in Sweden. When her mother died, he sent Anna to live with cousins in Minnesota. He thinks about her everyday, but has never seen her. He is upset that she will find him a hopeless drunk without a penny to his name. Marthy tells Chris to go and get sobered up. She'll go to the bar (the only address Anna knows) and meet his daughter. Inside the barroom, the proprietor, Larry, is behind the bar filling glasses. Pete and Oscar, two longshoremen, are standing at the bar. Pete is singing a ragtime tune of the period. Marthy enters and asks Larry if there was a girl looking for Chris, and he informs her that no one has been in for him. Marthy sits down for a beer and no sooner has she done this than Anna Christophersen wearily enters and sinks onto a bench at a table. She asks Larry for a whisky, which she downs in one gulp. After letting the alcohol rouse her a bit, she approaches Marthy. In the course of their conversation her identity is revealed along with several truths. Anna was never a nurse, and, in fact, just got out of jail. Anna was terribly mistreated by the relatives she lived with, and wonders why her father hasn't he tried to find her all these years. She implies that she ran away from Minnesota in order to protect herself. It is clear that she hasn’t had it easy and hates men more than ever. Marthy prepares Anna to meet her father and assures her that Chris is as good-hearted a man as they come and hasn't stopped thinking about Anna during their time apart. Chris, now cleaned and sobered up, cautiously enters the bar. He approaches his daughter whom he thinks is vision of beauty. Instead of running to his arms, however, Anna questions him for not trying to find her. Chris explains that he tried to see her once, but as he prepared to go, some fellow picked his pocket and he lost his money and train ticket. Anyway, he is certain that she had a nice life on the farm in Minnesota. Anna, talks about her time on the farm. Though it looked like a place where everything was peaches and cream, in reality she was grabbed, seduced, and threatened by her cousins and uncles. Chris obviously didn’t hear a word of what Anna implied and is holding to the pure image of her that he has always had in his mind. When Anna tells her father that she needs a drink, he assumes she wants something as "safe" as a glass of port wine. He goes off to get her a wine and tells Larry that she is indeed his daughter, Anna. Larry is amazed that this frazzled girl is the "virginal" daughter Chris has talked about for years. Chris drinks with Anna and tells her that she can stay with him for a few days. After that, they will go on a barge to Boston where the fresh sea air and hearty food will do her good. Out on a street in the Warehouse district, Chris tells Marthy that he wants her to move out of their little flat so that Anna can stay with him. He feels that Anna might find it upsetting if she knew her father lived with another woman. As soon as they go off to Boston on the barge, Marthy can move back. Marthy is very upset by this, but knows she has no voice in the matter. She gives Chris a big kick in the pants and talks with her girlfriends about the behaviour of men. They suggest she forget all about him and enjoy a little fling. A few days later, Chris and Anna are on barge off the coast of Provincetown. It is a foggy night and Anna sits on the deck watching the sea. She looks healthy and transformed. Chris sticks his head out of the cabin and tells his daughter that she shouldn't stay out in the fog, but she replies that she loves it out there. In fact, she has loved her time alone with her father sailing for Boston. Chris tells that all of the family back in Sweden were sailors. She likes that. He goes off to bed and tells Anna to do the same. Instead, she thinks about her life as it is right now. Suddenly, there is a commotion on the front deck Apparently, a steamer wrecked two days earlier, and a group of sailors have been floating in an open boat. Two of them are in poor condition and are taken into the cabin. One other, Matt Burke, says he's fine and bumps into Anna. Matt almost thinks he's dead since he is standing face to face with a woman on a barge. Anna offers him a drink and he downs it. He stares at Anne, grabs her, and kisses her. When she pushes him away, he explains that he has been at sea for four months and spent the last two days in a lifeboat. Anna tells him to keep his distance, but gives him a coat to put over his shoulders. He tells her a bit about himself and faints. Chris has the other sailors carry Matt to his room. On the street near the New York Waterfront, the women are waiting for the arrival of their men who are on the famous Boston barge. The press is heavily engrossed in taking pictures of Matt Burke and the other sailors asking them about their rescue. Chris leaves the ship with Anna, upset that the press ignored him, even though he rescued the sailors. He questions Anna as to why she spent so much time on the deck talking with Matt. Anna gets upset with her father and makes it clear that her life isn't any of his business. She's been fine for a long time without her father, and she doesn't need him interfering now. Matt and the other sailors get
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