked when we started on this littleexcursion. As I remember it, there was some hurry and bustle, " returnedMayo, dryly. 

"Why didn't you remember it? You got us into this scrape. You slammedand bossed everybody around. You didn't give anybody else a chance tothink. You call yourself a sailor! You're a devil of a sailor to comeoff without an anchor. "

"I suppose so, " admitted Mayo. 

"And there wasn't any sense, in coming off in this little boat. We oughtto have stayed on the schooner. "

"Ralph!" protested the girl. "Have you completely lost your mind? Don'tyou know that the schooner sank almost the minute we left it?"

"Mr. Bradish's mind was very much occupied at the time, " said CaptainMayo. 

"I don't believe the schooner sank. What does a girl know about suchthings? That fellow got scared, that's the trouble. There isn't anysense in leaving a big boat in a storm. We would have been taken offbefore this. We would have been all right. This is what comes of lettinga fool boss you around when he is scared, " he raved. 

"You are the fool!" she cried, with passion. "Captain Mayo saved us. "

"Saved us from what? Here we are going into the breakers--and he saysso--and there's no anchor on here. He took everything out of my hands. Now why doesn't he do something?"

"Don't pay any attention to him, " she pleaded. 

"We are going to be drowned! You can't deny it, can you? We're going todie!" He pulled a trembling hand from between his knees, where he hadheld both hands pinched in order to steady them. He shook his fist atMayo. "Own up, now. We're going to die, aren't we?"

"I think it's right to tell the truth at this stage, " said Mayo, insteady tones. "We're not children. Yonder is a beach with sand-reefs andbreakers, and when we strike the sand this boat will go over and overand we shall be tossed out. The waves will throw us up and haul us backlike a cat playing with mice. And we stand about the same chance asmice. "

"And that's the best you can do for us--and you call yourself a sailor!"whined Bradish. 

"I'm only a poor chap who has done his best as it came to his hand todo, " said the young man, seeking the girl's eyes with his. 

She gazed at him for a moment and then put both hands to her face andbegan to sob. 

"It's a hard thing to face, but we'd better understand the truth and beas brave as we can, " said Mayo, gently. 

"For myself I ain't a mite surprised, " averred the cook. "I had myhunch! I was resigned. But my plans was interfered with. I wanted to godown in good, deep, green, clean water like a sailor ought to. And nowI'm going to get mauled into the sand and have a painful death. "

"Shut up!" barked Mayo. 

The girl was trembling, and he feared collapse. 

Bradish began to blubber. "I'm not prepared to die, " he protested. 

Mayo studied his passenger for some time, wrinkling his brows. "Bradish, listen to me a moment!"

The New-Yorker gave him as much attention as terror and grief permitted. 

"There isn't much we can do just now to fix up our general earthlyaffairs. But we may as well clean the slate between us two. That willhelp our consciences a little. I haven't any quarrel with you any more. We won't be mushy about it. But let's cross it off. "

"It's all over, " mourned Bradish. "So what's the use of bearinggrudges?"

"I suppose it's true that the court has indicted me for manslaughter. Bradish, tell me, man to man, whether I've got to go into those breakerswith that on my conscience!"

"I don't know what you mean. "

"Yes, you do! You know whether those men of the schooner _Warren_ weredrowned by any criminal mistake of mine or not!"

Bradish did not speak. 

"You wouldn't have said as much to Captain Downs if you hadn't knownsomething, " insisted the victim of the plot. 

"It was only what Burkett let drop when he came after some money. Isuppose he thought it was safe to talk to me. But what's the good of mygiving you guesswork? I don't know anything definite. I don't understandsailor matters. "

"Bradish, what Burkett said--was it something about the compass--aboutputting a job over on me by monkeying with the compass?"

"It was something like that. " His tone exhibited indifference; itwas evident that he was more occupied with his terror than with hisconfession. 

"Didn't Burkett say something about a magnet?"

"He got off some kind of a joke about Fogg in the pilot-house andfog outside--but that the Fogg inside did the business. And he saidsomething about Fogg's iron wishbone. "

"So that was the way it was done--and done by the general manager of theline!" cried Mayo. "The general manager himself! It's no wonder I havesmashed that suspicion between the eyes every time it bobbed up! Isuspected--but I didn't dare to suspect! Is that some of your highfinance, Bradish?"

"No, it isn't, " declared the New-Yorker, with heat. "It's anunderstrapper like Fogg going ahead and producing results, so he callsit. The big men never bother with the details. "

"The details! Taking away from me all I have worked for--my reputationas a master, my papers, my standing--my liberty. By the gods, I'm goingto live! I'm going through those breakers! I'll face that gang like aman who has fought his way back from hell, " raged the victim. 

"This--this was none of my father's business! It could not have been, "expostulated Miss Marston. 

"Your father never knows anything about the details of Fogg'soperations, " declared Bradish. 

"He ought to know, " insisted the maddened scapegoat. "He gives off hisorders, doesn't he? He sits in the middle of the web. What if he didknow how Fogg was operating?"

"Probably wouldn't stand for it! But he doesn't know. And the AngelGabriel himself wouldn't get a chance to tell him!" declared the clerk. 

"A put-up job, then, is it--and all called high finance!" jeered Mayo. 

"High finance isn't to blame for tricks the field-workers put outso that they can earn their money quick and easy. What's the good ofpestering me with questions at this awful time? I'm going to die! I'mgoing to die!" he wailed. 

Miss Marston slid from the seat to her knees, in order that she mightbe able to reach her hand to Mayo. "Will you let this handclasp tellyou all I feel about it--all your trouble, all your brave work in thisterrible time? I am so frightened, Captain Mayo! But I'm going to keepmy eyes on you--and I'll be ashamed to show you how frightened I am. "

He returned the fervent clasp of her fingers with gentle pressure andreassuring smile. "Honestly, I feel too ugly to die just now. Let's keepon hoping. "

But when he stood up and beheld the white mountains of water betweentheir little boat and the shore, and realized what would happen whenthey were in that savage tumult, with the undertow dragging and thesurges lashing, he felt no hope within himself. 

From the appearance of the coast he could not determine their probablelocation. The land was barren and sandy. There seemed to be no inlet. As far as he could see the line of frothing white was unbroken. Thesea foamed across broad shallows, where no boat could possibly remainupright and no human being could hope to live. 

Nevertheless, he remained standing and peered under his hand, resolvedto be alert till the last, determined to grasp any opportunity. 

All at once he beheld certain black lines in perpendicular silhouetteagainst the foam. At first he was not certain just what they could be, and he observed them narrowly as the boat tossed on its way. 

At last their identity was revealed. They were weir-stakes. The weiritself was evidently dismantled. Such stakes as remained were set somedistance from one another, like fence-posts located irregularly. 

He made hasty observation of bearings as the boat drifted, and wascertain that the sea would carry them down past the stakes. How nearthey would pass depended on the vagary of the waves and the tide. Herealized that three men, even if they were able seamen, could do littlein the way of rowing or guiding the longboat in the welter of that sea, now surging madly over the shoals. He knew that there was not much waterunder the keel, for the ocean was turbid with swirling sand, and thewaves were more mountainous, heaped high by the friction of the water onthe bottom. Every now and then the crest of a roller flaunted a bannerof bursting spray, showing breakers near at hand. 

Mayo hurried to the bow of the boat and pulled free a long stretch ofcable. He made a bowline slip-knot, opened a noose as large as he couldhandle, coiled the rest of the cable carefully, and poised himself on athwart. 

"What now?" asked the cook. 

"No matter, " returned Mayo. His project was such a gamble that he didnot care to canvass it in advance. 

The nearer they drove to the stakes the more unattainable those objectsseemed. They projected high above the water. 

The cook perceived them and got up on his knees and squinted. "Huh!" hesniffed. "You'll never make it. It can't be done!"

In his fierce anxiety Mayo heaved his noose too soon, and it fell short. He dragged in the cable with all his quickness and strength and threwthe noose again. The rope hit the stake three-quarters of the way up andfell into the sea. 

"It needs a cowboy for that work, " muttered the cook. 

Mayo recovered his noose and poised himself again. 

In the shallows where they were the boat which bore him became averitable bucking bronco. It was flung high, it swooped down into thehollows. He made a desperate try for the next stake in line. The noosecaught, and he snubbed quickly. The top of the stake came away with adull crack of rotten wood when the next wave lifted the boat. 

Mayo pulled in his rope hand over hand with frantic haste. Hewas obliged to free the broken stake from the noose and pull hisextemporized lasso into position again. He made a wider noose. Hisfailure had taught a point or two. He waited till the boat was on thetop of a wave. He curbed his desperate impatience, set his teeth, andwhirled the noose about his head in a widening circle. Then he cast justas the boat began to drop. The rope encircled the stake, dropped to thewater, and he paid out all his free cable so that a good length of theheavy rope might lie in the water and form a makeshift bridle. When hesnubbed carefully the noose drew close around the stake, and the latterheld. The waves which rode under them were terrific, and Mayo's heartcame into his mouth every time a tug and shock indicated that the ropehad come taut. 

However, after five minutes of anxious waiting, kneeling in the bow, hiseyes on the cable, he found his courage rising and his hopes glowing. 

"Does it mean--" gasped the girl, when he turned and looked at her. 

"I don't know just what it will mean in the end, Miss Marston, " hesaid, with emotion. "But it's a reprieve while that rope holds. "

Bradish sat clutching the gunwale with both hands, staring over hisshoulder at the waters frothing and roaring on the shore. The girlglanced at him occasionally with a certain wonderment in her expression. It seemed to Mayo that she was trying to assure herself that Bradish wassome person whom she knew. But she did not appear to have much successin making him seem real. She spoke to him once or twice in an undertone, but he did not answer. Then she turned her back on him. 

Suddenly Mayo leaped up and shouted. 

A man was running along the sandy crest of a low hill near the beach. Hedisappeared in a little structure that was no larger than a sentry-box. 

"There's a coast-guard patrol from the life-saving station. There mustbe one somewhere along here!"

The man rushed out and flourished his arms. 

"He has telephoned, " explained Mayo. "Those are the boys! There's hopefor us!"

There was more than hope--there was rescue after some hours of drearyand anxious waiting. 

The life-boat came frothing down the sea from the distant inlet, andthey were lifted on board by strong arms. 

And then Alma Marston gave Mayo the strangest look he had ever receivedfrom a woman's eyes. But her lips grew white and her eyes closed, andshe lapsed into unconsciousness while he folded a blanket about her. 

"You must have had quite a job of it, managing a woman through thisscrape, " suggested the captain of the crew. 

"It's just the other way, " declared Mayo. "I'm giving her credit forsaving the whole of us. "

"How's that?"

"I might find it a little hard to make you understand, captain. Let itstand as I have said it. "

XXV ~ A GIRL AND HER DEBT OF HONOR

 Says she, "You lime-juice sailor, Now see me home you may. " But when we reached her cottage door She unto me did say-- And a-way, you santee, My dear Annie! O you New York girls, Can't you dance the polka! --Walking Down the Broadway. 

Mayo was promptly informed that Captain Downs and the crew of the_Alden_ were safe. 

"He caught our flare, got his motor to working, and made the inlet by alucky stab, " explained the coast-station captain. "But he didn't reckonhe'd ever see you folks again. How did it happen he didn't tell me therewas a woman aboard?"

"You'll have to ask him. "

"Who is she?"

"You'll have to ask him that, too. I'm only a sailor. "

The captain looked him over with considerable suspicion: His shirt wastorn and his white skin was revealed. The drenching by rain and sprayhad played havoc with his disguise; most of the coloring had been washedaway. 

"Have you got anything special to say about yourself?"

"No, sir. "

The captain turned his back on his men and leaned close to Mayo. "Theyhave had your picture in the paper this week, " he said. "You're thecaptain they are wanting in that _Montana_ case. They're after you. I'vegot to report on this thing, you understand!"

"Very well, captain. "

"But I reckon we'll talk it all over after we get to the station, "said the master, kindly. "There may be something in it that I don'tunderstand. "

"There's considerable in it that I don't understand myself, just now, but I'm going to find out, " declared Captain Mayo. 

They placed Ahpa Marston in the care of the station captain's wife assoon as they were safely on shore in the inlet. Fortunate chance hadsent the woman to the station that day on a visit to her husband. 

Captain Downs, fed and warmed, watched the new arrivals eat beside thekitchen stove and listened to the story Mayo had for him. 

The bedraggled cat lapped milk, protected from the resentful jealousy ofthe station's regular feline attaché by the one-eyed cook. 

And afterward, closeted with Captain Downs and the station captain, Mayowent over his case. 

"I must say you seem to be pretty hard and fast ashore in mightysloppy water, " commented the coastguard captain. "It isn't my especialbusiness--but what do you propose to do?"

"Go to New York and take what they're going to hand me, I suppose. Iought to have stayed there and faced the music. I have put myself in badby running away. But I was rattled. "

"The best of us get rattled, " said the host, consolingly. "I'm not apoliceman, sheriff, or detective, mate. I'll report this case as CaptainDowns and so many souls saved from the schooner _Alden_. You'd bettertrot along up to the city and face 'em as a man should. I'll rig you outin some of my clothes. Your old friend, Wass, meant well by rushingyou away, but I've always found that in a man's fight you can't do muchunless you're close enough to t'other fellow to hit him when he reachesfor you. "

A half-hour later, made presentable in the coast-guard captain's libertysuit, Mayo walked through the kitchen. Bradish and the cook were stillin front of the stove. 

The captain's wife, standing in a door which admitted to an inner room, put up a finger to signal the young man and then nodded her head ininvitation. "The young lady wants to see you, sir, " she informed himin a whisper, when he stepped to her side. "Go in!" She closed the doorbehind him and remained in the kitchen. 

He stood in the middle of the room and gazed at the girl for some time, and neither of them spoke. She was swathed in blankets and was huddledin a big chair; her face was wan and her eyes showed her weariness. Buther voice was firm and earnest when she addressed him. 

"Captain Mayo, what I am going to say to you will sound very strange. Tell me that you'll listen to me as you would listen to a man. "

"I'm afraid--" he stammered. 

"It's too bad that man and woman can seldom meet on the plane where manand man meet. But I don't want to be considered a girl just now. I'm onehuman being, and you're another, and I owe something to you which mustbe paid, or I shall be disgraced by a debt which will worry me all mylife. " She put out her hands and knotted the fingers together in appeal. "Understand me--help me!"

He was ill at ease. He feared with all his soul to meet the one greatsubject. 

"When we thought we were going to die I told you it seemed as if I hadlived a life in a few hours--that I did not seem like the same personas I looked into my thoughts. Captain Mayo, that is true. It is moreapparent to me now when I have had time to search my soul. Oh, I am notthe Alma Marston who has been spoiled and indulged--a fool leaping hereand there with every impulse--watching a girl in my set do a silly thingand then doing a sillier thing in order to astonish her. That has beenour life in the city. I never knew what it meant to be a mere humanbeing, near death. You know you saved me from that death!"

"I only did what a man ought to do, Miss Marston. "

"Perhaps. But you did it, that's the point. There are other men--" Shehesitated. "I have had a talk with Mr. Bradish, " she told him. "It was amistake. You saved me from that mistake. You did it in the cabin of theschooner. He has told me. It was better for me than saving my life. "

"But because a man isn't a sailor--isn't used to danger--" heexpostulated. 

"That is not it. I say I have just had a talk with Mr. Bradish! I havefound out exactly what he is. I did not find it out when I danced withhim. But now that I have come near to dying with him I have found himout. " The red banners in her cheeks signaled both shame and indignation. "A coward will show all his nature before he gets himself in hand again, and Mr. Bradish has shown me that he is willing to ruin and disgraceme in order to make profit for himself. And there is no more to be saidabout him!" She paused. 

"Captain Mayo, I know what idea you must have of me--of a girl who woulddo what I have done! But you don't have half the scorn for me I have formyself--for the girl I was. But I have my self-respect now! I respectthe woman that I am at this moment after that experience! Perhaps youdon't understand. I do! I'm glad I have that self-respect. I shall facewhat is ahead of me. I shall do right from now on. " She spoke quicklyand passionately, and he wanted to say something, but his sailor tonguehalted. "I am not going to bring up a certain matter--not now! It's toosacred. I am too miserably ashamed! Again, Captain Mayo, I say that Iwant to stand with you as man to man! I want to render service for whatyou have done for me. You have lost everything out of your life that youvalue. I want you to have it back. Will you listen to me now?"

"Yes, Miss Marston. "

"You go to my father with a letter from me. I do not believe he knowswhat kind of methods have been practised by his understrappers, but hecan find out. You tell him that he must find out--that he must makethem confess. You tell him that this is a man's fight, and that you arefighting back with all the strength that you can command. You tell himthat you have me hidden, and that I cannot get away--as my own letterwill tell him. You tell him that he must make a fair exchange withyou--give you back what is yours before he can have what is his. "

Mayo walked backward limply, feeling for the wall with his hands behindhim, and leaned against it. 

"You are single-handed--it's a big game they play up in the city whenthey are after money--and you must take what cards are offered, " sheinsisted, displaying the shrewdness of the Marston nature. 

"You mean to say that I'm going to your father as if I were holding youfor ransom?" he gasped. 

"Something like that, " she returned, eagerly. "The only way you'll getwhat you want--and get it quickly--is by a good bluff. I have had somegood samples of your courage, Captain Mayo. You can do it beautifully. "

"But I'm not going to do it!"

"I say you are!"

"Not by a--" His feelings were carrying him away. He was forgetting thatthese dealings were with an impulsive girl. His anger was mounting. Shewas putting him on the plane of a blackleg. 

"Go ahead and talk as strongly as you like, Captain Mayo. It will makeit seem like man's business between us. "

"Those tricks may be all right in Wall Street, but they don't do for me. And you've got a pretty poor opinion of me if you think I'll do it. "

"Don't be quixotic, " she protested, impatiently. "We are living inup-to-date times, Captain Mayo. Some of those underlings have played anasty trick on you. They must be exposed. "

"This is a girl's crazy notion!"

"Captain Mayo, is this the way you help me pay my debt?"

"You don't owe me anything. "

"And now you pay me an insult! Are my honor as a girl and my life worthnothing? You have saved both. "

"I don't know how to talk to you. I haven't had any experience intalking with women. I simply say that I'm not going to your father inany such manner. Certainly not!"

"Don't you realize what I have offered you?" she pleaded. "You arethrowing my sacrifice in my face. As the case stands now, I can hurryoff to the home of some girl friend and make up a little story of afoolish lark, and my father will never know what has been happening. Heexpects me to do a lot of silly things. "

"That's your business--and his, " he returned, dryly. 

"Captain Mayo, I have been trying to show you that I am fit to beconsidered something besides a silly girl. I wanted you to know thatI have a sense of obligation. The plan may seem like a girl's romanticnotion. But it isn't. It's bold, and your case heeds boldness. I wastrying to show you that I'm not a coward. I was going to confess to myfather what I have done and start on the level with him. You throw itall in my face--you insult my plan by calling it crazy. "

"It is, " he insisted, doggedly. "And I'm in bad enough as it is!"

"Oh, you're afraid, then?"

He frowned. Her sneer seemed gratuitous injury. 

He did not understand that variety of feminine guile which seeks to goadto action one who refuses to be led. 

"I admire boldness in a man when his case is desperate and he is tryingto save himself. I have lived among men who are bold in going after whatthey want. "

"I have had a little experience with that kind of land pirates, and Idon't like the system. "

"I shall not make any unnecessary sacrifices, " she de-clared, tartly, but there were tears in her eyes. "I did what I could to help you whenyou were trying to save me. Why are you so ungenerous as to refuse tohelp me now?"

"It's taking advantage of you--of your position. "

"But I offer it--I beg of you to do it. "

"I will not do it. "

"You absolutely refuse?"

"Yes, Miss Marston. "

"Then I shall leave you to your own fate, Captain Mayo. You don't expectme to go to my father with the story, do you?"

"Certainly not'. "

"I shall go ahead now and protect myself the best I can. I am sure thatCaptain Downs will keep my secret. I shall forget that I ever sailed onthat schooner. I suppose you will black yourself up and run away again!"

"I am going to New York. "

"To be put in jail?"

"Probably. "

"You make me very angry. After you have shown that you can fight, justwhen you ought to fight the hardest you slink bade to be whipped. "

"Yes, Miss Marston, if you care to put it that way. "

"Then, good-by!"

"Good-by!"

Perhaps each expected that the other would break the wall of reserve atthis moment of parting. He hesitated a moment--an awkward instant--thenhe bowed and left the room. 

Captain Downs walked with Mayo for a distance across the sand-dunes whenthe latter started to make his way to the nearest railroad station. Thecaptain intended to remain at the inlet tmtil a representative of the_Alden's_ owners arrived. 

They left Bradish still huddled behind the stove in the kitchen. 

"Unless my eyes have gone back on me, Captain Mayo, my notion isthat the dude is wasting his time hanging around that girl any more, "suggested Captain Downs. "She has had him out on the marine railway oflove, has made proper survey, and has decided that she would hate tosail the sea of matrimony with him. Don't you think that's so?"

"I think you're a good judge of what you see, Captain Downs. "

"I reckon that you and I as gents and master mariners are going to keepmum about her being aboard the _Alden?_"

"Certainly, sir. "

"The coast-guard crew don't know who she is, and they can't find out. So she can go home and mind her business from this time out. 'Most everywoman does one infernal fool thing in her life--and then is all rightever after. But now a word on some subject that's sensible! What are yougoing to do?"

"Stick my head into the noose. It's about the only thing I can do. "

"But you'll talk up to 'em, of course?"

"I'll play what few cards I hold as best I know, sir. The most I canhope for is to make 'em drop that manslaughter case. Perhaps I can sayenough so that they'll be afraid to bring me to trial. As to getting mypapers back, I'm afraid that's out of the question. I'll have to startlife over in something else. "

"Mayo, why don't you go to the captain's office?" He promptly answeredthe young man's glance of inquiry. "Julius Marston himself is thesupreme boss of that steamship-consolidation business. Bradish gave allthat part away, telling about those checks; though, of course, we allknew about Marston before. It is probably likely that Marston gives truecourses to his understrappers. If they take fisherman's cuts betweenbuoys in order to get there quick, I'll bet he doesn't know about it. Goto him and tell him, man to man, what has happened to you. "

"There are two reasons why I shall probably never see Mr. Marston, "returned Mayo, grimly. "First, I'll be arrested before I can get acrossNew York to his office; second, I'll never get farther than the outeroffice. He's guarded like the Czar of Russia, so they tell me. "

"Does his girl know anything about your case?"

"I blabbed it to her--like a fool--when we were in the boat. Why is itthat when a man is drunk or excited or in trouble, he'll blow the wholestory of his life to a woman?" growled Mayo. 

"I've thought that over some, myself, " admitted Captain Downs. "Especially on occasions when I've come to and realized what I've letout. I suppose it's this--more or less: A man don't tell his troubles toanother man, for he knows that the other man is usually in'ardly gladof it because any friend is in trouble. But a woman's sympathy is like aflaxseed poultice--it soothes the ache and draws at the same time. "

Mayo trudged on in silence, kicking the sand. 

"Seems to me the smallest thing that girl could have done was to offerto get you a hearing with her old man. It was some chore you did forher, mate!"

"I had to save myself. A few more in the party didn't matter. "

"These society girls think of themselves first, of course! I don'tsuppose you give a hoot for my advice, Captain Mayo, but I'm talking toyou in the best spirit in the world. "

"I know you are, Captain Downs, " declared the young man, his sullennessdeparting. "I didn't mean to show bristles to you! I'll try to seeMarston. It 'll be a hard stunt. But I'm in the mood to try anything. Bygad! if they lug me to jail, I'll go kicking!"

"That's the spirit, boy. And if you can get in a few kicks where JuliusMarston can see 'em they may count. He's the boss! I don't think I'll goany farther with you. This is too hard footing for an old waddler likeme. Good luck!"

They shook hands and turned their backs on each other with sailorrepression in the matter of the emotions. 

The young man went on his way, wondering in numbed despair how he couldhave left Alma Marston with merely a curt word of farewell. 

