n behaving himself--and that
in spite of how blue he must have been feeling. By this time he's
cert'nly made up his mind he's with a pretty bad crowd, but maybe
he's glad of a little excitement. What I don't understand is how
Dave ever left old man Luce's place without breaking up the
furniture before going away. Gen'rally that's his style. Maybe
Maurice being along had something to do with it--a pretty able man in
close quarters is Maurice. Yes, he must be glad of the excitement,
but Lord, that won't save him from being lost. Oh, oh, and now
what'll we do? Let's see, the Flamingo's on the way to the Banks,
and that's the end of that chase. We've got to wait now and see that
she comes home--or don't come home--one or the other. I told that
girl that I was going to put out--put out if it blew a hundred gales.
And so I would if any good would come of it, but putting out to sea a
day like this because you bragged you would--risking your vessel and
crew, or making hard work for them if nothing else--that ain't good
sense, is it? Besides, I had to tell her something to get away
without setting up to be a model of virtue. What else could I do?
Women are the devil--sometimes--aren't they, Joe? There's some are. I
suppose it wouldn't do any great harm to head her for home. I don't
believe there's going to be much more fish going to be seined this
fall--and wouldn't she make a passage of it in this easterly? Oh,
Lord, it would be the race all over again, only ten times as long a
drag."

While he sat there in the cabin, smoking and meditating, letting us
into his thoughts every now and then, the voices of some of our crew
were heard on deck.

We all went up and got the word that was being passed around. A coast
steamer had just come to anchor in the harbor with the report that
just outside--about ten miles to the west'ard--was a vessel, dismasted
and clean-swept, and dragging toward the rocks. They could not help
her themselves--too rough--a hurricane outside--to launch a boat was
out of the question. They didn't mind taking a chance, they said, but
to attempt her rescue would be suicide.

It looked like a pretty hard chance going out in that gale, but Clancy
didn't wait. "Nobody else seems to be hurrying to get out, and we
being the able-est looking craft in the harbor, I callate it's up to
us to go." He got the exact location of the distressed vessel from the
coaster, and then it was up anchor, make sail, and out we went.