"How long have you been sailin' with sich a cap'en as that? He'd make a good mate for Cap'en Doak!"
"This was my first voyage, an' I ain't much of a sailor, 'cause I've never been to sea before."
"What's your name?"
"Tom Falonna."
"Where do you live?"
"That's what I don't rightly know, since I cut loose from Mother Sharkey's place. You see, I did chores there for my board, but it seemed as if I oughter earn more'n that, so I got a chance to ship on the 'Flyin' Fish' for a short cruise. I was to get ten dollars a month, if I turned to in good shape, so that's why it seemed all right for me to try my first at runnin' trawls alone. Now I'm afraid I shan't find Cap'en Moses again. Where am I?"
"On Apple Island, with the best man, except my father, who ever lived. He'll see to it that you don't take any more chances of bein' run down in the night by a steamer, but——"
Sam ceased speaking very suddenly. For the first time since sighting the young fisherman he remembered that Captain Doak had an existence, and a disagreeable memory it was indeed.
Hurriedly he told Thomas Falonna of all that had happened within the past four or five hours, concluding by saying as he looked around timidly:
"I've got to hide somewhere till the 'Sally D.' weighs anchor, an' there's no tellin' but that Cap'en Doak is close at hand this very minute!"