ALFRED SANTEil
 
 AT SUNWICH PORT
 
 AT SUNWICH PORT 
 
 BY 
 W. W. JACOBS 
 
 McKINLAY, STONE & MACKENZIE 
 NEW YORK
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1901, 1902, BY 
 W. W. JACOBS 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1902, BY 
 CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
 
 AS rights reserved 
 
 Published, May, 1902
 
 Stack 
 
 Annex 
 
 AT SUNWICH PORT 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE ancient port of Sunwich was basking in 
 the sunshine of a July afternoon. A rattle 
 of cranes and winches sounded from the 
 shipping in the harbour, but the town itself was half 
 asleep. Somnolent shopkeepers in dim back par- 
 lours coyly veiled their faces in red handkerchiefs 
 from the too ardent flies, while small boys left in 
 charge noticed listlessly the slow passing of time as 
 recorded by the church clock. 
 
 It is a fine church, and Sunwich is proud of it. 
 The tall grey tower is a landmark at sea, but from 
 the narrow streets of the little town itself it has a 
 disquieting appearance of rising suddenly above the 
 roofs huddled beneath it for the purpose of display- 
 ing a black-faced clock with gilt numerals whose 
 mellow chimes have recorded the passing hours for 
 many generations of Sunwich men. 
 
 Regardless of the heat, which indeed was mild 
 compared with that which raged in his own bosom,
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Captain Nugent, fresh from the inquiry of the col- 
 lision of his ship Conqueror with the German barque 
 Hans Mutter y strode rapidly up the High Street in 
 the direction of home. An honest seafaring smell, 
 compounded of tar, rope, and fish, known to the 
 educated of Sunwich as ozone, set his thoughts upon 
 the sea. He longed to be aboard ship again, with 
 the Court of Inquiry to form part of his crew. In 
 all his fifty years of life he had never met such a 
 collection of fools. His hard blue eyes blazed as 
 he thought of them, and the mouth hidden by his 
 well-kept beard was set with anger. 
 
 Mr. Samson Wilks, his steward, who had been 
 with him to London to give evidence, had had a 
 time upon which he looked back in later years with 
 much satisfaction at his powers of endurance. He 
 was with the captain, and yet not with him. When 
 they got out of the train at Sunwich he hesitated as 
 to whether he should follow the captain or leave 
 him. His excuse for following was the bag, his 
 reason for leaving the volcanic condition of its own- 
 er's temper, coupled with the fact that he appeared 
 to be sublimely ignorant that the most devoted 
 steward in the world was tagging faithfully along a 
 yard or two in the rear. 
 
 The few passers-by glanced at the couple with 
 interest. Mr. Wilks had what is called an expres- 
 sive face, and he had worked his sandy eyebrows,
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 his weak blue eyes, and large, tremulous mouth 
 into such an expression of surprise at the finding 
 of the Court, that he had all the appearance of a 
 beholder of visions. He changed the bag to his 
 other hand as they left the town behind them, and 
 regarded with gratitude the approaching end of his 
 labours. 
 
 At the garden-gate of a fair-sized house some half- 
 mile along the road the captain stopped, and after 
 an impatient fumbling at the latch strode up the 
 path, followed by Mr. Wilks, and knocked at the 
 door. As he paused on the step he half turned, 
 and for the first time noticed the facial expression of 
 his faithful follower. 
 
 "What the dickens are you looking like that 
 for ? " he demanded. 
 
 " I've been surprised, sir," conceded Mr. Wilks; 
 " surprised and astonished." 
 
 Wrath blazed again in the captain's eyes and set 
 lines in his forehead. He was being pitied by a 
 steward ! 
 
 " You've been drinking," he said, crisply ; " put 
 that bag down." 
 
 " Arsking your pardon, sir," said the steward, 
 twisting his unusually dry lips into a smile, " but 
 I've 'ad no opportunity, sir I've been follerin' 
 you all day, sir." 
 
 A servant opened the door. " You've been soak- 
 
 3
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing in it for a month,'* declared the captain as he 
 entered the hall. " Why the blazes don't you bring 
 that bag in ? Are you so drunk you don't know 
 what you are doing ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks picked the bag up and followed hum- 
 bly into the house. Then he lost his head alto- 
 gether, and gave some colour to his superior officer's 
 charges by first cannoning into the servant and then 
 wedging the captain firmly in the doorway of the 
 sitting-room with the bag. 
 
 " Steward ! " rasped the captain. 
 
 " Yessir," said the unhappy Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " Go and sit down in the kitchen, and don't leave 
 this house till you're sober." 
 
 Mr. Wilks disappeared. He was not in his first 
 lustre, but he was an ardent admirer of the sex, and 
 in an absent-minded way he passed his arm round 
 the handmaiden's waist, and sustained a buffet which 
 made his head ring. 
 
 " A man o' your age, and drunk, too," explained 
 the damsel. 
 
 Mr. Wilks denied both charges. It appeared that 
 he was much younger than he looked, while, as for 
 drink, he had forgotten the taste of it. A question 
 as to the reception Ann would have accorded a boy- 
 ish teetotaler remained unanswered. 
 
 In the sitting-room Mrs. Kingdom, the captain's 
 widowed sister, put down her crochet-work as her 
 
 4
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 brother entered, and turned to him expectantly. 
 There was an expression of loving sympathy on her 
 mild and rather foolish face, and the captain stiffened 
 at once. 
 
 " I was in the wrong," he said, harshly, as he 
 dropped into a chair ; " my certificate has been sus- 
 pended for six months, and my first officer has been 
 commended." 
 
 " Suspended ? " gasped Mrs. Kingdom, pushing 
 back the white streamer to the cap which she wore 
 in memory of the late Mr. Kingdom, and sitting 
 upright. " You ? " 
 
 " I think that's what I said," replied her brother. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom gazed at him mournfully, and, 
 putting her hand behind her, began a wriggling 
 search in her pocket for a handkerchief, with the 
 idea of paying a wholesome tribute of tears. She 
 was a past-master in the art of grief, and, pending 
 its extraction, a docile tear hung on her eyelid and 
 waited. The captain eyed her preparations with 
 silent anger. 
 
 " I am not surprised," said Mrs. Kingdom, 
 dabbing her eyes ; " I expected it somehow. I 
 seemed to have a warning of it. Something seemed 
 to tell me ; I couldn't explain, but I seemed to 
 know." 
 
 She sniffed gently, and, wiping one eye at a 
 time, kept the disengaged one charged with sisterly 
 
 5
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 solicitude upon her brother. The captain, with 
 steadily rising anger, endured this game of one-eyed 
 bo-peep for five minutes ; then he rose and, mutter- 
 ing strange things in his beard, stalked upstairs to 
 his room. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom, thus forsaken, dried her eyes and 
 resumed her work. The remainder of the family 
 were in the kitchen ministering to the wants of a 
 misunderstood steward, and, in return, extracting in- 
 formation which should render them independent of 
 the captain's version. 
 
 "Was it very solemn, Sam?" inquired Miss 
 Nugent, aged nine, who was sittting on the kitchen 
 table. 
 
 Mr. Wilks used his hands and eyebrows to indi- 
 cate the solemnity of the occasion. 
 
 " They even made the cap'n leave off speaking," 
 he said, in an awed voice. 
 
 " I should have liked to have been there," said 
 Master Nugent, dutifully. 
 
 " Ann," said Miss Nugent, " go and draw Sam a 
 jug of beer." 
 
 " Beer, Miss ? " said Ann. 
 
 " A jug of beer," repeated Miss Nugent, per- 
 emptorily. 
 
 Ann took a jug from the dresser, and Mr. Wilks, 
 who was watching her, coughed helplessly. His 
 perturbation attracted the attention of his hostess, 
 
 6
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 and, looking round for the cause, she was just in 
 time to see Ann disappearing into the larder with a 
 cream-jug. 
 
 "His perturbation attracted the attention of hii hostess." 
 
 " The big jug, Ann," she said, impatiently ; " you 
 ought to know Sam would like a big one."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Ann changed the jugs, and, ignoring a mild tri- 
 umph in Mr. Wilks's eye, returned to the larder, 
 whence ensued a musical trickling. Then Miss 
 Nugent, raising the jug with some difficulty, poured 
 out a tumbler for the steward with her own fair 
 hands. 
 
 " Saim likes beer," she said, speaking generally. 
 
 " I knew that the first time I see him, Miss," re- 
 marked the vindictive Ann. 
 
 Mr. Wilks drained his glass and set it down on 
 the table again, making a feeble gesture of repulse as 
 Miss Nugent refilled it. 
 
 " Go on, Sam," she said, with kindly encourage- 
 ment; " how much does this jug hold, Jack ? " 
 
 " Quart," replied her brother. 
 
 " How many quarts are there in a gallon ? " 
 
 " Four." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked troubled. " I heard father 
 say he drinks gallons a day," she remarked ; " you'd 
 better fill all the jugs, Ann." 
 
 "It was only 'is way o' speaking," said Mr. Wilks, 
 hurriedly ; " the cap'n is like that sometimes." 
 
 " I knew a man once, Miss," said Ann, " as used to 
 prefer to 'ave it in a wash-hand basin. Odd, ugly- 
 looking man 'e was ; like Mr. Wilks in the face, 
 only better-looking." 
 
 Mr. Wilks sat upright and, in the mental strug- 
 gle involved in taking in this insult in all its rami-
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 fications, did not notice until too late that Miss 
 Nugent had filled his glass again. 
 
 "It must ha* been nice for the captain to 'ave you 
 with 'im to-day," remarked Ann, carelessly. 
 
 "It was," said Mr. Wilks, pausing with the glass 
 at his lips and eyeing her sternly. " Eighteen 
 years I've bin with 'im ever since 'e 'ad a ship. 
 *E took a fancy to me the fust time 'e set eyes 
 on me." 
 
 " Were you better-looking then, Sam ? " inquired 
 Miss Nugent, shuffling closer to him on the table 
 and regarding him affectionately. 
 
 " Much as I am now, Miss," replied Mr. Wilks, 
 setting down his glass and regarding Ann's giggles 
 with a cold eye. 
 
 Miss Nugent sighed. " I love you, Sam," she 
 said, simply. " Will you have some more beer ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks declined gracefully. " Eighteen years 
 I've bin with the cap'n," he remarked, softly ; 
 " through calms and storms, fair weather and foul, 
 Samson Wilks 'as been by 'is side, always ready in a 
 quiet and 'umble way to do 'is best for 'im, and now 
 now that 'e is on his beam-ends and lost 'is ship, 
 Samson Wilks'll sit down and starve ashore till he 
 gets another." 
 
 At these touching words Miss Nugent was undis- 
 guisedly affected, and wiping her bright eyes with her 
 pinafore, gave her small, well-shaped nose a slight 
 
 9
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 touch en passant with the same useful garment, and 
 squeezed his arm affectionately. 
 
 " It's a lively look-out for me if father is going to 
 be at home for long," remarked Master Nugent. 
 " Who'll get his ship, Sam ? " 
 
 " Shouldn't wonder if the fust officer, Mr. Hardy, 
 got it," replied the steward. " He was going dead- 
 slow in the fog afore he sent down to rouse your 
 father, and as soon as your father came on deck 'e 
 went at 'arfspeed. Mr. Hardy was commended, and 
 your father's certifikit was suspended for six months." 
 
 Master Nugent whistled thoughtfully, and quit- 
 ting the kitchen proceeded upstairs to his room, and 
 first washing himself with unusual care for a boy of 
 thirteen, put on a clean collar and brushed his hair. 
 He was not going to provide a suspended master- 
 mariner with any obvious reasons for fault-finding. 
 While he was thus occupied the sitting-room bell 
 rang, and Ann, answering it, left Mr. Wilks in the 
 kitchen listening with some trepidation to the con- 
 versation. 
 
 " Is that steward of mine still in the kitchen ? " 
 demanded the captain, gruffly. 
 
 " Yessir," said Ann. 
 
 " What's he doing ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks's ears quivered anxiously, and he eyed 
 with unwonted disfavour the evidences of his late 
 debauch. 
 
 10
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Sitting down, sir," replied Ann. 
 
 " Give him a glass of ale and send him off," com- 
 manded the captain ; " and if that was Miss Kate I 
 heard talking, send her in to me." 
 
 Ann took the message back to the kitchen and, 
 with the air of a martyr engaged upon an unpleasant 
 task, drew Mr. Wilks another glass of ale and stood 
 over him with well-affected wonder while he drank 
 it. Miss Nugent walked into the sitting-room, and 
 listening in a perfunctory fashion tb a shipmaster's 
 platitude on kitchen-company, took a seat on his 
 knee and kissed his ear. 
 
 if
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE downfall of Captain Nugent was for 
 some time a welcome subject of conversa- 
 tion in marine circles at Sunwich. At The 
 Goblets, a rambling old inn with paved courtyard 
 and wooden galleries, which almost backed on to 
 the churchyard, brother-captains attributed it to an 
 error of judgment ; at the Two Schooners on the 
 quay the profanest of sailormen readily attributed 
 it to an all-seeing Providence with a dislike of over- 
 bearing ship-masters. 
 
 The captain's cup was filled to the brim by the 
 promotion of his first officer to the command of the 
 Conqueror. It was by far the largest craft which 
 sailed from the port of Sunwich, and its master held 
 a corresponding dignity amongst the captains of 
 lesser vessels. Their allegiance was now transferred 
 to Captain Hardy, and the master of a brig which 
 was in the last stages of senile decay, meeting Nu- 
 gent in The Goblets, actually showed him by means 
 of two lucifer matches how the collision might have 
 been avoided. 
 
 A touching feature in the business, and a source 
 
 12
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 of much gratification to Mr. Wilks by the senti- 
 mental applause evoked by it, was his renunciation 
 of the post of steward on the ss. Conqueror. Sun- 
 wich buzzed with the tidings that after eighteen 
 
 ' A welcome subject of conversation in marine circles." 
 
 years' service with Captain Nugent he preferred 
 starvation ashore to serving under another master. 
 Although comfortable in pocket and known to be 
 living with his mother, who kept a small general 
 
 13
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 shop, he was regarded as a man on the brink of 
 starvation. Pints were thrust upon him, and the 
 tale of his nobility increased with much narration. 
 It was considered that the whole race of stewards 
 had acquired fresh lustre from his action. 
 
 His only unfavourable critic was the erring captain 
 himself. He sent a peremptory summons to Mr. 
 Wilks to attend at Equator Lodge, and the moment 
 he set eyes upon that piece of probity embarked upon 
 such a vilification of his personal defects and character 
 as Mr. Wilks had never even dreamt of. He wound 
 up by ordering him to rejoin the ship forthwith. 
 
 " Arsking your pardon, sir," said Mr. Wilks, 
 with tender reproach, " but I couldn't." 
 
 " Are you going to live on your mother, you 
 hulking rascal ? " quoth the incensed captain. 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. Wilks. " I've got a little 
 money, sir ; enough for my few wants till we sail 
 again." 
 
 " When I sail again you won't come with me," 
 said the captain, grimly. " I suppose you want an 
 excuse for a soak ashore for six months ! " 
 
 Mr. Wilks twiddled his cap in his hands and 
 smiled weakly. 
 
 " I thought p'r'aps as you'd like me to come 
 round and wait at table, and help with the knives 
 and boots and such-like," he said, softly. " Ann 
 is agreeable." 
 
 14
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Get out of the house," said the captain in quiet, 
 measured tones. 
 
 Mr. Wilks went, but on his way to the gate he 
 picked up three pieces of paper which had blown 
 into the garden, weeded two pieces of grass from the 
 path, and carefully removed a dead branch from a 
 laurel facing the window. He would have done 
 more but for an imperative knocking on the glass, 
 and he left the premises sadly, putting his collection 
 of rubbish over the next garden fence as he passed it. 
 
 But the next day the captain's boots bore such a 
 polish that he was able to view his own startled face 
 in them, and at dinner-time the brightness of the 
 knives was so conspicuous that Mrs. Kingdom 
 called Ann in for the purpose of asking her why 
 she didn't always do them like that. Her brother 
 ate his meal in silence, and going to his room after- 
 wards discovered every pair of boots he possessed, 
 headed by the tall sea-boots, standing in a nicely grad- 
 uated line by the wall, and all shining their hardest. 
 
 For two days did Mr. Wilks do good by stealth, 
 leaving Ann to blush to find it fame ; but on the 
 third day at dinner, as the captain took up his knife 
 and fork to carve, he became aware of a shadow 
 standing behind his chair. A shadow in a blue 
 coat with metal buttons, which, whipping up the 
 first plate carved, carried it to Mrs. Kingdom, and 
 then leaned against her with the vegetable dishes.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The dishes clattered a little on his arm as he helped 
 the captain, but the latter, after an impressive pause 
 and a vain attempt to catch the eye of Mr. Wilks, 
 which was intent upon things afar off, took up the 
 spoon and helped himself. From the unwonted 
 silence of Miss Nugent in the presence of anything 
 unusual it was clear to him that the whole thing 
 had been carefully arranged. He ate in silence, 
 and a resolution to kick Mr. Wilks off the prem- 
 ises vanished before the comfort, to say nothing of 
 the dignity, afforded by his presence. Mr. Wilks, 
 somewhat reassured, favoured Miss Nugent with a 
 wink to which, although she had devoted much 
 time in trying to acquire the art, she endeavoured in 
 vain to respond. 
 
 It was on the day following this that Jack Nu- 
 gent, at his sister's instigation, made an attempt to 
 avenge the family honour. Miss Nugent, although 
 she treated him with scant courtesy herself, had a 
 touching faith in his prowess, a faith partly due to 
 her brother occasionally showing her his bicep 
 muscles in moments of exaltation. 
 
 " There's that horrid Jem Hardy," she said, sud- 
 denly, as they walked along the road. 
 
 " So it is," said Master Nugent, but without any 
 display of enthusiasm. 
 
 " Halloa, Jack," shouted Master Hardy across 
 the road. 
 
 16
 
 At Simwich Port 
 ft 
 
 " The suspense became painful." 
 
 " Halloa," responded the other. 
 
 " He's going to fight you," shrilled Miss Nugent, 
 who thought these amenities ill-timed ; " he said so." 
 
 Master Hardy crossed the road. " What for ? " 
 he demanded, with surprise. 
 
 17
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Because you're a nasty, horrid boy," replied 
 Miss Nugent, drawing herself up. 
 
 " Oh," said Master Hardy, blankly. 
 
 The two gentlemen stood regarding each other 
 with uneasy grins ; the lady stood by in breathless 
 expectation. The suspense became painful. 
 
 " Who are you staring at ? " demanded Master 
 Nugent, at last. 
 
 "You," replied the other; "who are you star- 
 ing at ? " 
 
 " You," said Master Nugent, defiantly. 
 
 There was a long interval, both gentlemen experi- 
 encing some difficulty in working up sufficient heat 
 for the engagement. 
 
 " You hit me and see what you'll get," said Mas- 
 ter Hardy, at length. 
 
 " You hit me," said the other. 
 
 " Cowardy, cowardy custard," chanted the well- 
 bred Miss Nugent, " ate his mother's mustard. 
 Cowardy, cowardy cus " 
 
 " Why don't you send that kid home? " demanded 
 Master Hardy, eyeing the fair songstress with strong 
 disfavour. 
 
 " You leave my sister alone," said the other, giv- 
 ing him a light tap on the shoulder. " There's your 
 coward's blow." 
 
 Master Hardy made a ceremonious return. 
 " There's yours," he said. " Let's go behind the 
 church." 
 
 18
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 His foe assented, and they proceeded in grave si- 
 lence to a piece of grass screened by trees, which 
 stood between the church and the beach. Here they 
 removed their coats and rolled up their shirt-sleeves. 
 Things look different out of doors, and to Miss Nu- 
 gent the arms of both gentlemen seemed somewhat 
 stick-like in their proportions. 
 
 The preliminaries were awful, both combatants 
 prancing round each other with their faces just peer- 
 ing above their bent right arms, while their trusty 
 lefts dealt vicious blows at the air. Miss Nugent 
 turned pale and caught her breath at each blow, 
 then she suddenly reddened with wrath as James 
 Philip Hardy, having paid his tribute to science, 
 began to hammer John Augustus Nugent about 
 the face in a most painful and workmanlike fash- 
 ion. 
 
 She hid her face for a moment, and when she 
 looked again Jack was on the ground, and Master 
 Hardy just rising from his prostrate body. Then 
 Jack rose slowly and, crossing over to her, borrowed 
 her handkerchief and applied it with great tenderness 
 to his nose. 
 
 " Does it hurt, Jack ? " she inquired, anxiously. 
 
 " No," growled her brother. 
 
 He threw down the handkerchief and turned to 
 his opponent again; Miss Nugent, who was careful 
 about her property, stooped to recover it, and im- 
 mediately found herself involved in a twisting tangle 
 
 19
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 of legs, from which she escaped by a miracle to see 
 Master Hardy cuddling her brother round the neck 
 with one hand and punching him as hard and as fast 
 as he could with the other. The unfairness of it mad- 
 dened her, and the next moment Master Hardy's 
 head was drawn forcibly backwards by the hair. 
 The pain was so excruciating that he released his vic- 
 tim at once, and Miss Nugent, emitting a series of 
 terrified yelps, dashed off in the direction of home, 
 her hair bobbing up and down on her shoulders, and 
 her small black legs in an ecstasy of motion. 
 
 Master Hardy, with no very well-defined ideas of 
 what he was going to do if he caught her, started in 
 pursuit. His scalp was still smarting and his eyes 
 watering with the pain as he pounded behind her. 
 Panting wildly she heard him coming closer and 
 closer, and she was just about to give up when, to 
 her joy, she saw her father coming towards them. 
 
 Master Hardy, intent on his quarry, saw him just 
 in time, and, swerving into the road, passed in safety 
 as Miss Nugent flung herself with some violence at 
 her father's waistcoat and, clinging to him convul- 
 sively, fought for breath. It was some time before 
 she could furnish the astonished captain with full de- 
 tails, and she was pleased to find that his indignation 
 led him to ignore the hair-grabbing episode, on which, 
 to do her justice, she touched but lightly. 
 
 That evening, for the first time in his life, Cap- 
 
 20
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 tain Nugent, after some deliberation, called upon his 
 late mate. The old servant who, since Mrs. Har- 
 dy's death the year before, had looked after the house, 
 was out, and Hardy, unaware of the honour intended 
 him, was scandalized by the manner in which his son 
 received the visitor. The door opened, there was 
 an involuntary grunt from Master Hardy, and the 
 next moment he sped along the narrow passage and 
 darted upstairs. His father, after waiting in vain for 
 his return, went to the door himself. 
 
 " Good evening, cap'n," he said, in surprise. 
 
 Nugent responded gruffly, and followed him into 
 the sitting-room. To an invitation to sit, he re- 
 sponded more gruffly still that he preferred to stand. 
 He then demanded instant and sufficient punish- 
 ment of Master Hardy for frightening his daugh- 
 ter. 
 
 Even as he spoke he noticed with strong disfa- 
 vour the change which had taken place in his late first 
 officer. The change which takes place when a man 
 is promoted from that rank to that of master is sub- 
 tle, but unmistakable sometimes, as in the present 
 instance, more unmistakable than subtle. Captain 
 Hardy coiled his long, sinewy form in an arm-chair 
 and, eyeing him calmly, lit his pipe before replying. 
 
 " Boys will fight," he said, briefly. 
 
 " I'm speaking of his running after my daughter," 
 said Nugent, sternly. 
 
 M
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy's eyes twinkled. " Young dog," he said, 
 genially ; " at his age, too." 
 
 Captain Nugent's face was suffused with wrath at 
 
 "Captain Hardy lit his pipe before replying." 
 
 the pleasantry, and he regarded him with a fixed stare. 
 On board the Conqueror there was a witchery in that 
 glance more potent than the spoken word, but in his 
 own parlour the new captain met it calmly. 
 
 22
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I didn't come here to listen to your foolery," 
 said Nugent ; " I came to tell you to punish that 
 boy of yours." 
 
 " And I sha'n't do it," replied the other. " I have 
 got something better to do than interfere in children's 
 quarrels. I haven't got your spare time, you know." 
 
 Captain Nugent turned purple. Such language 
 from his late first officer was a revelation to him. 
 
 " I also came to warn you," he said, furiously, 
 " that I shall take the Jaw into my own hands if you 
 refuse." 
 
 " Aye, aye," said Hardy, with careless contempt ; 
 " I'll tell him to keep out of your way. But I 
 should advise you to wait until I have sailed." 
 
 Captain Nugent, who was moving towards the 
 door, swung round and confronted him savagely. 
 
 " What do you mean ? " he demanded. 
 
 " What I say," retorted Captain Hardy., " I 
 don't want to indulge Sunwich with the spectacle of 
 two middle-aged ship-masters at fisticuffs, but that's 
 what'll happen if you touch my boy. It would prob- 
 ably please the spectators more than it would us." 
 
 " I'll cane him the first time I lay hands on him," 
 roared Captain Nugent. 
 
 Captain Hardy's stock of patience was at an end, 
 and there was, moreover, a long and undischarged 
 account between himself and his late skipper. He 
 rose and crossed to the door. 
 
 23
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Jem," he cried, " come downstairs and show 
 Captain Nugent out." 
 
 There was a breathless pause. Captain Nugent 
 ground his teeth with fury as he saw the challenge, 
 and realized the ridiculous position into which his 
 temper had led him ; and the other, who was also 
 careful of appearances, repented the order the mo- 
 ment he had given it. Matters had now, however, 
 passed out of their hands, and both men cast apprais- 
 ing glances at each other's form. The only one 
 who kept his head was Master Hardy, and it was a 
 source of considerable relief to both of them when, 
 from the top of the stairs, the voice of that youthful 
 Solomon was heard declining in the most positive 
 terms to do anything of the kind. 
 
 Captain Hardy repeated his command. The only 
 reply was the violent closing of a door at the top of 
 the house, and after waiting a short time he led the 
 way to the front door himself. 
 
 " You will regret your insolence before I have done 
 with you," said his visitor, as he paused on the step. 
 " It's the old story of a beggar on horseback." 
 
 " It's a good story," said Captain Hardy, " but to 
 my mind it doesn't come up to the one about Hump- 
 ty-Dumpty. Good-night."
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 IF anything was wanted to convince Captain Nu- 
 gent that his action had been foolish and his 
 language intemperate it was borne in upon him 
 by the subsequent behaviour of Master Hardy. 
 Generosity is seldom an attribute of youth, while 
 egotism, on the other hand, is seldom absent. So far 
 from realizing that the captain would have scorned 
 such lowly game, Master Hardy believed that he 
 lived for little else, and his Jack-in-the-box ubiquity 
 was a constant marvel and discomfort to that irritable 
 mariner. Did he approach a seat on the beach, it 
 was Master Hardy who rose (at the last moment) to 
 make room for him. Did he stroll down to the har- 
 bour, it was in the wake of a small boy looking coyly 
 at him over his shoulder. Every small alley as he 
 passed seemed to contain a Jem Hardy, who whizzed 
 out like a human firework in front of him, and then 
 followed dancing on his toes a pace or two in his rear. 
 This was on week-days ; on the Sabbath Master 
 Hardy's daring ingenuity led him to still further 
 flights. All the seats at the parish church were free, 
 but Captain Nugent, whose admirable practice it was 
 
 25
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 to take his entire family to church, never thoroughly 
 realized how free they were until Master Hardy 
 squeezed his way in and, taking a seat next to him, 
 prayed with unwonted fervour into the interior of a 
 new hat, and then sitting back watched with polite 
 composure the efforts of Miss Nugent's family to re- 
 strain her growing excitement. 
 
 Charmed with the experiment, he repeated it the 
 following Sunday. This time he boarded the seat 
 from the other end, and seeing no place by the cap- 
 tain, took one, or more correctly speaking made one, 
 between Miss Nugent and Jack, and despite the 
 former's elbow began to feel almost like one of the 
 family. Hostile feelings vanished, and with an 
 amiable smile at the half-frantic Miss Nugent he 
 placed a " bull's-eye " of great strength in his cheek, 
 and leaning forward for a hymn-book left one on the 
 ledge in front of Jack. A double-distilled perfume 
 at once assailed the atmosphere. 
 
 Miss Nugent sat dazed at his impudence, and for 
 the first time in her life doubts as to her father's 
 capacity stirred within her. She attempted the poor 
 consolation of an " acid tablet," and it was at once 
 impounded by the watchful Mrs. Kingdom. Mean- 
 time the reek of " bull's-eyes " was insufferable. 
 
 The service seemed interminable, and all that time 
 the indignant damsel, wedged in between her aunt 
 and the openly exultant enemy of her House, was 
 
 26
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 compelled to endure in silence. She did indeed at 
 tempt one remark, and Master Hardy, with a hor 
 
 "Mr. Wilks watched it from the quay." 
 
 rifled expression 
 of outraged piety, 
 said "H'sh," and 
 shook his head at 
 her. It was al- 
 most more than 
 flesh and blood 
 could bear, and 
 when the unob- 
 servant Mrs. 
 
 Kingdom asked her for the text on the way home 
 her reply nearly cost her the loss of her dinner. 
 
 The Conqueror, under its new commander, sailed 
 on the day following. Mr. Wilks watched it from the 
 
 27
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 quay, and the new steward observing him came to the 
 side, and holding aloft an old pantry-cloth between his 
 finger and thumb until he had attracted his attention, 
 dropped it overboard with every circumstance of ex- 
 aggerated horror. By the time a suitable retort had 
 occurred to the ex-steward the steamer was half a 
 mile distant, and the extraordinary and unnatural 
 pantomime in which he indulged on the edge of the 
 quay was grievously misinterpreted by a nervous man 
 in a sailing boat. 
 
 Master Hardy had also seen the ship out, and, 
 perched on the extreme end of the breakwater, he re- 
 mained watching until she was hull down on the 
 horizon. Then he made his way back to the town 
 and the nearest confectioner, and started for home 
 just as Miss Nugent, who was about to pay a call 
 with her aunt, waited, beautifully dressed, in the front 
 garden while that lady completed her preparations. 
 
 Feeling very spic and span, and still a trifle un- 
 comfortable from the vigorous attentions of Ann, 
 who cleansed her as though she had been a doorstep, 
 she paced slowly up and down the path. Upon 
 these occasions of high dress a spirit of Sabbath calm 
 was wont to descend upon her and save her from 
 escapades to which in a less severe garb she was 
 somewhat prone. 
 
 She stopped at the gate and looked up the road. 
 Then her face flushed, and she cast her eyes behind 
 
 28
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 her to make sure that the hall-door stood open. 
 The hated scion of the house of Hardy was coming 
 down the road, and, in view of that fact, she forgot 
 all else even her manners. 
 
 The boy, still fresh from the loss of his natural 
 protector, kept a wary eye on the house as he ap- 
 proached. Then all expression died out of his face, 
 and he passed the gate, blankly ignoring the small 
 girl who was leaning over it and apparently suffering 
 from elephantiasis of the tongue. He went by qui- 
 etly, and Miss Nugent, raging inwardly that she had 
 misbehaved to no purpose, withdrew her tongue for 
 more legitimate uses. 
 
 " Boo," she cried ; " who had his hair pulled ? " 
 
 Master Hardy pursued the even tenor of his way. 
 
 " Who's afraid to answer me for fear my father 
 will thrash him ? " cried the disappointed lady, rais- 
 ing her voice. 
 
 This was too much. The enemy retraced his 
 steps and came up to the gate. 
 
 " You're a rude little girl," he said, with an insuf- 
 ferably grown-up air. 
 
 " Who had his hair pulled ? " demanded Miss 
 Nugent, capering wildly ; "who had his hair pulled ? " 
 
 " Don't be silly," said Master Hardy. " Here." 
 
 He put his hand in his pocket, and producing 
 some nuts offered them over the gate. At this Miss 
 
 Nugent ceased her capering, and wrath possessed her 
 
 29
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 that the enemy should thus misunderstand the grav- 
 ity of the situation. 
 
 " Well, give 'em to Jack, then," pursued the boy ; 
 pt he won't say no." 
 
 This was a distinct reflection on Jack's loyalty, 
 and her indignation was not lessened by the fact that 
 she knew it was true. 
 
 " Go away from our gate," she stormed. " If my 
 father catches you, you'll suffer." 
 
 " Pooh ! " said the dare-devil. He looked up at 
 the house and then, opening the gate, strode boldly 
 into the front garden. Before this intrusion Miss 
 Nugent retreated in alarm, and gaining the door- 
 step gazed at him in dismay. Then her face 
 cleared suddenly, and Master Hardy looking over 
 his shoulder saw that his retreat was cut off by Mr. 
 Wilks. 
 
 " Don't let him hurt me, Sam," entreated Miss 
 Nugent, piteously. 
 
 Mr. Wilks came into the garden and closed the 
 gate behind him. 
 
 " I wasn't going to hurt her," cried Master Har- 
 dy, anxiously ; " as if I should hurt a girl ! " 
 
 " Wot are you doing in our front garden, then ? " 
 demanded Mr. Wilks. 
 
 He sprang forward suddenly and, catching the boy 
 by the collar with one huge hand, dragged him, strug- 
 gling violently, down the side-entrance into the 
 
 3
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 back garden. Miss Nugent, following close behind, 
 sought to improve the occasion. 
 
 " See what you get by coming into our garden," 
 she said. 
 
 The victim made no reply. He was writhing 
 strenuously in order to frustrate Mr. Wilks's evi- 
 dent desire to arrange him comfortably for the ad- 
 ministration of the stick he was carrying. Satisfied 
 at last, the ex-steward raised his weapon, and for some 
 seconds plied it briskly. Miss Nugent trembled, 
 but sternly repressing sympathy for the sufferer, was 
 pleased that the long arm of justice had at last over- 
 taken him. 
 
 " Let him go now, Sam," she said ; " he's crying." 
 
 " I'm not" yelled Master Hardy, frantically. 
 
 " I can see the tears," declared Miss Nugent, 
 bending. 
 
 Mr. Wilks plied the rod again until his victim, 
 with a sudden turn, fetched him a violent kick on 
 the shin and broke loose. The ex-steward set off 
 in pursuit, somewhat handicapped by the fact that 
 he dare not go over flower-beds, whilst Master Hardy 
 was singularly free from such prejudices. Miss Nu- 
 gent ran to the side-entrance to cut off his retreat. 
 She was willing for him to be released, but not to 
 escape, and so it fell out that the boy, dodging be- 
 neath Mr. Wilks's outspread arms, charged blindly 
 up the side-entrance and bowled the young lady over. 
 
 31
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 There was a shrill squeal, a flutter of white, and a 
 neat pair of button boots waving in the air. Then 
 Miss Nugent, sobbing piteously, rose from the pud- 
 dle into which she had fallen and surveyed her gar- 
 ments. Mr. Wilks surveyed them, too, and a very 
 cursory glance was sufficient to show him that the 
 case was beyond his powers. He took the outraged 
 damsel by the hand, and led her, howling lustily, in 
 to the horrified Ann. 
 
 " My word," said she, gasping. " Look at your 
 gloves ! Look at your frock ! " 
 
 But Miss Nugent was looking at her knees. 
 There was only a slight redness about the left, but 
 from the right a piece of skin was indubitably miss- 
 ing. This knee she gave Ann instructions to foment 
 with fair water of a comfortable temperature, indulg- 
 ing in satisfied prognostications as to the fate of Master 
 Hardy when her father should see the damage. 
 
 The news, when the captain came home, was broken 
 to him by degrees. He was first shown the flower- 
 beds by Ann, then Mrs. Kingdom brought in vari- 
 ous soiled garments, and at the psychological moment 
 his daughter bared her knees. 
 
 " What will you do to him, father ? " she inquired. 
 
 The captain ignored the question in favour of a 
 few remarks on the subject of his daughter's be- 
 haviour, coupled with stern inquiries as to where she 
 such tricks. In reply Miss Nugent sheltered 
 3 2
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 herself behind a list which contained the names of all 
 the young gentlemen who attended her kindergarten 
 class and many of the young ladies, and again in- 
 quired as to the fate of her assailant. 
 
 Jack came in soon after, and the indefatigable Miss 
 Nugent produced her knees again. She had to de- 
 scribe the injury to the left, but the right spoke for 
 itself. Jack gazed at it with indignation, and then, 
 without waiting for his tea, put on his cap and sallied 
 out again. 
 
 He returned an hour later, and instead of entering 
 the sitting-room went straight upstairs to bed, from 
 whence he sent down word by the sympathetic Ann 
 that he was suffering from a bad headache, which he 
 proposed to treat with raw meat applied to the left 
 eye. His nose, which was apparently suffering from 
 sympathetic inflammation, he left to take care of 
 itself, that organ bitterly resenting any treatment 
 whatsoever. 
 
 He described the battle to Kate and Ann the next 
 day, darkly ascribing his defeat to a mysterious com- 
 pound which Jem Hardy was believed to rub into 
 his arms ; to a foolish error of judgment at the be- 
 ginning of the fray, and to the sun which shone per- 
 sistently in his eyes all the time. His audience 
 received the explanations in chilly silence. 
 
 " And he said it was an accident he knocked you 
 down," he concluded ; " he said he hoped you 
 
 33
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 weren't hurt, and he gave me some toffee for 
 you." 
 
 Master Hardy on the beach 
 enacting the part of David. 
 
 " What did you do with it ? " demanded Miss 
 Nugent. 
 
 "I knew you wouldn't have it," replied her 
 34
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 brother, inconsequently, "and there wasn't much 
 of it." 
 
 His sister regarded him sharply. 
 
 "You don't mean to say you ate it ? " she screamed. 
 
 " Why not ? " demanded her brother. " I wanted 
 comforting, I can tell you." 
 
 " I wonder you were not too too proud," said 
 Miss Nugent, bitterly. 
 
 "I'm never too proud to eat toffee," retorted 
 Jack, simply. 
 
 He stalked off in dudgeon at the lack of sympathy 
 displayed by his audience, and being still in need of 
 comforting sought it amid the raspberry-canes. 
 
 His father noted his son's honourable scars, but 
 made no comment. As to any action on his own 
 part, he realized to the full the impotence of a law- 
 abiding and dignified citizen when confronted by 
 lawless youth. But Master Hardy came to church 
 no more. Indeed, the following Sunday he was fully 
 occupied- on the beach, enacting the part of David, 
 after first impressing the raving Mr. Wilks into that 
 of Goliath. 
 
 35
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 FOR the next month or two Master Hardy's 
 existence was brightened by the efforts of an 
 elderly steward who made no secret of his 
 intentions of putting an end to it. Mr. Wilks at 
 first placed great reliance on the saw that " it is the 
 early bird that catches the worm," but lost faith in 
 it when he found that it made no provision for cases 
 in which the worm leaning from its bedroom win- 
 dow addressed spirited remonstrances to the bird 
 on the subject of its personal appearance. 
 
 To the anxious inquiries of Miss Nugent, Mr. 
 Wilks replied that he was biding his time. Every 
 delay, he hinted, made it worse for Master Hardy 
 when the day of retribution should dawn, and al- 
 though she pleaded earnestly for a little on account 
 he was unable to meet her wishes. Before that day 
 came, however, Captain Nugent heard of the pro- 
 ceedings, and after a painful interview with the 
 steward, during which the latter's failings by no 
 means escaped attention, confined him to the house. 
 
 An excellent reason for absenting himself from 
 school was thus denied to Master Hardy; but it 
 has been well said that when one door closes another
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 opens, and to his great satisfaction the old servant, 
 who had been in poor health for some time, suddenly 
 
 " Mr. Wilks replied that he was biding his time.** 
 
 took to her bed and required his undivided atten- 
 tion. 
 
 He treated her at first with patent medicines pur- 
 37
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 chased at the chemist's, a doctor being regarded by 
 both of them as a piece of unnecessary extravagance ; 
 but in spite of four infallible remedies she got 
 steadily worse. Then a doctor was called in, and 
 by the time Captain Hardy returned home she had 
 made a partial recovery, but was clearly incapable of 
 further work. She left in a cab to accept a home 
 with a niece, leaving the captain confronted with a 
 problem which he had seen growing for some time 
 past. 
 
 " I can't make up my mind what to do with you," 
 he observed, regarding his son. 
 
 " I'm very comfortable," was the reply. 
 
 "You're too comfortable," said his father. 
 " You're running wild. It's just as well poor old 
 Martha has gone; it has brought things to a head." 
 
 " We could have somebody else," suggested his 
 son. 
 
 The captain shook his head. " I'll give up the 
 house and send you to London to your Aunt Mary," 
 he said, slowly ; " she doesn't know you, and once 
 I'm at sea and the house given up, she won't be 
 able to send you back." 
 
 Master Hardy, who was much averse to leaving 
 Sunwich and had heard accounts of the lady in 
 question which referred principally to her strength 
 of mind, made tender inquiries concerning his 
 father's comfort while ashore. 
 
 38
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "I'll take rooms," was the reply, "and I shall 
 spend as much time as I can with you in London. 
 You want looking after, my son; I've heard all 
 about you." 
 
 His son, without inquiring as to the nature of the 
 information, denied it at once upon principle ; he 
 also alluded darkly to his education, and shook his 
 head over the effects of a change at such a critical 
 period of his existence. 
 
 " And you talk too much for your age," was his 
 father's comment when he had finished. " A year 
 or two with your aunt ought to make a nice boy of 
 you; there's plenty of room for improvement." 
 
 He put his plans in hand at once, and a week 
 before he sailed again had disposed of the house. 
 Some of the furniture he kept for himself; but the 
 bulk of it went to his sister as conscience-money. 
 
 Master Hardy, in very low spirits, watched it 
 taken away. Big men in hob-nailed boots ran 
 noisily up the bare stairs, and came down slowly, 
 steering large pieces of furniture through narrow 
 passages, and using much vain repetition when they 
 found their hands acting as fenders. The wardrobe, 
 a piece of furniture which had been built for larger 
 premises, was a particularly hard nut to crack, but 
 they succeeded at last in three places. 
 
 A few of his intimates came down to see the last 
 of him, and Miss Nugent, who in some feminine 
 
 39
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 fashion regarded the move as a triumph for her fam- 
 ily, passed by several times. It might have been 
 chance, it might have been design, but the boy could 
 
 'A particularly hard nut.** 
 
 not help noticing that when the piano, the wardrobe, 
 and other fine pieces were being placed in the van, 
 she was at the other end of the road a position 
 
 40
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 from which such curios as a broken washstand or a 
 two-legged chair never failed to entice her. 
 
 It was over at last. The second van had disap- 
 peared, and nothing was left but a litter of straw 
 and paper. The front door stood open and revealed 
 desolation. Miss Nugent came to the gate and 
 stared in superciliously. 
 
 " I'm glad you're going," she said, frankly. 
 
 Master Hardy scarcely noticed her. One of his 
 friends who concealed strong business instincts be- 
 neath a sentimental exterior had suggested souvenirs 
 and given him a spectacle-glass said to have belonged 
 to Henry VIII., and he was busy searching his 
 pockets for an adequate return. Then Captain 
 Hardy came up, and first going over the empty 
 house, came out and bade his son accompany him 
 to the station. A minute or two later and they 
 were out of sight; the sentimentalist stood on the 
 curb gloating over a newly acquired penknife, and 
 Miss Nugent, after being strongly reproved by him 
 for curiosity, paced slowly home with her head in 
 the air. j 
 
 Sunwich made no stir over the departure of one 
 of its youthful citizens. Indeed, it lacked not those 
 who would have cheerfully parted with two or three 
 hundred more. The boy was quite chilled by the 
 tameness of his exit, and for years afterwards the 
 desolate appearance of the platform as the train 
 
 41
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 steamed out occurred to him with an odd sense of 
 discomfort. In all Sunwich there was only one per- 
 son who grieved over his departure, and he, after 
 keeping his memory green for two years, wrote off 
 fivepence as a bad debt and dismissed him from his 
 thoughts. 
 
 Two months after the Conqueror had sailed again 
 Captain Nugent obtained command of a steamer 
 sailing between London and the Chinese ports. 
 From the gratified lips of Mr. Wilks, Sunwich heard 
 of this new craft, the particular glory of which ap- 
 peared to be the luxurious appointments of the 
 steward's quarters. Language indeed failed Mr. 
 Wilks in describing it, and, pressed for details, he 
 could only murmur disjointedly of satin-wood, 
 polished brass, and crimson velvet. 
 
 Jack Nugent hailed his father's departure with 
 joy. They had seen a great deal of each other dur- 
 ing the latter's prolonged stay ashore, and neither 
 had risen in the other's estimation in consequence. 
 He became enthusiastic over the sea as a profession 
 for fathers, and gave himself some airs over acquaint- 
 ances less fortunately placed. In the first flush of 
 liberty he took to staying away from school, the edu- 
 cation thus lost being only partially atoned for by a 
 grown-up style of composition engendered by dic- 
 tating excuses to the easy-going Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 At seventeen he learnt, somewhat to his surprise, 
 42
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 that his education was finished. His father pro- 
 vided the information and, simply as a matter of 
 form, consulted him as to his views for the future. 
 It was an important 
 thing to decide upon 
 at short notice, but 
 he was equal to it, 
 and, having suggested 
 gold-digging as the 
 only profession he 
 cared for, was prompt- 
 ly provided by the 
 incensed captain with 
 a stool in the local 
 bank. 
 
 He occupied it for 
 three weeks, a period 
 of time which coin- 
 cided to a day with 
 his father's leave 
 ashore. He left be- 
 hind him his initials 
 cut deeply in the lid 
 of his desk, a miscellaneous collection of cheap fic- 
 tion, and a few experiments in book-keeping which 
 the manager ultimately solved with red ink and a 
 ruler. 
 
 A slight uneasiness as to the wisdom of his pro- 
 
 43 
 
 " A stool in the local bank."
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 ceedings occurred to him just before his father's re- 
 turn, but he comforted himself and Kate with the 
 undeniable truth that after all the captain couldn't 
 eat him. He was afraid, however, that the latter 
 would be displeased, and, with a constitutional ob- 
 jection to unpleasantness, he contrived to be out 
 when he returned, leaving to Mrs. Kingdom the 
 task of breaking the news. 
 
