"Well, that helps."

"You do not have to go to sea, do you?" Miss Ricks queried hopefully.

"Yes, Miss Florry, I do; that's what hurts. Your father induced me
to invest all of my savings in a mortgage and a bond, and he has both
locked up in the Blue Star safe with that ogre Skinner in charge, so I
can't get them to realize on. Of course I could go to law and make him
give them to me, but he knows I'll not do that, so he just sits there
and defies me. And I neglected to take the proper business precautions
about my daily income from the charter of the Unicorn, and because I
cannot prove I have a divvy coming on that he says he won't give me a
cent of it. He says he'll credit my account on the company's books, and
when the Unicorn completes her charter he'll give it to me in a lump. In
the meantime he's going to invest it for me, and without consulting me."

"Oh, dear," said Miss Ricks sympathetically. "I'm so sorry dad's such a
busybody."

"You're not half so sorry as I am. I'm flat broke, and in order to eat I
have to go to work, and in order to go to work I have to get a job, and
in order to get the job I have to take what your father offers me--in
fact, insists upon my taking. You see, Miss Florry, I'm almost a
stranger in Pacific shipping. I don't know any owners except your father
and I've never had any coastwise experience. It might be years before
I could get another job as master of a sailing ship, and most steamship
captains prefer to let some other captains break in their mates for
them. So you see I'm helpless."

A silence. Then: "I'm going to sea in the Gualala to-morrow morning,
Florry."

It was the first time he had dropped the "Miss," but he dropped it
purposely now. Miss Ricks noticed the omission, which probably imbued
her with the courage to voice again her excess of sympathy. Said she:
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Matt!"

He thrilled at that. "Well," he answered humorously, "for the first time
I'm glad I'm not a captain any more!"

Followed another brief silence, while Florry groped for the hidden
meaning behind that subtle retort; then he continued: "Your father
thinks I was a little presumptuous in calling at the house. He spoke to
me about it, Florry, so I'm not going to call any more until he invites
me. It's his house, you know. But he didn't say anything about not
telephoning to you or seeing you outside his confounded house, so I
suppose there's no necessity for me feeling badly about it, is th