Her captain and
her men had left her alone, and from the boats standing abaft, they
silently watched her sinking. Sir, many a man dies in his bed with all
his kin around, and does not carry as much love with him as she did.
_Why-a_! The thought of that hour brings a pain to my heart yet--and it
is thirty years ago."
"You are a true sailor, Captain."
"To be sure I am. As the Fife men say, 'I was born with the sea in my
mouth.' I thank God for it! Often I have met Him on the great deep, for
'His path is on the waters.' I don't believe I would have found Him as
easy and as often, in a cotton-spinning factory--no, I don't!"
"A good man like you, Captain, ought to have a wife and a home."
"I'm not sure of that, Mr. Hatton. On my ship at sea I am lord and
master, and my word is law as long as I stop at sea. If any man does not
like my word and way, he can leave my ship at the first land we touch,
and I see that he does so. But it is different with a wife. She is in
your house to stay, whether you like it or not.
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