 The captain's reply was brief and to the point. 
 He asked his son whether he would like to go to 
 sea, and upon receiving a decided answer in the 
 negative, at once took steps to send him there. In 
 two days he had procured him an outfit, and within 
 a week Jack Nugent, greatly to his own surprise, 
 was on the way to Melbourne as apprentice on the 
 barque Silver Stream. 
 
 He liked it even less than the bank. The mo- 
 notony of the sea was appalling to a youth of his 
 tastes, and the fact that the skipper, a man who 
 never spoke except to find fault, was almost loqua- 
 cious with him failed to afford him any satisfaction. 
 He liked the mates no better than the skipper, and 
 having said as much one day to the second officer, 
 had no reason afterwards to modify his opinions. 
 He lived a life apart, and except for the cook, an- 
 other martyr to fault-finding, had no society. 
 
 In these uncongenial circumstances the new ap- 
 prentice worked for four months as he had never 
 
 44
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 believed it possible he could work. He was an- 
 noyed both at the extent and the variety of his tasks, 
 the work of an A.B. being gratuitously included in 
 his curriculum. The end of the voyage found him 
 desperate, and after a hasty consultation with the 
 cook they deserted together and went up-country. 
 
 Letters, dealing mainly with the ideas and ad- 
 ventures of the cook, reached Sunwich at irregular 
 intervals, and were eagerly perused by Mrs. King- 
 dom and Kate, but the captain forbade all mention 
 of him. Then they ceased altogether, and after a 
 year or two of unbroken silence Mrs. Kingdom as- 
 serted herself, and a photograph in her possession, 
 the only one extant, exposing the missing Jack in 
 petticoats and sash, suddenly appeared on the draw- 
 ing-room mantelpiece 
 
 The captain stared, but made no comment. Dis- 
 appointed in his son, he turned for consolation to his 
 daughter, noting with some concern the unaccounta- 
 ble changes which that young lady underwent during 
 his absences. He noticed a difference after every 
 voyage. He left behind him on one occasion a nice 
 trim little girl, and returned to find a creature all legs 
 and arms. He returned again and found the arms 
 less obnoxious and the legs hidden by a long skirt ; 
 and as he complained in secret astonishment to his 
 sister, she had developed a motherly manner in her 
 dealings with him which was almost unbearable. 
 
 45
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " She'll grow out of it soon," said Mrs. King- 
 dom ; " you wait and see." 
 
 The captain growled and waited, and found his 
 sister's prognostications partly fulfilled. The exu- 
 berance of Miss Nugent's manner was certainly 
 modified by time, but she developed instead a quiet, 
 unassuming habit of authority which he liked as 
 little. 
 
 " She gets made such a fuss of, it's no wonder," 
 said Mrs. Kingdom, with a satisfied smile. " I 
 never heard of a girl getting as much attention as 
 she does ; it's a wonder her head isn't turned." 
 
 " Eh ! " said the startled captain ; " she'd better 
 not let me see anything of it." 
 
 " Just so," said Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 The captain dwelt on these words and kept his 
 eyes open, and, owing to his daughter's benevolent 
 efforts on his behalf, had them fully occupied. He 
 went to sea firmly convinced that she would do 
 something foolish in the matrimonial line, the glow- 
 ing terms in which he had overheard her describing 
 the charms of the new postman to Mrs. Kingdom 
 filling him with the direst forebodings. 
 
 It was his last voyage. An unexpected windfall 
 from an almost forgotten uncle and his own invest- 
 ments had placed him in a position of modest com- 
 fort, and just before Miss Nugent reached her twen- 
 tieth birthday he resolved to spend his declining 
 
 46
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 days ashore and give her those advantages of pa- 
 rental attention from which she had been so long de- 
 barred. 
 
 Mr. Wilks, to the inconsolable grief of his ship- 
 mates, left with him. He had been for nearly a 
 couple of years in receipt of an annuity purchased 
 for him under the will of his mother, and his defec- 
 tion left a gap never to be filled among comrades 
 who had for some time regarded him in the light of 
 an improved drinking fountain.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 ON a fine afternoon, some two months after 
 his release from the toils of the sea, Cap- 
 tain Nugent sat in the special parlour of 
 The Goblets. The old inn offers hospitality to all, 
 but one parlour has by ancient tradition and the ex- 
 ercise of self-restraint and proper feeling been from 
 time immemorial reserved for the elite of the town. 
 
 The captain, confident in the security of these 
 unwritten regulations, conversed freely with his 
 peers. He had been moved to speech by the utter 
 absence of discipline ashore, and from that had 
 wandered to the growing evil of revolutionary ideas 
 at sea. His remarks were much applauded, and 
 two brother-captains listened with grave respect to 
 a disquisition on the wrongs of shipmasters ensuing 
 on the fancied rights of sailor men, the only discord- 
 ant note being struck by the harbour-master, a man 
 whose ideas had probably been insidiously sapped 
 by a long residence ashore. 
 
 " A man before the mast," said the latter, forti- 
 fying his moral courage with whisky, " is a human 
 being." 
 
 48
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Nobody denies it," said Captain Nugent, look- 
 ing round. 
 
 One captain agreed with him. 
 
 " Why don't they act like it, then ? " demanded 
 the other. 
 
 Nugent and the first captain, struck by the re- 
 mark, thought they had perhaps been too hasty in 
 their admission, and waited for number two to 
 continue. They eyed him with silent encourage- 
 ment. 
 
 " Why don't they act like it, then ? " repeated 
 number two, who, being a man of few ideas, was 
 not disposed to waste them. 
 
 Captain Nugent and his friend turned to the har- 
 bour-master to see how he would meet this poser. 
 
 " They mostly do," he replied, sturdily. "Treat 
 a seaman well, and he'll treat you well." 
 
 This was rank heresy, and moreover seemed to 
 imply something. Captain Nugent wondered dis- 
 mally whether life ashore would infect him with the 
 same opinions. 
 
 " What about that man of mine who threw a be- 
 laying-pin at me ? " 
 
 The harbour-master quailed at the challenge. The 
 obvious retort was offensive. 
 
 " I shall carry the mark with me to my grave," 
 added the captain, as a further inducement to him 
 to reply. 
 
 49
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " A diversion was created by the entrance of a new arrival." 
 
 " I hope that you'll carry it a long time," said the 
 harbour-master, gracefully. 
 
 " Here, look here, Hall ! " expostulated captain 
 number two, starting up. 
 
 " It's all right, Cooper," said Nugent. 
 
 " It's all right," said captain number one, and in 
 50
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 a rash moment undertook to explain. In five minutes 
 he had clouded Captain Cooper's intellect for the 
 afternoon. 
 
 He was still busy with his self-imposed task when 
 a diversion was created by the entrance of a new 
 arrival. A short, stout man stood for a moment 
 with the handle of the door in his hand, and then 
 came in, carefully bearing before him a glass of gin 
 and water. It was the first time that he had set 
 foot there, and all understood that by this intrusion 
 Mr. Daniel Kybird sought to place sea-captains and 
 other dignitaries on a footing with the keepers of 
 slop-shops and dealers in old clothes. In the midst 
 of an impressive silence he set his glass upon the 
 table and, taking a chair, drew a small clay pipe from 
 his pocket. 
 
 Aghast at the intrusion, the quartette conferred with 
 their eyes, a language which is perhaps only success- 
 ful in love. Captain Cooper, who was usually moved 
 to speech by externals, was the first to speak. 
 
 " You've got a sty coming on your eye, Hall," he 
 remarked. 
 
 " I daresay." 
 
 " If anybody's got a needle " said the captain, 
 
 who loved minor operations. 
 
 Nobody heeded him except the harbour-master, 
 and he muttered something about beams and motes, 
 which the captain failed to understand. The others
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 were glaring darkly at Mr. Kybird, who had taken 
 up a newspaper and was busy perusing it. 
 
 " Are you looking for anybody ? " demanded 
 Captain Nugent, at last. 
 
 " No," said Mr. Kybird, looking at him over the 
 top of his paper. 
 
 " What have you come here for, then ? " inquired 
 the captain. 
 
 " I come 'ere to drink two o' gin cold," returned 
 Mr. Kybird, with a dignity befitting the occupation. 
 
 " Well, suppose you drink it somewhere else," 
 suggested the captain. 
 
 Mr. Kybird had another supposition to offer. 
 "Suppose I don't ? " he remarked. " I'm a respect- 
 able British tradesman, and my money is as good as 
 yours. I've as much right to be here as you 'ave. 
 I've never done anything I'm ashamed of! " 
 
 "And you never will," said Captain Cooper's 
 friend, grimly, " not if you live to be a hundred." 
 
 Mr. Kybird looked surprised at the tribute. 
 "Thankee," he said, gratefully. 
 
 " Well, we don't want you here," said Captain 
 Nugent. " We prefer your room to your company." 
 
 Mr. Kybird leaned back in his chair and twisted 
 his blunt features into an expression of withering 
 contempt. Then he took up a glass and drank, and 
 discovered too late that in the excitement of the 
 moment he had made free with the speaker's whisky. 
 
 52
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Don't apologize," interrupted the captain ; " it's 
 soon remedied." 
 
 He took the glass up gingerly and flung it with a 
 crash into the fireplace. Then he rang the bell. 
 
 " I've smashed a dirty glass," he said, as the bar- 
 man entered. " How much ? " 
 
 The man told him, and the captain, after a few 
 stern remarks about privacy and harpies, left the 
 room with his friends, leaving the speechless Mr. 
 Kybird gazing at the broken glass and returning 
 evasive replies to the inquiries of the curious 
 Charles. 
 
 He finished his gin and water slowly. For months 
 he had been screwing up his courage to carry that 
 room by assault, and this was the result. He had 
 been insulted almost in the very face of Charles, a 
 youth whose reputation as a gossip was second to 
 none in Sunwich. 
 
 " Do you know what I should do if I was you ? " 
 said that worthy, as he entered the room again and 
 swept up the broken glass. 
 
 " I do not," said Mr. Kybird, with lofty indiffer- 
 ence. 
 
 " I shouldn't come 'ere again, that's what I should 
 do," said Charles, frankly. " Next time he'll throw 
 you in the fireplace." 
 
 " Ho," said the heated Mr. Kybird. " Ho, will 
 he? I'd like to see 'im. I'll make 'im sorry for 
 
 S3
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 this afore I've done with 'im. I'll learn 'im to in- 
 sult a respectable British tradesman. I'll show him 
 who's who." 
 
 " What'll you do ? " inquired the other. 
 
 " He stepped across the road to his emporium." 
 
 " Never you mind," said Mr. Kybird, who was 
 cot in a position to satisfy his curiosity "never you 
 
 54
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 mind. You go and get on with your work, Charles, 
 and p'r'aps by the time your moustache 'as grown 
 big enough to be seen, you'll 'ear something." 
 
 " I 'card something the other day," said the bar- 
 man, musingly ; " about you it was, but I wouldn't 
 believe it." 
 
 " Wot was it ? " demanded the other. 
 
 " Nothing much," replied Charles, standing with 
 his hand on the door-knob, " but I wouldn't believe 
 it of you ; I said I couldn't." 
 
 "Wot was it?" insisted Mr. Kybird. 
 
 " Why, they said you once gave a man a fair price 
 for a pair of trousers," said the barman, indignantly. 
 
 He closed the door behind him softly, and Mr. 
 Kybird, after a brief pause, opened it again and, 
 more softly still, quitted the precincts of The 
 Goblets, and stepped across the road to his empor- 
 ium. 
 
 Captain Nugent, in happy ignorance of the dark 
 designs of the wardrobe dealer, had also gone home. 
 He was only just beginning to realize the comparative 
 unimportance of a retired shipmaster, and the knowl- 
 edge was a source of considerable annoyance to him. 
 No deferential mates listened respectfully to his in- 
 structions, no sturdy seaman ran to execute his com- 
 mands or trembled mutinously at his wrath. The 
 only person in the wide world who stood in awe of 
 him was the general servant Bella, and she made no 
 
 55
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 attempt to conceal her satisfaction at the attention 
 excited by her shortcomings. 
 
 He paused a moment at the gate and then, walk- 
 ing slowly up to the door, gave it the knock of a 
 master. A full minute passing, he knocked again, 
 remembering with some misgivings his stern instruc- 
 tions of the day before that the door was to be at- 
 tended by the servant and by nobody else. He had 
 seen Miss Nugent sitting at the window as he passed 
 it, but in the circumstances the fact gave him no com- 
 fort. A third knock was followed by a fourth, and 
 then a distressed voice upstairs was heard calling 
 wildly upon the name of Bella. 
 
 At the fifth knock the house shook, and a red- 
 faced maid with her shoulders veiled in a large damp 
 towel passed hastily down the staircase and, slippin . 
 the catch, passed more hastily still upstairs again, 
 affording the indignant captain a glimpse of a short 
 striped skirt as it turned the landing. 
 
 " Is there any management at all in this house ? ** 
 he inquired, as he entered the room. 
 
 " Bella was dressing," said Miss Nugent, calmly, 
 " and you gave orders yesterday that nobody else 
 was to open the door." 
 
 " Nobody else when she's available," qualified her 
 father, eyeing her sharply. " When I give orders I 
 expect people to use their common sense. Why 
 isn't my tea ready? It's five o'clock." 
 
 56
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "The clock's twenty minutes fast," said Kate. 
 
 "Who's been meddling with it? " demanded her 
 father, verifying the fact by/his watch. 
 
 Miss Nugent shook her head. " It's gained that 
 since you regulated it last night," she said, with a 
 smile. 
 
 The captain threw himself into an easy-chair, and 
 with one eye on the clock, waited until, at five min- 
 utes to the hour by the right time, a clatter of crock- 
 ery sounded from the kitchen, and Bella, still damp, 
 came in with the tray. Her eye was also on the 
 clock, and she smirked weakly in the captain's direc- 
 tion as she saw that she was at least two minutes 
 ahead of time. At a minute to the hour the teapot 
 itself was on the tray, and the heavy breathing of the 
 handmaiden in the kitchen was audible to all. 
 
 " Punctual to the minute, John," said Mrs. King* 
 dom, as she took her seat at the tray. " It's won- 
 derful how that girl has improved since you've been 
 at home. She isn't like the same girl." 
 
 She raised the teapot and, after pouring out a little 
 of the contents, put it down again an-i gave it an- 
 other two minutes. At the end of that time, the 
 colour being of the same unsatisfactory paleness, she 
 set the pot down and was about to raise the lid when 
 an avalanche burst into the room and, emptying some 
 tea into the pot from a canister-lid, beat a hasty re- 
 treat. 
 
 57
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Good tea and well-trained servants," muttered 
 the captain to his plate. " What more can a man 
 want ? " 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom coughed and passed his cup ; Miss 
 Nugent, who possessed a healthy appetite, serenely 
 attacked her bread and butter ; conversation lan- 
 guished. 
 
 " I suppose you've heard the news, John ? " said 
 his sister. 
 
 " I daresay I have," was the reply. 
 
 " Strange he should come back after all these 
 years," said Mrs. Kingdom ; " though, to be sure, I 
 don't know why he shouldn't. It's his native place, 
 and his father lives here." 
 
 " Who are you talking about ? " inquired the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 " Why, James Hardy," replied his sister. " I 
 thought you said you had heard. He's coming 
 back to Sunwich and going into partnership with old 
 Swann, the shipbroker. A very good thing for him, 
 I should think." 
 
 "I'm not interested in the doings of the Hardys," 
 said the captain, gruffly. 
 
 " I'm sure I'm not," said his sister, defensively. 
 
 Captain Nugent proceeded with his meal in si- 
 lence. His hatred of Hardy had not been lessened 
 by the success which had attended that gentleman's 
 career, and was not likely to be improved by the 
 
 58
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 well-being of Hardy junior. He passed his cup for 
 some more tea, and, with a furtive glance at the 
 photograph on the mantelpiece, wondered what had 
 happened to his own son. 
 
 " I don't suppose I should know him if I saw 
 him," continued Mrs. Kingdom, addressing a re- 
 spectable old arm-chair ; " London is sure to have 
 changed him." 
 
 " Is this water-cress ? " inquired the captain, look- 
 ing up from his plate. 
 
 " Yes. Why ? " said Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 " I only wanted information," said her brother, as 
 he deposited the salad in question in the slop-basin. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom, with a resigned expression, tried 
 to catch her niece's eye and caught the captain's in- 
 stead. Miss Nugent happening to glance up saw 
 her fascinated by the basilisk glare of the master of 
 the house. 
 
 " Some more tea, please," she said. 
 
 Her aunt took her cup, and in gratitude for the 
 diversion picked out the largest lumps of sugar in 
 the basin. 
 
 " London changes so many people," mused the 
 persevering lady, stirring her tea. " I've noticed it 
 before. Why it is I can't say, but the fact remains. 
 It seems to improve them altogether. I dare say 
 that young Hardy " 
 
 " Will you understand that I won't have the 
 59
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 Hardys mentiond in my house ? " said the captain, 
 looking up. " I'm not interested in their business, 
 and I will not have it discussed here." 
 
 " As you please, John," said his sister, drawing 
 herself up. " It's your house and you are master 
 here. I'm sure I don't want to discuss them. 
 Nothing was farther from my thoughts. You un- 
 derstand what your father says, Kate ? " 
 
 " Perfectly," said Miss Nugent. " When the 
 desire to talk about the Hardys becomes irresistible 
 we must go for a walk." 
 
 The captain turned in his chair and regarded his 
 daughter steadily. She met his gaze with calm 
 affection. 
 
 " I wish you were a boy," he growled. 
 
 " You're the only man in Sunwich who wishes 
 that," said Miss Nugent, complacently, " and I don't 
 believe you mean it. If you'll come a little closer 
 I'll put my head on your shoulder and convert you." 
 
 " Kate ! " said Mrs. Kingdom, reprovingly. 
 
 " And, talking about heads," said Miss Nugent, 
 briskly, " reminds me that I want a new hat. You 
 needn't look like that ; good-looking daughters al- 
 ways come expensive." 
 
 She moved her chair a couple of inches in his di- 
 rection and smiled alluringly. The captain shifted 
 uneasily; prudence counselled flight, but dignity for- 
 bade it. He stared hard at Mrs. Kingdom, and a 
 
 60
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 smile of rare appreciation on that lady's face endeav- 
 oured to fade slowly and naturally into another ex- 
 pression. The chair came nearer. 
 
 " Don't be foolish," said the captain, gruffly. 
 
 14 *Most comfortable shoulder in Sunwich,' she murmured." 
 
 The chair came still nearer until at last it touched 
 his, and then Miss Nugent, with a sigh of exagger- 
 
 6.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ated content, allowed her head to sink gracefully on 
 his shoulder. 
 
 " Most comfortable shoulder in Sunwich," she 
 murmured ; " come and try the other, aunt, and 
 perhaps you'll get a new bonnet." 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom hastened to reassure her brother. 
 She would almost as soon have thought of putting 
 her head on the block. At the same time it was 
 quite evident that she was taking a mild joy in his 
 discomfiture and eagerly awaiting further develop- 
 ments. 
 
 " When you are tired of this childish behaviour, 
 miss," said the captain, stiffly 
 
 There was a pause. " Kate ! " said Mrs. King- 
 dom, in tones of mild reproof, " how can you ? " 
 
 " Very good," said the captain, " we'll see who 
 gets tired of it first. I'm in no hurry." 
 
 A delicate but unmistakable snore rose from his 
 shoulder in reply.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 FOR the first few days after his return Sunwich 
 was full of surprises to Jem Hardy. The 
 town itself had changed but little, and the 
 older inhabitants were for the most part easily recog- 
 nisable, but time had wrought wonders among the 
 younger members of the population : small boys 
 had attained to whiskered manhood, and small girls 
 passing into well-grown young women had in some 
 cases even changed their names. 
 
 The most astounding and gratifying instance of 
 the wonders effected by time was that of Miss Nu- 
 gent. He saw her first at the window, and with a 
 ready recognition of the enchantment lent by dis- 
 tance took the first possible opportunity of a closer 
 observation. He then realized the enchantment af- 
 forded by proximity. The second opportunity led 
 him impetuously into a draper's shop, where a mag- 
 nificent shop-walker, after first ceremoniously hand- 
 ing him a high cane chair, passed on his order for 
 pins in a deep and thrilling baritone, and retired in 
 good order. 
 
 By the end of a week his observations were com- 
 63
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 pleted, and Kate Nugent, securely enthroned in 
 his mind as the incarnation of feminine grace and 
 beauty, left but little room for other matters. On 
 his second Sunday at home, to his father's great 
 surprise, he attended church, and after contempla- 
 ting Miss Nugent's back hair for an hour and a half 
 came home and spoke eloquently and nobly on 
 "burying hatchets," "healing old sores," " letting 
 bygones be bygones," and kindred topics. 
 
 " I never take much notice of sermons myself," 
 said the captain, misunderstanding. 
 
 " Sermon ? " said his son. " I wasn't thinking 
 of the sermon, but I saw Captain Nugent there, and 
 I remembered the stupid quarrel between you. It's 
 absurd that it should go on indefinitely." 
 
 " Why, what does it matter? " inquired the other, 
 staring. " Why shouldn't it ? Perhaps it's the 
 music that's affected you ; some of those old 
 hymns " 
 
 " It wasn't the sermon and it wasn't the hymns," 
 said his son, disdainfully ; " it's just common sense. 
 It seems to me that the enmity between you has 
 lasted long enough." 
 
 " I don't see that it matters," said the captain ; 
 " it doesn't hurt me. Nugent goes his way and I 
 go mine, but if I ever get a chance at the old man, 
 he'd better look out. He wants a little of the starch 
 taken out of him." 
 
 64
 
 Mere mannerism," said his son. 
 
 " He's as proud as Lucifer, and his girl takes after 
 him," said the innocent captain. " By the way, she's 
 grown up a very good- 
 looking girl. You 
 take a look at her the 
 next time you see 
 her." 
 
 His son stared at 
 him. 
 
 " She'll get married 
 soon, I should think," 
 continued the other. 
 " Young Murchison, 
 the new doctor here, 
 seems to be the fa- 
 vourite. Nugent is 
 backing him, so they 
 say ; I wish him joy 
 of his father-in-law." 
 
 Jem Hardy took 
 his pipe into the gar- 
 den, and, pacing slow- 
 ly up and down the 
 narrow paths, deter- 
 mined, at any costs, 
 to save Dr. Murchison from such a father-in-law 
 and Kate Nugent from any husband except of his 
 
 65 
 
 The most astounding and gratifying in- 
 stance of the wonders effected by time 
 was that of Miss Nugent."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 choosing. He took a seat under an old apple tree, 
 and, musing in the twilight, tried in vain to think 
 of ways and means of making her acquaintance. 
 
 Meantime they passed each other as strangers, 
 and the difficulty of approaching her only made the 
 task more alluring. In the second week he reck- 
 oned up that he had seen her nine times. It was a 
 satisfactory total, but at the same time he could not 
 shut his eyes to the fact that five times out of that 
 number he had seen Dr. Murchison as well, and 
 neither of them appeared to have seen him. 
 
 He sat thinking it over in the office one hot after- 
 noon. Mr. Adolphus Swann, his partner, had just 
 returned from lunch, and for about the fifth time 
 that day was arranging his white hair and short, 
 neatly pointed beard in a small looking-glass. Over 
 the top of it he glanced at Hardy, who, leaning back 
 in his chair, bit his pen and stared hard at a paper 
 before him. 
 
 "Is that the manifest of the North Star?" he 
 inquired. 
 
 " No," was the reply. 
 
 Mr. Swann put his looking-glass away and watched 
 the other as he crossed over to the window and gazed 
 through the small, dirty panes at the bustling life 
 of the harbour below. For a short time Hardy 
 stood gazing in silence, and then, suddenly crossing 
 the room, took his hat from a peg and went out. 
 
 66
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Restless," said the senior partner, wiping his 
 folders with great care and putting them on. " Won- 
 der where he's put that manifest." 
 
 He went over to the other's desk and opened a 
 drawer to search for it. Just inside was a sheet of 
 foolscap, and Mr. Swann with growing astonishment 
 slowly mastered the contents. 
 
 " See her as often as possible." 
 
 " Get to know some of her friends." 
 
 " Try and get hold of the old lady." 
 
 " Find out her tastes and ideas." 
 
 " Show my hand before Murchison has it all his 
 own way." 
 
 "It seems to me," said the bewildered shipbroker, 
 carefully replacing the paper, " that my young friend 
 is looking out for another partner. He hasn't lost 
 much time." 
 
 He went back to his seat and resumed his work. 
 It occurred to him that he ought to let his partner 
 know what he had seen, and when Hardy returned 
 he had barely seated himself before Mr. Swann with 
 a mysterious smile crossed over to him, bearing a 
 sheet of foolscap. 
 
 " Try and dress as well as my partner," read the 
 astonished Hardy. " What's the matter with my 
 clothes? What do you mean?" 
 
 Mr. Swann, in place of answering, returned to his 
 desk and, taking up another sheet of foolscap, began 
 
 67
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 to write again, holding up his hand for silence as 
 Hardy repeated his question. When he had fin- 
 
 " Mr Swann with growing astonishment slowly mastered the contents." 
 
 ished his task he brought it over and placed it in 
 the other's hand. 
 
 " Take her little brother out for walks." 
 68
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy crumpled the paper up and flung it aside. 
 Then, with his face crimson, he stared wrathfully at 
 the benevolent Swann. 
 
 " It's the safest card in the pack," said the latter. 
 " You please everybody; especially the little brother. 
 You should always hold his hand it looks well for 
 one thing, and if you shut your eyes " 
 
 " I don't want any of your nonsense," said the 
 maddened Jem. " What do you mean by reading 
 my private papers ? " 
 
 " I came over to look for the manifest," said Mr. 
 Swann, " and I read it before I could make out 
 what it was. You must admit it's a bit cryptic. I 
 thought it was a new game at first. Getting hold 
 of the old lady sounds like a sort of blind-man's 
 buff. But why not get hold of the young one? 
 Why waste time over " 
 
 " Go to the devil," said the junior partner. 
 
 " Any more suggestions I can give you, you are 
 heartily welcome to," said Mr. Swann, going back 
 to his seat. " All my vast experience is at your 
 service, and the best and sweetest and prettiest girls 
 in Sunwich regard me as a sort of second father." 
 
 " What's a second father? " inquired Jim, look- 
 ing up " a grandfather ? " 
 
 " Go your own way," said the other ; " I wash 
 my hands of you. You're not in earnest, or you'd 
 clutch at any straw. But let me give you one word 
 
 69
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 of advice. Be careful how you get hold of the old 
 lady ; let her understand from the commencement 
 that it isn't her." 
 
 Mr. Hardy went on with his work. There was 
 a pile of it in front of him and an accumulation in 
 his drawers. For some time he wrote assiduously, 
 but work was dry after the subject they had been 
 discussing. He looked over at his partner and, 
 seeing that that gentleman was gravely busy, re- 
 opened the matter with a jeer. 
 
 " Old maids always know most about rearing chil- 
 dren," he remarked ; " so I suppose old bachelors, 
 looking down on life from the top shelf, think they 
 know most about marriage." 
 
 " I wash my hands of you," repeated the senior, 
 placidly. " I am not to be taunted into rendering 
 first aid to the wounded." 
 
 The conscience-stricken junior lost his presence 
 of mind. " Who's trying to taunt you ? " he de- 
 manded, hotly. " Why, you'd do more harm than 
 good." 
 
 " Put a bandage round the head instead of the 
 heart, I expect," assented the chuckling Swann. 
 " Top shelf, I think you said ; well, I climbed there 
 for safety." 
 
 " You must have been much run after," said his 
 partner. 
 
 " I was," said the other. " I suppose that's why 
 70
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 it is I am always so interested in these affairs. I 
 have helped to marry so many people in this place, 
 that I'm almost afraid to stir out after dark." 
 
 Hardy's reply was interrupted by the entrance of 
 Mr. Edward Silk, a young man of forlorn aspect, 
 who combined in his person the offices of messenger, 
 cleaner, and office-boy to the firm. He brought in 
 some letters, and placing them on Mr. Swann's desk 
 retired. 
 
 " There's another," said the latter, as the door 
 closed. " His complaint is Amelia Kybird, and 
 he's got it badly. She's big enough to eat him, but 
 I believe that they are engaged. Perseverance has 
 done it in his case. He used to go about like a 
 blighted flower " 
 
 " I am rather busy," his partner reminded him. 
 
 Mr. Swann sighed and resumed his own labours. 
 For some time both men wrote in silence. Then 
 the elder suddenly put his pen down and hit his 
 desk a noisy thump with his fist. 
 
 "I've got it," he said, briskly; "apologize 
 humbly for all your candour, and I will give you a 
 piece of information which shall brighten your dull 
 eyes, raise the corners of your drooping mouth, and 
 renew once more the pink and cream in your youth- 
 ful cheeks." 
 
 " Look here " said the overwrought Hardy. 
 
 " Samson Wilks," interrupted Mr. Swann,
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "number three, Fullalove Alley, at home Fridays, 
 seven to nine, to the daughter of his late skipper, 
 who always visits him on that day. Don't thank 
 me, Hardy, in case you break down. She's a very 
 nice girl, and if she had been born twenty years 
 earlier, or I had been born twenty years later, or 
 you hadn't been born at all, there's no saying what 
 might not have happened." 
 
 " When I want you to interfere in my business," 
 said Hardy, working sedulously, " I'll let you 
 know." 
 
 " Very good," replied Swann ; " still, remember 
 Thursdays, seven to nine." 
 
 " Thursdays," said Hardy, incautiously ; " why, 
 you said Fridays just now." 
 
 Mr. Swann made no reply. His nose was im- 
 mersed in the folds of a large handkerchief, and his 
 eyes watered profusely behind his glasses. It was 
 some minutes before he had regained his normal com^ 
 posure, and even then the sensitive nerves of his part- 
 ner were offended by an occasional belated chuckle. 
 
 Although by dint of casual and cautious inquiries 
 Mr. Hardy found that his partner's information was 
 correct, he was by no means guilty of any feelings of 
 gratitude towards him ; and he only glared scorn- 
 fully when that excellent but frivolous man mounted 
 a chair on Friday afternoon, and putting the clock on 
 a couple of hours or so, urged him to be in time. 
 
 72
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The evening, however, found him starting slowly 
 in the direction of Fullalove Alley. His father had 
 gone to sea again, and the house was very dull; 
 moreover, he felt a mild curiosity to see the changes 
 wrought by time in Mr. Wilks. He walked along 
 by the sea, and as the church clock struck the three- 
 quarters turned into the alley and looked eagerly 
 round for the old steward. 
 
 The labours of the day were over, and the in- 
 habitants were for the most part out of doors taking 
 the air. Shirt-sleeved householders, leaning against 
 their door-posts smoking, exchanged ideas across 
 the narrow space paved with cobble-stones which 
 separated their small and ancient houses, while the 
 matrons, more gregariously inclined, bunched in little 
 groups and discussed subjects which in higher circles 
 would have inundated the land with libel actions. Up 
 and down the alley a tiny boy all ready for bed, with 
 the exception of his nightgown, mechanically avoided 
 friendly palms as he sought anxiously for his mother. 
 
 The object of Mr. Hardy's search sat at the door 
 of his front room, which opened on to the alley, smok- 
 ing an evening pipe, and noting with an interested 
 eye the doings of his neighbours. He was just pre- 
 paring to draw himself up in his chair as the intruder 
 passed, when to his utter astonishment that gentle- 
 man stopped in front of him, and taking possession 
 of his hand shook it fervently. 
 
 73
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " How do you do ? " he said, smiling. 
 
 Mr. Wilks eyed him stupidly and, releasing his 
 hand, coyly placed it in his trouser-pocket and 
 breathed hard. 
 
 " I meant to come before," said Hardy, " but I've 
 been so busy. How are you ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks, still dazed, muttered that he was very 
 well. Then he sat bolt upright in his chair and eyed 
 his visitor suspiciously. 
 
 " I've been longing for a chat with you about old 
 times," said Hardy ; " of all my old friends you 
 seem to have changed the least. You don't look a 
 day older." 
 
 " I'm getting on," said Mr. Wilks, trying to speak 
 coldly, but observing with some gratification the 
 effect produced upon his neighbours by the appear- 
 ance of this well-dressed acquaintance. 
 
 " I wanted to ask your advice," said the unscru- 
 pulous Hardy, speaking in low tones. " I daresay 
 you know I've just gone into partnership in Sun- 
 wich, and I'm told there's no man knows more 
 about the business and the ins and outs of this town 
 than you do." 
 
 Mr. Wilks thawed despite himself. His face 
 glistened and his huge mouth broke into tremulous 
 smiles. For a moment he hesitated, and then notic- 
 ing that a little group near them had suspended 
 their conversation to listen to his he drew his chair 
 
 74
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 back and, in a kind voice, invited the searcher after 
 wisdom to step inside. 
 
 Hardy thanked him, and, following him in, took 
 
 "Fullalove Alley." 
 
 a chair behind the door, and with an air of youthful 
 deference bent his ear to catch the pearls which fell 
 
 75
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 from the lips of his host. Since he was a babe on 
 his mother's knee sixty years before Mr. Wilks had 
 never had such an attentive and admiring listener. 
 Hardy sat as though glued to his chair, one eye on 
 Mr. Wilks and the other on the clock, and it was 
 not until that ancient timepiece struck the hour that 
 the ex-steward suddenly realized the awkward state 
 of affairs. 
 
 " Any more 'elp I can give you I shall always be 
 pleased to," he said, looking at the clock. 
 
 Hardy thanked him at great length, wondering, 
 as he spoke, whether Miss Nugent was of punctual 
 habits. He leaned back in his chair and, folding 
 his arms, gazed thoughtfully at the perturbed Mr. 
 Wilks. 
 
 " You must come round and smoke a pipe with 
 me sometimes," he said, casually. 
 
 Mr. Wilks flushed with gratified pride. He had 
 a vision of himself walking up to the front door of 
 the Hardys, smoking a pipe in a well-appointed 
 room, and telling an incredulous and envious Fulla- 
 love Alley about it afterwards. 
 
 " I shall be very pleased, sir," he said, impres- 
 sively. 
 
 " Come round on Tuesday," said his visitor. " I 
 shall be at home then." 
 
 Mr. Wilks thanked him and, spurred on to hos- 
 pitality, murmured something about a glass of ale, 
 
 76
 
 At Stmwich Port 
 
 and retired to the back to draw it. He came back 
 with a jug and a couple of glasses, and draining his 
 own at a draught, hoped that the example would not 
 be lost upon his visitor. That astute person, how- 
 ever, after a modest draught, sat still, anchored to 
 the half-empty glass. 
 
 " I'm expecting somebody to-night," said the ex- 
 steward, at last. 
 
 " No doubt you have a lot of visitors," said the 
 other, admiringly. 
 
 Mr. Wilks did not deny it. He eyed his guest's 
 glass and fidgeted. 
 
 " Miss Nugent is coming," he said. 
 
 Instead of any signs of disorder and preparations 
 for rapid flight, Mr. Wilks saw that the other was 
 quite composed. He began to entertain a poor idea 
 of Mr. Hardy's memory. 
 
 " She generally comes for a little quiet chat," he 
 said. 
 
 Indeed ! " 
 
 " Just between the two of us," said the other. 
 
 His visitor said " Indeed," and, as though some 
 chord of memory had been touched, sat gazing 
 dreamily at Mr. Wilks's horticultural collection in 
 the window. Then he changed colour a little as a 
 smart hat and a pretty face crossed the tiny panes. 
 Mr. Wilks changed colour too, and in an awkward 
 fashion rose to receive Miss Nugent. 
 
 77
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Late as usual, Sam," said the girl, sinking into 
 a chair. Then she caught sight of Hardy, who was 
 standing by the door. 
 
 "She caught sight of Hardy." 
 
 " It's a long time since you and I met, Miss Nu- 
 gent," he said, bowing. 
 
 78
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Mr. Hardy ? " said the girl, doubtfully. 
 
 " Yes, miss," interposed Mr. Wilks, anxious to 
 explain his position. " He called in to see me ; 
 quite a surprise to me it was. I 'ardly knowed him." 
 
 " The last time we three met," said Hardy, who 
 to his host's discomfort had resumed his chair, 
 " Wilks was thrashing me and you were urging 
 him on." 
 
 Kate Nugent eyed him carefully. It was pre- 
 posterous that this young man should take advan- 
 tage of a boy and girl acquaintance of eleven years 
 before and such an acquaintance ! in this manner. 
 Her eyes expressed a little surprise, not unmixed 
 with hauteur, but Hardy was too pleased to have 
 them turned in his direction at all to quarrel with 
 their expression. 
 
 " You were a bit of a trial in them days," said Mr. 
 Wilks, shaking his head. " If I live to be ninety 
 I shall never forget seeing Miss Kate capsized the 
 way she was. The way she " 
 
 " How is your cold ? " inquired Miss Nugent, 
 hastily. 
 
 " Better, miss, thankee," said Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " Miss Nugent has forgotten and forgiven all that 
 long ago," said Hardy. 
 
 " Quite," assented the girl, coldly ; " one cannot 
 remember all the boys and girls one knew as a child." 
 
 " Certainly not," said Hardy. " I find that many 
 
 7Q
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 have slipped from my own memory, but I have a 
 most vivid recollection of you." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked at him again, and an idea, 
 strange and incredible, dawned slowly upon her. 
 Childish impressions are lasting, and Jem Hardy 
 had remained in her mind as a sort of youthful ogre. 
 He sat before her now a frank, determined-looking 
 young Englishman, in whose honest eyes admiration 
 of herself could not be concealed. Indignation and 
 surprise struggled for supremacy. 
 
 "It's odd," remarked Mr. Wilks, who had a happy 
 knack at times of saying the wrong thing, " it's odd 
 you should 'ave 'appened to come just at the same 
 time as Miss Kate did." 
 
 " It's my good fortune," said Hardy, with a slight 
 bow. Then he cocked a malignant eye at the inno- 
 cent Mr. Wilks, and wondered at what age men 
 discarded the useless habit of blushing. Opposite 
 him sat Miss Nugent, calmly observant, the slight- 
 est suggestion of disdain in her expression. Framed 
 in the queer, high-backed old chair which had be- 
 longed to Mr. Wilks's grandfather, she made a pict- 
 ure at which Jem Hardy continued to gaze with 
 respectful ardour. A hopeless sense of self-depre- 
 ciation possessed him, but the idea that Murchison 
 should aspire to so much goodness and beauty made 
 him almost despair of his sex. His reverie was 
 broken by the voice of Mr. Wilks. 
 
 80
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " A quarter to eight ? " said that gentleman in- 
 credulously ; " it can't be." 
 
 " I thought it was later than that," said Hardy, 
 simply. 
 
 Mr. Wilks gasped, and with a faint shake of his 
 head at the floor abandoned the thankless task of 
 giving hints to a young man who was too obtuse to 
 see them ; and it was not until some time later that 
 Mr. Hardy, sorely against his inclinations, gave his 
 host a hearty handshake and, with a respectful bow 
 to Miss Nugent, took his departure. 
 
 " Fine young man he's growed," said Mr. Wilks, 
 deferentially, turning to his remaining visitor ; 
 " greatly improved, I think." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked him over critically before 
 replying. "He seems to have taken a great fancy 
 to you," she remarked. 
 
 Mr. Wilks smiled a satisfied smile. " He came 
 to ask my advice about business," he said, softly. 
 " He's 'eard two or three speak o' me as knowing a 
 thing or two, and being young, and just starting, 'e 
 came to talk it over with me. I never see a young 
 man so pleased and ready to take advice as wot 
 he is." 
 
 "He is coming again for more, I suppose ? " said 
 Miss Nugent, carelessly. 
 
 Mr. Wilks acquiesced. " And he asked me to 
 go over to his 'ouse to smoke a pipe with 'im on 
 
 81
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Tuesday," he added, in the casual manner in which 
 men allude to their aristocratic connections. " He's 
 a bit lonely, all by himself." 
 
 Miss Nugent said, " Indeed," and then, lapsing 
 into silence, gave little occasional side-glances at Mr. 
 Wilks, as though in search of any hidden charms 
 about him which might hitherto have escaped her. 
 
 At the same time Mr. James Hardy, walking 
 slowly home by the edge of the sea, pondered on 
 further ways and means of ensnaring the affection! 
 of the ex-steward.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE anticipations of Mr. Wilks were more 
 than realized on the following Tuesday. 
 From the time a trim maid showed him 
 into the smoking-room until late at night, when he 
 left, a feted and honoured guest, with one of his 
 host's best cigars between his teeth, nothing that 
 could yield him any comfort was left undone. In 
 the easiest of easy chairs he sat in the garden beneath 
 the leafy branches of apple trees, and undiluted 
 wisdom and advice flowed from his lips in a stream 
 as he beamed delightedly upon his entertainer. 
 
 Their talk was mainly of Sunwich and Sunwich 
 people, and it was an easy step from these to Equa- 
 tor Lodge. On that subject most people would 
 have found the ex-steward somewhat garrulous, but 
 Jem Hardy listened with great content, and even 
 brought him back to it when he showed signs of 
 wandering. Altogether Mr. Wilks spent one of 
 the pleasantest evenings of his life, and, returning 
 home in a slight state of mental exhilaration, severely 
 exercised the tongues of Fullalove Alley by a bear- 
 ing considered incompatible with his station. 
 
 83
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Jem Hardy paid a return call on the following 
 Friday, and had no cause to complain of any lack 
 
 " Undiluted wisdom and advice flowed from his lips." 
 
 of warmth in his reception. The ex-steward was 
 delighted to see him, and after showing him various
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 curios picked up during his voyages, took him to 
 the small yard in the rear festooned with scarlet- 
 runner beans, and gave him a chair in full view of 
 the neighbours. 
 
 " I'm the only visitor to-night ? " said Hardy, 
 after an hour's patient listening and waiting. 
 
 Mr. Wilks nodded casually. " Miss Kate came 
 last night," he said. " Friday is her night, but she 
 came yesterday instead." 
 
 Mr. Hardy said, " Oh, indeed," and fell straight- 
 way into a dismal reverie from which the most spir- 
 ited efforts of his host only partially aroused him. 
 
 Without giving way to undue egotism it was pretty 
 clear that Miss Nugent had changed her plans on his 
 account, and a long vista of pleasant Friday evenings 
 suddenly vanished. He, too, resolved to vary his 
 visits, and, starting with a basis of two a week, sat try- 
 ing to solve the mathematical chances of selecting the 
 same as Kate Nugent ; calculations which were not 
 facilitated by a long-winded account from Mr. Wilks 
 of certain interesting amours of his youthful prime. 
 
 Before he saw Kate Nugent again, however, an- 
 other old acquaintance turned up safe and sound in 
 Sunwich. Captain Nugent walking into the town 
 saw him first : a tall, well-knit young man in shabby 
 clothing, whose bearing even in the distance was 
 oddly familiar. As he came closer the captain's mis- 
 givings were confirmed, and in the sunburnt fellow 
 
 85
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 in tattered clothes who advanced upon him with out- 
 stretched hand he reluctantly recognized his son. 
 
 " What have you come home for? " he inquired, 
 ignoring the hand and eyeing him from head to foot. 
 
 " Change," said Jack Nugent, laconically, as the 
 smile left his face. 
 
 The captain shrugged his shoulders and stood 
 silent. His son looked first up the road and then 
 down. 
 
 " All well at home ? " he inquired. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Jack Nugent looked up the road again. 
 
 " Not much change in the town," he said, at length 
 
 " No," said his father. 
 
 " Well, I'm glad to have seen you," said his son. 
 " Good-bye." 
 
 " Good-bye," said the captain. 
 
 His son nodded and, turning on his heel, walked 
 back towards the town. Despite his forlorn appear- 
 ance his step was jaunty and he carried his head high. 
 The captain watched him until he was hidden by a 
 bend in the road, and then, ashamed of himself for 
 displaying so much emotion, turned his own steps in 
 the direction of home. 
 
 " Well, he didn't whine," he said, slowly. " He's 
 got a bit of pride left." 
 
 Meantime the prodigal had reached the town 
 again, and stood ruefully considering his position. 
 
 86
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 He looked up the street, and then, the well-known 
 shop of Mr. Kybird catching his eye, walked over 
 and inspected the contents of the window. Sheath- 
 knives, belts, tobacco-boxes, and watches were dis- 
 played alluringly behind the glass, sheltered from the 
 sun by a row of cheap clothing dangling from short 
 poles over the shop front. All the goods were 
 marked in plain figures in reduced circumstances, Mr. 
 Kybird giving a soaring imagination play in the first 
 marking, and a good business faculty in the second. 
 
 At these valuables Jack Nugent, with a view of 
 obtaining some idea of prices, gazed for some time. 
 Then passing between two suits of oilskins which 
 stood as sentinels in the doorway, he entered the 
 shop and smiled affably at Miss Kybird, who was in 
 charge. At his entrance she put down a piece of 
 fancy-work, which Mr. Kybird called his sock, and 
 with a casual glance at his clothes regarded him with 
 a prejudiced eye. 
 
 " Beautiful day," said the customer ; " makes one 
 feel quite young again." 
 
 " What do you want ? " inquired Miss Kybird. 
 
 Mr. Nugent turned to a broken cane-chair which 
 stood by the counter, and, after applying severe tests, 
 regardless of the lady's feelings, sat down upon it and 
 gave a sigh of relief. 
 
 " I've walked from London," he said, in explana- 
 tion. " I could sit here for hours." 
 
 8?
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 -" began the indignant Miss 
 
 c< Look here- 
 Kybird. 
 
 " Only people would be sure to couple our names 
 together," continued Mr. Nugent, mournfully. 
 
 " What do you want ?* inquired Miss Kybird." 
 
 " When a handsome young man and a good-look- 
 ing girl. " 
 
 " Do you want to buy anything or not ? " de- 
 manded Miss Kybird, with an impatient toss of her 
 head. 
 
 " No," said Jack, " I want to sell." 
 88
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " You've come to the wrong shop, then," said Miss 
 Kybird ; " the warehouse is full of rubbish now." 
 
 The other turned in his chair and looked hard at 
 the window. " So it is," he assented. " It's a good 
 job I've brought you something decent to put there." 
 
