companion gave it.

"I reckon you don't know Cartwright of the Independent Freighters, but
he could put you wise about getting a ship," Vernon resumed. "I'm
stopping for a week or two at his country house. The freighters are
small boats, but Cartwright's worth knowing; in fact, to know him is
something of an education. In the West we're pretty keen business men,
and I've put across some smart deals at the Winnipeg Board of Trade, but
I'll admit Cartwright would beat me every time. Where do you mean to
locate?"

Lister said he was going to the neighborhood of a small country town in
the North of England, and was puzzled by Vernon's start.

"That fixes it! The thing's strangely lucky. Cartwright's country house
is not far off. You had better come along by my train. Soon after I
arrive I'll get Mrs. Cartwright to ask you across."

"I mustn't bother your friends," said Lister. "Besides, I really don't
know if I want to go to sea."

"All the same, you'll come over to Carrock. You ought to know Cartwright
and I reckon he'll like to know you. I have a notion you and he would
make a good team."

Lister wondered whether Vernon had an object for urging him to meet his
friend, but this looked ridiculous.

"What's Cartwright like?" he asked carelessly.

"My notion is, Cartwright's unique. You imagine he's something of a
highbrow Englishman, rather formal and polite, but he has an eye like a
fish-hawk's and his orders go. Hair and mustache white; you don't know
if his clothes are old or new, but you feel they're exactly what he
ought to wear. That's Cartwright, so to speak, on top; but when you meet
him you want to remember you're not up against a Canadian. We're a
straight type. When we're tough, we're very tough all the time; when
we're cultivated, you can see the polish shine. In the Old Country it's
harder to fix where folks belong."

"You imply that you have got to know Cartwright before you fix him?"

Vernon laughed. "I haven't quite fixed him yet. At one time he's a sober
gentleman of the stiff old school; at another he's as rough as the
roughest hobo I've met in the West. I reckon he'd beat a business crook
at the other's smartest trick, but if you're out for a straight deal,
you'll find Cartwright straight."

He went off to change some money and Lister went to his cabin and began
to pack his trunk. When he came up they had passed the Chicken Rock and
a long bright beam touched the sea astern. In the East, water