rchibald's
only son, in a great blizzard, on the sealing voyage of the year
before.[2] At any rate, the _First Venture_ was Bill's; and she was
now afloat and finished, rigged to the last strand of rope. To say
that Skipper Bill was proud of her does not begin to express the way
in which he loved her.

"Now, look you, Billy Topsail, and you, too, Jimmie Grimm!" said he,
gravely, one day, beckoning the boys near.

The _First Venture_ was lying at anchor in the harbour, ready for her
maiden voyage to St. John's.

"I'm in need of a man aboard this here craft," Bill o' Burnt Bay went
on; "an' as there's none t' be had in this harbour I'm thinkin' of
addin' you two boys up an' callin' the answer t' the sum a man."

"Wisht you would, Skipper Bill," said Jimmie.

"Two halves makes a whole," Bill mused, scratching his head in doubt.
"Leastwise, so I was teached."

"They teach it in school," said Jimmie.

Billy Topsail grinned delightedly.

"Well," Bill declared, at last, "I'll take you, no matter what comes
of it, for there's nothing else I can do."

It wasn't quite complimentary; but the boys didn't mind.

* * * * *

When the _First Venture_ made St. John's it was still early enough in
the spring of the year for small craft to be at sea. When she was
ready to depart on the return voyage to Ruddy Cove, the days were days
of changeable weather, of wind and snow, of fog and rain, of
unseasonable intervals of quiet sunshine. The predictions of the
wiseacres were not to be trusted; and, at any rate, every forecast was
made with a wag of the head that implied a large mental reservation.
At sea it was better to proceed with caution. To be prepared for
emergencies--to expect the worst and to be ready for it--was the part
of plain common sense. And Skipper Bill o' Burnt Bay was well aware of
this.

The _First Venture_ lay in dock at St. John's. She was loaded for
Ruddy Cove and the ports beyond. Skipper Bill had launched himself as
a coastwise skipper--master of the stout _First Venture_, carrying
freight to the northern settlements at a fair rate for all comers. The
hold was full to the deck; and the deck itself was cumbered with casks
and cases, all lashed fast in anticipation of a rough voyage. It was a
miscellaneous cargo: flour, beef, powder and shot, molasses, kerosene,
clothing--such necessities, in short, as the various merchants to whom
the cargo was consigned could dis