I saw Polly turn pale as he said this.  ‘Duncan,’ she said, going up to him, and laying her hand on his arm, ’you’ll never go in her again; promise me that.  Think of me and little John, Duncan.’

‘Ay, my lass,’ he said; ’ay, Polly, I do think of thee and little John; but the worst of it is there’s bread must be earnt for thee and little John.  I can’t let thee starve, wife.’

‘What about the bank-book, Duncan?’ I said.

He went to the old oak-chest, and brought it out.  I was much touched by his handing it to me, and bidding me see how it stood.  He was perfectly open with me, and spoke to me as freely as if I had been an old and tried friend.  I added up the amount and read it out to him.

’Well, sir,’he said, ’it’s getting on; but it’s a good ten pound short yet.  We shall have to hire Brown’s boat a bit and do as well as we can, though it isn’t a very paying business when one takes to hiring:  it will be hard enough to make two ends meet, you see, sir, let alone saving up for the new boat.  But I can’t see nothing else for it, sir; that is, if Polly won’t let me risk it in the Mary Ann.’

‘Duncan,’ she said solemnly, ’if thee went to sea in the Mary Ann, and she went to the bottom, I could never say, “The will of the Lord be done,” for I don’t believe it would be God’s will for thee to go in that rotten old thing.’

‘Polly is right, Duncan,’ I said; ’you must never go in the Mary Ann again.’

‘Well, sir,’ he said, ’I see what you mean, you and Polly too, and the Lord will show us what’s to be done.’

Nothing more was said about the Mary Ann at that time, but I had already made my own plan about the new boat.  My aunt had just left me her little property, and a very nice little property it was.  I felt myself a rich man, for in addition to money invested in various ways, about L200 of ready money had been placed to my account at the bank.

What could be more delightful, I thought, than to spend the first ten pounds of this in helping Duncan to complete the purchase of the new boat?  The only difficulty would be to get Duncan to accept the money, for he had all the honest independence of a Yorkshireman, and I knew would hesitate about receiving help from any one.  But, at the same time, I knew that in this instance his need was great, and his kindly feeling towards myself was so strong, that I was not without hope that I might be able to manage what I had contemplated without giving the dear fellow offence.  I thought, at one time, that I would take Mr. Christie into my confidence, and would consult with him, but on second thoughts I decided that it would be wiser not to do so, and felt that I should be more likely to succeed if no one else was in the secret.  So I folded my bank-note in paper, put it into an envelope, and wrote outside, ’With little John’s love to his daddy, to help him to buy another Little John.’  This I determined to slip into the child’s hand when I said good-bye.