"He was third mate on the Thomas Morgan," said Mr. Ham.
"We don't need an officer," Dan'l suggested. Brander sensed the fact that Dan'l disliked him; he wondered at it.
"I'm asking to ship as a seaman, sir," he said.
Mr. Ham looked at Dan'l. "Best speak to the captain?" he asked.
"Oh, set him ashore," Dan'l suggested. "He's a troublemaker. Too wise for the fo'c's'le...." He looked to Brander insolently. "Can't you see he's a man of education, Mr. Ham? What would he want to ship before the mast for?"
Mr. Ham looked puzzled. "How about it?" he asked Brander sharply. Brander smiled.
"I did it, in the beginning, for sport," he said. "Now I'm doing it to get home. If you need a man.... If not, I'll go ashore...."
Faith, standing by, said quietly: "Ship him, Mr. Ham." Her words were not a request; they were a command. Dan'l looked at her swiftly, shrewdly. Mr. Ham obeyed, with the instant instinct of obedience to that tone....
It was not till days later that Faith wondered why she had spoken; wondered why she had ventured to command.... And wondered why Mr. Ham obeyed.... It gave her, somehow, a sense of power.... He had obeyed her, as he would have obeyed Noll, her husband....
At the moment, however, having spoken, she went below.... She went quickly, a little confused. She found Noll asleep, as Dan'l had said; and she did not wake him. The Sally got to sea.... The island fell into the sea behind them. Before it was fully gone, Faith, with the captain's glass, had searched that highest hill from the windows of the after cabin; she discerned a little clearing, a rude hut.... Brander's home....