he
light shining from the second mate's room. The girl on the poop looked
down at him. He was a trim-built, well-favored young fellow, with more
refinement in his face than most sailors can show; yet there was no
lack of seamanly deftness in the fingers which balled up the spun yarn
and threw a half-hitch with the bight of the lanyard over the point of
the marlinespike which hung to his neck. As he climbed the steps, the
girl faced him, looking squarely into his eyes.

"Be careful, John--Mr. Owen," she said. "The seizing is chafed through.
I heard the man report it--it was Dutch George of the other watch. Do
be careful."

"Eh, why--why, yes, Miss Folsom. Thank you. But you startled me. I've
been Jack for three years--not John, nor Mister. Yes, it's all right;
I----"

"Get aloft to that mizzenroyal," thundered the mate, now near the
wheel.

"Aye, aye, sir." He touched his sou'wester to the girl and mounted the
weather mizzen-rigging, running up the ratlines as a fireman goes up a
ladder. It was a black night with cold rain, and having thrown off his
oiled jacket, he was already drenched to the skin; but no environment
of sunshine, green fields and woodland, and flower-scented air ever
made life brighter to him than had the incident of the last few
moments; and with every nerve in his body rejoicing in his victory, and
her bitter words of four years back crowding his mind as a contrasting
background, he danced up and over the futtock-shrouds, up the
topmast-rigging, through the crosstrees, and up the topgallant-rigging
to where the ratlines ended and he must climb on the runner of the
royal-halyards. As the yard was lowered, this was a short climb, and he
swung himself upward to the weather yard-arm, where he rolled up one
side of the sail with extravagant waste of muscular effort; for she had
said he was not a man, and he had proved her wrong: he had conquered
himself, and he had conquered her.

He hitched the gasket, and crossed over to the lee side, forgetting, in
his exhilaration, the object of the spun yarn in his pocket and the
marlinespike hung from his neck, stepped out on the foot-rope, passed
his hands along the jack-stay to pull himself farther, and felt the
foot-rope sink to the sound of snapping strands. The jackstay was torn
from his grasp, and he fell, face downward, into the black void
beneath.

An involuntary shriek began on his lips, but was not finished. He felt
that the last atom of air was ja