The captain stopped chewing his moustache. "It all comes down to dollars
and cents. Use our judgment and stay tied up to the dock here and it's
go hunt another berth. Do you want to hunt another job?"
"Not me. I got a family to look after."
"N' me. We'll put out."
"All right, sir." The mate descended to the wharf. "In with that
freight runway and plank!" he called out to the waiting longshoremen.
"And you"--a colored steward was at his elbow--"tell 'em all aboard on
the dock and all ashore on the boat that's goin' ashore."
The steward voiced the mate's instructions; the last passenger came
aboard and the last friend went ashore. The gangplank was hauled in, the
lines cast off and the Port Rock steamer slid out from her slip.
She was well down the harbor before Jan took a piece of paper from his
pocket. "Number two hundred and seventy-six," he read. "That's it--two
hundred and seventy-six." And seeking out the number he knocked on the
door. It opened slightly and Jan saw peeking out at him the lips, chin
and half an eye each side of the nose of a pretty and well-dressed girl.
Jan looked up at the number over the door again to see if he had made a
mistake. Then the door opened more widely--and it was she, smiling out
at him; but so rosy and terribly pretty that Jan felt afraid and drew
back.
"I thought maybe you would like to get out for some fresh air soon," he
stammered.
"I was just trying on the new hat I bought with the money you sent up
last night--and a shirtwaist and a lovely long coat. How did you get
through the night?"
"Fine! I went over to the dry dock and turned into a bunk on the
schooner."
She made a mouth at the mirror. "That was no place to sleep. You should
have taken a comfortable room at the hotel."
Jan was silent.
"Yes, you should. I'll be right out."
She came out, but with her face veiled, and clung close to him as they
walked the deck. Jan sniffed the air.
"Snow, I think," he said.
"Meaning a storm? I was never in a storm. Are they terrible?"
"A storm is nothing," said Jan, "when you get used to them. But will we
go in to supper?"
They went in. The boat was now outside the harbor and pitching slightly.