 He felt in his pockets and, producing a silver- 
 mounted briar-pipe, a battered watch, a knife, and a 
 few other small articles, deposited them with rever- 
 ent care upon the counter. 
 
 " No use to us," declared Miss Kybird, anxious 
 to hit back ; " we burn coal here." 
 
 " These'll burn better than the coal you buy," 
 said the unmoved customer. 
 
 " Well, we don't want them," retorted Miss Ky- 
 bird, raising her voice, "and I don't want any of 
 your impudence. Get up out of our chair." 
 
 Her heightened tones penetrated to the small and 
 untidy room behind the shop. The door opened, 
 and Mr. Kybird in his shirt-sleeves appeared at the 
 opening. 
 
 " Wot's the row ? " he demanded, his little black 
 eyes glancing from one to the other. 
 
 " Only a lovers' quarrel," replied Jack. " You 
 go away ; we don't want you." 
 
 " Look 'ere, we don't want none o' your non- 
 sense," said the shopkeeper, sharply ; " and, wot's 
 more, we won't 'ave it. Who put that rubbish on 
 my counter ? " 
 
 89
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 He bustled forward, and taking the articles in his 
 hands examined them closely. 
 
 " Three shillings for the lot cash," he remarked. 
 
 " Done," said the other. 
 
 " Did I say three ? " inquired Mr. Kybird, startled 
 at this ready acceptance. 
 
 " Five you said," replied Mr. Nugent, " but I'll 
 take three, if you throw in a smile." 
 
 Mr. Kybird, much against his inclinations, threw 
 in a faint grin, and opening a drawer produced three 
 shillings and flung them separately on the counter. 
 Miss Kybird thawed somewhat, and glancing from 
 the customer's clothes to his face saw that he had a 
 pleasant eye and a good moustache, together with 
 a general air of recklessness much appreciated by 
 the sex. 
 
 " Don't spend it on drink," she remarked, not 
 unkindly. 
 
 " I won't," said the other, solemnly ; "I'm going 
 to buy house property with it." 
 
 " Why, darn my eyes," said Mr. Kybird, who had 
 been regarding him closely ; " darn my old eyes, if 
 it ain't young Nugent. Well, well ! " 
 
 " That's me," said young Nugent, cheerfully ; " I 
 should have known you anywhere, Kybird : same 
 old face, same old voice, same old shirt-sleeves." 
 
 " 'Ere, come now," objected the shopkeeper, 
 shortening his arm and squinting along it. 
 
 90
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I should have known you anywhere," continued 
 the other, mournfully ; " and here I've thrown up 
 a splendid berth and come all the way from Aus- 
 tralia just for one glimpse of Miss Kybird, and she 
 doesn't know me. When I die, Kybird, you will 
 find the word c Calais ' engraven upon my heart." 
 
 Mr. Kybird said, " Oh, indeed." His daughter 
 tossed her head and bade Mr. Nugent take his non- 
 sense to people who might like it. 
 
 " Last time I see you," said Mr. Kybird, pursing 
 up his lips and gazing at the counter in an effort of 
 memory ; " last time I see you was one fifth o' No- 
 vember when you an' another bright young party 
 was going about in two suits o' oilskins wot I'd been 
 'unting for 'igh and low all day long." 
 
 Jack Nugent sighed. " They were happy times, 
 Kybird." 
 
 " Might ha' been for you," retorted the other, 
 his temper rising a little at the remembrance of his 
 wrongs. 
 
 "Have you come home for good?** inquired 
 Miss Kybird, curiously. " Have you seen your 
 father ? He passed here a little while ago." 
 
 " I saw him," said Jack, with a brevity which was 
 not lost upon the astute Mr. Kybird. " I may stay 
 in Sunwich, and I may not it all depends." 
 
 " You're not going 'ome ? " said Mr. Kybird. 
 
 No." 
 
 91
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The shopkeeper stood considering. He had a 
 small room to let at the top of his house, and he 
 stood divided between the fear of not getting his 
 rent and the joy to a man fond of simple pleasures, 
 to be obtained by dunning the arrogant Captain Nu- 
 gent for his son's debts. Before he could arrive at 
 a decision his meditations were interrupted by the 
 entrance of a stout, sandy-haired lady from the back 
 parlour, who, having conquered his scruples against 
 matrimony some thirty years before, had kept a par- 
 ticularly wide-awake eye upon him ever since. 
 
 "Your tea's a-gettin' cold," she remarked, severely. 
 
 Her husband received the news with calmness. 
 He was by no means an enthusiast where that liquid 
 was concerned, the admiration evoked by its non- 
 inebriating qualities having been always something 
 in the nature of a mystery to him. 
 
 "I'm coming," he retorted; "I'm just 'aving a 
 word with Mr. Nugent 'ere." 
 
 " Well, I never did," said the stout lady, coming 
 farther into the shop and regarding the visitor. " I 
 shouldn't 'ave knowed 'im. If you'd asked me 
 who 'e was I couldn't ha' told you I shouldn't 
 'ave knowed 'im from Adam." 
 
 Jack shook his head. " It's hard to be forgotten 
 like this," he said, sadly. " Even Miss Kybird had 
 forgotten me, after all that had passed between us." 
 
 "Eh?" said Mr. Kybird. 
 92
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Oh, don't take any notice of him," said his 
 daughter. " I'd like to see myself." 
 
 Mr. Kybird paid no heed. He was still thinking 
 of the son of Captain Nugent being indebted to him 
 for lodging, and the more he thought of the idea the 
 better he liked it. 
 
 " Well, now you're 'ere," he said, with a great as- 
 sumption of cordiality, " why not come in and 'ave a 
 cup o' tea ? " 
 
 The other hesitated a moment and then, with a 
 light laugh, accepted the offer. He followed them 
 into the small and untidy back parlour, and being 
 requested by his hostess to squeeze in next to 'Melia 
 at the small round table, complied so literally with 
 the order that that young lady complained bitterly 
 of his encroachments. 
 
 " And where do you think of sleeping to-night ? '' 
 inquired Mr. Kybird after his daughter had, to use 
 her own expressive phrase, shown the guest " his 
 place." 
 
 Mr. Nugent shook his head. " I shall get a 
 lodging somewhere," he said, airily. 
 
 " There's a room upstairs as you might 'ave if 
 you liked," said Mr. Kybird, slowly. " It's been 
 let to a very respectable, clean young man for half 
 a crown a week. Really it ought to be three shil- 
 lings, but if you like to 'ave it at the old price, you 
 can." 
 
 93
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Done with you," said the other. 
 
 " No doubt you'll soon get something to do," 
 continued Mr. Kybird, more in answer to his wife's 
 inquiring glances than anything else. " Half a 
 crown every Saturday and the room's yours." 
 
 Mr. Nugent thanked him, and after making a 
 tea which caused Mr. Kybird to congratulate him- 
 self upon the fact that he hadn't offered to board 
 him, sat regaling Mrs. Kybird and daughter with a 
 recital of his adventures in Australia, receiving in 
 return a full and true account of Sunwich and its 
 people up to date. 
 
 " There's no pride about 'im, that's what I like," 
 said Mrs. Kybird to her lord and master as they sat 
 alone after closing time over a glass of gin and water. 
 " He's a nice young feller, but bisness is bisness, 
 and s'pose you don't get your rent r " 
 
 " I shall get it sooner or later," said Mr. Kybird. 
 " That stuck-up father of 'is '11 be in a fine way at 
 'im living here. That's wot I'm thinking of." 
 
 " I don't see why," said Mrs. Kybird, bridling. 
 "Who's Captain Nugent, I should like to know? 
 We're as good as what 'e is, if not better. And as 
 for the gell, if she'd got 'alf Amelia's looks she'd 
 do." 
 
 " 'Melia's a fine-looking gal," assented Mr. Ky- 
 bird. " I wonder " 
 
 He laid his pipe down on the table and stared at 
 94
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the mantelpiece. " He seems very struck with 'er," 
 he concluded. " I see that directly." 
 
 " Not afore I did," said his wife, sharply. 
 
 " See it afore you come into the shop," said Mr. 
 
 'He regarded the wife of his bosom with a calculating glance.' 
 
 Kybird, triumphantly. " It 'ud be a strange thing 
 to marry into that family, Emma." 
 
 " She's keeping company with young Teddy Silk," 
 his wife reminded him, coldly ; " and if she wasn't 
 
 95
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 she could do better than a young man without a 
 penny in 'is pocket. Pride's a fine thing, Dan'], 
 but you can't live on it." 
 
 " I know what I'm talking about," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird, impatiently. " I know she's keeping company 
 with Teddy as well as wot you do. Still, as far as 
 money goes, young Nugent '11 be all right." 
 
 " 'Ow ? " inquired his wife. 
 
 Mr. Kybird hesitated and took a sip of his gin 
 and water. Then he regarded the wife of his bosom 
 with a calculating glance which at once excited that 
 lady's easily kindled wrath. 
 
 " You know I never tell secrets," she cried. 
 
 " Not often," corrected Mr, Kybird, " but then 
 I don't often tell you any. Wot would you say to 
 young Nugent coming into five 'undred pounds 'is 
 mother left 'im when he's twenty-five ? He don't 
 know it, but I do." 
 
 " Five 'undred," repeated his wife, "sure? " 
 
 " No," said the other, " I'm not sure, but I know. 
 I 'ad it from young Roberts when 'e was at Stone 
 and Dartnell's. Five 'undred pounds ! I shall get 
 my money all right some time, and, if 'e wants a lit- 
 tle bit to go on with, 'e can have it. He's honest 
 enough ; I can see that by his manner." 
 
 Upstairs in the tiny room under the tiles Mr. 
 Jack Nugent, in blissful ignorance of his landlord's 
 generous sentiments towards him, slept the sound, 
 
 96
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 dreamless sleep of the man free from monetary cares. 
 In the sanctity of her chamber Miss Kybird, gazing 
 approvingly at the reflection of her yellow hair and 
 fine eyes in the little cracked looking-glass, was al- 
 ready comparing him very favourably with the some- 
 what pessimistic Mr. Silk.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 MR. NUGENT'S return caused a sensation 
 in several quarters, the feeling at Equator 
 Lodge bordering close upon open mutiny. 
 Even Mrs. Kingdom plucked up spirit and read the 
 astonished captain a homily upon the first duties of 
 a parent a homily which she backed up by reading 
 the story of the Prodigal Son through to the bitter 
 end. At the conclusion she broke down entirely 
 and was led up to bed by Kate and Bella, the sym- 
 pathy of the latter taking an acute form, and con- 
 sisting mainly of innuendoes which could only refer 
 to one person in the house. 
 
 Kate Nugent, who was not prone to tears, took a 
 different line, but with no better success. The captain 
 declined to discuss the subject, and, after listening to a 
 description of himself in which Nero and other celeb- 
 rities figured for the purpose of having their charac- 
 ters whitewashed, took up his hat and went out. 
 
 Jem Hardy heard of the new arrival from his part- 
 ner, and, ignoring that gentleman's urgent advice to 
 make hay while the sun shone and take Master Nu- 
 gent for a walk forthwith, sat thoughtfully consider- 
 
 98
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing how to turn the affair to the best advantage. A 
 slight outbreak of diphtheria at Fullalove Alley had, 
 for a time, closed that thoroughfare to Miss Nugent, 
 and he was inclined to regard the opportune arrival of 
 her brother as an effort of Providence on his behalf. 
 
 For some days, however, he looked for Jack Nu- 
 gent in vain, that gentleman either being out of doors 
 engaged in an earnest search for work, or snugly 
 seated in the back parlour of the Kybirds, indulging 
 in the somewhat perilous pastime of paying compli- 
 ments to Amelia Kybird. Remittances which had 
 reached him from his sister and aunt had been 
 promptly returned, and he was indebted to the 
 amiable Mr. Kybird for the bare necessaries of life. 
 In these circumstances a warm feeling of gratitude 
 towards the family closed his eyes to their obvious 
 shortcomings. 
 
 He even obtained work down at the harbour 
 through a friend of Mr. Ky bird's. It was not of a 
 very exalted nature, and caused more strain upon the 
 back than the intellect, but seven years of roughing 
 it had left him singularly free from caste prejudices, 
 a freedom which he soon discovered was not shared 
 by his old acquaintances at Sunwich. The discovery 
 made him somewhat bitter, and when Hardy stopped 
 him one afternoon as he was on his way home from 
 work he tried to ignore his outstretched hand and 
 continued on his way. 
 
 99
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " It is a long time since we met," said Hardy, 
 placing himself in front of him. 
 
 "Good heavens," said Jack, regarding him closely, 
 " it's Jemmy Hardy grown up spick and span like 
 
 " He even obtained work down at the harbour." 
 
 the industrious little boys in the school-books. I 
 heard you were back here." 
 
 " I came back just before you did," said Hardy. 
 
 f Brass band playing you m and all that sort 
 
 IOO
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 of thing, I suppose," said the other. " Alas, how the 
 wicked prosper and you were wicked. Do you 
 remember how you used to knock me about ? " 
 
 " Come round to my place and have a chat," said 
 Hardy. 
 
 Jack shook his head. " They're expecting me in 
 to tea," he said, with a nod in the direction of Mr. 
 Kybird's, " and honest waterside labourers who earn 
 their bread by the sweat of their brow when the 
 foreman is looking do not frequent the society of 
 the upper classes." 
 
 " Don't be a fool," said Hardy, politely. 
 
 "Well, I'm not very tidy," retorted Mr. Nu- 
 gent, glancing at his clothes. " I don't mind it 
 myself; I'm a philosopher, and nothing hurts me 
 so long as I have enough to eat and drink ; but I 
 don't inflict myself on my friends, and I must say 
 most of them meet me more than half-way." 
 
 " Imagination," said Hardy. 
 
 " All except Kate and my aunt," said Jack, firmly. 
 " Poor Kate; I tried to cut her the other day." 
 
 " Cut her ? " echoed Hardy. 
 
 Nugent nodded. " To save her feelings," he 
 replied ; " but she wouldn't be cut, bless her, and 
 on the distinct understanding that it wasn't to form 
 a precedent, I let her kiss me behind a waggon. 
 Do you know, I fancy she's grown up rather good- 
 looking, Jem ? " 
 
 101
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " You are observant," said Mr. Hardy, admir- 
 ingly. 
 
 " Of course, it may be my partiality," said Mr. 
 Nugent, with judicial fairness. " I was always a 
 bit fond of Kate. I don't suppose anybody else 
 would see anything in her. Where are you living 
 now ? " 
 
 " Fort Road," said Hardy ; " come round any 
 evening you can, if you won't come now." 
 
 Nugent promised, and, catching sight of Miss 
 Kybird standing in the doorway of the shop, bade 
 him good-bye and crossed the road. It was becom- 
 ing quite a regular thing for her to wait and have 
 her tea with him now, an arrangement which was 
 provocative of many sly remarks on the part of 
 Mrs. Kybird. 
 
 " Thought you were never coming," said Miss 
 Kybird, tartly, as she led the way to the back room 
 and took her seat at the untidy tea-tray. 
 
 "And you've been crying your eyes out, I sup- 
 pose," remarked Mr. Nugent, as he groped in the 
 depths of a tall jar for black-currant jam. " Well, 
 you're not the first, and I don't suppose you'll be 
 the last. How's Teddy ? " 
 
 " Get your tea," retorted Miss Kybird, " and 
 don't make that scraping noise on the bottom of 
 the jar with your knife. It puts my teeth on edge." 
 
 " So it does mine," said Mr. Nugent, " but there's 
 ipa
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 a black currant down there, and I mean to have it 
 * Waste not, want not.' ' 
 
 " Miss Kybird standing in the doorway of the shop." 
 
 " Make him put that knife down," said Miss 
 Kybird, as her mother entered the room. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird shook her head at him. " You two 
 103
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 are always quarrelling," she said, archly, "just like 
 a couple of couple of " 
 
 " Love-birds," suggested Mr. Nugent. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird in great glee squeezed round to 
 him and smote him playfully with her Iarge 3 fat 
 hand, and then, being somewhat out of breath with 
 the exertion, sat down to enjoy the jest in comfort. 
 
 " That's how you encourage him," said her daugh- 
 ter ; " no wonder he doesn't behave. No wonder 
 he acts as if the whole place belongs to him." 
 
 The remark was certainly descriptive of Mr. Nu- 
 gent's behaviour. His easy assurance and affability 
 had already made him a prime favourite with Mrs. 
 Kybird, and had not been without its effect upon 
 her daughter. The constrained and severe com- 
 pany manners of Mr. Edward Silk showed up but 
 poorly beside those of the paying guest, and Miss 
 Kybird had on several occasions drawn comparisons 
 which would have rendered both gentlemen uneasy 
 if they had known of them. 
 
 Mr. Nugent carried the same easy good-fellowship 
 with him the following week when, neatly attired in 
 a second-hand suit from Mr. Kybird's extensive 
 stock, he paid a visit to Jem Hardy to talk over 
 old times and discuss the future. 
 
 " You ought to make friends with your father," 
 said the latter ; " it only wants a little common sense 
 and mutual forbearance." 
 
 104
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " That's all," said Nugent ; "sounds easy enough, 
 doesn't it? No, all he wants is for me to clear out 
 of Sunwich, and I'm not going to until it pleases 
 me, at any rate. It's poison to him for me to be 
 living at the Kybirds' and pushing a trolley down 
 on the quay. Talk about love sweetening toil, that 
 does." 
 
 Hardy changed the subject, and Nugent, nothing 
 loath, discoursed on his wanderings and took him on 
 a personally conducted tour through the continent 
 of Australia. " And I've come back to lay my 
 bones in Sunwich Churchyard," he concluded, pa- 
 thetically ; " that is, when I've done with *em." 
 
 " A lot of things'll happen before then," said 
 Hardy. 
 
 " I hope so," rejoined Mr. Nugent, piously ; "my 
 desire is to be buried by my weeping great-grand- 
 children. In fact, I've left instructions to that effect 
 in my will all I have left, by the way." 
 
 " You're not going to keep on at this water-side 
 work, I suppose ? " said Hardy, making another 
 effort to give the conversation a serious turn. 
 
 " The foreman doesn't think so," replied the 
 other, as he helped himself to some whisky ; " he 
 has made several remarks to that effect lately." 
 
 He leaned back in his chair and smoked thought- 
 fully, by no means insensible to the comfort of his 
 surroundings. He had not been in such comfort- 
 
 ,05
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 able quarters since he left home seven years before. 
 He thought of the untidy litter of the Kybirds' back 
 parlour, with the forlorn view of the yard in the rear. 
 Something of his reflections he confided to Hardy as 
 he rose to leave. 
 
 " But my market value is about a pound a week," 
 he concluded, ruefully, " so I must cut my coat to 
 suit my cloth. Good-night." 
 
 He walked home somewhat soberly at first, but 
 the air was cool and fresh and a glorious moon was 
 riding in the sky. He whistled cheerfully, and his 
 spirits rose as various chimerical plans of making 
 money occurred to him. By the time he reached 
 the High Street, the shops of which were all closed 
 for the night, he was earning five hundred a year and 
 spending a thousand. He turned the handle of the 
 door and, walking in, discovered Miss Kybird enter- 
 taining company in the person of Mr. Edward Silk. 
 
 " Halloa," he said, airily, as he took a seat. 
 " Don't mind me, young people. Go on just as 
 you would if I were not here." 
 
 Mr. Edward Silk grumbled something under his 
 breath ; Miss Kybird, turning to the intruder with 
 a smile of welcome, remarked that she had just 
 thought of going to sleep. 
 
 " Going to sleep ? " repeated Mr. Silk, thunder- 
 struck. 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Kybird, yawning. 
 1 06
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Silk gazed at her, open-mouthed. " What, 
 with me 'ere ? " he inquired, in trembling tones. 
 
 "You're not very lively company," said Miss 
 Kybird, bending over her sewing. " I don't think 
 you've spoken a word for the last quarter of an 
 hour, and before that you were talking of death- 
 warnings. Made my flesh creep, you did." 
 
 " Shame ! " said Mr. Nugent. 
 
 " You didn't say anything to me about your flesh 
 creeping," muttered Mr. Silk. 
 
 " You ought to have seen it creep," interposed 
 Mr. Nugent, severely. 
 
 " I'm not talking to you," said Mr. Silk, turning on 
 him ; " when I want the favour of remarks from you 
 I'll let you know." 
 
 " Don't you talk to my gentlemen friends like 
 that, Teddy," said Miss Kybird, sharply, " because 
 I won't have it. Why don't you try and be bright 
 and cheerful like Mr. Nugent ? " 
 
 Mr. Silk turned and regarded that gentleman 
 steadfastly ; Mr. Nugent meeting his gaze with a 
 pleasant smile and a low-voiced offer to give him 
 lessons at half a crown an hour. 
 
 " I wouldn't be like 'im for worlds," said Mr. 
 Silk, with a scornful laugh. " I'd sooner be like 
 anybody." 
 
 " What have you been saying to him ? " inquired 
 Nugent. 
 
 107
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Nothing," replied Miss Kybird ; " he's often 
 like that. He's got a nasty, miserable, jealous dis- 
 position. Not that I mind what he thinks." 
 
 Mr. Silk breathed hard and looked from one to 
 the other. 
 
 " Perhaps he'll grow out of it," said Nugent, 
 hopefully. " Cheer up, Teddy. You're young yet." 
 
 " Might I arsk," said the solemnly enraged Mr. 
 Silk, " might I arsk you not to be so free with my 
 Christian name ? " 
 
 " He doesn't like his name now," said Nugent, 
 drawing his chair closer to Miss Kybird's, " and I 
 don't wonder at it. What shall we call him ? Job ? 
 What's that work you're doing ? Why don't you get 
 on with that fancy waistcoat you are doing for me ? " 
 
 Before Miss Kybird could deny all knowledge of 
 the article in question her sorely tried swain created 
 a diversion by rising. To that simple act he im- 
 parted an emphasis which commanded the attention 
 of both beholders, and, drawing over to Miss Ky- 
 bird, he stood over her in an attitude at once terri- 
 fying and reproachful. 
 
 " Take your choice, Amelia," he said, in a thrill- 
 ing voice. " Me or 'im which is it to be ? " 
 
 " Here, steady, old man," cried the startled Nu- 
 gent. " Go easy." 
 
 " Me or 'im ? " repeated Mr. Silk, in stern but 
 broken accents. 
 
 108
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Kybird giggled and, avoiding his gaze, 
 looked pensively at the faded hearthrug. 
 
 "You're making her blush," said Mr. Nugent, 
 sternly. " Sit down, Teddy ; I'm ashamed of you. 
 
 " Me or Mm which is it to be ? " 
 
 We're both ashamed of you. You're confusing us 
 dreadfully proposing to us both in this way." 
 
 Mr. Silk regarded him with a scornful eye, but 
 Miss Kybird, bidding him not to be foolish, punc- 
 tuated her remarks with the needle, and a struggle, 
 which Mr. Silk regarded as unseemly in the highest 
 degree, took place between them for its possession. 
 
 109
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Nugent secured it at last, and brandishing it 
 fiercely extorted feminine screams from Miss 'Ky- 
 bird by threatening her with it. Nor was her mind 
 relieved until Mr. Nugent, remarking that he would 
 put it back in the pincushion, placed it in the leg of 
 Mr. Edward Silk. 
 
 Mr. Kybird and his wife, entering through the 
 shop, were just in time to witness a spirited perform- 
 ance on the part of Mr. Silk, the cherished pur- 
 pose of which was to deprive them of a lodger. 
 He drew back as they entered and, raising his 
 voice above Miss Kybird's, began to explain his 
 action. 
 
 "Teddy, I'm ashamed of you," said Mr. Kybird, 
 shaking his head. " A little joke like that ; a little 
 innercent joke." 
 
 " If it 'ad been a darning-needle now " began 
 
 Mrs. Kybird. 
 
 "All right," said the desperate Mr. Silk, " 'ave it 
 your own way. Let 'Melia marry 'im I don't care 
 I give 'er up." 
 
 " Teddy ! " said Mr. Kybird, in a shocked voice. 
 Teddy ! " 
 
 Mr. Silk thrust him fiercely to one side and passed 
 raging through the shop. The sound of articles fall- 
 ing in all directions attested to his blind haste, and 
 the force with which he slammed the shop-door was 
 sufficient evidence of his state of mind. 
 
 no
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Well, upon my word," said the staring Mr. Ky- 
 bird ; " of all the outrageyous " 
 
 " Never mind *im," said his wife, who was sitting 
 in the easy chair, distributing affectionate smiles be- 
 tween her daughter and the startled Mr. Nugent. 
 " Make 'er happy, Jack, that's all I arsk. She's 
 been a good gal, and she'll make a good wife. I've 
 seen how it was between you for some time." 
 
 " So 'ave I," said Mr. Kybird. He shook hands 
 warmly with Mr. Nugent, and, patting that per- 
 turbed man on the back, surveyed him with eyes 
 glistening with approval. 
 
 " It's a bit rough on Teddy, isn't it?" inquired 
 Mr. Nugent, anxiously ; " besides " 
 
 " Don't you worry about 'im," said Mr. Kybird, 
 affectionately. " He ain't worth it." 
 
 " I wasn't," said Mr. Nugent, truthfully. The 
 situation had developed so rapidly that it had caught 
 him at a disadvantage. He had a dim feeling that, 
 having been the cause of Miss Kybird's losing one 
 young man, the most elementary notions of chivalry 
 demanded that he should furnish her with another. 
 And this idea was clearly uppermost in the minds 
 of her parents. He looked over'at Amelia and with 
 characteristic philosophy accepted the position. 
 
 " We shall be the handsomest couple in Sunwich/* 
 he said, simply. 
 
 " Bar none," said Mr. Kybird, emphatically, 
 in
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 
 
 The stout lady in the chair gazed at the couple 
 fondly. "It reminds me of our wedding," she said- 
 
 " I wonder what the governor'll say." 
 
 softly. "What was it Tom Fletcher said, father? 
 Can you remember ? " 
 
 112
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " 'Arry Smith, you mean," corrected Mr. Kybird. 
 
 "Tom Fletcher said something, I'm sure," per- 
 sisted his wife. 
 
 " He did" said Mr. Kybird, grimly, " and I 
 pretty near broke 'is 'ead for it. 'Arry Smith is the 
 one you're thinking of." 
 
 Mrs. Kybird after a moment's reflection admitted 
 that he was right, and, the chain of memory being 
 touched, waxed discursive about her own wedding 
 and the somewhat exciting details which accompanied 
 it. After which she produced a bottle labelled 
 " Port wine " from the cupboard, and, filling four 
 glasses, celebrated the occasion in a befitting but 
 sober fashion. 
 
 " This," said Mr. Nugent, as he sat on his bed 
 that night to take his boots off, " this is what comes 
 of trying to make everybody happy and comfortable 
 with a little fun. I wonder what the governor'll say."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE news of his only son's engagement took 
 Captain Nugent's breath away, which, all 
 things considered, was perhaps the best 
 thing it could have done. He sat at home in silent 
 rage, only exploding when the well-meaning Mrs. 
 Kingdom sought to minimize his troubles by com- 
 paring them with those of Job. Her reminder that 
 to the best of her remembrance he had never had a 
 boil in his life put the finishing touch to his pa- 
 tience, and, despairing of drawing-room synonyms 
 for the words which trembled on his lips, he beat a 
 precipitate retreat to the garden. 
 
 His son bore his new honours bravely. To an 
 appealing and indignant letter from his sister he 
 wrote gravely, reminding her of the difference in 
 their years, and also that he had never interfered in 
 her flirtations, however sorely his brotherly heart 
 might have been wrung by them. He urged her to 
 forsake such diversions for the future, and to look 
 for an alliance with some noble, open-handed man 
 with a large banking account and a fondness for his 
 wife's relatives. 
 
 114
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 To Jem Hardy, who ventured on a delicate re- 
 monstrance one evening, he was less patient, and 
 displayed a newly acquired dignity which was a 
 source of considerable embarrassment to that well- 
 meaning gentleman. He even got up to search for 
 his hat, and was only induced to resume his seat by 
 the physical exertions of his host. 
 
 " I didn't mean to be offensive," said the latter. 
 
 " But you were," said the aggrieved man. 
 
 Hardy apologized. 
 
 " Talk of that kind is a slight to my future wife," 
 said Nugent, firmly. " Besides, what business is it 
 of yours ? " 
 
 Hardy regarded him thoughtfully. It was some 
 time since he had seen Miss Nugent, and he felt that 
 he was losing valuable time. He had hoped great 
 things from the advent of her brother, and now his 
 intimacy seemed worse than useless. He resolved 
 to take him into his confidence. 
 
 " I spoke from selfish motives," he said, at last. 
 " I wanted you to make friends with your father 
 again." 
 
 " What for ? " inquired the other, staring. 
 
 " To pave the way for me," said Hardy, raising 
 his voice as he thought of his wrongs ; " and now, 
 owing to your confounded matrimonial business, 
 that's all knocked on the head. I wouldn't care whom 
 you married if it didn't interfere with my affairs so. M 
 
 "5
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 . 
 
 *' Do you mean," inquired the astonished Mr. Nu- 
 gent, " that you want to be on friendly terms with 
 my father ? " 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 Mr. Nugent gazed at him round-eyed. " You 
 haven't had a blow on the head or anything of that 
 sort at any time, have you ? " he inquired. 
 
 Hardy shook his head impatiently. " You don't 
 seem to suffer from an excess of intellect yourself," 
 he retorted. " I don't want to be offensive again, 
 still, I should think it is pretty plain there is only 
 one reason why I should go out of my way to seek 
 the society of your r ather." 
 
 " Say what you like about my intellect," replied 
 the dutiful son, " but I can't think of even one not 
 even a small one. Not Good gracious! You 
 don't mean you can't mean " 
 
 Hardy looked at him. 
 
 <c Not that," said Mr. Nugent, whose intellect had 
 suddenly become painfully acute " not her? " 
 
 " Why not ? " inquired the other. 
 
 Mr. Nugent leaned back in his chair and regarded 
 him with an air of kindly interest. " Well, there's 
 no need for you to worry about my father for that," 
 He said ; " he would raise no objection." 
 
 " Eh ? " said Hardy, starting up from his chair. 
 
 " He would welcome it," said Mr. Nugent, posi- 
 tively. " There is nothing that he would like 
 
 \,. f . . *- t ^.' ...-. Q
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 better ; and I don't mind telling you a secret she 
 likes you." 
 
 Hardy reddened. "How do you know?" he 
 stammered. 
 
 " I know it for a fact," said the other, impres- 
 sively. " I have heard her say so. But you've been 
 very plain-spoken about me, Jem, so that I shall say 
 what I think." 
 
 " Do." said his bewildered friend. 
 
 " J think you'd be throwing yourself away," said 
 Nugent ; " to my mind it's a most unsuitable match 
 in every way. She's got no money, no looks, no 
 style. Nothing but a good kind heart rather the 
 worse for wear. I suppose you know she's been 
 married once ? " 
 
 " What ! " shouted the other. " Married? " 
 
 Mr. Nugent nodded. His face was perfectly 
 grave, but the joke was beginning to prey upon his 
 vitals in a manner which brooked no delay. 
 
 " I thought everybody knew it," he said. "We 
 have never disguised the fact. Her husband died 
 'twenty years ago last " 
 
 " Twenty " said his suddenly enlightened 
 
 listener. " Who ? What ? " 
 
 Mr. Nugent, incapable of reply, put his head on 
 the table and beat the air frantically with his hand, 
 while gasping sobs rent his tortured frame. 
 
 " Dear aunt," jie choked, " how pleas pleased 
 117
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 she'd be if she knew. Don't look like that, 
 Hardy. You'll kill me." 
 
 "You seem amused," said Hardy, between his 
 teeth. 
 
 " And you'll be Kate's uncle," said Mr. Nugent, 
 sitting up and wiping his eyes. " Poor little Kate." 
 
 He put his head on the table again. " And mine," 
 he wailed. " Uncle Jemmy ! will you tip us half- 
 crowns, nunky ? " 
 
 Mr. Hardy's expression of lofty scorn only served 
 to retard his recovery, but he sat up at last and, giv- 
 ing his eyes a final wipe, beamed kindly upon his 
 victim. 
 
 " Well, I'll do what I can for you," he observed, 
 " but I suppose you know Kate's ofF for a three 
 months' visit to London to-morrow?" 
 
 The other observed that he didn't know it, and, 
 taught by his recent experience, eyed him suspi- 
 ciously. 
 
 " It's quite true," said Nugent ; " she's going to 
 stay with some relatives of ours. She used to be 
 very fond of one of the boys her cousin Herbert 
 so you mustn't be surprised if she comes back en- 
 gaged. But I daresay you'll have forgotten all about 
 her in three months. And, anyway, I don't sup- 
 pose she'd look at you if you were the last man in 
 the world. If you'll walk part of the way home 
 with me I'll regale you with anecdotes of her child- 
 
 1x8
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 hood which will probably cause you to change your 
 views altogether." 
 
 In Fullalove Alley Mr. Edward Silk, his fore- 
 bodings fulfilled, received the news of Amelia Ky- 
 
 " A spirit of quiet despair." 
 
 bird's faithlessness in a spirit of quiet despair, and 
 turned a deaf ear to the voluble sympathy of his 
 neighbours. Similar things had happened to young 
 men living there before, but their behaviour had 
 
 119
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 been widely different to Mr. Silk's. Bob Crump, 
 for instance, had been jilted on the very morning he 
 had arranged for his wedding, but instead of going 
 about in a state of gentle melancholy he went round 
 and fought his beloved's father merely because it 
 was her father and wound up an exciting day by 
 selling off his household goods to the highest bidders. 
 Henry Jones in similar circumstances relieved his 
 great grief by walking up and down the alley smash- 
 ing every window within reach of his stick. 
 
 But these were men of spirit ; Mr. Silk was cast 
 in a different mould, and his fair neighbours sympa- 
 thized heartily with him in his bereavement, while 
 utterly failing to understand any man breaking his 
 heart over Amelia Kybird. 
 
 His mother, a widow of uncertain age, shook her 
 head over him and hinted darkly at consumption, 
 an idea which was very pleasing to her son, and gave 
 him an increased interest in a slight cold from which 
 he was suffering. 
 
 " He wants taking out of 'imself," said Mr. Wilks, 
 who had stepped across the alley to discuss the sub- 
 ject with his neighbour; "cheerful society and 'obbies 
 that's what 'e wants," 
 
 "He's got a faithful 'eart," sighed Mrs. Silk. 
 "It's in the family ; 'e can't 'elpit." 
 
 "But 'e might be lifted out of it," urged Mr. 
 Wilks. " I 'ad several disappointments in my 
 
 720
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 young days. One time I 'ad a fresh gal every 
 v'y'ge a'most." 
 
 Mrs. Silk sniffed and looked up the alley, whereat 
 two neighbours who happened to be at their doors 
 glanced up and down casually, and retreated inside 
 to continue their vigil from the windows. 
 
 " Silk courted me for fifteen years before I would 
 say ' yes,' " she said, severely. 
 
 " Fifteen years !" responded the other. He cast 
 his eyes upwards and his lips twitched. The most 
 casual observer could have seen that he was engaged 
 in calculations of an abstruse and elusive nature. 
 
 " I was on'y seven when 'e started," said Mrs. 
 Silk, sharply. 
 
 Mr. Wilks brought his eyes to a level again* 
 "Oh, seven," he remarked. 
 
 " And we was married two days before my nine- 
 teenth birthday," added Mrs. Silk, whose own arith- 
 metic had always been her weak point. 
 
 "Just so," said Mr. Wilks. He glanced at the 
 sharp white face and shapeless figure before him. 
 " It's hard to believe you can 'ave a son Teddy's 
 age," he added, gallantly. 
 
 " It makes you feel as if you're getting on," said 
 the widow. 
 
 The ex-steward agreed, and after standing a min- 
 ute or two in silence made a preliminary motion of 
 withdrawal. 
 
 121
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Beautiful your plants are looking," said Mrs. 
 Silk, glancing over at his window ; " I can't think 
 what you do to 'em." 
 
 The gratified Mr. Wilks began to explain. It 
 appeared that plants wanted almost as much looking 
 after as daughters. 
 
 " I should like to see 'em close," said Mrs. Silk. 
 
 " Come in and 'ave a look at 'em," responded her 
 neighbour. 
 
 Mrs. Silk hesitated and displayed a maidenly 
 coyness far in excess of the needs of the situation. 
 Then she stepped across, and five seconds later the 
 two matrons, with consternation writ large upon their 
 faces, appeared at their doors again and, exchanging 
 glances across the alley, met in the centre. 
 
 They were more surprised an evening or two later 
 to see Mr. Wilks leave his house to pay a return 
 visit, bearing in his hand a small bunch of his cher- 
 ished blooms. That they were blooms which would 
 have paid the debt of Nature in a few hours at most 
 in no way detracted from the widow's expressions of 
 pleasure at receiving them, and Mr. Wilks, who had 
 been invited over to cheer up Mr. Silk, who was in 
 a particularly black mood, sat and smiled like a de- 
 tected philanthropist as she placed them in water. 
 
 " Good evenin', Teddy," he said, breezily, with a 
 side-glance at his hostess. " What a lovely day 
 we've 'ad." 
 
 122
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " So bright," said Mrs. Silk, nodding with spirit. 
 
 Mr. Wilks sat down and gave vent to such a 
 
 cheerful laugh that the ornaments on the mantel- 
 
 " A return visit." 
 
 piece shook with it. "It's good to be alive," he 
 declared. 
 
 " Ah, you enjoy your life, Mr. Wilks," said the 
 widow. 
 
 " Enjoy it ! " roared Mr. Wilks ; " enjoy it ! 
 Why shouldn't I ? Why shouldn't everybody 
 
 123
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 enjoy their lives ? It was what they was given to 
 us for." 
 
 " So they was,'* affirmed Mrs. Silk ; " nobody 
 can deny that ; not if they try." 
 
 " Nobody wants to deny it, ma'am," retorted 
 Mr. Wilks, in the high voice he kept for cheering- 
 up purposes. " I enjoy every day o' my life." 
 
 He filled his pipe, chuckling serenely, and having 
 lit it sat and enjoyed that. Mrs. Silk retired for a 
 space, and returning with a jug of ale poured him 
 out a glass and set it by his elbow. 
 
 " Here's your good 'ealth, ma'am," said Mr. 
 Wilks, raising it. " Here's yours, Teddy a long 
 life and a 'appy one." 
 
 Mr. Silk turned listlessly. " I don't want a long 
 life," he remarked. 
 
 His mother and her visitor exchanged glances. 
 
 " That's 'ow 'e goes on," remarked the former, in 
 an audible whisper. Mr. Wilks nodded, reassur- 
 ingly. 
 
 " I 'ad them ideas once," he said, " but they go off. 
 If you could only live to see Teddy at the age o' 
 ninety-five, 'e wouldn't want to go then. 'E'd say 
 it was crool hard, being cut off in the flower of 'is 
 youth." 
 
 Mrs. Silk laughed gaily and Mr. Wilks bellowed 
 a gruff accompaniment. Mr. Edward Silk eyed 
 them pityingly. 
 
 124
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "That's the 'ardship of it," he said, slowly, 
 as he looked round from his seat by the fireplace ; 
 " that's where the 'ollowness of things comes in. 
 That's where I envy Mr. Wilks." 
 
 "Envy me?" said the smiling visitor, "what 
 for?" 
 
 " Because you're so near the grave," said Mr. 
 Silk. 
 
 Mr. Wilks, who was taking another draught of 
 beer, put the glass down and eyed him fixedly. 
 
 " That's why I envy you," continued the other. 
 " I don't want to live, and you do, and yet I dessay 
 I shall be walking about forty and fifty years after 
 you're dead and forgotten." 
 
 "Wot d'ye mean near the grave?" inquired 
 Mr. Wilks, somewhat shortly. 
 
 " I was referring to your age," replied the other; 
 " it's strange to see 'ow the aged 'ang on to life. 
 You can't 'ave much pleasure at your time o' life. 
 And you're all alone ; the last withered branch left." 
 
 " Withered branch ! " began Mr. Wilks ; " 'ere, 
 look 'ere, Teddy " 
 
 " All the others 'ave gone," pursued Mr. Silk, 
 "and they're beckoning to you." 
 
 " Let 'em beckon," said Mr. Wilks, coldly. " I'm 
 not going yet." 
 
 " You're not young," said Mr. Silk, gazing medi- 
 tatively at the grate, " and I envy you that. It can
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 only be a matter of a year or two at most before you 
 are sleeping your last long sleep." 
 
 "Teddy!" protested Mrs. Silk. 
 
 " It's true, mother," said the melancholy youth. 
 " Mr. Wilks is old. Why should 'e mind being 
 told of it? If 'e had 'ad the trouble I've 'ad 'e'd 
 be glad to go. But he'll 'ave to go, whether 'e 
 likes it or not. It might be to-night. Who can 
 tell ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks, unasked, poured himself out another 
 glass of ale, and drank it off with the air of a man 
 who intended to make sure of that. It seemed a 
 trifle more flat than the last. 
 
 " So many men o' your age and thereabouts," 
 continued Mr. Silk, " think that they're going to 
 live on to eighty or ninety, but there's very few of 
 'em do. It's only a short while, Mr. Wilks, and 
 the little children'll be running about over your 
 grave and picking daisies off of it." 
 
 " Ho, will they ? " said the irritated Mr. Wilks; 
 " they'd better not let me catch 'em at it, that's all." 
 
 " He's always talking like that now," said Mrs. 
 Silk, not without a certain pride in her tones ; 
 " that's why I asked you in to cheer 'im up." 
 
 "All your troubles'll be over then," continued 
 the warning voice, " and in a month or two even 
 your name'll be forgotten. That's the way of the 
 world. Think 'ow soon the last five years of your 
 
 126
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 life 'ave passed ; the next five'll pass ten times as 
 fast even if you live as long, which ain't likely." 
 
 " He talks like a clergy- 
 man," said Mrs. Silk, in a ^ 
 stage whisper. 
 
 Mr. Wilks nodded, and 
 despite his hostess's protests E 
 rose to go. He shook hands jjC?? 
 with her and, after a short x 
 but sharp inward struggle, 
 shook hands with her son. 
 It was late in the evening as 
 he left, but the houses had " He ** off towards the llfe and 
 
 bustle of the Two Schooners." 
 
 not yet been lit up. Dim 
 
 figures sat in doorways or stood about the alley, 
 and there was an air of peace and rest strangely and 
 
 127
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 u icomfortably in keeping with the conversation to 
 which he had just been listening. He looked in at 
 his own door; the furniture seemed stiffer than 
 usual and the tick of the clock more deliberate. He 
 closed the door again and, taking a deep breath, 
 set off towards the life and bustle of the Two 
 Schooners.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 TIME failed to soften the captain's ideas con- 
 cerning his son's engagement, and all men- 
 tion of the subject in the house was strictly 
 forbidden. Occasionally he was favoured with a 
 glimpse of his son and Miss Kybird out together, a 
 sight which imparted such a flavour to his temper 
 and ordinary intercourse that Mrs. Kingdom, in un- 
 conscious imitation of Mr. James Hardy, began to 
 count the days which must elapse before her niece's 
 return from London. His ill-temper even infected 
 the other members of the household, and Mrs. King- 
 dom sat brooding in her bedroom all one afternoon, 
 because Bella had called her an " overbearing dish- 
 pot." 
 
 The finishing touch to his patience was* supplied 
 by a little misunderstanding between Mr. Kybird 
 and the police. For the second time in his career 
 the shopkeeper appeared before the magistrates to 
 explain the circumstances in which he had purchased 
 stolen property, and for the second time he left the 
 court without a stain on his character, but with a sig- 
 nificant magisterial caution not to appear there again. 
 
 129
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Jack Nugent gave evidence in the case, and some 
 of his replies were deemed worthy of reproduction 
 
 " For the second time he left the court without a stain on his character." 
 
 in the Sunwich Herald, a circumstance which lost the 
 proprietors a subscriber of many years' standing. 
 
 130
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 One by one various schemes for preventing his 
 son's projected alliance were dismissed as impracti- 
 cable. A cherished design of confining him in an 
 asylum for the mentally afflicted until such time as 
 he should have regained his senses was spoilt by the 
 refusal of Dr. Murchison to arrange for the neces- 
 sary certificate ; a refusal which was like to have 
 been fraught with serious consequences to that gen- 
 tleman's hopes of entering the captain's family. 
 
 Brooding over his wrongs the captain, a day or 
 two after his daughter's return, strolled slowly down 
 towards the harbour. It was afternoon, and the 
 short winter day was already drawing towards a close. 
 The shipping looked cold and desolate in the grey- 
 ness, but a bustle of work prevailed on the Conqueror, 
 which was nearly ready for sea again. The captain's 
 gaze wandered from his old craft to the small vessels 
 dotted about the harbour and finally dwelt admir- 
 ingly on the lines of the whaler Seabird, which had 
 put in a few days before us the result of a slight col- 
 lision with a fishing-boat. She was high out of the 
 water and beautifully rigged. A dog ran up and 
 down her decks barking, and a couple of squat fig- 
 ures leaned over the bulwarks gazing stolidly ashore. 
 
 There was something about the vessel which took 
 his fancy, and he stood for some time on the edge 
 of the quay, looking at her. In a day or two she 
 would sail for a voyage the length of which would
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 depend upon her success ; a voyage which would for 
 a long period keep all on board of her out of the 
 mischief which so easily happens ashore. If only 
 Jack 
 
 He started and stared more intently than before. 
 He was not an imaginative man, but he had in his 
 mind's eye a sudden vision of his only son waving 
 farewells from the deck of the whaler as she emerged 
 from the harbour into the open sea, while Amelia 
 Kybird tore her yellow locks ashore. It was a 
 vision to cheer any self-respecting father's heart, and 
 he brought his mind back with some regret to the 
 reality of the anchored ship. 
 
 He walked home slowly. At the Kybirds' door 
 the proprietor, smoking a short clay pipe, eyed him 
 with furtive glee as he passed. Farther along the 
 road the Hardys, father and son, stepped briskly 
 together. Altogether a trying walk, and calculated 
 to make him more dissatisfied than ever with the 
 present state of affairs. When his daughter shook 
 her head at him and accused him of going off on a 
 solitary frolic his stock of patience gave out en- 
 tirely. 
 
