They both understood; their eyes said what their lips were not yet
ready to say. There was a reticence upon them. Faith, on the deck of her
husband's ship, felt still the shadow of Noll Wing in her life....
Brander felt its presence. It made neither of them unhappy; they
respected it. Faith was never ashamed of Noll. He had been a man.... She
had loved him; she was proud that he had loved her....
Day by day they were together, on deck or below, while the winds worked
for them and the stars in their courses watched over them. Through the
chill of southern waters as they rounded the Cape.... Cap'n Tichel
looking back at it, waved his hand in valedictory; and Faith asked:
"What are you thinking, Mr. Tichel?"
"Saying good-by to old Cape Stiff there," he chuckled. "I'll not come
this way again."
"Yes, you will," she told him. "You're captain of your own ship, now....
And will be, next cruise."
He shook his head. "I know when I'm well off, young lady. Old Tichel's
ready to stick ashore, now...."
She left him, staring back across the dull, cold sea.... He stood there
stiffly till the night came down upon the waters.
After that, they struck warmer winds, with a pleasant ocean all about,
and the scud of spray sweet upon their cheeks, and the _Sally_ fat with
oil beneath their feet. A happy time, when Faith and Brander, with never
a word and never a touch of hand, grew close as man and woman can
grow....
Never a cloud in the skies from their last kill to the day they picked
up the tug that shunted them alongside their wharf at home.
* * * * *
There are many things that never get into the log. Faith had no vengeful
heart toward Dan'l; the man had reaped what he sowed. With the _Sally_,
Noll Wing's ship, safe home again, she was willing to forget what had
passed. She told Dan'l so. Silva was dead; the others were but
instruments. The matter was done....
Dan'l, possessed by a creeping apathy, nodded his thanks to her and
turned away his head. The man was dying where he lay; he would not long
survive.
Old Jem Kilcup was at the wharf to hug Faith against his broad chest. An
older Jem than when she went away; but a glad Jem to see her home again.
Jonathan Felt was with him, asking anxiously for Noll. When Faith told
them Noll was gone, old Jonathan fell sorrowfully silent. The whole town
would mourn Noll; he had been one of its heroes....
Faith said proudly: "He's dead, sir. But this was his fattest cruise. He
never brought home better than he's sent, now."
"You're full?" asked Jonathan.
"Aye, every cask.... And more," said Faith. And told him of the
ambergris. She gave Brander so much credit for that, and for other
things, that Jonathan hooked his arm in that of the young man, and
walked with him thus when they all went to the office to hear Cap'n
Tichel make his report.
Jem sat there, listening, proud eyes on Faith, while Tichel told the
story; and Faith listened, and looked now and then at Brander, where he
stood in the shadows by the window. In the end, Tichel said
straightforwardly that he was content with what life had brought him,
that he was through with the sea. But he pointed toward Brander.
"There's a man'll beat Noll Wing's best for you," he said.
Jonathan got up, spry little old figure, and crossed to grip Brander by
the hand. "You'll take out a ship o' mine?" he asked; and Brander
hesitated, and his eyes crossed to meet Faith's, as though to ask
permission. Faith nodded faintly; and Brander said:
"Yes, sir, if you like."
"I do like," said Jonathan briskly. "I do like; so that's settled and
done."
Afterward, Tichel and Willis went back to the ship. Jem, with Faith on
his arm, were to go up the hill to Faith's old home. They stopped
outside Jonathan's door to say good-by to Brander for a little while.
Faith was free of the load of responsibility that she had taken on her
shoulders; she had put Noll Wing's ship behind her. She looked up at him
with eyes that offered everything.
Brander said quietly: "I've much to say to you that's never been said.
Will you let me come to your home this night for the saying?"
Faith looked up at her father, looked to Brander again, and smiled,
"Do come," she said.