Roy Norton

“ There are no blue-water men afloat who do not know of Torbay, that rare and beautiful indentation in the Devonshire coast of England. There are but few globe-trotters who have not visited it, and those who have not are to be pitied. ”

“ My father prospered from that day, in his own way, clinging always to his faith in God's brave winds to speed his fortunes, and scorning steam. When he came to be the owner of a considerable fleet of "wind-jammers," and retired to the home he built near Cotuit, Massachusetts,—where he could always hear the roar of the sea,—and found it best to incorporate his holdings into a com- pany of which he owned nearly eighty per cent of the stock, he chose the name of "The Esperanza Sailing Company." ”

“ Taller than most women, as I knew by comparison, for I am an inch above the American "six-foot," and her eyes were but little below the level of mine. A man who is above normal height never fails to note, with a little of surprise, when he meets eyes so nearly level with his own. ”

“ If you can qualify and then stick it through, you will become a sailor for your country, a gentleman by training, and"—his voice broke queerly and became husky,—"your mother and I will be very proud of you!"
My heart pumped savagely. I suddenly discerned that my father was getting old, and should have liked to put my arms around him, there on the deck, but dared not, for I had always stood in awe of him. ”

“ My father was not there when I graduated, but sent messages by my mother. He was too busy experimenting with a yacht that he had built mostly with his own hands on extemporized ways, and that he had caused to be laid down just where the lawn of our garden in Cotuit met the beach. ”

“ I could have handled a full-rigger before I was sixteen years of age, save for lack of that wisdom which is gained only by experience, and I was not happy on that day, when, coming into harbor as second mate of the Esperanza III, my father gruffly^ told me that I was not to go out with her again. ”