am.”
“She’s been nothing but trouble and bad luck since Swenson had her built. Oh, I’m not against iron lumber ships. I’ve ordered three to be built for my own flag, but it takes time and research and planning.
Swenson jumped into his, and it’s been nothing but trouble and disaster. That’s why he docked it, and that’s why he’s trying to sell it.”
“I’ve seen the ship,” Dan said. He addressed Whittier, but he was talking to her. She smiled and listened.
“What do you know about iron ships?”
“Not much. I know the Queen is two hundred and forty feet long, and I know her twin screws are out of sync, and I think I know what has to be done with them. She’s eighteen hundred gross tons, and she’ll carry a million and a half board feet of lumber.
She blew a boiler and her engine room’s a mess, but her engine’s good. I’ll put new boilers on the main deck, abaft the engines, two boilers instead of one, and they’ll never blow again.”
“Boilers on the main deck?” Whittier exclaimed. Jean Seldon was smiling now, her father listening in tently. “She’ll be top-heavy.
You’ll lose her the first time out.”
“No, sir. My arithmetic’s nothing to write home about, but I’ve done the calculations, and she will not be top-heavy. Also, when I take out her boiler, I’ll have cargo space for another hundred and fifty thousand board feet.”
“I’ll tell you this, Mr. Lavette,” Whittier snapped. “You’ll not have me for a passenger.”
Unable to keep from grinning, Dan told him he was not thinking of passengers yet. “That’s in the future, sir. I’m thinking that an iron ship can take a deadweight cargo, cement, salt, sugar, sand, so I’m not bound hand and foot by the lumber season or the lumber barons. And I’m not tied to the Redwood Coast. I can take cargo from as high up as Oregon.”
5 6
H o w a r d F a s t
“You seem damn sure of yourself for a man your age.”
“I’m as old as I can be at my age,” Dan said. “I don’t know very much, but I know the water.”
The butler entered to announce that dinner was being served, and Mrs. Seldon interrupted to say that the very least they could do would be to save their business dis cussions until after they had dined. Watching, wary of error, Dan waited. Seldon took his wife’s arm, and Whittier his wife’s. Dan waited. Jean rose. “You will take me into dinner, Mr. Lavette?”
He nodded and took her arm. The easy flow of words that had poured out talking to Whittier dried up now. He simply did not know what to say. “You were splendid,” she whispered to him.
“Oh?”
“No one, but no one ever talks to Grant Whittier that way. They scrape and bow and agree with everything he says.”
“It was wrong?” he asked uncertainly.
“It was right.”
He didn’t know what to say to that and entered the dining room in silence. He was seated at her left, with Whittier across the board from him and the Seldons at either end of the big table. He had never sat down to such a table before, three forks to his left, two knives and three spoons to his right and a third knife at the top of his plate. The plate itself was gold-edged with a gold monogram in the center. He saw Whittier move his wife’s chair in behind her, and Dan did the same with Jean’s chair. He touched nothing until he saw them pick up their napkins, and then he followed suit carefully, conscious of the fact that the girl on his left was watch ing every move he made. One large goblet, three smaller goblets. The butler was pouring water into the large goblets. His throat was dry and he desperately wanted a drink, and now he became conscious of the fact that he had carried his whiskey with him. How had the others disposed of their drinks? He set it down on the table, relieved
t H e I m m I g r a n t s
5 7
when the butler removed it. The Seldons and the Whittiers were chatting, a kind of small talk he had never encountered before, and
“She’s been nothing but trouble and bad luck since Swenson had her built. Oh, I’m not against iron lumber ships. I’ve ordered three to be built for my own flag, but it takes time and research and planning.
Swenson jumped into his, and it’s been nothing but trouble and disaster. That’s why he docked it, and that’s why he’s trying to sell it.”
“I’ve seen the ship,” Dan said. He addressed Whittier, but he was talking to her. She smiled and listened.
“What do you know about iron ships?”
“Not much. I know the Queen is two hundred and forty feet long, and I know her twin screws are out of sync, and I think I know what has to be done with them. She’s eighteen hundred gross tons, and she’ll carry a million and a half board feet of lumber.
She blew a boiler and her engine room’s a mess, but her engine’s good. I’ll put new boilers on the main deck, abaft the engines, two boilers instead of one, and they’ll never blow again.”
“Boilers on the main deck?” Whittier exclaimed. Jean Seldon was smiling now, her father listening in tently. “She’ll be top-heavy.
You’ll lose her the first time out.”
“No, sir. My arithmetic’s nothing to write home about, but I’ve done the calculations, and she will not be top-heavy. Also, when I take out her boiler, I’ll have cargo space for another hundred and fifty thousand board feet.”
“I’ll tell you this, Mr. Lavette,” Whittier snapped. “You’ll not have me for a passenger.”
Unable to keep from grinning, Dan told him he was not thinking of passengers yet. “That’s in the future, sir. I’m thinking that an iron ship can take a deadweight cargo, cement, salt, sugar, sand, so I’m not bound hand and foot by the lumber season or the lumber barons. And I’m not tied to the Redwood Coast. I can take cargo from as high up as Oregon.”
5 6
H o w a r d F a s t
“You seem damn sure of yourself for a man your age.”
“I’m as old as I can be at my age,” Dan said. “I don’t know very much, but I know the water.”
The butler entered to announce that dinner was being served, and Mrs. Seldon interrupted to say that the very least they could do would be to save their business dis cussions until after they had dined. Watching, wary of error, Dan waited. Seldon took his wife’s arm, and Whittier his wife’s. Dan waited. Jean rose. “You will take me into dinner, Mr. Lavette?”
He nodded and took her arm. The easy flow of words that had poured out talking to Whittier dried up now. He simply did not know what to say. “You were splendid,” she whispered to him.
“Oh?”
“No one, but no one ever talks to Grant Whittier that way. They scrape and bow and agree with everything he says.”
“It was wrong?” he asked uncertainly.
“It was right.”
He didn’t know what to say to that and entered the dining room in silence. He was seated at her left, with Whittier across the board from him and the Seldons at either end of the big table. He had never sat down to such a table before, three forks to his left, two knives and three spoons to his right and a third knife at the top of his plate. The plate itself was gold-edged with a gold monogram in the center. He saw Whittier move his wife’s chair in behind her, and Dan did the same with Jean’s chair. He touched nothing until he saw them pick up their napkins, and then he followed suit carefully, conscious of the fact that the girl on his left was watch ing every move he made. One large goblet, three smaller goblets. The butler was pouring water into the large goblets. His throat was dry and he desperately wanted a drink, and now he became conscious of the fact that he had carried his whiskey with him. How had the others disposed of their drinks? He set it down on the table, relieved
t H e I m m I g r a n t s
5 7
when the butler removed it. The Seldons and the Whittiers were chatting, a kind of small talk he had never encountered before, and
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