ll, lad, I'm a genial man, an' I'll not deny that I'm
unhappy. You thinks I likes t' hear the lads ashore mock me for a
pinch-penny an' mean man? No, sir! It grieves me. I wants all the time
t' hear the little fellers sing out: "Ahoy, there, Skipper Davy, ol'
cock! What fair wind blowed _you_ through the tickle?" An' I'm a man
o' compassion, too. Why, Tumm, you'll never believe it, I knows, but
_I_ wants t' lift the fallen, an _I_ wants t' feed the hungry, an' _I_
wants to clothe the naked! It fair breaks my heart t' hear a child
cry. I lies awake o' nights t' brood upon the sorrows o' the world.
That's my heart, Tumm, as God knows it--but 'tis not the wisdom I've
gathered. An' age an' wisdom teach a man t' be wary in a wolf's world.
'Tis a shame, by God!' poor Davy Junk broke out; 'but 'tisn't _my_
fault!'

"I was scared t' my marrow-bones.

"'An' now, Tumm,' says he, 'what'll I do?'

"'Skipper Davy,' says I, 'go wash the windows o' your soul!'

"He jumped. 'How's that?' says he.

"''Twould ease your heart t' do a good deed,' says I. 'Go save that
baby.'

"'Me!' says he, in a rage. 'I'll have no hand whatever in savin' that
child.'

"'Why not?'

"''Twouldn't be kind t' the child.'

"'God's sake!'

"'Don't you _see_, Tumm?'

"'Look you, Skipper Davy!' says I, 'Janet's baby isn't goin' t' die o'
starvation in _this_ harbor. There'll be a crew o' good women an'
Labrador hands at Janet's when the news get abroad. But an you're
lucky an' makes haste you'll be able t' get there first.'

"'What's _one_ good deed?'

"''Twould be a good deed, Skipper Davy,' says I. 'An' you'd _know_
it.'

"Skipper Davy jumped up. An' he was fair shakin' from head t'
toe--with some queer temptation t' be kind, it seemed to me then.

"'Make haste!' says I.

"'I can't do a good deed!' he whimpered. 'I--I--got the other habit!'

"'Twas of a June night at Rickity Tickle that Davy Junk said these
words," Tumm commented, in a kindly way, "with the Labrador vessels
fitted out an' waitin' for a fair wind: such a night as this--a slow,
soft little wind, a still, black harbor, an' a million stars
a-twinkle." He paused--and looked up from the shadowy deck of the
_Quick as Wink_. "What more can a man ask t' stay his soul," he
demanded, "than all them little stars?" The skipper of the _Quick as
Wink_ said, "'Tis a night o' fair promise!" And Tumm, in a sigh, "Davy
Junk would never look up at the stars." And the little stars
themselve