her men had left her alone, and from the boats standing abaft, they
silently watched her sinking. Sir, many a man dies in his bed with all
his kin around, and does not carry as much love with him as she did.
_Why-a_! The thought of that hour brings a pain to my heart yet--and it
is thirty years ago."

"You are a true sailor, Captain."

"To be sure I am. As the Fife men say, 'I was born with the sea in my
mouth.' I thank God for it! Often I have met Him on the great deep, for
'His path is on the waters.' I don't believe I would have found Him as
easy and as often, in a cotton-spinning factory--no, I don't!"

"A good man like you, Captain, ought to have a wife and a home."

"I'm not sure of that, Mr. Hatton. On my ship at sea I am lord and
master, and my word is law as long as I stop at sea. If any man does not
like my word and way, he can leave my ship at the first land we touch,
and I see that he does so. But it is different with a wife. She is in
your house to stay, whether you like it or not. All you have is hers if
you stick to the marriage vow. Yes, sir, she even takes your name for
her own, and if she does not behave well with it, you have to take the
blame and the shame, whether you deserve it or not. It is a one-sided
bargain, sir."

"Not always as bad as that, Captain."

"Why, sir, your honored father, who lorded it over every man he met and
contradicted everything he didn't like, said, 'Yes, my dear,' to
whatever Mrs. Hatton desired or declared. I hed to do the same thing in