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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3240-0.txt b/3240-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e41904f --- /dev/null +++ b/3240-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9875 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +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: Cap'n Eri + +Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +Release Date: May 30, 2006 [EBook #3240] +Last Updated: March 5, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +CAP'N ERI + + +By Joseph Crosby Lincoln + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + + II. THE TRAIN COMES IN + + III. THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING + + IV. A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + + V. THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + + VI. THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + + VII. CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + + VIII. HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + + IX. ELSIE PRESTON + + X. MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + + XI. HEROES AND A MYSTERY + + XII. A LITTLE POLITICS + + XIII. CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + + XIV. THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN” + + XV. IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + + XVI. A BUSINESS CALL + + XVII. THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + + XVIII. THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + + XIX. A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS + + XX. ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + + XXI. “DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + + + + +CAP'N ERI + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + + +“Perez,” observed Captain Eri cheerfully, “I'm tryin' to average up with +the mistakes of Providence.” + +The Captain was seated by the open door of the dining room, in the +rocker with the patched cane seat. He was apparently very busy doing +something with a piece of fishline and a pair of long-legged rubber +boots. Captain Perez, swinging back and forth in the parlor rocker with +the patch-work cushion, was puffing deliberately at a wooden pipe, the +bowl of which was carved into the likeness of a very rakish damsel with +a sailor's cap set upon the side of her once flaxen head. In response +to his companion's remark he lazily turned his sunburned face toward the +cane-seated rocker and inquired: + +“What on airth are you doin' with them boots?” + +Captain Eri tied a knot with his fingers and teeth and then held the +boots out at arm's length. + +“Why, Perez,” he said, “I'm averagin' up, same as I told you. Providence +made me a two-legged critter, and a two-legged critter needs two boots. +I've always been able to find one of these boots right off whenever I +wanted it, but it's took me so plaguey long to find the other one that +whatever wet there was dried up afore I got out of the house. Yesterday +when I wanted to go clammin' I found the left one on the mantelpiece, no +trouble at all, but it was pretty nigh high water before I dug the other +one out of the washb'iler. That's why I'm splicin' 'em together this +way. I don't want to promise nothin' rash, but I'm in hopes that even +Jerry can't lose 'em now.” + +“Humph!” grunted Captain Perez. “I don't think much of that plan. 'Stead +of losin' one you'll lose both of 'em.” + +“Yes, but then I shan't care. If there ain't NO boots in sight; I'll +go barefoot or stay at home. It's the kind of responsibleness that goes +with havin' one boot that's wearin' me out. Where IS Jerry?” + +“He went out to feed Lorenzo. I heard him callin' a minute ago. That cat +ain't been home sence noon, and Jerry's worried.” + +A stentorian shout of “Puss! puss! Come, kitty, kitty, kitty!” came from +somewhere outside. Captain Eri smiled. + +“I'm 'fraid Lorenzo's gittin' dissipated in his old age,” he observed. +Then, as a fat gray cat shot past the door, “There he is! Reg'lar +prodigal son. Comes home when the fatted ca'f's ready.” + +A moment later Captain Jerry appeared, milk pitcher in hand. He entered +the dining room and, putting the pitcher down on the table, pulled +forward the armchair with the painted sunset on the back, produced his +own pipe, and proceeded to hunt through one pocket after the other with +a troubled expression of countenance. + +“Where in tunket is my terbacker?” he asked, after finishing the round +of pockets and preparing to begin all over again. + +“I see it on the top of the clock a spell ago,” said Captain Perez. + +“Was that yours, Jerry?” exclaimed Captain Eri. “Well, that's too bad! I +see it there and thought 'twas mine. Here 'tis, or what's left of it.” + +Captain Jerry took the remnant of a plug from his friend and said in an +aggrieved tone: + +“That's jest like you, Eri! Never have a place for nothin' and help +yourself to anything you happen to want, don't make no odds whose 'tis. +Why don't you take care of your terbacker, same's I do of mine?” + +“Now see here, Jerry! I ain't so sure that is yours. Let me see it. +Humph! I thought so! This is 'Navy Plug' and you always smoke 'Sailor's +Sweetheart.' Talk about havin' a place for things!” + +“That's MY terbacker, if you want to know,” observed Captain Perez. +“I've got yours, Eri. Here 'tis.” + +“Well, then, where IS mine?” said Captain Jerry somewhat snappishly. + +“Bet a dollar you've got it in your pocket,” said Captain Eri. + +“Bet ten dollars I ain't! I ain't quite a fool yit, Eri Hedge. I guess +I know--well, I snum! I forgot that upper vest pocket!” and from the +pocket mentioned Captain Jerry produced the missing tobacco. + +There was a general laugh, in which Captain Jerry was obliged to join, +and the trio smoked in silence for a time, while the expanse of water +to the eastward darkened, and the outer beach became but a dusky streak +separating the ocean from the inner bay. At length Captain Perez rose +and, knocking the ashes from his pipe, announced that he was going to +“show a glim.” + +“Yes, go ahead, Jerry!” said Captain Eri, “it's gittin' dark.” + +“It's darker in the grave,” observed Captain Perez with lugubrious +philosophy. + +“Then for the land's sake let's have it light while we can! Here, Jerry! +them matches is burnt ones. Try this, 'twon't be so damagin' to the +morals.” + +Captain Jerry took the proffered match and lit the two bracket lamps, +fastened to the walls of the dining room. The room, seen by the +lamplight, was shiplike, but as decidedly not shipshape. The chronometer +on the mantel was obscured by a thick layer of dust. The three gorgeous +oil paintings--from the brush of the local sign painter--respectively +representing the coasting packet Hannah M., Eri Hedge, Master, and the +fishing schooners, Georgie Baker, Jeremiah Burgess, Master, and the +Flying Duck, Perez Ryder, Master, were shrouded in a very realistic fog +of the same dust. Even the imposing gilt-lettered set of “Lives of Great +Naval Commanders,” purchased by Captain Perez some months before, and +being slowly paid for on an apparently never-ending installment plan, +was cloaked with it. The heap of newspapers, shoved under the couch to +get them out of the way, peeped forth in a tell-tale manner. The windows +were not too clean and the floor needed sweeping. Incidentally the +supper table had not been cleared. Each one of the three noted these +things and each sighed. Then Captain Eri said, as if to change the +subject, though no one had spoken: + +“What started you talkin' about the grave, Perez? Was it them clam +fritters of Jerry's?” + +“No,” answered the ex-skipper of the Flying Duck, pulling at his +grizzled scrap of throat whisker and looking rather shamefaced. “You +see, M'lissy Busteed dropped in a few minutes this mornin' while you +fellers was out and--” + +Both Captain Eri and Captain Jerry set up a hilarious shout. + +“Haw! haw!” roared the former, slapping his knee. “I wouldn't be so +fascinatin' as you be for no money, Perez. She'll have you yit; you +can't git away! But say, I don't wonder you got to thinkin' 'bout the +grave. Ten minutes of M'lissy gits me thinkin' of things way t'other +side of that!” + +“Aw, belay there, Eri” protested Captain Perez testily. “'Twan't my +fault. I didn't see her comin' or I'd have got out of sight. She was +cruisin' 'round the way she always does with a cargo of gabble, and, she +put in here to unload. Talk! I never heard a woman talk the way she can! +She'd be a good one to have on board in a calm. Git her talkin' abaft +the mains'l and we'd have a twenty-knot breeze in a shake.” + +“What was it this time?” asked Captain Jerry. + +“Oh, a little of everything. She begun about the 'beautiful' sermon that +Mr. Perley preached at the last 'Come-Outers'' meetin'. That was what +started me thinkin' about the grave, I guess. Then she pitched into +Seth Wingate's wife for havin' a new bunnit this season when the old one +wan't ha'f wore out. She talked for ten minutes or so on that, and then +she begun about Parker's bein' let go over at the cable station and +about the new feller that's been signed to take his place. She's all for +Parker. Says he was a 'perfectly lovely' man and that 'twas outrageous +the way he was treated, and all that sort of thing.” + +“She ain't the only one that thinks so,” observed Captain Jerry. +“There's a heap of folks in this town that think Parker was a mighty +fine feller.” + +“Yes,” said Captain Eri, “and it's worth while noticin' who they be. +Perez' friend, M'lissy, thinks so, and 'Squealer' Wixon and his gang +think so, and 'Web' Saunders thinks so, and a lot more like them. Parker +was TOO good a feller, that's what was the matter with him. His talk +always reminded me of washday at the poorhouse, lots of soft soap with +plenty of lye in it.” + +“Well, M'lissy says that the men over to the station--all except +Langley, of course--are mad as all git-out because Parker was let +go, and she says somebody told somebody else, and somebody else told +somebody else, and somebody else told HER--she says it come reel +straight--that the men are goin' to make it hot for the new feller when +he comes. She says his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' like that, and +that he's goin' to get here to-morrer or next day.” + +“Well,” said Captain Eri, “it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If that +man should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill her sure +as fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, Perez.” + +He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the dial. + +“I mustn't be settin' round here much longer,” he added. “John Baxter's +goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his picked +to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to-night's train. +John asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down for him, but I ain't +got nothin' special to do to-night, so I thought I'd hitch up and go +and git 'em myself. You and Jerry can match cents to see who does the +dishes. I did 'em last night, so it's my watch below.” + +“Well, _I_ shan't do 'em,” declared Captain Perez. “Blessed if I'd do +the durn things to-night if the President of the United States asked me +to.” + +“Humph!” sputtered Captain Jerry. “I s'pose you fellers think I'll do +'em all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. 'Twan't last +night you done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I done 'em last night, +and I'm ready to take my chances agin if we match, but I'm jiggered if +I let you shove the whole thing off onto me. I didn't ship for cook no +more 'n the rest of you.” + +Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of independence +and there was a pause in the conversation. Then Captain Jerry said +moodily: + +“It ain't no use. It don't work.” + +“What don't work?” asked Captain Eri. + +“Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' to +sea reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and live +economical and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I thought I +wouldn't mind doin' my share of the work a bit, thought 'twould be kind +of fun to swab decks and all that. Well, 'twas for a spell, but 'tain't +now. I'm so sick of it that I don't know what to do. And I'm sick of +livin' in a pigpen, too. Look at them dead-lights! They're so dirty that +when I turn out in the mornin' and go to look through 'em, I can't tell +whether it's foul weather or fair.” + +Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed and +signed assent. + +“There's no use talkin',” he observed, “we've got to have a steward +aboard this craft.” + +“Yes,” said Captain Perez emphatically, “a steward or a woman.” + +“A WOMAN!” exclaimed Captain Eri. Then he shook his head solemnly and +added, “There, Jerry! What did I tell you? M'lissy!” + +But Captain Perez did not smile. + +“I ain't foolin',” he said; “I mean it.” + +Captain Jerry thought of the spick-and-span days of his wife, dead these +twenty years, and sighed again. “I s'pose we might have a housekeeper,” + he said. + +“Housekeeper!” sneered Captain Eri. “Who'd you hire? Perez don't, +seemin'ly, take to M'lissy, and there ain't nobody else in Orham that +you could git, 'less 'twas old A'nt Zuby Higgins, and that would be +actin' like the feller that jumped overboard when his boat sprung a +leak. No, sir! If A'nt Zuby ships aboard here I heave up MY commission.” + +“Who said anything about A'nt Zuby or housekeepers either?” inquired +Captain Perez. “I said we'd got to have a woman, and we have. One of us +'ll have to git married, that's all.” + +“MARRIED!” roared the two in chorus. + +“That's what I said, married, and take the others to board in this +house. Look here now! When a shipwrecked crew's starvin' one of 'em has +to be sacrificed for the good of the rest, and that's what we've got to +do. One of us has got to git married for the benefit of the other two.” + +Captain Eri shouted hilariously. “Good boy, Perez!” he cried. “Goin' to +be the first offerin'?” + +“Not unless it's my luck, Eri. We'll all three match for it, same as we +do 'bout washin' the dishes.” + +“Where are you goin' to find a wife?” asked Captain Jerry. + +“Now that's jest what I'm goin' to show you. I see how things was goin', +and I've been thinkin' this over for a consid'rable spell. Hold on a +minute till I overhaul my kit.” + +He went into the front bedroom, and through the open door they could see +him turning over the contents of the chest with P. R. in brass nails +on the lid. He scattered about him fish-lines, hooks, lead for sinkers, +oilcloth jackets, whales' teeth, and various other articles, and at +length came back bearing a much-crumpled sheet of printed paper. This he +spread out upon the dining table, first pushing aside the dishes to make +room, and, after adjusting his spectacles, said triumphantly: + +“There! There she is! The Nup-ti-al Chime. A Journal of Matrimony. I +see a piece about it in the Herald the other day, and sent a dime for +a sample copy. It's chock-full of advertisements from women that wants +husbands.” + +Captain Eri put on his spectacles and hitched his chair up to the table. +After giving the pages of the Nuptial Chime a hurried inspection, he +remarked: + +“There seems to be a strong runnin' to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and +'blondes with tender and romantic dispositions.' Which of them kinds are +you sufferin' for, Perez? Oh, say! here's a lady that's willin' to +heave herself away on a young and handsome bachelor with a income of ten +thousand a year. Seems to me you ought to answer that.” + +“Oh, hush up, Eri! 'Tain't likely I'd want to write to any of them in +there. The thing for us to do would be to write out a advertisement of +our own; tell what sort of woman we want, and then set back and wait for +answers. Now, what do you say?” + +Captain Eri looked at the advocate of matrimony for a moment without +speaking. Then he said: “Do you really mean it, Perez?” + +“Sartin I do.” + +“What do you think of it, Jerry?” + +“Think it's a good idee,” said that ancient mariner decisively. “We've +got to do somethin', and this looks like the only sensible thing.” + +“Then Eri's GOT to do it!” asserted Captain Perez dogmatically. “We +agreed to stick together, and two to one's a vote. Come on now, Eri, +we'll match.” + +Captain Eri hesitated. + +“Come on, Eri!” ordered Captain Jerry. “Ain't goin' to mutiny, are you?” + +“All right!” said Captain Eri, “I'll stick to the ship. Only,” he added, +with a quizzical glance at his companions, “it's got to be settled +that the feller that's stuck can pick his wife, and don't have to marry +unless he finds one that suits him.” + +The others agreed to this stipulation, and Captain Perez, drawing a long +breath, took a coin from his pocket, flipped it in the air and covered +it, as it fell on the table, with a big hairy hand. Captain Eri did +likewise; so did Captain Jerry. Then Captain Eri lifted his hand and +showed the coin beneath; it was a head. Captain Jerry's was a tail. +Under Captain Perez' hand lurked the hidden fate. The Captain's lips +closed in a grim line. With a desperate glance at the others he jerked +his hand away. + +The penny lay head uppermost. Captain Jerry was “stuck.” + +Captain Eri rose, glanced at his watch, and, taking his hat from the +shelf where the dishes should have been, opened the door. Before he went +out, however, he turned and said: + +“Perez, you and Jerry can be fixin' up the advertisement while I'm gone. +You can let me see it when I come back. I say, Jerry,” he added to the +“sacrifice,” who sat gazing at the pennies on the table in a sort of +trance, “don't feel bad about it. Why, when you come to think of it, +it's a providence it turned out that way. Me and Perez are bachelors, +and we'd be jest green hands. But you're a able seaman, you know what it +is to manage a wife.” + +“Yes, I do,” groaned Captain Jerry lugubriously. “Durn it, that's jest +it!” + +Captain Eri was chuckling as, lantern in hand, he passed around the +corner of the little white house on the way to the barn. He chuckled +all through the harnessing of Daniel, the venerable white horse. He was +still chuckling as, perched on the seat of the “truck wagon,” he rattled +and shook out of the yard and turned into the sandy road that led up to +the village. And an outsider, hearing these chuckles, and knowing what +had gone before, might have inferred that perhaps Captain Eri did not +view the “matching” and the matrimonial project with quite the deadly +seriousness of the other two occupants of the house by the shore. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRAIN COMES IN + + +There is in Orham a self-appointed committee whose duty it is to see the +train come in. The committeemen receive no salary for their services; +the sole compensation is the pleasure derived from the sense of duty +done. Rain, snow, or shine, the committee is on hand at the station--the +natives, of course, call it the “deepo”--to consume borrowed tobacco +and to favor Providence with its advice concerning the running of the +universe. Also it discusses local affairs with fluency and more or less +point. + +Mr. “Squealer” Wixon, a lifelong member of this committee, was the first +to sight Captain Eri as the latter strolled across the tracks into the +circle of light from the station lamps. The Captain had moored Daniel to +a picket in the fence over by the freight-house. He had heard the clock +in the belfry of the Methodist church strike eight as he drove by that +edifice, but he heard no whistle from the direction of the West Orham +woods, so he knew that the down train would arrive at its usual time, +that is, from fifteen to twenty minutes behind the schedule. + +“Hey!” shouted Mr. Wixon with enthusiasm. “Here's Cap'n Eri! Well, Cap, +how's she headin'?” + +“'Bout no'theast by no'th,” was the calm reply. “Runnin' fair, but with +lookout for wind ahead.” + +“Hain't got a spare chaw nowheres about you, have you, Cap'n?” anxiously +inquired “Bluey” Batcheldor. Mr. Batcheldor is called “Bluey” for the +same reason that Mr. Wixon is called “Squealer,” and that reason has +been forgotten for years. + +Captain Eri obligingly produced a black plug of smoking tobacco, and Mr. +Batcheldor bit off two-thirds and returned the balance. After adjusting +the morsel so that it might interfere in the least degree with his vocal +machinery, he drawled: + +“I cal'late you ain't heard the news, Eri. Web Saunders has got his +original-package license. It come on the noon mail.” + +The Captain turned sharply toward the speaker. “Is that a fact?” he +asked. “Who told you?” + +“See it myself. So did Squealer and a whole lot more. Web was showin' it +round.” + +“We was wonderin',” said Jabez Smalley, a member of the committee whose +standing was somewhat impaired, inasmuch as he went fishing occasionally +and was, therefore, obliged to miss some of the meetings, “what kind of +a fit John Baxter would have now. He's been pretty nigh distracted ever +sence Web started his billiard room, callin' it a 'ha'nt of sin' and a +whole lot more names. There ain't been a 'Come-Outers' meetin' 'sence +I don't know when that he ain't pitched into that saloon. Now, when he +hears that Web's goin' to sell rum, he'll bust a biler sure.” + +The committee received this prophecy with an hilarious shout of approval +and each member began to talk. Captain Eri took advantage of this +simultaneous expression of opinion to walk away. He looked in at the +window of the ticket-office, exchanged greetings with Sam Hardy, the +stationmaster, and then leaned against the corner of the building +furthest removed from Mr. Wixon and his friends, lit his pipe and puffed +thoughtfully with a troubled expression on his face. + +From the clump of blackness that indicated the beginning of the West +Orham woods came a long-drawn dismal “toot”; then two shorter ones. The +committee sprang to its feet and looked interested. Sam Hardy came out +of the ticket office. The stage-driver, a sharp-looking boy of about +fourteen, with a disagreeable air of cheap smartness sticking out all +over him, left his seat in the shadow of Mr. Batcheldor's manly form, +tossed a cigarette stump away and loafed over to the vicinity of the +“depot wagon,” which was backed up against the platform. Captain Eri +knocked the ashes from his pipe and put that service-stained veteran in +his pocket. The train was really “coming in” at last. + +If this had been an August evening instead of a September one, both +train and platform would have been crowded. But the butterfly summer +maiden had flitted and, as is his wont, the summer man had flitted after +her, so the passengers who alighted from the two coaches that, with +the freight car, made up the Orham Branch train, were few in number and +homely in flavor. There was a very stout lady with a canvas extension +case and an umbrella in one hand and a bulging shawl-strap and a +pasteboard box in the other, who panted and wheezed like the locomotive +itself and who asked the brakeman, “What on airth DO they have such high +steps for?” There was a slim, not to say gawky, individual with a chin +beard and rubber boots, whom the committee hailed as “Andy” and welcomed +to its bosom. There were two young men, drummers, evidently, who nodded +to Hardy, and seemed very much at home. Also, there was another young +man, smooth-shaven and square-shouldered, who deposited a suit-case on +the platform and looked about him with the air of being very far from +home, indeed. + +The drummers and the stout lady got into the stage. The young man with +the suit-case picked up the latter and walked toward the same vehicle. +He accosted the sharp boy, who had lighted another cigarette. + +“Can you direct me to the cable station?” he asked. + +“Sure thing!” said the youth, and there was no Cape Cod twist to his +accent. “Git aboard.” + +“I didn't intend to ride,” said the stranger. + +“What was you goin' to do? Walk?” + +“Yes, if it's not far.” + +The boy grinned, and the members of the committee, who had been staring +with all their might, grinned also. The young man's mention of the cable +station seemed to have caused considerable excitement. + +“Oh, it ain't too FAR!” said the stage-driver. Then he added: “Say, +you're the new electrician, ain't you?” + +The young man hesitated for a moment. Then he said, “Yes,” and +suggested, “I asked the way.” + +“Two blocks to the right; that's the main road, keep on that for four +blocks, then turn to the left, and if you keep on straight ahead you'll +get to the station.” + +“Blocks?” The stranger smiled. “I think you must be from New York.” + +“Do you?” inquired the youthful prodigy, climbing to the wagon seat. +“Don't forget to keep straight ahead after you turn off the main road. +Git dap! So long, fellers!” He leaned over the wheel, as the stage +turned, and bestowed a wink upon the delighted “Squealer,” who was +holding one freckled paw over his mouth; then the “depot wagon” creaked +away. + +The square-shouldered young man looked after the equipage with an odd +expression of countenance. Then he shrugged his shoulders, picked up the +suitcase, and walked off the platform into the darkness. + +Mr. Wixon removed the hand from his mouth and displayed a mammoth +grin, that grew into a shriek of laughter in which every member of the +committee joined. + +“Haw! haw!” bellowed “Bluey,” “so that's the feller that done Parker out +of his job! Well, he may be mighty smart, but if that Joe Bartlett ain't +smarter then I'm a skate, that's all! Smartest boy ever I see! 'If you +keep on straight ahead you'll git to the station!' Gosh! he'll have to +wear rubbers!” + +“Maybe he's web-footed,” suggested Smalley, and they laughed again. + +A little later Captain Eri, with a dozen new, clean-smelling cranberry +barrels in the wagon behind him, drove slowly down the “depot road.” It +was a clear night, but there was no moon, and Orham was almost at its +darkest, which is very dark, indeed. The “depot road”--please bear in +mind that there are no streets in Orham--was full of ruts, and although +Daniel knew his way and did his best to follow it, the cranberry barrels +rattled and shook in lively fashion. There are few homes near the +station, and the dwellers in them conscientiously refrain from showing +lights except in the ends of the buildings furthest from the front. +Strangers are inclined to wonder at this, but when they become better +acquainted with the town and its people, they come to know that front +gates and parlors are, by the majority of the inhabitants, restricted in +their use to occasions such as a funeral, or, possibly, a wedding. For +the average Orham family to sit in the parlor on a week evening would be +an act bordering pretty closely on sacrilege. + +It is from the hill by the Methodist church that the visitor to Orham +gets his best view of the village. It is all about him, and for the most +part below him. At night the lights in the houses show only here and +there through the trees, but those on the beaches and at sea shine +out plainly. The brilliant yellow gleam a mile away is from the Orham +lighthouse on the bluff. The smaller white dot marks the light on +Baker's Beach. The tiny red speck in the distance, that goes and comes +again, is the flash-light at Setuckit Point, and the twinkle on the +horizon to the south is the beacon of the lightship on Sand Hill Shoal. + +It is on his arrival at this point, too, that the stranger first notices +the sound of the surf. Being a newcomer, he notices this at once; after +he has been in the village a few weeks, he ceases to notice it at all. +It is like the ticking of a clock, so incessant and regular, that one +has to listen intently for a moment or two before his accustomed ear +will single it out and make it definite. One low, steady, continuous +roar, a little deeper in tone when the wind is easterly, the voice of +the old dog Ocean gnawing with foaming mouth at the bone of the Cape and +growling as he gnaws. + +It may be that the young man with the square shoulders and the suit-case +had paused at the turn of the road by the church to listen to this +song of the sea; at any rate he was there, and when Captain Eri steered +Daniel and the cranberry barrels around the corner and into the “main +road,” he stepped out and hailed. + +“I beg your pardon,” he said; “I'm afraid I'm mixed in my directions. +The stage-driver told me the way to the cable station, but I've +forgotten whether he said to turn to the right when I reached here, or +to the left.” + +Captain Eri took his lantern from the floor of the wagon and held it up. +He had seen the stranger when the latter left the train, but he had not +heard the dialogue with Josiah Bartlett. + +“How was you cal'latin' to go to the station?” he asked. + +“Why, I intended to walk.” + +“Did you tell them fellers at the depot that you wanted to walk?” + +“Certainly.” + +“Well, I swan! And they give you the direction?” + +“Yes,” a little impatiently; “why shouldn't they? So many blocks till I +got to the main street, or road, and so many more, till I got somewhere +else, and then straight on.” + +“Blocks, hey? That's Joe Bartlett. That boy ought to be mastheaded, and +I've told Perez so more'n once. Well, Mister, I guess maybe you'd better +not try to walk to the cable station to-night. You see, there's one +thing they forgot to tell you. The station's on the outer beach, and +there's a ha'f mile of pretty wet water between here and there.” + +The young man whistled. “You don't mean it!” he exclaimed. + +“I sartin do, unless there's been an almighty drought since I left the +house. I tell you what! If you'll jump in here with me, and don't mind +waitin' till I leave these barrels at the house of the man that owns +'em, I'll drive you down to the shore and maybe find somebody to row you +over. That is,” with a chuckle, “if you ain't dead set on walkin'.” + +The stranger laughed heartily. “I'm not so stubborn as all that,” he +said. “It's mighty good of you, all the same.” + +“Don't say a word,” said the Captain. “Give us your satchel. Now your +flipper! There you are! Git dap, Dan'l!” + +Daniel accepted the Captain's command in a tolerant spirit. He paddled +along at a jog-trot for perhaps a hundred yards, and then, evidently +feeling that he had done all that could be expected, settled back into a +walk. The Captain turned towards his companion on the seat: + +“I don't know as I mentioned it,” he observed, “but my name is Hedge.” + +“Glad to meet you, Mr. Hedge,” said the stranger. “My name is +Hazeltine.” + +“I kind of jedged it might be when you said you wanted to git to the +cable station. We heard you was expected.” + +“Did you? From Mr. Langley, I presume.” + +“No-o, not d'rectly. Of course, we knew Parker had been let go, and that +somebody would have to take his place. I guess likely it was one of the +operators that told it fust that you was the man, but anyhow it got as +fur as M'lissy Busteed, and after that 'twas plain sailin'. You come +from New York, don't you?” + +“Yes.” + +“Well, you know how 'tis when a thing gits into the papers. Orham ain't +big enough to have a paper of its own, so the Almighty give us M'lissy, +I jedge, as a sort of substitute. She can spread a little news over more +country than anybody I know. If she spreads butter the same way, she +could make money keepin' boarders. Is this your fust visit to the Cape?” + +“Yes. I hardly know why I'm here now. I have been with the Cable Company +at their New York experimental station for some years, and the other day +the General Manager called me into his office and told me I was expected +to take the position of electrician here. I thought it might add to my +experience, so I accepted.” + +“Humph! Did he say anything about the general liveliness of things +around the station?” + +Mr. Hazeltine laughed. “Why,” he answered, “now that you speak of it, +I remember that he began by asking me if I had any marked objection to +premature burial.” + +The Captain chuckled. “The outer beach in winter ain't exactly a +camp-meeting for sociableness,” he said. “And the idea of that Bartlett +boy tellin' you how to walk there!” + +“Is he a specimen of your Cape Cod youngsters?” + +“Not exactly. He's a new shipment from New York. Grand-nephew of a +messmate of mine, Cap'n Perez Ryder. Perez, he's a bachelor, but his +sister's daughter married a feller named Bartlett. Maybe you knew him; +he used to run a tugboat in the Sound.” + +Mr. Hazeltine, much amused, denied the acquaintance. + +“Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” continued the Captain. +“Anyhow, Perez's niece's husband died, and the boy sort of run loose, +as yer might say. Went to school when he had to, and raised Ned when +he didn't, near's I can find out. 'Lizabeth, that's his ma, died last +spring, and she made Perez promise--he being the only relation the +youngster had--to fetch the boy down here and sort of bring him up. +Perez knows as much about bringing up a boy as a hen does about the Ten +Commandments, and 'Lizabeth made him promise not to lick the youngster +and a whole lot more foolishness. School don't commence here till +October, so we got him a job with Lem Mullett at the liv'ry stable. He's +boardin' with Lem till school opens. He ain't a reel bad boy, but he +knows too much 'bout some things and not ha'f enough 'bout others. +You've seen fellers like that, maybe?” + +Hazeltine nodded. “There are a good many of that kind in New York, I'm +afraid,” he said. + +Captain Eri smiled. “I shouldn't wonder,” he observed. “The boys down +here think Josiah's the whole crew, and the girls ain't fur behind. +There's been more deviltry in this village sence he landed than there +ever was afore. He needs somethin', and needs it bad, but I ain't +decided jest what it is yit. Are you a married man?” + +“No.” + +“Same here. Never had the disease. Perez, he's had symptoms every once +in a while, but nothin' lastin'. Jerry's the only one of us three that's +been through the mill. His wife died twenty year ago. I don't know as +I told you, but Jerry and Perez and me are keepin' house down by the +shore. That is, we call it keepin' house, but--” + +Here the Captain broke off and seemed to meditate. + +Ralph Hazeltine forbore to interrupt, and occupied himself by +scrutinizing the buildings that they were passing. They were nearing the +center of the town now, and the houses were closer together than they +had been on the “depot road,” but never so close as to be in the least +crowded. Each house had its ample front yard, and the new arrival +could smell the box hedges and see, now and then, the whiteness of the +kalsomined stones that bordered a driveway. It was too dark for the big +seashells at the front steps to be visible, but they were there, all the +same; every third house of respectability in Orham has them. There was +an occasional shop, too, with signs like “Cape Cod Variety Store,” or +“The Boston Dry Goods Emporium,” over their doors. On the platform of +one a small crowd was gathered, and from the interior came shouts of +laughter and the sound of a tin-panny piano. + +“That's the billiard saloon,” volunteered Captain Eri, suddenly waking +from his trance. “Play pool, Mr. Hazeltine?” + +“Sometimes.” + +“What d'ye play it with?” + +“Why, with a cue, generally speaking.” + +“That so! Most of the fellers in there play it with their mouths. Miss a +shot and then spend the rest of the evenin' tellin' how it happened.” + +“I don't think I should care to play it that way,” said Ralph, laughing. + +“Well, it has its good p'ints. Kind of all-round exercise; develops the +lungs and strengthens the muscles, as the patent-medicine almanac says. +Parker played it considerable.” + +“I judge that your opinion of my predecessor isn't a high one.” + +“Who? Oh, Parker! He was all right in his way. Good many folks in this +town swore by him. I understand the fellers over at the station thought +he was about the ticket.” + +“Mr. Langley included?” + +“Oh, Mr. Langley, bein' manager, had his own ideas, I s'pose! Langley +don't play pool much; not at Web Saunders' place, anyhow. We turn in +here.” + +They rolled up a long driveway, very dark and overgrown with trees, and +drew up at the back door of a good-sized two-story house. There was a +light in the kitchen window. + +“Whoa, Dan'l!” commanded the Captain. Then he began to shout, “Ship +ahoy!” at the top of his lungs. + +The kitchen door opened and a man came out, carrying a lamp, its light +shining full upon his face. It was an old face, a stern face, with white +eyebrows and a thin-lipped mouth. Just such a face as looked on with +approval when the executioner held up the head of Charles I., at +Whitehall. There was, however, a tremble about the chin that told of +infirm health. + +“Hello, John!” said Captain Eri heartily. “John, let me make you +acquainted with Mr. Hazeltine, the new man at the cable station. Mr. +Hazeltine, this is my friend, Cap'n John Baxter.” + +The two shook hands, and then Captain Eri said: + +“John, I brought down them barrels for you. Hawkins got 'em here, same +as he always does, by the skin of his teeth. Stand by now, 'cause I've +got to deliver Mr. Hazeltine at the station, and it's gittin' late.” + +John Baxter said nothing, beyond thanking his friend for the good turn, +but he “stood by,” as directed, and the barrels were quickly unloaded. +As they were about to drive out of the yard, Captain Eri turned in his +seat and said: + +“John, guess I'll be up some time to-morrow. I want to talk with you +about that billiard-room business.” + +The lamp in Baxter's hand shook. + +“God A'mighty's got his eye on that place, Eri Hedge,” he shouted, “and +on them that's runnin' it!” + +“That's all right,” said the Captain. “Then the job's in good hands, and +we ain't got to worry. Good-night.” + +But, in spite of this assurance, Hazeltine noticed that his driver was +silent and preoccupied until they reached the end of the road by the +shore, when he brought the willing Daniel to a stand still and announced +that it was time to “change cars.” + +It is a fifteen-minute row from the mainland to the outer beach, and +Captain Eri made it on schedule time. Hazeltine protested that he was +used to a boat, and could go alone and return the dory in the morning, +but the Captain wouldn't hear of it. The dory slid up on the sand and +the passenger climbed out. The sound of the surf on the ocean side of +the beach was no longer a steady roar, it was broken into splashing +plunges and hisses with, running through it, a series of blows like +those of a muffled hammer. The wind was wet and smelt salty. + +“There's the station,” said the Captain, pointing to a row of lighted +windows a quarter of a mile away. “It IS straight ahead this time, and +the walkin's better'n it has been for the last few minutes. Good-night!” + +The electrician put his hand in his pocket, hesitated, and then withdrew +it, empty. + +“I'm very much obliged to you for all this,” he said. “I'm glad to have +made your acquaintance, and I hope we shall see each other often.” + +“Same here!” said the Captain heartily. “We're likely to git together +once in a while, seein' as we're next-door neighbors, right across the +road, as you might say. That's my berth over yonder, where you see them +lights. It's jest 'round the corner from the road we drove down last. +Good-night! Good luck to you!” + +And he settled himself for the row home. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING + + +The house where the three Captains lived was as near salt water as it +could be and remain out of reach of the highest tides. When Captain Eri, +after beaching and anchoring his dory and stabling Daniel for the night, +entered the dining room he found his two messmates deep in consultation, +and with evidences of strenuous mental struggle written upon their +faces. Captain Perez's right hand was smeared with ink and there were +several spatters of the same fluid on Captain Jerry's perspiring nose. +Crumpled sheets of note paper were on the table and floor, and Lorenzo, +who was purring restfully upon the discarded jackets of the two +mariners, alone seemed to be enjoying himself. + +“Well, you fellers look as if you'd had a rough v'yage,” commented +Captain Eri, slipping out of his own jacket and pulling his chair up +beside those of his friends. “What's the trouble?” + +“Gosh, Eri, I'm glad to see you!” exclaimed Captain Perez, drawing the +hand, just referred to, across his forehead and thereby putting +that portion of his countenance into mourning. “How do you spell +conscientious?” + +“I don't, unless it's owner's orders,” was the answer. “What do you want +to spell it for?” + +“We've writ much as four hundred advertisements, I do believe!” said +Captain Jerry, “and there ain't one of them fit to feed to a pig. Perez +here, he's got such hifalutin' notions, that nothin' less than a circus +bill 'll do him. _I_ don't see why somethin' plain and sensible like +'Woman wanted to do dishes and clean house for three men,' wouldn't be +all right; but no, it's got to have more fancy trimmin's than a Sunday +bunnit. Foolishness, I call it.” + +“You'd have a whole lot of women answerin' that advertisement, now +wouldn't you?” snorted Captain Perez hotly. “'To do dishes for three +men!' That's a healthy bait to catch a wife with, ain't it? I can see +'em comin'. I cal'late you'd stay single till Jedgment, and then you +wouldn't git one. No, sir! The thing to do is to be sort of soft-soapy +and high-toned. Let 'em think they're goin' to git a bargain when +they git you. Make believe it's goin' to be a privilege to git sech a +husband.” + +“Well, 'tis,” declared the sacrifice indignantly. “They might git a +dum-sight worse one.” + +“I cal'late that's so, Jerry,” said Captain Eri. “Still, Perez ain't +altogether wrong. Guess you'd better keep the dishwashin' out of it. +I know dishwashin' would never git ME; I've got so I hate the sight of +soap and hot water as bad as if I was a Portugee. Pass me that pen.” + +Captain Perez gladly relinquished the writing materials, and Captain +Eri, after two or three trials, by which he added to the paper +decorations of the floor, produced the following: + +“Wife Wanted--By an ex-seafaring man of steady habbits. Must be willing +to Work and Keep House shipshape and aboveboard. No sea-lawyers need +apply. Address--Skipper, care the Nuptial Chime, Boston, Mass.” + +The line relating to sea-lawyers was insisted upon by Captain Jerry. +“That'll shut out the tonguey kind,” he explained. The advertisement, +with this addition, being duly approved, the required fifty cents was +inclosed, as was a letter to the editor of the matrimonial journal +requesting all answers to be forwarded to Captain Jeremiah Burgess, +Orham, Mass. Then the envelope was directed and the stamp affixed. + +“There,” said Captain Eri, “that's done. All you've got to do now, +Jerry, is to pick out your wife and let us know what you want for a +weddin' present. You're a lucky man.” + +“Aw, let's talk about somethin' else,” said the lucky one rather +gloomily. “What's the news up at the depot, Eri?” + +They received the tidings of the coming of Hazeltine with the interest +due to such an event. Captain Eri gave them a detailed account of his +meeting with the new electrician, omitting, however, in consideration +for the feelings of Captain Perez, to mention the fact that it was +the Bartlett boy who started that gentleman upon his walk to the cable +station. + +“Well, what did you think of him?” asked Captain Perez, when the recital +was finished. + +“Seemed to me like a pretty good feller,” answered Captain Eri +deliberately. “He didn't git mad at the joke the gang played on him, for +one thing. He ain't so smooth-tongued as Parker used to be and he didn't +treat Baxter and me as if Cape Codders was a kind of animals, the way +some of the summer folks do. He had the sense not to offer to pay me for +takin' him over to the station, and I liked that. Take it altogether, +he seemed like a pretty decent chap--for a New Yorker,” he added, as an +after thought. + +“But say,” he said a moment later, “I've got some more news and it ain't +good news, either. Web Saunders has got his liquor license.” + +“I want to know!” exclaimed Captain Perez. + +“You don't tell me!” said Captain Jerry. + +Then they both said, “What will John Baxter do now?” And Captain Eri +shook his head dubiously. + +The cod bit well next morning and Captain Eri did not get in from the +Windward Ledge until afternoon. By the way, it may be well to explain +that Captain Jerry's remarks concerning “settlin' down” and “restin',” + which we chronicled in the first chapter must not be accepted too +literally. While it is true that each of the trio had given up long +voyages, it is equally true that none had given up work entirely. Some +people might not consider it restful to rise at four every weekday +morning and sail in a catboat twelve miles out to sea and haul a wet +cod line for hours, not to mention the sail home and the cleaning and +barreling of the catch. Captain Eri did that. Captain Perez was what +he called “stevedore”--that is, general caretaker during the owner's +absence, at Mr. Delancy Barry's summer estate on the “cliff road.” As +for Captain Jerry, he was janitor at the schoolhouse. + +The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the time +the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway +station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had intended calling +on Baxter early in the day, but now he determined to wait until after +supper. + +The Captain had bad luck in the “matching” that followed the meal, and +it was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. This +distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter homestead. + +The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those of +many Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, but his +scruples were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett, +whose proudest boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor +prescribed it as the stimulant needed to save her life. Over and over +again has Miss Abigail told it in prayer-meeting; how she “riz up” in +her bed, “expectin' every breath to be the last” and said, “Dr. Palmer, +if it's got to be liquor or death, then death referred to!”--meaning, +it is fair to presume, that death was preferred rather than the brandy. +With much more concerning her miraculous recovery through the aid of a +“terbacker and onion poultice.” + +On general principles the Captain objected to the granting of a license +to a fellow like “Web” Saunders, but it was the effect that this action +of the State authorities might have upon his friend John Baxter that +troubled him most. + +For forty-five years John Baxter was called by Cape Cod people “as smart +a skipper as ever trod a plank.” He saved money, built an attractive +home for his wife and daughter, and would, in the ordinary course of +events, have retired to enjoy a comfortable old age. But his wife died +shortly after the daughter's marriage to a Boston man, and on a voyage +to Manila, Baxter himself suffered from a sunstroke and a subsequent +fever, that left him a physical wreck and for a time threatened to +unsettle his reason. He recovered a portion of his health and the +threatened insanity disappeared, except for a religious fanaticism +that caused him to accept the Bible literally and to interpret it +accordingly. When his daughter and her husband were drowned in the +terrible City of Belfast disaster, it is an Orham tradition that John +Baxter, dressed in gunny-bags and sitting on an ash-heap, was found by +his friends mourning in what he believed to be the Biblical “sackcloth +and ashes.” His little baby granddaughter had been looked out for by +some kind friends in Boston. Only Captain Eri knew that John Baxter's +yearly trip to Boston was made for the purpose of visiting the girl who +was his sole reminder of the things that might have been, but even the +Captain did not know that the money that paid her board and, as she grew +older, for her gowns and schooling, came from the bigoted, stern old +hermit, living alone in the old house at Orham. + +In Orham, and in other sections of the Cape as well, there is a sect +called by the ungodly, “The Come-Outers.” They were originally seceders +from the Methodist churches who disapproved of modern innovations. They +“come out” once a week to meet at the houses of the members, and theirs +are lively meetings. John Baxter was a “Come-Outer,” and ever since +the enterprising Mr. Saunders opened his billiard room, the old man's +tirades of righteous wrath had been directed against this den of +iniquity. Since it became known that “Web” had made application for the +license, it was a regular amusement for the unregenerate to attend the +gatherings of the “Come-Outers” and hear John Baxter call down fire from +Heaven upon the billiard room, its proprietor, and its patrons. Orham +people had begun to say that John Baxter was “billiard-saloon crazy.” + +And John Baxter was Captain Eri's friend, a friendship that had begun in +school when the declaimer of Patrick Henry's “Liberty or Death” speech +on Examination Day took a fancy to and refused to laugh at the little +chap who tremblingly ventured to assert that he loved “little Pussy, her +coat is so warm.” The two had changed places until now it was Captain +Eri who protected and advised. + +When the Captain rapped at John Baxter's kitchen door no one answered, +and, after yelling “Ship ahoy!” through the keyhole a number of times, +he was forced to the conclusion that his friend was not at home. + +“You lookin' fer Cap'n Baxter?” queried Mrs. Sarah Taylor, who lived +just across the road. “He's gone to Come-Outers' meetin', I guess. +There's one up to Barzilla Small's to-night.” + +Mr. Barzilla Small lived in that part of the village called “down to the +neck,” and when the Captain arrived there, he found the parlor filled +with the devout, who were somewhat surprised to see him. + +“Why, how do you do?” said Mrs. Small, resplendent in black “alpaca” and +wearing her jet earrings. “I snum if you ain't a stranger! We'll have a +reel movin' meetin' to-night because Mr. Perley's here, and he says +he feels the sperrit a-workin'. Set right down there by the what-not. +Luther,” to her oldest but three, “give Cap'n Hedge your chair. You can +set on the cricket. Yes, you can! Don't answer back!” + +“Aw, ma!” burst out the indignant Luther, “how d'yer think I'm goin' to +set on that cricket? My laigs 'll be way up under my chin. Make Hart set +on it; he's shorter'n me.” + +“Shan't nuther, Lute Small!” declared Hartwell, a freckle-faced +youngster, who was the next step downward in the family stair of +children. “Set on it yourself. Make him, ma, now! You said he'd have +to.” + +“Now, ma, I--” + +“Be still, both of you! I sh'd think you'd be ashamed, with everybody +here so! Oh, my soul and body!” turning to the company, “if it ain't +enough to try a saint! Sometimes seems's if I SHOULD give up. You be +thankful, Abigail,” to Miss Mullett, who sat by the door, “that you +ain't got nine in a family and nobody to help teach 'em manners. If +Barzilla was like most men, he'd have some dis-CIP-line in the house; +but no, I have to do it all, and--” + +Mr. Small, thus publicly rebuked, rose from his seat in the corner by +the melodeon and proclaimed in a voice that he tried hard not to make +apologetic: + +“Now, Luther, if I was you I'd be a good boy and mind ma.” + +Even this awe-inspiring command had little effect upon the reluctant +Luther, but Captain Eri, who, smiling and bowing right and left, had +been working his passage to the other side of the room, announced +that he was all right and would “squeeze in on the sofy 'side of Cap'n +Baxter.” So there was peace once more, that is, as much peace as half a +dozen feminine tongues, all busy with different subjects, would allow. + +“Why, Eri” whispered John Baxter, “I didn't expect to see you here. I'm +glad, though; Lord knows every God-fearin' man in this town has need to +be on his knees this night. Have you heard about it?” + +“Cap'n John means about the rum-sellin' license that Web Saunders has +got,” volunteered Miss Melissa Busteed, leaning over from her seat in +the patent rocker that had been the premium earned by Mrs. Small for +selling one hundred and fifty pounds of tea for a much-advertised house. +“Ain't it awful? I says to Prissy Baker this mornin', soon 's I heard of +it, 'Prissy,' s' I, 'there 'll be a jedgment on this town sure's you're +a livin' woman,' s' I. Says she, 'That's so, M'lissy,' s' she, and I +says--” + +Well, when Miss Busteed talks, interruptions are futile, so Captain Eri +sat silent, as the comments of at least one-tenth of the population of +Orham were poured into his ears. The recitation was cut short by Mrs. +Small's vigorous pounding on the center table. + +“We're blessed this evenin',” said the hostess with emotion, “in havin' +Mr. Perley with us. He's goin' to lead the meetin'.” + +The Reverend Mr. Perley--Reverend by courtesy; he had never been +ordained--stood up, cleared his throat with vigor, rose an inch or two +on the toes of a very squeaky pair of boots, sank to heel level again +and announced that everyone would join in singing, “Hymn number one +hundred and ten, omitting the second and fourth stanzas: hymn number +one hundred and ten, second and fourth stanzas omitted.” The melodeon, +tormented by Mrs. Lurania Bassett, shrieked and groaned, and the hymn +was sung. So was another, and yet another. Then Mr. Perley squeaked to +his tiptoes again, subsided, and began a lengthy and fervent discourse. + +Mr. Perley had been a blacksmith in Ostable before he “got religion,” + and now spent the major portion of his time in “boardin' 'round” with +“Come-Outers” up and down the Cape and taking part in their meetings. +His services at such gatherings paid for his food and lodging. He had +been a vigorous horseshoer in the old days; now he preached just as +vigorously. + +He spoke of the faithful few here gathered together. He spoke of the +scoffing of those outside the pale and hinted at the uncomfortable +future that awaited them. He ran over the various denominations one by +one, and one by one showed them to be worshipers of idols and followers +after strange gods. He sank hoarsely into the bass and quavered up into +falsetto and a chorus of “Amens!” and “Hallelujahs!” followed him. + +“Oh, brothers and sisters!” he shouted, “here we are a-kneelin' at +the altar's foot and what's goin' on outside? Why, the Devil's got +his clutches in our midst. The horn of the wicked is exalted. They're +sellin' rum--RUM--in this town! They're a-sellin' rum and drinkin' of it +and gloryin' in their shame. But the Lord ain't asleep! He's got his eye +on 'em! He's watchin' 'em! And some of these fine days he'll send down +fire out of Heaven and wipe 'em off the face of the earth!” (“Amen! +Glory! Glory! Glory!”) + +John Baxter was on his feet, his lean face working, the perspiration +shining on his forehead, his eyes gleaming like lamps under his rough +white eyebrows, and his clenched fists pounding the back of the chair in +front of him. His hallelujahs were the last to cease. Captain Eri had to +use some little force to pull him down on the sofa again. + +Then Mrs. Small struck up, “Oh, brother, have you heard?” and they sang +it with enthusiasm. Next, Miss Mullett told her story of the brandy +and the defiance of the doctor. Nobody seemed much interested except a +nervous young man with sandy hair and a celluloid collar, who had come +with Mr. Tobias Wixon and was evidently a stranger. He had not heard it +before and seemed somewhat puzzled when Miss Abigail repeated the “Death +referred to” passage. + +There was more singing. Mrs. Small “testified.” So did Barzilla, with +many hesitations and false starts and an air of relief when it was +over. Then another hymn and more testimony, each speaker denouncing the +billiard saloon. Then John Baxter arose and spoke. + +He began by saying that the people of Orham had been slothful in the +Lord's vineyard. They had allowed weeds to spring up and wax strong. +They had been tried and found wanting. + +“I tell you, brothers and sisters,” he declaimed, leaning over the chair +back and shaking a thin forefinger in Mr. Perley's face, “God has given +us a task to do and how have we done it? We've set still and let the +Devil have his way. We've talked and talked, but what have we done? +Nothin'! Nothin' at all; and now the grip of Satan is tighter on the +town than it ever has been afore. The Lord set us a watch to keep and +we've slept on watch. And now there's a trap set for every young man in +this c'munity. Do you think that that hell-hole down yonder is goin' to +shut up because we talk about it in meetin'? Do you think Web Saunders +is goin' to quit sellin' rum because we say he ought to? Do you think +God's goin' to walk up to that door and nail it up himself? No, sir! He +don't work that way! We've talked and talked, and now it's time to DO. +Ain't there anybody here that feels a call? Ain't there axes to chop +with and fire to burn? I tell you, brothers, we've waited long enough! +I--old as I am--am ready. Lord, here I am! Here I am--” + +He swayed, broke into a fit of coughing, and sank back upon the sofa, +trembling all over and still muttering that he was ready. There was a +hushed silence for a moment or two, and then a storm of hallelujahs and +shouts. Mr. Perley started another hymn, and it was sung with tremendous +enthusiasm. + +Just behind the nervous young man with the celluloid collar sat a stout +individual with a bald head. This was Abijah Thompson, known by the +irreverent as “Barking” Thompson, a nickname bestowed because of his +peculiar habit of gradually puffing up, like a frog, under religious +excitement, and then bursting forth in an inarticulate shout, +disconcerting to the uninitiated. During Baxter's speech and the singing +of the hymn his expansive red cheeks had been distended like balloons, +and his breath came shorter and shorter. Mr. Perley had arisen and was +holding up his hand for silence, when with one terrific “Boo!” “Barking” + Thompson's spiritual exaltation exploded directly in the ear of the +nervous stranger. + +The young man shot out of his chair as if Mr. Thompson had fired a +dynamite charge beneath him. “Oh, the Devil!” he shrieked, and then +subsided, blushing to the back of his neck. + +Somehow this interruption took the spirit out of the meeting. Giggles +from Luther and the younger element interfered with the solemnity of Mr. +Perley's closing remarks, and no one else was brave enough to “testify” + under the circumstances. They sang again, and the meeting broke up. The +nervous young man was the first one to leave. + +Captain Eri got his friend out of the clutches of the “Come-Outers” as +quickly as possible, and piloted him down the road toward his home. John +Baxter was silent and absent-minded, and most of the Captain's cheerful +remarks concerning Orham affairs in general went unanswered. As they +turned in at the gate the elder man said: + +“Eri, do you believe that man's law ought to be allowed to interfere +with God's law?” + +“Well, John, in most cases it's my jedgment that it pays to steer pretty +close to both of 'em.” + +“S'pose God called you to break man's law and keep His; what would you +do?” + +“Guess the fust thing would be to make sure 'twas the Almighty that was +callin'. I don't want to say nothin' to hurt your feelin's, but I +should advise the feller that thought that he had that kind of a call to +'beware of imitations,' as the soap folks advertise.” + +“Eri, I've got a call.” + +“Now, John Baxter, you listen. You and me have been sailin' together, as +you might say, for forty odd years. I ain't a religious man 'cordin' to +your way of thinkin', but I've generally found that the Lord runs things +most as well as us folks could run 'em. When there's a leak at one end +of the schooner it don't pay to bore a hole at the other end to let the +water out. Don't you worry no more about Web Saunders and that billiard +saloon. The s'lectmen 'll attend to them afore very long. Why don't you +go up to Boston for a couple of weeks? 'Twill do you good.” + +“Do you think so, Eri? Well, maybe 'twould--maybe 'twould. Sometimes I +feel as if my head was kind of wearin' out. I'll think about it.” + +“Better not think any more; better go right ahead.” + +“Well, I'll see. Good-night.” + +“Good-night, John.” + + +“Perez,” said Captain Eri, next day, “seems to me some kinds of religion +is like whisky, mighty bad for a weak head. I wish somebody 'd invent a +gold cure for Come-Outers.” + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + + +Something over a fortnight went by and the three captains had received +no answers from the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime. The suspense +affected each of them in a different manner. Captain Jerry was nervous +and apprehensive. He said nothing, and asked no questions, but it was +noticeable that he was the first to greet the carrier of the “mail box” + when that individual came down the road, and, as the days passed and +nothing more important than the Cape Cod Item and a patent-medicine +circular came to hand, a look that a suspicious person might have deemed +expressive of hope began to appear in his face. + +Captain Perez, on the contrary, grew more and more disgusted with the +delay. He spent a good deal of time wondering why there were no replies, +and he even went so far as to suggest writing to the editor of +the Chime. He was disposed to lay the blame upon Captain Eri's +advertisement, and hinted that the latter was not “catchy” enough. + +Captain Eri, alone of the trio, got any amusement out of the situation. +He pretended to see in Captain Jerry an impatient bridegroom and +administered comfort in large doses by suggesting that, in all +probability, there had been so many replies that it had been found +necessary to charter a freight-car to bring them down. + +“Cheer up, Jerry!” he said. “It's tough on you, I know, but think of all +them poor sufferin' females that's settin' up nights and worryin' for +fear they won't be picked out. Why, say, when you make your ch'ice +you'll have to let the rest know right off; 'twould be cruelty to +animals not to. You ought to put 'em out of their misery quick's +possible.” + +Captain Jerry's laugh was almost dismal. + +The first batch of answers from the Chime came by an evening mail. +Captain Eri happened to beat the post-office that night and brought them +home himself. They filled three of his pockets to overflowing, and +he dumped them by handfuls on the dining table, under the nose of the +pallid Jerry. + +“What did I tell you, Jerry?” he crowed. “I knew they was on the way. +What have you got to say about my advertisement now, Perez?” + +There were twenty-six letters altogether. It was surprising how +many women were willing, even anxious, to ally themselves with “an +ex-seafaring man of steady habbits.” But most of the applicants were of +unsatisfactory types. As Captain Perez expressed it, “There's too many +of them everlastin' 'blondes' and things.” + +There was one note, however, that even Captain Eri was disposed to +consider seriously. It was postmarked Nantucket, was written on half a +sheet of blue-lined paper, and read as follows: + + +“MR. SKIPPER: + +“Sir: I saw your advertisements in the paper and think perhaps you might +suit me. Please answer these questions by return mail. What is your +religious belief? Do you drink liquor? Are you a profane man? If you +want to, you might send me your real name and a photograph. If I think +you will suit maybe we might sign articles. + +“Yours truly, + +“MARTHA B. SNOW. + +“NANTUCKET, MASS.” + + +“What I like about that is the shipshape way she puts it,” commented +Captain Perez. “She don't say that she 'jest adores the ocean.'” + +“She's mighty handy about takin' hold and bossin' things; there ain't +no doubt of that,” said Captain Eri. “Notice it's us that's got to suit +her, not her us. I kind of like that 'signin' articles,' too. You bet +she's been brought up in a seagoin' family.” + +“I used to know a Jubal Snow that hailed from Nantucket,” suggested +Perez; “maybe she's some of his folks.” + +“'Tain't likely,” sniffed Captain Jerry. “There's more Snows in Nantucket +than you can shake a stick at. You can't heave a rock without hittin' +one.” + +“I b'lieve she's jest the kind we want,” said Captain Perez with +conviction. + +“What do you say, Jerry?” asked Captain Eri. “You're goin' to be the +lucky man, you know.” + +“Oh, I don't know. What's the use of hurryin'? More 'n likely the next +lot of letters 'll have somethin' better yit.” + +“Now, that's jest like you, Jerry Burgess!” exclaimed Perez disgustedly. +“Want to put off and put off and put off. And the house gittin' more +like the fo'castle on a cattleboat every day.” + +“I don't b'lieve myself you'd do much better, Jerry,” said Captain Eri +seriously. “I like that letter somehow. Seems to me it's worth a try.” + +“Oh, all right! Have it your own way. Of course, _I_ ain't got nothin' +to say. I'm only the divilish fool that's got to git married and keep +boarders; that's all _I_ am!” + +“Be careful! She asked if you was a profane man.” + +“Aw, shut up! You fellers are enough to make a minister swear. _I_ don't +care what you do. Go ahead and write to her if you want to, only I give +you fair warnin', I ain't goin' to have her if she don't suit. I ain't +goin' to marry no scarecrow.” + +Between them, and with much diplomacy, they soothed the indignant +candidate for matrimony until he agreed to sign his name to a letter to +the Nantucket lady. Then Captain Perez said: + +“But, I say, Jerry; she wants your picture. Have you got one to send +her?” + +“I've got that daguerreotype I had took when I was married afore.” + +He rummaged it out of his chest and displayed it rather proudly. It +showed him as a short, sandy-haired youth, whose sunburned face beamed +from the depths of an enormous choker, and whose head was crowned with a +tall, flat-brimmed silk hat of a forgotten style. + +“I s'pose that might do,” said Cap'n Perez hesitatingly. + +“Do! 'Twill HAVE to do, seein' it's all he's got,” said Captain Eri. +“Good land!” he chuckled; “look at that hat! Say, Jerry, she'll think +you done your seafarin' in Noah's ark.” + +But Captain Jerry was oblivious to sarcasm just then. He was gazing at +the daguerreotype in a sentimental sort of way, blowing the dust from +the glass, and tilting it up and down so as to bring it to the most +effective light. + +“I swan!” he mused, “I don't know when I've looked at that afore. I +remember when I bought that hat, jest as well. Took care of it and +brushed it--my! my! I don't know but it's somewheres around now. I +thought I was jest about the ticket then, and--and I wa'n't BAD lookin', +that's a fact!” + +This last with a burst of enthusiasm. + +“Ho, ho! Perez,” roared Captain Eri; “Jerry's fallin' in love with his +own picture. Awful thing for one so young, ain't it?” + +“I ain't such a turrible sight older 'n you be, Eri Hedge,” sputtered +the prospective bridegroom with righteous indignation. Then he added in +a rather crestfallen tone, “But I am a heap older 'n I was when I had +that daguerreotype took. See here; if I send that Nantucket woman this +picture won't she notice the difference when she sees me?” + +“What if she does?” broke in Captain Perez. “You can tell her how 'twas. +Talk her over. A feller that's been married, like you, ought to be able +to talk ANY woman over.” + +Captain Jerry didn't appear sanguine concerning his ability to “talk her +over,” but his fellow-conspirators made light of his feeble objections, +and the daguerreotype, carefully wrapped, was mailed the next morning, +accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the original and his +avowed adherence to the Baptist creed and the Good Templar's abstinence. + +“I hope she'll hurry up and answer,” said the impatient Captain Perez. +“I want to get this thing settled one way or another. Don't you, Jerry?” + +“Yes,” was the hesitating reply. “One way or another.” + +Captain Eri had seen John Baxter several times since the evening of +the “Come-Outers'” meeting. The old man was calmer apparently, and was +disposed to take the billiard-saloon matter less seriously, particularly +as it was reported that the town selectmen were to hold a special +meeting to consider the question of allowing Mr. Saunders to continue in +business. The last-named gentleman had given what he was pleased to call +a “blow-out” to his regular patrons in celebration of the granting of +the license, and “Squealer” Wixon and one or two more spent a dreary day +and night in the town lock-up in consequence. Baxter told the Captain +that he had not yet made up his mind concerning the proposed Boston +trip, but he thought “more 'n likely” he should go. + +Captain Eri was obliged to be content with this assurance, but he +determined to keep a close watch on his friend just the same. + +He had met Ralph Hazeltine once or twice since the latter's arrival in +Orham, and, in response to questions as to how he was getting on at the +station, the new electrician invariably responded, “First-rate.” Gossip, +however, in the person of Miss Busteed, reported that the operators were +doing their best to keep Mr. Hazeltine's lot from being altogether a bed +of roses, and there were dark hints of something more to come. + +On the morning following the receipt of the letter from the Nantucket +lady, Captain Eri was busy at his fish shanty, putting his lines in +order and sewing a patch on the mainsail of his catboat. These necessary +repairs had prevented his taking the usual trip to the fishing grounds. +Looking up from his work, he saw, through the open door, Ralph Hazeltine +just stepping out of the cable-station skiff. He tucked his sail needle +into the canvas and hailed the young man with a shouted “Good-morning!” + +“How do you do, Cap'n Hedge?” said Hazeltine, walking toward the shanty. +“Good weather, isn't it?” + +“Tip-top. Long 's the wind stays westerly and there ain't no +Sunday-school picnics on, we don't squabble with the weather folks. +The only thing that 'll fetch a squall with a westerly wind is a +Sunday-school picnic. That 'll do it, sure as death. Busy over across?” + +“Pretty busy just now. The cable parted day before yesterday, and I've +been getting things ready for the repair ship. She was due this morning, +and we're likely to hear from her at any time.” + +“You don't say! Cable broke, hey? Now it's a queer thing, but I've never +been inside that station since 'twas built. Too handy, I guess. I've got +a second cousin up in Charlestown, lived there all his life, and he's +never been up in Bunker Hill monument yit. Fust time I landed in Boston +I dug for that monument, and I can tell you how many steps there is in +it to this day. If that cable station was fifty mile off I'd have been +through it two weeks after it started up, but bein' jest over there, I +ain't ever done it. Queer, ain't it?” + +“Perhaps you'd like to go over with me. I'm going up to the post-office, +and when I come back I should be glad of your company.” + +“Well, now, that's kind of you. I cal'late I will. You might sing out +as you go past. I've got a ha'f-hour job on this sail and then it's my +watch below.” + +The cable station at Orham is a low whitewashed building with many +windows. The vegetation about it is limited exclusively to “beach grass” + and an occasional wild-plum bush. The nearest building which may be +reached without a boat is the life-saving station, two miles below. The +outer beach changes its shape every winter. The gales tear great holes +in its sides, and then, as if in recompense, throw up new shoals and +build new promontories. From the cable-station doorway in fair weather +may be counted the sails of over one hundred vessels going and coming +between Boston and New York. They come and go, and, alas! sometimes +stop by the way. Then the life-saving crews are busy and the Boston +newspapers report another wreck. All up and down the outer beach are +the sun-whitened bones of schooners and ships; and all about them, and +partially covering them, is sand, sand, sand, as white and much coarser +than granulated sugar. + +Hazeltine's post-office trip and other errands had taken much more +time than he anticipated, and more than two hours had gone by before +he called for Captain Eri. During the row to the beach the electrician +explained to the Captain the processes by which a break in the cable is +located and repaired. + +“You see,” he said, “as soon as the line breaks we set about finding +where it is broken. To do this we use an instrument called the +Wheatstone bridge. In this case the break is about six hundred miles +from the American shore. The next thing is to get at the company's +repair ship. She lies, usually, at Halifax when she isn't busy, and +that is where she was this time. We wired her and she left for the spot +immediately. It was up to me to get ready the testing apparatus--we +generally set up special instruments for testing. Judging by the +distance, the ship should have been over the break early this morning. +She will grapple for the broken cable ends, and as soon as she catches +our end she'll send us a message. It's simple enough.” + +“Like takin' wormwood tea--easy enough if you've been brought up that +way. I think I'd make more money catchin' codfish, myself,” commented +the Captain dryly. + +Ralph laughed. “Well, it really is a very simple matter,” he said. “The +only thing we have to be sure of is that our end of the line is ready +by the time the ship reaches the break. If the weather is bad the +ship can't work, and so, when she does work, she works quick. I had my +instruments in condition yesterday, so we're all right this time.” + +They landed at the little wharf and plodded through the heavy sand. + +“Dismal-looking place, isn't it?” said Hazeltine, as he opened the back +door of the station. + +“Well, I don't know; it has its good p'ints,” replied his companion. +“Your neighbors' hens don't scratch up your garden, for one thing. What +do you do in here?” + +“This is the room where we receive and send. This is the receiver.” + +The captain noticed with interest the recorder, with its two brass +supports and the little glass tube, half filled with ink, that, when +the cable was working, wrote the messages upon the paper tape traveling +beneath it. + +“Pretty nigh as finicky as a watch, ain't it?” he observed. + +“Fully as delicate in its way. Do you see this little screw on the +centerpiece? Turn that a little, one way or the other, and the operator +on the other side might send until doomsday, we wouldn't know it. I'll +show you the living rooms and the laboratory now.” + +Just then the door at the other end of the room opened, and a man, whom +Captain Eri recognized as one of the operators, came in. He started when +he saw Hazeltine and turned to go out again. Ralph spoke to him: + +“Peters,” he said, “where is Mr. Langley?” + +“Don't know,” answered the fellow gruffly. + +“Wait a minute. Tell me where Mr. Langley is.” + +“I don't know where he is. He went over to the village a while ago.” + +“Where are the rest of the men?” + +“Don't know.” + +The impudence and thinly veiled hostility in the man's tone were +unmistakable. Hazeltine hesitated, seemed about to speak, and then +silently led the way to the hall. + +“I'll show you the laboratory later on,” he said. “We'll go up to the +testing room now.” Then he added, apparently as much to himself as to +his visitor, “I told those fellows that I wouldn't be back until noon.” + +There was a door at the top of the stairs. Ralph opened this quietly. As +they passed through, Captain Eri noticed that Peters had followed them +into the hall and stood there, looking up. + +The upper hall had a straw matting on the floor. There was another door +at the end of the passage, and this was ajar. Toward it the electrician +walked rapidly. From the room behind the door came a shout of laughter; +then someone said: + +“Better give it another turn, hadn't I, to make sure? If two turns fixes +it so we don't hear for a couple of hours, another one ought to shut it +up for a week. That's arithmetic, ain't it?” + +The laugh that followed this was cut short by Hazeltine's throwing the +door wide open. + +Captain Eri, close at the electrician's heels, saw a long room, empty +save for a few chairs and a table in the center. Upon this table stood +the testing instruments, exactly like those in the receiving room +downstairs. Three men lounged in the chairs, and standing beside the +table, with his fingers upon the regulating screw at the centerpiece +of the recorder, was another, a big fellow, with a round, smooth-shaven +face. + +The men in the chairs sprang to their feet as Hazeltine came in. The +face of the individual by the table turned white and his fingers fell +from the regulating screw, as though the latter were red hot. The +Captain recognized the men; they were day operators whom he had met in +the village many times. Incidentally, they were avowed friends of the +former electrician, Parker. The name of the taller one was McLoughlin. + +No one spoke. Ralph strode quickly to the table, pushed McLoughlin to +one side and stooped over the instruments. When he straightened up, +Captain Eri noticed that his face also was white, but evidently not from +fear. He turned sharply and looked at the four operators, who were doing +their best to appear at ease and not succeeding. The electrician looked +them over, one by one. Then he gave a short laugh. + +“You damned sneaks!” he said, and turned again to the testing apparatus. + +He began slowly to turn the regulating screw on the recorder. He had +given it but a few revolutions when the point of the little glass +siphon, that had been tracing a straight black line on the sliding tape, +moved up and down in curving zigzags. Hazeltine turned to the operator. + +“Palmer,” he said curtly, “answer that call.” + +The man addressed seated himself at the table, turned a switch, and +clicked off a message. After a moment the line on the moving tape +zigzagged again. Ralph glanced at the zigzags and bit his lip. + +“Apologize to them,” he said to Palmer. “Tell them we regret exceedingly +that the ship should have been kept waiting. Tell them our recorder was +out of adjustment.” + +The operator cabled the message. The three men at the end of the room +glanced at each other; this evidently was not what they expected. + +Steps sounded on the stairs and Peters hurriedly entered. + +“The old man's comin',” he said. + +Mr. Langley, the superintendent of the station, had been in the +company's employ for years. He had been in charge of the Cape Cod +station since it was built, and he liked the job. He knew cable work, +too, from A to Z, and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, would +forgive a man's getting drunk occasionally, sooner than condone +carelessness. He was eccentric, but even those who did not like him +acknowledged that he was “square.” + +He came into the room, tossed a cigar stump out of the window, and +nodded to Captain Eri. + +“How are you, Captain Hedge?” he said. Then, stepping to the table, he +picked up the tape. + +“Everything all right, Mr. Hazeltine?” he asked. “Hello! What does this +mean? They say they have been calling for two hours without getting an +answer. How do you explain that?” + +It was very quiet in the room when the electrician answered. + +“The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir,” he said simply. + +“Out of adjustment! I thought you told me everything was in perfect +order before you left this morning.” + +“I thought so, sir, but I find the screw was too loose. That would +account for the call not reaching us.” + +“Too loose! Humph!” The superintendent looked steadfastly at Hazeltine, +then at the operators, and then at the electrician once more. + +“Mr. Hazeltine,” he said at length, “I will hear what explanations you +may have to make in my office later on. I will attend to the testing +myself. That will do.” + +Captain Eri silently followed his young friend to the back door of the +station. Hazeltine had seen fit to make no comment on the scene just +described, and the captain did not feel like offering any. They were +standing on the steps when the big operator, McLoughlin, came out of the +building behind them. + +“Well,” he said gruffly to the electrician. “Shall I quit now or wait +until Saturday?” + +“What?” + +“Shall I git out now or wait till Saturday night? I suppose you'll have +me fired.” + +Then Hazeltine's pent-up rage boiled over. + +“If you mean that I'll tell Mr. Langley of your cowardly trick and have +you discharged--No! I don't pay my debts that way. But I'll tell you +this,--you and your sneaking friends. If you try another game like +that,--yes, or if you so much as speak to me, other than on business +while I'm here, I WILL fire you--out of the window. Clear out!” + +“Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri a few moments later, “I hope you don't +mind my sayin' that I like you fust-rate. Me and Perez and Jerry ain't +the biggest bugs in town, but we like to have our friends come and see +us. I wish you'd drop in once 'n a while.” + +“I certainly will,” said the young man, and the two shook hands. That +vigorous handshake was enough of itself to convince Ralph Hazeltine that +he had made, at any rate, one friend in Orham. + +And we may as well add here that he had made two. For that evening Jack +McLoughlin said to his fellow conspirators: + +“He said he'd fire me out of the window,--ME, mind you! And, by thunder! +I believe he'd have DONE it too. Boys, there ain't any more 'con' games +played on that kid while I'm around--Parker or no Parker. He's white, +that's what HE is!” + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + + +Conversation among the captains was, for the next two days, confined to +two topics, speculation as to how soon they might expect a reply from +the Nantucket female and whether or not Mr. Langley would discharge +Hazeltine. On the latter point Captain Eri was decided. + +“He won't be bounced,” said the Captain; “now you just put that down in +your log. Langley ain't a fool, and he can put two and two together as +well as the next feller. If I thought there was any need of it, I'd just +drop him a hint myself, but there ain't, so I shan't put my oar in. But +I wish you two could have heard that youngster talk to that McLoughlin +critter; 'twould have done you good. That boy's all right.” + +Captain Jerry was alone when the expected letter came. He glanced at +the postmark, saw that it was Nantucket, and stuck the note behind +the clock. He did his best to forget it, but he looked so guilty when +Captain Perez returned at supper time that that individual suspected +something, made his friend confess, and, a little later when Captain Eri +came in, the envelope, bearing many thumb-prints, was propped up against +the sugar bowl in the middle of the table. + +“We didn't open it, Eri,” said Perez proudly. “We did want to, but we +thought all hands ought to be on deck when anything as important as this +was goin' to be done.” + +“He's been holdin' it up to the light for the last ha'f hour,” sneered +Captain Jerry. “Anybody 'd think it had a million dollars in it. For the +land's sake, open it, Eri, 'fore he has a fit!” + +Captain Eri picked up the letter, looked it over very deliberately, and +then tore off the end of the envelope. The inclosure was another +sheet of note paper like the first epistle. The Captain took out his +spectacles, wiped them, and read the following aloud: + + +“CAPTAIN JEREMIAH BURGESS. + +“Sir: I like your looks well enough, though it don't pay to put too much +dependence in looks, as nobody knows better than me. Besides, I judge +that picture was took quite a spell ago. Anyway, you look honest, and +I am willing to risk money enough to carry me to Orham and back, though +the dear land knows I ain't got none to throw away. If we don't agree +to sign articles, I suppose likely you will be willing to stand half the +fare. That ain't any more than right, the way I look at it. I shall come +to Orham on the afternoon train, Thursday. Meet me at the depot. + +“Yours truly, + +“MARTHA B. SNOW. + +“P. S.--I should have liked it better if you was a Methodist, but we +can't have everything just as we want it in this world.” + + +Nobody spoke for a moment after the reading of this intensely practical +note. Captain Eri whistled softly, scratched his head, and then read the +letter over again to himself. At length Captain Perez broke the spell. + +“Jerusalem!” he exclaimed. “She don't lose no time, does she?” + +“She's pretty prompt, that's a fact,” assented Captain Eri. + +Captain Jerry burst forth in indignation: + +“Is THAT all you've got to say?” he inquired with sarcasm, “after +gittin' me into a scrape like this? Well now, I tell you one thing, I--” + +“Don't go on your beam ends, Jerry,” interrupted Captain Eri. “There +ain't no harm done yit.” + +“Ain't no harm done? Why how you talk, Eri Hedge! Here's a woman that +I ain't never seen, and might be a hundred years old, for all I know, +comin' down here to-morrow night to marry me by main force, as you might +say, and you set here and talk about--” + +“Now, hold on, hold on, Jerry! She ain't goin' to marry you unless you +want her to, 'tain't likely. More I think of it, the more I like the +woman's way of doin' things. She's got sense, there's no doubt of that. +You can't sell HER a cat in a bag. She's comin' down here to see you and +talk the thing over, and I glory in her spunk.” + +“Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways enough +to spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks.” + +“If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay more +than fares,” said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. “I think same +as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet her at the depot, +of course.” + +“Well _I_ won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I cal'late +she'll have to do some huntin'.” + +“Now, see here, Jerry,” said Captain Eri, “you was jest as anxious to +have one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to marry +the woman unless you want to, but you have got to help us see the thing +through. I wish myself that we hadn't been quite so pesky anxious +to give her the latitude and longitude, and had took some sort of an +observation ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've got to treat her +decent. You'll be at that depot along with Perez and me.” + +When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed +orders. Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for his +younger friend, gave in after some grumbling. + +They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and +appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that he +didn't know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about forty +and slim. Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where agreement +with anyone was out of the question, gave it as his opinion that she +was thirty odd and rather plump. Captain Eri didn't hazard a guess, but +suggested that they wait and see. + +But even Captain Eri's calmness was more or less assumed, for he did not +go fishing the next morning, but stayed about the house, whittling at +the model of a clipper ship and tormenting Captain Jerry. The model was +one that he had been at work upon at odd times ever since he gave up +sea-going. It had never been completed for the very good reason that +when one part was finished the Captain tore another part to pieces, and +began over again. It was a sort of barometer of his feelings, and when +his companions saw him take down the clipper and go to work, they knew +he was either thinking deeply upon a perplexing problem or was troubled +in his mind. + +Captain Perez sang a good deal, principally confining his musical +efforts to a ballad with a chorus of, + + | “Storm along, John; + | John, storm along; + | Ain't I glad my day's work's done!” + +Also, he glanced at his watch every few minutes and then went to consult +the chronometer to make sure of the time. + +Captain Jerry went up to the schoolhouse and gave its vacant rooms a +thorough sweeping for no particular reason except to be doing something. +His appetite was poor, and he actually forgot to feed Lorenzo, a +hitherto unheard-of slight, and one that brought down upon him a long +lecture from Captain Eri, who vowed that loss of memory was a sure sign +of lovesickness. + +They started for the railway station immediately after supper. As they +passed John Baxter's house they noticed a light in an upper chamber, and +wondered if the old man was ill. Captain Eri would have stopped to find +out, but Captain Perez insisted that it could be done just as well when +they came back, and expressed a fear that they might miss the train. +Captain Jerry hadn't spoken since they left home, and walked gloomily +ahead with his hands in his pockets. + +Mr. “Web” Saunders, fat and in his pink-striped shirtsleeves, sat upon +the steps of his saloon as they went by. He wished them an unctuous +good-evening. The oily smoothness of Mr. Saunders' voice cannot be +described with plain pen and ink; it gurgled with sweetness, like +molasses poured from a jug. This was not a special tone put on for the +occasion; no one except his wife ever heard him speak otherwise. + +The response from the three captains was not enthusiastic, but Mr. +Saunders continued to talk of the weather, the fishing, and the +cranberry crop until a customer came and gave them a chance to get away. + +“Slick! slick! slick!” commented Captain Eri, as they hurried along. +“Blessed if he don't pretty nigh purr. I like a cat fust-rate, but I'm +always suspicious of a cat-man. You know he's got claws, but you can't +tell where he's goin' to use 'em. When a feller like that comes slidin' +around and rubbin' his head against my shin, I always feel like keepin' +t'other foot ready for a kick. You're pretty sartin to need it one time +or another.” + +The train was nearly an hour late this evening, owing to a hot box, and +the “ex-seafaring man” and his two friends peered anxiously out at it +from around the corner of the station. The one coach stopped directly +under the lights, and they could see the passengers as they came down +the steps. Two or three got out, but these were men. Then came an +apparition that caused Captain Jerry to gasp and clutch at Perez for +support. + +Down the steps of the car came a tall, coal-black negress, and in her +hand was a canvas extension case, on the side of which was blazoned in +two-inch letters the fateful name, “M. B. Snow, Nantucket.” + +Captain Eri gazed at this astounding spectacle for a full thirty +seconds. Then he woke up. + +“Godfrey domino!” he ejaculated. “BLACK! BLACK! Run! Run for your lives, +'fore she sees us!” + +This order was superfluous. Captain Jerry was already half-way to the +fence, and going at a rate which bid fair to establish a record for +his age. The others fell into his wake, and the procession moved across +country like a steeplechase. + +They climbed over stone walls and splashed into meadows. They took every +short cut between the station and their home. As they came in sight of +the latter, Captain Perez' breath gave out almost entirely. + +“Heave to!” he gasped. “Heave to, or I'll founder. I wouldn't run +another step for all the darkies in the West Indies.” + +Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain Jerry +was persuaded to halt. + +“I shan't do it, Eri!” he vowed wildly. “I shan't do it! There ain't no +use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, by thunder!” + +“There! there! Jerry!” said Captain Eri soothingly. “Nobody wants you +to. There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us.” + +“Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where I live +and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!” + +The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain Eri +caught him by the arm. + +“I'll tell you what,” he said, “we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty and +hide there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't come, +anyhow.” + +The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late Nathaniel +Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. In a few moments +the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the door. Then Captain +Eri pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket and laughed until the +tears came into his eyes. + +“That's it, laff!” almost sobbed Captain Jerry. “Set there and tee-hee +like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till the rest of the +town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' then, and you won't +feel so funny. We'll never hear the last of it in this world. If that +darky comes down here, I'll--I'll drown her; I will--” + +“I don't blame Jerry,” said Perez indignantly. “I don't see much to laff +at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now.” + +They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together at the +cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the “depot wagon” rock past. +They waited, breathless, until they saw it go back again up the road. + +“Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?” asked Captain Eri. + +“Course I didn't. Why should I?” + +It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham except +at bedtime. + +“Humph!” grunted Captain Eri. “She'll see the light in the dining room, +and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's nothin' for us to +do but to stay here for a while, and then, if she ain't gone, one of +us 'll have to go up and tell her she won't suit and pay her fare home, +that's all. I think Jerry ought to be the one,” he added mischievously. +“He bein' the bridegroom, as you might say.” + +“Me!” almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. “You go to grass! You +fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me out of it. +I don't stir one step.” + +They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an occasional +chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was meditating, and +observed, after a while: + +“Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?” + +“That colored man up at Barry's place was named White,” said Captain +Jerry, “and he was black as your hat. Names don't count.” + +“They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry,” slyly remarked Eri. +“Maybe you'd better think it over.” + +The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the minutes +crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone whistling. Perez +went to the window to take an observation. + +“It's a man,” he said disappointedly. “He's been to our house, too. My +land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller Hazeltine; that's who +'tis.” + +“Is it?” exclaimed Eri eagerly. “That's so! so 'tis. Let's give him a +hail.” + +Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the door, +had opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the opening, +was whistling shrilly. + +The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort of +way, but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter the +whistles came. + +“Mr. Hazeltine!” hailed the Captain, in what might be called a whispered +yell or a shouted whisper. “Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on your lee bow. In the +shanty.” + +The word “shanty” was the only part of the speech that brought light to +Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the hill, left the +road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to the door. + +“Who is it?” he asked. “Why, hello, Captain! What on earth--” + +Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, pulled +him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry hastened to set the +saw-horse in place again. + +“Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with +Cap'n Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me speak of +'em.” + +Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered voices +express themselves as glad to know him. + +“You see,” continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, “we're sort +of layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. We ain't +out of our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's what it looks +like.” + +The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it. +To tell the truth, he had begun to think that something or other had +suddenly driven his nearest neighbors crazy. + +“I--I--I don't know how to explain it to you,” the Captain stumbled on. +“Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It does sound +so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you understand it. What we +want to know is, have you been to our house and is there anybody there?” + +“Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a minute, +as you suggested the other day. The housekeeper--I suppose it was the +housekeeper--that opened the door, said you were out, and I--” + +He was interrupted by a hopeless groan. + +“I knew it!” wailed Captain Jerry. “I knew it! And you said there wa'n't +no danger, Eri!” + +“Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she doin', +Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? Did she look +as if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have her bunnit on?” + +“No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought--” + +But again Captain Jerry broke in, “Well, by mighty!” he ejaculated. +“That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! She's +goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too good a +thing. Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other gab machine +like her, 'll be the next one to call, and if they see that great black +critter! Oh! my soul!” + +“Black!” said Ralph amazedly. “Why, the woman at your house isn't black. +She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of her age.” + +“WHAT?” This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said: + +“Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?” + +“Of course it's a fact.” + +The Captain wiped his forehead. “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said, “if anybody +had told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three biggest fools in +Orham, I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis now, I cal'late I'd thank +him for lettin' me off so easy. You'll have to excuse us to-night, I'm +afraid. We're in a ridic'lous scrape that we've got to git out of all +alone. I'll tell you 'bout it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this +kind of quiet to oblige me.” + +Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his immediate +departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, felt there +was nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised faithfully to call +again later in the week, and then, the sawhorse having been removed by +Captain Perez,--Captain Jerry was apparently suffering from a sort of +dazed paralysis,--he went away. As soon as he had gone, Captain Eri +began to lay down the law. + +“Now then,” he said, “there's been some sort of a mistake; that's plain +enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel when she got up +to come out of the car. That woman at the house is the real Marthy Snow +all right, and we've got to go right up there and see her. Come on!” + +But Captain Jerry mutinied outright. He declared that the sight of that +darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would not see +the candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No persuasion +could budge him. He simply would not stir from that shanty until the +house had been cleared of female visitors. + +“Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it,” he declared. “I +shan't!” + +“All right,” said Captain Eri calmly. “I will. I'll tell her you're +bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have you if she +only waits long enough.” + +With this he turned on his heel and walked out. + +“Hold on, Eri!” shouted the frantic Jerry. “Don't you do it! Don't you +tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he will?” + +“I don't know,” was the answer in a disgusted tone. “You hadn't ought to +have been so pig-headed, Jerry.” + +Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face, +walked straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he +opened it and stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in Captain +Perez' rocker, rose as he entered. + +The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She was +of middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes behind +brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black “alpaca” gown that +was faded a little in places and had been neatly mended in others. She +spoke first. + +“You're not Cap'n Burgess?” she said. + +“No, ma'am,” said the Captain uneasily. “My name is Hedge. I'm a sort of +messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?” + +“Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow.” + +They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very nervous +and not knowing how to begin. + +“I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge,” said the widow, as the Captain +slid into his own rocker. “The boy on the depot wagon told me a lot +about you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess.” + +“Did, hey?” The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's +grandnephew. “Hope he gave us a clean bill.” + +“Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. If he +had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've lived +long enough to want to find out things for myself, and not take folks' +say-so.” + +The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement, +Captain Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out things +for one's self was a good “idee.” Then, after another fidgety silence, +he observed that it was a fine evening. There being no dispute on this +point, he endeavored to think of something else to say. Mrs. Snow, +however, saved him the trouble. + +“Cap'n Hedge,” she said, “as I'm here on what you might call a bus'ness +errand, and as I've been waitin' pretty nigh two hours already, p'raps +we'd better talk about somethin' besides fine evenin's. I've got to be +lookin' up a hotel or boardin' house or somewheres to stay to-night, and +I can't wait much longer. I jedge you got my letter and was expectin' +me. Now, if it ain't askin' too much, I'd like to know where Cap'n +Burgess is, and why he wa'n't at the depot to meet me.” + +This was a leading question, and the Captain was more embarrassed than +ever. However, he felt that something had to be done and that it was +wisest to get it over with as soon as possible. + +“Well, ma'am,” he said, “we--we got your letter all right, and, to tell +you the truth, we was at the depot--Perez and me and Jerry.” + +“You WAS! Well, then, for the land of goodness, why didn't you let me +know it? Such a time as I had tryin' to find out where you lived and +all!” + +The Captain saw but one plausible explanation, and that was the plain +truth. Slowly he told the story of the colored woman and the extension +case. The widow laughed until her spectacles fell off. + +“Well, there!” she exclaimed. “If that don't beat all! I don't blame +Cap'n Burgess a mite. Poor thing! I guess I'd have run, too, if I'd have +seen that darky. She was settin' right in the next seat to me, and she +had a shut-over bag consid'rable like mine, and when she got up to git +out, she took mine by mistake. I was a good deal put out about it, and +I expect I talked to her like a Dutch uncle when I caught up with her. +Dear! dear! Where is Cap'n Burgess?” + +“He's shut up in a fish shanty down the road, and he's so upsot that I +dunno's he'll stir from there tonight. Jerry ain't prejudiced, but that +darky was too much for him.” + +And then they both laughed, the widow because of the ludicrous nature +of the affair and the Captain because of the relief that the lady's +acceptance of it afforded his mind. + +Mrs. Snow was the first to become grave. “Cap'n Hedge,” she said, +“there's one or two things I must say right here. In the first place, I +ain't in the habit of answerin' advertisements from folks that wants +to git married; I ain't so hard up for a man as all that comes to. +Next thing, I didn't come down here with my mind made up to marry Cap'n +Burgess, not by no means. I wanted to see him and talk with him, and +tell him jest all about how things was with me and find out about him +and then--why, if everything was shipshape, I might, p'raps, think +about--” + +“Jest so, ma'am, jest so,” broke in her companion. “That's about the +way we felt. You see, there's prob'ly a long story on both sides, and if +you'll excuse me I'll go down to the shanty and see if I can't git Jerry +up here. It'll be a job, I'm 'fraid, but--” + +“No, you shan't either. I'll tell you what we'll do. It's awful late +now and I must be gittin' up to the tavern. S'pose, if 'tain't too much +trouble, you walk up there with me and I'll stay there to-night and +to-morrer I'll come down here, and we'll all have a common-sense talk. +P'raps by that time your friend 'll have the darky woman some off his +mind, too.” + +Needless to say Captain Eri agreed to this plan with alacrity. The +widow carefully tied on a black, old-fashioned bonnet, picked up a fat, +wooden-handled umbrella and the extension case, and said that she was +ready. + +They walked up the road together, the Captain carrying the extension +case. They talked, but not of matrimonial prospects. Mrs. Snow knew +almost as much about the sea and the goings and comings thereon as did +her escort, and the conversation was salty in the extreme. It +developed that the Nantucket lady had a distant relative who was in the +life-saving service at Cuttyhunk station, and as the Captain knew every +station man for twenty miles up and down the coast, wrecks and maritime +disasters of all kinds were discussed in detail. + +At the Traveler's Rest Mrs. Snow was introduced by the unblushing Eri as +a cousin from Provincetown, and, after some controversy concerning the +price of board and lodging, she was shown up to her room. Captain Eri +walked home, absorbed in meditation. Whatever his thoughts were they +were not disagreeable, for he smiled and shook his head more than once, +as if with satisfaction. As he passed John Baxter's house he noticed +that the light in the upper window was still burning. + +Captain Perez was half asleep when Eri opened the door of the shanty. +Captain Jerry, however, was very much awake and demanded to be told +things right away. His friend briefly explained the situation. + +“I don't care if she stays here till doomsday,” emphatically declared +the disgruntled one, “I shan't marry her. What's she like, anyhow?” + +He was surprised at the enthusiasm of Captain Eri's answer. + +“She's a mighty good woman; that's what I think she is, and she'd make +a fust-class wife for any man. I hope you'll say so, too, when you +see her. There ain't nothin' hity-tity about her, but she's got more +common-sense than any woman I ever saw. But there! I shan't talk another +bit about her to-night. Come on home and turn in.” + +And go home and turn in they did, but not without protestation from the +pair who had yet to meet the woman from Nantucket. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + + +“All hands on deck! Turn out there! Turnout!” + +Captain Eri grunted and rolled over in his bed; for a moment or two he +fancied himself back in the fo'castle of the Sea Mist, the bark in which +he had made his first voyage. Then, as he grew wider awake, he heard, +somewhere in the distance, a bell ringing furiously. + +“Turn out, all hands! Turn out!” + +Captain Eri sat up. That voice was no part of a dream. It belonged to +Captain Jerry, and the tone of it meant business. The bell continued to +ring. + +“Aye, aye, Jerry! What's the matter?” he shouted. + +“Fire! There's a big fire up in the village. Look out of the window, and +you can see. They're ringing the schoolhouse bell; don't you hear it?” + +The Captain, wide awake enough by this time, jumped out of bed, carrying +the blankets with him, and ran to the window. Opening it, he thrust out +his head. The wind had changed to the eastward, and a thick fog had come +in with it. The house was surrounded by a wet, black wall, but off to +the west a red glow shone through it, now brighter and now fainter. The +schoolhouse bell was turning somersaults in its excitement. + +Only once, since Captain Jerry had been janitor, had the schoolhouse +bell been rung except in the performance of its regular duties. That +once was on a night before the Fourth of July, when some mischievous +youngsters climbed in at a window and proclaimed to sleeping Orham that +Young America was celebrating the anniversary of its birth. Since then, +on nights before the Fourth, Captain Jerry had slept in the schoolhouse, +armed with a horsewhip and an ancient navy revolver. The revolver was +strictly for show, and the horsewhip for use, but neither was called +into service, for even if some dare-devil spirits did venture near the +building, the Captain's snores, as he slumbered by the front door, were +danger signals that could not be disregarded. + +But there was no flavor of the Fourth in the bell's note this night. +Whoever the ringer might be, he was ringing as though it was his only +hope for life, and the bell swung back and forth without a pause. The +red glow in the fog brightened again as the Captain gazed at it. + +Captain Jerry came tumbling up the stairs, breathless and half dressed. + +“Where do you make it out to be?” he panted. + +“Somewhere's nigh the post-office. Looks 's if it might be Weeks's +store. Where's Perez?” + +Captain Eri had lighted a lamp and was pulling on his boots, as he +spoke. + +“Here I be!” shouted the missing member of the trio from the dining room +below. “I'm all ready. Hurry up, Eri!” + +Captain Eri jumped into his trousers, slipped into a faded pea-jacket +and clattered downstairs, followed by the wildly excited Jerry. + +“Good land, Perez!” he cried, as he came into the dining room, “I +thought you said you was all ready!” + +Captain Perez paused in the vain attempt to make Captain Jerry's hat +cover his own cranium and replied indignantly, “Well, I am, ain't I?” + +“Seems to me I'd put somethin' on my feet besides them socks, if I was +you. You might catch cold.” + +Perez glanced down at his blue-yarn extremities in blank astonishment. +“Well, now,” he exclaimed, “if I hain't forgot my boots!” + +“Well, git 'em on, and be quick. There's your hat. Give Jerry his.” + +The excited Perez vanished through the door of his chamber, and Captain +Eri glanced at the chronometer; the time was a quarter after two. + +They hurried out of the door and through the yard. The wind, as has been +said, was from the east, but there was little of it and, except for the +clanging of the bell, the night was very still. The fog was heavy and +wet, and the trees and bushes dripped as if from a shower. There was the +salt smell of the marshes in the air, and the hissing and splashing of +the surf on the outer beach were plainly to be heard. Also there was the +clicking sound of oars in row-locks. + +“Somebody is comin' over from the station,” gasped Captain Jerry. “Don't +run so, Eri. It's too dark. I've pretty nigh broke my neck already.” + +They passed the lily pond, where the frogs had long since adjourned +their concert and gone to bed, dodged through the yard of the tightly +shuttered summer hotel, and came out at the corner of the road, having +saved some distance by the “short-cut.” + +“That ain't Weeks's store,” declared Captain Perez, who was in the lead. +“It's Web Saunders's place; that's what it is.” + +Captain Eri paused and looked over to the left in the direction of the +Baxter homestead. The light in the window was still burning. + +They turned into the “main road” at a dog trot and became part of a +crowd of oddly dressed people, all running in the same direction. + +“Web's place, ain't it?” asked Eri of Seth Wingate, who was lumbering +along with a wooden bucket in one hand and the pitcher of his wife's +best washstand set in the other. + +“Yes,” breathlessly answered Mr. Wingate, “and it's a goner, they tell +me. Every man's got to do his part if they're going to save it. I allers +said we ought to have a fire department in this town.” + +Considering that Seth had, for the past eight years, persistently +opposed in town-meeting any attempt to purchase a hand engine, this was +a rather surprising speech, but no one paid any attention to it then. + +The fire was in the billiard saloon sure enough, and the back portion +of the building was in a blaze when they reached it. Ladders were placed +against the eaves, and a line of men with buckets were pouring water on +the roof. The line extended to the town pump, where two energetic youths +in their shirtsleeves were working the handle with might and main. The +houses near at hand were brilliantly illuminated, and men and women were +bringing water from them in buckets, tin pails, washboilers, and even +coalscuttles. + +Inside the saloon another hustling crowd was busily working to “save” + Mr. Saunders' property. A dozen of the members had turned the biggest +pool table over on its back and were unscrewing the legs, heedless of +the fact that to attempt to get the table through the front door was +an impossibility and that, as the back door was in the thickest of the +fire, it, too, was out of the question. A man appeared at the open front +window of the second story with his arms filled with bottles of various +liquids, “original packages” and others. These, with feverish energy, he +threw one by one into the street, endangering the lives of everyone +in range and, of course, breaking every bottle thrown. Some one of +the cooler heads calling his attention to these facts, he retired and +carefully packed all the empty bottles, the only ones remaining, into a +peach basket and tugged the latter downstairs and to a safe place on a +neighboring piazza. Then he rested from his labors as one who had done +all that might reasonably be expected. + +Mr. Saunders himself, lightly attired in a nightshirt tucked into a +pair of trousers, was rushing here and there, now loudly demanding more +water, and then stopping to swear at the bottle-thrower or some other +enthusiast. “Web's” smoothness was all gone, and the language he used +was, as Abigail Mullett said afterward, “enough to bring down a jedgment +on anybody.” + +Captain Eri caught him by the sleeve as he was running past and +inquired, “How'd it start, Web?” + +“How'd it START? I know mighty well HOW it started, and 'fore I git +through I'll know WHO started it. Somebody 'll pay for this, now you +hear me! Hurry up with the water, you--” + +He tore frantically away to the pump and the three captains joined the +crowd of volunteer firemen. Captain Eri, running round to the back of +the building, took in the situation at once. Back of the main portion of +the saloon was an ell, and it was in this ell that the fire had started. +The ell, itself, was in a bright blaze, but the larger building in front +was only just beginning to burn. The Captain climbed one of the ladders +to the roof and called to the men at work there. + +“That shed's gone, Ben,” he said. “Chuck your water on the main part +here. Maybe, if we had some ropes we might be able to pull the shed +clear, and then we could save the rest.” + +“How'd you fasten the ropes?” was the panted reply. “She's all ablaze, +and a rope would burn through in a minute if you tied it anywheres.” + +“Git some grapples and anchors out of Rogers' shop. He's got a whole lot +of 'em. Keep on with the water bus'ness. I'll git the other stuff.” + +He descended the ladder and explained his idea to the crowd below. There +was a great shout and twenty men and boys started on a run after ropes, +while as many more stormed at the door of Nathaniel Rogers' blacksmith +shop. Rogers was the local dealer in anchors and other marine ironwork. +The door of the shop was locked and there was a yell for axes to burst +it open. + +Then arose an agonized shriek of “Don't chop! don't chop!” and Mr. +Rogers himself came struggling to the defense of his property. +In concert the instant need was explained to him, but he remained +unconvinced. + +“We can't stay here arguin' all night!” roared one of the leaders. “He's +got to let us in. Go ahead and chop! I'll hold him.” + +“I give you fair warnin', Squealer Wixon! If you chop that door, I'll +have the law onto you. I just had that door painted, and--STOP! I've got +the key in my pocket!” + +It was plain that the majority were still in favor of chopping, as +affording a better outlet for surplus energy, but they waited while Mr. +Rogers, still protesting, produced the key and unlocked the door. In +another minute the greater portion of the ironwork in the establishment +was on its way to the fire. + +The rope-seekers were just returning, laden with everything from +clothes-lines to cables. Half a dozen boat anchors and a grapnel were +fastened to as many ropes, and the crowd pranced gayly about the burning +ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain Eri found a party +with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the side of the saloon in +order to get out the pool table. After some endeavor he persuaded them +to desist and they came around to the rear and, taking turns, ran in +close to the shed and chopped at it until the fire drove them away. At +last they made a hole close to where it joined the main building, large +enough to attach the grapnel. Then, with a “Yo heave ho!” everyone took +hold of the rope and pulled. Of course the grapnel pulled out with only +a board or two, but they tried again, and, this time getting it around a +beam, pulled a large portion of the shed to the ground. + +Meanwhile, another ax party had attached an anchor to the opposite side, +and were making good progress. In due time the shed yawned away from the +saloon, tottered, and collapsed in a shower of sparks. A deluge of water +soon extinguished these. Then everyone turned to the main building, +and, as the fire had not yet taken a firm hold of this, they soon had it +under control. + +Captain Eri worked with the rest until he saw that the worst was over. +Then he began the search that had been in his mind since he first saw +the blaze. He found Captain Jerry and Captain Perez perspiringly passing +buckets of water from hand to hand in the line, and, calling them to one +side, asked anxiously: + +“Have either of you fellers seen John Baxter tonight?” + +Captain Perez looked surprised, and then some of the trouble discernible +in Eri's face was apparent in his own. + +“Why, no,” he replied slowly, “I ain't seen him, now you speak of it. +Everybody in town's here, too. Queer, ain't it? + +“Haven't you seen him, either, Jerry?” + +Captain Jerry answered with a shake of the head. “But then,” he said, +“Perez and me have been right here by the pump ever sence we come. He +might be 'most anywheres else, and we wouldn't see him. Want me to ask +some of the other fellers?” + +“No!” exclaimed his friend, almost fiercely. “Don't you mention his name +to a soul, nor let 'em know you've thought of him. If anybody should +ask, tell 'em you guess he's right around somewheres. You two git to +work ag'in. I'll let you know if I want you.” + +The pair took up their buckets, and the Captain walked on from group to +group, looking carefully at each person. The Reverend Perley and some +of his flock were standing by themselves on a neighboring stoop, and to +them the searcher turned eagerly. + +“Why, Cap'n Eri!” exclaimed Miss Busteed, the first to identify him, +“how you've worked! You must be tired pretty nigh to death. Ain't it +awful! But it's the Lord's doin's; I'm jest as sure of that as I can be, +and I says so to Mr. Perley. Didn't I, Mr. Perley? I says--” + +“Lookin' for anybody, Cap'n?” interrupted the reverend gentleman. + +“No,” lied the Captain calmly, “jest walkin' around to git cooled off a +little. Good-night.” + +There was the most likely place, and John Baxter was not there. +Certainly every citizen in Orham, who was able to crawl, would be out +this night, and if the old puritan hermit of the big house was not +present to exult over the downfall of the wicked, it would be because +he was ill or because--The Captain didn't like to think of the other +reason. + +Mrs. “Web” Saunders, quietly weeping, was seated on a knoll near the +pump. Three of the Saunders' hopefuls, also weeping, but not quietly, +were seated beside her. Another, the youngest of the family, was being +rocked soothingly in the arms of a stout female, who was singing to it +as placidly as though fires were an every day, or night, occurrence. The +Captain peered down, and the stout woman looked up. + +“Why, Mrs. Snow!” exclaimed Captain Eri. + +The lady from Nantucket made no immediate reply. She rose, however, +shook down the black “alpaca” skirt, which had been folded up to keep +it out of the dew, and, still humming softly to the child, walked off a +little way, motioning with her head for the Captain to follow. When +she had reached a spot sufficiently remote from Mrs. Saunders, she +whispered: + +“How d'ye do, Cap'n Hedge? I guess the wust is over now, isn't it? I saw +you workin' with them ropes; you must be awful tired.” + +“How long have you been here?” asked the Captain somewhat astonished at +her calmness. + +“Oh, I come right down as soon as I heard the bell. I'm kind of used to +fires. My husband's schooner got afire twice while I was with him. He +used to run a coal vessel, you know. I got right up and packed my bag, +'cause I didn't know how the fire might spread. You never can tell in +a town like this. Ssh'h, dearie,” to the baby, “there, there, it's all +right. Lay still.” + +“How'd you git acquainted with her?” nodding toward the wife of the +proprietor of the scorched saloon. + +“Oh, I see the poor thing settin' there with all them children and +nobody paying much attention to her, so I went over and asked if I +couldn't help out. I haven't got any children of my own, but I was +number three in a fam'ly of fourteen, so I know how it's done. Oh! that +husband of hers! He's a nice one, he is! Would you b'lieve it, he come +along and she spoke to him, and he swore at her somethin' dreadful. +That's why she's cryin'. Poor critter, I guess by the looks she's used +to it. Well, I give HIM a piece of my mind. He went away with a flea in +his ear. I do despise a profane man above all things. Yes, the baby's +all right, Mrs. Saunders. I'm a-comin'. Good-night, Cap'n Hedge. I +s'pose I shall see you all in the mornin'. You ought to be careful and +not stand still much this damp night. It's bad when you're het up so.” + +She went back, still singing to the baby, to where Mrs. Saunders sat, +and the Captain looked after her in a kind of amazed fashion. + +“By mighty!” he muttered, and then repeated it. Then he resumed his +search. + +He remembered that there had been a number of people on the side of +the burning shed opposite that on which he had been employed, and he +determined to have one look there before going to the Baxter homestead. +Almost the first man he saw as he approached the dying fire was Ralph +Hazeltine. The electrician's hands and face were blackened by soot, and +the perspiration sparkled on his forehead. + +“Hello, Captain!” he said, holding out his hand. “Lively for a while, +wasn't it? They tell me you were the man who suggested pulling down the +shed. It saved the day, all right enough.” + +“You look as if you'd been workin' some yourself. Was you one of the +fellers that got that anchor in on this side?” + +“He was THE one,” broke in Mr. Wingate, who was standing at Hazeltine's +elbow. “He waded in with an ax and stayed there till I thought he'd burn +the hair off his head. Web ought to pay you and him salvage, Eri. The +whole craft would have gone up if it hadn't been for you two.” + +“I wonder if they got that pool table out,” laughed Ralph. “They did +everything but saw it into chunks.” + +“I never saw Bluey Bacheldor work so afore,” commented the Captain. “I +wish somebody'd took a photograph of him. I'll bet you could sell 'em +round town for curiosities. Well, I can't be standin' here.” + +“If you're going home I'll go along with you. I may as well be getting +down toward the station. The excitement is about over.” + +“I ain't goin' right home, Mr. Hazeltine. I've got an errand to do. +Prob'ly I'll be goin' pretty soon, though.” + +“Oh, all right! I'll wait here a while longer then. See you later +perhaps.” + +The fog had lifted somewhat and as the Captain, running silently, turned +into the “shore road,” he saw that the light in the Baxter homestead had +not been extinguished. The schoolhouse bell had ceased to ring, and the +shouts of the crowd at the fire sounded faintly. There were no other +sounds. + +Up the driveway Captain Eri hurried. There were no lights in the lower +part of the house and the dining-room door was locked. The kitchen +door, however, was not fastened and the Captain opened it and entered. +Shutting it carefully behind him, he groped along to the entrance of the +next room. + +“John!” he called softly. There was no answer, and the house was +perfectly still save for the ticking of the big clock. Captain Eri +scratched a match and by its light climbed the stairs. His friend's +room was empty. The lamp was burning on the bureau and a Bible was open +beside it. The bed had not been slept in. + +Thoroughly alarmed now, the Captain, lamp in hand, went through one room +after the other. John Baxter was not at home, and he was not with the +crowd at the fire. Where was he? There was, of course, a chance that his +friend had passed him on the way or that he had been at the fire, after +all, but this did not seem possible. However, there was nothing to do +but go back, and this time the Captain took the path across the fields. + +The Baxter house was on the “shore road,” and the billiard room and +post-office were on the “main road.” People in a hurry sometimes avoided +the corner by climbing the fence opposite the Baxter gate, going through +the Dawes' pasture and over the little hill back of the livery stable, +and coming out in the rear of the post-office and close to the saloon. + +Captain Eri, worried, afraid to think of the fire and its cause, and +only anxious to ascertain where his friend was and what he had been +doing that night, trotted through the pasture and over the hill. Just +as he came to the bayberry bushes on the other side he stumbled and fell +flat. + +He knew what it was that he had stumbled over the moment that he fell +across it, and his fingers trembled, so that he could scarcely scratch +the match that he took from his pocket. But it was lighted at last and, +as its tiny blaze grew brighter, the Captain saw John Baxter lying face +downward in the path, his head pointed toward his home and his feet +toward the billiard saloon. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + + +For a second, only, Captain Eri stood there motionless, stooping over +the body of his friend. Then he sprang into vigorous action. He dropped +upon his knees and, seizing the shoulder of the prostrate figure, +shook it gently, whispering, “John! John!” There was no answer and no +responsive movement, and the Captain bent his head and listened. Breath +was there and life; but, oh, so little of either! The next thought was, +of course, to run for help and for a doctor, but he took but a few steps +when a new idea struck him and he came back. + +Lighting another match he examined the fallen man hurriedly. The old +“Come-Outer” lay in the path with his arms outstretched, as if he had +fallen while running. He was bare-headed, and there was no sign of a +wound upon him. One coat-sleeve was badly scorched, and from a pocket in +the coat protruded the neck of a bottle. The bottle was empty, but its +odor was strong; it had contained kerosene. The evidence was clear, and +the Captain knew that what he had feared was the truth. + +For a moment he stood erect and pondered as to what was best to do. +Whatever it was, it must be done quickly, but if the doctor and those +that might come with him should find the burned coat and the tell-tale +bottle, it were better for John Baxter that consciousness and life never +were his again. There might, and probably would, be suspicion; but here +was proof absolute that meant prison and disgrace for a man whom all the +community had honored and respected. + +Captain Eri weighed the chances, speculated on the result, and then did +what seemed to him right. He threw the bottle as far away from the path +as he could and then stripped off the coat, and, folding it into a small +bundle, hid it in the bushes near by. Then he lifted the limp body, and +turned it so that the gray head was toward the billiard saloon instead +of from it. + +Perez and Jerry were still busy with the water buckets when their friend +came panting up the knoll to the pump. + +“Hello, Eri!” said the former, wiping his forehead with his arm. “It's +'bout out, ain't it? Why, what's the matter?” + +“Nothin'; nothin' to speak of. Put down them buckets, and you and Jerry +come with me. I've got somethin' that I want you to do.” + +Nodding and exchanging congratulations with acquaintances in the crowd +on the success of the fire-fighting, Captain Eri led his messmates to a +dark corner under a clump of trees. Then he took each of them by the arm +and whispered sharply: + +“Dr. Palmer's somewheres in this crowd. I want each of you fellers to go +diff'rent ways and look for him. Whichever one finds him fust can bring +him up to the corner by the post-office. Whistle when you git there and +the rest of us 'll come. Don't stop to ask questions. I ain't hurt, but +John Baxter's had a stroke or somethin'. I can't tell you no more now. +Hurry! And say, don't you mention to a soul what the matter is.” + +A sea-faring life has its advantages. It teaches prompt obedience, for +one thing. The two mariners did not hesitate an instant, but bolted in +opposite directions. Captain Eri watched them go, and then set off in +another. He was stopped every few moments and all sorts of questions and +comments concerning the fire and its cause were fired at him, but he +put off some inquiries with a curt “Don't know” and others with nods +or negatives, and threaded his way from one clump of townspeople to +another. As he came close to the blackened and smoking billiard saloon, +Ralph Hazeltine caught him by the arm. + +“Hello!” said the electrician. “Haven't you gone home yet?” + +“No, not yit. Say, I'll ask you, 'cause I cal'late you can keep your +mouth shut if it's necessary: Have you seen the Doctor anywheres 'round +lately? He was here, 'cause I saw him when I fust come.” + +“Who, Dr. Palmer? No; I haven't seen him. Is anyone hurt? Can I help?” + +“I guess not. John Baxter's sick, but--oh, Lord! Here comes Wingate. +He'll talk for a week.” + +Seth, panting and excited, was pushing his way toward them, shouting the +Captain's name at the top of his voice. + +“Hey, Eri!” he hailed. “I want to know if you'll sign a petition to git +the town a fire ingyne? I've been talkin' to a couple of the s'lectmen +and they--” + +“Oh, Mr. Wingate,” interrupted Ralph, “Mr. Mullett's been looking for +you. He's over there by the pump, I think.” + +“Who, Lem Mullett? Is that so! He's jest the feller I want to see. See +you later, Eri.” + +The Captain grinned appreciatively as the convert to the hand-engine +proposal disappeared. + +“That wasn't so bad,” he said. “I'm much obliged. Hey! There's the +whistle. Come on, Mr. Hazeltine, if you ain't in a special hurry. Maybe +we WILL need you.” + +They reached the corner by the post-office to find Dr. Palmer, who had +practiced medicine in Orham since he received his diploma, waiting for +them. Captain Perez, who had discovered the physician on the Nickerson +piazza, was standing close by with his fingers in his mouth, whistling +with the regularity of a foghorn. + +“Cut it short, Perez!” commanded Eri. “We're here now.” + +“Yes, but Jerry ain't.” And the whistling began again. + +“Dry up, for the land's sake! D'you want to fetch the whole tribe here? +There's Jerry, now. Come on, Doctor.” + +John Baxter was lying just as the Captain had left him, and the others +watched anxiously as the doctor listened at the parted lips, and thrust +his hand inside the faded blue waistcoat. + +“He's alive,” he said after a moment, “but unconscious. We must get him +home at once.” + +“He heard the bell and was runnin' to the fire when he was took,” said +Captain Jerry. “Run out in his shirt sleeves, and was took when he got +as fur as here.” + +“That's the way I figger it,” said Eri unblushingly. “Lift him +carefully, you fellers. Now then!” + +“I warned him against over-exertion or excitement months ago,” said the +Doctor, as they bore the senseless burden toward the big house, now as +black as the grave that was so near its owner. “We must find someone +to take care of him at once. I don't believe the old man has a relation +within a hundred miles.” + +“Why don't we take him to our house?” suggested Captain Jerry. +“'Twouldn't seem so plaguey lonesome, anyhow.” + +“By mighty!” ejaculated Captain Eri in astonishment. “Well, Jerry, I'll +be switched if you ain't right down brilliant once in a while. Of course +we will. He can have the spare room. Why didn't I think of that, I +wonder?” + +And so John Baxter, who had not paid a visit in his native village since +his wife died, came at last to his friend's home to pay what seemed +likely to be a final one. They carried him up the stairs to the spare +room, as dismal and cheerless as spare rooms in the country generally +are, undressed him as tenderly as their rough hands would allow, robed +him in one of Captain Jerry's nightshirts--the buttons that fastened +it had been sewed on by the Captain himself, and were all sizes and +colors--and laid him in the big corded bedstead. The Doctor hastened +away to procure his medicine case. Ralph Hazeltine, having been +profusely thanked for his services and promising to call the next day, +went back to the station, and the three captains sat down by the bedside +to watch and wait. + +Captain Eri was too much perturbed to talk, but the other two, although +sympathetically sorry for the sufferer, were bursting with excitement +and curiosity. + +“Well, if THIS ain't been a night!” exclaimed Captain Jerry. “Seem's if +everything happened at once. Fust that darky and then the fire and then +this. Don't it beat all? + +“Eri,” said Captain Perez anxiously, “was John layin' jest the same way +when you found him as he was when we come?” + +“Right in the same place,” was the answer. + +“I didn't say in the same place. I asked if he was layin' the same way.” + +“He hadn't moved a muscle. Laid jest as if he was dead.” + +It will be noticed that Captain Eri was adhering strictly to the +truth. Luckily, Perez seemed to be satisfied, for he asked no further +questions, but observed, “It's a good thing we've got a crowd to swear +how we found him. There's a heap of folks in this town would be sayin' +he set that fire if 'twa'n't for that.” + +“Some of 'em will be sayin' it anyhow,” remarked Jerry. + +“Some folks 'll say anything but their prayers,” snapped Eri savagely. +“They won't say it while I'm around. And look here! if you hear anybody +sayin' it, you tell 'em it's a lie. If that don't keep 'em quiet, let me +know.” + +“Oh, all right. WE know he didn't set it. I was jest sayin'--” + +“Well, don't say it.” + +“My, you're techy! Guess fires and colored folks don't agree with you. +What are we goin' to do now? If John don't die, and the Lord knows I +hope he won't, he's likely to be sick here a long spell. Who are we +goin' to git to take care of him? That's what I want to know. Somebody's +got to do it and we ain't fit. If Jerry 'd only give in and git married +now--” + +But Captain Jerry's protest against matrimony was as obstinate as ever. +Even Perez gave up urging after a while and conversation lagged again. +In a few minutes the Doctor came back, and his examination of the +patient and demands for glasses of water, teaspoons, and the like, kept +Perez and Jerry busy. It was some time before they noticed that Captain +Eri had disappeared. Even then they did not pay much attention to the +circumstance, but watched the physician at work and questioned him +concerning the nature of their guest's illness. + +“D'you think he'll die, Doctor?” inquired Jerry in a hushed voice, as +they came out of the sick room into the connecting chamber. + +“Can't say. He has had a stroke of paralysis, and there seem to be +other complications. If he regains consciousness I shall think he has a +chance, but not a very good one. His pulse is a little stronger. I don't +think he'll die to-night, but if he lives he will need a good nurse, and +I don't know of one in town.” + +“Nor me neither,” said Captain Perez. + +“Well, A'nt Zuby might come,” suggested Jerry, “but I should hate to +have her nuss me, and as for bein' WELL in a house where she was--whew!” + +“A'nt Zuby!” sneered his messmate. “If Lorenzo had a fit and they called +A'nt Zuby he'd have another one and die. A'nt Zuby! I'd 'bout as soon +have M'lissy and be done with it.” + +“Yes, I don't doubt YOU WOULD,” was the anything but gentle retort. + +What Perez would have said to this thrust must be surmised, for just +then the dining-room door opened and closed again. + +“There's Eri,” said Captain Jerry. Then he added in an alarmed whisper, +“Who on airth has he got with him?” + +They heard their friend's voice warning someone to be careful of the top +step, and then the chamber door opened and Captain Eri appeared. There +were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and he was carrying a shabby +canvas extension-case. Captain Jerry gazed at the extension-case with +bulging eyes. + +Captain Eri put down the extension-case and opened the door wide. A +woman came in; a stout woman dressed in black “alpaca” and wearing +brass-rimmed spectacles. Captain Jerry gasped audibly. + +“Dr. Palmer,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with Mrs. +Snow of Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Dr. Palmer.” + +The Doctor and the lady from Nantucket shook hands, the former with a +puzzled expression on his face. + +“Perez,” continued the Captain, “let me make you known to Mrs. +Snow--Mrs. Marthy B. Snow,”--this with especial emphasis,--“of +Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Cap'n Perez Ryder.” + +They shook hands; Captain Perez managed to say that he was glad to meet +Mrs. Snow. Captain Jerry said nothing, but he looked like a criminal +awaiting the fall of the drop. + +“Doctor,” continued the Captain, paying no attention to the signals of +distress displayed by his friend, “I heard you say a spell ago that +John here needed somebody to take care of him. Well, Mrs. Snow--she's +a--a--sort of relation of Jerry's”--just a suspicion of a smile +accompanied this assertion--“and she's done consid'rable nussin' in her +time. I've been talkin' the thing over with her and she's willin' to +look out for John till he gits better.” + +The physician adjusted his eyeglasses and looked the volunteer nurse +over keenly. The lady paid no attention to the scrutiny, but calmly +removed her bonnet and placed it on the bureau. The room was Captain +Eri's, and the general disarrangement of everything movable was only a +little less marked than in those of his companions. Mrs. Snow glanced +over the heap of odds and ends on the bureau and picked up a comb. There +were some teeth in it, but they were distant neighbors. + +“I don't use that comb very much,” said Captain Eri rather +apologetically. “I gin'rally use the one downstairs.” + +The new-found relative of Captain Jerry said nothing, but, laying down +the ruin, marched over to the extension-case, opened it, and took +out another comb--a whole one. With this she arranged the hair on her +forehead. It, the hair, was parted in the middle and drawn back smoothly +at the sides, and Captain Eri noticed that it was brown with a little +gray in it. When the last stray wisp was in place, she turned calmly to +the Doctor and said: + +“Cap'n Baxter's in here, I s'pose. Shall I walk right in?” + +The man of medicine seemed a little surprised at the lady's command of +the situation, but he said: + +“Why, yes, ma'am; I guess you may. You have nursed before, I think the +Captain said.” + +“Five years with my husband. He had slow consumption. Before that with +my mother, and most of my brothers and sisters at one time or another. +I've seen consid'rable sickness all my life. More of that than anything +else, I guess. Now, if you'll come in with me, so's to tell me about the +medicine and so on.” + +With a short “Humph!” the physician followed her into the sick room, +while the three mariners gazed wide-eyed in at the door. They watched, +as Doctor Palmer explained medicines and gave directions. It did not +need an expert to see that the new nurse understood her business. + +When the Doctor came out his face shone with gratification. + +“She'll do,” he said emphatically. “If all your relatives are like that, +Cap'n Burgess, I'd like to know 'em; 'twould help me in my business.” + Then he added in response to a question, “He seems to be a little better +just now. I think there will be no change for a while; if there should +be, send for me. I'll call in the morning. Gracious! it's almost +daylight now.” + +They saw him to the door and then came back upstairs. Mrs. Snow was +busy, arranging the pillows, setting the room in something like +order, and caring for her patient's garments, that had been tossed +helter-skelter on the floor in the hurry of undressing. She came to the +door as they entered Captain Eri's chamber. + +“Mrs. Snow,” said the Captain, “you'd better sleep in my room here +long's you stay. I'll bunk in with Perez downstairs. I'll git my dunnage +out of here right off. I think likely you'll want to clean up some.” + +The lady from Nantucket glanced at the bureau top and seemed about to +say something, but checked herself. What she did say was: + +“P'raps you'd better introduce me to Cap'n Burgess. I don't think we've +ever met, if we ARE relations.” + +Captain Eri actually blushed a little. “Why, of course,” he said. +“Excuse me, ma'am. Jerry, this is Mrs. Snow. I don't know what's got +into me, bein' so careless.” + +The sacrifice shook the nurse's hand and said something, nobody knew +exactly what. Mrs. Snow went on to say, “Now, I want you men to go right +on to bed, for I know you're all tuckered out. We can talk to-morrow--I +mean to-day, of course: I forgot 'twas next-door to daylight now. I +shall set up with Cap'n Baxter, and if I need you I'll call you. I'll +call you anyway when I think it's time. Good-night.” + +They protested, of course, but the lady would not listen. She calmly +seated herself in the rocker by the bed and waved to them to go, which +two of them reluctantly did after a while. The other one had gone +already. It would be superfluous to mention his name. + +Downstairs again and in Perez' room Captain Eri came in for a +questioning that bade fair to keep up forever. He shut off all +inquiries, however, with the announcement that he wouldn't tell them a +word about it till he'd had some sleep. Then he would explain the whole +thing, and they could decide whether he had done right or not. There +were all sorts of things to be considered, he said, and they had better +take a nap now while they could. + +“Well, I'd jest like to ask you this, Eri Hedge,” demanded Captain +Jerry. “What in time did you tell the Doctor that she was a relation of +mine for? That was a nice thing to do, wa'n't it? I'll have to answer +more fool questions 'bout that than a little. What sort of a relation +shall I tell folks she is? Jest tell me that, will you?” + +“Oh, tell 'em she's a relation by marriage,” was the answer, muffled by +the bed clothes. “Maybe that 'll be true by the time they ask you.” + +“I'll BET it won't!” snorted the rebel. + +Captain Perez fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Jerry, tired out, +did the same, but Captain Eri's eyes did not close. The surf pounded +and grumbled. A rooster, early astir, crowed somewhere in the distance. +Daniel thumped the side of his stall and then subsided for another nap. +The gray morning light brightened the window of the little house. + +Then Captain Eri slid silently out of bed, dressed with elaborate +precautions against noise, put on his cap, and tiptoed out of the house. +He walked through the dripping grass, climbed the back fence and +hurried to the hill where John Baxter had fallen. Once there, he looked +carefully around to be sure that no one was watching. Orham, as a rule, +is an early riser, but this morning most of the inhabitants, having been +up for the greater part of the night, were making up lost sleep and the +Captain was absolutely alone. + +Assured of this, he turned to the bush underneath which he had hidden +the burned coat, pushed aside the drenched boughs with their fading +leaves and reached down for the tell-tale garment. + +And then he made an unpleasant discovery. The coat was gone. + +He spent an agitated quarter of an hour hunting through every clump of +bushes in the immediate vicinity, but there was no doubt of it. Someone +had been there before him and had taken the coat away. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + + +There was a knock on the door of Captain Perez's sleeping apartment. + +“Cap'n Hedge,” said Mrs. Snow, “Cap'n Hedge! I'm sorry to wake you up, +but it's 'most ten o'clock and--” + +“What? Ten o'clock! Godfrey scissors! Of all the lazy--I'll be out in a +jiffy. Perez, turn out there! Turn out, I tell you!” + +Captain Eri had fallen asleep in the rocker where he had seated himself +upon his return from the fruitless search for the coat. He had had no +intention of sleeping, but he was tired after his strenuous work at the +fire, and had dropped off in the midst of his worry. He sprang to his +feet, and tried to separate dreams from realities. + +“Land of love, Perez!” he ejaculated. “Here you and me have been +sleepin' ha'f the forenoon. We'd ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Let's +git dressed quicker 'n chain lightnin'.” + +“Dressed?” queried Perez, sitting up in bed. “I should think you was +dressed now, boots and all. What are you talkin' 'bout?” + +The Captain glanced down at his clothes and seemed as much surprised as +his friend. He managed to pull himself together, however, and stammered: + +“Dressed? Oh, I'm dressed, of course. It's you I'm tryin' to git some +life into.” + +“Well, why didn't you call a feller, 'stead of gittin' up and dressin' +all by yourself. I never see such a critter. Where's my socks?” + +To avoid further perplexing questions Captain Eri went into the dining +room. The table was set, really set, with a clean cloth and dishes that +shone. The knives and forks were arranged by the plates, not piled in a +heap for each man to help himself. The Captain gasped. + +“Well, I swan to man!” he said. “Has Jerry had a fit or what's struck +him? I ain't seen him do anything like this for I don't know when.” + +“Oh, Cap'n Burgess didn't fix the table, if that's what you mean,” said +the new nurse. “Cap'n Baxter seemed to be sleepin' or in a stupor like, +and the Doctor, when he come, said I might leave him long enough to run +downstairs for a few minutes, so--” + +“The Doctor? Has the Doctor been here this mornin'?” + +“Yes, he come 'bout an hour ago. Now, if you wouldn't mind goin' up +and stayin' with Cap'n Baxter for a few minutes while I finish gettin' +breakfast. I've been up and down so many times in the last ha'f hour, I +don't know's I'm sartin whether I'm on my head or my heels.” + +The Captain went upstairs in a dazed state. As he passed through what +had been his room he vaguely noticed that the bureau top was clean, and +that most of the rubbish that had ornamented it had disappeared. + +The sick man lay just as he had left him, his white face as colorless +as the clean pillow case against which it rested. Captain Eri remembered +that the pillow cases in the spare room had looked a little yellow the +night before, possibly owing to the fact that, as the room had not been +occupied for months, they had not been changed. He reasoned that the +improvement was another one of the reforms instituted by the lady from +Nantucket. + +He sat down in the rocker by the bed and thought, with a shiver, of the +missing coat. There were nine chances out of ten that whoever found it +would recognize it as belonging to the old “Come-Outer.” The contents +of the pocket would be almost certain to reveal the secret if the coat +itself did not. It remained to be seen who the finder was and what +he would do. Meanwhile there was no use worrying. Having come to this +conclusion the Captain, with customary philosophy, resolved to think of +something else. + +Mrs. Snow entered and announced that breakfast was ready and that +he must go down at once and eat it while it was hot. She, having +breakfasted some time before, would stay with the patient until the meal +was over. Captain Eri at first flatly declined to listen to any such +arrangement, but the calm insistence of the Nantucket visitor prevailed +as usual. The Captain realized that the capacity for “bossin' things,” + that he had discerned in the letter, was even more apparent in the lady +herself. One thing he did insist upon, however, and this was that Mrs. +Snow should “turn in” as soon as breakfast was over. One of the three +would take the watch in the sick room while the other two washed the +dishes. The nurse was inclined to balk on the dishwashing proposition, +saying that she could do it herself after she had had a wink or two, +but this the Captain wouldn't hear of. He went away, however, with an +unsettled conviction that, although he and his partners might wash +the dishes, Mrs. Snow would wash them again as soon as she had an +opportunity. “She didn't say so, but she sort of looked it,” he +explained afterward. + +He found his friends seated at the table and feasting on hot biscuits, +eggs, and clear, appetizing coffee. They greeted him joyously. + +“Hey, Eri!” hailed Captain Perez. “Ain't this gay? Look at them eggs; +b'iled jest to a T. Ain't much like Jerry's h'af raw kind.” + +“Humph! You needn't say nothin', Perez,” observed Captain Jerry, his +mouth full of biscuit. “When you was cook, you allers b'iled 'em so hard +they'd dent the barn if you'd fired 'em at it. How's John, Eri?” + +Captain Eri gave his and the Doctor's opinion of his friend's condition +and then said, “Now, we've got to have some kind of a settlement on this +marryin' question. Last night, when I was up in the room there, it come +acrost me all of a sudden that, from what I'd seen of this Nantucket +woman, she'd be jest the sort of nurse that John needed. So I skipped +out while you fellers was busy with the Doctor, found her at the hotel, +explained things to her, and got her to come down. That's all there is +to that. I ain't made no arrangement with her, and somethin's got to be +done. What do you think of her, jedgin' by what you've seen?” + +Captain Perez gave it as his opinion that she was “all right,” and +added, “If Jerry here wa'n't so pigheaded all at once, he'd marry her +without waitin' another minute.” + +Eri nodded. “That's my idee,” he said emphatically. + +But Captain Jerry was as obstinate as ever. He simply would not consider +immediate marriage. In vain his comrades reminded him of the original +compact, and the fact that the vote was two to one against him; he +announced that he had changed his mind, and that that was all there was +about it. + +At length Captain Eri lost patience. + +“Jerry,” he exclaimed, “you remind me of that old white hen we used +to have. When we didn't want her to set she'd set on anything from a +doorknob to a rock, couldn't keep her off; but when we give in finally +and got a settin' of eggs for her, she wouldn't come nigher to 'em than +the other end of the hen-yard. Now you might as well make up your mind +that somethin's got to be done. This Mrs. Snow ain't nobody's fool. We +put out a bait that anybody with sense would say couldn't catch nothin' +but sculpin, and, by mighty, we hooked a halibut! If the woman was +anything like what you'd think she'd be, answerin' an advertisement like +that, I'd be the fust to say let her go, but she ain't; she's all right, +and we need her to nuss John besides.” + +“Tell you what we might do,” said Perez slowly; “we might explain to her +that Jerry don't feel that 'twould be right to think of marryin' with +Cap'n Baxter so sick in the house and that, if she's willin', we'll put +it off till he dies or gets better. Meantime, we'll pay her so much to +stay here and nuss. Seems to me that's about the only way out of it.” + +So they agreed to lay this proposal before the Nantucket lady, Captain +Jerry reluctantly consenting. Then Captain Eri took up another subject. + +John Baxter, as has been said, had one relative, a granddaughter, living +somewhere near Boston. Captain Eri felt that this granddaughter should +be notified of the old man's illness at once. The difficulty was that +none of them knew the young lady's address. + +“Her fust name's Elizabeth, same as her mothers was,” said Eri, “and her +dad's name was Preston. They called her Elsie. John used to write to her +every once in a while. P'raps Sam would know where she lived.” + +“Jest' cause Sam's postmaster,” observed Perez, “it don't foller that he +reads the name on every letter that goes out and remembers 'em besides.” + +“Well, if he don't,” said Captain Jerry decidedly, “Mary Emma does. She +reads everything, postals and all.” + +Miss Mary Emma Cahoon was the assistant at the post-office, and was +possessed of a well-developed curiosity concerning other people's +correspondence. + +“Humph!” exclaimed Captain Eri, “that's so. We'll write the letter, and +I'll ask Mary Emma for the address when I go up to mail it.” + +So Captain Perez went upstairs to take Mrs Snow's place as nurse, while +that lady “turned in.” Captain Jerry went into the kitchen to wash the +dishes, and Captain Eri sat down to write the note that should inform +Elizabeth Preston of her grandfather's illness. It was a very short +note, and merely stated the fact without further information. Having had +some experience in that line, the Captain placed very little reliance +upon the help to be expected from relatives. + +Dr. Palmer had spread the news as he went upon his round of visits that +morning, and callers began to drop in to inquire after the sick man. +Miss Busteed was one of the first arrivals, and, as Captain Eri had +seen her through the window, he went upstairs and took Perez' place +as temporary nurse. To Perez, therefore, fell the delightful task of +entertaining the voluble female for something like an hour, while she +talked fire, paralysis, and general gossip at express speed. + +Ralph Hazeltine came in a little later, and was introduced to Mrs. +Snow, that lady's nap having been but a short one. Ralph was favorably +impressed with the capable appearance of the new nurse, and so expressed +himself to Captain Eri as they walked together toward the post-office. + +“I like her,” he said emphatically. “She's quiet and sensible and +cheerful besides. She looks as if trouble didn't trouble her very much.” + +“I jedge she's seen enough of it in her time, too,” observed the Captain +reflectively. “Queer thing how trouble acts different on folks. Kind +of like hot weather, sours milk, but sweetens apples. She's one of the +sweetened kind. And yet, I cal'late she can be pretty sharp, too, if you +try to tread on her toes. Sort of a sweet pickle, hey?” and he laughed. + +Miss Cahoon remembered the Preston girl's address. It was Cambridge, +Kirkland Street, but the number, she did declare, had skipped her mind. +The Captain said he would chance it without the number, so the letter +was posted. Then, with the electrician, he strolled over to inspect the +remains of the billiard saloon. + +There was a small crowd gathered about the building, prominent among +its members being the “train committee,” who were evidently holding +a special session on this momentous occasion. The busy “Squealer,” a +trifle enlivened by some of Mr. Saunders' wet goods that had escaped +the efforts of the volunteer salvage corps, hailed the new arrivals as +brother heroes. + +“Well now, Cap'n Eri!” he exclaimed, shaking hands vigorously. “And Mr. +Hazeltine, too! How're you feelin' after last night? I says to Web, I +says, 'There's folks in this town besides me that kept you from losin' +the whole thing and you ought to thank 'em,' I says. 'One of 'em 's +Cap'n Eri and t'other one's Mr. Hazeltine. If we three didn't work, then +_I_ don't know,' I says.” + +“Web found out how the fire started yit?” inquired the Captain with +apparent unconcern. + +“No, he hain't for sure. There was a lot of us thought old Baxter might +have set it, but they tell me it couldn't have been him, cause he was +took down runnin' to the fire. Web, he's sort of changed his tune, and +don't seem to think anybody set it; thinks it catched itself.” + +Mr. Saunders, his smooth self again, with all traces of mental +disturbance gone from his face and all roughness from his tongue, came +briskly up, smiling as if the burning of his place of business was but a +trifling incident, a little annoying, of course, but not worth fretting +about. He thanked the Captain and Hazeltine effusively for their service +of the previous night, and piled the weight of his obligations upon them +until, as Captain Eri said afterwards, “the syrup fairly dripped off his +chin.” The Captain broke in upon the sugary flow as soon as he could. + +“How d'you think it started, Web?” he asked. + +“Well,” replied Mr. Saunders slowly, “I kind of cal'late she started +herself. There was some of the boys in here most of the evenin', +and, jest like's not, a cigar butt, or a match, or somethin' +dropped somewheres and got to smolderin', and smoldered along till +bime-by--puff!” An expressive wave of a fat hand finished the sentence. + +“Humph!” grunted the Captain. “Changed your mind sence last night. Seems +to me I heard you then swearin' you knew 'twas set and who set it.” + +“Well, ye-es. I was considerable shook up last night and maybe I said +things I hadn't ought to. You see there's been a good deal of hard +feelin's towards me in town and for a spell I thought some feller'd +tried to burn me out. But I guess not; I guess not. More I think of it, +more I think it catched itself. Seems to me I remember smellin' sort of +a scorchin' smell when I was lockin' up. Oh, say! I was mighty sorry to +hear 'bout Cap'n Baxter bein' took sick. The old man was dreadful +down on liquor, but I laid that to his religion and never had no hard +feelin's against him. How's he gittin' along?” + +Captain Eri brusquely replied that his friend was “'bout the same,” and +asked if Mr. Saunders intended to rebuild. “Web” didn't know just yet. +He was a poor man, didn't carry much insurance, and so on. Thought +likely he should fix up again if it didn't cost too much. Did the Doctor +say whether Captain Baxter would pull through or not? + +Captain Eri gave an evasive answer and turned away. He was silent for +some little time, and when Ralph commented on “Web's” overnight change +of manner, his rejoinder was to the effect that “ile was bound to rise, +but that didn't mean there wa'n't dirty water underneath.” On the way +home he asked Hazeltine concerning the trouble at the cable station, and +how Mr. Langley had treated the matter. + +Ralph replied that Mr. Langley had said nothing to him about it. It was +his opinion that the old gentleman understood the affair pretty well, +and was not disposed to blame him. As for the men, they had been as +docile as lambs, and he thought the feeling toward himself was not as +bitter as it had been. All of which his companion said he was glad to +hear. + +They separated at the gate, and the Captain entered the house to find +Mrs. Snow wielding a broom and surrounded by a cloud of dust. Perez +was upstairs with the patient, and Captain Jerry, whose habits had been +considerably upset by the sweeping, was out in the barn. + +That evening the situation was explained to Mrs. Snow by Captain Eri, in +accordance with the talk at the breakfast table. The lady from Nantucket +understood and respected Captain Jerry's unwillingness to discuss the +marriage question while John Baxter's condition continued critical, and +she agreed to act as nurse and housekeeper for a while, at least, +for the sum of six dollars a week. This price was fixed only after +considerable discussion by the three mariners, for Captain Eri was +inclined to offer eight, and Captain Jerry but four. + +When Ralph Hazeltine called late in the afternoon of the following day, +the dining room was so transformed that he scarcely knew it. The dust +had disappeared; the chronometer was polished till it shone; the table +was covered with a cloth that was snow-white, and everything movable had +the appearance of being in its place. Altogether, there was an evidence +of order that was almost startling. + +Captain Eri came to the door in response to his knock, and grinned +appreciatively at his caller's look of wonder. + +“I don't wonder you're s'prised,” he said, with a chuckle. “I ain't +begun to git over it yit, myself, and Lorenzo's so shook up he ain't +been in the house sence breakfast time. He's out in the barn, keepin' +Dan'l comp'ny and waitin' for the end of the world to strike, I +cal'late.” + +Ralph laughed. “Mrs. Snow?” he inquired. + +“Mrs. Snow,” answered the Captain. “It beats all what a woman can do +when she's that kind of a woman. She's done more swabbin' decks and +overhaulin' runnin' riggin' than a new mate on a clipper. The place is +so all-fired clean that I feel like brushin' myself every time I go to +set down.” + +“How's Captain Baxter?” asked Hazeltine. + +“Seems to be some better. He come to a little this mornin', and seemed +to know some of us, but he ain't sensed where he is yit, nor I don't +b'lieve he will fur a spell. Set down and keep me comp'ny. It's my watch +jest now. Perez, he's over to Barry's; Jerry's up to the schoolhouse, +and Mrs. Snow's run up to the post-office to mail a letter. John's +asleep, so I can stay downstairs a little while, long's the door's open. +What's the news uptown? Web changed his mind ag'in 'bout the fire?” + +It appeared that Mr. Saunders had not changed his mind, at least so +current gossip reported. And it may be remarked here that, curiously +enough, the opinion that the fire “caught itself” came at last to +be generally accepted in the village. For some weeks Captain Eri was +troubled with thoughts concerning the missing coat, but, as time passed, +and the accusing garment did not turn up, he came to believe that +some boy must have found it and that it had, in all probability, been +destroyed. There were, of course, some persons who still suspected John +Baxter as the incendiary, but the old man's serious illness and respect +for his former standing in the community kept these few silent. The +Baxter house had been locked up and the Captain had the key. + +Hazeltine and his host chatted for a few minutes on various topics. The +gilt titles on the imposing “Lives of Great Naval Commanders,” + having received their share of the general dusting, now shone forth +resplendent, and the Captain noticed Ralph's eye as it involuntarily +turned toward them. + +“Noticin' our library?” he chuckled. “Perez' property, that is. 'Gusty +Black talked him into buyin' 'em. Never met 'Gusty, did you? No, I +guess likely not. She lives over to the Neck, and don't git down to the +village much. 'Gusty's what you call a business woman. She' always up to +somethin' to make a dollar, and she's as slick a talker as ever was, +I guess. She never give Perez no rest till he signed the deed for them +books. Told him they'd give liter'ry tone to the shebang. Perez started +to read 'em out loud when they fust come, but he had to stop so often to +spell out the furrin names that me and Jerry used to go to sleep. That +made him mad, and he said, liter'ry tone be durned; he wa'n't goin' to +waste his breath readin' us to sleep; so they've been on the shelf ever +sence.” + +Ralph laughed. “So you have book agents, too?” he said. + +“Well, we've got 'Gusty,” was the reply, “and she's enough to keep us +goin'. Gits round reg'lar as clockwork once a month to collect the two +dollars from Perez. It's her day now, and I told Perez that that was +why he sneaked off to Barry's. You see, 'Gusty's after him to buy the +history of Methuselah, or some old critter, and he don't like to +see her. She's after me, too, but I'm 'fraid she don't git much +encouragement.” + +After they had talked a little longer, the Captain seemed to remember +something, for he glanced at his watch and said, “Mr. Hazeltine, I +wonder if I could git you to do me a favor. I really ought to go down +and see to my shanty. Ain't been there sence day afore yesterday, +and there's so many boys 'round, I'm 'fraid to leave it unlocked much +longer. I thought some of the folks would be back 'fore this, but if you +could stay here long enough for me to run down there a minute or two, +I'd be ever so much obliged. I'll step up and see how John is.” + +He went upstairs and returned to report that the patient was quiet and +seemed to be asleep. + +“If you hear him groan, or anything,” he said, “jest come to the door +and whistle. Whistle anyway, if you want me. Ain't nobody likely to +come, 'less it's 'Gusty or the Reverend Perley come to ask 'bout John. +If it's a middlin' good-lookin' young woman with a satchel, that's +'Gusty. Don't whistle; tell her I'm out. I'll be back in a jiffy, but +you needn't tell either of them so unless your conscience hurts you TOO +much.” + +After the Captain had gone Ralph took down a volume of the “Great +Commanders” and sat down in a chair by the table to look it over. He +was smiling over the gaudy illustrations and flamboyant descriptions +of battles, when there was a step on the walk outside and knock at the +door. “Which is it,” he thought, “'Gusty or the Reverend?” + +Obviously it was Miss Black. She stood on the mica slab that formed the +step and looked up at him as he swung the door open. She had a small +leather bag in her hand, just as the Captain had said she would +have, but it flashed across Mr. Hazeltine's mind that the rest of +the description was not a fair one; she was certainly much more than +“middlin' good-lookin'!” + +“Is Captain Hedge in?” she asked. + +Now, from his friend's hints, Ralph had expected to hear a rather sharp +and unpleasant voice,--certain disagreeable remembrances of former +encounters with female book agents had helped to form the impression +perhaps,--but Miss Black's voice was mellow, quiet, and rather pleasing +than otherwise. + +“No,” said Mr. Hazeltine, obeying orders with exactitude. “Captain Hedge +is out just now.” + +“'Gusty”--somehow the name didn't seem to fit--was manifestly +disappointed. + +“Oh, dear!” she said, and then added, “Will he be back soon?” + +Now this was a question unprovided for. Ralph stammered, and then +miserably equivocated. He really couldn't say just when the Captain +would return. + +“Oh, dear!” said the young lady again. Then she seemed to be waiting for +some further observation on the part of the gentleman at the door. None +being forthcoming, she seemed to make up her mind to act on her own +initiative. + +“I think I will come in and wait,” she said with decision. And come +in she did, Mr. Hazeltine not knowing exactly what to do, under the +circumstances. + +Now this was much more in keeping with the electrician's preconceived +ideas of a book agent's behavior; nevertheless, when he turned and found +the young lady standing in the middle of the floor, he felt obliged to +be at least decently polite. + +“Won't you take a chair?” he asked. + +“Thank you,” said the caller, and took one. + +The situation was extremely awkward, but Ralph felt that loyalty +to Captain Eri forbade his doing anything that might urge the +self-possessed Miss Black to prolong her visit, so for a time he said +nothing. The young lady looked out of the window and Mr. Hazeltine +looked at her. He was more than ever of the opinion that the “middlin'” + term should be cut out of her description. He rather liked her +appearance, so he decided. He liked the way she wore her hair; so simple +an arrangement, but so effective. Also he liked her dress. It was the +first tailor-made walking suit he had seen since his arrival in Orham. +And worn by a country book agent, of all people. + +Just then Miss Black turned and caught him intently gazing at her. +She colored, apparently with displeasure, and looked out of the window +again. Mr. Hazeltine colored also and fidgeted with the book on the +table. The situation was confoundedly embarrassing. He felt that he must +say something now, so he made the original observation that it had been +a pleasant day. + +To this the young lady agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her tone. +Then Ralph, nervously fishing for another topic, thought of the book in +his hand. + +“I was just reading this,” he said. “I found it quite interesting.” + +The next moment he realized that he had said what, of all things, was +the most impolitic. It was nothing less than a bid for a “canvass,” + and he fully expected to be confronted with the necessary order blanks +without delay. But, strangely enough, the book lady made no such move. +She looked at him, it is true, but with an expression of surprise and +what seemed to be amusement on her face. He was certain that her lips +twitched as she said calmly: + +“Did you? I am glad to hear it.” + +This dispassionate remark was entirely unexpected, and the electrician, +as Captain Eri would have said, “lost his bearings” completely. + +“Yes--er, yes,” he stammered. “Very interesting indeed. I--I suppose you +must take a good many orders in the course of a week.” + +“A good many ORDERS?” + +“Why, yes. Orders for the books, I mean. The books--the 'Great Naval +Lives'--er--these books here.” + +“I beg your pardon, but who do you think I am?” + +And it was then that the perception of some tremendous blunder began +to seize upon Mr. Hazeltine. He had been red before; now, he felt the +redness creeping over his scalp under his hair. + +“Why, why, Miss Black, I suppose; that is, I--” + +Just here the door opened and Captain Eri came in. He took off his cap +and then, seeing the visitor, remained standing, apparently waiting for +an introduction. But the young lady did not keep him waiting long. + +“Are you Captain Eri Hedge?” she asked. + +“Yes'm,” answered the Captain. + +“Oh, I'm SO glad. Your letter came this morning, and I hurried down on +the first train. I'm Elizabeth Preston.” + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ELSIE PRESTON + + +Perhaps, on the whole, it is not surprising that Captain Eri didn't +grasp the situation. Neither his two partners nor himself had given +much thought to the granddaughter of the sick man in the upper room. The +Captain knew that there was a granddaughter, hence his letter; but +he had heard John Baxter speak of her as being in school somewhere +in Boston, and had all along conceived of her as a miss of sixteen or +thereabouts. No wonder that at first he looked at the stylishly gowned +young woman, who stood before him with one gloved hand extended, in a +puzzled, uncomprehending way. + +“Excuse me, ma'am,” he said slowly, mechanically swallowing up the +proffered hand in his own mammoth fist, “but I don't know's I jest +caught the name. Would you mind sayin' it ag'in?” + +“Elizabeth Preston,” repeated the visitor. “Captain Baxter's +granddaughter. You wrote me that he was ill, you know, and I--” + +“What!” roared the Captain, delighted amazement lighting up his face +like a sunrise. “You don't mean to tell me you're 'Liz'beth Baxter's +gal Elsie! Well! Well! I want to know! If this don't beat all! Set down! +Take your things right off. I'm mighty glad to see you.” + +Captain Eri's hand, with Miss Preston's hidden in it, was moving up +and down as if it worked by a clock-work arrangement. The young lady +withdrew her fingers from the trap as soon as she conveniently could, +but it might have been noticed that she glanced at them when she had +done so, as if to make sure that the original shape remained. + +“Thank you, Captain Hedge,” she said. “And now, please tell me about +grandfather. How is he? May I see him?” + +The Captain's expression changed to one of concern. + +“Why, now, Miss Preston,” he said, “your grandpa is pretty sick. Oh, I +don't mean he's goin' to die right off or anything like that,” he added +hastily. “I mean he's had a stroke of palsy, or somethin', and he ain't +got so yit that he senses much of what goes on. Now I don't want to +frighten you, you know, but really there's a chance--a leetle mite of +a chance--that he won't know you. Don't feel bad if he don't, now will +you?” + +“I knew he must be very ill from your letter,” said the girl simply. “I +was afraid that he might not be living when I reached here. They told me +at the station that he was at your house and so I came. He has been very +good to me and I--” + +Her voice broke a little and she hesitated. Captain Eri was a picture of +nervous distress. + +“Yes, yes, I know,” he said hastily. “Don't you worry now. He's better; +the Doctor said he was consid'rably better to-day; didn't he, Mr. +Hazeltine? Why, what am I thinkin' of? Let me make you known to Mr. +Hazeltine; next-door neighbor of ours; right acrost the road,” and he +waved toward the bay. + +Ralph and Miss Preston shook hands. The electrician managed to utter +some sort of formality, but he couldn't have told what it was. He was +glad when the Captain announced that, if Mr. Hazeltine would excuse +them, he guessed Miss Preston and he would step upstairs and see John. +The young lady took off her hat and jacket, and Captain Eri lighted a +lamp, for it was almost dark by this time. As its light shone upon +the visitor's face and hair the crimson flush before mentioned +circumnavigated the electrician's head once more, and his bump of +self-esteem received a finishing blow. That any man supposed to possess +two fairly good eyes and a workable brain could have mistaken her for an +Orham Neck book agent by the name of “'Gusty--'Gusty Black!” Heavens! + +“I'll be down in a few minutes, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the Captain. “Set +still, won't you?” + +But Mr. Hazeltine wouldn't sit still. He announced that it was late and +he must be going. And go he did, in spite of his host's protestations. + +“Look out for the stairs,” cautioned the Captain, leading the way with +the lamp. “The feller that built 'em must have b'lieved that savin' +distance lengthens out life. Come to think of it, I wouldn't wonder if +them stairs was the reason why me and Jerry and Perez took this house. +They reminded us so of the shrouds on a three-master.” + +Elsie Preston did her best to smile as her companion rattled on in this +fashion, but both the smile and the Captain's cheerfulness were too +plainly assumed to be convincing, and they passed down the hall in +silence. At the open door of the sick room Captain Eri paused. + +“He's asleep,” he whispered, “and, remember, if he wakes up and doesn't +know you, you needn't feel bad.” + +Elsie slipped by him and knelt by the bed, looking into the white, old +face on the pillow. Somehow the harsh lines had faded out of it, and it +looked only old and pitiful. + +The Captain watched the tableau for a moment or two, and then tiptoed +into the room and placed the lamp on the bureau. + +“Now, I think likely,” he said in a rather husky whisper, “that you'd +like to stay with your grandpa for a little while, so I'll go downstairs +and see about supper. No, no, no!” he added, holding up his hand as the +girl spoke some words of protest, “you ain't goin' nowheres to supper. +You're goin' to stay right here. If you want me, jest speak.” + +And he hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, clearing his throat with +vigor and making a great to-do over the scratching of a match. + +Mrs. Snow returned a few minutes later and to her the news of the +arrival was told, as it was also to Perez and Jerry when they came. Mrs. +Snow took charge of the supper arrangements. When the meal was ready, +she said to Captain Eri: + +“Now, I'll go upstairs and tell her to come down. I'll stay with Cap'n +Baxter till you're through, and then p'raps, if one of you'll take my +place, I'll eat my supper and wash the dishes. You needn't come up now. +I'll introduce myself.” + +Some few minutes passed before Miss Preston came down. When she did so +her eyes were wet, but her manner was cheerful, and the unaffected way +in which she greeted Captain Perez and Captain Jerry, when these two +rather bashful mariners were introduced by Eri, won them at once. + +The supper was a great success. It was Saturday night, and a Saturday +night supper to the average New Englander means baked beans. The +captains had long ago given up this beloved dish, because, although each +had tried his hand at preparing it, none had wholly succeeded, and the +caustic criticisms of the other two had prevented further trials. But +Mrs. Snow's baked beans were a triumph. So, also, was the brown bread. + +“I snum,” exclaimed Captain Perez, “if I don't b'lieve I'd sooner have +these beans than turkey. What do you say, Jerry?” + +“I don't know but I had,” assented the sacrifice, upon whose countenance +sat a placidity that had not been there since the night of the +“matching.” “'Specially if the turkey was like the one we tried to cook +last Thanksgivin'. 'Member that, Eri?” + +Captain Eri, his mouth full, grunted an emphatic assent. + +“Tell me,” said Miss Preston, who had eaten but little, but was +apparently getting more satisfaction from watching her companions, “did +you three men try to keep house here alone?” + +“Yes,” answered Eri dryly. “We tried. First we thought 'twas goin' to +be fine; then we thought we'd like it better after we got used to it; +finally we decided that by the time we got used to it we'd die, like the +horse that was fed on sawdust.” + +“And so you hired Mrs. Snow to keep house for you? Well, I don't see how +you could have made a better choice; she's a dear, good woman; I'm +sure of it. And now I want to thank you all for what you've done for +grandfather. Mrs. Snow told me all about it; you've been so kind that +I--” + +“That's all right! that's all right!” hastily interrupted Captain Eri. +“Pity if we couldn't help out a shipmate we've sailed with for years and +years. But you'd ought to have tried some of OUR cookin'. Tell her about +the sugar cake you made, Perez. The one that killed the yaller chicken.” + +So Captain Perez told it, and then their visitor set them all laughing +by relating some queer housekeeping experiences that she and a school +friend had had while camping at Chautauqua. Somehow each one felt at +home with her. As Captain Eri said afterwards, “She didn't giggle, and +then ag'in she didn't talk down at you.” + +As they rose from the table the young lady asked a question concerning +the location of the hotel. The Captain made no answer at the time, but +after a short consultation with the remainder of the triumvirate, he +came to her as she stood by the window and, laying his hand on her +shoulder, said: + +“Now, Elsie--I hope you don't mind my callin' you Elsie, but I've +been chums with your grandpa so long seems's if you must be a sort of +relation of mine--Elsie, you ain't goin' to no hotel, that is, unless +you're real set on it. Your grandpa's here and we're here, and there's +room enough. I don't want to say too much, but I'd like to have you +b'lieve that me and Perez and Jerry want you to stay right in this house +jest as long's you stop in Orham. Now you will, won't you?” + +And so it was settled, and Captain Perez harnessed Daniel and went to +the station for the trunk. + +That evening, just before going to bed, the captains stood by the door +of the sick room watching Elsie and the lady from Nantucket as they sat +beside John Baxter's bed. Mrs. Snow was knitting, and Elsie was reading. +Later, as Captain Eri peered out of the dining-room window to take a +final look at the sky in order to get a line on the weather, he said +slowly: + +“Fellers, do you know what I was thinkin' when I see them two women in +there with John? I was thinkin' that it must be a mighty pleasant thing +to know that if you're took sick somebody like that 'll take care of +you.” + +Perez nodded. “I think so, too,” he said. + +But if this was meant to influence the betrothed one, it didn't succeed, +apparently, for all Captain Jerry said was: + +“Humph! 