intain by every kind of
break-neck exploit. His proper business, of course, was to look after
his father's boat in his absence; but as it was safely moored, and could
be seen just as well from any of the yards in the harbour, he used
generally to wait in some such conspicuous position till his friends
came streaming down to the quay from school, and throwing their books
down, sailed out in some punt or other to join him. Most of the boys had
been expressly warned by their mothers against the reckless
Kristiansen's son, but cross-trees and mast-heads became thereby only
the more attractive.

Old Beck's grandson, Frederick, who was going to be a naval cadet, had
fancied one day that he would escape observation from the windows at
home by climbing up to join his friend at the mast-head, on the other
side of the mast; but the slender spar was not sufficient to protect him
from the master-pilot's keen eye, and the latter came himself on board
in full grandfatherly indignation against the skipper for allowing such
pranks to be played on board his craft, thrashed Gjert for being the
cause of his grandson's disobedience, and told him that it was very
clear what he would come to some day--that he came of a bad stock, and
took after it. His own little scion, although a couple of years older
than Gjert, escaped punishment altogether--the other lads, however,
determining among themselves that he should have it the next time they
met. And he would have had it, if Gjert, who should have been the one
more particularly to desire revenge, had not unexpectedly taken his
part.

It was only as they were sailing the cutter home that the pilot heard
how Beck had thrashed his son, and cast his horoscope. His smurched face
grew white as a sheet. But when Gjert went in to tell him how, all the
same, he had taken Frederick Beck's part, his father looked at him in
surprise, and then muttered something about "telling this to his
mother."

Elizabeth had seen the boat pass Merdoe for Arendal the day before, and
she was sitting indoors now expecting her husband, having commissioned
their youngest and only other son, Henrik, to keep a look-out, and come
and tell her when he saw his father coming. Henrik, however, had
entirely forgotten her injunctions in the more interesting occupation of
catching shrimps in one of the salt-water pools which a recent high tide
had left among the rocks; and there, in the bright afternoon, over the
blue and gold sea