"Take your choice," he had said; "either new masts and
rigging or that boat. I simply ain't going to sea
without the one or the other. Chicken-coops are good
enough, no doubt, and so is a dinghy; but they ain't
for Joe." And his partners had been forced to consent,
and saw six-and-thirty pounds of their small capital
vanish in the turn of a hand.
All four had toiled the best part of six weeks getting
ready; and though Captain Wicks was of course not seen
or heard of, a fifth was there to help them, a fellow
in a bushy red beard, which he would sometimes lay
aside when he was below, and who strikingly resembled
Captain Wicks in voice and character. As for Captain
Kirkup, he did not appear till the last moment, when he
proved to be a burly mariner, bearded like Abou Ben
Adhem. All the way down the harbour and through the
Heads, his milk-white whiskers blew in the wind and
were conspicuous from shore; but the CURRENCY LASS
had no sooner turned her back upon the lighthouse than
he went below for the inside of five seconds and
reappeared clean shaven.
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