'Twould take more than that to make me hanker after a stroke of +palsy.” + + + +And with the coming of Elsie Preston and Mrs. Snow life in the little +house by the shore took on a decided change. The Nantucket lady having +satisfied herself that John Baxter's illness was likely to be a long +one, wrote several letters to persons in her native town, which letters, +although she did not say so, were supposed by the captains to deal with +the care of her property while she was away. Having apparently relieved +her mind by this method, and evidently considering the marriage question +postponed for the present, she settled down to nurse the sick man and to +keep house as, in her opinion, a house should be kept. The captains knew +nothing of her past history beyond what they had gathered from stray +bits of her conversation. She evidently did not consider it necessary to +tell anything further, and, on the other hand, asked no questions. + +In her care of Baxter she was more like a sister than a hired nurse. No +wife could have been more tender in her ministrations or more devotedly +anxious for the patient's welfare. + +In her care of the house, she was neatness itself. She scoured and swept +and washed until the rooms were literally spotless. Order was Heaven's +first law, in her opinion, and she expected everyone else to keep up to +the standard. Captain Perez and Captain Eri soon got used to the change +and gloried in it, but to Captain Jerry it was not altogether welcome. + +“Oh, cat's foot!” he exclaimed one day, after hunting everywhere for his +Sunday tie, and at length finding it in his bureau drawer. “I can't git +used to this everlastin' spruced-up bus'ness. Way it used to be, this +necktie was likely to be 'most anywheres 'round, and if I looked out in +the kitchen or under the sofy, I was jest as likely to find it. But now +everything's got a place and is in it.” + +“Well, that's the way it ought to be, ain't it?” said Eri. “Then all +you've got to do is look in the place.” + +“Yes, and that's jest it, I'm always forgittin' the place. My shoes is +sech a place; my hankerchers is sech a place; my pipe is sech a place; +my terbacker is another place. When I want my pipe I look where my shoes +is, and when I want my shoes I go and look where I found my pipe. How a +feller's goin' to keep run of 'em is what _I_ can't see.” + +“You was the one that did most of the growlin' when things was the old +way.” + +“Yes, but jest 'cause a man don't want to live in a pigpen it ain't no +sign he wants to be put under a glass case.” + +Elsie's influence upon the house and its inmates had become almost as +marked as Mrs. Snow's. The young lady was of an artistic bent, and the +stiff ornaments in the shut-up parlor and the wonderful oil-paintings +jarred upon her. Strange to say, even the wax-dipped wreath that hung +in its circular black frame over the whatnot did not appeal to her. +The captains considered that wreath--it had been the principal floral +offering at the funeral of Captain Perez's sister, and there was a lock +of her hair framed with it--the gem of the establishment. They could +understand, to a certain degree, why Miss Preston objected to the +prominence given the spatter-work “God bless our Home” motto, but her +failure to enthuse over the wreath was inexplicable. + +But by degrees they became used to seeing the blinds open at the parlor +windows the week through, and innovations like muslin curtains and vases +filled with late wild flowers came to be at first tolerated and then +liked. “Elsie's notions,” the captains called them. + +There were some great discussions on art, over the teacups after supper. +Miss Preston painted very prettily in water-colors, and her sketches +were received with enthusiastic praise by the captains and Mrs. Snow. +But one day she painted a little picture of a fishing boat and, to her +surprise, it came in for some rather sharp criticism. + +“That's a pretty picture, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, holding the sketch +at arm's length and squinting at it with his head on one side, “but +if that's Caleb Titcomb's boat, and I jedge 'tis, it seems to me she's +carryin' too much sail. What do you think, Jerry?” + +Captain Jerry took the painting from his friend and critically examined +it, also at arm's length. + +“Caleb's boat ain't got no sech sail as that,” was his deliberate +comment. “She couldn't carry it and stand up that way. Besides, the way +I look at it, she's down by the head more 'n she'd ought to be.” + +“But I didn't try to get it EXACTLY right,” said the bewildered artist. +“The boat's sails were so white, and the water was so blue, and the sand +so yellow that I thought it made a pretty picture. I didn't think of the +size of the sail.” + +“Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” observed Captain Perez, who +was looking over Jerry's shoulder. “But you have to be awful careful +paintin' vessels. Now you jest look at that picture,” pointing to the +glaring likeness of the Flying Duck, that hung on the wall. “Jest look +at them sails, every one of 'em drawin' fine; and them ropes, every one +in JEST the right place. That's what I call paintin'.” + +“But don't you think, Captain Perez, that the waves in that picture +would be better if they weren't so all in a row, like a picket fence?” + +“Well, now, that ain't it. That's a picture of the A1 two-masted +schooner Flyin' Duck, and the waves is only thrown in, as you might say. +The reel thing is the schooner, rigged jest right, trimmed jest right, +and colored jest the way the Flyin' Duck was colored. You understand +them waves was put there jest 'cause there had to be some to set the +schooner in, that's all.” + +“But you needn't feel bad, Elsie,” said Captain Jerry soothingly. +“'Tain't to be expected that you could paint vessels like Eben Lothrop +can. Eben he used to work in a shipyard up to East Boston once, and when +he was there he had to paint schooners and things, reely put the paint +onto 'em I mean, so, of course, when it come to paintin' pictures of +'em, why--” + +And Captain Jerry waved his hand. + +So, as there was no answer to an argument like this, Miss Preston gave +up marine painting for the time and began a water-color of the house and +its inmates. This was an elaborate affair, and as the captains insisted +that each member of the family, Daniel and Lorenzo included, should +pose, it seemed unlikely to be finished for some months, at least. + +Ralph Hazeltine called on the afternoon following Elsie's arrival, and +Captain Eri insisted on his staying to tea. It might have been noticed +that the electrician seemed a trifle embarrassed when Miss Preston came +into the room, but as the young lady was not embarrassed in the least, +and had apparently forgotten the mistaken-identity incident, his +nervousness soon wore off. + +But it came back again when Captain Eri said: + +“Oh, I say, Mr. Hazeltine, I forgot to ask you, did 'Gusty come +yesterday?” + +Ralph answered, rather hurriedly, that she did not. He endeavored to +change the subject, but the Captain wouldn't let him. + +“Well, there!” he exclaimed amazedly; “if 'Gusty ain't broke her record! +Fust time sence Perez was took with the 'Naval Commander' disease that +she ain't been on hand when the month was up, to git her two dollars. +Got so we sort of reckoned by her like an almanac. Kind of thought she +was sure, like death and taxes. And now she has gone back on us. Blessed +if I ain't disapp'inted in 'Gusty!” + +“Who is she?” inquired Mrs. Snow. “One of those book-agent critters?” + +“Well, if you called her that to her face, I expect there'd be squalls, +but I cal'late she couldn't prove a alibi in court.” + +Now it may have been Mr. Hazeltine's fancy, but he could have sworn that +there was just the suspicion of a twinkle in Miss Preston's eye as she +asked, innocently enough: + +“Is she a young lady, Captain Eri?” + +“Well, she hopes she is,” was the deliberate answer. “Why?” + +“Does she look like me?” + +“Like YOU? Oh, my soul and body! Wait till you see her. What made you +ask that?” + +“Oh, nothing! I was a little curious, that's all. Have you seen her, Mr. +Hazeltine?” + +Ralph stammered, somewhat confusedly, that he hadn't had the pleasure. +The Captain glanced from the electrician to Miss Preston and back again. +Then he suddenly realized the situation. + +“Ho! ho!” he roared, slapping his knee and rocking back and forth in his +chair. “Don't for the land's sake tell me you took Elsie here for 'Gusty +Black! Don't now! Don't!” + +“He asked me if I had taken many orders,” remarked the young lady +demurely. + +When the general hilarity had abated a little Ralph penitently explained +that it was dark, that Captain Eri had said Miss Black was young, and +that she carried a bag. + +“So I did, so I did,” chuckled the Captain. “I s'pose 'twas nat'ral +enough, but, oh dear, it's awful funny! Now, Elsie, you'd ought to +feel flattered. Wait till you see 'Gusty's hat, the one she got up to +Boston.” + +“Am I forgiven, Miss Preston?” asked Hazeltine, as he said good-night. + +“Well, I don't know,” was the rather non-committal answer. “I think I +shall have to wait until I see 'Gusty.” + +But Mr. Hazeltine apparently took his forgiveness for granted, for his +calls became more and more frequent, until his dropping in after supper +came to be a regular occurrence. Young people of the better class are +scarce in Orham during the fall and winter months, and Ralph found few +congenial companions. He liked the captains and Mrs. Snow, and Elsie's +society was a relief after a day with the operators at the station. Mr. +Langley was entirely absorbed in his business, and spent his evenings in +his room, reading and smoking. + +So September and October passed and November came. School opened in +October and the captains had another boarder, for Josiah Bartlett, +against his wishes, gave up his position as stage-driver, and was sent +to school again. As the boy was no longer employed at the livery stable, +Captain Perez felt the necessity of having him under his eye, and so +Josiah lived at the house by the shore, a cot being set up in the parlor +for his use. His coming made more work for Mrs. Snow, but that energetic +lady did not seem to mind, and even succeeded in getting the youngster +to do a few “chores” about the place, an achievement that won the +everlasting admiration of Captain Perez, who had no governing power +whatever over the boy, and condoned the most of his faults or scolded +him feebly for the others. + +John Baxter continued to waver between this world and the next. He +had intervals of consciousness in which he recognized the captains and +Elsie, but these rational moments were few and, although he talked a +little, he never mentioned recent events nor alluded to the fire. + +The fire itself became an old story and gossip took up other subjects. +The “Come-Outers” held a jubilee service because of the destruction +of the saloon, but, as “Web” soon began to rebuild and repair, their +jollification was short-lived. As for Mr. Saunders, he was the same +unctuous, smiling personage that he had formerly been. It was a curious +fact, and one that Captain Eri noted, that he never ceased to inquire +after John Baxter's health, and seemed honestly glad to hear of the old +man's improvement. He asked a good many questions about Elsie, too, but +received little satisfaction from the Captain on this subject. + + + +CHAPTER X + +MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + + +Captain Jerry sat behind the woodshed, in the sunshine, smoking and +thinking. He had done a good deal of the first ever since he was sixteen +years old; the second was, in a measure, a more recent acquirement. The +Captain had things on his mind. + +It was one of those perfect, springlike mornings that sometimes come +in early November. The sky was clear blue, and the air was so free from +haze that the houses at Cranberry Point could be seen in every detail. +The flag on the cable station across the bay stood out stiff in the +steady breeze, and one might almost count the stripes. The pines on +Signal Hill were a bright green patch against the yellow grass. The sea +was a dark sapphire, with slashes of silver to mark the shoals, and +the horizon was notched with sails. The boats at anchor in front of the +shanties swung with the outgoing tide. + +Then came Captain Eri, also smoking. + +“Hello!” said Captain Jerry. “How is it you ain't off fishin' a mornin' +like this?” + +“Somethin' else on the docket,” was the answer. “How's matchmakin' these +days?” + +Now this question touched vitally the subject of Captain Jerry's +thoughts. From a placid, easygoing retired mariner, recent events had +transformed the Captain into a plotter, a man with a “deep-laid scheme,” + as the gentlemanly, cigarette-smoking villain of the melodrama used to +love to call it. To tell the truth, petticoat government was wearing on +him. The marriage agreement, to which his partners considered him bound, +and which he saw no way to evade, hung over him always, but he had put +this threat of the future from his mind so far as possible. He had not +found orderly housekeeping the joy that he once thought it would be, but +even this he could bear. Elsie Preston was the drop too much. + +He liked Mrs. Snow, except in a marrying sense. He liked Elsie better +than any young lady he had ever seen. The trouble was, that between +the two, he, as he would have expressed it, “didn't have the peace of a +dog.” + +Before Elsie came, a game of checkers between Perez and himself had been +the regular after-supper amusement. Now they played whist, Captain Eri +and Elsie against him and his former opponent. As Elsie and her partner +almost invariably won, and as Perez usually found fault with him because +they lost, this was not an agreeable change. But it was but one. He +didn't like muslin curtains in his bedroom, because they were a nuisance +when he wanted to sit up in bed and look out of the window; but the +curtains were put there, and everybody else seemed to think them +beautiful, so he could not protest. Captain Perez and Captain Eri had +taken to “dressing up” for supper, to the extent of putting on neckties +and clean collars. Also they shaved every day. He stuck to the old +“twice-a-week” plan for a while, but looked so scrubby by contrast that +out of mere self-respect he had to follow suit. Obviously two females in +the house were one too many. Something had to be done. + +Ralph Hazeltine's frequent calls gave him the inspiration he was looking +for. This was to bring about a marriage between Ralph and Miss Preston. +After deliberation he decided that if this could be done the pair would +live somewhere else, even though John Baxter was still too ill to be +moved. Elsie could come in every day, but she would be too busy with her +own establishment to bother with the “improvement” of theirs. It wasn't +a very brilliant plan and had some vital objections, but Captain Jerry +considered it a wonder. + +He broached it to his partners, keeping his real object strictly in the +background and enlarging upon his great regard for Ralph and Elsie, and +their obvious fitness for each other. Captain Perez liked the scheme +well enough, provided it could be carried out. Captain Eri seemed to +think it better to let events take their own course. However, they both +agreed to help if the chance offered. + +So, when Mr. Hazeltine called to spend the evening, Captain Jerry +would rise from his chair and, with an elaborate cough and several +surreptitious winks to his messmates, would announce that he guessed +he would “take a little walk,” or “go out to the barn,” or something +similar. Captain Perez would, more than likely, go also. As for Captain +Eri, he usually “cal'lated” he would step upstairs, and see how John was +getting along. + +But in spite of this loyal support, the results obtained from Captain +Jerry's wonderful plan had not been so startlingly successful as to +warrant his feeling much elated. Ralph and Elsie were good friends and +seemed to enjoy each other's society, but that was all that might be +truthfully said, so far. + +Captain Jerry, therefore, was a little discouraged as he sat in the +sunshine and smoked and pondered. He hid his discouragement, however, +and in response to Captain Eri's question concerning the progress of the +matchmaking, said cheerfully: + +“Oh, it's comin' along, comin' along. Kind of slow, of course, but you +can't expect nothin' diff'rent. I s'pose you noticed he was here four +times last week?” + +“Why, no,” said Captain Eri, “I don't know's I did.” + +“Well, he was, and week a fore that 'twas only three. So that's a gain, +ain't it?” + +“Sartin.” + +“I didn't count the time he stopped after a drink of water neither. That +wasn't a real call, but--” + +“Oh, it ought to count for somethin'! Call it a ha'f a time. That would +make four times and a ha'f he was here.” + +Captain Jerry looked suspiciously at his friend's face, but its +soberness was irreproachable, so he said: + +“Well, it's kind of slow work, but, as I said afore, it's comin' along, +and I have the satisfaction of knowin' it's all for their good.” + +“Yes, like the feller that ate all the apple-dumplin's so's his children +wouldn't have the stomach-ache. But say, Jerry, I come out to ask if +you'd mind bein' housekeeper to-day. Luther Davis has been after me +sence I don't know when to come down to the life-savin' station and stay +to dinner. His sister Pashy--the old maid one--is down there, and it's +such a fine day I thought I'd take Perez and Elsie and Mrs. Snow and, +maybe, Hazeltine along. Somebody's got to stay with John, and I thought +p'raps you would. I'd stay myself only Luther asked me so particular, +and you was down there two or three months ago. When Josiah comes back +from school he'll help you some, if you need him.” + +Captain Jerry didn't mind staying at home, and so Eri went into the +house to make arrangements for the proposed excursion. He had some +difficulty in persuading Mrs. Snow and Elsie to leave the sick man, +but both were tired and needed a rest, and there was a telephone at the +station, so that news of a change in the patient's condition could be +sent almost immediately. Under these conditions, and as Captain Jerry +was certain to take good care of their charge, the two were persuaded +to go. Perez took the dory and rowed over to the cable station to see if +Mr. Hazeltine cared to make one of the party. When he returned, bringing +the electrician with him, Daniel, harnessed to the carryall, was +standing at the side door, and Captain Eri, Mrs. Snow, and Elsie were +waiting. + +Ralph glanced at the carryall, and then at those who were expected to +occupy it. + +“I think I'd better row down, Captain,” he said. “I don't see how five +of us are going to find room in there.” + +“What, in a carryall?” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, that's what a +carryall's for. I've carried six in a carryall 'fore now. 'Twas a good +while ago, though,” he added with a chuckle, “when I was consid'rable +younger 'n I am now. Squeezin' didn't count in them days, 'specially if +the girls wanted to go to camp-meetin'. I cal'late we can fix it. You +and me'll set on the front seat, and the rest in back. Elsie ain't a +very big package, and Perez, he's sort of injy-rubber; he'll fit in +'most anywheres. Let's try it anyhow.” + +And try it they did. While it was true that Elsie was rather small, +Mrs. Snow was distinctly large, and how Captain Perez, in spite of his +alleged elasticity, managed to find room between them is a mystery. He, +however, announced that he was all right, adding, as a caution: + +“Don't jolt none, Eri, 'cause I'm kind of hangin' on the little aidge of +nothin'.” + +“I'll look out for you,” answered his friend, picking up the reins. “All +ashore that's goin' ashore. So long, Jerry. Git dap, Thousand Dollars!” + +Daniel complacently accepted this testimony to his monetary worth and +jogged out of the yard. Fortunately appearances do not count for much in +Orham, except in the summer, and the spectacle of five in a carryall +is nothing out of the ordinary. They turned into the “cliff road,” the +finest thoroughfare in town, kept in good condition for the benefit of +the cottagers and the boarders at the big hotel. The ocean was on the +left, and from the hill by the Barry estate--Captain Perez' charge--they +saw twenty miles of horizon line with craft of all descriptions +scattered along it. + +Schooners there were of all sizes, from little mackerel seiners to big +four- and five-masters. A tug with a string of coal barges behind it +was so close in that they could make out the connecting hawsers. A black +freight steamer was pushing along, leaving a thick line of smoke like a +charcoal mark on the sky. One square-rigger was in sight, but far out. + +“What do you make of that bark, Perez?” inquired Captain Eri, pointing +to the distant vessel. “British, ain't she?” + +Captain Perez leaned forward and peered from under his hand. “French, +looks to me,” he said. + +“Don't think so. Way she's rigged for'ard looks like Johnny Bull. Look +at that fo'tops'l.” + +“Guess you're right, Eri, now I come to notice it. Can you make out her +flag? Wish I'd brought my glass.” + +“Great Scott, man!” exclaimed Ralph. “What sort of eyes have you got? I +couldn't tell whether she had a flag or not at this distance. How do you +do it?” + +“'Cordin' to how you're brought up, as the goat said 'bout eatin' +shingle-nails,” replied Captain Eri. “When you're at sea you've jest got +to git used to seein' things a good ways off and knowin' 'em when you +see 'em, too.” + +“I remember, one time,” remarked Mrs. Snow, “that my brother +Nathan--he's dead now--was bound home from Hong Kong fust mate on +the bark Di'mond King. 'Twas the time of the war and the Alabama was +cruisin' 'round, lookin' out for our ships. Nate and the skipper--a +Bangor man he was--was on deck, and they sighted a steamer a good ways +off. The skipper spied her and see she was flyin' the United States +flag. But when Nate got the glass he took one look and says, 'That +Yankee buntin' don't b'long over that English hull,' he says. You see +he knew she was English build right away. So the skipper pulled down his +own flag and h'isted British colors, but 'twa'n't no use; the steamer +was the Alabama sure enough, and the Di'mond King was burned, and +all hands took pris'ners. Nate didn't git home for ever so long, and +everybody thought he was lost.” + +This set the captains going, and they told sea-stories until they came +to the road that led down to the beach beneath the lighthouse bluff. The +lifesaving station was in plain sight now, but on the outer beach, and +that was separated from them by a two-hundred-yard stretch of water. + +“Well,” observed Captain Eri, “here's where we take Adam's bridge.” + +“Adam's bridge?” queried Elsie, puzzled. + +“Yes; the only kind he had, I cal'late. Git dap, Daniel! What are you +waitin' for? Left your bathin' suit to home?” + +Then, as Daniel stepped rather gingerly into the clear water, he +explained that, at a time ranging from three hours before low tide +to three hours after, one may reach the outer beach at this point +by driving over in an ordinary vehicle. The life-savers add to this +time-limit by using a specially built wagon, with large wheels and a +body considerably elevated. + +“Well, there now!” exclaimed the lady from Nantucket, as Daniel +splashingly emerged on the other side. “I thought I'd done about +everything a body could do with salt water, but I never went ridin' in +it afore.” + +The remainder of the way to the station was covered by Daniel at a walk, +for the wheels of the heavy carryall sank two inches or more in the +coarse sand as they turned. The road wound between sand dunes, riven and +heaped in all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, and with clumps of the +persevering beach grass clinging to their tops like the last treasured +tufts of hair on partially bald heads. Here and there, half buried, +sand-scoured planks and fragments of spars showed, relics of wrecks that +had come ashore in past winters. + +“Five years ago,” remarked Captain Eri, “there was six foot of water +where we are now. This beach changes every winter. One good no'theaster +jest rips things loose over here; tears out a big chunk of beach and +makes a cut-through one season, and fills in a deep hole and builds +a new shoal the next. I've heard my father tell 'bout pickin' +huckleberries when he was a boy off where them breakers are now. Good +dry land it was then. Hey! there's Luther. Ship ahoy, Lute!” + +The little brown life-saving station was huddled between two sand-hills. +There was a small stable and a henhouse and yard just behind it. Captain +Davis, rawboned and brown-faced, waved a welcome to them from the side +door. + +“Spied you comin', Eri,” he said in a curiously mild voice, that sounded +odd coming from such a deep chest. “I'm mighty glad to see you, too? +Jump down and come right in. Pashy 'll be out in a minute. Here she is +now.” + +Miss Patience Davis was as plump as her brother was tall. She impressed +one as a comfortable sort of person. Captain Eri did the honors and +everyone shook hands. Then they went into the living room of the +station. + +What particularly struck Mrs. Snow was the neatness of everything. The +brass on the pump in the sink shone like fire as the sunlight from the +window struck it. The floor was white from scouring. There were shelves +on the walls and on these, arranged in orderly piles, were canned goods +of all descriptions. The table was covered with a figured oilcloth. + +Two or three men, members of the crew, were seated in the wooden chairs +along the wall, but rose as the party came in. Captain Davis introduced +them, one after the other. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of +these men was the quiet, almost bashful, way in which they spoke; they +seemed like big boys, as much as anything, and yet the oldest was nearly +fifty. + +“Ever been in a life-saving station afore?” asked Captain Eri. + +Elsie had not. Ralph had and so had Mrs. Snow, but not for years. + +“This is where we keep the boat and the rest of the gear,” said Captain +Davis, opening a door and leading the way into a large, low-studded +room. “Them's the spare oars on the wall. The reg'lar ones are in the +boat.” + +The boat itself was on its carriage in the middle of the room. Along the +walls on hooks hung the men's suits of oilskins and their sou'westers. +The Captain pointed out one thing after another, the cork jackets and +life-preservers, the gun for shooting the life line across a stranded +vessel, the life car hanging from the roof, and the “breeches buoy.” + +“I don't b'lieve you'd ever git me into that thing,” said the Nantucket +lady decidedly, referring to the buoy. “I don't know but I'd 'bout as +liefs be drownded as make sech a show of myself.” + +“Took off a bigger woman than you one time,” said Captain Davis. “Wife +of a Portland skipper, she was, and he was on his fust v'yage in a +brand-new schooner jest off the stocks. Struck on the Hog's Back off +here and then drifted close in and struck again. We got 'em all, the +woman fust. That was the only time we've used the buoy sence I've been +at the station. Most of the wrecks are too fur off shore and we have to +git out the boat.” + +He took them upstairs to the men's sleeping rooms and then up to the +little cupola on the roof. + +“Why do you have ground-glass windows on this side of the house?” asked +Elsie, as they passed the window on the landing. + +Captain Davis laughed. + +“Well, it is pretty nigh ground-glass now,” he answered, “but it wa'n't +when it was put in. The sand did that. It blows like all possessed when +there's a gale on.” + +“Do you mean that those windows were ground that way by the beach sand +blowing against them?” asked Ralph, astonished. + +“Sartin. Git a good no'therly wind comin' up the beach and it fetches +the sand with it. Mighty mean stuff to face, sand blowin' like that is; +makes you think you're fightin' a nest of yaller-jackets.” + +With the telescope in the cupola they could see for miles up and down +the beach and out to sea. An ocean tug bound toward Boston was passing, +and Elsie, looking through the glass, saw the cook come out of the +galley, empty a pan over the side, and go back again. + +“Let me look through that a minute,” said Captain Eri, when the rest had +had their turn. He swung the glass around until it pointed toward their +home away up the shore. + +“Perez,” he called anxiously, “look here quick!” + +Captain Perez hastily put his eye to the glass, and his friend went on: + +“You see our house?” he said. “Yes; well, you see the dinin'-room door. +Notice that chair by the side of it?” + +“Yes, what of it?” + +“Well, that's the rocker that Elsie made the velvet cushion for. I want +you to look at the upper southeast corner of that cushion, and see if +there ain't a cat's hair there. Lorenzo's possessed to sleep in that +chair, and--” + +“Oh, you git out!” indignantly exclaimed Captain Perez, straightening +up. + +“Well, it was a pretty important thing, and I wanted to make sure. I +left that chair out there, and I knew what I'd catch if any cat's hairs +got on that cushion while I was gone. Ain't that so, Mrs. Snow?” + +The housekeeper expressed her opinion that Captain Eri was a “case,” + whatever that may be. + +They had clam chowder for dinner--a New England clam chowder, made with +milk and crackers, and clams with shells as white as snow. They were +what the New Yorker calls “soft-shell” clams, for a Fulton Market +chowder is a “quahaug soup” to the native of the Cape. + +Now that chowder was good; everybody said so, and if the proof of the +chowder, like that of the pudding, is in the eating of it, this one had +a clear case. Also, there were boiled striped bass, which is good enough +for anybody, hot biscuits, pumpkin pie, and beach-plum preserves. There +was a running fire of apologies from Miss Patience and answering volleys +of compliments from Mrs. Snow. + +“I don't see how you make sech beach-plum preserves, Miss Davis,” + exclaimed the lady from Nantucket. “I declare! I'm goin' to ask you for +another sasserful. I b'lieve they're the best I ever ate.” + +“Well, now! Do you think so? I kind of suspected that the plums was a +little mite too ripe. You know how 'tis with beach-plums, they've got to +be put up when they're jest so, else they ain't good for much. I was at +Luther for I don't know how long 'fore I could git him to go over to the +P'int and pick 'em, and I was 'fraid he'd let it go too long. I only put +up twenty-two jars of 'em on that account. How much sugar do you use?” + +There was material here for the discussion that country housewives love, +and the two ladies took advantage of it. When it was over the female +portion of the company washed the dishes, while the men walked up and +down the beach and smoked. Here they were joined after a while by the +ladies, for even by the ocean it was as mild as early May, and the wind +was merely bracing and had no sting in it. + +The big blue waves shouldered themselves up from the bosom of the sea, +marched toward the beach, and tumbled to pieces in a roaring tumult +of white and green. The gulls skimmed along their tops or dropped +like falling stones into the water after sand eels, emerging again, +screaming, to repeat the performance. + +The conversation naturally turned to wrecks, and Captain Davis, his +reserve vanishing before the tactful inquiries of the captains and +Ralph, talked shop and talked it well. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HEROES AND A MYSTERY + + +Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for years +and “Number One Man” before that, so his experience with wrecks and +disabled craft of all kinds had been long and varied. He told them +of disasters the details of which had been telegraphed all over the +country, and of rescues of half-frozen crews from ice-crested schooners +whose signals of distress had been seen from the observatory on the roof +of the station. He told of long rows in midwinter through seas the spray +of which turned to ice as they struck, and froze the men's mittens to +the oar-handles. He told of picking up draggled corpses in the surf at +midnight, when, as he said, “You couldn't tell whether 'twas a man or +a roll of seaweed, and the only way to make sure was to reach down and +feel.” + +Captain Eri left them after a while, as he had some acquaintances +among the men at the station, and wished to talk with them. Miss Davis +remembered that she had not fed the chickens, and hurried away to +perform that humane duty, gallantly escorted by Captain Perez. The +Captain, by the way, was apparently much taken with the plump spinster +and, although usually rather bashful where ladies were concerned, had +managed to keep up a sort of side conversation with Miss Patience while +the storytelling was going on. But Ralph and Elsie and Mrs. Snow were +hungry for more tales, and Captain Davis obligingly told them. + +“One of the wust wrecks we ever had off here,” he said, “was the +Bluebell, British ship, she was: from Singapore, bound to Boston, and +loaded with hemp. We see her about off that p'int there, jest at dusk, +and she was makin' heavy weather then. It come on to snow soon as it got +dark, and blow--don't talk! Seems to me 'twas one of the meanest nights +I ever saw. 'Tween the snow flyin' and the dark you couldn't see +two feet ahead of you. We was kind of worried about the vessel all +evenin'--for one thing she was too close in shore when we see her +last--but there wa'n't nothin' to be done except to keep a weather eye +out for signs of trouble. + +“Fust thing we knew of the wreck was when the man on patrol up the +beach--Philander Vose 'twas--telephoned from the shanty that a ship's +long-boat had come ashore at Knowles' Cove, two mile above the station. +That was about one o'clock in the mornin'. 'Bout h'af-past two Sim +Gould--he was drownded the next summer, fishin' on the Banks--telephoned +from the shanty BELOW the station--the one a mile or so 'tother side of +the cable house, Mr. Hazeltine--that wreckage was washin' up abreast of +where he was; that was six miles from where the longboat come ashore. +So there we was. There wa'n't any way of tellin' whereabouts she was +layin'; she might have been anywheres along them six miles, and you +couldn't hear nothin' nor see nothin'. But anyhow, the wreckage kept +comin' in below the cable station, so I jedged she was somewheres in +that neighborhood and we got the boat out--on the cart, of course--and +hauled it down there. + +“'Twas a tremendous job, too, that haulin' was. We had the horse and +the whole of us helpin' him, but I swan! I begun to think we'd never git +anywheres. 'Tween the wind and the sand and the snow I thought we'd flap +to pieces, like a passel of shirts on a clothes line. But we got there +after a spell, and then there was nothin' to do but wait for daylight. + +“'Bout seven o'clock the snow let up a little bit, and then we see her. +There was a bar jest about opposite the cable station--it's been washed +away sence--and she'd struck on that, and the sea was makin' a clean +breach over her. There was a ha'f a dozen of her crew lashed in the +riggin', but I didn't see 'em move, so I presume likely they was froze +stiff then, for 'twas perishin' cold. But we wrastled the boat down to +the water and was jest goin' to launch her when the whole three masts +went by the 'board, men and all. We put off to her, but she was in a +reg'lar soapsuds of a sea and awash from stem to stern, so we knew there +was nothin' livin' aboard. + +“Yes, siree,” continued the Captain meditatively, “that was a mean +night. I had this ear frost-bit, and it's been tender ever sence. One +of the fellers had a rib broke; he was a little light chap, and the wind +jest slammed him up against the cart like as if he was a chip. And jest +to show you,” he added, “how the tide runs around this place, the bodies +of that crew was picked up from Wellmouth to Setuckit P'int--twenty-mile +stretch that is. The skipper's body never come ashore. He had a son, +nice young feller, that was goin' to meet him in Boston, and that boy +spent a month down here, waitin' for his father's body to be washed up. +He'd walk up and down this beach, and walk up and down. Pitiful sight as +ever I see.” + +“And they were all lost?” asked Elsie with a shiver. + +“Every man Jack. But 'twas cu'rus about that hemp. The Bluebell was +loaded with it, as I told you, and when she went to pieces the tide +took that hemp and strung it from here to glory. They picked it up all +'longshore, and for much as a month afterwards you'd go along the 'main +road' over in the village, and see it hung over fences or spread out in +the sun to dry. Looked like all the blonde girls in creation had had a +hair-cut.” + +“Captain Davis,” said Ralph, “you must have seen some plucky things in +your life. What was the bravest thing you ever saw done?” + +The life saver took the cigar that Hazeltine had given him from his +mouth, and blew the smoke into the air over his head. + +“Well,” he said slowly, “I don't know exactly. I've seen some pretty +gritty things done 'long-shore here, in the service. When there's +somebody drowndin', and you know there's a chance to save 'em, you'll +take chances, and think nothin' of 'em, that you wouldn't take if you +had time to set down and cal'late a little. I see somethin' done once +that may not strike you as bein' anything out of the usual run, but that +has always seemed to me clear grit and nothin' else. 'Twa'n't savin' +life neither; 'twas jest a matter of bus'ness. + +“It happened up off the coast of Maine 'long in the seventies. I was +actin' as sort of second mate on a lumber schooner. 'Twas a pitch-black +night, or mornin' rather, 'bout six o'clock, blowin' like all possessed +and colder 'n Greenland. We struck a rock that wa'n't even down on an +Eldredge chart and punched a hole in the schooner's side, jest above +what ought to have been the water line, only she was heeled over so that +'twas consider'ble below it most of the time. We had a mean crew aboard, +Portugees mainly, and poor ones at that. The skipper was below, asleep, +and when he come on deck things was in a bad way. We'd got the canvas +off her, but she was takin' in water every time she rolled, and there +was a sea goin' that was tearin' things loose in great shape. We shipped +one old grayback that ripped off a strip of the lee rail jest the same +as you'd rip the edge off the cover of a pasteboard box--never made no +more fuss about it, either. + +“I didn't see nothin' to do but get out the boats, but the skipper he +wa'n't that kind. He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you. He drove +the crew--ha'f of 'em was prayin' to the Virgin and t'other ha'f +swearin' a blue streak--to the pumps, and set me over 'em with a +revolver to keep 'em workin'. Then him and the fust mate and one or two +of the best hands rousted out a spare sail, weighted one edge of it to +keep it down, and got it over the side, made fast, of course. + +“Then him and the mate stripped to their underclothes, rigged a sort of +bos'n's chair over where the hole in the side was, took hammers and a +pocketful of nails apiece, and started in to nail that canvas over the +hole. + +“'Twas freezin' cold, and the old schooner was rollin' like a washtub. +One minute I'd see the skipper and the mate h'isted up in the air, +hammerin' for dear life, and then, swash! under they'd go, clear under, +and stay there, seemed to me, forever. Every dip I thought would be the +end, and I'd shet my eyes, expectin' to see 'em gone when she lifted; +but no, up they'd come, fetch a breath, shake the salt water out of +their eyes, and go to work again. + +“Four hours and a quarter they was at it, four hours, mind you, and +under water a good ha'f of the time; but they got that sail nailed fast +fin'lly. We got 'em on deck when 'twas done, and we had to carry the +fust mate to the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the cook for a pail +of bilin' hot coffee, drunk the whole of it, put on dry clothes over his +wet flannels, and stayed on deck and worked that schooner into Portland +harbor, the men pumpin' clear green water out of the hold every minute +of the way. + +“Now, that always seemed to me to be the reel thing. 'Twa'n't a question +of savin' life--we could have took to the boats and, nine chances out +of ten, got ashore all right, for 'twa'n't very fur. But no, the skipper +said he'd never lost a vessel for an owner yit and he wa'n't goin' to +lose this one. And he didn't either, by Judas! No, sir!” + +“That was splendid!” exclaimed Elsie. “I should like to have known that +captain. Who was he, Captain Davis?” + +“Well, the fust mate was Obed Simmons--he's dead now--but he used to +live over on the road towards East Harniss. The skipper--well, he was a +feller you know.” + +“'Twas Cap'n Eri,” said Mrs. Snow with conviction. + +“That's right, ma'am. Perez told you, I s'pose.” + +“No, nobody told me. I jest guessed it. I've seen a good many folks in +my time, and I cal'late I've got so I can tell what kind a man is after +I've known him a little while. I jedged Cap'n Eri was that kind, and, +when you said we knew that skipper, I was almost sartin 'twas him.” + +“Well!” exclaimed Ralph, “I don't believe I should have guessed it. +I've always liked the Captain, but he has seemed so full of fun and +so easy-going that I never thought of his doing anything quite so +strenuous.” + +Captain Davis laughed. “I've seen fo'mast hands try to take advantage +of that easy-goin' way 'fore now,” he said, “but they never did it but +once. Cap'n Eri is one of the finest fellers that ever stepped, but you +can't stomp on his toes much, and he's clear grit inside. And say,” he +added, “don't you tell anybody I told that story, for he'd skin me alive +if he knew it.” + +As they walked back toward the station Ralph and Elsie lingered a little +behind the others, and then stopped to watch a big four-master that, +under full sail, was spinning along a mile or two from the beach. They +watched it for a moment or two without speaking. Elsie's cheeks were +brown from the sun, stray wisps of her hair fluttered in the wind, and +her trim, healthy figure stood out against the white sandhill behind +them as if cut from cardboard. The electrician looked at her, and again +the thought of that disgraceful “'Gusty” Black episode was forced into +his mind. They had had many a good laugh over it since, and Elsie had +apparently forgotten it, but he had not, by a good deal. + +She was the first to speak, and then as much to herself as to him. + +“I think they are the best people I ever knew,” she said. + +“Who?” he asked. + +“Oh, all of them! The captains and Mrs. Snow, and Captain Davis and his +sister. They are so simple and kind and generous. And the best of it is, +they don't seem to know it, and wouldn't believe it if you told them.” + +Ralph nodded emphatically. + +“I imagine it would take a good deal to convince Davis or any of these +station men that there was anything heroic in their lives,” he said. “As +for Captain Eri, I have known him only a month or two, but I don't know +of anyone to whom I would rather go if I were in trouble.” + +“He has been so kind to grandfather and me,” said Elsie, “that I feel +as though we were under an obligation we never could repay. When I came +down here I knew no one in Orham, and he and Captain Jerry and Captain +Perez have made me feel more at home than I have ever felt before. You +know,” she added, “grandfather is the only relative I have.” + +“I suppose you will go back to your studies when your grandfather +recovers.” + +“I don't know. If grandfather is well enough I think I shall try to +persuade him to come up to Boston and live with me. Then I might perhaps +teach. This was to have been my last year at Radcliffe, so my giving it +up will not make so much difference. Do you intend to stay here long? I +suppose you do. Your profession, I know, means so much to you, and your +work at the station must be very interesting.” + +“It would be more so if I had someone who was interested with me. Mr. +Langley is kind, but he is so wrapped up in his own work that I see very +little of him. I took the place because I thought it would give me a +good deal of spare time that I might use in furthering some experiments +of my own. Electricity is my hobby, and I have one or two ideas that +I am foolish enough to hope may be worth developing. I have had time +enough, goodness knows, but it's a lonesome sort of life. If it had not +been for the captains--and you--I think I should have given it up before +this.” + +“Oh, I hope you won't.” + +“Why?” + +“Why--why, because it seems like running away, almost, doesn't it? If +a thing is hard to do, but is worth doing, I think the satisfaction IN +doing it is ever so much greater, don't you? I know it must be lonely +for you; but, then, it is lonely for Mr. Langley and the other men, +too.” + +“I doubt if Mr. Langley would be happy anywhere else, and the other men +are married, most of them, and live over in the village.” + +Now, there isn't any real reason why this simple remark should have +caused a halt in the conversation, but it did. Miss Preston said, “Oh, +indeed!” rather hurriedly, and her next speech was concerning the height +of a particularly big wave. Mr. Hazeltine answered this commonplace +somewhat absent-mindedly. He acted like a man to whom a startling idea +had suddenly occurred. Just then they heard Captain Eri calling them. + +The Captain was standing on a sand dune near the station, shouting their +names through a speaking trumpet formed by placing his hands about his +mouth. As the pair came strolling toward him, he shifted his hands to +his trousers pockets and stood watching the young couple with a sort of +half smile. + +“I s'pose if Jerry was here now,” he mused, “he'd think his scheme was +workin'. Well, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis. You can't never tell. Well, I +swan!” + +The exclamation was called forth by the sight of Captain Perez and Miss +Patience, who suddenly came into view around the corner of the station. +The Captain was gallantly assisting his companion over the rough places +in the path, and she was leaning upon his arm in a manner that implied +implicit confidence. Captain Eri glanced from one couple to the other, +and then grinned broadly. The grin had not entirely disappeared when +Captain Perez came up, and the latter rather crisply asked what the joke +was. + +“Oh, nothin'!” was the reply. “I was jest thinkin' we must be playin' +some kind of a game, and I was It.” + +“It?” queried Miss Patience, puzzled. + +“Why, yes. I'm kinder like 'Rastus Bailey used to be at the dances +when you and me was younger, Perez. Old man Alexander--he was the +fiddler--used to sing out 'Choose partners for Hull's Vict'ry,' or +somethin' like that, and it always took 'Ras so long to make up his mind +what girl to choose that he gin'rally got left altogether. Then he'd +set on the settee all through the dance and say he never cared much for +Hull's Vict'ry, anyway. Seems to me, I'm the only one that ain't choosed +partners. How 'bout it, Perez?” + +“More fool you, that's all I've got to say,” replied Captain Perez +stoutly. + +Miss Patience laughed so heartily at this rejoinder that Perez began +to think he had said a very good thing indeed, and so repeated it for +greater effect. + +“You want to look out for him, Miss Davis,” said Captain Eri. “He's the +most fascinatin' youngster of his age I ever see. Me and Jerry's been +thinkin' we'd have to build a fence 'round the house to keep the girls +away when he's home. Why, M'lissy Busteed fairly--” + +“Oh, give us a rest, Eri!” exclaimed Perez, with even more indignation +than was necessary. “M'lissy Busteed!” + +Just then Ralph and Elsie came up, and Captain Eri explained that he had +hailed them because it was time to be going if they wanted to get across +to the mainland without swimming. They walked around to the back door of +the station and there found Mrs. Snow and Captain Davis by the hen-yard. +The lady from Nantucket had discovered a sick chicken in the collection, +and she was holding it in her lap and at the same time discoursing +learnedly on the relative value of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, +as layers. + +“See there!” exclaimed Captain Eri delightedly, pointing to the +suffering pullet, “what did I tell you? D'you wonder we picked her out +for nuss for John, Luther? Even a sick hen knows enough to go to her.” + +They harnessed Daniel to the carryall, and stowed the living freight +aboard somehow, although Captain Perez protested that he had eaten so +much dinner he didn't know's he'd be able to hang on the way he did +coming down. Then they said farewell to Captain Davis and his sister and +started for home. The members of the crew, such of them as were about +the station, waved good-by to them as they passed. + +“Things kind of average up in this world, don't they?” said Captain Eri +reflectively, as he steered Daniel along the soft beach toward the ford. +“We're all the time readin' 'bout fellers that work for the Gov'ment +gittin' high sal'ries and doin' next to nothin'. Now there's a gang--the +life-savin' crew, I mean--that does what you and me would call almighty +hard work and git next to nothin' for it. Uncle Sam gits square there, +it seems to me. A few dollars a month and find yourself ain't gilt-edged +wages for bein' froze and drownded and blown to pieces ten months out of +the year, is it?” + +The tide was higher when they came to the crossing than it had been when +they drove over before, but they made the passage all right, although +there was some nervousness displayed by the feminine portion of the +party. When they reached home they found Captain Jerry contentedly +smoking his pipe, the sick man was asleep, and everything was serene. +Josiah appeared from behind the barn, where he had been smoking a +cigarette. + +They pressed Mr. Hazeltine to stay to supper, but he declined, alleging +that he had been away from business too long already. He had been +remarkably silent during the homeward ride, and Elsie, too, had seemed +busy with her thoughts. She was full of fun at the supper table, +however, and the meal was a jolly one. Just as it was finished Captain +Jerry struck the table a bang with his palm that made the knives and +forks jump, and so startled Captain Perez as to cause him to spill half +a cup of tea over his shirt bosom. + +“Land of love!” ejaculated the victim, mopping his chin and his tie +with his napkin. “It's bad enough to scare a feller to death, let alone +drowndin' and scaldin' him at the same time. What did you do that for?” + +“I jest thought of somethin',” exclaimed Captain Jerry, going through +one pocket after the other. + +“Well, I wish you'd have your thinkin' fits in the barn or somewheres +else next time. I put this shirt on clean this mornin' and now look at +it!” + +His friend was too busy to pay any attention to this advice. The pocket +search apparently being unsatisfactory, he rose from the table and +hurriedly made a round of the room, looking on the mantelpiece and under +chairs. + +“I had it when I come in,” he soliloquized. “I know I did, 'cause I was +wearin' it when I went out to see to the hens. I don't see where--” + +“If it's your hat you're looking for,” observed Josiah, “I saw Mrs. Snow +hang it up on the nail behind the door. There it is now.” + +The reply to this was merely a grunt, which may, or may not have +expressed approval. At any rate, the hat was apparently the object of +his search, for he took it from the nail, looked inside, and with a sigh +of relief took out a crumpled envelope. + +“I knew I put it somewheres,” he said. “It's a letter for you, Elsie. +Josiah, here, he brought it down from the post-office when he come from +school this afternoon. I meant to give it to you afore.” + +Captain Eri, who sat next to the young lady, noticed that the envelope +was addressed in an irregular, sprawling hand to “Miss Elizabeth +Preston, Orham, Mass.” Elsie looked it over in the absent way in which +so many of us examine the outside of a letter which comes unexpectedly. + +“I wonder who it is from,” she said. + +She did not open it at once, but, tucking it into her waist, announced +that she must run upstairs, in order that Mrs. Snow might come down to +supper. The housekeeper did come down a few minutes later, and, as she +was interested to know more about Luther Davis and his sister, the talk +became animated and general. + +It was after eight o'clock when Mrs. Snow, having finished washing the +dishes--she allowed no one to assist her in this operation since the +time when she caught Captain Jerry absent-mindedly using the dust +rag instead of the dishcloth--went upstairs to her patient. Shortly +afterward Elsie came down, wearing her hat and jacket. + +“I'm going out for a little while,” she said. “No, I don't want anyone +to go with me. I'll be back soon.” + +Her back was turned to the three captains as she spoke, but, as she +opened the door, the lamplight shone for an instant on her face, and +Captain Eri noticed, or fancied that he did, that she was paler than +usual. He rose, and again offered to accompany her, but met with such a +firm refusal that he could not insist further. + +“Now, that's kind of funny, ain't it?” remarked Perez. “I don't b'lieve +she's been out alone afore after dark sence she's been here.” + +“Where did you git that letter, Josiah?” asked Captain Eri. + +It may as well be explained here that Captain Perez' grand-nephew was a +thorn in the flesh to everyone, including his indulgent relative. He was +a little afraid of Mrs. Snow, and obeyed her better than he did anyone +else, but that is not saying a great deal. He was in mischief in school +two-thirds of the time, and his reports, made out by the teacher, were +anything but complimentary. He was a good-looking boy, the image of his +mother, who had been her uncle's favorite, and he was popular with a +certain class of youngsters. Also, and this was worse, his work at +the livery stable had thrown him in contact with a crowd of men like +“Squealer” Wixon, “Web” Saunders, and others of their class, and they +appreciated his New York street training and made much of him. Captain +Perez, mindful of his promise to the boy's mother, did not use the +necessary measures to control him, and Captain Eri and Captain Jerry did +not like to interfere. + +Just now he was seated in the corner, and he looked up with a start, +hurriedly folded up the tattered paper book he was reading, stuffed it +into his pocket, and said, “What?” + +“Who give you that letter that come for Elsie?” + +“Miss Cahoon up at the office. It was in our box,” said the boy. + +“Humph! What are you readin' that's so interestin'?” + +“Oh, nothin'. A book, that's all.” + +“Let me look at it.” + +Josiah hesitated, looked as if he would like to refuse, and then +sullenly took the ragged volume from his pocket and handed it to the +Captain, who deliberately unfolded it, and looked at the cover. + +“'Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific,'” he read +aloud. “Humph! Is it good?” + +“Bet your life! It's a red-hot story.” + +“I want to know! Who was Mr. Moonshine--what's his name--Starlight?” + +“He was a sailor,” was the sulky answer. Josiah was no fool, and knew +when he was being made fun of. + +The Captain opened the book, and read a page or two to himself. Then he +said, “I see he knocked the skipper down 'cause he insulted him. Nice, +spunky chap; I'd like to have had him aboard a vessel of mine. And he +called the old man a 'caitiff hound'? Awful thing to call a feller, that +is. I'll bet that skipper felt ashamed. Looks like a good book. I'll +borrow it to-night to read while you're doin' your lessons.” + +“I ain't got any lessons to do.” + +“Oh, ain't you? I thought that was a 'rithmetic over there.” + +“Well, I know 'em now. Besides, you ain't got any right to order me +around. You ain't my uncle. Can't I read that book, Uncle Perez?” + +Poor Perez! He hesitated, swallowed once or twice, and answered, “You +can read it after you've studied a spell. You'll let him have it then, +won't you, Eri? Now study, like a good boy.” + +Captain Eri looked as if he would like to say something further, but +he evidently thought better of it, and tossed the paper novel across to +Captain Perez, who put it on the table, saying, rather feebly: + +“There now, it's right there, where you can have it soon's you've +l'arned your examples. Now pitch in, so's the teacher can see how smart +you are.” + +His nephew grumblingly got his paper and pencil, took the arithmetic +and went to work. No one spoke for a while, Captain Perez twirling his +thumbs and looking, as he felt, uncomfortable. Soon Josiah, announcing +that his studies were completed, grabbed the novel from the table, took +a lamp from the kitchen and went off to bed. When he had gone Captain +Jerry said, “Perez, you're sp'ilin' that boy.” + +“I s'pose I am, I s'pose I am, but I can't bear to be cross to him, +somehow. Poor Lizzie, she made me promise I wouldn't be, and I jest +can't; that's all. You understand how 'tis, don't you, Eri?” + +The Captain nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I'm sorry I said anything. +I hadn't ought to be givin' orders 'bout what's none of my affairs. What +time is it gittin' to be?” + +Captain Jerry announced that it was bedtime, and that he was going to +turn in. Perez, still looking worried and anxious, said that he also was +going to bed. Captain Eri thought that he would sit up for a while. + +Another hour and still another went by, and the Captain sat there in his +rocker. His two friends were sound asleep. Mrs. Snow called twice from +the head of the stairs to know if Elsie had come back, and where on +earth she could be. Captain Eri's answers were cheery and to the effect +that the young lady had an errand up town, and would be home pretty +soon, he guessed. Nevertheless, it might have been noticed that he +glanced at the clock every few minutes, and grew more and more fidgety. + +It was after eleven when Elsie came in. She hurriedly and with some +confusion apologized for being so late, and thanked the Captain for +sitting up for her. She made no offer to explain her long absence +and, as she went upstairs, Captain Eri noticed that her face was, if +anything, paler than when she went out, and her eyes looked as if +she had been crying. He wanted to ask her some questions, but didn't, +because she evidently did not wish to talk. He pondered over the matter +while undressing, and for a long time after that lay awake thinking. +That the girl was in trouble of some sort was plain, but he could not +understand why she said nothing about it, or what its cause might be. +She had been her bright, happy self all day and a part of the evening. +Then she had suddenly changed. The Captain wondered what was in that +letter. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A LITTLE POLITICS + + +Elsie, when she came down to breakfast next morning, was quieter than +usual, and to the joking questions of Captain Jerry and Captain Perez, +who were curious concerning her “errand” of the previous evening, and +who pretended to believe that she had gone to a dance or “time” with +some “feller” unknown, she gave evasive, but good-humored replies. +Captain Eri was on his usual fishing trip, and after breakfast was over +Perez departed to the Barry place, and Jerry to his beloved schoolhouse. +The sacrifice, whose impending matrimonial doom had not been mentioned +for some time by the trio interested, was gradually becoming his own +garrulous self, and his principal topic of conversation recently had +been the coming marriage of the “upstairs teacher”--that is, the lady +who presided over the grammar grade of the school--and the question of +her probable successor. In fact, this question of who the new teacher +was to be was the prevailing subject of surmise and conjecture in the +village just then. + +When Captain Jerry came back to the house he went out to the barn to +feed Lorenzo and the hens, and attend to Daniel's toilet. He was busy +with the curry-comb when Elsie came in. She seated herself on a box, and +watched the performance for a while without speaking. The Captain, who +took this part of his duties very seriously, was too intent on crimping +Daniel's rather scraggy forelock to talk much. At length Miss Preston +broke the silence. + +“Captain Jerry,” she said, “you have never told me just where you found +grandfather that night when he was taken sick. On the hill back of the +post-office, wasn't it?” + +“Yes, jest on the top. You see, he'd fell down when he was runnin' to +the fire.” + +“Captain Eri found him, didn't he?” + +“Yep. Whoa there, Dan'l; stand still, can't you? Yes, Eri found him.” + +“How was he dressed?” + +“Who? John? Oh, he was bareheaded and in his shirtsleeves, jest as he +run outdoors when he heard the bell. Queer, he didn't put on that +old white hat of his. I never knew him to be without it afore; but a +feller's li'ble to forgit 'most anything a night like that was. Did Eri +tell you how Perez forgot his shoes? Funniest thing I ever see, that +was.” + +He began the story of his friend's absent-mindedness, but his companion +did not seem to pay much attention to it. In fact, it was evident that +her thoughts were somewhere else, for when the Captain asked her a +question that plainly called for a negative, she replied “Yes,” very +calmly, and didn't seem to know that she had said it. She went into +the house soon after and Captain Jerry, after considering the matter, +decided that she was probably thinking of Hazeltine. He derived much +comfort from the idea. + +When he, too, entered the dining room, Elsie said to him: + +“Oh, Captain Jerry! Please don't tell the others that I asked about +grandfather. They would think that I was worrying, and I'm not, a bit. +You won't mention it, will you? Just promise, to please me.” + +So the Captain promised, although he did not understand why it was asked +of him. + +When Captain Eri came home that afternoon, and was cleaning his catch at +the shanty, he was surprised to receive a call from Miss Preston. + +“Hello!” he exclaimed. “Come to l'arn the trade?” + +Elsie smiled, and disclaimed any intention of apprenticeship. + +“Captain Eri,” she said, “I want to have a talk with you, a business +talk.” + +The Captain looked at her keenly. All he said, however, was, “You don't +tell me!” + +“Yes, I want to talk with you about getting me a position.” + +“A position?” + +“Yes, I've been thinking a great deal lately, and, now that grandfather +seems to be a little better, and I'm not needed to help take care of +him, I want to do something to earn my living.” + +“Earn your livin'? Why, child alive, you don't need to do that. You +ain't a mite of trouble at the house; fact is, I don't know how we'd get +along without you, and, as for money, why I cal'late your grandpa ain't +so poor but what, if I let you have a little change once in a while, +he'd be able to pay me back, when he got better.” + +“But I don't want to use your money or his either. Captain Eri, you +don't know what he has done for me ever since I was a little girl. He +has clothed me and given me an education, and been so kind and good +that, now that he is ill and helpless, I simply can't go on using his +money. I can't, and I won't.” + +The tears stood in the girl's eyes, as she spoke, and the Captain, +noticing her emotion, thought it better to treat the matter seriously, +for the present at any rate. + +“All right,” he said. “'Independence shows a proper sperit and saves +grocery bills,' as old man Scudder said when his wife run off with the +tin-peddler. What kind of a place was you thinkin' of takin'?” + +“I want to get the appointment to teach in the grammar school here. Miss +Nixon is going to be married, and when she leaves I want her place--and +I want you to help me get it.” + +Captain Eri whistled. “I want to know!” he exclaimed. Then he said, +“Look here, Elsie, I don't want you to think I'm tryin' to be cur'ous +'bout your affairs, or anything like that, but are you sure there ain't +some reason more 'n you've told me of for your wantin' this place? I +ain't no real relation of yours, you understand, but I would like to +have you feel that you could come to me with your troubles jest the +same as you would to your grandpa. Now, honest and true, ain't there +somethin' back of this?” + +It was only for a moment that Elsie hesitated, but that moment's +hesitation and the manner in which she answered went far toward +confirming the Captain's suspicions. + +“No, Captain Eri,” she said. “It is just as I've told you. I don't want +to be dependent on grandfather any longer.” + +“And there ain't a single other reason for--Of course, I ought to mind +my business, but--Well, there! what was it you wanted me to do? Help you +git the place?” + +“Yes, if you will. I know Captain Perez has said that you were +interested in the town-meetings and helped to nominate some of the +selectmen and the school-committee, so I thought perhaps, if you used +your influence, you might get the position for me.” + +“Well, I don't know. I did do a little electioneerin' for one or two +fellers and maybe they'd ought to be willin' to do somethin' for me. +Still, you can't never tell. A cat 'll jump over your hands if she knows +there's a piece of fish comin' afterwards, but when she's swallowed that +fish, it's a diff'rent job altogether. Same way with a politician. But, +then, you let me think over it for a spell, and p'raps to-morrow we'll +see. You think it over, too. Maybe you'll change your mind.” + +“No, I shan't change my mind. I'm ever and ever so much obliged to you, +though.” + +She started toward the door, but turned impulsively and said, “Oh, +Captain Eri, you don't think that I'm ungrateful, do you? You nor +Captain Perez nor Captain Jerry won't think that I do not appreciate +all your kindness? You won't think that I'm shirking my duty, or that +I don't want to help take care of grandfather any longer? You won't? +Promise me you won't.” + +She choked down a sob as she asked the question. + +Captain Eri was as much moved as she was. He hastened to answer. + +“No, no, no!” he exclaimed. “Course we won't do no such thing. Run right +along, and don't think another word about it. Wait till to-morrer. I'll +have a plan fixed up to land that school-committee, see if I don't.” + +But all that evening he worked at the model of the clipper, and the +expression on his face as he whittled showed that he was puzzled, and +not a little troubled. + +He came back from his fishing next day a little earlier than usual, +changed his working-clothes for his second best suit, harnessed Daniel +into the buggy, and then came into the house, and announced that he was +going over to the Neck on an errand, and if Elsie wanted to go with him, +he should be glad of her company. As this was but part of a pre-arranged +scheme, the young lady declared that a ride was just what she needed. + +Captain Eri said but little, as they drove up to the “main road”; he +seemed to be thinking. Elsie, too, was very quiet. When they reached the +fruit and candy shop, just around the corner, the Captain stopped the +horse, got down, and went in. When he came out he had a handful of +cigars. + +“Why, Captain Eri,” said Elsie, “I didn't know that you smoked cigars. I +thought a pipe was your favorite.” + +“Well, gin'rally speakin', 'tis,” was the answer, “but I'm +electioneerin' now, and politics without cigars would be like a chowder +without any clams. Rum goes with some kind of politics, but terbacker +kind of chums in with all kinds. 'Tain't always safe to jedge a +candidate by the kind of cigars he gives out neither; I've found that +out. + +“Reminds me of a funny thing that Obed Nickerson told me one time. Obed +used to be in politics a good deal up and down the Cape, here, and he +had consider'ble influence. 'Twas when Bradley up to Fall River was +runnin' for Congress. They had a kind of pow-wow in his office--a whole +gang of district leaders--and Obed he was one of 'em. Bradley went to +git out the cigar-box, and 'twas empty, so he called in the boy that +swept out and run errands for him, give the youngster a ten-dollar bill, +and told him to go down to a terbacker store handy and buy another box. +Well, the boy, he was a new one that Bradley'd jest hired, seemed kind +of surprised to think of anybody's bein' so reckless as to buy a whole +box of cigars at once, but he went and pretty soon come back with the +box. + +“The old man told him to open it and pass 'em round. Well, everybody +was lookin' for'ard to a treat, 'cause Bradley had the name of smokin' +better stuff than the average; but when they lit up and got a-goin', +Obed said you could see that the gang was s'prised and some disgusted. +The old man didn't take one at fust, but everybody else puffed away, and +the smoke and smell got thicker 'n' thicker. Obed said it reminded him +of a stable afire more 'n anything else. Pretty soon Bradley bit the end +of one of the things and touched a match to it. He puffed twice--Obed +swears 'twa'n't more'n that--and then he yelled for the boy. + +“'For the Lord's sake!' he says, 'where'd you git them cigars?' Well, +it come out that the boy hadn't told who the cigars was for, and he'd +bought a box of the kind his brother that worked in the cotton mill +smoked. Obed said you'd ought to have seen Bradley's face when the +youngster handed him back seven dollars and seventy-five cents change.” + +They reached that part of Orham which is called the Neck, and pulled +up before a small building bearing the sign “Solomon Bangs, +Attorney-at-Law, Real Estate and Insurance.” Here the Captain turned to +his companion and asked, “Sure you haven't changed your mind, Elsie? You +want that school-teachin' job?” + +“I haven't changed my mind, Captain Eri.” + +“Well, I wanted to be sure. I should hate to ask Sol Bangs for anything +and then have to back out afterwards. Come on, now.” + +Mr. Soloman Bangs was the chairman of the Orham school-committee. He was +a short, stout man with sandy side-whiskers and a bald head. He received +them with becoming condescension, and asked if they wouldn't sit down. + +“Why, I've got a little bus'ness I want to talk with you 'bout, +Sol,” said the Captain. “Elsie, you set down here, and make yourself +comf'table, and Sol and me 'll go inside for a minute.” + +As he led the way into the little private office at the back of the +building, and seemed to take it for granted that Mr. Bangs would follow, +the latter gentleman couldn't well refuse. The private office was +usually reserved for interviews with widows whose homestead mortgages +were to be foreclosed, guileless individuals who had indorsed notes +for friends, or others whose business was unpleasant and likely to +be accompanied with weeping or profanity. Mr. Bangs didn't object to +foreclosing a mortgage, but he disliked to have a prospective customer +hear the dialogue that preceded the operation. + +On this occasion the door of the sanctum was left ajar so that Elsie, +although she did not try to listen, could not very well help hearing +what was said. + +She heard the Captain commenting on the late cranberry crop, the +exceptionally pleasant weather of the past month, and other irrelevant +subjects. Then the perfumes of the campaign cigars floated out through +the doorway. + +“Let's see,” said Captain Eri, “when's town meetin' day?” + +“First Tuesday in December,” replied Mr. Bangs. + +“Why, so 'tis, so 'tis. Gittin' pretty nigh, ain't it? What are you +goin' to git off the school-committee for?” + +“Me? Get off the committee? Who told you that?” + +“Why, I don't know. You are, ain't you? Seems to me I heard Seth Wingate +was goin' to run and he's from your district, so I thought, of course--” + +“Is Seth going to try for the committee?” + +“Seth's a good man,” was the equivocal answer. + +“A good man! He ain't any better man than I am. What's he know about +schools, or how to run 'em?” + +“Well, he's pretty popular. Folks like him. See here, Sol; what's this +'bout your turnin' Betsy Godfrey off her place?” + +“Who said I turned her off? I've been carrying that mortgage for so long +it's gray-headed. I can't be Santa Claus for the whole town. Business is +business, and I've got to look out for myself.” + +“Ye-es, I s'pose that's so. Still, folks talk, and Seth's got lots of +friends.” + +“Eri, I ain't denying that you could do a heap to hurt me if you wanted +to, but I don't know why you should. I've always been square with you, +far's I know. What have you got against me?” + +“Oh, nuthin', nuthin'! Didn't I hear you was tryin' to get that Harniss +teacher to come down here and take Carrie Nixon's place when she got +married?” + +“Well, I thought of her. She's all night, isn't she?” + +“Yes, I s'pose she is. 'Twould be better if she lived in Orham, maybe, +and folks couldn't say you went out of town for a teacher when you could +have had one right from home. Then, she's some relation of your cousin, +ain't she? 'Course, that's all right, but--well, you can't pay attention +to everything that's said.” + +“Could have got one right from home! Who'd we get? Dave Eldredge's girl, +I suppose. I heard she was after it.” + +The conversation that followed was in a lower tone, and Elsie heard but +little of it. She heard enough, however, to infer that Captain Eri was +still the disinterested friend, and that Solomon was very anxious to +retain that friendship. After a while the striking of matches indicated +that fresh cigars were being lighted, and then the pair rose from their +chairs, and entered the outer office. Mr. Bangs was very gracious, +exceedingly so. + +“Miss Preston,” he said, “Cap'n Hedge tells me that it--er--might be +possible for us--er--for the town to secure--er--to--in short, for us to +have you for our teacher in the upstairs room. It ain't necessary for me +to say that--er--a teacher from Radcliffe don't come our way very often, +and that we--that is, the town of Orham, would--er--feel itself lucky if +you'd be willing to come.” + +“Of course, I told him, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, “that you wouldn't +think of comin' for forty-five dollars a month or anything like that. Of +course, 'tisn't as though you really needed the place.” + +“I understand, I understand,” said the pompous committeeman. “I think +that can be arranged. I really think--er--Miss Preston, that there ain't +any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!” + +Elsie thanked him, trying her best not to smile, and they were bowed +out by the great man, who, however, called the Captain to one side, +and whispered eagerly to him for a moment or two. The word “Seth” was +mentioned at least once. + +“Why, Captain Eri!” exclaimed Elsie, as they drove away. + +The Captain grinned. “Didn't know I was such a heeler, did you?” he +said. “Well, I tell you. If you're fishin' for eels there ain't no use +usin' a mack'rel jig. Sol, he's a little mite eely, and you've got to +use the kind of bait that 'll fetch that sort of critter.” + +“But I shouldn't think he would care whether he was on the +school-committee or not. It isn't such an exalted position.” + +Captain Eri's answer was in the form of a parable. “Old Laban Simpkins +that lived 'round here one time,” he said, “was a mighty hard ticket. +Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she left him, and was +a tough nut gin'rally. Well, one evenin' Labe was comin' home pretty +how-come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab Wixon's well. Wonder he wa'n't +killed, but he wa'n't, and they fished him out in a little while. He +said that was the deepest well he ever saw; said he begun to think it +reached clear through to the hereafter, and when he struck the water he +was s'prised to find it wa'n't hot. He j'ined the church the next +week, and somebody asked him if he thought religion would keep him from +fallin' into any more wells. He said no; said he was lookin' out for +somethin' further on. + +“Well, that's the way 'tis with Sol. School-committee's all right, but +this section of the Cape nominates a State representative next year. + +“I mustn't forgit to see Seth,” he added. “I promised I would, and +besides,” with a wink, “I think 'twould be better to do it 'cause, +between you and me, I don't b'lieve Seth knows that he's been thinkin' +of runnin' for the committee and has decided not to.” + +The second member of the school board, John Mullett, was, so the Captain +said, a sort of “me too” to Mr. Bangs, and would vote as his friend +directed. The third member was Mr. Langworthy, the Baptist minister +and, although two to one was a clear majority, Captain Eri asserted that +there was nothing like a unanimous vote, and so they decided to call +upon the reverend gentleman. + +They found him at home, and Elsie was surprised, after the previous +interview, to see how differently her champion handled the case. There +was no preliminary parley and no beating about the bush. Miss Preston's +claim to the soon-to-be-vacant position was stated clearly and with +vigor. Also the reasons why she should receive a higher salary than had +previously been paid were set forth. It was something of a surprise to +Elsie, as it had been to Ralph, to see how highly the towns-people, that +is, the respectable portion of them, seemed to value the opinions of +this good-natured but uneducated seaman. And yet when she considered +that she, too, went to him for advice that she would not have asked of +other and far more learned acquaintances, it did not seem so surprising +after all. + +The clergyman had had several candidates in mind, but he was easily +won over to Elsie's side, partly by the Captain's argument, and partly +because he was favorably impressed by the young lady's appearance +and manner. He expressed himself as being convinced that she would be +exactly the sort of teacher that the school required and pledged his +vote unconditionally. + +And so, as Captain Eri said, the stump-speaking being over, there was +nothing to do but to wait for the election, and Elsie and he agreed +to keep the affair a secret until she received formal notice of the +appointment. This was undoubtedly a good plan, but, unfortunately for +its success, Solomon Bangs called upon his fellow in the committee, Mr. +Mullett, to inform the latter that he, entirely unaided, had discovered +the very teacher that Orham needed in the person of John Baxter's +granddaughter. Mr. Mullett, living up to his “me too” reputation, +indorsed the selection with enthusiasm, and not only did that, but +also told everyone he met, so that Captain Perez heard of it at the +post-office the very next afternoon. + +The natural surprise of this gentleman and of Captain Jerry at their +guest's sudden determination was met by plausible explanations from +Captain Eri, to the effect that Elsie was a smart girl, and didn't +like to be “hangin' 'round doin' nothin', now that her grandpa was some +better.” Elsie's own reason, as expressed to them, being just this, the +pair accepted it without further questioning. Neither of them attached +much importance to the letter which she had received, although Captain +Perez did ask Mrs. Snow if she knew from whom it came. + +The lady from Nantucket was not so easily satisfied. At her first +opportunity she cornered Captain Eri, and they discussed the whole +affair from beginning to end. There was nothing unusual in this +proceeding, for discussions concerning household matters and questions +of domestic policy were, between these two, getting to be more and more +frequent. Mrs. Snow was now accepted by all as one of the family, and +Captain Eri had come to hold a high opinion of her and her views. What +he liked about her, he said, was her “good old-fashioned common-sense,” + and, whereas he had formerly trusted to his own share of this virtue +almost altogether, now he was glad to have hers to help out. + +The marriage idea, that which had brought the housekeeper to Orham, was +now seldom mentioned. In fact, Captain Eri had almost entirely ceased to +ruffle Jerry's feelings with reference to it. Mrs. Snow, of course, +said nothing about it. But, for that matter, she said very little about +herself or her affairs. + +It was a curious fact that the lady from Nantucket had never referred, +except in a casual way, to her past history. She had never told how she +came to answer the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime, nor to explain +how so matter-of-fact a person as she was had ever seen that famous +sheet. As she said nothing concerning these things, no one felt at +liberty to inquire, and, in the course of time, even Captain Perez' +lively curiosity had lapsed into a trance. + +Mrs. Snow was certain that Elsie's reason for wishing to obtain the +position of school-teacher was something more specific than the +one advanced. She was also certain that the girl was troubled about +something. The root of the matter, she believed, was contained in the +mysterious letter. As Captain Eri was of precisely the same opinion, +speculation between the two as to what that letter might have contained +was as lively as it was unfruitful. + +One thing was certain, Elsie was not as she had formerly been. She did +her best to appear the same, but she was much more quiet, and had fits +of absentmindedness that the Captain and the housekeeper noticed. She +had no more evening “errands,” but she occasionally took long walks in +the afternoons, and on these walks she evidently preferred to be alone. + +Whether Mr. Hazeltine noticed this change in her was a question. The +Captain thought he did, but at any rate, his calls were none the less +frequent, and he showed no marked objection when Captain Jerry, who now +considered himself bound in honor to bring about the union he had so +actively championed, brought to bear his artful schemes for leaving the +young folks alone. These devices were so apparent that Elsie had more +than once betrayed some symptoms of annoyance, all of which were lost on +the zealous match-maker. Ralph, like the others, was much surprised at +Miss Preston's application for employment, but, as it was manifestly +none of his business, he, of course, said nothing. + +At the next committee meeting Elsie was unanimously chosen to fill Miss +Nixon's shoes as trainer of the young idea at the grammar school, and, +as Miss Nixon was very anxious to be rid of her responsibilities in +order that she might become the carefree bride of a widower with two +small children, the shoe-filling took place in a fortnight. + +From her first day's labors Elsie returned calm and unruffled. She had +met the usual small rebellion against a new teacher, and had conquered +it. She said she believed she had a good class and she should get on +with them very nicely. It should be mentioned in passing, however, that +Josiah Bartlett, usually the ring-leader in all sorts of trouble, was a +trifle upset because the new schoolmistress lived in the same house +with him, and so had not yet decided just how far it was safe to go in +trespassing against law and order. + +Thanksgiving day came, and the Captains entertained Miss Patience Davis +and her brother and Ralph Hazeltine at dinner. That dinner was an event. +Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow spent a full twenty minutes with the driver of +the butcher's cart, giving him directions concerning the exact breed +of turkey that was to be delivered, and apparently these orders were +effectual, for Captain Luther, who was obliged to hurry back to the +life-saving station as soon as dinner was over, said that he was so full +of white meat and stuffing that he cal'lated he should “gobble” all the +way to the beach. His sister stayed until the next day, and this was +very pleasing to all hands, particularly Captain Perez. + +They had games in the evening, and here the captains distinguished +themselves. Seth Wingate and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Obed Nickerson +came in, as did several other retired mariners and their better-halves. +Obed brought his fiddle and sat in the corner and played the music for +a Virginia reel, and Ralph laughed until he choked to see Captain +Jerry--half of his shirt-collar torn loose from the button and flapping +like a sail--convoy stout Mrs. Wingate from one end of the line to +the other, throwing into the performance all the fancy “cuts” and +“double-shuffles” he learned at the Thanksgiving balls of a good many +years before. Captain Perez danced with Miss Patience, who assured him +she had never had such a good time since she was born. The only scoffer +was the bored Josiah, who, being a sophisticated New Yorker, sat in the +best chair and gazed contemptuously upon the entire proceeding. He told +“Web” Saunders the next day that he never saw such a gang of “crazy +jays” in his life. + +Even John Baxter was better that day. He seemed a trifle more rational, +and apparently understood when they told him that it was Thanksgiving. +There would have been no cloud anywhere had not Mrs. Snow, entering her +room after Elsie had gone to bed, found that young lady awake and crying +silently. + +“And she wouldn't tell what the trouble was,” said the housekeeper to +Captain Eri, the next day. “Said it was nothin'; she was kind of worried +'bout her grandpa. Now, you and me know it wa'n't THAT. I wish to +goodness we knew WHAT it was.” + +The Captain scratched his nose with a perplexed air. “There's one feller +I'd like to have a talk with jest 'bout now,” he said; “that's the +one that invented that yarn 'bout a woman's not bein' able to keep a +secret.” + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + + +It was during the week that followed the holiday so gloriously +celebrated that Captain Jerry made a mess of it, and all with the +best intentions in the world. Elsie had had a hard day at the school, +principally owing to the perversity of the irrepressible Josiah, whose +love for deviltry was getting the better of his respect for the new +teacher. The boy had discovered that Elsie never reported his bad +conduct to Captain Perez, and, therefore, that the situation was not +greatly different from what it had been during the reign of Miss Nixon. + +On this particular day he had been a little worse than usual, and, +as uneasiness and mischief in a schoolroom are as catching as the +chickenpox, Elsie came home tired and nervous. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow +were certain that this increasing nervousness on the part of their guest +was not due to school troubles alone, but, at any rate, nervous she was, +and particularly nervous, and, it must be confessed, somewhat inclined +to be irritable, during the supper and afterward, on this ill-starred +night. + +The beginning of the trouble was when Ralph Hazeltine called. Mrs. Snow +was with her patient in the upper room, Captain Eri was out, and +Captain Perez and Captain Jerry were with Elsie in the dining room. +The electrician was made welcome by the trio--more especially by the +captains, for Miss Preston was in no mood to be over-effusive--and a +few minutes of general conversation followed. Then Captain Jerry, in +accordance with his plan of campaign, laid down his newspaper, coughed +emphatically to attract the attention of his partner, and said, “Well, I +guess I'll go out and look at the weather for a spell. Come on, Perez.” + +“Why, Captain Jerry!” exclaimed Elsie, “you were out looking at the +weather only ten minutes ago. I don't think it has changed much since +then. Why don't you stay here and keep us company?” + +“Oh, you can't never tell about the weather 'long this coast. It's +likely to change most any time. Besides,” with a wink that expressed +comprehension unlimited, “I reckon you and Mr. Hazeltine don't care much +'bout the company of old fogies like me and Perez. Two's company and +three's a crowd, you know. Ho, ho, ho!” + +“Captain Jerry, come back this minute!” + +But the Captain chuckled and shook out of the door, followed by the +obedient Perez, who, having pledged fealty, stuck to his colors whatever +might happen. + +At another time, Elsie would probably have appreciated and enjoyed the +joke as much as anyone, but this evening it did not appeal to her in +the least. Ralph put in a very uncomfortable half-hour, and then cut his +visit short and departed. It was rather sharp and chilly outside, +but the breeze felt like a breath from the tropics compared with the +atmosphere of that dining room. + +It certainly was Captain Jerry's unlucky evening, for he left Perez +chatting with a fisherman friend, who had left a favorite pipe in his +shanty and had come down to get it, and entered the house alone. He had +seen the electrician go, and was surprised at the brevity of his call, +but he was as far from suspecting that he himself was the indirect cause +of the said brevity as a mortal could be. + +He came into the dining room, hung his cap on the back of a chair, and +remarked cheerfully, “Well, Elsie, what did you send your company home +so quick for? Land sake! twelve o'clock wa'n't none too late for me when +I was young and goin' round to see the girls.” + +But Miss Preston did not smile. On the contrary, she frowned, and when +she spoke the Captain had a vague feeling that someone had dropped an +icicle inside his shirt collar. + +“Captain Jerry,” said the young lady, “I want to have a talk with you. +Why do you think it necessary to get up and leave the room whenever Mr. +Hazeltine calls? You do it every time, and to-night was no exception, +except that by what you said you made me appear a little more ridiculous +than usual. Now, why do you do it?” + +The Captain's jaw fell. He stared at his questioner to see if she was +not joking, but, finding no encouragement of that kind, stammered, “Why +do I do it? Why?” + +“Yes, why?” + +“Why, 'cause I thought you wanted me to.” + +“_I_ wanted you to! Why should you think that, please?” + +“Well, I don't know. I thought you two would ruther be alone. I know, +when I used to go to see my wife 'fore we was married, I--” + +“Please, what has that got to do with Mr. Hazeltine's visits here?” + +“Why, why, nothin', I s'pose, if you say so. I jest thought--” + +“What right have you to suppose that Mr. Hazeltine is calling on me more +than any other person or persons in this house?” + +This was something of a poser, but the Captain did his best. He sat on +the edge of a chair and rubbed his knee, and then blurted out, “Well, +I s'pose I--that is, we thought he was, jest 'cause he nat'rally would; +that's 'bout all. If I'd thought--why, see here, Elsie, don't YOU think +he's comin' to see you?” + +This was a return thrust that was hard to parry, but, although the +young lady's color heightened just a bit, she answered without much +hesitation: + +“I don't know that I do. At any rate, I have given you no authority to +act on any such assumption, and I DON'T want you to put me again in the +ridiculous position you did this evening, and as you have done so often +before. Why, his visits might be perfect torture to me, and still I +should have to endure them out of common politeness. I couldn't go away +and leave him alone.” + +Captain Jerry's face was a study of chagrin and troubled repentance. + +“Elsie,” he said, “I'm awful sorry; I am so. If I'd thought I was +torturin' of you, 'stead of makin' it pleasant, I'd never have done it, +sure. I won't go out again; I won't, honest. I hope you won't lay it up +against me. I meant well.” + +Now, if Captain Perez had delayed his entrance to that dining room +only two or three minutes longer, if he had not come in just in time to +prevent Elsie's making the explanatory and soothing answer that was on +her tongue, events would probably have been entirely different, and a +good deal of trouble might have been saved. But in he came, as if some +perverse imp had been waiting to give him the signal, and the interview +between Captain Jerry and the young lady whom he had unwittingly +offended broke off then and there. + +Elsie went upstairs feeling a little conscience-stricken, and with an +uneasy idea that she had said more than she should have. Captain Perez +took up the newspaper and sat down to read. As for Captain Jerry, he sat +down, too, but merely to get his thoughts assorted into an arrangement +less like a spilled box of jackstraws. The Captain's wonderful scheme, +that he had boasted of and worked so hard for, had fallen to earth like +an exploded airship, and when it hit it hurt. + +His first idea was to follow the usual procedure, and take the whole +matter to Captain Eri for settlement, but the more he considered this +plan the less he liked it. Captain Eri was an unmerciful tease, and he +would be sure to “rub it in,” in a way the mere thought of which made +his friend squirm. There wasn't much use in confiding to Captain Perez, +either. He must keep the secret and pretend that everything was working +smoothly. + +Then his thoughts turned to Hazeltine, and when he considered the wrong +he had done that young man, he squirmed again. There wasn't a doubt in +his mind that Ralph felt exactly as Elsie did about his interference. +Captain Jerry decided that he owed the electrician an apology, and +determined to offer it at the first opportunity. + +And the opportunity came the very next morning, for Mrs. Snow wanted +some clams for dinner, and asked him to dig some for her. The best clams +in the vicinity were those in the flat across the bay near the cable +station, and the Captain took his bucket and hoe and rowed over there. +As he was digging, Ralph came strolling down to the shore. + +Mr. Hazeltine's “Good-morning” was clear and hearty. Captain Jerry's +was hesitating and formal. The talk that followed was rather one-sided. +Finally, the Captain laid down his hoe, and came splashing over to where +his friend was standing. + +“Mr. Hazeltine,” he said confusedly, “I kind of feel as if I ought to +beg your pardon. I'm awful sorry I done what I did, but, as I said to +Elsie, I meant well, and I'm sorry.” + +“Sorry? Sorry for what?” + +“Why, for leavin' you and her alone so when you come to the house. You +see, I never thought but what you'd both like it, and 'twa'n't till she +raked me over the coals so for doin' it that I realized how things was.” + +“Raked you over the coals? I'm afraid I don't understand.” + +It is unnecessary to repeat the whole of the long and tangled +conversation that ensued. The Captain tried to explain, tumbled down, +metaphorically speaking, got up again, and started off on another tack. +In his anxiety to make his position perfectly clear, he quoted from +Elsie's remarks of the previous evening, and then, thinking perhaps +he had gone too far, tried to smooth these over by more explanations. +Repeating this process several times got him into such a snarl that +he scarcely knew what he was saying. When the agony was over Ralph had +received the impression that Miss Preston had said his visits were a +perfect torture to her, that she objected to being left alone with him, +that she held Captain Jerry responsible for these things, and that the +latter was sorry for something or other, though what it was he, Ralph, +didn't know or care particularly. To the Captain's continued apologies +he muttered absently that it was “all right,” and walked slowly away +with his hands in his pockets. Captain Jerry was relieved by this +expression of forgiveness. He felt that the situation wasn't what he +would like to have it, but, at any rate, he had done his duty. This was +a great consolation. + +Ralph didn't call that evening or the next. When he did drop in it was +merely to inquire concerning John Baxter's progress, and to chat for a +moment with the captains. His next visit was a week later, and was just +as brief and formal. + +If Elsie noticed this sudden change she said nothing. There might have +been some comment by the others, had not a new sensation so occupied +their minds as to shut out everything else. This sensation was caused by +Josiah Bartlett, who ran away one night, with his belongings tied up in +a brown paper parcel, leaving a note saying that he had gone to enlist +in the Navy and wasn't coming back any more. + +There were lively times the next morning when the note was found. +Captain Perez was for harnessing up immediately and starting off to find +the lost one, hit or miss. Captain Eri soon showed him the folly of +this proceeding and, instead, hurried to the railway station and sent a +telegram describing the fugitive to the conductor of the Boston +train. It caught the conductor at Sandwich, and the local constable at +Buzzard's Bay caught the boy. Josiah was luxuriously puffing a five-cent +cigar in the smoking car, and it was a crest-fallen and humiliated +prodigal that, accompanied by the a fore-mentioned constable, returned +to Orham that night. + +But the stubbornness remained, and the next day Perez sought Captain Eri +in a troubled frame of mind. + +“Eri,” he said dejectedly, “I don't know what I'm goin' to do with that +boy. He's too many for ME, that boy is. Seems he's been plannin' this +runnin' away bus'ness for more 'n a month; been doin' errands and odd +jobs 'round town and savin' up his money on purpose. Says he won't go +back to school again, no matter what we do to him, and that he's goin' +to git into the Navy if it takes ten year. He says he'll run away again +fust chance he gits, and he WILL, too. He's got the sperit of the Old +Scratch in him, and I can't git it out. I'm clean discouraged and wore +out, and I know that he'll do somethin' pretty soon that 'll disgrace us +all.” + +“Humph!” exclaimed his friend. “Stuffy as all that, is he? You don't +say! He ain't a bad boy, that is a REEL bad boy, either.” + +“No, that's jest it. He ain't reel bad--yit. But he will be if he ain't +fetched up pretty sudden. 'Course, I know what he needs is to be made +to mind fust, and then preached to afterwards. And I know that nat'rally +I'm the one that ought to do it, but I jest can't--there! If I should +start out to give him the dressin' down he needs, I'd be thinkin' of his +mother every minute, and how I promised to treat him gentle and not be +cross to him. But SOMETHIN'S got to be done, and if you can help me out +any way I'll never forgit it, Eri.” + +Captain Eri scratched his chin. “Humph!” he grunted reflectively. “He +couldn't git into the Navy, he's too young. More likely to be a stowaway +on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, or some such +thing. Even if he lied 'bout his age and did git to be a sort of +a ship's boy on a sailin' vessel, you and me know what that means +nowadays. I presume likely 'twould end in his bein' killed in some +rumshop scrimmage later on. Let--me--see. Bound to be a sailor, is he?” + +“He's dead sot on it.” + +“More fool he. Comes from readin' them ridic'lous story books, I s'pose. +He ain't been on the water much sence he's been down here, has he?” + +“Not more 'n once or twice, except in a dory goin' to the beach, or +somethin' like that.” + +“That's so, that's what I thought. Well, Perez, I'll tell you. The boy +does need breakin' in, that's a fact, and I think maybe I could do it. I +could use a young feller on my boat; to go coddin' with me, I mean. +Let me have the boy under me--no meddlin' from anybody--for a couple +of months. Let him sign reg'lar articles and ship 'long of me for that +time. Maybe I could make a white man of him.” + +“I don't b'lieve he'd do it.” + +“I cal'late I could talk him into it. There's some butter on my tongue +when it's necessary.” + +“You'd have to promise not to lay a hand on him in anger. That's what I +promised his mother.” + +“All right, I promise it now. That's all right, Perez. You and me are +old shipmates, and bound to help each other out. Just trust him to me, +and don't ask too many questions. Is it a trade? Good! Shake.” + +They shook hands on it, and then Captain Eri went in to talk to the +unreconciled runaway. That young gentleman, fresh from his triumph over +his uncle, at first refused to have anything to do with the scheme. He +wasn't going to be a “cheap guy fisherman,” he was going into the +Navy. The Captain did not attempt to urge him, neither did he preach or +patronize. He simply leaned back in the rocker and began spinning sailor +yarns. He told of all sorts of adventures in all climates, and with all +sorts of people. He had seen everything under the sun, apparently, and, +according to him, there was no life so free and void of all restraint +as that of an able seaman on a merchant ship, or, preferably, on a +fisherman; but one point he made clear, and that was that, unless the +applicant had had previous training, his lot was likely to be an unhappy +one. + +“Of course,” he said, as he rose to go, “it was my idea to sort of train +you up so's you could be ready when 'twas time to ship, but long's you +don't want to, why it's all off.” + +“I'll go with you, Cap!” said Josiah, whose eyes were shining. + +“Good! That's the talk! You might as well sign articles right away. Wait +till I git 'em ready.” + +He brought pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to indite a formidable +document to the effect that “Josiah Bartlett, able seaman,” was to ship +aboard the catboat Mary Ellen for a term of two months. Wages, five +dollars a month. + +“You see,” he said, “I've put you down as able seaman 'cause that's what +you'll be when I git through with you. Now sign.” + +So Josiah signed, and then Captain Eri affixed his own signature with a +flourish. + +“There!” exclaimed the Captain, bringing his big palm down on the back +of the “able seaman” with a thump that brought water into the eyes of +that proud youth, “You're my man, shipmate. We sail to-morrer mornin' at +four, rain or shine. I'll call you at quarter of. Be ready.” + +“You bet, old man!” said Josiah. + +Captain Perez met his friend as they came out of the parlor. + +“Now, Eri,” he whispered, “be easy as you can with him, won't you?” + +The Captain answered in the very words of his crew. + +“You bet!” he said fervently, and went away whistling. Captain Perez +slept better that night. