UNDER ROCKING SKIES
"There was a twinkle in Captain March's eyes"
UNDER
ROCKING SKIES
BY
L. FRANK TOOKER
AUTHOR OF
"THE CALL OF THE SEA," ETC.
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1905
Copyright, 1905, by
The Century Co.
Published October, 1905
COLONIAL PRESS
Electrotyped and Printed by C. H. Simonds & Co.
Boston, U.S.A.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PAGE | |
| "There was a twinkle in Captain March's eyes" | Frontispiece |
| "The brig was sliding down the seas like a boy let loose from school" | 63 |
| "'You will need the patience,' she said" | 113 |
| "They heard him whistling for a wind" | 141 |
| "There came a 'smooth,' and the boat shot in" | 195 |
| "'Keep 'em going! Don't let 'em slack up a bit!'" | 255 |
UNDER ROCKING SKIES
UNDER ROCKING SKIES
I
For a quarter of an hour Thomas Medburyhad been standing at the east windowof his mother's parlor, gazing out acrosshis neighbor's yard with an eager intentnessthat betrayed a surprising absorption ina landscape without striking features andwholly lacking in any human interest. Thelow-studded room in which he stood wasclosely shut and darkened, having about itthe musty smell peculiar to old houses.There were sea-fans before the fireplace,flanked on each side by polished conch-shells.On the wall hung an oil-painting of the brig[Pg 4]North Star, with all sail set, and at her foretrucka white burgee, with her name inred letters, standing straight out in half agale of wind. Family portraits in oval giltframes were ranged with mathematical precisionalong the remaining wall-spaces, andon the mantelpiece stood a curious collectionof objects brought from far lands—carvedivories and strange ware from China, peculiarshells, a Japanese short sword, and aSouth Pacific war-club. No one would haveneeded to be told that it was the home of asailor.
Indeed, a keen observer might h