“Yes, sir––an able seaman,” said the skipper also.
And Clancy and the skipper were something in the line of able seamen themselves.
XIII
WESLEY MARRS BRINGS A MESSAGE
Generally a day in harbor is a day of loafing for the crew of a seiner; but it was not so altogether with us that day. Within two hours of the time that Wesley Marrs came in to the Breakwater in such slashing style the skipper had us into the seine-boat and on the way to the Lucy Foster. By his orders we took along ten empty mackerel barrels. “We’ll go over to the beach first and fill these barrels up with sand.” We all knew what the sand was for––the Johnnie Duncan was going to be put in trim to do her best sailing. Coming down the coast the skipper and Clancy decided that she was down by the stern a trifle.
So we attended to the sand, and on the way back hauled our second seine out of the hold of the Lucy Foster, and piled it into the seine-boat. With the last of the twine into the seine-boat and just as we were about to push off from the Lucy, Wesley Marrs put a foot on the rail of his vessel and spoke to Maurice.
“And when I was taking the last of that aboard 120 in the dock in Gloucester, you wouldn’t believe who it was stepped onto the cap-log and looking down on the deck of the Lucy says, ‘And you’ll take good care of that seine for Captain Blake, won’t you, Captain Marrs?’ Could you guess now, Maurice?”
“No,” said Maurice.