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN” + + +Promptly at a quarter to four the next morning Captain Eri rapped on the +parlor door. Josiah, who had been dressed since three, appeared almost +instantly. They walked down to the shore together, and the Captain's +eyes twinkled as he noted the elaborate roll in the boy's walk. + +The Mary Ellen was anchored between the beaches, and they rowed off to +her in a dory. It was pitch-dark, and cold and raw. Lanterns showed on +two or three of the other boats near by, and, as Josiah and the Captain +pulled up the eelgrass-covered anchor, a dim shape glided past in the +blackness. It was the You and I, bound out. Ira Sparrow was at the helm, +and he hailed the Mary Ellen, saying something about the weather. + +“It 'll be kind of ca'm for a spell,” replied Captain Eri, “but I +wouldn't wonder if we had some wind 'fore night. Here you, fo'mast +hand,” he added, turning to Josiah, “stand by to git the canvas on her.” + +The mainsail was soon hoisted, and the catboat moved slowly out of the +bay. + +“Gee! it's dark,” exclaimed Josiah, “what are you goin' way off here +for? Why don't you go straight out?” + +“I gin'rally take the short cut through the narrers,” replied the +Captain, “but I thought you mightn't like the breakers on the shoals, so +I'm goin' 'round the p'int flat.” + +“Huh! I ain't a-scared of breakers. Can't be too rough for me. Wisht +'twould blow to beat the band.” + +“Maybe 'twill by and by. Pretty toler'ble slick now, though.” + +It was after sunrise when they reached the ledge where codfish most do +congregate. The land was a mere yellow streak on the horizon. The stiff +easterly blow of the day before had left a smooth, heavy swell that, +tripping over the submerged ledge, alternately tossed the Mary Ellen +high in air and dropped her toward the bottom. It was cold, and the +newly risen December sun did not seem to have much warmth in it. Anchor +over the side, the Captain proposed breakfast. + +The “able seaman” did not feel very hungry, but he managed to swallow +a hard-boiled egg and a sandwich, and then, just to show that he had +reached the dignity of manhood, leaned back against the side of the +cockpit, lit a cigarette, and observed cheerfully, “This is hot stuff, +ain't it, Cap?” + +Captain Eri wiped the crumbs from his mouth, leisurely produced his +pipe, and proceeded to fill it with tobacco shaved from a chunky plug. + +“What d'you smoke them things for?” he asked contemptuously, referring +to the cigarette. “Nobody but dudes and sissies smoke that kind of +truck. Here, take this pipe, and smoke like a man.” + +Josiah looked askance at the proffered pipe. + +“Oh, no!” he said magnanimously, “you'll want it yourself. I'll get +along with these things till I git ashore; then I'll buy a pipe of my +own.” + +“Never you mind 'bout me. I've got two or three more below there, +some'eres. Take it and light up.” + +The “able seaman” took the reeking, nicotine soaked affair, placed it +gingerly between his teeth, held a match to the bowl and coughingly +emitted a cloud of ill-smelling smoke. The pipe wheezed and gurgled, and +the Mary Ellen rocked and rolled. + +“Now, then,” said Captain Eri, “we've sojered long enough. Go below, and +bring up the bait bucket and the lines.” + +Josiah staggered into the little cabin, reappeared with the heavy cod +lines and the bucket of mussels, and watched while the Captain “baited +up.” + +“All ready!” said the skipper. “Two lines apiece, one over each side. +Watch me.” + +The cod bit almost immediately, and for ten minutes the work was +exciting and lively. The Captain, watching from the corner of his eye, +noticed that his assistant's pipe was wheezing less regularly, and that +his lines were thrown over more and more listlessly. At length he said, +“Haven't stopped smokin' so quick, have you? What's the matter--gone +out? Here's a match.” + +“I guessed I've smoked enough for now. I can't fish so well when I'm +smokin'.” + +“Bosh! If you want to be a reel sailor you must smoke all the time. +Light up.” + +Reluctantly the boy obeyed, and puffed with feverish energy. Also he +swallowed with vigor. The cod smelt fishy; so did the bait, and the +catboat rolled and rolled. Suddenly Josiah pulled in his lines, and took +the pipe from his lips. + +“What's the matter?” inquired the watchful skipper. + +“I--I guess I won't fish any more, Cap. Kind of slow sport, ain't it? +Guess I'll go in there and take a snooze.” + +“I guess you won't! You shipped to fish, and you're goin' to fish. Pick +up them lines.” + +The boy sullenly turned toward the cabin door. Was he, who had just +declared himself independent of school restraint, he who had once +been the thorn in the flesh of every policeman in the --th ward, to be +ordered about by this Cape Cod countryman! “Aw, go chase yourself!” he +said contemptuously. A minute after, when he picked himself up from +the heap of slimy fish in the bottom of the boat, he saw the Captain +standing solidly on one cowhide-shod foot, while the other was drawn +easily back and rested on its toe. When Josiah recovered his breath, the +burst of bad language with which he assailed his companion did credit to +his street bringing up. It was as short as it was fierce, however, and +ended amid the cod and the mussels from the overturned bait bucket. +But, as the Captain said afterwards, he was “spunky” and rose again, +incoherent with rage. + +“You--you--I'll kill you!” he shrieked. “You promised not to touch me, +you lyin' old--” + +He tried to get out of the way, but didn't succeed, and this time merely +sat up and sobbed as Captain Eri said in even tones: + +“No, I'm not lyin'. I promised not to lay a hand on you in anger, that's +all. Fust place, I don't kick with my hands, and, second place, I ain't +angry. Now, then, pick up them lines.” + +The “able seaman” was frightened. This sort of treatment was new to +him. He judged it best to obey now and “get square” later on. He sulkily +picked up the codlines, and threw the hooks overboard. Captain Eri, +calmly resuming his fishing, went on to say, “The fust thing a sailor +has to l'arn is to obey orders. I see you've stopped smokin'. Light up.” + +“I don't want to.” + +“Well, I want you TO. Light up.” + +“I won't. Oh, yes, I will!” + +He eyed the threatening boot fearfully and lit the awful pipe with +shaking fingers. But he had taken but a few puffs when it went over the +side, and it seemed to Josiah that the larger half of himself went with +it. The Captain watched the paroxysm grimly. + +“Sick, hey?” he grunted, “and not a capful of wind stirrin'. You're +a healthy sailor! I thought I'd shipped a man, but I see 'twas only a +sassy baby. My uncle Labe had a good cure for seasickness. You take a +big hunk of fat salt pork, dip it in molasses, and--” + +“Oh, d-o-n-'t!” Another spasm. + +“Dip it in molasses,” repeated Captain Eri. + +“Don't, Cap! PLEASE don't!” + +“Another thing a sailor learns is not to call his skipper 'Cap.' A +fo'mast hand always says 'Aye, aye, sir,' when his off'cer speaks to +him. Understand that?” + +“Y-e-s. Oh, Lord!” + +“WHAT?” + +“Ye--I mean aye, aye.” + +“Aye, aye, WHAT?” + +“Aye, aye, SIR! OH, dear me!” + +“That's better. Now pick up them lines.” + +Well, 'twas a dreadful forenoon for Josiah; one not to be forgotten. The +boat rolled unceasingly, his head ached, and pulling the heavy cod made +his back and shoulders lame; also, he was wet and cold. The other boats +scattered about the fishing grounds pulled up their anchors and started +for home, but Captain Eri did not budge. At noon he opened his lunch +basket again, and munched serenely. The sight of the greasy ham +sandwiches was too much for the “able seaman.” He suffered a relapse +and, when it was over, tumbled on the seat which encircled the cockpit +and, being completely worn out, went fast asleep. The Captain watched +him for a minute or two, smiled in a not unkindly way, and, going into +the cabin, brought out an old pea jacket and some other wraps with which +he covered the sleeper. Then he went back to his fishing. + +When Josiah awoke the Mary Ellen was heeled over on her side, her sail +as tight as a drumhead. The wind was whistling through the cordage, and +the boat was racing through seas that were steel-blue and angry, with +whitecaps on their crests. The sun was hidden by tumbling, dust-colored +clouds. The boy felt weak and strangely humble; the dreadful nausea was +gone. + +Captain Eri, standing at the tiller, regarded him sternly, but there was +the suspicion of a twinkle in his eye. + +“Feelin' better?” he asked. + +“Ye--aye, aye, sir.” + +“Humph! Want to smoke again. Pipe right there on the thwart.” + +“No, thank you, sir.” + +It was some time before anything more was said. Josiah was gazing at +the yellow sand-cliffs that, on every tack, grew nearer. At length the +Captain again addressed him. + +“Perez ever tell you 'bout our fust v'yage? Never did, hey? Well, I +will. Him and me run away to sea together, you know.” + +And then Captain Eri began a tale that caused the cold shivers to chase +themselves from Josiah's big toe to the longest hair on his head. It +was the story of two boys who ran away and shipped aboard an Australian +sailing packet, and contained more first-class horrors than any one of +his beloved dime novels. As a finishing touch the narrator turned back +the grizzled hair on his forehead and showed a three-inch scar, souvenir +of a first mate and a belaying pin. He rolled up his flannel shirtsleeve +and displayed a slightly misshapen left arm, broken by a kick from a +drunken captain and badly set by the same individual. + +“Now,” he said in conclusion, “I cal'late you think I was pretty hard +on you this mornin', but what do you figger that you'd have got if you +talked to a mate the way you done to me?” + +“Don't know. S'pose I'd have been killed,--sir.” + +“Well, you would, mighty nigh, and that's a fact. Now, I'll tell you +somethin' else. You wanted to enlist in the Navy, I understand. You +couldn't git in the Navy, anyway, you're too young, but s'pose you +could, what then? You'd never git any higher 'n a petty officer, 'cause +you don't know enough. The only way to git into the Navy is to go +through Annapolis, and git an education. I tell you, education counts. +Me and Perez would have been somethin' more 'n cheap fishin' and +coastin' skippers if we'd had an education; don't forgit that.” + +“I guess I don't want to be a sailor, anyway, sir. This one trip is +enough for me, thank you.” + +“Can't help that. You shipped 'long with me for two months, and you'll +sail with me for two months, every time I go out. You won't run away +again neither, I'll look out for that. You'll sail with me and you'll +help clean fish, and you'll mind me and you'll say 'sir.' You needn't +smoke if you don't want to,” with a smile. “I ain't p'tic'lar 'bout +that. + +“Then,” went on the Captain, “when the two months is up you'll be your +own master again. You can go back to 'Web' Saunders and 'Squealer' Wixon +and 'Ily' Tucker and their tribe, if you want to, and be a town nuisance +and a good-for-nuthin'. OR you can do this: You can go to school for a +few years more and behave yourself and then, if I've got any influence +with the Congressman from this district--and I sort of b'lieve I have, +second-handed, at any rate--you can go to Annapolis and learn to be a +Navy officer. That's my offer. You've got a couple of months to think it +over in.” + +The catboat swung about on her final tack and stood in for the narrows, +the route which the Captain had spoken of as the “short cut.” From +where Josiah sat the way seemed choked with lines of roaring, frothing +breakers that nothing could approach and keep above water. But Captain +Eri steered the Mary Ellen through them as easily as a New York +cabdriver guides his vehicle through a jam on Broadway, picking out the +smooth places and avoiding the rough ones until the last bar was crossed +and the boat entered the sheltered waters of the bay. + +“By gum!” exclaimed the enthusiastic “able seaman.” “That was +great--er--sir!” + +“That's part of what I'll l'arn you in the next two months,” said the +Captain. “'Twon't do you any harm to know it when you're in the Navy +neither. Stand by to let go anchor!” + + + +CHAPTER XV + +IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + + +If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline he +was disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the “shipping +articles.” The Captain even went to the length of transferring Perez +to the parlor cot and of compelling the boy to share his own room. This +was, of course, a precaution against further attempts at running away. +Morning after morning the pair rose before daylight and started for the +fishing grounds. There were two or three outbreaks on the part of the +“able seaman,” but they ended in but one way, complete submission. After +a while Josiah, being by no means dull, came to realize that when he +behaved like a man he was treated like one. He learned to steer the Mary +Ellen, and to handle her in all weathers. Also, his respect for Captain +Eri developed into a liking. + +Captain Perez was gratified and delighted at the change in his +grandnephew's behavior and manners, and was not a little curious to +learn the methods by which the result had been brought about. His hints +being fruitless, he finally asked his friend point-blank. Captain Eri's +answer was something like this: + +“Perez,” he said, “do you remember old man Sanborn, that kept school +here when you and me was boys? Well, when the old man run foul of a +youngster that was sassy and uppish he knocked the sass out of him fust, +and then talked to him like a Dutch uncle. He used to call that kind of +treatment 'moral suasion.' That's what I'm doin' to Josiah; I'm 'moral +suasionin' him.” + +Captain Perez was a little anxious concerning the first part of this +course of training, but its results were so satisfactory that he +asked no more questions. The fact is, Captain Perez' mind was too much +occupied with another subject just at this time to allow him to be +over-anxious. The other subject was Miss Patience Davis. + +Miss Davis, her visit with her brother being over, was acting as +companion to an old lady who lived in a little house up the shore, a +mile or so above the station. This elderly female, whose name was Mayo, +had a son who kept a grocery store in the village and was, therefore, +obliged to be away all day and until late in the evening. Miss Patience +found Mrs. Mayo's crotchets a bit trying, but the work was easy and +to her liking, and she was, as she said, “right across the way, as you +might say, from Luther.” The “way” referred to was the stretch of water +between the outer beach and the mainland. + +And Captain Perez was much interested in Miss patience--very much so, +indeed. His frequent visits to the Mayo homestead furnished no end of +amusement to Captain Eri, and also to Captain Jerry, who found poking +fun at his friend an agreeable change from the old programme of being +the butt himself. He wasn't entirely free from this persecution, +however, for Eri more than once asked him, in tones the sarcasm of which +was elaborately veiled, if his match-making scheme had gotten tired and +was sitting down to rest. To which the sacrifice would reply stoutly, +“Oh, it's comin' out all right; you wait and see.” + +But in his heart Captain Jerry knew better. He had been wise enough +to say nothing to his friends concerning his interviews with Elsie +and Ralph, but apparently the breaking-off between the pair was final. +Hazeltine called occasionally, it is true, but his stays were short +and, at the slightest inclination shown by the older people to leave the +room, he left the house. There was some comment by Eri and Mrs. Snow on +this sudden change, but they were far from suspecting the real reason. +Elsie continued to be as reticent as she had been of late; her school +work was easier now that Josiah was no longer a pupil. + +Christmas was rather a failure. There were presents, of course, but +the planned festivities were omitted owing to a change in John Baxter's +condition. From growing gradually better, he now grew slowly, but +surely, worse. Dr. Palmer's calls were more frequent, and he did not +conceal from Mrs. Snow or the captains his anxiety. They hid much of +this from Elsie, but she, too, noticed the change, and was evidently +worried by it. Strange to say, as his strength ebbed, the patient's mind +grew clearer. His speech, that in his intervals of consciousness had +heretofore dealt with events of the past, was now more concerned with +recent happenings. But Captain Eri had never heard him mention the fire. + +One afternoon in January Mrs. Snow and Captain Eri were together in +the sick room. The rest of the household was absent on various errands; +Captain Perez paying a visit to the life-saver's sister and Elsie +staying after school to go over some examination papers. There was snow +on the ground, and a “Jinooary thaw” was causing the eaves to drip, and +the puddles in the road to grow larger. The door of the big stove was +open, and the coals within showed red-hot. Captain Baxter was apparently +asleep. + +“Let me see,” said Mrs. Snow musingly, in a low tone. “I've been here +now, two, three, over four months. Seems longer, somehow.” + +“Seems almost as if you'd always been here,” replied Captain Eri. “Queer +how soon we git used to a change. I don't know how we got along afore, +but we did some way or other, if you call it gittin' along,” he added +with a shrug. “I should hate to have to try it over again.” + +“It's always seemed funny to me,” remarked the lady, “that you men, all +sailors so--and used to doin' for yourselves, should have had such a +time when you come to try keepin' house. I should have expected it if +you was--well, doctors, or somethin' like that--used to havin' folks +wait on you, but all sea captains, it seems queer.” + +“It does, don't it? I've thought of that myself. Anybody'd think we was +the most shif'less lot that ever lived, but we wa'n't. Even Jerry--and +he's the wust one of the three when it comes to leavin' things at loose +ends--always had a mighty neat vessel, and had the name of makin' his +crews toe the mark. I honestly b'lieve it come of us bein' on shore and +runnin' the shebang on a share and share alike idee. If there'd been a +skipper, a feller to boss things, we'd have done better, but when all +hands was boss--nobody felt like doin' anything. Then, too, we begun too +old. A feller gits sort of sot in his ways, and it's hard to give in to +the other chap. + +“Now, take that marryin' idee,” he went on. “I laughed at that a good +deal at fust and didn't really take any stock in it, but I guess 'twas +real hoss sense, after all. Anyhow, it brought you down here, and what +we'd done without you when John was took sick, _I_ don't know. I haven't +said much about it, but I've felt enough, and I know the other fellers +feel the same way. You've been so mighty good and put up with so many +things that must have fretted you like the nation, and the way you've +managed--my!” + +The whole-souled admiration in the Captain's voice made the housekeeper +blush like a girl. + +“Don't say a word, Cap'n Eri,” she protested. “It's been jest a pleasure +to me, honest. I've had more comfort and--well, peace, you might say, +sence I've been in this house than I've had afore for years.” + +“When I think,” said the Captain, “of what we might have got for that +advertisement, I swan it makes my hair curl. Advertisin' that way in +that kind of a paper, why we might have had a--a play actress, or I +don't know what, landed on us. Seems 's if there was a Providence in it: +seems 's if you was kind of SENT--there!” + +“I don't know what you must think of me answerin' an advertisement for +a husband that way. It makes me 'shamed of myself when I think of it, I +declare. And in that kind of a paper, too.” + +“I've wondered more times than a few how you ever got a hold of that +paper. 'Tain't one you'd see every day nat'rally, you know.” + +Mrs. Snow paused before she answered. Then she said slowly, “Well, I'm +s'prised you ain't asked that afore. I haven't said much about myself +sence I've been here, for no p'tic'lar reason that I know of, except +that there wasn't much to tell and it wasn't a very interestin' yarn to +other folks. My husband's name was Jubal Snow--” + +“You don't say!” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, Jerry used to know him.” + +“I shouldn't wonder. Jubal knew a lot of folks on the Cape here. He +was a good husband--no better anywheres--and he and I had a good life +together long as he was well. I've sailed a good many v'yages with him, +and I feel pretty nigh as much at home on the water as I do on land. +Our trouble was the same that a good many folks have; we didn't cal'late +that fair weather wouldn't last all the time, that's all. + +“It wasn't his fault any more than 'twas mine. We saved a little money, +but not enough, as it turned out. Well, he was took down sick and had to +give up goin' to sea, and we had a little place over in Nantucket, and +settled down on it. Fust along, Jubal was able to do a little farmin' +and so on, and we got along pretty well, but by and by he got so he +wa'n't able to work, and then 'twas harder. What little we'd saved went +for doctor's bills and this, that, and t'other. He didn't like to have +me leave him, so I couldn't earn much of anything, and fin'lly we come +to where somethin' had to be done right away, and we talked the thing +over and decided to mortgage the house. The money we got on the mortgage +lasted until he died. + +“He had a little life insurance, not enough, of course, but a little. He +was plannin' to take on more, but somehow it never seemed as if he could +die, he so big and strong, and we put it off until he got so he couldn't +pass the examination. When the insurance money come I took it to Jedge +Briar, a mighty good friend of Jubal's and mine and the one that held +the mortgage on the house, and I told him I wanted to pay off the +mortgage with it, so's I'd have the house free and clear. But the Jedge +advised me not to, said the mortgage was costin' me only six per +cent., and why didn't I put the money where 'twas likely to be a good +investment that would pay me eight or ten per cent.? Then I'd be makin' +money, he said. I asked him to invest it for me, and he put it into the +Bay Shore Land Company, where most of his own was.” + +“Sho! I want to know!” broke in the Captain. “He did, hey! Well, I had +some there, too, and so did Perez. Precious few fam'lies on the Cape +that didn't.” + +“Yes, he thought 'twas the safest and best place he knew of. The +officers bein' sons of Cape people and their fathers such fine men, +everybody said 'twas all right. I got my dividends reg'lar for a while, +and I went out nussin' and did sewin' and got along reel well. I kept +thinkin' some day I'd be able to pay off the mortgage and I put away +what little I could towards it, but then _I_ was took sick and that +money went, and then the Land Company went up the spout.” + +The Captain nodded. The failure of the company had brought poverty to +hundreds of widows. Mrs. Snow's case was but another instance. + +“Let me see,” said the lady. “Where was I? Oh, yes! the Land Company's +failin'. Well, it failed and the insurance money went with it. It was +discouragin', of course, but I had my house, except for the mortgage, +and I had my health again, and, if I do say it, I ain't afraid of work, +so I jest made up my mind there was no use cryin' over spilt milk, and +that I must git along and begin to save all over again. Then Jedge Briar +died and his nephew up to Boston come into the property. I was behind +in my payments a little, and they sent me word they should foreclose the +mortgage, and they did.” + +“Well, I swan! The mean sculpins! Didn't you have NOBODY you could go +to; no relations nor nothin'?” + +“I've got a brother out in Chicago, but he married rich and his wife +doesn't care much for her husband's relations. I never saw her but once, +and then one of the first things she asked me was if it was true that +there was more crazy people in Nantucket than in any other place of +its size on earth, and afore I could answer she asked me what made 'em +crazy. I told her I didn't know unless it was answerin' city folks' +questions. She didn't like that very well, and I haven't heard from +Job--that's my brother--for a long time. All my other near relations are +dead. + +“So they foreclosed the mortgage, and gave me notice to move out. I +packed my things, and watered my flowers--I had quite a pretty flower +garden--for the last time, and then come in and set down in the rocker +to wait for the wagon that was goin' to move me. I got to thinkin' how +proud Jubal and me was when we bought that house and how we planned +about fixin' it up, and how our baby that died was born in it, and +how Jubal himself had died there, and told me that he was glad he was +leavin' me a home, at any rate; and I got so lonesome and discouraged +that I jest cried, I couldn't help it. But I've never found that cryin' +did much good, so I wiped my eyes and looked for somethin' to read to +take up my mind. And that Chime paper was what I took up. + +“You see, there'd been a big excursion from Boston down the day before, +and some of the folks come down my way to have a sort of picnic. Two +of 'em, factory girls from Brockton, they was, come to the house for a +drink of water. They were gigglin', foolish enough critters, but I asked +'em in, and they eat their lunches on my table. They left two or three +story papers and that Chime thing when they went away. + +“Well, I looked it over, and almost the first thing I saw was that +advertisement signed 'Skipper.' It didn't read like the other trashy +things in there, and it sounded honest. And all of a sudden it come over +me that I'd answer it. I was lonesome and tired and sort of didn't care, +and I answered it right off without waitin' another minute. That's all +there is to tell. When I come here to be housekeeper I wrote the folks +that's takin' care of my furniture--they're reel kind people; I was +goin' to board there if I had stayed in Nantucket--to keep it till I +come back. There! I meant to tell you this long ago, and I don't know +why I haven't.” + +The Captain knew why she hadn't. It was easy to read between the lines +the tale of the years of disappointment and anxiety. Such stories are +not easy to tell, and he respected the widow more than ever for the +simple way in which she had told hers. + +“That Land Company bus'ness,” he said, “carried off a good lot of Cape +Cod money. I never saw but one man that I thought was glad it busted, +and that was old Caleb Weeks, over to Harniss. The old man was rich, +but closer 'n the bark of a tree--he'd skin a flea for the hide and +taller--and used to be a hard case into the bargain. One time they had +a big revival over there and he got religion. The boys used to say what +caught Caleb was the minister's sayin' salvation was free. Well, anyhow, +he got converted and j'ined the church. That was all right, only while +the fit was fresh he pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to +help build the new chapel. When he cooled down a little he was sorry, +and every time they'd hint at his comin' down with the cash, he'd back +and fill, and put it off for a spell. When the Land Company went up he +was the only happy one in town, 'cause he said he'd lost all his money. +Course, under the circumstances, they couldn't ask him to pay, so he +didn't. From what I hear he lost as much as fifty dollars.” + +They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was +interrupted. + +“Eri,” said a weak voice. “Eri.” + +The Captain started, turned sharply, and saw the sick man watching him, +his eyes fixed and unwavering. + +“Eri,” said John Baxter again, “come here.” + +Mrs. Snow hurried to her patient, but the latter impatiently bade her +let him alone. + +“Not you,” he said, “I want Eri.” + +Captain Eri stooped down beside the bed. + +“What is it, John?” he asked. + +“Eri s'pose God called you to break man's law and keep his, what would +you do?” + +The Captain glanced anxiously at the house-keeper. Then he said +soothingly: + +“Oh, that's all right, John. Don't worry 'bout that. You and me settled +that long ago. How are you feelin' now?” + +“I know, I know,” with the monotonous persistence of those whose minds +are wandering,--and then cleanly once more, “Eri, I've been called.” + +“Ssh-h! That's all right, John; that's all right. Don't you want Mrs. +Snow to fix your piller? P'raps you'd lay a little easier, then. Now, +Mrs. Snow, if you'll jest turn it while I lift him. So; that's +better now, ain't it, shipmate, hey?” But the sick man muttered an +unintelligible something, and relapsed once more into the half-doze, +half-stupor that was his usual state. + +Captain Eri sighed in relief. + +“That was queer, wa'n't it?” he observed. + +“He's had two or three of those spells in the last day or two,” was the +answer. + +The Captain wondered what his friend might have said during those +“spells,” but he was afraid to inquire. Instead, he asked, “What did the +doctor say when he was here this mornin'?” + +“Nothin' very hopeful. I asked him plain what he thought of the case, +and he answered jest as plain. He said Cap'n Baxter had failed dreadful +in the last week, and that he wouldn't be s'prised if he dropped off +most any time. Then again, he said he might live for months.” + +“I see, I see.” + +They were silent for a while, watching the sick man, whose sleep, +or stupor, was not as tranquil as usual. Two or three times his eyes +opened, and he muttered audibly. + +“I never saw him so restless afore,” commented Captain Eri anxiously. + +“He was so last night.” + +“Did Elsie see him?” + +“No, I was alone here, and she was asleep in the next room. I got up and +shut the door.” + +The Captain glanced keenly at the housekeeper, but her face was placid +and inscrutable. He shifted uneasily and then said, “Elsie's late +to-night, ain't she? I wonder what's keepin' her.” + +“School work, I s'pose. She's workin' harder 'n she ought to, I think.” + +“FIRE!” + +The word was shouted, and the room rang with it. John Baxter, whose +weakness had hitherto been so great that he could not turn himself in +bed, was leaning on his elbow and pointing with outstretched finger to +the open stove door. + +“Fire!” he shouted again. “It's blazin'! It's burnin'! It's wipin' the +plague spot from the earth. I hear you, Lord! I'm old, but I hear you, +and your servant's ready. Where will it be to-morrer? Gone! burnt up! +and the ways of the wicked shan't prevail.” + +They forced him back on the pillow, but he fought them fiercely for a +moment or two. After they thought they had quieted him, he broke out +again, talking rapidly and clearly. + +“I hear the call, Lord,” he said. “I thank thee for showin' it to me in +your Book. 'And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all +their goodly castles, with fire.' With fire! With fire!” + +“Ssh-h! There, there, John! Don't talk so,” entreated the Captain. + +“Where's the kerosene?” continued the old man. “And the matches? Now +softly, softly. The shavin's. It's dark. Here, in the corner. Ah, ha! +ah, ha! 'And all their goodly castles with fire!' Now, Web Saunders, you +wicked man! Now! Burn! I've done it, Lord! I've done it!” + +“Hush!” almost shouted the agonized Captain Eri. “Hush, John! Be still!” + +“There, there, Cap'n Baxter,” said Mrs. Snow soothingly, laying her hand +on the sick man's forehead. Somehow, the touch seemed to quiet him; his +eyes lost their fire, and he muttered absently that he was tired. Then +the eyes closed and he lay still, breathing heavily. + +“Land of love!” exclaimed the Captain. “That was awful! Hadn't I better +go for the doctor?” + +“I don't think so, unless he gits worse. He had jest such a turn, as I +told you, last night.” + +“Did he talk like he did jest now?” + +“Jest the same.” + +“'Bout the same things?” + +“Yes.” + +The Captain gasped. “Then you knew!” he said. + +“That he set the billiard room afire? Yes. I've always rather +suspicioned that he did, and last night, of course, made me sure of it.” + +“Well, well! You haven't said nothin' 'bout it to anybody?” + +“Of course not.” + +“No, 'course you haven't. You must excuse me--I'm kind of upset, I +guess. Dear! dear! Did you think _I_ knew it?” + +“I sort of guessed that you did.” + +“Well, I did. I've known it ever sence that night he was found. He had +his coat on when I found him, and 'twas all burnt, and there was an +empty kerosene bottle in his pocket. I hid the coat, and threw the +bottle away, and turned him so he was facin' towards the saloon 'stead +of from it. And I lied when I told the doctor that he was jest as he +fell. There! the murder's out! Now, what do you think of me?” + +“Think? I think you did exactly right.” + +“You DO?” + +“I sartinly do.” + +“Well, I snum! I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've +felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes. I've heard folks +layin' it to fust one and then the other, and cal'latin' that Web did it +himself to git the insurance, and all the time I've known who really +did do it, and haven't said anything. I jest couldn't. You see, John and +me's been brothers almost. But I didn't s'pose anybody else would see it +the same way.” + +“Cap'n Eri, do you s'pose I blame you for tryin' to keep your best +friend out of trouble that he got into by bein'--well--out of his head. +Why, land of mercy! He ain't no more to be held responsible than a baby. +You did what I'd have done if I'd been in your place, and I respect you +for it.” + +The Captain's voice shook as he answered: + +“Marthy Snow,” he said, “you're the kind of woman that I'd like to have +had for a sister.” + +It was perhaps a half-hour later when Captain Eri started for the +schoolhouse to bring Elsie home. John Baxter had not wakened, and Mrs. +Snow said she was not afraid to remain alone with him. The thaw had +turned to a light rain and the Captain carried an umbrella. It was dark +by this time, and when he came in sight of the schoolhouse he saw a +light in the window. + +One of the scholars--a by no means brilliant one--whose principal +educational achievement was the frequency with which he succeeded in +being “kept after school,” was seated on the fence, doing his best to +whittle it to pieces with a new jackknife. + +“Hello, sonny!” said the Captain. “Miss Preston gone yit?” + +“No, she ain't,” replied the boy, continuing to whittle. “She's up +there. Mr. Saunders is there, too.” + +“Saunders? WEB SAUNDERS?” + +“Yup. I see him go in there a little while ago.” Captain Eri started +toward the schoolhouse at a rapid pace; then he suddenly stopped; and +then, as suddenly, walked on again. All at once he dropped his umbrella +and struck one hand into the palm of the other with a smack. + +When he reached the door, he leaned the umbrella in the corner and +walked up the stairs very softly, indeed. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A BUSINESS CALL + + +That enterprising business man, Mr. “Web” Saunders, opened the door of +his renovated billiard room a little later than usual the next morning. +It was common report about the village that Mr. Saunders occasionally +sampled the contents of some of the “original packages” which, bearing +the name and address of a Boston wholesale liquor dealer, came to him +by express at irregular intervals. It was also reported, probably by +unreliable total abstainers, that during these “sampling” seasons +his temper was not of the best. Perhaps Mrs. Saunders might have said +something concerning this report if she had been so disposed, but unless +a discolored eye might be taken as evidence, she never offered any. The +injury to her eye she explained by saying that something “flew up and +hit her.” This was no doubt true. + +But, gossip aside, Mr. Saunders did not seem in good humor on this +particular morning. A yellow cur, of nondescript breed, taken since the +fire, in payment of a debt from “Squealer” Wixon, who had described it +as a “fust-class watchdog,” rose from its bed behind the cigar counter, +yawned, stretched, and came slinking over to greet its master. “Web” + forcibly hoisted it out of the door on the toe of his boot. Its yelp of +pained surprise seemed to afford the business man considerable relief, +for he moved more briskly afterward, and proceeded to sweep the floor +with some degree of speed. + +The forenoon trade at the billiard room was never very lively, and this +forenoon was no exception. “Bluey” Batcheldor drifted in, stepped into +the little room the door of which was lettered “Ice Cream Parlor,” and +busied himself with a glass and bottle for a few moments. Then he helped +himself to a cigar from the showcase, and told his friend to “chalk it +up.” This Mr. Saunders didn't seem to care to do, and there was a lively +argument. At length “Bluey's” promise to “square up in a day or so” was +accepted, under protest, and the customer departed. + +At half-past eleven the man of business was dozing in a chair by the +stove, and the “watchdog,” having found it chilly outside and venturing +in, was dozing near him. The bell attached to the door rang vigorously, +and both dog and man awoke with a start. The visitor was Captain Eri. + +Now, the Captain was perhaps the last person whom the proprietor of the +billiard room expected to see, but a stranger never would have guessed +it. In fact, the stranger might reasonably have supposed that the +visitor was Mr. Saunders' dearest friend, and that his call was a +pleasure long looked forward to. + +“Why, Cap'n!” exclaimed “Web,” “how are you? Put her there! I'm glad +to see you lookin' so well. I said to 'Squealer' the other day, s'I, +'Squealer, I never see a man hold his age like Cap'n Hedge. I'll be +blessed if he looks a day over forty,' I says. Take off your coat, won't +you?” + +Somehow or other, the Captain must have lost sight of “Web's” extended +hand. Certainly, the hand was large enough to be seen, but he did not +take it. He did, however, accept the invitation to remove his coat, and, +slipping out of the faded brown pea jacket, threw it on a settee at the +side of the room. His face was stern and his manner quiet, and in spite +Of Mr. Saunders' flattering reference to his youthful appearance, this +morning he looked at least more than a day past forty. + +But, if Captain Eri was more than usually quiet and reserved, “Web” + was unchanged, and, if he noticed that the handshake was declined, said +nothing about it. His smile was sweetness itself, as he observed, “Well, +Cap'n, mighty mod'rate weather we're having for this time of year, ain't +it? What's new down your way? That's right, have a chair.” + +The Captain had no doubt anticipated this cordial invitation, for he +seated himself before it was given, and, crossing his legs, extended his +dripping rubber boots toward the fire. The rain was still falling, and +it beat against the windows of the saloon in gusts. + +“Web,” said Captain Eri, “set down a minute. I want to talk to you.” + +“Why, sure!” exclaimed the genial man of business, pulling up another +chair. “Have a cigar, won't you? You don't come to see me very often, +and I feel's though we ought to celebrate. Ha! ha! ha!” + +“No, I guess not, thank you,” was the answer. “I'll smoke my pipe, if +it's all the same to you.” + +Mr. Saunders didn't mind in the least, but thought he would have a cigar +himself. So he lit one and smoked in silence as the Captain filled his +pipe. “Web” knew that this was something more than an ordinary social +visit. Captain Eri's calls at the billiard room were few and far +between. The Captain, for his part, knew what his companion was +thinking, and the pair watched each other through the smoke. + +The pipe drew well, and the Captain sent a blue cloud whirling toward +the ceiling. Then he asked suddenly, “Web, how much money has Elsie +Preston paid you altogether?” + +Mr. Saunders started the least bit, and his small eyes narrowed a +trifle. But the innocent surprise in his reply was a treat to hear. + +“Elsie? Paid ME?” he asked. + +“Yes. How much has she paid you?” + +“I don't know what you mean.” + +“Yes, you do. She's been payin' you money reg'lar for more 'n a month. I +want to know how much it is.” + +“Now, Cap'n Hedge, I don't know what you're talkin' about. Nobody's paid +me a cent except them that's owed me. Who did you say? Elsie Preston? +That's the school-teacher, ain't it?” + +“Web, you're a liar, and always was, but you needn't lie to me this +mornin', 'cause it won't be healthy; I don't feel like hearin' it. You +understand that, do you?” + +Mr. Saunders thought it time to bluster a little. He rose to his feet +threateningly. + +“Cap'n Hedge,” he said, “no man 'll call me a liar.” + +“There's a precious few that calls you anything else.” + +“You're an old man, or I'd--” + +“Never you mind how old I am. A minute ago you said I didn't look more +'n forty; maybe I don't feel any older, either.” + +“If that Preston girl has told you any--” + +“She hasn't told me anything. She doesn't know that I know anything. But +I do know. I was in the entry upstairs at the schoolhouse for about ten +minutes last night.” + +Mr. Saunders' start was perceptible this time. He stood for a moment +without speaking. Then he jerked the chair around, threw himself into +it, and said cautiously, “Well, what of it?” + +“I come up from the house to git Elsie home 'cause 'twas rainin'. I was +told you was with her, and I thought there was somethin' crooked goin' +on; fact is, I had a suspicion what 'twas. So when I got up to the door +I didn't go in right away; I jest stood outside.” + +“Listenin', hey! Spyin'!” + +“Yup. I don't think much of folks that listens, gin'rally speakin', but +there's times when I b'lieve in it. When I'm foolin' with a snake I'd +jest as soon hit him from behind as in front. I didn't hear much, but I +heard enough to let me know that you'd been takin' money from that girl +right along. And I think I know why.” + +“You do, hey?” + +“Yup.” + +Then Mr. Saunders asked the question that a bigger rascal than he had +asked some years before. He leaned back in his chair, took a pull at his +cigar, and said sneeringly, “Well, what are you goin' to do 'bout it?” + +“I'm goin' to stop it, and I'm goin' to make you give the money back. +How much has she paid you?” + +“None of your d--n bus'ness.” + +The Captain rose to his feet. Mr. Saunders sprang up, also, and reached +for the coal shovel, evidently expecting trouble. But if he feared a +physical assault, his fear was groundless. Captain Eri merely took up +his coat. + +“Maybe it ain't none of my bus'ness,” he said. “I ain't a s'lectman +nor sheriff. But there's such things in town, and p'raps they'll be +int'rested. Seems to me that I've heard that blackmailin' has got folks +into State's prison afore now.” + +“Is that so? Never heard that folks that set fire to other people's +prop'ty got there, did you? Yes, and folks that helps 'em gits there, +too, sometimes. Who was it hid a coat a spell ago?” + +It was Captain Eri's turn to start. He hesitated a moment, tossed the +pea jacket back on the settee and sat down once more. Mr. Saunders +watched him, grinning triumphantly. + +“Well?” he said with a sneer. + +“A coat, you say?” + +“Yes, a coat. Maybe you know who hid it; I can guess, myself. That coat +was burned some. How do you s'pose it got burned? And say! who used to +wear a big white hat round these diggin's? Ah, ha! Who did?” + +There was no doubt about the Captain's start this time. He wheeled +sharply in his chair, and looked at the speaker. + +“Humph!” he exclaimed. “You found that hat, did you?” + +“That's what I done! And where do you think I found it? Why, right at +the back of my shed where the fire started. And there'd been a pile of +shavin's there, too, and there'd been kerosene on 'em. Who smashed the +bottle over in the field, hey?” + +Captain Eri seemed to be thinking. “Web” evidently set his own +interpretation on this silence, for he went on, raising his voice as he +did so. + +“Did you think I was fool enough not to know who set that fire? I knew +the night she burned, and when I met Dr. Palmer jest comin' from +your house, and he told me how old Baxter was took sick goin' to the +fire--oh, yes, GOIN'--I went up on that hill right off, and I hunted and +I found things, and what I found I kept. And what I found when I pulled +that burned shed to pieces I kept, too. And I've got 'em yit!” + +“You have, hey? Dear! dear!” + +“You bet I have! And somebody's goin' to pay for 'em. Goin' to pay, pay, +PAY! Is that plain?” + +The Captain made no answer. He thrust his hands into his pockets and +looked at the stove dolefully, so it seemed to the man of business. + +“Fust off I thought I'd have the old cuss jailed,” continued Mr. +Saunders. “Then, thinks I, 'No, that won't pay me for my buildin' and my +bus'ness hurt and all that.' So I waited for Baxter to git well, meanin' +to make him pay or go to the jug. But he stayed sick a-purpose, I +b'lieve, the mean, white-headed, psalm-singin'--” + +Captain Eri moved uneasily and broke in, “You got your insurance money, +didn't you?” + +“Yes, I did, but whose fault is that? 'Twa'n't his, nor any other darned +'Come-Outer's.' It don't pay me for my trouble, nor it don't make me +square with the gang. I gen'rally git even sometime or 'nother, and I'll +git square now. When that girl come here, swellin' 'round and puttin' on +airs, I see my chance, and told her to pay up or her granddad would be +shoved into Ostable jail. That give her the jumps, I tell you!” + +“You wrote her a letter, didn't you?” + +“You bet I did! She come 'round to see me in a hurry. Said she didn't +have no money. I told her her granddad did, an she could git that or go +to work and earn some. I guess she thought she'd ruther work. Oh, I've +got her and her prayin', house-burnin' granddad where I want 'em, and +I've got you, too, Eri Hedge, stickin' your oar in. Talk to me 'bout +blackmail! For two cents I'd jail the old man and you, too!” + +This was the real Mr. Saunders. He usually kept this side of his nature +for home use; his wife was well acquainted with it. + +Captain Eri was evidently frightened. His manner had become almost +apologetic. + +“Well,” he said, “I wouldn't do that if I was you, Web. I heard you tell +Elsie last night she wa'n't payin' you enough, and I thought--” + +“I know what you thought. You thought you could scare me. You didn't +know I had the coat and hat, did you? Well, what I said I stand by. The +girl AIN'T payin' me enough. Fourteen dollars a week she gits, and she's +only been givin' up ten. I want more. I want--” + +But here Captain Eri interrupted him. + +“I guess that 'll do,” he said calmly. “You've told me what I wanted +to know. Ten dollars a week sence the middle of November. 'Bout seventy +dollars, rough figgerin'. Now, then, hand it over.” + +“What?” + +“Hand over that seventy dollars.” + +“Hand over hell! What are you talkin' 'bout?” + +The Captain rose and, leaning over, shook his forefinger in Mr. +Saunders' flabby red face. + +“You low-lived, thievin' rascal,” he said, “I'm givin' you a chance you +don't deserve. Either you'll pay me that money you've stole from that +girl or I'll walk out of that door, and when I come in again the sheriff +'ll be with me. Now, which 'll it be? Think quick.” + +Web's triumphant expression was gone, and rage and malice had taken its +place. He saw, now, that the Captain had tricked him into telling +more than he ought. But he burst out again, tripping over words in his +excitement. + +“Think!” he yelled. “I don't need to think. Bring in your sheriff. I'll +march down to your house and I'll show him the man that set fire to my +buildin'. What 'll you and that snivelin' granddaughter of his do then? +You make off to think a turrible lot of the old prayer-machine 'cause +he's your chum. How'd you like to see him took up for a firebug, hey?” + +“I ain't afraid of that.” + +“You ain't? You AIN'T! Why not?” + +“'Cause he's gone where you can't git at him. He died jest afore I left +the house.” + +Mr. Saunders' brandished fist fell heavily on the arm of his chair. His +face turned white in patches, and then flamed red again. + +“Died!” he gasped. + +“Died.” + +“You--you're a liar!” + +“No, I ain't. John Baxter's dead. He was a chum of mine--you're right +there--and if I'd known a sneak like you was after him I'd have been +here long afore this. Why, you--” + +The Captain's voice shook, but he restrained himself and went on. + +“Now, you see where you stand, don't you? Long's John lived you had +the proof to convict him; I'll own up to that much. I hid the coat; I +smashed the bottle. The hat I didn't know 'bout. I might have told you +at fust that all that didn't amount to anything, but I thought I'd wait +and let you tell me what more I wanted to know. John Baxter's gone, +poor feller, and all your proof ain't worth a cent. Not one red cent. +Understand?” + +It was quite evident that Mr. Saunders did understand, for his +countenance showed it. But the bluster was not out of him yet. + +“All right,” he said. “Anyhow, the girl's left, and if she don't pay +I'll show her granddad up for what he was. And I'll show you up, too. +Yes, I will!” he shouted, as this possibility began to dawn on him. +“I'll let folks know how you hid that coat and--and all the rest of it.” + +“No, you won't.” + +“Why won't I?” + +“'Cause you won't dare to. You've been hittin' at a sick man through a +girl; neither of 'em could hit back. But now you're doin' bus'ness with +me, and I ain't sick. If you open your mouth to anybody,--if you let +a soul know who set that fire,--I'll walk straight to Jedge Baker, and +I'll tell him the whole story. I'll tell him what I did and why I did +it. And THEN I'll tell him what you did--how you bullied money out of +that girl that hadn't no more to do with the fire than a baby. If it +comes to facin' a jury I'll take my chances, but how 'bout you? You, +runnin' a town nuisance that the s'lectmen are talkin' of stoppin' +already; sellin' rum by the drink when your license says it shan't be +sold 'cept by the bottle. Where'll YOUR character land you on a charge +of blackmail? + +“And another thing. The folks in this town knew John Baxter afore he was +like what he's been lately. A good many of 'em swore by him--yes, +sir, by mighty, some of 'em loved him! This is a law-abidin' town, but +s'pose--jest s'pose I should go to some of the fellers that used to sail +with him, and tell 'em what you've been up to. Think you'd stay here +long? _I_ think you'd move out--on a rail.” + +Captain Eri paused and sat on the arm of his chair, grimly watching his +opponent, whose turn for thinking had come. The face of the billiard +magnate was an interesting study in expression during the Captain's +speech. From excited triumph it had fallen to fear and dejection; and +now, out of the wreck, was appearing once more the oily smile, the +sugared sweetness of the every-day Mr. Saunders. + +“Now, Cap'n Hedge,” purred the reconstructed one, “you and me has always +been good friends. We hadn't ought to fight like this. I don't think +either of us wants to go to court. Let's see if we can't fix the thing +up some way.” + +“We'll fix it up when you pay me the seventy dollars.” + +“Now, Cap'n Hedge, 'tain't likely I've got seventy dollars in my pocket. +Seems to me you're pretty hard on a poor feller that's jest been burnt +out. I think we'd ought to--” + +“How much HAVE you got?” + +After a good deal of talk and protestation Mr. Saunders acknowledged +being the possessor of twenty-six dollars, divided between the cash +drawer and his pocket. This he reluctantly handed to the Captain. + +Then the Captain demanded pen, ink, and paper; and when they were +brought he laboriously wrote out a screed to the effect that Webster +Saunders had received of Elsie Preston forty-four dollars, which sum he +promised to pay on demand. + +“There,” he said, pushing the writing materials across the table. “Sign +that.” + +At first Mr. Saunders positively refused to sign. Then he intimated that +he had rather wait and think it over a little while. Finally he affixed +his signature and spitefully threw the pen across the room. + +Captain Eri folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Then he rose +and put on his pea jacket. + +“Now, there's jest one thing more,” he said. “Trot out that coat and +hat.” + +“What do you mean?” + +“Trot out that coat and hat of John's. I want 'em.” + +“I shan't do it.” + +“All right, then. It's all off. I'll step over and see the Jedge. You'll +hear from him and me later.” + +“Hold on a minute, Cap'n. You're in such a everlastin' hurry. I don't +care anything 'bout the old duds, but I don't know's I know where they +are. Seems to me they're up to the house somewheres. I'll give 'em to +you to-morrer.” + +“You'll give 'em to me right now. I'll tend shop while you go after +'em.” + +For a moment it looked as though the man of business would rebel +outright. But the Captain was so calm, and evidently so determined to do +exactly what he promised, that “Web” gave up in despair. Muttering that +maybe they were “'round the place, after all,” he went into the back +room and reappeared with the burned coat and the scorched white felt +hat. Slamming them down on the counter, he said sulkily, “There they be. +Any more of my prop'ty you'd like to have?” + +Captain Eri didn't answer. Coolly tearing off several sheets of wrapping +paper from the roll at the back of the counter, he made a bundle of the +hat and coat, and tucked it under his arm. Then he put on his own hat +and started for the door. + +“Good-mornin',” he said. + +The temper of the exasperated Mr. Saunders flared up in a final +outburst. + +“You think you're almighty smart, don't you?” he growled between his +teeth. “I'll square up with you by and by.” + +The Captain turned sharply, his hand on the latch. + +“I wish you'd try,” he said. “I jest wish to God you'd try. I've held in +more 'n I thought I could when I come up here, but if you want to start +a reel fust-class rumpus, one that 'll land you where you b'long and rid +this town of you for keeps, jest try some of your tricks on me. And if +I hear of one word that you've said 'bout this whole bus'ness, I'll know +it's time to start in. Now, you can keep still or fight, jest as you +please. I tell you honest, I 'most wish you'd fight.” + +The door slammed. Mr. Saunders opened it again and gazed vindictively +after the bulky figure splashing through the slush. The dog came +sneaking up and rubbed his nose against his master's hand; it was an +impolitic move on his part. + +“Git out!” roared Web, delighted at the opportunity. “You +good-for-nothin' pup! How's that set?” + +“That” was a kick that doubled the cur up against the settee. As it +scrambled to its feet, Mr. Saunders kicked it again. And then the +“watchdog” exhibited the first evidence of spirit that it had ever been +known to show. With a snarl, as the man turned away, it settled its +teeth into the calf of his leg, and then shot out of the door and, with +its tail between its legs, went down the road like a yellow cannon ball. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + + +It was true--John Baxter was dead. His violent outbreak of the previous +afternoon had hastened the end that the doctor had prophesied. There was +no harrowing death scene. The weather-beaten old face grew calmer, and, +the sleep sounder, until the tide went out--that was all. It was like a +peaceful coming into port after a rough voyage. No one of the watchers +about the bed could wish him back, not even Elsie, who was calm and +brave through it all. When it was over, she went to her room and Mrs. +Snow went with her. Captain Eri went out to make his call upon Mr. +Saunders. + +The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Orham. The little house +was crowded. Old friends, who had drifted away from the fanatic in his +latter days, came back to pay tribute to the strong man whom they had +known and loved. There was some discussion among the captains as to +who should preach the funeral sermon. Elsie had left this question +to Captain Eri for settlement, and the trio and Mrs. Snow went into +executive session immediately. + +“If John had had the settlin' of it himself,” observed Eri, “he'd have +picked Perley, there ain't no doubt 'bout that.” + +“I know it,” said Captain Perez, “but you must remember that John wa'n't +himself for years, and what he'd have done now ain't what he'd have done +'fore he broke down. I hate to think of Perley's doin' it, somehow.” + +“Isn't Mr. Perley a good man?” asked the housekeeper. + +“He's good enough, fur's I know,” replied Captain Jerry, “but I know +what Perez means. A funeral, seems to me, ought to be a quiet, soothin' +sort of a thing, and there ain't nothin' soothin' 'bout Come-Outer' +preachin'. He'll beller and rave 'round, I'm 'fraid, and stir up poor +Elsie so she won't never git over it.” + +“I know it,” agreed Captain Eri. “That's what I've been afraid of. And +yit,” he added, “I should feel we was doin' somethin' jest opposite from +what John would like, if we had anybody else.” + +“Couldn't you see Mr. Perley beforehand,” suggested Mrs. Snow, “and tell +him jest the kind of sermon he must preach. Tell him it must be quiet +and comfortin' and--” + +“And short.” Captain Eri finished the sentence for her. “I guess that's +the way we'll have to settle it. I'll make him understand one thing, +though--he mustn't drag in rum sellin' and all the rest of it by the +heels. If he does I'll--I don't know what I'll do to him.” + +The interview with the Reverend Perley that followed this conversation +must have been effective, for the sermon was surprisingly brief and as +surprisingly calm. In fact, so rational was it that a few of the more +extreme among the preacher's following were a bit disappointed and +inquired anxiously as to their leader's health, after the ceremony was +over. + +The procession of carryalls and buggies followed the hearse to the +cemetery among the pines, and, as the mourners stood about the grave, +the winter wind sang through the evergreen branches a song so like the +roar of the surf that it seemed like a dirge of the sea for the mariner +who would sail no more. As they were clearing away the supper dishes +that night Captain Eri said to Mrs. Snow, “Well, John's gone. I wonder +if he's happier now than he has been for the last ten years or so.” + +“I think he is,” was the answer. + +“Well, so do I, but if he hadn't been a 'Come Outer' I don't s'pose +Brother Perley and his crowd would have figgered that he had much show. +Seems sometimes as if folks like that--reel good-hearted folks, too, +that wouldn't hurt a fly--git solid comfort out of the feelin' that +everybody that don't agree with 'em is bound to everlastin' torment. I +don't know but it's wicked to say it, but honest, it seems as if them +kind would 'bout as soon give up the hopes of Heaven for themselves as +they would the satisfaction of knowin' 'twas t'other place for the other +feller.” + +To which remark the somewhat shocked housekeeper made no reply. + +The following day Elsie went back to her school. Captain Eri walked up +with her, and, on the way, told her of his discovery of her secret, and +of his interview with “Web” Saunders. It was exactly as the Captain had +surmised. The note she had received on the evening of the return from +the life-saving station was from the proprietor of the billiard +saloon, and in it he hinted at some dire calamity that overshadowed her +grandfather, and demanded an immediate interview. She had seen him that +night and, under threat of instant exposure, had promised to pay the sum +required for silence. She had not wished to use her grandfather's money +for this purpose, and so had taken the position as teacher. + +“Well,” said the Captain, “I wish you'd have come to me right away, and +told me the whole bus'ness. 'Twould have saved a pile of trouble.” + +The young lady stopped short and faced him. + +“Captain Eri,” she said, “how could I? I was sure grandfather had set +the fire. I knew how ill he was, and I knew that any shock might kill +him. Besides, how could I drag you into it, when you had done so much +already? It would have been dreadful. No, I thought it all out, and +decided I must face it alone.” + +“Well, I tell you this, Elsie; pretty gin'rally a mean dog 'll bite if +he sees you're afraid of him. The only way to handle that kind is to run +straight at him and kick the meanness out of him. The more he barks +the harder you ought to kick. If you run away once it 'll be mighty +uncomf'table every time you go past that house. But never mind; I +cal'late this p'tic'lar pup won't bite; I've pulled his teeth, I guess. +What's your plans, now? Goin' to keep on with the school, or go back to +Boston?” + +Miss Preston didn't know; she said she had not yet decided, and, as the +schoolhouse was reached by this time, the Captain said no more. + +There was, however, another question that troubled him, and that seemed +to call for almost immediate settlement. It was: What should be done +with Mrs. Snow? The housekeeper had been hired to act as such while +John Baxter was in the house. Now he was gone, and there remained the +original marriage agreement between Captain Jerry and the widow, and +honor called for a decision one way or the other. Mrs. Snow, of course, +said nothing about it, neither did Captain Jerry, and Captain Eri felt +that he must take the initiative as usual. But, somehow, he was not as +prompt as was his wont, and sat evening after evening, whittling at the +clipper and smoking thoughtfully. And another week went by. + +Captain Perez might, and probably would, have suggested action upon this +important matter, had not his mind been taken up with what, to him, was +the most important of all. He had made up his mind to ask Patience Davis +to marry him. + +Love is like the measles; it goes hard with a man past fifty, and +Captain Perez was severely smitten. The decision just mentioned was not +exactly a brand-new one, his mind had been made up for some time, but he +lacked the courage to ask the momentous question. Something the lady +had said during the first stages of their acquaintance made a great +impression on the Captain. She gave it as her opinion that a man who +loved a woman should be willing to go through fire and water to win her. +Captain Perez went home that night pondering deeply. + +“Fire and water!” he mused. “That's a turrible test. But she's a +wonderful woman, and would expect it of a feller. I wonder if I could do +it; seems 's if I would now, but flesh is weak, and I might flunk, and +that would settle it. Fire and water! My! my! that's awful!” + +So the Captain delayed and Miss Patience, who had cherished hopes, found +need of a good share of the virtue for which she was named. + +But one afternoon at the end of the week following that of the funeral, +Perez set out for a call upon his intended which he meant should be a +decisive one. He had screwed his courage up to the top notch, and as he +told Captain Eri afterwards, he meant to “hail her and git his bearin's, +if he foundered the next minute.” + +He found the lady alone, for old Mrs. Mayo had gone with her son, whose +name was Abner, to visit a cousin in Harniss, and would not be back +until late in the evening. Miss Patience was very glad to have company, +and it required no great amount of urging to persuade the infatuated +swain to stay to tea. When the meal was over--they washed the dishes +together, and the Captain was so nervous that it is a wonder there was a +whole plate left--the pair were seated in the parlor. Then said Captain +Perez, turning red and hesitating, “Pashy, do you know what a feller +told me 'bout you?” + +Now, this remark was purely a pleasant fiction, for the Captain was +about to undertake a compliment, and was rather afraid to shoulder the +entire responsibility. + +“No; I'm sure I don't, Perez,” replied Miss Davis, smiling sweetly. + +“Well, a feller told me you was the best housekeeper in Orham. He said +that the man that got you would be lucky.” + +This was encouraging. Miss Patience colored and simpered a little. + +“Land sake!” she exclaimed. “Whoever told you such rubbish as that? +Besides,” with downcast eyes, “I guess no man would ever want me.” + +“Oh, I don't know.” The Captain moved uneasily in his chair, as if he +contemplated hitching it nearer to that occupied by his companion. +“I guess there's plenty would be mighty glad to git you. Anyhow, +there's--there's one that--that--I cal'late the fog's thick as ever, +don't you?” + +But Miss Patience didn't mean to give up in this way. + +“What was it you was goin' to say?” she asked, by way of giving the +bashful one another chance. + +“I was goin' to say, Pashy, that--that--I asked if you thought the fog +was as thick as ever.” + +“Oh, dear me! Yes, I s'pose likely 'tis,” was the discouraged answer. + +“Seems to me I never see such weather for this time of year. The ice +is all out of the bay, and there ain't a bit of wind, and it's warm as +summer, pretty nigh. Kind of a storm-breeder, I'm afraid.” + +“Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me comp'ny. I've never been sole +alone in this house afore, and I should be dreadful lonesome if you +hadn't come.” This was offered as a fresh bait. + +“Pashy, I've got somethin' I wanted to ask you. Do you think you +could--er--er--” + +“What, Perez?” + +“I wanted to ask you”--the Captain swallowed several times--“to ask +you--What in the nation is that?” + +“Oh, that's nothin' only the hens squawkin'. Go on!” + +“Yes, but hens don't squawk this time of night 'thout they have some +reason to. It's that fox come back; that's what 'tis.” + +Miss Patience, earlier in the evening, had related a harrowing tale of +the loss of two of Mrs. Mayo's best Leghorns that had gone to furnish a +Sunday meal for a marauding fox. As the said Leghorns were the pride of +the old lady's heart, even the impending proposal was driven from Miss +Davis' mind. + +“Oh, Perez! you don't s'pose 'tis the fox, do you?” + +“Yes, MA'AM, I do! Where's the gun?” + +“There 'tis, behind the door, but there ain't a mite of shot in the +house. Abner's been goin' to fetch some from the store for I don't know +how long, but he's always forgot it.” + +“Never mind. I'll pound the critter with the butt. Come quick, and bring +a lamp.” + +The noise in the henyard continued, and when they opened the door it was +louder than ever. + +“He's in the henhouse,” whispered Miss Patience. “He must have gone in +that hole at the side that had the loose board over it.” + +“All right,” murmured the Captain. “You go 'round with the lamp and open +the door. That 'll scare him, and I'll stand at the hole and thump him +when he comes out.” + +So, shielding the lamp with her apron, the guardian of Mrs. Mayo's +outraged Leghorns tiptoed around to the henhouse door, while Captain +Perez, brandishing the gun like a club, took up his stand by the hole at +the side. + +Without the lamp the darkness was pitchy. The Captain, stooping down to +watch, saw something coming out of the hole--something that was alive +and moved. He swung the gun above his head, and, bringing it down with +all his might, knocked into eternal oblivion the little life remaining +in the finest Leghorn rooster. + +“Consarn it!” yelled the executioner, stooping and laying his hand on +the victim, “I've killed a hen!” + +Just then there came a scream from the other side of the henhouse, +followed by a crash and the sound of a fall. Running around the corner +the alarmed Perez saw his lady-love stretched upon the ground, groaning +dismally. + +“Great land of Goshen!” he cried. “Pashy, are you hurt?” + +“Oh, Perez!” gasped the fallen one. “Oh, Perez!” + +This pitiful appeal had such an effect upon the Captain that he dropped +upon his knees and, raising Miss Davis' head in his hands, begged her to +say she wasn't killed. After some little time she obligingly complied, +and then, having regained her breath, explained the situation. + +What had happened was this: The fox, having selected his victim the +rooster, had rendered it helpless, and was pushing it out of the hole +ahead of him. The Captain had struck the rooster just as Miss Patience +opened the door, and the fox, seizing this chance of escape, had dodged +by the lady, upsetting her as he went. + +“Well,” she said, laughing, “there's no great harm done. I'm sorry for +the rooster, but I guess the fox had fixed him anyway. Oh, my soul and +body! look there!” + +Perez turned, looked as directed, and saw the henhouse in flames. + +The lighted lamp, which Miss Patience had dropped as she fell, lay +broken on the floor, and the blazing oil had run in every direction. The +flames were making such headway that they both saw there was practically +no chance of saving the building. The frightened hens were huddled in +the furthest corner, gazing stupidly at the fire. + +“Oh, those poor Leghorns!” wailed Miss Patience. “Those hens Mrs. Mayo +thought the world of, and left me to look out for. Last thing she asked +me was to be sure they was fed. And now they'll be all burned up! What +SHALL I do?” + +Here the lady began to cry. + +“Pashy!” roared the Captain, whom the sight of his charmer's tears had +driven almost wild, “don't say another word. I'll save them hens or git +cooked along with 'em!” + +And turning up his coat collar, as though he was going into a +refrigerator instead of a burning building, Captain Perez sprang through +the door. + +Miss Davis screamed wildly to him to come back, and danced about, +wringing her hands. The interior of the henhouse was now a mass of black +smoke, from which the voices of the Captain and the Leghorns floated in +a discordant medley, something like this: + +“Hold still, you lunatics! ['Squawk! squawk!') Druther be roasted than +have me catch you, hadn't you? ['Squawk! squawk!') A--kershew! Land! +I'm smothered! NOW I've got you! Thunderation! Hold STILL! HOLD STILL, I +tell you!” + +Just as the agonized Miss Patience was on the point of fainting, the +little window at the back of the shanty was thrown open and two hens, +like feathered comets, shot through it. Then the red face of the Captain +appeared for an instant as he caught his breath with a “Woosh!” and +dived back again. This performance was repeated six times, the Captain's +language and the compliments he paid the hens becoming more picturesque +every moment. + +At length he announced, “That's all, thank goodness!” and began to climb +through the window. This was a difficult task; for the window was narrow +and, in spite of what Captain Eri had called his “ingy-rubber” make up, +Captain Perez stuck fast. + +“Catch hold of my hands and haul, will you, Pashy?” he pleaded. “That's +it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy in behind here. I'll never +complain at havin' cold feet ag'in if I git out of this. Now, then! Ugh! +Here we be!” + +He came out with a jerk, like a cork out of a bottle, and rolled on the +ground at his lady's feet. + +“Oh, Perez!” she exclaimed, “are you hurt?” + +“Nothin' but my feelin's,” growled the rescuer, scrambling upright. “I +read a book once by a feller named Joshua Billin's, or somethin' like +it. He was a ignorant chap--couldn't spell two words right--but he had +consider'ble sense. He said a hen was a darn fool, and he was right; +she's all that.” + +The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, but his +spirit was undaunted. + +“Pashy,” he said, “do you realize that if we don't git help, this whole +shebang, house and all, will burn down?” + +“Perez, you don't mean it!” + +“I wouldn't swear that I didn't. Look how that thing's blazin'! There's +the barn t'other side of it, and the house t'other side of that.” + +“But can't you and me put it out?” + +“I don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've got to git help, and git it in a +hurry, too!” + +“Won't somebody from the station see the light and come over?” + +“Not in this fog. You can't see a hundred foot. No, I've got to go right +off. Good land! I never thought! Is the horse gone?” + +“No; the horse is here. Abner took one of the store horses to go to +Harniss with. But he did take the buggy, and there's no other carriage +but the old carryall, and that's almost tumblin' to pieces.” + +“I was cal'latin' to go horseback.” + +“What! and leave me here alone with the house afire? No, indeed! If you +go, I'm goin', too.” + +“Well, then, the carryll's got to do, whether or no. Git on a shawl or +somethin', while I harness up.” + +It was a frantic harnessing, but it was done in a hurry, and the +ramshackle old carryall, dusty and cobwebbed, was dragged out of the +barn, and Horace Greeley, the horse, was backed into the shafts. As they +drove out of the yard the flames were roaring through the roof of the +henhouse, and the lath fence surrounding it was beginning to blaze. + +“Everything's so wet from the fog and the melted snow,” observed the +Captain, “that it 'll take some time for the fire to git to the barn. +If we can git a gang here we can save the house easy, and maybe more. By +mighty!” he ejaculated, “I tell you what we'll do. I'll drive across the +ford and git Luther and some of the station men to come right across. +Then I'll go on to the village to fetch more. It was seven when I looked +at the clock as we come in from washin' dishes, so the tide must be +still goin' out, and the ford jest right. Git dap!” + +“Hurry all you can, for goodness' sake! Is this as fast as we can go?” + +“Fast as we can go with this everlastin' Noah's Ark. Heavens! how them +wheels squeal!” + +“The axles ain't been greased for I don't know when. Abner was going to +have the old carriage chopped up for kindlin' wood.” + +“Lucky for him and us 'tain't chopped up now. Git dap, slow-poke! Better +chop the horse up, too, while he's 'bout it.” + +The last remark the Captain made under his breath. + +“My gracious, how dark it is! Think you can find the crossin'?” + +“GOT to find it; that's all. 'Tis dark, that's a fact.” + +It was. They had gone but a few hundred yards; yet the fire was already +merely a shapeless, red smudge on the foggy blackness behind them. +Horace Greeley pounded along at a jog, and when the Captain slapped him +with the end of the reins, broke into a jerky gallop that was slower +than the trot. + +“Stop your hoppin' up and down!” commanded Perez, whose temper was +becoming somewhat frayed. “You make me think of the walkin' beam on a +steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly and go straight ahead we'd do +better.” + +They progressed in this fashion for some distance. Then Miss Davis, from +the curtained depths of the back seat, spoke again. + +“Oh, dear me!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure you're on the right track? +Seems 's if we MUST be abreast the station, and this road's awful +rough.” + +Captain Perez had remarked the roughness of the road. The carryall was +pitching from one hummock to another, and Horace Greeley stumbled once +or twice. + +“Whoa!” commanded the Captain. Then he got down, lit a match, and, +shielding it with his hands, scrutinized the ground. “I'm kind of +'fraid,” he said presently, “that we've got off the road somehow. But we +must be 'bout opposite the crossin'. I'm goin' to drive down and see if +I can find it.” + +He turned the horse's head at right angles from the way they were going, +and they pitched onward for another hundred yards. Then they came out +upon the hard, smooth sand, and heard the water lapping on the shore. +Captain Perez got out once more and walked along the strand, bending +forward as he walked. Soon Miss Patience heard him calling. + +“I've found it, I guess,” he said, coming back to the vehicle. “Anyhow, +it looks like it. We'll be over in a few minutes now. Git dap, you!” + +Horace Greeley shivered as the cold water splashed his legs, but waded +bravely in. They moved further from the shore and the water seemed to +grow no deeper. + +“Guess this is the crossin' all right,” said the Captain, who had +cherished some secret doubts. “Here's the deep part comin'. We'll be +across in a jiffy.” + +The water mounted to the hubs, then to the bottom of the carryall. Miss +Davis' feet grew damp and she drew them up. + +“Oh, Perez!” she faltered, “are you sure this is the ford?” + +“Don't git scared, Pashy! I guess maybe we've got a little to one side +of the track. I'll turn 'round and try again.” + +But Horace Greeley was of a different mind. From long experience he knew +that the way to cross a ford was to go straight ahead. The bottom of the +carryall was awash. + +“Port your hellum, you lubber!” shouted the driver, pulling with all his +might on one rein. “Heave to! Come 'bout! Gybe! consarn you! gybe!” + +Then Horace Greeley tried to obey orders, but it was too late. He +endeavored to touch bottom with his forelegs, but could not; tried to +swim with his hind ones, but found that impossible; then wallowed wildly +to one side and snapped a shaft and the rotten whiffletree short off. +The carryall tipped alarmingly and Miss Patience screamed. + +“Whoa!” yelled the agitated Perez. “'Vast heavin'! belay!” + +The animal, as much frightened by his driver's shouts as by the water, +shot ahead and tried to tear himself loose. The other sun-warped and +rotten shaft broke. The carryall was now floating, with the water +covering the floor. + +“No use; I'll have to cut away the wreck, or we'll be on our beam ends!” + shouted the Captain. + +He took out his jackknife, and reaching over, severed the traces. Horace +Greeley gave another wallow, and finding himself free, disappeared in +the darkness amid a lather of foam. The carriage, now well out in the +channel, drifted with the current. + +“Don't cry, Pashy!” said the Captain, endeavoring to cheer his sobbing +companion, “we ain't shark bait yit. As the song used to say: + + “'We're afloat, we're afloat, + And the rover is free.' + +“I've shipped aboard of 'most every kind of craft,” he added, “but +blessed if I ever expected to be skipper of a carryall!” + +But Miss Patience, shut up in the back part of the carriage like a water +nymph in her cave, still wept hysterically. So Captain Perez continued +his dismal attempt at facetiousness. + +“The main thing,” he said, “is to keep her on an even keel. If +she teeters to one side, you teeter to t'other. Drat that fox!” he +ejaculated. “I thought when Web's place burned we'd had fire enough to +last for one spell, but it never rains but it pours.” + +“Oh, dear!” sobbed the lady. “Now everything 'll burn up, and they'll +blame me for it. Well, I'll be drownded anyway, so I shan't be there to +hear 'em. Oh, dear! dear!” + +“Oh, don't talk that way. We're driftin' somewheres, but we're spinnin' +'round so I can't tell which way. Judas!” he exclaimed, more soberly, “I +remember, now; it ain't but a little past seven o'clock, and the tide's +goin' out.” + +“Of course it is,” resignedly, “and we'll drift into the breakers in the +bay, and that 'll be the end.” + +“No, no, I guess not. We ain't dead yit. If I had an oar or somethin' to +steer this clipper with, maybe we could git into shoal water. As 'tis, +we'll have to manage her the way Ote Wixon used to manage his wife, by +lettin' her have her own way.” + +They floated in silence for a few moments. Then Miss Patience, who had +bravely tried to stifle her sobs, said with chattering teeth, “Perez, +I'm pretty nigh froze to death.” + +It will be remembered that the Captain had spoken of the weather as +being almost as warm as summer. This was a slight exaggeration. It +happened, fortunately for the castaways, that this particular night, +coming as it did just at the end of the long thaw, was the mildest of +the winter and there was no wind, but the air was chill, and the damp +fog raw and biting. + +“Well, now you mention it,” said Captain Perez, “it IS cold, ain't it? +I've a good mind to jump overboard, and try to swim ashore and tow the +carryall.” + +“Don't you DO it! My land! if YOU should drown what would become of ME?” + +It was the tone of this speech, as much as the words, that hit the +Captain hard. He himself almost sobbed as he said: + +“Pashy, I want you to try to git over on this front seat with me. Then +I can put my coat 'round you, and you won't be so cold. Take hold of my +hand.” + +Miss Patience at first protested that she never could do it in the +world, the carriage would upset, and that would be the end. But her +companion urged her to try, and at last she did so. It was a risky +proceeding, but she reached the front seat somehow, and the carryall +still remained right-side-up. Luckily, in the channel between the +beaches there was not the slightest semblance of a wave. + +Captain Perez pulled off his coat, and wrapped it about his protesting +companion. He was obliged to hold it in place, and he found the task +rather pleasing. + +“Oh, you're SO good!” murmured Miss Patience. “What should I have done +without you?” + +“Hush! Guess you'd have been better off. You'd never gone after that +fox if it hadn't been for me, and there wouldn't have been none of this +fuss.” + +“Oh, don't say that! You've been so brave. Anyhow, we'll die together, +that's a comfort.” + +“Pashy,” said Captain Perez solemnly, “it's mighty good to hear you say +that.” + +It is, perhaps, needless to explain that the “dying” portion of +the lady's speech was not that referred to by the Captain; the +word “together” was what appealed to him. Miss Patience apparently +understood. + +“Is it?” she said softly. + +“Yes--yes, 'tis.” The arm holding the coat about the lady's shoulder +tightened just a little. The Captain had often dreamed of something like +this, but never with quite these surroundings. However, he was rapidly +becoming oblivious to such trivial details as surroundings. + +“Pashy,” he said huskily, “I've been thinkin' of you consider'ble +lately. Fact is, I--I--well, I come down to-day a-purpose to ask you +somethin'. I know it's a queer place to ask it, and--and I s'pose it's +kind of sudden, but--will--will you--Breakers! by mighty!” + +The carryall had suddenly begun to rock, and there were streaks of foam +about it. Now, it gave a most alarming heave, grounded, swung clear, and +tipped yet more. + +“We're capsizin',” yelled Perez. “Hang on to me, Pashy!” + +But Miss Patience didn't intend to let this, perhaps the final +opportunity, slip. As she told her brother afterward, she would have +made him say it then if they had been “two fathom under water.” + +“Will I what, Perez?” she demanded. + +The carryall rose on two wheels and begun to turn over, but the Captain +did not notice it. The arms of his heart's desire were about his neck, +and he was looking into her eyes. + +“Will you marry me?” he gasped. + +“Yes,” answered Miss Patience, and they went under together. + +The Captain staggered to his feet, and dragged his chosen bride to hers. +The ice-cold water reached their shoulders. And, like a flash, as they +stood there, came a torrent of rain and a wind that drove the fog before +it like smoke. Captain Perez saw the shore, with its silhouetted bushes, +only a few yards away. Beyond that, in the blackness, was a light, a +flickering blaze, that rose and fell and rose and fell again. + +The Captain dragged Miss Patience to the beach. + +“Run!” he chattered, “run, or we'll turn into icicles. Come on!” + +With his arm about her waist Perez guided his dripping companion, as +fast as they could run, toward the light. And as they came nearer to it +they saw that it flickered about the blackened ruins of a hen-house and +a lath fence. + +It was Mrs. Mayo's henhouse, and Mrs. Mayo's fence. Their adventurous +journey had ended where it began. + +“You see, Eri,” said Captain Perez, as he told his friend the story that +night, “that clock in the dining room that I looked at hadn't been goin' +for a week; the mainspring was broke. 'Twa'n't seven o'clock, 'twas +nearer nine when the fire started, and the tide wa'n't goin' out, 'twas +comin' in. I drove into the water too soon, missed the crossin', and we +jest drifted back home ag'in. The horse had more sense than I did. We +found him in the barn waiting for us.” + +Abner Mayo had piled against the back of his barn a great heap of damp +seaweed that he intended using in the spring as a fertilizer. The fire +had burned until it reached this seaweed and then had gone no further. +The rain extinguished the last spark. + +“Well, by mighty!” exclaimed Captain Perez for at least the tenth time, +as he sat in the kitchen, wrapped in an old ulster of Mr. Mayo's, and +toasting his feet in the oven, “if I don't feel like a fool. All that +scare and wet for nothin'.” + +“Oh, not for nothin', Perez,” said Miss Patience, looking tenderly down +into his face. + +“Well, no, not for nothin' by a good deal! I've got you by it, and +that's everything. But say, Pashy!” and the Captain looked awed by the +coincidence, “I went through fire and water to git you!” + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + + +Captain Perez made a clean breast of it to Captain Eri when he reached +home that night. It was after twelve o'clock, but he routed his friend +out of bed to tell him the news and the story. Captain Eri was not as +surprised to hear of the engagement as he pretended to be, for he had +long ago made up his mind that Perez meant business this time. But the +tale of the fire and the voyage in the carryall tickled him immensely, +and he rolled back and forth in the rocker and laughed until his side +ached. + +“I s'pose it does sound kind of ridic'lous,” said the accepted suitor in +a rather aggrieved tone, “but it wa'n't ha'f so funny when 'twas goin' +on. Fust I thought I'd roast to death, then I thought I'd freeze, and +then I thought I'd drown.” + +“Perez,” said the panting Eri, “you're a wonder. I'm goin' to tell Sol +Bangs 'bout you next time I see him. He'll want you to enter in the +races next Fourth of July. We've had tub races and the like of that, but +a carryall sailin' match 'll be somethin' new. I'll back you against the +town, though. You can count on me.” + +“Now, look here, Eri Hedge, if you tell a livin' soul 'bout it, I'll--” + +“All right, shipmate, all right; but it's too good to keep. You ought +to write a book, one of them kind like Josiah used to read. Call it +'The Carryall Pirate, or The Terror of the Channel,' hey? Gee! you'd be +famous! But, say, old man,” he added more seriously, “I'll shake hands +with you. I b'lieve you've got a good woman, one that 'll make it smooth +sailin' for you the rest of your life. I wish you both luck.” + +Captain Perez shook hands very gravely. He was still a little suspicious +of his chum's propensity to tease. It did not tend to make him less +uneasy when, a little later, Captain Eri opened the parlor door and +whispered, “Say, Perez, I've jest thought of some-thin'. What are you +goin' to say to M'lissy Busteed? Her heart 'll be broke.” + +“Aw, git out!” was the disgusted answer. + +“Well, I only mentioned it. Folks have had to pay heavy for breach of +promise 'fore now. Good-night.” + +Perez manfully told of his engagement at the breakfast table next +morning, although he said nothing concerning the rest of his adventures. +He was rather taken aback to find that no one seemed greatly surprised. +Everyone congratulated him, of course, and it was gratifying to discern +the high opinion of the future Mrs. Ryder held by Mrs. Snow and the +rest. Captain Jerry solemnly shook hands with him after the meal was +over and said, “Perez, you done the right thing. There's nothin' like +married life, after all.” + +“Then why don't you try it yourself?” was the unexpected question. +“Seems to me we'll have to settle that matter of yours pretty soon. I +meant to speak to Eri 'bout it 'fore this, but I've had so much on my +mind. I will to-night when he comes back from fishin'.” + +Captain Jerry made no further remarks, but walked thoughtfully away. + +So that evening, when they were together in Captain Jerry's room after +supper, Perez, true to his promise, said: + +“Eri, it seems to me we've got to do somethin' 'bout Mrs. Snow. She was +hired to be housekeeper while John was sick. Now he's dead, and she'll +think it's queer if we don't settle that marryin' bus'ness. Ain't that +so?” + +“Humph!” grunted Captain Jerry. “Perez is in a mighty sweat to git other +folks married jest 'cause he's goin' to be. I don't see why she can't +keep on bein' housekeeper jest the same as she's always been.” + +“Well, I do, and so do you, and you know it. We agreed to the +housekeepin' bus'ness jest as a sort of put off. Now we can't put off +no longer. Mrs. Snow come down here 'cause we advertised for a wife, and +she's been so everlastin' good that I feel 'most ashamed every time I +think of it. No use, you've got to ask her to marry you. He has, hasn't +he, Eri?” + +“Yes,” answered Captain Eri laconically. + +The sacrifice squirmed. “I hate to ask,” he said. “Why don't we wait a +spell, and let her say somethin' fust?” + +“That WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? She's that kind of a woman, ain't +she?” sputtered Perez. “No, you bet she ain't! What she'd say would be +to give her opinion of us and our manners, and walk out of the house bag +and baggage, and I wouldn't blame her for doin' it.” + +“P'raps she wouldn't have me. She never said she would.” + +“Never said she would! Have you ever asked her? She's had all this time +to l'arn to know you in, and I cal'late if she was willin' to think +'bout it 'fore she ever see you, she'd be more willin' now. Ain't that +so, Eri?” + +And again Captain Eri said shortly, “Yes.” + +“I wish you'd mind your own consarns, and give me time,” protested +Captain Jerry. + +“Time! How much time do you want? Land of Goshen! I should think you'd +had time enough. Why--” + +“Oh, let up!” snorted the persecuted. “Why don't you git married +yourself, and bring Pashy over to keep house? What we started to git +in the fust place was jest a wife for one of us that would keep things +shipshape, and now--” + +The withering look of scorn that Perez bent upon him caused him to +hesitate and stop. Captain Perez haughtily marched to the door. + +“Eri,” he said, “I ain't goin' to waste my time talkin' to a--a dogfish +like him. He ain't wuth it.” + +“Hold on, now, Perez!” pleaded the discomfited sacrifice, alarmed at his +comrade's threatened desertion. “I was only foolin'. Can't you take a +joke? I haven't said I wouldn't do it. I think a heap of Mrs. Snow; it's +only that I ain't got the spunk to ask her, that's all.” + +“Humph! it don't take much spunk,” replied the successful wooer, +forgetful of his own past trepidation. + +“Well,” Captain Jerry wriggled and twisted, but saw no loophole. “Well, +give me a month to git up my courage in and--” + +“A month! A month's ridic'lous; ain't it, Eri” + +“Yes.” + +“Well, three weeks, then.” + +This offer, too, was rejected. Then Captain Jerry held out for a +fortnight--for ten days. Finally, it was settled that within one week +from that very night he was to offer his heart and hand to the lady from +Nantucket. He pledged his solemn word to do it. + +“There!” exclaimed the gratified Captain Perez. “That's a good job done. +He won't never be sorry for it, will he, Eri?” + +And Captain Eri made his fourth contribution to the conversation. + +“No,” he said. + + +Josiah went up to the post-office late in the afternoon of the next day. +The “able seaman” was behaving himself remarkably well. He had become a +real help to Captain Eri, and the latter said that sailing alone would +be doubly hard when his foremast hand went back to school again, which +he was to do very shortly, for Josiah meant to accept the Captain's +offer, and to try for the Annapolis appointment when the time came. + +The boy came back with the mail and an item of news. The mail, a paper +only, he handed to Mrs. Snow, and the news he announced at the supper +table as follows: + +“Mr. Hazeltine's goin' to leave the cable station,” he said. + +“Goin' to leave!” repeated the housekeeper, “what for?” + +“I don't know, ma'am. All I know is what I heard Mr. Wingate say. He +said Mr. Hazeltine was goin' to get through over at the station pretty +soon. He said one of the operators told him so.” + +“Well, for the land's sake! Did you know anything 'bout it, Eri?” + +“Why, yes, a little. I met Hazeltine yesterday, and he told me that +some folks out West had made him a pretty good offer, and he didn't know +whether to take it or not. Said the salary was good, and the whole thing +looked sort of temptin'. He hadn't decided what to do yit. That's all +there is to it.” + +There was little else talked about during the meal. Captain Perez, +Captain Jerry, and Mrs. Snow argued, surmised, and questioned Captain +Eri, who said little. Elsie said almost nothing, and went to her room +shortly after the dishes were washed. + +“Humph!” exclaimed Captain Perez, when they were alone, “I guess your +match-makin' scheme's up spout, Jerry.” + +And, for a wonder, Captain Jerry did not contradict him. + +The weather changed that night, and it grew cold rapidly. In the morning +the pump was frozen, and Captain Jerry and Mrs. Snow spent some time and +much energy in thawing it out. It was later than usual when the former +set out for the schoolhouse. As he was putting on his cap, Elsie +suggested that he wait for her, as she had some lessons to prepare, and +wanted an hour or so to herself at her desk. So they walked on together +under a cloudy sky. The mud in the road was frozen into all sorts of +fantastic shapes, and the little puddles had turned to ice. + +“That thaw was a weather-breeder, sure enough,” observed Captain Jerry. +“We'll git a storm out of this, 'fore we're done.” + +“It seems to me,” said Elsie, “that the winter has been a very mild one. +From what I had heard I supposed you must have some dreadful gales here, +but there has been none so far.” + +“We'll git 'em yit. February's jist the time. Git a good no'theaster +goin', and you'll think the whole house is comin' down. Nothin' to what +they used to have, though, 'cordin' to tell. Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to +swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all +off a dog, and then the wind changed of a sudden, and blew it all on +again.” + +Elsie laughed. “That must have been a blow,” she said. + +“Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's somethin' of a blow himself, so he ought to be a +good jedge. The outer beach is the place that catches it when there's +a gale on. Oh, say! that reminds me. I s'pose you was glad to hear the +news last night?” + +“What news?” + +“Why, that 'bout Mr. Hazeltine's goin' away. You're glad he's goin', of +course.” + +Miss Preston did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned and looked +wonderingly at her companion. + +“Why should I be glad, pray?” she asked. + +“Why, I don't know. I jest took it for granted you would be. You didn't +want him to come and see you, and if he was gone he couldn't come, so--” + +“Just a minute, please. What makes you think I didn't want Mr. Hazeltine +to call?” + +And now it was the Captain's turn to stare and hesitate. + +“What makes me think--” he gasped. “Why--you told me so, yourself.” + +“_I_ told you so? I'm certain that I never told you anything of the +kind.” + +Captain Jerry stood stock-still, and if ever a face expressed complete +amazement, it was his. + +“Elsie Preston!” he ejaculated, “are you losin' your mem'ry or what? +Didn't you pitch into me hot-foot for lettin' him be alone with you? +Didn't you give me 'hark from the tomb' for gittin' up and goin' away? +Didn't you say his calls was perfect torture to you, and that you had to +be decent to him jest out of common politeness? Now, didn't you?” + +“Oh, that was it! No, of course I didn't say any such thing.” + +“You DIDN'T! Why, I heard you! Land of love! my ears smarted for a week +afterward. I ain't had sech a goin' over sence mother used to git at me +for goin' in swimmin' on Sunday. And now you say you didn't say it.” + +“I didn't. You misunderstood me. I did object to your leaving the room +every time he called, and making me appear so ridiculous; and I did +say that his visits might be a torture for all that you knew to the +contrary, but I certainly didn't say that they WERE.” + +“SUFFERIN'! And you ain't glad he stopped comin'?” + +The air of complete indifference assumed by the young lady was a +triumph. + +“Why, of course,” she said, “Mr. Hazeltine is a free agent, and I don't +know of any reason why he should be compelled to go where he doesn't +wish to go. I enjoyed his society, and I'm sure Captain Eri and Mrs. +Snow enjoyed it, too; but it is quite evident that he did not enjoy +ours, so I don't see that there need be any more said on the subject.” + +Captain Jerry was completely crushed. If the gale described by the +redoubtable grandsire of Jonadab Wixon had struck him, he could not have +been more upset. + +“My! my! my!” he murmured. “And after my beggin' his pardon and all!” + +“Begging his pardon? For what?” + +“Why, for leavin' you two alone. Of course, after you pitched into me +so I see how foolish I'd been actin', and I--honest, I didn't sleep +scursely a bit that night thinkin' 'bout it. Thinks I, 'If Elsie feels +that way, why, there ain't no doubt that Mr. Hazeltine feels the same.' +There wa'n't but one thing to be done. When a man makes a mistake, if he +is any kind of a man, he owns up, and does his best to straighten things +out. 