 A thoughtful night led to a visit to Mr. Wilks 
 the following evening. It required a great deal of 
 deliberation on his part before he could make up his 
 mind to the step, but he needed his old steward's 
 assistance in a little plan he had conceived for his 
 
 132
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 son's benefit, and for the first time in his life he 
 paid him the supreme honour of a call. 
 
 The honour was so unexpected that Mr. Wilks, 
 
 *'Thc proprietor eyed him with furtive glee as he passed." 
 
 coming into the parlour in response to the tapping 
 of the captain's stick on the floor, stood for a short 
 time eyeing him in dismay. Only two minutes be- 
 fore he had taken Mr. James Hardy into the kitchen
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 to point out the interior beauties of an ancient clock, 
 and the situation simply appalled him. The captain 
 greeted him almost politely and bade him sit down. 
 Mr. Wilks smiled faintly and caught his breath. 
 
 " Sit down," repeated the captain. 
 
 " I've left something in the kitchen, sir," said 
 Mr. Wilks. " I'll be back in half a minute." 
 
 The captain nodded. In the kitchen Mr. Wilks 
 rapidly and incoherently explained the situation to 
 Mr. Hardy. 
 
 " I'll sit here," said the latter, drawing up a com- 
 fortable oak chair to the stove. 
 
 " You see, he don't know that we know each 
 other," explained the apologetic steward, " but I 
 don't like leaving you in the kitchen." 
 
 " I'm all right," said Hardy ; " don't you trouble 
 about me." 
 
 He waved him away, and Mr. Wilks, still pale, 
 closed the door behind him and, rejoining the cap- 
 tain, sat down on the extreme edge of a chair and 
 waited. 
 
 " I've come to see you on a little matter of busi- 
 ness," said his visitor. 
 
 Mr. Wilks smiled ; then, feeling that perhaps 
 that was not quite the right thing to do, looked 
 serious again. 
 
 " I came to see you about my my son," con- 
 tinued the captain. 
 
 134
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Mr. Wilks. " Master Jack, you 
 mean ? " 
 
 " I've only got one son," said the other, unpleas- 
 antly, " unless you happen to know of any more." 
 
 Mr. Wilks almost fell off the edge of the chair 
 in his haste to disclaim any such knowledge. His 
 ideas were in a ferment, and the guilty knowledge of 
 what he had left in the kitchen added to his con- 
 fusion. And just at that moment the door opened 
 and Miss Nugent came briskly in. 
 
 Her surprise at seeing her father ensconced in a 
 chair by the fire led to a rapid volley of questions. 
 The captain, in lieu of answering them, asked another. 
 
 " What do you want here ? " 
 
 " I have come to see Sam," said Miss Nugent. 
 " Fancy seeing you here ! How are you, Sam ? " 
 
 " Pretty well, miss, thank'ee," replied Mr. Wilks, 
 " considering," he added, truthfully, after a moment's 
 reflection. 
 
 Miss Nugent dropped into a chair and put her 
 feet on the fender. Her father eyed her restlessly. 
 
 " I came here to speak to Sam about a private 
 matter," he said, abruptly. 
 
 " Private matter," said his daughter, looking 
 round in surprise. " What about? " 
 
 " A private matter," repeated Captain Nugent. 
 " Suppose you come in some other time." 
 
 Kate Nugent sighed and took her feet from the 
 '35
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 fender. " I'll go and wait in the kitchen," she said, 
 crossing to the door. 
 
 Both men protested. The captain because it ill- 
 assorted with his dignity for his daughter to sit in 
 the kitchen, and Mr. Wilks because of the visitor 
 already there. The face of the steward, indeed, 
 took on such extraordinary expressions in his en- 
 deavour to convey private information to the girl 
 that she gazed at him in silent amazement. Then 
 she turned the handle of the door and, passing 
 through, closed it with a bang which was final. 
 
 Mr. Wilks stood spellbound, but nothing hap- 
 pened. There was no cry of surprise ; no hasty 
 reappearance of an indignant Kate Nugent. His 
 features working nervously he resumed his seat and 
 gazed dutifully at his superior officer. 
 
 " I suppose you've heard that my son is going to 
 get married ? " said the latter. 
 
 " I couldn't help hearing of it, sir," said the stew- 
 ard in self defence " nobody could." 
 
 " He's going to marry that yellow-headed Jezebel 
 of Kybird's," said the captain, staring at the fire. 
 
 Mr. Wilks murmured that he couldn't understand 
 anybody liking yellow hair, and, more than that, the 
 general opinion of the ladies in Fullalove Alley was 
 that it was dyed. 
 
 " I'm going to ship him on the Seabird" con- 
 tinued the captain. " She'll probably be away for a 
 
 136
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 year or two, and, in the meantime, this girl will prob- 
 ably marry somebody else. Especially if she doesn't 
 know what has become of him. He can't get into 
 mischief aboard ship." 
 
 " No, sir," said the wondering Mr. Wilks. " Is 
 Master Jack agreeable to going, sir ? " 
 
 " That's nothing to do with it," said the captain, 
 sharply. 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. Wilks, "o* course not. I 
 was only a sort o' wondering how he was going to 
 be persuaded to go if 'e ain't." 
 
 " That's what I came here about,** said the other. 
 " I want you to go and fix it up with Nathan 
 Smith." 
 
 " Do you want 'im to be crimped, sir ? " stam- 
 mered Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " I want him shipped aboard the Seabird y " re- 
 turned the other, " and Smith's the man to do it." 
 
 " It's a very hard thing to do in these days, sir," 
 said Mr. Wilks, shaking his head. " What with 
 signing on aboard the day before the ship sails, and 
 before the Board o' Trade officers, I'm sure it's a 
 wonder that anybody goes to sea at all." 
 
 " You leave that to Smith," said the captain, im- 
 patiently. " The Seabird sails on Friday morning's 
 tide. Tell Smith I'll arrange to meet my son here 
 on Thursday night, and that he must have some 
 liquor for us and a fly waiting on the beach." 
 
 137
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Wilks wriggled : " But what about signing 
 on, sir ? " he inquired. 
 
 " He won't sign on," said the captain, " he'll be a 
 stowaway. Smith must get him smuggled aboard, 
 and bribe the hands to let him lie hidden in the 
 fo'c's'le. The Seabird won't put back to put him 
 ashore. Here is five pounds ; give Smith two or 
 three now, and the remainder when the job is 
 done." 
 
 The steward took the money reluctantly and, 
 plucking up his courage, looked his old master in 
 the face. 
 
 " It's a 'ard life afore the mast, sir," he said, 
 slowly. 
 
 " Rubbish ! " was the reply. " It'll make a man 
 of him. Besides, what's it got to do with you ? " 
 
 " I don't care about the job, sir," said Mr. Wilks, 
 bravely. 
 
 " What's that got to do with it ? " demanded the 
 other, frowning. " You go and fix it up with Nathan 
 Smith as soon as possible." 
 
 Mr. Wilks shuffled his feet and strove to remind 
 himself that he was a gentleman of independent 
 means, and could please himself. 
 
 " I've known 'im since he was a baby," he mur- 
 mured, defiantly. 
 
 " I don't want to hear anything more from you, 
 Wilks," said the captain, in a hard voice. "Those 
 
 138
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 are my orders, and you had better see that they are 
 carried out. My son will be one of the first to 
 thank you later on for getting him out of such a 
 mess." 
 
 Mr. Wilks's brow cleared somewhat. " I s'pose 
 Miss Kate 'ud be pleased too," he remarked, hope- 
 fully. 
 
 " Of course she will," said the captain. " Now I 
 look to you, Wilks, to manage this thing properly. 
 I wouldn't trust anybody else, and you've never 
 disappointed me yet." 
 
 The steward gasped and, doubting whether he had 
 heard aright, looked towards his old master, but in 
 vain, for the confirmation of further compliments. 
 In all his long years of service he had never been 
 praised by him before. He leaned forward eagerly 
 and began to discuss ways and means. 
 
 In the next room conversation was also proceed- 
 ing, but fitfully. Miss Nugent's consternation when 
 she closed the door behind her and found herself 
 face to face with Mr. Hardy was difficult of conceal- 
 ment. Too late she understood the facial contor- 
 tions of Mr. Wilks, and, resigning herself to the in- 
 evitable, accepted the chair placed for her by the 
 highly pleased Jem, and sat regarding him calmly 
 from the other side of the fender. 
 
 " I am waiting here for my father," she said, in 
 explanation.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Nugent's consternation was difficult of concealment." 
 
 " In deference to Wilks's terrors I am waiting 
 .ere until he has gone," said Hardy, with a halt 
 
 smile. 
 
 HO
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 There was a pause. " I hope that he will not be 
 long," said the girl. 
 
 " Thank you," returned Hardy, wilfully misun- 
 derstanding, " but I am in no hurry." 
 
 He gazed at her with admiration. The cold air 
 had heightened her colour, and the brightness of 
 her eyes shamed the solitary candle which lit up the 
 array of burnished metal on the mantelpiece. 
 
 " I hope you enjoyed your visit to London," he 
 said. 
 
 Before replying Miss Nugent favoured him with 
 a glance designed to express surprise at least at his 
 knowledge of her movements. " Very much, thank 
 you," she said, at last. 
 
 Mr. Hardy, still looking at her with much comfort 
 to himself, felt an insane desire to tell her how much 
 she had been missed by one person at least in Sunwich. 
 Saved from this suicidal folly by the little common 
 sense which had survived the shock of her sudden 
 appearance, he gave the information indirectly. 
 
 "Quite a long stay," he. murmured; "three 
 months and three days ; no, three months and two 
 days." 
 
 A sudden wave of colour swept over the girl's face 
 at the ingenuity of this mode of attack. She was 
 used to attention and took compliments as her due, 
 but the significant audacity of this one baffled her. 
 She sat with downcast eyes looking at the fender 
 
 141
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 occasionally glancing from the corner of her eye to 
 see whether he was preparing to renew the assault. 
 He had certainly changed from the Jem Hardy of 
 olden days. She had a faint idea that his taste had 
 improved. 
 
 "Wilks keeps his house in good order," said 
 Hardy, looking round. 
 
 " Yes," said the girl. 
 
 "Wonder why he never married," said Hardy, 
 musingly; "for my part I can't understand a man 
 remaining single all his life ; can you ? " 
 
 " I never think of such things," said Miss Nu- 
 gent, coldly and untruthfully. 
 
 " If it was only to have somebody to wait on him 
 and keep his house clean," pursued Hardy, with 
 malice. 
 
 Miss Nugent grew restless, and the wrongs of her 
 sex stirred within her. " You have very lofty ideas 
 on the subject," she said, scornfully, " but I believe 
 they are not uncommon." 
 
 " Still, you have never thought about such things, 
 you know," he reminded her. 
 
 " And no doubt you have devoted a great deal of 
 time to the subject." 
 
 Hardy admitted it frankly. " But only since I 
 returned to Sunwich," he said. 
 
 " Caused by the spectacle of Sam's forlorn condi- 
 tion, I suppose," said Miss Nugent. 
 
 142
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " No, it wasn't that," he replied. 
 
 Miss Nugent, indignant at having been drawn 
 into such a discussion, lapsed into silence. It was 
 safer and far more dignified, but at the same time 
 she yearned for an opportunity of teaching this pre- 
 sumptuous young man a lesson. So far he had had 
 it all his own way. A way strewn with ambiguities 
 which a modest maiden had to ignore despite herself. 
 
 " Of course, Wilks may have had a disappoint- 
 ment," said Hardy, with the air of one willing to 
 make allowances. 
 
 " I believe he had about fifty," said the girl, care^ 
 lessly. 
 
 Hardy shook his head in strong disapproval. 
 " No man should have more than one," hs said, 
 firmly ; " a man of any strength of will wouldn't 
 have that." 
 
 " Strength of will ? " repeated the astonished Miss 
 Nugent. 
 
 Their eyes met ; hers sparkling with indignation ; 
 his full of cold calculation. If he had had any 
 doubts before, he was quite sure now that he had 
 gone the right way to work to attract her attention ; 
 she was almost quivering with excitement. 
 
 " Your ideas will probably change with age and 
 disappointment," she said, sweetly. 
 
 " I shall not be disappointed," said Hardy, coolly. 
 " I'll take care of that." 
 
 UJ
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Nugent eyed him wistfully and racked her 
 brains for an appropriate and crushing rejoinder. 
 In all her experience and it was considerable con- 
 sidering her years she had never met with such 
 carefully constructed audacity, and she longed, with 
 a great longing, to lure him into the open and de- 
 stroy him. She was still considering ways and 
 means of doing this when the door opened and re- 
 vealed the surprised and angry form of her father 
 and behind it the pallid countenance of Mr. Wilks. 
 For a moment anger deprived the captain of utter- 
 ance, 
 
 Who " he stammered. " What " 
 
 " What a long time you've been, father," said 
 Miss Nugent, in a reproving voice. " I began to 
 be afraid you were never going." 
 
 " You come home with me," said the captain, re- 
 covering. 
 
 The command was given in his most imperious 
 manner, and his daughter dropped her muff in some 
 resentment as she rose, in order to let him have the 
 pleasure of seeing Mr. Hardy pick it up. It rolled, 
 however, in his direction, and he stooped for it just 
 as Hardy darted forward. Their heads met with a 
 crash, and Miss Nugent forgot her own consterna- 
 tion in the joy of beholding the pitiable exhibition 
 vhich terror made of Mr. Wilks. 
 
 "I'm very sorry," said Hardy, as he reverently 
 144
 
 'At Sunwich Port 
 
 dusted the muff on his coat-sleeve before returning 
 it. " I'm afraid it was my fault." 
 
 " It was," said the infuriated captain, as he held 
 the door open for his daughter. *' Now, Kate." 
 
 " He found his remaining guest holding his aching head beneath the tap. '* 
 
 Miss Nugent passed through, followed by her 
 father, and escorted to the front door by the stew- 
 ard, whose faint " Good-night " was utterly ignored 
 by his injured commander. He stood at the door
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 until they had turned the corner, and, returning to 
 the kitchen, found his remaining guest holding his 
 aching head beneath the tap. 
 
 "And now," said the captain, sternly, to his 
 daughter, " how dare you sit and talk to that young 
 cub ? Eh ? How dare you ? " 
 
 " He was there when I went in," said his daughter. 
 
 " Why didn't you come out, then ? " demanded 
 her father. 
 
 " I was afraid of disturbing you and Sam," said 
 Miss Nugent. " Besides, why shouldn't I speak 
 to him ? " 
 
 "Why?" shouted the captain. "Why? Be- 
 cause I won't have it." 
 
 " I thought you liked him," said Miss Nugent, 
 in affected surprise. " You patted him on the head." 
 
 The captain, hardly able to believe his ears, came 
 to an impressive stop in the roadway, but Miss Nu- 
 gent walked on. She felt instinctively that the joke 
 was thrown away on him, and, in the absence of any 
 other audience, wanted to enjoy it without inter- 
 ruption. Convulsive and half-suppressed sounds, 
 which she ascribed to a slight cold caught while 
 waiting in the kitchen, escaped her at intervals for 
 the remainder of the journey home. 
 
 546
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 JACK NUGENT'S first idea on seeing a letter 
 from his father asking him to meet him at 
 Samson Wilks's was to send as impolite a refu- 
 sal as a strong sense of undutifulness and a not inapt 
 pen could arrange, but the united remonstrances of 
 the Kybird family made him waver. 
 
 "You go," said Mr. Kybird, solemnly; "take 
 the advice of a man wot's seen life, and go. Who 
 knows but wot he's a thinking of doing something 
 for you ? " 
 
 " Startin' of you in business or somethin'," said 
 Mrs. Kybird. " But if 'e tries to break it off be- 
 tween you and 'Melia I hope you know what to 
 say." 
 
 " He won't do that," said her husband. 
 
 " If he wants to see me," said Mr. Nugent, " let 
 him come here." 
 
 " I wouldn't 'ave 'im in my house," retorted Mr. 
 Kybird, quickly. " An Englishman's 'ouse is his 
 castle, and I won't 'ave him in mine." 
 
 " Why not, Dan'l," asked his wife, " if the two 
 families is to be connected ? "
 
 Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Kybird shook his head, and, catching her 
 eye, winked at her with much significance. 
 
 " 'Ave it your own way," said Mrs. Kybird, who 
 was always inclined to make 
 concessions in minor mat- 
 ters. " 'Ave it your own 
 way, but don't blame me, 
 that's all I ask." 
 
 Urged on by his friends 
 Mr. Nugent at last con- 
 sented, and, in a reply to 
 his father, agreed to meet 
 ' him at the house of Mr. 
 Wilks on Thursday even- 
 ing. He was not free him- 
 self from a slight curiosity 
 as to the reasons which had 
 made the. captain unbend 
 in so unusual a fashion. 
 
 Mr. Nathan Smith put 
 in an appearance at six 
 o'clock on the fatal evening. 
 He was a short, slight man, 
 with a clean-shaven face 
 mapped with tiny wrinkles, and a pair of colourless 
 eyes the blankness of whose expression defied re- 
 search. In conversation, especially conversation of 
 a diplomatic nature, Mr. Smith seemed to be look- 
 
 148 
 
 Mr. Nathan Smith.'
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing through his opponent at something beyond, an 
 uncomfortable habit which was a source of much 
 discomfort to his victims. 
 
 " Here we are, then, Mr. Wilks," he said, put- 
 ting his head in the door and smiling at the agitated 
 steward. 
 
 " Come in," said Mr. Wilks, shortly. 
 
 Mr. Smith obliged. " Nice night outside," he 
 said, taking a chair ; " clear over'ead. Wot a morn- 
 ing it 'ud be for a sail if we was only young enough. 
 Is that terbacker in that canister there ? " 
 
 The other pushed it towards him. 
 
 " If I was only young enough and silly enough," 
 said the boarding-house master, producing a pipe 
 with an unusually large bowl and slowly rilling it, 
 " there's nothing I should enjoy more than a three 
 years' cruise. Nothing to do and everything of the 
 best." 
 
 " 'Ave you made all the arrangements ? " inquired 
 Mr. Wilks, in a tone of cold superiority. 
 
 Mr. Smith glanced affectionately at a fish-bag of 
 bulky appearance which stood on the floor between 
 his feet. " All ready," he said, cheerfully, " an' if 
 you'd like a v'y'ge yourself I can manage it for you 
 in two twos. You've on'y got to say the word." 
 
 " I don't want one," said the steward, fiercely ; 
 " don't you try none o' your larks on me, Nathan 
 Smith, cos I won't have it." 
 
 149
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Lord love your 'art," said the boarding-master, 
 "I wouldn't 'urt you. I'm on'y acting under your 
 orders now ; yours and the captin's. It ain't in my 
 reg'lar way o' business at all, but I'm so good- 
 natured I can't say ' no.' ' 
 
 " Can't say * no ' to five pounds, you mean," re- 
 torted Mr. Wilks, who by no means relished these 
 remarks. 
 
 " If I was getting as much out of it as you are 
 I'd be a 'appy man," sighed Mr. Smith. 
 
 " Me ! " cried the other ; " do you think I'd take 
 money for this why, I'd sooner starve, I'd sooner. 
 Wot are you a-tapping your nose for? " 
 
 "Was I tapping it? " demanded Mr. Smith, in 
 surprise. " Well, I didn't know it. I'm glad you 
 told me." 
 
 " You're quite welcome," said the steward, sharply. 
 " Crimping ain't in my line ; I'd sooner sweep the 
 roads." 
 
 " 'Ear, 'ear," exclaimed Mr. Smith, approvingly. 
 "Ah! wot a thing it is to come acrost an honest 
 man. Wot a good thing it is for the eyesight." 
 
 He stared stonily somewhere in the direction of 
 Mr. Wilks, and then blinking rapidly shielded his 
 eyes with his hand as though overcome by the sight 
 of so much goodness. The steward's wrath rose at 
 the performance, and he glowered back at him until 
 his eyes watered.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Twenty past six," said Mr. Smith, suddenly, 
 as he fumbled in his waistcoat-pocket and drew out 
 a small folded paper. " It's time I made a start. 
 I s'pose you've got some salt in the house ? " 
 
 " Plenty," said Mr. Willcs. 
 
 " And beer ? " inquired the other. 
 
 " Yes, there is some beer," said the steward. 
 
 " Bring me a quart of it," said the boarding-mas- 
 ter, slowly and impressively. " I want it drawed in 
 a china mug, with a nice foaming 'ead on it." 
 
 " Wot do you want it for ? " inquired Mr. Wiiks, 
 eyeing him very closely. 
 
 " Bisness purposes," said Mr. Smith. " If you're 
 very good you shall see 'ow I do it." 
 
 Still the steward made no move. " I thought 
 you brought the stuff with you," he remarked. 
 
 Mr. Smith looked at him with mild reproach. 
 " Are you managing this affair or am I ? " he in- 
 quired. 
 
 The steward went out reluctantly, and drawing a 
 quart mug of beer set it down on the table and stood 
 watching his visitor. 
 
 " And now I want a spoonful o' sugar, a spoonful 
 o' salt, and a spoonful o' vinegar," said Mr. Smith. 
 " Make haste afore the 'ead goes off of it." 
 
 Mr. Wilks withdrew grumbling, and came back 
 in a wonderfully short space of time considering, 
 with the articles required. 
 
 '5*
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Thankee," said the other ; " you 'ave been 
 quick. I wish I could move as quick as you do. 
 But you can take 'em back now, I find I can do 
 without 'em." 
 
 " Where's the beer ? " demanded the incensed 
 Mr. Wilks ; " where's the beer, you underhanded 
 swab?" 
 
 " I altered my mind," said Mr. Smith, " and not 
 liking waste, and seeing by your manner that you've 
 'ad more than enough already to-night, I drunk it. 
 There isn't another man in Sunwich I could ha' 
 played that trick on, no, nor a boy neither." 
 
 Mr. Wilks was about to speak, but, thinking 
 better of it, threw the three spoons in the kitchen, 
 and resuming his seat by the fire sat with his back 
 half turned to his visitor. 
 
 " Bright, cheerful young chap, 'e is," said Mr. 
 Smith ; " you've knowed 'im ever since he was a 
 baby, haven't you ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks made no reply. 
 
 " The Conqueror's sailing to-morrow morning, 
 too," continued his tormentor ; " his father's old 
 ship. 'Ow strange it'll seem to 'im following it out 
 aboard a whaler. Life is full o' surprises, Mr. 
 Wilks, and wot a big surprise it would be to you if 
 you could 'ear wot he says about you when he comes 
 to 'is senses." 
 
 " I'm obeying orders," growled the other. 
 isa
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Quite right," said Mr. Smith, approvingly, as 
 he drew a bottle of whisky from his bag and placed 
 it on the table. " Two glasses and there we are. 
 We don't want any salt and vinegar this time." 
 
 Mr. Wilks turned a deaf ear. " But 'ow are you 
 going to manage so as to make one silly and not the 
 other ? " he inquired. 
 
 "It's a trade secret," said the other; "but I 
 don't mind telling you I sent the cap'n something 
 to take afore he comes, and I shall be in your 
 kitchen looking arter things." 
 
 " I s'pose you know wot you're about ? " said 
 Mr. Wilks, doubtfully. 
 
 " I s'pose so," rejoined the other. " Young Nu- 
 gent trusts you, and, of course, he'll take anything 
 from your 'ouse. That's the beauty of 'aving a 
 character, Mr. Wilks; a good character and a face 
 like a baby with grey whiskers." 
 
 Mr. Wilks bent down and, taking up a small 
 brush, carefully tidied up the hearth. 
 
 " Like as not, if my part in it gets to be known," 
 pursued Mr. Smith, mournfully, " I'll 'ave that gal 
 of Kybird's scratching my eyes out or p'r'aps stick- 
 ing a hat-pin into me. I had that once ; the longest 
 hat-pin that ever was made, I should think." 
 
 He shook his head over the perils of his calling, 
 and then, after another glance at the clock, withdrew 
 to the kitchen with his bag, leaving Mr. Wilks wait-
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing in a state of intense nervousness for the arrival 
 of the others. 
 
 Captain Nugent was the first to put in an appear- 
 ance, and by way of setting a good example poured 
 a little of the whisky in his glass and sat there wait- 
 ing. Then Jack Nugent came in, fresh and glowing, 
 and Mr. Wilks, after standing about helplessly for 
 a few moments, obeyed the captain's significant nod 
 and joined Mr. Smith in the kitchen. 
 
 "You'd better go for a walk," said that gentle- 
 man, regarding him kindly ; " that's wot the cap'n 
 thought." 
 
 Mr. Wilks acquiesced eagerly, and tapping at the 
 door passed through the room again into the street. 
 A glance as he went through showed him that Jack 
 Nugent was drinking, and he set off in a panic to get 
 away from the scene which he had contrived. 
 
 He slackened after a time and began to pace the 
 streets at a rate which was less noticeable. As he 
 passed the Kybirds' he shivered, and it was not until 
 he had consumed a pint or two of the strongest brew 
 procurable at the Two Schooners that he began to 
 regain some of his old self-esteem. He felt almost 
 maudlin at the sacrifice of character he was enduring 
 for the sake of his old master, and the fact that he 
 could not narrate it to sympathetic friends was not 
 the least of his troubles. 
 
 The shops had closed by the time he got into the 
 '54
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 street again, and he walked down and watched with 
 much solemnity the reflection of the quay lamps in 
 the dark water of the harbour. The air was keen 
 
 ' ^B 
 
 "It was not until he had consumed a pint or two of the strongest brew that he 
 began to regain some of his old self-esteem." 
 
 and the various craft distinct in the starlight. Perfect 
 quiet reigned aboard the Seabird, and after a vain 
 attempt to screw up his courage to see the victim 
 
 '55
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 taken aboard he gave it up and walked back along 
 the beach. 
 
 By the time he turned his steps homewards it was 
 nearly eleven o'clock. Fullalove Alley was quiet, 
 and after listening for some time at his window he 
 turned the handle of the door and passed in. The 
 nearly empty bottle stood on the table, and an over- 
 turned tumbler accounted for a large, dark patch on 
 the table-cloth. As he entered the room the kitchen 
 door opened and Mr. Nathan Smith, with a broad 
 smile on his face, stepped briskly in. 
 
 "All over," he said, rubbing his hands ; "he went 
 off like a lamb, no trouble nor fighting. He was a 
 example to all of us." 
 
 " Did the cap'n see 'im aboard ? " inquired Mr. 
 Wilks. 
 
 " Certainly not," said the other. " As a matter o' 
 fact the cap'n took a little more than I told 'im to 
 take, and I 'ad to help 'im up to your bed. Acci- 
 dents will 'appen, but he'll be all right in the morn- 
 ing if nobody goes near 'im. Leave 'im perfectly 
 quiet, and when 'e comes downstairs give 'im a 
 strong cup o' tea." 
 
 " In my bed? " repeated the staring Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " He's as right as rain," said the boarding mas- 
 ter. " I brought down a pillow and blankets for you 
 and put 'em in the kitchen. And now I'll take 
 the other two pound ten and be getting off 'ome. 
 
 156
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 It ought to be ten pounds really with the trouble 
 I've 'ad." 
 
 Mr. Wilks laid the desired amount on the table, 
 and Mr. Nathan Smith placing it in his pocket rose 
 to go. 
 
 " Don't disturb 'im till he's 'ad 'is sleep out> 
 mind," he said, pausing at the door, " else I can't 
 answer for the consequences. If 'e should get up in 
 the night and come down raving mad, try and soothe 
 'im. Good-night and pleasant dreams." 
 
 He closed the door after him quietly, and the 
 horrified steward, after fetching the bed-clothes on 
 tiptoe from the kitchen, locked the door which led 
 to the staircase, and after making up a bed on the 
 floor lay down in his clothes and tried to get to sleep. 
 
 He dozed off at last, but woke up several times 
 during the night with the cold. The lamp burnt 
 itself out, and in the dark he listened intently for any 
 sounds of life in the room above. Then he fell 
 asleep again, until at about half-past seven in the 
 morning a loud crash overhead awoke him with a 
 start. 
 
 In a moment he was sitting up with every faculty 
 on the alert. Footsteps blundered about in the 
 room above, and a large and rapidly widening patch 
 of damp showed on the ceiling. It was evident 
 that the sleeper, in his haste to quench an abnormal 
 thirst, had broken the water-jug. 
 
 ..mm O M ftl T T I I
 
 At Sunw'ch Port 
 
 Mr. Wilks, shivering with dread, sprang to his 
 feet and stood irresolute. Judging by the noise, the 
 captain was evidently in a fine temper, and Mr. 
 
 ' The man on the other side fell on all fours into the room." 
 
 Smith's remarks about insanity occurred to him 
 with redoubled interest. Then he heard a hoarse 
 shout, the latch of the bedroom door clicked, and 
 
 '58
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the prisoner stumbled heavily downstairs and began 
 to fumble at the handle of the door at the bottom. 
 Trembling with excitement Mr. Wilks dashed for- 
 ward and turned the key, and then retreating to the 
 street door prepared for instant flight. 
 
 He opened the door so suddenly that the man 
 on the other side, with a sudden cry, fell on all fours 
 into the room, and raising his face stared stupidly at 
 the steward. Mr. Wilks's hands dropped to his 
 sides and his tongue refused its office, for in some 
 strange fashion, quite in keeping with the lawless 
 proceedings of the previous night, Captain Nugent 
 had changed into a most excellent likeness of his 
 own son.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 FOR some time Mr. Wilks stood gazing at 
 this unexpected apparition and trying to col- 
 lect his scattered senses. Its face was pale 
 and flabby, while its glassy eyes, set in rims of red 
 eyelids, were beginning to express unmistakable signs 
 of suspicion and wrath. The shock was so sudden 
 that the steward could not even think coherently. 
 Was the captain upstairs ? And if so, what was his 
 condition ? Where was Nathan Smith ? And where 
 was the five pounds ? 
 
 A voice, a husky and discordant voice, broke in 
 upon his meditations ; Jack Nugent was also curious. 
 
 " What does all this mean ? " he demanded, an- 
 grily. " How did I get here? " 
 
 " You you came downstairs," stammered Mr. 
 Wilks, still racking his brains in the vain effort to 
 discover how matters stood. 
 
 Mr. Nugent was about to speak, but, thinking 
 better of it, turned and blundered into the kitchen. 
 Sounds of splashing and puffing ensued, and the 
 steward going to the door saw him with his head 
 under the tap. He followed him in and at the right 
 
 160
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 time handed him a towel. Despite the disordered 
 appearance of his hair the improvement in Mr. Nu- 
 gent's condition was so manifest that the steward, 
 hoping for similar results, turned the tap on again 
 and followed his example. 
 
 " Your head wants cooling, I should think," said 
 the young man, returning him the towel. " What's 
 it all about ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks hesitated ; a bright thought occurred 
 to him, and murmuring something about a dry towel 
 he sped up the narrow stairs to his bedroom. The 
 captain was not there. He pushed open the small 
 lattice window and peered out into the alley ; no sign 
 of either the captain or the ingenious Mr. Nathan 
 Smith. With a heavy heart he descended the stairs 
 again. 
 
 " Now," said Mr. Nugent, who was sitting down 
 with his hands in his pockets, " perhaps you'll be 
 good enough to explain what all this means." 
 
 " You were 'ere last night," said Mr. Wilks, " you 
 and the cap'n." 
 
 " I know that," said Nugent. " How is it I 
 didn't go home ? I didn't understand that it was 
 an all-night invitation. Where is my father ? " 
 
 The steward shook his head helplessly. " He 
 was 'ere when I went out last night," he said, slowly. 
 " When I came back the room was empty and I was 
 told as 'e was upstairs in my bed." 
 
 161
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Told he was in your bed ? " repeated the other. 
 " Who told you ? " 
 
 "He pushed open the small lattice window and peered out into the alley." 
 
 Mr. Wilks caught his breath. " I mean I told 
 myself 'e was in my bed," he stammered, " because 
 when I came in I see these bed-clothes on the floor, 
 
 162
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 an' I thought as the cap'n 'ad put them there for 
 me and taken my bed 'imself." 
 
 Mr. Nugent regarded the litter of bed-clothes as 
 though hoping that they would throw a little light 
 on the affair, and then shot a puzzled glance at Mr. 
 Wilks. 
 
 " Why should you think my father wanted your 
 bed? " he inquired. 
 
 " I don't know," was the reply. " I thought 
 p'r'aps 'e'd maybe taken a little more than 'e ought 
 to have taken. But it's all a myst'ry to me. I'm 
 more astonished than wot you are." 
 
 " Well, I can't make head or tail of it," said Nu- 
 gent, rising and pacing the room. " I came here 
 to meet my father. So far as I remember I had 
 one drink of whisky your whisky and then I 
 woke up in your bedroom with a splitting headache 
 and a tongue like a piece of leather. Can you ac- 
 count for it ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks shook his head again. " I wasn't 
 here," he said, plucking up courage. " Why not 
 go an' see your father ? Seems to me 'e is the one 
 that would know most about it." 
 
 Mr. Nugent stood for a minute considering, and 
 then raising the latch of the door opened it slowly 
 and inhaled the cold morning air. A subtle and 
 delicate aroma of coffee and herrings which had 
 escaped from neighbouring breakfast-tables invaded 
 
 163
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the room and reminded him of an appetite. He 
 turned to go, but had barely quitted the step before 
 he saw Mrs. Kingdom and his sister enter the alley. 
 
 Mr. Wilks saw them too, and, turning if anything 
 a shade paler, supported himself by the door-post. 
 Kate Nugent quickened her pace as she saw them, 
 and, after a surprised greeting to her brother, breath- 
 lessly informed him that the captain was missing. 
 
 " Hasn't been home all night," panted Mrs. King- 
 dom, joining them. " I don't know what to think." 
 
 They formed an excited little group round the 
 steward's door, and Mr. Wilks, with an instinctive 
 feeling that the matter was one to be discussed in 
 private, led the way indoors. He began to apolo- 
 gize for the disordered condition of the room, but 
 Jack Nugent, interrupting him brusquely, began to 
 relate his own adventures of the past few hours. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom listened to the narrative with un- 
 expected calmness. She knew the cause of her 
 nephew's discomfiture. It was the glass of whisky 
 acting on a system unaccustomed to alcohol, and she 
 gave a vivid and moving account of the effects of a 
 stiff glass of hot rum which she had once taken for 
 a cold. It was quite clear to her that the captain 
 had put his son to bed ; the thing to discover now 
 was where he had put himself. 
 
 " Sam knows something about it," said her 
 nephew, darkly ; " there's something wrong." 
 
 164
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I know no more than a babe unborn," declared 
 Mr. Wilks. " The last I see of the cap'n 'e was 
 a-sitting at this table opposite you." 
 
 " Sam wouldn't hurt a fly," said Miss Nugent, 
 with a kind glance at her favourite. 
 
 " Well, where is the governor, then ? " inquired 
 her brother. " Why didn't he go home last night ? 
 He has never stayed out before." 
 
 "Yes, he has," said Mrs. Kingdom, folding her 
 hands in her lap. " When you were children. He 
 came home at half-past eleven next morning, and 
 when I asked him where he'd been he nearly bit my 
 head off. I'd been walking the floor all night, and 
 I shall never forget his remarks when he opened the 
 door to the police, who'd come to say they couldn't 
 find him. Never." 
 
 A ghostly grin flitted across the features of Mr. 
 Wilks, but he passed the back of his hand across his 
 mouth and became serious again as he thought of his 
 position. He was almost dancing with anxiety to 
 get away to Mr. Nathan Smith and ask for an ex- 
 planation of the proceedings of the night before. 
 
 " I'll go and have a look round for the cap'n," 
 he said, eagerly ; " he can't be far." 
 
 " I'll come with you," said Nugent. " I should 
 like to see him too. There are one or two little 
 things that want explaining. You take aunt home, 
 Kate, and I'll follow on as soon as there is any news." 
 
 165
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 As he spoke the door opened a little way and a 
 head appeared, only to be instantly withdrawn at 
 the sight of so many people. Mr. Wilks stepped 
 forward hastily, and throwing the door wide open 
 revealed the interesting features of Mr. Nathan 
 Smith. 
 
 " How do you do, Mr. Wilks ? " said that gen- 
 tleman, softly. " I just walked round to see whether 
 you was in. I've got a message for you. I didn't 
 know you'd got company." 
 
 He stepped into the room and, tapping the stew- 
 ard on the chest with a confidential finger, backed 
 him into a corner, and having got him there gave an 
 expressive wink with one eye and gazed into space 
 with the other. 
 
 " I thought you'd be alone," he said, looking 
 round, " but p'r'aps it's just as well as it is. They've 
 got to know, so they may as well know now as later 
 on." 
 
 " Know what ? " inquired Jack Nugent, abruptly. 
 " What are you making that face for, Sam ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks mumbled something about a decayed 
 tooth, and to give colour to the statement continued 
 a series of contortions which made his face ache. 
 
 " You should take something for that tooth," said 
 the boarding-master, with great solicitude. " Wot 
 do you say to a glass o' whisky ? " 
 
 He motioned to the fatal bottle, which still stood 
 166
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 on the table ; the steward caught his breath, and 
 then, rising to the occasion, said that he had already 
 
 " Tapping the steward on the chest with a confidential finger, he backed him into 
 a corner." 
 
 had a couple of glasses, and they had' done no 
 good. 
 
 " What's your message ? " inquired Jack Nugent, 
 impatiently. 
 
 " I'm just going to tell you," said Mr. Smith. 
 *' I was out early this morning, strolling down by 
 
 167
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the harbour to get a little appetite for breakfast, 
 when who should I see coming along, looking as 
 though 'e 'ad just come from a funeral, but Cap'n 
 Nugent ! I was going to pass 'im, but he stopped 
 me and asked me to take a message from 'im to 'is 
 old and faithful steward, Mr. Wilks." 
 
 " Why, has he gone away ? " exclaimed Mrs. 
 Kingdom. 
 
 " His old and faithful steward," repeated Mr. 
 Smith, motioning her to silence. " c Tell 'im,' he 
 says, * that I am heartily ashamed of myself for wot 
 took place last night and him, too. Tell 'im that, 
 after my father's 'art proved too much for me, I 
 walked the streets all night, and now I can't face 
 my injured son and family yet awhile, and I'm off 
 to London till it has blown over.' ' 
 
 " But what's it all about ? " demanded Nugent. 
 " Why don't you get to the point ? " 
 
 " So far as I could make out," replied Mr. Smith, 
 with the studious care of one who desires to give 
 exact information, " Cap'n Nugent and Mr. Wilks 
 'ad a little plan for giving you a sea blow." 
 
 " Me ? " interrupted the unfortunate steward. 
 " Now, look 'ere, Nathan Smith " 
 
 " Them was the cap'n's words," said the board- 
 ing-master, giving him a glance of great significance ; 
 " are you going to take away or add to wot the cap'n 
 
 says? 
 
 168
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 \ 
 
 Mr. Wilks collapsed, and avoiding the indignant 
 eyes of the Nugent family tried to think out his 
 position. 
 
 " It seems from wot the cap'n told me," continued 
 Mr. Smith, " that there was some objection to your 
 marrying old Mr. Kybird's gal, so 'e and Mr. 
 Wilks, after putting their 'eads together, decided to 
 get you 'ere and after giving you a little whisky that 
 Mr. Wilks knows the trick of " 
 
 " Me ? '" interrupted the unfortunate steward, 
 again. 
 
 " Them was the cap'n's words," said Mr. Smith, 
 coldly. " After you'd 'ad it they was going to stow 
 you away in the Seabird, which sailed this morning. 
 However, when the cap'n see you overcome, his 'art 
 melted, and instead o' putting you aboard the whaler 
 he took your feet and Mr. Wilks your 'ead, and 
 after a great deal o' trouble got you upstairs and put 
 you to bed." 
 
 "You miserable scoundrel," said the astonished 
 Mr. Nugent, addressing the shrinking steward ; 
 " you infernal old reprobate you you I didn't 
 think you'd got it in you." 
 
 " So far as I could make out," said Mr. Smith, 
 kindly, " Mr. Wilks was only obeying orders. It 
 was the cap'n's plan, and Mr. Wilks was aboard 
 ship with 'im for a very long time. O' course, he 
 oughtn't to ha' done it, but the cap'n's a masterful 
 
 169
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 an' I can quite understand Mr. Wilks givin* 
 way ; I dessay I should myself if I'd been in 'is 
 place he's all 'art, is Mr. Wilks no 'ead." 
 
 "It's a good job for you you're an old man, 
 Sam," said Mr. Nugent. 
 
 " I can hardly believe it of you, Sam," said Miss 
 Nugent. " I can hardly think you could have been 
 so deceitful. Why, we've trusted you all our lives." 
 
 The unfortunate steward quailed beneath the 
 severity of her glance. Even if he gave a full ac- 
 count of the affair it would not make his position 
 better. It was he who had made ali the arrange- 
 ments with Mr. Smith, and after an indignant glance 
 at that gentleman he lowered his gaze and remained 
 silent. 
 
 "It is rather odd that my father should take you 
 into his confidence," said Miss Nugent, turning to 
 the boarding-master. 
 
 " Just wot I thought, miss," said the complaisant 
 Mr. Smith ; " but I s'pose there was nobody else, 
 and he wanted 'is message to go for fear you should 
 get worrying the police about 'im or something. 
 He wants it kep' quiet, and 'is last words to me as 
 'e left me was, < If this affair gets known I -sha'J 
 never come back. Tell 'em to keep it quiet/ ' 
 
 " I don't think anybody will want to go bragging 
 about it," said Jack Nugent, rising, " unless it is 
 Sam Wilks. Come along, Kate." 
 
 170
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Nugent followed him obediently, Oi ; y paus- 
 ing at the door to give a last glance of min^fd sur- 
 prise and reproach at Mr. Wilks. Then thoy were 
 outside and the door closed behind them. 
 
 " Well, that's all right," said Mr. Smith, easily. 
 
 " All right ! " vociferated the steward. "Wot did 
 you put it all on to me for? Why didn't you tell 
 'em your part in it ? " 
 
 " Wouldn't ha' done any good," said Mr. Smith ; 
 " wouldn't ha' done you any good. Besides, I did 
 just wot the cap'n told me." 
 
 " When's he coming back ? " inquired the steward. 
 
 Mr. Smith shook his head. " Couldn't say," he 
 returned. "He couldn't say 'imself. Between you 
 an' me, I expect 'e's gone up to have a reg'lar fair 
 spree." 
 
 " Why did you tell me last night he was up- 
 stairs ? " inquired the other. 
 
 " Cap'n's orders," repeated Mr. Smith, with relish. 
 "Ask 'im, not me. As a matter o* fact, he spent 
 the night at my place and went off this morning." 
 
 " An' wot about the five pounds ? " inquired Mr. 
 Wilks, spitefully. " You ain't earned it." 
 
 " I know I ain't," said Mr. Smith, mournfully. 
 " That's wot's worrying me. It's like a gnawing 
 pain in my side. D'you think it's conscience biting 
 of me ? I never felt it before. Or d'ye think it's 
 sorrow to think that I've done the whole job too
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 cheap ? You think it out and let me know later on. 
 So long." 
 
 He waved his hand cheerily to the steward and 
 departed. Mr. Wilks threw himself into a chair 
 and, ignoring the cold and the general air of desola- 
 tion of his best room, gave way to a fit of melan- 
 choly which would have made Mr. Edward Silk 
 green with envy. 
 
 its
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 DAYS passed, but no word came from the 
 missing captain, and only the determined 
 opposition of Kate Nugent kept her aunt 
 from advertising in the " Agony " columns of the 
 London Press. Miss Nugent was quite as desirous 
 of secrecy in the affair as her father, and it was a 
 source of great annoyance to her when, in some 
 mysterious manner, it leaked out. In a very short 
 time the news was common property, and Mr. 
 Wilks, appearing to his neighbours in an entirely 
 new character, was besieged for information. 
 
 His own friends were the most tiresome, their open 
 admiration of his lawlessness and their readiness to 
 trace other mysterious disappearances to his agency 
 being particularly galling to a man whose respecta- 
 bility formed his most cherished possession. Other 
 people regarded the affair as a joke, and he sat gaz- 
 ing round-eyed one evening at the Two Schooners 
 at the insensible figures of three men who had each 
 had a modest half-pint at his expense. It was a 
 pretty conceit and well played, but the steward, 
 owing to the frenzied efforts of one of the sleepers 
 
 173
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 whom he had awakened with a quart pot, did not 
 stay to admire it. He finished up the evening at 
 the Chequers, and after getting wet through on the 
 
 " He finished up the evening at the Chequers." 
 
 way home fell asleep in his wet clothes before the 
 dying fire. 
 
 He awoke with a bad cold and pains in the limbs. 
 A headache was not unexpected, but the other symp- 
 
 174
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 toms were. With trembling hands he managed to 
 light a fire and prepare a breakfast, which he left 
 untouched. This last symptom was the most alarm- 
 ing of all, and going to the door he bribed a small 
 boy with a penny to go for Dr. Murchison, and sat 
 cowering over the fire until he came. 
 
 " Well, you've got a bad cold," said the doctor, 
 after examining him. " You'd better get to bed for 
 the present. You'll be safe there." 
 
 " Is it dangerous ? " faltered the steward. 
 
 " And keep yourself warm," said the doctor, who 
 was not in the habit of taking his patients into his 
 confidence. " I'll send round some medicine." 
 
 " I should like Miss Nugent to know I'm bad," 
 said Mr. Wilks, in a weak voice. 
 
 " She knows that," replied Murchison. " She 
 was telling me about you the other day." 
 
 He put his hand up to his neat black moustache 
 to hide a smile, and met the steward's indignant gaze 
 without flinching. 
 
 " I mean ill," said the latter, sharply. 
 
 " Oh, yes," said the other. " Well, you get to 
 bed now. Good morning." 
 
 He took up his hat and stick and departed. Mr. 
 Wilks sat for a little while over the fire, and then, 
 rising, hobbled slowly upstairs to bed and forgot his 
 troubles in sleep. 
 
