John Fleming Wilson

“ He blinked and suddenly recalled his wandering thoughts. “Now, about that cable from Ingraham—if the Challenger wreck is worth a dollar, it's worth——”
A month later Angela Gaskell's starry eyes suddenly fixed on a name written in the middle of a letter from a New Zealand firm of shipping men. This is what it said:
. . . No man here we feel like trusting with the job you have in mind. The best available man is Capt. John Somers. He is anxious for the berth, but can offer no references. He is, we believe, a resident of San Francisco. ”

“ But the great fact remains that John Somers, outcast and disowned and abandoned, came back out of the southern deeps and played a man's part. He was just as truly salved by Angela Gaskell as any wrecked steamer ever was salved and put back into trade by daring and resourceful men. And the profit that Angela realized——!
Every now and then something happens to mark a man among his fellows. On a succession of blowy March days four men landed from four different steamers at Port Townsend, Astoria. Eureka and San Francisco. ”

“ A new steamer is too high for me to look, I'm afraid.”
“Try,” she murmured and turned her back.
John Somers duly presented his credentials to the firm of Gimbal & White, and found himself welcomed with unusual civility. White himself was the spokesman.
“Hang it all, Captain,” he said, “you seem to be always off on, some job or other. We tried to find you a week ago. You are just the man in our eye—deep-sea, some creditable papers, more than creditable stories about you, and as nice a woman as ever trod shoe leather ready to make a home for you. ”

“ Angela took a step forward. “Don't despair,” she said sharply. “Couldn't you get a job, say, for ten days, and then come back? Often there's something turns up when they need a man in a hurry.”
Somers considered this a while. Then he nodded and went out.
It was two weeks before he came again. This time he was rather flushed with drink and she saw that he was naturally imperious. He was, however, perfectly polite.
“There is a position open at Gimbal & White's,” she told him. “They have a brand-new steamer ready for sea and they are looking for a master for her. ”

“ Our agent believes that the man Somers has no intention of returning to America, though he is decidedly taciturn and hard to get information from. He owns two-thirds of the schooner Maid of Bath, which is valued at nine thousand dollars.
WHILE she was considering this in her room of evenings, and studying both herself and her future, Angela found that a fresh problem had interjected itself. She was, in spite of herself, beloved by a man whom she liked much and respected. ”

“ Habberd's eyes brightened. “Most bothersome. You know anybody knows him? Speak quick. Got to cable to-day.”
Angela hesitated. Then she said quietly: “I know him.”
“Well?”
She gave John Somers an excellent character, while her employer studied her. At the end Mr. Habberd said “Humph!” and dismissed her. But later he summoned her and said gruffly: “Now about Captain Somers—know any one who would go his bond? One can't be too careful these days, and those Auckland chaps are evidently leary of him.”
“How much of a bond?” Angela asked.
“Five thousand dollars.” ”

“ A long, hard fight against heavy odds; a woman’s fight for the man she loves; and, running through it all, ships and the sea, presented with John Fleming Wilson’s characteristic skill and understanding. ”

“ We'll only handle the bond if we are secured in full right here in San Francisco. You see, they'll ship a rich old cargo on the Challenger, and it's too risky to chance a man we don't know all about.”
“I think I know a friend of his,” Angela said slowly. “You'll take property?”
“Certainly, Miss Gaskell.”
Angela returned to her office and went to her employer. “I would like this afternoon off,” she told him. “A friend of Captain Somers is ready to go his bond and wants me to help arrange it. My—my friend saw the bonding company.”
Mr. Habberd stared and nodded. ”

“ The island afforded no food whatever, except the flesh of a few wild sheep, could they kill them. But Angela's thoughts were little on this subject. At last she was face to face with Destiny—and John Somers. They were alone in the midst of a lonely sea, without hope of rescue ”

“ He is reputed to be a morose, sullen man and his credit is poor. So far as we can ascertain, he has no white associates and keeps clear of the natives. He is not sober. The only firm that has dealings with him seems to regard him as honest but untrustworthy. ”

“ But the bond will cover it all. Hang these fellows who always have women friends to speak up for them!”
“I rather think Somers must be all right if Miss Gaskell——”
“Sure.”
The next night Angela did some hard figuring in her room. The next morning she dropped into a newspaper office and paid for an advertisement to rent her house. Within a week she quietly changed her address on the office-register and moved into a single room out in the Mission. After mortgaging her home and adding to the sum so obtained from her savings-account in bank, she had less than one hundred dollars left. ”

“ Must get somebody else.
She filed the letter carefully and went on with her work. That night she lay awake a long time and, in the end, whispered her perplexity into the darkness. Whatever answer came, she slept.
THE next morning her employer was surprised that Miss Gaskell did not, as usual, leave his office immediately after receiving her instructions for the day. He lowered at her.
“What is it? Want a raise?”
Angela shook her head. “Not that, Mr. Habberd. But I noticed you could find nobody that knew Captain Somers—the man Giddings, Ltd., thought might bring the Challenger here.” ”