'Twa'n't easy to do, but duty's duty, and the next time I see Mr. +Hazeltine I told him the whole thing, and--” + +“You DID!” + +“Sartin I did.” + +“What did you tell him?” + +They had stopped on the sidewalk nearly opposite the post-office. Each +was too much engrossed in the conversation to pay any heed to anything +else. If the few passersby thought it strange that the schoolmistress +should care to loiter out of doors on that cold and disagreeable +morning, they said nothing about it. One young man in particular, who, +standing just inside the post-office door, was buttoning his overcoat +and putting on his gloves, looked earnestly at the pair, but he, too, +said nothing. + +“Why, I told him,” said Captain Jerry, in reply to the question, “how +you didn't like to have me go out of the room when he was there. Course, +I told him I didn't mean to do nothin' out of the way. Then he asked me +some more questions, and I answered 'em best I could, and--well, I guess +that's 'bout all.” + +“Did you tell him that I said his visits were a torture?” + +“Why--” the Captain shuffled his feet uneasily--“seems to me I said +somethin' 'bout it--not jest that, you know, but somethin'. Fact is, I +was so muddle-headed and upset that I don't know exactly what I did say. +Anyhow, he said 'twas all right, so there ain't nothin' to worry 'bout.” + +“Captain Jeremiah Burgess!” exclaimed Elsie. Then she added, “What MUST +he think of me?” + +“Oh, I'll fix that!” exclaimed the Captain. “I'll see him some time +to-day, and I'll tell him you didn't mean it. Why, I declare! Yes, 'tis! +There he is, now! Hi! Mr. Hazeltine! Come here a minute.” + +A mischievous imp was certainly directing Captain Jerry's movements. +Ralph had, almost for the first time since he came to Orham, paid an +early morning visit to the office in order to send an important letter +in the first mail. The slamming of the door had attracted the Captain's +attention and, in response to the hail, Mr. Hazeltine crossed the road. + +And then Captain Jerry felt his arm clutched with a grip that meant +business, as Miss Preston whispered, “Don't you dare say one word to him +about it. Don't you DARE!” + +If Ralph had been surprised by the request to join the couple, he was +more surprised by the reception he received. Elsie's face was crimson, +and as for the Captain, he looked like a man who had suddenly been left +standing alone in the middle of a pond covered with very thin ice. + +The electrician bowed and shook hands gravely. As no remark seemed to be +forthcoming from those who had summoned him, he observed that it was +an unpleasant morning. This commonplace reminded him of one somewhat +similar that he had made to a supposed Miss “Gusty” Black, and he, too, +colored. + +“Did you want to speak with me, Captain?” he asked, to cover his +confusion. + +“Why--why, I did,” stammered poor Captain Jerry, “but--but I +don't know's I do now.” Then he realized that this was not exactly +complimentary, and added, “That is, I don't know--I don't know's +I--Elsie, what was it I was goin' to say to Mr. Hazeltine?” + +At another time it is likely that the young lady's quick wit would have +helped her out of the difficulty, but now she was too much disturbed. + +“I'm sure I don't know,” she said coldly. + +“You don't know! Why, yes you do? 'Twas--'twas--” The Captain was +frantically grasping at straws. “Why, we was wonderin' why you didn't +come to see us nowadays.” + +If the Captain had seen the look that Elsie shot at him, as he delivered +this brilliant observation, he might have been more, instead of less, +uncomfortable. As it was, he felt rather proud of having discovered +a way out of the difficulty. But Ralph's embarrassment increased. He +hurriedly said something about having been very busy. + +“Well,” went on the Captain, intent on making the explanation as +plausible as possible, “we've missed you consider'ble. We was sayin' we +hoped you wouldn't give us up altogether. Ain't that so, Elsie?” + +Miss Preston's foot tapped the sidewalk several times, but she answered, +though not effusively: + +“Mr. Hazeltine is always welcome, of course.” Then, she added, turning +away, “Really, Captain Jerry, I must hurry to school. I have a great +deal of work to do before nine o'clock. Good-morning, Mr. Hazeltine.” + +The Captain paused long enough to say, “We'll expect you now, so come,” + and then hurried after her. He was feeling very well satisfied with +himself. + +“By mighty! Elsie,” he chuckled, “I got out of that nice, didn't I?” + +He received no answer, even when he repeated the remark, and, although +he endeavored, as he swept out the schoolroom, to engage the teacher in +conversation, her replies were as cold as they were short. The Captain +went home in the last stages of dismalness. + +That afternoon, when Captain Eri returned from the fishing grounds, +he found Captain Jerry waiting for him at the shanty. The humiliated +matchmaker sent Josiah up to the grocery store on an errand, and then +dragged his friend inside and shut the door. + +Captain Eri looked at the woe-begone face with some concern. + +“What ails you, Jerry?” he demanded. “Have you--have you spoken to Mrs. +Snow 'bout that--that marriage?” + +“No, I ain't, Eri, but I'm in a turrible mess, and I don't know why, +neither. Seems to me the more I try to do for other folks the wuss off I +am; and, instead of gittin' thanks, all I git is blame.” + +“Why, what's the matter?” + +“Well, now I know you'll think I'm a fool, and 'll jest pester the life +out of me. See here, Eri Hedge! If I tell you what I want to, will you +promise not to pitch into me, and not to nag and poke fun? If you don't +promise I won't tell one single word, no matter what happens.” + +So Captain Eri promised, and then Captain Jerry, stammering and +hesitating, unburdened his mind of the whole affair, telling of his +first reproof by Elsie, his “explanation” to Ralph, and the subsequent +developments. Long before he finished, Captain Eri rose and, walking +over to the door, stood looking out through the dim pane at the top, +while his shoulders shook as if there was a smothered earthquake inside. + +“There!” exclaimed the injured matrimonial agent, in conclusion. +“There's the whole fool thing, and I 'most wish I'd never seen either of +'em. I thought I did fust-rate this mornin' when I was tryin' to think +up somethin' to show why I hailed Hazeltine, but no, Elsie won't hardly +speak to me. I wish to goodness you'd tell me what to do.” + +Captain Eri turned away from the door. His eyes were watery, and his +face was red, but he managed to say: + +“Oh, Jerry, Jerry! Your heart's big as a bucket, but fishin' 's more in +your line than gittin' folks married to order is, I'm 'fraid. You stay +here, and unload them fish in the dory. There ain't many of 'em, and +Josiah 'll help when he gits back. I'm goin' out for a few minutes.” + +He went down to the beach, climbed into a dory belonging to a neighbor, +and Captain Jerry saw him row away in the direction of the cable +station. + +That evening, after the dishes were washed and the table cleared, there +came a knock at the door. Mrs. Snow opened it. + +“Why, for goodness sake! Mr. Hazeltine!” she exclaimed. “Come right in. +What a stranger you are!” + +Ralph entered, shook the snow, which had just begun to fall, from +his hat and coat, took off these articles, in response to the hearty +invitation of Captain Eri, and shook hands with all present. Elsie's +face was an interesting study. Captain Jerry looked scared. + +After a few minutes' talk, Captain Eri rose. + +“Mrs. Snow,” he said, “come upstairs a little while. I want to talk to +you 'bout somethin'. You come, too, Jerry.” + +Captain Jerry looked from Elsie to the speaker, and then to Elsie again. +But Captain Eri's hand was on his arm, and he rose and went. + +Elsie watched this wholesale desertion with amazement. Then the door +opened again, and Captain Eri put in his head. + +“Elsie,” he said, “I jest want to tell you that this is my doin's, not +Jerry's. That's all.” And the door shut. + +Elsie faced the caller with astonishment written on her face. + +“Mr. Hazeltine,” she said icily, “you may know what this means, but I +don't.” + +Ralph looked at her and answered solemnly, but with a twinkle in his +eye: + +“I'm afraid I can guess, Miss Preston. You see Captain Jerry paid +Captain Eri a call this afternoon and, as a result, Captain Eri called +upon me. Then, as a result of THAT, I--well, I came here.” + +The young lady blushed furiously. “What did Captain Eri tell you?” she +demanded. + +“Just what Captain Jerry told him.” + +“And that was?” + +“What you told Captain Jerry this morning concerning something that you +told him before, I believe.” + +There was no answer to this. Miss Preston looked as if she had a mind +to run out of the room, then as if she might cry, and finally as if she +wanted to laugh. + +“I humbly apologize,” said the electrician contritely. + +“YOU apologize? For what?” + +“For my stupidity in believing that Captain Jerry was to be accepted +seriously.” + +“You were excusable, certainly. And now I must apologize; also for +taking the Captain too seriously.” + +“Suppose we pair the apologies as they do the votes in the Senate. Then +one will offset the other.” + +“I'm afraid that isn't fair, for the blunder was all on my part.” + +“Well, if we can't pair apologies, suppose we pair blunders. I don't +accept your statement of guilt, mind, but since you are determined to +shoulder it, we might put it on one side and on the other we'll put--” + +“What?” + +“'Gusty' Black.” + +And then they both laughed. + +A little later Captain Eri knocked at the door. + +“Is it safe for a feller to come in?” he asked. + +“Well,” said Elsie severely, “I don't know whether talebearers should +be admitted or not, but if they do come they must beg pardon for +interfering in other people's affairs.” + +“Ma'am,” and the Captain made a profound bow, “I hope you'll be so 'kind +and condescendin', and stoop so low, and be so bendin'' as to forgive +me. And, while I'm 'bout it, I'll apologize for Jerry, too.” + +“No, sir,” said the young lady decidedly. “Captain Jerry must apologize +for himself. Captain Jeremiah Burgess,” she called up the stairway, +“come into court, and answer for your sins.” + +And Captain Jerry tremblingly came. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS + + +It had begun to snow early in the evening, a light fall at first, +but growing heavier every minute, and, as the flakes fell thicker and +faster, the wind began to blow, and its force increased steadily. Ralph, +hearing the gusts as they swooped about the corners of the house, and +the “swish” of the snow as it was thrown against the window panes, +several times rose to go, but Captain Eri in each instance urged him to +stay a little longer. Finally, the electrician rebelled. + +“I should like to stay, Captain,” he said, “but how do you think I am +going to get over to the station if this storm grows worse, as it seems +to be doing?” + +“I don't think,” was the calm reply. “You're goin' to stay here.” + +“Well, I guess not.” + +“I guess yes. S'pose we're goin' to let you try to row over to the beach +a night like this? It's darker 'n a nigger's pocket, and blowin' and +snowin' great guns besides. Jest you look out here.” + +He rose, beckoned to Ralph, and then opened the outer door. He had to +use considerable strength to do this, and a gust of wind and a small +avalanche of snow roared in, and sent the lighter articles flying from +the table. Elsie gave a little scream, and Mrs. Snow exclaimed, “For the +land's sake, shut that door this minute! Everything 'll be soppin' wet.” + +The Captain pulled the door shut again, and dropped the hook into the +staple. + +“Nice night for a pull, ain't it?” he observed, smiling. “No, sir, I've +heard it comin' on, and I made up my mind you'd have to stay on dry land +for a spell, no matter if all creation wanted you on t'other side.” + +Ralph looked troubled. “I ought to be at the station,” he said. + +“Maybe so, but you ain't, and you'll have to put up at this boardin' +house till mornin'. When it's daylight one of us 'll set you across. Mr. +Langley ain't foolish. He won't expect you to-night.” + +“Now, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the housekeeper, “you might jest as well give +it up fust as last. You KNOW you can't go over to that station jest as +well as I do.” + +So Ralph did give it up, although rather against his will. There was +nothing of importance to be done, but he felt a little like a deserter, +nevertheless. + +“Perez won't git home neither,” observed Captain Eri. “He's snowed in, +too.” + +Captain Perez had that afternoon gone down to the Mayo homestead to take +tea with Miss Davis. + +“Git home! I should think not!” said Mrs. Snow decidedly. “Pashy's got +too much sense to let him try it.” + +“Well, Elsie,” commented Captain Jerry, “I told you we'd have a +no'theaster 'fore the winter was over. I guess there'll be gale enough +to satisfy you, now. No school to-morrer.” + +“Well, that's settled! Let's be comf'table. Ain't there some of that +cider down cellar? Where's the pitcher?” And Captain Eri hurried off to +find it. + +When bedtime came there was some argument as to where the guest should +sleep. Ralph insisted that the haircloth sofa in the parlor was just the +thing, but Captain Eri wouldn't hear of it. + +“Haircloth's all right to look at,” he said, “but it's the slipperiest +stuff that ever was, I cal'late. Every time I set on a haircloth chair I +feel's if I was draggin' anchor.” + +The cot was declared ineligible, also, and the question was finally +settled by Josiah and Captain Eri going upstairs to the room once +occupied by John Baxter, while Ralph took that which they vacated. + +It was some time before he fell asleep. The gale seemed to be tearing +loose the eternal foundations. The house shook and the bed trembled +as if a great hand was moving them, and the snow slapped against the +windows till it seemed that they must break. + +In the morning there was little change in the weather. The snow had +turned to a sleet, half rain, that stuck to everything and coated it +with ice. The wind was blowing as hard as ever. Captain Eri and Ralph, +standing just outside the kitchen door, and in the lee of the barn, +paused to watch the storm for a minute before they went down to the +beach. At intervals they caught glimpses of the snow-covered roofs of +the fish shanties, and the water of the inner bay, black and threatening +and scarred with whitecaps; then another gust would come, and they could +scarcely see the posts at the yard gate. + +“Think you want to go over, do you?” asked the Captain. + +“I certainly do, if I can get there.” + +“Oh, we can git there all right. I've rowed a dory a good many times +when 'twas as bad as this. This ain't no picnic day, though, that's a +fact,” he added, as they crossed the yard, and caught the full force of +the wind. “Lucky you put on them ileskins.” + +Ralph was arrayed in Captain Jerry's “dirty-weather rig,” and although, +as Captain Eri said, the garments fitted him “like a shirt on a +handspike,” they were very acceptable. + +They found the dory covered with snow and half-full of slush, and +it took some few minutes to get her into condition. When this was +accomplished they hauled her down to the shore, and Captain Eri, +standing knee-deep in water, steadied her while Ralph climbed in. Then +the Captain tumbled in himself, picked up the oars, and settled down for +the pull to the outer beach. + +A dory, as everyone acquainted alongshore knows, is the safest of all +small craft for use in heavy weather. It is unsinkable for one thing, +and, being flat-bottomed, slips over the waves instead of plowing +through them. But the high freeboard is a mark for the wind, and to keep +a straight course on such a morning as this requires skill, and no small +amount of muscle. Ralph, seated in the stern, found himself wondering +how on earth his companion managed to row as he did, and steer at the +same time. The strokes were short, but there was power in them, and the +dory, although moving rather slowly, went doggedly on. + +“Let me take her,” shouted Ralph after a while, “you must be tired.” + +“Who, me?” Captain Eri laughed. “I could keep this up for a week. There +ain't any sea in here. If we was outside now, 'twould be diff'rent, +maybe.” + +They hit the beach almost exactly at the right spot, a feat which the +passenger considered a miracle, but which the Captain seemed to take +as a matter of course. They beached and anchored the dory, and, bending +almost double as they faced the wind, plowed through the sand to the +back door of the station. There was comparatively little snow here on +the outer beach--the gale had swept it nearly all away. + +Mr. Langley met them as they tramped into the hall. The old gentleman +was glad to see his assistant, for he had begun to fear that the latter +might have tried to row over during the evening, and met with disaster. +As they sat round the stove in his room he said, “We don't need any +wrecks inside the beach. We shall have enough outside, I'm afraid. I +hear there is one schooner in trouble now.” + +“That so?” asked Captain Eri. “Where is she?” + +“On the Hog's Back shoal, they think. One of the life-saving crew told +McLaughlin that they saw her last night, when the gale first began, +trying to make an offing, and that wreckage was coming ashore this +morning. Captain Davis was going to try to reach her with the boat, I +believe.” + +“I should like to be at the life-saving station when they land,” said +Ralph. “It would be a new experience for me. I've seen the crew drill +often enough, but I have never seen them actually at work.” + +“What d'you say if we go down to the station?” asked the Captain. “That +is, if Mr. Langley here can spare you.” + +“Oh, I can spare him,” said the superintendent. “There is nothing of +importance to be done here just now. But it will be a terrible walk down +the beach this morning.” + +“Wind 'll be at our backs, and we're rigged for it, too. What d'you say, +Mr. Hazeltine?” + +Ralph was only too glad of the opportunity to see, at least, the finish +of a rescuing expedition, and he said so. So they got into the oilskins +again, pulled their “sou'westers” down over their ears, and started on +the tramp to the life-saving station. + +The electrician is not likely to forget that walk. The wind was, as +the Captain said, at their backs, but it whistled in from the sea with +terrific strength, and carried the sleet with it. It deluged them with +water, and plastered them with flying seaweed and ice. The wet sand came +in showers like hail, and beat against their shoulders until they felt +the sting, even through their clothes. Toward the bay was nothing but +gray mist, streaked with rain and sleet; toward the sea was the same +mist, flying with the wind over such a huddle of tossing green and white +as Ralph had never seen. The surf poured in in rollers that leaped over +each other's humped backs in their savage energy to get at the shore, +which trembled as they beat upon it. The ripples from one wave had not +time to flow back before those of the next came threshing in. Great +blobs of foam shot down the strand like wild birds, and the gurgle and +splash and roar were terrific. + +They walked as near the water line as they dared, because the sand was +harder there. Captain Eri went ahead, hands in his pockets and head +down. Ralph followed, sometimes watching his companion, but oftener +gazing at the sea. At intervals there would be a lull, as if the storm +giant had paused for breath, and they could see for half a mile over the +crazy water; then the next gust would pull the curtain down again, and +a whirl of rain and sleet would shut them in. Conversation meant only a +series of shrieks and they gave it up. + +At length the Captain turned, grinned pleasantly, while the rain drops +splashed on his nose, and waved one arm. Ralph looked and saw ahead of +them the clustered buildings of the life-saving station. And he was glad +to see them. + +“Whew!” puffed Captain Eri as they opened the door. “Nice mornin' for +ducks. Hey, Luther!” he shouted, “wake up here; you've got callers.” + +They heard footsteps in the next room, the door opened, and in came--not +Luther Davis, but Captain Perez. + +“Why, Eri!” he exclaimed amazedly. + +“For the land's sake, Perez! What are you doin' here?” + +“What are YOU doin' here, I should say. How d'you do, Mr. Hazeltine?” + +Captain Eri pushed back his “sou'wester,” and strolled over to the +stove. Ralph followed suit. + +“Well, Perez,” said the former, extending his hands over the fire, “it's +easy enough to tell you why we're here. We heard there was a wreck.” + +“There is. She's a schooner, and she's off there on the Hog's Back. +Luther and the crew put off to her more 'n two hours ago, and I'm +gittin' worried.” + +Then Perez went on to explain that, because of the storm, he had been +persuaded to stay at Mrs. Mayo's all night; that Captain Davis had +been over for a moment that evening on an errand, and had said that the +schooner had been sighted and that, as the northeaster was coming on, +she was almost certain to get into trouble; that he, Perez, had rowed +over the first thing in the morning to get the news, and had been just +in time to see the launching of the lifeboat, as the crew put off to the +schooner. + +“There ain't nothin' to worry 'bout,” observed Captain Eri. “It's no +slouch of a pull off to the Hog's Back this weather, and besides, I'd +trust Lute Davis anywhere on salt water.” + +“Yes, I know,” replied the unconvinced Captain Perez, “but he ought to +have been back afore this. There was a kind of let-up in the storm jest +afore I got here, and they see her fast on the shoal with the crew +in the riggin'. Luther took the small boat 'cause he thought he could +handle her better, and that's what's worryin' me; I'm 'fraid she's +overloaded. I was jest thinkin' of goin' out on the p'int to see if I +could see anything of 'em when you folks come.” + +“Well, go ahead. We'll go with you, if Mr. Hazeltine's got any of the +chill out of him.” + +Ralph was feeling warm by this time and, after Perez had put on his coat +and hat, they went out once more into the gale. The point of which Perez +had spoken was a wedge-shaped sand ridge that, thrown up by the waves +and tide, thrust itself out from the beach some few hundred yards below +the station. They reached its tip, and stood there in the very midst of +the storm, waiting for the lulls, now more frequent, and scanning the +tumbling water for the returning lifeboat. + +“Schooner's layin' right over there,” shouted Captain Perez in Ralph's +ear, pointing off into the mist. “'Bout a mile off shore, I cal'late. +Wicked place, the Hog's Back is, too.” + +“Wind's lettin' up a little mite,” bellowed Captain Eri. “We've had the +wust of it, I guess. There ain't so much--” + +He did not finish the sentence. The curtain of sleet parted, leaving a +quarter-mile-long lane, through which they could see the frothing ridges +racing one after the other, endlessly. And across this lane, silent and +swift, like a moving picture on a screen, drifted a white turtleback +with black dots clinging to it. It was in sight not more than a half +minute, then the lane closed again, as the rain lashed their faces. + +Captain Perez gasped, and clutched the electrician by the arm. + +“Godfrey mighty!” he exclaimed. + +“What was it?” shouted Ralph. “What was it, Captain Eri?” + +But Captain Eri did not answer. He had turned, and was running at full +speed back to the beach. When they came up they found him straining at +the side of the dory that Luther Davis used in tending his lobster pots. +The boat, turned bottom up, lay high above tide mark in the little cove +behind the point. + +“Quick, now!” shouted the Captain, in a tone Ralph had never heard him +use before. “Over with her! Lively!” + +They obeyed him without question. As the dory settled right side up two +heavy oars, that had been secured by being thrust under the seats, fell +back with a clatter. + +“What was it, Captain?” shouted Ralph. + +“The lifeboat upset. How many did you make out hangin' onto her, Perez? +Five, seemed to me.” + +“Four, I thought. Eri, you ain't goin' to try to reach her with this +dory? You couldn't do it. You'll only be drownded yourself. My Lord!” he +moaned, wringing his hands, “what 'll Pashy do?” + +“Catch a-holt now,” commanded Captain Eri. “Down to the shore with her! +Now!” + +They dragged the dory to the water's edge with one rush. Then Eri +hurriedly thrust in the tholepins. Perez protested again. + +“Eri,” he said, “it ain't no use. She won't live to git through the +breakers.” + +His friend answered without looking up. “Do you s'pose,” he said, “that +I'm goin' to let Lute Davis and them other fellers drown without makin' +a try for 'em? Push off when I tell you to.” + +“Then you let me go instead of you.” + +“Don't talk foolish. You've got Pashy to look after. Ready now!” + +But Ralph Hazeltine intervened. + +“I'm going myself,” he said firmly, putting one foot over the gunwale. +“I'm a younger man than either of you, and I'm used to a boat. I mean +it. I'm, going.” + +Captain Eri looked at the electrician's face; he saw nothing but +determination there. + +“We'll all go,” he said suddenly. “Mr. Hazeltine, run as fast as the +Lord 'll let you back to the station and git another set of oars. +Hurry!” + +Without answering, the young man sprang up the beach and ran toward the +buildings. The moment that he was inside Captain Eri leaped into the +dory. + +“Push off, Perez!” he commanded. “That young feller's got a life to +live.” + +“You don't go without me,” asserted Perez stoutly. + +“All right! Push off, and then jump in.” + +Captain Perez attempted to obey. He waded into the water and gave the +dory a push, but, just as he was about to scramble in, he received a +shove that sent him backwards. + +“Your job's takin' care of Pashy!” roared Captain Eri. + +Perez scrambled to his feet, but the dory was already half-way across +the little patch of comparatively smooth water in the cove. As he looked +he saw it enter the first line of breakers, rise amid a shower of foam, +poise on the crest, and slip over. The second line of roaring waves +came surging on, higher and more threatening than the first. Captain Eri +glanced over his shoulder, turned the dory's bow toward them and +waited. They broke, and, as they did so, the boat shot forward into the +whirlpool of froth. Then the sleet came pouring down and shut everything +from sight. + +When Ralph came hurrying to the beach, bearing the oars, he found +Captain Perez alone. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + + +Captain Eri knew that the hardest and most dangerous portion of his +perilous trip was just at its beginning. If the dory got through +the surf without capsizing, it was an even bet that she would stay +right-side-up for a while longer, at any rate. So he pulled out of the +little cove, and pointed the boat's bow toward the thundering smother +of white, his shoulders squared, his hands tightened on the oar handles, +and his under-jaw pushed out beyond the upper. Old foremast hands, those +who had sailed with the Captain on his coasting voyages, would, had they +seen these signs, have prophesied trouble for someone. They were Captain +Eri's battle-flags, and just now his opponent was the gray Atlantic. If +the latter won, it would only be after a fight. + +The first wave tripped over the bar and whirled beneath him, sending +the dory high into the air and splashing its occupant with spray. The +Captain held the boat stationary, waiting for the second to break, and +then, half rising, put all his weight and strength on the oars. The +struggle had begun. + +They used to say on board the Hannah M. that the skipper never got +rattled. The same cool head and steady nerve that Josiah had admired +when the catboat threaded the breakers at the entrance of the bay, now +served the same purpose in this more tangled and infinitely more wicked +maze. The dory climbed and ducked, rolled and slid, but gained, inch by +inch, foot by foot. The advancing waves struck savage blows at the +bow, the wind did its best to swing her broadside on, but there was one +hundred and eighty pounds of clear grit and muscle tugging at the oars, +and, though the muscles were not as young as they had been, there were +years of experience to make every pound count. At last the preliminary +round was over. The boat sprang clear of the breakers and crept out +farther and farther, with six inches of water slopping in her bottom, +but afloat and seaworthy. + +It was not until she was far into deep water that the Captain turned +her bow down the shore. When this was done, it was on the instant, and, +although a little more water came inboard, there was not enough to be +dangerous. Then, with the gale astern and the tide to help, Captain +Eri made the dory go as she, or any other on that coast, had never gone +before. + +The Captain knew that the wind and the tide that were now aiding him +were also sweeping the overturned lifeboat along at a rapid rate. He +must come up with it before it reached the next shoal. He must reach +it before the waves, and, worse than all, the cold had caused the poor +fellows clinging to it for life to loose their grip. + +The dory jumped from crest to crest like a hurdler. The sleet now beat +directly into the Captain's face and froze on his eyebrows and lashes, +but he dared not draw in an oar to free a hand. The wind caught up the +spindrift and poured it over him in icy baths, but he was too warm from +the furious exercise to mind. + +In the lulls he turned his head and gazed over the sea, looking for the +boat. Once he saw it, before the storm shut down again, and he groaned +aloud to count but two black dots on its white surface. He pulled harder +than ever, and grunted with every stroke, while the perspiration poured +down his forehead and froze when it reached the ice dams over his eyes. + +At last it was in plain sight, and the two dots, now clearly human +beings, were still there. He pointed the bow straight at it and rowed +on. When he looked again there was but one, a figure sprawled along the +keel, clinging to the centerboard. + +The flying dory bore down upon the lifeboat, and the Captain risked what +little breath he had in a hail. The clinging figure raised its head, and +Captain Eri felt an almost selfish sense of relief to see that it was +Luther Davis. If it had to be but one, he would rather it was that one. + +The bottom of the lifeboat rose like a dome from the sea that beat and +roared over and around it. The centerboard had floated up and projected +at the top, and it was about this that Captain Davis' arms were clasped. +Captain Eri shot the dory alongside, pulled in one oar, and the two +boats fitted closely together. Then Eri reached out, and, seizing his +friend by the belt round his waist, pulled him from his hold. Davis fell +into the bottom of the dory, only half conscious and entirely helpless. + +Captain Eri lifted him so that his head and shoulders rested on a +thwart, and then, setting his oar against the lifeboat's side, pushed +the dory clear. Then he began rowing again. + +So far he had been more successful than he had reason to expect, but the +task that he must now accomplish was not less difficult. He must reach +the shore safely, and with another life beside his own to guard. + +It was out of the question to attempt to get back to the cove; the +landing must be made on the open beach, and, although Captain Eri had +more than once brought a dory safely through a high surf, he had never +attempted it when his boat had nearly a foot of water in her and carried +a helpless passenger. + +Little by little, still running before the wind, the Captain edged in +toward the shore. Luther Davis moved once or twice, but said nothing. +His oilskins were frozen stiff and his beard was a lump of ice. Captain +Eri began to fear that he might die from cold and exhaustion before the +attempt at landing was made. The Captain resolved to wait no longer, but +to take the risk of running directly for the beach. + +He was near enough now to see the leaping spray of the breakers, and +their bellow sounded louder than the howl of the wind or the noises +of the sea about him. He bent forward and shouted in the ear of the +prostrate life-saver. + +“Luther!” he yelled, “Lute!” + +Captain Davis' head rolled back, his eyes opened, and, in a dazed way, +he looked at the figure swinging back and forth with the oars. + +“Lute!” shouted Captain Eri, “listen to me! I'm goin' to try to land. +D'you hear me?” + +Davis' thoughts seemed to be gathering slowly. He was, ordinarily, a man +of strong physique, courageous, and a fighter every inch of him, but his +strength had been beaten out by the waves and chilled by the cold, +and the sight of the men with whom he had lived and worked for years +drowning one by one, had broken his nerve. He looked at his friend, and +then at the waves. + +“What's the use?” he said feebly. “They're all gone. I might as well go, +too.” + +Captain Eri's eyes snapped. “Lute Davis,” he exclaimed, “I never thought +I'd see you playin' crybaby. Brace up! What are you, anyway?” + +The half-frozen man made a plucky effort. + +“All right, Eri,” he said. “I'm with you, but I ain't much good.” + +“Can you stand up?” + +“I don't know. I'll try.” + +Little by little he raised himself to his knees. + +“'Bout as fur's I can go, Eri,” he said, between his teeth. “You look +out for yourself. I'll do my durndest.” + +The dory was caught by the first of the great waves, and, on its crest, +went flying toward the beach. Captain Eri steered it with the oars as +well as he could. The wave broke, and the half-filled boat paused, +was caught up by the succeeding breaker, and thrown forward again. The +Captain, still trying to steer with one oar, let go of the other, and +seizing his companion by the belt, pulled him to his feet. + +“Now then,” he shouted, “stand by!” + +The boat poised on the curling wave, went down like a hammer, struck the +sand, and was buried in water. Just as it struck, Captain Eri jumped as +far shoreward as he could. Davis sprang with him, but it was really the +Captain's strength that carried them clear of the rail. + +They kept their feet for an instant, but, in that instant, Captain Eri +dragged his friend a yard or so up the shelving beach. Then they were +knocked flat by the next wave. The Captain dug his toes into the sand +and braced himself as the undertow sucked back. Once more he rose and +they staggered on again, only to go down when the next rush of water +came. Three times this performance was repeated, and, as they rose for +the fourth time, the Captain roared, “Now!” + +Another plunge, a splashing run, and they were on the hard sand of +the beach. Then they both tumbled on their faces and breathed in great +gasps. + +But the Captain realized that this would not do, for, in their soaked +condition, freezing to death was a matter of but a short time. He seized +Davis by the shoulder and shook him again and again. + +“Come on, Lute! Come on!” he insisted. “Git up! You've GOT to git up!” + +And, after a while, the life-saver did get up, although he could +scarcely stand. Then, with the Captain's arm around his waist, they +started slowly up the beach toward the station. + +They had gone but a little way when they were met by Ralph Hazeltine and +Captain Perez. + + +Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather nervous all that forenoon. She +performed her household duties as thoroughly as usual, but Elsie, to +whom the storm had brought a holiday, noticed that she looked out of the +window and at the clock frequently. Once she even went so far as to tell +the young lady that she felt “kind of queer; jest as if somethin' was +goin' to happen.” As the housekeeper was not the kind to be troubled +with presentiments, Elsie was surprised. + +Dinner was on the table at twelve o'clock, but Captain Eri was not there +to help eat it, and they sat down without him. And here again Mrs. Snow +departed from her regular habit, for she ate little and was very quiet. +She was the first to hear an unusual sound outside, and, jumping up, ran +to the window. + +“Somebody's drivin' into the yard,” she said. “Who on airth would be +comin' here such a day as this?” + +Captain Jerry joined her at the window. + +“It's Abner Mayo's horse,” he said. “Maybe it's Perez comin' home.” + +It was not Captain Perez, but Mr. Mayo himself, as they saw when the +rubber blanket fastened across the front of the buggy was dropped and +the driver sprang out. Mrs. Snow opened the door for him. + +“Hello, Abner!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, as the newcomer stopped to +knock the snow from his boots before coming in, “what have you done to +Perez? Goin' to keep him for a steady boarder?” + +But Mr. Mayo had important news to communicate, and he did not intend +to lose the effect of his sensation by springing it without due +preparation. He took off his hat and mittens and solemnly declined a +proffered chair. + +“Cap'n Burgess,” he said, “I've got somethin' to tell you--somethin' +awful. The whole life-savin' crew but one is drownded, and Cap'n Eri +Hedge--” + +An exclamation from Mrs. Snow interrupted him. The housekeeper clasped +her hands together tightly and sank into a chair. She was very white. +Elsie ran to her. + +“What is it, Mrs. Snow?” she asked. + +“Nothin', nothin'! Go on, Mr. Mayo. Go on!” + +The bearer of ill-tidings, gratified at the result of his first attempt, +proceeded deliberately: + +“And Cap'n Hedge and Luther Davis are over at the station pretty nigh +dead. If it wa'n't for the Cap'n, Luther'd have gone, too. Eri took a +dory and went off and picked him up. Perez come over to my house and +told us about it, and Pashy's gone back with him to see to her brother. +I didn't go down to the store this mornin', 'twas stormin' so, but as +soon as I heard I harnessed up to come and tell you.” + +Then, in answer to the hurried questions of Captain Jerry and Elsie, Mr. +Mayo told the whole story as far as he knew it. Mrs. Snow said nothing, +but sat with her hands still clasped in her lap. + +“Luther is ha'f drownded and froze,” concluded Abner, “and the Cap'n +got a bang with an oar when they jumped out of the dory that, Perez +is afraid, broke his arm. I'm goin' right back to git Dr. Palmer. They +tried to telephone him, but the wire's down.” + +“Dear! dear! dear!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, completely demoralized by +the news. “That's dreadful! I must go right down there, mustn't I? The +poor fellers!” + +Mrs. Snow rose to her feet quietly, but with a determined air. + +“Are you goin' right back soon's you've got the Doctor, Mr. Mayo?” she +asked. + +“Why, no, I wa'n't. I ain't been to my store this mornin', and I'm +'fraid I ought to be there.” + +To be frank, Abner was too great a sensation lover to forfeit the +opportunity of springing his startling news on the community. + +“Then, Josiah, you'll have to harness Dan'l and take me down. I mustn't +wait another minute.” + +“Why, Mrs. Snow!” expostulated Captain Jerry, “you mustn't go down +there. The Doctor's goin', and I'll go, and Pashy's there already.” + +But the housekeeper merely waved him aside. + +“I want you to stay here with Elsie,” she said. “There's no tellin' how +long I may be gone. Josiah 'll drive me down, won't you, Josiah?” + +There was no lack of enthusiasm in the “able seaman's” answer. The boy +was only too glad of the chance. + +“But it ain't fit weather for you to be out in. You'll git soakin' wet.” + +“I guess if Pashy Davis can stand it, I can. Elsie, will you come and +help me git ready, while Josiah's harnessin'?” + +As they entered the chamber above, Elsie was thunderstruck to see her +companion seat herself in the rocker and cover her face with her hands. +If it had been anyone else it would not have been so astonishing, but +the cool, self-possessed housekeeper--she could scarcely believe it. + +“Why, Mrs. Snow!” she exclaimed, “what IS it?” + +The lady from Nantucket hastily rose and wiped her eyes with her apron. + +“Oh, nothin',” she answered, with an attempt at a smile. “I'm kind of +fidgety this mornin', and the way that man started off to tell his yarn +upset me; that's all. I mustn't be such a fool.” + +She set about getting ready with a vim and attention to detail that +proved that her “fidgets” had not affected her common-sense. She was +pale and her hands trembled a little, but she took a covered basket and +packed in it cloth for bandages, a hot-water bottle, mustard, a bottle +of liniment, and numerous other things likely to be of use. Last of all, +she added a bottle of whisky that had been prescribed as a stimulant for +John Baxter. + +“I s'pose some folks would think 'twas terrible carryin' this with me,” + she observed. “A woman pitched into me once for givin' it to her husband +when he was sick. I told her I didn't favor RHUBARB as a steady drink, +but I hoped I knew enough to give it when 'twas necessary.” + +Ralph and Captain Perez were surprised men when the housekeeper, +dripping, but cheerful, appeared on the scene. She and Josiah had had a +stormy passage on the way down, for the easy-going Daniel had objected +to being asked to trot through drifts, and Mrs. Snow had insisted that +he should be made to do it. The ford was out of the question, so they +stalled the old horse in the Mayo barn and borrowed Abner's dory to make +the crossing. + +Mrs. Snow took charge at once of the tired men, and the overtaxed Miss +Patience was glad enough to have her do it. Luther Davis was in bed, +and Captain Eri, after an hour's sojourn in the same snug harbor, +had utterly refused to stay there longer, and now, dressed in a suit +belonging to the commandant, was stretched upon a sofa in the front +room. + +The Captain was the most surprised of all when Mrs. Snow appeared. He +fairly gasped when she first entered the room, and seemed to be struck +speechless, for he said scarcely a word while she dosed him with hot +drinks, rubbed his shoulder--the bone was not broken, but there was +a bruise there as big as a saucer--with the liniment, and made him +generally comfortable. He watched her every movement with a sort of +worshipful wonder, and seemed to be thinking hard. + +Captain Davis, although feeling a little better, was still very weak, +and his sister and Captain Perez were with him. Josiah soon returned +to the Mayo homestead to act as ferryman for Dr. Palmer when the latter +should arrive, and Ralph, finding that there was nothing more that he +could do, went back to the cable station. The storm had abated somewhat +and the wind had gone down. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were alone in the +front room, and, for the first time since she entered the house, the +lady from Nantucket sat down to rest. Then the Captain spoke. + +“Mrs. Snow,” he said gravely, “I don't believe you've changed your +clothes sence you got here. You must have been soaked through, too. I +wish you wouldn't take such risks. You hadn't ought to have come over +here a day like this, anyway. Not but what the Lord knows it's good to +have you here,” he added hastily. + +The housekeeper seemed surprised. + +“Cap'n Eri,” she said, “I b'lieve if you was dyin' you'd worry for fear +somebody else wouldn't be comf'table while you was doing it. 'Twould +be pretty hard for me to change my clothes,” she added, with a laugh, +“seein' that there probably ain't anything but men's clothes in the +place.” Then, with a sigh, “Poor fellers, they won't need 'em any more.” + +“That's so. And they were all alive and hearty this mornin'. It's an +awful thing for Luther. Has he told anything yit 'bout how it come to +happen?” + +“Yes, a little. The schooner was from Maine, bound to New York. Besides +her own crew she had some Italians aboard, coal-handlers, they was, +goin' over on a job for the owner. Cap'n Davis says he saw right away +that the lifeboat would be overloaded, but he had to take 'em all, +there wa'n't time for a second trip. He made the schooner's crew and the +others lay down in the boat where they wouldn't hinder the men at the +oars, but when they got jest at the tail of the shoal, where the sea was +heaviest, them Italians lost their heads and commenced to stand up and +yell, and fust thing you know, she swung broadside on and capsized. +Pashy says Luther don't say much more, but she jedges, from what he does +say, that some of the men hung on with him for a while, but was washed +off and drownded.” + +“That's right; there was four or five there when we saw her fust. +'Twas Lute's grip on the centerboard that saved him. It's an awful +thing--awful!” + +“Yes, and he would have gone, too, if it hadn't been for you. And you +talk about MY takin' risks!” + +“Well, Jerry hadn't ought to have let you come.” + +“LET me come! I should like to have seen him try to stop me. The idea! +Where would I be if 'twa'n't helpin' you, after all you've done for me?” + +“I'VE done? I haven't done anything!” + +“You've made me happier 'n I've been for years. You've been so kind +that--that--” + +She stopped and looked out of the window. + +“It's you that's been kind,” said the Captain. “You've made a home for +me; somethin' I ain't had afore sence I was a boy.” + +Mrs. Snow went on as if he had not spoken. + +“And to think that you might have been drownded the same as the rest,” + she said. “I knew somethin' was happenin'. I jest felt it, somehow. I +told Elsie I was sure of it. I couldn't think of anything but you all +the forenoon.” + +The Captain sat up on the couch. + +“Marthy,” he said in an awed tone, “do you know what I was thinkin' of +when I was pullin' through the wust of it this mornin'? I was thinkin' +of you. I thought of Luther and the rest of them poor souls, of course, +but I thought of you most of the time. It kept comin' back to me that if +I went under I shouldn't see you ag'in. And you was thinkin' of me!” + +“Yes, when that Mayo man said he had awful news, I felt sure 'twas you +he was goin' to tell about. I never fainted away in my life that I know +of, but I think I 'most fainted then.” + +“And you cared as much as that?” + +“Yes.” + +Somehow both were speaking quietly, but as if it was useless longer to +keep back anything. To speak the exact truth without reserve seemed the +most natural thing in the world. + +“Well, well, well!” said the Captain reverently, and still in the same +low tone. “I said once afore that I b'lieved you was sent here, and now +I'm sure of it. It seems almost as if you was sent to ME, don't it?” + +The housekeeper still looked out of the window, but she answered simply, +“I don't know.” + +“It does, it does so. Marthy, we've been happy together while you've +been here. Do you b'lieve you could be happy with me always--if you +married me, I mean?” + +Mrs. Snow turned and looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, but +she did not wipe them away. + +“Yes,” she said. + +“Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich.” + +“What am I?” with a little smile. + +“And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old +codger like me?” + +“Yes.” The answer was short, but it was convincing. + +Captain Eri rose to his feet. + +“Gosh!” he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. “Marthy, are you +willin' to try?” + +And again Mrs. Snow said “Yes.” + + +When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri +was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about +him that the man of medicine was amazed. + +“Good Lord, man!” he exclaimed, “I expected to find you flat on your +back, and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a +salt-water bath in mid-winter must agree with you.” + +“It ain't so much that,” replied the Captain serenely. “It's the pay I +got for takin' it.” + +When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close +watch on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion +and exposure might have affected the Captain's brain. + +Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, but +he saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to start for +home, Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding slap + +“Jerry!” he groaned distressfully. “I clean forgot. I've gone back on +Jerry!” + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +“DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + + +Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner Mayo's news +spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, the stores, and +the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, notably “Cy” Warner +and “Rufe” Smith, local representatives of the big Boston dailies, +hurried off to the life-saving station to get the facts at first hand. +Others came down to talk with Captain Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's +shawl was on her shoulders and her “cloud” was tied about her head in +less than two minutes after her next-door neighbor shouted the story +across the back yards. She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry +was delivering a sarcastic speech concerning “talkin' machines,” when +Daniel plodded through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, +Mrs. Snow, and Captain Eri. + +For a man who had been described as “half-dead,” Captain Eri looked very +well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he jumped out +himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with an air of proud +proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like a returned prodigal, +and Captain Jerry shook his well hand until the arm belonging to it +seemed likely to become as stiff and sore as the other. While this +handshaking was going on Captain Eri was embarrassed. He did not look +his friend in the face, and most of his conversation was addressed to +Elsie. + +As soon as he had warmed his hands and told the story of the wreck and +rescue, he said, “Jerry, come up to my room a minute, won't you? I've +got somethin' I want to say.” + +Vaguely wondering what the private conversation might be, Jerry followed +his friend upstairs. When they were in the room, Captain Eri closed the +door and faced his companion. He was confused, and stammered a little, +as he said, “Jerry, I've--I've got somethin' to say to you 'bout Mrs. +Snow.” + +Then it was Captain Jerry's turn to be confused. + +“Now, Eri,” he protested, “'tain't fair to keep pesterin' me like this. +I know I ain't said nothin' to her yit, but I'm goin' to. I had a week, +anyhow, and it ain't ha'f over. Land sake!” he burst forth, “d'you +s'pose I ain't been thinkin' 'bout it? I ain't thought of nothin' else, +hardly. I bet you I've been over the whole thing every night sence we +had that talk. I go over it and GO over it. I've thought of more 'n a +million ways to ask her, but there ain't one of 'em that suits me. If I +was goin' to be hung 'twouldn't be no worse, and now you've got to keep +a-naggin'. Let me alone till my time is up, can't you?” + +“I wa'n't naggin'. I was jest goin' to tell you that you won't have to +ask. I've been talkin' to her myself, and--” + +The sacrifice sprang out of his chair. + +“Eri Hedge!” he exclaimed indignantly. “I thought you was a friend of +mine! I give you my word I'd do it in a week, and the least you could +have done, seems to me, would have been to wait and give me the chance. +But no! all you think 'bout's yourself. So 'fraid she'd say no and you'd +lose your old housekeeper, wa'n't you? The idea! She must think I'm a +good one--can't do my own courtin', and have to git somebody to do it +for me! What did she say?” he asked suddenly. + +“She said yes to what I asked her,” was the reply with a half smile. + +Upon Captain Jerry's face settled the look of one who accepts the +melancholy inevitable. He sat down again. + +“I s'posed she would,” he said with a sigh. “She's known me for quite a +spell now, and she's had a chance to see what kind of a man I be. Well, +what else did you do? Ain't settled the weddin' day, have you?” This +with marked sarcasm. + +“Not yit. Jerry, you've made a mistake. I didn't ask her for you.” + +“Didn't ask her--didn't--What are you talkin' 'bout, then?” + +“I asked her for myself. She's goin' to marry me.” + +Captain Jerry was too much astonished even to get up. Instead, he simply +sat still with open mouth while his friend continued. + +“I've come to think a lot of Mrs. Snow sence she's been here,” Captain +Eri said slowly, “and I've found out that she's felt the same way 'bout +me. I've kept still and said nothin' 'cause I thought you ought to have +the fust chance and, besides, I didn't know how she felt. But to-day, +while we was talkin', it all come out of itself, seems so, and--well, +we're goin' to be married.” + +The sacrifice--a sacrifice no longer--still sat silent, but curious +changes of expression were passing over his face. Surprise, amazement, +relief, and now a sort of grieved resignation. + +“I feel small enough 'bout the way I've treated you, Jerry,” continued +Captain Eri. “I didn't mean to--but there! it's done, and all I can +do is say I'm sorry and that I meant to give you your chance. I shan't +blame you if you git mad, not a bit; but I hope you won't.” + +Captain Jerry sighed. When he spoke it was in a tone of sublime +forgiveness. + +“Eri,” he said, “I ain't mad. I won't say my feelin's ain't hurt, +'cause--'cause--well, never mind. If a wife and a home ain't for me, why +I ought to be glad that you're goin' to have 'em. I wish you both luck +and a good v'yage. Now, don't talk to me for a few minutes. Let me git +sort of used to it.” + +So they shook hands and Captain Eri, with a troubled look at his friend, +went out. After he had gone, Captain Jerry got up and danced three steps +of an improvised jig, his face one broad grin. Then, with an effort, he +sobered down, assumed an air of due solemnity, and tramped downstairs. + +If the announcement of Captain Perez' engagement caused no surprise, +that of Captain Eri's certainly did--surprise and congratulation on the +part of those let into the secret, for it was decided to say nothing to +outsiders as yet. Ralph came over that evening and they told him about +it, and he was as pleased as the rest. As for the Captain, he was only +too willing to shake hands with any and everybody, although he insisted +that the housekeeper had nothing to be congratulated upon, and that she +was “takin' big chances.” The lady herself merely smiled at this, and +quietly said that she was willing to take them. + +The storm had wrecked every wire and stalled every train, and Orham was +isolated for two days. Then communication was established once more, and +the Boston dailies received the news of the loss of the life-savers +and the crew of the schooner. And they made the most of it; sensational +items were scarce just then, and the editors welcomed this one. The +big black headlines spread halfway across the front pages. There were +pictures of the wreck, “drawn by our artist from description,” and +there were “descriptions” of all kinds. Special reporters arrived in +the village and interviewed everyone they could lay hands on. Abner Mayo +felt that for once he was receiving the attention he deserved. + +The life-saving station and the house by the shore were besieged by +photographers and newspaper men. Captain Eri indignantly refused to pose +for his photograph, so he was “snapped” as he went out to the barn, and +had the pleasure of seeing a likeness of himself, somewhat out of focus, +and with one leg stiffly elevated, in the Sunday Blanket. The reporters +waylaid him at the post-office, or at his fish shanty, and begged for +interviews. They got them, brief and pointedly personal, and, though +these were not printed, columns describing him as “a bluff, big-hearted +hero,” were. + +If ever a man was mad and disgusted, that man was the Captain. In the +first place, as he said, what he had done was nothing more than any +other man 'longshore would have done, and, secondly, it was nobody's +business. Then again, he said, and with truth: + +“This whole fuss makes me sick. Here's them fellers in the crew been +goin' out, season after season, takin' folks off wrecks, and the fool +papers never say nothin' 'bout it; but they go out this time, and don't +save nobody and git drownded themselves, and they're heroes of a sudden. +I hear they're raisin' money up to Boston to give to the widders and +orphans. Well, that's all right, but they'd better keep on and git the +Gov'ment to raise the sal'ries of them that's left in the service.” + +The climax came when a flashily dressed stranger called, and insisted +upon seeing the Captain alone. The interview lasted just about three +minutes. When Mrs. Snow, alarmed by the commotion, rushed into the room, +she found Captain Eri in the act of throwing after the fleeing stranger +the shiny silk hat that the latter had left behind. + +“Do you know what that--that swab wanted?” hotly demanded the indignant +Captain. “He wanted me to rig up in ileskins and a sou'wester and show +myself in dime museums. Said he'd buy that dory of Luther's that I went +out in, and show that 'long with me. I told him that dory was spread up +and down the beach from here to Setuckit, but he said that didn't +make no diff'rence, he'd have a dory there and say 'twas the reel one. +Offered me a hundred dollars a week, the skate! I'd give ten dollars +right now to tell him the rest of what I had to say.” + +After this the Captain went fishing every day, and when at home refused +to see anybody not known personally. But the agitation went on, for the +papers fed the flames, and in Boston they were raising a purse to buy +gold watches and medals for him and for Captain Davis. + +Shortly after four o'clock one afternoon of the week following that of +the wreck, Captain Eri ventured to walk up to the village, keeping a +weather eye out for reporters and smoking his pipe. He made several +stops, one of them being at the schoolhouse where Josiah, now back at +his desk, was studying overtime to catch up with his class. + +As the Captain was strolling along, someone touched him from behind, +and he turned to face Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician had been a pretty +regular caller at the house of late, but Captain Eri had seen but little +of him, for reasons unnecessary to state. + +“Hello, Captain!” said Ralph. “Taking a constitutional? You want to look +out for Warner; I hear he's after you for another rescue 'special.'” + +“He'll need somebody to rescue him if he comes pesterin' 'round me,” was +the reply. “You ain't seen my dime show friend nowheres, have you? +I'd sort of like to meet HIM again; our other talk broke off kind of +sudden.” + +Ralph laughed, and said he was afraid that the museum manager wouldn't +come to Orham again very soon. + +“I s'pose likely not,” chuckled Captain Eri. “I ought to have kept his +hat; then, maybe, he'd have come back after it. Oh, say!” he added, +“I've been meanin' to ask you somethin'. Made up your mind 'bout that +western job yit?” + +Ralph shook his head. “Not yet,” he said slowly. “I shall very soon, +though, I think.” + +“Kind of puzzlin' you, is it? Not that it's really any of my affairs, +you understand. There's only a few of us good folks left, as the feller +said, and I'd hate to see you leave, that's all.” + +“I am not anxious to go, myself. My present position gives me a good +deal of leisure time for experimental work--and--well, I'll tell you in +confidence--there's a possibility of my becoming superintendent one of +these days, if I wish to.” + +“Sho! you don't say! Mr. Langley goin' to quit?” + +“He is thinking of it. The old gentleman has saved some money, and he +has a sister in the West who is anxious to have him come out there and +spend the remainder of his days with her. If he does, I can have his +position, I guess. In fact, he has been good enough to say so.” + +“Well, that's pretty fine, ain't it? Langley ain't the man to chuck his +good opinions round like clam shells. You ought to feel proud.” + +“I suppose I ought.” + +They walked on silently for a few steps, the Captain waiting for his +companion to speak, and the latter seeming disinclined to do so. At +length the older man asked another question. + +“Is t'other job so much better?” + +“No.” + +Silence again. Then Ralph said, “The other position, Captain, is very +much like this one in some respects. It will place me in a country +town, even smaller than Orham, where there are few young people, no +amusements, and no society, in the fashionable sense of the word.” + +“Humph! I thought you didn't care much for them things.” + +“I don't.” + +To this enigmatical answer the Captain made no immediate reply. After +a moment, however, he said, slowly and with apparent irrelevance, “Mr. +Hazeltine, I can remember my father tellin' 'bout a feller that lived +down on the South Harniss shore when he was a boy. Queer old chap he +was, named Elihu Bassett; everybody called him Uncle Elihu. In them days +all hands drunk more or less rum, and Uncle Elihu drunk more. He had +a way of stayin' sober for a spell, and then startin' off on a regular +jamboree all by himself. He had an old flat-bottomed boat that he used +to sail 'round in, but she broke her moorin's one time and got smashed +up, so he wanted to buy another. Shadrach Wingate, Seth's granddad +'twas, tried to fix up a dicker with him for a boat he had. They agreed +on the price, and everything was all right 'cept that Uncle Elihu stuck +out that he must try her 'fore he bought her. + +“So Shad fin'lly give in, and Uncle Elihu sailed over to Wellmouth in +the boat. He put in his time 'round the tavern there, and when he come +down to the boat ag'in, he had a jugful of Medford in his hand, and +pretty nigh as much of the same stuff under his hatches. He got afloat +somehow, h'isted the sail, lashed the tiller after a fashion, took a +nip out of the jug and tumbled over and went fast asleep. 'Twas a still +night or 'twould have been the finish. As 'twas he run aground on a flat +and stuck there till mornin'. + +“Next day back he comes with the boat all scraped up, and says he, 'She +won't do, Shad; she don't keep her course.' + +“'Don't keep her course, you old fool!' bellers Shad. 'And you tight as +a drumhead and sound asleep! Think she can find her way home herself?' +he says. + +“'Well,' says Uncle Elihu, 'if she can't she ain't the boat for me.'” + +Ralph laughed. “I see,” he said. “Perhaps Uncle Elihu was wise. Still, +if he wanted the boat very much, he must have hated to put her to the +test.” + +“That's so,” assented the Captain, “but 'twas better to know it then +than to be sorry for it afterwards.” + +Both seemed to be thinking, and neither spoke again until they came to +the grocery store, where Hazeltine stopped, saying that he must do an +errand for Mr. Langley. They said good-night, and the Captain turned +away, but came quickly back and said: + +“Mr. Hazeltine, if it ain't too much trouble, would you mind steppin' +up to the schoolhouse when you've done your errand? I've left somethin' +there with Josiah, and I'd like to have you git it. Will you?” + +“Certainly,” was the reply, and it was not until the Captain had gone +that Ralph remembered he did not know what he was to get. + +When he reached the school he climbed the stairs and opened the door, +expecting to find Josiah alone. Instead, there was no one there but +Elsie, who was sitting at the desk. She sprang up as he entered. Both +were somewhat confused. + +“Pardon me, Miss Preston,” he said. “Captain Eri sent me here. He said +he left something with Josiah, and wished me to call for it.” + +“Why, I'm sure I don't know what it can be,” replied Elsie. “Josiah has +been gone for some time, and he said nothing to me about it.” + +“Perhaps it is in his desk,” suggested Ralph. “Suppose we look.” + +So they looked, but found nothing more than the usual assortment +contained in the desk of a healthy schoolboy. The raised lid shut off +the light from the window, and the desk's interior was rather dark. They +had to grope in the corners, and occasionally their hands touched. Every +time this happened Ralph thought of the decision that he must make so +soon. + +He thought of it still more when, after the search was abandoned, Elsie +suggested that he help her with some problems that she was preparing for +the next day's labors of the first class in arithmetic. In fact, as he +sat beside her, pretending to figure, but really watching her dainty +profile as it moved back and forth before his eyes, his own particular +problem received far more attention than did those of the class. +Suddenly he spoke: + +“Teacher,” he said, “please, may I ask a question?” + +“You should hold up your hand if you wish permission to speak,” was the +stern reply. + +“Please consider it held up.” + +“Is the question as important as 'How many bushels did C. sell?' which +happens to be my particular trouble just now.” + +“It is to me, certainly.” Ralph was serious enough now. “It is a +question that I have been wrestling with for some time. It is, shall I +take the position that has been offered me in the West, or shall I stay +here and become superintendent of the station? The superintendent's +place may be mine, I think, if I want it.” + +Elsie laid down her pencil and hesitated for a moment before she spoke. +When she did reply her face was turned away from her companion. + +“I should think that question might best be decided by comparing the +salaries and prospects of the two positions,” she said quietly. + +“The two positions are much alike in one way. You know what the life at +the station means the greater portion of the year--no companions of +your own age and condition, no society, no amusements. The Western offer +means all this and worse, for the situation is the same all the year. I +say these things because I hope you may be willing to consider them, not +from my point of view solely, but from yours.” + +“From mine?” + +“Yes. You see I am recklessly daring to hope that, whichever lot is +chosen, you may be willing to share it with me--as my wife. Elsie, do +you think you could consider the question from that viewpoint?” + +And--well--Elsie thought she could. + +The consideration--we suppose it was the consideration--took so long +that it was nearly dark when Elsie announced that she simply MUST go. It +was Ralph's duty as a gentleman to help her in putting on her coat, and +this took an astonishingly long time. Finally it was done, however, and +they came downstairs. + +“Dearest,” said Ralph, after the door was locked, “I forgot to have +another hunt for whatever it was that Captain Eri wanted me to get.” + +Elsie smiled rather oddly. + +“Are you sure you haven't got it?” she asked demurely. + +“Got it! Why--why, by George, what a numbskull I am! The old rascal! I +thought there was a twinkle in his eye.” + +“He said he should come back after me.” + +“Well, well! Bless his heart, it's sound and sweet all the way through. +Yes, I HAVE got it, and, what's more, I shall tell him that I mean to +keep it.” + + +The gold watches from the people to the heroes of the Orham wreck having +been duly bought and inscribed and the medals struck, there came up the +question of presentation, and it was decided to perform the ceremony in +the Orham town hall, and to make the occasion notable. The Congressman +from the district agreed to make the necessary speech. The Harniss +Cornet Band was to furnish music. All preparations were made, and it +remained only to secure the consent of the parties most interested, +namely, Captain Eri and Luther Davis. + +And this was the hardest task of all. Both men at first flatly refused +to be present. The Captain said he might as well go to the dime museum +and be done with it; he was much obliged to the Boston folks, but his +own watch was keeping good time, and he didn't need a new one badly +enough to make a show of himself to get it. Captain Davis said very much +the same. + +But Miss Patience was proud of her brother's rise to fame, and didn't +intend to let him forfeit the crowning glory. She enlisted Captain Perez +as a supporter, and together they finally got Luther's unwilling consent +to sit on the platform and be stared at for one evening. Meanwhile, +Captain Jerry, Elsie, Ralph, and Mrs. Snow were doing their best to win +Captain Eri over. When Luther surrendered, the forces joined, and the +Captain threw up his hands. + +“All right,” he said. “Only I ought to beg that dime museum feller's +pardon. 'Tain't right to be partial this way.” + + +The hall was jammed to the doors. Captain Eri, seated on the platform +at one end of the half-circle of selectmen, local politicians, and minor +celebrities, looked from the Congressman in the middle to Luther on the +other end, and then out over the crowded settees. He saw Mrs. Snow's +pleasant, wholesome face beaming proudly beside Captain Jerry's red one. +He saw Captain Perez and Miss Patience sitting together close to the +front, and Ralph and Elsie a little further back. The Reverend Mr. +Perley was there; so were the Smalls and Miss Abigail Mullett. Melissa +Busteed was on the very front bench with the boys, of whom Josiah was +one. The “train committee” was there--not a member missing--and at the +rear of the hall, smiling and unctuous as ever, was “Web” Saunders. In +spite of his stage fright the Captain grinned when he saw “Web.” + +Mr. Solomon Bangs, his shirt-bosom crackling with importance, introduced +the Congressman. The latter's address was, so the Item said, “a triumph +of oratorical effort.” It really was a good speech, and when it touched +upon the simple sacrifice of the men who had given up their lives in the +course of what, to them, was everyday work, there were stifled sobs all +through the hall. Luther Davis, during this portion of the address, +sat with his big hand shading his eyes. Later on, when the speaker was +sounding the praises of the man who “alone, forgetful of himself, braved +the sea and the storm to save his friends,” those who looked at Captain +Eri saw his chair hitched back, inch by inch, until, as the final +outburst came, little more than his Sunday shoes was in sight. He had +retired, chair and all, to the wings. + +But they called him to the platform again and, amid--we quote from the +Item once more--“a hurricane of applause,” the two heroes were adorned +with the watches and the medals. + +There was a sort of impromptu reception after the ceremony, when Captain +Eri, with Mrs. Snow on his arm, struggled through the crowd toward the +door. + +“'Twas great, shipmate, and you deserved it!” declared magnanimous +Captain Jerry, wringing his hand. + +“'Tain't ha'f what you ought to have, Eri,” said Captain Perez. + +“I haven't said much to thank you for savin' Luther,” whispered Miss +Patience, “but I hope you know that we both appreciate what you done and +never 'll forgit it.” + +Ralph and Elsie also shook hands with him, and said some pleasant +things. So did many others, Dr. Palmer among the number. Altogether, the +journey through the hall was a sort of triumphal progress. + +“Whew!” gasped the Captain, as they came out into the clear air and the +moonlight, “let's hope that's the last of the dime-show bus'ness.” + +“Eri,” whispered Mrs. Snow, “I'm so proud of you, I don't know what to +do.” + +And that remark was sweeter to the Captain's ears than all those that +had preceded it. + +They turned into the shore road and were alone. It was a clear winter +night, fresh, white snow on the ground, not a breath of wind, and the +full moon painting land and sea dark blue and silver white. The surf +sounded faint and far off. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking, +and through the stillness came an occasional laugh or shout from the +people going home from the hall. + +“Lots of things can happen in a few months, can't they?” said Mrs. Snow, +glancing at the black shadow of the shuttered Baxter homestead. + +“They can so,” replied the Captain. “Think what's happened sence last +September. I didn't know you then, and now it seems 's if I'd always +known you. John was alive then, and Elsie nor Ralph hadn't come. Perez +hadn't met Pashy neither. My! my! Everybody's choosed partners but +Jerry,” he chuckled, “and Jerry looked the most likely candidate 'long +at the beginnin'. I'm glad,” he added, “that Ralph's made up his mind to +stay here. We shan't lose him nor Elsie for a few years, anyhow.” + +They paused at the knoll by the gate. + +“Fair day to-morrer,” observed the Captain, looking up at the sky. + +“I hope it 'll be fair weather for us the rest of our days,” said Mrs. +Snow. + +“You've HAD it rough enough, that's sure. Well, I hope you'll have a +smooth v'yage, now.” + +The lady from Nantucket looked up into his face with a happy laugh. + +“I guess I shall,” she said. “I know I've got a good pilot.” + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + +***** This file should be named 3240-0.txt or 3240-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/3240/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +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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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: Cap'n Eri + +Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +Release Date: May 30, 2006 [EBook #3240] +Last Updated: March 4, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + CAP'N ERI + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Joseph Crosby Lincoln + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>CAP'N ERI</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> -- A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> -- THE TRAIN COMES IN<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> + CHAPTER III </a> --THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> -- A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> -- THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> + CHAPTER VI </a> -- THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> -- CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> -- HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> -- ELSIE PRESTON<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> + CHAPTER X </a> -- MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> -- HEROES AND A MYSTERY<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> -- A LITTLE POLITICS<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> -- CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> + CHAPTER XIV </a> -- THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> -- IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> -- A BUSINESS CALL<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> -- THROUGH FIRE AND WATER<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> + CHAPTER XVIII </a> -- THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> -- A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a> -- ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> -- “DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + CAP'N ERI + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + </h3> + <p> + “Perez,” observed Captain Eri cheerfully, “I'm tryin' to average up with + the mistakes of Providence.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain was seated by the open door of the dining room, in the rocker + with the patched cane seat. He was apparently very busy doing something + with a piece of fishline and a pair of long-legged rubber boots. Captain + Perez, swinging back and forth in the parlor rocker with the patch-work + cushion, was puffing deliberately at a wooden pipe, the bowl of which was + carved into the likeness of a very rakish damsel with a sailor's cap set + upon the side of her once flaxen head. In response to his companion's + remark he lazily turned his sunburned face toward the cane-seated rocker + and inquired: + </p> + <p> + “What on airth are you doin' with them boots?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri tied a knot with his fingers and teeth and then held the boots + out at arm's length. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Perez,” he said, “I'm averagin' up, same as I told you. Providence + made me a two-legged critter, and a two-legged critter needs two boots. + I've always been able to find one of these boots right off whenever I + wanted it, but it's took me so plaguey long to find the other one that + whatever wet there was dried up afore I got out of the house. Yesterday + when I wanted to go clammin' I found the left one on the mantelpiece, no + trouble at all, but it was pretty nigh high water before I dug the other + one out of the washb'iler. That's why I'm splicin' 'em together this way. + I don't want to promise nothin' rash, but I'm in hopes that even Jerry + can't lose 'em now.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Perez. “I don't think much of that plan. 'Stead + of losin' one you'll lose both of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but then I shan't care. If there ain't NO boots in sight; I'll go + barefoot or stay at home. It's the kind of responsibleness that goes with + havin' one boot that's wearin' me out. Where IS Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “He went out to feed Lorenzo. I heard him callin' a minute ago. That cat + ain't been home sence noon, and Jerry's worried.” + </p> + <p> + A stentorian shout of “Puss! puss! Come, kitty, kitty, kitty!” came from + somewhere outside. Captain Eri smiled. + </p> + <p> + “I'm 'fraid Lorenzo's gittin' dissipated in his old age,” he observed. + Then, as a fat gray cat shot past the door, “There he is! Reg'lar prodigal + son. Comes home when the fatted ca'f's ready.” + </p> + <p> + A moment later Captain Jerry appeared, milk pitcher in hand. He entered + the dining room and, putting the pitcher down on the table, pulled forward + the armchair with the painted sunset on the back, produced his own pipe, + and proceeded to hunt through one pocket after the other with a troubled + expression of countenance. + </p> + <p> + “Where in tunket is my terbacker?” he asked, after finishing the round of + pockets and preparing to begin all over again. + </p> + <p> + “I see it on the top of the clock a spell ago,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Was that yours, Jerry?” exclaimed Captain Eri. “Well, that's too bad! I + see it there and thought 'twas mine. Here 'tis, or what's left of it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the remnant of a plug from his friend and said in an + aggrieved tone: + </p> + <p> + “That's jest like you, Eri! Never have a place for nothin' and help + yourself to anything you happen to want, don't make no odds whose 'tis. + Why don't you take care of your terbacker, same's I do of mine?” + </p> + <p> + “Now see here, Jerry! I ain't so sure that is yours. Let me see it. Humph! + I thought so! This is 'Navy Plug' and you always smoke 'Sailor's + Sweetheart.' Talk about havin' a place for things!” + </p> + <p> + “That's MY terbacker, if you want to know,” observed Captain Perez. “I've + got yours, Eri. Here 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, where IS mine?” said Captain Jerry somewhat snappishly. + </p> + <p> + “Bet a dollar you've got it in your pocket,” said Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Bet ten dollars I ain't! I ain't quite a fool yit, Eri Hedge. I guess I + know—well, I snum! I forgot that upper vest pocket!” and from the + pocket mentioned Captain Jerry produced the missing tobacco. + </p> + <p> + There was a general laugh, in which Captain Jerry was obliged to join, and + the trio smoked in silence for a time, while the expanse of water to the + eastward darkened, and the outer beach became but a dusky streak + separating the ocean from the inner bay. At length Captain Perez rose and, + knocking the ashes from his pipe, announced that he was going to “show a + glim.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, go ahead, Jerry!” said Captain Eri, “it's gittin' dark.” + </p> + <p> + “It's darker in the grave,” observed Captain Perez with lugubrious + philosophy. + </p> + <p> + “Then for the land's sake let's have it light while we can! Here, Jerry! + them matches is burnt ones. Try this, 'twon't be so damagin' to the + morals.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the proffered match and lit the two bracket lamps, + fastened to the walls of the dining room. The room, seen by the lamplight, + was shiplike, but as decidedly not shipshape. The chronometer on the + mantel was obscured by a thick layer of dust. The three gorgeous oil + paintings—from the brush of the local sign painter—respectively + representing the coasting packet Hannah M., Eri Hedge, Master, and the + fishing schooners, Georgie Baker, Jeremiah Burgess, Master, and the Flying + Duck, Perez Ryder, Master, were shrouded in a very realistic fog of the + same dust. Even the imposing gilt-lettered set of “Lives of Great Naval + Commanders,” purchased by Captain Perez some months before, and being + slowly paid for on an apparently never-ending installment plan, was + cloaked with it. The heap of newspapers, shoved under the couch to get + them out of the way, peeped forth in a tell-tale manner. The windows were + not too clean and the floor needed sweeping. Incidentally the supper table + had not been cleared. Each one of the three noted these things and each + sighed. Then Captain Eri said, as if to change the subject, though no one + had spoken: + </p> + <p> + “What started you talkin' about the grave, Perez? Was it them clam + fritters of Jerry's?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered the ex-skipper of the Flying Duck, pulling at his grizzled + scrap of throat whisker and looking rather shamefaced. “You see, M'lissy + Busteed dropped in a few minutes this mornin' while you fellers was out + and—” + </p> + <p> + Both Captain Eri and Captain Jerry set up a hilarious shout. + </p> + <p> + “Haw! haw!” roared the former, slapping his knee. “I wouldn't be so + fascinatin' as you be for no money, Perez. She'll have you yit; you can't + git away! But say, I don't wonder you got to thinkin' 'bout the grave. Ten + minutes of M'lissy gits me thinkin' of things way t'other side of that!” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, belay there, Eri” protested Captain Perez testily. “'Twan't my fault. + I didn't see her comin' or I'd have got out of sight. She was cruisin' + 'round the way she always does with a cargo of gabble, and, she put in + here to unload. Talk! I never heard a woman talk the way she can! She'd be + a good one to have on board in a calm. Git her talkin' abaft the mains'l + and we'd have a twenty-knot breeze in a shake.” + </p> + <p> + “What was it this time?” asked Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, a little of everything. She begun about the 'beautiful' sermon that + Mr. Perley preached at the last 'Come-Outers'' meetin'. That was what + started me thinkin' about the grave, I guess. Then she pitched into Seth + Wingate's wife for havin' a new bunnit this season when the old one wan't + ha'f wore out. She talked for ten minutes or so on that, and then she + begun about Parker's bein' let go over at the cable station and about the + new feller that's been signed to take his place. She's all for Parker. + Says he was a 'perfectly lovely' man and that 'twas outrageous the way he + was treated, and all that sort of thing.” + </p> + <p> + “She ain't the only one that thinks so,” observed Captain Jerry. “There's + a heap of folks in this town that think Parker was a mighty fine feller.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Captain Eri, “and it's worth while noticin' who they be. + Perez' friend, M'lissy, thinks so, and 'Squealer' Wixon and his gang think + so, and 'Web' Saunders thinks so, and a lot more like them. Parker was TOO + good a feller, that's what was the matter with him. His talk always + reminded me of washday at the poorhouse, lots of soft soap with plenty of + lye in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, M'lissy says that the men over to the station—all except + Langley, of course—are mad as all git-out because Parker was let go, + and she says somebody told somebody else, and somebody else told somebody + else, and somebody else told HER—she says it come reel straight—that + the men are goin' to make it hot for the new feller when he comes. She + says his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' like that, and that he's goin' to + get here to-morrer or next day.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Captain Eri, “it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If that man + should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill her sure as + fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, Perez.” + </p> + <p> + He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the dial. + </p> + <p> + “I mustn't be settin' round here much longer,” he added. “John Baxter's + goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his picked + to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to-night's train. John + asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down for him, but I ain't got + nothin' special to do to-night, so I thought I'd hitch up and go and git + 'em myself. You and Jerry can match cents to see who does the dishes. I + did 'em last night, so it's my watch below.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, <i>I</i> shan't do 'em,” declared Captain Perez. “Blessed if I'd do + the durn things to-night if the President of the United States asked me + to.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” sputtered Captain Jerry. “I s'pose you fellers think I'll do 'em + all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. 'Twan't last night you + done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I done 'em last night, and I'm ready + to take my chances agin if we match, but I'm jiggered if I let you shove + the whole thing off onto me. I didn't ship for cook no more 'n the rest of + you.” + </p> + <p> + Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of independence + and there was a pause in the conversation. Then Captain Jerry said + moodily: + </p> + <p> + “It ain't no use. It don't work.” + </p> + <p> + “What don't work?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' to sea + reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and live economical + and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I thought I wouldn't mind doin' + my share of the work a bit, thought 'twould be kind of fun to swab decks + and all that. Well, 'twas for a spell, but 'tain't now. I'm so sick of it + that I don't know what to do. And I'm sick of livin' in a pigpen, too. + Look at them dead-lights! They're so dirty that when I turn out in the + mornin' and go to look through 'em, I can't tell whether it's foul weather + or fair.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed and + signed assent. + </p> + <p> + “There's no use talkin',” he observed, “we've got to have a steward aboard + this craft.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Captain Perez emphatically, “a steward or a woman.” + </p> + <p> + “A WOMAN!” exclaimed Captain Eri. Then he shook his head solemnly and + added, “There, Jerry! What did I tell you? M'lissy!” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Perez did not smile. + </p> + <p> + “I ain't foolin',” he said; “I mean it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry thought of the spick-and-span days of his wife, dead these + twenty years, and sighed again. “I s'pose we might have a housekeeper,” he + said. + </p> + <p> + “Housekeeper!” sneered Captain Eri. “Who'd you hire? Perez don't, + seemin'ly, take to M'lissy, and there ain't nobody else in Orham that you + could git, 'less 'twas old A'nt Zuby Higgins, and that would be actin' + like the feller that jumped overboard when his boat sprung a leak. No, + sir! If A'nt Zuby ships aboard here I heave up MY commission.” + </p> + <p> + “Who said anything about A'nt Zuby or housekeepers either?” inquired + Captain Perez. “I said we'd got to have a woman, and we have. One of us + 'll have to git married, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “MARRIED!” roared the two in chorus. + </p> + <p> + “That's what I said, married, and take the others to board in this house. + Look here now! When a shipwrecked crew's starvin' one of 'em has to be + sacrificed for the good of the rest, and that's what we've got to do. One + of us has got to git married for the benefit of the other two.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri shouted hilariously. “Good boy, Perez!” he cried. “Goin' to be + the first offerin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Not unless it's my luck, Eri. We'll all three match for it, same as we do + 'bout washin' the dishes.” + </p> + <p> + “Where are you goin' to find a wife?” asked Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Now that's jest what I'm goin' to show you. I see how things was goin', + and I've been thinkin' this over for a consid'rable spell. Hold on a + minute till I overhaul my kit.” + </p> + <p> + He went into the front bedroom, and through the open door they could see + him turning over the contents of the chest with P. R. in brass nails on + the lid. He scattered about him fish-lines, hooks, lead for sinkers, + oilcloth jackets, whales' teeth, and various other articles, and at length + came back bearing a much-crumpled sheet of printed paper. This he spread + out upon the dining table, first pushing aside the dishes to make room, + and, after adjusting his spectacles, said triumphantly: + </p> + <p> + “There! There she is! The Nup-ti-al Chime. A Journal of Matrimony. I see a + piece about it in the Herald the other day, and sent a dime for a sample + copy. It's chock-full of advertisements from women that wants husbands.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri put on his spectacles and hitched his chair up to the table. + After giving the pages of the Nuptial Chime a hurried inspection, he + remarked: + </p> + <p> + “There seems to be a strong runnin' to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and + 'blondes with tender and romantic dispositions.' Which of them kinds are + you sufferin' for, Perez? Oh, say! here's a lady that's willin' to heave + herself away on a young and handsome bachelor with a income of ten + thousand a year. Seems to me you ought to answer that.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, hush up, Eri! 'Tain't likely I'd want to write to any of them in + there. The thing for us to do would be to write out a advertisement of our + own; tell what sort of woman we want, and then set back and wait for + answers. Now, what do you say?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the advocate of matrimony for a moment without + speaking. Then he said: “Do you really mean it, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin I do.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of it, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “Think it's a good idee,” said that ancient mariner decisively. “We've got + to do somethin', and this looks like the only sensible thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Then Eri's GOT to do it!” asserted Captain Perez dogmatically. “We agreed + to stick together, and two to one's a vote. Come on now, Eri, we'll + match.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Come on, Eri!” ordered Captain Jerry. “Ain't goin' to mutiny, are you?” + </p> + <p> + “All right!” said Captain Eri, “I'll stick to the ship. Only,” he added, + with a quizzical glance at his companions, “it's got to be settled that + the feller that's stuck can pick his wife, and don't have to marry unless + he finds one that suits him.” + </p> + <p> + The others agreed to this stipulation, and Captain Perez, drawing a long + breath, took a coin from his pocket, flipped it in the air and covered it, + as it fell on the table, with a big hairy hand. Captain Eri did likewise; + so did Captain Jerry. Then Captain Eri lifted his hand and showed the coin + beneath; it was a head. Captain Jerry's was a tail. Under Captain Perez' + hand lurked the hidden fate. The Captain's lips closed in a grim line. + With a desperate glance at the others he jerked his hand away. + </p> + <p> + The penny lay head uppermost. Captain Jerry was “stuck.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri rose, glanced at his watch, and, taking his hat from the shelf + where the dishes should have been, opened the door. Before he went out, + however, he turned and said: + </p> + <p> + “Perez, you and Jerry can be fixin' up the advertisement while I'm gone. + You can let me see it when I come back. I say, Jerry,” he added to the + “sacrifice,” who sat gazing at the pennies on the table in a sort of + trance, “don't feel bad about it. Why, when you come to think of it, it's + a providence it turned out that way. Me and Perez are bachelors, and we'd + be jest green hands. But you're a able seaman, you know what it is to + manage a wife.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do,” groaned Captain Jerry lugubriously. “Durn it, that's jest + it!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was chuckling as, lantern in hand, he passed around the corner + of the little white house on the way to the barn. He chuckled all through + the harnessing of Daniel, the venerable white horse. He was still + chuckling as, perched on the seat of the “truck wagon,” he rattled and + shook out of the yard and turned into the sandy road that led up to the + village. And an outsider, hearing these chuckles, and knowing what had + gone before, might have inferred that perhaps Captain Eri did not view the + “matching” and the matrimonial project with quite the deadly seriousness + of the other two occupants of the house by the shore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <h3> + THE TRAIN COMES IN + </h3> + <p> + There is in Orham a self-appointed committee whose duty it is to see the + train come in. The committeemen receive no salary for their services; the + sole compensation is the pleasure derived from the sense of duty done. + Rain, snow, or shine, the committee is on hand at the station—the + natives, of course, call it the “deepo”—to consume borrowed tobacco + and to favor Providence with its advice concerning the running of the + universe. Also it discusses local affairs with fluency and more or less + point. + </p> + <p> + Mr. “Squealer” Wixon, a lifelong member of this committee, was the first + to sight Captain Eri as the latter strolled across the tracks into the + circle of light from the station lamps. The Captain had moored Daniel to a + picket in the fence over by the freight-house. He had heard the clock in + the belfry of the Methodist church strike eight as he drove by that + edifice, but he heard no whistle from the direction of the West Orham + woods, so he knew that the down train would arrive at its usual time, that + is, from fifteen to twenty minutes behind the schedule. + </p> + <p> + “Hey!” shouted Mr. Wixon with enthusiasm. “Here's Cap'n Eri! Well, Cap, + how's she headin'?” + </p> + <p> + “'Bout no'theast by no'th,” was the calm reply. “Runnin' fair, but with + lookout for wind ahead.” + </p> + <p> + “Hain't got a spare chaw nowheres about you, have you, Cap'n?” anxiously + inquired “Bluey” Batcheldor. Mr. Batcheldor is called “Bluey” for the same + reason that Mr. Wixon is called “Squealer,” and that reason has been + forgotten for years. