nd them altogether satisfactory. Brady added
little to the gayety of nations. He came in from his day on the water
sunburned, tired, and as nearly cross as it lay in his genial
disposition to be. He swallowed his supper, and made haste to stow
himself away in bed, leaving Flint to choose between a conversation
with Marsden and the self-communion which was his least congenial
occupation.

For an hour or so, he loitered in the little shop, listening idly to
the yarns which Marsden rolled as sweet morsels under his tongue: of
the whale which the fishermen had caught off the beach, a sea-monster
of untold length, breadth, and thickness, which had been sold for a
thousand dollars; of the marvellous experiences of his father, as
captain of a trading-vessel in the "East Injies;" and finally of the
fire-ship which he himself had seen hanging between sea and sky, out
yonder between the island and the mainland.

"You say you saw it yourself?" Flint asked, partly from listless
curiosity, and partly with an eye to the society of psychical
research.

"True as yo' 're a settin' thar. 'Twas one night nigh onto fifteen
years ago,--good deal such a night as this heer. The old cow wuz sick
that night, and as I wuz out to the barn, puttin' hot cloths on her
till past midnight. Ez I wuz comin' into the house, I looked out, and
there, jest where the mist was breakin' away, hung a ship, lookin'
like a light under a cloud."

"Did you call any one?" queried Flint.

"Call any one? Lord! I was too scared to move hand or foot; I jest
stood gapin' at her till she faded clean out o' sight."

"Mirage, I suppose," Flint murmured to himself, "unless the old fellow
is lying out and out, which is not likely." Then, aloud, as he rose,
stretching himself lazily, "If you ever see the fire-ship again, while
I am here, let me know. I have always wanted to see a wreck, and a
phantom wreck is better than none."

"Don't go to talkin' too much about it," said Marsden, mysteriously.
"They say it brings bad luck."

"Apparently it brings bad luck for anybody but you to do the talking.
Well, I think I will leave you before I am tempted to a loquaciousness
which might bring down a curse on the house of Marsden."

Smiling to himself over the old man's superstition, Flint climbed the
stairs to his own room, as softly as possible, lest Brady's wrath at
being waked descend upon him. Having closed his door cautiously, he
sat down by the open window, enjoying t