Herbert did so as briefly and as modestly as possible. He told of his difficulty with the Argus; but discreetly avoided all reference to Arthur Black and the manner in which he had saved him at the expense of his own position.
“My boy,” said the Captain, when he had concluded, “it’s all right; don’t worry about these little things. The first thing we have to do is to straighten out the memory of your father with the people of Cleverly. You know how these stories stick in small communities. My boy, we’ll hoist sail and bear down on the port of Cleverly at once, and when we land there we’ll let the natives know a thing or two. We’ll let ’em know that David Harkins was one of Nature’s noblemen, and now that he’s gone to Davy Jones’ locker, he has left a friend and a son who will take care of his memory.”
The following day they both took the train and went to Cleverly. Their first visit was to the office of the Cleverly Banner, where Captain Jansen was introduced to Noah Brooks. The editor and the sailor had not talked for ten minutes before they became fast friends. Presently they were joined by Horace Coke, the lawyer, who had always been a friend of the Harkins family, and who was delighted with the turn things had taken. After a general conversation in which all hands joined, the sailor suddenly pounded his hand on the desk, and said earnestly:
“Messmates, I’m here for a purpose, and a specific purpose. Dave Harkins was an honest man. I want everybody else to know that fact. How can I do it?”
Noah Brooks scratched his head for awhile, and then said musingly:
“You might print a story in the Banner, telling all about your visit that night, and explaining how you came to give him those ten $100 bills. How does that strike you?”
“Pardon me,” interrupted the lawyer, “but that doesn’t strike me very favorably. It would look forced. Besides everybody knows that Brooks is a friend of Herbert Harkins, and some people might be inclined to think the story was a little overdrawn.”
“Yes, that’s so,” admitted Brooks, “but I hardly know how you can get around it in any other way. Besides, I would do this thing freely and voluntarily. It is not a question of expense or money.”
“Money!” shouted the old sailor, “who said anything about money? I want you to understand that money is not to stand in the way of this business. There isn’t any expenditure that I could make that would help the memory of Dave Harkins that I wouldn’t undertake.”