{"product_id":"2940013266018","title":"The Coxswain's Bride","description":"STORY ONE, CHAPTER 1.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE RISING TIDE--A TALE OF THE SEA.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe coxswain went by the name of Sturdy Bob among his mates.  Among the\u003cbr\u003ewomen of the village he was better known as handsome Bob, and, looking\u003cbr\u003eat him, you could not help seeing that both titles were appropriate, for\u003cbr\u003eour coxswain was broad and strong as well as good-looking, with that\u003cbr\u003epeculiar cast of features and calm decided manner which frequently\u003cbr\u003edistinguish the men who are born to lead their fellows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRobert Massey, though quite young, was already a leader of men--not only\u003cbr\u003eby nature but by profession--being coxswain of the Greyton lifeboat,\u003cbr\u003eand, truly, the men who followed his lead had need to be made of good\u003cbr\u003estuff, with bold, enthusiastic, self-sacrificing spirits, for he often\u003cbr\u003eled them into scenes of wild--but, hold!  We must not forecast.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, we introduce our hero to the reader on a calm September evening,\u003cbr\u003ewhich blazed with sunshine.  The sun need not have been mentioned,\u003cbr\u003ehowever, but for the fact that it converted the head of a fair-haired\u003cbr\u003efisher-girl, seated beside Bob, into a ball of rippling gold, and\u003cbr\u003esuffused her young cheeks with a glow that rudely intensified her\u003cbr\u003enatural colour.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShe was the coxswain's bride-elect, and up to that date the course of\u003cbr\u003etheir true love had run quite smoothly in spite of adverse proverbs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I can't believe my luck,\" said Bob, gravely.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe said most things gravely, though there was not a man in Greyton who\u003cbr\u003ecould laugh more heartily than he at a good joke.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What luck do you mean, Bob?\" asked Nellie Carr, lifting her eyes from\u003cbr\u003ethe net she was mending, and fixing them on the coxswain's bronzed face\u003cbr\u003ewith an air of charming innocence.  Then, becoming suddenly aware of\u003cbr\u003ewhat he meant without being told, she gave vent to a quick little laugh,\u003cbr\u003edropped her eyes on the net, and again became intent on repairs.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"To think,\" continued Bob, taking two or three draws at his short pipe--\u003cbr\u003efor our hero was not perfect, being, like so many of his class,\u003cbr\u003eafflicted with the delusion of tobacco!--\"to think that there'll be no\u003cbr\u003eNellie Carr to-morrow afternoon, only a Mrs Massey!  The tide o' my\u003cbr\u003elife is risin' fast, Nellie--almost at flood now.  It seems too good to\u003cbr\u003ebe true--\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Right you are, boy,\" interrupted a gruff but hearty voice, as a burly\u003cbr\u003efisherman \"rolled\" round the stern of the boat, in front of which the\u003cbr\u003elovers were seated on the sand.  \"W'en my Moggie an' me was a-coortin'\u003cbr\u003ewe thought, an' said, it was too good to be true, an' so it was;\u003cbr\u003eleastwise it was too true to be good, for Moggie took me for better an'\u003cbr\u003ewuss, though it stood to reason I couldn't be both, d'ee see? an' I soon\u003cbr\u003efound her wuss than better, which--\"","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121052401904,"sku":"2940013266018","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013266018_p0.jpg?v=1763579141","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013266018","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}