wling way
of speaking. But Ross, the second son, and Stean, the third, both
cruel and hot-blooded men, reproached Asher with not objecting from
the first, for "Och," they would say, "one of these fine days the
ship will be wrecked and scuttled before yer very eyes, and not a
pound of cargo left at her; and all along of that cursed young imp
that's after sniffin' and sniffin' abaft of the ould man,"--a figure
of speech which meant that Adam would will his belongings to Michael
Sunlocks. And at that conjecture, Thurstan, the fourth son, a
black-bearded fellow in top boots, always red-eyed with much
drinking, but strong of will and the ruler of his brethren, would
say, "Aw, well, let the little beachcomber keep his weather eye
liftin';" and Jacob, the fifth son, sandy as a fox, and as sly and
watchful, and John, the youngest, known as Gentleman Johnny, out of
tribute to his love of dress, would shake their heads together, and
hint that they would yet find a way to cook the goose of any
smooth-faced hypocrite shamming Abraham.

Many a device they tried to get Michael Sunlocks turned away. They
brought bad stories of his father, Stephen Orry, now a name of terror
to good people from north to south of the island, a secret trader
running between the revenue cutters in the ports and the smugglers
outside, perhaps a wrecker haunting the rough channels of the Calf,
an outlaw growing rich by crime, and, maybe, by blood. The evil
rumors made no impression on old Adam, but they produced a powerful
effect where no effect had been expected. Bit by it, as his heart
went out to the Governor, there grew upon Michael Sunlocks a deep
loathing of the very name and thought of his father. The memory of
his father was now a thing of the mind, not the affections; and the
chain of the two emotions, love for his foster father and dread of
his natural one, slowly but surely tightened about him, so that his
strongest hope was that he might never again set eyes on Stephen
Orry. By this weakness he fell at length into the hands of the six
Fairbrothers, and led the way to a total rupture of old Adam's
family.

One day when Michael Sunlocks was eighteen years old a man came to
him from Kirk Maughold with an air of wondrous mystery. It was Nary
Crowe, the innkeeper, now bald, bottled-nosed, and in a bad state of
preservation. His story, intended for Michael's ear alone, was that
Stephen Orry, flying from the officers of the revenue cutters, was on
t