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Jacobs. +</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times; + } + P { text-indent: 1em; + margin: 15%; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + PRE { font-family: Courier, monospaced;} + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 14pt; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 10px;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Head of The Family, by W.W. Jacobs + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Head of The Family + Sailor's Knots, Part 9. + +Author: W.W. Jacobs + +Release Date: January 22, 2004 [EBook #10789] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1> + SAILORS' KNOTS +</h1> +<br /> +<h2> + By W.W. Jacobs +</h2> +<br /><br /> +<h3> + 1909 +</h3> + +<br><br> +<h2>Part 9.</h2> + + +<br><br> +<center> +<img alt="title (50K)" src="title.jpg" height="718" width="453" /> +</center> +<br><br> +<br /><br /> +<hr> +<br /><br /> + + +<h2>List of Illustrations</h2> +<br /> +<center> +<table summary=""> +<tr><td> + + + + + + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-35"> +"After Some Years Spent in Long Voyages" +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-36"> +"Then and There Mr. Letts's Mind Was Made Up. +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-37"> +"A Disagreeable-looking Man Was Eying Them in Some +Astonishment from the Doorway." +</a></p> +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-38"> +"What's Mine is Mother's." +</a></p> + + + + + + + +</td></tr> +</table> +</center> + + + +<a name="2H_4_9"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2> + THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY +</h2> +<p> + Mr. Letts had left his ship by mutual arrangement, and the whole of the + crew had mustered to see him off and to express their sense of relief at + his departure. After some years spent in long voyages, he had fancied a + trip on a coaster as a change, and, the schooner Curlew having no use for + a ship's carpenter, had shipped as cook. He had done his best, and the + unpleasant epithets that followed him along the quay at Dunchurch as he + followed in the wake of his sea-chest were the result. Master and mate + nodded in grim appreciation of the crew's efforts. +</p> +<a name="image-35"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="035.jpg" height="474" width="511" +alt="'After Some Years Spent in Long Voyages' +"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> +<p> + He put his chest up at a seamen's lodging-house, and, by no means + perturbed at this sudden change in his fortunes, sat on a seat + overlooking the sea, with a cigarette between his lips, forming plans for + his future. His eyes closed, and he opened them with a start to find + that a middle-aged woman of pleasant but careworn appearance had taken + the other end of the bench. +</p> +<p> + "Fine day," said Mr. Letts, lighting another cigarette. +</p> +<p> + The woman assented and sat looking over the sea. +</p> +<p> + "Ever done any cooking?" asked Mr. Letts, presently. +</p> +<p> + "Plenty," was the surprised reply. "Why?" +</p> +<p> + "I just wanted to ask you how long you would boil a bit o' beef," said + Mr. Letts. "Only from curiosity; I should never ship as cook again." +</p> +<p> + He narrated his experience of the last few days, and, finding the + listener sympathetic, talked at some length about himself and his + voyages; also of his plans for the future. +</p> +<p> + "I lost my son at sea," said the woman, with a sigh. "You favor him + rather." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts's face softened. "Sorry," he said. "Sorry you lost him, I + mean." +</p> +<p> + "At least, I suppose he would have been like you," said the other; "but + it's nine years ago now. He was just sixteen." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts—after a calculation—nodded. "Just my age," he said. "I was + twenty-five last March." +</p> +<p> + "Sailed for Melbourne," said the woman. "My only boy." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts cleared his throat, sympathetically. +</p> +<p> + "His father died a week after he sailed," continued the other, "and three + months afterwards my boy's ship went down. Two years ago, like a fool, I + married again. I don't know why I'm talking to you like this. I suppose + it is because you remind me of him." +</p> +<p> + "You talk away as much as you like," said Mr. Letts, kindly. "I've got + nothing to do." +</p> +<p> + He lit another cigarette, and, sitting in an attitude of attention, + listened to a recital of domestic trouble that made him congratulate + himself upon remaining single. +</p> +<p> + "Since I married Mr. Green I can't call my soul my own," said the victim + of matrimony as she rose to depart. "If my poor boy had lived things + would have been different. His father left the house and furniture to + him, and that's all my second married me for, I'm sure. That and the bit + o' money that was left to me. He's selling some of my boy's furniture at + this very moment. That's why I came out; I couldn't bear it." +</p> +<p> + "P'r'aps he'll turn up after all," said Mr. Letts. "Never say die." +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Green shook her head. +</p> +<p> + "I s'pose," said Mr. Letts, regarding her—"I s'pose you don't let + lodgings for a night or two?" Mrs. Green shook her head again. +</p> +<p> + "It don't matter," said the young man. "Only I would sooner stay with + you than at a lodging-house. I've taken a fancy to you. I say, it would + be a lark if you did, and I went there and your husband thought I was + your son, wouldn't it?" +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Green caught her breath, and sitting down again took his arm in her + trembling fingers. +</p> +<p> + "Suppose," she said, unsteadily—"suppose you came round and pretended to + be my son—pretended to be my son, and stood up for me?" +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts stared at her in amazement, and then began to laugh. +</p> +<p> + "Nobody would know," continued the other, quickly. "We only came to this + place just before he sailed, and his sister was only ten at the time. + She wouldn't remember." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts said he couldn't think of it, and sat staring, with an air of + great determination, at the sea. Arguments and entreaties left him + unmoved, and he was just about to express his sorrow for her troubles and + leave, when she gave a sudden start and put her arm through his. +</p> +<p> + "Here comes your sister!" she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts started in his turn. +</p> +<p> + "She has seen me holding your arm," continued Mrs. Green, in a tense + whisper. "It's the only way I can explain it. Mind, your name is Jack + Foster and hers is Betty." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts gazed at her in consternation, and then, raising his eyes, + regarded with much approval the girl who was approaching. It seemed + impossible that she could be Mrs. Green's daughter, and in the excitement + of the moment he nearly said so. +</p> +<p> + "Betty," said Mrs. Green, in a voice to which nervousness had imparted + almost the correct note—"Betty, this is your brother Jack!" +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts rose sheepishly, and then to his great amazement a pair of + strong young arms were flung round his neck, and a pair of warm lips— + after but slight trouble—found his. Then and there Mr. Letts's mind was + made up. +</p> +<a name="image-36"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="036.jpg" height="517" width="632" +alt="'Then and There Mr. Letts's Mind Was Made Up. +"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> +<p> + "Oh, Jack!" said Miss Foster, and began to cry softly. +</p> +<p> + "Oh, Jack!" said Mrs. Green, and, moved by thoughts, perhaps, of what + might have been, began to cry too. +</p> +<p> + "There, there!" said Mr. Letts. +</p> +<p> + He drew Miss Foster to the seat, and, sitting between them, sat with an + arm round each. There was nothing in sight but a sail or two in the far + distance, and he allowed Miss Foster's head to lie upon his shoulder + undisturbed. An only child, and an orphan, he felt for the first time + the blessing of a sister's love. +</p> +<p> + "Why didn't you come home before?" murmured the girl. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts started and squinted reproachfully at the top of her hat. Then + he turned and looked at Mrs. Green in search of the required information. + "He was shipwrecked," said Mrs. Green. +</p> +<p> + "I was shipwrecked," repeated Mr. Letts, nodding. +</p> +<p> + "And had brain-fever after it through being in the water so long, and + lost his memory," continued Mrs. Green. +</p> +<p> + "It's wonderful what water will do—salt water," said Mr. Letts, in + confirmation. +</p> +<p> + Miss Foster sighed, and, raising the hand which was round her waist, bent + her head and kissed it. Mr. Letts colored, and squeezed her + convulsively. +</p> +<p> + Assisted by Mrs. Green he became reminiscent, and, in a low voice, + narrated such incidents of his career as had escaped the assaults of the + brain-fever. That his head was not permanently injured was proved by the + perfect manner in which he remembered incidents of his childhood narrated + by his newly found mother and sister. He even volunteered one or two + himself which had happened when the latter was a year or two old. +</p> +<p> + "And now," said Mrs. Green, in a somewhat trembling voice, "we must go + and tell your step-father." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts responded, but without briskness, and, with such moral support + as an arm of each could afford, walked slowly back. Arrived at a road of + substantial cottages at the back of the town, Mrs. Green gasped, and, + coming to a standstill, nodded at a van that stood half-way up the road. +</p> +<p> + "There it is," she exclaimed. +</p> +<p> + "What?" demanded Mr. Letts. +</p> +<p> + "The furniture I told you about," said Mrs. Green. "The furniture that + your poor father thought such a lot of, because it used to belong to his + grandfather. He's selling it to Simpson, though I begged and prayed him + not to." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts encouraged himself with a deep cough. "My furniture?" he + demanded. +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Green took courage. "Yes," she said, hope-fully; "your father left + it to you." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts, carrying his head very erect, took a firmer grip of their arms + and gazed steadily at a disagreeable-looking man who was eying them in + some astonishment from the doorway. With arms still linked they found + the narrow gateway somewhat difficult, but they negotiated it by a + turning movement, and, standing in the front garden, waited while Mrs. + Green tried to find her voice. +</p> +<a name="image-37"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="037.jpg" height="704" width="392" +alt="'A Disagreeable-looking Man Was Eying Them in Some +Astonishment from the Doorway.' +"> +</center> +<!--IMAGE END--> +<p> + "Jack," she said at last, "this is your stepfather." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts, in some difficulty as to the etiquette on such occasions, + released his right arm and extended his hand. +</p> +<p> + "Good-evening, stepfather," he said, cheerfully. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Green drew back a little and regarded him unfavorably. +</p> +<p> + "We—we thought you was drowned," he said at last. +</p> +<p> + "I was nearly," said Mr. Letts. +</p> +<p> + "We all thought so," pursued Mr. Green, grudgingly. "Everybody thought + so." +</p> +<p> + He stood aside, as a short, hot-faced man, with a small bureau clasped in + his arms and supported on his knees, emerged from the house and staggered + towards the gate. Mr. Letts reflected. +</p> +<p> + "Halloa!" he said, suddenly. "Why, are you moving, mother?" +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Green sniffed sadly and shook her head. "Well," said Mr. Letts, + with an admirable stare, "what's that chap doing with my furniture?" +</p> +<p> + "Eh?" spluttered Mr. Green. "What?" +</p> +<p> + "I say, what's he doing with my furniture?" repeated Mr. Letts, sternly. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Green waved his arm. "That's all right," he said, conclusively; + "he's bought it. Your mother knows." +</p> +<p> + "But it ain't all right," said Mr. Letts. "Here! bring that back, and + those chairs too." +</p> +<p> + The dealer, who had just placed the bureau on the tail-board of the van, + came back wiping his brow with his sleeve. +</p> +<p> + "Wots the little game?" he demanded. