A change was coming to pass in Faith at this time. As the strength flowed out of Noll, it seemed to flow into her. As Noll weakened, Faith was growing strong.

She had never lacked a calm strength of her own; the strength of a good woman. But she was acquiring now the strength and resolution of a man. At first, this was unconscious; the spectacle of Noll's degeneration moved her by the force of contrast. But for a long time she clung to the picture of the Noll of the past, clung to the hope that the captain would become again the man she had married. And so long as she did this, she made herself a part of him, his support.... She merged herself in him, thought of herself only as his helpmate.... She had always tried to stimulate his pride and strength; she had tried to lead him to reassume the domination of the Sally and all aboard her. And in the days before Noll went out to kill his whale, she thought for a time she had succeeded.

But when Noll came back to her that day, exhausted by the struggle, the fire gone out of him, Faith perceived that he was a weak vessel, cracking and breaking before her eyes.

Noll was gone; he was no longer a man. His hands and his heart had not the force needed to enable him to command the Sally, to make the voyage successful, to bring the bark safely back to port in the end. Faith saw this; but she refused to consider the chance of failure. She had married Noll when he was at the height of his apparent strength; the signs of his disintegration were not yet apparent. They had swept upon him suddenly.... But she would not have it said of him, when he was gone, that he had sailed the seas too long; that he had failed at last, and shamefully....

She had come to look upon the success of this last voyage of Noll's as a sacred charge; and when Noll's shoulders weakened, she prepared deliberately to take the burden on her own. The Sally must come safely home, with filled casks for old Jonathan Felt; she must come safely home, no matter what happened to Noll—or to herself. The prosperity of the Sally Sims was almost a religion to Faith....

She had begun to study navigation more to pass the long and dreary days than from any other motive; she applied herself to it now more ardently. And she began, at the same time, to study the men about her; to weigh them; to consider their fitness for the responsibilities that must fall upon them. The fo'm'st hands, and particularly the mates, she weighed in the balance. The mates, and above all Dan'l Tobey. For if Noll were to go, Dan'l, by all the ancient laws of the sea, would become master of the ship; and their destinies would lie in his hands....

Short of the Solander Grounds, they struck good whaling, and lingered for a time; and day by day the tuns and casks were filled, and the Sally sank lower in the water with her increasing load. They were two-thirds full, and not yet two years out. Good whaling.... At dinner in the cabin one day, Dan'l Tobey said to Faith:

"You've brought us good luck, Faith, by coming along, this cruise. We never did much better, since I've been with Cap'n Wing."

Faith looked to Noll. Noll was eating slowly, paying them no attention. Silence was falling upon the captain in those days, like a foreshadowing of the great silence into which he would presently depart. He said nothing; so Faith said: "Yes. We've done well.... I'm glad."

Old James Tichel looked slyly from face to face. "And the 'gris, stowed below us here, will make it a fine fat cruise for old Jonathan Felt when we come home," he chuckled.

At the mention of the ambergris, a little silence fell. Brander was at the table, Brander and the others. Dan'l and Willis Cox and young Roy Kilcup looked at Brander, as though expecting him to speak. He said nothing, and old Tichel, gnawing at his food, chuckled again, as though pleased with what he had said.

The ambergris, so rich a treasure in so small a bulk, had never been forgotten for a minute by any man in the cabin; nor by Faith. But they had not spoken of it of late; there was nothing to be said, and there was danger in the saying. It was as well that it be forgotten until they were home again.... There were too many chances for trouble in the stuff....

When Brander did not speak, however, Dan'l gently prodded him. He said to Tichel: "You're forgetting that Mr. Brander claims it for his own."Tichel chuckled again. "Oh, aye, I was forgetting that small matter," he agreed. "My memory is very short at times."

Still Brander said nothing. Dan'l looked toward him. "I'll be warrant Mr. Brander does not forget," he said.

Brander looked toward Dan'l, and he smiled amiably. "Thank you," he told the mate. "Keep me reminded. It had all but slipped from my mind."

There was so much hostility in the air, in the slow words of the men, that Faith said quietly: "We'll be on the Solander, soon. I'm looking forward to that, Dan'l. You've seen the Rock?"

She hoped to change them to another topic; but Dan'l brought it smoothly back again. "Yes," he said. "Yes.... Last cruise, the Betty Howe, out of Port Russell, picked up a sizable chunk of 'gris not a week before we touched the grounds. That brought two-sixty to the pound, I heard."

"How much was it?" Willis Cox asked; and Dan'l looked to Willis and said amiably:

"Fifteen pound or so. No more than a thimbleful to what we've got.... That is to say, to what Mr. Brander's got, below here."

Brander had finished eating; he rose to go on deck. But Roy Kilcup could no longer hold his tongue. He got to his feet in Brander's path, demanded sharply:

"Do you honestly mean to claim that for your own, Mr. Brander? Are you so much of a hog?"

Brander looked down at the boy; and he smiled. "I'll give you your share, now, if it will stop your worrying, youngster," he said.

