Page:Barbour--For the freedom from the seas.djvu/26

 "Maybe, but not so soon as that. You're going to finish your education first, I'm hoping. I want you to have all the trimmings before you take the wheel. Have you thought any more about that college?"

"Not much," owned the boy. "There have been so many other things to think about, you see." His tone if not his words implied that the other things were far more interesting. "Anyway, there's time enough. I'll have to put in another year in high school, I suppose." His voice dropped dismally at the end, and the captain chuckled.

"I guess you're like all the Troys. There never was one of 'em I ever heard tell of that was much of a scholar. Your great-uncle Joab got to be a Judge of the Supreme Court, but I always suspicioned that he did it by keeping his mouth clamped down and not letting on to how little he really knew about the Law! That's one trait the Troys have generally possessed, and it's a good one."

"What, not knowing much?" laughed the boy. "Not saying much. There's more men have talked themselves out of their jobs than you can shake a stick at. Just you remember that, son, and every time you're tempted to say something 6