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts left the answer to Mr. Green, and going to the van took up the + bureau and walked back to the house with it. Mr. Green and the dealer + parted a little at his approach, and after widening the parting with the + bureau he placed it in the front room while he went back for the chairs. + He came back with three of them, and was, not without reason, called a + porcupine by the indignant dealer. +</p> +<p> + He was relieved to find, after Mr. Simpson had taken his departure, that + Mr. Green was in no mood for catechising him, and had evidently accepted + the story of his escape and return as a particularly disagreeable fact. + So disagreeable that the less he heard of it the better. +</p> +<p> + "I hope you've not come home after all these years to make things + unpleasant?" he remarked presently, as they sat at tea. +</p> +<p> + "I couldn't be unpleasant if I tried," said Mr. Letts. +</p> +<p> + "We've been very happy and comfortable here—me and your mother and + sister," continued Mr. Green. "Haven't we, Emily?" +</p> +<p> + "Yes," said his wife, with nervous quickness. +</p> +<p> + "And I hope you'll be the same," said Mr. Green. "It's my wish that you + should make yourself quite comfortable here—till you go to sea again." +</p> +<p> + "Thankee," said Mr. Letts; "but I don't think I shall go to sea any more. + Ship's carpenter is my trade, and I've been told more than once that I + should do better ashore. Besides, I don't want to lose mother and Betty + again." +</p> +<p> + He placed his arm round the girl's waist, and, drawing her head on to his + shoulder, met with a blank stare the troubled gaze of Mrs. Green. +</p> +<p> + "I'm told there's wonderful openings for carpenters in Australia," said + Mr. Green, trying to speak in level tones. "Wonderful! A good carpenter + can make a fortune there in ten years, so I'm told." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts, with a slight wink at Mrs. Green and a reassuring squeeze with + his left arm, turned an attentive ear. +</p> +<p> + "O' course, there's a difficulty," he said, slowly, as Mr. Green finished + a vivid picture of the joys of carpentering in Australia. +</p> +<p> + "Difficulty?" said the other. +</p> +<p> + "Money to start with," explained Mr. Letts. "It's no good starting + without money. I wonder how much this house and furniture would fetch? + Is it all mine, mother?" +</p> +<p> + "M-m-most of it," stammered Mrs. Green, gazing in a fascinated fashion at + the contorted visage of her husband. +</p> +<p> + "All except a chair in the kitchen and three stair-rods," said Betty. +</p> +<p> + "Speak when you're spoke to, miss!" snarled her stepfather. "When we + married we mixed our furniture up together—mixed it up so that it would + be impossible to tell which is which. Nobody could." +</p> +<p> + "For the matter o' that, you could have all the kitchen chairs and all + the stair-rods," said Mr. Letts, generously. "However, I don't want to + do anything in a hurry, and I shouldn't dream of going to Australia + without Betty. It rests with her." +</p> +<p> + "She's going to be married," said Mr. Green, hastily; "and if she wasn't + she wouldn't turn her poor, ailing mother out of house and home, that I`m + certain of. She's not that sort. We've had a word or two at times—me + and her—but I know a good daughter when I see one." +</p> +<p> + "Married?" echoed Mr. Letts, as his left arm relaxed its pressure. "Who + to?" +</p> +<p> + "Young fellow o' the name of Henry Widden," replied Mr. Green, "a very + steady young fellow; a great friend of mine." +</p> +<p> + "Oh!" said Mr. Letts, blankly. +</p> +<p> + "I'd got an idea, which I've been keeping as a little surprise," + continued Mr. Green, speaking very rapidly, "of them living here with us, + and saving house-rent and furniture." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts surveyed him with a dejected eye. +</p> +<p> + "It would be a fine start for them," continued the benevolent Mr. Green. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts, by a strong effort, regained his composure. +</p> +<p> + "I must have a look at him first," he said, briskly. "He mightn't meet + with my approval." +</p> +<p> + "Eh?" said Mr. Green, starting. "Why, if Betty——" +</p> +<p> + "I must think it over," interrupted Mr. Letts, with a wave of his hand. + "Betty is only nineteen, and, as head of the family, I don't think she + can marry without my consent. I'm not sure, but I don't think so. + Anyway, if she does, I won't have her husband here sitting in my chairs, + eating off my tables, sleeping in my beds, wearing out my stair-rods, + helping himself——" +</p> +<p> + "Stow it," said Miss Foster, calmly. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts started, and lost the thread of his discourse. "I must have a + look at him," he concluded, lamely; "he may be all right, but then, + again, he mightn't." +</p> +<p> + He finished his tea almost in silence, and, the meal over, emphasized his + position as head of the family by taking the easy-chair, a piece of + furniture sacred to Mr. Green, and subjecting that injured man to a + catechism which strained his powers of endurance almost to breaking- + point. +</p> +<p> + "Well, I sha'n't make any change at present," said Mr. Letts, when the + task was finished. "There's plenty of room here for us all, and, so long + as you and me agree, things can go on as they are. To-morrow morning I + shall go out and look for a job." +</p> +<p> + He found a temporary one almost at once, and, determined to make a + favorable impression, worked hard all day. He came home tired and dirty, + and was about to go straight to the wash-house to make his toilet when + Mr. Green called him in. +</p> +<p> + "My friend, Mr. Widden," he said, with a satisfied air, as he pointed to + a slight, fair young man with a well-trimmed moustache. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts shook hands. +</p> +<p> + "Fine day," said Mr. Widden. +</p> +<p> + "Beautiful," said the other. "I'll come in and have a talk about it when + I've had a wash." +</p> +<p> + "Me and Miss Foster are going out for a bit of a stroll," said Mr. + Widden. +</p> +<p> + "Quite right," agreed Mr. Letts. "Much more healthy than staying indoors + all the evening. If you just wait while I have a wash and a bit o' + something to eat I'll come with you." +</p> +<p> + "Co-come with us!" said Mr. Widden, after an astonished pause. