ne an evil motive for kind deeds when there was one
so natural and obligatory.

So Shetland became dear and pleasant to David, and he gradually
grew into great favor. The minister made much of the young man, for
he respected his integrity and earnest piety, and loved him for
that tenderness and clearness of conscience which was sensitive to
the first approaches of wrong. The fishers and sailors of the
town gave him a warm admiration for his seamanship, and the praise
David had looked for at the beginning, and felt disappointed in not
receiving, was now given him by a kind of acclamation. Old sailors,
telling yarns of their ships and the queer, bold things their
ships had done, generally in some way climaxed their narratives by
an allusion to David Borson. Thus, Peter Redlands, talking to a group
of fishers one day, said:

"Where that lad learned the sea, and who taught him all the ways of
it, is beyond me; but say as you will, he can make harbor when none
of us could look at it. It is my belief David Borson can stick to
anything that can float."

"And to see how he humors a boat," continued Jan Wyck, "you would
think she was made out of flesh instead of out of three-inch planks.
I was out with him near the Old Man's Rocks last week, and he was
watching the water; and I said, 'What is it, David?' 'The sea,' he
said. 'It will be at its old tricks again in an hour or less.' And
the 'less' was right, for in fifteen minutes the word was, 'Reef,
and quick about it!' and then you know what--the rip and the roar,
and the boat leaping her full length. But David did not worry a
jot. He coaxed her beautifully, and kept her well in hand; and she
shook herself a little, and then away like a gull before the wind."

He was just as popular among the children and women of Lerwick. The
boys made an idol of him, for David was always ready to give them a
sail, or lend them his fowling-piece, or help them to rig their
toy boats. As for the maidens, the prettiest ones in Lerwick had a
shy smile for David Borson, and many wondered that such a beauty
as Asta Fae should smile on him in vain; but David had taken Nanna
and Vala into his heart, and his care and thought for them were so
constant that there was no room for any other interest. Yet Barbara
often talked to him about taking a wife; and even the minister,
doubtless led to such advice by female gossip and speculation,
thought it well to speak a word on the subject to him.

"You kno