your dunnage in. I've put you in the spare cabin in the port
alleyway; you'll find it nice and quiet there. How are you feeling,
father? Would you care for a drink?"

"Yes, I'd like a tot," replied the old man. "Shall I ring for your
steward?"

"Don't you trouble," said Arthur. "I've got it here." It was in the
cupboard under the chronometer, a whole case of whisky. "I carry my
own," explained the mate; "I don't believe in old Davis's taste in
whisky. Help yourself, father."

"How is Minnie?" asked the old man as he set down his glass.

"She's all right," was the reply. "I wanted to tell you about that.
We go into dry dock when we get back from this trip, and Minnie and
I'll get married before I take her out again. Quick work, isn't it?"

The old Captain nodded; the young Captain smiled.

"You'll be bringing Minnie out for the trip, I suppose?" asked the
elder.

"That's my idea," agreed Arthur.

"You're a lucky chap," said the old man slowly. He hesitated. "You've
got your ship in hand, eh, Arthur?"

"I've got her down to a fine point," said Arthur emphatically. "You
needn't bother about me, father. I know my job, and I don't need more
teaching. I wish you'd get to understand that. You know Davis has
bought the Stormberg?"

"I didn't know," said the old man with a sigh. "It don't matter to
me, anyhow. I'd be reaching for the engine telegraph with my right
hand as like as not. No, Arthur, I've done. I'll bother young
officers no more."

The run home was an easy one, but it confirmed old Captain Price in
his resolution to have done with the sea. Two or three times he fell
about decks; a small roll, the commonplace movement of a well-driven
steamship in a seaway shook him from his balance, and that missing
arm, which always seemed to be there, let him down. He would reach
for a stanchion with it to steady himself, and none of his falls
served to cure him of the persistent delusion that he was not a
cripple. He tried to pick things up with it, and let glasses and the
like fall every day. The officers and engineers, men who had sailed
with him at his ablest, saw his weakness quickly, and, with the ready
tact that comes to efficient seafarers, never showed by increased
deference or any sign that they were conscious of the change. It was
only Arthur who went aside to make things easy for him, to cut his
food for him at table, and so forth.

From Swansea he went home by train; Minnie and her kindly old father