During the long, happy talk that they had after supper, their one regret was that the father was not there to share their joy, but they spoke hopefully of his coming, and the future looked brighter to them than it had for many a day. Mrs. McCloud was greatly interested in what Breeze had to tell her of his adventure with the New York jeweller who had opened the golden ball. They both examined it minutely, but could discover no joint amid the delicate tracery of its surface. After it had been again restored to its place, Mrs. McCloud cautioned the boy to always guard it carefully, as she felt more than ever certain that some day it would prove of great value to him. About eight o’clock Breeze started up, saying that he must go back to the schooner after Wolfe Brady. He had invited him to come home to supper and spend the night, but Wolfe had begged for a little time in which to purchase some very necessary additions to his scanty wardrobe, and Breeze had promised to meet him on board the Albatross soon after eight o’clock. Since then he had told his mother all that he knew of the young stranger, and so excited her interest in him that she now sent him an invitation to stay with them as long as he should remain in port. Kissing his mother good-by, and promising to be back very soon, Breeze left the house; and taking her sewing, Mrs. McCloud sat down to await his return. Neither Wolfe Brady nor anybody else was to be seen on the _Albatross_ when Breeze reached her. Near by lay the _Fish-hawk_, to which he had transferred his dunnage that afternoon, but she too was deserted. On the opposite side of the wharf lay a shabby-looking old schooner, named _Vixen_, on which several men were still at work, evidently getting her ready for sailing. Breeze asked them if they had seen anybody answering Wolfe’s description about there recently. “Yes,” answered one of them, “I seen a young feller like that hanging round here ’bout half an hour ago. He came over here and got talking with Hank Hoffer, one of our men, and they walked off uptown together. I expect they’ll be back directly.” “Did you hear them say where they were going?” “No; seems to me, though, I did hear Hank say something ’bout Grimes’s. Shouldn’t wonder if they’d gone up there to get a drink.” Breeze started at the mention of Grimes’s, for he knew it to be one of the lowest and very worst drinking-dens in the town. Such places are not permitted by law to exist in Gloucester, but occasionally they escape the vigilance of the police for a short time, and in them many a sturdy fisherman is tempted to squander the money he has risked his life to earn.