The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-08-24
CHAPTER w.

~ I11o DUktydFu dUa 6A1pGudAO1cG-
ing establishments of a certain Mr..
HuxtabIe in the town of Fairhaven, ON
the eastern bank of the Acushnet
river, there came-or. rather, drifted
with the tide of a casual fancy-to-
ward the close Of day in June, Gar
rett Coast,
A declining sun threw his shadow
athwart the floor of the chandlery.
Huxtable glanced UP from the muddle
Of papers on his desk Coast lounged
easily in the doorway, with one shout
der against the frame; a man notably
tall and slender and graced, besides,
with simple dignity Of manner that
assorted oddly, in the Huxtable un-
derstanding, with clothing well-worn
and travel-stained- Out of a face
moderately Drowned. his dark eyes
glimmered with q humor whimsical
regarding Huxtable.
The object Of their regard pushed
up his spectacles for q better view.
~Well?" he inquired, not without q
suspicion Of grim resentment who
was not weathered to laughter at his
own expense.
It happened, however, that Coasts
amusement sprang from another
cause; his own utter responsibility.
which alone had led him to the Chand-
lery, he considered hugely divsrting.
II Was Just thinking" he said, snIl-
ing, that now would be q useful time
to buy a boat"
Huxtable, possessed of an inherent
prediction for taciturntty, liable,
ever and anon, to be sore beset II not
wholly put to rout by the demon Gu
riosity "a familiar likewise legitimate.
~ handed down to him by several gen.
erations of New England forebears),
with mute nod to signify that he had
heard and now awaited without preiu-
dice more explicit declaration.
"A boat" Coast added, preferably
of the oenter-board cat type, with a
hard-working motor auxiliary"
The Huxtable mind, which you ara
to believe typical of IT'S caste, Hike a
ship wisely nayigated, moved cautious
ly in well-buoyed channels. 1t slung
to tradition, whether IN the business
of boat building, which 1t pursued to
admiration, or In the lighter diversion
o: humor, to which its attitude re-
semhled that Of the ancestor worship
ing heather Chinese. Premonitory
symptoms Of a reversion to type in
the matter of wit were betrayed by
the corrugation of the HuxtabIe
wrinkles.
ITO go sailin' fn7"
After this utterance, tradition
Mapped its wings and screamed; Hux-
table himself condescended to
chuckle; Coast, to tolerant smile.
Possibly" he conceded. Have
you such q boat?"
'T might have" HuxtabEe admitted
cautiously. Come along" He rose
and led the way through back door
into the boat yard.
With a twist of his eyebrows spell
ing doubt, Coast followed. He was
not wholly satisfied that there was
any wisdom latent In this latest freak
Of his errant fancies. For a fortnight
he had given impulse its head, and 30,
docile to its aimless divagations, had
found contentment of sort-more a
parody than the real thing; dream
less rest won through wholesome
bodily fatigue, q waking distraction
bred of constant change OF scene; thin
Ice c-sr the troubled deeps Of a heart
embittered. Eastward from New
York he had wandered, mostly afoot,
unknown, unrecognized, Warburton
alone cognizant OF his movements,
and that under strict injunction of ST.
lenoe; thus he had come blindly, seek
ing surcease of his distemper, finding
only the oblivion Of fatigue. And re-
Gently he had become uneasily con-
scious that even that was losing its
effect, as an opiate Will in frame
too long habituated to its action; now
and again the thought of Katherine
and Blackstock would crawl In his
mind, viperous, poisoning the very
sunlight.
Here, without presage, he found his
whim aiming for salt water. Was he
wise to humor It? Would he find
healing In the swing Of the seas. the
saYQr Of spray the hiss Of wateza