The Mystery of the Sea-Lark

An hour after the two boys left Garnett and Sayer's wharf in the _Sea-Lark_, to go fishing, Cap'n Crumbie went into town. It was, for him, a momentous occasion, for he intended to have his hair cut. On the way he met a crony and chatted for twenty minutes. Then, at the barber's shop, he had to wait half an hour for a chair. Also, the Cap'n had a shave, and when, finally, he might have taken his departure, he met another crony, and there was an interminable argument on the question of fishermen's wages. So that, by the time the guardian of Garnett and Sayer's wharf took it into his head to stroll back to his accustomed haunts, a distinct change had taken place in the weather. The wind was singing in the rigging of the various craft around the wharves. There were low clouds scudding across the sky, with their hint of a coming storm.

Cap'n Crumbie thrust his hands into his pockets as soon as he reached the edge of the wharf, and cast a professional glance round the harbor, up at the sky, and far out to sea beyond Gull Island.