Mayo lurked that evening in the purlieus of Jersey City, and entered themetropolis after midnight on a ferryboat which had few passengers andafforded him a dark corner where he was alone. He found lodgings inhumble quarters on the East Side. 

In the morning he nerved himself to the ordeal of appearing in thestreets. His belief in his own innocence made his suffering greater ashe waited for the clap of a heavy hand on his shoulder and the summonsof an officer's voice. He knew that the eyes of Uncle Sam are sharp andhis reach a long one. He had firm belief in the almost uncanny vigilanceof government officers. He was rather surprised to find himself at lastin the outer office of Marston & Waller. 

He sat down on a bench and waited for a time in order to regainhis self-possession. He wanted to control features and voice beforeaccosting one of the guardians of the magnate. But the espionage of theattendants did not permit loiterers to remain long in that place withoutexplanation. A man tiptoed to him and asked his name and his business. 

"My name doesn't matter, " said Mayo. "But I have important businesswith Mr. Marston. If you will tell him that the business is mostimportant--that it is something he ought to know, and that--"

"You haven't any appointment, then?"

"No. "

"Do you think for one moment that you can get in to see Mr. Marstonwithout giving your name and explaining beforehand the nature of yourbusiness?"

"I hoped so, for it is important. "

"What is it?"

"It's private--it's something for Mr. Marston. "

"Impossible!" was the man's curt rejoinder. He went back to his post. Ina few moments he returned to Mayo. "You mustn't remain here. You cannotsee Mr. Marston. "

"Won't you take in a message from me? I'll explain--"

"Explain to me. That's what I'm here for. "

Telling that cold-blooded person that this visitor was the broken masterof the _Montana_ was out of the question. To mention the case of the_Montana_ to this watchdog was dangerous. But Mayo dreaded to go back tothe street again. 

"I'll stay here a little while and perhaps I can--" he began. 

"If you stay here without explaining your business I'll have youescorted down to the street by an officer, my friend. "

Mayo rose and hurried out. 

"An officer!" Even in his despairing and innocent quest of a hearinghe was threatened with arrest! He sneaked back to his lodgings and hidhimself in the squalid apartment and nursed the misery of his soul. 

That night Mayo sat till late, toiling over a letter addressed to JuliusMarston. 

He despatched it by messenger at an early hour, and mustered his couragein the middle of the forenoon and followed in person. He assumed aboldness he did not feel in his quaking heart when he approached theguardian of the outer office. 

"Will you ask Mr. Marston if he will see the man who sent him a letterby messenger this morning?" "What letter? Signed by what name?" "He willunderstand what letter I refer to. " "He will, will he?" The attendantgave this applicant sharp scrutiny. The coast-guard captain's libertygarments were not impressive, nor did they fit very well. Mayo displayedthe embarrassment of the man who knew he was hunted. "Do you think Mr. Marston receives only one letter by messenger in a morning? Look here, my man, you were in here yesterday, and I look on you as a suspiciouscharacter. You cannot see Mr. Marston on any such excuse. Get out ofthat door inside of one minute or I'll send in a police call!"

And once more Mayo fled from the danger which threatened him. He boughta stock of newspapers at a sidewalk news-stand; his hours of lonelinessin his little room the day before had tortured him mentally. He sathimself down and read them. The news that the Vose line had gone intothe steamship combination was interesting and significant. Evidently the_Montana's_ lay-up had discouraged the mass of stockholders. He hadtime to kill and thoughts to stifle; he went on reading scrupulously, lingering over matters in which he had no interest, striving to occupyhis mind and drive the bitter memories and his fears away fromhim. Never in his life before had he read the society tattle in thenewspapers. However, dragging along the columns, he found a paragraphon which he dwelt for a long time. It stated that Miss Marston ofFifth Avenue had returned by motor from a house-party in the Catskills, accompanied by Miss Lana Vanadistine, who would be a house guest of MissMarston's for a few days. 

That bit of news was significant. She had established her alibi; she hadreinstated herself and had turned a smooth front to the world. 

Mayo was certain in his soul that he knew her kind. His illusions weredeparting. Now that her tragic experience was behind her, now that shewas back among her own, now that the fervor of romance was cool, she wasthanking God, so he told himself, that she had not sacrificed herselffor anybody. He was honestly glad that she was at home, glad of the hintwhich the paragraph gave--that her secret was still her own, so far asfamily and the social world were concerned. 

That night Mayo took further counsel with himself. In the morning hisfinal decision was made. He would endeavor once more to see JuliusMaxston. He determined that he would march into the outer office, boldlyannounce his name, assert that he was there to expose a crime, and tellthem that if Mr. Marston refused to hear him he should tell what he knewto the public through the newspapers; then he would ask them to send forthe police, if the door of Marston's office remained closed to him. Hewould call attention to himself and to his case by all the uproarhe could make. When he went to jail he would go with plenty of folkslooking on. Let Marston and his fellow-financiers see how they likedthat!

It was a desperate and a crude plan, but Mayo was not a diplomat--he wasa sailor. 

He marched forth on his errand with his chin up and resolve flamingwithin him. 

Other men, prosperous-looking and rotund men, rode up in the elevatorwith him and went into Marston & Waller's office ahead of him, for hehad modestly stepped to one side to allow them to pass. 

He heard some talk of a "board meeting. " It was plain that Mr. Marstonwas to be occupied for a time. This was not a favorable moment in whichto project himself upon the attention of the financier; he needed aclear field. Therefore he tramped up and down the corridor of theoffice building, watching the elevator door, waiting to see the rotundgentlemen go on their way. And with attention thus focused he saw MissAlma Marston arrive. 

She waited until the elevator had passed on, and then she came directlyto him. Her expression did not reveal her mood except to hint that shewas self-possessed. 

"I am not especially surprised to find you here, " she told him. "Ibelieve you said to Captain Downs--so he informed me--that you weregoing to try to see my father. And men who try to see my father, withoutproper introduction, usually kick their heels outside his office forsome days. "

There was a bit of hauteur in her voice. She preserved much of theacerbity which had marked her demeanor when they had said good-by toeach other. He would not acknowledge to himself that he hoped she wouldmeet him on another plane; he meekly accepted her attitude as the properone. He was a sailor, and she was the daughter of Julius Marston. 

"Do you blame me for being suspicious in regard to what you intend tosay to my father?" she demanded. "I tell you frankly that I came herelooking for you. We must settle our affair. "

"I am trying to get word with him about my own business--simply my ownbusiness, Miss Marston. "

"But as to me! What are you going to say to him about me? You rememberI told you that I intended to protect myself, " she declared, with someinsolence. 

"I thought you had a better opinion of me, " he protested. "Miss Marston, as far as I am concerned, you never were on that schooner. I knownothing about you. I do not even know you. Do you understand?"

He started away hastily. "Don't stay here. Don't speak to me. Somebodymay see you. "

"'Come back here!"

He stopped. 

"I demand an explicit promise from you that if you are able to talk withmy father you will never mention my name to him or try to take advantageof the dreadful mistake I made. "

"I promise, on my honor, " he said, straightening. 

"Thank you, sir. "

"And now that I have promised, " he added, red in his tanned cheeks, "I want to say to you, Miss Marston, that you have insulted megratuitously. I suppose I'm not much in the way of a gentleman as youmeet them in society. I'm only a sailor. But I'm neither a tattler nora blackmailer. I know the square thing to do where a woman is concerned, and I would have done it without being put under a pledge. " He bowed andwalked away. 

She gazed after him, a queer sparkle in her eyes. "We'll see about you, you big child!" she murmured. 

She entered the waiting-room of the Marston & Waller suite, and wasinformed that her father was busy with a board meeting. 

"But it's merely a bit of routine business. It will soon be over, MissMarston--if you will be so good as to wait. "

After a time the gentlemen filed out, but she waited on. 

"Tell my father that I'm here and will be in presently, " she commandedthe guardian. 

Before the messenger returned Mayo came in, rather apprehensively. Hetried to avoid her, but she met him face to face and accosted him withspirit. 

"Now that I have put you on your honor, I'm not afraid to have you talkyour business over with my father. Come with me. I will take you to him. Then we will call accounts square between us. "

"Very well, " he consented. "After what I have been through here, I feelthat one service matches the other. " Mayo followed her and came into ThePresence. 

Julius Marston was alone, intrenched behind his desk, on his throne ofbusiness; the dark back of the chair, towering over his head, set offin contrast his gray garb and his cold face; to Mayo, who haltedrespectfully just inside the door, he appeared a sort of bas-reliefagainst that background--something insensate, without ears to listen orheart to bestow compassion. 

The girl, hurrying to him, engaged his attention until she had seatedherself on the arm of his chair. Then he saw Mayo, recognized him, andtried to rise, but she pushed him back, urging him with eager appeal. 

"You must listen to me, father! It is serious! It is important!"

He groped for the row of desk buttons, but she held his hand from them. 

Captain Mayo strode forward, determined to speak for himself, renderedbold by the courageous sacrifice the girl was making. 

"Not a word! Not a word! The supreme impudence of it!" Marston repeatedthe last phrase several times with increasing violence. He pushed hisdaughter off the arm of the chair and struggled up. Only heroic measurescould save that situation--and the girl knew her father! She forcedherself between him and his desk. 

"You'd better listen!" she warned him, hysterically. "A few days ago Iran away to be married!"

He stood there, stricken motionless, and she put her hands against hisbreast and pressed him back into his chair. 

"But this is not the man, father!"

Marston had been gathering his voice for wild invective, but that laststatement took away all his power of speech. 

"I warned you that you'd better listen!"

In that moment she dominated the situation as completely as if she stoodbetween the two men with a lighted bomb in her hand. 

Mayo was overwhelmed even more completely than the financier. Herealized that her extortion of a pledge from him had been subterfuge;her triumphant eyes flashed complete information on that point. Bothanger and bewilderment made him incapable of any sane attempt to presshis case with Marston at that time. He turned and started for the door. 

"Stop that man, father. You'll be sorry if you do not! He must stay!"

"Come back here!" shouted Marston. 

Mayo looked behind. 

The magnate stood with finger on the push-button. "Come back, I say!"

"I protest. This is none of my business. I am here for something elsethan to listen to your daughter's private affairs. "

"You come back!" commanded the father in low tones of menace, "or I'llhave you held for the United States marshals the minute you step footoutside that door. "

Raging within himself at the tactics of this incomprehensible girl, Captain Mayo walked slowly to the desk; it occurred to him that it wasas hard to get out of Julius Marston's office as it was to get in. 

"I would never have come in here if I had dreamed that your daughterwould tell you what she has. I am in a false position. I insist that youallow me to leave. "

"You'll leave when I get to the bottom of this thing! Now, Alma, whatnew craziness is all this?"

"I am not resenting the word you apply to it, " she replied, facing himresolutely. "I did it--and I don't know why I did it!"

"Did what?"

"I ran away. I did it because the girls dared me to do it. I promised aman I would marry him. "

"This man, eh?"

"No. I have told you this is not the man. "

"Well, who, then?" Incredulity was mingled with her father's wrath. 

"One of your trusted young gentlemen. Mr. Ralph Bradish. "

"Where did you meet him?"

"At the dances. "

"Not at our house?"

"I do not know how you are so sure of that, father, " she returned, atouch of rather wistful reproach in her tones. "You have left mealone in that house ever since mother went away. But it was not at ourhouse--it was in the public ball-rooms. "

"Hell set to music!" he rasped. "I ought to have realized that you arestill an infant!"

"No; I am a woman to-day. I lived a whole lifetime in one night on theocean. I know you have reason to be ashamed of me. But I'll never giveyou cause for shame again. Now what are you going to say to this man whosaved my life--who did more than that? He saved me from myself!"

Marston narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Mayo. "I don't understand thisthing yet! The story doesn't ring right. " He turned on his daughter. "How did this man save your life? Be quick and be short!"

He interrupted her in the middle of her eager recital. He had beenscowling while she talked, staring into vacancy in meditation. 

"A story-book tale!" he declared, impatiently, and yet there was a shadeof insincerity in that impatience. "I would be bitterly ashamed of you, Alma, if you had run away as you are trying to make me believe. But--"

"Don't you believe me?"

"Silence! But this trumped-up story is too transparent. You are stillacting the fool in the matter of this person, here. Now see here, myman, you are here to-day on the _Montana_ affair. Isn't that so?"

"It is, sir. "

"I was sure of it. How did you dare to sneak into that job after I haddischarged you from the _Olenia_?"

"There was no sneaking to it! I was hired by Mr. Fogg and I--"

"You may be sure that I did not know you were on board the _Montana_. But I cannot attend to all the details of my business. You realize, don't you, that you are a fugitive from justice?"

"I am a scapegoat for the dirty dogs who operate for you!"

"That's enough! I am investigating this matter now? Sit down in thatchair!"

Mayo obeyed, lulled by the assurance. 

"Alma, you go home!"

"I am going to stay here, father, until Captain Mayo--"

"I have listened to all the falsehoods I propose to hear!" Thisrejoinder astounded his two listeners. "I see into this matter clear tothe bottom. I am amazed that you should think such a silly yarn woulddeceive me for a moment. " He had pressed one of the buttons. To the manwho opened the door he said: "Tell Mr. Bradish that I want to see himhere at once. He is in the office, isn't he?"

"Yes, sir! I will inform him. "

Mayo and the girl exchanged eloquent looks; they had been leaving Mr. Bradish out of their calculations; they had discarded him from theirthoughts; that he had had the effrontery to reappear in the Marston &Waller offices was news indeed. 

Marston took the girl by the arm and led her toward a door. "I tellyou to go home!" he cried, angrily, stopping her protests. "No, you aregoing by this side door. I do not believe one word you have told me. It's all a transparent attempt to continue your folly. I'll know how tolook after you from now on!" He closed the door behind her and lockedit. 

"I swear this is all true, sir, " pleaded Mayo. "I'm not trying todeceive you through your daughter. I did not understand what sheintended to say. I want my rights as a man who has been tricked, abused--"

Mr. Bradish appeared, bowing respectfully. He was once more part of thesmooth machinery of the Marston & Waller offices. He was pale, calm, cool, subdued master of his emotions as the employees of Julius Marstonwere trained to be. 

"Did you ever see this man before? Of course you never did!" promptedthe financier. 

"I never saw him before, sir. "

"Certainly not! What have you to say to the ridiculous, nonsensicalstory that you attempted to elope with my daughter?"

Not by a flicker of the eyelids did the imperturbable maker ofmillion-dollar checks show confusion. 

"If such a lie needs denial from me I most firmly do deny it, sir. "

"You cheap renegade!" roared the captain. 

"That will do, Mr. Bradish!"

The clerk obeyed the wave of his master's hand and retired quickly. 

"Mr. Marston, " raved Mayo, "I'm fighting for all that's worth whileto me in life. My reputation as a master mariner, my chance to make aliving in my work. I was a fool on board your yacht! With all my soul Iam penitent. I will-"

"Enough! Don't you dare to discuss my own daughter with me!"

"I don't intend to, sir. I'm going to believe that you don't know whatyour understrappers have done to me. You only see results. But find outwhat is being done in your name, Mr. Marston. Some day it will be badfor you if you don't stop 'em. "

"Is that a threat?"

"It's only my appeal for justice. My God, sir--"

"There's justice waiting for you. "

"Then send out for your marshals. Let them drag me into court! Your manBradigh's mouth is closed now, but it has been open. I know what hasbeen done to me. Let them put me on the stand. You don't dare to have mestand up in court and tell what I know. "

"Do you suppose I am running the Federal courts?"

"You'd better find out whether you have power or not. There are men inthis world who will believe an honest man's true story!"

"Good day!" said Mr. Marston, significantly. 

Mayo hesitated, gazed into the impassive countenance of the magnate, and then conviction of the uselessness of argument overwhelmed him. Hestarted for the door. 

"Certain sensible things can be done, " Marston called after him. "You'dbetter get out of New York. If you know of a place to hide you'd betterget into it. "

Mayo did not reply. He strode out through the offices, descended to thestreet, and went on his way. 

He did not notice that an automobile pursued him through the roaringtraffic of the streets, halting ahead of him when, he had turned intoone of the quieter thoroughfares. 

The car was close to the curb, and Alma Marston put out her hand andsignaled to him. "He gave-you no hope-nothing?"

"Nothing!"

"I have waited. I thought of asking you to come for a talk with me. "

He shook his head. 

"Perhaps it's better as it is! There isn't very much to be said-notnow!" She leaned over the side of the tonneau and the clatter of trafficenabled her to talk without taking the eavesdropping chauffeur intotheir confidence. "I am not worthy of your thoughts or your confidenceafter this, Boyd. What I was yesterday I am not to-day; I have told youthat. No, do not say anything! I know, now, that I was only playing withlove. I cannot name what I feel for you now; I have insulted the word'love' too much in the past. I'm not going to say anything about it. Wasit any excuse for me that you had sunk a ship, were going to prison forkilling men, so the papers hinted? No, it was not! But I allowed myselfto make it an excuse for folly. "

"You don't know what love is, " he declared. In the agony of hisdegradation he had no relish for softer sentiments. But he did not dareto look up at her. 

"I _did_ not know! But perhaps some day I can show you that I do nowknow, " she replied, humbly. "That will be the day when I can give youthe proofs against the men who have tried to ruin you. I am inside thecamp of your enemies, Boyd, and I'll give you those proofs--even againstmy own father, if he is guilty. That's all! Let's wait. But while youare working I hope it's going to give you a bit of courage to know thatI am working for you!" She patted his cheek. "Go on!" she called to herdriver. The car jerked forward and was hidden among the chariots roaringdown through the modern Babylon. 

Without power for self-analysis, without being able to penetrate theinner recesses of his own soul in that crisis, he trudged on. 

A little later, almost unconscious of volition in the matter, he foundhimself at a steamboat office buying a ticket. He was going back to theobscurity of Maquoit. But he was fully conscious that he was not obeyingJulius Marston's injunction to go and hide. A deeper sentiment wasdrawing him. He knew where there existed simple faith in him andaffection for him, and he craved that solace. There were humble folks inMaquoit who would welcome him. 

"I'll go back--I'll go home, " he said. Once he would have smiled at thethought that he would ever call the Hue and Cry colony "home. "

XXVI ~ THE FANGS OF OLD RAZEE

 A dollar a day is a Hoosier's pay, Lowlands, lowlands, a-way, my John! Yes, a dollar a day is a Hoosier's pay, My dollar and a half a day. --Old Pumping Song. 

Before leaving New York Mayo made inquiries at offices of shippingbrokers and trailed Captain Zoradus Wass to his lair in the loafers'room of a towboat office. Their conference was a gloomy one; neither hadany comfort for the other. Mayo was laconic in his recital of events: hesaid that he had run away--and had come back. Of Marston and Marston'sdaughter he made no mention. 

"I have been to see that fat whelp of a Fogg, " stated the old mastermariner. "I ain't afraid of him. I had a good excuse; I said I wanted ajob. I didn't let on to him that I advised you to slip your cable, butI might have curried favor with him by saying so. He seemed to be prettywell satisfied because you had skipped. "

"Captain Wass, that's the main thing I've come to talk over with you. Here's my ticket back home. But I feel that I ought to walk up to theUnited States marshal's office and surrender myself. And I want to askyou about the prospects of my getting bail. Can you help me?"

"I reckon if I saw you behind bars I'd do my best to get you out, son. But you steer away from here on a straight tack and mind your ownbusiness! When the United States wants you they'll come and get you--youneedn't worry!"

"But I do worry, sir! I am dodging about the streets. I expect to feela hand on my shoulder every moment. I can't endure the strain of thething! I don't want anybody to think I'm a sneak. "

"As near's I can find out by nosing around a little that indictment isa secret one--even if it really was returned. And I'm half inclined tothink there wasn't any indictment! Perhaps those officers were only sentout to get you and hold you as a witness. Fogg has been doing most ofthe talking about there being an indictment. However it is, if theydon't want you just yet I wouldn't go up to a cell door, son, and hollerand pound and ask to be let in. Law has quite a way of giving a man whathe hollers for. You go away and let me do the peeking and listening foryou around these parts. I'm collecting a little line of stuff on thiswater-front. Haven't much else to do, these days!"

"I reckon my first hunch was the right one, sir!' I'll go along home. Ifyou hear anybody with a badge on inquiring for me tell him I'm fishingon the _Ethel and May_. "

"That's a mean job for you, son. But I guess I'd better not say anythingabout it, seeing what I have shanghaied you into. "

"It has not been your fault or mine, what has happened, sir. I am notwhining!"

"By gad! I know you ain't! But get ready to growl when the right timecomes, and keep your teeth filed! When it's our turn to bite we'llmake a bulldog grip of it!" He emphasized the vigor of that grip in hisfarewell handshake. 

But Mayo did not reflect with much enthusiasm on Captain Wass'smetaphorical summons to combat. 

Returning to Maquoit, the young man decided that he was more like abeaten dog slinking back with canine anxiety to nurse his wounds insecret. 

His experiences had been too dreadful and too many in the last few daysto be separated and assimilated. He had been like a man stunned bya fall--paralyzed by a blow. Now the agonizing tingle of memory anddespair made his thoughts an exquisite torture. He tried to put AlmaMarston out of those thoughts. He did not dare to try to find a placefor her in the economy of his affairs. However, she and he had been downto the gates of death together, and he realized that the experiencehad had its effect on her nature; he believed that it had developed hercharacter as well. Insistently the memory of her parting words was withhim, and he knew, in spite of his brutal and furious efforts to condemnher, that love was not dead and that hope still lived. 

He swung aboard the _Ethel and May_ one afternoon, after he had waitedpatiently for her arrival with her fare. 

"I have come back to fish with you, Captain Candage, until my troublesare straightened out--if they ever are. "

Captain Candage was silent, controlling some visible emotions. 

"I have come back to be with folks who won't talk too much about thosetroubles, " he added, gloomily. 

"Exactly, " agreed the skipper. "Nothing is ever gained by stirring uptrouble after it has been well cooked. Swing the pot back over the fire, I say, and let it simmer till it cools off of itself. I thought youwould come back. "

"Why?"

"Well, I knew they had taken away your papers. Furthermore, Polly hasbeen saying that you would come back. "

"And why did she think so?" asked Mayo, in milder tones. 

"She didn't say why, " admitted Captain Candage. "Maybe women see intothings deeper than men do. "

"It seems like coming home--coming home when a man is sick and tired ofeverything in the world, sir. "

"Reckon my Polly had something like that in mind. She dropped a fewhints that she hoped you'd come and get rested up from your troubles. "

"And she has gone back to her work, I suppose?"

"No, she is still on her job at Maquoit, sir--calls it her real job. Sheisn't a quitter, Polly isn't. She says they need her. "

"Like the song says, 'The flowers need the sunshine and the roses needthe dew, ' that's how they need her, " averred Oakum Otie. "Though themHue and Cry women and children can't be said to be much like roses andgeraniums! But they're more like it than they ever was before, sinceMiss Polly has taken hold of 'em. It's wonderful what a good girl can dowhen she tries, Captain Mayo!"

Resuming his life on the fishing-schooner was like slipping on a pair ofold shoes, and Mayo was grateful for that New England stoicism which hadgreeted him in such matter-of-fact fashion. 

"What you want to tell me is all right and what you don't want to tellme is still better, " stated Captain Candage. "Because when you ain'ttalking about it you ain't stirring it!"

So, in that fashion, he came back into the humble life of Maquoit. Therehad been no awkwardness in his meeting with Captain Candage; it had beenman to man, and they understood how to dispense with words. But Mayolooked forward to his meeting with Polly Candage without feeling thatequanimity which the father had inspired. 

He felt an almost overmastering desire to confide to her his troubles ofthe heart. But he knew that he would not be able to do that. His littletemple had been so cruelly profaned. His humiliation was too great. 

He was conscious that some other reason was operating to hold him backfrom explaining to her; and because he did not understand just what itwas he was ill at ease when he did come face to face with her. Hewas grateful for one circumstance--their first meeting was in the oldfish-house at Maquoit, under the hundred curious eyes of the colony. Hehad rowed ashore in his dory and went to seek her in the midst ofher activities. She put out both her hands and greeted him with frankpleasure and seemed to understand his constraint, to anticipate his ownthoughts, to respect his reticence. 

