5/18 He was grateful to it, with the gratitude of an honest heart. His greatest pride lay in his profound conviction of its faithfulness--in the deep sense of his unerring knowledge of its treachery. They came north together--both young--out of an Australian port, and after a very few years there was not a white man in the islands, from Palembang to Ternate, from Ombawa to Palawan, that did not know Captain Tom and his lucky craft. He was liked for his reckless generosity, for his unswerving honesty, and at first was a little feared on account of his violent temper. Very soon, however, they found him out, and the word went round that Captain Tom's fury was less dangerous than many a man's smile. |