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts nodded. "You see, I don't know you yet," he explained, "and as + head of the family I want to see how you behave yourself. Properly + speaking, my consent ought to have been asked before you walked out with + her; still, as everybody thought I was drowned, I'll say no more about + it." +</p> +<p> + "Mr. Green knows all about me," said Mr. Widden, rebelliously. +</p> +<p> + "It's nothing to do with him," declared Mr. Letts. "And, besides, he's + not what I should call a judge of character. I dare say you are all + right, but I'm going to see for myself. You go on in the ordinary way + with your love-making, without taking any notice of me. Try and forget + I'm watching you. Be as natural as you can be, and if you do anything I + don't like I'll soon tell you of it." +</p> +<p> + The bewildered Mr. Widden turned, but, reading no hope of assistance in + the infuriated eyes of Mr. Green, appealed in despair to Betty. +</p> +<p> + "I don't mind," she said. "Why should I?" +</p> +<p> + Mr. Widden could have supplied her with many reasons, but he refrained, + and sat in sulky silence while Mr. Letts got ready. From his point of + view the experiment was by no means a success, his efforts to be natural + being met with amazed glances from Mr. Letts and disdainful requests from + Miss Foster to go home if he couldn't behave himself. When he relapsed + into moody silence Mr. Letts cleared his throat and spoke. +</p> +<p> + "There's no need to be like a monkey-on-a-stick, and at the same time + there's no need to be sulky," he pointed out; "there's a happy medium." +</p> +<p> + "Like you, I s'pose?" said the frantic suitor. "Like me," said the + other, gravely. "Now, you watch; fall in behind and watch." +</p> +<p> + He drew Miss Foster's arm through his and, leaning towards her with + tender deference, began a long conversation. At the end of ten minutes + Mr. Widden intimated that he thought he had learned enough to go on with. +</p> +<p> + "Ah! that's only your conceit," said Mr. Letts over his shoulder. "I was + afraid you was conceited." +</p> +<p> + He turned to Miss Foster again, and Mr. Widden, with a despairing + gesture, abandoned himself to gloom. He made no further interruptions, + but at the conclusion of the walk hesitated so long on the door-step that + Mr. Letts had to take the initiative. +</p> +<p> + "Good-night," he said, shaking hands. "Come round to-morrow night and + I'll give you another lesson. You're a slow learner, that's what you + are; a slow learner." +</p> +<p> + He gave Mr. Widden a lesson on the following evening, but cautioned him + sternly against imitating the display of brotherly fondness of which, in + a secluded lane, he had been a wide-eyed observer. +</p> +<p> + "When you've known her as long as I have—nineteen years," said Mr. + Letts, as the other protested, "things'll be a bit different. I might + not be here, for one thing." +</p> +<p> + By exercise of great self-control Mr. Widden checked the obvious retort + and walked doggedly in the rear of Miss Foster. Then, hardly able to + believe his ears, he heard her say something to Mr. Letts. +</p> +<p> + "Eh?" said that gentleman, in amazed accents. +</p> +<p> + "You fall behind," said Miss Foster. +</p> +<p> + "That—that's not the way to talk to the head of the family," said Mr. + Letts, feebly. +</p> +<p> + "It's the way I talk to him," rejoined the girl. +</p> +<p> + It was a position for which Mr. Letts was totally unprepared, and the + satisfied smile of Mr. Widden as he took the vacant place by no means + improved matters. In a state of considerable dismay Mr. Letts dropped + farther and farther behind until, looking up, he saw Miss Foster, + attended by her restive escort, quietly waiting for him. An odd look in + her eyes as they met his gave him food for thought for the rest of the + evening. +</p> +<p> + At the end of what Mr. Letts was pleased to term a month's trial, Mr. + Widden was still unable to satisfy him as to his fitness for the position + of brother-in-law. In a spirit of gloom he made suggestions of a + mutinous nature to Mr. Green, but that gentleman, who had returned one + day pale and furious, but tamed, from an interview that related to his + treatment of his wife, held out no hopes of assistance. +</p> +<p> + "I wash my hands of him," he said bitterly. "You stick to it; that's + all you can do." +</p> +<p> + "They lost me last night," said the unfortunate. "I stayed behind just + to take a stone out of my shoe, and the earth seemed to swallow them up. + He's so strong. That's the worst of it." +</p> +<p> + "Strong?" said Mr. Green. +</p> +<p> + Mr. Widden nodded. "Tuesday evening he showed her how he upset a man + once and stood him on his head," he said, irritably. "I was what he + showed her with." +</p> +<p> + "Stick to it!" counselled Mr. Green again. "A brother and sister are + bound to get tired of each other before long; it's nature." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Widden sighed and obeyed. But brother and sister showed no signs of + tiring of each other's company, while they displayed unmistakable signs + of weariness with his. And three weeks later Mr. Letts, in a few + well-chosen words, kindly but firmly dismissed him. +</p> +<p> + "I should never give my consent," he said, gravely, "so it's only wasting + your time. You run off and play." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Widden ran off to Mr. Green, but before he could get a word out + discovered that something unusual had happened. Mrs. Green, a picture of + distress, sat at one end of the room with a handkerchief to her eyes; Mr. + Green, in a condition compounded of joy and rage, was striding violently + up and down the room. +</p> +<p> + "He's a fraud!" he shouted. "A fraud! I've had my suspicions for some + time, and this evening I got it out of her." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Widden stared in amazement. +</p> +<p> + "I got it out of her," repeated Mr. Green, pointing at the trembling + woman. "He's no more her son than what you are." +</p> +<p> + "What?" said the amazed listener. +</p> +<p> + "She's been deceiving me," said Mr. Green, with a scowl, "but I don't + think she'll do it again in a hurry. You stay here," he shouted, as his + wife rose to leave the room. "I want you to be here when he comes in." +</p> +<p> + Mrs. Green stayed, and the other two, heedless of her presence, discussed + the situation until the front door was heard to open, and Mr. Letts and + Betty came into the room. With a little cry the girl ran to her mother. +</p> +<p> + "What's the matter?" she cried. +</p> +<p> + "She's lost another son," said Mr. Green, with a ferocious sneer—"a + flash, bullying, ugly chap of the name o' Letts." +</p> +<p> + "Halloa!" said Mr. Letts, starting. +</p> +<p> + "A chap she picked up out of the street, and tried to pass off on me as + her son," continued Mr. Green, raising his voice. "She ain't heard the + end of it yet, I can tell you." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts fidgeted. "You leave her alone," he said, mildly. "It's true + I'm not her son, but it don't matter, because I've been to see a lawyer + about her, and he told me that this house and half the furniture belongs + by law to Betty. It's got nothing to do with you." +</p> +<p> + "Indeed!" said Mr. Green. "Now you take yourself off before I put the + police on to you. Take your face off these premises." +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts, scratching his head, looked vaguely round the room. +</p> +<p> + "Go on!" vociferated Mr. Green. "Or will you have the police to put you + out?" +</p> +<p> + Mr. Letts cleared his throat and moved towards the door. "You stick up + for your rights, my girl," he said, turning to Betty. "If he don't treat + your mother well, give him back his kitchen chair and his three + stair-rods and pack him off." +</p> +<p> + "Henry," said Mr. Green, with dangerous calm, "go and fetch a policeman." +</p> +<p> + "I'm going," said Mr. Letts, hastily. "Good-by, Betty; good-by, mother. + I sha'n't be long. I'm only going as far as the post-office. And that + reminds me. I've been talking so much that I quite forget to tell you + that Betty and me were married yesterday morning." +</p> +<p> + He nodded pleasantly at the stupefied Mr. Green, and, turning to Mr. + Widden, gave him a friendly dig in the ribs with his finger. +</p> +<p> + "What's mine is Betty's," he said, in a clear voice, "and what's Betty's + is MINE! D'ye understand, step-father?" +</p> +<p> + He stepped over to Mrs. Green, and putting a strong arm around her raised + her to her feet. "And what's mine is mother's," he concluded, and, + helping her across the room, placed her in the best arm-chair. +</p> +<a name="image-38"><!--IMG--></a> +<center> +<img src="038.jpg" height="471" width="631" +alt="'What's Mine is Mother's.' +"> +</center> + + + + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Head of The Family, by W.W. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Head of The Family + Sailor's Knots, Part 9. + +Author: W.W. Jacobs + +Release Date: January 22, 2004 [EBook #10789] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + +SAILORS' KNOTS + +By W.W. Jacobs + + +1909 + + + +THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY + + +Mr. Letts had left his ship by mutual arrangement, and the whole of the +crew had mustered to see him off and to express their sense of relief at +his departure. After some years spent in long voyages, he had fancied a +trip on a coaster as a change, and, the schooner Curlew having no use for +a ship's carpenter, had shipped as cook. He had done his best, and the +unpleasant epithets that followed him along the quay at Dunchurch as he +followed in the wake of his sea-chest were the result. Master and mate +nodded in grim appreciation of the crew's efforts. + +[Illustration: "After some years spent in long voyages"] + +He put his chest up at a seamen's lodging-house, and, by no means +perturbed at this sudden change in his fortunes, sat on a seat +overlooking the sea, with a cigarette between his lips, forming plans for +his future. His eyes closed, and he opened them with a start to find +that a middle-aged woman of pleasant but careworn appearance had taken +the other end of the bench. + +"Fine day," said Mr. Letts, lighting another cigarette. + +The woman assented and sat looking over the sea. + +"Ever done any cooking?" asked Mr. Letts, presently. + +"Plenty," was the surprised reply. "Why?" + +"I just wanted to ask you how long you would boil a bit o' beef," said +Mr. Letts. "Only from curiosity; I should never ship as cook again." + +He narrated his experience of the last few days, and, finding the +listener sympathetic, talked at some length about himself and his +voyages; also of his plans for the future. + +"I lost my son at sea," said the woman, with a sigh. "You favor him +rather." + +Mr. Letts's face softened. "Sorry," he said. "Sorry you lost him, I +mean." + +"At least, I suppose he would have been like you," said the other; "but +it's nine years ago now. He was just sixteen." + +Mr. Letts--after a calculation--nodded. "Just my age," he said. "I was +twenty-five last March." + +"Sailed for Melbourne," said the woman. "My only boy." + +Mr. Letts cleared his throat, sympathetically. + +"His father died a week after he sailed," continued the other, "and three +months afterwards my boy's ship went down. Two years ago, like a fool, I +married again. I don't know why I'm talking to you like this. I suppose +it is because you remind me of him." + +"You talk away as much as you like," said Mr. Letts, kindly. "I've got +nothing to do." + +He lit another cigarette, and, sitting in an attitude of attention, +listened to a recital of domestic trouble that made him congratulate +himself upon remaining single. + +"Since I married Mr. Green I can't call my soul my own," said the victim +of matrimony as she rose to depart. "If my poor boy had lived things +would have been different. His father left the house and furniture to +him, and that's all my second married me for, I'm sure. That and the bit +o' money that was left to me. He's selling some of my boy's furniture at +this very moment. That's why I came out; I couldn't bear it." + +"P'r'aps he'll turn up after all," said Mr. Letts. "Never say die." + +Mrs. Green shook her head. + +"I s'pose," said Mr. Letts, regarding her--"I s'pose you don't let +lodgings for a night or two?" Mrs. Green shook her head again. + +"It don't matter," said the young man. "Only I would sooner stay with +you than at a lodging-house. I've taken a fancy to you. I say, it would +be a lark if you did, and I went there and your husband thought I was +your son, wouldn't it?" + +Mrs. Green caught her breath, and sitting down again took his arm in her +trembling fingers. + +"Suppose," she said, unsteadily--"suppose you came round and pretended to +be my son--pretended to be my son, and stood up for me?" + +Mr. Letts stared at her in amazement, and then began to laugh. + +"Nobody would know," continued the other, quickly. "We only came to this +place just before he sailed, and his sister was only ten at the time. +She wouldn't remember." + +Mr. Letts said he couldn't think of it, and sat staring, with an air of +great determination, at the sea. Arguments