[I. The Cape Ann Sloop]
[II. A Morning’s Mail]
[III. Captain Brandt at the Throttle]
[IV. Among the Blackfish and Tomcods]
[V. Aunty Bell’s Kitchen]
[VI. A Little Dinner for Five]
[VII. Betty’s First Patient]
[VIII. The “Heave Ho” of Lonny Bowles]
[IX. What the Butcher Saw]
[X. Strains from Bock’s ’Cello]
[XI. Captain Joe’s Telegram]
[XII. Captain Joe’s Creed]
[XIII. A Shanty Door]
[XIV. Two Envelopes]
[XV. A Narrow Path]
[XVI. Under the Willows]
[XVII. The Song of the Fire]
[XVIII. The Equinoctial Gale]
[XIX. From the Lantern Deck]
[XX. At the Pines]
[XXI. The Record of Nickles, the Cook]
[XXII. After the Battle]
[XXIII. A Broken Draw]
[XXIV. The Swinging Gate]
[XXV. Under the Pitiless Stars]
[XXVI. Caleb Trims His Lights]
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
[“I ain’t blamin’ her, nor never will”]
[“Swung back the gate with the gesture of a rollicking boy”]
[“Helen ... in white muslin—not a jewel”]
[“No, it’s my Betty”]
[“What’s she but a chit of a child that don’t know no better”]
[“Sanford ... raised her hand to his lips”]
[“Thank God, Tony! Thank God!”]
[“Victory is ours!”]
[“The diver knelt in a passive, listless way”]
[“Ain’t nothin’ to skeer ye, child”]
CALEB WEST, MASTER DIVER
CHAPTER I—THE CAPE ANN SLOOP
The rising sun burned its way through a low-lying mist that hid the river, and flashed its search-light rays over the sleeping city. The blackened tops of the tall stacks caught the signal, and answered in belching clouds of gray steam that turned to gold as they floated upwards in the morning air. The long rows of the many-eyed tenements cresting the hill blinked in the dazzling light, threw wide their shutters, and waved curling smoke flags from countless chimneys.
Narrow, silent alleys awoke. Doors opened and shut. Single figures swinging dinner-pails, and groups of girls with baskets, hurried to and fro. The rumbling of carts was heard and shrill street cries.
Suddenly the molten ball swung clear of the purple haze and flooded the city with tremulous light. The vanes of the steeples flashed and blazed. The slanting roofs, wet with the night dew, glistened like silver. The budding trees, filling the great squares, flamed pink and yellow, their tender branches quivering in the rosy light.