py-faced wife; while Sammy, in the kitchen,
finished up the wash. Later on he delivered it; but no more washing of
other folks' clothing was ever done in that house.

Quinbey wrote to Andover, and in a few days received a reply, which he
read to his wife. It was a true account of Sammy's mishap in Boston;
and, while Quinbey grinned--he could not smile--the mother wept
silently, but asked no forgiveness for her wayward son. And when he
rummaged a bureau, and brought forth an old jeweler's catalogue, asking
her to choose a watch for Sammy, she felt that it was granted; but she
did not yet know Quinbey.

Sammy wore the watch proudly; and for the rest of the cold weather the
three sat about the base-burner, while the color came back to the
little woman's face, and self-confidence to the shaken mind of Sammy.
He actually began to like his rough stepfather; and only an outsider
might have guessed, by the somber light in Quinbey's dark eyes when
they rested upon him, that he did not like his stepson.

In the spring, as soon as the frost and snow were gone, Quinbey
employed laborers to flatten the ground near his house to the extent of
a hundred feet by ten; then, with stakes, he laid out the plan of a
ship's deck. Next he contracted with spar makers, ship carpenters, and
ship chandlers for material and labor; and before June three masts were
erected, each with topmast, top-gallant, and royal mast, the standing
rigging of which was set up to strong posts driven into the ground;
then followed yards, canvas, and running gear, and soon a complete ship
of small dimensions, but without a hull, adorned the crest of the hill.

As Quinbey explained to the questioning villagers, he would go to sea
no more, but, having spent his life at sea, wanted a reminder--something
to look at--a plaything.

Sammy was an interested spectator of the work, and Quinbey was kind to
him, answering his questions, and even betraying some solicitude that
he should understand the rig of a ship, the names of the ropes and
sails, and the manner of handling them. He even went so far as to hire
a couple of sailors to climb aloft, to loose and furl canvas, again and
again, until Sammy understood.

Then the cold weather came on, and the base-burner was lit; and with
the cold weather came the snow, and the icy sleet, and the hurricane
gales from Greenland, striking the crest of that hill with a force that
threatened to tear the dummy ship from the ground. And