Page:Barbour--The mystery of the sea-lark.djvu/22

though he had all the marks of the ocean-going skipper—leathery, crinkled face, with crow's-feet at the corners of his twinkling eyes, skin tanned deeply from long exposure to the salt sea air, a fringe of yellowish-white whiskers, and a deep growl of a voice. True it is that he had been a captain, but captain only of a center-board sail-boat in which, before he had given up the precarious life, he had taken out pleasure parties for a day's fishing—including chowder—or for a run around the Head. But everybody didn't know that, more especially the "summer folks," and among the latter he held the reputation for being not only the most dependable weather-prophet along the coast but a perfect example of the old-time ship's captain, with experience gathered from Iceland to Fiji, from Seattle to Siam. And many a good yarn Cap'n Crumbie could spin, too, of his adventures in far-off climes. Indeed, he had related some of them so frequently that he had long since grown to believe them!

Jack had spent all of his sixteen years in Greenport and so knew the Cap'n for what he