And, if you asked me, I'd say the
longer he stayed the further back he'd get."
"Sho! then he did turn out to be a leak instead of an able seaman,
eh?"
"A leak! Gracious king! He's like a torpedo blow-up under the
engine-room. The bank'll sink if he stays aboard another month, I
do believe. And yet," he added, with a shake of the head, "I don't
see but he'll have to stay; there ain't another available candidate
for the job in sight. I 'phoned up to Boston and some of our
friends are lookin' around up there, but so far they haven't had
any success. This war is makin' young men scarce, that is young
men that are good for much. Pretty soon it'll get so that a
healthy young feller who ain't in uniform will feel about as much
out of place as a hog in a synagogue. Yes, sir! Ho, ho!"
He laughed in huge enjoyment of his own joke. Jed stared dreamily
at the adjusting screw on the handsaw. His hands clasped his knee,
his foot was lifted from the floor and began to swing back and
forth.
"Well," queried his friend, "what have you got on your mind? Out
with it."
"Eh? . . . On my mind?"
"Yes. When I see you begin to shut yourself together in the middle
like a jackknife and start swinging that number eleven of yours I
know you're thinkin' hard about somethin' or other. What is it
this time?"
"Um .
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