"I'm glad you have come back to wait till all your troubles are settled. The most consoling friends are those who know and who sympathize and whokeep still! Now come with me and listen to the children and see whatthe women are doing. You will be proud and glad because you spoke up forthem that day when we went over to Hue and Cry. "

After that there was no constraint between them; they kept their ownaffairs hidden from each other. The autumn passed and the long, chillevenings came, and when the fishing-schooner was in port at Maquoit, between trips, Mayo and the girl spent comfortable hours together, playing at cards under the widow's red-shaded lamp and under the widow'sapproving eyes. 

"No, they ain't courting, either, " she informed the pestering neighbors. "Do you suppose I have been twice married and twice a widder not to knowcourting when I see it? It's 'Boyd this' and 'Polly that, ' to be sure, the whole continyal time; but she is engaged to somebody else, becauseshe has been wearing an engagement ring that has come to her since shehas been here. She showed it to me, and she showed it to him! And as forhim, everybody 'longcoast knows how dead gone on him that millionairegirl is! Now everybody mind their own business!"

As the days passed the widow's counsel seemed to apply to all theaffairs of Maquoit; folks went at their business in good earnest. 

The winter wind nipped, the wharf piles were sheathed with ice, and onlyhardy men were abroad on the waterfront of the coast city, but the crewof the _Ethel and May_ were unusually cheerful that day. 

The schooner had stayed on Cashes Banks and had ridden out a gale thathad driven other fishermen to shelter. Then in the first lull she hadsent her dories over the rail and had put down her trawls for a set, and a rousing set it was! It seemed as if the cod, hake, and haddock hadbeen waiting for that gale to stop so that they might hunt for baitedhooks and have a feast. Nearly every ganging-line had its prize. The bowpulley in each dory fairly chuckled with delight as the trawl line waspulled over it. Every three feet was a ganging-line. Each dory strungout a mile of trawl. And when the dories returned to the schooner anddumped the catch into the hold the little craft fairly wallowed underher load. 

They caught the market bare; the gale had blown for nearly a week. Fish-houses bid spiritedly against one another, and when at last a tradewas made and the schooner's crew began to pitchfork the fish into thewinch buckets, and the buckets rose creaking out over the rail, the twocaptains went into the office of the fish-house to figure some mightygratifying profits. 

"Nothing like luck in the fishing game, gents, " observed the manager. 

"Well, grit counts for something, " stated Captain Candage. "We've got acrew that ain't afraid of a little weather. "

"If that's the case, there may be something for you off-coast about nowthat's better than the fishing game. "

"What's that?" asked the old skipper. 

"Wrecking. Seen the morning papers?"

"We've had something to do besides fool with papers. "

"That new Bee line steamer, _Conomo_, has been piled up on Razee Reef. "

"One time--this last time--she hugged too close!" snapped the young man. The others bent an inquiring gaze on him. But he did not explain. Histhoughts were busy with the events of that day when the Bee line steamerstarted his troubles with Marston. 

"Paper says she's considered a total loss, " went on the manager. "Ifthat's so, and the underwriters give her up, there ought to be some finepicking for men with grit. The board of survey went out to her on atug this morning. " He gave them their check, and they went aboard theirschooner. 

The affair of the _Conomo_ was not mentioned between them until theywere at sea on their way to the eastward again. The piece of news didnot interest Mayo at first, except as a marine disaster that had nobearing on his own affairs. 

Captain Candage was stumping the quarter-deck, puffing at his short, black pipe. "I don'no' as you feel anyways as I do about it, CaptainMayo, but it ain't going to be no great outset to us if we make a legout to Razee and see what's going on there, " he suggested. 

"I have no objections, " returned Mayo. "But the way things are managednowadays in case of wrecks, I don't see much prospect of our getting inon the thing in any way. "

"Mebbe not; but in case they're going to abandon her there'll be somegrabbing, and we might as well grab with the rest of 'em. "

"If they can't get her off some junk concern will gamble on her. Butwe'll make an excursion of it to see the sights, sir. We can afford alittle trip after what we pulled down to-day. "

There was no hope of reaching the wreck before nightfall, so they joggedcomfortably in the light westerly that had succeeded the gale. 

Captain Candage took the first watch after the second dog-watch, andat two bells, or nine o'clock, in the evening, Mayo awoke and heard himgive orders to "pinch her. " He heard the sails flap, and knew that themen were shortening in readiness to lay to. He slipped on his outerclothing and went on deck. 

"We're here, " stated the old skipper, "and it looks like some othermoskeeters had got here ahead of us, ready to stick in their littlebills when they get a chance. "

It was a clear night, brilliant with stars. In contrast with thetwinkling and pure lights of the heavens, there were dim reds and greensand yellow-white lights on the surface of the ocean. These lights rockedand oscillated and tossed as the giant surges swept past. 

"I make out half a dozen sail--little fellers--and two tugs, " saidCaptain Candage. "But get your eye on the main squeeze!"

Mayo looked in the direction of the extended mittened hand. 

"Some iceberg, hey?" commented the skipper. 

A short half-mile away, a veritable ghost ship, loomed the wrecked_Conomo_. Spray had beaten over her and had congealed until she seemedlike a mass of ice that had been molded into the shape of a ship. Shegleamed, a spectral figure, under the starry heavens. 

A single red light, a baleful blob of color, showed from her mainrigging. 

They surveyed her for some time. 

"I should say she was spoke for, " was Captain Candage's opinion. "It'shigh tide now, and a spring tide at that, and them tugs is just loafingout there--ain't making a move to start her. We can tell more about theprospect in the morning. "

Then the two captains turned in, for the _Ethel and May_ lay to docilelywith a single helmsman at the wheel. 

The crisp light of morning did not reveal anything especially new orimportant. There were half a dozen small schooners, fishermen, loafingunder shortened canvas in the vicinity of the wreck. One of the tugsdeparted shoreward after a time. 

Mayo had assured himself, through the schooner's telescope, that theremaining tug was named _Seba J. Ransom_. 

"The captain of that fellow went mate with me on a fishing-steameronce, " he informed Captain Candage. "Jockey me down in reaching distanceand I'll go aboard him in a dory. He may have some news. "

Captain Dodge was immensely pleased to see his old chum, and called himup into the pilot-house and gave him a cigar. 

"It's only a loafing job, " he said. "I've got to stand by and take offher captain and crew in case of rough weather or anything breaks loosemore'n what's already busted. They are still hanging by her so as todeliver her to the buyer. "

"Buyer?"

"Yep! To whatever junkman is fool enough to bid her in. She's stuckfast. Underwriters have gone back on that tug, and are going to auctionher. I'm here to help keep off pirates and take her men ashore after shehas been handed over. You a pirate, Mayo?" he asked, with a grin. 

"I'm almost anything nowadays, if there's a dollar to be made, "returned the young man. 

The _Ransom's_ captain gave him a wink. "I'm on to what happened onboard the _Olenia_" he confided. "Feller who was in the crew told me. You're good enough for old Marston's girl. Why haven't you gone up toNew York and taken--"

"Cut that conversation, Dodge, " barked Mayo, his face hard and his jawjutting threateningly. "Good day!" added the young man, slamming thepilot-house door behind him. 

His schooner, standing off and on, picked him up. 

"There's no use hanging around here, " he informed the old skipper. "They're going to junk her, if they can find anybody fool enough to bid. She'll be guarded till after the auction. "

Therefore the _Ethel and May_ shook out all her canvas and headed fulland by for Maquoit to secure her fresh supply of bait. 

"It's a shame, " mourned Captain Candage, staring over the taffrail atthe ice-sheathed steamer. "'Most new, and cost two hundred and fiftythousand dollars to build, if I remember right what the paper said whenshe was launched. "

"If she was making money they'll have another one in her place, " saidMayo. 

"Don'no' about that, sir. The Bee line wasn't none too strongfinancially, I'm told--a lot of little fellers who put in what theycould scrape and borrowed the rest. Depends on insurance and theircourage what they do after this. " He offered another observation afterhe had tamped down a load in his black pipe. "Men will do 'most anythingfor money--enough money. "

"Seems as if I'd heard that statement before, " was Mayo's curtrejoinder. 

"Oh, I know it ain't in any ways new. But the more I think over what hashappened to the _Conomo_, the pickeder seems the point to that remark. And whilst I was standing off and on, waiting for you, I run closeenough to that steamer to make out a few faces aboard her. "

Mayo glanced at him without comment. 

"F'r instance, I saw Art Simpson. You know him, don't you?"

"He was captain of Mr. Marston's yacht once. "

"Why did he leave her?"

"I heard he had been discharged. That was what the broker said when hehired me. "

"Yes, that's what Simpson said. He made a business of going around andswearing about it. Seemed to want to have everybody 'longcoast hear himswear about it. When I see a man make too much of a business of swearingabout another man I get suspicious. After Art Simpson worked his cardsso as to get the job of second officer on board the new _Conomo_ Igot _more_ suspicious. Now that I have seen how that steamer hasbeen plunked fair and square on Razee, I'm _almighty_ suspicious. I'm suspicious enough to believe that she banged during Art Simpson'swatch. "

"What are you driving at, Captain Candage? Are you hinting that anybodywould plant a man for a job of that kind?"

"Exactly what I'm hinting, " drawled the skipper. 

"But putting a steamer on the rocks at this time of year!"

"No passengers--and plenty of life-boats for the crew, sir. I havebeen hearing a lot of talk about steamboat conditions since I have beencarrying in fish. "

"I've found out a little something in that line myself, " admitted Mayo. 

"There's one thing to be said about Blackbeard and Cap'n Teach and oldCap Kidd--they went out on the sea and tended to their own pirating;they didn't stay behind a desk and send out understrappers. "

Mayo, in spite of his bitter memories of Julius Mar-ston's attitude, felt impelled to palliate in some degree the apparent enormities of thesteamboat magnates. 

"I don't believe the big fellows know all that's done, Captain Candage. As responsible parties they wouldn't dare to have those things done. Theunderstrappers, as you say, are anxious to make good and to earn theirmoney, and when the word is passed on down to 'em they go at the jobrecklessly. I think it will be pretty hard to fix anything on the realprincipals. That's why I am out in the cold with my hands tied, justnow. "

"I wish we were going to get into the _Conomo_ matter a little, so thatwe could do some first-hand scouting. It looks to me like the rankestjob to date, and it may be the opening for a general overhauling. Whendeviltry gets to running too hard it generally stubs its toes, sir. "Captain Candage found a responsive gleam in Mayo's eyes and he went on. "Of course, I didn't hear the talk, nor see the money pass, nor I wa'n'tin the pilot-house when Art Simpson shut his eyes and let her slam. Buthaving been a sailorman all my life, I smell nasty weather a long waysoff. That steamer was wrecked a-purpose, and she was wrecked at a timeo' year when she can't be salvaged. You don't have to advise the devilhow to build a bonfire. "

Mayo did not offer any comment. He seemed to be much occupied by histhoughts. 

Two days later a newspaper came into Mayo's hands at Maquoit, andhe read that the wrecked steamer had been put up at auction by theunderwriters. It was plain that the bidders had shared the insurancefolks' general feeling of pessimism--she had been knocked down for twothousand five hundred dollars. The newspapers explained that only thisridiculous sum had been realized because experts had decided that inthe first blow the steamer would slip off the ledges on which she wasimpaled and would go down like a plummet in the deep water from whichold Razee cropped. Even the most reckless of gambling junkmen could notbe expected to dare much of an investment in such a peek-a-boo game asthat. 

"But I wonder what was the matter with the expert who predicted that, "mused Mayo. "He doesn't know the old jaw teeth of Razee Reef as well asI do. "

When the _Ethel and May_ set forth from Maquoit on her next trip toCashes Banks, Mayo suggested--and he was a bit shamefaced when he didso--that they might as well go out of their way a little and see whatthe junkers were doing at Razee. 

Captain Candage eyed his associate with rather quizzical expression. "Great minds travel, et cetry!" he chuckled. "I was just going to saythat same thing to you. On your mind a little, is it?"

"Yes, and only a little. Of course, there can't be anything in it forus. Those junkers will stick to her till she ducks for deep water. ButI've been wondering why they think she's going to duck. I seined aroundRazee for a while, and the old chap has teeth like a hyena--regularfangs. "

"Maybe they took Art Simpson's say-so, " remarked the old man, wrinklinghis nose. "Art would be very encouraging about the prospects of savingher--that is to say, he would be so in case losing that steamer hasturned his brain. "

"Guess there wasn't very much interest by the underwriters, " suggestedMayo. "They weren't stuck very hard, so I've found out. She was mostlyowned in sixty-fourths, and with marine risks up to where they are, small owners don't insure. It's a wicked thing all through, Candage!That great, new steamer piled up there by somebody's devilishness! Ibelieve as you do about the affair! I've been to sea so long that a boatmeans something to me besides iron and wood. There's something about'em--something--"

"Almost human, " put in the old man. "I sorrowed over the _Polly_, butI didn't feel as bad as if she'd been new. It was sort of like when oldfolks die of natural causes--you know they have lived about as longas they can. It's sorrowful to have 'em go, but you have to feelreconciled. But I know just how it is with you in the case of thatsteamer, for I'm a sailor like you. It's just like getting a fine boythrough college, seeing him start out full of life, and courage, andhopes, and prospects, and then seeing him drop dead at your feet. "

There was a quaver in the old man's tones. But Mayo, who knew the soulsof mariners, understood. Under their hard shells there is imaginationthat has been nurtured in long, long thoughts. In the calms understarlit skies, in the black darkness when tossing surges swing beneaththe keel, in the glimmering vistas of sun-lighted seas, sailors ponderwhile their more stolid brothers on land allow their souls to doze. 

"You are right, Captain Candage. That's why I almost hate to go out tothe _Conomo_. Those infernal ghouls of junkmen will be tearing her intobits instead of trying to put the breath of life back into her. "

The helpless steamer seemed more lonely than when they had visited herbefore. The mosquito fleet that had surrounded her, hoping for somestray pickings, had dispersed. A tug and a couple of lighters were stuckagainst her icy sides, and, like leeches, were sucking from her whatthey could. They were prosecuting their work industriously, for thesea was calm in one of those lulls between storms, a wintry truce thatAtlantic coastwise toilers understand and depend on. 

Mayo, his curiosity prompting him, determined to go on board one of thelighters and discover to what extremes the junk jackals were proceeding. 

Two of his dorymen ferried him after the schooner had been hove to nearthe wreck. 

"What's your business?" inquired a man who was bundled in a fur coat andseemed to be bossing operations. 

"Nothing much, " confessed the young man from his dory, which was tossingalongside the lighter. "I'm only a fisherman. "

The swinging cranes of the lighters, winches purring, the littlelifting-engines puffing in breathless staccato, were hoisting anddropping cargo--potatoes in sacks, and huge rolls of print paper. Mayowas a bit astonished to note that they were not stripping the steamer;not even her anchors and chains had been disturbed. 

"Fend off!" commanded the boss. 

Captain Dodge dropped one of the windows of his pilot-house and leanedon his elbows, thrusting his head out. The tug _Seba J. Ransom_ wasstill on the job. She was tied up alongside the wreck, chafing herfenders against the ice-sheathed hull. 

"Hello, Captain Mayo!" he called, a welcoming grin splitting hisfeatures. "Come aboard and have a cigar, and this time I'll keep theconversation on fish-scales and gurry-butts. "

The man in the fur coat glanced from one to the other, and was promptlyplacated. "Oh, this is a friend of yours, is he, Captain Dodge?"

"You bet he is. He's been my boss before now. "

"If that's the case make yourself at home anywhere. But you know whatsome of these fellows alongcoast who call themselves fishermen will doaround a wreck when your back is turned!"

Mayo nodded amicably. 

"Step on board, " invited the boss. 

"I'm all right here in the dory, and I'm out from underfoot, sir. We'regoing along to the fishing-grounds in a jiffy. I'm only satisfyinga sailor's curiosity. Wondered what you intended to do with thisproposition. "

"We're only grabbing what's handy just now. Some of the cargo forward isabove water. I'm in on this thing in a sort of queer way myself. " Thiskeen-eyed young man who had been so heartily indorsed by the tugboatskipper afforded the man in the fur coat an opportunity for a littleconversation about himself. "I'm the outside man for Todd & Simonton, ofBoston, and bought on the jump after I'd swapped a wire or so with thehouse. Happened into that auction, and bought blind. I believe in agamble myself. Then somebody wired to the concern that they had beenstuck good and fine, and they gave me a sizzler of a call-down in anight message. A man can sit at desk in Boston and think up a whole lotof things that ain't so. Well, I've flown out here with what equipmentI could scrape up in a hurry, and you can see what I'm doing! There'senough in sight in the way of loose cargo to square me with the concern. But, blast the luck! If Jake Simonton had a little grit and would backme I believe we'd make a killing. "

"Of course, it all depends on how she's resting and what will happenwhen the next blow comes, " said Mayo. "Have you been below?"

"I'm a hustler on a dicker, and a hellion on junk, " snapped the boss. "I'm no sailor, prophet, or marine architect. I simply know that she'sfull of water aft and has got something serious the matter with herinnards. I'm pulling enough out to make Simonton sorry he sassed me in anight message. Only he will never let on that he's sorry. He never letsloose any boomerangs that will scale around and come back and hit him. He wants to be in a position to rasp me the next time I make a mistakein a gamble. "

"All the crew gone ashore--the Bee line men?"

"Sure--bag and baggage. We own her as she stands. That second officerhad 'em shivering every time a wave slapped her. I was glad when he gotaway. He pretty nigh stampeded _my_ men. Said she was liable to slideany minute. "

The drawling voice of Captain Dodge broke in above them. "Here comesthe tug _Resolute_" he stated. "Mebbe it's another one of them nightmessages from your concern, Titus. May want you to put what you cancarry of her in a paper bag and bring it to Boston. "

"You never can tell what they're going to do in Boston, " growled theoutside man. "I get discouraged, sometimes, trying to be enterprising. "

He began to pace, looking worried, and did not reply to severalquestions that Mayo put to him. So the young man accepted CaptainDodge's invitation and climbed to the tugboat's pilot-house. He had avery human hankering to know what the coming of that tug from the mainsignified, and decided to hang around a little while longer, even at therisk of making Captain Candage impatient. 

The _Resolute_ brought a telegram, and the man in the fur coat slappedit open, took in its gist at one glance, and began to swear with greatgusto. 

He climbed into the _Ransom's_ pilot-house, with the air of a manseeking comfort from friends, and fanned the sheet of paper wrathfully. 

"Orders to resell. Get out from under. Take what I can get. Don't wantthe gamble. And here I have cleaned a good profit already. "

"Why don't you fire back a message advising 'em to hold on?" askedCaptain Dodge. 

"And have a gale come up in a few hours and knock her off'n this rock?That's what would happen. It would be just my luck. I'm only a hiredman, gents. If my firm won't gamble, it ain't up to me. If I disobeyorders and hold on, I'll be scared to death the first time the windbegins to blow. There's no use in ruining a fine set of nerves for afirm that won't appreciate the sacrifice, and I need nerve to keep onworking for 'em. I say it ain't up to me. Me for shore as soon as Iload those lighters. Every dollar I get by reselling is velvet, so let'ergo!"

"What do they tell you to do about price?" ventured Mayo. 

"Take the first offer--and hurry about it. They seem to have an ideathat this steamer is standing on her head on the point of a needle, andthat only a blind man will buy her. "

He went back to his crew, much disgusted, ordered the freshly arrivedtug to wait for a tow, and spurred laggard toilers with sharp profanity. 

"Somebody has been scaring his concern, " suggested Mayo, left alone withCaptain Dodge. 

"Perhaps so--but it may be good business to get scared, provided theycan unload this onto somebody else for a little ready cash. This spellof weather can't last much longer. Look at that bank to s'uthard. Idon't know just what is under her in the way of ledges--never knew muchabout old Razee. But my prediction is, she'll break in two as soon asthe waves give her any motion. "

It was on the tip of Mayo's tongue to argue the matter with the tugboatman, but he took second thought and shut his mouth. 

"You're probably right, " he admitted. "I'd better be moving. I don'tsee any fish jumping aboard our schooner. We've got to go and catch 'em. Good-by, Dodge. "

When his associate came in over the rail of the _Ethel and May_ CaptainCandage, from force of habit, having picked up his men, gave orders tolet her off into the wind. 

"Hold her all-aback!" commanded Mayo. "Excuse me, Captain Candage, fora cross-order, but I've got a bit of news I want you to hear before weleave. The junk crowd has got cold feet and are going to sell as shestands, as soon as they get cargoes for those lighters. "

"Well, she does lay in a bad way, and weather is making, " said theskipper, fiddling his forefinger under his nose dubiously. 

"They haven't even skimmed the cream off her--probably will get all hercargo that's worth saving and some loose stuff in the rigging line. Bygad! what a chance for a gamble!"

"It might be for a feller who had so much money he could kiss a sliceof it good-by in case the Atlantic Ocean showed aces, " said the old man, revealing a sailor's familiarity with a popular game. 

"There is such a thing as being desperate enough to stake your wholebundle, " declared Mayo. "Captain, I'm young, and I suppose I have gota young man's folly. I can't expect you to feel the way I feel about agamble. "

"I may look old, but I haven't gone to seed yet, " grumbled the skipper. "What are you trying to get through you?"

"That fat man on that lighter has a telegram in his pocket from hisfolks in Boston, ordering him to take the first offer that is made forthe _Conomo_ as she stands. I'm fool enough to be willing to put inevery dollar I've got, and take a chance. "

Captain Candage stared at his associate for a time, and then walked tothe rail and took a long look at the steamer. "I never heard of a fellerever getting specially rich in the fishing game, " he remarked. 

Mayo, wild thoughts urging him to desperate ventures, snapped outcorroboration of that dictum.. 

"And I've known a lot of fellers to go broke in the wrecking game, "pursued Captain Candage. "How much have you got?" That question cameunexpectedly. 

"I've got rising six hundred dollars. " He was carrying his little hoardin his pocket, for a man operating from the hamlet of Maquoit must needsbe his own banker. 

"I've got rising six hundred in my own pocket, " said the skipper. "Thatfat man may have orders to take the first offer that's made, but we'vegot to make him one that's big enough so that he won't kick us overboardand then go hunt up a buyer on the main. "

The two Hue and Cry fishermen who had ferried the young man were nestingtheir dory on top of other dories, and just forward of the house, andwere within hearing. Neither captain noted with what interest these menwere listening, exchanging glances with the man at the wheel. 

"And after we waggle our wad under his nose--and less than a thousandwill be an insult, so I figger--what have we got left to operate with?It won't do us any good to sail round that steamer for the rest of thewinter and admire her. What was you thinking, Mayo, of trying to workhim for a snap bargain, now that he's here on the spot and anxious tosell, and then grabbing off a little quick profit by peddling her tosomebody else?"

"No, sir!" cried the young man, with decision. "I've got my own goodreasons for wanting to make this job the whole hog or not a bristle! Iwon't go into it on any other plan. "

"Well, we'll be into something, all right, after we invest ourmoney--the whole lump. We'll most likely be in a scrape, not a dollarleft to hire men or buy wrecking outfit. "

The two men finished lashing the dories and went forward. 

"It's a wild scheme, and I'm a fool to be thinking about it, CaptainCandage. But wild schemes appeal to me just now. I can make some moremoney by working hard and saving it, a few dollars at a time, but Inever expect to see another chance like this. Oh yes, I see that bank inthe south!" His eyes followed the skipper's gloomy stare. "By to-morrowat this time she may be forty fathoms under. But here's the way I feel. "He pulled out his wallet and slapped it down on the roof of the house. "All on the turn of one card! And there comes the blow that will turnit!" He pointed south into the slaty clouds. 

Captain Candage paused in his patrol of the quarterdeck and gazed downon the wallet. Then he began to tug at his own. "I'm no dead one, evenif my hair is gray, " he grumbled. 

The two captains looked at the two wallets, and then at each other. Thenext moment their attention was fully taken up by another matter. Theircrew of fifteen men came marching aft and lined up forward of the house. A spokesman stepped out. 