 He slept until the afternoon, and then, raising
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 himself in bed, listened to the sounds of stealthy 
 sweeping in the room below. Chairs were being 
 racved about, and the tinkle of ornaments on the 
 
 mantelpiece announced 
 that dusting operations 
 were in progress. He 
 lay down again with a 
 satisfied smile ; it was 
 like a tale in a story- 
 book : the faithful old 
 servant and his master's 
 daughter. He closed 
 his eyes as he heard 
 her coming upstairs. 
 
 " Ah, pore dear," 
 said a voice. 
 
 Mr. Wilks opened 
 his eyes sharply and 
 beheld the meagre fig- 
 ure of Mrs. Silk. In 
 one hand she held a 
 medicine-bottle and a 
 glass and in the other 
 paper and firewood. 
 
 "The meagre figure of Mrs. Silk." 
 
 " I only 'card of it half an hour ago," she said, re- 
 proachfully. " I saw the doctor's boy, and I left 
 my work and came over at once. Why didn't you 
 
 let me know ? " 
 
 176
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Wilks muttered that he didn't know, and lay- 
 crossly regarding his attentive neighbour as she knelt 
 down and daintily lit the fire. This task finished, 
 she proceeded to make the room tidy, and then set 
 about making beef-tea in a little saucepan. 
 
 "You lay still and get well," she remarked, with 
 tender playfulness. " That's all you've got to do. 
 Me and Teddy'll look after you." 
 
 " I couldn't think of troubling you," said the 
 steward, earnestly. 
 
 " It's no trouble," was the reply. "You don't 
 think I'd leave you here alone helpless, do you ? " 
 
 " I was going to send for old Mrs. Jackson if I 
 didn't get well to-day," said Mr. Wilks. 
 
 Mrs. Silk shook her head at him, and, after punch- 
 ing up his pillow, took an easy chair by the fire and 
 sat there musing. Mr. Edward Silk came in to tea, 
 and, after remarking that Mr. Wilks was very flushed 
 and had got a nasty look about the eyes and a cough 
 which he didn't like, fell to discoursing on death- 
 beds. 
 
 " Good nursing is the principal thing," said his 
 mother. " I nursed my pore dear 'usband all through 
 his last illness. He couldn't bear me to be out of 
 the room. I nursed my mother right up to the last, 
 and your pore Aunt Jane went off in my arms." 
 
 Mr. Wilks raised himself on his elbow and his 
 eyes shone feverishly in the lamplight. " I think 
 
 177
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 I'll get a 'ospital nurse to-morrow," he said, de- 
 cidedly. 
 
 " Nonsense," said Mrs. Silk. " It's no trouble 
 to me at all. I like nursing ; always did." 
 
 Mr. Wilks lay back again and, closing his eyes, 
 determined to ask the doctor to provide a duly quali- 
 fied nurse on the morrow. To his disappointment, 
 however, the doctor failed to come, and although he 
 felt much better Mrs. Silk sternly negatived a desire 
 on his part to get up. 
 
 " Not till the doctor's been," she said, firmly. " I 
 couldn't think of it." 
 
 " I don't believe there's anything the matter with 
 me now," he declared. 
 
 " 'Ow odd 'ow very odd that you should say 
 that ! " said Mrs. Silk, clasping her hands. 
 
 " Odd ! " repeated the steward, somewhat crustily. 
 " How do you mean odd ? " 
 
 " They was the very last words my Uncle Benja- 
 min ever uttered in this life," said Mrs. Silk, with 
 dramatic impressiveness. 
 
 The steward was silent, then, with the ominous 
 precedent of Uncle Benjamin before him, he began 
 to talk until scores of words stood between himself 
 and a similar ending. 
 
 " Teddy asked to be remembered to you as 'e 
 went off this morning," said Mrs. Silk, pausing in 
 her labours at the grate. 
 
 178
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I'm much obliged," muttered the invalid. 
 
 " He didn't 'ave time to come in," pursued the 
 widow. " You can 'ardly believe what a lot 'e thinks 
 of you, Mr. Wilks. The last words he said to me 
 was, ' Let me know at once if there's any change.' ' 
 
 Mr. Wilks distinctly felt a cold, clammy sensa- 
 tion down his spine and little quivering thrills ran 
 up and down his legs. He glared indignantly at the 
 back of the industrious Mrs. Silk. 
 
 " Teddy's very fond of you," continued the un- 
 conscious woman. " I s'pose it's not 'aving a father, 
 but he seems to me to think more of you than any- 
 body else in the wide, wide world. I get quite jeal- 
 ous sometimes. Only the other day I said to 'im, 
 joking like, * Well, you'd better go and live with 'im 
 if you're so fond of 'im,' I said." 
 
 " Ha, ha ! " laughed Mr. Wilks, uneasily. 
 
 " You'll never guess what 'e said then," said Mrs. 
 Silk, dropping her dustpan and brush and gazing at 
 the hearth. 
 
 " Said 'e couldn't leave you, I s'pose," guessed 
 the steward, gruffly. 
 
 "Well, now," exclaimed Mrs. Silk, clapping her 
 hands, " if you 'aven't nearly guessed it. Well, 
 there ! I never did ! I wouldn't 'ave told you for 
 anything if you 'adn't said that. The exact words 
 what 'e did say was, * Not without you, mother.' ' 
 
 Mr. Wilks closed his eyes with a snap and his 
 179
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 heart turned to water. He held his breath and ran- 
 sacked his brain in vain for a reply which should 
 ignore the inner meaning of the fatal words. Some- 
 thing careless and jocular he wanted, combined with 
 a voice which should be perfectly under control. 
 Failing these things, he kept his eyes closed, and, 
 very wide-awake indeed, feigned sleep. He slept 
 straight away from eleven o'clock in the morning 
 until Edward Silk came in at seven o'clock in the 
 evening. 
 
 " I feel like a new man," he said, rubbing his 
 eyes and yawning. 
 
 " I don't see no change in your appearance," said 
 the comforting youth. 
 
 "'E's much better," declared his mother. " That's 
 what comes o' good nursing ; some nurses would 
 'ave woke 'im up to take food, but I just let 'im sleep 
 on. People don't feel hunger while they're asleep." 
 
 She busied herself over the preparation of a basin 
 of arrowroot, and the steward, despite his distaste 
 for this dish, devoured it in a twinkling. Beef-tea 
 and a glass of milk in addition failed to take more 
 than the edge off his appetite. 
 
 " We shall pull 'im through," said. Mrs. Silk, 
 smiling, as she put down the empty glass. " In a 
 fortnight he'll be on 'is feet." 
 
 It is a matter of history that Mr. Wilks was on 
 his feet at five o'clock the next morning, and not 
 
 1 80
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 only on his feet but dressed and ready for a journey 
 after such a breakfast as he had not made for many a 
 day. The discourtesy involved in the disregard of 
 the doctor's instructions did not trouble him, and he 
 smirked with some satisfaction as he noiselessly closed 
 his door behind him and looked at the drawn blinds 
 opposite. The stars were paling as he quitted the 
 alley and made his way to -the railway station. A 
 note on his tumbled pillow, after thanking Mrs. 
 Silk for her care of him, informed her that he was 
 quite well and had gone to London in search of the 
 missing captain. 
 
 Hardy, who had heard from Edward Silk of the 
 steward's indisposition and had been intending to 
 pay him a visit, learnt of his departure later on in 
 the morning, and, being ignorant of the particulars, 
 discoursed somewhat eloquently to his partner on 
 the old man's devotion. 
 
 " H'm, may be," said Svvann, taking off his glasses 
 and looking at him. " But you don't think Captain 
 Nugent is in London, do you ? " 
 
 " Why not ? " inquired Hardy, somewhat startled. 
 
 " If what Wilks told you is true, Nathan Smith 
 knows," said the other. " I'll ask him." 
 
 " You don't expect to get the truth out of him, 
 do you ? " inquired Hardy, superciliously. 
 
 " I do," said his partner, serenely ; " and when 
 I've got it I shall go and tell them at Equator 
 
 181
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Lodge. It will be doing those two poor ladies a 
 service to let them know what has really happened 
 to the captain." 
 
 " I'll walk round to Nathan Smith's with you," 
 said Hardy. " I should like to hear what the fellow 
 has to say." 
 
 "No, I'll go alone," said his partner; "Smith's 
 a very shy man painfully shy. I've run across him 
 once or twice before. He's almost as bashful and 
 retiring as you are." 
 
 Hardy grunted. " If the captain isn't in London, 
 where is he ? " he inquired. 
 
 The other shook his head. " I've got an idea," 
 he replied, " but I want to make sure. Kybird and 
 Smith are old friends, as Nugent might have known, 
 only he was always too high and mighty to take any 
 interest in his inferiors. There's something for you 
 to go on." 
 
 He bent over his desk again and worked steadily 
 until one o'clock his hour for lunching. Then he 
 put on his hat and coat, and after a comfortable 
 meal sallied out in search of Mr. Smith. 
 
 The boarding-house, an old and dilapidated 
 building, was in a by-street convenient to the har- 
 bour. The front door stood open, and a couple of 
 seamen lounging on the broken steps made way for 
 him civilly as he entered and rapped on the bare 
 boards with his stick. Mr. Smith, clattering down 
 
 182
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the stairs in response, had some difficulty in con- 
 cealing his surprise at the visit, but entered genially 
 into a conversation about the weather, a subject in 
 
 In search of Mr. Smith.' 
 
 which he was much interested. When the ship- 
 broker began to discuss the object of his visit he led 
 him to a small sitting-room at the back of the house 
 
 183
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 and repeated the information he had given to Mr. 
 Wilks. 
 
 " That's all there is to tell," he concluded, art- 
 lessly ; " the cap'n was that ashamed of hisself, he's 
 laying low for a bit. We all make mistakes some- 
 times ; I do myself." 
 
 " I am much obliged to you," said Mr. Swann, 
 gratefully. 
 
 " You're quite welcome, sir," said the boarding- 
 master. 
 
 " And now," said the visitor, musingly " now 
 for the police." 
 
 " Police ! " repeated Mr. Smith, almost hastily. 
 "What for?" 
 
 " Why, to find the captain," said Mr. Swann, in 
 a surprised voice. 
 
 Mr. Smith shook his head. " You'll offend the 
 cap'n bitter if you go to the police about 'im, sir," 
 he declared. " His last words to me was, c Smith, 
 'ave this kept quiet.' ' 
 
 " It'll be a little job for the police," urged the 
 shipbroker. " They don't have much to do down 
 here ; they'll be as pleased as possible." 
 
 " They'll worry your life out of you, sir," said 
 the other. " You don't know what they are." 
 
 " I like a little excitement," returned Mr. Swann. 
 " I don't suppose they'll trouble me much, but 
 they'll turn your place topsy-turvy, I expect. Still, 
 
 184
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 that can't be helped. You know what fools the 
 police are ; they'll think you've murdered the cap- 
 tain and hidden his body under the boards. They'll 
 have all the floors up. Ha, ha, ha ! " 
 
 " 'Aving floors up don't seem to me to be so 
 amusing as wot it does to you," remarked Mr, 
 Smith, coldly. 
 
 " They may find all sorts of treasure for you," 
 continued his visitor. " It's a very old house, 
 Smith, and there may be bags of guineas hidden 
 away under the flooring. You may be able to retire." 
 
 " You're a gentleman as is fond of his joke, Mr. 
 Swann," returned the boarding-master, lugubriously. 
 " I wish I'd got that 'appy way of looking at things 
 you 'ave." 
 
 " I'm not joking, Smith," said the other, quietly. 
 
 Mr. Smith pondered and, stealing a side-glance 
 at him, stood scraping his foot along the floor. 
 
 " There ain't nothing much to tell," he grumbled, 
 " and, mind, the worst favour you could do to the 
 cap'n would be to put it about how he was done. 
 He's gone for a little trip instead of 'is son, that's all." 
 
 " Little trip ! " repeated the other ; " you call a 
 whaling cruise a little trip ? " 
 
 " No, no, sir," said Mr. Smith, in a shocked voice, 
 " I ain't so bad as that ; I've got some 'art, I hope. 
 He's just gone for a little trip with 'is old pal Hardy 
 on the Conqueror. Kybird's idea it was." 
 
 185
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " I 'ave heard of 'em exploding." 
 
 To Mr. Smith's great surprise his visitor sat down 
 suddenly and began to laugh. Tears of honest 
 mirth suffused his eyes and dimmed his glasses. 
 Mr. Smith, regarding him with an air of kindly in- 
 terest, began to laugh to keep him company. 
 """""" 1 86
 
 At Sunvvich Port 
 
 " Don't you know it's punishable ? " demanded 
 the shipbroker, recovering. 
 
 Mr. Smith shook his head and became serious. 
 " The cap'n fell into 'is own trap," he said, slowly. 
 " There's no lor for 'im ! He'd only get laughed 
 at. The idea of trying to get me to put little Ame- 
 lia Kybird's young man away. Why, I was 'er god- 
 father." 
 
 Mr. Swann stared at him, and then with a friendly 
 " good morning " departed. Half-way along the 
 passage he stopped, and retracing his steps produced 
 his cigar-case and offered the astonished boarding- 
 master a cigar. 
 
 " I s'pose," said that gentleman as he watched the 
 other's retreating figure and dubiously smelt the ci- 
 gar ; " I s'pose it's all right ; but he's a larky sort, 
 and I 'ave heard of 'em exploding. I'll give it to 
 Kybird, in case."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 CAPTAIN NUGENT awoke the morning 
 after his attempt to crimp his son with a bad 
 headache. Not an ordinary headache, to 
 disappear with a little cold water and fresh air ; but 
 a splitting, racking affair, which made him feel all 
 head and dulness. Weights pressed upon his eye- 
 lids and the back of his head seemed glued to his 
 pillow. 
 
 He groaned faintly and, raising himself upon his 
 elbow, opened his eyes and sat up with a sharp ex- 
 clamation. His bed was higher from the floor than 
 usual and, moreover, the floor was different. In 
 the dim light he distinctly saw a ship's forecastle, 
 untidy bunks with frouzy bedclothes, and shiny oil- 
 skins hanging from the bulkhead. 
 
 For a few moments he stared about in mystifica- 
 tion ; he was certainly ill, and no doubt the forecastle 
 was an hallucination. It was a strange symptom, and 
 the odd part of it was that everything was so distinct. 
 Even the smell. He stared harder, in the hope that 
 his surroundings would give place to the usual ones, 
 and, leaning a little bit more on his elbow, nearly 
 
 188
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 rolled out of the bunk. Resolved to probe this 
 mystery to the bottom he lowered himself to the 
 floor and felt distinctly the motion of a ship at sea. 
 
 There was no doubt about it. 
 He staggered to the door and, 
 holding by the side, looked on 
 to the deck. The steamer was 
 rolling in a fresh sea 
 and a sweet strong 
 wind blew refreshingly 
 
 " He stepped to the side and 
 looked over." 
 
 into his face. Fun- 
 nels, bridge, and 
 masts swung with a 
 rhythmical motion; 
 loose gear rattled, and 
 every now and then a dis- 
 tant tinkle sounded faintly 
 from the steward's pantry. 
 He stood bewildered, trying 
 189
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 to piece together the events of the preceding night, 
 and to try and understand by what miracle he was 
 back on board his old ship the Conqueror. There 
 was no doubt as to her identity. He knew every 
 inch of her, and any further confirmation that 
 might be required was fully supplied by the ap- 
 pearance of the long, lean figure of Captain Hardy 
 on the bridge. 
 
 Captain Nugent took his breath sharply and began 
 to realize the situation. He stepped to the side 
 and looked over ; the harbour was only a little way 
 astern, and Sunwich itself, looking cold and cheer- 
 less beyond the dirty, tumbling seas, little more than 
 a mile distant. 
 
 At the sight his spirits revived, and with a hoarse 
 cry he ran shouting towards the bridge. Captain 
 Hardy turned sharply at the noise, and recognizing 
 the intruder stood peering down at him in undis- 
 guised amazement. 
 
 " Put back," cried Nugent, waving up at him. 
 " Put back." 
 
 " What on earth are you doing on my ship ? " in- 
 quired the astonished Hardy. 
 
 " Put me ashore," cried Nugent, imperiously ; 
 " don't waste time talking. D'ye hear? Put me 
 ashore." 
 
 The amazement died out of Hardy's face and 
 gave way to an expression of anger. For a time he
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 regarded the red and threatening visage of Captain 
 Nugent in silence, then he turned to the second 
 officer. 
 
 " This man is not one of the crew,. Mr. Prowlc ? " 
 he said, in a puzzled voice. 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. Prowle. 
 
 " How did he get aboard here ? " 
 
 Captain Nugent answered the question himself. 
 " I was crimped by you and your drunKen bullies," 
 he said, sternly. 
 
 " How did this man get aboard here? " repeated 
 Captain Hardy, ignoring him. 
 
 "He must have concealed nimselr' somewhere, 
 sir," said the mate; "this is the hrsr I've seen of 
 him." 
 
 " A stowaway ? " said the captain, bending his 
 brows. " He must have got some of the crew to 
 hide him aboard. You'd better make a clean breast 
 of it, my lad. Who are your confederates ? " 
 
 Captain Nugent shook with fury. The second 
 mate had turned away, with his hand over his 
 mouth and a suspicious hunching of his shoulders, 
 while the steward, who had been standing by, beat 
 a hasty retreat and collapsed behind the chart- 
 room. 
 
 "If you don't put me ashore," said Nugent, 
 restraining his passion by a strong effort, " I'll take 
 proceedings against you for crimping me\ the mo- 
 
 191
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 ment I reach port. Get a boat out and put me 
 aboard that smack." 
 
 He pointed as he spoke to a smack which was 
 just on their beam, making slowly for the harbour. 
 
 " When you've done issuing orders," said the 
 captain, in an indifferent voice, "perhaps you'll ex- 
 plain what you are doing aboard my craft." 
 
 Captain Nugent gazed at the stern of the fast- 
 receding smack ; Sunwich was getting dim in the 
 distance and there was no other sail near. He be- 
 gan to realize that he was in for a long voyage. 
 
 " I awoke this morning and found myself in a 
 hunk in your fo'c's'le," he said, regarding Hardy 
 steadily. " How J got there is probably best known 
 to yourself. I hold you responsible for the affair." 
 
 " Look here, my Jad," said Captain Hardy, in pat- 
 ronizing tones. "I don't know how you got aboard 
 my ship and I don't care. I am willing to believe 
 that it was not intentional on your part, but either 
 the outcome of a drunken freak or else a means of 
 escaping from some scrape you have got into ashore. 
 That being so, I shall take a merciful view of it, and 
 if you behave yourself and make yourself useful you 
 will not hear anything more of it. He has some- 
 thing the look of a seafaring man, Mr. Prowle. See 
 what you can make of him." 
 
 " Come along with me, my lad," said the grinning 
 Mr. Prowle, tapping him on the shoulder. 
 
 IQ2
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The captain turned with a snarl, and, clenching 
 his huge, horny fist, let drive full in the other's face 
 and knocked him off his feet. 
 
 " Take that man for'ard," cried Captain Hardy, 
 sharply. " Take him for'ard." 
 
 Half-a-dozen willing men sprang forward. Cap- 
 tain Nugent's views concerning sailormen were well 
 known in Sunwich, and two of the men present had 
 served under him. He went forward, the centre of 
 an attentive and rotating circle, and, sadly out of 
 breath, was bestowed in the forecastle and urged to 
 listen to reason. 
 
 For the remainder of the morning he made no 
 sign. The land was almost out of sight, and he sat 
 down quietly to consider his course of action for the 
 next few weeks. Dinner-time found him still en- 
 grossed in thought, and the way in which he re- 
 ceived an intimation from a good-natured seaman 
 that his dinner was getting cold showed that his 
 spirits were still unquelled. 
 
 By the time afternoon came he was faint with 
 hunger, and, having determined upon his course 
 of action, he sent a fairly polite message to Captain 
 Hardy and asked for an interview. 
 
 The captain, who was resting from his labours in 
 the chart-room, received him with the same air of 
 cold severity which had so endeared Captain Nugent 
 himself to his subordinates.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " You have come to explain your extraordinary 
 behaviour of this morning, I suppose ? " he said, 
 curtly. 
 
 " I have come to secure a berth aft," said Captain 
 Nugent. " I will pay a small deposit now, and you 
 will, of course, have the balance as soon as we get 
 back. This is without prejudice to any action I 
 may bring against you later on." 
 
 " Oh, indeed," said the other, raising his eyebrows. 
 " We don't take passengers." 
 
 " I am here against my will," said Captain Nu- 
 gent, " and I demand the treatment due to my po- 
 sition." 
 
 "If I had treated you properly," said Captain 
 Hardy, " I should have put you in irons for knock- 
 ing down my second officer. I know nothing about 
 you or your position. You're a stowaway, and you 
 must do the best you can in the circumstances." 
 
 " Are you going to give me a cabin ? " demanded 
 the other, menacingly. 
 
 " Certainly not," said Captain Hardy. " I have 
 been making inquiries, and I find that you have only 
 yourself to thank for the position in which you find 
 yourself. I am sorry to be harsh with you." 
 
 " Harsh ? " repeated the other, hardly able to be- 
 lieve his ears. " You harsh to me ? " 
 
 " But it is for your own good," pursued Captain 
 Hardy ; " it is no pleasure to me to punish you. I 
 
 194
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 shall Keep an eye on you while you're aboard, and if 
 I see that your conduct is improving you will find 
 that I am not a hard man to get on with." 
 
 " You keep on, Nugent, don't you mind Mm.
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 Captain Nugent stared at him with his lips parted. 
 Three times he essayed to speak and failed ; then he 
 turned sharply and, gaining the open air, stood for 
 some time trying to regain his composure before 
 going forward again. The first mate, who was on the 
 bridge, regarded him curiously, and then, with an 
 insufferable air of authority, ordered him away. 
 
 The captain obeyed mechanically and, turning a 
 deaf ear to the inquiries of the men, prepared to 
 make the best of an intolerable situation, and began 
 to cleanse his bunk. First of all he took out the 
 bedding and shook it thoroughly, and then, pro- 
 curing soap and a bucket of water, began to scrub 
 with a will. Hostile comments followed the action. 
 
 " We ain't clean enough for 'im," said one voice. 
 
 " Partikler old party, ain't he, Bill ? " said another. 
 
 " You leave 'im alone," said the man addressed, 
 surveying the captain's efforts with a smile of ap- 
 proval. " You keep on, Nugent, don't you mind 
 'im. There's a little bit there you ain't done." 
 
 " Keep your head out of the way, unless you 
 want it knocked off," said the incensed captain. 
 
 " Ho ! " said the aggrieved Bill. " Ho, indeed ! 
 D'ye 'ear that, mates ? A man musn't look at 'is 
 own bunk now." 
 
 The captain turned as though he had been stung. 
 " This is my bunk," he said, sharply. 
 
 " Ho, is it? " said Bill. " Beggin' of your par- 
 196
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 don, an* apologizing for a-contradictin' of you, but 
 it's mine. You haven't got no bunk." 
 
 " I slept in it last night," said the captain, conclu- 
 sively. 
 
 " I know you did," said Bill, " but that was all 
 my kind-'artedness." 
 
 " And 'arf a quid, Bill," a voice reminded him. 
 
 " And 'arf a quid," assented Bill, graciously, " and 
 I'm very much obliged to you, mate, for the careful 
 and tidy way in which you've cleaned up arter your- 
 self." 
 
 The captain eyed him. Many years of command 
 at sea had given him a fine manner, and force of 
 habit was for a moment almost too much for Bill 
 and his friends. But only for a moment. 
 
 " I'm going to keep this bunk," said the captain, 
 deliberately. 
 
 " No, you ain't, mate," said Bill, shaking his 
 head, "don't you believe it. You're nobody down 
 here ; not even a ordinary seaman. I'm afraid 
 you'll 'ave to clean a place for yourself on the car- 
 pet. There's a nice corner over there." 
 
 " When I get back," said the furious captain, 
 " some of you will go to gaol for last night's work." 
 
 " Don't be hard on us," said a mocking voice, 
 " we did our best. It ain't our fault that you look 
 so ridikerlously young, that we took you for your 
 own son." 
 
 197
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "And you was in that state that you couldn't 
 contradict us," said another man. 
 
 " If it is your bunk," said the captain, sternly, " I 
 suppose you have a right to it. " But perhaps 
 you'll sell it to me? How much? " 
 
 " Now you're talking bisness," said the highly 
 gratified Bill, turning with a threatening gesture upon 
 a speculator opposite. " Wot do you say to a couple 
 o' pounds ? " 
 
 The captain nodded. 
 
 " Couple o' pounds, money down," said Bill, 
 holding out his hand. 
 
 The captain examined the contents of his pocket, 
 and after considerable friction bought the bunk for 
 a pound cash and an I O U for the balance. 
 
 A more humane man wouM have shown a little 
 concern as to his benefactor's sleeping-place ; but the 
 captain never gave the matter a thought. In fact, it 
 was not until three days later that he discovered 
 there was a spare bunk in the forecastle, and that the 
 unscrupulous seaman was occupying it. 
 
 It was only one of many annoyances, but the cap- 
 tain realizing his impotence made no sign. From 
 certain remarks let fall in his hearing he had no dif- 
 ficulty in connecting Mr. Kybird with his discomfit- 
 ure and, of his own desire, he freely included the un- 
 fortunate Mr. Wilks. 
 
 He passed his time in devising schemes of ven- 
 198
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 geance, and when Captain Hardy, relenting, offered 
 him a cabin aft, he sent back such a message of re- 
 fusal that the steward spent half an hour preparing a 
 paraphrase. The offer was not repeated, and the 
 captain, despite the strong representations of Bill and 
 his friends, continued to eat the bread of idleness be- 
 fore the mast.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 MR. ADOLPHUS SWANN spent a very 
 agreeable afternoon after his interview 
 with Nathan Smith in refusing to satisfy 
 what he termed the idle curiosity of his partner. 
 The secret of Captain Nugent's whereabouts, he de- 
 clared, was not to be told to everybody, but was to 
 be confided by a man of insinuating address and ap- 
 pearance here he looked at himself in a hand-glass 
 to Miss Nugent. To be broken to her by a man 
 with no ulterior motives for his visit ; a man in the 
 prime of life, but not too old for a little tender sym- 
 pathy. 
 
 " I had hoped to have gone this afternoon," he 
 said, with a glance at the clock ; " but I'm afraid I 
 can't get away. Have you got much to do, 
 Hardy ? " 
 
 " No," said his partner, briskly. " I've finished." 
 
 " Then perhaps you wouldn't mind doing my 
 work for me, so that I can go ? " said Mr. Swann, 
 mildly. 
 
 Hardy played with his pen. The senior partner 
 had been amusing himself at his expense for some 
 
 200
 
 At Stmwich Port 
 
 time, and in the hope of a favour at his hands 
 he had endured it with unusual patience. 
 
 " Hadn't you better see about making yourself presentable, Hardy t" 
 
 u Four o'clock," murmured the senior partner ; 
 " hadn't you better see about making yourself pre- 
 sentable, Hardy ? " 
 
 201
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 "Thanks," said the otner, with alacrity, as he took 
 off his coat and crossed over to the little washstand. 
 In five minutes he had finished his toilet and, giving 
 his partner a little friendly pat on the shoulder, 
 locked up his desk. 
 
 " Well ? " he said, at last. 
 
 " Well ? " repeated Mr. Swann, with a little sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " What am I to tell them ? " inquired Hardy, 
 struggling to keep his temper. 
 
 " Tell them ? " repeated the innocent Swann. 
 " Lor' bless my soul, how you do jump at conclu- 
 sions, Hardy. I only asked you to tidy yourself 
 for my sake. I have an artistic eye. I thought 
 you had done it to please me." 
 
 " When you're tired of this nonsense," said the 
 indignant Hardy, " I shall be glad." 
 
 Mr. Swann looked him over carefully and, coming 
 to the conclusion that his patience was exhausted, 
 told him the result of his inquiries. His immediate 
 reward was the utter incredulity of Mr. Hardy, to- 
 gether with some pungent criticisms of his veracity. 
 When the young man did realize at last that he 
 was speaking the truth he fell to wondering blankly 
 what was happening aboard the Conqueror. 
 
 " Never mind about that," said the older man. 
 " For a few weeks you have got a clear field. It is 
 quite a bond between you : both your fathers on 
 
 20?
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the same ship. But whatever you do, don't remind 
 her of the fate of the Kilkenny cats. Draw a fancy 
 picture of the two fathers sitting with their arms 
 about each other's waists and wondering whether 
 their children " 
 
 Hardy left hurriedly, in fear that his indignation 
 at such frivolity should overcome his gratitude, and 
 he regretted as he walked briskly along that the 
 diffidence peculiar to young men in his circumstances 
 had prevented him from acquainting his father with 
 the state of his feelings towards Kate Nugent. 
 
 The idea of taking advantage of the captain's 
 enforced absence had occurred to other people be- 
 sides Mr. James Hardy. Dr. Murchison, who had 
 found the captain, despite his bias in his favour, a 
 particularly tiresome third, was taking the fullest 
 advantage of it ; and Mrs. Kybird had also judged 
 it an admirable opportunity for paying a first call. 
 Mr. Kybird, who had not taken her into his con- 
 fidence in the affair, protested in vain ; the lady was 
 determined, and, moreover, had the warm support 
 of her daughter. 
 
 " I know what I'm doing, Dan'l," she said to her 
 husband. 
 
 Mr. Kybird doubted it, but held his peace ; and 
 the objections of Jack Nugent, who found to his 
 dismay that he was to be of the party, were deemed 
 too trivial to be worthy of serious consideration. 
 
 203
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 They started shortly after Jem Hardy had left 
 his office, despite the fact that Mrs. Kybird, who 
 was troubled with asthma, was suffering untold 
 
 " It was not without a certain amount of satisfaction that he regarded 
 her discomfiture." 
 
 in a black satin dress which had been origi- 
 nally made for a much smaller woman, and had come 
 mto her husband's hands in the way of business. 
 If got into hers in what the defrauded Mr. Kybird 
 
 204
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 considered an extremely unbusinesslike manner, and 
 *.t was not without a certain amount of satisfaction 
 that he regarded her discomfiture as the party sallied 
 out. 
 
 Mr. Nugent was not happy. Mrs. Kybird in 
 the snug seclusion of the back parlour was one 
 thing ; Mrs. Kybird in black satin at its utmost 
 tension and a circular hat set with sable ostrich 
 plumes nodding in the breeze was another. He 
 felt that the public eye was upon them and that it 
 twinkled. His gaze wandered from mother to 
 daughter. 
 
 "What are you staring at?" demanded Miss 
 Kybird, pertly. 
 
 " I was thinking how well you are looking," was 
 the reply. 
 
 Miss Kybird smiled. She had hoisted some 
 daring colours, but she was of a bold type and 
 carried them fairly well. 
 
 " If I 'ad the woman what made this dress 'ere," 
 gasped Mrs. Kybird, as she stopped with her hand 
 on her side, " I'd give her a bit o' my mind." 
 
 " I never saw you look so well in anything be- 
 fore, ma," said her daughter. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird smiled faintly and continued her 
 pilgrimage. Jem Hardy coming up rapidly behind 
 composed his amused features and stepped into the 
 road to pass. 
 
 205
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Halloa, Hardy," said Nugent. " Going home ?** 
 
 "I am calling on your sister," said Hardy, bowing. 
 
 " By Jove, so are we," said Nugent, relieved to 
 find this friend in need. " We'll go together. 
 You know Mrs. Kybird and Miss Kybird ? That 
 is Mrs. Kybird." 
 
 Mrs. Kybird bade him " Go along, do," and ac- 
 knowledged the introduction with as stately a bow 
 as the black satin would permit, and before the 
 dazed Jem quite knew how it all happened he was 
 leading the way with Mrs. Kybird, while the young 
 people, as she called them, followed behind. 
 
 " We ain't looking at you," she said, playfully, 
 over her shoulder. 
 
 " And we're trying to shut our eyes to your 
 goings on," retorted Nugent. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird stopped and, with a half-turn, play- 
 fully reached for him with her umbrella. The exer- 
 tion and the joke combined took the remnant of her 
 breath away, and she stood still, panting. 
 
 " You had better take Hardy's arm, I think," 
 said Nugent, with affected solicitude. 
 
 " It's my breath," explained Mrs. Kybird, turn- 
 ing to the fuming young man by her side. " I can 
 'ardly get along for it I'm much obliged to you, 
 I'm sure." 
 
 Mr. Hardy, with a vain attempt to catch Jack 
 Nugent's eye, resigned himself to his fate, and with 
 
 206
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 his fair burden on his arm walked with painful slow- 
 ness towards Equator Lodge. A ribald voice from 
 the other side of the road, addressing his companion 
 
 .* 
 
 ' Mr. Hardy resigned himself to hi fate." 
 
 as " Mother Kybird," told her not to hug the man, 
 and a small boy whom they met loudly asseverated 
 his firm intention of going straight off to tell Mr 
 Kybird. 
 
 ao-j
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 By the time they reached the house Mr. Hard] 
 entertained views on homicide which would havi 
 appeared impossible to him half an hour before 
 He flushed crimson as he saw the astonished face o, 
 Kate Nugent at the window, and, pausing at the 
 gate to wait for the others, discovered that they 
 had disappeared. A rooted dislike to scenes of 
 any kind, together with a keen eye for the ludi- 
 crous, had prompted Jack Nugent to suggest a 
 pleasant stroll to Amelia and put in an appearance 
 later on. 
 
 " We won*t wait for Mm," said Mrs. Kybird, with 
 decision ; " if I don't get a sit down soon I shall 
 drop." 
 
 Still clinging to the reluctant Hardy she walked 
 up the path ; farther back in the darkness of the 
 room the unfortunate young gentleman saw the 
 faces of Dr. Murchison and Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 "And 'ow are you, Bella?" inquired Mrs. Ky- 
 bird with kindly condescension. " Is Mrs. King- 
 dom at 'ome ? " 
 
 She pushed her way past the astonished Bella 
 and, followed by Mr. Hardy, entered the room. 
 Mrs. Kingdom, with a red spot on each cheek, rose 
 to receive them. 
 
 " I ought to 'ave come before," said Mrs. Kybird, 
 subsiding thankfully into a chair, " but I'm such a 
 bad walker. I 'ope I see you well." 
 
 208
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 We are very well, thank you," said Mrs. King- 
 dom, stiffly. 
 
 " That's right," said her visitor, cordially ; " what 
 a blessing 'ealth is. What should we do without it, 
 I wonder ? " 
 
 She leaned back in her chair and shook her head 
 at the prospect. There was an Awkward lull, and 
 in the offended gaze of Miss Nugent Mr. Hardy 
 saw only too plainly that he was held responsible for 
 the appearance of the unwelcome visitor. 
 
 " I was coming to see you^" he said, leaving his 
 chair and taking one near hen " I met your brother 
 coming along, and he introduced me to Mrs. Kybird 
 and her daughter and suggested we should come 
 together." 
 
 Miss Nugent received the information with a civil 
 bow, and renewed her conversation .with Dr. Mur- 
 chison, whose face showed such a keen appreciation 
 of the situation that Hardy had some difficulty in 
 masking his feelings. 
 
 " They're a long time a-coming," said Mrs. Ky- 
 bird, smiling archly ; " but there, when young people 
 are keeping company they forget everything and 
 everybody. They didn't trouble about me ; if it 
 'adn't been for Mr. 'Ardy giving me 'is arm I should 
 never 'ave got here." 
 
 There was a prolonged silence. Dr. Murchison 
 gave a whimsical glance at Miss Nugent, and meet- 
 
 209
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing no response in that lady's indignant eyes, stroked 
 his moustache and awaited events. 
 
 " It looks as though your brother is not coming," 
 said Hardy to Miss Nugent. 
 
 " He'll turn up by-and-by," interposed Mrs. Ky- 
 bird, looking somewhat morosely at the company. 
 " They don't notice 'ow the time flies, that's all." 
 
 " Time does go," murmured Mrs. Kingdom, with 
 a glance at the clock. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird started. " Ah, and we notice it too, 
 ma'am, at our age," she said, sweetly, as she settled 
 herself in her chair and clasped her hands in her lap 
 " I can't 'elp looking at you, my dear," she contin 
 ued, looking over at Miss Nugent. " There's sucn 
 a wonderful likeness between Jack and you. Don't 
 you think so, ma'am ? " 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom in a freezing voice said that she 
 had not noticed it. 
 
 " Of course," said Mrs. Kybird, glancing at her 
 from the corner of her eye, " Jack has 'ad to rough 
 it, pore feller, and that's left its mark on 'im. I'm 
 sure, when we took 'im in, he was quite done up, so 
 to speak. He'd only got what 'e stood up in, and 
 the only pair of socks he'd got to his feet was in 
 such a state of 'oles that they had to be throwed 
 away. I throwed 'em away myself." 
 
 *' Dear me," said Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 " He don't look like the same feller now,' con- 
 
 210
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 tinued the amiable Mrs. Kybird ; "good living and 
 good clothes 'ave worked wonders in 'im. I'm sure 
 if he'd been my own son I couldn't 'ave done more 
 for 'im, and, as for Kybird, he's like a father to 
 him." 
 
 " Dear me," said Mrs. Kingdom, again. 
 
 Mrs. Kybird looked at her. It was on the tip of 
 her tongue to call her a poll parrot. She was a free- 
 spoken woman as a rule, and it was terrible to have 
 to sit still and waste all the good things she could 
 have said to her in favour of unsatisfying pin-pricks. 
 She sat smouldering. 
 
 " I s'pose you miss the capt'in very much? " she 
 said, at last. 
 
 " Very much," was the reply. 
 
 " And I should think 'e misses you," retorted 
 Mrs. Kybird, unable to restrain herself; " 'e must 
 miss your conversation and what I might call your 
 liveliness." 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom turned and regarded her, and the 
 red stole back to her cheeks again. She smoothed 
 down her dress and her hands trembled. Both ladies 
 were now regarding each other in a fashion which 
 caused serious apprehension to the rest of the com- 
 pany. 
 
 " I am not a great talker, but I am very careful 
 whom I converse with," said Mrs. Kingdom, in her 
 most statelv manner. 
 
 211
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I knew a lady like that once," said Mrs. Ky- 
 bird ; " leastways, she wasn't a lady," she added, 
 meditatively. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom fidgeted, and looked over piteously 
 at her niece ; Mrs. Kybird, with a satisfied sniff, sat 
 bolt upright and meditated further assaults. There 
 were at least a score of things she could have said 
 about her adversary's cap alone : plain, straightfor- 
 ward remarks which would have torn it to shreds. 
 The cap fascinated her, and her fingers itched as she 
 gazed at it. In more congenial surroundings she 
 might have snatched at it, but, being a woman of 
 strong character, she suppressed her natural instincts, 
 and confined herself to more polite methods of 
 attack. 
 
 " Your nephew don't seem to be in no hurry," 
 she remarked, at length ; " but, there, direckly 'e 
 gets along o' my daughter 'e forgits everything and 
 everybody." 
 
 " I really don't think he is coming," said Hardy, 
 moved to speech by the glances of Miss Nugent. 
 
 " I shall give him a little longer," said Mrs. Ky- 
 bird. " I only came 'ere to please 'im, and to get 
 'ome alone is more than I can do." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked at Mr. Hardy, and her eyes 
 were soft and expressive. As plainly as eyes could 
 speak they asked him to take Mrs. Kybird home, 
 lest worse things should happen. 
 
 212
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Would it be far out of your way ? " she asked, 
 in a low voice. 
 
 " Quite the opposite direction," returned Mr. 
 Hardy, firmly. 
 
 " How I got 'ere I don't know," said Mrs. Ky- 
 bird, addressing the room in general ; " it's a won- 
 der to me. Well, once is enough in a lifetime." 
 
 " Mr. Hardy," said Kate Nugent, again, in a low 
 voice, " I should be so much obliged if you would 
 take Mrs. Kybird away. She seems bent on quar- 
 relling with my aunt. It is very awkward." 
 
 It was difficult to resist the entreaty, but Mr. 
 Hardy had a very fair idea of the duration of Miss 
 Nugent's gratitude ; and, besides that, Murchison 
 was only too plainly enjoying his discomfiture. 
 
 " She can get home alone all right," he whispered. 
 
 Miss Nugent drew herself up disdainfully ; Dr. 
 Murchison, looking scandalized at his brusqueness, 
 hastened to the rescue. 
 
 " As a medical man," he said, with a considerable 
 appearance of gravity, " I don't think that Mrs. Ky- 
 bird ought to go home alone." 
 
 " Think not ? " inquired Hardy, grimly. 
 
 " Certain of it," breathed the doctor. 
 
 "Well, why don't you take her?" retorted Hardy; 
 " it's all on your way. I have some news for Miss 
 Nugent." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked from one to the other, and 
 213
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 mischievous lights appeared in her eyes as she gazed 
 at ihe carefully groomed and fastidious Murchison. 
 From them she looked to the other side of the room, 
 where Mrs. Kybird was stolidly eyeing Mrs. King- 
 dom, who was trying in vain 
 to appear ignorant of the 
 fact. 
 
 " Thank you very much," 
 said Miss Nugent, turning 
 to the doctor. 
 
 " I'm sorry," began Mur- 
 chison, with an indignant 
 glance at his rival. 
 
 " Oh, as you please," said 
 the girl, coldly. " Pray for- 
 give me for asking you." 
 
 " If you really wish it," 
 said the doctor, rising. 
 
 Miss Nugent smiled upon 
 him, and Hardy also gave 
 him a smile of kindly en- 
 couragement, but this he ig- 
 nored. He crossed the room 
 and bade Mrs. Kingdom 
 good-bye ; and then in a few disjointed words asked 
 Mrs. Kybird whether he could be of any assistance 
 in seeing her home. 
 
 " I'm sure I'm much obliged to you," said that 
 214 
 
 " Th carefully groomed and fas- 
 tidious Murchison."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 lady, as she rose. "It don't seem much use for me 
 waiting for my future son-in-law. I wish you good 
 afternoon, ma'am. I can understand now why Jack 
 didn't come." 
 
 With this parting shot she quitted the room and, 
 leaning on the doctor's arm, sailed majestically down 
 the path to the gate, every feather on her hat trem- 
 bling in response to the excitement below. 
 
 " Good-natured of him," said Hardy, glancing 
 from the window, with a triumphant smile. 
 
 " Very," said Miss Nugent, coldly, as she took a 
 seat by her aunt. " What is the news to which you 
 referred just now ? Is it about my father ? "
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 THE two ladies received Mr. Hardy's infor- 
 mation with something akin to consterna- 
 tion, the idea of the autocrat of Equator 
 Lodge as a stowaway on board the ship of his ancient 
 enemy proving too serious for ordinary comment. 
 Mrs. Kingdom's usual expressions of surprise, 
 " Well, I never did ! " and " Good gracious alive ! " 
 died on her lips, and she sat gazing helpless and 
 round-eyed at her niece. 
 
 " I wonder what he said," she gasped, at last. 
 
 Miss Nugent, who was trying to imagine her 
 father in his new rdle aboard the Conqueror, paid no 
 heed. It was not a pleasant idea, and her eyes 
 flashed with temper as she thought of it. Sooner 
 or later the whole affair would be public property. 
 
 " I had an idea all along that he wasn't in 
 London," murmured Mrs. Kingdom. " Fancy 
 that Nathan Smith standing in Sam's room tell- 
 ing us falsehoods like that ! He never even 
 blushed." 
 
 " But you said that you kept picturing father 
 walking about the streets of London, wrestling with 
 
 216
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 his pride and trying to make up his mind to come 
 home again," said her niece, maliciously. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom fidgeted, but before she could 
 think of a satisfactory reply Bella came to the door 
 and asked to speak to her for a moment. Profiting 
 by her absence, Mr. Hardy leaned towards Miss 
 Nugent, and in a low voice expressed his sorrow at 
 the mishap to her father and his firm conviction that 
 everything that could be thought of for that unfort- 
 unate mariner's comfort would be done. " Our 
 fathers will probably come back good friends," he 
 concluded. " There is nothing would give me more 
 pleasure than that, and I think that we had better 
 begin and set them a good example." 
 
 " It is no good setting an example to people who 
 are hundreds of miles away," said the matter-of-fact 
 Miss Nugent. " Besides, if they have made friends, 
 they don't want an example set them." 
 
 " But in that case they have set us an example 
 which we ought to follow," urged Hardy. 
 
 Miss Nugent raised her eyes to his. " Why do 
 you wish to be on friendly terms P " she asked, with 
 disconcerting composure. 
 
 " I should like to know your father," returned 
 Hardy, with perfect gravity ; " and Mrs. Kingdom 
 and you." 
 
 He eyed her steadily as he spoke, and Miss Nu- 
 gent, despite her utmost efforts, realized with some 
 
 217
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 indignation that a faint tinge of colour was creeping 
 into her cheeks. She remembered his covert chal- 
 lenge at their last interview at Mr. Wilks's, and the 
 necessity of reading this persistent young man a stern 
 lesson came to her with all the force of a public duty 
 
 * Why do you wish to be on friendly terms ? ' she asked. * ' 
 
 " Why ? " she inquired , softly, as she lowered her 
 eyes and assumed a pensive expression. 
 
 " I admire him, for one thing, as a fine seaman," 
 said Hardy. 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Nugent, " and " 
 
 "And I've always had a great liking for Mrs. 
 218
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Kingdom," he continued ; " she was very good- 
 natured to me when I was a very small boy, I re- 
 member. She is very kind and amiable." 
 
 The baffled Miss Nugent stole a glance at him. 
 "And " she said again, very softly. 
 
 " And very motherly," said Hardy, without mov- 
 ing a muscle. 
 
 Miss Nugent pondered and stole another glance 
 at him. The expression of his face was ingenuous, 
 not to say simple. She resolved to risk it. So far 
 he had always won in their brief encounters, and 
 monotony was always distasteful to her, especially 
 monotony of that kind. 
 
 " And what about me ? " she said, with a friendly 
 smile. 
 
 " You," said Hardy, with a gravity of voice belied 
 by the amusement in his eye ; " you are the daugh- 
 ter of the fine seaman and the niece of the good- 
 natured and motherly Mrs. Kingdom." 
 
