out him, and the man reminded him of his
father, old Pascualo, too. Though the other members of the crew, Tonet,
two sailors and the "cat," made fun of the venerable tar, and tried to
get him angry all the time by assuring him he was too old for the
business now, and that the curate would be willing to take him on as
sacristan. _Chentola!_ Too old for real work, eh! Wait till they got out
to sea, and they'd whistle another tune! The boys of these days don't
know what a wind is! He'd be fanning himself, while they'd be calling
for mama!

The next morning all the Cabin section was in motion. The _bou_-boats
would put to sea that evening after sundown--taking the men-folks
offshore for their honest battle with the elements for bread. An annual
migration of husbands, brothers and sons, this; but, nevertheless, the
women, thinking of the months of worry and uneasiness they would have
ahead of them till spring, could never take the event very calmly.

Captains were bustling about with their last preparations. They went
down to the harbor to look over their boats, test the pulleys, run the
lines, raise and lower the sails, pound the bottom over inside, be sure
the supplies of rope and canvas were on hand, count baskets, examine
nets. And when inventories were complete they would have still to go
back to the office to get clearance papers from all those stuck-up
fellows in white collars who could hardly speak to a workingman
decently!

When the Rector went home for dinner at noontime, he found _sina_ Tona
in the kitchen talking to Dolores, weeping her eyes out, and patting a
bundle she held across her knees. When she saw her son coming, she began
at him angrily. "I've just heard, and it's a pretty father you are! So
Pascualet is going 'cat' on the _Mayflower_! A boy of eight, who might
better be at home with his mother, or at least playing down at the
tavern with me! The idea! A baby like that going to sea and made to do a
man's work, and Lord knows what else! Well, I'm not going to stand it,
I'm not! That's not the way to treat a child! And since his mother don't
dare open her head, and his father is actually the one to blame, his
grandma must take a hand! I've come to get Pascualet and take him home
with me. I won't allow such a thing. Pascualet! Pascualet! Your
grandmother wants to see you."

Pascualet came in, the little devil, swallowed up in a suit of yellow
baize, barefoot, to be more in character, and with a sash th