"I want to know what you're going to do," Roy insisted. "Are you going to stick to your claim?"

"Others want to know," said Brander, and stepped to one side to pass Roy. Roy would have spoken again; but Noll said heavily from the head of the table:

"Roy, let be."

That put a moment's silence upon them all. In this silence, Brander went on his way to the deck. Roy stared after him for a moment, then sat down in his place. His face was sullen and angry.... No one spoke of the matter again; but Dan'l saw that Faith was thoughtful. Faith was puzzling over Brander, trying to fathom the man.... She was troubled and uneasy.... Dan'l saw that Noll had lifted his heavy head and was watching her.

Afterward, Dan'l went with Noll into the after cabin. Faith had gone on deck; and she and Willis Cox were talking together, by the wheel, with Roy. Brander, as usual, had taken himself to the waist where he was under the eye of the crew. His harpooner, Loum, was with him. Mauger hung within sound of his voice like an adoring dog.

Dan'l, in the after cabin with Noll, made up the log. Noll sat heavily on the seat, half asleep. He got up, while Dan'l was still writing, and got his bottle. It was almost empty; and he cursed at that, and Dan'l looked up and said:

"Sit down, sir. Give that to me. I'll fill it up again."Noll accepted the offer without speaking, and gave Dan'l the key to his storeroom, where there was a cask of whiskey, and another of rum. Dan'l came back presently with the bottle filled.... His eyes were shining with an evil inspiration, but he said nothing for a little. When his work on the log was done, however, he looked across to Noll, and after a little, as though answering a spoken question, said:

"I wouldn't worry about him, sir."

Noll looked at him dully. "About who, Dan'l?"

"Brander. I saw you watching him...."

Noll dropped his head. "I don't like the man."

"He's a good officer."

"Oh, aye...."

"I doubt if he means trouble over the 'gris."

Noll waved a hand fretfully. "He's too much with the crew, Mr. Tobey."

Dan'l shook his head. "I doubt it. That's one way to handle men—Be one of them. They'll do anything for him, sir."

Noll's eyes narrowed with the shrewdness of a drunken man. "That's the worst part of it. Will they do anything for me, Dan'l? Or for you?"

Dan'l said reluctantly: "Well, sir, maybe they'd jump quicker for him."

"And that's not reassuring," said Noll. "Is it, now?"

"It wouldn't be, if he meant wrong. I don't think he does. Any case, he knows the 'gris is not his, in the end...." And he added: "You're concerned over Faith and him—the way they are when they're together. But there's no need, sir. Faith is loyal...."

Noll looked at the mate, and he frowned. "How are they, when they're together?"

"I thought you had marked it for yourself.... I meant nothing."

"Nothing? You meant something. You've seen something. What is it you've seen, Dan'l?"

Dan'l protested. "Why, nothing at all. There's no harm in their being friends. He's a young man, strong, with wisdom in his head; and she's young, too. It's natural that young folk should be friendly."

Noll's head sank upon his chest; he said dully: "Aye, and you're thinking I'm old."

"No, sir," Dan'l cried. "Not that. You're not so old as you think, sir. Not so old but what you might strike, if there was need. I only meant it was to be expected that they should be drawn together, like. Faith's young...."

Noll's eyes were reddening angrily. "Speak out, man," he exclaimed. "Don't shilly-shally with your tongue. If there's harm afoot, by God, I can take a hand. What's in your mind?"

"Why, nothing at all. No harm in the world, sir.... I was only meaning to reassure you. I thought you had seen her eyes when she looked at the man...."

"Her eyes?"

"Aye."

"What's in her eyes?"Dan'l frowned uncomfortably. "Why—friendship, if you like. Liking, perhaps. Nothing more, I'll swear. I know Faith too well...."

Noll said heavily: "I'll watch her eyes, Dan'l."

Dan'l said with apparent anxiety: "You should not concern yourself, Cap'n Wing. It's but the fancy of youth for youth.... I...."

Noll came to his feet with sudden rage in him. "Have done, Dan'l. I...."

They both heard, then, Faith's step in the main cabin; and their eyes met and burned. And Dan'l got up quietly, and closed the log, and as Faith came in, he went out and closed the door behind him. Closed the door and crossed to the companion as though to go on deck; but he lingered there, listening....

Listened; but there was little for him to hear. When the door closed behind him, Faith had turned to her own cabin, hers and Noll's. Noll sat down, his eyes sullen.... He watched her through the open door to the cabin where their bunks were. She turned after a moment and came out to him; and he got to his feet with a rush of anger, and stared at her, so that she stood still....

He said hoarsely: "Faith.... By God...."

His words failed, then, before the steady light in her eyes. She was wondering, questioning him.... She met his eyes so fairly that the soul of the man cowered and shrank. The strength of rage went from him. He drew back.

"What is it, Noll?" she asked. "Why are you—angry?"He lifted a clenched hand over his head; it trembled there for an instant, then came slowly down. He wrenched open the door to the main cabin, and went out and left her standing there....

Faith watched him go; perplexity in her eyes. Dan'l joined him, and they went on deck together.

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