"Excuse us, captings, for meddling into something that p'raps ain'tnone of our business. We ain't meaning to peek nor pry, but some ofus couldn't help overhearing. We've cleaned out our pockets. Here itis--three hundred and sixty-eight dollars and thirty-seven cents. Willyou let me step onto the quarter-deck and lay it down 'side of themwallets?" He accepted their amazed silence as consent, and made hisdeposit solemnly. 

"But this is all a gamble, and a mighty uncertain one, " protested Mayo. 

"We 'ain't never had no chance to be sports before in all our lives, "pleaded the man. "We wouldn't have had that money if you two heroeshadn't give us the chance you have. We wa'n't more'n half men before. Now we can hold up our heads. You'll make us feel mighty mean, as if wewasn't fit to be along with you, if you won't let us in. "

"You bet you can come in, boys!" shouted Captain Candage. "I know howyou feel. "

"And another thing, " went on the spokesman. "We 'ain't had much time totalk this over; we rushed aft here as soon as we heard and had cleanedout our pockets. But we've said enough to each other so that we cantell you that all of us will turn to on that wreck with you and work fornothing till--till--well, whatever happens. Don't want wages! Don't needpromises! And if she sinks, we'll sing a song and go back to fishingagain. "

The man at the wheel let go the spokes and came forward and depositeda handful of money beside the rest. "There's mine. I wisht it was amillion; it would go just as free. "

"Boys, I'd make a speech to you--but my throat is too full, " chokedMayo. "I know better, now, why something called me over to Hue andCry last summer. Hard over with that wheel! Jockey her down toward thewreck!"

When they were within hailing distance of the lighter Mayo raised hismegaphone. "Will you take fifteen hundred dollars--cash--now--for thatwreck, as you leave her when you've loaded those lighters?" he shouted. 

There was a long period of silence. Then the man in the fur coatreplied, through his hollowed hands: "Yes--and blast the fools in Bostonwho are making me sell!"

XXVII ~ THE TEMPEST TURNS ITS CARD

 And one thing which we have to crave, Is that he may have a watery grave. So well heave him down into some dark hole, Where the sharks 'll have his body and the devil have his soul. With a big bow wow! Tow row row! Pal de, rai de, ri do day! --Boston. 

After the man in the fur coat had placed a hastily executed bill of salein Mayo's hands, he frankly declared that his interest in the fortune ofthe wrecked steamer had ceased. 

"The Resolute reports that storm signals are displayed. I'll simply makesure of what I've got. I'll play the game as those quitters in Bostonseem to want me to play it. "

The tugs, departing with their tows, squalled salutes to the littleschooner hove to under the counter of the _Conomo_. 

"Sounds like they was making fun of us, " growled Candage. He scowledinto the gray skies and across the lonely sea. 

Mayo, too, sensed a derisive note in the whistle-toots. Depression hadpromptly followed the excitement that had spurred him into this venture. The crackle of the legal paper in his reefer pocket only accentuated hisgloom. That paper seemed to represent so little now. It was not merelyhis own gamble--he had drawn into a desperate undertaking men whocould not afford to lose. They had put all their little prosperity injeopardy. There were women and children ashore to consider. He andhis fellows now owned that great steamer which loomed there under thebrooding heavens. But it was a precarious possession. The loss of hernow would mean not merely the loss of all their little hoards--it wouldmean the loss of hope, and the sacrifice of expectations, and the regretof men who have failed in a big task. He realized how stinging would bedefeat, for he was building the prospects of his future upon winning inthis thing. 

Hope almost failed to reassure him as he gazed first at the departinglighters and then at the ice-panoplied hulk on Razee. 

Surely no pauper ever had a more unwieldy elephant on his hands, withouta wisp of hay in sight for food.. He had seen wrecking operations:money, men, and gigantic equipment often failed to win. Technical skilland expert knowledge were required. He did not know what an examinationof her hull would reveal. He had bought as boys swap jack-knives--sightdenied! He confessed to himself that even the pittance they hadgambled on this hazard had been spent with the recklessness of folly, considering that they had spent their all. They had nothing left tooperate with. It was like a man tying his hands behind him before hejumped overboard. 

Oh, that was a lonely sea! It was gray and surly and ominous. 

Black smoke from the distant tugs waved dismal farewell. A chill windhad begun to harp through the cordage of the little schooner; themoan--far flung, mystic, a voice from nowhere--that presages the tempestcrooned in his ears. 

"I can smell something in this weather that's worse than scorched-onhasty pudding, " stated Captain Can-dage. "I don't know just how youfeel, sir, but if a feller should ride up here in a hearse about nowand want my option on her for what I paid, I believe I'd dicker with himbefore we come to blows. "

"I can't blame you, " confessed the young man. "This seems to be anothercase of 'Now that we've got it, what the devil shall we do with it?'"

"Let's pile ashore on the trail of them lighters and dicker it, and besensible, " advised his associate. "I feel as if I owned a share in oldPoppocatterpettul--or whatever that mountain is--and had been ordered tomove it in a shawl-strap. "

Mayo surveyed their newly acquired property through the advancing dusk. 

"I believe I know a feller we can unload onto, " persisted Candage. "Hehas done some wrecking, and is a reckless cuss. "

"Look here, " snapped his associate, "we'll settle one point right now, sir. I'm not hurrahing over this prospect--not at all. But I'm in it, and I'm going to stick on my original plan. I don't want anybody in withme who is going to keep looking back and whining. If everything goes bythe board, you won't hear a whicker out of me. If you want to quit now, Captain Candage, go ahead, and I'll mortgage my future to pay back whatyou have risked. Now what do you say?"

"Why, I say you're talking just the way I like to hear a man talk, "declared the skipper, stoutly. "I'll be cursed if I like to go into athing with any half-hearted feller. You're _my_ kind, and after thisyou'll find me _your_ kind. " He turned and shouted commands. "Get inmains'l, close reef fores'l, and let her ride with that and jumbo. "

"That's the idea!" commended Mayo. "The Atlantic Ocean is getting readyto deal a hand in this game. We have got to stick close if we're goingto see what cards we draw. "

A fishing-schooner, if well handled, is a veritable stormy petrel inriding out a blow. Even the ominous signs of tempest did not daunt thetwo captains. They were there to guard their property and to have theirhopes or their fears realized. 

"If the _Conomo_ has got her grit with her and lives through it, " saidCaptain Candage, "we'll be here to give her three cheers when it's over. And if she goes down we'll be on deck to flap her a fare-ye-well. "

In that spirit they snugged everything on board the schooner andprepared to defy the storm. It came in the night, with a howl of blastand a fusillade of sleet like bird-shot. It stamped upon the throbbingsea and made tumult in water and air. At midnight they were wallowingwith only a forestays'l that was iced to the hardness of boiler plate. But though the vast surges flung their mighty arms in efforts to graspthe schooner, she dodged and danced on her nimble way and frustratedtheir malignity. Her men did not sleep; they thawed themselves in relaysand swarmed on deck again. Each seemed to be animated by personal andvital interest. 

"You can't buy crews like this one with wages, " observed CaptainCandage, icicled beard close to Mayo's ear. "I reckon it was about as myPolly said--you cast bread on the waters when you took their part on Hueand Cry. "

The young man, clinging to a cleat and watching the struggles of theircraft, waved a mittened hand to signify that he agreed. In that riotof tempest and ruck of sea he was straining his eyes, trying to get aglimpse of the hulk on Razee. But the schooner had worked her way toofar off to the west, pressed to leeward by the relentless palm of thestorm. 

Then at last came morning, an opaque dawn that was shrouded withswirling snow, and all was hidden from their eyes except the tumblingmountains of water which swept to them, threatened to engulf them, and then melted under their keel. The captains could only guess at theextent of their drift, but when the wind quieted after midday, and theywere able to get sail on the schooner, they were in no doubt as to thedirection in which the steamer must lie. They began their sloshing ratchback to east. 

Mayo braved nipping wind and iced rigging and took the glass to the maincrosstrees. He remained there though he was chilled through and through. 

At last, near the horizon's rim, he spied a yeasty tumult of the sea, marking some obstruction at which the waves were tussling. In the midstof this white welter there was a shape that was almost spectral underthe gray skies. The little schooner pitched so ferociously that onlyoccasionally could he bring this object into the range of the glass. Buthe made sure at last. He clutched the glass and tobogganed to deck downthe slippery shrouds. 

"She's there, Captain Candage!" he shouted. "The teeth of old Razee arestill biting. "

They were back to her again before the early night descended. She wasiced to the main truck, and the spray had deposited hillocks of ice onher deck, weighting her down upon the ledges which had pinioned her. Butin spite of the battering she had received her position had not changed. They circled her--the midget of a schooner seeming pitifully inadequateto cope with this monster craft. 

"Well, " sighed Captain Candage, "thank the Lord she's still here. Ourwork is cut out for us now--whatever it is we can do with her. They saya mouse set a lion loose once by gnawing his ropes. It looks to me as ifwe're going to have some blasted slow gnawing here. "

They lay by her that night in a quieting sea, and spent wakeful hours inthe cabin, struggling rather helplessly with schemes. 

"Of course, it's comforting to find her here and to know that theAtlantic Ocean will have to get more muscle to move her, " said Candage. "And then again, it ain't so darnation comforting. Looks to me as ifshe's stuck there so solid that you couldn't joggle her off if youhove the moon at her. I reckon my hope has been what yours has been, Mayo--salvage her whole instead of junking her. "

"I'm a sailor, not a junkman. I'd almost rather let my money go, CaptainCandage, than be a party to smashing up that new steamer into old iron. She has fooled the guessers by sticking where she is. It has been myhope from the first that she can be floated. She is not a rusted oldiron rattletrap. Of course, she's got a hole in her, and we can see nowthat she's planted mighty solid. But she is sound and tight, I'll wager, in all her parts except where that wound is. I suppose most men who camealong here now would guess that she can't be got off whole. I'm goinginto this thing and try to fool _those_ guessers, too. "

"That's the only real gamble, " agreed the skipper. "We'd only make days'wages by carving her into a junk-pile. A scrap-heap ain't worth muchexcept as old iron at half a cent a pound; but a new steamer like thatis worth two hundred thousand dollars, by gorry! if she's afloat. "

"Well, we've got to do something besides lay to here and look ather lines. In the first place, I want to know what's the matter withher--about how much of a hole she has got. Our eyes ought to tell us alittle something. "

And on that errand Mayo departed the next morning after breakfast. 

Only a sailor, young, alert, and bold, could have scaled the side ofthe steamer in that weather. Her ladder was in place, but nothing muchexcept an exaggerated icicle. But it was on the lee side of her, andhis dory was fairly well protected from the rush of the seas. With hishatchet he hacked foothold on the ladder, left his men in the dory, andnotched his perilous way to the deck. The fore-hatch was open, just asthe hastily departing salvagers had left it. He went below, down thefrosted iron ladder. He was fronted with a cheerless aspect. Cargo andwater hid what damage she had suffered. The fat man had secured most ofthe cargo that the water had not ruined. 

He climbed back on deck and explored amidships and aft. Her engine-roomwas partially flooded, for her forepeak was propped on the higher partof the reef, and water had settled aft. Her crew's quarters were abovethe main-deck, as is the case with most cargo-carriers of the newertype. He found plenty of tinned food in the steward's domains, coal intie galley bunker, and there was bedding in the officers' staterooms. 

Mayo scrambled back to his dory and went aboard the schooner. Hereported his findings. 

"And here's the only sensible plan for the present, Captain Candage:I'll take two men and a dory and go aboard and guard our property. Somebody must stay here--and I don't want you to take the chanceson that wreck. You've got a daughter. You probably know more of theshipyard crowd in Limeport than I do. That's the nearest city, and Ibelieve that when you report that the _Conomo_ is holding after thisstorm you can hire some equipment on credit and borrow some money. "

"I swear I'll do my best. I know a lot of water-front folks, and I'vealways paid my bills. "

"We need stuff for the whole wrecking game--engine, pumps, and all therest. You go and scout on shore and capture a few men and bring 'em outhere to look our prospect over. "

"Offer 'em a lay?"

"No, sir. We'll make this a close corporation. I don't propose to let alot of land sharks in here to manipulate us out of what's our own. It'sour gamble, and we want what's coming out of it. Go ashore and see whatyou can do on prices and terms. Don't close anything till you and Ihave conferred. I'll have a schedule of needs made up by the time you'reback. "

Half an hour later he was located on the wreck with the two men he hadselected as his companions. They carried tackle with them, withwhich they hoisted after them their dory--their main bower in case ofemergency. 

And the sea which Mayo surveyed was more lonely than ever, for the_Ethel and May_ was standing off across the heaving surface toward themain and the hulk was left alone in the expanse of ocean. He felt verymuch of a pygmy and very helpless as he scrambled about over the icydecks. He remembered that faith can move mountains, but he was as yetunable to determine just what power would be able to move that steamer, into whose vitals the reef of Razee had poked its teeth. 

At eight bells, midnight, Mayo turned out of his berth, for he heardsomething that interested him. It was a soft pattering, a gentleswishing. As a mariner, he knew how sudden can be meteorological changeson the coast in winter. When the north winds have raged and howled andhave blown themselves out, spitting sleet and snow, the gentler southwinds have their innings and bear balmier moisture from the Gulf Stream. He poked his head out and felt a soft air and warm rain. He had beenhoping and half expecting that a change of weather would bring thiscondition--known as a January thaw. He went back to his bunk, muchcomforted. 

A bright sun awoke him. Clear skies had succeeded the rain, All wasdripping and melting. Chunks of ice were dropping from the steamer'sstubby masts, and her scuppers were beginning to discharge water fromthe softening mass on her deck. 

He and his little crew ate breakfast with great good cheer, then securedaxes from the steamer's tool-house and began to chop watercourses in theice. A benignant sun in a cloudless sky had enlisted himself as a memberof the wrecking crew on Razee Reef. That weather would soon clear the_Conomo_ of her sheathing. 

This was a cheerful prospect, because rigging and deck equipment ofvarious kinds would be released. The steamer began to look like a lessdiscouraging proposition. She was no longer the icicle that had put achill into underwriters and bidders. Mayo lost the somberness that hadweighed upon him. The sea did not seem so lonely and so threatening. Hefelt that he could show something tangible and hopeful to the partieswhom Captain Can-dage might be able to solicit. 

When he saw a tug approaching in the afternoon his optimism suggestedthat it brought the skipper and his party; his own hopes were so highnow that he felt that men with equipment and money would be eagerto loan it to parties who possessed such excellent prospects. In thisfashion he translated this apparent haste to get to the reef. 

But it was not Captain Candage who hailed him when the tug eased herselfagainst the ladder, her screw churning the sea in reverse. A strangercame out of the pilothouse of the _Resolute_, carrying a big leathersuit-case. He was plainly the passenger who had chartered her. Adeck-hand tossed a cast-line to the steamer's deck, and Mayo promptlythrew it back. 

"You can't come aboard. "

"Who says so?"

"I say so. I have a bill of sale of her in my pocket. "

"I don't recognize it. The law will have something to say about thatlater. "

"I don't care what the law may say later. I'm talking right now. We ownthis steamer. What are you here for?"

"I left quite a lot of little personal belongings on her. I went away ina hurry. I want to come aboard with this valise and get 'em. "

"They must be pretty valuable belongings, seeing that you've chartered atug to come out here. "

"A fellow's own property means more to him than it does to anybody else. Now that I've gone to all this expense, you ain't mean enough are you, to keep me off? This is between sailors. "

"Who are you?"

The man hesitated. "Well, if I've got to be introduced I'll say my nameis Simpson--I have been second officer aboard there. "

"You're not here with any legal papers--you're not trying any trick toget possession, are you?"

"Take all in hearing to witness that I ain't! I'll pick up my stuff andleave in ten minutes. "

"Come aboard, then. "

The man set down his suit-case and hitched a heave-line to the handle. He coiled the line and handed it to a deck-hand. "Throw that to me whenI'm on deck, " he ordered. Then he came up the ladder. 

"Heave, and I'll hoist up the bag, " suggested Mayo at the rail. 

"Wait till I get there, " barked the visitor, still climbing. He caughtthe line after he had reached the rail and pulled up the case with someeffort and great care. 

"Look here, that bag isn't empty, " said Mayo. 

"Who said it was? I'm carrying around in it all I own in the world. I'mstarting for New York as soon as this tug sets me ashore. "

He picked up the case and started for the officers' quarters. Mayo wentalong, too. 

"You afraid I'm going to steal her engine out of her? The few littlethings of mine I'm after were hidden away, and that's how I forgot 'em. Now don't insult me by following me around as if I was a thief. "

"I don't know just what you are, " muttered the young man. "There'ssomething that looks mighty phony about this, but I haven't got yousized up just yet. "

"I'll go back--go back right now. I supposed I was asking a favor ofa gentleman and a brother officer. " He started on his return to theladder. 

"Go get your stuff, " commanded Mayo. "If your business here is all yourown, I don't want to spy on you. "

He went back to question the captain of the tug for information inregard to the _Ethel and May_. 

"She's in Limeport, " reported the captain, elbows on his window-sill. "Came past her in the inner harbor this morning. You've bit off quite achunk here, haven't you? We all thought this storm had sluiced her. Madequite a stir up and down the water-front when old Can-dage blew alongand reported that she had lived it out. "

"Reckon some of the panic boys are talking in another key about theprospects out here, about now, aren't they?"

"Ain't so sure about that, sir, " stated the towboat man, loafing into aneasier attitude. 

"Isn't there a feeling on shore that we are likely to make good onthis proposition?" There was solicitude in Mayo's voice. He was acutelyanxious. On the sentiment ashore depended Captain Candage's success. 

"Can't say that I hear of any!"

"But the talk must--"

"There ain't very much talk--not now. It's generally reckoned that thispacket is a gone goose and folks are talking about something else. "

"But she is here--she is upright and fast! She is--"

The towboat man was not enough interested to listen to statementsconcerning the _Conomo's_ condition. "Look-a-here, son, " he broke in, "do you think for a minute that this thing wouldn't have been grabbedup by the real people if there had been any show of a make? I know thereisn't a show!"

"How do you know?" demanded Mayo, with indignation. 

"Haven't I been talking with the representative of one of the biggestsalvaging companies on the Atlantic coast? He's there in Limeportnow--was aboard my tug this morning. "

"How does he know?"

"Well, he does know. That's his business. And everybody in Limeportknows what he has said. He hasn't been bashful about expressing hisopinion. "

Mayo leaned over the rail, a baleful light in his eyes indicating whathis own opinions regarding this unknown detractor were, just then. 

"I'd like to know who this Lord Guess-so is--barking behind honest men'sbacks!"

"Mr. Fogg! That's him! Seems to know his business!"

"Fogg?"

"'Exactly!' That's his great word, " explained the other, grinning. "Somechap, too, with cigars and language!"

"By the gods, now I know who chartered this tug!" he shouted. "What kindof a fool am I getting to be?"

He turned and ran toward the officers' quarters. He leaped into the mainpassageway and explored headlong the staterooms. There was no sign ofhis visitor. 

At that moment, in the tumult of his thoughts, he had only a glimmeringof an idea as to what might be the motive of the man's visit. But hewas certain, now, that a wretch who had deliberately wrecked a rivalsteamer--if Candage's suspicions were correct--would do almost anythingelse for money. 

A narrow companionway with brass rails led below to the crew's quarters. Mayo, coming to the head of it, saw the man hurrying to its foot. Thecaptain grasped the rails and slid down with one swoop. 

"What in the devil's name are you doing?" he gasped. 

The intruder grabbed him and threw him to one side, and started up thecompanionway. He had dropped the suit-case to seize Mayo, and it bouncedin a way to show that it was empty. 

Mayo leaped and grasped the other's legs as he was mounting. The mankicked him ferociously in the breast before the attacker managed topinion the legs in his arms. They went down together, rolling over andover. 

The stranger was stocky and strong, his muscles toughened by a sailor'sactivities. Moreover, he seemed to be animated by something more than amere grudge or desire to defend himself; he fought with frenzy, beatinghis fists into Mayo's face and sides as they rolled. Then he began toshout. He fairly screamed, struggling to release himself. 

But his assailant was just as tough and just as desperate, and he hada younger man's superior agility. The other had forced the fight. Mayoproposed to hang to him until he discovered the meaning of this peculiarferocity. 

He flipped across his prisoner, clutched him by both ears, and rappedthe man's head so smartly on the deck planks that his victim relaxed, half unconscious. 

Then he opened staring eyes. "Let me go! Let me go! I quit. Run for it. Let me run. We're goners!" he squalled. 

"Run? Why?" demanded the victor. 

"Dynamite! I've planted it. The fuse is going. "

"Where is it?"

"Below--somewhere. I've forgot. I, can't remember. My mind is gone. I'mtoo scared to think. Run!"

Mayo jumped up and yanked the man to his feet. "Take me to it!" heshouted. 

"There ain't time. I guessed at the fuse--it may burn quicker than Ireckoned. "

The young man drove his fist into the other's face and knocked him down. Then he jerked him upright again. 

"Take me where you've planted that dynamite or we'll stay here and go uptogether. And now you know I mean what I say. "

The last blow had cowed his man; he raised his fist again. 

The visitor leaped away from him and ran along the lower deck, Mayoat his heels. He led the way aft. In the gloom of betweendecks theregleamed a red spark. Mayo rushed to it, whipped off his cap, and snuffedthe baleful glow. When he was sure that the fuse was dead he heard hisman scrambling up the companion ladder. He pursued and caught the quarryas he gained the upper deck, and buffeted the man about the ears andforced him into a stateroom. 

"This means state prison for you! You were guilty of barratry before, and you know it! How did you dare to try this last trick?"

"I had my orders. "

"Orders from what man?"

"No matter. You needn't ask. I won't tell. " The stranger was sullen, andhad recovered some of his assurance, now that his fear of the dynamitewas removed. 

"You're a lunatic. You ought to have known you couldn't pull off a thingof this kind. "

"I don't know about that! It was working pretty slick. If she had splitand gone off these ledges, you couldn't have proved anything special. I've got good backing. You better let me go. "

Mayo glared at him, deprived of speech by this effrontrery. 

"You'd better come over with the big fellows, " advised the man. "I cantell you right now that every hole in Limeport has been plugged againstyou. You can't hire equipment there, or get a cent's credit. It has allbeen nicely attended to. You're here fooling with a dead duck. You'd bebetter off if that dynamite had been let alone to split her. "

The entire uselessness of words in a situation like this, the inadequacyof speech to meet such brazen boldness, checked Mayo's oath-pepperedanathema. He pulled the key from the stateroom door and menaced theprisoner with his fist when the man started to follow him out. 

"You don't dare to keep me aboard here! Take warning by what they havealready done to you, Mayo! I'm sure of my backing. "

"You'll have a chance to use it!" retorted the young man. He dodged outand locked the stateroom door. 

"Your passenger is not going back with you, sir, " he called down overthe rail to the towboat captain. 

"I take my orders from him. "

"You are taking them from me now. Cast off!". 

"Look here--"

"I mean what I say, sir. That man you brought out here is going to staytill I can put him into the hands of the police. "

"What has he done?"

"The less you know about the matter the better it will be for yourselfand your boat! You tell the man who chartered your tug--"

"You have him aboard, there!"

Mayo looked straight into the towboat man's eyes. 

"You tell Mr. Fogg, who chartered your tug, that I have his man underlock and key and that the more riot he starts over the matter the betterI will be satisfied. And don't bring any more passengers out here unlessthey are police officers. " Then he roared in his master-mariner tones:"Cast off your lines, sir. You know what the admiralty law is!"

The captain nodded, closed his pilot-house window, and clanged his bell. Mayo knew by his mystified air that he was not wholly in the confidenceof his passenger and his employer. 

This bungling, barefaced attempt to destroy the steamer touched Mayo'spride as deeply as it stirred his wrath. Fogg evidently viewed thepretensions of the new ownership with contempt. He must have belief inhis own power to ruin and to escape consequences, pondered the youngman. He had put Mayo and his humble associates on the plane of theordinary piratical wreckers of the coast-men who grabbed without law orright, who must be prepared to fight other pirates of the same ilk, andwhose affairs could have no standing in a court of law. 

