She hoped to change them to another topic; but Dan'l brought it smoothly back again. "Yes," he said. "Yes.... Last cruise, the Betty Howe, out of Port Russell, picked up a sizable chunk of 'gris not a week before we touched the grounds. That brought two-sixty to the pound, I heard."
"How much was it?" Willis Cox asked; and Dan'l looked to Willis and said amiably:
"Fifteen pound or so. No more than a thimbleful to what we've got.... That is to say, to what Mr. Brander's got, below here."
Brander had finished eating; he rose to go on deck. But Roy Kilcup could no longer hold his tongue. He got to his feet in Brander's path, demanded sharply:
"Do you honestly mean to claim that for your own, Mr. Brander? Are you so much of a hog?"
Brander looked down at the boy; and he smiled. "I'll give you your share, now, if it will stop your worrying, youngster," he said.
"I want to know what you're going to do," Roy insisted. "Are you going to stick to your claim?"
"Others want to know," said Brander, and stepped to one side to pass Roy. Roy would have spoken again; but Noll said heavily from the head of the table:
"Roy, let be."
That put a moment's silence upon them all. In this silence, Brander went on his way to the deck. Roy stared after him for a moment, then sat down in his place. His face was sullen and angry.... No one spoke of the matter again; but Dan'l saw that Faith was thoughtful. Faith was puzzling over Brander, trying to fathom the man.... She was troubled and uneasy.... Dan'l saw that Noll had lifted his heavy head and was watching her.