and entreaties left him +unmoved, and he was just about to express his sorrow for her troubles and +leave, when she gave a sudden start and put her arm through his. + +"Here comes your sister!" she exclaimed. + +Mr. Letts started in his turn. + +"She has seen me holding your arm," continued Mrs. Green, in a tense +whisper. "It's the only way I can explain it. Mind, your name is Jack +Foster and hers is Betty." + +Mr. Letts gazed at her in consternation, and then, raising his eyes, +regarded with much approval the girl who was approaching. It seemed +impossible that she could be Mrs. Green's daughter, and in the excitement +of the moment he nearly said so. + +"Betty," said Mrs. Green, in a voice to which nervousness had imparted +almost the correct note--"Betty, this is your brother Jack!" + +Mr. Letts rose sheepishly, and then to his great amazement a pair of +strong young arms were flung round his neck, and a pair of warm lips-- +after but slight trouble--found his. Then and there Mr. Letts's mind was +made up. + +[Illustration: "Then and there Mr. Letts's mind was made up.] + +"Oh, Jack!" said Miss Foster, and began to cry softly. + +"Oh, Jack!" said Mrs. Green, and, moved by thoughts, perhaps, of what +might have been, began to cry too. + +"There, there!" said Mr. Letts. + +He drew Miss Foster to the seat, and, sitting between them, sat with an +arm round each. There was nothing in sight but a sail or two in the far +distance, and he allowed Miss Foster's head to lie upon his shoulder +undisturbed. An only child, and an orphan, he felt for the first time +the blessing of a sister's love. + +"Why didn't you come home before?" murmured the girl. + +Mr. Letts started and squinted reproachfully at the top of her hat. Then +he turned and looked at Mrs. Green in search of the required information. +"He was shipwrecked," said Mrs. Green. + +"I was shipwrecked," repeated Mr. Letts, nodding. + +"And had brain-fever after it through being in the water so long, and +lost his memory," continued Mrs. Green. + +"It's wonderful what water will do--salt water," said Mr. Letts, in +confirmation. + +Miss Foster sighed, and, raising the hand which was round her waist, bent +her head and kissed it. Mr. Letts colored, and squeezed her +convulsively. + +Assisted by Mrs. Green he became reminiscent, and, in a low voice, +narrated such incidents of his career as had escaped the assaults of the +brain-fever. That his head was not permanently injured was proved by the +perfect manner in which he remembered incidents of his childhood narrated +by his newly found mother and sister. He even volunteered one or two +himself which had happened when the latter was a year or two old. + +"And now," said Mrs. Green, in a somewhat trembling voice, "we must go +and tell your step-father." + +Mr. Letts responded, but without briskness, and, with such moral support +as an arm of each could afford, walked slowly back. Arrived at a road of +substantial cottages at the back of the town, Mrs. Green gasped, and, +coming to a standstill, nodded at a van that stood half-way up the road. + +"There it is," she exclaimed. + +"What?" demanded Mr. Letts. + +"The furniture I told you about," said Mrs. Green. "The furniture that +your poor father thought such a lot of, because it used to belong to his +grandfather. He's selling it to Simpson, though I begged and prayed him +not to." + +Mr. Letts encouraged himself with a deep cough. "My furniture?" he +demanded. + +Mrs. Green took courage. "Yes," she said, hope-fully; "your father left +it to you." + +Mr. Letts, carrying his head very erect, took a firmer grip of their arms +and gazed steadily at a disagreeable-looking man who was eying them in +some astonishment from the doorway. With arms still linked they found +the narrow gateway somewhat difficult, but they negotiated it by a +turning movement, and, standing in the front garden, waited while Mrs. +Green tried to find her voice. + +[Illustration: "A disagreeable-looking man was eying them in some +astonishment from the doorway."] + +"Jack," she said at last, "this is your stepfather." + +Mr. Letts, in some difficulty as to the etiquette on such occasions, +released his right arm and extended his hand. + +"Good-evening, stepfather," he said, cheerfully. + +Mr. Green drew back a little and regarded him unfavorably. + +"We--we thought you was drowned," he said at last. + +"I was nearly," said Mr. Letts. + +"We all thought so," pursued Mr. Green, grudgingly. "Everybody thought +so." + +He stood aside, as a short, hot-faced man, with a small bureau clasped in +his arms and supported on his knees, emerged from the house and staggered +towards the gate. Mr. Letts reflected. + +"Halloa!" he said, suddenly. "Why, are you moving, mother?" + +Mrs. Green sniffed sadly and shook her head. "Well," said Mr. Letts, +with an admirable stare, "what's that chap doing with my furniture?" + +"Eh?" spluttered Mr. Green. "What?" + +"I say, what's he doing with my furniture?" repeated Mr. Letts, sternly. + +Mr. Green waved his arm. "That's all right," he said, conclusively; +"he's bought it. Your mother knows." + +"But it ain't all right," said Mr. Letts. "Here! bring that back, and +those chairs too." + +The dealer, who had just placed the bureau on the tail-board of the van, +came back wiping his brow with his sleeve. + +"Wots the little game?" he demanded. + +Mr. Letts left the answer to Mr. Green, and going to the van took up the +bureau and walked back to the house with it. Mr. Green and the dealer +parted a little at his approach, and after widening the parting with the +bureau he placed it in the front room while he went back for the chairs. +He came back with three of them, and was, not without reason, called a +porcupine by the indignant dealer. + +He was relieved to find, after Mr. Simpson had taken his departure, that +Mr. Green was in no mood for catechising him, and had evidently accepted +the story of his escape and return as a particularly disagreeable fact. +So disagreeable that the less he heard of it the better. + +"I hope you've not come home after all these years to make things +unpleasant?" he remarked presently, as they sat at tea. + +"I couldn't be unpleasant if I tried," said Mr. Letts. + +"We've been very happy and comfortable here--me and your mother and +sister," continued Mr. Green. "Haven't we, Emily?" + +"Yes," said his wife, with nervous quickness. + +"And I hope you'll be the same," said Mr. Green. "It's my wish that you +should make yourself quite comfortable here--till you go to sea