 Miss Nugent looked down again hastily, and all 
 the shrew within her clamoured for vengeance. It 
 was the same masterful Jem Hardy that had forced 
 his way into their seat at church as a boy. If he 
 went on in this way he would become unbearable ; 
 she resolved, at the cost of much personal inconven- 
 ience, to give him a much-needed fall. But she 
 realized quite clearly that it would be a matter of 
 time. 
 
 819
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Of course, you and Jack are already good 
 friends ? " she said, softly. 
 
 " Very," assented Hardy. " Such good friends 
 that I have been devoting a lot of time lately to 
 considering ways and means of getting him out of 
 the snares of the Kybirds." 
 
 " I should have thought that that was his affair," 
 said Miss Nugent, haughtily. 
 
 " Mine, too," said Hardy. " I don't want him 
 to marry Miss Kybird." 
 
 For the first time since the engagement Miss Nu- 
 gent almost approved of it. " Why not let him 
 know your wishes ? " she said, gently. " Surely 
 that would be sufficient." 
 
 " But you don't want them to marry ? " said 
 Hardy, ignoring the remark. 
 
 " I don't want my brother to do anything 
 shabby," replied the girl ; " but I shouldn't be 
 sorry, of course, if they did not." 
 
 " Very good," said Hardy. " Armed with your 
 consent I shall leave no stone unturned. Nugent 
 was let in for this, and I am going to get him out 
 if I can. All's fair in love and war. You don't 
 mind my doing anything shabby ? " 
 
 "Not in the least," replied Miss Nugent, promptly. 
 
 The reappearance of Mrs. Kingdom at this mo- 
 ment saved Mr. Hardy the necessity of a reply. 
 Conversation reverted to the missing captain, and 
 
 220
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy and Mrs. Kingdom together drew such a 
 picture of the two captains fraternizing that Miss 
 Nugent felt that the millennium itself could have no- 
 surprises for her. 
 
 " He has improved very much," said Mrs. King- 
 dom, after the door had closed behind their visitor ; 
 " so thoughtful." 
 
 " He's thoughtful enough," agreed her niece. 
 
 " He is what I call extremely considerate," pur- 
 sued the elder lady, "but I'm afraid he is weak; 
 anybody could turn him round their little finger." 
 
 " I believe they could," said Miss Nugent, gaz- 
 ing at her with admiration, " if he wanted to be 
 turned." 
 
 The ice thus broken, Mr. Hardy spent the fol- 
 lowing day or two in devising plausible reasons for 
 another visit. He found one in the person of Mr. 
 Wilks, who, having been unsuccessful in finding his 
 beloved master at a small tavern down by the Lon- 
 don docks, had returned to Sunwich, by no means 
 benefited by his change of air, to learn the terrible 
 truth as to his disappearance from Hardy. 
 
 " I wish they'd Shanghaid me instead," he said to 
 that sympathetic listener, " or Mrs. Silk." 
 
 "Eh? " said the other, staring. 
 
 " Wot'll be the end of it I don't know," said Mr. 
 Wilks, laying a hand, which still trembled, on the 
 other' c knee. " It's got about that she saved my 
 
 221
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 life by 'er careful missing, and the way she shakes 
 *er 'ead at me for risking my valuable life, as she 
 calls it, going up to London, gives me the shivers." 
 
 "Nonsense," said Hardy; "she can't marry you 
 against your will. Just be distantly civil to her." 
 
 " 'Ow can you be distantly civil when she lives 
 just opposite?" inquired the steward, querulously. 
 " She sent Teddy over at ten o'clock last night to rub 
 vny chest with a bottle o' liniment, and it's no good 
 me saying I'm all right when she's been spending 
 eighteen-pence o' good money over the stuff." 
 
 " She can't marry you unless you ask her," said 
 the comforter. 
 
 Mr. Wilks shook his head. " People in the alley 
 are beginning to talk," he said, dolefully. " Just as 
 I came in this afternoon old George Lee screwed 
 up one eye at two or three women wot was gossip- 
 ing near, and when I asked 'im wot Vd got to wink 
 about he said that a bit o' wedding-cake 'ad blowed 
 in his eye as I passed. It sent them silly creeturs 
 into fits a'most." 
 
 " They'll soon get tired of it," said Hardy. 
 
 Mr. Wilks, still gloomy, ventured to doubt it, 
 but cheered up and became almost bright when his 
 visitor announced his intention of trying to smooth 
 over matters for him at Equator Lodge. He be- 
 came quite voluble in his defence, and attached 
 much importance to the fact that he had nursed 
 
 222
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Nugent when she was in long clothes and had 
 
 taught her to whistle like an angel at the age of five. 
 
 " I've felt being cut adrift by her more than any- 
 
 " He said that a bit o* wedding-cake 'ad blowed in tit eye. 
 
 thing," he said, brokenly. " Nine-an'-twenty years 
 I sailed with the cap'n and served 'im faithful, and 
 this is my reward." 
 
 Hardy pleaded his case next day. Miss Nugent 
 223
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 was alone when he called, and, moved by the vivid 
 picture he drew of the old man's loneliness, accord- 
 ed her full forgiveness, and decided to pay him a 
 visit at once. The fact that Hardy had not been 
 in the house five minutes she appeared to have 
 overlooked. 
 
 " I'll go upstairs and put my hat and jacket on 
 and go now," she said, brightly. 
 
 " That's very kind of you," said Hardy. His 
 voice expressed admiring gratitude ; but he made 
 no sign of leaving his seat. 
 
 " You don't mind ? " said Miss Nugent, pausing 
 in front of him and slightly extending her hand. 
 
 " Not in the least," was the reply ; " but I want 
 to see Wilks myself. Perhaps you'll let me walk 
 down with you ? " 
 
 The request was so unexpected that the girl had 
 no refusal ready. She hesitated and was lost. Fi- 
 nally, she expressed a fear that she might keep him 
 waiting too long while she got ready a fear which 
 he politely declined to consider. 
 
 " Well, we'll see," said the marvelling Miss Nu- 
 gent to herself as she went slowly upstairs. " He's 
 got impudence enough for forty." 
 
 She commenced her preparations for seeing Mr. 
 Wilks by wrapping a shawl round her shoulders and 
 reclining in an easy-chair with a novel. It was a 
 good story, but the room was very cold, and even 
 
 224
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the pleasure of snubbing an intrusive young man 
 did not make amends for the lack of warmth. She 
 read and shivered for an hour, and then with chilled 
 fingers lit the gas and proceeded to array herself for 
 the journey. 
 
 Her temper was not improved by seeing Mr. 
 Hardy sitting in the dark over a good fire when she 
 got downstairs. 
 
 " I'm afraid I've kept you waiting," she said, 
 crisply. 
 
 " Not at all," said Hardy. " I've been very com- 
 fortable." 
 
 Miss Nugent repressed a shiver and, crossing to 
 the fire, thoughtlessly extended her fingers over the 
 blaze. 
 
 " I'm afraid you're cold," said Hardy. 
 
 The girl looked round sharply. His face, or as 
 much of it as she could see in the firelight, bore a 
 look of honest concern somewhat at variance with 
 the quality of his voice. If it had not been for the 
 absurdity of altering her plans on his account she 
 would have postponed her visit to the steward until 
 another day. 
 
 The walk to Fullalove Alley was all too short for 
 Jem Hardy. Miss Nugent stepped along with the 
 air of a martyr anxious to get to the stake and have 
 it over, and she answered in monosyllables when her 
 companion pointed out the beauties of the night. 
 
 225
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 A bitter east wind blew up the road and set her 
 yearning for the joys of Mr. Wilks's best room. 
 
 " It's very cold," she said, shivering. 
 
 Hardy assented, and reluctantly quickened his pace 
 to keep step with hers. Miss Nugent with her chin 
 sunk in a fur boa looked neither to the right nor 
 the left, and turning briskly into the alley, turned 
 the handle of Mr. Wilks's door and walked in, 
 leaving her companion to follow. 
 
 The steward, who was smoking a long pipe over 
 the fire, looked round in alarm. Then his expres- 
 sion changed, and he rose and stammered out a wel- 
 come. Two minutes later Miss Nugent, enthroned 
 in the best chair with her toes on the fender, gave 
 her faithful subject a free pardon and full permission 
 to make hot coffee. 
 
 " And don't you ever try and deceive me again, 
 Sam," she said, as she sipped the comforting bever- 
 age. 
 
 " No, miss," said the steward, humbly. " I've 'ad 
 a lesson. I'll never try and Shanghai anybody else 
 agin as long as I live." 
 
 After this virtuous sentiment he sat and smoked 
 placidly, with occasional curious glances divided be- 
 tween his two visitors. An idle and ridiculous idea, 
 which occurred to him in connection with them, was 
 dismissed at once as too preposterous for a sensible 
 steward to entertain. 
 
 226
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Mrs. Kingdom well ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Quite well," said the girl. " If you take me 
 home, Sam, you shall see her, and be forgiven by 
 her, too." 
 
 " Thankee, miss," said the gratified steward. 
 
 " And what about your foot, Wiiks ? " said 
 Hardy, somewhat taken aback by this arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 " Foot, sir ? " said the unconscious Mr. Wilks ; 
 " wot foot ? " 
 
 " Why, the bad one," said Hardy, with a signifi- 
 cant glance. 
 
 " Ho, that one ? " said Mr. Wilks, beating time 
 and waiting further revelations. 
 
 " Do you think you ought to use it much ? " in- 
 quired Hardy. 
 
 Mr. Wilks looked at it, or, to be more exact, 
 looked at both of them, and smiled weakly. His 
 previous idea recurred to him with renewed force 
 now, and several things in the young man's behav- 
 iour, hitherto disregarded, became suddenly charged 
 with significance. Miss Nugent looked on with an 
 air of cynical interest. 
 
 " Better not run any risk," said Hardy, gravely. 
 " I shall be very pleased to see Miss Nugent home, 
 if she will allow me." 
 
 "What is the matter with it P " inquired Miss 
 Nugent, looking him full in the face. 
 
 227
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy hesitated. Diplomacy, he told himself, 
 was one thing; lying another. He passed the 
 question on to the rather badly used Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " Matter with it ? " repeated that gentleman, glar- 
 ing at him reproachfully. " It's got shootin' pains 
 right up it. I suppose it was walking miles and 
 miles every day in London, looking for the cap'n, 
 was too much for it." 
 
 "Is it too bad for you to take me home, Sam ? " 
 inquired Miss Nugent, softly. 
 
 The perturbed Mr. Wilks looked from one to 
 the other. As a sportsman his sympathies were 
 with Hardy, but his duty lay with the girl. 
 
 " I'll do my best, miss," he said; and got up and 
 limped, very well indeed for a first attempt, round 
 the room. 
 
 Then Miss Nugent did a thing which was a 
 puzzle to herself for some time afterwards. Hav- 
 ing won the victory she deliberately threw away 
 the fruits of it, and declining to allow the steward 
 to run any risks, accepted Hardy's escort home. 
 Mr. Wilks watched them from the door, and 
 with his head in a whirl caused by the night's 
 proceedings mixed himself a stiff glass of grog to 
 set it right, and drank to the health of both of 
 them. 
 
 The wind had abated somewhat in violence as 
 they walked home, and, moreover, they had their 
 
 228
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 backs to it. The walk was slower and more enjoy- 
 able in many respects than the walk out. In an 
 
 " Mr. Wilks drank to the health of both of them." 
 
 unusually soft mood she replied to his remarks and 
 stole little critical glances up at him. When they 
 
 229
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 reached the house she stood a little while at the 
 gate gazing at the starry sky and listening to the 
 crash of the sea on the beach. 
 
 " It is a fine night," she said, as she shook hands. 
 
 "The best I have ever known," said Hardy. 
 " Good-bye."
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE weeks passed all too quickly for James 
 Hardy. He saw Kate Nugent at her own 
 home ; met her, thanks to the able and 
 hearty assistance of Mr. Wilks, at Fullalove Alley, 
 and on several occasions had the agreeable task of 
 escorting her back home. 
 
 He cabled to his father for news of the illustrious 
 stowaway immediately the Conqueror was notified as 
 having reached Port Elizabeth. The reply " Left 
 ship" confirmed his worst fears, but he cheerfully 
 accepted Mrs. Kingdom's view that the captain, in 
 order to relieve the natural anxiety of his family, 
 had secured a passage on the first vessel homeward 
 bound. 
 
 Captain Hardy was the first to reach home. In 
 the early hours of a fine April morning the Con- 
 queror steamed slowly into Sunwich Harbour, and 
 in a very short time the town was revelling in a de- 
 scription of Captain Nugent's first voyage before 
 the mast from lips which were never tired of repeat- 
 ing it. Down by the waterside Mr. Nathan Smith 
 found that he had suddenly attained the rank of a 
 
 231
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 popular hero, and his modesty took alarm at the 
 publicity afforded to his action. It was extremely 
 
 3 
 
 M A popular hero." 
 
 distasteful to a man who ran a quiet business on 
 old-fashioned lines and disbelieved in advertisement 
 He lost three lodgers the same day. 
 
 232
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Jem Hardy was one of the few people in Sun- 
 wich for whom the joke had no charms, and he 
 betrayed such an utter lack of sympathy with his 
 father's recital that the latter accused him at last of 
 wanting a sense of humour. 
 
 " I don't see anything amusing in it," said his 
 son, stiffly. 
 
 Captain Hardy recapitulated one or two choice 
 points, and was even at some pains to explain 
 them. 
 
 " I can't see any fun in it," repeated his son. 
 " Your behaviour seems to me to have been de- 
 plorable." 
 
 " What ? " shouted the captain, hardly able to 
 believe his ears. 
 
 " Captain Nugent was your guest," pursued the 
 other ; " he got on your ship by accident, and he 
 should have been treated decently as a saloon pas- 
 senger." 
 
 " And been apologized to for coming on board, I 
 suppose ? " suggested the captain. 
 
 " It wouldn't have been amiss," was the reply. 
 
 The captain leaned back in his chair and regarded 
 him thoughtfully. " I can't think what's the matter 
 with you, Jem," he said. 
 
 " Ordinary decent ideas, that's all," said his son, 
 scathingly. 
 
 " There's something more in it than that," said 
 233
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the other, positively. " I don't like to see this 
 love-your-enemy business with you, Jem ; it ain't 
 natural to you. Has your health been all right 
 while I've been away ? " 
 
 " Of course it has," said his son, curtly. "If 
 you didn't want Captain Nugent aboard with you 
 why didn't you put him ashore ? It wouldn't have 
 delayed you long. Think of the worry and anxiety 
 you've caused poor Mrs. Kingdom." 
 
 " A holiday for her," growled the captain. 
 
 " It has affected her health," continued his son ; 
 " and besides, think of his daughter. She's a high- 
 spirited girl, and all Sunwich is laughing over her 
 father's mishap," 
 
 " Nugent fell into his own trap," exclaimed the 
 captain, impatiently. " And it won't do that girl of 
 his any harm to be taken down a peg or two. Do 
 her good. Knock some of the nonsense out of 
 her." 
 
 " That's not the way to speak of a lady," sdd 
 Jem, hotly. 
 
 The offended captain regarded him somewhat 
 sourly ; then his face changed, and he got up from 
 his chair and stood before his son with consternation 
 depicted on every feature. 
 
 "You don't mean to tell me," he said, slowly; 
 " you don't mean to tell me that you're thinking 
 anything of Kate Nugent ? "
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Why not ? " demanded the other, defiantly ; 
 " why shouldn't I ? " 
 
 Captain Hardy, whistling softly, made no reply, 
 but still stood eyeing him. 
 
 " I thought there was some other reason for your 
 consideration besides ' ordinary decent ideas,' " he 
 said, at last. " When did it come on ? How long 
 have you had it ? " 
 
 Mr. Hardy, jun., in a studiously unfilial speech, 
 intimated that these pleasantries were not to his 
 taste. 
 
 " No, of course not," said the captain, resuming 
 his seat. " Well, I'm sorry if it's serious, Jem, but 
 I never dreamt you had any ideas in that quarter. 
 If I had I'd have given old Nugent the best bunk 
 on the ship and sung him to sleep myself. Has 
 she given you any encouragement ? " 
 
 " Don't know," said Jem, who found the con- 
 versation awkward. 
 
 " Extraordinary thing," said the captain, shaking 
 his head, " extraordinary. Like a play." 
 
 " Play ? " said his son, sharply. 
 
 " Play," repeated his father, firmly. " What is 
 the name of it ? I saw it once at Newcastle. The 
 lovers take poison and die across each other's chests 
 because their people won't let 'em marry. And 
 that reminds me. I saw some phosphor-paste in the 
 kitchen, Jem. Whose is it ? " 
 
 235
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I'm glad to be the means of affording you 
 amusement," said Jem, grinding his teeth. 
 
 Captain Hardy regarded him affectionately. " Go 
 easy, my lad," he said, equably ; " go easy. If I'd 
 known it before, things would have been different ; 
 as I didn't, we must make the best of it. She's a 
 pretty girl, and a good one, too, for all her airs, but 
 I'm afraid she's too fond of her father to overlook 
 this." 
 
 " That's where you've made such a mess of 
 things," broke in his son. " Why on earth you two 
 old men couldn't " 
 
 " Easy," said the startled captain. " When you 
 are in the early fifties, my lad, your ideas about age 
 will be more accurate. Besides, Nugent is seven or 
 eight years older than I am." 
 
 " What became of him ? " inquired Jem. 
 
 " He was off the moment we berthed," said his 
 father, suppressing a smile. " I don't mean that he 
 bolted he'd got enough starch left in him not to 
 do that but he didn't trespass on our hospitality a 
 moment longer than was necessary. I heard that he 
 got a passage home on the Columbus. He knew the 
 master. She sailed some time before us for London. 
 I thought he'd have been home by this." 
 
 It was not until two days later, however, that the 
 gossip in Sunwich received a pleasant fillip by the ar- 
 rival of the injured captain. He came down from 
 
 236
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 London by the midday train, and, disdaining the 
 privacy of a cab, prepared to run the gauntlet of his 
 fellow-townsmen. 
 
 A weaker man would have made a detour, but he 
 held a direct course, and with a curt nod to acquaint- 
 ances who would have stopped him walked swiftly 
 in the direction of home. Tradesmen ran to their 
 shop-doors to see him, and smoking amphibians 
 lounging at street corners broke out into sunny 
 smiles as he passed. He met these annoyances with 
 a set face and a cold eye, but his views concerning 
 children were not improved by the crowd of small 
 creatures which fluttered along the road ahead of 
 him and, hopeful of developments, clustered round 
 the gate as he passed in. 
 
 It is the pride and privilege of most returned wan- 
 derers to hold forth at great length concerning their 
 adventures, but Captain Nugent was commendably 
 brief. At first he could hardly be induced to speak 
 of them at all, but the necessity of contradicting sto- 
 ries which Bella had gleaned for Mrs. Kingdom from 
 friends in town proved too strong for him. He 
 ground his teeth with suppressed fury as he listened 
 to some of them. The truth was bad enough, and 
 his daughter, sitting by his side with her hand in 
 his, was trembling with indignation. 
 
 " Poor father," she said, tenderly ; " what a time 
 you must have had." 
 
 237
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " It won't bear thinking of," said Mrs. Kingdom, 
 not to be outdone in sympathy. 
 
 " He met these annoyances with a set face." 
 
 "Well, don't think of it," said the captain, 
 shortly. 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom sighed as though to indicate that 
 238
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 her feelings were not to be suppressed in that simple 
 fashion. 
 
 " The anxiety has been very great," she said, shak- 
 ing her head, " but everybody's been very kind. I'm 
 sure all our friends have been most sympathetic. I 
 couldn't go outside the house without somebody 
 stopping me and asking whether there was any news 
 of you. I'd no idea you were so popular ; even the 
 milkman " 
 
 " I'd like some tea," interrupted the captain, 
 roughly ; " that is, when you have finished your very 
 interesting information." 
 
 Mrs. Kingdom pursed her lips together to sup- 
 press the words she was afraid to utter, and rang 
 the bell. 
 
 " Your master would like some tea," she said, 
 primly, as Bella appeared. " He has had a long 
 journey." 
 
 The captain started and eyed her fiercely ; Mrs. 
 Kingdom, her good temper quite restored by this 
 little retort, folded her hands in her lap and gazed 
 at him with renewed sympathy. 
 
 " We all missed you very much," said Kate, 
 softly. " But we had no fears once we knew that 
 you were at sea." 
 
 " And I suppose some of the sailors were kind to 
 you ? " suggested the unfortunate Mrs. Kingdom. 
 " They are rough fellows, but I suppose some of 
 
 239
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 them have got their hearts in the right place. I 
 daresay they were sorry to see you in such a posi- 
 tion." 
 
 The captain's reply was of a nature known to 
 Mrs. Kingdom and her circle as " snapping one's 
 head off." He drew his chair to the table as Bella 
 brought in the tray and, accepting a cup of tea, be- 
 gan to discuss with his daughter the events which 
 had transpired in his absence. 
 
 " There is no news," interposed Mrs. Kingdom, 
 during an interval. " Mr. Hall's aunt died the 
 other day." 
 
 " Never heard of her," said the captain. 
 
 "Neither had I, till then," said his sister. "What 
 a lot of people there are one never hears of, John." 
 
 The captain stared at her offensively and went 
 on with his meal. A long silence ensued. 
 
 " I suppose you didn't get to hear of the cable 
 that was sent ? " said Mrs. Kingdom, making an- 
 other effort to arouse interest. 
 
 " What cable ? " inquired her brother. 
 
 " The one Mr. Hardy sent to his father about 
 you," replied Mrs. Kingdom. 
 
 The captain pushed his chair back and stared her 
 full in the face. " What do you mean ? " he de- 
 manded. 
 
 His sister explained. 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me that you've been 
 240
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 speaking to young Hardy ? " exclaimed the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 " I could hardly help doing so, when he came 
 here," returned his sister, with dignity. " He has 
 been very anxious about you." 
 
 Captain Nugent rose and strode up and down the 
 room. Then he stopped and glanced sharply at his 
 daughter. 
 
 " Were you here when he called? " he demanded. 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 "And you you spoke to him? "roared the cap- 
 tain. 
 
 " I had to be civil," said Miss Nugent, calmly ; 
 " I'm not a sea-captain." 
 
 Her father walked up and down the room again. 
 Mrs. Kingdom, terrified at the storm she had 
 evoked, gazed helplessly at her niece. 
 
 " What did he come here for? " said the captain. 
 
 Miss Nugent glanced down at her plate. " I 
 can't imagine," she said, demurely. " The first time 
 he came to tell us what had become of you." 
 
 The captain stopped in his walk and eyed her 
 sternly. " I am very fortunate in my children," 
 he said, slowly. " One is engaged to marry the 
 daughter of the shadiest rascal in Sunwich, and 
 the other 
 
 " And the other ? " said his daughter, proudly, as 
 he paused. 
 
 6*1
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " The other," said the captain, as he came round 
 the table and put his hand on her shoulder, " is my 
 dear and obedient daughter." 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Nugent ; " but that isn't what 
 you were going to say. You need not worry about 
 me ; I shall not do anything that would displease 
 you." 
 
 242
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 WITH a view to avoiding the awkwardness 
 of a chance meeting with any member of 
 the Nugent family Hardy took the sea 
 road on his way to the office the morning after the 
 captain's return. Common sense told him to leave 
 matters for the present to the healing hand of 
 Time, and to cultivate habits of self-effacement 
 by no means agreeable to one of his tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 Despite himself his spirits rose as he walked. It 
 was an ideal spring morning, cool and sunny. The 
 short turf by the side of the road was fragrant under 
 his heel, and a light wind stirred the blueness of the 
 sea. On the beach below two grizzled men of rest- 
 ful habit were endeavouring to make an old boat 
 waterproof with red and green paint. 
 
 A long figure approaching slowly from the op- 
 posite direction broke into a pleasant smile as he 
 drew near and quickened his pace to meet him. 
 
 " You're out early," said Hardy, as the old man 
 stopped and turned with him. 
 
 " 'Ave to be, sir," said Mr. Wilks, darkly ; " out 
 243
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 early and 'ome late, and more often than not getting 
 my dinner out. That's my life nowadays." 
 
 " Can't you let her see that her attentions are un- 
 desirable?" inquired Hardy, gravely. 
 
 Can't you let her *ee that her attentions are undesirable ? " 
 
 ** I can't be rude to a woman," said the steward, 
 with a melancholy smile ; " if I could, my life would 
 ha* been very different. She's always stepping 
 across to ask my advice about Teddy, or something 
 
 244
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 o' that sort. All last week she kept borrowing my 
 frying-pan, so at last by way of letting 'er see I 
 didn't like it I went out and bought 'er one for her- 
 self. What's the result ? Instead o' being offended 
 she went out and bought me a couple o' neck-ties. 
 When I didn't wear 'em she pretended it was be- 
 cause I didn't like the colour, and she went and 
 bought two more. I'm wearing one now." 
 
 He shook his head ruefully, and Hardy glanced 
 at a tie which would have paled the glories of a 
 rainbow. For some time they walked along in 
 silence. 
 
 " I'm going to pay my respects to Cap'n Nugent 
 this afternoon," said Mr. Wilks, suddenly. 
 
 " Ah," said the other. 
 
 " I knew what it 'ud be with them two on the 
 same ship," continued Mr. Wilks. " I didn't say 
 nothing when you was talking to Miss Kate, but I 
 knew well enough." 
 
 "Ah," said Hardy again. There was no mis- 
 taking the significance of the steward's remarks, and 
 he found them somewhat galling. It was all very 
 well to make use of his humble friend, but he 
 had no desire to discuss his matrimonial projects 
 with him. 
 
 " It's a great pity," pursued the unconscious Mr. 
 Wilks, "just as everything seemed to be going on 
 smoothly ; but while there's life there's 'ope."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " That's a smart barge over there," said Hardy, 
 pointing it out. 
 
 Mr. Wilks nodded. " I shall keep my eyes open 
 this afternoon," he said reassuringly. " And if I 
 get a chance of putting in a word it'll be put in. 
 Twenty-nine years I sailed with the cap'n, and if 
 there's anybody knows his weak spots it's me." 
 
 He stopped as they reached the town and said 
 " good-bye." He pressed the young man's hand 
 sympathetically, and a wink of intense artfulness 
 gave point to his last remark. 
 
 " There's always Sam Wilks's cottage," he said, 
 in a husky whisper ; " and if two of 'is friends should 
 'appen to meet there, who'd be the wiser ? " 
 
 He gazed benevolently after the young man's 
 retreating figure and continued his stroll, his own 
 troubles partly forgotten in the desire to assist his 
 friends. It would be a notable feat for the humble 
 steward to be the means of bringing the young 
 people together and thereby bringing to an end the 
 feud of a dozen years. He pictured himself eventu- 
 ally as the trusted friend and adviser of both families, 
 and in one daring flight of fancy saw himself hob- 
 nobbing with the two captains over pipes and whisky. 
 
 Neatly dressed and carrying a small offering of 
 wallflowers, he set out that afternoon to call on his old 
 master, giving, as he walked, the last touches to a 
 little speech of welcome which he had prepared dur- 
 
 246
 
 At Sunwich. Port 
 
 ing dinner. It was a happy effort, albeit a trifle 
 laboured, but Captain Nugent's speech, the inspira- 
 tion of the moment, gave it no chance. 
 
 He started the moment the bowing Mr. Wilks 
 entered the room, his voice rising gradually from 
 low, bitter tones to a hurricane note which Bella 
 could hear in the kitchen without even leaving her 
 chair. Mr. Wilks stood dazed and speechless be- 
 fore him, holding the wallflowers in one hand and 
 his cap in the other. In this attitude he listened to 
 a description of his character drawn with the loving 
 skill of an artist whose whole heart was in his work, 
 and who seemed never tired of filling in details. 
 
 " If you ever have the hardihood to come to my 
 house again," he concluded, " I'll break every bone 
 in your misshapen body. Get ! " 
 
 Mr. Wilks turned and groped his way to the 
 door. Then he went a little way back with some 
 idea of defending himself, but the door of the room 
 was slammed in his face. He walked slowly down 
 the path to the road and stood there for some time 
 in helpless bewilderment. In all his sixty years of 
 life his feelings had never been so outraged. His 
 cap was still in his hand, and, with a helpless gest- 
 ure, he put it on and scattered his floral offering in 
 the road. Then he made a bee-line for the Two 
 Schooners. 
 
 Though convivial by nature and ever free with 
 247
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 his money, he sat there drinking alone in silent 
 misery. Men came and went, but he still sat there 
 noting with mournful pride the attention caused by 
 his unusual bearing. To casual inquiries he shook 
 his head ; to more direct ones he only sighed heavily 
 and applied himself to his liquor. Curiosity increased 
 with numbers as the day wore on, and the steward, 
 determined to be miserable, fought manfully against 
 an ever-increasing cheerfulness due to the warming 
 properties of the ale within. 
 
 " I 'ope you ain't lost nobody, Sam ? " said a dis- 
 comfited inquirer at last. 
 
 Mr. Wilks shook his head. 
 
 " You look as though you'd lost a shilling and 
 found a ha'penny," pursued the other. 
 
 " Found a what ? " inquired Mr. Wilks, wrin- 
 kling his forehead. 
 
 " A. ha'penny," said his friend. 
 
 Who did ? " said Mr. Wilks. 
 
 The other attempted to explain and was ably 
 assisted by two friends, but without avail ; the im- 
 pression left on Mr. Wilks's mind being that some- 
 body had got a shilling of his. He waxed ex- 
 ceeding bitter, and said that he had been missing 
 shillings for a long time. 
 
 "You're labourin' under a mistake, Sam," said 
 the first speaker. 
 
 Mr. Wilks laughed scornfully and essayed a 
 248
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 sneer, while his friends, regarding his contortions 
 with some anxiety, expressed a fear that he was not 
 quite himself. To this suggestion the steward 
 deigned no reply, and turning to the landlord bade 
 him replenish his mug. 
 
 " You've 'ad enough, Mr. Wilks," said that gen- 
 tleman, who had been watching him for some time. 
 
 Mr. Wilks, gazing at him mistily, did not at first 
 understand the full purport of this remark ; but 
 when he did, his wrath was so majestic and his re- 
 marks about the quality of the brew so libellous that 
 the landlord lost all patience. 
 
 " You get off home," he said, sharply. 
 
 " Listen t' me," said Mr. Wilks, impressively. 
 
 " I don't want no words with you," said the land- 
 lord. " You get off home while you can." 
 
 " That's right, Sam," said one of the company, 
 putting his hand on the steward's arm. " You take 
 his advice." 
 
 Mr. Wilks shook the hand off and eyed his ad- 
 viser ferociously. Then he took a glass from the 
 counter and smashed it on the floor. The next 
 moment the bar was in a ferment, and the landlord, 
 gripping Mr. Wilks round the middle, skilfully 
 piloted him to the door and thrust him into the 
 road. 
 
 The strong air blowing from the sea disordered 
 the steward's faculties still further. His treatment 
 
 249
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 inside was forgotten, and, leaning against the front 
 of the tavern, he stood open-mouthed, gazing at 
 rnarvels. Ships in the harbour suddenly quitted 
 
 " He took a glass from the counter and smashed it on the floor. ' ' 
 
 their native element and were drawn up into the 
 firmament ; nobody passed but twins. 
 
 " Evening, Mr. Wilks," said a voice. 
 
 The steward peered down at the voice. At first 
 
 250
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 he thought it was another case of twins, but looking 
 close he saw that it was Mr. Edward Silk alone. 
 He saluted him graciously, and then, with a wave 
 of his hand toward the sky, sought to attract his 
 attention to the ships there. 
 
 " Yes," said the unconscious Mr. Silk, " sign of 
 a fine day to-morrow. Are you going my way ? " 
 
 Mr. Wilks smiled, and detaching himself from the 
 tavern with some difficulty just saved Mr. Silk from 
 a terrible fall by clutching him forcibly round the 
 neck. The ingratitude of Mr. Silk was a rebuff to 
 a nature which was at that moment overflowing with 
 good will. For a moment the steward was half in- 
 clined to let him go home alone, but the reflection 
 that he would never get there softened him. 
 
 " Pull yourself t'gether," he said, gravely, 
 " Now, 'old on me." 
 
 The road, as they walked, rose up in imitation of 
 the shipping, but Mr. Wilks knew now the expla- 
 nation : Teddy Silk was intoxicated. Very gently 
 he leaned towards the erring youth and wagged his 
 head at him. 
 
 " Are you going to hold up or aren't you ? " de- 
 manded Mr. Silk, shortly. 
 
 The steward waived the question ; he knew from 
 experience the futility of arguing with men in drink. 
 The great thing was to get Teddy Silk home, not 
 to argue with him. He smiled good-temperedly 
 
 251
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 to himself, and with a sudden movement pinned 
 him up against the wall in time to arrest another fall. 
 
 "The great thing was to get Teddy Silk home." 
 
 With frequent halts by the way, during which the 
 shortness of Mr. Silk's temper furnished Mr. Wilks 
 
 252
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 with the texts of several sermons, none of whicn ud 
 finished, they at last reached Fullalove Alley, and 
 the steward, with a brief exhortation to his charge 
 to hold his head up, bore down on Mrs. Silk, who 
 was sitting in her doorway. 
 
 " I've brought 'im 'ome," he said, steadying him- 
 self against the door-post ; " brought 'im 'ome." 
 
 " Brought 'im 'ome ? " said the bewildered Mrs, 
 Silk. 
 
 " Don' say anything to 'im," entreated Mr. 
 Wilks, " my sake. Thing might 'appen anybody." 
 
 " He's been like that all the way," said Mr. Silk, 
 regarding the steward with much disfavour. " I 
 don't know why I troubled about him, I'm sure." 
 
 " Crowd roun' 'im," pursued the imaginative Mr. 
 Wilks. " 'Old up, Teddy." 
 
 " I'm sure it's very kind of you, Mr. Wilks," said 
 the widow, as she glanced at a little knot of neigh- 
 bours standing near. " Will you come inside for a 
 minute or two ? " 
 
 She moved the chair to let him pass, and Mr, 
 Wilks, still keeping the restraining hand of age on 
 the shoulder of intemperate youth, passed in and 
 stood, smiling amiably, while Mrs. Silk lit the lamp 
 and placed it in the centre of the table, which was 
 laid for supper. The light shone on a knuckle 
 of boiled pork, a home-made loaf, and a fresh-cut 
 wedge of cheese.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I suppose you won't stay and pick a bit o* sup- 
 per with us ? " said Mrs. Silk. 
 
 " Why not ? " inquired Mr. Wilks. 
 
 " I'm sure, if I had known," said Mrs. Silk, as 
 she piloted him to a seat, " I'd 'ave 'ad something 
 nice. There, now ! If I 'aven't been and forgot 
 the beer." 
 
 She left the table and went into the kitchen, and 
 Mr. Wilks's eyes glistened as she returned with a 
 large brown jug full of foaming ale and filled his 
 glass. 
 
 " Teddy mustn't 'ave any," he said, sharply, as 
 she prepared to fill that gentleman's glass. 
 
 " Just 'alf a glass," she said, winsomely. 
 
 " Not a drop," said Mr. Wilks, firmly. 
 
 Mrs. Silk hesitated, and screwing up her forehead 
 glanced significantly at her son. " 'Ave some by- 
 and-by," she whispered. 
 
 " Give me the jug," said Mr. Silk, indignantly. 
 " What are you listening to 'im for ? Can't you 
 see what's the matter with 'im ? " 
 
 " Not to 'ave it," said Mr. Wilks ; " put it 'ere." 
 
 He thumped the table emphatically with his hand, 
 and before her indignant son could interfere Mrs. 
 Silk had obeyed. It was the last straw. Mr. Ed- 
 ward Silk rose to his feet with tremendous effect 
 and, first thrusting his plate violently away from 
 him, went out into the night, slamming the door 
 
 254
 
 At Stmwich Port 
 
 behind him with such violence that the startled Mr. 
 Wilks was nearly blown out of his chair. 
 
 "He don't mean nothing," said Mrs. Silk, turning 
 a rather scared face to the steward. " 'E's a bit 
 jealous of you, I s'pose." 
 
 Mr. Wilks shook his head. Truth to tell, he was 
 rather at a loss to know exactly what had happened. 
 
 "And then there's 'is love affair," sighed Mrs. 
 Silk. " He'll never get over the loss of Amelia 
 Kybird. I always know when J e 'as seen her, he's 
 that miserable there's no getting a word out of 'im." 
 
 Mr. Wilks smiled vaguely and went on with his 
 supper, and, the meal finished, allowed himself to 
 be installed in an easy-chair, while his hostess cleared 
 the table. He sat and smoked in high good hu- 
 mour with himself, the occasional remarks he made 
 being received with an enthusiasm which they sel- 
 dom provoked elsewhere. 
 
 " I should like t' sit 'ere all night," he said, at last. 
 
 " I don't believe it," said Mrs. Silk, playfully. 
 
 " Like t' sit 'ere all night," repeated Mr. Wilks, 
 somewhat sternly. " All nex f day, all day after, day 
 after that, day " 
 
 Mrs. Silk eyed him softly. " Why would you 
 like to sit here all that time ? " she inquired, in a low 
 voice. 
 
 " B'cause," said Mr. Wilks, simply, " b'cause I 
 don't feel's if I can stand. Goo'-night." 
 
 255
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 He closed his eyes on the indignant Mrs. Silk 
 and fell fast asleep. It was a sound sleep and 
 dreamjess, and only troubled by the occasional in- 
 effectual attempts of his hostess to arouse him. She 
 gave up the attempt at last, and taking up a pair 
 of socks sat working thoughtfully the other side of 
 the fire-place. 
 
 The steward awoke an hour or two later, and 
 after what seemed a terrible struggle found himself 
 standing at the open door with the cold night air 
 blowing in his face, and a voice which by an effort 
 of memory he identified as that of Edward Silk 
 inviting him " to go home and lose no time about 
 it." Then the door slammed behind him and he 
 tood balancing himself with some difficulty on the 
 step, wondering what had happened. By the time 
 he had walked up and down the deserted alley three 
 or four times light was vouchsafed to him and, 
 shivering slightly, he found his own door and went 
 to bed. 
 
 '5*
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ANY hopes which Hardy might have enter- 
 tained as to the attitude of Miss Nugent 
 were dispelled the first time he saw her, that 
 dutiful daughter of a strong-willed sire favouring 
 him with a bow which was exactly half an inch in 
 depth and then promptly bestowing her gaze else- 
 where. He passed Captain Nugent next day, and 
 for a week afterwards he had only to close his eyes 
 to see in all its appalling virulence the glare with 
 which that gentleman had acknowledged his attempt 
 at recognition. 
 
 He fared no better in Fullalove Alley, a visit to 
 Mr. Wilks eliciting the fact that that delectable 
 thoroughfare had been put out of bounds for Miss 
 Nugent. Moreover, Mr. Wilks was full of his 
 own troubles and anxious for any comfort and ad- 
 vice that could be given to him. All the alley- 
 knew that Mrs. Silk had quarrelled with her son 
 over the steward, and, without knowing the facts, 
 spoke their mind with painful freedom concerning 
 them. 
 
 " She and Teddy don't speak to each other now.'* 
 257
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 said Mr. Wilks, gloomily, " and to 'ear people talk 
 you'd think it was my fault." 
 
 Hardy gave him what comfort he could. He 
 
 even went the length of 
 saying that Mrs. Silk 
 was a fine woman. 
 
 " She acts like a suf- 
 fering martyr," exclaimed 
 Mr. Wilks. " She comes 
 over 'ere dropping hints 
 that people are talking 
 about us, and that they 
 ask 'er awkward ques- 
 tions. Pretending to 
 misunderstand 'er every 
 time is enough to send 
 me crazy; and she's so 
 sudden in what she says 
 there's no being up to 'er. 
 On'y this morning she 
 asked me if I should be 
 sorry if she died." 
 
 "What did you say?" 
 inquired his listener. 
 
 "I said 'yes,'" ad- 
 mitted Mr. Wilks, reluctantly. " I couldn't say 
 anything else ; but I said that she wasn't to let my 
 feelings interfere with 'er in any way." 
 
 258 
 
 " Captain Nugent."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy's father sailed a day or two later, and aftei 
 that nothing happened. Equator Lodge was an im- 
 pregnable fortress, and the only member of the gar- 
 rison he saw in a fortnight was Bella. 
 
 His depression did not escape the notice of his 
 partner, who, after first advising love-philtres and 
 then a visit to a well-known specialist for diseases of 
 the heart, finally recommended more work, and put 
 a generous portion of his own on to the young man's 
 desk. Hardy, who was in an evil temper, pitched 
 it on to the floor and, with a few incisive remarks 
 on levity unbecoming to age, pursued his duties in 
 gloomy silence. 
 
 A short time afterwards, however, he had to grap- 
 ple with his partner's work in real earnest. For the 
 first time in his life the genial shipbroker was laid up 
 with a rather serious illness. A chill caught while 
 bathing was going the round of certain unsuspected 
 weak spots, and the patient, who was of an in- 
 quiring turn of mind, was taking a greater interest 
 in medical works than his doctor deemed advis- 
 able. 
 
 " Most interesting study," he said, faintly, to 
 Hardy, as the latter sat by his bedside one evening 
 and tried to cheer him in the usual way by telling 
 him that there was nothing the matter with him. 
 " There are dozens of different forms of liver com- 
 plaint alone, and I've got 'em all." 
 
 259
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Liver isn't much," said his visitor, with the con- 
 fidence of youth. 
 
 " Mine is," retorted the invalid ; " it's twice its 
 proper size and still growing. Base of the left lung 
 is solidifying, or I'm much mistaken ; the heart, in- 
 stead of waltzing as is suitable to my time of life, is 
 doing a galop, and everything else is as wrong as it 
 can be." 
 
 " When are you coming back ? " inquired the 
 other. 
 
 " Back ? " repeated Swann. " Back ? You haven't 
 been listening. I'm a wreck. All through violating 
 man's primeval instinct by messing about in cold 
 water. What is the news ? " 
 
 Hardy pondered and shook his head. " Nugent 
 is going to be married in July," he said, at last. 
 
 " He'd better have had that trip on the whaler," 
 commented Mr. Swann ; " but that is not news. 
 Nathan Smith told it me this morning." 
 
 " Nathan Smith ? " repeated the other, in surprise. 
 
 " I've done him a little service," said the invalid. 
 " Got him out of a mess with Garth and Co. He's 
 been here two or three times, and I must confess I 
 find him a most alluring rascal." 
 
 " Birds of a feather " began Hardy, supercil- 
 iously. 
 
 " Don't flatter me," said Swann, putting his hand 
 out of the bed-clothes with a deprecatory gesture. 
 
 260
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " I am not worthy to sit at his feet. He is the most 
 amusing knave on the coast. He is like a sunbeam 
 in a sick room when you can once get him to talk 
 of his experiences. Have you seen young Nugent 
 lately ? Does he seem cheerful r " 
 
 " Yes, but he is not," was the reply. 
 
 " Well, it's natural for the young to marry," said 
 the other, gravely. " Murchison will be the next to 
 go, I expect." 
 
 " Possibly," returned Hardy, with affected calm- 
 ness. 
 
 " Blaikie was saying something about it this morn- 
 ing," resumed Swann, regarding him from half-closed 
 lids, " but he was punching and tapping me all about 
 the ribs while he was talking, and I didn't catch all 
 he said, but I think it's all arranged. Murchison is 
 there nearly every day, I understand ; I suppose you 
 meet him there ? " 
 
 Mr. Hardy, whistling softly, rose and walked 
 round the room, uncorking medicine bottles and 
 sniffing at their contents. A smile of unaffected 
 pleasure lit up his features as he removed the stop- 
 per from one particularly pungent mixture. 
 
 " Two tablespoonfuls three times a day," he read, 
 slowly. " When did you have the last, Swann ? 
 Shall I ring for the nurse ? " 
 
 The invalid shook his head impatiently. " You're 
 an ungrateful dog," he muttered, " or you would tell 
 
 261
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 me how your affair is going. Have you got any 
 chance ? " 
 
 " You're getting light-headed now," said Hardy, 
 calmly. " I'd better go." 
 
 "All right, go then," responded the invalid ; " but 
 
 'Sniffing at their contents." 
 262
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 if you lose that girl just for the want of a little skilled 
 advice from an expert, you'll never forgive yourself 
 I'm serious." 
 
 " Well, you must be ill then," said the younger 
 man, with anxiety. 
 
 " Twice," said Mr. Swann, lying on his back and 
 apparently addressing the ceiling, " twice I have 
 given this young man invaluable assistance, and 
 each time he has bungled." 
 
 Hardy laughed and, the nurse returning to the 
 room, bade him " good-bye " and departed. After 
 the close atmosphere of the sick room the air was 
 delicious, and he walked along slowly, deep in 
 thought. From Nathan Smith his thoughts wan- 
 dered to Jack Nugent and his unfortunate engage- 
 ment, and from that to Kate Nugent. For months 
 he had been revolving impossible schemes in his 
 mind to earn her gratitude, and possibly that of the 
 captain, by extricating Jack. In the latter connec- 
 tion he was also reminded of that unhappy victim 
 of unrequited affection, Edward Silk. 
 
 It was early to go indoors, and the house was dull. 
 He turned and retraced his steps, and, his thoughts 
 reverting to his sick partner, smiled as he remem- 
 bered remarks which that irresponsible person had 
 made at various times concerning the making of his 
 last will and testament. Then he came to a sudden 
 standstill as a wild, forlorn-hope kind of idea sud- 
 
 263
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 denly occurred to him. He stood for some time 
 thinking, then walked a little way, and then stopped 
 again as various difficulties presented themselves for 
 solution. Finally, despite the lateness of the hour, 
 he walked back in some excitement to the house he 
 had quitted over half an hour before with the inten- 
 tion of speaking to the invalid concerning a duty 
 peculiarly incumbent upon elderly men of means. 
 
 The nurse, who came out of the sick room, gently 
 closing the door after her, demurred a little to this 
 second visit, but, receiving a promise from the visitor 
 not to excite the invalid, left them together. The 
 odour of the abominable physic was upon the air. 
 
