“Captain Hap,” asked Bayard feebly, “do things like this often happen?”
“Sometimes.”
“Isn’t this an extreme case?”
“Well, it don’t happen every day.”
“But things of this kind—do they occur often? Do you know of other cases?”
“Windover don’t have the monopoly of ’em by no means,” mused Captain Hap. “There was the Daredevil over on South Shore. She was launched about a year ago. She went on a trial spin one day, and everybody aboard was pretty jolly. They put all their canvas up to show her off. It was a nor’wester that day, and they driv her right before the wind. She jest plunged bows down, and driv straight to the bottom, the Daredevil did. Some said it was her name. But, Lord, rum done it.”
“What do people say—how do they take it here in Windover, this case of the Clara Em? Weren’t they indignant?”
“Wall, the insurance folks was mad.”
“No, but the people—the citizens—the Christian people—how do they feel about it?”