.'"

Two days after, the old man sickened; and three weeks later, he died. He
had set great store by big Matt....

Joel, turning the leaves of the Log, and scanning their brief entries,
came presently to this--written in the hand of his brother John:

"Wind easterly. This day the _Betty_ was reported lost on the Japan
grounds, with all hands save the boy and the cook. Noah Shore was third
mate. Day ended as it began."

And below, again, that single line:

"'All the brothers were valiant.'"

There followed many pages filled with reports of rich cruises, when ships
came home with bursting casks, and the brothers of the House of Shore
played the parts of men. The entries were now in the hand of one, now of
another; John and Mark and Joel.... Joel read phrases here and there....

"This day the _Martin Wilkes_ returned ... two years, eleven months and
twenty-two days ... died on the cruise, and first mate John Shore became
captain. Day ended as it began."

And, a page or two further on:

"... _Martin Wilkes_ ... two years, two months, four days ... tubs on
deck filled with oil, for which there was no more room in the casks ...
Captain John Shore."

Mark Shore's first entry in the Log stood out from the others; for Mark's
hand was bold, and strong, and the letters sprawled blackly along the
lines. Furthermore, Mark used the personal pronoun, while the other
brothers wrote always in the third person. Mark had written:

"This day, I, Mark Shore, at the age of twenty-seven, was given command
of the whaling bark _Nathan Ross_."

Joel read this sentence thrice. There was a bold pride in it, and a
strong and reckless note which seemed to bring his brother before his
very eyes. Mark had always been so, swift of tongue, and strong, and
sure. Joel turned another page, came to where Mark had written:

"This day I returned from my first cruise with full casks in two years,
seven months, fifteen days. I found the _Martin Wilkes_ in the dock. They
report Captain John Shore lost at Vau Vau in an effort to save the ship's
boy, who had fallen overboard. The boy was also lost."

And, below, in bold and defiant letters:

"'All the brothers were valiant.'"

There were two more pages of entries, in Mark's hand or in Joel's, before
the end. When he came to the fresh page, Joel dipped his pen, and huddled
his broad shoulders over the book, and slowly wrote that which had to be
written.

"W