Dave’s thoughts were far away. The sting of salt air on his cheeks that afternoon, and the sailor’s reminiscences, had stirred him strangely. Hitherto he had not been directly thrown into association much with sailors. True, there were in his home a dozen distinctive signs that his father had spent many years at sea――a full-rigged four-master careening over on a painted ocean, under a glass case, in the parlor; two assagais and a knobkerrie picked up at some South African port; a compass and an old brass sextant kept in a sacred place; a pair of powerful binoculars; strangely carved figures which might at one time have been idols in some heathenish land. But these relics had been collected years before. Andrew Hallard gave up the sea soon after Dave was born. “Supper is ready,” said Aunt Martha, resignedly. “Go and tell your dad.” Dave obeyed mechanically. “The sea is calling this boy already,” Miss Hallard said a little later as she served their frugal meal. “He’s puzzling how to get afloat now.” Captain Hallard cast an uneasy glance at his son. He had always expected this eventually, but somehow the possibility of the wrench had seemed a long way off. “There’s time enough to think about that, lad,” he declared; but even as he said it he knew the boy’s days ashore must be numbered now. Once, long ago, he, and generations of his menfolk, had passed through the same phase. Dave was Captain Hallard’s only son, and there was a strong affinity between them. The man dreaded the moment when his boy must go, only to return occasionally between long voyages, but he knew the power with which the sea must be calling Dave.