again." + +"Thankee," said Mr. Letts; "but I don't think I shall go to sea any more. +Ship's carpenter is my trade, and I've been told more than once that I +should do better ashore. Besides, I don't want to lose mother and Betty +again." + +He placed his arm round the girl's waist, and, drawing her head on to his +shoulder, met with a blank stare the troubled gaze of Mrs. Green. + +"I'm told there's wonderful openings for carpenters in Australia," said +Mr. Green, trying to speak in level tones. "Wonderful! A good carpenter +can make a fortune there in ten years, so I'm told." + +Mr. Letts, with a slight wink at Mrs. Green and a reassuring squeeze with +his left arm, turned an attentive ear. + +"O' course, there's a difficulty," he said, slowly, as Mr. Green finished +a vivid picture of the joys of carpentering in Australia. + +"Difficulty?" said the other. + +"Money to start with," explained Mr. Letts. "It's no good starting +without money. I wonder how much this house and furniture would fetch? +Is it all mine, mother?" + +"M-m-most of it," stammered Mrs. Green, gazing in a fascinated fashion at +the contorted visage of her husband. + +"All except a chair in the kitchen and three stair-rods," said Betty. + +"Speak when you're spoke to, miss!" snarled her stepfather. "When we +married we mixed our furniture up together--mixed it up so that it would +be impossible to tell which is which. Nobody could." + +"For the matter o' that, you could have all the kitchen chairs and all +the stair-rods," said Mr. Letts, generously. "However, I don't want to +do anything in a hurry, and I shouldn't dream of going to Australia +without Betty. It rests with her." + +"She's going to be married," said Mr. Green, hastily; "and if she wasn't +she wouldn't turn her poor, ailing mother out of house and home, that I`m +certain of. She's not that sort. We've had a word or two at times--me +and her--but I know a good daughter when I see one." + +"Married?" echoed Mr. Letts, as his left arm relaxed its pressure. "Who +to?" + +"Young fellow o' the name of Henry Widden," replied Mr. Green, "a very +steady young fellow; a great friend of mine." + +"Oh!" said Mr. Letts, blankly. + +"I'd got an idea, which I've been keeping as a little surprise," +continued Mr. Green, speaking very rapidly, "of them living here with us, +and saving house-rent and furniture." + +Mr. Letts surveyed him with a dejected eye. + +"It would be a fine start for them," continued the benevolent Mr. Green. + +Mr. Letts, by a strong effort, regained his composure. + +"I must have a look at him first," he said, briskly. "He mightn't meet +with my approval." + +"Eh?" said Mr. Green, starting. "Why, if Betty----" + +"I must think it over," interrupted Mr. Letts, with a wave of his hand. +"Betty is only nineteen, and, as head of the family, I don't think she +can marry without my consent. I'm not sure, but I don't think so. +Anyway, if she does, I won't have her husband here sitting in my chairs, +eating off my tables, sleeping in my beds, wearing out my stair-rods, +helping himself----" + +"Stow it," said Miss Foster, calmly. + +Mr. Letts started, and lost the thread of his discourse. "I must have a +look at him," he concluded, lamely; "he may be all right, but then, +again, he mightn't." + +He finished his tea almost in silence, and, the meal over, emphasized his +position as head of the family by taking the easy-chair, a piece of +furniture sacred to Mr. Green, and subjecting that injured man to a +catechism which strained his powers of endurance almost to breaking- +point. + +"Well, I sha'n't make any change at present," said Mr. Letts, when the +task was finished. "There's plenty of room here for us all, and, so long +as you and me agree, things can go on as they are. To-morrow morning I +shall go out and look for a job." + +He found a temporary one almost at once, and, determined to make a +favorable impression, worked hard all day. He came home tired and dirty, +and was about to go straight to the wash-house to make his toilet when +Mr. Green called him in. + +"My friend, Mr. Widden," he said, with a satisfied air, as he pointed to +a slight, fair young man with a well-trimmed moustache. + +Mr. Letts shook hands. + +"Fine day," said Mr. Widden. + +"Beautiful," said the other. "I'll come in and have a talk about it when +I've had a wash." + +"Me and Miss Foster are going out for a bit of a stroll," said Mr. +Widden. + +"Quite right," agreed Mr. Letts. "Much more healthy than staying indoors +all the evening. If you just wait while I have a wash and a bit o' +something to eat I'll come with you." + +"Co-come with us!" said Mr. Widden, after an astonished pause. + +Mr. Letts nodded. "You see, I don't know you yet," he explained, "and as +head of the family I want to see how you behave yourself. Properly +speaking, my consent ought to have been asked before you walked out with +her; still, as everybody thought I was drowned, I'll say no more about +it." + +"Mr. Green knows all about me," said Mr. Widden, rebelliously. + +"It's nothing to do with him," declared Mr. Letts. "And, besides, he's +not what I should call a judge of character. I dare say you are all +right, but I'm going to see for myself. You go on in the ordinary way +with your love-making, without taking any notice of me. Try and forget +I'm watching you. Be as natural as you can be, and if you do anything I +don't like I'll soon tell you of it." + +The bewildered Mr. Widden turned, but, reading no hope of assistance in +the infuriated eyes of Mr. Green, appealed in despair to Betty. + +"I don't mind," she said. "Why should I?" + +Mr. Widden could have supplied her with many reasons, but he refrained, +and sat in sulky silence while Mr. Letts got ready. From his point of +view the experiment was by no means a success, his efforts to be natural +being met with amazed glances from Mr. Letts and disdainful requests from +Miss Foster to go home if he couldn't behave himself. When he relapsed +into moody silence Mr. Letts cleared his throat and spoke. + +"There's no need to be like a monkey-on-a-stick, and at the same time +there's no need to be sulky," he pointed out; "there's a happy medium." + +"Like you, I s'pose?" said the frantic suitor. "Like me," said the +other, gravely. "Now, you watch; fall in behind and watch." + +He drew Miss Foster's arm through his and, leaning towards her with +tender deference, began a long conversation. At the end of ten minutes +Mr. Widden intimated that he thought he had learned enough to go on with. + +"Ah! that's only your conceit," said