The two men sat down at Asa's big desk again; and for an hour they were
busy with matters that concerned the coming cruise. When a whaleship goes
to sea, she goes for a three-year cruise; and save only the items of food
and water, she carries with her everything she will need for that whole
time, with an ample allowance to spare. She is a department store of the
seas; for she works with iron and wood, with steel and bone, with fire
and water and rope and sail. All these things she must have, and many
more. And the lists of a whaleship's stores are long and long, and take
much checking. When they had considered these matters, Asa sent out to
the pierhead to summon Jim Finch, and told the man that Joel would have
the ship. Joel said to Finch slowly: "I've no mind to fight a grudge
aboard my ship, sir. If you blame me for stepping into your shoes, Mr.
Worthen will give you another berth."
Finch shook his head. He was a big, laughing man with soft, fat cheeks.
"No, sir," he declared. "It's yours, and welcome. Your brother was a man;
and you've the look of another, sir."
Joel frowned. He was uncomfortable; he had an angry feeling that Finch
was too amiable. But he said no more, and Finch went back to the ship,
and Asa and Joel continued with their task.
While they worked, the afternoon sun drifted down the western sky till
its level rays were flame lances laid across the harbor. A fishing craft
at anchor in mid-stream hoisted her sails with a creak and rattle of
blocks and drifted down the channel with the tide. The wheeling gulls
dropped, one by one, to the water; or they lurched off to some quiet cove
to spend the night. Their harsh cries came less frequently, were less
persistent. The wind had swung around, and it was fetching now from the
water a cold and salty chill. There was a smell of cooking in the air,
and the smoke from the _Nathan Ross_' galley, and the cool smell of the
sea mingled with the strong odor of the oil in the casks ranked at the
end of the pier.
The sun had touched the horizon when Joel at last rose to go. Asa got up
with him, dropped a hand on the young man's shoulder. They passed the
contrivance called a "woman's tub"; and Asa, at sight of it, seemed to be
minded of something. He stopped, and checked Joel, and with eyes
twinkling, pointed to the tub. "Will you be wishful to take that on the
cruise, Joel?" he asked, and looked up sidewise at the younger man, and
chuckled.
Joel's brown cheeks were covered with slow fire; but his voice was steady
enough when he replied. "It's a kind offer, sir," he said. "I know well
what store you set by that tub."
"Will you be wanting it?" Asa still insisted.
"I'll see," said Joel quietly. "I will see."