e end of the dock looking at her, and
that's all I could do--look at her. She was lying to two anchors and
with her mains'l standing. A little further off shore and even her two
anchors couldn't 've kept her from dragging and piling up on the rocks
with that mains'l up, for a rocky harbor is Saint Pierre, and now it was
blowing a living gale of wind.

While I was standing there on the big dock, along comes the trader
Miller with another chap. He must 've seen me, but he pretended not, and
I didn't make any sign I saw him. He pointed out the _Aurora_ to the
man, saying a few things in French. And then he raised his voice.

"When it moderates she will depart--and with a car-go," he said--the
last in English, and by that I knew he meant it for me. "Go on," I grit
out, "go on, have your fun."

"Yes, I pur-chased her ver-ry cheap," goes on Miller, and then a great
racket, and down the dock on the run comes Sam with his big turkey,
which was all cooked, I could see, fine and brown--and Archie behind Sam
and the four _Lucy Foster_ men behind Archie and behind them again a
bunch of Argand's waiters and the gendarmes with the red trousers and
swords.

There was a dory tied up to the end of the dock; I don't know who owned
it, but there it was. "Come on, jump in." I yells, and all hands piled
in, and we shoved off; all in one motion almost, and by the time
Argand's crowd got to the stringpiece we were a vessel length away, and
pulling like homeward bound.

"Lay to it." I kept saying to them.

"Aye, lay to it, and we'll eat that turkey for Christmas yet," yells
Sam.

"Lay to it, and we'll have more than the turkey." I says.

"What's that we'll have, Alec?" hollers Sam.

"Pull to the Aurora and see." I hollers back. It was blowing so hard we
could hardly hear each other, and what with the chop we were driving the
dory through we might well have been in swimming.

We made the _Aurora_, and, looking back as I leaped over her rail, I
could see Miller running back up the dock.

"Hurry, fellows." I yells to them, "Miller's gone to head us off."

As we drops onto the _Aurora's_ deck a head pops out of the fo'c's'le
companion-way. He looked like he'd just come out of a fine sleep.
"You," I yelled, "allay you--rauss--beat it," and rushed him to the dory
we'd just come aboard in. He looks up at me in the most puzzled way. Two
more heads popped up out of the companion-way. "And allay you two,"
yells Sam and Archie, and grabs '