Skipper Ed saw it his practiced eye told him that the finish and
workmanship were far too fine and expensive for any ordinary ship's
boat, and that it was the long boat of a luxuriously appointed private
yacht. Of this he was well assured when he read, in gold letters on
either side of its prow, the name _Wanderer_.

And then they must each try their hand with the beautifully engraved
shotgun. Such a gun, Abel declared, had never before been seen on the
coast, and was in itself a fortune. And Skipper Ed examined it
critically, and agreed with Abel that it was a gun of marvelous
workmanship, and had cost much money.

"None but God could have fashioned it," said Abel, reverently. "It is
His gift to the boy, and it will always be the boy's. He sent it with
the boy from the Great Beyond, from the place where mists and storms are
born. Do you think He would mind if I used it sometimes?"

"No," answered Skipper Ed, "I think He meant you to use it to hunt food
for the boy, so that the boy should never be in want. God never forgets.
He always provides. Destiny is the Almighty's will, and He provides."

"The lad has come from rich people," said Skipper Ed, as he and Jimmy
walked home that evening. "He's not been used to this sort of life. But
Time's a great healer. He's young enough to forget the fine things he's
been used to, and he'll grow up a hunter and a fisherman like the rest
of us. There's better luck coming for him. Better luck. He'll be happy
and contented, for people are always happy with simple living, so long
as they don't know about any other kind of living."

"I thinks Abel lives fine now, and we lives fine," ventured Jimmy.