Even more disquieting were the statements that the avenues of creditashore had been closed. Malicious assertions could ruin the project moreeffectually than could dynamite. But now that the _Conomo_ had withstoodthe battering of a gale and bulked large on the reef, a visible pledgeof value, it did seem that Captain Candage must be able to find somebodywho would back them. 

For two days Mayo waited with much impatience, he and his men doing suchpreliminary work as offered itself. 

He expected that Fogg would send a relief expedition, but hisapprehensions bore no fruit. His prisoner was sourly reticent and by thefew words he did drop seemed to console himself with the certainty thatretribution awaited Mayo. 

On the third day came the schooner. She came listlessly, under alight wind, and her limp sails seemed to express discouragement anddisappointment. Mayo, gazing across to her as she approached, receivedthat impression, in spite of his hopes. He got a glimpse of CaptainCandage's face as he came to the steamer's side in his dory, and hisfears were confirmed. 

"'Tain't no use, " was the skipper's laconic report as he swung up theladder. 

"You mean to say you didn't get a rise out of anybody?"

"Nothing doing nowhere. There's a fat man named Fogg in Limeport, and heis spreading talk that we 'ain't got law or prospects. Got a few men tolisten to me, but they shooed me off when they found that we wouldn'ttake 'em in and give 'em all the profits. Went to Maquoit and tried toget Deacon Rowley into the thing--and when I go and beg favors of DeaconRowley, you can imagine how desperate I am. He's a cash-down fellow--youhave found that out. "

"But couldn't you show him that this is the best gamble on the coast?"

"He ain't a gambler; he's a sure-thing operator. And when he knew thatwe had put in all our cash, he threatened to take the schooner away fromus unless we go back to fishing and 'be sensible'--that's the way he putit. So then him and me had that postponed row. "

"But look at her, " pleaded Mayo, waving his hand, "Ice off her, sound inall her rivets after her beating. If we could get the right men out herenow--"

"I ain't confident, myself, no more, " stated Captain Candage, runningan eye of disfavor over their property. "If ye get out here away fromlevel-headed business men and dream about what might happen, you canfool yourself. I can see how it is with you. But I've been ashore, andI've got it put to me good and plenty. I did think of one way of gettingsome money, but I come to my senses and give it up. "

"Getting money--how?"

"No matter. I'd cut off both hands before I'd let them hands take thatmoney for a desp'rit thing like this. Let's sell her for scrap tothe first man who'll take her--and then mind our own business and gofishing. "

"Will you take your turn aboard here and let me go ashore?"

"There ain't no sense in us wasting more time. "

"I've done my trick here, Captain Candage, and it has been a good one. I only ask you to take your trick, as a shipmate should. Keep a dozen ofthe men here with you. There's plenty of grub. Stand off all comers tillI get back. "

"What are you going to do?"

"Make a man's try, sir, before I let 'em dump us. We can always gofishing. But there's only one_ Conomo_. "

"I'll stay. It's only fair to you to have your chance ashore. And I'vegot an almighty good rifle aboard that schooner, " stated the skipper. "Send it to me by one of the men. "

"You may need it, " stated Captain Mayo, with grim set to his jaw. "Youcome with me. I want to show you a bird that flew aboard here the otherday. "

Outside the stateroom door he halted Captain Candage, who was followingon his heels, taking Mayo's statement literally, and showing only mildinterest. 

"Captain Candage, your man, Art Simpson, is in this stateroom. He cameout here on a tug with a bag of dynamite, and intended to blow up thiswreck. "

"Gawd-a-mighty, ain't they going to stop at anything?" croaked the oldskipper. 

"It's about time for us to find out how much of this is recklessdevilishness on the part of hired men and how much the big men reallyknow of what is being done on this coast, sir. And that's why I'mholding this man Simpson. "

"Let me at him!" pleaded Candage. "I'll crack his shell for him! I'llget at his meat!"

Mayo unlocked the door and walked in. 

"Simpson, you--" bawled the old skipper, and then halted in confusion, his mouth wide open. 

"This ain't Art Simpson!" he declared, after amazed survey of theglowering stranger. "Who be ye?"

"None of your infernal business! When you do know who I am you'lldiscover that you have a tough proposition on your hands. "

"We realize that already, without knowing your name, " retorted Mayo. 

"I'm not worrying; it's for you to do the worrying! I have given youyour warning! Now take what's coming to you from the men who are behindme. "

"What's your name--that's what I've asked you?" demanded Candage. 

"None of your business--that's what I have told you. "

"We'll get some light on that subject after I have you on shore, " saidMayo. "Come on! You're going!"

"Sooner the better!" agreed the stranger. "I'll relish seeing you getyours!"

Mayo wasted no time. He sent his prisoner down the ladder to the doryahead of him, and put out his hand to the old skipper. 

"If I can't do better I'll take that devil, whoever he is, by the heels, and bat out the brains of the other pirates. "

"I reckon that they'll back down when they, see that you've caught himfoul, " stated the skipper, consolingly. "I've got a lot of confidencein your grit, sir. But I must say it's a terrible tricky gang we're upagainst, so it seems to me. "

"This may be just the right string for us to pull, " returned Mayo;"there's no pleading with them, but we may be able to scare 'em. "

"I'm afraid I'm too much inclined to look on the dark side, " confessedCaptain Candage. "You're going to find 'em all agin' ye ashore, sir. But the last words my Polly tells me to say to you was to keep up yourcourage and not to mind my growling. She thinks We have got a sure thinghere--and that shows how little a girl knows about men's work!"

And yet, that one little message of good cheer from the main socomforted Mayo that he went on his way with the whimsical thought thatgirls who knew just the right time to give a pat and bestow a smile didunderstand man's work mighty well. 

XXVIII ~ GIRL'S HELP AND MAN'S WORK

 We know the tricks of wind and tide That make and mean disaster, And balk 'em, too, the Wren and me, Off on the Old Man's Pastur'. Day out and in the blackfish there Go wabbling out and under, And nights we watch the coasters creep From light to light in yonder. --The Skipper. 

It was the period of January calms--that lull between the tempestravings of the equinoxes, and the _Ethel and May_ made slow time of iton her return to the main. In Mayo's mood of anxious impatience, hope inhis affairs was as baffling as the winds in the little schooner's sails. 

His passenger sat on the rail and gave the pacing captain occasionalglances in which irony and sullenness were mingled. 

"So you're going to put me into court, eh?" he inquired, when at lastthey drifted past the end of the breakwater at Limeport. "Well, thatwill give you a good excuse for throwing up your work on that wreck. "

Mayo kept on walking and did not reply. He had been pondering on thequestion of what to do with this new "elephant" on his hands. In a way, this stranger was an unwieldy proposition to handle in conjunction withthe problem of the _Conomo_. 

"Just understand that I don't give a hoot in a scuttlebutt if you doturn me over to the police, " pursued the man. "I'm going to be takencare of. So will you! You'll be tied up! Courts like to have chiefwitnesses attend strictly to the job. "

The young man had only a sailor's vague knowledge of the procedure ofcourts of law; but that knowledge and considerable hearsay had convincedhim that law was lagging, exacting, and overbearing. 

All his time, his best efforts, his presence were needed in the gigantictask he had undertaken at Razee. To allow himself to be mired in a lawscrape together with this person, even in criminal prosecution of theman, surely meant delay, along with repeated interruption of his work, if not its abandonment for a time. 

"Where's your boss?" he demanded, stopping in front of the prisoner. 

"Name, please?"

"Don't try to bluff me. Fogg, I mean!"

"You'll probably find Mr. Fogg at the Nicholas Hotel. "

"I'm going to walk you up there. If you try to run away--"

"Run your Aunt Huldah! Piff, son! Now you're showing sense. Take me toMr. Fogg. You'll be shown a few things. "

They had no difficulty in finding Mr. Fogg. He was in front of the firein the office of the Nicholas, toasting his back and warming his slowlyfanning palms, and talking to a group of men. 

He affected non-recognition of Mayo when the young man asked, brusquely, if he might see him in private. 

"Certainly, sir. And your friend?"

"Yes. "

The stranger, following up the stairs with Mayo, nudged his companion. 

"He's a wonder! 'And your friend?'" he quoted with a chuckle. "No coarsework about that!"

Mayo had firmly decided in his mind that his present business was theonly matter he would discuss with Fletcher Fogg. Even though the justwrath of an innocent man, ruined and persecuted, prompted him to assailthis smug trickster with tongue, and even with fists, he bound himselfby mental promise to wait until he had proofs other than vague words andhis own convictions. 

"And now--" invited Fogg, when he had closed the door of his room, waiting tmtil his callers had entered. 

"Yes, _now!_" blurted Captain Mayo. "Not _then_, Mr. Fogg! We'll havethat settled later, when I make you pay for what you did to me. Thisman here, you know him, of course! He tried to dynamite the _Conomo_. I caught him in the act. He is your man. He has made his boasts that hewould be protected. "

Mr. Fogg turned a cold stare upon the man's appreciative grin. 

"I never saw this person before, sir. "

"I know better!" Mayo leaped to a conclusion, and bluffed. "I can proveby men here in this city that you have been talking with him. "

"He may have been one of the persons who came to me asking for work onthe wreck, providing my concern decided to salvage. But we concludednot to undertake the work, and I paid no attention to him. As far as anymemory of mine is concerned, I never saw him before, I say. "

"You don't represent any salvage company, " insisted Mayo. "You have comehere to interfere with anybody who tries to salvage that steamer. "

"What is your business with me, sir? Get somewhere!"

"I have come to show you this man. If you'll keep your hands off myaffairs, shut your mouth, and stop telling men here that the plan tosalvage is hopeless, I'll turn this man over to you. You know what Iought to do to you right here and now, Fogg, " he cried, savagely. "ButI'm not going to bother--not now. I'm here to trade with you on this onematter. "

"I'm not interested. "

"Then I shall take this man to the police station and lodge mycomplaint. When criminal prosecution starts you'll see what happens toyou. "

"Go as far as you like, " consented Mr. Fogg, listlessly. "You can't makeme responsible for the acts of a person I don't know from Adam. "

"Is that your last word?"

"Of course it is!" snapped the promoter. "You must be a lunatic to thinkanything else. "

"Very well. May I use your telephone to call the police?"

"Certainly. " Mr. Fogg lighted a cigar and picked up a newspaper. 

"Just a moment before you use that 'phone, " objected the third memberof the party. "I want an understanding. You please step out of the room, Mayo. "

"Stay where you are, " commanded Fogg. "I'll give no chance for anyunderhand work. " He scowled when the prisoner winked at him. "This looksto me like a put-up job between you two. "

"There's nothing put up between us, " declared the man. "There'd betterbe something put up between _you_ two. The thing can go about so far, where I'm concerned, and no farther. I want an understanding, I say!"

Fogg slapped open the pages of his newspaper. 

"I have made my talk, " said Mayo. 

"By gad, I'm not going to jail--not for anybody!"

Fogg removed his eye-glasses and gave the man a full, unblinking stare. 

"Did you try to dynamite that wreck?"

"Is that orders--orders to talk right out?"

"Orders? I don't know what you mean, sir. I have asked you a plainquestion. "

"And you want an answer?"

"Naturally. "

"What I tried to do didn't work--he was too quick for me. There, now, get together! He has made you a fair offer, Mr. Fogg. There's no need ofmy going to jail. I won't go!"

"You ought to go, for what you did!" commented Fogg, dryly. 

"No, for what he didn't do--from your standpoint, " suggested CaptainMayo. 

"And you have been boasting, eh?" Fogg kept up his disconcerting stare, with fishy eyes. 

"I ain't going to let men walk over me and wipe their feet on me whenI'm obeying orders. "

"Orders from whom, sir?"

"Condemn it all, orders from men who can protect me by saying one word!I ain't going to stand all this riddle-come-ree business! Flat down, now, Mr. Fogg, what say?"

"Not a word! If what this fellow says is true, you ought to be in jail. "

"The advice is good. He'll be there very soon, " declared Mayo, startingfor the telephone. Fogg replaced his eye-glasses and began to read. 

"I'm ready to blow up!" warned the man. He hurried across the room andguarded the telephone with outspread arms. 

"Both of you will be sorry if the police are called, " he cried. To Mayo, who was close to him, he mumbled, "Damn him, if he dumps me like thisyou're going to be the winner!"

There was so much reality in the man's rancor that Mayo was impressedand seized upon the idea which came to him. 

"We'll test your friend, " he whispered, clutching the man, and makingpretense of a struggle. "I'll fake a call. Keep wrestling. "

Fogg gave only indifferent attention to the affair in the corner of theroom. 

With one hand holding down the receiver-arm Mayo called; he waspushed about violently, but managed to say: "Desk? Call police tohotel--lobby--at once!"

"Mr. Fogg, " pleaded the man, giving Mayo an understanding nudge with hiselbow, "ain't you going to give me a chance for a private talk?"

"If you ever speak to me or try to see me again I'll have you arrested. "

"But you're dumping me. "

"Get out of this room, both of you! I don't want the police up here. "

Mayo clapped hand on his prisoner's shoulder and pushed him out. 

"Go down-stairs slow, " protested the man. "He is bound to come out andcall me back! He's got to! He doesn't dare to dump me!"

"He dares to do anything, " stated Mayo, bitterly, "including what hedid to me and the _Montana_. I suppose you read about it--everybody elsedid. "

They walked leisurely, but Mr. Fogg's door remained closed. They waitedin the office of the hotel. He did not appear. 

"By Judas!" rasped the man, "another two-spot torn up and thrown intothe discard along with you! And I helped 'em do it to you! I'm comingacross, Mayo! That telephone business was a mighty friendly trick tohelp me force him. I appreciate it! I was on board the _Montana_ thatnight you and she got yours! My name is Burkett--Oliver. I was there, though you didn't see me. "

"I heard you were there, afterward, " stated Captain Mayo, grimly. "Captain Wass mentioned you!"

"And probably didn't give me much of a reputation. I can't help that!You needn't put one bit more trust in me, Captain Mayo, than you wantto. I don't ask you to have any respect for me. But I want to tell youthat when a man promises to back me and then turns round and dumps meso as to cover his own tracks, he will get his if I'm able to hand it tohim! I'm generally dirty. I'm especially dirty in a case like that!"

"If you show me any favors, Mr. Burkett, I suppose I'll have to dependon your spite against Fogg instead of your affection for me. You see, I'm perfectly frank. But I have been fooled too much to place any trustin anybody. "

"I don't ask you to trust me. I know how the _Montana_ job was done. I'mnot going to tell you right now. I'm going to make sure that I have beenthrown down by Fogg. And if I have been--if he means it--I'm going touse you so that I can get back at him, no matter how much it helps you. I can be pretty frank myself, you understand!"

They were silent and looked at each other. 

"Well?" inquired Burkett, sourly. 

"Well, what?" asked Mayo, with as little show of liking. 

"What about this police business--about your complaint against me?"

"I'm not going to say anything about the case! You're free, as far asI'm concerned. I am ashore here to make a raise of money or credit. Ican't spend any time in court, bothering with you. "

"I reckon you got your satisfaction out of that beating-up you gave me. I rather began to like you after that, " said Burkett, pulling one cornerof his mouth into a grin that was a grimace. "I'm going to stay at thishotel. "

"Fogg will see that our affair just now was a bluff. He will have youinto camp once more. "

"You've got to take your chances on it, Mayo. What do you say?"

"I'll take my chances. "

"By gad! sir, you're a square chap, and I'm not meeting many of thatsort in these days! Let this thing hang. Before you leave the city, slipword to me here. I'll tell you the news!"

With that understanding they parted. 

Three days later, acknowledging to himself that he was a thoroughlybeaten young man, Mayo walked into the Nicholas Hotel. He had beenunable to secure either encouragement, money, or credit. There wereparties who would back him in any attempt to junk the _Conomo_; but hisproposition to raise her with the aid of the tribe of Hue and Cry madehis project look like a huge joke and stirred hearty amusement allalong the water-front. Everywhere he found proof of Fogg's neat work ofdiscouragement. If a real salvaging company had turned the scheme downas impracticable, how could penniless amateurs hope? It was concededin business and financial circles that they hoped because they wereamateurs. 

Mayo's outlook on his own strictly personal affairs was as dismal ashis view of the Razee project in which his associates were concerned. Hewent to the hotel merely because he had promised Burkett that he wouldnotify that modern buccaneer regarding any intended departure. Hedespondently reflected that if Fogg and Burkett had agreed again, thecombination against him still existed. If they were persistently on theouts, Burkett was merely a discredited agent whose word, without proofs, could be as easily brushed away as his connection with Fogg in the'matter of the _Conomo_. In fact, so Mayo pondered, he might findassociation with Burkett dangerous, because demands for considerationcan be twisted into semblance of blackmail by able lawyers. Heentertained so few hopes in regard to any assistance from Burkett thathe was rather relieved to discover that the man was no longer a guest atthe hotel. 

"Has he left town?"

"I suppose there's no secret about the thing, " explained the clerk. "Mr. Fogg had the man arrested yesterday, for threatening words and actions. Something of that sort. Anyway, he is in jail and must give bonds tokeep the peace. "

Mayo's flagging interest in the possibilities of Burkett as an aid inhis affairs was a bit quickened by that piece of news, and he hurriedup to the jail. If ever a captured and fractious bird of passage wasbeating wings against his cage's bars in fury and despair, Mr. Burkettwas doing it with vigor. Mayo, admitted as a friend who might aidin quelling the disturbance that was making the deafened jailers andnoise-maddened prisoners regret the presence of Mr. Burkett, found theman clinging to the iron rods and kicking his foot against them. 

"It's the last thing he did before he left town, this what he has doneto me. I can't give bonds. I don't know anybody in this city, " raved theprisoner. 

"I'm afraid that I don't know the folks here very well, judging from myexperiences trying to raise money, " stated Captain Mayo, after he hadquieted Burkett. "But I'll go out and see what I can do. "

After some pleading he induced a fish wholesaler to go to the jail withhim and inspect Burkett as a risk in the matter of bonds. Mr. Burkett, being a man of guile, controlled his wrath and offered a presentableguise of mildness. 

"But how am I going to know that he won't be hunting this enemy up assoon as I give bonds?" asked the fishman. 

"Captain Mayo is tackling a job of wrecking, offcoast, " said Burkett, "and I'm out of work just now and will go with him. I'll be a safe risk, all right, out there. "

"Does that go with you, Captain Mayo?"

"Yes, sir. "

After the matter of bonds had been arranged before the commissioner, andwhen Burkett walked down the street with Mayo, the latter stopped on acorner. 

"I'll have to leave you here, Burkett. I'm going aboard the schooner. We're sailing. "

"But how about your taking me?"

"I was willing to help you lie that much, Burkett. I knew you did notintend to go with me. "

"I don't want to put you in bad with anybody after this, Captain Mayo. I need to keep away for a time where I won't be in danger of seeingFletcher Fogg. If I meet him while I'm frothing like this, I'll killhim, even if it means the chair. Give me a lay aboard that steamer, nomatter how bad your prospects are, and I'll be square with you. That's my man's word to you. I realize it isn't much of a word in yourestimation--but there are some promises I can keep. I propose to helpyou get back at Fogg and his gang. That's reason enough for what I'mdoing, " he pleaded, earnestly. "You ought to see that yourself. I'm justas good a man with machinery as I am in the pilot-house. I won't set youback any!"

"All right, Mr. Burkett, come along, " agreed Mayo, curtly, withoutenthusiasm. 

There was a fair wind for their departure and Mayo headed the schoonerfor Maquoit. The few words which Captain Candage had dropped in regardto Rowley's state of mind worried Mayo. His little edifice of hope wastottering to a fall, but the loss of the _Ethel and May_ meant the lastpush and utter ruin. He decided that he was in honor bound to preservethe schooner for the uses of the men of Hue and Cry, even if it meantabandonment of the _Conomo_ and going back to fishing. Without thatcraft they would be paupers once more. 

The _Ethel and May_ sneaked her way into Maquoit harbor--if a schoonercan be said to sneak. A breeze at nightfall fanned her along, and whenher killick went down, the rusty chain groaned querulously from herhawse-hole. 

Mayo rowed ashore and toiled his way up the little street to the widow'scottage. He was ashamed to meet Polly Candage--ashamed with the feelingsof a strong man who has put out every effort and has failed. But, somehow, he wanted to feel that sisterly grip of her hand and look downinto those encouraging gray eyes. He remembered that in times pastshe had soothed and stimulated him. This time he did not come to herexpecting to get new courage for further effort; he had exhausted allresources, he told himself. But in his bitter humiliation he needed thecompanionship of a true friend--yes, he felt, almost, that she was nowthe only friend he had left. His experiences with those whom he hadbefore looked on as friends had made him feel that he stood alone. 

She came running to him in the little parlor, her hands outstretched andher face alight. 

He felt at first sight of her, and his face flushed at thought of hisweakness, that he wanted to put his head on her shoulder and weep. 

"You poor boy, things have not been going well!"

He choked, for the caress in her tones touched his heart. He patted herhands, and she sat down beside him on the old haircloth sofa. 

"I've had a terrible week of it, Polly. "

Her sweet smile did not waver. The gray eyes stared straight into his. 

"I have talked to 'em till my mouth has been parched and my tongue sore, and God knows my heart is sore. All they do is look at me and shaketheir heads. I thought I had friends alongshore--men who believed inme--men who would take my word and help me. I'll never be fooled againby the fellows who pat you on the back in sunny weather, and won't lendyou an umbrella when it rains unless you'll leave your watch with 'emfor security. And speaking of the watch, " he went on, smiling wistfully, for her mere presence and her unspoken sympathy had begun to cheerhim, "reminds me why I'm here in Maquoit. Oh yes, " he put in, hastily, catching a queer look of disappointment on her face, "I did want tosee you. I looked forward to seeing you after all the others had turnedtheir backs on me. There's something wonderfully comforting in yourface, Polly, when you just look at me. You don't have to say a word. "

"I do thank you, Boyd. "

"I hear that Rowley is getting uneasy about his schooner--wants totake it away from us. So I have sold my watch and all the other bitsof personal things I could turn into cash, and am here to give him themoney and tell him we're going back to fishing again. "

"You'll give up the steamer?"

"Yes--and hopes and prospects and all. I've got to. "

"But if you could win!"

"I'll stay down where I belong. I won't dream any more. "

"Don't give up. "

"There's nothing else to do. We poor devils need something besides ourbare hands. "

The girl struggled mightily with her next question, but he did not noteher emotions, for his elbows were on his knees and he was staring at therag carpet. 

"Will it cost a lot of money for what you want to do on the steamer?"

"We may need a lot before we can do it all. But I have been sitting upnights planning the thing, Polly. I have gone over and over it. When Iwas on board the steamer waiting for your father, I examined her as bestI could.. If I had a little money, I could make a start, and after Istarted, and could show the doubters what could be done, I could raisemore money then. I am sure of it. Of course the first investment is themost dangerous gamble, and that's why everybody is shy. But I believemy scheme would work, though I can't seem to get anybody else to believeit. "

"Will I understand if you'll tell me?"

"I'd get a diver's outfit and material, and build bulk-heads in her, both sides of the hole in her bottom. Then I'd have an engine and pumps, and show that I could get the water out of her, or enough of it so thatshe'd float. "

"But the big hole, you wouldn't mend that?"

"I think we could brace the bulkheads so that we could hold the waterout of both ends of her and let the main hole in her alone. "

"And she wouldn't sink?"

He was patient with the girl's unwisdom in the ways of the sea. 

"Since you've been here at Maquoit, Polly, you have seen thelobster-smacks with what they call 'wells' in them. All amidships isfull of water, you know--comes in through holes bored in the hull--freshsea-water that swashes in and out and keeps the lobsters alive till theyget to market. But the vessel is tight at both ends, and she floats. Well, that's what I plan to do with the Conomo. With a few thousanddollars I'm sure I can make enough of a start so I can show 'em the restcan be done. " He promptly lost the bit of enthusiasm he had shown whilehe was explaining. He began his gloomy survey of the carpet once more. "But it's no use. Nobody will listen to a man who wants to borrow moneyon a wild hope. "

She was silent a long time, and gazed at him, and he did not realizethat he was the object of such intent regard. Several times she openedher mouth and seemed about to address him eagerly, for her eyes werebrilliant and her cheeks were flushed. 

