"No, Dash, there's not a bit more; you've had it all," cried Jack to the dog. But he, ever generous-natured, did not tell his brother _why_ he had not been able to put by: that the calls made upon him by his wife's mother--Aunt Dean, as they still styled her--were so heavy and so perpetual. She wanted a great deal for herself, and she presented vast claims for the expenses of Jack's two little children, and for the maintenance of her daughter when Alice stayed on shore. Alice whispered to Jack she believed her mother was making a private purse for herself. Good-natured Jack thought it very likely, but he did not stop the supplies. Just as Aunt Dean had been a perpetual drain upon her brother, Jacob Lewis, during his lifetime, so she now drained Jack. "Then, with no means at command, what utter folly it is for you to think of leaving the sea?" resumed the parson. "So it is, Herbert," acquiesced Jack. "I assure you I don't think of it." "Alice does." "Ay, poor girl, because she wishes it." "Do you see any _chance_ of leaving it?" "Not a bit," readily acknowledged Jack. "Then where's the use of talking about it--of harping upon it?" "None in the world," said Jack. "Then we'll drop the subject, if you please," pursued Herbert, forgetting, perhaps, that it was he who introduced it. "Jump then, Dash! Jump, good little Dash!" "What a worry you make with that dog, John! Attend to me. I want to know why you came to London instead of to Liverpool." "She was laid on for London this time," answered Jack. "_Laid on!_" ejaculated Herbert, who knew as much about sailor's phrases as he did of Hebrew. Jack laughed. "The agents in Calcutta chartered the ship for London, freights for that port being higher than for Liverpool. The _Rose of Delhi_ is a free ship." "Oh," responded Herbert. "I thought perhaps she had changed owners." "No. But our broker in London is brother to the owners in Liverpool. There are three of them in all. James Freeman is the broker; Charles and Richard are the owners. Rich men they must be!" "When do you think you shall sail again?" "It depends upon when they can begin to reload and get the fresh cargo in." "That does not take long, I suppose," remarked Herbert, slightingly. "She may be loaded in three days if the cargo is ready and waiting. It may be three weeks if the cargo's not--or more than that." "And Alice does not go with you?" Jack shook his head: something like a cloud passed over his fresh, frank face. "No, not this time."