portant to
science than the great auk, I should be very glad to know about it."

Perhaps there was the faintest tinge of sarcasm in my voice, for he
shot a sharp glance at me and then turned slightly. After a moment,
however, he put his pipe into his pocket, laid hold of the brake with
both hands, vaulted to his perch aloft, and glanced down at me.

"Did you ever hear of the harbor-master?" he asked, maliciously.

"Which harbor-master?" I inquired.

"You'll know before long," he observed, with a satisfied glance into
perspective.

This rather extraordinary observation puzzled me. I waited for him to
resume, and, as he did not, I asked him what he meant.

"If I knew," he said, "I'd tell you. But, come to think of it, I'd be
a fool to go into details with a scientific man. You'll hear about the
harbor-master--perhaps you will see the harbor-master. In that event I
should be glad to converse with you on the subject."

I could not help laughing at his prim and precise manner, and, after a
moment, he also laughed, saying:

"It hurts a man's vanity to know he knows a thing that somebody else
knows he doesn't know. I'm damned if I say another word about the
harbor-master until you've been to Halyard's!"

"A harbor-master," I persisted, "is an official who superintends the
mooring of ships--isn't he?"

But he refused to be tempted into conversation, and we lounged
silently on the lumber until a long, thin whistle from the locomotive
and a rush of stinging salt-wind brought us to our feet. Through the
trees I could see the bluish-black ocean, stretching out beyond black
headlands to meet the clouds; a great wind was roaring among the trees
as the train slowly came to a stand-still on the edge of the primeval
forest.

Lee jumped to the ground and aided me with my rifle and pack, and then
the train began to back away along a curved side-track which, Lee
said, led to the mica-pit and company stores.

"Now what will you do?" he asked, pleasantly. "I can give you a good
dinner and a decent bed to-night if you like--and I'm sure Mrs. Lee
would be very glad to have you stop with us as long as you choose."

I thanked him, but said that I was anxious to reach Halyard's before
dark, and he very kindly led me along the cliffs and pointed out the
path.

"This man Halyard," he said, "is an invalid. He lives at a cove called
Black Harbor, and all his truck goes through to him over the company's
road. We receive it here, and