W. W. Jacobs

“ The boarding-master leaned against the shop-window and regarded him dumbly. There was a twinkle in the shipbroker's eyes which irritated him almost beyond endurance, and in the doorway Mr. Kybird—his face mottled with the intensity of his emotions—stood an unwelcome and frantic witness of his shame.
“You're not well, Smith?” said Mr. Swann, shaking his head at him gently. “You look like a man who has been doing too much brain-work lately. You've been getting the better of some-body, I know.” ”

“ She sat with downcast eyes looking at the fender occasionally glancing from the corner of her eye to see whether he was preparing to renew the assault. He had certainly changed from the Jem Hardy of olden days. She had a faint idea that his taste had improved.
“Wilks keeps his house in good order,” said Hardy, looking round.
“Yes,” said the girl.
“Wonder why he never married,” said Hardy, musingly; “for my part I can't understand a man remaining single all his life; can you?”
“I never think of such things,” said Miss Nugent, coldly—and untruthfully. ”

“ The captain turned with a snarl, and, clenching his huge, horny fist, let drive full in the other's face and knocked him off his feet.
“Take that man for'ard,” cried Captain Hardy, sharply. “Take him for'ard.”
Half-a-dozen willing men sprang forward. Captain Nugent's views concerning sailormen were well known in Sunwich, and two of the men present had served under him. He went forward, the centre of an attentive and rotating circle, and, sadly out of breath, was bestowed in the forecastle and urged to listen to reason. ”

“ Mr. Wilks watched it from the quay, and the new steward observing him came to the side, and holding aloft an old pantry-cloth between his finger and thumb until he had attracted his attention, dropped it overboard with every circumstance of exaggerated horror. By the time a suitable retort had occurred to the ex-steward the steamer was half a mile distant, and the extraordinary and unnatural pantomime in which he indulged on the edge of the quay was grievously misinterpreted by a nervous man in a sailing boat. ”

“ Silk, who was in a particularly black mood, sat and smiled like a detected philanthropist as she placed them in water.
“Good evenin', Teddy,” he said, breezily, with a side-glance at his hostess. “What a lovely day we've 'ad.”
“So bright,” said Mrs. Silk, nodding with spirit.
Mr. Wilks sat down and gave vent to such a cheerful laugh that the ornaments on the mantelpiece shook with it. “It's good to be alive,” he declared.
“Ah, you enjoy your life, Mr. Wilks,” said the widow.
“Enjoy it!” roared Mr. Wilks; “enjoy it! Why shouldn't I? Why shouldn't everybody enjoy their lives? ”

“ The captain growled and waited, and found his sister's prognostications partly fulfilled. The exuberance of Miss Nugent's manner was certainly modified by time, but she developed instead a quiet, unassuming habit of authority which he liked as little.
“She gets made such a fuss of, it's no wonder,” said Mrs. Kingdom, with a satisfied smile. “I never heard of a girl getting as much attention as she does; it's a wonder her head isn't turned.” ”

“ The lovers take poison and die across each other's chests because their people won't let 'em marry. And that reminds me. I saw some phosphor-paste in the kitchen, Jem. Whose is it?”
“I'm glad to be the means of affording you amusement,” said Jem, grinding his teeth.
Captain Hardy regarded him affectionately. “Go easy, my lad,” he said, equably; “go easy. If I'd known it before, things would have been different; as I didn't, we must make the best of it. She's a pretty girl, and a good one, too, for all her airs, but I'm afraid she's too fond of her father to overlook this.” ”

“ The two ladies received Mr. Hardy's information with something akin to consternation, the idea of the autocrat of Equator Lodge as a stowaway on board the ship of his ancient enemy proving too serious for ordinary comment. Mrs. Kingdom's usual expressions of surprise, “Well, I never did!” and “Good gracious alive!” died on her lips, and she sat gazing helpless and round-eyed at her niece.
“I wonder what he said,” she gasped, at last.
Miss Nugent, who was trying to imagine her father in his new role aboard the Conqueror, paid no heed. ”

“ Regardless of the heat, which indeed was mild compared with that which raged in his own bosom, Captain Nugent, fresh from the inquiry of the collision of his ship Conqueror with the German barque Hans Muller, strode rapidly up the High Street in the direction of home. An honest seafaring smell, compounded of tar, rope, and fish, known to the educated of Sunwich as ozone, set his thoughts upon the sea. ”

“ Swann, suddenly sitting up in his bed. “You—you scoundrel!”
“It's to be done,” said Hardy.
“You ghoul!” said the invalid, glaring at him. “Is that the way to talk to a sick man? You unscrupulous rascal!”
“It'll be amusement for you,” pleaded the other, “and if we are successful it will be the best thing in the end for everybody. Think of the good you'll do.”
“Where you get such rascally ideas from, I can't think,” mused the invalid. “Your father is a straightforward, honest man, and your partner's uprightness is the talk of Sunwich.” ”

“ Kybird giving a soaring imagination play in the first marking, and a good business faculty in the second.
At these valuables Jack Nugent, with a view of obtaining some idea of prices, gazed for some time. Then passing between two suits of oilskins which stood as sentinels in the doorway, he entered the shop and smiled affably at Miss Kybird, who was in charge. At his entrance she put down a piece of fancy-work, which Mr. Kybird called his sock, and with a casual glance at his clothes regarded him with a prejudiced eye.
“Beautiful day,” said the customer; “makes one feel quite young again.” ”

“ Kate Nugent, who heard the gate swing behind him as he entered the front garden, looked up and stood spellbound at his audacity. As a fairly courageous young person she was naturally an admirer of boldness in others, but this seemed sheer recklessness. Moreover, it was recklessness in which, if she stayed where she was, she would have to bear a part or be guilty of rudeness, of which she felt incapable. ”

“ The change which takes place when a man is promoted from that rank to that of master is subtle, but unmistakable—sometimes, as in the present instance, more unmistakable than subtle. Captain Hardy coiled his long, sinewy form in an arm-chair and, eyeing him calmly, lit his pipe before replying.
“Boys will fight,” he said, briefly.
“I'm speaking of his running after my daughter,” said Nugent, sternly.
Hardy's eyes twinkled. “Young dog,” he said, genially; “at his age, too.”
Captain Nugent's face was suffused with wrath at the pleasantry, and he regarded him with a fixed stare. ”

“ For the first few days after his return Sunwich was full of surprises to Jem Hardy. The town itself had changed but little, and the older inhabitants were for the most part easily recognisable, but time had wrought wonders among the younger members of the population: small boys had attained to whiskered manhood, and small girls passing into well-grown young women had in some cases even changed their names.
The most astounding and gratifying instance of the wonders effected by time was that of Miss Nugent. ”

“ If anything was wanted to convince Captain Nugent that his action had been foolish and his language intemperate it was borne in upon him by the subsequent behaviour of Master Hardy. Generosity is seldom an attribute of youth, while egotism, on the other hand, is seldom absent. So far from realizing that the captain would have scorned such lowly game, Master Hardy believed that he lived for little else, and his Jack-in-the-box ubiquity was a constant marvel and discomfort to that irritable mariner. ”

“ He pressed the young man's hand sympathetically, and a wink of intense artfulness gave point to his last remark.
“There's always Sam Wilks's cottage,” he said, in a husky whisper; “and if two of 'is friends should 'appen to meet there, who'd be the wiser?”
He gazed benevolently after the young man's retreating figure and continued his stroll, his own troubles partly forgotten in the desire to assist his friends. It would be a notable feat for the humble steward to be the means of bringing the young people together and thereby bringing to an end the feud of a dozen years. ”

“ On a fine afternoon, some two months after his release from the toils of the sea, Captain Nugent sat in the special parlour of The Goblets. The old inn offers hospitality to all, but one parlour has by ancient tradition and the exercise of self-restraint and proper feeling been from time immemorial reserved for the elite of the town. ”

“ Her eye was also on the clock, and she smirked weakly in the captain's direction as she saw that she was at least two minutes ahead of time. At a minute to the hour the teapot itself was on the tray, and the heavy breathing of the handmaiden in the kitchen was audible to all.
“Punctual to the minute, John,” said Mrs. Kingdom, as she took her seat at the tray. “It's wonderful how that girl has improved since you've been at home. She isn't like the same girl.” ”

“ Profiting by her absence, Mr. Hardy leaned towards Miss Nugent, and in a low voice expressed his sorrow at the mishap to her father and his firm conviction that everything that could be thought of for that unfortunate mariner's comfort would be done. “Our fathers will probably come back good friends,” he concluded. “There is nothing would give me more pleasure than that, and I think that we had better begin and set them a good example.”
“It is no good setting an example to people who are hundreds of miles away,” said the matter-of-fact Miss Nugent. ”

“ Hardy's memory.
“She generally comes for a little quiet chat,” he said.
“Indeed!”
“Just between the two of us,” said the other.
His visitor said “Indeed,” and, as though some chord of memory had been touched, sat gazing dreamily at Mr. Wilks's horticultural collection in the window. Then he changed colour a little as a smart hat and a pretty face crossed the tiny panes. Mr. Wilks changed colour too, and in an awkward fashion rose to receive Miss Nugent.
“Late as usual, Sam,” said the girl, sinking into a chair. Then she caught sight of Hardy, who was standing by the door. ”

“ Captain Hardy was the first to reach home. In the early hours of a fine April morning the Conqueror steamed slowly into Sunwich Harbour, and in a very short time the town was revelling in a description of Captain Nugent's first voyage before the mast from lips which were never tired of repeating it. Down by the waterside Mr. Nathan Smith found that he had suddenly attained the rank of a popular hero, and his modesty took alarm at the publicity afforded to his action. It was extremely distasteful to a man who ran a quiet business on old-fashioned lines and disbelieved in advertisement. ”

“ Have you seen young Nugent lately? Does he seem cheerful?”
“Yes, but he is not,” was the reply.
“Well, it's natural for the young to marry,” said the other, gravely. “Murchison will be the next to go, I expect.”
“Possibly,” returned Hardy, with affected calmness.
“Blaikie was saying something about it this morning,” resumed Swann, regarding him from half-closed lids, “but he was punching and tapping me all about the ribs while he was talking, and I didn't catch all he said, but I think it's all arranged. Murchison is there nearly every day, I understand; I suppose you meet him there?” ”

“ Adolphus Swann and won that suffering gentleman over to his plans, Hardy began to cast longing glances at Equator Lodge. He reminded himself that the labourer was worthy of his hire, and it seemed moreover an extremely desirable thing that Captain Nugent should know that he was labouring in his vineyard with the full expectation of a bounteous harvest. ”

“ Wilks, and wondered at what age men discarded the useless habit of blushing. Opposite him sat Miss Nugent, calmly observant, the slightest suggestion of disdain in her expression. Framed in the queer, high-backed old chair which had belonged to Mr. Wilks's grandfather, she made a picture at which Jem Hardy continued to gaze with respectful ardour. A hopeless sense of self-depreciation possessed him, but the idea that Murchison should aspire to so much goodness and beauty made him almost despair of his sex. ”