wept past, far below The
Laird, they would dip his house-flag--a burgee, scarlet-edged, with a
fir tree embroidered in green on a field of white--the symbol to the
world that here was a McKaye ship. And when the house-flag fluttered
half-way to the deck and climbed again to the masthead, the soul of
Hector McKaye would thrill.

"Guid lads! My bonny brave lads!" he would murmur aloud, with just a
touch of his parents' accent, and press a button which discharged an
ancient brass cannon mounted at the edge of the cliff. Whenever he saw
one of his ships in the offing--and he could identify his ships as far
as he could see them--he ordered the gardener to load this cannon.

Presently the masters began to dip the house-flag when outward bound,
and discovered that, whether The Laird sat at his desk in the mill
office or watched from the cliff, they drew an answering salute.

This was their hail and farewell.

One morning, the barkentine Hathor, towing out for Delagoa Bay, dipped
her house-flag, and the watch at their stations bent their gaze upon
the house on the cliff. Long they waited but no answering salute
greeted the acknowledgment of their affectionate and willing service.

The mate's glance met the master's.

"The old laird must be unwell, sir," he opined.

But the master shook his head.

"He was to have had dinner aboard with us last night, but early in the
afternoon he sent over word that he'd like to be excused. He's sick at
heart, poor man! Daney tells me he's heard the town gossip about young
Donald."

"The lad's a gentleman, sir," the mate defended. "He'll not disgrace
his people."

"He's young--and youth must be served. Man, I was young myself
once--and Nan of the Sawdust Pile is not a woman a young man would
look at once and go his way."

* * * * *

In the southwestern corner of the state of Washington, nestled in the
Bight of Tyee and straddling the Skookum River, lies the little
sawmill town of Port Agnew. It is a community somewhat difficult to
locate, for the Bight of Tyee is not of sufficient importance as a
harbor to have won consideration by the cartographers of the Coast and
Geodetic Survey, and Port Agnew is not quite forty years old.
Consequently, it appears only on the very latest state maps and in the
smallest possible type.

When Hector McKaye first gazed upon the bight, the transcontinental
lines had not yet begun to consider the thrusting of their te