st shipment to the
market at St. John's, our own catch having disappointed the expectation
of us every one. My sister and I were then left to manage my father's
business as best we could: which we must determine to do, come weal or
woe, for we knew no other way. My sister said, moreover, that, whether
we grew rich or poor, 'twas wise and kind to do our best, lest our
father's folk, who had ever been loyal to his trade, come upon evil
times at the hands of traders less careful of their welfare. Large
problems of management we did not perceive, but only the simple,
immediate labour, to which we turned with naively willing heads and
hands, sure that, because of the love abroad in all the world, no evil
would befall us.

"'Twill be fortune," my sister said, in her sweet and hopeful way; "for
the big world is good, Davy," said she, "to such as are bereft."

"I'm not so sure o' that."

"Ay," she repeated, unshaken, "the world is kind."

"You is but a girl, Bessie," said I, "an' not well acquaint with the way
o' the world. Still an' all," I mused, "Skipper Tommy says 'tis kind,
an' he've growed wonderful used t' livin'."

"We'll not fear the world."

"No, no! We'll not fear it. I'll be a man, sister, for your sake."

"An' I a true woman," said she, "for yours."

To Tom Tot we gave the handling of the fish and stores, resolving, also,
to stand upon his judgment in the matter of dealing supplies to the
thriftless and the unfortunate, whether generously or with a sparing
hand, for the men of our harbour were known to him, every one, in
strength and conscience and will for toil. As for the shop, said we, we
would mind it ourselves, for 'twas but play to do it; and thus, indeed,
it turned out: so hearty was the sport it provided that my sister and I
would hilariously race for the big key (which hung on a high nail in the
dining-room) whenever a customer came. I would not have you think us
unfeeling. God knows, we were not that! 'Twas this way with us: each hid
the pain, and thus thought to deceive the other into a happier mood. We
did well enough in the shop; but we could make neither head nor tail of
the books in my father's safe; and when our bewilderment and heartache
came to ears of the doctor he said that he would himself manage the
letters and keep the books in the intervals of healing the sick: which,
with a medicine chest they had brought ashore from the wreck, he had
already begun to practice.

It seemed, then,