ut in a skiff this very minute, a-lookin' at the captain's boat
where it bes driftin' 'round the harbor. Sure, an' that bes just where
I wants him. An' now I'll be goin', Mother Nolan dear, for I bain't
wishin' Denny to catch me here a-whisperin' t'ye so early in the mornin'
or maybe he'd get the idea into his head as how us two women bain't such
harmless fools as what he's always bin takin' us for."

"Ye bes a fine girl, Mary Kavanagh," returned Mother Nolan, "an' I
trusts ye to clear this harbor o' trouble. I'll be tellin' the good word
to the poor lass inside this very minute. Her heart bain't all diamonds
an' pride, after all, as she let us know last night, poor dear."

Mary left them, and a minute later met the skipper on his way up from
the land-wash.

"I's found the boat the stranger come in," said the skipper.

"Sure, an' so ye would, Denny, if it was to be found," replied Mary.

The young man eyed her gloomily and inquiringly until she blushed and
turned her face away from him.

"Ye talks fair, Mary," he said. "Ye talks as if ye was a friend o' mine;
but ye bain't always actin' that same way, these days. Last night, now,
ye an' granny was sure fightin' agin me! I seed ye bat Nick Leary wid
the leg o' the chair--an' I seed that dacent old woman a-hangin' to Bill
Brennen's whiskers like a wildcat to the moss on a tree."

"An' why not, Denny Nolan?" retorted the girl. "Ye t'ree men was after
murderin' that poor lad! D'ye think Mother Nolan was wantin' to see ye
carried off to St. John's an' hung by yer neck? Sure, we was fightin'
agin ye. What hurt had that poor lad ever done to ye? He come to Chance
Along for his lass--an' sure, she was ready enough to be goin' away wid
him!"

The skipper's face darkened. "Who saved her life from the wrack?" he
cried. "Tell me that, will ye! Who salvaged her from the fore-top o' the
wrack?"

Without waiting for an answer, he brushed past Mary and strode up to his
house. The girl stood motionless for a little while, gazing after him
with a flushed face, twitching lips and a flicker of amusement in her
gray eyes.

"Poor Denny," she murmured. "His pride bes hurt more nor the heart of
him!"

John Darling was not honored by a visit from the skipper that day; but
Bill Brennen carried food to him, made up a fire in the stove, and even
loosed his bonds for a few minutes upon receiving his word of honor that
he would not take advantage of the kindness by trying to escape.