That alone was enough to give him a right to all they owned.

He was theirs, and they were only beginning to take full pride in him when he passed out from them, leaving an emptiness in their life new and unexplained.

No man in that country had ever shown concern for them, nor had it occurred to them that any man could, till The Pilot came.
It took them long to believe that the interest he showed in them was genuine and not simply professional.

Then, too, from a preacher they had expected chiefly pity, warning, rebuke.

The Pilot astonished them by giving them respect, admiration, and open-hearted affection.