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri obligingly produced a black plug of smoking tobacco, and Mr. + Batcheldor bit off two-thirds and returned the balance. After adjusting + the morsel so that it might interfere in the least degree with his vocal + machinery, he drawled: + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late you ain't heard the news, Eri. Web Saunders has got his + original-package license. It come on the noon mail.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain turned sharply toward the speaker. “Is that a fact?” he asked. + “Who told you?” + </p> + <p> + “See it myself. So did Squealer and a whole lot more. Web was showin' it + round.” + </p> + <p> + “We was wonderin',” said Jabez Smalley, a member of the committee whose + standing was somewhat impaired, inasmuch as he went fishing occasionally + and was, therefore, obliged to miss some of the meetings, “what kind of a + fit John Baxter would have now. He's been pretty nigh distracted ever + sence Web started his billiard room, callin' it a 'ha'nt of sin' and a + whole lot more names. There ain't been a 'Come-Outers' meetin' 'sence I + don't know when that he ain't pitched into that saloon. Now, when he hears + that Web's goin' to sell rum, he'll bust a biler sure.” + </p> + <p> + The committee received this prophecy with an hilarious shout of approval + and each member began to talk. Captain Eri took advantage of this + simultaneous expression of opinion to walk away. He looked in at the + window of the ticket-office, exchanged greetings with Sam Hardy, the + stationmaster, and then leaned against the corner of the building furthest + removed from Mr. Wixon and his friends, lit his pipe and puffed + thoughtfully with a troubled expression on his face. + </p> + <p> + From the clump of blackness that indicated the beginning of the West Orham + woods came a long-drawn dismal “toot”; then two shorter ones. The + committee sprang to its feet and looked interested. Sam Hardy came out of + the ticket office. The stage-driver, a sharp-looking boy of about + fourteen, with a disagreeable air of cheap smartness sticking out all over + him, left his seat in the shadow of Mr. Batcheldor's manly form, tossed a + cigarette stump away and loafed over to the vicinity of the “depot wagon,” + which was backed up against the platform. Captain Eri knocked the ashes + from his pipe and put that service-stained veteran in his pocket. The + train was really “coming in” at last. + </p> + <p> + If this had been an August evening instead of a September one, both train + and platform would have been crowded. But the butterfly summer maiden had + flitted and, as is his wont, the summer man had flitted after her, so the + passengers who alighted from the two coaches that, with the freight car, + made up the Orham Branch train, were few in number and homely in flavor. + There was a very stout lady with a canvas extension case and an umbrella + in one hand and a bulging shawl-strap and a pasteboard box in the other, + who panted and wheezed like the locomotive itself and who asked the + brakeman, “What on airth DO they have such high steps for?” There was a + slim, not to say gawky, individual with a chin beard and rubber boots, + whom the committee hailed as “Andy” and welcomed to its bosom. There were + two young men, drummers, evidently, who nodded to Hardy, and seemed very + much at home. Also, there was another young man, smooth-shaven and + square-shouldered, who deposited a suit-case on the platform and looked + about him with the air of being very far from home, indeed. + </p> + <p> + The drummers and the stout lady got into the stage. The young man with the + suit-case picked up the latter and walked toward the same vehicle. He + accosted the sharp boy, who had lighted another cigarette. + </p> + <p> + “Can you direct me to the cable station?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Sure thing!” said the youth, and there was no Cape Cod twist to his + accent. “Git aboard.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't intend to ride,” said the stranger. + </p> + <p> + “What was you goin' to do? Walk?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if it's not far.” + </p> + <p> + The boy grinned, and the members of the committee, who had been staring + with all their might, grinned also. The young man's mention of the cable + station seemed to have caused considerable excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it ain't too FAR!” said the stage-driver. Then he added: “Say, you're + the new electrician, ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + The young man hesitated for a moment. Then he said, “Yes,” and suggested, + “I asked the way.” + </p> + <p> + “Two blocks to the right; that's the main road, keep on that for four + blocks, then turn to the left, and if you keep on straight ahead you'll + get to the station.” + </p> + <p> + “Blocks?” The stranger smiled. “I think you must be from New York.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you?” inquired the youthful prodigy, climbing to the wagon seat. + “Don't forget to keep straight ahead after you turn off the main road. Git + dap! So long, fellers!” He leaned over the wheel, as the stage turned, and + bestowed a wink upon the delighted “Squealer,” who was holding one + freckled paw over his mouth; then the “depot wagon” creaked away. + </p> + <p> + The square-shouldered young man looked after the equipage with an odd + expression of countenance. Then he shrugged his shoulders, picked up the + suitcase, and walked off the platform into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wixon removed the hand from his mouth and displayed a mammoth grin, + that grew into a shriek of laughter in which every member of the committee + joined. + </p> + <p> + “Haw! haw!” bellowed “Bluey,” “so that's the feller that done Parker out + of his job! Well, he may be mighty smart, but if that Joe Bartlett ain't + smarter then I'm a skate, that's all! Smartest boy ever I see! 'If you + keep on straight ahead you'll git to the station!' Gosh! he'll have to + wear rubbers!” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe he's web-footed,” suggested Smalley, and they laughed again. + </p> + <p> + A little later Captain Eri, with a dozen new, clean-smelling cranberry + barrels in the wagon behind him, drove slowly down the “depot road.” It + was a clear night, but there was no moon, and Orham was almost at its + darkest, which is very dark, indeed. The “depot road”—please bear in + mind that there are no streets in Orham—was full of ruts, and + although Daniel knew his way and did his best to follow it, the cranberry + barrels rattled and shook in lively fashion. There are few homes near the + station, and the dwellers in them conscientiously refrain from showing + lights except in the ends of the buildings furthest from the front. + Strangers are inclined to wonder at this, but when they become better + acquainted with the town and its people, they come to know that front + gates and parlors are, by the majority of the inhabitants, restricted in + their use to occasions such as a funeral, or, possibly, a wedding. For the + average Orham family to sit in the parlor on a week evening would be an + act bordering pretty closely on sacrilege. + </p> + <p> + It is from the hill by the Methodist church that the visitor to Orham gets + his best view of the village. It is all about him, and for the most part + below him. At night the lights in the houses show only here and there + through the trees, but those on the beaches and at sea shine out plainly. + The brilliant yellow gleam a mile away is from the Orham lighthouse on the + bluff. The smaller white dot marks the light on Baker's Beach. The tiny + red speck in the distance, that goes and comes again, is the flash-light + at Setuckit Point, and the twinkle on the horizon to the south is the + beacon of the lightship on Sand Hill Shoal. + </p> + <p> + It is on his arrival at this point, too, that the stranger first notices + the sound of the surf. Being a newcomer, he notices this at once; after he + has been in the village a few weeks, he ceases to notice it at all. It is + like the ticking of a clock, so incessant and regular, that one has to + listen intently for a moment or two before his accustomed ear will single + it out and make it definite. One low, steady, continuous roar, a little + deeper in tone when the wind is easterly, the voice of the old dog Ocean + gnawing with foaming mouth at the bone of the Cape and growling as he + gnaws. + </p> + <p> + It may be that the young man with the square shoulders and the suit-case + had paused at the turn of the road by the church to listen to this song of + the sea; at any rate he was there, and when Captain Eri steered Daniel and + the cranberry barrels around the corner and into the “main road,” he + stepped out and hailed. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” he said; “I'm afraid I'm mixed in my directions. The + stage-driver told me the way to the cable station, but I've forgotten + whether he said to turn to the right when I reached here, or to the left.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri took his lantern from the floor of the wagon and held it up. + He had seen the stranger when the latter left the train, but he had not + heard the dialogue with Josiah Bartlett. + </p> + <p> + “How was you cal'latin' to go to the station?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I intended to walk.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you tell them fellers at the depot that you wanted to walk?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan! And they give you the direction?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” a little impatiently; “why shouldn't they? So many blocks till I + got to the main street, or road, and so many more, till I got somewhere + else, and then straight on.” + </p> + <p> + “Blocks, hey? That's Joe Bartlett. That boy ought to be mastheaded, and + I've told Perez so more'n once. Well, Mister, I guess maybe you'd better + not try to walk to the cable station to-night. You see, there's one thing + they forgot to tell you. The station's on the outer beach, and there's a + ha'f mile of pretty wet water between here and there.” + </p> + <p> + The young man whistled. “You don't mean it!” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “I sartin do, unless there's been an almighty drought since I left the + house. I tell you what! If you'll jump in here with me, and don't mind + waitin' till I leave these barrels at the house of the man that owns 'em, + I'll drive you down to the shore and maybe find somebody to row you over. + That is,” with a chuckle, “if you ain't dead set on walkin'.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger laughed heartily. “I'm not so stubborn as all that,” he said. + “It's mighty good of you, all the same.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't say a word,” said the Captain. “Give us your satchel. Now your + flipper! There you are! Git dap, Dan'l!” + </p> + <p> + Daniel accepted the Captain's command in a tolerant spirit. He paddled + along at a jog-trot for perhaps a hundred yards, and then, evidently + feeling that he had done all that could be expected, settled back into a + walk. The Captain turned towards his companion on the seat: + </p> + <p> + “I don't know as I mentioned it,” he observed, “but my name is Hedge.” + </p> + <p> + “Glad to meet you, Mr. Hedge,” said the stranger. “My name is Hazeltine.” + </p> + <p> + “I kind of jedged it might be when you said you wanted to git to the cable + station. We heard you was expected.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you? From Mr. Langley, I presume.” + </p> + <p> + “No-o, not d'rectly. Of course, we knew Parker had been let go, and that + somebody would have to take his place. I guess likely it was one of the + operators that told it fust that you was the man, but anyhow it got as fur + as M'lissy Busteed, and after that 'twas plain sailin'. You come from New + York, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you know how 'tis when a thing gits into the papers. Orham ain't + big enough to have a paper of its own, so the Almighty give us M'lissy, I + jedge, as a sort of substitute. She can spread a little news over more + country than anybody I know. If she spreads butter the same way, she could + make money keepin' boarders. Is this your fust visit to the Cape?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I hardly know why I'm here now. I have been with the Cable Company + at their New York experimental station for some years, and the other day + the General Manager called me into his office and told me I was expected + to take the position of electrician here. I thought it might add to my + experience, so I accepted.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! Did he say anything about the general liveliness of things around + the station?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine laughed. “Why,” he answered, “now that you speak of it, I + remember that he began by asking me if I had any marked objection to + premature burial.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain chuckled. “The outer beach in winter ain't exactly a + camp-meeting for sociableness,” he said. “And the idea of that Bartlett + boy tellin' you how to walk there!” + </p> + <p> + “Is he a specimen of your Cape Cod youngsters?” + </p> + <p> + “Not exactly. He's a new shipment from New York. Grand-nephew of a + messmate of mine, Cap'n Perez Ryder. Perez, he's a bachelor, but his + sister's daughter married a feller named Bartlett. Maybe you knew him; he + used to run a tugboat in the Sound.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine, much amused, denied the acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” continued the Captain. “Anyhow, + Perez's niece's husband died, and the boy sort of run loose, as yer might + say. Went to school when he had to, and raised Ned when he didn't, near's + I can find out. 'Lizabeth, that's his ma, died last spring, and she made + Perez promise—he being the only relation the youngster had—to + fetch the boy down here and sort of bring him up. Perez knows as much + about bringing up a boy as a hen does about the Ten Commandments, and + 'Lizabeth made him promise not to lick the youngster and a whole lot more + foolishness. School don't commence here till October, so we got him a job + with Lem Mullett at the liv'ry stable. He's boardin' with Lem till school + opens. He ain't a reel bad boy, but he knows too much 'bout some things + and not ha'f enough 'bout others. You've seen fellers like that, maybe?” + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine nodded. “There are a good many of that kind in New York, I'm + afraid,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri smiled. “I shouldn't wonder,” he observed. “The boys down here + think Josiah's the whole crew, and the girls ain't fur behind. There's + been more deviltry in this village sence he landed than there ever was + afore. He needs somethin', and needs it bad, but I ain't decided jest what + it is yit. Are you a married man?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Same here. Never had the disease. Perez, he's had symptoms every once in + a while, but nothin' lastin'. Jerry's the only one of us three that's been + through the mill. His wife died twenty year ago. I don't know as I told + you, but Jerry and Perez and me are keepin' house down by the shore. That + is, we call it keepin' house, but—” + </p> + <p> + Here the Captain broke off and seemed to meditate. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine forbore to interrupt, and occupied himself by scrutinizing + the buildings that they were passing. They were nearing the center of the + town now, and the houses were closer together than they had been on the + “depot road,” but never so close as to be in the least crowded. Each house + had its ample front yard, and the new arrival could smell the box hedges + and see, now and then, the whiteness of the kalsomined stones that + bordered a driveway. It was too dark for the big seashells at the front + steps to be visible, but they were there, all the same; every third house + of respectability in Orham has them. There was an occasional shop, too, + with signs like “Cape Cod Variety Store,” or “The Boston Dry Goods + Emporium,” over their doors. On the platform of one a small crowd was + gathered, and from the interior came shouts of laughter and the sound of a + tin-panny piano. + </p> + <p> + “That's the billiard saloon,” volunteered Captain Eri, suddenly waking + from his trance. “Play pool, Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + “Sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “What d'ye play it with?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, with a cue, generally speaking.” + </p> + <p> + “That so! Most of the fellers in there play it with their mouths. Miss a + shot and then spend the rest of the evenin' tellin' how it happened.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I should care to play it that way,” said Ralph, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it has its good p'ints. Kind of all-round exercise; develops the + lungs and strengthens the muscles, as the patent-medicine almanac says. + Parker played it considerable.” + </p> + <p> + “I judge that your opinion of my predecessor isn't a high one.” + </p> + <p> + “Who? Oh, Parker! He was all right in his way. Good many folks in this + town swore by him. I understand the fellers over at the station thought he + was about the ticket.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Langley included?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Mr. Langley, bein' manager, had his own ideas, I s'pose! Langley + don't play pool much; not at Web Saunders' place, anyhow. We turn in + here.” + </p> + <p> + They rolled up a long driveway, very dark and overgrown with trees, and + drew up at the back door of a good-sized two-story house. There was a + light in the kitchen window. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa, Dan'l!” commanded the Captain. Then he began to shout, “Ship ahoy!” + at the top of his lungs. + </p> + <p> + The kitchen door opened and a man came out, carrying a lamp, its light + shining full upon his face. It was an old face, a stern face, with white + eyebrows and a thin-lipped mouth. Just such a face as looked on with + approval when the executioner held up the head of Charles I., at + Whitehall. There was, however, a tremble about the chin that told of + infirm health. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, John!” said Captain Eri heartily. “John, let me make you + acquainted with Mr. Hazeltine, the new man at the cable station. Mr. + Hazeltine, this is my friend, Cap'n John Baxter.” + </p> + <p> + The two shook hands, and then Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “John, I brought down them barrels for you. Hawkins got 'em here, same as + he always does, by the skin of his teeth. Stand by now, 'cause I've got to + deliver Mr. Hazeltine at the station, and it's gittin' late.” + </p> + <p> + John Baxter said nothing, beyond thanking his friend for the good turn, + but he “stood by,” as directed, and the barrels were quickly unloaded. As + they were about to drive out of the yard, Captain Eri turned in his seat + and said: + </p> + <p> + “John, guess I'll be up some time to-morrow. I want to talk with you about + that billiard-room business.” + </p> + <p> + The lamp in Baxter's hand shook. + </p> + <p> + “God A'mighty's got his eye on that place, Eri Hedge,” he shouted, “and on + them that's runnin' it!” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right,” said the Captain. “Then the job's in good hands, and + we ain't got to worry. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of this assurance, Hazeltine noticed that his driver was + silent and preoccupied until they reached the end of the road by the + shore, when he brought the willing Daniel to a stand still and announced + that it was time to “change cars.” + </p> + <p> + It is a fifteen-minute row from the mainland to the outer beach, and + Captain Eri made it on schedule time. Hazeltine protested that he was used + to a boat, and could go alone and return the dory in the morning, but the + Captain wouldn't hear of it. The dory slid up on the sand and the + passenger climbed out. The sound of the surf on the ocean side of the + beach was no longer a steady roar, it was broken into splashing plunges + and hisses with, running through it, a series of blows like those of a + muffled hammer. The wind was wet and smelt salty. + </p> + <p> + “There's the station,” said the Captain, pointing to a row of lighted + windows a quarter of a mile away. “It IS straight ahead this time, and the + walkin's better'n it has been for the last few minutes. Good-night!” + </p> + <p> + The electrician put his hand in his pocket, hesitated, and then withdrew + it, empty. + </p> + <p> + “I'm very much obliged to you for all this,” he said. “I'm glad to have + made your acquaintance, and I hope we shall see each other often.” + </p> + <p> + “Same here!” said the Captain heartily. “We're likely to git together once + in a while, seein' as we're next-door neighbors, right across the road, as + you might say. That's my berth over yonder, where you see them lights. + It's jest 'round the corner from the road we drove down last. Good-night! + Good luck to you!” + </p> + <p> + And he settled himself for the row home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h3> + THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING + </h3> + <p> + The house where the three Captains lived was as near salt water as it + could be and remain out of reach of the highest tides. When Captain Eri, + after beaching and anchoring his dory and stabling Daniel for the night, + entered the dining room he found his two messmates deep in consultation, + and with evidences of strenuous mental struggle written upon their faces. + Captain Perez's right hand was smeared with ink and there were several + spatters of the same fluid on Captain Jerry's perspiring nose. Crumpled + sheets of note paper were on the table and floor, and Lorenzo, who was + purring restfully upon the discarded jackets of the two mariners, alone + seemed to be enjoying himself. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you fellers look as if you'd had a rough v'yage,” commented Captain + Eri, slipping out of his own jacket and pulling his chair up beside those + of his friends. “What's the trouble?” + </p> + <p> + “Gosh, Eri, I'm glad to see you!” exclaimed Captain Perez, drawing the + hand, just referred to, across his forehead and thereby putting that + portion of his countenance into mourning. “How do you spell + conscientious?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't, unless it's owner's orders,” was the answer. “What do you want + to spell it for?” + </p> + <p> + “We've writ much as four hundred advertisements, I do believe!” said + Captain Jerry, “and there ain't one of them fit to feed to a pig. Perez + here, he's got such hifalutin' notions, that nothin' less than a circus + bill 'll do him. <i>I</i> don't see why somethin' plain and sensible like + 'Woman wanted to do dishes and clean house for three men,' wouldn't be all + right; but no, it's got to have more fancy trimmin's than a Sunday bunnit. + Foolishness, I call it.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd have a whole lot of women answerin' that advertisement, now + wouldn't you?” snorted Captain Perez hotly. “'To do dishes for three men!' + That's a healthy bait to catch a wife with, ain't it? I can see 'em + comin'. I cal'late you'd stay single till Jedgment, and then you wouldn't + git one. No, sir! The thing to do is to be sort of soft-soapy and + high-toned. Let 'em think they're goin' to git a bargain when they git + you. Make believe it's goin' to be a privilege to git sech a husband.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, 'tis,” declared the sacrifice indignantly. “They might git a + dum-sight worse one.” + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late that's so, Jerry,” said Captain Eri. “Still, Perez ain't + altogether wrong. Guess you'd better keep the dishwashin' out of it. I + know dishwashin' would never git ME; I've got so I hate the sight of soap + and hot water as bad as if I was a Portugee. Pass me that pen.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gladly relinquished the writing materials, and Captain Eri, + after two or three trials, by which he added to the paper decorations of + the floor, produced the following: + </p> + <p> + “Wife Wanted—By an ex-seafaring man of steady habbits. Must be + willing to Work and Keep House shipshape and aboveboard. No sea-lawyers + need apply. Address—Skipper, care the Nuptial Chime, Boston, Mass.” + </p> + <p> + The line relating to sea-lawyers was insisted upon by Captain Jerry. + “That'll shut out the tonguey kind,” he explained. The advertisement, with + this addition, being duly approved, the required fifty cents was inclosed, + as was a letter to the editor of the matrimonial journal requesting all + answers to be forwarded to Captain Jeremiah Burgess, Orham, Mass. Then the + envelope was directed and the stamp affixed. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said Captain Eri, “that's done. All you've got to do now, Jerry, + is to pick out your wife and let us know what you want for a weddin' + present. You're a lucky man.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, let's talk about somethin' else,” said the lucky one rather gloomily. + “What's the news up at the depot, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + They received the tidings of the coming of Hazeltine with the interest due + to such an event. Captain Eri gave them a detailed account of his meeting + with the new electrician, omitting, however, in consideration for the + feelings of Captain Perez, to mention the fact that it was the Bartlett + boy who started that gentleman upon his walk to the cable station. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what did you think of him?” asked Captain Perez, when the recital + was finished. + </p> + <p> + “Seemed to me like a pretty good feller,” answered Captain Eri + deliberately. “He didn't git mad at the joke the gang played on him, for + one thing. He ain't so smooth-tongued as Parker used to be and he didn't + treat Baxter and me as if Cape Codders was a kind of animals, the way some + of the summer folks do. He had the sense not to offer to pay me for takin' + him over to the station, and I liked that. Take it altogether, he seemed + like a pretty decent chap—for a New Yorker,” he added, as an after + thought. + </p> + <p> + “But say,” he said a moment later, “I've got some more news and it ain't + good news, either. Web Saunders has got his liquor license.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to know!” exclaimed Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “You don't tell me!” said Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + Then they both said, “What will John Baxter do now?” And Captain Eri shook + his head dubiously. + </p> + <p> + The cod bit well next morning and Captain Eri did not get in from the + Windward Ledge until afternoon. By the way, it may be well to explain that + Captain Jerry's remarks concerning “settlin' down” and “restin',” which we + chronicled in the first chapter must not be accepted too literally. While + it is true that each of the trio had given up long voyages, it is equally + true that none had given up work entirely. Some people might not consider + it restful to rise at four every weekday morning and sail in a catboat + twelve miles out to sea and haul a wet cod line for hours, not to mention + the sail home and the cleaning and barreling of the catch. Captain Eri did + that. Captain Perez was what he called “stevedore”—that is, general + caretaker during the owner's absence, at Mr. Delancy Barry's summer estate + on the “cliff road.” As for Captain Jerry, he was janitor at the + schoolhouse. + </p> + <p> + The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the time + the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway + station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had intended calling on + Baxter early in the day, but now he determined to wait until after supper. + </p> + <p> + The Captain had bad luck in the “matching” that followed the meal, and it + was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. This + distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter homestead. + </p> + <p> + The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those of many + Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, but his scruples + were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett, whose proudest + boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor prescribed it as the + stimulant needed to save her life. Over and over again has Miss Abigail + told it in prayer-meeting; how she “riz up” in her bed, “expectin' every + breath to be the last” and said, “Dr. Palmer, if it's got to be liquor or + death, then death referred to!”—meaning, it is fair to presume, that + death was preferred rather than the brandy. With much more concerning her + miraculous recovery through the aid of a “terbacker and onion poultice.” + </p> + <p> + On general principles the Captain objected to the granting of a license to + a fellow like “Web” Saunders, but it was the effect that this action of + the State authorities might have upon his friend John Baxter that troubled + him most. + </p> + <p> + For forty-five years John Baxter was called by Cape Cod people “as smart a + skipper as ever trod a plank.” He saved money, built an attractive home + for his wife and daughter, and would, in the ordinary course of events, + have retired to enjoy a comfortable old age. But his wife died shortly + after the daughter's marriage to a Boston man, and on a voyage to Manila, + Baxter himself suffered from a sunstroke and a subsequent fever, that left + him a physical wreck and for a time threatened to unsettle his reason. He + recovered a portion of his health and the threatened insanity disappeared, + except for a religious fanaticism that caused him to accept the Bible + literally and to interpret it accordingly. When his daughter and her + husband were drowned in the terrible City of Belfast disaster, it is an + Orham tradition that John Baxter, dressed in gunny-bags and sitting on an + ash-heap, was found by his friends mourning in what he believed to be the + Biblical “sackcloth and ashes.” His little baby granddaughter had been + looked out for by some kind friends in Boston. Only Captain Eri knew that + John Baxter's yearly trip to Boston was made for the purpose of visiting + the girl who was his sole reminder of the things that might have been, but + even the Captain did not know that the money that paid her board and, as + she grew older, for her gowns and schooling, came from the bigoted, stern + old hermit, living alone in the old house at Orham. + </p> + <p> + In Orham, and in other sections of the Cape as well, there is a sect + called by the ungodly, “The Come-Outers.” They were originally seceders + from the Methodist churches who disapproved of modern innovations. They + “come out” once a week to meet at the houses of the members, and theirs + are lively meetings. John Baxter was a “Come-Outer,” and ever since the + enterprising Mr. Saunders opened his billiard room, the old man's tirades + of righteous wrath had been directed against this den of iniquity. Since + it became known that “Web” had made application for the license, it was a + regular amusement for the unregenerate to attend the gatherings of the + “Come-Outers” and hear John Baxter call down fire from Heaven upon the + billiard room, its proprietor, and its patrons. Orham people had begun to + say that John Baxter was “billiard-saloon crazy.” + </p> + <p> + And John Baxter was Captain Eri's friend, a friendship that had begun in + school when the declaimer of Patrick Henry's “Liberty or Death” speech on + Examination Day took a fancy to and refused to laugh at the little chap + who tremblingly ventured to assert that he loved “little Pussy, her coat + is so warm.” The two had changed places until now it was Captain Eri who + protected and advised. + </p> + <p> + When the Captain rapped at John Baxter's kitchen door no one answered, + and, after yelling “Ship ahoy!” through the keyhole a number of times, he + was forced to the conclusion that his friend was not at home. + </p> + <p> + “You lookin' fer Cap'n Baxter?” queried Mrs. Sarah Taylor, who lived just + across the road. “He's gone to Come-Outers' meetin', I guess. There's one + up to Barzilla Small's to-night.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Barzilla Small lived in that part of the village called “down to the + neck,” and when the Captain arrived there, he found the parlor filled with + the devout, who were somewhat surprised to see him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, how do you do?” said Mrs. Small, resplendent in black “alpaca” and + wearing her jet earrings. “I snum if you ain't a stranger! We'll have a + reel movin' meetin' to-night because Mr. Perley's here, and he says he + feels the sperrit a-workin'. Set right down there by the what-not. + Luther,” to her oldest but three, “give Cap'n Hedge your chair. You can + set on the cricket. Yes, you can! Don't answer back!” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, ma!” burst out the indignant Luther, “how d'yer think I'm goin' to + set on that cricket? My laigs 'll be way up under my chin. Make Hart set + on it; he's shorter'n me.” + </p> + <p> + “Shan't nuther, Lute Small!” declared Hartwell, a freckle-faced youngster, + who was the next step downward in the family stair of children. “Set on it + yourself. Make him, ma, now! You said he'd have to.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, ma, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Be still, both of you! I sh'd think you'd be ashamed, with everybody here + so! Oh, my soul and body!” turning to the company, “if it ain't enough to + try a saint! Sometimes seems's if I SHOULD give up. You be thankful, + Abigail,” to Miss Mullett, who sat by the door, “that you ain't got nine + in a family and nobody to help teach 'em manners. If Barzilla was like + most men, he'd have some dis-CIP-line in the house; but no, I have to do + it all, and—” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Small, thus publicly rebuked, rose from his seat in the corner by the + melodeon and proclaimed in a voice that he tried hard not to make + apologetic: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Luther, if I was you I'd be a good boy and mind ma.” + </p> + <p> + Even this awe-inspiring command had little effect upon the reluctant + Luther, but Captain Eri, who, smiling and bowing right and left, had been + working his passage to the other side of the room, announced that he was + all right and would “squeeze in on the sofy 'side of Cap'n Baxter.” So + there was peace once more, that is, as much peace as half a dozen feminine + tongues, all busy with different subjects, would allow. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Eri” whispered John Baxter, “I didn't expect to see you here. I'm + glad, though; Lord knows every God-fearin' man in this town has need to be + on his knees this night. Have you heard about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n John means about the rum-sellin' license that Web Saunders has + got,” volunteered Miss Melissa Busteed, leaning over from her seat in the + patent rocker that had been the premium earned by Mrs. Small for selling + one hundred and fifty pounds of tea for a much-advertised house. “Ain't it + awful? I says to Prissy Baker this mornin', soon 's I heard of it, + 'Prissy,' s' I, 'there 'll be a jedgment on this town sure's you're a + livin' woman,' s' I. Says she, 'That's so, M'lissy,' s' she, and I says—” + </p> + <p> + Well, when Miss Busteed talks, interruptions are futile, so Captain Eri + sat silent, as the comments of at least one-tenth of the population of + Orham were poured into his ears. The recitation was cut short by Mrs. + Small's vigorous pounding on the center table. + </p> + <p> + “We're blessed this evenin',” said the hostess with emotion, “in havin' + Mr. Perley with us. He's goin' to lead the meetin'.” + </p> + <p> + The Reverend Mr. Perley—Reverend by courtesy; he had never been + ordained—stood up, cleared his throat with vigor, rose an inch or + two on the toes of a very squeaky pair of boots, sank to heel level again + and announced that everyone would join in singing, “Hymn number one + hundred and ten, omitting the second and fourth stanzas: hymn number one + hundred and ten, second and fourth stanzas omitted.” The melodeon, + tormented by Mrs. Lurania Bassett, shrieked and groaned, and the hymn was + sung. So was another, and yet another. Then Mr. Perley squeaked to his + tiptoes again, subsided, and began a lengthy and fervent discourse. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Perley had been a blacksmith in Ostable before he “got religion,” and + now spent the major portion of his time in “boardin' 'round” with + “Come-Outers” up and down the Cape and taking part in their meetings. His + services at such gatherings paid for his food and lodging. He had been a + vigorous horseshoer in the old days; now he preached just as vigorously. + </p> + <p> + He spoke of the faithful few here gathered together. He spoke of the + scoffing of those outside the pale and hinted at the uncomfortable future + that awaited them. He ran over the various denominations one by one, and + one by one showed them to be worshipers of idols and followers after + strange gods. He sank hoarsely into the bass and quavered up into falsetto + and a chorus of “Amens!” and “Hallelujahs!” followed him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, brothers and sisters!” he shouted, “here we are a-kneelin' at the + altar's foot and what's goin' on outside? Why, the Devil's got his + clutches in our midst. The horn of the wicked is exalted. They're sellin' + rum—RUM—in this town! They're a-sellin' rum and drinkin' of it + and gloryin' in their shame. But the Lord ain't asleep! He's got his eye + on 'em! He's watchin' 'em! And some of these fine days he'll send down + fire out of Heaven and wipe 'em off the face of the earth!” (“Amen! Glory! + Glory! Glory!”) + </p> + <p> + John Baxter was on his feet, his lean face working, the perspiration + shining on his forehead, his eyes gleaming like lamps under his rough + white eyebrows, and his clenched fists pounding the back of the chair in + front of him. His hallelujahs were the last to cease. Captain Eri had to + use some little force to pull him down on the sofa again. + </p> + <p> + Then Mrs. Small struck up, “Oh, brother, have you heard?” and they sang it + with enthusiasm. Next, Miss Mullett told her story of the brandy and the + defiance of the doctor. Nobody seemed much interested except a nervous + young man with sandy hair and a celluloid collar, who had come with Mr. + Tobias Wixon and was evidently a stranger. He had not heard it before and + seemed somewhat puzzled when Miss Abigail repeated the “Death referred to” + passage. + </p> + <p> + There was more singing. Mrs. Small “testified.” So did Barzilla, with many + hesitations and false starts and an air of relief when it was over. Then + another hymn and more testimony, each speaker denouncing the billiard + saloon. Then John Baxter arose and spoke. + </p> + <p> + He began by saying that the people of Orham had been slothful in the + Lord's vineyard. They had allowed weeds to spring up and wax strong. They + had been tried and found wanting. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you, brothers and sisters,” he declaimed, leaning over the chair + back and shaking a thin forefinger in Mr. Perley's face, “God has given us + a task to do and how have we done it? We've set still and let the Devil + have his way. We've talked and talked, but what have we done? Nothin'! + Nothin' at all; and now the grip of Satan is tighter on the town than it + ever has been afore. The Lord set us a watch to keep and we've slept on + watch. And now there's a trap set for every young man in this c'munity. Do + you think that that hell-hole down yonder is goin' to shut up because we + talk about it in meetin'? Do you think Web Saunders is goin' to quit + sellin' rum because we say he ought to? Do you think God's goin' to walk + up to that door and nail it up himself? No, sir! He don't work that way! + We've talked and talked, and now it's time to DO. Ain't there anybody here + that feels a call? Ain't there axes to chop with and fire to burn? I tell + you, brothers, we've waited long enough! I—old as I am—am + ready. Lord, here I am! Here I am—” + </p> + <p> + He swayed, broke into a fit of coughing, and sank back upon the sofa, + trembling all over and still muttering that he was ready. There was a + hushed silence for a moment or two, and then a storm of hallelujahs and + shouts. Mr. Perley started another hymn, and it was sung with tremendous + enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Just behind the nervous young man with the celluloid collar sat a stout + individual with a bald head. This was Abijah Thompson, known by the + irreverent as “Barking” Thompson, a nickname bestowed because of his + peculiar habit of gradually puffing up, like a frog, under religious + excitement, and then bursting forth in an inarticulate shout, + disconcerting to the uninitiated. During Baxter's speech and the singing + of the hymn his expansive red cheeks had been distended like balloons, and + his breath came shorter and shorter. Mr. Perley had arisen and was holding + up his hand for silence, when with one terrific “Boo!” “Barking” + Thompson's spiritual exaltation exploded directly in the ear of the + nervous stranger. + </p> + <p> + The young man shot out of his chair as if Mr. Thompson had fired a + dynamite charge beneath him. “Oh, the Devil!” he shrieked, and then + subsided, blushing to the back of his neck. + </p> + <p> + Somehow this interruption took the spirit out of the meeting. Giggles from + Luther and the younger element interfered with the solemnity of Mr. + Perley's closing remarks, and no one else was brave enough to “testify” + under the circumstances. They sang again, and the meeting broke up. The + nervous young man was the first one to leave. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri got his friend out of the clutches of the “Come-Outers” as + quickly as possible, and piloted him down the road toward his home. John + Baxter was silent and absent-minded, and most of the Captain's cheerful + remarks concerning Orham affairs in general went unanswered. As they + turned in at the gate the elder man said: + </p> + <p> + “Eri, do you believe that man's law ought to be allowed to interfere with + God's law?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, John, in most cases it's my jedgment that it pays to steer pretty + close to both of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “S'pose God called you to break man's law and keep His; what would you + do?” + </p> + <p> + “Guess the fust thing would be to make sure 'twas the Almighty that was + callin'. I don't want to say nothin' to hurt your feelin's, but I should + advise the feller that thought that he had that kind of a call to 'beware + of imitations,' as the soap folks advertise.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri, I've got a call.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, John Baxter, you listen. You and me have been sailin' together, as + you might say, for forty odd years. I ain't a religious man 'cordin' to + your way of thinkin', but I've generally found that the Lord runs things + most as well as us folks could run 'em. When there's a leak at one end of + the schooner it don't pay to bore a hole at the other end to let the water + out. Don't you worry no more about Web Saunders and that billiard saloon. + The s'lectmen 'll attend to them afore very long. Why don't you go up to + Boston for a couple of weeks? 'Twill do you good.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think so, Eri? Well, maybe 'twould—maybe 'twould. Sometimes + I feel as if my head was kind of wearin' out. I'll think about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Better not think any more; better go right ahead.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'll see. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-night, John.” + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” said Captain Eri, next day, “seems to me some kinds of religion + is like whisky, mighty bad for a weak head. I wish somebody 'd invent a + gold cure for Come-Outers.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + </h3> + <p> + Something over a fortnight went by and the three captains had received no + answers from the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime. The suspense affected + each of them in a different manner. Captain Jerry was nervous and + apprehensive. He said nothing, and asked no questions, but it was + noticeable that he was the first to greet the carrier of the “mail box” + when that individual came down the road, and, as the days passed and + nothing more important than the Cape Cod Item and a patent-medicine + circular came to hand, a look that a suspicious person might have deemed + expressive of hope began to appear in his face. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez, on the contrary, grew more and more disgusted with the + delay. He spent a good deal of time wondering why there were no replies, + and he even went so far as to suggest writing to the editor of the Chime. + He was disposed to lay the blame upon Captain Eri's advertisement, and + hinted that the latter was not “catchy” enough. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, alone of the trio, got any amusement out of the situation. He + pretended to see in Captain Jerry an impatient bridegroom and administered + comfort in large doses by suggesting that, in all probability, there had + been so many replies that it had been found necessary to charter a + freight-car to bring them down. + </p> + <p> + “Cheer up, Jerry!” he said. “It's tough on you, I know, but think of all + them poor sufferin' females that's settin' up nights and worryin' for fear + they won't be picked out. Why, say, when you make your ch'ice you'll have + to let the rest know right off; 'twould be cruelty to animals not to. You + ought to put 'em out of their misery quick's possible.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry's laugh was almost dismal. + </p> + <p> + The first batch of answers from the Chime came by an evening mail. Captain + Eri happened to beat the post-office that night and brought them home + himself. They filled three of his pockets to overflowing, and he dumped + them by handfuls on the dining table, under the nose of the pallid Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “What did I tell you, Jerry?” he crowed. “I knew they was on the way. What + have you got to say about my advertisement now, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + There were twenty-six letters altogether. It was surprising how many women + were willing, even anxious, to ally themselves with “an ex-seafaring man + of steady habbits.” But most of the applicants were of unsatisfactory + types. As Captain Perez expressed it, “There's too many of them + everlastin' 'blondes' and things.” + </p> + <p> + There was one note, however, that even Captain Eri was disposed to + consider seriously. It was postmarked Nantucket, was written on half a + sheet of blue-lined paper, and read as follows: + </p> + <p> + “MR. SKIPPER: + </p> + <p> + “Sir: I saw your advertisements in the paper and think perhaps you might + suit me. Please answer these questions by return mail. What is your + religious belief? Do you drink liquor? Are you a profane man? If you want + to, you might send me your real name and a photograph. If I think you will + suit maybe we might sign articles. + </p> + <p> + “Yours truly, + </p> + <p> + “MARTHA B. SNOW. “NANTUCKET, MASS.” + </p> + <p> + “What I like about that is the shipshape way she puts it,” commented + Captain Perez. “She don't say that she 'jest adores the ocean.'” + </p> + <p> + “She's mighty handy about takin' hold and bossin' things; there ain't no + doubt of that,” said Captain Eri. “Notice it's us that's got to suit her, + not her us. I kind of like that 'signin' articles,' too. You bet she's + been brought up in a seagoin' family.” + </p> + <p> + “I used to know a Jubal Snow that hailed from Nantucket,” suggested Perez; + “maybe she's some of his folks.” + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't likely,” sniffed Captain Jerry. “There's more Snows in Nantucket + than you can shake a stick at. You can't heave a rock without hittin' + one.” + </p> + <p> + “I b'lieve she's jest the kind we want,” said Captain Perez with + conviction. + </p> + <p> + “What do you say, Jerry?” asked Captain Eri. “You're goin' to be the lucky + man, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't know. What's the use of hurryin'? More 'n likely the next lot + of letters 'll have somethin' better yit.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's jest like you, Jerry Burgess!” exclaimed Perez disgustedly. + “Want to put off and put off and put off. And the house gittin' more like + the fo'castle on a cattleboat every day.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve myself you'd do much better, Jerry,” said Captain Eri + seriously. “I like that letter somehow. Seems to me it's worth a try.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right! Have it your own way. Of course, <i>I</i> ain't got + nothin' to say. I'm only the divilish fool that's got to git married and + keep boarders; that's all <i>I</i> am!” + </p> + <p> + “Be careful! She asked if you was a profane man.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, shut up! You fellers are enough to make a minister swear. <i>I</i> + don't care what you do. Go ahead and write to her if you want to, only I + give you fair warnin', I ain't goin' to have her if she don't suit. I + ain't goin' to marry no scarecrow.” + </p> + <p> + Between them, and with much diplomacy, they soothed the indignant + candidate for matrimony until he agreed to sign his name to a letter to + the Nantucket lady. Then Captain Perez said: + </p> + <p> + “But, I say, Jerry; she wants your picture. Have you got one to send her?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got that daguerreotype I had took when I was married afore.” + </p> + <p> + He rummaged it out of his chest and displayed it rather proudly. It showed + him as a short, sandy-haired youth, whose sunburned face beamed from the + depths of an enormous choker, and whose head was crowned with a tall, + flat-brimmed silk hat of a forgotten style. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose that might do,” said Cap'n Perez hesitatingly. + </p> + <p> + “Do! 'Twill HAVE to do, seein' it's all he's got,” said Captain Eri. “Good + land!” he chuckled; “look at that hat! Say, Jerry, she'll think you done + your seafarin' in Noah's ark.” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry was oblivious to sarcasm just then. He was gazing at the + daguerreotype in a sentimental sort of way, blowing the dust from the + glass, and tilting it up and down so as to bring it to the most effective + light. + </p> + <p> + “I swan!” he mused, “I don't know when I've looked at that afore. I + remember when I bought that hat, jest as well. Took care of it and brushed + it—my! my! I don't know but it's somewheres around now. I thought I + was jest about the ticket then, and—and I wa'n't BAD lookin', that's + a fact!” + </p> + <p> + This last with a burst of enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “Ho, ho! Perez,” roared Captain Eri; “Jerry's fallin' in love with his own + picture. Awful thing for one so young, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't such a turrible sight older 'n you be, Eri Hedge,” sputtered the + prospective bridegroom with righteous indignation. Then he added in a + rather crestfallen tone, “But I am a heap older 'n I was when I had that + daguerreotype took. See here; if I send that Nantucket woman this picture + won't she notice the difference when she sees me?” + </p> + <p> + “What if she does?” broke in Captain Perez. “You can tell her how 'twas. + Talk her over. A feller that's been married, like you, ought to be able to + talk ANY woman over.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry didn't appear sanguine concerning his ability to “talk her + over,” but his fellow-conspirators made light of his feeble objections, + and the daguerreotype, carefully wrapped, was mailed the next morning, + accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the original and his avowed + adherence to the Baptist creed and the Good Templar's abstinence. + </p> + <p> + “I hope she'll hurry up and answer,” said the impatient Captain Perez. “I + want to get this thing settled one way or another. Don't you, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” was the hesitating reply. “One way or another.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had seen John Baxter several times since the evening of the + “Come-Outers'” meeting. The old man was calmer apparently, and was + disposed to take the billiard-saloon matter less seriously, particularly + as it was reported that the town selectmen were to hold a special meeting + to consider the question of allowing Mr. Saunders to continue in business. + The last-named gentleman had given what he was pleased to call a + “blow-out” to his regular patrons in celebration of the granting of the + license, and “Squealer” Wixon and one or two more spent a dreary day and + night in the town lock-up in consequence. Baxter told the Captain that he + had not yet made up his mind concerning the proposed Boston trip, but he + thought “more 'n likely” he should go. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was obliged to be content with this assurance, but he + determined to keep a close watch on his friend just the same. + </p> + <p> + He had met Ralph Hazeltine once or twice since the latter's arrival in + Orham, and, in response to questions as to how he was getting on at the + station, the new electrician invariably responded, “First-rate.” Gossip, + however, in the person of Miss Busteed, reported that the operators were + doing their best to keep Mr. Hazeltine's lot from being altogether a bed + of roses, and there were dark hints of something more to come. + </p> + <p> + On the morning following the receipt of the letter from the Nantucket + lady, Captain Eri was busy at his fish shanty, putting his lines in order + and sewing a patch on the mainsail of his catboat. These necessary repairs + had prevented his taking the usual trip to the fishing grounds. Looking up + from his work, he saw, through the open door, Ralph Hazeltine just + stepping out of the cable-station skiff. He tucked his sail needle into + the canvas and hailed the young man with a shouted “Good-morning!” + </p> + <p> + “How do you do, Cap'n Hedge?” said Hazeltine, walking toward the shanty. + “Good weather, isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Tip-top. Long 's the wind stays westerly and there ain't no Sunday-school + picnics on, we don't squabble with the weather folks. The only thing that + 'll fetch a squall with a westerly wind is a Sunday-school picnic. That + 'll do it, sure as death. Busy over across?” + </p> + <p> + “Pretty busy just now. The cable parted day before yesterday, and I've + been getting things ready for the repair ship. She was due this morning, + and we're likely to hear from her at any time.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't say! Cable broke, hey? Now it's a queer thing, but I've never + been inside that station since 'twas built. Too handy, I guess. I've got a + second cousin up in Charlestown, lived there all his life, and he's never + been up in Bunker Hill monument yit. Fust time I landed in Boston I dug + for that monument, and I can tell you how many steps there is in it to + this day. If that cable station was fifty mile off I'd have been through + it two weeks after it started up, but bein' jest over there, I ain't ever + done it. Queer, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you'd like to go over with me. I'm going up to the post-office, + and when I come back I should be glad of your company.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now, that's kind of you. I cal'late I will. You might sing out as + you go past. I've got a ha'f-hour job on this sail and then it's my watch + below.” + </p> + <p> + The cable station at Orham is a low whitewashed building with many + windows. The vegetation about it is limited exclusively to “beach grass” + and an occasional wild-plum bush. The nearest building which may be + reached without a boat is the life-saving station, two miles below. The + outer beach changes its shape every winter. The gales tear great holes in + its sides, and then, as if in recompense, throw up new shoals and build + new promontories. From the cable-station doorway in fair weather may be + counted the sails of over one hundred vessels going and coming between + Boston and New York. They come and go, and, alas! sometimes stop by the + way. Then the life-saving crews are busy and the Boston newspapers report + another wreck. All up and down the outer beach are the sun-whitened bones + of schooners and ships; and all about them, and partially covering them, + is sand, sand, sand, as white and much coarser than granulated sugar. + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine's post-office trip and other errands had taken much more time + than he anticipated, and more than two hours had gone by before he called + for Captain Eri. During the row to the beach the electrician explained to + the Captain the processes by which a break in the cable is located and + repaired. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” he said, “as soon as the line breaks we set about finding where + it is broken. To do this we use an instrument called the Wheatstone + bridge. In this case the break is about six hundred miles from the + American shore. The next thing is to get at the company's repair ship. She + lies, usually, at Halifax when she isn't busy, and that is where she was + this time. We wired her and she left for the spot immediately. It was up + to me to get ready the testing apparatus—we generally set up special + instruments for testing. Judging by the distance, the ship should have + been over the break early this morning. She will grapple for the broken + cable ends, and as soon as she catches our end she'll send us a message. + It's simple enough.” + </p> + <p> + “Like takin' wormwood tea—easy enough if you've been brought up that + way. I think I'd make more money catchin' codfish, myself,” commented the + Captain dryly. + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “Well, it really is a very simple matter,” he said. “The + only thing we have to be sure of is that our end of the line is ready by + the time the ship reaches the break. If the weather is bad the ship can't + work, and so, when she does work, she works quick. I had my instruments in + condition yesterday, so we're all right this time.” + </p> + <p> + They landed at the little wharf and plodded through the heavy sand. + </p> + <p> + “Dismal-looking place, isn't it?” said Hazeltine, as he opened the back + door of the station. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know; it has its good p'ints,” replied his companion. “Your + neighbors' hens don't scratch up your garden, for one thing. What do you + do in here?” + </p> + <p> + “This is the room where we receive and send. This is the receiver.” + </p> + <p> + The captain noticed with interest the recorder, with its two brass + supports and the little glass tube, half filled with ink, that, when the + cable was working, wrote the messages upon the paper tape traveling + beneath it. + </p> + <p> + “Pretty nigh as finicky as a watch, ain't it?” he observed. + </p> + <p> + “Fully as delicate in its way. Do you see this little screw on the + centerpiece? Turn that a little, one way or the other, and the operator on + the other side might send until doomsday, we wouldn't know it. I'll show + you the living rooms and the laboratory now.” + </p> + <p> + Just then the door at the other end of the room opened, and a man, whom + Captain Eri recognized as one of the operators, came in. He started when + he saw Hazeltine and turned to go out again. Ralph spoke to him: + </p> + <p> + “Peters,” he said, “where is Mr. Langley?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know,” answered the fellow gruffly. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a minute. Tell me where Mr. Langley is.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know where he is. He went over to the village a while ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Where are the rest of the men?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know.” + </p> + <p> + The impudence and thinly veiled hostility in the man's tone were + unmistakable. Hazeltine hesitated, seemed about to speak, and then + silently led the way to the hall. + </p> + <p> + “I'll show you the laboratory later on,” he said. “We'll go up to the + testing room now.” Then he added, apparently as much to himself as to his + visitor, “I told those fellows that I wouldn't be back until noon.” + </p> + <p> + There was a door at the top of the stairs. Ralph opened this quietly. As + they passed through, Captain Eri noticed that Peters had followed them + into the hall and stood there, looking up. + </p> + <p> + The upper hall had a straw matting on the floor. There was another door at + the end of the passage, and this was ajar. Toward it the electrician + walked rapidly. From the room behind the door came a shout of laughter; + then someone said: + </p> + <p> + “Better give it another turn, hadn't I, to make sure? If two turns fixes + it so we don't hear for a couple of hours, another one ought to shut it up + for a week. That's arithmetic, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + The laugh that followed this was cut short by Hazeltine's throwing the + door wide open. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, close at the electrician's heels, saw a long room, empty save + for a few chairs and a table in the center. Upon this table stood the + testing instruments, exactly like those in the receiving room downstairs. + Three men lounged in the chairs, and standing beside the table, with his + fingers upon the regulating screw at the centerpiece of the recorder, was + another, a big fellow, with a round, smooth-shaven face. + </p> + <p> + The men in the chairs sprang to their feet as Hazeltine came in. The face + of the individual by the table turned white and his fingers fell from the + regulating screw, as though the latter were red hot. The Captain + recognized the men; they were day operators whom he had met in the village + many times. Incidentally, they were avowed friends of the former + electrician, Parker. The name of the taller one was McLoughlin. + </p> + <p> + No one spoke. Ralph strode quickly to the table, pushed McLoughlin to one + side and stooped over the instruments. When he straightened up, Captain + Eri noticed that his face also was white, but evidently not from fear. He + turned sharply and looked at the four operators, who were doing their best + to appear at ease and not succeeding. The electrician looked them over, + one by one. Then he gave a short laugh. + </p> + <p> + “You damned sneaks!” he said, and turned again to the testing apparatus. + </p> + <p> + He began slowly to turn the regulating screw on the recorder. He had given + it but a few revolutions when the point of the little glass siphon, that + had been tracing a straight black line on the sliding tape, moved up and + down in curving zigzags. Hazeltine turned to the operator. + </p> + <p> + “Palmer,” he said curtly, “answer that call.” + </p> + <p> + The man addressed seated himself at the table, turned a switch, and + clicked off a message. After a moment the line on the moving tape + zigzagged again. Ralph glanced at the zigzags and bit his lip. + </p> + <p> + “Apologize to them,” he said to Palmer. “Tell them we regret exceedingly + that the ship should have been kept waiting. Tell them our recorder was + out of adjustment.” + </p> + <p> + The operator cabled the message. The three men at the end of the room + glanced at each other; this evidently was not what they expected. + </p> + <p> + Steps sounded on the stairs and Peters hurriedly entered. + </p> + <p> + “The old man's comin',” he said. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Langley, the superintendent of the station, had been in the company's + employ for years. He had been in charge of the Cape Cod station since it + was built, and he liked the job. He knew cable work, too, from A to Z, + and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, would forgive a man's getting + drunk occasionally, sooner than condone carelessness. He was eccentric, + but even those who did not like him acknowledged that he was “square.” + </p> + <p> + He came into the room, tossed a cigar stump out of the window, and nodded + to Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “How are you, Captain Hedge?” he said. Then, stepping to the table, he + picked up the tape. + </p> + <p> + “Everything all right, Mr. Hazeltine?” he asked. “Hello! What does this + mean? They say they have been calling for two hours without getting an + answer. How do you explain that?” + </p> + <p> + It was very quiet in the room when the electrician answered. + </p> + <p> + “The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir,” he said simply. + </p> + <p> + “Out of adjustment! I thought you told me everything was in perfect order + before you left this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so, sir, but I find the screw was too loose. That would account + for the call not reaching us.” + </p> + <p> + “Too loose! Humph!” The superintendent looked steadfastly at Hazeltine, + then at the operators, and then at the electrician once more. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said at length, “I will hear what explanations you may + have to make in my office later on. I will attend to the testing myself. + That will do.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri silently followed his young friend to the back door of the + station. Hazeltine had seen fit to make no comment on the scene just + described, and the captain did not feel like offering any. They were + standing on the steps when the big operator, McLoughlin, came out of the + building behind them. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said gruffly to the electrician. “Shall I quit now or wait + until Saturday?” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I git out now or wait till Saturday night? I suppose you'll have me + fired.” + </p> + <p> + Then Hazeltine's pent-up rage boiled over. + </p> + <p> + “If you mean that I'll tell Mr. Langley of your cowardly trick and have + you discharged—No! I don't pay my debts that way. But I'll tell you + this,—you and your sneaking friends. If you try another game like + that,—yes, or if you so much as speak to me, other than on business + while I'm here, I WILL fire you—out of the window. Clear out!” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri a few moments later, “I hope you don't + mind my sayin' that I like you fust-rate. Me and Perez and Jerry ain't the + biggest bugs in town, but we like to have our friends come and see us. I + wish you'd drop in once 'n a while.” + </p> + <p> + “I certainly will,” said the young man, and the two shook hands. That + vigorous handshake was enough of itself to convince Ralph Hazeltine that + he had made, at any rate, one friend in Orham. + </p> + <p> + And we may as well add here that he had made two. For that evening Jack + McLoughlin said to his fellow conspirators: + </p> + <p> + “He said he'd fire me out of the window,—ME, mind you! And, by + thunder! I believe he'd have DONE it too. Boys, there ain't any more 'con' + games played on that kid while I'm around—Parker or no Parker. He's + white, that's what HE is!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <h3> + THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + </h3> + <p> + Conversation among the captains was, for the next two days, confined to + two topics, speculation as to how soon they might expect a reply from the + Nantucket female and whether or not Mr. Langley would discharge Hazeltine. + On the latter point Captain Eri was decided. + </p> + <p> + “He won't be bounced,” said the Captain; “now you just put that down in + your log. Langley ain't a fool, and he can put two and two together as + well as the next feller. If I thought there was any need of it, I'd just + drop him a hint myself, but there ain't, so I shan't put my oar in. But I + wish you two could have heard that youngster talk to that McLoughlin + critter; 'twould have done you good. That boy's all right.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was alone when the expected letter came. He glanced at the + postmark, saw that it was Nantucket, and stuck the note behind the clock. + He did his best to forget it, but he looked so guilty when Captain Perez + returned at supper time that that individual suspected something, made his + friend confess, and, a little later when Captain Eri came in, the + envelope, bearing many thumb-prints, was propped up against the sugar bowl + in the middle of the table. + </p> + <p> + “We didn't open it, Eri,” said Perez proudly. “We did want to, but we + thought all hands ought to be on deck when anything as important as this + was goin' to be done.” + </p> + <p> + “He's been holdin' it up to the light for the last ha'f hour,” sneered + Captain Jerry. “Anybody 'd think it had a million dollars in it. For the + land's sake, open it, Eri, 'fore he has a fit!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri picked up the letter, looked it over very deliberately, and + then tore off the end of the envelope. The inclosure was another sheet of + note paper like the first epistle. The Captain took out his spectacles, + wiped them, and read the following aloud: + </p> + <p> + “CAPTAIN JEREMIAH BURGESS. + </p> + <p> + “Sir: I like your looks well enough, though it don't pay to put too much + dependence in looks, as nobody knows better than me. Besides, I judge that + picture was took quite a spell ago. Anyway, you look honest, and I am + willing to risk money enough to carry me to Orham and back, though the + dear land knows I ain't got none to throw away. If we don't agree to sign + articles, I suppose likely you will be willing to stand half the fare. + That ain't any more than right, the way I look at it. I shall come to + Orham on the afternoon train, Thursday. Meet me at the depot. + </p> + <p> + “Yours truly, + </p> + <p> + “MARTHA B. SNOW. + </p> + <p> + “P. S.—I should have liked it better if you was a Methodist, but we + can't have everything just as we want it in this world.” + </p> + <p> + Nobody spoke for a moment after the reading of this intensely practical + note. Captain Eri whistled softly, scratched his head, and then read the + letter over again to himself. At length Captain Perez broke the spell. + </p> + <p> + “Jerusalem!” he exclaimed. “She don't lose no time, does she?” + </p> + <p> + “She's pretty prompt, that's a fact,” assented Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry burst forth in indignation: + </p> + <p> + “Is THAT all you've got to say?” he inquired with sarcasm, “after gittin' + me into a scrape like this? Well now, I tell you one thing, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Don't go on your beam ends, Jerry,” interrupted Captain Eri. “There ain't + no harm done yit.” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't no harm done? Why how you talk, Eri Hedge! Here's a woman that I + ain't never seen, and might be a hundred years old, for all I know, comin' + down here to-morrow night to marry me by main force, as you might say, and + you set here and talk about—” + </p> + <p> + “Now, hold on, hold on, Jerry! She ain't goin' to marry you unless you + want her to, 'tain't likely. More I think of it, the more I like the + woman's way of doin' things. She's got sense, there's no doubt of that. + You can't sell HER a cat in a bag. She's comin' down here to see you and + talk the thing over, and I glory in her spunk.” + </p> + <p> + “Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways enough to + spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks.” + </p> + <p> + “If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay more + than fares,” said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. “I think same + as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet her at the depot, of + course.” + </p> + <p> + “Well <i>I</i> won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I + cal'late she'll have to do some huntin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, see here, Jerry,” said Captain Eri, “you was jest as anxious to have + one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to marry the woman + unless you want to, but you have got to help us see the thing through. I + wish myself that we hadn't been quite so pesky anxious to give her the + latitude and longitude, and had took some sort of an observation + ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've got to treat her decent. You'll be + at that depot along with Perez and me.” + </p> + <p> + When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed orders. + Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for his younger + friend, gave in after some grumbling. + </p> + <p> + They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and + appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that he didn't + know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about forty and slim. + Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where agreement with anyone was + out of the question, gave it as his opinion that she was thirty odd and + rather plump. Captain Eri didn't hazard a guess, but suggested that they + wait and see. + </p> + <p> + But even Captain Eri's calmness was more or less assumed, for he did not + go fishing the next morning, but stayed about the house, whittling at the + model of a clipper ship and tormenting Captain Jerry. The model was one + that he had been at work upon at odd times ever since he gave up + sea-going. It had never been completed for the very good reason that when + one part was finished the Captain tore another part to pieces, and began + over again. It was a sort of barometer of his feelings, and when his + companions saw him take down the clipper and go to work, they knew he was + either thinking deeply upon a perplexing problem or was troubled in his + mind. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez sang a good deal, principally confining his musical efforts + to a ballad with a chorus of, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + | “Storm along, John; + | John, storm along; + | Ain't I glad my day's work's done!” + </pre> + <p> + Also, he glanced at his watch every few minutes and then went to consult + the chronometer to make sure of the time. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry went up to the schoolhouse and gave its vacant rooms a + thorough sweeping for no particular reason except to be doing something. + His appetite was poor, and he actually forgot to feed Lorenzo, a hitherto + unheard-of slight, and one that brought down upon him a long lecture from + Captain Eri, who vowed that loss of memory was a sure sign of + lovesickness. + </p> + <p> + They started for the railway station immediately after supper. As they + passed John Baxter's house they noticed a light in an upper chamber, and + wondered if the old man was ill. Captain Eri would have stopped to find + out, but Captain Perez insisted that it could be done just as well when + they came back, and expressed a fear that they might miss the train. + Captain Jerry hadn't spoken since they left home, and walked gloomily + ahead with his hands in his pockets. + </p> + <p> + Mr. “Web” Saunders, fat and in his pink-striped shirtsleeves, sat upon the + steps of his saloon as they went by. He wished them an unctuous + good-evening. The oily smoothness of Mr. Saunders' voice cannot be + described with plain pen and ink; it gurgled with sweetness, like molasses + poured from a jug. This was not a special tone put on for the occasion; no + one except his wife ever heard him speak otherwise. + </p> + <p> + The response from the three captains was not enthusiastic, but Mr. + Saunders continued to talk of the weather, the fishing, and the cranberry + crop until a customer came and gave them a chance to get away. + </p> + <p> + “Slick! slick! slick!” commented Captain Eri, as they hurried along. + “Blessed if he don't pretty nigh purr. I like a cat fust-rate, but I'm + always suspicious of a cat-man. You know he's got claws, but you can't + tell where he's goin' to use 'em. When a feller like that comes slidin' + around and rubbin' his head against my shin, I always feel like keepin' + t'other foot ready for a kick. You're pretty sartin to need it one time or + another.” + </p> + <p> + The train was nearly an hour late this evening, owing to a hot box, and + the “ex-seafaring man” and his two friends peered anxiously out at it from + around the corner of the station. The one coach stopped directly under the + lights, and they could see the passengers as they came down the steps. Two + or three got out, but these were men. Then came an apparition that caused + Captain Jerry to gasp and clutch at Perez for support. + </p> + <p> + Down the steps of the car came a tall, coal-black negress, and in her hand + was a canvas extension case, on the side of which was blazoned in two-inch + letters the fateful name, “M. B. Snow, Nantucket.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gazed at this astounding spectacle for a full thirty seconds. + Then he woke up. + </p> + <p> + “Godfrey domino!” he ejaculated. “BLACK! BLACK! Run! Run for your lives, + 'fore she sees us!” + </p> + <p> + This order was superfluous. Captain Jerry was already half-way to the + fence, and going at a rate which bid fair to establish a record for his + age. The others fell into his wake, and the procession moved across + country like a steeplechase. + </p> + <p> + They climbed over stone walls and splashed into meadows. They took every + short cut between the station and their home. As they came in sight of the + latter, Captain Perez' breath gave out almost entirely. + </p> + <p> + “Heave to!” he gasped. “Heave to, or I'll founder. I wouldn't run another + step for all the darkies in the West Indies.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain Jerry + was persuaded to halt. + </p> + <p> + “I shan't do it, Eri!” he vowed wildly. “I shan't do it! There ain't no + use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, by thunder!” + </p> + <p> + “There! there! Jerry!” said Captain Eri soothingly. “Nobody wants you to. + There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us.” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where I live + and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!” + </p> + <p> + The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain Eri + caught him by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you what,” he said, “we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty and hide + there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't come, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late Nathaniel + Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. In a few moments + the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the door. Then Captain Eri + pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket and laughed until the tears + came into his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “That's it, laff!” almost sobbed Captain Jerry. “Set there and tee-hee + like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till the rest of the + town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' then, and you won't feel + so funny. We'll never hear the last of it in this world. If that darky + comes down here, I'll—I'll drown her; I will—” + </p> + <p> + “I don't blame Jerry,” said Perez indignantly. “I don't see much to laff + at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now.” + </p> + <p> + They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together at the + cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the “depot wagon” rock past. They + waited, breathless, until they saw it go back again up the road. + </p> + <p> + “Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Course I didn't. Why should I?” + </p> + <p> + It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham except at + bedtime. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Eri. “She'll see the light in the dining room, + and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's nothin' for us to do + but to stay here for a while, and then, if she ain't gone, one of us 'll + have to go up and tell her she won't suit and pay her fare home, that's + all. I think Jerry ought to be the one,” he added mischievously. “He bein' + the bridegroom, as you might say.” + </p> + <p> + “Me!” almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. “You go to grass! You + fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me out of it. I + don't stir one step.” + </p> + <p> + They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an occasional + chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was meditating, and + observed, after a while: + </p> + <p> + “Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “That colored man up at Barry's place was named White,” said Captain + Jerry, “and he was black as your hat. Names don't count.” + </p> + <p> + “They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry,” slyly remarked Eri. + “Maybe you'd better think it over.” + </p> + <p> + The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the minutes + crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone whistling. Perez + went to the window to take an observation. + </p> + <p> + “It's a man,” he said disappointedly. “He's been to our house, too. My + land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller Hazeltine; that's who + 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it?” exclaimed Eri eagerly. “That's so! so 'tis. Let's give him a + hail.” + </p> + <p> + Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the door, had + opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the opening, was + whistling shrilly. + </p> + <p> + The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort of way, + but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter the whistles + came. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine!” hailed the Captain, in what might be called a whispered + yell or a shouted whisper. “Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on your lee bow. In the + shanty.” + </p> + <p> + The word “shanty” was the only part of the speech that brought light to + Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the hill, left the + road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to the door. + </p> + <p> + “Who is it?” he asked. “Why, hello, Captain! What on earth—” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, pulled + him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry hastened to set the + saw-horse in place again. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with Cap'n + Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me speak of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered voices + express themselves as glad to know him. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, “we're sort of + layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. We ain't out of + our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's what it looks like.” + </p> + <p> + The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it. To tell + the truth, he had begun to think that something or other had suddenly driven + his nearest neighbors crazy. + </p> + <p> + “I—I—I don't know how to explain it to you,” the Captain + stumbled on. “Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It + does sound so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you understand it. + What we want to know is, have you been to our house and is there anybody + there?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a minute, as + you suggested the other day. The housekeeper—I suppose it was the + housekeeper—that opened the door, said you were out, and I—” + </p> + <p> + He was interrupted by a hopeless groan. + </p> + <p> + “I knew it!” wailed Captain Jerry. “I knew it! And you said there wa'n't + no danger, Eri!” + </p> + <p> + “Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she doin', + Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? Did she look as + if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have her bunnit on?” + </p> + <p> + “No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought—” + </p> + <p> + But again Captain Jerry broke in, “Well, by mighty!” he ejaculated. + “That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! She's + goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too good a thing. + Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other gab machine like her, + 'll be the next one to call, and if they see that great black critter! Oh! + my soul!” + </p> + <p> + “Black!” said Ralph amazedly. “Why, the woman at your house isn't black. + She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of her age.” + </p> + <p> + “WHAT?” This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course it's a fact.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain wiped his forehead. “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said, “if anybody had + told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three biggest fools in Orham, + I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis now, I cal'late I'd thank him for + lettin' me off so easy. You'll have to excuse us to-night, I'm afraid. + We're in a ridic'lous scrape that we've got to git out of all alone. I'll + tell you 'bout it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this kind of quiet to + oblige me.” + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his immediate + departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, felt there was + nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised faithfully to call again + later in the week, and then, the sawhorse having been removed by Captain + Perez,—Captain Jerry was apparently suffering from a sort of dazed + paralysis,—he went away. As soon as he had gone, Captain Eri began + to lay down the law. + </p> + <p> + “Now then,” he said, “there's been some sort of a mistake; that's plain + enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel when she got up + to come out of the car. That woman at the house is the real Marthy Snow + all right, and we've got to go right up there and see her. Come on!” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry mutinied outright. He declared that the sight of that + darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would not see the + candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No persuasion could + budge him. He simply would not stir from that shanty until the house had + been cleared of female visitors. + </p> + <p> + “Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it,” he declared. “I + shan't!” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Captain Eri calmly. “I will. I'll tell her you're + bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have you if she + only waits long enough.” + </p> + <p> + With this he turned on his heel and walked out. + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, Eri!” shouted the frantic Jerry. “Don't you do it! Don't you + tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he will?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” was the answer in a disgusted tone. “You hadn't ought to + have been so pig-headed, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face, walked + straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he opened it and + stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in Captain Perez' rocker, + rose as he entered. + </p> + <p> + The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She was of + middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes behind + brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black “alpaca” gown that was + faded a little in places and had been neatly mended in others. She spoke + first. + </p> + <p> + “You're not Cap'n Burgess?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “No, ma'am,” said the Captain uneasily. “My name is Hedge. I'm a sort of + messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very nervous and + not knowing how to begin. + </p> + <p> + “I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge,” said the widow, as the Captain + slid into his own rocker. “The boy on the depot wagon told me a lot about + you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess.” + </p> + <p> + “Did, hey?” The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's + grandnephew. “Hope he gave us a clean bill.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. If he + had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've lived long + enough to want to find out things for myself, and not take folks' say-so.” + </p> + <p> + The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement, Captain + Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out things for one's + self was a good “idee.” Then, after another fidgety silence, he observed + that it was a fine evening. There being no dispute on this point, he + endeavored to think of something else to say. Mrs. Snow, however, saved + him the trouble. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” she said, “as I'm here on what you might call a bus'ness + errand, and as I've been waitin' pretty nigh two hours already, p'raps + we'd better talk about somethin' besides fine evenin's. I've got to be + lookin' up a hotel or boardin' house or somewheres to stay to-night, and I + can't wait much longer. I jedge you got my letter and was expectin' me. + Now, if it ain't askin' too much, I'd like to know where Cap'n Burgess is, + and why he wa'n't at the depot to meet me.” + </p> + <p> + This was a leading question, and the Captain was more embarrassed than + ever. However, he felt that something had to be done and that it was + wisest to get it over with as soon as possible. + </p> + <p> + “Well, ma'am,” he said, “we—we got your letter all right, and, to + tell you the truth, we was at the depot—Perez and me and Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + “You WAS! Well, then, for the land of goodness, why didn't you let me know + it? Such a time as I had tryin' to find out where you lived and all!” + </p> + <p> + The Captain saw but one plausible explanation, and that was the plain + truth. Slowly he told the story of the colored woman and the extension + case. The widow laughed until her spectacles fell off. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there!” she exclaimed. “If that don't beat all! I don't blame Cap'n + Burgess a mite. Poor thing! I guess I'd have run, too, if I'd have seen + that darky. She was settin' right in the next seat to me, and she had a + shut-over bag consid'rable like mine, and when she got up to git out, she + took mine by mistake. I was a good deal put out about it, and I expect I + talked to her like a Dutch uncle when I caught up with her. Dear! dear! + Where is Cap'n Burgess?” + </p> + <p> + “He's shut up in a fish shanty down the road, and he's so upsot that I + dunno's he'll stir from there tonight. Jerry ain't prejudiced, but that + darky was too much for him.” + </p> + <p> + And then they both laughed, the widow because of the ludicrous nature of + the affair and the Captain because of the relief that the lady's + acceptance of it afforded his mind. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow was the first to become grave. “Cap'n Hedge,” she said, “there's + one or two things I must say right here. In the first place, I ain't in + the habit of answerin' advertisements from folks that wants to git + married; I ain't so hard up for a man as all that comes to. Next thing, I + didn't come down here with my mind made up to marry Cap'n Burgess, not by + no means. I wanted to see him and talk with him, and tell him jest all + about how things was with me and find out about him and then—why, if + everything was shipshape, I might, p'raps, think about—” + </p> + <p> + “Jest so, ma'am, jest so,” broke in her companion. “That's about the way + we felt. You see, there's prob'ly a long story on both sides, and if + you'll excuse me I'll go down to the shanty and see if I can't git Jerry + up here. It'll be a job, I'm 'fraid, but—” + </p> + <p> + “No, you shan't either. I'll tell you what we'll do. It's awful late now + and I must be gittin' up to the tavern. S'pose, if 'tain't too much + trouble, you walk up there with me and I'll stay there to-night and + to-morrer I'll come down here, and we'll all have a common-sense talk. + P'raps by that time your friend 'll have the darky woman some off his + mind, too.” + </p> + <p> + Needless to say Captain Eri agreed to this plan with alacrity. The widow + carefully tied on a black, old-fashioned bonnet, picked up a fat, + wooden-handled umbrella and the extension case, and said that she was + ready. + </p> + <p> + They walked up the road together, the Captain carrying the extension case. + They talked, but not of matrimonial prospects. Mrs. Snow knew almost as + much about the sea and the goings and comings thereon as did her escort, + and the conversation was salty in the extreme. It developed that the + Nantucket lady had a distant relative who was in the life-saving service + at Cuttyhunk station, and as the Captain knew every station man for twenty + miles up and down the coast, wrecks and maritime disasters of all kinds + were discussed in detail. + </p> + <p> + At the Traveler's Rest Mrs. Snow was introduced by the unblushing Eri as a + cousin from Provincetown, and, after some controversy concerning the price + of board and lodging, she was shown up to her room. Captain Eri walked + home, absorbed in meditation. Whatever his thoughts were they were not + disagreeable, for he smiled and shook his head more than once, as if with + satisfaction. As he passed John Baxter's house he noticed that the light + in the upper window was still burning. