gales ill-minded an' steeped in hate, an' the Thumb
an' the Finger jus' waitin' t' le'ward t' pinch us all t' death--I
been broodin' a deal upon love. An' I'm lonely. An' now, Tumm, I wants
t' get married--as a lonely man will. An' they's a maid back there at
Rickity Tickle that I loved in my youth. She've a kind heart and a
comely face. She was ever kind--an' comely. I told her once, long
ago, at Dirty-Face Bight, that I--I--sort o' fancied I loved her; an'
I 'lowed that once I found out that I did in truth--an' once I'd laid
up a store against evil times--that I--I--I'd ask her t' wed me. An' I
knowed that I loved her all the time. An' she said--that she'd wait.
An' she've--waited. I 'low, Tumm, that you might help me in this
pass--for you're young, an' in love, an' in touch with the ways o'
courtship, an' I'm old, an' crabbed, an' tired, an' afraid o' the
world, an' I've no admiration for the man that I is. Eh, Tumm, lad?
Think you might--serve me?'

"'Skipper Davy,' says I, 'I'll do my level best.'

"'A fair night,' says he. 'Breezin' up a bit from the north. I 'low
we'll get underway at dawn. Is you--is you--well acquainted with Mary
Land?'

"'Sure,' says I, 'she nursed me!'

"'She's the maid,' says he, 'that's waited.'

"'An' you,' says I, in a rage, 'is the man she've waited for all these
years?'

"'I 'low,' says he, 'you might move her t' heed me.'

"'Well,' says I, 'I'll do what I'm able--for she.'

"'I'm much obliged,' says he; 'an' I forgives you all the grief them
cuffs an' kicks has caused me.'

* * * * *

"An' so it come t' pass that when the _Word o' the Lord_ dropped
anchor in Rickity Tickle--an' when I was foot-loose from the ol' craft
an' had kissed my mother t' the dear woman's satisfaction--an' Bessie
Tot on the sly as near t' my own as I could manage--an' when I'd
swaggered the roads a bit--an' had cocked my cap, as I'd planned t'
do, an' made mention o' Mugford an' Pinch-Me an' easterly weather--I
spread my sails on the road t' Gull Island Cove t' warn Mary Land o'
the queer news I had. She'd a place in my heart, an' in the hearts of
us all, for her goodness an' wise ways--a large, warm place in mine,
like a sister's nook in a young lad's heart. An' sure she was sister
t' all the lads o' Rickity Tickle--love in her touch, wisdom on her
lips, an' faith in her eyes. A Newf'un'land maid: buxom now, an' still
rosy an' fair an' blue-eyed an' tender. But not me