Ricks, is final and irrevocable." And without
giving Cappy an instant for argument Mr. Skinner bowed himself out.
A month and Cappy Ricks remained minus his port captain; Mr. Skinner
was still strongly entrenched in his job as general manager. It was a
hard hand to beat, for the fact of the matter was that Cappy Ricks
simply could not afford to dispense with Mr. Skinner. The man was too
honest, too conscientious, too industrious, too brilliant, too
efficient, not to be reckoned with. To part with Skinner was like
parting with a dividend-producing gold mine; it was equivalent to
unloading on Cappy's shoulders again the burden of work and worry that
would have killed him ten years ago had he not surrendered it to
Skinner, who handled it as a juggler handles nine balls. Moreover,
Skinner knew all of the business secrets of the Ricks Lumber and
Logging Company and the Blue Star Navigation Company--why, he was an
integral part of the business; and, lastly, Cappy was fond of the man.
Skinner had come to him as office boy at the tender age of ten--and
that was twenty-five years before. A daily association for
twenty-five years would make a human being like Cappy fond of the
devil himself; and, barring the fact that he was cold-blooded, Skinner
was a fairly likeable chap, and devoted, body and soul to Cappy Ricks.
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