PYX, B. A, 



383 



my head on his arm and went home with 

 him. 



He had a tiny little house with a square 

 of yard in front, all laid out in flower beds, 

 outlined with different kinds of shells. In 

 the middle of this square was the frame and 

 masts of a boat, the Nancy, as I saw by 

 the name painted on her. He had filled the 

 boat with earth and planted her full of bright 

 colored flowers; morning-glories ran up her 

 masts and geraniums blossomed fore and 

 aft; on each side were beds, anchor-shaped, 

 all full of flowers ; along the fence which was 

 covered with honeysuckle he had rows of 

 sunflowers and what he called " holly- 

 hocks." 



As we opened the gate a great maltese 

 cat ran to meet us, and a parrot screamed 

 'Welcome, ma hearty!" from his cage on 

 the little porch in front. My new friend 

 took me into the house, through a room evi- 

 dently his parlor and bedroom in one. 



In the kitchen which adjoined everything 

 was, as in the fronl room, spotlessly clean. 

 He put me down on a bench, gol a pan of 

 water and with a soft rag proceeded to wash 

 my wounds, murmuring all the while words 

 of tenderness and reassurance. When he was 

 through he brought me something to eat, 

 but I could not eat; I only wanted to sleep. 

 So he folded a quilt and laid me on it as 

 tenderly as though I had been a babe, and 

 left me to rest. 



CHAPTER III 



I JOIN THE UNITED STATES NAVY 



My master's name was MacFarland, 

 Captain MacFarland he was called ; he was 

 Scotch by birth, a bachelor and a retired sea 

 captain, as any one would judge by his home, 

 with- its boat of flowers and his walls cov- 

 ered with charts. I think he must have been 

 everywhere. He would sit for hours and 



PYX AND HIS COMPANIONS ON BOARD THE REVENUE CUTTER "BEAR 