 " Well ?" said the invalid. 
 
 " I have been thinking that I was rather uncivil 
 a little while ago," said Hardy. 
 
 " Ah ! " said the other. " What do you want ? " 
 
 " A little of that skilled assistance you were speak- 
 ing of." 
 
 Mr. Swann made an alarming noise in his throat. 
 Hardy sprang forward in alarm, but he motioned 
 him back. 
 
 " I was only laughing," he explained. 
 
 Hardy repressed his annoyance by an effort, and 
 endeavoured, but with scant success, to return the 
 other's smile. 
 
 " Go on," said the shipbroker, presently. 
 
 " I have thought of a scheme for upsetting Nu- 
 264
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 gent's marriage," said Hardy, slowly. " It is just 
 a forlorn hope which depends for its success on you 
 and Nathan Smith." 
 
 " He's a friend of Kybird's," said the other, drily. 
 
 " That is the most important thing of all," re- 
 joined Hardy. " That is, next to your shrewdness 
 and tact ; everything depends upon you, really, and 
 whether you can fool Smith. It is a great thing in 
 our favour that you have been taking him up 
 lately." 
 
 " Are you coming to the point or are you not ? " 
 demanded the shipbroker. 
 
 Hardy looked cautiously round the room, and 
 then, drawing his chair close to the bed, leaned over 
 the prostrate man and spoke rapidly into his ear. 
 
 " What? " cried the astounded Mr. Swann, sud- 
 denly sitting up in his bed. "You you scoun- 
 drel ! " 
 
 " It's to be done," said Hardy. 
 
 " You ghoul ! " said the invalid, glaring at him. 
 " Is that the way to talk to a sick man ? You un- 
 scrupulous rascal ! " 
 
 "It'll be amusement for you," pleaded the other, 
 " and if we are successful it will be the best thing in 
 the end for everybody. Think of the good you'll 
 do." 
 
 " Where you get such rascally ideas from, I can't 
 think," mused the invalid. "Your father is a 
 
 265
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 straightforward, honest man, and your partner's up- 
 rightness is the talk of Sunwich." 
 
 " It doesn't take much to make Sunwich talk," 
 retorted Hardy. 
 
 "A preposterous suggestion to make to a man 
 of my standing," said the shipbroker, ignoring th*, 
 remark. " If the affair ever leaked out I should 
 never hear the end of it." 
 
 "It can't leak out," said Hardy, "and if it does 
 there is no direct evidence. They will never really 
 know until you die ; they can only suspect." 
 
 " Very well," said the shipbroker, with a half- 
 indulgent, half-humorous glance. " Anything to 
 get rid of you. It's a crack-brained scheme, and 
 could only originate with a young man whose affec- 
 tions have weakened his head I consent." 
 
 " Bravo ! " said Hardy and patted him on the 
 back ; Mr. Swann referred to the base of his left 
 lung, and he apologized. 
 
 " I'll have to fix it up with Blaikie,'* said the in- 
 valid, lying down again. " Murchison got two of 
 his best patients last week, so that it ought to be 
 easy. And besides, he is fond of innocent amuse- 
 ment." 
 
 " I'm awfully obliged to you," said Hardy. 
 
 " It might be as well if we pretended to quarrel," 
 said the invalid, reflectively, " especially as you are 
 known to be a friend of Nugent's. We'll have a 
 
 266
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 few words before my housekeeper if possible, to 
 insure publicity and then you had better not come 
 again. Send Silk instead with messages." 
 
 Hardy thanked him and whispered a caution as a 
 footstep was heard on the landing. The door opened 
 and the nurse, followed by the housekeeper bearing 
 a tray, entered the room. 
 
 " And I can't be worried about these things," said 
 Swann, in an acrimonious voice, as they entered. 
 " If you are not capable of settling a simple ques- 
 tion like that yourself, ask the office-boy to instruct 
 you." 
 
 " It's your work," retorted Hardy, " and a nice 
 mess it's in." 
 
 " H'sh ! " said the nurse, coming forward hastily. 
 " You must leave the room, sir. I can't have you 
 exciting my patient." 
 
 Hardy bestowed an indignant glance at the in- 
 valid. 
 
 " Get out ! " said that gentleman, with extraor- 
 dinary fierceness for one in his weak condition. 
 "In future, nurse, I won't have this person admitted 
 to my room." 
 
 " Yes, yes ; certainly," said the nurse. " You 
 must go, sir ; at once, please." 
 
 " I'm going," said Hardy, almost losing his grav- 
 ity at the piteous spectacle afforded by the house- 
 keeper as she stood, still holding the tray and star- 
 
 267
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 ing open-mouthed at the combatants. " When 
 you're tired of skulking in bed, perhaps you'll come 
 and do your share of the work." 
 
 Puppy! *id the 
 
 Mr. Swann rose to a sitting position, and his de- 
 meanour was so alarming that the nurse, hastening 
 
 268
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 over to him, entreated him to lie down, and waved 
 Hardy peremptorily from the room. 
 
 " Puppy ! " said the invalid, with great relish. 
 " Blockhead ! " 
 
 He gazed fixedly at the young man as he de- 
 parted and then, catching sight in his turn of the 
 housekeeper's perplexity, laid himself down and 
 buried his face in the bed-clothes. The nurse 
 crossed over to her assistant and, taking the tray 
 from her, told her in a sharp whisper that if she 
 ever admitted Mr. Hardy again she would not be 
 answerable for the consequences.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 CHARMED at the ease with which he had 
 demolished the objections of Mr. Adolphus 
 Swann and won that suffering gentleman 
 over to his plans, Hardy began to cast longing 
 glances at Equator Lodge. He reminded himself 
 that the labourer was worthy of his hire, and it 
 seemed moreover an extremely desirable thing that 
 Captain Nugent should know that he was labouring 
 in his vineyard with the full expectation of a boun- 
 teous harvest. He resolved to call. 
 
 Kate Nugent, who heard the gate swing behind 
 him as he entered the front garden, looked up and 
 stood spellbound at his audacity. As a fairly coura- 
 geous young person she was naturally an admirer of 
 boldness in others, but this seemed sheer reckless- 
 ness. Moreover, it was recklessness in which, if she 
 stayed where she was, she would have to bear a part 
 or be guilty of rudeness, of which she felt incapable. 
 She took a third course, and, raising her eyebrows 
 at the unnecessarily loud knocking with which the 
 young man announced his arrival, retreated in good 
 order into the garden, where her father, in a some- 
 
 2"O
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 what heated condition, was laboriously planting 
 geraniums. She had barely reached him when Bella, 
 in a state of fearsome glee, came down the garden 
 to tell the captain of his visitor. 
 
 " Bella, in a state of fearsome glee, came down the garden to tell the captain of 
 his visitor." 
 
 271
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Who ? " said the latter, sharply, as he straight- 
 ened his aching back. 
 
 " Young Mr. Hardy," said Bella, impressively. 
 " I showed 'im in ; I didn't ask 'im to take a chair, 
 but he took one." 
 
 " Young Hardy to see me ! " said the captain to 
 his daughter, after Bella had returned to the house. 
 "How dare he come to my house? Infernal im- 
 pudence ! I won't see him." 
 
 " Shall I go in and see him for you ? " inquired 
 Kate, with affected artlessness. 
 
 " You stay where you are, miss," said her father. 
 " I won't have him speak to you ; I won't have him 
 look at you. I'll " 
 
 He beat his dirty hands together and strode off 
 towards the house. Jem Hardy rose from his chair 
 as the captain entered the room and, ignoring a look 
 of black inquiry, bade him " Good afternoon," 
 
 " What do you want ? " asked the captain, gruffly, 
 as he stared him straight in the eye. 
 
 " I came to see you about your son's marriage," 
 said the other. " Are you still desirous of prevent- 
 ing it?" 
 
 " I'm sorry you've had the trouble," said the cap- 
 tain, in a voice of suppressed anger ; " and now may 
 I ask you to get out of my house ? " 
 
 Hardy bowed. " I am sorry I have troubled 
 you," he said, calmly, " but I have a plan which I 
 
 272
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 think would get your son out of this affair, and, as 
 a business man, I wanted to make something out 
 of it." 
 
 The captain eyed him scornfully, but he was glad 
 to see this well-looking, successful son of his old 
 enemy tainted with such sordid views. Instead of 
 turning him out he spoke to him almost fairly. 
 
 " How much do you want ? " he inquired. 
 
 " All things considered, I am asking a good deal," 
 was the reply. 
 
 " How much ? " repeated the captain, impatiently. 
 
 Hardy hesitated. "In exchange for the service I 
 want permission to visit here when I choose," he 
 said, at length ; " say twice a week." 
 
 Words failed the captain ; none with which he was 
 acquainted seemed forcible enough for the occasion. 
 He faced his visitor stuttering with rage, and pointed 
 to the door. 
 
 " Get out of my house," he roared. 
 
 " I'm sorry to have intruded," said Hardy, as he 
 crossed the room and paused at the door ; " it is 
 none of my business, of course. I thought that I 
 saw an opportunity of doing your son a good turn 
 he is a friend of mine and at the same time pay- 
 ing off old scores against Kybird and Nathan Smith. 
 I thought that on that account it might suit you. 
 Good afternoon." 
 
 He walked out into the hall, and reaching the 
 273
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 front door fumbled clumsily with the catch. The 
 captain watching his efforts in grim silence began to 
 
 " 'Get out of my house,' he roared." 
 
 experience the twin promptings of curiosity and 
 temptation. 
 
 "What is this wonderful plan of yours? " he de- 
 manded, with a sneer. 
 
 " Just at present tKat must remain a secret," said 
 274
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 the other. He came from the door and, unbidden, 
 followed the captain into the room again. 
 
 " What do you want to visit at my house for ? " 
 inquired the latter, in a forbidding voice. 
 
 " To see your daughter," said Hardy. 
 
 The captain had a relapse. He had not expected 
 a truthful answer, and, when it came, in the most 
 matter-of-fact tone, it found him quite unprepared. 
 His first idea was to sacrifice his dignity and forcibly 
 eject his visitor, but more sensible thoughts pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 " You are quite sure, I suppose, that your visits 
 would be agreeable to my daughter? " he said, con- 
 temptuously. 
 
 Hardy shook his head. " I should come osten- 
 sibly to see you," he said, cheerfully ; " to smoke a 
 pipe with you." 
 
 " Smoke ! " stuttered the captain, explosively ; 
 " smoke a pipe with ME ? " 
 
 "Why not ?" said the other. "I am offering 
 you my services, and anything that is worth having 
 is worth paying for. I suppose we could both 
 smoke pipes under pleasanter conditions. What 
 have you got against me? It isn't my fault that 
 you and my father have quarrelled." 
 
 " I don't want anything more to say to you," said 
 the captain, sternly. " I've shown you the door 
 once. Am I to take forcible measures ? " 
 
 275
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy shrugged his broad shoulders. " I am 
 sorry," he said, moving to the door again. 
 
 " So am I," said the other. 
 
 " It's a pity," said Hardy, regretfully. " It's the 
 chance of a lifetime. I had set my heart on fooling 
 Kybird and Smith, and now all my trouble is wasted. 
 Nathan Smith would be all the better for a fall." 
 
 The captain hesitated. His visitor seemed to be 
 confident, and he would have given a great deal to 
 prevent his son's marriage and a great deal to repay 
 some portion of his debt to the ingenious Mr. Smith. 
 Moreover, there seemed to be an excellent oppor- 
 tunity of punishing the presumption of his visitor by 
 taking him at his word. 
 
 " I don't think you'd enjoy your smoking here 
 much," he said, curtly. 
 
 " I'll take my chance of that," said the other. 
 " It will only be a matter of a few weeks, and then, 
 if I am unsuccessful, my visits cease." 
 
 " And if you're successful, am I to have the pleas- 
 ure of your company for the rest of my life ? " de- 
 manded the captain. 
 
 " That will be for you to decide," was the reply. 
 " Is it a bargain ? " 
 
 The captain looked at him and deliberated. " All 
 right. Mondays and Thursdays," he said, laconi- 
 cally. 
 
 Hardy saw through the ruse, and countered. 
 276
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Now Swann is ill I can't always get away when I 
 wish," he said, easily. " I'll just drop in when I 
 can. Good day." 
 
 He opened the door and, fearful lest the other 
 should alter his mind at the last moment, walked 
 briskly down the path to the gate. The captain 
 stood for some time after his departure deep in 
 thought, and then returned to the garden to be skil- 
 fully catechized by Miss Nugent. 
 
 " And when my young friend comes with his 
 pipe you'll be in another room," he concluded, 
 warningly. 
 
 Miss Nugent looked up and patted his cheek 
 tenderly. " What a talent for organization you 
 have," she remarked, softly. " A place for every- 
 thing and everything in its place. The idea of his 
 taking such a fancy to you ! " 
 
 The captain coughed and eyed her suspiciously. 
 He had been careful not to tell her Hardy's reasons 
 for coming, but he had a shrewd idea that his cau- 
 tion was wasted. 
 
 " To-day is Thursday," said Kate, slowly ; " he 
 will be here to-morrow and Saturday. What shall 
 I wear ? " 
 
 The captain resumed his gardening operations by 
 no means perturbed at the prophecy. Much as he 
 disliked the young man he gave him credit for a 
 certain amount of decency, and his indignation was 
 
 277
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 proportionately great the following evening when 
 Bella announced Mr. Hardy. He made a genial 
 remark about Shylock and a pound of flesh, but find- 
 ing that it was only an excellent conversational open- 
 ing, the subject of Shakespeare's plays lapsed into 
 silence* 
 
 It was an absurd situation, but he was host and 
 Hardy allowed him to see pretty plainly that he was 
 a guest. He answered the latter's remarks with a 
 very ill grace, and took covert stock of him as one 
 of a species he had not encountered before. One 
 result of his stock-taking was that he was spared any 
 feeling of surprise when his visitor came the follow- 
 ing evening. 
 
 " It's the thin end of the wedge," said Miss Nu- 
 gent, who came into the room after Hardy had de- 
 parted ; " you don't know him as well as I do." 
 
 " Eh ? " said her father, sharply. 
 
 " I mean that you are not such a judge of charac- 
 ter as I am," said Kate ; " and besides, I have made 
 a special study of young men. The only thing that 
 puzzles me is why you should have such an extra- 
 ordinary fascination for him." 
 
 " You talk too much, miss," said the captain, 
 drawing the tobacco-jar towards him and slowly fill- 
 ing his pipe. 
 
 Miss Nugent sighed, and after striking a match 
 for him took a seat on the arm of his chair and 
 
 278
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 placed her hand on his shoulder. " I can quite un- 
 derstand him liking you," she said, slowly. 
 
 The captain grunted. 
 
 " And if he is like other sensible people," contin- 
 ued Miss Nugent, in a coaxing voice, " the more 
 he sees of you the more he'll like you. I do hope 
 he has not come to take you away from me." 
 
 The indignant captain edged her off the side of 
 his chair ; Miss Nugent, quite undisturbed, got on 
 again and sat tapping the floor with her foot. Her 
 arm stole round his neck and she laid her cheek 
 against his head and smiled wickedly. 
 
 " Nice-looking, isn't he ? " she said, in a careless 
 voice. 
 
 " I don't know anything about his looks," growled 
 her father. 
 
 Miss Nugent gave a little exclamation of surprise. 
 " First thing I noticed," she said, with commendable 
 gravity. " He's very good-looking and very deter- 
 mined. What are you going to give him if he gets 
 poor Jack out of this miserable business ? " 
 
 " Give him ? " said her father, staring. 
 
 " I met Jack yesterday," said Kate, " and I can 
 see that he is as wretched as he can be. He wouldn't 
 say so, of course. If Mr. Hardy is successful you 
 ought to recognize it. I should suggest one of your 
 new photos, in an eighteenpenny frame." 
 
 She slipped off the chair and quitted the room 
 279
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 before her father could think of a suitable retort, and 
 he sat smoking silently until the entrance of Mrs 
 Kingdom a few minutes later gave him an opportu 
 nity of working off a little accumulated gall. 
 
 While the junior partner was thus trying to ob- 
 
 " I do hope he has not come to take you away from nae.* E 
 280
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 tain a footing at Equator Lodge the gravest rumours 
 of the senior partner's health were prevalent in the 
 town. Nathan Smith, who had been to see him 
 again, ostensibly to thank him for his efforts on his 
 behalf, was of opinion that he was breaking up, and 
 in conversation with Mr. Kybird shook his head 
 over the idea that there would soon be one open- 
 handed gentleman the less in a world which was 
 none too full of them. 
 
 " We've all got to go some day," observed Mr. 
 Kybird, philosophically. " 'Ow's that cough o* 
 yours getting on, Nat ? " 
 
 Mr. Smith met the pleasantry coldly ; the ail- 
 ment referred to was one of some standing and had 
 been a continual source of expense in the way of 
 balsams and other remedies. 
 
 " He's worried about 'is money," he said, refer- 
 ring to Mr. Swann. 
 
 " Ah, we sha'n't 'ave that worry," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird. 
 
 " Nobody to leave it to," continued Mr. Smith. 
 " Seems a bit 'ard, don't it ? " 
 
 " P'r'aps if *e 'ad 'ad somebody to leave it to 'e 
 wouldn't 'ave 'ad so much to leave," observed Mr. 
 Kybird, sagely ; " it's a rum world." 
 
 He shook his head over it and went on with the 
 uncongenial task of marking down wares which had 
 suffered by being exposed outside too long. Mr. 
 
 281
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Smith, who always took an interest in the welfare 
 of his friends, made suggestions. 
 
 " I shouldn't put a ticket marked t Look at this ! ' 
 on that coat," he said, severely. " It oughtn't to 
 be looked at." 
 
 " It's the best out o' three all 'anging together," 
 said Mr. Kybird, evenly. 
 
 " And look 'ere," said Mr. Smith. " Look what 
 an out-o'-the-way place you've put this ticket. Why 
 not put it higher up on the coat ? " 
 
 " Becos the moth-hole ain't there," said Mr. 
 Kybird. 
 
 Mr. Smith apologized and watched his friend 
 without further criticism. 
 
 " Gettin' ready for the wedding, I s'pose ? " he 
 said, presently. 
 
 Mr. Kybird assented, and his brow darkened as 
 he spoke of surreptitious raids on his stores made 
 by Mrs. Kybird and daughter. 
 
 "Their idea of a wedding," he said, bitterly, "is 
 to dress up and make a show ; my idea is a few real 
 good old pals and plenty of licker." 
 
 "You'll 'ave to 'ave both," observed Nathan 
 Smith, whose knowledge of the sex was pretty ac- 
 curate. 
 
 Mr. Kybird nodded gloomily. " 'Melia and Jack 
 don't seem to 'ave been 'itting it off partikler well 
 lately," he said, slowly. " He's getting more up- 
 
 282
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Are you goin' to send Cap'n Nugent an invite for the wedding ? " 
 
 pish than wot 'e was when 'e come here first. But 
 I got 'im to promise that he'd settle any money 
 that 'e might ever get left him on 'Melia." 
 
 Mr. Smith's inscrutable eyes glistened into some- 
 thing as nearly approaching a twinkle as they were 
 
 203
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 capable. "That'll settle the five 'undred," he said, 
 warmly. "Are you goin' to send Cap'n Nugent 
 an invite for the wedding? " 
 
 "They'll 'ave to be asked, o* course," said Mr. 
 Kybird, with an attempt at dignity, rendered neces- 
 sary by a certain lightness in his friend's manner. 
 " The old woman don't like the Nugent lot, but 
 she'll do the proper thing." 
 
 "O' course she will," said Mr. Smith, soothingly. 
 "Come over and 'ave a drink with me, Dan'l ; 
 it's your turn to stand."
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 GOSSIP from one or two quarters, which 
 reached Captain Nugent's ears through the 
 medium of his sister, concerning the prep- 
 arations for his son's marriage, prevented him from 
 altering his mind with regard to the visits of Jem 
 Hardy and showing that painstaking young man 
 the door. Indeed, the nearness of the approaching 
 nuptials bade fair to eclipse, for the time being, all 
 other grievances, and when Hardy paid his third visit 
 he made a determined but ineffectual attempt to ob- 
 tain from him some information as to the methods 
 by which he hoped to attain his ends. His failure 
 made him suspicious, and he hinted pretty plainly 
 that he had no guarantee that his visitor was not ob- 
 taining admittance under false pretences. 
 
 " Well, I'm not getting much out of it," returned 
 Hardy, frankly. 
 
 " I wonder you come," said his hospitable host. 
 
 " I want you to get used to me," said the other. 
 
 The captain started and eyed him uneasily ; the 
 remark seemed fraught with hidden meaning. " And 
 then? " he inquired, raising his bushy eyebrows. 
 
 285
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Then perhaps I can come oftener." 
 
 The captain gave him up. He sank back in his 
 chair and crossing his legs smoked, with his eyes 
 fixed on the ceiling. It was difficult to know what 
 to do with a young man who was apparently desti- 
 tute of any feelings of shame or embarrassment. He 
 bestowed a puzzled glance in his direction and saw 
 that he was lolling in the chair with an appearance 
 of the greatest ease and enjoyment. Following the 
 direction of his eyes, he saw that he was gazing with 
 much satisfaction at a photograph of Miss Nugent 
 which graced the mantelpiece. With an odd sen- 
 sation the captain suddenly identified it as one which 
 usually stood on the chest of drawers in his bed- 
 room, and he wondered darkly whether charity or 
 mischief was responsible for its appearance there. 
 
 In any case, it disappeared before the occasion of 
 Hardy's next visit, and the visitor sat with his eyes 
 unoccupied, endeavouring to make conversation with 
 a host who was if anything more discourteous than 
 usual. It was uphill work, but he persevered, and 
 in fifteen minutes had ranged unchecked from North 
 Pole explorations to poultry farming. It was a 
 relief to both of them when the door opened and 
 Bella ushered in Dr. Murchison. 
 
 The captain received the new arrival with marked 
 cordiality, and giving him a chair near his own ob- 
 served with some interest the curt greeting of the 
 
 286
 
 AlFRED SANTELl 
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 young men. The doctor's manner indicated polite 
 surprise at seeing the other there, then he turned to 
 the captain and began to talk to him. 
 
 For some time they chatted without interruption, 
 and the captain's replies, when Hardy at last made 
 an attempt to make the conversation general, en- 
 abled the doctor to see, without much difficulty, 
 that the latter was an unwelcome guest. Charmed 
 with the discovery he followed his host's lead, and, 
 with a languid air, replied to his rival in monosyl- 
 lables. The captain watched with quiet satisfaction, 
 and at each rebuff his opinion of Murchison im- 
 proved. It was gratifying to find that the inter- 
 loper had met his match. 
 
 Hardy sat patient. " I am glad to have met you 
 to-night," he said, after a long pause, during which 
 the other two were discussing a former surgical ex- 
 perience of the captain's on one of his crew. 
 
 " Yes ? " said Murchison. 
 
 " You are just the man I wanted to see." 
 
 " Yes ? " said the doctor, again. 
 
 " Yes," said the other, nodding. " I've been very 
 busy of late owing to my partner's illness, and you 
 are attending several people I want to hear about." 
 
 " Indeed," said Murchison, with a half-turn 
 towards him. 
 
 " How is Mrs. Paul ? " inquired Hardy. 
 
 " Dead ! " replied the other, briefly. 
 287
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Dead ! " repeated Mr. Hardy. " Good Heav- 
 ens ! I didn't know that there was much the matter 
 with her." 
 
 " There was no hope for her from the first," said 
 Murchison, somewhat sharply. "It was merely a 
 question of prolonging her life a little while. She 
 lived longer than I deemed possible. She surprised 
 everybody by her vitality." 
 
 " Poor thing," said Hardy. " How is Joe 
 Banks ? " 
 
 " Dead," said Murchison again, biting his lip and 
 eyeing him furiously. 
 
 " Dear me," said Hardy, shaking his head ; " I 
 met him not a month ago. He was on his way to 
 see you then." 
 
 " The poor fellow had been an invalid nearly all 
 his life," said Murchison, to the captain, casually. 
 
 "Aye, I remember him," was the reply. 
 
 " I am almost afraid to ask you," continued Hardy, 
 " but shut up all day I hear so little. How is old 
 Miss Ritherdon ? " 
 
 Murchison reddened with helpless rage ; Captain 
 Nugent, gazing at the questioner with something 
 almost approaching respect, waited breathlessly for 
 the invariable answer. 
 
 " She died three weeks ago ; I'm surprised that 
 you have not heard of it," said the doctor, point- 
 edly. 
 
 288
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Of course she was old," said Hardy, with the 
 air of one advancing extenuating circumstances. 
 
 " Very old," replied the doctor, who knew that 
 the other was now at the end of his obituary list. 
 
 " Are there any other of my patients you are anxious to hear about ? " 
 
 " Are there any other of my patients you are 
 anxious to hear about ? " 
 
 " No, thank you," returned Hardy, with some 
 haste. 
 
 The doctor turned to his host again, but the charm 
 289
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 was broken. His talk was disconnected, owing prob- 
 ably to the fact that he was racking his brain for 
 facts relative to the seamy side of shipbroking. 
 And Hardy, without any encouragement whatever, 
 was interrupting with puerile anecdotes concerning 
 the late lamented Joe Banks. The captain came to 
 the rescue. 
 
 " The ladies are in the garden," he said to the 
 doctor ; " perhaps you'd like to join them." 
 
 He looked coldly over at Hardy as he spoke to 
 see the effect of his words. Their eyes met, and the 
 young man was on his feet as soon as his rival. 
 
 " Thanks," he said, coolly ; " it is a trifle close 
 indoors." 
 
 Before the dismayed captain could think of any 
 dignified pretext to stay him he was out of the room. 
 The doctor followed and the perturbed captain, left 
 alone, stared blankly at the door and thought of his 
 daughter's words concerning the tnin end of the 
 wedge. 
 
 He was a proud man and loth to show discom- 
 fiture, so that it was not until a quarter of an hour 
 later that he followed his guests to the garden. 
 The four people were in couples, the paths favour- 
 ing that formation, although the doctor, to the det- 
 riment of the border, had made two or three deter- 
 mined attempts to march in fours. With a feeling 
 akin to scorn the captain saw that he was walking 
 
 290
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 with Mrs. Kingdom, while some distance in the 
 rear Jem Hardy followed with Kate. 
 
 He stood at the back door for a little while watch- 
 ing ; Hardy, upright and elate, was listening with 
 profound attention to Miss Nugent; the doctor, 
 sauntering along beside Mrs. Kingdom, was listen- 
 ing with a languid air to an account of her celebrated 
 escape from measles some forty-three years before. 
 As a professional man he would have died rather 
 than have owed his life to the specific she advocated. 
 
 Kate Nugent, catching sight of her father, turned, 
 and as he came slowly towards them, linked her arm, 
 in his. Her face was slightly flushed and her eyes 
 sparkled. 
 
 " I was just coming in to fetch you," she ob- 
 served ; " it is so pleasant out here now." 
 
 " Delightful," said Hardy. 
 
 " We had to drop behind a little," said Miss Nu- 
 gent, raising her voice. " Aunt and Dr. Murohison 
 will talk about their complaints to each other ! 
 They have been exchanging prescriptions." 
 
 The captain grunted and eyed her keenly. 
 
 " I want you to come in and give us a little 
 music," he said, shortly. 
 
 Kate nodded. "What is your favourite music, 
 Mr. Hardy ? " she inquired, with a smile. 
 
 " Unfortunately, Mr. Hardy can't stay," said the 
 captain, in a voice which there was no mistaking. 
 
 291
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy pulled out his watch. " No ; I must be 
 off," he said, with a well-affected start. " Thank 
 you for reminding me. Captain Nugent." 
 
 *' I am glad to have been of service," said the 
 other, looking his grimmest. 
 
 He acknowledged the young man's farewell with 
 a short nod and, forgetting his sudden desire for 
 music, continued to pace up and down with his 
 daughter. 
 
 " What have you been saying to that that fel- 
 low ? " he demanded, turning to her, suddenly. 
 
 Miss Nugent reflected. " I said it was a fine 
 evening," she replied, at last. 
 
 " No doubt," said her father. " What else ? " 
 
 " I think I asked him whether he was fond of 
 gardening," said Miss Nugent, slowly. "Yes, I'm 
 sure I did." 
 
 "You had no business to speak to him at all," 
 said the fuming captain. 
 
 " I don't quite see how 1 could help doing so," 
 said his daughter. " You surely don't expect me to 
 be rude to your visitors? Besides, I feel rather 
 sorry for him." 
 
 " Sorry ? " repeated the captain, sharply. " What 
 for?" 
 
 " Because he hasn't got a nice, kind, soft-spoken 
 father," said Miss Nugent, squeezing his arm affec- 
 tionately. 
 
 292
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The appearance of the other couple at the head 
 of the path saved the captain the necessity of a 
 retort. They stood in a little knot talking, but 
 Miss Nugent, contrary to her usual habit, said but 
 little. She was. holding her father's arm and gazing 
 absently at the dim fields stretching away beyond 
 the garden. 
 
 At the same time Mr. James Hardy, feeling, de- 
 spite his bold front, somewhat badly snubbed, was 
 sitting on the beach thinking over the situation. 
 After a quarter of an hour in the company of Kate 
 Nugent all else seemed sordid and prosaic ; his own 
 conduct in his attempt to save her brother from the 
 consequences of his folly most sordid of all. He 
 wondered, gloomily, what she would think when she 
 heard of it. 
 
 He rose at last and in the pale light of the new 
 moon walked slowly along towards the town. In 
 his present state of mind he wanted to talk about 
 Kate Nugent, and the only person who could be 
 depended upon for doing that was Samson Wilks. 
 It was a never-tiring subject of the steward's, and 
 since his discovery of the state of Hardy's feelings 
 in that quarter the slightest allusion was sufficient to 
 let loose a flood of reminiscences. 
 
 It was dark by the time Hardy reached the alley, 
 and in most of the houses the lamps were lit behind 
 drawn blinds. The steward's house, however, was 
 
 393
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 in darkness and there was no response when he 
 tapped. He turned the handle of the door and 
 
 " He wondered, gloomily, what she would think when she heard of it." 
 
 looked in. A dim figure rose with a start from a 
 chair. 
 
 " I hope 'you were not asleep ? " said Hardy. 
 294
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " No, sir," said the steward, in a relieved voice. 
 " I thought it was somebody else." 
 
 He placed a chair for his visitor and, having lit 
 the lamp, slowly lowered the blind and took a seat 
 opposite. 
 
 " I've been sitting in the dark to make a certain 
 party think I was out," he said, slowly. " She 
 keeps making a excuse about Teddy to come over 
 and see me. Last night 'e talked about making a 
 'ole in the water to celebrate 'Melia Kybird's wed- 
 ding, and she came over and sat in that chair and 
 cried as if 'er 'art would break. After she'd gone 
 Teddy comes over, fierce as a eagle, and wants to 
 know wot I've been saying to 'is mother to make 
 'er cry. Between the two of 'em I 'ave a nice life 
 of it." 
 
 " He is still faithful to Miss Kybird, then ? " said 
 Hardy, with a sudden sense of relief. 
 
 " Faithful ? " said Mr. Wilks. " Faithful ain't 
 no word for it. He's a sticker, that's wot 'e is, and 
 it's my misfortune that 'is mother takes after 'im. 
 I 'ave to go out afore breakfast and stay out till late 
 at night, and even then like as not she catches me 
 on the doorstep." 
 
 " Well, perhaps she will make a hole in the water," 
 suggested Hardy. 
 
 Mr. Wilks smiled, but almost instantly became 
 grave again. " She's not that sort," he said, bit- 
 
 295
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 terly, and went into the kitchen to draw some 
 beer. 
 
 He drank his in a manner which betokened that 
 the occupation afforded him no enjoyment, and, 
 full of his own troubles, was in no mood to discuss 
 anything else. He gave a short biography of Mrs. 
 Silk which would have furnished abundant material 
 for half-a-dozen libel actions, and alluding to the 
 demise of the late Mr. Silk, spoke of it as though 
 it were the supreme act of artfulness in a somewhat 
 adventurous career. 
 
 Hardy walked home with a mind more at ease 
 than it had been at any time since his overtures to 
 Mr. Swann. The only scruple that had troubled him 
 was now removed, and in place of it he felt that he 
 was acting the part of a guardian angel to Mr. 
 Edward Silk. 
 
 296
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 MR. NATHAN SMITH, usually one of 
 the most matter-of-fact men in the world, 
 came out of Mr. Swann's house in a semi- 
 dazed condition, and for some time after the front 
 door had closed behind him stood gaping on the nar- 
 row pavement. 
 
 He looked up arid down the quiet little street and 
 shook his head sadly. It was a street of staid and 
 substantial old houses ; houses which had mellowed 
 and blackened with age, but whose quaint windows 
 and chance-opened doors afforded glimpses of com- 
 fort attesting to the prosperity of those within. In 
 the usual way Mr. Nathan Smith was of too philo- 
 sophical a temperament to experience the pangs of 
 envy, but to-day these things affected him, and he 
 experienced a strange feeling of discontent with his 
 lot in life. 
 
 " Some people 'ave all the luck," he muttered, 
 and walked slowly down the road. 
 
 He continued his reflections as he walked through 
 the somewhat squalid streets of his own quarter. 
 The afternoon was wet and the houses looked din- 
 
 297
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 gier than usual ; dirty, inconvenient little places most 
 of them, with a few cheap gimcracks making a brave 
 
 " ' Some people 'ave all the luck,' he muttered." 
 
 show as near the window as possible. Mr. Smith 
 observed them with newly opened eyes, and, for per- 
 
 298
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 haps the first time in his life, thought of the draw- 
 backs and struggles of the poor. 
 
 In his own untidy little den at the back of the 
 house he sat for some time deep in thought over the 
 events of the afternoon. He had been permitted a 
 peep at wealth ; at wealth, too, which was changing 
 hands, but was not coming his way. He lit his pipe 
 and, producing a bottle of rum from a cupboard, 
 helped himself liberally. The potent fluid softened 
 him somewhat, and a half-formed intention to keep 
 the news from Mr. -Kybird melted away beneath its 
 benign influence. 
 
 " After all, we've been pals for pretty near thirty 
 years," said Mr. Smith to himself. 
 
 He took another draught. " Thirty years is a 
 long time," he mused. 
 
 He finished the glass. "And if 'e don't give 
 me something out of it' I'll do 'im as much 'arm as 
 I can," he continued ; and, buttoning up his coat, 
 he rose and set out in the direction of the High 
 Street. 
 
 The rain had ceased and the sun was making faint 
 efforts to break through watery clouds. Things 
 seemed brighter, and Mr. Smith's heart beat in re- 
 sponse. He was going to play the part of a bene- 
 factor to Mr. Kybird; to offer him access, at any rate, 
 to such wealth as he had never dreamed of. He 
 paused at the shop window, and, observing through 
 
 299
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 a gap in the merchandise that Mr. Kybird was be- 
 hind the counter, walked in and saluted him. 
 
 " I've got news for you," he said, slowly ; " big 
 news." 
 
 " Oh," said Mr. Kybird, with indifference. 
 
 " Big news," repeated Mr. Smith, sinking thought- 
 lessly into the broken cane-chair and slowly extricat- 
 ing himself. " Something that'll make your eyes 
 start out of your *ed." 
 
 The small black eyes in question were turned 
 shrewdly in his direction. " I've 'ad news of you 
 afore, Nat," remarked Mr. Kybird, with simple 
 severity. 
 
 The philanthropist was chilled ; he fixed his eyes 
 in a stony stare on the opposite wall. Mr. Kybird, 
 who had ever a wholesome dread of falling a victim 
 to his friend's cuteness, regarded him with some 
 uncertainty, and reminded him of one or two pieces 
 of information which had seriously depleted his till. 
 
 " Banns up yet for the wedding? " inquired Mr. 
 Smith, still gazing in front of him with fathomless 
 eyes. 
 
 "They'll be put up next week," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird. 
 
 "Ah!" said his friend, with great emphasis. 
 "Well, well!" 
 
 " Wot d'ye mean by ' well, well ' ? " demanded 
 the other, with some heat. 
 
 300
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 
 
 M 
 
 I was on'y thinking," replied Mr. Smith, mildly. 
 
 P'r'aps it's all for the best, and I'd better 'old my 
 tongue. True love is better than money. After all 
 it ain't my bisness, and I shouldn't get much out 
 of it." 
 
 " Out of wot, Nat? " inquired Mr. Kybird, un- 
 easily. 
 
 Mr. Smith, still gazing musingly before him, ap- 
 peared not to hear the question. " Nice after the 
 rain, ain't it ? " he said, slowly. 
 
 " It's all right," said the other, shortly. 
 
 " Everything smells so fresh and sweet," contin- 
 ued his nature-loving friend ; " all the little dickey- 
 birds was a-singing as if their little 'arts would break 
 as I come along." 
 
 " I don't wonder at it," said the offended Mr. 
 Kybird. 
 
 " And the banns go up next week," mur- 
 mured the boarding-master to himself. " Well, 
 well." 
 
 " 'Ave you got anything to say agin it? "de- 
 manded Mr. Kybird. 
 
 " Cert'nly not," replied the other. " On'y don't 
 blame me when it's too late; that's all." 
 
 Mr. Kybird, staring at him wrathfully, turned 
 this dark saying over in his mind. " Too late for 
 wot ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Ah ! " said Nathan Smith, slowly. " Nice and 
 301
 
 At Stmwich Port 
 
 fresh after the rain, ain't it ? As I come along all 
 the little dickey-birds " 
 
 " If you've got anything to say, why don't you say it like a man ? " 
 
 "Drat the little dickey-birds," interrupted Mr. 
 Kybird, with sudden violence. " If you've got 
 anything to say, why don't you say it like a man ? " 
 
 302
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 The parlour door opened suddenly before the 
 other could reply, and revealed the face of Mrs. Ky- 
 bird. " Wot are you two a-quarrelling about ? " she 
 demanded. " Why don't you come inside and sit 
 down for a bit ? " 
 
 Mr. Smith accepted the invitation, and following 
 her into the room found Miss Kybird busy stitch- 
 ing in the midst of a bewildering assortment of 
 brown paper patterns and pieces of cloth. Mrs. 
 Kybird gave him a chair, and, having overheard a 
 portion of his conversation with her husband, made 
 one or two casual inquiries. 
 
 " I've been spending a hour or two at Mr. 
 Swann's," said Mr. Smith. 
 
 " And 'ow is 'e ? " inquired his hostess, with an 
 appearance of amiable interest. 
 
 The boarding-master shook his head. " 'E's 
 slipping 'is cable," he said, slowly. " 'E's been 
 making 'is will, and I was one o' the witnesses." 
 
 Something in Mr. Smith's manner as he uttered 
 this simple statement made his listeners anxious to 
 hear more. Mr. Kybird, who had just entered 
 the room and was standing with his back to the 
 door holding the handle, regarded him expect- 
 antly. 
 
 " It's been worrying 'im some time," pursued 
 Mr. Smith. " 'E 'asn't got nobody belonging to 
 'im, and for a long time 'e couldn't think 'ow to 
 
 303
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 leave it. Wot with 'ouse property and other things 
 it's a matter of over ten thousand pounds." 
 
 " Good 'eavens!" said Mr. Kybird, who felt that 
 he was expected to say something. 
 
 " Dr. Blaikie was the other witness," continued 
 Mr. Smith, disregarding the interruption; "and Mr. 
 Swann made us both promise to keep it a dead se- 
 cret till 'e's gone, but out o' friendship to you I 
 thought I'd step round and let you know." 
 
 The emphasis on the words was unmistakable ; 
 Mrs. Kybird dropped her work and sat staring at 
 him, while her husband wriggled with excitement. 
 
 "'E ain't left it to me, I s'pose ? " he said, with a 
 feeble attempt at jocularity. 
 
 " Not a brass farden," replied his friend, cheer- 
 fully. " Not to none of you. Why should 'e ? " 
 
 " He ain't left it to Jack, I s'pose? " said Miss 
 Kybird, who had suspended her work to listen. 
 
 " No, my dear," replied the boarding- master. 
 " E's made 'is will all ship-shape and proper, and 
 'e's left everything all that 'ouse property and other 
 thingSj amounting to over ten thousand pounds to a 
 young man becos 'e was jilt crossed in love a few 
 months ago, and becos 'e's been a good and faithful 
 servant to 'im for years." 
 
 " Don't tell me," said Mr. Kybird, desperately ; 
 " don't tell me that 'e's been and left all that money 
 to young Teddy Silk." 
 
 34
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Well, I won't if you don't want me to," said 
 the accommodating Mr. Smith, " but, mind, it's a 
 dead secret." 
 
 Mr. Kybird wiped his brow, and red patches, due 
 to excitement, lent a little variety to an otherwise 
 commonplace face ; Mrs. Kybird's dazed inquiry, 
 " Wot are we a-coming to ? " fell on deaf ears ; while 
 Miss Kybird, leaning forward with lips parted, fixed 
 her eyes intently on Mr. Smith's face. 
 
 " It's a pity 'e didn't leave it to young Nugent," 
 said that gentleman, noting with much pleasure the 
 effect of his announcement, " but 'e can't stand 'im 
 at no price ; 'e told me so 'imself. I s'pose young 
 Teddy'll be quite the gentleman now, and 'e'll be 
 able to marry who 'e likes." 
 
 Mr. Kybird thrust his handkerchief into his tail- 
 pocket, and all the father awoke within him. " Ho, 
 will 'e ? " he said, with fierce sarcasm. " Ho, in- 
 deed ! And wot about my daughter ? I 'ave 'card 
 of such things as breach o' promise. Before Mr. 
 Teddy gets married 'e's got to 'ave a few words 
 with me." 
 
 " 'E's behaved very bad," said Mrs. Kybird, 
 nodding. 
 
 " 'E come 'ere night after night," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird, working himself up into a fury ; " 'e walked 
 out with my gal for months and months, and then 'e 
 takes 'imself off as if we wasn't good enough for 'im." 
 
 35
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " The suppers 'e's 'ad 'ere you wouldn't believe,** 
 said Mrs. Kybird, addressing the visitor. 
 
 " Takes 'imself off, " repeated her husband ; 
 " takes 'imself off as if we was dirt beneath 'is feet, 
 and never been back to give a explanation from that 
 day to this." 
 
 " I'm not easy surprised," said Mrs. Kybird, " I 
 never was from a gal, but I must say Teddy's been 
 a surprise to me. If anybody 'ad told me 'e'd ha' 
 behaved like that I wouldn't ha' believed it ; I 
 couldn't. I've never said much about it, becos my 
 pride wouldn't let me. We all 'ave our faults, and 
 mine is pride." 
 
 " I shall bring a breach o' promise action agin 'im 
 for Jive thousand pounds" said Mr. Kybird, with 
 decision. 
 
 " Talk sense," said Nathan Smith, shortly. 
 
 " Sense ! " cried Mr. Kybird. " Is my gal to be 
 played fast and loose with like that ? Is my gal to 
 be pitched over when 'e likes ? Is my gal " 
 
 " Wot's the good o' talking like that to me ? " 
 said the indignant Mr. Smith. " The best thing 
 you can do is to get 'er married to Teddy at once, 
 afore 'e knows of 'is luck." 
 
 " And when'll that be ? " inquired his friend, in a 
 calmer voice. 
 
 " Any time," said the boarding-master, shrugging 
 his shoulders. " The old gentleman might go out to- 
 
 306
 
 At Sunwcih Port 
 
 night, or again 'e might live on for a week or more. 
 'E was so weak 'e couldn't 'ardly sign 'is name." 
 
 " I 'ope 'e 'as signed it all right," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird, starting. 
 
 " Safe as 'ouses," said his friend. 
 
 " Well, why not wait till Teddy 'as got the 
 money ? " suggested Mrs. Kybird, with a knowing 
 shake of her head. 
 
 " Becos," said Mr. Smith, in a grating voice, " be- 
 cos for one thing Vd be a rich man then and could 
 'ave 'is pick. Teddy Silk on a pound or there- 
 abouts a week and Teddy Silk with ten thousand 
 pounds 'ud be two different people. Besides that 
 'e'd think she was marrying 'im for 'is money." 
 
 " If 'e thought that," said Mrs. Kybird, firmly, 
 " I'd never forgive 'im." 
 
 " My advice to you," said Nathan Smith, shak- 
 ing his forefinger impressively, " is to get 'em mar- 
 ried on the quiet and as soon as possible. Once 
 they're tied up Teddy can't 'elp 'imself." 
 
 "Why on the quiet?" demanded Mr. Kybird, 
 sharply. 
 
 The boarding-master uttered an impatient ex- 
 clamation. " Becos if Mr. Swann got to 'ear of it 
 he'd guess I'd been blabbing, for one thing," he said, 
 sharply, " and for another, 'e left it to 'im partly to 
 make up for 'is disappointment he'd been disap- 
 pointed 'imself in 'is younger days, so 'e told me. 
 
 .3 7
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Suppose 'e managed to get enough strength to alter 
 'is will?" 
 
 Mr. Kybird shivered. " It takes time to get 
 married, though," he objected. 
 
 " Yes," said Mr. Smith, ironically, " it does. Get 
 round young Teddy, and then put the banns up. 
 Take your time about it, and be sure and let Mr. 
 Swann know. D'ye think 'e wouldn't understand 
 wot it meant, and spoil it, to say nothing of Teddy 
 seeing through it? " 
 
 " Well, wot's to be done, then ? " inquired the star- 
 ing Mr. Kybird. 
 
 " Send 'em up to London and 'ave 'em married by 
 special license," said Mr. Smith, speaking rapidly 
 " to-morrow, if possible ; if not, the day after. Go 
 and pitch a tale to Teddy to-night, and make 'im 
 understand it's to be done on the strict q.t" 
 
 "Special licenses cost money," said Mr. Kybird. 
 " I 'ave 'card it's a matter o' thirty pounds or there- 
 abouts." 
 
 Mr. Nathan Smith rose, and his eyes were almost 
 expressive. He nodded good-night to the ladies 
 and crossed to the door. Mrs. Kybird suddenly 
 seized him by the coat and held him. 
 
 " Don't be in a 'urry, Nat," she pleaded* " We 
 ain't all as clever as you are." 
 
