Salome's Burden by Eleanora H. Stooke

JOSIAH PETHERICK sat on the beach mending his fishing nets in the shade of a tall rock. It was intensely hot, and there was scarcely a ripple on the glassy sea, whilst the sky was a broad canopy of blue. Josiah was thinking deeply. That morning, consequent on the information his daughter had given him on the previous evening, he had been to interview Silas Moyle, and had induced the baker to allow him further credit. Never in his life before had Josiah found himself in such a humiliating position, and he felt it all the more because it was entirely his own fault. He had always prided himself on being able to pay his way, and now he was not in the position to do so.

Glancing up from his work presently, the fisherman saw three figures come down to the beach-a lady, a gentleman, and a small boy clad in a sailor's suit and broad-brimmed straw hat. He knew them to be Mr. and Mrs. Fowler and their little son. He had often held lengthy conversations with Gerald, who was always delighted to talk with anyone who could tell him about the manifold wonders of the sea, but he had never spoken to either of the boy's parents. Despite his disapproval of the strict teetotal principles of the master of Greystone, he regarded that gentleman with considerable interest, and when Mr. Fowler strolled up to him, and inquired from whom a boat might be hired, he answered him civilly, "You can have a boat from me, if you like, sir; but there's no wind for sailing to-day."