"I wish I had the money to lend you, " she ventured, at last. 

"Oh, I wouldn't take it--not from a girl, Polly. No, indeed! This isa gamble for men--not an investment for the widow and orphan, " hedeclared, smiling at her. "I believe in it; that's because I'm desperateand need to win. It's for a big reason, Polly!"

She turned her face away and grew pale. She flushed at his next words:

"The biggest thing in the world to me is getting that steamer off Razeeand showing that infernal Marston and all his 'longcoast gang that I'mno four-flusher. I've got it in for 'em!"

He patted the hands she clasped on her knees, and he did not notice thatshe was locking her fingers so tightly that they were almost bloodless. He rose and started for the door. 

"I'll go and pacify Rowley to-night, and be ready for an early start. "

"Boyd, " she pleaded, "will you do me a little favor?"

"Most certainly, Polly. "

"Wait till to-morrow morning for your business with Mr. Rowley. "

"Why?" He looked at her with considerable surprise. 

"Because--well, because you are a bit unstrung, and are tired, and youand he might have words, and you might not use your cool judgment if heshould be short with you. You know you are a little at odds with all theworld just now!" She spoke nervously and smiled wistfully. "I would besorry to have you quarrel with Mr. Rowley because--well, father is apartner, and has already had words with him. Please wait till morning. You must not lose the schooner!"

"I'm too far down and out to dare to quarrel with Rowley, but I'll do asyou say, Polly. Good night. "

"You're a good boy to obey a girl's whim. Good night. "

The moment his foot was off the last step of the porch she hurried toher room in the cottage and secured a little packet from her portfolio. 

She heard the thud of his dory oars as she walked down the street. Shewas glad to know that he was safely out of the way. 

Rowley's dingy windows shed a dim blur upon the frosty night. It wasnear time for him to close his store, and when she entered he wasturning out the loafers who had been cuddling close to his barrel stove. 

After a few moments of waiting the girl was alone with him. 

"No, I don't want to buy anything, Mr. Rowley. I need your help. I askyou to help me to do a good deed. "

He pulled his spectacles to the end of his nose and stared at herdoubtfully and with curiosity. 

"If it's about the schooner, I'd rather do business with men-folks, " hesaid. 

"This is business that only you and I can do, and it must be a secretbetween us. Will you please glance at this bank-book?"

He licked a thin finger and turned the leaves. 

"Deposit of five thousand dollars and accrued interest, " he observed, resuming his inquisitive inspection of her animated countenance. 

"My mother's sister left me that legacy. It's all my little fortune, sir. I want to loan that money to my father and Captain Mayo. "

"Well, go ahead, if you're fool enough to. I ain't your guardeen, "assented Deacon Rowley, holding the book out to her. "But I advise youto keep your money. I know all about their foolishness. "

"My father wouldn't take it from me--and Captain Mayo wouldn't, either. "

"That shows they ain't rogues on top of being fools. "

"But I have faith that they can succeed and make a lot of money if theyget a start, " she insisted. "I see you do not understand, sir, what Ineed of you. I want you to lend them that money, just as if it came fromyou. I'll give you the book and a writing, and you can draw it. "

"No, ma'am. "

"Won't you help a girl who needs help so much? You're a Christian man, you say. "

"That's just why I can't lie about this money. I'll have to tell 'em I'mlending it. "

"You will be lending it. "

"How's that, miss?"

"For your trouble in the matter I'll let you collect the interest foryourself at six per cent. Oh, Deacon Rowley, all you need to do is handover the money, and say you prefer not to talk about it. You're a smartbusiness man; you'll know what to say without speaking a falsehood. You'll break my heart if you refuse. Think! You're only helping meto help my own father. He has foolish notions about this. You can sayyou'll let them have it for a year, and you'll get three hundred dollarsinterest for your trouble. "

"I don't believe they'll ever make enough to pay the interest--much lessthe principal. "

"Give them five thousand dollars and draw a year's interest for yourselfout of my interest that has accrued. "

"Say, how old be you?"

"I'll be twenty-two in June. "

Deacon Rowley looked at her calculatingly, fingering his nose. 

"Being of age, you ought to know better, but being of age, you cando what you want to with your own. Do you promise never to let on toanybody about this?"

"I do promise, solemnly. "

"Then you sign some papers when I get 'em drawn up, and I'll hand 'emthe money; but look-a-here, if I go chasing 'em with five thousanddollars, I'll have 'em suspecting that I'm crazy, or something worse. Itain't like Rufus Rowley to do a thing of this sort with his money. "

"I know it, " she confessed, softening her frank agreement with aningenuous smile. "But Captain Mayo is coming to you to-morrow morning onbusiness about the schooner, and you can put the matter to him in someway. Oh, I know you're so keen and smart you can do it without hissuspecting a thing. "

"I don't know whether you're complimenting me or sassing me, miss. ButI'll see it through, somehow. "

She signed the papers giving him power of attorney, left her bank-bookwith him, and went away into the night, her face radiant. 

She threw a happy kiss at the dim anchor light which marked the locationof the _Ethel and May_ in the harbor. 

"I am helping you get the girl you love, " she said, aloud. 

She went on toward the widow's cottage. Her head was erect, but therewere tears on her cheeks. 

XXIX ~ THE TOILERS OF OLD RAZEE

 Hurrah! Hurrah! for Yankee wit. Hurrah! Hurrah! for Cape Ann grit. It's pluck and dash that's sure to win--"The _Horton's_ in! The _Horton's_ in!" --Old Locality. 

Polly Candage, covering her emotions with that mask of demurenesswhich nature lends to the weaker sex for their protection, received atumultuous Mayo next morning in the parlor of the cottage. 

"I don't know how it has happened. I don't understand it, " he exploded. "I didn't suppose anybody could blast money out of his pocket withdynamite--your father said it couldn't be done. But Deacon Rowley hasloaned us five thousand dollars. Here's his check on the Limeport FirstNational. Only charges six per cent. I'm so weak it was all I could doto walk up here. "

"What did he say to explain it?" inquired Polly, with maiden's curiosityin learning to what extent of prevarication a deacon would go in orderto make three hundred dollars. 

"Wouldn't say much of anything. Handed out this check, said myindorsement on it would be enough for a receipt, and said your fatherand I could sign a joint note later--sometime--when he got around toit. Have you heard any rumor that the old fellow is losing his mind? Butthis check looks good!"

"Well, I think he's been pondering on the matter since father was here. In fact, Deacon Rowley has said a few things to me, " said the girl, meeting Mayo's gaze frankly. "Not much, of course, but something thathinted he had a lot of confidence in both of you, seeing that you haveused him nicely in the other business he has done with you. Sometimes, you know, these hard old Yankees take a liking to somebody and do thingsall of a sudden. "

"This is sudden, all right enough, " stated Mayo, scratching the serratededge of the check across his palm as if to make sure it was real and nota shadow. "Yes, he told me not to mention the note to him till he saidsomething to us about it himself, and to keep quiet about the loan. Didn't want others running to him with their schemes. "

"And if I were in your place, " advised the girl, "I wouldn't tell fatherwhere you got the money--not for a time. You know, he doesn't get alongso very well with Deacon Rowley--old folks sometimes do quarrel so--andhe might be worried, thinking the deacon had some scheme behind this. But you don't think that way, do you?"

"I have the money, and he hasn't asked me to sign any papers. There's nocome-back there, far as I can see, " declared the young man. 

"Now what will you do?"

"Rush for Limeport, hire equipment--for I've cash to pay in advance forany leases--and get to that wreck and on to my job. "

"Simply tell father you raised the money--from a friend! If he isworrying about anything, he doesn't work half as well. I'll ask God tohelp and bless you every hour in the day. "

"Polly Candage, " cried Mayo, taking her warm, plump hands, "there'ssomething about you that has put courage and grit and determination inme ever since you patted my shoulder there in the old Polly. I have beenthinking it over a lot--I had time to think when I was out aboard thatsteamer, waiting. "

"There's only one girl for you to think about, " she chided. 

His face clouded. "And it's the kind of thinking that isn't healthy fora man with a normal mind. Thank the Lord, I've got some real work tothink about now--and the cash to do that work with. " He fondled hispocket. 

She went with him to the wharf, and when the schooner slid to sea behindHue and Cry her white handkerchief gave him final salute and silentGod-speed. 

Captain Boyd Mayo, back in Limeport once more, was not the cowed, apologetic, pleading suppliant who had solicited the water-frontmachinists and ship-yard owners a few days before. He profferedno checks for them to look askance at. He pulled a wallet that wasplethoric with new yellowbacks. He showed his money often, and with apurpose. He drove sharp bargains while he held it in view. He receivedoffers of credit in places where before he had been denied. Such magicdoes visible wealth exert in the dealings between men!

He did not come across Fletcher Fogg in Limeport, and he was glad ofthat. Somebody informed him that the magnate had gone back to New York. It was manifest to Mayo that in his contempt Fogg had decided that thesalvaging of the _Conomo_ intact had been relegated to the storehouse ofdreams. His purpose would be suited if she were junked, so the youngman realized. Only the _Conomo_ afloat, a successful pioneer in newtransportation experiments alongcoast, would threaten his vestedinterests. 

There had been wintry winds and intervening calms in the days sinceMayo had been prosecuting his projects ashore. But by word of mouth fromstraying fishermen and captains of packets he had been assured that thesteamer still stuck on Razee. 

And when at last he was equipped he went forth from Limeport; he wentblithely, although he knew that a Titan's job faced him. He kept his owncounsel as to what he proposed to do with the steamer. He even allowedthe water-front gossips to guess, unchallenged, that he was going tojunk the wreck. He was not inviting more of that brazen hostility thatcharacterized the operations of Fogg and his hirelings. 

He was at the wheel of a husky lighter which he had chartered; the restof the crew he supplied from his own men. The lighter was driven by itsown power, and carried a good pump and a sturdy crane; its decks wereloaded high with coal. The schooner was now merely convoy. It was anall-day trip to Razee, for the lighter was a slow and clumsy craft, butwhen Mayo at last made fast to the side of the _Conomo_ and squealed ashrill salute with the whistle, the joy he found in Captain Candage'srubicund countenance made amends for anxiety and delay. 

"I knew you'd make a go of it, somehow, " vouchsafed the old skipper. "But who did you have to knock down in a dark place so as to steal hismoney off'n him?"

"That's private business till we get ready to pay it back, with six percent, interest, " stated the young man, bluntly. 

"Oh, very well. So long as we've got it I don't care where you stoleit, " returned Candage, with great serenity. "I simply know that youdidn't get it from skinflint Rowley, and that's comfort enough for me. Let me tell you that we haven't been loafing on board here. We riggedthat taakul you see aloft, and jettisoned all the cargo we could getat. It was all spoiled by the water. There's pretty free space foroperations 'midships. I've got out all her spare cable, and it's ready. "

"And you've done a good job there, sir. We've got to make this lighterfast alongside in such a way that a blow won't wreck her against us. Spring cables--plenty of them--and we are sailors enough to know how tomoor. But when I think of what amateurs we are in the rest of this job, cold shivers run over me. "

"That Limeport water-front crowd got at you, too, hey?"

"Captain Candage, I have watched men more or less in this life. It'ssometimes a mighty big handicap for a man to be too wise. While theawfully wise man sits back and shakes his head and figures prospects andsays it can't be done, the fool rushes in, because he doesn't know anybetter, and blunders the job through and wins out. Let's keep on beingfools, good and plenty, but keep busy just the same. "

And on that basis the rank amateurs of Razee proceeded with all the gritthat was in them. 

The men of Hue and Cry had plenty of muscle and little wit. They askedno questions, they did not look forward gioomily to doubtful prospects. The same philosophy, or lack of it, that had always made life full ofmerry hope when their stomachs were filled, taking no thought of themorrow, animated them now. Fate had given Mayo and his associate anideal crew for that parlous job. It was not a question of union hoursand stated wages; they worked all night just as cheerily as they workedall day. 

An epic of the sea was lived there on Razee Reef during the weeks thatfollowed. 

The task which was wrought out would make a story in itself, far beyondthe confines of such a narrative as this must be. 

Bitter toil of many days often proved to be a sad mistake, for the menwho wrought there had more courage in endeavor than good understandingof methods. 

Then, after disappointment, hope revived, for further effort avoided themistakes that had been so costly. 

The brunt of the toil, the duty of being pioneer, fell on Mayo. 

He donned a diving-suit and descended into the riven bowels of the wreckand cleared the way for the others. 

On deck they built sections of bulkhead, and he went down and groped inthe murky water, and spiked the braces and set those sections and calkedthe spaces between bulkhead and hull. 

There were storms that menaced their lighter and drove the littleschooner to sea in a welter of tempest. 

There were calms that cheered them with promise of spring. 

The schooner was the errand-boy that brought supplies and coal from themain. But the men who went ashore refused to gossip on the water-front, and the occasional craft that hove to in the vicinity of Razee were notallowed to land inquisitive persons on the wreck. 

After many weeks the bulkheads were set and the pumps were started. There were three crews for these pumps, and their clanking never ceased, day or night. There was less water in the fore part; her bow was proppedhigh on the ledges. The progress here was encouraging. 

Aft, there were disasters. Three times the bulkhead crumpled under thetremendous pressure of the sea, as soon as the pumps had relieved theopposing pressure within the hull. Mayo, haggard, unkempt, unshorn, thinwith his vigils, stayed underwater in his diving-dress until he becamethe wreck of a man. But at last they built a transverse section thatpromised to hold. The pumps began to make gains on the water. Asthe flood within was lowered and they could get at the bulkhead moreeffectively from the inside, they kept adding to it and strengtheningit. 

And then came the need of more material and more equipment, for thegigantic job of floating the steamer was still ahead of them. 

Mayo felt that he had proved his theory and was now in a position toenlist the capital that would see them through. He could show a hullthat was sound except for the rent amidships--a hull from both ends ofwhich the trespassing sea was being evicted. With the money that wouldfurnish buoying lighters and tugs and the massive equipment for floatingher, he felt that he would be able to convert that helpless mass of junkinto a steamer once more--change scrap-iron into an active value of atleast one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. 

And when he and Captain Candage had arrived at that hopeful and earnestbelief, following days of tremulous watching of the work the pumps weredoing, the young man went again to the main on his momentous errand. 

As they sailed into Limeport, Mayo was a bit astonished to see green onthe sloping hills. He had been living in a waking dream of mighty toilon Razee; he had almost forgotten that so many weeks had gone past. 

When he went ashore in his dory from the schooner, the balmy breathof spring breathed out to him from budding gardens and the warm breezefanned his roughened cheeks. 

As he had forgotten that spring had come, so had he forgotten about hispersonal appearance. He had rushed ashore from a man's job that was nowwaiting for him to rush back to it. He did not realize that he lookedlike a cave-man--resembled some shaggy, prehistoric human; his mind wastoo full of his affairs on Razee. 

When Captain Mayo strode down the main street of Limeport, it troubledhim not a whit because folks gaped at him and turned to stare after him. He had torn himself from his gigantic task for only one purpose, andthat idea filled his mind. 

He was ragged, his hands were swollen, purple, cut, and raw from hisdiver's labors, his hair hung upon his collar, and a beard masked hisface. They who thronged the streets were taking advantage of the firstwarm days to show their spring finery. The contrast of this rude figurefrom the open sea was made all the more striking as he brushed throughthe crowds. 

Here and there he bolted into offices where there were men he knew andwhom he hoped to interest. He had no fat wallet to exhibit to them thistime. He had only his empty, swollen hands and a wild, eager, stammeringstory of what he expected to do. They stared at him, many of themstupidly, some of them frankly incredulous, most of them withoutparticular interest. He looked like a man who had failed miserably;there was nothing about him to suggest success. 

One man put the matter succinctly: "Look here, Mayo, if you came inhere, looking the way you do, and asked me for a quarter to buy ameal with, I'd think it was perfectly natural, and would slip you thequarter. But not ten thousand--you don't look the part. "

"What have my clothes got to do with it? I haven't time to think aboutclothes. I can't wear a plug hat in a diving-suit. I've been working. And I'm still on the job. The way I look ought to show you that I meanbusiness. "

But they turned him down. In half a dozen offices they listened andshook their heads or curtly refused to look into the thing. He had notcome ashore to beg for assistance as if it were a favor. He had comefeeling certain that this time he had a valuable thing to offer. Hislabors had racked his body, his nerves were on edge, his temper wasshort. When they refused to help he cursed them and tore out. That theyallowed his personal appearance to influence their judgment stirred hisfury--it was so unjust to his self-sacrificing devotion to his task. 

He soon exhausted his circle of acquaintances, but the rebuffs made himangry instead of despondent. Thrusting rudely past pedestrians who werepolite and sleek, he marched along the street, scowling. 

And then his eyes fell on a face that gave a fresh stir to all thebitterness that was in him. 

He saw Fletcher Fogg standing outside the Nicholas Hotel. The day wasbland, the spring sun was warming, but it was evident that Mr. Fogg wasnot basking contentedly; his countenance was fully as gloomy as that ofCaptain Mayo, and he chewed on an unlighted cigar and spat snippets oftobacco over the curb while he pondered. 

Mayo was not in a mood to reason with his passion. He had just beenbattering his pride and persistence up against men whose mannerof refusal showed that they remembered what Fletcher Fogg had saidregarding the prospects of successful floating of the _Conomo_. Therestood the ponderous pirate, blocking Mayo's way on the sidewalk, justas he had blocked the young man's prospects in life in the _Montana_affair--just as he had closed avenues of credit. Mayo bumped against himand crowded him back across the sidewalk to the hotel's granite wall. Heput his two raw, swollen hands on Fogg's immaculate waistcoat and shovedsalt-stained, work-worn, and bearded face close. 

Even then the promoter did not seem to recognize Mayo. He blinkedapprehensively. He looked about as if he intended to summon help. 

"You don't seem to have your iron wishbone in your pocket this time, "growled the assailant. He jabbed his thumbs cruelly into Fogg's ribs. 

"Gad! You're--you're Captain Mayo! I'll be cursed if I knew you till youspoke!"

"I managed to hold myself in the last time you saw me, Fogg. I waswaiting. Now, damn you, I've got you!"

He was making reference merely to the physical grip in which he held theman. But Fogg seemed to find deeper significance in the words. 

"I know it, Mayo, " he whined. "That's why I'm down here. I have beenwondering about the best way to get to you--to meet you right!"

"You got to me all right, you infernal renegade!"

"But, see here, Mayo, we can't talk this matter here on the street. "

"There isn't going to be any talking!" The meeting-up had been sounexpected and Mayo's ire was so hasty that the young man had not takenthought of what he intended to do. His impulse was to beat that fat faceinto pulp. He had long before given up all hope that any appeal to Foggas a man would help. He expected no consideration, no restitution. 

"But there must be some talk. I'm here to make it. You have me foul! Iadmit it. But listen to reason, " he pleaded. "It isn't going to do youany good to rave. "

"I'm going to mash your face for you! I'll take the consequences. "

"But after you do that, you still have got to talk turkey with me aboutthose papers. "

In spite of his fury, Mayo realized from Fogg's demeanor and his wordsthat mere fear of a whipping was not producing this humility; there wasa policeman on the corner. 

"Don't talk so loud, " urged Fogg. "Come up to my room where we can beprivate. "

Mayo hesitated, puzzled by his enemy's attitude. 

"It's a word from the Old Man himself. He ordered me down here. It'sfrom Marston!" whispered the promoter. "I'm in a devil of a hole allaround, Mayo. "

"Very well! I'll come. I can beat you up in your room more comfortably!"

"I'm not afraid of the beating! I wish that was all there was to it, "muttered Fogg. He led the way into the hotel and Mayo followed, gettinga new grip on himself, conscious that there was some new crisis in hisaffairs, scenting surrender of some sort in Fogg's astonishing humility. 

"Will you smoke?" asked Fogg, obsequiously, when they were in the hotelroom. 

"No!" He refused with venom. He saw himself in one of the long mirrorsand had not realized until then how unkempt and uncouth he was. He wasill at ease when he sat down in a cushioned chair. For weeks he had beenaccustomed to the rude makeshifts of shipboard. In temper and looks hefelt like a cave-man. 

"I'm in hopes that we can get together on some kind of a friendlybasis, " entreated Fogg, humbly. "Simply fighting the thing over againwon't get us anywhere. I had to do certain things and I did them. Youspoke of my iron wishbone! Now about that _Montana_ matter--"

"I don't want any rehearsal, Mr. Fogg. What's your business with me?"

"It's hard to start unless I can feel that you'd listen to someexplanations and make some allowances. When a man works for JuliusMarston he has to forget himself and do--"

"I have worked for Julius Marston!"

"But not in the finance game, Mayo!" There was a tremble in thepromoter's voice. "Men are only shadows to him when it's a matter of bigfinance. He gives his orders to have results produced. He doesn't stopto think about the men concerned. It's the figures on his books he looksat! He uses a man like he'd use a napkin at table!"

"As you used me! You have had good training!"

"Well, if the trick was passed on down, it's now being passed on up, "stated Fogg, despondently. "I'm the goat, right now. Can't you view mepersonally in this matter?"

"I don't want to. I would get up and use these fists on you, sore asthey are!"

"I'm afraid it's going to be a tough matter for us to settle, " sighedthe promoter. "I thought I had everything tied up in the usual way. Damnit, if it wasn't for a woman being mixed into it, the thing would haveworked out all right!" He let his temper loose. "You can never reckon onbusiness when a woman sticks in her fingers! I don't care if you are inlove with Marston's daughter, Mayo! She is like a lot of other cursedhigh-flier girls who have always had more time and money than isgood for them. She is Trouble swishing petticoats! And you must haveconsiderable of a mortgage on her, seeing that she has double-crossedher own father in order to pull your chestnuts out of the fire!"

Having not the least idea what Mr. Fogg was talking about, Mayo wassilent. 

"You're a cool one! I must hand it to you!" snapped the promoter. 

"You'd better leave the name of Miss Marston out of this business withme, sir. "

"How in blazes can I leave it out, seeing what she has done?"

And Mayo, not knowing what new outbreak had marked the activities of theincomprehensible young lady, resumed his grim silence, his own interestssuggesting that watchful waiting would be his best policy. 

"Well, what are you going to say about the papers?" demanded Fogg. "Wemay as well get down to cases!"

"I'm not going to say anything. "

"You've got to say something, Mayo. This is too big a matter to foolwith. If you are reasonable, you can help me fix it up--and that willhelp the girl. She's Mar-ston's daughter, all right, and her fatherunderstands how erratic she is and makes allowances for her freaks. Buthe can't stand for some things. "

At that moment curiosity was more ardent in Mayo than resentment, thoughFogg's tone in regard to Alma Marston did provoke the latter emotion. Itwas evident that she had undertaken something in his behalf--had in somemanner sacrificed her father's interests and her own peace of mind inorder to assist the outcast. He wondered why he did not feel more joywhen he heard that news. He remembered her promise to him when theyparted, but he had erected no hopes on that promise. It had not consoledhim while he had been struggling with his problems. He was consciousthat his sentiments in regard to the whole affair were rather complex, and he did not bother to analyze them; he sat tight and stared at Mr. Fogg with non-committal blankness of expression. 

"Have you the papers with you?"

"No!" He added, "Of course not!"

"That's all right. It may be better, providing they are in a safe place. Now see here, Mayo! I'm not going to work any bluffs with you. I can't, under the circumstances. I don't know where Burkett went and--"

"Burkett is with me on the _Conomo_. I'm not going to work any bluffswith you, either, Fogg!"

"I don't care where he is nor what he has told you. Any allegations fromregular liars and men who have been fired can be taken care of in court, under the blackmail law. But in the case of those papers it's different. I'm open and frank with you, Mayo. We have been betrayed from insidethe fort. Through some leak in the office that girl got hold of thosepapers. I don't know what your sense of honor is in such matters. I'mnot here to appeal to it. Too much dirt has been done you to have thatargument have any special effect. I'm open and frank, I say!" He spreadhis hands. "Probably she didn't half realize what she was doing! But nowthat you have the papers, you realize!"

Not by a flicker of an eyelid did Mayo betray his total ignorance ofwhat Fogg referred to. 

