Installment three

The last time we saw Harold Wilson he was saying good-bye to his mother
and heading to the wharf in San Francisco where he would board the ship
and work as a deck hand.
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Installment three:

Now the great ship was making its way into the open seas and Harold for
the first time was missing his loving mother. He could not explain why, but
now that she was no longer within reach, she looked different. After all, she
was beautiful; and if he could, he would gladly have hastened home. There
was even the hint of a tear rolling down his cheek. He brushed the tear
away quickly before anyone could see it. He said to himself to be strong
like a big man.
The crew of the "Alaska Transport" was the usual motley group of
different nationalities, nearly all of whom were abandoned to drink,
profanity, and irreligion. Among them, Harold was a 'hail fellow well met.'

When Harold Wilson went down to his cabin to get some rest, he opened
his luggage to put away his belongings. "What's this?" he exclaimed. "I
never saw this before." Then he hastily removed the wrapper.
"A Bible! A Bible! And did mother think me such an idiot that I would
stand for such nonsense? But it looks expensive. I wonder how much
it cost. My! But this is funny! Me. Harold Wilson, a comon drunk and
a thief having a Bible at sea! I guess I'll ask for the job of preaching to
the boys."
He opened the book "just to see how a Bible looks inside." He saw the
familiar writing of his mother: "My Darling Boy." A big lump came
into his throat. For an instant he was transported back to his childhood,
enjoying the endearing words which he thought he disliked. Again he
was forced to suppress a tear. But he could not resist reading his
mother's message and glancing at the way the pages had been marked.
Afterwards he slammed the book down. "I don't want this thing," he
cried out. "Must I be haunted by this miserable stuff wherever I go?"
Then he went to sleep.

About a month had passed and a hard month indeed it had been.
The seas had been rough and there had been frequent danger. Now,
to top it off, a fire broke out in the hold. The "Alaska Transport" was
carrying a heavy consignment of kerosene oil and a fire meant almost
certain death for all on board. The whole crew was frantically working
to smother the flames before they could reach the cargo of oil.
Captain Mann , who was in charge of the vessel, was a Christian, a
person of few words, and a man whose personality commanded the
respect and even the admiration of his men. He was corteous, brave,
temperate, refined, a striking exception to the rank and file of the
crew that manned the ship. For more than thirty years he had been
in command at sea; but this was his first experience with a burning
vessel. The call of fire had called forth the strongest in him.
He calmly but quickly placed every man at his post. Every man
fought with confidence because of something Captain Mann
possessed in this period of danger. Harold Wilson in particular
took note of the spirit of courage and confidence displayed by
the captain.
But suddenly the captain disappeared. And almost as suddenly
a new emergency compelled the first mate to call for the Captain's
assistance. Harold was dispatched to find him.
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Tomorrow we will see where the captain is found and what he is
doing.