Towards the end of the track he found Maura, heartrendingly weeping.
"Oh, don't cry, Maura! Never mind, Maura!"
He helped her to her feet, took her to the stand-pipe on the lawn, bathed her temples and sat soothingly, uninterruptingly, beside her.
V
At daybreak the next morning Ernest rose and woke Philip.
He yawned, put on the loin cloth, seized a "cracked licker" skillet, and stole cautiously out of the house. Of late Jean Baptiste had put his foot down on his sons' copper-diving proclivities. And he kept at the head of his bed a greased cat-o'-nine-tails which he would use on Philip himself if the occasion warranted.
"Come on, Philip, let's go—"
Yawning and scratching Philip followed. The grass on the lawn was bright and icy with the dew. On the railroad tracks the six o'clock labor trains were coupling. A rosy mist flooded the dawn. Out in the stream the tug Exotic snorted in a heavy fog.
On the wharf Philip led the way to the rafters below.
"Look out fo' that crapeau, Ernest, don't step on him, he'll spit on you."