"I want to ask you, man to man, " proceeded the emissary, "whether youpropose to use those papers simply for yourself--to get back--well--youknow!" He waved his hand. "Or are you going to slash right and left with'em, for general revenge?"

"I haven't decided. "

"It's a fair question I have asked. So far as you are concernedin anything which may be in those papers--and that's mostly my ownreports--you will be squared and more, captain. You can have the_Triton_ with a ten-years' contract as master, contract to be protectedby a bond, your pay two hundred and fifty dollars a month. Of coursethat trade includes your reinstatement as a licensed master and thedropping of all charges in the _Montana_ matter. There is no indictment, and the witnesses will be taken care of, so that the matter will notcome up, providing you have enemies. This is man's talk, Mayo! You'llhave to admit it!"

"There's another thing which must be admitted, Fogg! I have beendisgraced, hounded, and persecuted. The men along this coast, the mostof them, will always believe I made a mistake. You know what that meansto a shipmaster!"

Mr. Fogg wiped the moisture off his cheeks with a purple handkerchief. 

"You were put in devilish wrong. I admit it. I went too far. That'swhy Marston is making me the goat now. I shall be dumped if this matterisn't straightened out between us!"

"I was in this very room one day, Mr. Fogg, and saw how you dumped oneBurkett. You seemed to enjoy doing it. Why shouldn't I have a littleenjoyment of my own?"

"I had to dump him. He was a fool. He had bragged. I had to protectinterests as well as myself. But you haven't anything to consider, rightnow, but your own profit. "

"Is that so?" inquired Mayo, sardonically. "You seem to have me sized upas one of these mild and forgiving angels. "

"Now, look here, Mayo, don't let any fool notions stand in the way ofyour making good. It isn't sense; it isn't business! You have somethingwe want and we're willing to come across for it. "

"What other strings are hitched on?" asked the young man, feigningintractability as his best resource in this puzzling affair. 

"Well, of course you give up that fool job you're working on. Quit beinga junkman!"

"I'm not a junkman. We're going to float the Conomo. "

"Mayo, talk sense! That job can't be done!"

"So you've been telling every outfitter and banking-man in this city, Fogg! But now you are talking to a man who knows better. And let me saysomething else to you. I'll do no business with the kind of a man youhave shown yourself to be. "

"Don't be a boy, Mayo. I'm here with full powers. We'll take that wreckoff your hands. "

"Want to kill her as she stands, do you?"

"It's our business what we do with her after we pay our money, " declaredFogg, bridling. 

"There's something more than business--business with you--in thismatter. "

"Yes, I see there is! It's your childish revenge you're looking after. I'll give you ten thousand dollars to divide among that bunch ofpaupers. Send them along about their fishing, and be sensible. "

"It's no use for us to talk, Fogg. I see that you don't understand me atall. You ought to know better than to ask me to sell out myself and mypartners. " He rose and started for the door. 

"Partners--those paupers?"

"They have frozen and sweat, worked and starved, with me out on RazeeReef, Fogg. They are partners. "

"What's your lay? What are the writings?" insisted the promoter, following Mayo. 

"Not the scratch of a pen. Only man's decency and honor. You and yourboss haven't got money enough to buy--There isn't anything to sell!"

"But there are some things we can buy, if it has come to a matter ofblackmail, " raged Fogg. "Are you cheap enough to trade on a foolishgirl's cursed butting into matters she didn't understand? You have beenpawing those papers over. You know what they mean!"

Mayo turned and looked at the excited man. 

"They have nothing to do with you or your affairs, the most of thosepapers, " sputtered Fogg. "Mayo, be reasonable. We can't afford to haveour holding companies shown up. The syndicate can get by that infernalFederal law if we work carefully. "

"Otherwise Marston and you and a few others might go to Atlanta, eh?"

"It isn't too late to send you there. "

"You are worrying about those papers, are you?"

"Of course I'm worrying about them! What do you suppose I'm down herefor?"

"You keep on worrying, Mr. Fogg! Come on into the little corner of hellwhere I have been for the last few months; the fire is fine!"

He yanked open the door and slammed it behind him, shutting off thepromoter's frenzied appeals. 

XXX ~ THE MATTER OP A MONOGRAM IN WAX

 O come list awhile and you soon shall hear. By the rolling sea lived a maiden fair. Her father followed the sum-muggling trade Like a warlike he-ro, Like a warlike he-ro that never was aff-er-aid! --The Female Smuggler. 

Captain Mayo carried only doubts and discouragement back to the wreck onRazee. His doubts were mostly concerned with the matter of the documentswhich Mr. Fogg was seeking so insistently. Mayo himself had done alittle seeking. He inquired at the post-office, but there was no mailfor him. If no papers had been abstracted from the Marston archives, if this affair were some new attempt at guile on the part of Fogg, thepromoter had certainly done a masterly bit of acting, Mayo told himself. He determined to keep his own counsel and wait for developments. 

Two days later the developments arrived at Razee in the person ofCaptain Zoradus Wass, who came a-visiting in a chartered motor-boat. Heclimbed the ladder, greeted his _protégé_ with sailor heartiness, andwent on a leisurely tour of inspection. 

"Something like a tinker's job on an iron kittle, son, " he commented. "You must have been born with some of the instincts of a plumber. Keepon the way you're operating and you'll get her off. "

"I'll never get her off by operating as I am just now, Captain Wass. Weare standing still. No money, no credit, no grub. I made a raise offive thousand and have spent it. I don't dare to go to the old skinflintagain. "

"Well, why not try the heiress?" inquired the old skipper. "You know Ihave always advised you strong about the heiress. "

"Look here, Captain Wass, I don't want to hear any more jokes on thatsubject, " objected the young roan, curtly. 

"No joke to this, " stated the captain, with serenity. "Let's step intothis stateroom. " He led the way and locked the door. 

"There's no joke, son, " he repeated, "and I don't like to have you showany tartness in the matter. Seeing what friends we have been, I ain'ttaking it very kindly because you have been so mighty close-mouthed. I'm a man to be trusted. You made a mistake in not telling me. The thing'most fell down between me and her!"

He frowned reproachfully at the astonished Mayo. 

"She came expecting, of course, that I was about your closest friend, and when I had to own up that you have never mentioned her to me shethought she had made a mistake in me, and wasn't going to give me thething!"

"What thing, and what are you talking about?"

Captain Wass patted his coat pocket. 

"I convinced her, and it was lucky that I was able to, for it's a matterwhere only a close and careful friend ought to be let in. But after thisyou mustn't keep any secrets away from me if you expect me to help you. However, you have shown that you can take good advice when I give it toyou. I advised you to grab Julius Marston's daughter and, by thunder!you went and done it. Now--"

Mayo impatiently interrupted. Captain Wass was drawling, with manifestenjoyment of the part he was taking in this romance. 

"You have brought something for me, have you?"

"She is a keen one, son, " proceeded the captain, making no move to showthe object he was patting. "Hunted me up, remembering that I had youwith me on the old _Nequasset_, and put questions to me smart, I cantell you! You ought to have been more confidential with me. "

"Captain Wass, I can't stand any more of this nonsense. If you haveanything for me, hand it over!"

"I have taken pains for you, traveled down here, four or five hundredmiles, taking--"

"Yes, taking your time for the trip and for this conversation, " declaredMayo, with temper. "I have been put in a mighty mean position by notknowing you had these papers. "

"Safe and sure has always been my motto! And I had a little business ofmy own to tend to on the way. I have been finding out how that fat Foggsnapped himself in as general manager of the Vose line. Of course, itwas known well enough how he did it, but I have located the chap thatdone it for him--that critter we took along as steward, you remember. "

In spite of his anxiety to get into his hands the parcel in the oldskipper's pocket, Mayo listened with interest to this information; itrelated to his own affairs with Fogg. 

"I'm going to help the honest crowd in the Vose line management to tipover that sale that was made, and when the right time comes I'll havethat white-livered clerk in the witness-box if I have to lug him thereby the ears. Now, Mayo, that girl didn't say what was in this packet. "He pulled out a small parcel which had been carefully tied with cords. "She is in love with you, because she must be in love to go to so muchtrouble in order to get word to you. If this is a love-letter, it'sa big one. Seems to be all paper! I have hefted it and felt of itconsid'able. "

He held it away from Mayo's eager reach and investigated still more withprodding fingers. 

"Hope she isn't sending back your love-letters, son. But by the look shehad on her face when she was talking about you to me I didn't reckon shewas doing that. Well, here's comfort for you!" He placed the packet inMayo's hands. 

The parcel was sealed with three neat patches of wax, and on each blobwas imprinted the letters "A M" in a monogram. Mayo turned the packetover and over. 

"If you want me to step out, not feeling as confidential toward me asyou used to, I'll do it, " proffered Captain Wass, after a polite wait. 

"I'm not going to open this thing--not yet, " declared the young man. "That's for reasons of my own--quite private ones, sir. "

"But I'd just as soon step out. "

"No, sir. Your being here has nothing whatever to do with the matter. "He buttoned the packet into his coat pocket. He had little respect forFletcher Fogg's delicacy in any question of procedure; the promoter'sanimus in the matter of those papers was clear. Nevertheless, the agenthad crystallized in bitter words an idea which was deterring Mayo: wouldhe take advantage of a girl's rash betrayal of her father? Somehowthose seals with her monogram made sacred precincts of the inside of thepacket; he touched them and withdrew his hand as if he were intruding atthe door which was closed upon family privacy. 

"I suppose you'd rather keep your mind wholly on straight business, seeing what a bad position you're in, " suggested Captain Wass. "Verywell, we'll put love-letters away and talk about something that'ssensible. It's too bad there isn't some tool we could have to pry openthat Vose line sell-out. The stockholders got cold feet and slid outfrom under Vose after the _Montana_ was laid up. "

"What has been done with her?"

"Nothing, up to now. Cashed in with the underwriters and are probablyusing the money to play checkers with on Wall Street. Maybe they'reusing her for a horrible example till they scare the rest of theindependents into the combination. "

"Have the underwriters sold?"

"Yes. She has been bid in--probably by some tinder-strapper of the bigpirates. It's a wonder they let you get hold of this one. "

"They thought she was spoken for. When they found that she wasn't, theysent Burkett out here to blow her up. "

Captain Wass was not astonished by that information. 

"Probably! All the talk which has been circulated says that you werejunking her. I didn't have any idea you were trying to save her. "

"We have been blocked by some busy talkers, " admitted the young man. 

"It's too bad the other folks can't do some talking and have the factsto back 'em up, son. Do you know what could be done if that syndicatecould be busted? The old Vose crowd would probably hitch up with theBee line folks. The Bee-liners are discouraged, but they haven't letgo their charter. You wouldn't have to worry, then, about getting yourmoney to finish this job, and you'd have a blamed quick market for thissteamer as soon as she was off this reef. "

The bulging packet seemed to press against Mayo's ribs, insistentlyhinting at its power to help. 

"I am going back and have a talk with old man Vose about this steamer, "said Captain Wass. "Now, son, a last word. I don't want to pry intoany delicate matters. But I sort of smell a rat in those papers in yourpocket. When she took 'em out of her muff all I could smell was violet. Do you think you've got anything about you that would help me--helpus--help yourself?"

"No, sir; only what you see for yourself in this steamer'spossibilities. "

"Very well; then I'll do the best I can. But confound this girl businesswhen it's mixed into man's matters!" It was heartfelt echo of Mr. Fogg'ssentiments. 

Captain Wass departed on his chartered motor-boat, after eating someof the boiled fish and potatoes which made up the humble fare of theworkers on Razee. 

Mayo based no hopes on the promised intervention of the old skipper. Hehad been so thoroughly discouraged by all the callous interests on shorethat he felt sure his project was generally considered a failure. Whenhe was on shore himself the whole thing seemed to be more or less adream. {*}

 * When the steamer _Carolyn_ was wrecked on Metinic Rock a few years ago a venturesome young man, without money or experience in salvaging, managed to raise a few thousand dollars, bought the steamer for $1, 000 from a frightened junk concern, and after many months of toil, during which he was mocked at by experienced men, managed to float her. She was sold recently for $180, 000, and is now carrying cargoes to Europe. 

They were reduced to extremities on board the _Conomo_. There was nomore coal for the lighter's engine, equipment was disabled, parts wereneeded for worn machinery, Smut-nosed Dolph was pounding Hungryman'stattoo on the bottom of the flour-barrel, trying to knock out enoughdust for another batch of biscuit. 

Mayo had kept his promise and had not confided to Captain Candage thesource of the loan which had enabled them to do what they had done. After a few days of desperate consideration Mayo sailed on the _Etheland May_ for Maquoit. 

He avoided the eyes of the villagers as much as was possible; he landedfar down the beach from the house which was the refuge for the folksfrom Hue and Cry. In his own heart he knew the reason for this slinkingapproach: he did not want Polly Candage to see him in this plight. Hertrust had been so absolute! Her confidence in him so supreme! In hismental distress he was not thinking of his rags or his physicalunsightliness. He went straight to the store of Deacon Rowley and hislooks startled that gentleman into some rather unscripturalejaculations. 

However, Deacon Rowley promptly recovered his presence of mind when Mayosolicited an additional loan. The refusal was sharp and conclusive. 

"But you may as well follow your hand in the thing, " insisted Mayo. "That's why I have come to you. I hated to come, sir. I have tried allother means. You can see how I have worked!" He spread his torturedhands. "Come out and see for yourself!"

"I don't like the water. "

"But you can see that we are going to succeed if we get more money. Youhave five thousand in the project; you can't afford to drop where youare. "

"I know what I can afford to do. I have always said, from the first, that you'd never make a go of it. "

At this statement Mayo displayed true amazement. 

"But, confound it all, you lent us money! What do you mean bycrawfishing in this way?"

Deacon Rowley was visibly embarrassed; he had dropped to this vitallyinterested party a damaging admission of his real sentiments. 

"I mean that I ain't going to dump any more money in, now that you ain'tmaking good! I might have believed you the first time you came. I reckonI must have. But you can't fool me again. No use to coax! Not anothercent. "

"Aren't you worried about how you're going to get back what you havealready lent?" demanded Mayo, with exasperation. 

"The Lord will provide, " declared Deacon Rowley, devoutly. 

The young man stared at this amazing creditor, worked his jaws a fewmoments wordlessly, found no speech adequate, and stamped out of thestore. He no longer dreaded to meet Polly Candage. He felt that heneeded to see her. He was seeking the comfort of sanity in that shoreworld of incomprehensible lunacy; he had had experience with PollyCandage's soothing calmness. 

She came out from her little school and controlled her emotions withdifficulty when she saw his piteous condition. 

"Let's walk where I can feel the comfort of green grass under my feet, "he pleaded; "that may seem real! Nothing else does!"

By her matter-of-fact acceptance of him and his appearance and his moodshe calmed him as they walked along. 

"And even Rowley, " he added, after his blunt confession of failure, "hehas just turned me down. He won't follow his five thousand with anothercent. The old rascal deserves to be cheated if we fail. He is tellingme that he always believed we would never make good in the job. Is hecrazy, or am I?"

"Make all allowances for Deacon Rowley, " she pleaded. "Keep away fromhim. He is not a consoling man. But there must be some way for you, Boyd. Let us think! You have been keeping too close to the thing--toyour work--and there are other places besides Limeport. "

"There's New York--and there's a way, " he growled. 

"You must try every chance; it means so much to you!"

"Is that your advice?"

"Certainly, Boyd!"

He stopped and pulled the sealed packet from his coat. In the stress ofhis despair and resentment he was brutal rather than considerate. 

"There are papers in there with which I can club Julius Marston untilhe squeals. I haven't seen them, but I know well enough what they are. Ican scare him into giving back all he has taken away from me. I can makehim give back a lot to other folks. And from those other folks I can getmoney to finish our work on the _Conomo_. Look at the monogram on thatseal, Polly!" He pointed grimy finger and held the packet close. 

"From--Miss Marston?" she asked, tremulously. 

"Yes, Polly. "

"And she is helping you?"

"I suppose she is trying to. "

"Well, it's what a girl should do when she loves a man, " she returned. But she did not look at him and her lips were white. 

"And you think I ought to use her help?"

"Yes. " She evidently realized that her tone was a mere quaver of assent, for she repeated the word more firmly. 

"But these papers are not hers, Polly. She stole them--or somebody stolethem for her--from her own father, " he went on, relentlessly. 

"She must love you very much, Boyd. "

They turned away from each other and gazed in opposite directions. Hewas wondering, as he had through many agonized hours, just what motivewas influencing Alma Marston in those later days. With all his soulhe wanted to question Polly Candage--to get the light of her woman'sinstinct on his troubled affairs; but the nature of the secret he washiding put effective stopper on his tongue. 

"Under those circumstances, no matter what kind of a sacrifice she hasmade for you, you ought to accept it, Boyd. "

"I want to accept it; every impulse in me says to go in and grab. Polly, hell-fire is blazing inside of me. I want to tear them down--the wholeof them. I do! You needn't jump! But if I use those papers which thatgirl has stolen from her father I'll be a dirty whelp. You know it, andI know it! Suppose you should tell me some secret about your own fatherso I could use it to cheat him out of his share of our partnership? Youmight mean all right, but after I had used it you would hate me! Nowwouldn't you?"

"Perhaps--probably I wouldn't hate you, " she stammered. "But I'd thinkmore of you if you--yes, I'm sure I'd think more of you if you didn'ttake advantage of my foolishness. "

"That's it, exactly! Any man, if I told him about this situation, wouldsay that I'm a fool not to use every tool I can get hold of. Butyou understand better! I'm glad I came to talk with you. I have beendreadfully tempted. Your advice is keeping me straight!"

"I have not advised you, Boyd!"

"You don't need to use words! It's your instinct telling me what isright to do. You wouldn't think it was a square deal for me to use thesepapers, would you?"

"If you love her so much that you're willing to sacrifice yourself andyour work and--"

"Say it, Polly! I'm sacrificing your father, too! It's for a notion--notmuch else!"

"No, it must be because you love her so much. You are afraid she willthink less of you if you take advantage of her. I think your stand isnoble, Boyd!"

"I don't! I think it's infernal foolishness, and I wish the Mayo breeddidn't have so much of that cursed stiff-necked conscience! Our familywouldn't be where it is to-day. " He spoke with so much heat that sheturned-wondering eyes on him. 

"But it's for her sake, Boyd! It's--"

"Nothing of the sort! That is, it isn't as you think it is. "

"I only think you love her. "

"I don't want you to say that--or believe it!" he raved. "If you onlyknew--if I could tell you--you'd see that it's insulting my common senseto say that I'm in love with Alma Marston. I don't love her! I--I don'tknow just where I stand. I don't know what's the matter with me. I'm inthe most damnable position a man can be in. And I'm talking like a fool. Isn't that so?"

"I don't understand you, " she faltered. 

"Of course you don't. I reckon I'm a lunatic. I'll be rolling over hereand biting the grass next!"

His passion puzzled her. His flaming eyes, his rough beard, his rage, and all the uncouth personality of him shocked her. 

"Boyd, what--whatever is the matter? I'm afraid. "

"I don't blame you. I'm afraid of myself these days!" He shook hisswollen fists over his head. 

"It ought to encourage you because she is trying to help you!"

"Be still!" he roared. "You don't know what you're talking about. Helpme! There are women who can help a man--do help a man, every turn hemakes. There are other women who keep kicking him down into damnationeven when they think they are helping. I'm not going to stay here anylonger. I mustn't stay, Polly. I'll be saying things worse than what Ihave said. What I said about women doesn't refer to you! You are trueand good, and I envy that man, whoever he is. "

He started down the slope toward the beach. 

"Are you going back to the wreck?" she asked, plaintively. 

"To the wreck!"

"But wait!" She could not control either her feelings or her voice. 

"I can't wait. I don't dare to stay another minute!"

She called again and he halted at a little distance and faced her. Hewas absolutely savage in demeanor and tone. 

"Remember what I said about her! Don't insult my common sense! Sheis--Oh, no matter!" He shook his fists again and went on his way. 

She stood on the hillside and watched him row out to the littleschooner. And through her tears she did not know whether he waved saluteto her with those poor, work-worn hands, or again shook his fists. Hemade some sort of a flourish over the rail of the quarter-deck. Thegrieving and mystified girl was somberly certain that his troubles hadtouched Mayo's wits. 

XXXI ~ THE BIG FELLOW HIMSELF

 Will had promised his Sue that this trip, if well ended, Should coil up his ropes and he'd anchor on shore. When his pockets were lined, why his life should be mended, The laws he had broken he'd never break more. --Will Watch. 

They needed food, lease-money for their hired equipment was due, and thedependents at Maquoit must be looked after. 

Pride and hope had inspired the crew at Razee to salvage the _Conomo_intact. Material removed from her would immediately become junk to bevalued at junk prices, instead of being a valuable and active asseton board. But there was no other resource in sight. No word came fromCaptain Wass; and Mayo had put little confidence in that possibility, anyway. 

There was nothing else to do--they must sell off something on which theycould realize quickly. 

In the estimation of many practical men this procedure would have beena warrantable makeshift, its sole drawback being a sacrifice of values. But to the captains on Razee it seemed like the beginning of completesurrender; it was the first step toward the dismantling of thesteamship. It was making a junk-pile of her, and they confessed tothemselves that they would probably be obliged to keep on in the work ofdestruction. In the past their bitterest toil had been spiced with thehope of big achievement; the work they now set themselves to do wasmelancholy drudgery. 

They brought the _Ethel and May_ alongside and loaded into her theanchors, chains, spare cables, and several of the life-boats. Mayo tookcharge of the expedition to the main. 

The little schooner, sagging low with her burden, wallowed up the harborof Limeport just before sunset, one afternoon. Early June was abroadon the seas and the pioneer yachting cruisers had been coaxed to theeastward; Mayo saw several fine craft anchored inside the breakwaterand paid little attention to them. He paced the narrow confines of hisquarter-deck and felt the same kind of shame a ruined man feels when heis on his way to the pawnshop for the first time. He had his head down;he hated to look forward at the telltale cargo of the schooner. 

"By ginger! here's an old friend of yours, this yacht!" called Mr. Speed, who was at the wheel. 

They were making a reach across the harbor to an anchorage well uptoward the wharves, and were passing under the stern of a big yacht. Mayo looked up. It was the _Olenia_. 

"But excuse me for calling it a friend, Captain Mayo, " bawled the mate, with open-water disregard of the possibilities of revelation in hisfar-carrying voice. 

A man rose from a chair on the yacht's quarter-deck and came to therail. Though the schooner passed hardly a biscuit-toss away, the manleveled marine glasses, evidently to make sure that what he had guessed, after Mr. Speed's remark, was true. 

Mayo felt an impulse to turn his back, to dodge below. But he didnot retreat; he walked to his own humble rail and scowled up into thecountenance of Julius Mar-ston. The schooner was sluggish and the breezewas light, and the two men had time for a prolonged interchange ofvisual rancor. 

"I didn't mean to holler so loud, Captain Mayo, " barked Oakum Otie, in still more resonant manner, to offer apology. "But seeing her, andremembering last time I laid eyes on her--"

"Shut up!" commanded the master. "I'll take the wheel. Go forward andclear cable, and stand by for the word!"

He looked behind, in spite of himself, and saw that a motor-tenderhad come away from the _Olenia_. It foamed along in the wake ofthe schooner. It circled her after it had passed, and kept up thosemanouvers until the schooner's anchor was let go. Then the tender cameto the side and stopped. The mate and engineer in her were new men; Mayodid not know them. The mate tipped respectful salute and stated that Mr. Marston had sent them to bring Captain Mayo on board the yacht at once. 

"My compliments to Mr. Marston. But I am not able to come. "

They went away, but returned in a short time, and the mate handed a noteover the rail. It was a curt statement, dictated and typewritten, thatMr. Marston wished to see Captain Mayo on business connected withthe _Conomo_, and that if Captain Mayo were not able to transact thatbusiness Mr. Marston would be obliged to hunt up some other party whocould do business regarding the _Conomo_. Remembering that he had theinterests of others to consider, Mayo dropped into the tender, sullen, resentful, wondering what new test of his endurance was to be made, andfeeling peculiarly ill-equipped, in his present condition of courage andtemper, to meet Julius Marston. 

