But there was more in it than that.

He was owner and master of the scow-schooner Annie Mine, and some day I might ship as a sailor with him.

Still more, he was romance.

He was a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, raw-boned Viking, big-bodied and strong-muscled despite his age.

And he had sailed the seas in ships of all nations in the old savage sailing days.
I had heard many weird tales about him, and worshipped him from a distance.