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feltkindofmean；andifhemadeonekindofstink，IthoughtI
couldmakeanother。SoIsaidIwouldgoashoreandseehowthingsstood；went，foundIwasallright，andcameaboardagainonthetoprail——’Areyougettingyourtrapstogether，Mr。
Nares？’saystheoldman——’No，’saysI，’Idon’tknowaswe’llseparatemuchbefore’Frisco；atleast，’Isaid，’it’sapointforyourconsideration。I’mverywillingtosaygood-bytotheMaria，butIdon’tknowwhetheryou’llcaretostartmeoutwiththreemonths’wages。’Hegothismoney-boxrightaway。’Myson，’sayshe，’Ithinkitcheapatthemoney。’Hehadmethere。”
Itwasasingulartaleforamantotellofhimself；aboveall，inthemidstofourdiscussion；butitwasquiteincharacterforNares。Inevermadeagoodhitinourdisputes，Ineverjustlyresentedanyactorspeechofhis，butwhatIfounditlongaftercarefullypostedinhisday-bookandreckoned(herewastheman’soddity)tomycredit。Itwasthesamewithhisfather，whomhehadhated；hewouldgiveasketchoftheoldfellow，frankandcredible，andyetsohonestlytouchedthatitwascharming。Ihavenevermetamansostrangelyconstituted：topossessareasonofthemostequaljustice，tohavehisnervesatthesametimequiveringwithpettyspite，andtoactuponthenervesandnotthereason。
Akindredwonderinmyeyeswasthenatureofhiscourage。
Therewasneverabraverman：hewentouttowelcomedanger；anemergency(cameitneversosudden)strunghimlikeatonic。Andyet，upontheotherhand，Ihaveknownnonesonervous，sooppressedwithpossibilities，lookingupontheworldatlarge，andthelifeofasailorinparticular，withsoconstantandhaggardaconsiderationoftheuglychances。Allhiscouragewasinblood，notmerelycold，buticywithreasonedapprehension。Hewouldlayourlittlecraftrailunder，and“hangon“inasquall，untilIgavemyselfupforlost，andthemenwererushingtotheirstationsoftheirownaccord。
“There。”hewouldsay，“Iguessthere’snotamanonboardwouldhavehungonaslongasIdidthattime；they’llhavetogiveupthinkingmenoschoonersailor。IguessIcanshavejustasnearcapsizingasanyothercaptainofthisvessel，drunkorsober。”Andthenhewouldfalltorepiningandwishinghimselfwelloutoftheenterprise，anddilateontheperiloftheseas，theparticulardangersoftheschoonerrig，whichheabhorred，thevariouswaysinwhichwemightgotothebottom，andtheprodigiousfleetofshipsthathavesailedoutinthecourseofhistory，dwindledfromtheeyesofwatchers，andreturnednomore。“Well。”hewouldwindup，“Iguessitdon’tmuchmatter。Ican’tseewhatanyonewantstolivefor，anyway。IfIcouldgetintosomeoneelse’sapple-tree，andbeabouttwelveyearsold，andjuststickthewayIwas，eatingstolenapples，Iwon’tsay。Butthere’snosenseinthisgrown-upbusiness——sailorising，politics，thepietymill，andalltherestofit。Goodcleandrowningisgoodenoughforme。”Itishardtoimagineanymoredepressingtalkforapoorlandsmanonadirtynight；itishardtoimagineanythinglesssailor-like(assailorsaresupposedtobe，andgenerallyare)
thanthispersistentharpingontheminor。
ButIwastoseemoreoftheman’sgloomyconstancyerethecruisewasatanend。
OnthemorningoftheseventeenthdayIcameondeck，tofindtheschoonerunderdoublereefs，andflyingratherwildbeforeaheavyrunofsea。Snoringtradesandhummingsailshadbeenourportionhitherto。Wewerealreadynearingtheisland。Myrestrainedexcitementhadbegunagaintoovermasterme；andforsometimemyonlybookhadbeenthepatentlogthattrailedoverthetaffrail，andmychiefinterestthedailyobservationandourcaterpillarprogressacrossthechart。Myfirstglance，whichwasatthecompass，andmysecond，whichwasatthelog，wereallthatIcouldwish。Welayourcourse；wehadbeendoingovereightsinceninethenightbefore；andIdrewaheavybreathofsatisfaction。AndthenIknownotwhatoddandwintryappearanceoftheseaandskyknockedsuddenlyatmyheart。Iobservedtheschoonertolookmorethanusuallysmall，themensilentandstudio
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