"Yes, it takes considerable time. I don't like to leave my wife and boy
for so long, but we sailors have to suffer a good many privations."

"True; I hardly think I should enjoy such a life."

"Still," said the captain, "it has its compensations. I like the free,
wild life of the sea. The ocean, even in its stormiest aspects, has a
charm for me."

"It hasn't much for me," said the superintendent, shrugging his
shoulders. "Seasickness takes away all the romance that poets have
invested it with."

Captain Rushton laughed.

"Seasickness!" he repeated. "Yes, that is truly a disagreeable malady. I
remember once having a lady of rank as passenger on board my ship--a
Lady Alice Graham. She was prostrated by seasickness, which is no
respecter of persons, and a more forlorn, unhappy mortal I never expect
to see. She would have been glad, I am convinced, to exchange places
with her maid, who seemed to thrive upon the sea air."

"I wish you a prosperous voyage, captain."

"Thank you. If things go well, I expect to come home with quite an
addition to my little savings. And that brings me to the object of my
visit this evening. You must know, Mr. Davis, I have saved up in the
last ten years a matter of five thousand dollars."