{"product_id":"2940013117266","title":"Captain's Courageous","description":"CHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe weather door of the smoking-room had been left open to the North\u003cbr\u003eAtlantic fog, as the big liner rolled and lifted, whistling to warn the\u003cbr\u003efishing-fleet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That Cheyne boy's the biggest nuisance aboard,\" said a man in a frieze\u003cbr\u003eovercoat, shutting the door with a bang. \"He isn't wanted here. He's\u003cbr\u003etoo fresh.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA white-haired German reached for a sandwich, and grunted between\u003cbr\u003ebites: \"I know der breed. Ameriga is full of dot kind. I dell you you\u003cbr\u003eshould imbort ropes' ends free under your dariff.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pshaw! There isn't any real harm to him. He's more to be pitied than\u003cbr\u003eanything,\" a man from New York drawled, as he lay at full length along\u003cbr\u003ethe cushions under the wet skylight. \"They've dragged him around from\u003cbr\u003ehotel to hotel ever since he was a kid. I was talking to his mother\u003cbr\u003ethis morning. She's a lovely lady, but she don't pretend to manage him.\u003cbr\u003eHe's going to Europe to finish his education.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Education isn't begun yet.\" This was a Philadelphian, curled up in a\u003cbr\u003ecorner. \"That boy gets two hundred a month pocket-money, he told me. He\u003cbr\u003eisn't sixteen either.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Railroads, his father, aind't it?\" said the German.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yep. That and mines and lumber and shipping. Built one place at San\u003cbr\u003eDiego, the old man has; another at Los Angeles; owns half a dozen\u003cbr\u003erailroads, half the lumber on the Pacific slope, and lets his wife\u003cbr\u003espend the money,\" the Philadelphian went on lazily. \"The West don't\u003cbr\u003esuit her, she says. She just tracks around with the boy and her nerves,\u003cbr\u003etrying to find out what'll amuse him, I guess. Florida, Adirondacks,\u003cbr\u003eLakewood, Hot Springs, New York, and round again. He isn't much more\u003cbr\u003ethan a second-hand hotel clerk now. When he's finished in Europe he'll\u003cbr\u003ebe a holy terror.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What's the matter with the old man attending to him personally?\" said\u003cbr\u003ea voice from the frieze ulster.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Old man's piling up the rocks. 'Don't want to be disturbed, I guess.\u003cbr\u003eHe'll find out his error a few years from now. 'Pity, because there's a\u003cbr\u003eheap of good in the boy if you could get at it.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Mit a rope's end; mit a rope's end!\" growled the German.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOnce more the door banged, and a slight, slim-built boy perhaps fifteen\u003cbr\u003eyears old, a half-smoked cigarette hanging from one corner of his\u003cbr\u003emouth, leaned in over the high footway. His pasty yellow complexion did\u003cbr\u003enot show well on a person of his years, and his look was a mixture of\u003cbr\u003eirresolution, bravado, and very cheap smartness. He was dressed in a\u003cbr\u003echerry-coloured blazer, knickerbockers, red stockings, and bicycle\u003cbr\u003eshoes, with a red flannel cap at the back of the head. After whistling\u003cbr\u003ebetween his teeth, as he eyed the company, he said in a loud, high\u003cbr\u003evoice: \"Say, it's thick outside. You can hear the fish-boats squawking\u003cbr\u003eall around us. Say, wouldn't it be great if we ran down one?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Shut the door, Harvey,\" said the New Yorker. \"Shut the door and stay\u003cbr\u003eoutside. You're not wanted here.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who'll stop me?\" he answered deliberately. \"Did you pay for my\u003cbr\u003epassage, Mister Martin? 'Guess I've as good right here as the next man.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe picked up some dice from a checker-board and began throwing, right\u003cbr\u003ehand against left.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Say, gen'elmen, this is deader'n mud. Can't we make a game of poker\u003cbr\u003ebetween us?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere was no answer, and he puffed his cigarette, swung his legs, and\u003cbr\u003edrummed on the table with rather dirty fingers. Then he pulled out a\u003cbr\u003eroll of bills as if to count them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"How's your mamma this afternoon?\" a man said. \"I didn't see her at\u003cbr\u003elunch.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"In her state-room, I guess. She's 'most always sick on the ocean. I'm\u003cbr\u003egoing to give the stewardess fifteen dollars for looking after her. I\u003cbr\u003edon't go down more 'n I can avoid. It makes me feel mysterious to pass\u003cbr\u003ethat butler's-pantry place. Say, this is the first time I've been on\u003cbr\u003ethe ocean.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, don't apologise, Harvey.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Who's apologising? This is the first time I've crossed the ocean,\u003cbr\u003egen'elmen, and, except the first day, I haven't been sick one little\u003cbr\u003ebit. No, sir!\" He brought down his fist with a triumphant bang, wetted\u003cbr\u003ehis finger, and went on counting the bills.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, you're a high-grade machine, with the writing in plain sight,\" the\u003cbr\u003ePhiladelphian yawned. \"You'll blossom into a credit to your country if\u003cbr\u003eyou don't take care.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I know it. I'm an American--first, last, and all the time. I'll show\u003cbr\u003e'em that when I strike Europe. Pif! My cig's out. I can't smoke the\u003cbr\u003etruck the steward sells. Any gen'elman got a real Turkish cig on him?\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47180296290544,"sku":"2940013117266","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013117266_p0.jpg?v=1763577109","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013117266","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}