Mr. Letts over his shoulder. "I was +afraid you was conceited." + +He turned to Miss Foster again, and Mr. Widden, with a despairing +gesture, abandoned himself to gloom. He made no further interruptions, +but at the conclusion of the walk hesitated so long on the door-step that +Mr. Letts had to take the initiative. + +"Good-night," he said, shaking hands. "Come round to-morrow night and +I'll give you another lesson. You're a slow learner, that's what you +are; a slow learner." + +He gave Mr. Widden a lesson on the following evening, but cautioned him +sternly against imitating the display of brotherly fondness of which, in +a secluded lane, he had been a wide-eyed observer. + +"When you've known her as long as I have--nineteen years," said Mr. +Letts, as the other protested, "things'll be a bit different. I might +not be here, for one thing." + +By exercise of great self-control Mr. Widden checked the obvious retort +and walked doggedly in the rear of Miss Foster. Then, hardly able to +believe his ears, he heard her say something to Mr. Letts. + +"Eh?" said that gentleman, in amazed accents. + +"You fall behind," said Miss Foster. + +"That--that's not the way to talk to the head of the family," said Mr. +Letts, feebly. + +"It's the way I talk to him," rejoined the girl. + +It was a position for which Mr. Letts was totally unprepared, and the +satisfied smile of Mr. Widden as he took the vacant place by no means +improved matters. In a state of considerable dismay Mr. Letts dropped +farther and farther behind until, looking up, he saw Miss Foster, +attended by her restive escort, quietly waiting for him. An odd look in +her eyes as they met his gave him food for thought for the rest of the +evening. + +At the end of what Mr. Letts was pleased to term a month's trial, Mr. +Widden was still unable to satisfy him as to his fitness for the position +of brother-in-law. In a spirit of gloom he made suggestions of a +mutinous nature to Mr. Green, but that gentleman, who had returned one +day pale and furious, but tamed, from an interview that related to his +treatment of his wife, held out no hopes of assistance. + +"I wash my hands of him," he said bitterly. "You stick to it; that's +all you can do." + +"They lost me last night," said the unfortunate. "I stayed behind just +to take a stone out of my shoe, and the earth seemed to swallow them up. +He's so strong. That's the worst of it." + +"Strong?" said Mr. Green. + +Mr. Widden nodded. "Tuesday evening he showed her how he upset a man +once and stood him on his head," he said, irritably. "I was what he +showed her with." + +"Stick to it!" counselled Mr. Green again. "A brother and sister are +bound to get tired of each other before long; it's nature." + +Mr. Widden sighed and obeyed. But brother and sister showed no signs of +tiring of each other's company, while they displayed unmistakable signs +of weariness with his. And three weeks later Mr. Letts, in a few +well-chosen words, kindly but firmly dismissed him. + +"I should never give my consent," he said, gravely, "so it's only wasting +your time. You run off and play." + +Mr. Widden ran off to Mr. Green, but before he could get a word out +discovered that something unusual had happened. Mrs. Green, a picture of +distress, sat at one end of the room with a handkerchief to her eyes; Mr. +Green, in a condition compounded of joy and rage, was striding violently +up and down the room. + +"He's a fraud!" he shouted. "A fraud! I've had my suspicions for some +time, and this evening I got it out of her." + +Mr. Widden stared in amazement. + +"I got it out of her," repeated Mr. Green, pointing at the trembling +woman. "He's no more her son than what you are." + +"What?" said the amazed listener. + +"She's been deceiving me," said Mr. Green, with a scowl, "but I don't +think she'll do it again in a hurry. You stay here," he shouted, as his +wife rose to leave the room. "I want you to be here when he comes in." + +Mrs. Green stayed, and the other two, heedless of her presence, discussed +the situation until the front door was heard to open, and Mr. Letts and +Betty came into the room. With a little cry the girl ran to her mother. + +"What's the matter?" she cried. + +"She's lost another son," said Mr. Green, with a ferocious sneer--"a +flash, bullying, ugly chap of the name o' Letts." + +"Halloa!" said Mr. Letts, starting. + +"A chap she picked up out of the street, and tried to pass off on me as +her son," continued Mr. Green, raising his voice. "She ain't heard the +end of it yet, I can tell you." + +Mr. Letts fidgeted. "You leave her alone," he said, mildly. "It's true +I'm not her son, but it don't matter, because I've been to see a lawyer +about her, and he told me that this house and half the furniture belongs +by law to Betty. It's got nothing to do with you." + +"Indeed!" said Mr. Green. "Now you take yourself off before I put the +police on to you. Take your face off these premises." + +Mr. Letts, scratching his head, looked vaguely round the room. + +"Go on!" vociferated Mr. Green. "Or will you have the police to put you +out?" + +Mr. Letts cleared his throat and moved towards the door. "You stick up +for your rights, my girl," he said, turning to Betty. "If he don't treat +your mother well, give him back his kitchen chair and his three +stair-rods and pack him off." + +"Henry," said Mr. Green, with dangerous calm, "go and fetch a policeman." + +"I'm going," said Mr. Letts, hastily. "Good-by, Betty; good-by, mother. +I sha'n't be long. I'm only going as far as the post-office. And that +reminds me. I've been talking so much that I quite forget to tell you +that Betty and me were married yesterday morning." + +He nodded pleasantly at the stupefied Mr. Green, and, turning to Mr. +Widden, gave him a friendly dig in the ribs with his finger. + +"What's mine is Betty's," he said, in a clear voice, "and what's Betty's +is MINE! D'ye understand, step-father?" + +He stepped over to Mrs. Green, and putting a strong arm around her raised +her to her feet. "And what's mine is mother's," he concluded, and, +helping her across the room, placed her in the best arm-chair. + +[Illustration: "What's mine is mother's."] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Head of The Family, by W.W. Jacobs + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY *** + +***** This file should be named 10789.txt or 10789.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/7/8/10789/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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