Instead, he went down to the Red
Stack people and got himself a job skippering a tug; and great was his
joy thereat, for the wages were fully as good as he had enjoyed on the
Quickstep, and he was enabled to spend nearly every night in port.
The two months of idleness, albeit the happiest he had ever known, had
commenced to pall on him, and he wanted to be up and doing once more.
Also, being a man, he sensed something of the embarrassment of Cappy's
position, and, manlike, decided to relieve the old fellow of that
embarrassment. Matt concluded that he would retain his job as master
of the tug Sea Fox for a few months--say six--and then ask Cappy Ricks
for twenty thousand dollars, which amount would by that time be to his
credit on the Blue Star books by reason of his half-interest in the
seventy-five-dollar-a-day profit he and Cappy had annexed when
rechartering the steamer Unicorn. With that amount of money in hand,
plus the savings from his salary, he planned to marry Cappy's daughter
and go into business for himself as a ship, freight and marine
insurance broker.
Mr. Skinner heard of Matt Peasley's appointment as master of the tug
Sea Fox several hours before the same information reached Matt
himself. The general manager of the tugboat company, scanning Matt's
application and having a vacancy to fill, called up Mr.
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