that Captain Jerry's remarks concerning "settlin' down" and "restin',"
which we chronicled in the first chapter must not be accepted too
literally. While it is true that each of the trio had given up long
voyages, it is equally true that none had given up work entirely. Some
people might not consider it restful to rise at four every weekday
morning and sail in a catboat twelve miles out to sea and haul a wet
cod line for hours, not to mention the sail home and the cleaning and
barreling of the catch. Captain Eri did that. Captain Perez was what
he called "stevedore"--that is, general caretaker during the owner's
absence, at Mr. Delancy Barry's summer estate on the "cliff road." As
for Captain Jerry, he was janitor at the schoolhouse.

The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the time
the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway
station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had intended calling
on Baxter early in the day, but now he determined to wait until after
supper.

The Captain had bad luck in the "matching" that followed the meal, and
it was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. This
distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter homestead.

The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those of
many Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, but his
scruples were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett,
whose proudest boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor
prescribed it as the stimulant needed to save her life. Over and over
again has Miss Abigail told it in prayer-meeting; how she "riz up" in
her bed, "expectin' every breath to be the last" and said, "Dr. Palmer,
if it's got to be liquor or death, then death referred to!"--meaning,