"what would you do if you had your choice, instead of staying here?"
The little old sailor wagged his yellow beard sadly. "’T ain't no use talkin' so. But by the powers," he ejaculated, "if I had the money, I'd buy back the Regina. Lyons 'ud sell 'er; he wants a bigger bo't. Some fools 'll tell ye a centreboard schooner's no good," he cried, warming with enthusiasm. "But she,—I had 'er fourteen year, an' 'ud hev' 'er yit but fer bad luck,—why, she'd go like—like a horse! The' ain't much left fer ye, my boy, when ye come to my age, p'r'aps. But I'd ask nothin' better than jes' to come up on deck again on a winter mornin' and see where the vessel's lyin'."
"If I buy her," said Archer, "will you take her and pay me a quarter of what she brings you in two years? She's yours on those terms."
The old man's eyes peered at him, hard and bright at this cruel joke.
"Where'd ye git the money?" he retorted.
"I 've got enough for that," replied Archer, laughing. "What do you say? I 'll get
