He told himself it was not piety, but hard common sense which
suggested this as the only and practical way to handle the matter.
It was, in truth, the awakened hope in a loving heart.
Tunis had been able to keep scarcely enough of his crew to handle
the _Seamew_ in fair weather; and the barometer was falling, with
every indication in sea and sky of the approach of bad weather. He
feared the few hands he had would desert when they reached Boston.
Zebedee Pauling was a young host in himself--far and away a better
seaman than Orion Latham, as well as a better fellow. But the
schooner could not be sailed with good will.
Tunis' mind, however, remained fixed upon Sheila's troubles rather
than upon his own; and as soon as the schooner docked, he went up
into the town and wended his way directly to the great department
store in which he had once interviewed the troublesome Ida May
Bostwick.
* * * * *
The cargo was out, and the _Seamew_ had already been warped into
another wharf where freight was awaiting her when the skipper
returned to the water front that afternoon. The three men remaining
of the forecastle crew were still at work, assisted by Zebedee and
Horry Newbegin.
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