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was half asleep when Eri opened the door of the shanty. + Captain Jerry, however, was very much awake and demanded to be told things + right away. His friend briefly explained the situation. + </p> + <p> + “I don't care if she stays here till doomsday,” emphatically declared the + disgruntled one, “I shan't marry her. What's she like, anyhow?” + </p> + <p> + He was surprised at the enthusiasm of Captain Eri's answer. + </p> + <p> + “She's a mighty good woman; that's what I think she is, and she'd make a + fust-class wife for any man. I hope you'll say so, too, when you see her. + There ain't nothin' hity-tity about her, but she's got more common-sense + than any woman I ever saw. But there! I shan't talk another bit about her + to-night. Come on home and turn in.” + </p> + <p> + And go home and turn in they did, but not without protestation from the + pair who had yet to meet the woman from Nantucket. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + </h3> + <p> + “All hands on deck! Turn out there! Turnout!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri grunted and rolled over in his bed; for a moment or two he + fancied himself back in the fo'castle of the Sea Mist, the bark in which + he had made his first voyage. Then, as he grew wider awake, he heard, + somewhere in the distance, a bell ringing furiously. + </p> + <p> + “Turn out, all hands! Turn out!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri sat up. That voice was no part of a dream. It belonged to + Captain Jerry, and the tone of it meant business. The bell continued to + ring. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, Jerry! What's the matter?” he shouted. + </p> + <p> + “Fire! There's a big fire up in the village. Look out of the window, and + you can see. They're ringing the schoolhouse bell; don't you hear it?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain, wide awake enough by this time, jumped out of bed, carrying + the blankets with him, and ran to the window. Opening it, he thrust out + his head. The wind had changed to the eastward, and a thick fog had come + in with it. The house was surrounded by a wet, black wall, but off to the + west a red glow shone through it, now brighter and now fainter. The + schoolhouse bell was turning somersaults in its excitement. + </p> + <p> + Only once, since Captain Jerry had been janitor, had the schoolhouse bell + been rung except in the performance of its regular duties. That once was + on a night before the Fourth of July, when some mischievous youngsters + climbed in at a window and proclaimed to sleeping Orham that Young America + was celebrating the anniversary of its birth. Since then, on nights before + the Fourth, Captain Jerry had slept in the schoolhouse, armed with a + horsewhip and an ancient navy revolver. The revolver was strictly for + show, and the horsewhip for use, but neither was called into service, for + even if some dare-devil spirits did venture near the building, the + Captain's snores, as he slumbered by the front door, were danger signals + that could not be disregarded. + </p> + <p> + But there was no flavor of the Fourth in the bell's note this night. + Whoever the ringer might be, he was ringing as though it was his only hope + for life, and the bell swung back and forth without a pause. The red glow + in the fog brightened again as the Captain gazed at it. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry came tumbling up the stairs, breathless and half dressed. + </p> + <p> + “Where do you make it out to be?” he panted. + </p> + <p> + “Somewhere's nigh the post-office. Looks 's if it might be Weeks's store. + Where's Perez?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had lighted a lamp and was pulling on his boots, as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Here I be!” shouted the missing member of the trio from the dining room + below. “I'm all ready. Hurry up, Eri!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri jumped into his trousers, slipped into a faded pea-jacket and + clattered downstairs, followed by the wildly excited Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Good land, Perez!” he cried, as he came into the dining room, “I thought + you said you was all ready!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez paused in the vain attempt to make Captain Jerry's hat cover + his own cranium and replied indignantly, “Well, I am, ain't I?” + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me I'd put somethin' on my feet besides them socks, if I was + you. You might catch cold.” + </p> + <p> + Perez glanced down at his blue-yarn extremities in blank astonishment. + “Well, now,” he exclaimed, “if I hain't forgot my boots!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, git 'em on, and be quick. There's your hat. Give Jerry his.” + </p> + <p> + The excited Perez vanished through the door of his chamber, and Captain + Eri glanced at the chronometer; the time was a quarter after two. + </p> + <p> + They hurried out of the door and through the yard. The wind, as has been + said, was from the east, but there was little of it and, except for the + clanging of the bell, the night was very still. The fog was heavy and wet, + and the trees and bushes dripped as if from a shower. There was the salt + smell of the marshes in the air, and the hissing and splashing of the surf + on the outer beach were plainly to be heard. Also there was the clicking + sound of oars in row-locks. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody is comin' over from the station,” gasped Captain Jerry. “Don't + run so, Eri. It's too dark. I've pretty nigh broke my neck already.” + </p> + <p> + They passed the lily pond, where the frogs had long since adjourned their + concert and gone to bed, dodged through the yard of the tightly shuttered + summer hotel, and came out at the corner of the road, having saved some + distance by the “short-cut.” + </p> + <p> + “That ain't Weeks's store,” declared Captain Perez, who was in the lead. + “It's Web Saunders's place; that's what it is.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused and looked over to the left in the direction of the + Baxter homestead. The light in the window was still burning. + </p> + <p> + They turned into the “main road” at a dog trot and became part of a crowd + of oddly dressed people, all running in the same direction. + </p> + <p> + “Web's place, ain't it?” asked Eri of Seth Wingate, who was lumbering + along with a wooden bucket in one hand and the pitcher of his wife's best + washstand set in the other. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” breathlessly answered Mr. Wingate, “and it's a goner, they tell me. + Every man's got to do his part if they're going to save it. I allers said + we ought to have a fire department in this town.” + </p> + <p> + Considering that Seth had, for the past eight years, persistently opposed + in town-meeting any attempt to purchase a hand engine, this was a rather + surprising speech, but no one paid any attention to it then. + </p> + <p> + The fire was in the billiard saloon sure enough, and the back portion of + the building was in a blaze when they reached it. Ladders were placed + against the eaves, and a line of men with buckets were pouring water on + the roof. The line extended to the town pump, where two energetic youths + in their shirtsleeves were working the handle with might and main. The + houses near at hand were brilliantly illuminated, and men and women were + bringing water from them in buckets, tin pails, washboilers, and even + coalscuttles. + </p> + <p> + Inside the saloon another hustling crowd was busily working to “save” Mr. + Saunders' property. A dozen of the members had turned the biggest pool + table over on its back and were unscrewing the legs, heedless of the fact + that to attempt to get the table through the front door was an + impossibility and that, as the back door was in the thickest of the fire, + it, too, was out of the question. A man appeared at the open front window + of the second story with his arms filled with bottles of various liquids, + “original packages” and others. These, with feverish energy, he threw one + by one into the street, endangering the lives of everyone in range and, of + course, breaking every bottle thrown. Some one of the cooler heads calling + his attention to these facts, he retired and carefully packed all the + empty bottles, the only ones remaining, into a peach basket and tugged the + latter downstairs and to a safe place on a neighboring piazza. Then he + rested from his labors as one who had done all that might reasonably be + expected. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders himself, lightly attired in a nightshirt tucked into a pair + of trousers, was rushing here and there, now loudly demanding more water, + and then stopping to swear at the bottle-thrower or some other enthusiast. + “Web's” smoothness was all gone, and the language he used was, as Abigail + Mullett said afterward, “enough to bring down a jedgment on anybody.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri caught him by the sleeve as he was running past and inquired, + “How'd it start, Web?” + </p> + <p> + “How'd it START? I know mighty well HOW it started, and 'fore I git + through I'll know WHO started it. Somebody 'll pay for this, now you hear + me! Hurry up with the water, you—” + </p> + <p> + He tore frantically away to the pump and the three captains joined the + crowd of volunteer firemen. Captain Eri, running round to the back of the + building, took in the situation at once. Back of the main portion of the + saloon was an ell, and it was in this ell that the fire had started. The + ell, itself, was in a bright blaze, but the larger building in front was + only just beginning to burn. The Captain climbed one of the ladders to the + roof and called to the men at work there. + </p> + <p> + “That shed's gone, Ben,” he said. “Chuck your water on the main part here. + Maybe, if we had some ropes we might be able to pull the shed clear, and + then we could save the rest.” + </p> + <p> + “How'd you fasten the ropes?” was the panted reply. “She's all ablaze, and + a rope would burn through in a minute if you tied it anywheres.” + </p> + <p> + “Git some grapples and anchors out of Rogers' shop. He's got a whole lot + of 'em. Keep on with the water bus'ness. I'll git the other stuff.” + </p> + <p> + He descended the ladder and explained his idea to the crowd below. There + was a great shout and twenty men and boys started on a run after ropes, + while as many more stormed at the door of Nathaniel Rogers' blacksmith + shop. Rogers was the local dealer in anchors and other marine ironwork. + The door of the shop was locked and there was a yell for axes to burst it + open. + </p> + <p> + Then arose an agonized shriek of “Don't chop! don't chop!” and Mr. Rogers + himself came struggling to the defense of his property. In concert the + instant need was explained to him, but he remained unconvinced. + </p> + <p> + “We can't stay here arguin' all night!” roared one of the leaders. “He's + got to let us in. Go ahead and chop! I'll hold him.” + </p> + <p> + “I give you fair warnin', Squealer Wixon! If you chop that door, I'll have + the law onto you. I just had that door painted, and—STOP! I've got + the key in my pocket!” + </p> + <p> + It was plain that the majority were still in favor of chopping, as + affording a better outlet for surplus energy, but they waited while Mr. + Rogers, still protesting, produced the key and unlocked the door. In + another minute the greater portion of the ironwork in the establishment + was on its way to the fire. + </p> + <p> + The rope-seekers were just returning, laden with everything from + clothes-lines to cables. Half a dozen boat anchors and a grapnel were + fastened to as many ropes, and the crowd pranced gayly about the burning + ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain Eri found a party + with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the side of the saloon in + order to get out the pool table. After some endeavor he persuaded them to + desist and they came around to the rear and, taking turns, ran in close to + the shed and chopped at it until the fire drove them away. At last they + made a hole close to where it joined the main building, large enough to + attach the grapnel. Then, with a “Yo heave ho!” everyone took hold of the + rope and pulled. Of course the grapnel pulled out with only a board or + two, but they tried again, and, this time getting it around a beam, pulled + a large portion of the shed to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, another ax party had attached an anchor to the opposite side, + and were making good progress. In due time the shed yawned away from the + saloon, tottered, and collapsed in a shower of sparks. A deluge of water + soon extinguished these. Then everyone turned to the main building, and, + as the fire had not yet taken a firm hold of this, they soon had it under + control. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri worked with the rest until he saw that the worst was over. + Then he began the search that had been in his mind since he first saw the + blaze. He found Captain Jerry and Captain Perez perspiringly passing + buckets of water from hand to hand in the line, and, calling them to one + side, asked anxiously: + </p> + <p> + “Have either of you fellers seen John Baxter tonight?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez looked surprised, and then some of the trouble discernible + in Eri's face was apparent in his own. + </p> + <p> + “Why, no,” he replied slowly, “I ain't seen him, now you speak of it. + Everybody in town's here, too. Queer, ain't it? + </p> + <p> + “Haven't you seen him, either, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry answered with a shake of the head. “But then,” he said, + “Perez and me have been right here by the pump ever sence we come. He + might be 'most anywheres else, and we wouldn't see him. Want me to ask + some of the other fellers?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” exclaimed his friend, almost fiercely. “Don't you mention his name + to a soul, nor let 'em know you've thought of him. If anybody should ask, + tell 'em you guess he's right around somewheres. You two git to work + ag'in. I'll let you know if I want you.” + </p> + <p> + The pair took up their buckets, and the Captain walked on from group to + group, looking carefully at each person. The Reverend Perley and some of + his flock were standing by themselves on a neighboring stoop, and to them + the searcher turned eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Cap'n Eri!” exclaimed Miss Busteed, the first to identify him, “how + you've worked! You must be tired pretty nigh to death. Ain't it awful! But + it's the Lord's doin's; I'm jest as sure of that as I can be, and I says + so to Mr. Perley. Didn't I, Mr. Perley? I says—” + </p> + <p> + “Lookin' for anybody, Cap'n?” interrupted the reverend gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “No,” lied the Captain calmly, “jest walkin' around to git cooled off a + little. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + There was the most likely place, and John Baxter was not there. Certainly + every citizen in Orham, who was able to crawl, would be out this night, + and if the old puritan hermit of the big house was not present to exult + over the downfall of the wicked, it would be because he was ill or because—The + Captain didn't like to think of the other reason. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. “Web” Saunders, quietly weeping, was seated on a knoll near the pump. + Three of the Saunders' hopefuls, also weeping, but not quietly, were + seated beside her. Another, the youngest of the family, was being rocked + soothingly in the arms of a stout female, who was singing to it as + placidly as though fires were an every day, or night, occurrence. The + Captain peered down, and the stout woman looked up. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” exclaimed Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket made no immediate reply. She rose, however, shook + down the black “alpaca” skirt, which had been folded up to keep it out of + the dew, and, still humming softly to the child, walked off a little way, + motioning with her head for the Captain to follow. When she had reached a + spot sufficiently remote from Mrs. Saunders, she whispered: + </p> + <p> + “How d'ye do, Cap'n Hedge? I guess the wust is over now, isn't it? I saw + you workin' with them ropes; you must be awful tired.” + </p> + <p> + “How long have you been here?” asked the Captain somewhat astonished at + her calmness. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I come right down as soon as I heard the bell. I'm kind of used to + fires. My husband's schooner got afire twice while I was with him. He used + to run a coal vessel, you know. I got right up and packed my bag, 'cause I + didn't know how the fire might spread. You never can tell in a town like + this. Ssh'h, dearie,” to the baby, “there, there, it's all right. Lay + still.” + </p> + <p> + “How'd you git acquainted with her?” nodding toward the wife of the + proprietor of the scorched saloon. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I see the poor thing settin' there with all them children and nobody + paying much attention to her, so I went over and asked if I couldn't help + out. I haven't got any children of my own, but I was number three in a + fam'ly of fourteen, so I know how it's done. Oh! that husband of hers! + He's a nice one, he is! Would you b'lieve it, he come along and she spoke + to him, and he swore at her somethin' dreadful. That's why she's cryin'. + Poor critter, I guess by the looks she's used to it. Well, I give HIM a + piece of my mind. He went away with a flea in his ear. I do despise a + profane man above all things. Yes, the baby's all right, Mrs. Saunders. + I'm a-comin'. Good-night, Cap'n Hedge. I s'pose I shall see you all in the + mornin'. You ought to be careful and not stand still much this damp night. + It's bad when you're het up so.” + </p> + <p> + She went back, still singing to the baby, to where Mrs. Saunders sat, and + the Captain looked after her in a kind of amazed fashion. + </p> + <p> + “By mighty!” he muttered, and then repeated it. Then he resumed his + search. + </p> + <p> + He remembered that there had been a number of people on the side of the + burning shed opposite that on which he had been employed, and he + determined to have one look there before going to the Baxter homestead. + Almost the first man he saw as he approached the dying fire was Ralph + Hazeltine. The electrician's hands and face were blackened by soot, and + the perspiration sparkled on his forehead. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Captain!” he said, holding out his hand. “Lively for a while, + wasn't it? They tell me you were the man who suggested pulling down the + shed. It saved the day, all right enough.” + </p> + <p> + “You look as if you'd been workin' some yourself. Was you one of the + fellers that got that anchor in on this side?” + </p> + <p> + “He was THE one,” broke in Mr. Wingate, who was standing at Hazeltine's + elbow. “He waded in with an ax and stayed there till I thought he'd burn + the hair off his head. Web ought to pay you and him salvage, Eri. The + whole craft would have gone up if it hadn't been for you two.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder if they got that pool table out,” laughed Ralph. “They did + everything but saw it into chunks.” + </p> + <p> + “I never saw Bluey Bacheldor work so afore,” commented the Captain. “I + wish somebody'd took a photograph of him. I'll bet you could sell 'em + round town for curiosities. Well, I can't be standin' here.” + </p> + <p> + “If you're going home I'll go along with you. I may as well be getting + down toward the station. The excitement is about over.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't goin' right home, Mr. Hazeltine. I've got an errand to do. + Prob'ly I'll be goin' pretty soon, though.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right! I'll wait here a while longer then. See you later + perhaps.” + </p> + <p> + The fog had lifted somewhat and as the Captain, running silently, turned + into the “shore road,” he saw that the light in the Baxter homestead had + not been extinguished. The schoolhouse bell had ceased to ring, and the + shouts of the crowd at the fire sounded faintly. There were no other + sounds. + </p> + <p> + Up the driveway Captain Eri hurried. There were no lights in the lower + part of the house and the dining-room door was locked. The kitchen door, + however, was not fastened and the Captain opened it and entered. Shutting + it carefully behind him, he groped along to the entrance of the next room. + </p> + <p> + “John!” he called softly. There was no answer, and the house was perfectly + still save for the ticking of the big clock. Captain Eri scratched a match + and by its light climbed the stairs. His friend's room was empty. The lamp + was burning on the bureau and a Bible was open beside it. The bed had not + been slept in. + </p> + <p> + Thoroughly alarmed now, the Captain, lamp in hand, went through one room + after the other. John Baxter was not at home, and he was not with the + crowd at the fire. Where was he? There was, of course, a chance that his + friend had passed him on the way or that he had been at the fire, after + all, but this did not seem possible. However, there was nothing to do but + go back, and this time the Captain took the path across the fields. + </p> + <p> + The Baxter house was on the “shore road,” and the billiard room and + post-office were on the “main road.” People in a hurry sometimes avoided + the corner by climbing the fence opposite the Baxter gate, going through + the Dawes' pasture and over the little hill back of the livery stable, and + coming out in the rear of the post-office and close to the saloon. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, worried, afraid to think of the fire and its cause, and only + anxious to ascertain where his friend was and what he had been doing that + night, trotted through the pasture and over the hill. Just as he came to + the bayberry bushes on the other side he stumbled and fell flat. + </p> + <p> + He knew what it was that he had stumbled over the moment that he fell + across it, and his fingers trembled, so that he could scarcely scratch the + match that he took from his pocket. But it was lighted at last and, as its + tiny blaze grew brighter, the Captain saw John Baxter lying face downward + in the path, his head pointed toward his home and his feet toward the + billiard saloon. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + </h3> + <p> + For a second, only, Captain Eri stood there motionless, stooping over the + body of his friend. Then he sprang into vigorous action. He dropped upon + his knees and, seizing the shoulder of the prostrate figure, shook it + gently, whispering, “John! John!” There was no answer and no responsive + movement, and the Captain bent his head and listened. Breath was there and + life; but, oh, so little of either! The next thought was, of course, to + run for help and for a doctor, but he took but a few steps when a new idea + struck him and he came back. + </p> + <p> + Lighting another match he examined the fallen man hurriedly. The old + “Come-Outer” lay in the path with his arms outstretched, as if he had + fallen while running. He was bare-headed, and there was no sign of a wound + upon him. One coat-sleeve was badly scorched, and from a pocket in the + coat protruded the neck of a bottle. The bottle was empty, but its odor + was strong; it had contained kerosene. The evidence was clear, and the + Captain knew that what he had feared was the truth. + </p> + <p> + For a moment he stood erect and pondered as to what was best to do. + Whatever it was, it must be done quickly, but if the doctor and those that + might come with him should find the burned coat and the tell-tale bottle, + it were better for John Baxter that consciousness and life never were his + again. There might, and probably would, be suspicion; but here was proof + absolute that meant prison and disgrace for a man whom all the community + had honored and respected. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri weighed the chances, speculated on the result, and then did + what seemed to him right. He threw the bottle as far away from the path as + he could and then stripped off the coat, and, folding it into a small + bundle, hid it in the bushes near by. Then he lifted the limp body, and + turned it so that the gray head was toward the billiard saloon instead of + from it. + </p> + <p> + Perez and Jerry were still busy with the water buckets when their friend + came panting up the knoll to the pump. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Eri!” said the former, wiping his forehead with his arm. “It's + 'bout out, ain't it? Why, what's the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin'; nothin' to speak of. Put down them buckets, and you and Jerry + come with me. I've got somethin' that I want you to do.” + </p> + <p> + Nodding and exchanging congratulations with acquaintances in the crowd on + the success of the fire-fighting, Captain Eri led his messmates to a dark + corner under a clump of trees. Then he took each of them by the arm and + whispered sharply: + </p> + <p> + “Dr. Palmer's somewheres in this crowd. I want each of you fellers to go + diff'rent ways and look for him. Whichever one finds him fust can bring + him up to the corner by the post-office. Whistle when you git there and + the rest of us 'll come. Don't stop to ask questions. I ain't hurt, but + John Baxter's had a stroke or somethin'. I can't tell you no more now. + Hurry! And say, don't you mention to a soul what the matter is.” + </p> + <p> + A sea-faring life has its advantages. It teaches prompt obedience, for one + thing. The two mariners did not hesitate an instant, but bolted in + opposite directions. Captain Eri watched them go, and then set off in + another. He was stopped every few moments and all sorts of questions and + comments concerning the fire and its cause were fired at him, but he put + off some inquiries with a curt “Don't know” and others with nods or + negatives, and threaded his way from one clump of townspeople to another. + As he came close to the blackened and smoking billiard saloon, Ralph + Hazeltine caught him by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” said the electrician. “Haven't you gone home yet?” + </p> + <p> + “No, not yit. Say, I'll ask you, 'cause I cal'late you can keep your mouth + shut if it's necessary: Have you seen the Doctor anywheres 'round lately? + He was here, 'cause I saw him when I fust come.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, Dr. Palmer? No; I haven't seen him. Is anyone hurt? Can I help?” + </p> + <p> + “I guess not. John Baxter's sick, but—oh, Lord! Here comes Wingate. + He'll talk for a week.” + </p> + <p> + Seth, panting and excited, was pushing his way toward them, shouting the + Captain's name at the top of his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Hey, Eri!” he hailed. “I want to know if you'll sign a petition to git + the town a fire ingyne? I've been talkin' to a couple of the s'lectmen and + they—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Mr. Wingate,” interrupted Ralph, “Mr. Mullett's been looking for you. + He's over there by the pump, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, Lem Mullett? Is that so! He's jest the feller I want to see. See you + later, Eri.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain grinned appreciatively as the convert to the hand-engine + proposal disappeared. + </p> + <p> + “That wasn't so bad,” he said. “I'm much obliged. Hey! There's the + whistle. Come on, Mr. Hazeltine, if you ain't in a special hurry. Maybe we + WILL need you.” + </p> + <p> + They reached the corner by the post-office to find Dr. Palmer, who had + practiced medicine in Orham since he received his diploma, waiting for + them. Captain Perez, who had discovered the physician on the Nickerson + piazza, was standing close by with his fingers in his mouth, whistling + with the regularity of a foghorn. + </p> + <p> + “Cut it short, Perez!” commanded Eri. “We're here now.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but Jerry ain't.” And the whistling began again. + </p> + <p> + “Dry up, for the land's sake! D'you want to fetch the whole tribe here? + There's Jerry, now. Come on, Doctor.” + </p> + <p> + John Baxter was lying just as the Captain had left him, and the others + watched anxiously as the doctor listened at the parted lips, and thrust + his hand inside the faded blue waistcoat. + </p> + <p> + “He's alive,” he said after a moment, “but unconscious. We must get him + home at once.” + </p> + <p> + “He heard the bell and was runnin' to the fire when he was took,” said + Captain Jerry. “Run out in his shirt sleeves, and was took when he got as + fur as here.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the way I figger it,” said Eri unblushingly. “Lift him carefully, + you fellers. Now then!” + </p> + <p> + “I warned him against over-exertion or excitement months ago,” said the + Doctor, as they bore the senseless burden toward the big house, now as + black as the grave that was so near its owner. “We must find someone to + take care of him at once. I don't believe the old man has a relation + within a hundred miles.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't we take him to our house?” suggested Captain Jerry. “'Twouldn't + seem so plaguey lonesome, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “By mighty!” ejaculated Captain Eri in astonishment. “Well, Jerry, I'll be + switched if you ain't right down brilliant once in a while. Of course we + will. He can have the spare room. Why didn't I think of that, I wonder?” + </p> + <p> + And so John Baxter, who had not paid a visit in his native village since + his wife died, came at last to his friend's home to pay what seemed likely + to be a final one. They carried him up the stairs to the spare room, as + dismal and cheerless as spare rooms in the country generally are, + undressed him as tenderly as their rough hands would allow, robed him in + one of Captain Jerry's nightshirts—the buttons that fastened it had + been sewed on by the Captain himself, and were all sizes and colors—and + laid him in the big corded bedstead. The Doctor hastened away to procure + his medicine case. Ralph Hazeltine, having been profusely thanked for his + services and promising to call the next day, went back to the station, and + the three captains sat down by the bedside to watch and wait. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was too much perturbed to talk, but the other two, although + sympathetically sorry for the sufferer, were bursting with excitement and + curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if THIS ain't been a night!” exclaimed Captain Jerry. “Seem's if + everything happened at once. Fust that darky and then the fire and then + this. Don't it beat all? + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said Captain Perez anxiously, “was John layin' jest the same way + when you found him as he was when we come?” + </p> + <p> + “Right in the same place,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't say in the same place. I asked if he was layin' the same way.” + </p> + <p> + “He hadn't moved a muscle. Laid jest as if he was dead.” + </p> + <p> + It will be noticed that Captain Eri was adhering strictly to the truth. + Luckily, Perez seemed to be satisfied, for he asked no further questions, + but observed, “It's a good thing we've got a crowd to swear how we found + him. There's a heap of folks in this town would be sayin' he set that fire + if 'twa'n't for that.” + </p> + <p> + “Some of 'em will be sayin' it anyhow,” remarked Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Some folks 'll say anything but their prayers,” snapped Eri savagely. + “They won't say it while I'm around. And look here! if you hear anybody + sayin' it, you tell 'em it's a lie. If that don't keep 'em quiet, let me + know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right. WE know he didn't set it. I was jest sayin'—” + </p> + <p> + “Well, don't say it.” + </p> + <p> + “My, you're techy! Guess fires and colored folks don't agree with you. + What are we goin' to do now? If John don't die, and the Lord knows I hope + he won't, he's likely to be sick here a long spell. Who are we goin' to + git to take care of him? That's what I want to know. Somebody's got to do + it and we ain't fit. If Jerry 'd only give in and git married now—” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry's protest against matrimony was as obstinate as ever. + Even Perez gave up urging after a while and conversation lagged again. In + a few minutes the Doctor came back, and his examination of the patient and + demands for glasses of water, teaspoons, and the like, kept Perez and + Jerry busy. It was some time before they noticed that Captain Eri had + disappeared. Even then they did not pay much attention to the + circumstance, but watched the physician at work and questioned him + concerning the nature of their guest's illness. + </p> + <p> + “D'you think he'll die, Doctor?” inquired Jerry in a hushed voice, as they + came out of the sick room into the connecting chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Can't say. He has had a stroke of paralysis, and there seem to be other + complications. If he regains consciousness I shall think he has a chance, + but not a very good one. His pulse is a little stronger. I don't think + he'll die to-night, but if he lives he will need a good nurse, and I don't + know of one in town.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor me neither,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Well, A'nt Zuby might come,” suggested Jerry, “but I should hate to have + her nuss me, and as for bein' WELL in a house where she was—whew!” + </p> + <p> + “A'nt Zuby!” sneered his messmate. “If Lorenzo had a fit and they called + A'nt Zuby he'd have another one and die. A'nt Zuby! I'd 'bout as soon have + M'lissy and be done with it.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I don't doubt YOU WOULD,” was the anything but gentle retort. + </p> + <p> + What Perez would have said to this thrust must be surmised, for just then + the dining-room door opened and closed again. + </p> + <p> + “There's Eri,” said Captain Jerry. Then he added in an alarmed whisper, + “Who on airth has he got with him?” + </p> + <p> + They heard their friend's voice warning someone to be careful of the top + step, and then the chamber door opened and Captain Eri appeared. There + were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and he was carrying a shabby + canvas extension-case. Captain Jerry gazed at the extension-case with + bulging eyes. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri put down the extension-case and opened the door wide. A woman + came in; a stout woman dressed in black “alpaca” and wearing brass-rimmed + spectacles. Captain Jerry gasped audibly. + </p> + <p> + “Dr. Palmer,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with Mrs. Snow + of Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Dr. Palmer.” + </p> + <p> + The Doctor and the lady from Nantucket shook hands, the former with a + puzzled expression on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” continued the Captain, “let me make you known to Mrs. Snow—Mrs. + Marthy B. Snow,”—this with especial emphasis,—“of Nantucket. + Mrs. Snow, this is Cap'n Perez Ryder.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands; Captain Perez managed to say that he was glad to meet + Mrs. Snow. Captain Jerry said nothing, but he looked like a criminal + awaiting the fall of the drop. + </p> + <p> + “Doctor,” continued the Captain, paying no attention to the signals of + distress displayed by his friend, “I heard you say a spell ago that John + here needed somebody to take care of him. Well, Mrs. Snow—she's a—a—sort + of relation of Jerry's”—just a suspicion of a smile accompanied this + assertion—“and she's done consid'rable nussin' in her time. I've + been talkin' the thing over with her and she's willin' to look out for + John till he gits better.” + </p> + <p> + The physician adjusted his eyeglasses and looked the volunteer nurse over + keenly. The lady paid no attention to the scrutiny, but calmly removed her + bonnet and placed it on the bureau. The room was Captain Eri's, and the + general disarrangement of everything movable was only a little less marked + than in those of his companions. Mrs. Snow glanced over the heap of odds + and ends on the bureau and picked up a comb. There were some teeth in it, + but they were distant neighbors. + </p> + <p> + “I don't use that comb very much,” said Captain Eri rather apologetically. + “I gin'rally use the one downstairs.” + </p> + <p> + The new-found relative of Captain Jerry said nothing, but, laying down the + ruin, marched over to the extension-case, opened it, and took out another + comb—a whole one. With this she arranged the hair on her forehead. + It, the hair, was parted in the middle and drawn back smoothly at the + sides, and Captain Eri noticed that it was brown with a little gray in it. + When the last stray wisp was in place, she turned calmly to the Doctor and + said: + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Baxter's in here, I s'pose. Shall I walk right in?” + </p> + <p> + The man of medicine seemed a little surprised at the lady's command of the + situation, but he said: + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, ma'am; I guess you may. You have nursed before, I think the + Captain said.” + </p> + <p> + “Five years with my husband. He had slow consumption. Before that with my + mother, and most of my brothers and sisters at one time or another. I've + seen consid'rable sickness all my life. More of that than anything else, I + guess. Now, if you'll come in with me, so's to tell me about the medicine + and so on.” + </p> + <p> + With a short “Humph!” the physician followed her into the sick room, while + the three mariners gazed wide-eyed in at the door. They watched, as Doctor + Palmer explained medicines and gave directions. It did not need an expert + to see that the new nurse understood her business. + </p> + <p> + When the Doctor came out his face shone with gratification. + </p> + <p> + “She'll do,” he said emphatically. “If all your relatives are like that, + Cap'n Burgess, I'd like to know 'em; 'twould help me in my business.” Then + he added in response to a question, “He seems to be a little better just + now. I think there will be no change for a while; if there should be, send + for me. I'll call in the morning. Gracious! it's almost daylight now.” + </p> + <p> + They saw him to the door and then came back upstairs. Mrs. Snow was busy, + arranging the pillows, setting the room in something like order, and + caring for her patient's garments, that had been tossed helter-skelter on + the floor in the hurry of undressing. She came to the door as they entered + Captain Eri's chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” said the Captain, “you'd better sleep in my room here long's + you stay. I'll bunk in with Perez downstairs. I'll git my dunnage out of + here right off. I think likely you'll want to clean up some.” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket glanced at the bureau top and seemed about to say + something, but checked herself. What she did say was: + </p> + <p> + “P'raps you'd better introduce me to Cap'n Burgess. I don't think we've + ever met, if we ARE relations.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri actually blushed a little. “Why, of course,” he said. “Excuse + me, ma'am. Jerry, this is Mrs. Snow. I don't know what's got into me, + bein' so careless.” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice shook the nurse's hand and said something, nobody knew + exactly what. Mrs. Snow went on to say, “Now, I want you men to go right + on to bed, for I know you're all tuckered out. We can talk to-morrow—I + mean to-day, of course: I forgot 'twas next-door to daylight now. I shall + set up with Cap'n Baxter, and if I need you I'll call you. I'll call you + anyway when I think it's time. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + They protested, of course, but the lady would not listen. She calmly + seated herself in the rocker by the bed and waved to them to go, which two + of them reluctantly did after a while. The other one had gone already. It + would be superfluous to mention his name. + </p> + <p> + Downstairs again and in Perez' room Captain Eri came in for a questioning + that bade fair to keep up forever. He shut off all inquiries, however, + with the announcement that he wouldn't tell them a word about it till he'd + had some sleep. Then he would explain the whole thing, and they could + decide whether he had done right or not. There were all sorts of things to + be considered, he said, and they had better take a nap now while they + could. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'd jest like to ask you this, Eri Hedge,” demanded Captain Jerry. + “What in time did you tell the Doctor that she was a relation of mine for? + That was a nice thing to do, wa'n't it? I'll have to answer more fool + questions 'bout that than a little. What sort of a relation shall I tell + folks she is? Jest tell me that, will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, tell 'em she's a relation by marriage,” was the answer, muffled by + the bed clothes. “Maybe that 'll be true by the time they ask you.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll BET it won't!” snorted the rebel. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Jerry, tired out, + did the same, but Captain Eri's eyes did not close. The surf pounded and + grumbled. A rooster, early astir, crowed somewhere in the distance. Daniel + thumped the side of his stall and then subsided for another nap. The gray + morning light brightened the window of the little house. + </p> + <p> + Then Captain Eri slid silently out of bed, dressed with elaborate + precautions against noise, put on his cap, and tiptoed out of the house. + He walked through the dripping grass, climbed the back fence and hurried + to the hill where John Baxter had fallen. Once there, he looked carefully + around to be sure that no one was watching. Orham, as a rule, is an early + riser, but this morning most of the inhabitants, having been up for the + greater part of the night, were making up lost sleep and the Captain was + absolutely alone. + </p> + <p> + Assured of this, he turned to the bush underneath which he had hidden the + burned coat, pushed aside the drenched boughs with their fading leaves and + reached down for the tell-tale garment. + </p> + <p> + And then he made an unpleasant discovery. The coat was gone. + </p> + <p> + He spent an agitated quarter of an hour hunting through every clump of + bushes in the immediate vicinity, but there was no doubt of it. Someone + had been there before him and had taken the coat away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + </h3> + <p> + There was a knock on the door of Captain Perez's sleeping apartment. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” said Mrs. Snow, “Cap'n Hedge! I'm sorry to wake you up, but + it's 'most ten o'clock and—” + </p> + <p> + “What? Ten o'clock! Godfrey scissors! Of all the lazy—I'll be out in + a jiffy. Perez, turn out there! Turn out, I tell you!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had fallen asleep in the rocker where he had seated himself + upon his return from the fruitless search for the coat. He had had no + intention of sleeping, but he was tired after his strenuous work at the + fire, and had dropped off in the midst of his worry. He sprang to his + feet, and tried to separate dreams from realities. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love, Perez!” he ejaculated. “Here you and me have been sleepin' + ha'f the forenoon. We'd ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Let's git + dressed quicker 'n chain lightnin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Dressed?” queried Perez, sitting up in bed. “I should think you was + dressed now, boots and all. What are you talkin' 'bout?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced down at his clothes and seemed as much surprised as + his friend. He managed to pull himself together, however, and stammered: + </p> + <p> + “Dressed? Oh, I'm dressed, of course. It's you I'm tryin' to git some life + into.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, why didn't you call a feller, 'stead of gittin' up and dressin' all + by yourself. I never see such a critter. Where's my socks?” + </p> + <p> + To avoid further perplexing questions Captain Eri went into the dining + room. The table was set, really set, with a clean cloth and dishes that + shone. The knives and forks were arranged by the plates, not piled in a + heap for each man to help himself. The Captain gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan to man!” he said. “Has Jerry had a fit or what's struck him? + I ain't seen him do anything like this for I don't know when.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Cap'n Burgess didn't fix the table, if that's what you mean,” said + the new nurse. “Cap'n Baxter seemed to be sleepin' or in a stupor like, + and the Doctor, when he come, said I might leave him long enough to run + downstairs for a few minutes, so—” + </p> + <p> + “The Doctor? Has the Doctor been here this mornin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he come 'bout an hour ago. Now, if you wouldn't mind goin' up and + stayin' with Cap'n Baxter for a few minutes while I finish gettin' + breakfast. I've been up and down so many times in the last ha'f hour, I + don't know's I'm sartin whether I'm on my head or my heels.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain went upstairs in a dazed state. As he passed through what had + been his room he vaguely noticed that the bureau top was clean, and that + most of the rubbish that had ornamented it had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The sick man lay just as he had left him, his white face as colorless as + the clean pillow case against which it rested. Captain Eri remembered that + the pillow cases in the spare room had looked a little yellow the night + before, possibly owing to the fact that, as the room had not been occupied + for months, they had not been changed. He reasoned that the improvement + was another one of the reforms instituted by the lady from Nantucket. + </p> + <p> + He sat down in the rocker by the bed and thought, with a shiver, of the + missing coat. There were nine chances out of ten that whoever found it + would recognize it as belonging to the old “Come-Outer.” The contents of + the pocket would be almost certain to reveal the secret if the coat itself + did not. It remained to be seen who the finder was and what he would do. + Meanwhile there was no use worrying. Having come to this conclusion the + Captain, with customary philosophy, resolved to think of something else. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow entered and announced that breakfast was ready and that he must + go down at once and eat it while it was hot. She, having breakfasted some + time before, would stay with the patient until the meal was over. Captain + Eri at first flatly declined to listen to any such arrangement, but the + calm insistence of the Nantucket visitor prevailed as usual. The Captain + realized that the capacity for “bossin' things,” that he had discerned in + the letter, was even more apparent in the lady herself. One thing he did + insist upon, however, and this was that Mrs. Snow should “turn in” as soon + as breakfast was over. One of the three would take the watch in the sick + room while the other two washed the dishes. The nurse was inclined to balk + on the dishwashing proposition, saying that she could do it herself after + she had had a wink or two, but this the Captain wouldn't hear of. He went + away, however, with an unsettled conviction that, although he and his + partners might wash the dishes, Mrs. Snow would wash them again as soon as + she had an opportunity. “She didn't say so, but she sort of looked it,” he + explained afterward. + </p> + <p> + He found his friends seated at the table and feasting on hot biscuits, + eggs, and clear, appetizing coffee. They greeted him joyously. + </p> + <p> + “Hey, Eri!” hailed Captain Perez. “Ain't this gay? Look at them eggs; + b'iled jest to a T. Ain't much like Jerry's h'af raw kind.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! You needn't say nothin', Perez,” observed Captain Jerry, his mouth + full of biscuit. “When you was cook, you allers b'iled 'em so hard they'd + dent the barn if you'd fired 'em at it. How's John, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gave his and the Doctor's opinion of his friend's condition + and then said, “Now, we've got to have some kind of a settlement on this + marryin' question. Last night, when I was up in the room there, it come + acrost me all of a sudden that, from what I'd seen of this Nantucket + woman, she'd be jest the sort of nurse that John needed. So I skipped out + while you fellers was busy with the Doctor, found her at the hotel, + explained things to her, and got her to come down. That's all there is to + that. I ain't made no arrangement with her, and somethin's got to be done. + What do you think of her, jedgin' by what you've seen?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gave it as his opinion that she was “all right,” and added, + “If Jerry here wa'n't so pigheaded all at once, he'd marry her without + waitin' another minute.” + </p> + <p> + Eri nodded. “That's my idee,” he said emphatically. + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry was as obstinate as ever. He simply would not consider + immediate marriage. In vain his comrades reminded him of the original + compact, and the fact that the vote was two to one against him; he + announced that he had changed his mind, and that that was all there was + about it. + </p> + <p> + At length Captain Eri lost patience. + </p> + <p> + “Jerry,” he exclaimed, “you remind me of that old white hen we used to + have. When we didn't want her to set she'd set on anything from a doorknob + to a rock, couldn't keep her off; but when we give in finally and got a + settin' of eggs for her, she wouldn't come nigher to 'em than the other + end of the hen-yard. Now you might as well make up your mind that + somethin's got to be done. This Mrs. Snow ain't nobody's fool. We put out + a bait that anybody with sense would say couldn't catch nothin' but + sculpin, and, by mighty, we hooked a halibut! If the woman was anything + like what you'd think she'd be, answerin' an advertisement like that, I'd + be the fust to say let her go, but she ain't; she's all right, and we need + her to nuss John besides.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell you what we might do,” said Perez slowly; “we might explain to her + that Jerry don't feel that 'twould be right to think of marryin' with + Cap'n Baxter so sick in the house and that, if she's willin', we'll put it + off till he dies or gets better. Meantime, we'll pay her so much to stay + here and nuss. Seems to me that's about the only way out of it.” + </p> + <p> + So they agreed to lay this proposal before the Nantucket lady, Captain + Jerry reluctantly consenting. Then Captain Eri took up another subject. + </p> + <p> + John Baxter, as has been said, had one relative, a granddaughter, living + somewhere near Boston. Captain Eri felt that this granddaughter should be + notified of the old man's illness at once. The difficulty was that none of + them knew the young lady's address. + </p> + <p> + “Her fust name's Elizabeth, same as her mothers was,” said Eri, “and her + dad's name was Preston. They called her Elsie. John used to write to her + every once in a while. P'raps Sam would know where she lived.” + </p> + <p> + “Jest' cause Sam's postmaster,” observed Perez, “it don't foller that he + reads the name on every letter that goes out and remembers 'em besides.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if he don't,” said Captain Jerry decidedly, “Mary Emma does. She + reads everything, postals and all.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Mary Emma Cahoon was the assistant at the post-office, and was + possessed of a well-developed curiosity concerning other people's + correspondence. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed Captain Eri, “that's so. We'll write the letter, and + I'll ask Mary Emma for the address when I go up to mail it.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Perez went upstairs to take Mrs Snow's place as nurse, while + that lady “turned in.” Captain Jerry went into the kitchen to wash the + dishes, and Captain Eri sat down to write the note that should inform + Elizabeth Preston of her grandfather's illness. It was a very short note, + and merely stated the fact without further information. Having had some + experience in that line, the Captain placed very little reliance upon the + help to be expected from relatives. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Palmer had spread the news as he went upon his round of visits that + morning, and callers began to drop in to inquire after the sick man. Miss + Busteed was one of the first arrivals, and, as Captain Eri had seen her + through the window, he went upstairs and took Perez' place as temporary + nurse. To Perez, therefore, fell the delightful task of entertaining the + voluble female for something like an hour, while she talked fire, + paralysis, and general gossip at express speed. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine came in a little later, and was introduced to Mrs. Snow, + that lady's nap having been but a short one. Ralph was favorably impressed + with the capable appearance of the new nurse, and so expressed himself to + Captain Eri as they walked together toward the post-office. + </p> + <p> + “I like her,” he said emphatically. “She's quiet and sensible and cheerful + besides. She looks as if trouble didn't trouble her very much.” + </p> + <p> + “I jedge she's seen enough of it in her time, too,” observed the Captain + reflectively. “Queer thing how trouble acts different on folks. Kind of + like hot weather, sours milk, but sweetens apples. She's one of the + sweetened kind. And yet, I cal'late she can be pretty sharp, too, if you + try to tread on her toes. Sort of a sweet pickle, hey?” and he laughed. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cahoon remembered the Preston girl's address. It was Cambridge, + Kirkland Street, but the number, she did declare, had skipped her mind. + The Captain said he would chance it without the number, so the letter was + posted. Then, with the electrician, he strolled over to inspect the + remains of the billiard saloon. + </p> + <p> + There was a small crowd gathered about the building, prominent among its + members being the “train committee,” who were evidently holding a special + session on this momentous occasion. The busy “Squealer,” a trifle + enlivened by some of Mr. Saunders' wet goods that had escaped the efforts + of the volunteer salvage corps, hailed the new arrivals as brother heroes. + </p> + <p> + “Well now, Cap'n Eri!” he exclaimed, shaking hands vigorously. “And Mr. + Hazeltine, too! How're you feelin' after last night? I says to Web, I + says, 'There's folks in this town besides me that kept you from losin' the + whole thing and you ought to thank 'em,' I says. 'One of 'em 's Cap'n Eri + and t'other one's Mr. Hazeltine. If we three didn't work, then <i>I</i> + don't know,' I says.” + </p> + <p> + “Web found out how the fire started yit?” inquired the Captain with + apparent unconcern. + </p> + <p> + “No, he hain't for sure. There was a lot of us thought old Baxter might + have set it, but they tell me it couldn't have been him, cause he was took + down runnin' to the fire. Web, he's sort of changed his tune, and don't + seem to think anybody set it; thinks it catched itself.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders, his smooth self again, with all traces of mental disturbance + gone from his face and all roughness from his tongue, came briskly up, + smiling as if the burning of his place of business was but a trifling + incident, a little annoying, of course, but not worth fretting about. He + thanked the Captain and Hazeltine effusively for their service of the + previous night, and piled the weight of his obligations upon them until, + as Captain Eri said afterwards, “the syrup fairly dripped off his chin.” + The Captain broke in upon the sugary flow as soon as he could. + </p> + <p> + “How d'you think it started, Web?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” replied Mr. Saunders slowly, “I kind of cal'late she started + herself. There was some of the boys in here most of the evenin', and, jest + like's not, a cigar butt, or a match, or somethin' dropped somewheres and + got to smolderin', and smoldered along till bime-by—puff!” An + expressive wave of a fat hand finished the sentence. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted the Captain. “Changed your mind sence last night. Seems + to me I heard you then swearin' you knew 'twas set and who set it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, ye-es. I was considerable shook up last night and maybe I said + things I hadn't ought to. You see there's been a good deal of hard + feelin's towards me in town and for a spell I thought some feller'd tried + to burn me out. But I guess not; I guess not. More I think of it, more I + think it catched itself. Seems to me I remember smellin' sort of a + scorchin' smell when I was lockin' up. Oh, say! I was mighty sorry to hear + 'bout Cap'n Baxter bein' took sick. The old man was dreadful down on + liquor, but I laid that to his religion and never had no hard feelin's + against him. How's he gittin' along?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri brusquely replied that his friend was “'bout the same,” and + asked if Mr. Saunders intended to rebuild. “Web” didn't know just yet. He + was a poor man, didn't carry much insurance, and so on. Thought likely he + should fix up again if it didn't cost too much. Did the Doctor say whether + Captain Baxter would pull through or not? + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gave an evasive answer and turned away. He was silent for some + little time, and when Ralph commented on “Web's” overnight change of + manner, his rejoinder was to the effect that “ile was bound to rise, but + that didn't mean there wa'n't dirty water underneath.” On the way home he + asked Hazeltine concerning the trouble at the cable station, and how Mr. + Langley had treated the matter. + </p> + <p> + Ralph replied that Mr. Langley had said nothing to him about it. It was + his opinion that the old gentleman understood the affair pretty well, and + was not disposed to blame him. As for the men, they had been as docile as + lambs, and he thought the feeling toward himself was not as bitter as it + had been. All of which his companion said he was glad to hear. + </p> + <p> + They separated at the gate, and the Captain entered the house to find Mrs. + Snow wielding a broom and surrounded by a cloud of dust. Perez was + upstairs with the patient, and Captain Jerry, whose habits had been + considerably upset by the sweeping, was out in the barn. + </p> + <p> + That evening the situation was explained to Mrs. Snow by Captain Eri, in + accordance with the talk at the breakfast table. The lady from Nantucket + understood and respected Captain Jerry's unwillingness to discuss the + marriage question while John Baxter's condition continued critical, and + she agreed to act as nurse and housekeeper for a while, at least, for the + sum of six dollars a week. This price was fixed only after considerable + discussion by the three mariners, for Captain Eri was inclined to offer + eight, and Captain Jerry but four. + </p> + <p> + When Ralph Hazeltine called late in the afternoon of the following day, + the dining room was so transformed that he scarcely knew it. The dust had + disappeared; the chronometer was polished till it shone; the table was + covered with a cloth that was snow-white, and everything movable had the + appearance of being in its place. Altogether, there was an evidence of + order that was almost startling. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri came to the door in response to his knock, and grinned + appreciatively at his caller's look of wonder. + </p> + <p> + “I don't wonder you're s'prised,” he said, with a chuckle. “I ain't begun + to git over it yit, myself, and Lorenzo's so shook up he ain't been in the + house sence breakfast time. He's out in the barn, keepin' Dan'l comp'ny + and waitin' for the end of the world to strike, I cal'late.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “Mrs. Snow?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” answered the Captain. “It beats all what a woman can do when + she's that kind of a woman. She's done more swabbin' decks and overhaulin' + runnin' riggin' than a new mate on a clipper. The place is so all-fired + clean that I feel like brushin' myself every time I go to set down.” + </p> + <p> + “How's Captain Baxter?” asked Hazeltine. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to be some better. He come to a little this mornin', and seemed to + know some of us, but he ain't sensed where he is yit, nor I don't b'lieve + he will fur a spell. Set down and keep me comp'ny. It's my watch jest now. + Perez, he's over to Barry's; Jerry's up to the schoolhouse, and Mrs. + Snow's run up to the post-office to mail a letter. John's asleep, so I can + stay downstairs a little while, long's the door's open. What's the news + uptown? Web changed his mind ag'in 'bout the fire?” + </p> + <p> + It appeared that Mr. Saunders had not changed his mind, at least so + current gossip reported. And it may be remarked here that, curiously + enough, the opinion that the fire “caught itself” came at last to be + generally accepted in the village. For some weeks Captain Eri was troubled + with thoughts concerning the missing coat, but, as time passed, and the + accusing garment did not turn up, he came to believe that some boy must + have found it and that it had, in all probability, been destroyed. There + were, of course, some persons who still suspected John Baxter as the + incendiary, but the old man's serious illness and respect for his former + standing in the community kept these few silent. The Baxter house had been + locked up and the Captain had the key. + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine and his host chatted for a few minutes on various topics. The + gilt titles on the imposing “Lives of Great Naval Commanders,” having + received their share of the general dusting, now shone forth resplendent, + and the Captain noticed Ralph's eye as it involuntarily turned toward + them. + </p> + <p> + “Noticin' our library?” he chuckled. “Perez' property, that is. 'Gusty + Black talked him into buyin' 'em. Never met 'Gusty, did you? No, I guess + likely not. She lives over to the Neck, and don't git down to the village + much. 'Gusty's what you call a business woman. She' always up to somethin' + to make a dollar, and she's as slick a talker as ever was, I guess. She + never give Perez no rest till he signed the deed for them books. Told him + they'd give liter'ry tone to the shebang. Perez started to read 'em out + loud when they fust come, but he had to stop so often to spell out the + furrin names that me and Jerry used to go to sleep. That made him mad, and + he said, liter'ry tone be durned; he wa'n't goin' to waste his breath + readin' us to sleep; so they've been on the shelf ever sence.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “So you have book agents, too?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we've got 'Gusty,” was the reply, “and she's enough to keep us + goin'. Gits round reg'lar as clockwork once a month to collect the two + dollars from Perez. It's her day now, and I told Perez that that was why + he sneaked off to Barry's. You see, 'Gusty's after him to buy the history + of Methuselah, or some old critter, and he don't like to see her. She's + after me, too, but I'm 'fraid she don't git much encouragement.” + </p> + <p> + After they had talked a little longer, the Captain seemed to remember + something, for he glanced at his watch and said, “Mr. Hazeltine, I wonder + if I could git you to do me a favor. I really ought to go down and see to + my shanty. Ain't been there sence day afore yesterday, and there's so many + boys 'round, I'm 'fraid to leave it unlocked much longer. I thought some + of the folks would be back 'fore this, but if you could stay here long + enough for me to run down there a minute or two, I'd be ever so much + obliged. I'll step up and see how John is.” + </p> + <p> + He went upstairs and returned to report that the patient was quiet and + seemed to be asleep. + </p> + <p> + “If you hear him groan, or anything,” he said, “jest come to the door and + whistle. Whistle anyway, if you want me. Ain't nobody likely to come, + 'less it's 'Gusty or the Reverend Perley come to ask 'bout John. If it's a + middlin' good-lookin' young woman with a satchel, that's 'Gusty. Don't + whistle; tell her I'm out. I'll be back in a jiffy, but you needn't tell + either of them so unless your conscience hurts you TOO much.” + </p> + <p> + After the Captain had gone Ralph took down a volume of the “Great + Commanders” and sat down in a chair by the table to look it over. He was + smiling over the gaudy illustrations and flamboyant descriptions of + battles, when there was a step on the walk outside and knock at the door. + “Which is it,” he thought, “'Gusty or the Reverend?” + </p> + <p> + Obviously it was Miss Black. She stood on the mica slab that formed the + step and looked up at him as he swung the door open. She had a small + leather bag in her hand, just as the Captain had said she would have, but + it flashed across Mr. Hazeltine's mind that the rest of the description + was not a fair one; she was certainly much more than “middlin' + good-lookin'!” + </p> + <p> + “Is Captain Hedge in?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + Now, from his friend's hints, Ralph had expected to hear a rather sharp + and unpleasant voice,—certain disagreeable remembrances of former + encounters with female book agents had helped to form the impression + perhaps,—but Miss Black's voice was mellow, quiet, and rather + pleasing than otherwise. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Mr. Hazeltine, obeying orders with exactitude. “Captain Hedge + is out just now.” + </p> + <p> + “'Gusty”—somehow the name didn't seem to fit—was manifestly + disappointed. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” she said, and then added, “Will he be back soon?” + </p> + <p> + Now this was a question unprovided for. Ralph stammered, and then + miserably equivocated. He really couldn't say just when the Captain would + return. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” said the young lady again. Then she seemed to be waiting for + some further observation on the part of the gentleman at the door. None + being forthcoming, she seemed to make up her mind to act on her own + initiative. + </p> + <p> + “I think I will come in and wait,” she said with decision. And come in she + did, Mr. Hazeltine not knowing exactly what to do, under the + circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Now this was much more in keeping with the electrician's preconceived + ideas of a book agent's behavior; nevertheless, when he turned and found + the young lady standing in the middle of the floor, he felt obliged to be + at least decently polite. + </p> + <p> + “Won't you take a chair?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said the caller, and took one. + </p> + <p> + The situation was extremely awkward, but Ralph felt that loyalty to + Captain Eri forbade his doing anything that might urge the self-possessed + Miss Black to prolong her visit, so for a time he said nothing. The young + lady looked out of the window and Mr. Hazeltine looked at her. He was more + than ever of the opinion that the “middlin'” term should be cut out of her + description. He rather liked her appearance, so he decided. He liked the + way she wore her hair; so simple an arrangement, but so effective. Also he + liked her dress. It was the first tailor-made walking suit he had seen + since his arrival in Orham. And worn by a country book agent, of all + people. + </p> + <p> + Just then Miss Black turned and caught him intently gazing at her. She + colored, apparently with displeasure, and looked out of the window again. + Mr. Hazeltine colored also and fidgeted with the book on the table. The + situation was confoundedly embarrassing. He felt that he must say + something now, so he made the original observation that it had been a + pleasant day. + </p> + <p> + To this the young lady agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her tone. + Then Ralph, nervously fishing for another topic, thought of the book in + his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I was just reading this,” he said. “I found it quite interesting.” + </p> + <p> + The next moment he realized that he had said what, of all things, was the + most impolitic. It was nothing less than a bid for a “canvass,” and he + fully expected to be confronted with the necessary order blanks without + delay. But, strangely enough, the book lady made no such move. She looked + at him, it is true, but with an expression of surprise and what seemed to + be amusement on her face. He was certain that her lips twitched as she + said calmly: + </p> + <p> + “Did you? I am glad to hear it.” + </p> + <p> + This dispassionate remark was entirely unexpected, and the electrician, as + Captain Eri would have said, “lost his bearings” completely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—er, yes,” he stammered. “Very interesting indeed. I—I + suppose you must take a good many orders in the course of a week.” + </p> + <p> + “A good many ORDERS?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes. Orders for the books, I mean. The books—the 'Great Naval + Lives'—er—these books here.” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, but who do you think I am?” + </p> + <p> + And it was then that the perception of some tremendous blunder began to + seize upon Mr. Hazeltine. He had been red before; now, he felt the redness + creeping over his scalp under his hair. + </p> + <p> + “Why, why, Miss Black, I suppose; that is, I—” + </p> + <p> + Just here the door opened and Captain Eri came in. He took off his cap and + then, seeing the visitor, remained standing, apparently waiting for an + introduction. But the young lady did not keep him waiting long. + </p> + <p> + “Are you Captain Eri Hedge?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes'm,” answered the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'm SO glad. Your letter came this morning, and I hurried down on the + first train. I'm Elizabeth Preston.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + ELSIE PRESTON + </h3> + <p> + Perhaps, on the whole, it is not surprising that Captain Eri didn't grasp + the situation. Neither his two partners nor himself had given much thought + to the granddaughter of the sick man in the upper room. The Captain knew + that there was a granddaughter, hence his letter; but he had heard John + Baxter speak of her as being in school somewhere in Boston, and had all + along conceived of her as a miss of sixteen or thereabouts. No wonder that + at first he looked at the stylishly gowned young woman, who stood before + him with one gloved hand extended, in a puzzled, uncomprehending way. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, ma'am,” he said slowly, mechanically swallowing up the + proffered hand in his own mammoth fist, “but I don't know's I jest caught + the name. Would you mind sayin' it ag'in?” + </p> + <p> + “Elizabeth Preston,” repeated the visitor. “Captain Baxter's + granddaughter. You wrote me that he was ill, you know, and I—” + </p> + <p> + “What!” roared the Captain, delighted amazement lighting up his face like + a sunrise. “You don't mean to tell me you're 'Liz'beth Baxter's gal Elsie! + Well! Well! I want to know! If this don't beat all! Set down! Take your + things right off. I'm mighty glad to see you.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's hand, with Miss Preston's hidden in it, was moving up and + down as if it worked by a clock-work arrangement. The young lady withdrew + her fingers from the trap as soon as she conveniently could, but it might + have been noticed that she glanced at them when she had done so, as if to + make sure that the original shape remained. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Captain Hedge,” she said. “And now, please tell me about + grandfather. How is he? May I see him?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's expression changed to one of concern. + </p> + <p> + “Why, now, Miss Preston,” he said, “your grandpa is pretty sick. Oh, I + don't mean he's goin' to die right off or anything like that,” he added + hastily. “I mean he's had a stroke of palsy, or somethin', and he ain't + got so yit that he senses much of what goes on. Now I don't want to + frighten you, you know, but really there's a chance—a leetle mite of + a chance—that he won't know you. Don't feel bad if he don't, now + will you?” + </p> + <p> + “I knew he must be very ill from your letter,” said the girl simply. “I + was afraid that he might not be living when I reached here. They told me + at the station that he was at your house and so I came. He has been very + good to me and I—” + </p> + <p> + Her voice broke a little and she hesitated. Captain Eri was a picture of + nervous distress. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, I know,” he said hastily. “Don't you worry now. He's better; + the Doctor said he was consid'rably better to-day; didn't he, Mr. + Hazeltine? Why, what am I thinkin' of? Let me make you known to Mr. + Hazeltine; next-door neighbor of ours; right acrost the road,” and he + waved toward the bay. + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Miss Preston shook hands. The electrician managed to utter some + sort of formality, but he couldn't have told what it was. He was glad when + the Captain announced that, if Mr. Hazeltine would excuse them, he guessed + Miss Preston and he would step upstairs and see John. The young lady took + off her hat and jacket, and Captain Eri lighted a lamp, for it was almost + dark by this time. As its light shone upon the visitor's face and hair the + crimson flush before mentioned circumnavigated the electrician's head once + more, and his bump of self-esteem received a finishing blow. That any man + supposed to possess two fairly good eyes and a workable brain could have + mistaken her for an Orham Neck book agent by the name of “'Gusty—'Gusty + Black!” Heavens! + </p> + <p> + “I'll be down in a few minutes, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the Captain. “Set + still, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hazeltine wouldn't sit still. He announced that it was late and he + must be going. And go he did, in spite of his host's protestations. + </p> + <p> + “Look out for the stairs,” cautioned the Captain, leading the way with the + lamp. “The feller that built 'em must have b'lieved that savin' distance + lengthens out life. Come to think of it, I wouldn't wonder if them stairs + was the reason why me and Jerry and Perez took this house. They reminded + us so of the shrouds on a three-master.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie Preston did her best to smile as her companion rattled on in this + fashion, but both the smile and the Captain's cheerfulness were too + plainly assumed to be convincing, and they passed down the hall in + silence. At the open door of the sick room Captain Eri paused. + </p> + <p> + “He's asleep,” he whispered, “and, remember, if he wakes up and doesn't + know you, you needn't feel bad.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie slipped by him and knelt by the bed, looking into the white, old + face on the pillow. Somehow the harsh lines had faded out of it, and it + looked only old and pitiful. + </p> + <p> + The Captain watched the tableau for a moment or two, and then tiptoed into + the room and placed the lamp on the bureau. + </p> + <p> + “Now, I think likely,” he said in a rather husky whisper, “that you'd like + to stay with your grandpa for a little while, so I'll go downstairs and + see about supper. No, no, no!” he added, holding up his hand as the girl + spoke some words of protest, “you ain't goin' nowheres to supper. You're + goin' to stay right here. If you want me, jest speak.” + </p> + <p> + And he hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, clearing his throat with + vigor and making a great to-do over the scratching of a match. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow returned a few minutes later and to her the news of the arrival + was told, as it was also to Perez and Jerry when they came. Mrs. Snow took + charge of the supper arrangements. When the meal was ready, she said to + Captain Eri: + </p> + <p> + “Now, I'll go upstairs and tell her to come down. I'll stay with Cap'n + Baxter till you're through, and then p'raps, if one of you'll take my + place, I'll eat my supper and wash the dishes. You needn't come up now. + I'll introduce myself.” + </p> + <p> + Some few minutes passed before Miss Preston came down. When she did so her + eyes were wet, but her manner was cheerful, and the unaffected way in + which she greeted Captain Perez and Captain Jerry, when these two rather + bashful mariners were introduced by Eri, won them at once. + </p> + <p> + The supper was a great success. It was Saturday night, and a Saturday + night supper to the average New Englander means baked beans. The captains + had long ago given up this beloved dish, because, although each had tried + his hand at preparing it, none had wholly succeeded, and the caustic + criticisms of the other two had prevented further trials. But Mrs. Snow's + baked beans were a triumph. So, also, was the brown bread. + </p> + <p> + “I snum,” exclaimed Captain Perez, “if I don't b'lieve I'd sooner have + these beans than turkey. What do you say, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know but I had,” assented the sacrifice, upon whose countenance + sat a placidity that had not been there since the night of the “matching.” + “'Specially if the turkey was like the one we tried to cook last + Thanksgivin'. 'Member that, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, his mouth full, grunted an emphatic assent. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me,” said Miss Preston, who had eaten but little, but was apparently + getting more satisfaction from watching her companions, “did you three men + try to keep house here alone?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Eri dryly. “We tried. First we thought 'twas goin' to be + fine; then we thought we'd like it better after we got used to it; finally + we decided that by the time we got used to it we'd die, like the horse + that was fed on sawdust.” + </p> + <p> + “And so you hired Mrs. Snow to keep house for you? Well, I don't see how + you could have made a better choice; she's a dear, good woman; I'm sure of + it. And now I want to thank you all for what you've done for grandfather. + Mrs. Snow told me all about it; you've been so kind that I—” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right! that's all right!” hastily interrupted Captain Eri. + “Pity if we couldn't help out a shipmate we've sailed with for years and + years. But you'd ought to have tried some of OUR cookin'. Tell her about + the sugar cake you made, Perez. The one that killed the yaller chicken.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Perez told it, and then their visitor set them all laughing by + relating some queer housekeeping experiences that she and a school friend + had had while camping at Chautauqua. Somehow each one felt at home with + her. As Captain Eri said afterwards, “She didn't giggle, and then ag'in + she didn't talk down at you.” + </p> + <p> + As they rose from the table the young lady asked a question concerning the + location of the hotel. The Captain made no answer at the time, but after a + short consultation with the remainder of the triumvirate, he came to her + as she stood by the window and, laying his hand on her shoulder, said: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Elsie—I hope you don't mind my callin' you Elsie, but I've + been chums with your grandpa so long seems's if you must be a sort of + relation of mine—Elsie, you ain't goin' to no hotel, that is, unless + you're real set on it. Your grandpa's here and we're here, and there's + room enough. I don't want to say too much, but I'd like to have you + b'lieve that me and Perez and Jerry want you to stay right in this house + jest as long's you stop in Orham. Now you will, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + And so it was settled, and Captain Perez harnessed Daniel and went to the + station for the trunk. + </p> + <p> + That evening, just before going to bed, the captains stood by the door of + the sick room watching Elsie and the lady from Nantucket as they sat + beside John Baxter's bed. Mrs. Snow was knitting, and Elsie was reading. + Later, as Captain Eri peered out of the dining-room window to take a final + look at the sky in order to get a line on the weather, he said slowly: + </p> + <p> + “Fellers, do you know what I was thinkin' when I see them two women in + there with John? I was thinkin' that it must be a mighty pleasant thing to + know that if you're took sick somebody like that 'll take care of you.” + </p> + <p> + Perez nodded. “I think so, too,” he said. + </p> + <p> + But if this was meant to influence the betrothed one, it didn't succeed, + apparently, for all Captain Jerry said was: + </p> + <p> + “Humph! 'Twould take more than that to make me hanker after a stroke of + palsy.” + </p> + <p> + And with the coming of Elsie Preston and Mrs. Snow life in the little + house by the shore took on a decided change. The Nantucket lady having + satisfied herself that John Baxter's illness was likely to be a long one, + wrote several letters to persons in her native town, which letters, + although she did not say so, were supposed by the captains to deal with + the care of her property while she was away. Having apparently relieved + her mind by this method, and evidently considering the marriage question + postponed for the present, she settled down to nurse the sick man and to + keep house as, in her opinion, a house should be kept. The captains knew + nothing of her past history beyond what they had gathered from stray bits + of her conversation. She evidently did not consider it necessary to tell + anything further, and, on the other hand, asked no questions. + </p> + <p> + In her care of Baxter she was more like a sister than a hired nurse. No + wife could have been more tender in her ministrations or more devotedly + anxious for the patient's welfare. + </p> + <p> + In her care of the house, she was neatness itself. She scoured and swept + and washed until the rooms were literally spotless. Order was Heaven's + first law, in her opinion, and she expected everyone else to keep up to + the standard. Captain Perez and Captain Eri soon got used to the change + and gloried in it, but to Captain Jerry it was not altogether welcome. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cat's foot!” he exclaimed one day, after hunting everywhere for his + Sunday tie, and at length finding it in his bureau drawer. “I can't git + used to this everlastin' spruced-up bus'ness. Way it used to be, this + necktie was likely to be 'most anywheres 'round, and if I looked out in + the kitchen or under the sofy, I was jest as likely to find it. But now + everything's got a place and is in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the way it ought to be, ain't it?” said Eri. “Then all + you've got to do is look in the place.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and that's jest it, I'm always forgittin' the place. My shoes is + sech a place; my hankerchers is sech a place; my pipe is sech a place; my + terbacker is another place. When I want my pipe I look where my shoes is, + and when I want my shoes I go and look where I found my pipe. How a + feller's goin' to keep run of 'em is what <i>I</i> can't see.” + </p> + <p> + “You was the one that did most of the growlin' when things was the old + way.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but jest 'cause a man don't want to live in a pigpen it ain't no + sign he wants to be put under a glass case.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie's influence upon the house and its inmates had become almost as + marked as Mrs. Snow's. The young lady was of an artistic bent, and the + stiff ornaments in the shut-up parlor and the wonderful oil-paintings + jarred upon her. Strange to say, even the wax-dipped wreath that hung in + its circular black frame over the whatnot did not appeal to her. The + captains considered that wreath—it had been the principal floral + offering at the funeral of Captain Perez's sister, and there was a lock of + her hair framed with it—the gem of the establishment. They could + understand, to a certain degree, why Miss Preston objected to the + prominence given the spatter-work “God bless our Home” motto, but her + failure to enthuse over the wreath was inexplicable. + </p> + <p> + But by degrees they became used to seeing the blinds open at the parlor + windows the week through, and innovations like muslin curtains and vases + filled with late wild flowers came to be at first tolerated and then + liked. “Elsie's notions,” the captains called them. + </p> + <p> + There were some great discussions on art, over the teacups after supper. + Miss Preston painted very prettily in water-colors, and her sketches were + received with enthusiastic praise by the captains and Mrs. Snow. But one + day she painted a little picture of a fishing boat and, to her surprise, + it came in for some rather sharp criticism. + </p> + <p> + “That's a pretty picture, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, holding the sketch at + arm's length and squinting at it with his head on one side, “but if that's + Caleb Titcomb's boat, and I jedge 'tis, it seems to me she's carryin' too + much sail. What do you think, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the painting from his friend and critically examined + it, also at arm's length. + </p> + <p> + “Caleb's boat ain't got no sech sail as that,” was his deliberate comment. + “She couldn't carry it and stand up that way. Besides, the way I look at + it, she's down by the head more 'n she'd ought to be.” + </p> + <p> + “But I didn't try to get it EXACTLY right,” said the bewildered artist. + “The boat's sails were so white, and the water was so blue, and the sand + so yellow that I thought it made a pretty picture. I didn't think of the + size of the sail.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” observed Captain Perez, who was + looking over Jerry's shoulder. “But you have to be awful careful paintin' + vessels. Now you jest look at that picture,” pointing to the glaring + likeness of the Flying Duck, that hung on the wall. “Jest look at them + sails, every one of 'em drawin' fine; and them ropes, every one in JEST + the right place. That's what I call paintin'.” + </p> + <p> + “But don't you think, Captain Perez, that the waves in that picture would + be better if they weren't so all in a row, like a picket fence?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now, that ain't it. That's a picture of the A1 two-masted schooner + Flyin' Duck, and the waves is only thrown in, as you might say. The reel + thing is the schooner, rigged jest right, trimmed jest right, and colored + jest the way the Flyin' Duck was colored. You understand them waves was + put there jest 'cause there had to be some to set the schooner in, that's + all.” + </p> + <p> + “But you needn't feel bad, Elsie,” said Captain Jerry soothingly. “'Tain't + to be expected that you could paint vessels like Eben Lothrop can. Eben he + used to work in a shipyard up to East Boston once, and when he was there + he had to paint schooners and things, reely put the paint onto 'em I mean, + so, of course, when it come to paintin' pictures of 'em, why—” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Jerry waved his hand. + </p> + <p> + So, as there was no answer to an argument like this, Miss Preston gave up + marine painting for the time and began a water-color of the house and its + inmates. This was an elaborate affair, and as the captains insisted that + each member of the family, Daniel and Lorenzo included, should pose, it + seemed unlikely to be finished for some months, at least. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine called on the afternoon following Elsie's arrival, and + Captain Eri insisted on his staying to tea. It might have been noticed + that the electrician seemed a trifle embarrassed when Miss Preston came + into the room, but as the young lady was not embarrassed in the least, and + had apparently forgotten the mistaken-identity incident, his nervousness + soon wore off. + </p> + <p> + But it came back again when Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I say, Mr. Hazeltine, I forgot to ask you, did 'Gusty come + yesterday?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph answered, rather hurriedly, that she did not. He endeavored to + change the subject, but the Captain wouldn't let him. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there!” he exclaimed amazedly; “if 'Gusty ain't broke her record! + Fust time sence Perez was took with the 'Naval Commander' disease that she + ain't been on hand when the month was up, to git her two dollars. Got so + we sort of reckoned by her like an almanac. Kind of thought she was sure, + like death and taxes. And now she has gone back on us. Blessed if I ain't + disapp'inted in 'Gusty!” + </p> + <p> + “Who is she?” inquired Mrs. Snow. “One of those book-agent critters?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you called her that to her face, I expect there'd be squalls, + but I cal'late she couldn't prove a alibi in court.” + </p> + <p> + Now it may have been Mr. Hazeltine's fancy, but he could have sworn that + there was just the suspicion of a twinkle in Miss Preston's eye as she + asked, innocently enough: + </p> + <p> + “Is she a young lady, Captain Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, she hopes she is,” was the deliberate answer. “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Does she look like me?” + </p> + <p> + “Like YOU? Oh, my soul and body! Wait till you see her. What made you ask + that?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing! I was a little curious, that's all. Have you seen her, Mr. + Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph stammered, somewhat confusedly, that he hadn't had the pleasure. The + Captain glanced from the electrician to Miss Preston and back again. Then + he suddenly realized the situation. + </p> + <p> + “Ho! ho!” he roared, slapping his knee and rocking back and forth in his + chair. “Don't for the land's sake tell me you took Elsie here for 'Gusty + Black! Don't now! Don't!” + </p> + <p> + “He asked me if I had taken many orders,” remarked the young lady + demurely. + </p> + <p> + When the general hilarity had abated a little Ralph penitently explained + that it was dark, that Captain Eri had said Miss Black was young, and that + she carried a bag. + </p> + <p> + “So I did, so I did,” chuckled the Captain. “I s'pose 'twas nat'ral + enough, but, oh dear, it's awful funny! Now, Elsie, you'd ought to feel + flattered. Wait till you see 'Gusty's hat, the one she got up to Boston.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I forgiven, Miss Preston?” asked Hazeltine, as he said good-night. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know,” was the rather non-committal answer. “I think I + shall have to wait until I see 'Gusty.” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hazeltine apparently took his forgiveness for granted, for his + calls became more and more frequent, until his dropping in after supper + came to be a regular occurrence. Young people of the better class are + scarce in Orham during the fall and winter months, and Ralph found few + congenial companions. He liked the captains and Mrs. Snow, and Elsie's + society was a relief after a day with the operators at the station. Mr. + Langley was entirely absorbed in his business, and spent his evenings in + his room, reading and smoking. + </p> + <p> + So September and October passed and November came. School opened in + October and the captains had another boarder, for Josiah Bartlett, against + his wishes, gave up his position as stage-driver, and was sent to school + again. As the boy was no longer employed at the livery stable, Captain + Perez felt the necessity of having him under his eye, and so Josiah lived + at the house by the shore, a cot being set up in the parlor for his use. + His coming made more work for Mrs. Snow, but that energetic lady did not + seem to mind, and even succeeded in getting the youngster to do a few + “chores” about the place, an achievement that won the everlasting + admiration of Captain Perez, who had no governing power whatever over the + boy, and condoned the most of his faults or scolded him feebly for the + others. + </p> + <p> + John Baxter continued to waver between this world and the next. He had + intervals of consciousness in which he recognized the captains and Elsie, + but these rational moments were few and, although he talked a little, he + never mentioned recent events nor alluded to the fire. + </p> + <p> + The fire itself became an old story and gossip took up other subjects. The + “Come-Outers” held a jubilee service because of the destruction of the + saloon, but, as “Web” soon began to rebuild and repair, their + jollification was short-lived. As for Mr. Saunders, he was the same + unctuous, smiling personage that he had formerly been. It was a curious + fact, and one that Captain Eri noted, that he never ceased to inquire + after John Baxter's health, and seemed honestly glad to hear of the old + man's improvement. He asked a good many questions about Elsie, too, but + received little satisfaction from the Captain on this subject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <h3> + MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + </h3> + <p> + Captain Jerry sat behind the woodshed, in the sunshine, smoking and + thinking. He had done a good deal of the first ever since he was sixteen + years old; the second was, in a measure, a more recent acquirement. The + Captain had things on his mind. + </p> + <p> + It was one of those perfect, springlike mornings that sometimes come in + early November. The sky was clear blue, and the air was so free from haze + that the houses at Cranberry Point could be seen in every detail. The flag + on the cable station across the bay stood out stiff in the steady breeze, + and one might almost count the stripes. The pines on Signal Hill were a + bright green patch against the yellow grass. The sea was a dark sapphire, + with slashes of silver to mark the shoals, and the horizon was notched + with sails. The boats at anchor in front of the shanties swung with the + outgoing tide. + </p> + <p> + Then came Captain Eri, also smoking. