"His mate asked him was he goin' to stop there, with the hold half full o' fish, and Peleg made reply he was calc'latin' to. So the mate an' the boy took the dory and rowed ashore to Barrowsport and Peleg stayed under hatches listenin' to the rain slammin' on the deck and thinkin' how smart he was to seek shelter as he'd done. "Wal," pursued Cap'n Abe, "the rain didn't 'pear to stop, and Peleg went to bed. He didn't know if the mate an' the boy come back or not. But when he woke up in the morning the first thing he heard was the rain still a-swishin' on the schooner's deck. He had his deadlights curtained and 'twas dark below. The wind was still blowin' from the same quarter. "'Almighty stormy mornin','" says Peleg, and turns over in bed. Nobody disturbed him, for his mate had got into a fight ashore and was in the calaboose, and the boy'd got a chance to ship on a trawler at better wages and had took French leave. "So the _Sarah Truesdale_ lay there purty near all day, an' might ha' laid there till the fish in her hold stank, if a feller hadn't come along wantin' to borrer some bait. "He opened the cabin door and Peleg sat up in bed to see the afternoon sunshine streamin' over all. The _Sarah Truesdale_ had been there twenty-four hours. "'What's the matter here?' asked the feller after bait. 'You sick, or somethin'?' "Peleg's ears wagged like a houn' dog's. He could still hear the rain (or so he supposed) patterin' on the deck. "'If you don't git up your hook and warp out of here,' says the other feller, 'your smack'll be sunk along o' the deckload o' sand that's been blowin' on to ye from them sandcliffs all night It's ankle deep out here right now.'" For once Cap'n Abe got a laugh from most of the idlers. But Cap'n Jonah was in a serious mood. He followed the storekeeper to the end of the counter where he was tying up packages of sugar ready for prompt delivery. It was dark at this end of the store, for the windows were completely clouded by the frozen sleet. "Wal, Cap'n Hand, how goes the battle?" asked the storekeeper, with amusement written large on his genial face. "How does it seem to be a millionaire, or thereabout?" Cap'n Jonah took a huge pinch of snuff from his silver box, rapped the cover with his knuckle, and sneezed softly. "Whatever!" he almost groaned. "It ain't no laughin' matter, Mr. Silt, this here tryin' to make folks think you air something you ain't." "Sure-_ly_," interposed Cap'n Abe, "tain't no trick to fool Sarah and Orrin Petty. They air only too willin' to fool themselves. If you _had_ a hundred thousan' dollars----" "I'd give half of it to git out o' the mess I'm in," snapped Cap'n Jonah. "You don't know what it means, Mr. Silt, to be foolin' your friends, as well as those you don't keer a jasper for." "Oh! _don't_ I?" ejaculated Cap'n Abe significantly, his memory stung by thought of Cap'n Amazon.