 " Talk about looking a gift-'orse in the 
 
 mouth " began the indignant Mr. Smith. 
 
 308
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " Sit down," urged Mr. Kybird. " You can't 
 expect us to be as quick in seeing things as wot you 
 are." 
 
 He pushed his partly mollified friend into his 
 
 " Mn. Kybird suddenly seized him by the coat." 
 
 chair again, and taking a seat next him began to 
 view the affair with enthusiasm. 
 
 " 'Melia shall turn young Nugent off to-night," 
 he said, firmly. 
 
 " That's right," said the other ; " go and do a
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 few more silly things like that and we shall be 'appy. 
 If you'd got a 'ead instead of wot you 'ave got, 
 you wouldn't talk of giving the show away like that. 
 Nobody must know or guess about anything until 
 young Teddy is married to 'Melia and got the 
 money." 
 
 "Ic seems something like deceitfulness," said 
 Miss Kybird, who had been listening to the plans 
 for her future with admirable composure. 
 
 " It's for Teddy's own sake," said Nathan Smith. 
 " Everybody knows 'e's half crazy after you." 
 
 " I don't know that I don't like 'im best, even 
 without the money," said Miss Kybird, calmly. 
 " Nobody could 'ave been more attentive than 'im. 
 I believe that 'e'd marry me if 'e 'ad a hundred 
 thousand, but it looks better your way." 
 
 " Better all round," said Nathan Smith, with ar 
 approving nod. " Now, Dan'l, 'op round to Teddy 
 and whistle 'im back, and mind 'e's to keep it a 
 dead secret on account o' trouble with young Nu- 
 gent. D'ye twig? " 
 
 The admiring Mr. Kybird said that he was a 
 wonder, and, in the discussion on ways and means 
 which followed, sat listening with growing respect 
 to the managing abilities both of his friend and his 
 wife. Difficulties were only mentioned for the pur- 
 pose of being satisfactorily solved, and he noticed 
 with keen appreciation that the prospect of a ten
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 thousand pound son-in-law was already adding to 
 that lady's dignity. She sniffed haughtily as she 
 spoke of " that Nugent lot "; and the manner in 
 which she promised Mr. Smith that he should not 
 lose by his services would have graced a duchess. 
 
 " I didn't expect to lose by it," said the boarding- 
 master, pointedly. " Come over and 'ave a glass at 
 the Chequers, Dan, and then you can go along and 
 see Teddy."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 THE summer evening was well advanced 
 when Mr. Kybird and his old friend parted. 
 The former gentleman was in almost a sen- 
 timental mood, and the boarding-master, satisfied 
 that his pupil was in a particularly appropriate frame 
 of mind for the object of his visit, renewed his instruc- 
 tions about binding Mr. Silk to secrecy, and departed 
 on business of his own. 
 
 Mr. Kybird walked slowly towards Fullalove 
 Alley with his head sunk in meditation. He was 
 anxious to find Mr. Silk alone, as otherwise the 
 difficulty of his errand would be considerably in- 
 creased, Mrs. Silk's intelligence being by no mean: 
 obscured by any ungovernable affection for the Ky- 
 bird family. If she was at home she would have to 
 invent some pretext for luring Teddy into the pri- 
 vacy of the open air. 
 
 The lamp was lit in the front room by the time 
 he reached the house, and the shadows of geraniums 
 which had won through several winters formed a 
 straggling pattern on the holland blind. Mr. Ky- 
 bird, first making an unsuccessful attempt to peep 
 
 312
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 round the edges of this decoration, tapped gently on 
 the door, and in response to a command to " Come 
 
 \ 
 
 in, "turned the 
 handle and 
 looked into 
 the room To 
 his relief, he 
 saw that Mr. 
 Silk was alone. 
 "Good even- 
 ing, Teddy," 
 he said, with 
 a genial smile, as he entered slowly and closed the 
 door behind him. " I 'ope I see you well? " 
 
 " I'm quite well," returned Mr. Silk, gazing at him 
 with unconcealed surprise. 
 
 " Mr. Kybird and his old friend parted."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " I'm glad to 'ear it," said Mr. Kybird, in a some- 
 what reproachful voice, " for your sake ; for every- 
 body's sake, though, p'r'aps, I did expect to find you 
 looking a little bit down. Ah ! it's the wimmen that 
 'ave the 'arts after all." 
 
 Mr. Silk coughed. " What d'ye mean ? " he in- 
 quired, somewhat puzzled. 
 
 "I came to see you, Teddy, on a very delikit busi- 
 ness," said Mr. Kybird, taking a seat and gazing dif- 
 fidently at his hat as he swung it between his hands ; 
 "though, as man to man, I'm on'y doing of my dooty. 
 But if you don't want to 'ear wot I've got to say, say 
 so, and Dan'l Kybird'll darken your door no more." 
 
 " How can I know whether I want to 'ear it or 
 not when I don't know wot it is ? " said Mr. Silk, 
 judiciously. 
 
 Mr. Kybird sat biting his thumb-nail, then he 
 looked up suddenly. "'Melia," he said, with an 
 outburst of desperate frankness, " 'Melia is crying 
 'er eyes out." 
 
 Mr. Silk, with a smothered exclamation, started 
 up from his chair and regarded him eagerly. 
 
 " If she knew I'd been 'ere," pursued Mr. Ky- 
 bird, " she'd 1 don't know wot she wouldn't do. 
 
 That's 'er pride; but I've got my pride too; the 
 pride of a father's 'art." 
 
 " What what's she crying about ? " inquired 
 Mr. Silk, in an unsteady voice.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " She's been looking poorly for some time," con- 
 tinued the veracious Mr. Kybird, "and crying. 
 When I tell you that part o' the wedding-dress wot 
 she was making 'ad to be taken away from 'er be- 
 cause o' the tears she dropped on it, you may 'ave 
 some idea of wot things are like. She's never for- 
 got you, Teddy, and it was on'y your quick temper 
 that day that made 'er take on with young Nugent. 
 She's got a temper, too, but she give 'er love once, 
 and, being my daughter, she couldn't give it agin." 
 
 He stole a glance at his listener. Mr. Silk, very 
 pale and upright, was standing on the hearthrug, 
 shaking all over with nervous excitement. Twice 
 he tried to speak and failed. 
 
 " That's 'ow it is, Teddy," sighed Mr. Kybird, 
 rising as though to depart. " I've done my dooty. 
 It was a 'ard thing to do, but I've done it." 
 
 " Do you mean," said Mr. Silk, recovering his 
 voice at last, " do you mean that Amelia would 
 marry me after all ? " 
 
 " Do I mean ? " repeated Mr. Kybird, naturally 
 indignant that his very plain speaking should be 
 deemed capable of any misconstruction. " Am I 
 speaking to a stock or a stone, Teddy? " 
 
 Mr. Silk took a deep breath, and buttoned up 
 his coat, as though preparing to meet Mr. Nugent 
 there and then in deadly encounter for the person 
 of Miss Kybird. The colour was back in his
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 cheeks by this time, and his eyes were unusually 
 bright. He took a step towards Mr. Kybird and, 
 pressing his hand warmly, pushed him back into 
 his seat again. 
 
 " There's 'er pride to consider, Teddy," said the 
 latter gentleman, with the whisper of a conspirator. 
 " She can't stand being talked about all over the 
 town and pointed at." 
 
 " Let me see anybody a-pointing at 'er," said the 
 truculent Mr. Silk ; "let me see 'em, that's all." 
 
 " That's the way to talk, Teddy," said Mr. Ky- 
 bird, gazing at him with admiration. 
 
 " Talk ! " said the heroic Mr. Silk. " I'll do more 
 than talk." He clenched his fists and paced boldly 
 up and down the hearthrug. 
 
 " You leave things to me," said Mr. Kybird, with 
 a confidential wink. " I'll see that it's all right. 
 All I ask of you is to keep it a dead secret ; even 
 your mother mustn't know." 
 
 " I'll be as secret as the grave," said the over- 
 joyed Mr. Silk. 
 
 " There's lots o' things to be taken into consider- 
 ation," said Mr. Kybird, truthfully; " it might be 
 as well for you to be married immediate." 
 
 " Immediate ? " said the astonished Mr. Silk. 
 
 " She 'asn't got the nerve to send young Nugent 
 about 'is business," explained Mr. Kybird ; " she 
 feels sorry for 'im, pore fellow ; but Vs got a loving 
 
 316
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 and affectionate 'art, and she can't bear 'im making 
 love to 'er. You can understand what it is, can't 
 you ? " 
 
 " I can imagine it," said Mr. Silk, gloomily, and 
 he flushed crimson as the possibilities suggested by 
 the remark occurred to him. 
 
 " I've been thinking it over for some time," re- 
 sumed Mr. Kybird ; " twisting it and turning it all 
 ways, and the only thing I can see for it is for you 
 to be married on the strict q.t. Of course, if you 
 don't, like " 
 
 " Like ! " repeated the transported Mr. Silk. 
 " I'll go and be married now, if you like." 
 
 Mr. Kybird shook his head at such haste, and 
 then softening a little observed that it did him 
 credit. He proceeded to improve the occasion by 
 anecdotes of his own courting some thirty years be- 
 fore, and was in the middle of a thrilling account of 
 the manner in which he had bearded the whole of 
 his future wife's family, when a quick step outside, 
 which paused at the door, brought him to a sudden 
 halt. 
 
 " Mother," announced Mr. Silk, in a whisper. 
 
 Mr. Kybird nodded, and the heroic appearance 
 of visage which had accompanied his tale gave way 
 to an expression of some uneasiness. He coughed 
 behind his hand, and sat gazing before him as Mrs. 
 Silk entered the room and gave vent to an excla- 
 
 317
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 mation of astonishment as she saw the visitor. She 
 gazed sharply from him to her son. Mr. Kybird's 
 expression was now normal, but despite his utmost 
 efforts Mr. Silk could not entirely banish the smile 
 which trembled on his lips. 
 
 " Me and Teddy," said Mr. Kybird, turning to 
 her with a little bob, which served him for a bow, 
 " 'ave just been having a little talk about old times." 
 
 " He was just passing," said Mr. Silk. 
 
 "Just passing, and thought I'd look in," said 
 Mr. Kybird, with a careless little laugh ; " the door 
 was open a bit." 
 
 " Wide open," corroborated Mr. Silk. 
 
 " So I just came in to say * 'Ow d'ye do ? ' " said 
 Mr. Kybird. 
 
 Mrs. Silk's sharp, white face turned from one to 
 the other. " 'Ave you said it ? " she inquired, blandly. 
 
 " I 'ave," said Mr. Kybird, restraining Mr. Silk's 
 evident intention of hot speech by a warning glance ; 
 " and now I'll just toddle off 'ome." 
 
 " I'll go a bit o' the way with you," said Edward 
 Silk. " I feel as if a bit of a walk would do me 
 good." 
 
 Left alone, the astonished Mrs. Silk took the vis- 
 itor's vacated chair and, with wrinkled brow, sat put- 
 ting two and two together until the sum got beyond 
 her powers of calculation. Mr. Kybird's affability 
 and Teddy's cheerfulness were alike incomprehen- 
 
 318
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 sible. She mended a hole in her pocket and darned 
 a pair of socks, and at last, anxious for advice, or 
 at least a confidant, resolved to see Mr. Wilks. 
 
 She opened the door and looked across the alley, 
 and saw with some satisfaction that his blind was 
 illuminated. She closed the door behind her sharply, 
 and then stood gasping on the doorstep. So sim- 
 ultaneous were the two happenings that it actually 
 appeared as though the closing of the door had blown 
 Mr. Wilks's lamp out. It was a night of surprises, 
 but after a moment's hesitation she stepped over and 
 tried his door. It was fast, and there was no answer 
 to her knuckling. She knocked louder and listened. 
 A door slammed violently at the back of the house, 
 a distant clatter of what sounded like saucepans 
 came from beyond, and above it all a tremulous 
 but harsh voice bellowed industriously through an 
 interminable chant. By the time the third verse 
 was reached Mr. Wilks's neighbours on both sides 
 were beating madly upon their walls and blood-cur- 
 dling threats strained through the plaster. 
 
 She stayed no longer, but regaining her own door 
 sat down again to await the return of her son. Mr. 
 Silk was long in coming, and she tried in vain to oc- 
 cupy herself with various small jobs as she specu- 
 lated in vain on the meaning of the events of the 
 night. She got up and stood by the open door, and 
 as she waited the clock in the church-tower, which
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 rose over the roofs hard by, slowly boomed out the 
 hour of eleven. As the echoes of the last stroke 
 died away the figure of Mr. Silk turned into the alley,, 
 
 " He took up his candle and went off whistling." 
 
 " You must 'ave 'ad quite a nice walk," said his 
 mother, as she drew back into the room and noted 
 the brightness of his eye. 
 
 320
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 " Yes," was the reply. 
 
 " I s'pose 'e's been and asked you to the wed- 
 ding ? " said the sarcastic Mrs. Silk. 
 
 Her son started and, turning his back on her, 
 wound up the clock. " Yes, *e has," he said, with a 
 sly grin. 
 
 Mrs. Silk's eyes snapped. " Well, of all the im- 
 pudence " she said, breathlessly. 
 
 "Well, 'e has," said her son, hugging himself 
 over the joke. "And, what's more, I'm going." 
 
 He composed his face sufficiently to bid her 
 " good-night," and, turning a deaf ear to her remon- 
 strances and inquiries, took up a candle and went 
 off whistling.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 THE idea in the mind of Mr. James Hardy 
 when he concocted his infamous plot was 
 that Jack Nugent would be summarily dis- 
 missed on some pretext by Miss Kybird, and that 
 steps would at once be taken by her family to pub- 
 lish her banns together with those of Mr. Silk. In 
 thinking thus he had made no allowance for the 
 workings and fears of such a capable mind as Na- 
 than Smith's, and as days passed and nothing hap- 
 pened he became a prey to despair. 
 
 He watched Mr. Silk keenly, but that gentleman 
 went about his work in his usual quiet and gloomy 
 fashion, and, after a day's leave for the purpose of 
 arranging the affairs of a sick aunt in Camberwell, 
 came back only a little less gloomy than before. It 
 was also clear that Mr. Swann's complaisance was 
 nearly at an end, and a letter, couched in vigorous, 
 not to say regrettable, terms for a moribund man, 
 expressed such a desire for fresh air and exercise that 
 Hardy was prepared to see him at any moment. 
 
 It was the more unfortunate as he thought that 
 he had of late detected a slight softening in Captain 
 Nugent's manner towards him. On two occasions
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 the captain, who was out when he called, had made 
 no comment to find upon his return that the visitor 
 was being entertained by his daughter, going so far, 
 indeed, as to permit the conversation to gain vastly 
 in interest by that young person remaining in the 
 room. In face of this improvement he thought 
 with dismay of having to confess failure in a scheme 
 which apart from success was inexcusable. 
 
 The captain had also unbent in another direction, 
 and Mr. Wilks, to his great satisfaction, was allowed 
 to renew his visits to Equator Lodge and assist his 
 old master in the garden. Here at least the stew- 
 ard was safe from the designs of Mrs. Silk and the 
 innuendoes of Fullalove Alley. 
 
 It was at this time, too, that the widow stood in 
 most need of his advice, the behaviour of Edward 
 Silk being of a nature to cause misgivings in any 
 mother's heart. A strange restlessness possessed 
 him, varied with occasional outbursts of hilarity and 
 good nature. Dark hints emanated from him at 
 these times concerning a surprise in store for her at 
 no distant date, hints which were at once explained 
 away in a most unsatisfactory manner when she be- 
 came too pressing in her inquiries. He haunted 
 the High Street, and when the suspicious Mrs. Silk 
 spoke of Amelia he only laughed and waxed hu- 
 morous over such unlikely subjects as broken 
 hearts and broken vows. 
 
 323
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 It was a week after Mr. Ky bird's visit to the 
 alley that he went, as usual, for a stroll up and down 
 the High Street. The evening was deepening, and 
 some of the shops had already lit up, as Mr. Silk, 
 with his face against the window-pane, tried in vain 
 to penetrate the obscurity of Mr. Kybird's shop. 
 He could just make out a dim figure behind the 
 counter, which he believed to be Amelia, when a 
 match was struck and a gas-jet threw a sudden light 
 in the shop and revealed Mr. Jack Nugent standing 
 behind the counter with his hand on the lady's 
 shoulder. 
 
 One glance was sufficient. The next moment 
 there was a sharp cry from Miss Kybird and a be- 
 wildered stare from Nugent as something, only com- 
 parable to a human cracker, bounced into the shop 
 and commenced to explode before them. 
 
 " Take your 'and off," raved Mr. Silk. " Leave 
 'er alone. 'Ow dare you ? D'ye hear me ? 'Melia, 
 I won't 'ave it ! I won't 'ave it ! " 
 
 " Don't be silly, Teddy," remonstrated Mr. Nu- 
 gent, following up Miss Kybird, as she edged away 
 from him. 
 
 "Leave 'er alone, d'ye 'ear?" yelled Mr. Silk, 
 thumping the counter with his small fist. " She's 
 my wife! " 
 
 " Teddy's mad," said Mr. Nugent, calmly, 
 " stark, staring, raving mad. Poor Teddy." 
 
 3 2 4
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 He shook his head sadly, and had just begun to 
 recommend a few remedies, when the parlour door 
 
 r 
 
 opened and the figure 
 of Mr. Kybird, with 
 his wife standing close 
 behind him, appeared 
 in the doorway. 
 
 "Who's making 
 all this noise ? " de- 
 manded the former, 
 looking from one to 
 the other. 
 
 "/ am," said Mr. Silk, fiercely. "It's no use 
 your winking at me ; I'm not going to 'ave any more 
 
 325 
 
 " He could just make out a dim rigure behind 
 the counter."
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 of this nonsense. 'Melia, you go and get your 'at 
 on and come straight off 'ome with me." 
 
 Mr. Kybird gave a warning cough. " Go easy, 
 Teddy," he murmured. 
 
 " And don't you cough at me," said the irritated 
 Mr. Silk, " because it won't do no good." 
 
 Mr. Kybird subsided. He was not going to quar- 
 rel with a son-in-law who might at any moment be 
 worth ten thousand pounds. 
 
 "Isn't he mad ? " inquired the amazed Mr. Nugent. 
 
 " Cert'nly not," replied Mr. Kybird, moving 
 aside to let his daughter pass ; " no madder than 
 you are. Wot d'ye mean, mad ? " 
 
 Mr. Nugent looked round in perplexity. " Do 
 you mean to tell me that Teddy and Amelia are mar- 
 ried ? " he said, in a voice trembling with eagerness. 
 
 " I do," said Mr. Kybird. " It seems they've 
 been fond of one another all along, and they went up 
 all unbeknown last Friday and got a license and got 
 married." 
 
 " And if I see you putting your 'and on 'er shoul- 
 der ag'in " said Mr. Silk, with alarming vague- 
 ness. 
 
 " But suppose she asks me to ? " said the delighted 
 Mr. Nugent, with much gravity. 
 
 " Look 'ere, we don't want none o' your non- 
 sense," broke in the irate Mrs. Kybird, pushing her 
 way past her husband and confronting the speaker- 
 
 326
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 "I've been deceived," said Mr. Nugent, in a 
 thrilling voice ; " you've all been deceiving me. 
 Kybird, I blush for you ( that'll save you a lot 
 of trouble). Teddy, I 
 wouldn't have believed it 
 of you. I can't stay here; 
 my heart is broken." 
 
 But suppose she asks me to ? ' said the delighted Mr. Nugent." 
 
 "Well, we don't want you to," retorted the 
 aggressive Mrs. Kybird. " You can take yourself 
 
 327
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 off as soon as ever you like. You can't be too quick 
 to please me." 
 
 Mr. Nugent bowed and walked past the coun- 
 ter. " And not even a bit of wedding-cake for me,* 
 he said, shaking a reproachful head at the heated 
 Mr. Silk. " Why, I'd put you down first on my list." 
 
 He paused at the door, and after a brief intimation 
 that he would send for his effects on the following 
 day, provided that his broken heart had not proved 
 fatal in the meantime, waved his hand to the com- 
 pany and departed. Mr. Kybird followed him to 
 the door as though to see him off the premises, and 
 gazing after the receding figure swelled with indig- 
 nation as he noticed that he favoured a mode of 
 progression which was something between a walk 
 and a hornpipe. 
 
 Mr. Nugent had not been in such spirits since his 
 return to Sunwich, and, hardly able to believe in his 
 good fortune, he walked on in a state of growing 
 excitement until he was clear of the town. Then 
 he stopped to consider his next move, and after a 
 little deliberation resolved to pay a visit to Jem 
 Hardy and acquaint him v/ith the joyful tidings. 
 
 That gentleman, however, was out, and Mr. Nu- 
 gent, somewhat irritated at such thoughtlessness, 
 stood in the road wondering where to go next. 
 It was absolutely impossible for him to sleep that 
 night without telling the good news to somebody, 
 
 328
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 and after some thought he selected Mr. Wilks. It 
 was true that relations had been somewhat strained 
 between them since the latter's attempt at crimping 
 him, but he was never one to bear malice, and to- 
 night he was full of the kindliest thoughts to all 
 mankind. 
 
 He burst into Mr. Wilks's front room suddenly 
 and then pulled up short. The steward, with a 
 pitiable look of anxiety on his pallid features, was 
 leaning awkwardly against the mantelpiece, and 
 opposite him Mrs. Silk sat in an easy-chair, dis- 
 solved in tears. 
 
 " Busy, Sam ? " inquired Mr. Nugent, who had 
 heard of the steward's difficulties from Hardy. 
 
 " No, sir," said Mr. Wilks, hastily ; " sit down, 
 sir." 
 
 He pushed forward a chair and, almost pulling 
 his visitor into it, stood over him attentively and 
 took his hat. 
 
 " Are you quite sure I'm not interrupting you ? " 
 inquired the thoughtful Mr. Nugent. 
 
 " Certain sure, sir," said Mr. Wilks, eagerly. " I 
 was just 'aving a bit of a chat with my neighbour, 
 Mrs. Silk, 'ere, that's all." 
 
 The lady in question removed her handkerchief 
 from her eyes and gazed at him with reproachful 
 tenderness. Mr. Wilks plunged hastily into con- 
 versation. 
 
 329
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 <f She came over 'ere to tell me a bit o* news/' he 
 said, eyeing the young man doubtfully. " It seems 
 that Teddy " 
 
 Mr. Nugent fetched a mighty sigh and shook his 
 head ; Mrs. Silk gazed at him earnestly. 
 
 " Life is full of surprises, sir," she remarked. 
 
 " And sadness," added Mr. Nugent. " I hope 
 that they will be happy." 
 
 " It struck me all of a 'cap," said Mrs. Silk, roll- 
 ing her handkerchief into a ball and placing it in 
 her lap. " I was doing a bit of ironing when in 
 walks Teddy with Amelia Kybird, and says they 
 was married last Friday. I was that shaken I 
 didn't know what I did or what I said. Then I 
 came over as soon as I could, because I thought 
 Mr. Wilks ought to know about it." 
 
 Mr. Wilks cleared his throat and turned an ago- 
 nized eye on Mr. Nugent. He would have liked 
 to have asked why Mrs. Silk should think it neces- 
 sary to inform him, but the fear of precipitating, a 
 crisis stayed his tongue. 
 
 " What I'm to do, I don't know," continued 
 Mrs. Silk, feebly. " You can't 'ave two queens in 
 one 'ouse, so to speak." 
 
 " But she was walking out with Teddy long 
 ago," urged Mr. Wilks. " It's no worse now than 
 then." 
 
 " But I wouldn't be married by license," said 
 330
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mrs. Silk, deftly ignoring the remark. " If I can't 
 be asked in church in the proper way I won't be 
 married at all." 
 
 " Quite right," said Mr. Nugent ; " there's some- 
 thing so sudden about a license," he added, with 
 feeling. 
 
 " Me and Mr. Wilks was talking about marriage 
 only the other day," pursued Mrs. Silk, with a bash- 
 fulness which set every nerve in the steward's body 
 quivering, " and we both agreed that banns was the 
 proper way." . 
 
 " You was talking about it," corrected Mr. 
 Wilks, in a hoarse voice. " You brought up the 
 subject and I agreed with you not that it matters 
 to me 'ow people get married. That's their affair. 
 Banns or license, it's all one to me." 
 
 " I won't be married by license," said Mrs. Silk, 
 with sudden petulance; "leastways, I'd rather not 
 be," she added, softening. 
 
 Mr. Wilks took his handkerchief from his pocket 
 and blew his nose violently. Mrs. Silk's methods 
 of attack left him little opportunity for the plain 
 speaking which was necessary to dispel illusions. He 
 turned a watery, appealing eye on to Mr. Nugent, 
 and saw to his surprise that that gentleman was 
 winking at him with great significance and persist- 
 ence. It would have needed a heart of stone to have 
 been unaffected bv such misery, and to-night Mr,
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Nugent, thankful for his own escape, was in a singu- 
 larly merciful mood. 
 
 "All this sounds as though you are going to be 
 married," he said, turning to Mrs. Silk with a polite 
 smile. 
 
 The widow simpered and looked down, thereby 
 affording Mr. Nugent an opportunity of another 
 signal to the perturbed steward, who sat with such a 
 look of anxiety on his face lest he should miss his 
 cue that the young man's composure was tried to 
 the utmost. 
 
 " It's been a understood thing for a long time," 
 she said, slowly, " but I couldn't leave my son 
 while 'e was single and nobody to look after 'im. 
 A good mother makes a good wife, so they say. 
 A woman can't always 'ave 'er own way in every- 
 thing, and if it's not to be by banns, then by license 
 it must be, I suppose." 
 
 " Well, he'll be a fortunate man, whoever he is," 
 said Mr. Nugent, with another warning glance at 
 Mr. Wilks ; " and I only hope that he'll make a 
 better husband than you do, Sam," he added, in a 
 low but severe voice. 
 
 Mrs. Silk gave a violent start. " Better husband 
 than 'e does ? " she cried, sharply. " Mr. Wilks 
 ain't married." 
 
 Mr. Nugent's baseless charge took the steward 
 all aback. He stiffened in his chair, a picture of 
 
 33 2
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 tonsternation, and guilt appeared stamped on every 
 feature ; but he had the presence of mind to look 
 to Mr. Nugent's eye for guidance and sufficient 
 strength of character to accept this last bid for liberty. 
 
 " That's my business, sir," he quavered, in of- 
 fended tones. 
 
 " But you ain't married? " screamed Mrs. Silk. 
 
 " Never mind," said Nugent, pacifically. " Per- 
 haps I ought not to have mentioned it ; it's a sore 
 subject with Sam. And I daresay there were faults 
 on both sides. Weren't there, Sam ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," said Mr. Wilks, in a voice which he 
 strove hard to make distinct ; " especially 'ers." 
 
 " You you never told me you were married," 
 said Mrs. Silk, breathlessly. 
 
 " I never said I wasn't," retorted the culprit, de- 
 fiantly. " If people liked to think I was a single 
 man, I don't care ; it's got nothing to do with them. 
 Besides, she lives at Stepney, and I don't 'ear from 
 'er once in six months; she don't interfere with 
 me and I don't interfere with her." 
 
 Mrs. Silk got up from her chair and stood con- 
 fronting him with her hand grasping the back of it. 
 Her cold eyes gleamed and her face worked with 
 spite as she tried in vain to catch his eye. Of Mr. 
 Nugent and his ingenuous surprise at her behaviour 
 she took no notice at all. 
 
 " You're a deceiver," she gasped ; " you've been 
 333
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 be'aving like a single man and everybody thought 
 you was a single man." 
 
 " I hope you haven't been paying attentions to 
 
 " ' You're a deceiver,' she gasped." 
 
 anybody, Sam ? " said Mr. Nugent, in a shocked 
 voice. 
 
 " A-ah !" said Mrs. Silk, shivering with anger. 
 " Ask 'im ; the deceiving villain. Ask anybody, and 
 
 334
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 see what they'll tell you. Oh, you wicked man, I 
 wonder you can look me in the face ! " 
 
 Truth to tell, Mr. Wilks was looking in any di- 
 rection but hers. His eyes met Nugent's, but 
 there was a look of such stern disdain on that gen- 
 tleman's face that he was fain to look away again. 
 
 " Was it a friend of yours ? " inquired the artless 
 Mr. Nugent. 
 
 " Never mind," said Mrs. Silk, recovering her- 
 self. " Never mind who it was. You wait till I 
 go and tell Teddy," she continued, turning to the 
 trembling Mr. Wilks. " If 'e's got the 'art of a 
 man in 'im you'll see." 
 
 With this dire threat, and turning occasionally to 
 bestow another fierce glance upon the steward, she 
 walked to the door and, opening it to its full extent, 
 closed it behind her with a crash and darted across 
 the alley to her own house. The two men gazed 
 at each other without speaking, and then Mr. Wilks, 
 stepping over to the door, turned the key in the 
 lock. 
 
 " You're not afraid of Teddy ? " said the staring 
 Nugent. 
 
 "Teddy!" said Mr. Wilks, snapping his huge 
 fingers. "I'm not afraid o' fifty Teddies ; but she 
 might come back with 'im. If it 'adn't ha' been for 
 you, sir, I don't know wot wouldn't 'ave happened." 
 
 " Go and draw some beer and get me a clean 
 335
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 pipe," said Nugent, dropping into a chair. " We've 
 both been mercifully preserved, Sam, and the best 
 thing we can do is to drink to our noble selves and 
 be more careful for the future." 
 
 Mr. Wilks obeyed, and again thanking him 
 warmly for his invaluable services sat down to com- 
 pile a few facts about his newly acquired wife, war- 
 ranted to stand the severest cross-examination which 
 might be brought to bear upon them, a task in- 
 terspersed with malicious reminiscences of Mrs. 
 Silk's attacks on his liberty. He also insisted on 
 giving up' his bed to Nugent for the night. 
 
 " I suppose," he said later on, as Mr. Nugent, 
 after a faint objection or two, took his candle " I 
 suppose this yarn about my being married will get 
 about?" 
 
 " I suppose so," said Nugent, yawning, as he 
 paused with his foot on the stair. " What about it ? " 
 
 " Nothing," said Mr. Wilks, in a somewhat dis- 
 satisfied voice. " Nothing." 
 
 " What about it? " repeated Mr. Nugent, sternly. 
 
 " Nothing, sir," said Mr. Wilks, with an insuffer- 
 able simper. " Nothing, only it'll make things a 
 little bit slow for me, that's all." 
 
 Mr. Nugent eyed him for a space in speechless 
 amazement, and then, with a few strong remarks on 
 ingratitude and senile vanity, mounted the winding 
 little stairs and went to bed. 
 
 336
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 THE day after Mr. Silk's sudden and unex- 
 pected assertion of his marital rights Mr. 
 Kybird stood in the doorway of his shop, 
 basking in the sun. The High Street was in a state 
 of post-prandial repose, and there was no likelihood 
 of a customer to interfere with his confidential chat 
 with Mr. Nathan Smith, who was listening with an 
 aspect of great severity to his explanations. 
 
 " It ought not to 'ave happened," he said, sharply. 
 
 " It was Teddy done it," said Mr. Kybird, hum- 
 bly. 
 
 Mr. Smith shrugged his shoulders. "It wouldn't 
 'ave happened if I'd been there," he observed, arro- 
 gantly. 
 
 "I don't see 'ow " began Mr. Kybird. 
 
 " No, o' course you don't," said his friend. 
 " Still, it's no use making a fuss now. The thing 
 is done. One thing is, I don't suppose it'll make 
 any diff " 
 
 " Difference," suggested Mr. Kybird, after wait- 
 ing for him to finish. I 
 
 " Difference," said Mr. Smith, with an obvious 
 337
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 effort. His face had lost its scornful expression 
 and given way to one almost sheepish in its mild- 
 ness. Mr. Kybird, staring at him in some surprise, 
 
 " ' It was Teddy done it,* said Mr. Kybird, humbly." 
 
 even thought that he detected a faint shade of 
 pink. 
 
 " We ain't all as clever as wot you are, Nat," he 
 338
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 said, somewhat taken aback at this phenomenon. 
 " It wouldn't do." 
 
 Mr. Smith made a strange noise in his throat and 
 turned on him sharply. Mr. Kybird, still staring 
 in surprise at his unwonted behaviour, drew back a 
 little, and then his lips parted and his eyes grew 
 round as he saw the cause of his friend's concern. 
 An elderly gentleman with a neatly trimmed white 
 beard and a yellow rose in his button-hole was just 
 passing on the other side of the road. His tread 
 was elastic, his figure as upright as a boy's, and he 
 swung a light cane in his hand as he walked. As 
 Mr. Kybird gazed he bestowed a brisk nod upon 
 the bewildered Mr. Smith, and crossed the road 
 with the evident intention of speaking to him. 
 
 " How do, Smith ? " he said, in a kindly voice. 
 
 The boarding-master leaned against the shop- 
 window and regarded him dumbly. There was a 
 twinkle in the shipbroker's eyes which irritated him 
 almost beyond endurance, and in the doorway Mr. 
 Kybird his face mottled with the intensity of his 
 emotions stood an unwelcome and frantic witness 
 of his shame. 
 
 "You're not well, Smith?" said Mr. Swann, 
 shaking his head at him gently. " You look like 
 a man who has been doing too much brain-work 
 lately. You've been getting the better of some- 
 body, I know." 
 
 339
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Smith gasped and, eyeing him wickedly, 
 strove hard to recover his self-possession. 
 
 " I'm all right, sir," he said, in a thin voice. " I'm 
 glad to see you're looking a trifle better, sir." 
 
 " Oh, I'm quite right, now," said the other, with 
 a genial smile at the fermenting Mr. Kybird. " I'm 
 as well as ever I was. Illness is a serious thing, 
 Smith, but it is not without its little amusements." 
 
 Mr. Smith, scratching his smooth-shaven chin and 
 staring blankly in front of him, said that he was glad 
 to hear it, 
 
 " I've had a long bout of it," continued the ship- 
 broker, " longer than I intended at first. By the 
 way, Smith, you've never spoken to anybody of that 
 business, of course ? " 
 
 " Of course not, sir," said the boarding-master, 
 grinding his teeth. 
 
 " One has fancies when one is ill," said Mr. Swann, 
 in low tones, as his eye dwelt with pleasure on the 
 strained features of Mr. Kybird. " I burnt the doc- 
 ument five minutes after you had gone." 
 
 " Did you, reely ? " said Mr. Smith, mechanically. 
 
 " I'm glad it was only you and the doctor that 
 saw my foolishness," continued the other, still in a 
 low voice. " Other people might have talked, but 
 I knew that you were a reliable man, Smith. And 
 you won't talk about it in the future, I'm quite cer- 
 tain of that. Good afternoon." 
 
 340
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Mr. Smith managed to say, " Good afternoon," 
 and stood watching the receding figure as though 
 it belonged to a species hitherto unknown to him. 
 Then he turned, in obedience to a passionate tug 
 at his coat sleeve from Mr. Kybird. 
 
 " Wot 'ave you got to say for yourself? " de- 
 manded that injured person, in tones of suppressed 
 passion. " Wot do you mean by it? You've made 
 a pretty mess of it with your cleverness." 
 
 " Wonderful old gentleman, ain't he ? " said the 
 discomfited Mr. Smith. " Fancy 'im getting the 
 better o' me. Fancy me being 'ad. I took it all in 
 as innercent as you please." 
 
 " Ah, you're a clever fellow, you are," said Mr. 
 Kybird, bitterly. " 'Ere's Amelia lost young Nu- 
 gent and 'is five 'undred all through you. It's a 
 got-up thing between old Swann and the Nugent 
 lot, that's wot it is." 
 
 " Looks like it," admitted Mr. Smith; " but fancy 
 'is picking me out for 'is games. That's wot gets 
 over me." 
 
 " Wot about all that money I paid for the li- 
 cense?" demanded Mr. Kybird, in a threatening 
 manner. " W r ot are you going to do about it ? " 
 
 " You shall 'ave it," said the boarding-master, 
 with sudden blandness, "and 'Melia shall 'ave 'er 
 five 'undred." 
 
 " 'Ow ? " inquired the other, staring.
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 " It's as easy as easy," said Mr. Smith, who had 
 been greatly galled by his friend's manner. " I'll 
 leave it in my will. That's the cheapest way o' 
 giving money I know of. And while I'm about it 
 I'll leave you a decent pair o' trousers and a shirt 
 with your own name on it." 
 
 While an ancient friendship was thus being dis- 
 solved, Mr. Adolphus Swann was on the way to his 
 office. He could never remember such a pleasant 
 air from the water and such a vivid enjoyment in 
 f .he sight of the workaday world. He gazed with 
 delight at the crowd of miscellaneous shipping in 
 the harbour and the bustling figures on the quay, 
 only pausing occasionally to answer anxious inquir- 
 ies concerning his health from seafaring men in tarry 
 trousers, who had waylaid him with great pains from 
 a distance. 
 
 He reached his office at last, and, having acknowl- 
 edged the respectful greetings of Mr. Silk, passed 
 into the private room, and celebrated his return to 
 work by at once arranging with his partner for a sub- 
 stantial rise in the wages of that useful individual. 
 
 " My conscience is troubling me," he declared, as 
 he hung up his hat and gazed round the room with 
 much relish. 
 
 " Silk is happy enough," said Hardy. "It is the 
 best thing that could have happened to him." 
 
 " I should like to raise everybody's wages," said 
 342
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 the benevolent Mr. Swann, as he seated himself at 
 his desk. " Everything is like a holiday to me after 
 being cooped up in that bedroom ; but the rest has 
 done me a lot of good, so 
 Blaikie says. And now 
 what is going to happen to 
 you ? " 
 
 n 
 
 " Pausing occasionally to answer anxious inquiries" 1 
 
 343
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy shook his head. 
 
 " Strike while the iron is hot," said the ship- 
 broken "Go and see Captain Nugent before he 
 has got used to the situation. And you can give 
 him to understand, if you like (only be careful how 
 you do it), that I have got something in view which 
 may suit his son. If you fail in this affair after all 
 I've done for you, I'll enter the lists myself." 
 
 The advice was good, but unnecessary, Mr. Hardy 
 having already fixed on that evening as a suitable 
 opportunity to disclose to the captain the nature of 
 the efforts he had been making on his behalf. The 
 success which had attended them had put him into 
 a highly optimistic mood, and he set off for Equator 
 Lodge with the confident feeling that he had, to say 
 the least of it, improved his footing there. 
 
 Captain Nugent, called away from his labours in 
 the garden, greeted his visitor in his customary short 
 manner as he entered the room. " If you've come 
 to tell me about this marriage, I've heard of it" he 
 said, bluntly. " Murchison told me this afternoon." 
 
 " He didn't tell you how it was brought about, 
 I suppose ? " said Hardy. 
 
 The captain shook his head. " I didn't ask him," 
 he said, with affected indifference, and sat gazing 
 out at the window as Hardy began his narration. 
 Two or three times he thought he saw signs of ap- 
 preciation in his listener's face, but the mouth under 
 
 344
 
 At Simwich Port 
 
 the heavy moustache was firm and the eyes steady. 
 Only when he related Swann's interview with Na- 
 than Smith and Kybird did the captain's features 
 relax. He gave a chuckling cough and, feeling for 
 his handkerchief, blew his nose violently. Then, 
 with a strange gleam in his eye, he turned to the 
 young man opposite. 
 
 " Very smart," he said, shortly. 
 
 " It was successful," said the other, modestly. 
 
 " Very," said the captain, as he rose and con- 
 fronted him. " I am much obliged, of course, for 
 the trouble you have taken in the affairs of my 
 family. And now I will remind you of our agree- 
 ment." 
 
 " Agreement ? " repeated the other. 
 
 The captain nodded. " Your visits to me were 
 to cease when this marriage happened, if I wished 
 it," he said, slowly. 
 
 "That was the arrangement," said the dumb- 
 founded Hardy, " but I had hoped . Besides, 
 
 it has all taken place much sooner than I had an- 
 ticipated." 
 
 " That was the bargain," said the captain, stiffly. 
 "And now I'll bid you good-day." 
 
 " I am sorry that my presence should be so dis- 
 tasteful to you," said the mortified Hardy. 
 
 "Distasteful, sir?" said the captain, sternly. 
 " You have forced yourself on me for twice a week 
 
 345
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 for some time past. You have insisted upon talk- 
 ing on every subject under the sun, whether I liked 
 it or not. You have taken every opportunity of 
 evading my wishes that you should not see my 
 daughter, and you wonder that I object to you. 
 For absolute brazenness you beat anything I have 
 ever encountered." 
 
 " I am sorry," said Hardy, again. 
 
 " Good evening," said the captain 
 
 " Good evening." 
 
 Crestfallen and angry Hardy moved to the door, 
 pausing with his hand on it as the captain spoke 
 again. 
 
 " One word more," said the older man, gazing at 
 him oddly as he stroked his grey beard ; " if ever 
 you try to come bothering me with your talk again 
 I'll forbid you the house." 
 
 " Forbid me the house ? " repeated the astonished 
 Hardy. 
 
 " That's what I said," replied the other ; " that's 
 plain English, isn't it ? " 
 
 Hardy looked at him in bewilderment ; then, as 
 the captain's meaning dawned upon him, he stepped 
 forward impulsively and, seizing his hand, began to 
 stammer out incoherent thanks. 
 
 " You'd better clear before I alter my mind," said 
 Captain Nugent, roughly. "I've had more thas 
 enough of you. Try the garden, if you like." 
 
 346
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 He took up a paper from the table and resumed 
 his seat, not without a grim smile at the prompti- 
 tude with which the other obeyed his instructions. 
 
 Miss Nugent, reclining in a deck-chair at the 
 bottom of the garden, looked up as she heard 
 Hardy's footstep on the gravel. It was a surprising 
 thing to see him walking down the garden ; it was 
 still more surprising to observe the brightness of 
 his eye and the easy confidence of his bearing. It 
 was evident that he was highly pleased with himself, 
 and she was not satisfied until she had ascertained 
 the reason. Then she sat silent, reflecting bitterly 
 on the clumsy frankness of the male sex in general 
 and fathers in particular. A recent conversation 
 with the captain, in which she had put in a casual 
 word or two in Hardy's favour, was suddenly in- 
 vested with a new significance. 
 
 " I shall never be able to repay your father for 
 his kindness," said Hardy, meaningly, as he took a 
 chair near her. 
 
 " I expect he was pleased at this marriage," said 
 Miss Nugent, coldly. " How did it happen ? " 
 
 Mr. Hardy shifted uneasily in his chair. " There 
 isn't much to tell," he said, reluctantly; "and you 
 you might not approve of the means by which the 
 end was gained." 
 
 "Still, I want to hear about it," said Miss 
 Nugent. 
 
 347
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 For the second time that evening Hardy told his 
 story. It seemed more discreditable each time he 
 told it, and he scanned the girl's face anxiously as 
 he proceeded, but, like her father, she sat still and 
 made no comment until he had finished. Then she 
 expressed a strong feeling of gratitude that the Nu- 
 gent family had not been mixed up in it. 
 
 " Why ? " inquired Hardy, bluntly. 
 
 " I don't think it was a very nice thing to do," 
 said Miss Nugent, with a superior air. 
 
 " It wouldn't have been a very nice thing for you 
 if your brother had married Miss Kybird," said the 
 indignant Jem. " And you said, if you remember, 
 that you didn't mind what I did." 
 
 " I don't," said Miss Nugent, noticing with pleas- 
 ure that the confident air of a few minutes ago had 
 quite disappeared. 
 
 " You think I have been behaving badly ? " pur- 
 sued Hardy. 
 
 " I would rather not say what I think," replied 
 Miss Nugent, loftily. " I have no doubt you 
 meant well, and I should be sorry to hurt your 
 feelings." 
 
 " Thank you," said Hardy, and sat gloomily gaz- 
 ing about him. For some time neither of them 
 spoke. 
 
 " Where is Jack now ? " inquired the girl, at last. 
 
 " He is staying with me for a few days," said 
 348
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Hardy. " I sincerely hope that the association will 
 not be injurious to him." 
 
 " Are you trying to be rude to me ? " inquired 
 Miss Nugent, raising her clear eyes to his. 
 
 " I am sorry," said Hardy, hastily. " You are 
 quite right, of course. It was not a nice thing to 
 do, but I would do a thousand times worse to please 
 you." 
 
 Miss Nugent thanked him warmly ; he seemed 
 to understand her so well, she said. 
 
 " I mean," said Hardy, leaning forward and 
 speaking with a vehemence which made the girl in- 
 stinctively avert her head " I mean that to please 
 you would be the greatest happiness I could know. 
 I love you." 
 
 Miss Nugent sat silent, and a strong sense .of the 
 monstrous unfairness of such a sudden attack pos- 
 sessed her. Such a declaration she felt ought to 
 have been led up to by numerous delicate grada- 
 tions of speech, each a little more daring than the 
 last, but none so daring that they could not have 
 been checked at any time by the exercise of a little 
 firmness. 
 
 "If you would do anything to please me," she 
 said at length in a low voice, and without turning 
 her head, " would you promise never to try and see 
 me or speak to me again if I asked you ? " 
 
 " No," said Hardy, promptly. 
 349
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 Miss Nugent sat silent again. She knew that a 
 good woman should be sorry for a man in such ex- 
 
 tremity, and should endeavour to spare his feelings by 
 softening her refusal as much as possible, little as 
 he might deserve such consideration. But man is 
 
 35
 
 At Sunwich Port 
 
 impatient and jumps at conclusions. Before she was 
 half-way through the first sentence he leaned for- 
 ward and took her hand. 
 
 " Oh, good-bye," she said, turning to him, with 
 a pleasant smile. 
 
 " I am not going," said Hardy, quietly ; " I am 
 never going," he added, as he took her other hand. 
 
 Captain Nugent, anxious for his supper, found 
 them there still debating the point some two hours 
 later. Kate Nugent, relieved at the appearance of 
 her natural protector, clung to him with unusual 
 warmth. Then, in a kindly, hospitable fashion, she 
 placed her other arm in that of Hardy, and they 
 walked in grave silence to the house. 
 
 THE END 
 
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