ouses."

And that Saturday evening, when Winn, as usual, repaired to the store of
Jess Hutton to pay off his men, this swarthy sailor was sitting upon the
doorstep of Mrs. Hutton's home, chewing tobacco vigorously and talking
to Mona.

The next day, too, dressed in a suit of new clothes that, to use a slang
phrase, "could be heard across the island," he boldly and with an air of
proprietorship walked beside her to church and seated himself in the
same pew.

Winn, who had never taken this liberty, and who sat with Mrs. Moore just
to the rear, watched Mona industriously and noticed that once when the
young fisherman leaned over to whisper she edged away. All that day not
once did Winn exchange a word with her except the "good morning" that
was his early greeting, and when evening came he once more lit his cigar
and strolled up Norse Hill to commune with himself, for the sight of
that swaggering son of Neptune making himself agreeable to Mona was not
pleasant. In this respect men are all alike, and whether they want a
woman or not, a shadow of the old instinct that existed among the cave
dwellers is latent.

It was two days after when the brothers sailed away, and by that time
Winn had decided that no matter how interested young Moore was in Mona,
she reciprocated no part of it.

And then another, and totally unexpected success in his new life came to
him, and that from Jess.

"I've been layin' back 'n' watchin' how things was goin' on," observed
that philosopher one evening when they were alone in the store, "an' how
ye have behaved yerself, an' I'm goin' to be plain spoken with ye. In
the fust place I've made up my mind ye're a good, honest and
well-meanin' young man, an' if 'twas goin' ter help ye any, an' if ye
are likely to make it yer home here a year or two, I'd buy a few shares
of this stock jist ter show ye 'n' yer folks Rockhaven appreciates the
wages ye're payin' out. I'm goin' ter ask ye a few questions, an' if
matters is all right, I'll take five hundred on't an' mebbe I cud git
Cap'n Moore an' Cap'n Roby n' one or two others to buy a leetle. They
would if they knew I had."

To say that Winn was surprised was to put it mildly.

"I will gladly answer any question you may ask, Mr. Hutton, and
truthfully," he replied. "I know how you feel in regard to this
enterprise and how much any one would hate to lose a dollar they
invested in our stock. It is because of this that I have not so far
asked a soul, n