The latter had himself under full restraint when they met on the yacht'squarter-deck, and Mayo was more fully conscious of his own inadequacy. 

"Below, if you please, captain. " He led the way, even while he utteredthe invitation. 

No one was visible in the saloon. In the luxury of that interior theunkempt visitor seemed especially strange, particularly out of place. 

"You will excuse what has seemed to be my hurry in getting you overhere, sir, but I take it that your sailing into this port just nowcoincides with the arrival of the Vose crowd in this city to-day. "

Mr. Fletcher Fogg first, and now Mr. Fogg's employer, had given advanceinformation which anticipated Mayo's knowledge. The young man had beenhaving some special training in dissimulation, and he did not betray anysurprise. He bowed. 

"It's better for you to talk with me before you allow them to make afool of you. I am prepared to take that steamer off your hands, asshe stands, at a fair appraisal, and I will give bonds to assume allexpenses of the suit brought by the underwriters. "

"There has been no suit brought by the underwriters. "

Mr. Marston raised his eyebrows. "Oh! I must remember that you areconsiderably out of the world. The underwriters make claim that thevessel was not legally surrendered by them. Have you documents showingrelease? If so, I'll be willing to pay you about double what otherwise Ishall feel like offering. Take a disputed title in an admiralty case andit's touchy business. "

Mayo remembered the haphazard manner in which the steamer had beentransferred, and he did not reply. 

Marston's manner was that of calm, collected, cool business; his aircarried weight. More than ever did Mayo feel his own pitiful weakness inthese big affairs where more than honest hard work counted in the finaladjustment. 

"How much did you pay your big lawyers to stir up this suit by theunderwriters?" he blurted, and Marston's eyelids flicked, in spite ofhis impassivity. There was instinct of the animal at bay, rather thanany knowledge, behind Mayo's question. 

"Why should you suggest that I have anything to do with such a suit?"

"You seem almighty ready to assume all liability. "

"I'm not here to have childish disputes with you, sir. This is straightbusiness. "

"Very well. What do you want?"

"Have you documents, as I have suggested?"

"I have my bill of sale. I take it for granted that the folks who soldto me are backed by papers from the underwriters. "

"That's where you are in error, unfortunately. You are all made party toa suit. Time clause, actual abandonment, right of redemption--allthose matters are concerned. Of course, it means injunction and longlitigation. I suggested assuming liabilities and stepping in, because Iam backed by the best admiralty lawyers in New York. I repeat the offerMr. Fogg made to you. "

"You admit that Mr. Fogg made that offer for you or your interests, doyou?"

"Well, yes!" admitted Marston. "We allow Mr. Fogg to act for us in a fewmatters. "

"I am glad to know it. There has been so much cross-tag going on that Ihave been a little doubtful!"

"Kindly avoid sarcasm and temper, if you please! Do you care to acceptthe offer?"

Mayo glared at the financier, looking him up and down. Furious hatredtook away his power of sane consideration. He was in no mood to weighchances, either for himself or for his associates. He doubtedMarston's honesty of purpose. He knew how this man must feel towardthe presumptuous fool who had dared to look up at Alma Marston; he wasconscious that the magnate must be concealing some especial motive underhis cold exterior. 

Whether Marston was anticipating blackmail from Mayo's possession of thedocuments or had hatched up ostensible litigation in order to force thebothersome amateurs out of the _Conomo_ proposition, the young man couldnot determine; either view of the situation was equally insulting tothose whom he made his antagonists. 

"Well!" snapped the magnate, plainly finding it difficult to restrainhis own violent hatred much longer in this interview. "Decide whetheryou will have a little ready cash and a good position or whether youwill be kicked out entirely!"

"I don't want your money! You're trying to cheat me with fake lawbusiness even while you are offering me money! I don't want your job! Ihave worked for you once. I'll never be your hired man again. "

"If I did not know that you have a better reason for standing out inthis fashion, I'd say that you have allowed, your spite to drive youcrazy, young man. "

"What is that better reason?"

"Blackmail! You propose to trade on a theft. "

Mayo struggled for a moment with an impulse that was almost frantic; hewanted to throw the packet in Mar-ston's face and tell him that he lied. Again the young man felt that queer sense of helplessness; he knew thathe could not make Marston understand. 

"Mayo, I have tried to deal with you as if you were more or less ofa man. I was willing to admit that my agents had injured you by theirmistakes. I have offered a decent compromise. I have done what I hardlyever do--bother with petty details like this!"

That impulse to deliver the papers to Marston was then not so insistent;even Mayo's rising anger did not prompt him to do that. The wreck of aman's life and hopes dismissed flippantly as petty details!

"Seeing that I am not able to deal with you on a business man's basis, Ishall handle you as I would handle any other thief. "

Mayo turned to leave, afraid of his own desperate desire to beat thatsneering mouth into shapelessness. 

At the head of the companionway stood half a dozen sailors, armed withiron grate-bars. 

"If those papers are on you, I'm going to have them, " stated thefinancier. "If they are not on you, you'll be glad to tell me where theyare before I get done with you. "

The captive halted between the master and the vassals. 

"I'm going to crucify my feelings a little more, Mayo, " stated Marston. "Step forward here where those men can't hear. It's important. "

Marston knocked softly on a stateroom door and his daughter came forth. She gasped when she saw this ragged visitor, and in her stare there wasreal horror. 

"I haven't been able to sift this thing to the bottom. By facing youtwo, as I'm doing, I may be able to get the truth of the case, " saidMarston, with the air of a magistrate dealing with malefactors. "Now, Alma, I'll allow you a minute or two to use your tongue on this finespecimen before my men use their bars. "

"I heard what my father offered you. You must take it. "

"I have other men to consider--honest men, who have worked hard withme. "

He trembled in their presence. Her appearance put sane thoughts out ofhis head and choked the words in his throat. He saw himself in a mirrorand wondered if this were not a dream--if it had not been a dream thatshe had ever loved him. 

He wanted to put out to her his mutilated hands which he was hidingbehind him. He yearned to explain to her the man's side of the case. Hewanted her to understand what he owed to the men who had risked theirlives to serve him, to make her realize the bond which exists betweenmen who have toiled and starved together. 

"You have yourself to consider, first of all. Much depends. In yoursilly notions about a lot of paupers you are throwing my father'skindness in his face!"

He stammered, unable to frame coherent reply. 

"Be sensible. You have no right to put a heap of scrap-iron and a lot oflow creatures ahead of your personal interests. "

There was malice in Marston's eyes. He saw an opportunity to make Mayo'sposition even more false in the opinion of the girl. 

"I'll be entirely frank, Mayo. In spite of our personal differences, Iwant your services--I need them. I have found out that you're a youngman of determination and plenty of ability. I'll put you ahead fast ifyou'll come over with me. But you must come clean. No strings on youwith that other crowd. "

"I can't sell 'em out. I won't do it, " protested Mayo. He did notexactly understand all the reasons for his obstinacy. But his instincttold him that Julius Marston was not descending in this manner exceptfor powerful reasons, and that he was attempting to buy a traitor forhis uses. 

"How do you dare to turn against my father?"

"I--I don't know! Something seems to be the matter with me. " He wrenchedat his throat with his hand. 

"And after what I did--my wicked foolishness--those papers--"

"Go on! I propose to get to the bottom of this thing, " declared Marston. 

The young man drove his hand into his pocket, pulled out the sealedpacket, and forced it into the girl's hands. Marston promptly seized it. 

"You have not opened it?"

"No, sir. "

"I did not open it, either, " cried the girl. "I sealed it, just as itwas tied up. "

Marston ripped off the strings and the wax. 

Outside a loud voice was hailing the yacht. "Compliments of Captain Wassto Captain Mayo, and will he please say when he is coming back aboardhis schooner?"

The financier paid no attention; he was busy with the papers. His facewas white with rage. He threw them about him on the floor. 

"Every sheet is blank--it is waste-paper!" he shouted. "What confoundedtrick is this?"

"You'd better ask the man who gave that packet to your daughter, "suggested Mayo. He seemed to be less astonished than Marston and thegirl. "I might have known that your man, Bradish, would be that kind ofa sneak. "

"What do you know about Bradish being concerned in this?"

"I'm guessing it. Probably your daughter can say. "

"I'll have no more of your evasions, Alma. I'm going to the bottom ofthis matter now. Did Bradish give you this packet?"

"Yes, father. "

"How did it get to this man here?"

"I gave it to a man named Captain Wass. "

Again they heard the voice outside. "I don't care if he is busy! I tellyou to take word to Captain Mayo that he is wanted right away on hisschooner. Tell him it's Captain Wass. "

"The devil has sent that man along at about the right time, " declaredMarston. He strode to the companion-way. "Inform Captain Wass that he iswanted on board here! Hide those bars till he is below!"

He came back, raging, and stood between Mayo and the girl, who hadseemed to find words inadequate during the short time they had been lefttogether. 

"I don't believe anything you tell me! There's an infernal trick, here. The papers are missing. Somebody has them. "

His fury blinded his prudence. 

He strode toward Captain Wass when the old mariner came stumping downthe companionway. 

"Is your name Wass?"

"Captain Wass, sir. "

"You took papers from my daughter and brought them to this man!"

"Correct. "

Marston stepped back and kicked at the blank sheets on the floor. 

"Perhaps you can tell me if these are what you brought. ". 

Captain Wass stared long at Mayo, at the girl, and at the incensedmagnate. Then he looked down at the scattered papers and scratched hishead with much deliberation. 

"Why don't you say something?" demanded Marston. 

"I'm naturally slow and cautious, " stated Captain Wass. He put on hisspectacles, kneeled on the soft carpet, and examined the blank papersand the broken seals. He laid them back on the carpet and meditated forsome time, still on his knees. When he looked up, peering over the edgeof his spectacles, he paid no attention to Mar-ston, to the latter'sindignant astonishment. 

"Vose and others are waiting for us at the hotel, " he informed CaptainMayo, "and it's important business, and we'd better be tending to itinstead of fooling around here. "

"No matter about any other business except this, sir, " cried Marston. 

"There can't be much business mixed up in a lot of blank sheets ofpaper, " snapped Captain Wass. "What's the matter?"

"I have lost valuable papers. "

The old skipper bent shrewd squint at the angry man who was standingover him. "Steamer combination papers, hey?"

"You seem to know pretty well. "

"Ought to know. "

"Why?"

Captain Wass rose slowly, with grunts, and rubbed his stiff knees. "Because I've got 'em. "

"Stole them from the package, did you?"

"It wasn't stealing--it was business. "

"Hand them over. "

"I insist on that, too, Captain Wass, " said Mayo, with indignation. "Hand over those papers. "

"Can't be done, for I haven't got 'em with me. And I won't hand 'em overtill I have used them in my business. "

"I shall have you arrested, " announced Marston. 

"So do. Sooner the whole thing gets before the court, the better. " Hisperfect calmness had its effect on the financier. 

"What are you proposing to use those papers for?"

"To make you pirates turn back the Vose line property and pay damages. As to the rest of your combination, the critters that's in it can skintheir own skunks. I guess the whole thing will take care of itself afterwe get the Vose line back. "

"You are asking for an impossibility. The matter cannot be arranged. "

"Then we'll see how far Uncle Sam can go in unscrambling that particularnestful of eggs. I'll give the papers to the government. "

"Haven't you any influence with this man?" Marston asked the astoundedMayo. 

"No, he hasn't--not a mite in this case, " returned Captain Wass. "Heneeds a guardeen in some things, and I'm serving as one just now. "

"You must get them from him--you must, Captain Mayo, " cried the girl. "Idid not understand what I was doing. "

"I will get them. "

"I'd like to see you do it, son!"

He turned on the Wall Street man. "I'm only asking for what isrightfully due my own people. I'm a man of few words and just now I'msticking close to schedule. Until eleven o'clock to-night you'll findVose, myself, and our lawyers at the Nicholas Hotel. After eleveno'clock we shall be in bed because we've got to get an early start forthe wreck out on Razee. We're going to finance that job. And in case wedon't come to terms with you tonight we shall use our club to keep youout of our business after this. You know what the club is. "

Marston was too busily engaged with Captain Wass to pay heed to hisdaughter. She went close to Mayo and whispered. 

"You must quit them, Boyd. It's for my sake. You must help my father. They are wretches. Think of what it will mean to you if you can help us!You will do it. Promise me!"

He did not reply. 

"Do you dare to hesitate for one moment--when I ask you--for my sake?"

"That's my last word, " bawled Captain Wass. "There's no blackmail aboutit--we're only taking back what's our own. "

"Are you one of those--creatures?" she asked, indignantly. 

If she had shown one spark of sympathy or real understanding in thatcrisis of their affairs, if she had not been so much, in that moment, the daughter of Julius Marston, counseling selfishness, he might havefatuously continued to coddle his romance, in spite of all that hadpreceded. But her eyes were hard. Her voice had the money-chink in it. He started, like a man awakened. His old cap had fallen on the carpet. He picked it up. 

"Good-by!" he said. "I have found out where I belong in this world. "

And in that unheroic fashion ended something which, so he then realized, should never have been begun. He followed Captain Wass across thesaloon. 

"Better advise your buckos to be careful how they handle themgrate-bars, " shouted Captain Wass. "I'm loaded, and if I'm joggled I'mliable to explode. "

They were not molested when they left the yacht. The doryman who hadbrought Captain Wass rowed them to the wharf. 

"Those papers--" Mayo had ventured, soon after they left the yacht'sside. 

"Not one word about 'em!" yelped the old skipper. "It's mybusiness--entire! When the time comes right I'll show you that it's myprivate business. I never allow anybody to interfere in that. "

That night, after the conference at the hotel, and after Julius Marston, growling profanity, had put his name to certain papers, drawn by carefullawyers, Captain Wass explained why the matter of the sealed packetwas his private business. He took Marston apart from the others for thepurpose of explaining. 

"I haven't said one word to Vose or his associates about this businessof the documents. They think you have come because you wanted tostraighten out a low-down trick worked by an understrapper. So this hasput you in mighty well with the Vose crowd, sir. "

Marston grunted. 

"It ought to be kind of pleasing to have a few men think you are on thesquare, " pursued Captain Wass. 

"That's enough of this pillycock conversation. Hand over those papers!"

"Just one moment!" He signaled to Captain Mayo, who came to them. "I'mgoing to tell Mr. Marston why those documents were my especial businessto-day, and why you couldn't control me in the matter. I may as wellexplain to the two of you at once. It was my own business for thisreason: I don't know anything about any papers. I never saw any. Inever opened that package. I handed it along just as it was given to me. That's true, on my sacred word, Mr. Marston; and I haven't any reasonfor lying to you--not after you have signed those agreements. "

"Come outside, " urged the financier. "I want to tell you what I think ofyou. "

"No, " said the old skipper, mildly. "And I'd lower your voice, sir, if Iwere you. These men here have a pretty good idea of you just now, and Idon't want you to spoil it. "

"You're a lying renegade!"

"Oh no! I have only showed you that all the good bluffers are notconfined to Wall Street. There's one still loose there. Your man Bradishprobably had reasons for wanting to bluff your daughter--and save hisown skin. He'll probably hand your papers to you!"

Marston swore and departed. 

"I laid out that course whilst I was down on my knees in his cabin, sort of praying for a good lie in a time of desp'rit need, " CaptainWass confided to Mayo. "It wasn't bad, considering the way it has workedout. "

XXXII ~ A GIRL'S DEAR "BECAUSE!"

 Cheer up, Jack, bright smiles await you From the fairest of the fair, And her loving eyes will greet you With kind welcomes everywhere. Rolling home, rolling home, Rolling home across the sea. Rolling home to dear old England, Rolling home, dear land, to thee! --Rolling Home. 

There was no niggardliness in the trade the Vose folks made with CaptainMayo. They contracted to co-operate with him and his men in floating thesteamship, repairing her in dry dock, and refitting her for herroute. She would be appraised as she stood after refitting, as agoing proposition, and Mayo was to receive stock to the amount of hervalue--stock in the newly organized Vose line. 

"Furthermore, " stated old man Vose, "we shall need a chap of just aboutyour gauge as manager. You have shown that you are able to do things. "

He was up on the _Conomo's_ deck after a long inspection of the workwhich had been done under difficulties. 

"You would have had this steamer off with your own efforts if your moneyhad lasted. Your next job is the _Montana_; but you'll simply managethat, Captain Mayo--use your head and save your muscle. "

"I'll get her off, seeing that I put her on. "

"We all know just how she was put on--and Marston will pay for it in hishard coin. "

Under these circumstances Razee Reef was no longer a mourners' bench!The dreary days of makeshift were at an end. 

The lighters of one of the biggest wrecking companies of the coasthurried to Razee and flocked around the maimed steamer--Samaritans ofthe sea. Gigantic equipment embraced her; great pumps gulped the waterfrom her; bolstered and supported, as a stricken man limps with his armsacross the shoulders of his friends, the steamer came off Razee Reefwith the first spring tide in July, and toiled off across the sea inthe wake of puffing tugs, and was shored up and safe at last in a drydock--the hospital of the crippled giants of the ocean. 

No music ever sounded as sweet to Captain Mayo as that clanging chorusthe hammers of the iron-workers played on the flanks of the _Conomo_. But he tore himself away from that music, and went down to Maquoit alongwith a vastly contented Captain Candage, who remembered now that he hada daughter waiting for him. 

She had been apprised by letter of their success and of their coming. 

Maquoit made a celebration of that arrival of the _Ethel and May_, andDolph and Otie, cook and mate of the schooner, led the parade when themen were on shore. 

They came back to their own with the full purses that the generosity oftheir employers had provided, and there was no longer any doubt as tothe future of the men who once starved on Hue and Cry. 

Captain Mayo had declared that he knew where to find faithful workerswhen it came time to distribute jobs. 

Polly Candage had come to him when he stepped foot on shore, handsoutstretched to him, and eyes alight. And when she put her hands in hishe knew, in his soul, that this was the greeting he had been waitingfor; her words of congratulation were the dearest of all, her smile wasthe best reward, and for her dear self he had been hungry. 

But he would not admit to himself that he had come to woo. 

When the soft dusk had softened the harsh outlines of the little hamlet, and the others were busy with their own affairs and had left Mayoand Polly to themselves, he sat with her on the porch of the widow'scottage, where they spent that first evening after they had been savedfrom the sea. 

There had been a long silence between them. "We have had noopportunity--I have not dared yet to tell you my best hopes for thedearest thing of all, " she ventured. 

"The one up inland. I know. I am glad for you. "

"What one up inland?"

"That young man--the only young man in all the world. "

"Oh yes! I had forgotten. "

He stared at her. "Forgotten?"

"Why--why--I don't exactly mean forgotten. But I was not thinking abouthim when I spoke. I mean that now--with your new prospects--you can goto--to--There may come a time when you can speak to Mr. Marston. "

"I have spoken to Mr. Marston, quite lately. He has spoken to me, " hesaid, his face hard. "We shall never speak to each other again, if I canhave my way. "

He met her astonished gaze. "Polly, I hate to trouble you with my pooraffairs of this kind. I can talk of business to Mr. Vose, and of thesea to your father. But there's another matter that I can't mentionto anybody--except you will listen. I will tell you where I saw Mr. Marston--and his daughter. "

She listened, her lips apart. 

"So, you see, " he said at the end, "it was worse than a dream; it wasa mistake. It couldn't have been real love, for it was not built on theright foundation. I have never had much experience with girls. I havebeen swashing about at sea 'most all my life. Perhaps I don't know whatreal love is. But it seems to me it can't amount to much unless it isbuilt up on mutual understanding, willingness to sacrifice for eachother. "

"I think so, " returned Polly, softly. 

"I want to see that young man of yours, up inland. I want to tell himthat he is mighty lucky because he met you first. "

"Why?"

"I can't tell you just why. It isn't right for me to do so. "

"But a girl likes to hear such things. Please!"

"Will you forgive me for saying what I shouldn't say?"

"I will forgive you. "

"He's lucky, because if I didn't know you were promised and in love, I'd go down at your feet and beg you to marry me. You're the wife fora Yankee sailor, Polly Candage. If only there were two of you in thisworld, we'd have a double wedding. "

He leaped up and started away. 

"Where are you going?" she asked, and there was almost a wail in hertones. "No, he does not understand girls well, " she told herself, bitterly. 

"I'm going down to Rowley's store to see if he will take his money backand let us save interest. He told me I'd have to keep the money for ayear. "

She called to him falteringly, but with such appeal in her tones that hehalted and stared at her. 

"Couldn't you--Isn't it just as well to let the matter restuntil--till--"

"Oh, there's no time like the present in money matters, " he declared, with a laugh, wholly oblivious, not in the least understanding herembarrassment, her piteous effort to bar her little temple of love'ssacrifice so that he could not trample in just then. 

His laugh was a forced one. He realized that if he did not hurry awayfrom this girl he would be reaching out his arms to her, declaring thelove that surged in him, now that he had awakened to full consciousnessof that love; his Yankee reticence, his instinct of honor between men, were fighting hard against his passion; he told himself that he wouldnot betray a man he did not know, nor proffer love to a girl who, so hebelieved, loved another. 

"May I not go with you?" she pleaded, restraining her wild impulse torun ahead of him and warn the deacon. 

"Of course!" he consented, and they walked down the street, neitherdaring to speak. 

They found Rowley alone in his store. He was puttering around, makingready to close the place for the night. 

As they entered, the girl stepped behind Mayo and, catching the deacon'seye, made frantic gestures. In the half gloom those gestures weredecidedly incomprehensible; the deacon lowered his spectacles and staredat her, trying to understand this wigwagging. 

"I'd like to take up that loan and save the rest of the year's interest, Deacon Rowley, " stated Mayo, with sailorly bluntness. 

The girl was trying to convey to the deacon the fact that he mustnot reveal her secret. She was shaking her head. This seemed to theintermediary like direct and conclusive orders from the principal. 

"No, sir, Captain Mayo! It can't be done. "

"I don't call that a square deal between men, no matter what straightbusiness may be. "

Polly now signaled eager assent, meaning to make the deacon understandthat he must take the money. But the deacon did not understand; hethought the girl affirmed her desire for straight business. 

"You took it for a year. No back tracks, captain. "

She shook her head, violently. 

"No, sir! Keep it, as you agreed, and pay your interest. "

"Deacon Rowley, you're an old idiot!" blazed the girl. 

When the deacon yanked off his spectacles, and Captain Mayo turnedamazed eyes to her, she put her hands to her face and ran out of thestore, sobbing. She was only a girl! She had no more resources left withwhich to meet that situation in men's affairs. 

Mayo's impulse was to follow, but the deacon checked him. 

"I ain't going to be made a fool of no longer in this, even to makethree hundred dollars, " he rasped. 

"A fool! What do you mean?"

"You go settle it with her. "

"What has Polly Candage got to do with this business?"

"It's her money. "

"You mean to say--"

"She drawed her money out of the bank, and horn-swoggled me into lyingfor her. What won't a girl do when she's in love with a fellow? If you'ain't knowed it before, it's high time you did know it!"

That last remark of the deacon's had disgusted reference only to thematter of the money. But it conveyed something else to Captain BoydMayo. 

He ran out of the store!

Far up the road he overtook her. She was hurrying home. When she facedhim he saw tears on her cheeks, though the generous gloom of eveningwrapped them where they stood. He took both her hands. 

"Polly Candage, why did you risk your money on me?" he demanded. 

"I knew you would succeed!" she murmured, turning her face away. "It wasan--a good investment. "

"When you gave it, did you--Were you thinking--Was it only for aninvestment, Polly?"

She did not reply. 

"Look here! This last thing ought to tie my tongue, for I owe everythingto you. But my tongue won't stay tied--not now, Polly. I don't care ifthere is somebody else up-country. I ought to care. I ought to respectyour--"

She pulled a hand free and put plump fingers on his lips. "There isnobody up-country; there never has been anybody, Boyd, " she whispered. 

He took her in his arms, and kissed her, and held her close. 

"Will you tell me one thing, now? I know the answer, sweetheart mine, but I want to hear you say it. Why did you give me all your money?"

She put her palms against his cheeks and spoke the words his soul washungry for:

"Because I love you!"

THE END