"
Bob Peet held out his honest brown hand, and the two men shook hands
with a certain solemnity; but before either of them could speak again,
Star came singing down the stairs, and summoned them both to play
at ball with oranges.
And so it came to pass that a little blue signal was hoisted at the
top of the white tower, and fluttered there bravely in sun and wind.
And every time the _Huntress_ went thundering by (which was twice
a week at this season instead of every day), Bob Peet looked out
anxiously from the wheel-house window, and seeing the little banner,
took cheer, and rubbed his hands and said, "Cap'n's all right so far!"
And Captain January, whenever there came the clutch and stab at his
heart, and the struggle for breath, which he had felt for the first
time that September day (but ah! how many times since, and with what
increasing persistence!) would creep to the stairway beside which
hung the signal lines, and lay his hand on them, and wait: then, when
the spasm passed, would pass his hand across his face and humbly say,
"Whenever it seems right, Lord! A step nearer! and Thou havin' the
child in mind," and so go cheerfully about his work again.
There were not many more steps to take.
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