and offered her a life of luxury and pleasure--and she
chose you!"

"Gawd!" burst from Davy, and his pipe lay shattered upon the floor.

Billy breathed quicker, but the habit of a lifetime helped him bear this
crowning bliss. To such as he it sometimes happens that an inner sense
prepares the soul for its mounts of vision. In the silence that
followed, Billy struggled in memory from that long-ago time when his
love was young, to this hour when he was to know!

"An' he--is?" He spoke waveringly like a child feeling out into the
darkness for an object he knows is there. Thornly waited for what his
love trusted.

"Mr. Devant, my Cap'n Daddy!" The answer was in Janet's voice.

"I--I sort o' sensed it!" whispered Billy. "An' ye chose me when ye had
sich a chance?" Wonder thrilled through the question. Was he to know
more joy?

"Yes, my own Daddy. I chose you because I loved you! I never even wanted
you to know. But Mr. Thornly knew you better than I. You are nobler
than I thought."

"An' ye loved me like that?" A shining joy broke over Billy's face, a
joy that drove pain and remorse before it. "Do ye hear that, Davy? An'
ye once said God couldn't pay me fur what I done! Why, man, God paid me
all along the way, an' now He's added more'n I ever earned!" The weak
voice rose rapturously. "Mr. Thornly, I want that ye should send fur Mr.
Devant. I ain't goin' t' prove unworthy o' the Lord's trust in me!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" broke from Janet. Billy stayed her with a look.

"No, my gal. This ain't no matter fur ye! This be man's work!"

"Right you are, Cap'n!" Thornly grasped the old hand. Davy drew near and
looked upon his friend as if he were seeing him for the first time in
years.

"By gum!" he said. "An' that's what has been draggin' on ye all these
years! Why, Billy, you an' me is goin' t' take a new lease o' life!"

"We are that!" nodded Billy. Then he turned to Thornly.

"I ain't never goin' t' doubt a man like you, Mr. Thornly," he said,
"but ye see I could only train Janet one way, havin', as ye know, no
other 'sperience. I ain't use t' sich waters as ye sail, an' Janet ain't
much wiser. I'm thinkin'," he paused and tried to see his way, "I'm
thinkin', Mr. Devant might help ye on this tack. Sort o' steer this
little craft, so t' speak, till it's able to keep upright."

Quietly the girl by Billy's knee arose. She stood just where the
westering sun touched her with a golden glow. Thornly drew his lips in
sharply