d morocco slippers upon his otherwise naked feet. His
head was adorned with a peakless cap of what looked like wolfskin,
fitted with a pair of flaps to tie down over the ears, but now fastened
together at the crown.

Although the man presented a distinctly quaint ensemble, there was a
genial, kindly twinkle in his eyes that caused me to take to him on the
spot as he extended his hand and said, with a slight drawl and a strong
Yankee accent:

"Walcome, strangers, to the _Marthy Brown_. I guess you've been havin'
a rough time by the looks of you. How long, now, have ye been knockin'
about in that boat?"

"This is our fifth day in her, Mr--er--er--" I answered.

"I reckon you're gropin' around after my name, Mister," he interrupted.
"It's Ephraim Brown--very ginerally razeed down to Eph by my friends--
and I'm master and owner of this here schooner, named a'ter my old woman
away back to Baltimore. I guess your name is--"

"Mark Temple," I hastened to reply. "My companions are respectively Mr
Edward Cunningham, late a cuddy passenger aboard the British barque
_Zenobia_--of which vessel I was one of the apprentices; William
Murdock, boatswain; Joseph Parsons, carpenter; and James Simpson,
sailmaker, all of the same ship."

"I'm downright glad to meet you all," replied Mr Ephraim Brown, shaking
hands all round again with much cordiality. Then he stepped to the
taffrail and looked down at the gig, which had been passed astern.

"I guess that's a very tidy-lookin' boat of yourn, and there don't seem
to be nothin' partic'lar the matter with her. I reckon she's quite
worth hoistin' in, ain't she, Mister?" he remarked.

"Yes, indeed she is," I replied. "She has brought us safely through
some pretty heavy weather, and I should be very sorry to see her cast
adrift."

"Cast adrift nothin'! That ain't old Eph Brown's way," retorted the
skipper briskly. "Is she very heavy?"

"On the contrary, she is an exceedingly light boat when empty," I
replied.

"Ah!" remarked my interlocutor. "Then I guess we'll have all that
stuff--your stock of provisions, I reckon--out of her, and then we'll
unship the lee gangway and run her inboard fisherman fashion. It'll be
quicker than riggin' tackles; and I'm in an almighty big hurry." He
faced forward and hailed a couple of his men. "You, Sam and Pete, lay
aft here and lend a hand to get the stuff out of this boat."

"But there is no need to trouble your people, Captain," I i