“I have a mother and sister, sir,” he answered, “and it is on their account that I have come to the city, for they need what I can earn. My father is dead—at least, I am afraid he is.”
“Afraid he is!” the Captain repeated; “don’t you know whether he is dead or not?”
“Not for certain, sir,” Kit replied. “He was first mate of the schooner Flower City, which sailed from Bridgeport for New Orleans with machinery nearly a year ago. She was sighted by a steamer off Hatteras, but she has never been heard from since, nor any of her crew. She was given up long ago, and there is hardly any hope.”
“Lost at sea!” the Captain said thoughtfully; and it was evident that from that moment he took a greater interest in the boy he had rescued. “The old story, I suppose. No money; family at home; wife and children left to starve.”
“Not quite as bad as that, sir,” Kit answered, “but very nearly. My father left us a little house in Huntington, nearly all paid for, and my mother earns some money by sewing. It is a hard pull; but if I can find something to do, it will make things a little easier.”
“Well, Mr. Kit Silburn, of Huntington,” the Captain said, after another long look at him, “you tell a very straight story. I thought out in the street that you looked like an honest boy; that’s the reason I got you away from the policeman. But I don’t judge boys by their faces; some of the best faces are owned by the biggest rogues. I have a sure way of my own of finding out whether a boy is likely to steal my spoons and cushions. I judge a bank by what it has in its safes, and a boy by what he has in his pockets. Empty out your pockets here on the table, till I see what you carry.”
Kit was a little surprised at this request, which was delivered more like an order on deck; but he obeyed promptly. He began with the trousers pocket on the right-hand side, and laid out an old knife, a key-ring without any keys on it, and a small foot rule. Then from the left-hand pocket he took a well-worn pocket-book.
“What’s in the purse?” the Captain asked.
Instead of replying in words, Kit opened it and held it upside down over the table, and there rolled out a half-dollar, a bright quarter, a five-cent piece, and two pennies.
“That your whole stock?” the Captain asked.