"I try to be, sir, an' when I see a fog-bank hoverin' over people like
that one did out yonder a little while ago, I consider it my duty to
act like the sun an' drive it away. Then, there's good feelin' all
around, 'specially among the ones who were under the cloud."

"I imagine it is that way with those men who have just been picked up.
They must feel happy over the lifting of the fog at the right moment."

"That's jist what I mean. It meant much to them."

"Do you know who they are?"

"Miners, no doubt, who wish to go north. They've been prospecting
mebbe, on some of the islands along the coast, an' started out to hail
a passin' steamer. They do it at times."

"And the steamers always pick them up?"

"Sure; they wouldn't go by without takin' 'em on board, no matter who
they are. It's the great Brotherhood of man, ye see, back of it all,
an' ye'll find that spirit stronger the farther north ye go. It's
different here from what it is in the big cities, an' the more ye
preach of that the better."

"Preach! What do you mean?" Reynolds asked in amazement.

"You be one of them missionary chaps, ain't ye?"

Reynolds laughed. "What makes you think so?"