It was the missionary who told her—very simply, and very briefly. Not all that was to be told, not the matter of her mother’s flight from this man; that was left for a quieter hour. But he told her enough so that she must see, and believe.
When he was silent, Ruth looked at her father, and she moved slowly toward him. She wanted to clasp him close; she wanted to cry; she wanted to hold the strong man’s tired head against her breast. But this girl had strength, and understanding. And she saw that Black Pawl was near the breaking-point, that his jangling nerves might give way at a wrong touch. So, when she came near him, she did not cry out and throw herself into his arms as she would have liked to do. His own arms were hanging at his sides; she took hold of them at the elbow and shook him a little, back and forth; and she laughed a choking little laugh, and she said:
“I told you I wanted you to be a father to me, Black Pawl!”
His arms went around her then, gently. His head came down; his face was buried in her hair. They did not stir; they did not speak.
The old missionary smiled, and he went on deck and left them together there.
CHAPTER XIV
BLACK PAWL and his daughter were together through that afternoon, below, in the cabin; and there they cast up the old accounts of the year. And there were times when they were unhappy; but for the most part they were very happy together. There was no more rancor in Black Pawl; he loved the world, and he loved his daughter, and he loved the memories she evoked in him. Into these few hours of life Black Pawl compressed more happiness than he had seen for twenty years; he was like a boy again, gay and youthful and mirthful. Yet was there a humility about him, and a deference.
At dusk he went on deck. Red Pawl was there, superintending the work on the bowsprit. Black Pawl looked at what was being done; and he said:
“Good work, Red!”
There was in him a desire to placate his son, to win back the old comradeship, to redeem Red Pawl from the evil that obsessed the man. But the mate looked up at his father’s words and said dourly: