Harbor Tales Down North Part 45

"'I'll fetch Skipper Davy this night.'

"'Ay,' says she. 'I'm--wonderful happy.'

"'There'll be guns goin' at a weddin' in Rickity Tickle afore long,'

says I, 'I'll be bound!'

"She laughed like a maid o' sixteen. 'An', ecod!' says she, 'I got a new muslin all ready t' wear!'

"It rained on Rickity Tickle that night: no l.u.s.ty downpour--a mean, sad drizzle o' cold mist. The road t' Gull Island Cove was dark as death--sodden underfoot an' clammy with wet alder-leaves. Skipper Davy come with fair courage, laggin' a bit by the way, in the way o'

lovers, thinks I, at such times. An' I'd my hand fair on the k.n.o.b o'

Mary Land's door--an' was jus' about t' push in--when Skipper Davy all at once cotched me by the elbow an' pulled me back t' the shadows.

"'Hist!' says he.

"'Ay?'

"'Did you--tell her outright--that I'd _take_ her?'

"'Ay, sure!'

"'No help for it, Tumm?'

"'G.o.d's sake!' says I.

"'I--I--I won't!' says he.

"An' he fled--ay, took t' the heels of un, an' went stumblin' over the road t' Rickity Tickle in the dark. I listened--helpless there at Mary Land's door--while he floundered off beyond hearin'. An' 'twas hard--a thing as bitter as perdition--t' tell Mary Land that he'd gone. T'

break her heart again! G.o.d's sake! But she said: 'Hush, Toby! Don't you mind for me. I--I'm not mindin'--much. I'm used--t' waitin'.' An'

then I made off for Davy Junk's spick-an'-span cottage by Blow-Me t'

speak the words in my heart. Slippery rock an' splash o' mud underfoot--an' clammy alder-leaves by the wayside--an' the world in a cold drench o' misty rain--an' the night as dark as death--an' rage an' grief beyond measure in my heart. An' at last I come t' Davy Junk's cottage by Blow-Me, an' forthwith pushed in t' the kitchen. An'

there sot Davy Junk, snuggled up to his own fire, his face in his hands, woebegone an' hateful of hisself an' all the world--his soul lost, not because he'd failed in love for a maid, or worked woe in a woman's heart, but because in fear o' the world he'd lived all his years in despite o' love, an' love had left un for good an' all, t'

make the best of his way alone through the world he feared. He'd not look at me at all, but s.h.i.+fted in his chair, an' rubbed his hands, an'

snuggled closer to his own fire, an' whimpered what I couldn't make out. Nor would I speak t' he afore he turned t' face me--though I'd hard labor enough t' keep my words in my throat. Whatever an' all, at last he turned. An' 'twas the old Davy Junk come t' Rickity Tickle again--the beast o' fear peerin' out from his soul through his little, mean eyes. An' I might have loathed un then--had I not pitied un so greatly.

"'I made a mistake, Tumm,' says he.

"'Ay, Skipper Davy.'

"'This here world's a wolf's world,' says he, with his teeth bared.

'An', damme, I got enough t' do t' fend for myself!'

"'Skipper Davy,' says I, 'you go t' h.e.l.l!'

"'Twas the first oath ever I uttered with intention. An' I ran straightway t' Billy Tot's cottage--t' cure the taste o' the thing on my lips--an' t' ease the grief in my heart--an' t' find some new store o' faith for my soul. An' I kissed Bessie Tot fair on her rosy check in the middle o' the kitchen floor without carin' a jot who seed me."

It was the end of the yarn of Davy Junk, of Dirty-Face Bight; but Skipper Jim, of the _Quick as Wink_, being of a curious turn, presently inquired:

"What become o' Davy?"

"Lost with the _Word o' the Lord_," Tumm replied, "with all hands aboard."

"Went down in wreck," the skipper observed, "an' left nothin' but a tale."

"A tale with a moral," said I.

"Ay, an' t' be sure!" Skipper Jim agreed. "Davy Junk left a tale--with a moral."

"Damme!" Tumm exploded, "'tis as much as most men leaves!"

And the little stars winked their own knowledge and perfect understanding of the whole affair.

WORKS OF NORMAN DUNCAN

The Soul of the Street The Way of the Sea Doctor Luke of the Labrador The Mother Doctor Grenfell's Parish The Adventures of Billy Topsail The Cruise of the s.h.i.+ning Light Every Man for Himself The Suitable Child Going Down from Jerusalem Higgins: A Man's Christian Billy Topsail and Company The Measure of a Man The Best of a Bad Job Finding His Soul The Bird Store Man Australian By-Ways Billy Topsail, M.D.

Battles Royal Down North Harbor Tales Down North

[Ill.u.s.tration: (signed) Norman Duncan 1871-1916]