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” said Captain Jerry. “How is it you ain't off fishin' a mornin' + like this?” + </p> + <p> + “Somethin' else on the docket,” was the answer. “How's matchmakin' these + days?” + </p> + <p> + Now this question touched vitally the subject of Captain Jerry's thoughts. + From a placid, easygoing retired mariner, recent events had transformed + the Captain into a plotter, a man with a “deep-laid scheme,” as the + gentlemanly, cigarette-smoking villain of the melodrama used to love to + call it. To tell the truth, petticoat government was wearing on him. The + marriage agreement, to which his partners considered him bound, and which + he saw no way to evade, hung over him always, but he had put this threat + of the future from his mind so far as possible. He had not found orderly + housekeeping the joy that he once thought it would be, but even this he + could bear. Elsie Preston was the drop too much. + </p> + <p> + He liked Mrs. Snow, except in a marrying sense. He liked Elsie better than + any young lady he had ever seen. The trouble was, that between the two, + he, as he would have expressed it, “didn't have the peace of a dog.” + </p> + <p> + Before Elsie came, a game of checkers between Perez and himself had been + the regular after-supper amusement. Now they played whist, Captain Eri and + Elsie against him and his former opponent. As Elsie and her partner almost + invariably won, and as Perez usually found fault with him because they + lost, this was not an agreeable change. But it was but one. He didn't like + muslin curtains in his bedroom, because they were a nuisance when he + wanted to sit up in bed and look out of the window; but the curtains were + put there, and everybody else seemed to think them beautiful, so he could + not protest. Captain Perez and Captain Eri had taken to “dressing up” for + supper, to the extent of putting on neckties and clean collars. Also they + shaved every day. He stuck to the old “twice-a-week” plan for a while, but + looked so scrubby by contrast that out of mere self-respect he had to + follow suit. Obviously two females in the house were one too many. + Something had to be done. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine's frequent calls gave him the inspiration he was looking + for. This was to bring about a marriage between Ralph and Miss Preston. + After deliberation he decided that if this could be done the pair would + live somewhere else, even though John Baxter was still too ill to be + moved. Elsie could come in every day, but she would be too busy with her + own establishment to bother with the “improvement” of theirs. It wasn't a + very brilliant plan and had some vital objections, but Captain Jerry + considered it a wonder. + </p> + <p> + He broached it to his partners, keeping his real object strictly in the + background and enlarging upon his great regard for Ralph and Elsie, and + their obvious fitness for each other. Captain Perez liked the scheme well + enough, provided it could be carried out. Captain Eri seemed to think it + better to let events take their own course. However, they both agreed to + help if the chance offered. + </p> + <p> + So, when Mr. Hazeltine called to spend the evening, Captain Jerry would + rise from his chair and, with an elaborate cough and several surreptitious + winks to his messmates, would announce that he guessed he would “take a + little walk,” or “go out to the barn,” or something similar. Captain Perez + would, more than likely, go also. As for Captain Eri, he usually + “cal'lated” he would step upstairs, and see how John was getting along. + </p> + <p> + But in spite of this loyal support, the results obtained from Captain + Jerry's wonderful plan had not been so startlingly successful as to + warrant his feeling much elated. Ralph and Elsie were good friends and + seemed to enjoy each other's society, but that was all that might be + truthfully said, so far. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry, therefore, was a little discouraged as he sat in the + sunshine and smoked and pondered. He hid his discouragement, however, and + in response to Captain Eri's question concerning the progress of the + matchmaking, said cheerfully: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it's comin' along, comin' along. Kind of slow, of course, but you + can't expect nothin' diff'rent. I s'pose you noticed he was here four + times last week?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, no,” said Captain Eri, “I don't know's I did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he was, and week a fore that 'twas only three. So that's a gain, + ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't count the time he stopped after a drink of water neither. That + wasn't a real call, but—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it ought to count for somethin'! Call it a ha'f a time. That would + make four times and a ha'f he was here.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry looked suspiciously at his friend's face, but its soberness + was irreproachable, so he said: + </p> + <p> + “Well, it's kind of slow work, but, as I said afore, it's comin' along, + and I have the satisfaction of knowin' it's all for their good.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, like the feller that ate all the apple-dumplin's so's his children + wouldn't have the stomach-ache. But say, Jerry, I come out to ask if you'd + mind bein' housekeeper to-day. Luther Davis has been after me sence I + don't know when to come down to the life-savin' station and stay to + dinner. His sister Pashy—the old maid one—is down there, and + it's such a fine day I thought I'd take Perez and Elsie and Mrs. Snow and, + maybe, Hazeltine along. Somebody's got to stay with John, and I thought + p'raps you would. I'd stay myself only Luther asked me so particular, and + you was down there two or three months ago. When Josiah comes back from + school he'll help you some, if you need him.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry didn't mind staying at home, and so Eri went into the house + to make arrangements for the proposed excursion. He had some difficulty in + persuading Mrs. Snow and Elsie to leave the sick man, but both were tired + and needed a rest, and there was a telephone at the station, so that news + of a change in the patient's condition could be sent almost immediately. + Under these conditions, and as Captain Jerry was certain to take good care + of their charge, the two were persuaded to go. Perez took the dory and + rowed over to the cable station to see if Mr. Hazeltine cared to make one + of the party. When he returned, bringing the electrician with him, Daniel, + harnessed to the carryall, was standing at the side door, and Captain Eri, + Mrs. Snow, and Elsie were waiting. + </p> + <p> + Ralph glanced at the carryall, and then at those who were expected to + occupy it. + </p> + <p> + “I think I'd better row down, Captain,” he said. “I don't see how five of + us are going to find room in there.” + </p> + <p> + “What, in a carryall?” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, that's what a + carryall's for. I've carried six in a carryall 'fore now. 'Twas a good + while ago, though,” he added with a chuckle, “when I was consid'rable + younger 'n I am now. Squeezin' didn't count in them days, 'specially if + the girls wanted to go to camp-meetin'. I cal'late we can fix it. You and + me'll set on the front seat, and the rest in back. Elsie ain't a very big + package, and Perez, he's sort of injy-rubber; he'll fit in 'most + anywheres. Let's try it anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + And try it they did. While it was true that Elsie was rather small, Mrs. + Snow was distinctly large, and how Captain Perez, in spite of his alleged + elasticity, managed to find room between them is a mystery. He, however, + announced that he was all right, adding, as a caution: + </p> + <p> + “Don't jolt none, Eri, 'cause I'm kind of hangin' on the little aidge of + nothin'.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll look out for you,” answered his friend, picking up the reins. “All + ashore that's goin' ashore. So long, Jerry. Git dap, Thousand Dollars!” + </p> + <p> + Daniel complacently accepted this testimony to his monetary worth and + jogged out of the yard. Fortunately appearances do not count for much in + Orham, except in the summer, and the spectacle of five in a carryall is + nothing out of the ordinary. They turned into the “cliff road,” the finest + thoroughfare in town, kept in good condition for the benefit of the + cottagers and the boarders at the big hotel. The ocean was on the left, + and from the hill by the Barry estate—Captain Perez' charge—they + saw twenty miles of horizon line with craft of all descriptions scattered + along it. + </p> + <p> + Schooners there were of all sizes, from little mackerel seiners to big + four- and five-masters. A tug with a string of coal barges behind it was + so close in that they could make out the connecting hawsers. A black + freight steamer was pushing along, leaving a thick line of smoke like a + charcoal mark on the sky. One square-rigger was in sight, but far out. + </p> + <p> + “What do you make of that bark, Perez?” inquired Captain Eri, pointing to + the distant vessel. “British, ain't she?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez leaned forward and peered from under his hand. “French, + looks to me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Don't think so. Way she's rigged for'ard looks like Johnny Bull. Look at + that fo'tops'l.” + </p> + <p> + “Guess you're right, Eri, now I come to notice it. Can you make out her + flag? Wish I'd brought my glass.” + </p> + <p> + “Great Scott, man!” exclaimed Ralph. “What sort of eyes have you got? I + couldn't tell whether she had a flag or not at this distance. How do you + do it?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cordin' to how you're brought up, as the goat said 'bout eatin' + shingle-nails,” replied Captain Eri. “When you're at sea you've jest got + to git used to seein' things a good ways off and knowin' 'em when you see + 'em, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember, one time,” remarked Mrs. Snow, “that my brother Nathan—he's + dead now—was bound home from Hong Kong fust mate on the bark Di'mond + King. 'Twas the time of the war and the Alabama was cruisin' 'round, + lookin' out for our ships. Nate and the skipper—a Bangor man he was—was + on deck, and they sighted a steamer a good ways off. The skipper spied her + and see she was flyin' the United States flag. But when Nate got the glass + he took one look and says, 'That Yankee buntin' don't b'long over that + English hull,' he says. You see he knew she was English build right away. + So the skipper pulled down his own flag and h'isted British colors, but + 'twa'n't no use; the steamer was the Alabama sure enough, and the Di'mond + King was burned, and all hands took pris'ners. Nate didn't git home for + ever so long, and everybody thought he was lost.” + </p> + <p> + This set the captains going, and they told sea-stories until they came to + the road that led down to the beach beneath the lighthouse bluff. The + lifesaving station was in plain sight now, but on the outer beach, and + that was separated from them by a two-hundred-yard stretch of water. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” observed Captain Eri, “here's where we take Adam's bridge.” + </p> + <p> + “Adam's bridge?” queried Elsie, puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; the only kind he had, I cal'late. Git dap, Daniel! What are you + waitin' for? Left your bathin' suit to home?” + </p> + <p> + Then, as Daniel stepped rather gingerly into the clear water, he explained + that, at a time ranging from three hours before low tide to three hours + after, one may reach the outer beach at this point by driving over in an + ordinary vehicle. The life-savers add to this time-limit by using a + specially built wagon, with large wheels and a body considerably elevated. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there now!” exclaimed the lady from Nantucket, as Daniel + splashingly emerged on the other side. “I thought I'd done about + everything a body could do with salt water, but I never went ridin' in it + afore.” + </p> + <p> + The remainder of the way to the station was covered by Daniel at a walk, + for the wheels of the heavy carryall sank two inches or more in the coarse + sand as they turned. The road wound between sand dunes, riven and heaped + in all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, and with clumps of the + persevering beach grass clinging to their tops like the last treasured + tufts of hair on partially bald heads. Here and there, half buried, + sand-scoured planks and fragments of spars showed, relics of wrecks that + had come ashore in past winters. + </p> + <p> + “Five years ago,” remarked Captain Eri, “there was six foot of water where + we are now. This beach changes every winter. One good no'theaster jest + rips things loose over here; tears out a big chunk of beach and makes a + cut-through one season, and fills in a deep hole and builds a new shoal + the next. I've heard my father tell 'bout pickin' huckleberries when he + was a boy off where them breakers are now. Good dry land it was then. Hey! + there's Luther. Ship ahoy, Lute!” + </p> + <p> + The little brown life-saving station was huddled between two sand-hills. + There was a small stable and a henhouse and yard just behind it. Captain + Davis, rawboned and brown-faced, waved a welcome to them from the side + door. + </p> + <p> + “Spied you comin', Eri,” he said in a curiously mild voice, that sounded + odd coming from such a deep chest. “I'm mighty glad to see you, too? Jump + down and come right in. Pashy 'll be out in a minute. Here she is now.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience Davis was as plump as her brother was tall. She impressed + one as a comfortable sort of person. Captain Eri did the honors and + everyone shook hands. Then they went into the living room of the station. + </p> + <p> + What particularly struck Mrs. Snow was the neatness of everything. The + brass on the pump in the sink shone like fire as the sunlight from the + window struck it. The floor was white from scouring. There were shelves on + the walls and on these, arranged in orderly piles, were canned goods of + all descriptions. The table was covered with a figured oilcloth. + </p> + <p> + Two or three men, members of the crew, were seated in the wooden chairs + along the wall, but rose as the party came in. Captain Davis introduced + them, one after the other. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of + these men was the quiet, almost bashful, way in which they spoke; they + seemed like big boys, as much as anything, and yet the oldest was nearly + fifty. + </p> + <p> + “Ever been in a life-saving station afore?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Elsie had not. Ralph had and so had Mrs. Snow, but not for years. + </p> + <p> + “This is where we keep the boat and the rest of the gear,” said Captain + Davis, opening a door and leading the way into a large, low-studded room. + “Them's the spare oars on the wall. The reg'lar ones are in the boat.” + </p> + <p> + The boat itself was on its carriage in the middle of the room. Along the + walls on hooks hung the men's suits of oilskins and their sou'westers. The + Captain pointed out one thing after another, the cork jackets and + life-preservers, the gun for shooting the life line across a stranded + vessel, the life car hanging from the roof, and the “breeches buoy.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve you'd ever git me into that thing,” said the Nantucket + lady decidedly, referring to the buoy. “I don't know but I'd 'bout as + liefs be drownded as make sech a show of myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Took off a bigger woman than you one time,” said Captain Davis. “Wife of + a Portland skipper, she was, and he was on his fust v'yage in a brand-new + schooner jest off the stocks. Struck on the Hog's Back off here and then + drifted close in and struck again. We got 'em all, the woman fust. That + was the only time we've used the buoy sence I've been at the station. Most + of the wrecks are too fur off shore and we have to git out the boat.” + </p> + <p> + He took them upstairs to the men's sleeping rooms and then up to the + little cupola on the roof. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you have ground-glass windows on this side of the house?” asked + Elsie, as they passed the window on the landing. + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it is pretty nigh ground-glass now,” he answered, “but it wa'n't + when it was put in. The sand did that. It blows like all possessed when + there's a gale on.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that those windows were ground that way by the beach sand + blowing against them?” asked Ralph, astonished. + </p> + <p> + “Sartin. Git a good no'therly wind comin' up the beach and it fetches the + sand with it. Mighty mean stuff to face, sand blowin' like that is; makes + you think you're fightin' a nest of yaller-jackets.” + </p> + <p> + With the telescope in the cupola they could see for miles up and down the + beach and out to sea. An ocean tug bound toward Boston was passing, and + Elsie, looking through the glass, saw the cook come out of the galley, + empty a pan over the side, and go back again. + </p> + <p> + “Let me look through that a minute,” said Captain Eri, when the rest had + had their turn. He swung the glass around until it pointed toward their + home away up the shore. + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” he called anxiously, “look here quick!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez hastily put his eye to the glass, and his friend went on: + </p> + <p> + “You see our house?” he said. “Yes; well, you see the dinin'-room door. + Notice that chair by the side of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, what of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the rocker that Elsie made the velvet cushion for. I want + you to look at the upper southeast corner of that cushion, and see if + there ain't a cat's hair there. Lorenzo's possessed to sleep in that + chair, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you git out!” indignantly exclaimed Captain Perez, straightening up. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it was a pretty important thing, and I wanted to make sure. I left + that chair out there, and I knew what I'd catch if any cat's hairs got on + that cushion while I was gone. Ain't that so, Mrs. Snow?” + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper expressed her opinion that Captain Eri was a “case,” + whatever that may be. + </p> + <p> + They had clam chowder for dinner—a New England clam chowder, made + with milk and crackers, and clams with shells as white as snow. They were + what the New Yorker calls “soft-shell” clams, for a Fulton Market chowder + is a “quahaug soup” to the native of the Cape. + </p> + <p> + Now that chowder was good; everybody said so, and if the proof of the + chowder, like that of the pudding, is in the eating of it, this one had a + clear case. Also, there were boiled striped bass, which is good enough for + anybody, hot biscuits, pumpkin pie, and beach-plum preserves. There was a + running fire of apologies from Miss Patience and answering volleys of + compliments from Mrs. Snow. + </p> + <p> + “I don't see how you make sech beach-plum preserves, Miss Davis,” + exclaimed the lady from Nantucket. “I declare! I'm goin' to ask you for + another sasserful. I b'lieve they're the best I ever ate.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now! Do you think so? I kind of suspected that the plums was a + little mite too ripe. You know how 'tis with beach-plums, they've got to + be put up when they're jest so, else they ain't good for much. I was at + Luther for I don't know how long 'fore I could git him to go over to the + P'int and pick 'em, and I was 'fraid he'd let it go too long. I only put + up twenty-two jars of 'em on that account. How much sugar do you use?” + </p> + <p> + There was material here for the discussion that country housewives love, + and the two ladies took advantage of it. When it was over the female + portion of the company washed the dishes, while the men walked up and down + the beach and smoked. Here they were joined after a while by the ladies, + for even by the ocean it was as mild as early May, and the wind was merely + bracing and had no sting in it. + </p> + <p> + The big blue waves shouldered themselves up from the bosom of the sea, + marched toward the beach, and tumbled to pieces in a roaring tumult of + white and green. The gulls skimmed along their tops or dropped like + falling stones into the water after sand eels, emerging again, screaming, + to repeat the performance. + </p> + <p> + The conversation naturally turned to wrecks, and Captain Davis, his + reserve vanishing before the tactful inquiries of the captains and Ralph, + talked shop and talked it well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + HEROES AND A MYSTERY + </h3> + <p> + Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for years and + “Number One Man” before that, so his experience with wrecks and disabled + craft of all kinds had been long and varied. He told them of disasters the + details of which had been telegraphed all over the country, and of rescues + of half-frozen crews from ice-crested schooners whose signals of distress + had been seen from the observatory on the roof of the station. He told of + long rows in midwinter through seas the spray of which turned to ice as + they struck, and froze the men's mittens to the oar-handles. He told of + picking up draggled corpses in the surf at midnight, when, as he said, + “You couldn't tell whether 'twas a man or a roll of seaweed, and the only + way to make sure was to reach down and feel.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri left them after a while, as he had some acquaintances among + the men at the station, and wished to talk with them. Miss Davis + remembered that she had not fed the chickens, and hurried away to perform + that humane duty, gallantly escorted by Captain Perez. The Captain, by the + way, was apparently much taken with the plump spinster and, although + usually rather bashful where ladies were concerned, had managed to keep up + a sort of side conversation with Miss Patience while the storytelling was + going on. But Ralph and Elsie and Mrs. Snow were hungry for more tales, + and Captain Davis obligingly told them. + </p> + <p> + “One of the wust wrecks we ever had off here,” he said, “was the Bluebell, + British ship, she was: from Singapore, bound to Boston, and loaded with + hemp. We see her about off that p'int there, jest at dusk, and she was + makin' heavy weather then. It come on to snow soon as it got dark, and + blow—don't talk! Seems to me 'twas one of the meanest nights I ever + saw. 'Tween the snow flyin' and the dark you couldn't see two feet ahead + of you. We was kind of worried about the vessel all evenin'—for one + thing she was too close in shore when we see her last—but there + wa'n't nothin' to be done except to keep a weather eye out for signs of + trouble. + </p> + <p> + “Fust thing we knew of the wreck was when the man on patrol up the beach—Philander + Vose 'twas—telephoned from the shanty that a ship's long-boat had + come ashore at Knowles' Cove, two mile above the station. That was about + one o'clock in the mornin'. 'Bout h'af-past two Sim Gould—he was + drownded the next summer, fishin' on the Banks—telephoned from the + shanty BELOW the station—the one a mile or so 'tother side of the + cable house, Mr. Hazeltine—that wreckage was washin' up abreast of + where he was; that was six miles from where the longboat come ashore. So + there we was. There wa'n't any way of tellin' whereabouts she was layin'; + she might have been anywheres along them six miles, and you couldn't hear + nothin' nor see nothin'. But anyhow, the wreckage kept comin' in below the + cable station, so I jedged she was somewheres in that neighborhood and we + got the boat out—on the cart, of course—and hauled it down + there. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas a tremendous job, too, that haulin' was. We had the horse and the + whole of us helpin' him, but I swan! I begun to think we'd never git + anywheres. 'Tween the wind and the sand and the snow I thought we'd flap + to pieces, like a passel of shirts on a clothes line. But we got there + after a spell, and then there was nothin' to do but wait for daylight. + </p> + <p> + “'Bout seven o'clock the snow let up a little bit, and then we see her. + There was a bar jest about opposite the cable station—it's been + washed away sence—and she'd struck on that, and the sea was makin' a + clean breach over her. There was a ha'f a dozen of her crew lashed in the + riggin', but I didn't see 'em move, so I presume likely they was froze + stiff then, for 'twas perishin' cold. But we wrastled the boat down to the + water and was jest goin' to launch her when the whole three masts went by + the 'board, men and all. We put off to her, but she was in a reg'lar + soapsuds of a sea and awash from stem to stern, so we knew there was + nothin' livin' aboard. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, siree,” continued the Captain meditatively, “that was a mean night. + I had this ear frost-bit, and it's been tender ever sence. One of the + fellers had a rib broke; he was a little light chap, and the wind jest + slammed him up against the cart like as if he was a chip. And jest to show + you,” he added, “how the tide runs around this place, the bodies of that + crew was picked up from Wellmouth to Setuckit P'int—twenty-mile + stretch that is. The skipper's body never come ashore. He had a son, nice + young feller, that was goin' to meet him in Boston, and that boy spent a + month down here, waitin' for his father's body to be washed up. He'd walk + up and down this beach, and walk up and down. Pitiful sight as ever I + see.” + </p> + <p> + “And they were all lost?” asked Elsie with a shiver. + </p> + <p> + “Every man Jack. But 'twas cu'rus about that hemp. The Bluebell was loaded + with it, as I told you, and when she went to pieces the tide took that + hemp and strung it from here to glory. They picked it up all 'longshore, + and for much as a month afterwards you'd go along the 'main road' over in + the village, and see it hung over fences or spread out in the sun to dry. + Looked like all the blonde girls in creation had had a hair-cut.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Davis,” said Ralph, “you must have seen some plucky things in + your life. What was the bravest thing you ever saw done?” + </p> + <p> + The life saver took the cigar that Hazeltine had given him from his mouth, + and blew the smoke into the air over his head. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said slowly, “I don't know exactly. I've seen some pretty + gritty things done 'long-shore here, in the service. When there's somebody + drowndin', and you know there's a chance to save 'em, you'll take chances, + and think nothin' of 'em, that you wouldn't take if you had time to set + down and cal'late a little. I see somethin' done once that may not strike + you as bein' anything out of the usual run, but that has always seemed to + me clear grit and nothin' else. 'Twa'n't savin' life neither; 'twas jest a + matter of bus'ness. + </p> + <p> + “It happened up off the coast of Maine 'long in the seventies. I was + actin' as sort of second mate on a lumber schooner. 'Twas a pitch-black + night, or mornin' rather, 'bout six o'clock, blowin' like all possessed + and colder 'n Greenland. We struck a rock that wa'n't even down on an + Eldredge chart and punched a hole in the schooner's side, jest above what + ought to have been the water line, only she was heeled over so that 'twas + consider'ble below it most of the time. We had a mean crew aboard, + Portugees mainly, and poor ones at that. The skipper was below, asleep, + and when he come on deck things was in a bad way. We'd got the canvas off + her, but she was takin' in water every time she rolled, and there was a + sea goin' that was tearin' things loose in great shape. We shipped one old + grayback that ripped off a strip of the lee rail jest the same as you'd + rip the edge off the cover of a pasteboard box—never made no more + fuss about it, either. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't see nothin' to do but get out the boats, but the skipper he + wa'n't that kind. He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you. He drove the + crew—ha'f of 'em was prayin' to the Virgin and t'other ha'f swearin' + a blue streak—to the pumps, and set me over 'em with a revolver to + keep 'em workin'. Then him and the fust mate and one or two of the best + hands rousted out a spare sail, weighted one edge of it to keep it down, + and got it over the side, made fast, of course. + </p> + <p> + “Then him and the mate stripped to their underclothes, rigged a sort of + bos'n's chair over where the hole in the side was, took hammers and a + pocketful of nails apiece, and started in to nail that canvas over the + hole. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas freezin' cold, and the old schooner was rollin' like a washtub. One + minute I'd see the skipper and the mate h'isted up in the air, hammerin' + for dear life, and then, swash! under they'd go, clear under, and stay + there, seemed to me, forever. Every dip I thought would be the end, and + I'd shet my eyes, expectin' to see 'em gone when she lifted; but no, up + they'd come, fetch a breath, shake the salt water out of their eyes, and + go to work again. + </p> + <p> + “Four hours and a quarter they was at it, four hours, mind you, and under + water a good ha'f of the time; but they got that sail nailed fast fin'lly. + We got 'em on deck when 'twas done, and we had to carry the fust mate to + the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the cook for a pail of bilin' hot + coffee, drunk the whole of it, put on dry clothes over his wet flannels, + and stayed on deck and worked that schooner into Portland harbor, the men + pumpin' clear green water out of the hold every minute of the way. + </p> + <p> + “Now, that always seemed to me to be the reel thing. 'Twa'n't a question + of savin' life—we could have took to the boats and, nine chances out + of ten, got ashore all right, for 'twa'n't very fur. But no, the skipper + said he'd never lost a vessel for an owner yit and he wa'n't goin' to lose + this one. And he didn't either, by Judas! No, sir!” + </p> + <p> + “That was splendid!” exclaimed Elsie. “I should like to have known that + captain. Who was he, Captain Davis?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, the fust mate was Obed Simmons—he's dead now—but he + used to live over on the road towards East Harniss. The skipper—well, + he was a feller you know.” + </p> + <p> + “'Twas Cap'n Eri,” said Mrs. Snow with conviction. + </p> + <p> + “That's right, ma'am. Perez told you, I s'pose.” + </p> + <p> + “No, nobody told me. I jest guessed it. I've seen a good many folks in my + time, and I cal'late I've got so I can tell what kind a man is after I've + known him a little while. I jedged Cap'n Eri was that kind, and, when you + said we knew that skipper, I was almost sartin 'twas him.” + </p> + <p> + “Well!” exclaimed Ralph, “I don't believe I should have guessed it. I've + always liked the Captain, but he has seemed so full of fun and so + easy-going that I never thought of his doing anything quite so strenuous.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis laughed. “I've seen fo'mast hands try to take advantage of + that easy-goin' way 'fore now,” he said, “but they never did it but once. + Cap'n Eri is one of the finest fellers that ever stepped, but you can't + stomp on his toes much, and he's clear grit inside. And say,” he added, + “don't you tell anybody I told that story, for he'd skin me alive if he + knew it.” + </p> + <p> + As they walked back toward the station Ralph and Elsie lingered a little + behind the others, and then stopped to watch a big four-master that, under + full sail, was spinning along a mile or two from the beach. They watched + it for a moment or two without speaking. Elsie's cheeks were brown from + the sun, stray wisps of her hair fluttered in the wind, and her trim, + healthy figure stood out against the white sandhill behind them as if cut + from cardboard. The electrician looked at her, and again the thought of + that disgraceful “'Gusty” Black episode was forced into his mind. They had + had many a good laugh over it since, and Elsie had apparently forgotten + it, but he had not, by a good deal. + </p> + <p> + She was the first to speak, and then as much to herself as to him. + </p> + <p> + “I think they are the best people I ever knew,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Who?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all of them! The captains and Mrs. Snow, and Captain Davis and his + sister. They are so simple and kind and generous. And the best of it is, + they don't seem to know it, and wouldn't believe it if you told them.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph nodded emphatically. + </p> + <p> + “I imagine it would take a good deal to convince Davis or any of these + station men that there was anything heroic in their lives,” he said. “As + for Captain Eri, I have known him only a month or two, but I don't know of + anyone to whom I would rather go if I were in trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “He has been so kind to grandfather and me,” said Elsie, “that I feel as + though we were under an obligation we never could repay. When I came down + here I knew no one in Orham, and he and Captain Jerry and Captain Perez + have made me feel more at home than I have ever felt before. You know,” + she added, “grandfather is the only relative I have.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you will go back to your studies when your grandfather + recovers.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. If grandfather is well enough I think I shall try to + persuade him to come up to Boston and live with me. Then I might perhaps + teach. This was to have been my last year at Radcliffe, so my giving it up + will not make so much difference. Do you intend to stay here long? I + suppose you do. Your profession, I know, means so much to you, and your + work at the station must be very interesting.” + </p> + <p> + “It would be more so if I had someone who was interested with me. Mr. + Langley is kind, but he is so wrapped up in his own work that I see very + little of him. I took the place because I thought it would give me a good + deal of spare time that I might use in furthering some experiments of my + own. Electricity is my hobby, and I have one or two ideas that I am + foolish enough to hope may be worth developing. I have had time enough, + goodness knows, but it's a lonesome sort of life. If it had not been for + the captains—and you—I think I should have given it up before + this.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I hope you won't.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—why, because it seems like running away, almost, doesn't it? If + a thing is hard to do, but is worth doing, I think the satisfaction IN + doing it is ever so much greater, don't you? I know it must be lonely for + you; but, then, it is lonely for Mr. Langley and the other men, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I doubt if Mr. Langley would be happy anywhere else, and the other men + are married, most of them, and live over in the village.” + </p> + <p> + Now, there isn't any real reason why this simple remark should have caused + a halt in the conversation, but it did. Miss Preston said, “Oh, indeed!” + rather hurriedly, and her next speech was concerning the height of a + particularly big wave. Mr. Hazeltine answered this commonplace somewhat + absent-mindedly. He acted like a man to whom a startling idea had suddenly + occurred. Just then they heard Captain Eri calling them. + </p> + <p> + The Captain was standing on a sand dune near the station, shouting their + names through a speaking trumpet formed by placing his hands about his + mouth. As the pair came strolling toward him, he shifted his hands to his + trousers pockets and stood watching the young couple with a sort of half + smile. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose if Jerry was here now,” he mused, “he'd think his scheme was + workin'. Well, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis. You can't never tell. Well, I + swan!” + </p> + <p> + The exclamation was called forth by the sight of Captain Perez and Miss + Patience, who suddenly came into view around the corner of the station. + The Captain was gallantly assisting his companion over the rough places in + the path, and she was leaning upon his arm in a manner that implied + implicit confidence. Captain Eri glanced from one couple to the other, and + then grinned broadly. The grin had not entirely disappeared when Captain + Perez came up, and the latter rather crisply asked what the joke was. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin'!” was the reply. “I was jest thinkin' we must be playin' some + kind of a game, and I was It.” + </p> + <p> + “It?” queried Miss Patience, puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes. I'm kinder like 'Rastus Bailey used to be at the dances when + you and me was younger, Perez. Old man Alexander—he was the fiddler—used + to sing out 'Choose partners for Hull's Vict'ry,' or somethin' like that, + and it always took 'Ras so long to make up his mind what girl to choose + that he gin'rally got left altogether. Then he'd set on the settee all + through the dance and say he never cared much for Hull's Vict'ry, anyway. + Seems to me, I'm the only one that ain't choosed partners. How 'bout it, + Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “More fool you, that's all I've got to say,” replied Captain Perez + stoutly. + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience laughed so heartily at this rejoinder that Perez began to + think he had said a very good thing indeed, and so repeated it for greater + effect. + </p> + <p> + “You want to look out for him, Miss Davis,” said Captain Eri. “He's the + most fascinatin' youngster of his age I ever see. Me and Jerry's been + thinkin' we'd have to build a fence 'round the house to keep the girls + away when he's home. Why, M'lissy Busteed fairly—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, give us a rest, Eri!” exclaimed Perez, with even more indignation + than was necessary. “M'lissy Busteed!” + </p> + <p> + Just then Ralph and Elsie came up, and Captain Eri explained that he had + hailed them because it was time to be going if they wanted to get across + to the mainland without swimming. They walked around to the back door of + the station and there found Mrs. Snow and Captain Davis by the hen-yard. + The lady from Nantucket had discovered a sick chicken in the collection, + and she was holding it in her lap and at the same time discoursing + learnedly on the relative value of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, + as layers. + </p> + <p> + “See there!” exclaimed Captain Eri delightedly, pointing to the suffering + pullet, “what did I tell you? D'you wonder we picked her out for nuss for + John, Luther? Even a sick hen knows enough to go to her.” + </p> + <p> + They harnessed Daniel to the carryall, and stowed the living freight + aboard somehow, although Captain Perez protested that he had eaten so much + dinner he didn't know's he'd be able to hang on the way he did coming + down. Then they said farewell to Captain Davis and his sister and started + for home. The members of the crew, such of them as were about the station, + waved good-by to them as they passed. + </p> + <p> + “Things kind of average up in this world, don't they?” said Captain Eri + reflectively, as he steered Daniel along the soft beach toward the ford. + “We're all the time readin' 'bout fellers that work for the Gov'ment + gittin' high sal'ries and doin' next to nothin'. Now there's a gang—the + life-savin' crew, I mean—that does what you and me would call + almighty hard work and git next to nothin' for it. Uncle Sam gits square + there, it seems to me. A few dollars a month and find yourself ain't + gilt-edged wages for bein' froze and drownded and blown to pieces ten + months out of the year, is it?” + </p> + <p> + The tide was higher when they came to the crossing than it had been when + they drove over before, but they made the passage all right, although + there was some nervousness displayed by the feminine portion of the party. + When they reached home they found Captain Jerry contentedly smoking his + pipe, the sick man was asleep, and everything was serene. Josiah appeared + from behind the barn, where he had been smoking a cigarette. + </p> + <p> + They pressed Mr. Hazeltine to stay to supper, but he declined, alleging + that he had been away from business too long already. He had been + remarkably silent during the homeward ride, and Elsie, too, had seemed + busy with her thoughts. She was full of fun at the supper table, however, + and the meal was a jolly one. Just as it was finished Captain Jerry struck + the table a bang with his palm that made the knives and forks jump, and so + startled Captain Perez as to cause him to spill half a cup of tea over his + shirt bosom. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love!” ejaculated the victim, mopping his chin and his tie with + his napkin. “It's bad enough to scare a feller to death, let alone + drowndin' and scaldin' him at the same time. What did you do that for?” + </p> + <p> + “I jest thought of somethin',” exclaimed Captain Jerry, going through one + pocket after the other. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wish you'd have your thinkin' fits in the barn or somewheres else + next time. I put this shirt on clean this mornin' and now look at it!” + </p> + <p> + His friend was too busy to pay any attention to this advice. The pocket + search apparently being unsatisfactory, he rose from the table and + hurriedly made a round of the room, looking on the mantelpiece and under + chairs. + </p> + <p> + “I had it when I come in,” he soliloquized. “I know I did, 'cause I was + wearin' it when I went out to see to the hens. I don't see where—” + </p> + <p> + “If it's your hat you're looking for,” observed Josiah, “I saw Mrs. Snow + hang it up on the nail behind the door. There it is now.” + </p> + <p> + The reply to this was merely a grunt, which may, or may not have expressed + approval. At any rate, the hat was apparently the object of his search, + for he took it from the nail, looked inside, and with a sigh of relief + took out a crumpled envelope. + </p> + <p> + “I knew I put it somewheres,” he said. “It's a letter for you, Elsie. + Josiah, here, he brought it down from the post-office when he come from + school this afternoon. I meant to give it to you afore.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, who sat next to the young lady, noticed that the envelope was + addressed in an irregular, sprawling hand to “Miss Elizabeth Preston, + Orham, Mass.” Elsie looked it over in the absent way in which so many of + us examine the outside of a letter which comes unexpectedly. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder who it is from,” she said. + </p> + <p> + She did not open it at once, but, tucking it into her waist, announced + that she must run upstairs, in order that Mrs. Snow might come down to + supper. The housekeeper did come down a few minutes later, and, as she was + interested to know more about Luther Davis and his sister, the talk became + animated and general. + </p> + <p> + It was after eight o'clock when Mrs. Snow, having finished washing the + dishes—she allowed no one to assist her in this operation since the + time when she caught Captain Jerry absent-mindedly using the dust rag + instead of the dishcloth—went upstairs to her patient. Shortly + afterward Elsie came down, wearing her hat and jacket. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going out for a little while,” she said. “No, I don't want anyone to + go with me. I'll be back soon.” + </p> + <p> + Her back was turned to the three captains as she spoke, but, as she opened + the door, the lamplight shone for an instant on her face, and Captain Eri + noticed, or fancied that he did, that she was paler than usual. He rose, + and again offered to accompany her, but met with such a firm refusal that + he could not insist further. + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's kind of funny, ain't it?” remarked Perez. “I don't b'lieve + she's been out alone afore after dark sence she's been here.” + </p> + <p> + “Where did you git that letter, Josiah?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + It may as well be explained here that Captain Perez' grand-nephew was a + thorn in the flesh to everyone, including his indulgent relative. He was a + little afraid of Mrs. Snow, and obeyed her better than he did anyone else, + but that is not saying a great deal. He was in mischief in school + two-thirds of the time, and his reports, made out by the teacher, were + anything but complimentary. He was a good-looking boy, the image of his + mother, who had been her uncle's favorite, and he was popular with a + certain class of youngsters. Also, and this was worse, his work at the + livery stable had thrown him in contact with a crowd of men like + “Squealer” Wixon, “Web” Saunders, and others of their class, and they + appreciated his New York street training and made much of him. Captain + Perez, mindful of his promise to the boy's mother, did not use the + necessary measures to control him, and Captain Eri and Captain Jerry did + not like to interfere. + </p> + <p> + Just now he was seated in the corner, and he looked up with a start, + hurriedly folded up the tattered paper book he was reading, stuffed it + into his pocket, and said, “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Who give you that letter that come for Elsie?” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Cahoon up at the office. It was in our box,” said the boy. + </p> + <p> + “Humph! What are you readin' that's so interestin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin'. A book, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me look at it.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah hesitated, looked as if he would like to refuse, and then sullenly + took the ragged volume from his pocket and handed it to the Captain, who + deliberately unfolded it, and looked at the cover. + </p> + <p> + “'Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific,'” he read aloud. + “Humph! Is it good?” + </p> + <p> + “Bet your life! It's a red-hot story.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to know! Who was Mr. Moonshine—what's his name—Starlight?” + </p> + <p> + “He was a sailor,” was the sulky answer. Josiah was no fool, and knew when + he was being made fun of. + </p> + <p> + The Captain opened the book, and read a page or two to himself. Then he + said, “I see he knocked the skipper down 'cause he insulted him. Nice, + spunky chap; I'd like to have had him aboard a vessel of mine. And he + called the old man a 'caitiff hound'? Awful thing to call a feller, that + is. I'll bet that skipper felt ashamed. Looks like a good book. I'll + borrow it to-night to read while you're doin' your lessons.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't got any lessons to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, ain't you? I thought that was a 'rithmetic over there.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I know 'em now. Besides, you ain't got any right to order me + around. You ain't my uncle. Can't I read that book, Uncle Perez?” + </p> + <p> + Poor Perez! He hesitated, swallowed once or twice, and answered, “You can + read it after you've studied a spell. You'll let him have it then, won't + you, Eri? Now study, like a good boy.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked as if he would like to say something further, but he + evidently thought better of it, and tossed the paper novel across to + Captain Perez, who put it on the table, saying, rather feebly: + </p> + <p> + “There now, it's right there, where you can have it soon's you've l'arned + your examples. Now pitch in, so's the teacher can see how smart you are.” + </p> + <p> + His nephew grumblingly got his paper and pencil, took the arithmetic and + went to work. No one spoke for a while, Captain Perez twirling his thumbs + and looking, as he felt, uncomfortable. Soon Josiah, announcing that his + studies were completed, grabbed the novel from the table, took a lamp from + the kitchen and went off to bed. When he had gone Captain Jerry said, + “Perez, you're sp'ilin' that boy.” + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose I am, I s'pose I am, but I can't bear to be cross to him, + somehow. Poor Lizzie, she made me promise I wouldn't be, and I jest can't; + that's all. You understand how 'tis, don't you, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I'm sorry I said anything. I + hadn't ought to be givin' orders 'bout what's none of my affairs. What + time is it gittin' to be?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry announced that it was bedtime, and that he was going to turn + in. Perez, still looking worried and anxious, said that he also was going + to bed. Captain Eri thought that he would sit up for a while. + </p> + <p> + Another hour and still another went by, and the Captain sat there in his + rocker. His two friends were sound asleep. Mrs. Snow called twice from the + head of the stairs to know if Elsie had come back, and where on earth she + could be. Captain Eri's answers were cheery and to the effect that the + young lady had an errand up town, and would be home pretty soon, he + guessed. Nevertheless, it might have been noticed that he glanced at the + clock every few minutes, and grew more and more fidgety. + </p> + <p> + It was after eleven when Elsie came in. She hurriedly and with some + confusion apologized for being so late, and thanked the Captain for + sitting up for her. She made no offer to explain her long absence and, as + she went upstairs, Captain Eri noticed that her face was, if anything, + paler than when she went out, and her eyes looked as if she had been + crying. He wanted to ask her some questions, but didn't, because she + evidently did not wish to talk. He pondered over the matter while + undressing, and for a long time after that lay awake thinking. That the + girl was in trouble of some sort was plain, but he could not understand + why she said nothing about it, or what its cause might be. She had been + her bright, happy self all day and a part of the evening. Then she had + suddenly changed. The Captain wondered what was in that letter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + A LITTLE POLITICS + </h3> + <p> + Elsie, when she came down to breakfast next morning, was quieter than + usual, and to the joking questions of Captain Jerry and Captain Perez, who + were curious concerning her “errand” of the previous evening, and who + pretended to believe that she had gone to a dance or “time” with some + “feller” unknown, she gave evasive, but good-humored replies. Captain Eri + was on his usual fishing trip, and after breakfast was over Perez departed + to the Barry place, and Jerry to his beloved schoolhouse. The sacrifice, + whose impending matrimonial doom had not been mentioned for some time by + the trio interested, was gradually becoming his own garrulous self, and + his principal topic of conversation recently had been the coming marriage + of the “upstairs teacher”—that is, the lady who presided over the + grammar grade of the school—and the question of her probable + successor. In fact, this question of who the new teacher was to be was the + prevailing subject of surmise and conjecture in the village just then. + </p> + <p> + When Captain Jerry came back to the house he went out to the barn to feed + Lorenzo and the hens, and attend to Daniel's toilet. He was busy with the + curry-comb when Elsie came in. She seated herself on a box, and watched + the performance for a while without speaking. The Captain, who took this + part of his duties very seriously, was too intent on crimping Daniel's + rather scraggy forelock to talk much. At length Miss Preston broke the + silence. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry,” she said, “you have never told me just where you found + grandfather that night when he was taken sick. On the hill back of the + post-office, wasn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, jest on the top. You see, he'd fell down when he was runnin' to the + fire.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri found him, didn't he?” + </p> + <p> + “Yep. Whoa there, Dan'l; stand still, can't you? Yes, Eri found him.” + </p> + <p> + “How was he dressed?” + </p> + <p> + “Who? John? Oh, he was bareheaded and in his shirtsleeves, jest as he run + outdoors when he heard the bell. Queer, he didn't put on that old white + hat of his. I never knew him to be without it afore; but a feller's li'ble + to forgit 'most anything a night like that was. Did Eri tell you how Perez + forgot his shoes? Funniest thing I ever see, that was.” + </p> + <p> + He began the story of his friend's absent-mindedness, but his companion + did not seem to pay much attention to it. In fact, it was evident that her + thoughts were somewhere else, for when the Captain asked her a question + that plainly called for a negative, she replied “Yes,” very calmly, and + didn't seem to know that she had said it. She went into the house soon + after and Captain Jerry, after considering the matter, decided that she + was probably thinking of Hazeltine. He derived much comfort from the idea. + </p> + <p> + When he, too, entered the dining room, Elsie said to him: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Captain Jerry! Please don't tell the others that I asked about + grandfather. They would think that I was worrying, and I'm not, a bit. You + won't mention it, will you? Just promise, to please me.” + </p> + <p> + So the Captain promised, although he did not understand why it was asked + of him. + </p> + <p> + When Captain Eri came home that afternoon, and was cleaning his catch at + the shanty, he was surprised to receive a call from Miss Preston. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” he exclaimed. “Come to l'arn the trade?” + </p> + <p> + Elsie smiled, and disclaimed any intention of apprenticeship. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri,” she said, “I want to have a talk with you, a business + talk.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain looked at her keenly. All he said, however, was, “You don't + tell me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I want to talk with you about getting me a position.” + </p> + <p> + “A position?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I've been thinking a great deal lately, and, now that grandfather + seems to be a little better, and I'm not needed to help take care of him, + I want to do something to earn my living.” + </p> + <p> + “Earn your livin'? Why, child alive, you don't need to do that. You ain't + a mite of trouble at the house; fact is, I don't know how we'd get along + without you, and, as for money, why I cal'late your grandpa ain't so poor + but what, if I let you have a little change once in a while, he'd be able + to pay me back, when he got better.” + </p> + <p> + “But I don't want to use your money or his either. Captain Eri, you don't + know what he has done for me ever since I was a little girl. He has + clothed me and given me an education, and been so kind and good that, now + that he is ill and helpless, I simply can't go on using his money. I + can't, and I won't.” + </p> + <p> + The tears stood in the girl's eyes, as she spoke, and the Captain, + noticing her emotion, thought it better to treat the matter seriously, for + the present at any rate. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “'Independence shows a proper sperit and saves + grocery bills,' as old man Scudder said when his wife run off with the + tin-peddler. What kind of a place was you thinkin' of takin'?” + </p> + <p> + “I want to get the appointment to teach in the grammar school here. Miss + Nixon is going to be married, and when she leaves I want her place—and + I want you to help me get it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri whistled. “I want to know!” he exclaimed. Then he said, “Look + here, Elsie, I don't want you to think I'm tryin' to be cur'ous 'bout your + affairs, or anything like that, but are you sure there ain't some reason + more 'n you've told me of for your wantin' this place? I ain't no real + relation of yours, you understand, but I would like to have you feel that + you could come to me with your troubles jest the same as you would to your + grandpa. Now, honest and true, ain't there somethin' back of this?” + </p> + <p> + It was only for a moment that Elsie hesitated, but that moment's + hesitation and the manner in which she answered went far toward confirming + the Captain's suspicions. + </p> + <p> + “No, Captain Eri,” she said. “It is just as I've told you. I don't want to + be dependent on grandfather any longer.” + </p> + <p> + “And there ain't a single other reason for—Of course, I ought to + mind my business, but—Well, there! what was it you wanted me to do? + Help you git the place?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if you will. I know Captain Perez has said that you were interested + in the town-meetings and helped to nominate some of the selectmen and the + school-committee, so I thought perhaps, if you used your influence, you + might get the position for me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know. I did do a little electioneerin' for one or two + fellers and maybe they'd ought to be willin' to do somethin' for me. + Still, you can't never tell. A cat 'll jump over your hands if she knows + there's a piece of fish comin' afterwards, but when she's swallowed that + fish, it's a diff'rent job altogether. Same way with a politician. But, + then, you let me think over it for a spell, and p'raps to-morrow we'll + see. You think it over, too. Maybe you'll change your mind.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I shan't change my mind. I'm ever and ever so much obliged to you, + though.” + </p> + <p> + She started toward the door, but turned impulsively and said, “Oh, Captain + Eri, you don't think that I'm ungrateful, do you? You nor Captain Perez + nor Captain Jerry won't think that I do not appreciate all your kindness? + You won't think that I'm shirking my duty, or that I don't want to help + take care of grandfather any longer? You won't? Promise me you won't.” + </p> + <p> + She choked down a sob as she asked the question. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was as much moved as she was. He hastened to answer. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, no!” he exclaimed. “Course we won't do no such thing. Run right + along, and don't think another word about it. Wait till to-morrer. I'll + have a plan fixed up to land that school-committee, see if I don't.” + </p> + <p> + But all that evening he worked at the model of the clipper, and the + expression on his face as he whittled showed that he was puzzled, and not + a little troubled. + </p> + <p> + He came back from his fishing next day a little earlier than usual, + changed his working-clothes for his second best suit, harnessed Daniel + into the buggy, and then came into the house, and announced that he was + going over to the Neck on an errand, and if Elsie wanted to go with him, + he should be glad of her company. As this was but part of a pre-arranged + scheme, the young lady declared that a ride was just what she needed. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri said but little, as they drove up to the “main road”; he + seemed to be thinking. Elsie, too, was very quiet. When they reached the + fruit and candy shop, just around the corner, the Captain stopped the + horse, got down, and went in. When he came out he had a handful of cigars. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Eri,” said Elsie, “I didn't know that you smoked cigars. I + thought a pipe was your favorite.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, gin'rally speakin', 'tis,” was the answer, “but I'm electioneerin' + now, and politics without cigars would be like a chowder without any + clams. Rum goes with some kind of politics, but terbacker kind of chums in + with all kinds. 'Tain't always safe to jedge a candidate by the kind of + cigars he gives out neither; I've found that out. + </p> + <p> + “Reminds me of a funny thing that Obed Nickerson told me one time. Obed + used to be in politics a good deal up and down the Cape, here, and he had + consider'ble influence. 'Twas when Bradley up to Fall River was runnin' + for Congress. They had a kind of pow-wow in his office—a whole gang + of district leaders—and Obed he was one of 'em. Bradley went to git + out the cigar-box, and 'twas empty, so he called in the boy that swept out + and run errands for him, give the youngster a ten-dollar bill, and told + him to go down to a terbacker store handy and buy another box. Well, the + boy, he was a new one that Bradley'd jest hired, seemed kind of surprised + to think of anybody's bein' so reckless as to buy a whole box of cigars at + once, but he went and pretty soon come back with the box. + </p> + <p> + “The old man told him to open it and pass 'em round. Well, everybody was + lookin' for'ard to a treat, 'cause Bradley had the name of smokin' better + stuff than the average; but when they lit up and got a-goin', Obed said + you could see that the gang was s'prised and some disgusted. The old man + didn't take one at fust, but everybody else puffed away, and the smoke and + smell got thicker 'n' thicker. Obed said it reminded him of a stable afire + more 'n anything else. Pretty soon Bradley bit the end of one of the + things and touched a match to it. He puffed twice—Obed swears + 'twa'n't more'n that—and then he yelled for the boy. + </p> + <p> + “'For the Lord's sake!' he says, 'where'd you git them cigars?' Well, it + come out that the boy hadn't told who the cigars was for, and he'd bought + a box of the kind his brother that worked in the cotton mill smoked. Obed + said you'd ought to have seen Bradley's face when the youngster handed him + back seven dollars and seventy-five cents change.” + </p> + <p> + They reached that part of Orham which is called the Neck, and pulled up + before a small building bearing the sign “Solomon Bangs, Attorney-at-Law, + Real Estate and Insurance.” Here the Captain turned to his companion and + asked, “Sure you haven't changed your mind, Elsie? You want that + school-teachin' job?” + </p> + <p> + “I haven't changed my mind, Captain Eri.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wanted to be sure. I should hate to ask Sol Bangs for anything + and then have to back out afterwards. Come on, now.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Soloman Bangs was the chairman of the Orham school-committee. He was a + short, stout man with sandy side-whiskers and a bald head. He received + them with becoming condescension, and asked if they wouldn't sit down. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I've got a little bus'ness I want to talk with you 'bout, Sol,” said + the Captain. “Elsie, you set down here, and make yourself comf'table, and + Sol and me 'll go inside for a minute.” + </p> + <p> + As he led the way into the little private office at the back of the + building, and seemed to take it for granted that Mr. Bangs would follow, + the latter gentleman couldn't well refuse. The private office was usually + reserved for interviews with widows whose homestead mortgages were to be + foreclosed, guileless individuals who had indorsed notes for friends, or + others whose business was unpleasant and likely to be accompanied with + weeping or profanity. Mr. Bangs didn't object to foreclosing a mortgage, + but he disliked to have a prospective customer hear the dialogue that + preceded the operation. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion the door of the sanctum was left ajar so that Elsie, + although she did not try to listen, could not very well help hearing what + was said. + </p> + <p> + She heard the Captain commenting on the late cranberry crop, the + exceptionally pleasant weather of the past month, and other irrelevant + subjects. Then the perfumes of the campaign cigars floated out through the + doorway. + </p> + <p> + “Let's see,” said Captain Eri, “when's town meetin' day?” + </p> + <p> + “First Tuesday in December,” replied Mr. Bangs. + </p> + <p> + “Why, so 'tis, so 'tis. Gittin' pretty nigh, ain't it? What are you goin' + to git off the school-committee for?” + </p> + <p> + “Me? Get off the committee? Who told you that?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I don't know. You are, ain't you? Seems to me I heard Seth Wingate + was goin' to run and he's from your district, so I thought, of course—” + </p> + <p> + “Is Seth going to try for the committee?” + </p> + <p> + “Seth's a good man,” was the equivocal answer. + </p> + <p> + “A good man! He ain't any better man than I am. What's he know about + schools, or how to run 'em?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he's pretty popular. Folks like him. See here, Sol; what's this + 'bout your turnin' Betsy Godfrey off her place?” + </p> + <p> + “Who said I turned her off? I've been carrying that mortgage for so long + it's gray-headed. I can't be Santa Claus for the whole town. Business is + business, and I've got to look out for myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye-es, I s'pose that's so. Still, folks talk, and Seth's got lots of + friends.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri, I ain't denying that you could do a heap to hurt me if you wanted + to, but I don't know why you should. I've always been square with you, + far's I know. What have you got against me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nuthin', nuthin'! Didn't I hear you was tryin' to get that Harniss + teacher to come down here and take Carrie Nixon's place when she got + married?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I thought of her. She's all night, isn't she?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I s'pose she is. 'Twould be better if she lived in Orham, maybe, and + folks couldn't say you went out of town for a teacher when you could have + had one right from home. Then, she's some relation of your cousin, ain't + she? 'Course, that's all right, but—well, you can't pay attention to + everything that's said.” + </p> + <p> + “Could have got one right from home! Who'd we get? Dave Eldredge's girl, I + suppose. I heard she was after it.” + </p> + <p> + The conversation that followed was in a lower tone, and Elsie heard but + little of it. She heard enough, however, to infer that Captain Eri was + still the disinterested friend, and that Solomon was very anxious to + retain that friendship. After a while the striking of matches indicated + that fresh cigars were being lighted, and then the pair rose from their + chairs, and entered the outer office. Mr. Bangs was very gracious, + exceedingly so. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Preston,” he said, “Cap'n Hedge tells me that it—er—might + be possible for us—er—for the town to secure—er—to—in + short, for us to have you for our teacher in the upstairs room. It ain't + necessary for me to say that—er—a teacher from Radcliffe don't + come our way very often, and that we—that is, the town of Orham, + would—er—feel itself lucky if you'd be willing to come.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course, I told him, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, “that you wouldn't think + of comin' for forty-five dollars a month or anything like that. Of course, + 'tisn't as though you really needed the place.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand, I understand,” said the pompous committeeman. “I think that + can be arranged. I really think—er—Miss Preston, that there + ain't any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!” + </p> + <p> + Elsie thanked him, trying her best not to smile, and they were bowed out + by the great man, who, however, called the Captain to one side, and + whispered eagerly to him for a moment or two. The word “Seth” was + mentioned at least once. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Eri!” exclaimed Elsie, as they drove away. + </p> + <p> + The Captain grinned. “Didn't know I was such a heeler, did you?” he said. + “Well, I tell you. If you're fishin' for eels there ain't no use usin' a + mack'rel jig. Sol, he's a little mite eely, and you've got to use the kind + of bait that 'll fetch that sort of critter.” + </p> + <p> + “But I shouldn't think he would care whether he was on the + school-committee or not. It isn't such an exalted position.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's answer was in the form of a parable. “Old Laban Simpkins + that lived 'round here one time,” he said, “was a mighty hard ticket. + Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she left him, and was a + tough nut gin'rally. Well, one evenin' Labe was comin' home pretty + how-come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab Wixon's well. Wonder he wa'n't + killed, but he wa'n't, and they fished him out in a little while. He said + that was the deepest well he ever saw; said he begun to think it reached + clear through to the hereafter, and when he struck the water he was + s'prised to find it wa'n't hot. He j'ined the church the next week, and + somebody asked him if he thought religion would keep him from fallin' into + any more wells. He said no; said he was lookin' out for somethin' further + on. + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the way 'tis with Sol. School-committee's all right, but + this section of the Cape nominates a State representative next year. + </p> + <p> + “I mustn't forgit to see Seth,” he added. “I promised I would, and + besides,” with a wink, “I think 'twould be better to do it 'cause, between + you and me, I don't b'lieve Seth knows that he's been thinkin' of runnin' + for the committee and has decided not to.” + </p> + <p> + The second member of the school board, John Mullett, was, so the Captain + said, a sort of “me too” to Mr. Bangs, and would vote as his friend + directed. The third member was Mr. Langworthy, the Baptist minister and, + although two to one was a clear majority, Captain Eri asserted that there + was nothing like a unanimous vote, and so they decided to call upon the + reverend gentleman. + </p> + <p> + They found him at home, and Elsie was surprised, after the previous + interview, to see how differently her champion handled the case. There was + no preliminary parley and no beating about the bush. Miss Preston's claim + to the soon-to-be-vacant position was stated clearly and with vigor. Also + the reasons why she should receive a higher salary than had previously + been paid were set forth. It was something of a surprise to Elsie, as it + had been to Ralph, to see how highly the towns-people, that is, the + respectable portion of them, seemed to value the opinions of this + good-natured but uneducated seaman. And yet when she considered that she, + too, went to him for advice that she would not have asked of other and far + more learned acquaintances, it did not seem so surprising after all. + </p> + <p> + The clergyman had had several candidates in mind, but he was easily won + over to Elsie's side, partly by the Captain's argument, and partly because + he was favorably impressed by the young lady's appearance and manner. He + expressed himself as being convinced that she would be exactly the sort of + teacher that the school required and pledged his vote unconditionally. + </p> + <p> + And so, as Captain Eri said, the stump-speaking being over, there was + nothing to do but to wait for the election, and Elsie and he agreed to + keep the affair a secret until she received formal notice of the + appointment. This was undoubtedly a good plan, but, unfortunately for its + success, Solomon Bangs called upon his fellow in the committee, Mr. + Mullett, to inform the latter that he, entirely unaided, had discovered + the very teacher that Orham needed in the person of John Baxter's + granddaughter. Mr. Mullett, living up to his “me too” reputation, indorsed + the selection with enthusiasm, and not only did that, but also told + everyone he met, so that Captain Perez heard of it at the post-office the + very next afternoon. + </p> + <p> + The natural surprise of this gentleman and of Captain Jerry at their + guest's sudden determination was met by plausible explanations from + Captain Eri, to the effect that Elsie was a smart girl, and didn't like to + be “hangin' 'round doin' nothin', now that her grandpa was some better.” + Elsie's own reason, as expressed to them, being just this, the pair + accepted it without further questioning. Neither of them attached much + importance to the letter which she had received, although Captain Perez + did ask Mrs. Snow if she knew from whom it came. + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket was not so easily satisfied. At her first + opportunity she cornered Captain Eri, and they discussed the whole affair + from beginning to end. There was nothing unusual in this proceeding, for + discussions concerning household matters and questions of domestic policy + were, between these two, getting to be more and more frequent. Mrs. Snow + was now accepted by all as one of the family, and Captain Eri had come to + hold a high opinion of her and her views. What he liked about her, he + said, was her “good old-fashioned common-sense,” and, whereas he had + formerly trusted to his own share of this virtue almost altogether, now he + was glad to have hers to help out. + </p> + <p> + The marriage idea, that which had brought the housekeeper to Orham, was + now seldom mentioned. In fact, Captain Eri had almost entirely ceased to + ruffle Jerry's feelings with reference to it. Mrs. Snow, of course, said + nothing about it. But, for that matter, she said very little about herself + or her affairs. + </p> + <p> + It was a curious fact that the lady from Nantucket had never referred, + except in a casual way, to her past history. She had never told how she + came to answer the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime, nor to explain how + so matter-of-fact a person as she was had ever seen that famous sheet. As + she said nothing concerning these things, no one felt at liberty to + inquire, and, in the course of time, even Captain Perez' lively curiosity + had lapsed into a trance. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow was certain that Elsie's reason for wishing to obtain the + position of school-teacher was something more specific than the one + advanced. She was also certain that the girl was troubled about something. + The root of the matter, she believed, was contained in the mysterious + letter. As Captain Eri was of precisely the same opinion, speculation + between the two as to what that letter might have contained was as lively + as it was unfruitful. + </p> + <p> + One thing was certain, Elsie was not as she had formerly been. She did her + best to appear the same, but she was much more quiet, and had fits of + absentmindedness that the Captain and the housekeeper noticed. She had no + more evening “errands,” but she occasionally took long walks in the + afternoons, and on these walks she evidently preferred to be alone. + </p> + <p> + Whether Mr. Hazeltine noticed this change in her was a question. The + Captain thought he did, but at any rate, his calls were none the less + frequent, and he showed no marked objection when Captain Jerry, who now + considered himself bound in honor to bring about the union he had so + actively championed, brought to bear his artful schemes for leaving the + young folks alone. These devices were so apparent that Elsie had more than + once betrayed some symptoms of annoyance, all of which were lost on the + zealous match-maker. Ralph, like the others, was much surprised at Miss + Preston's application for employment, but, as it was manifestly none of + his business, he, of course, said nothing. + </p> + <p> + At the next committee meeting Elsie was unanimously chosen to fill Miss + Nixon's shoes as trainer of the young idea at the grammar school, and, as + Miss Nixon was very anxious to be rid of her responsibilities in order + that she might become the carefree bride of a widower with two small + children, the shoe-filling took place in a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + From her first day's labors Elsie returned calm and unruffled. She had met + the usual small rebellion against a new teacher, and had conquered it. She + said she believed she had a good class and she should get on with them + very nicely. It should be mentioned in passing, however, that Josiah + Bartlett, usually the ring-leader in all sorts of trouble, was a trifle + upset because the new schoolmistress lived in the same house with him, and + so had not yet decided just how far it was safe to go in trespassing + against law and order. + </p> + <p> + Thanksgiving day came, and the Captains entertained Miss Patience Davis + and her brother and Ralph Hazeltine at dinner. That dinner was an event. + Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow spent a full twenty minutes with the driver of + the butcher's cart, giving him directions concerning the exact breed of + turkey that was to be delivered, and apparently these orders were + effectual, for Captain Luther, who was obliged to hurry back to the + life-saving station as soon as dinner was over, said that he was so full + of white meat and stuffing that he cal'lated he should “gobble” all the + way to the beach. His sister stayed until the next day, and this was very + pleasing to all hands, particularly Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + They had games in the evening, and here the captains distinguished + themselves. Seth Wingate and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Obed Nickerson + came in, as did several other retired mariners and their better-halves. + Obed brought his fiddle and sat in the corner and played the music for a + Virginia reel, and Ralph laughed until he choked to see Captain Jerry—half + of his shirt-collar torn loose from the button and flapping like a sail—convoy + stout Mrs. Wingate from one end of the line to the other, throwing into + the performance all the fancy “cuts” and “double-shuffles” he learned at + the Thanksgiving balls of a good many years before. Captain Perez danced + with Miss Patience, who assured him she had never had such a good time + since she was born. The only scoffer was the bored Josiah, who, being a + sophisticated New Yorker, sat in the best chair and gazed contemptuously + upon the entire proceeding. He told “Web” Saunders the next day that he + never saw such a gang of “crazy jays” in his life. + </p> + <p> + Even John Baxter was better that day. He seemed a trifle more rational, + and apparently understood when they told him that it was Thanksgiving. + There would have been no cloud anywhere had not Mrs. Snow, entering her + room after Elsie had gone to bed, found that young lady awake and crying + silently. + </p> + <p> + “And she wouldn't tell what the trouble was,” said the housekeeper to + Captain Eri, the next day. “Said it was nothin'; she was kind of worried + 'bout her grandpa. Now, you and me know it wa'n't THAT. I wish to goodness + we knew WHAT it was.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain scratched his nose with a perplexed air. “There's one feller + I'd like to have a talk with jest 'bout now,” he said; “that's the one + that invented that yarn 'bout a woman's not bein' able to keep a secret.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + </h3> + <p> + It was during the week that followed the holiday so gloriously celebrated + that Captain Jerry made a mess of it, and all with the best intentions in + the world. Elsie had had a hard day at the school, principally owing to + the perversity of the irrepressible Josiah, whose love for deviltry was + getting the better of his respect for the new teacher. The boy had + discovered that Elsie never reported his bad conduct to Captain Perez, + and, therefore, that the situation was not greatly different from what it + had been during the reign of Miss Nixon. + </p> + <p> + On this particular day he had been a little worse than usual, and, as + uneasiness and mischief in a schoolroom are as catching as the chickenpox, + Elsie came home tired and nervous. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were certain + that this increasing nervousness on the part of their guest was not due to + school troubles alone, but, at any rate, nervous she was, and particularly + nervous, and, it must be confessed, somewhat inclined to be irritable, + during the supper and afterward, on this ill-starred night. + </p> + <p> + The beginning of the trouble was when Ralph Hazeltine called. Mrs. Snow + was with her patient in the upper room, Captain Eri was out, and Captain + Perez and Captain Jerry were with Elsie in the dining room. The + electrician was made welcome by the trio—more especially by the + captains, for Miss Preston was in no mood to be over-effusive—and a + few minutes of general conversation followed. Then Captain Jerry, in + accordance with his plan of campaign, laid down his newspaper, coughed + emphatically to attract the attention of his partner, and said, “Well, I + guess I'll go out and look at the weather for a spell. Come on, Perez.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Jerry!” exclaimed Elsie, “you were out looking at the + weather only ten minutes ago. I don't think it has changed much since + then. Why don't you stay here and keep us company?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you can't never tell about the weather 'long this coast. It's likely + to change most any time. Besides,” with a wink that expressed + comprehension unlimited, “I reckon you and Mr. Hazeltine don't care much + 'bout the company of old fogies like me and Perez. Two's company and + three's a crowd, you know. Ho, ho, ho!” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry, come back this minute!” + </p> + <p> + But the Captain chuckled and shook out of the door, followed by the + obedient Perez, who, having pledged fealty, stuck to his colors whatever + might happen. + </p> + <p> + At another time, Elsie would probably have appreciated and enjoyed the + joke as much as anyone, but this evening it did not appeal to her in the + least. Ralph put in a very uncomfortable half-hour, and then cut his visit + short and departed. It was rather sharp and chilly outside, but the breeze + felt like a breath from the tropics compared with the atmosphere of that + dining room. + </p> + <p> + It certainly was Captain Jerry's unlucky evening, for he left Perez + chatting with a fisherman friend, who had left a favorite pipe in his + shanty and had come down to get it, and entered the house alone. He had + seen the electrician go, and was surprised at the brevity of his call, but + he was as far from suspecting that he himself was the indirect cause of + the said brevity as a mortal could be. + </p> + <p> + He came into the dining room, hung his cap on the back of a chair, and + remarked cheerfully, “Well, Elsie, what did you send your company home so + quick for? Land sake! twelve o'clock wa'n't none too late for me when I + was young and goin' round to see the girls.” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Preston did not smile. On the contrary, she frowned, and when she + spoke the Captain had a vague feeling that someone had dropped an icicle + inside his shirt collar. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry,” said the young lady, “I want to have a talk with you. Why + do you think it necessary to get up and leave the room whenever Mr. + Hazeltine calls? You do it every time, and to-night was no exception, + except that by what you said you made me appear a little more ridiculous + than usual. Now, why do you do it?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's jaw fell. He stared at his questioner to see if she was not + joking, but, finding no encouragement of that kind, stammered, “Why do I + do it? Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, why?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, 'cause I thought you wanted me to.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I</i> wanted you to! Why should you think that, please?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know. I thought you two would ruther be alone. I know, when + I used to go to see my wife 'fore we was married, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Please, what has that got to do with Mr. Hazeltine's visits here?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, why, nothin', I s'pose, if you say so. I jest thought—” + </p> + <p> + “What right have you to suppose that Mr. Hazeltine is calling on me more + than any other person or persons in this house?” + </p> + <p> + This was something of a poser, but the Captain did his best. He sat on the + edge of a chair and rubbed his knee, and then blurted out, “Well, I s'pose + I—that is, we thought he was, jest 'cause he nat'rally would; that's + 'bout all. If I'd thought—why, see here, Elsie, don't YOU think he's + comin' to see you?” + </p> + <p> + This was a return thrust that was hard to parry, but, although the young + lady's color heightened just a bit, she answered without much hesitation: + </p> + <p> + “I don't know that I do. At any rate, I have given you no authority to act + on any such assumption, and I DON'T want you to put me again in the + ridiculous position you did this evening, and as you have done so often + before. Why, his visits might be perfect torture to me, and still I should + have to endure them out of common politeness. I couldn't go away and leave + him alone.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry's face was a study of chagrin and troubled repentance. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie,” he said, “I'm awful sorry; I am so. If I'd thought I was + torturin' of you, 'stead of makin' it pleasant, I'd never have done it, + sure. I won't go out again; I won't, honest. I hope you won't lay it up + against me. I meant well.” + </p> + <p> + Now, if Captain Perez had delayed his entrance to that dining room only + two or three minutes longer, if he had not come in just in time to prevent + Elsie's making the explanatory and soothing answer that was on her tongue, + events would probably have been entirely different, and a good deal of + trouble might have been saved. But in he came, as if some perverse imp had + been waiting to give him the signal, and the interview between Captain + Jerry and the young lady whom he had unwittingly offended broke off then + and there. + </p> + <p> + Elsie went upstairs feeling a little conscience-stricken, and with an + uneasy idea that she had said more than she should have. Captain Perez + took up the newspaper and sat down to read. As for Captain Jerry, he sat + down, too, but merely to get his thoughts assorted into an arrangement + less like a spilled box of jackstraws. The Captain's wonderful scheme, + that he had boasted of and worked so hard for, had fallen to earth like an + exploded airship, and when it hit it hurt. + </p> + <p> + His first idea was to follow the usual procedure, and take the whole + matter to Captain Eri for settlement, but the more he considered this plan + the less he liked it. Captain Eri was an unmerciful tease, and he would be + sure to “rub it in,” in a way the mere thought of which made his friend + squirm. There wasn't much use in confiding to Captain Perez, either. He + must keep the secret and pretend that everything was working smoothly. + </p> + <p> + Then his thoughts turned to Hazeltine, and when he considered the wrong he + had done that young man, he squirmed again. There wasn't a doubt in his + mind that Ralph felt exactly as Elsie did about his interference. Captain + Jerry decided that he owed the electrician an apology, and determined to + offer it at the first opportunity. + </p> + <p> + And the opportunity came the very next morning, for Mrs. Snow wanted some + clams for dinner, and asked him to dig some for her. The best clams in the + vicinity were those in the flat across the bay near the cable station, and + the Captain took his bucket and hoe and rowed over there. As he was + digging, Ralph came strolling down to the shore. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine's “Good-morning” was clear and hearty. Captain Jerry's was + hesitating and formal. The talk that followed was rather one-sided. + Finally, the Captain laid down his hoe, and came splashing over to where + his friend was standing. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said confusedly, “I kind of feel as if I ought to beg + your pardon. I'm awful sorry I done what I did, but, as I said to Elsie, I + meant well, and I'm sorry.” + </p> + <p> + “Sorry? Sorry for what?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, for leavin' you and her alone so when you come to the house. You + see, I never thought but what you'd both like it, and 'twa'n't till she + raked me over the coals so for doin' it that I realized how things was.” + </p> + <p> + “Raked you over the coals? I'm afraid I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + It is unnecessary to repeat the whole of the long and tangled conversation + that ensued. The Captain tried to explain, tumbled down, metaphorically + speaking, got up again, and started off on another tack. In his anxiety to + make his position perfectly clear, he quoted from Elsie's remarks of the + previous evening, and then, thinking perhaps he had gone too far, tried to + smooth these over by more explanations. Repeating this process several + times got him into such a snarl that he scarcely knew what he was saying. + When the agony was over Ralph had received the impression that Miss + Preston had said his visits were a perfect torture to her, that she + objected to being left alone with him, that she held Captain Jerry + responsible for these things, and that the latter was sorry for something + or other, though what it was he, Ralph, didn't know or care particularly. + To the Captain's continued apologies he muttered absently that it was “all + right,” and walked slowly away with his hands in his pockets. Captain + Jerry was relieved by this expression of forgiveness. He felt that the + situation wasn't what he would like to have it, but, at any rate, he had + done his duty. This was a great consolation. + </p> + <p> + Ralph didn't call that evening or the next. When he did drop in it was + merely to inquire concerning John Baxter's progress, and to chat for a + moment with the captains. His next visit was a week later, and was just as + brief and formal. + </p> + <p> + If Elsie noticed this sudden change she said nothing. There might have + been some comment by the others, had not a new sensation so occupied their + minds as to shut out everything else. This sensation was caused by Josiah + Bartlett, who ran away one night, with his belongings tied up in a brown + paper parcel, leaving a note saying that he had gone to enlist in the Navy + and wasn't coming back any more. + </p> + <p> + There were lively times the next morning when the note was found. Captain + Perez was for harnessing up immediately and starting off to find the lost + one, hit or miss. Captain Eri soon showed him the folly of this proceeding + and, instead, hurried to the railway station and sent a telegram + describing the fugitive to the conductor of the Boston train. It caught + the conductor at Sandwich, and the local constable at Buzzard's Bay caught + the boy. Josiah was luxuriously puffing a five-cent cigar in the smoking + car, and it was a crest-fallen and humiliated prodigal that, accompanied + by the a fore-mentioned constable, returned to Orham that night. + </p> + <p> + But the stubbornness remained, and the next day Perez sought Captain Eri + in a troubled frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said dejectedly, “I don't know what I'm goin' to do with that + boy. He's too many for ME, that boy is. Seems he's been plannin' this + runnin' away bus'ness for more 'n a month; been doin' errands and odd jobs + 'round town and savin' up his money on purpose. Says he won't go back to + school again, no matter what we do to him, and that he's goin' to git into + the Navy if it takes ten year. He says he'll run away again fust chance he + gits, and he WILL, too. He's got the sperit of the Old Scratch in him, and + I can't git it out. I'm clean discouraged and wore out, and I know that + he'll do somethin' pretty soon that 'll disgrace us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed his friend. “Stuffy as all that, is he? You don't say! + He ain't a bad boy, that is a REEL bad boy, either.” + </p> + <p> + “No, that's jest it. He ain't reel bad—yit. But he will be if he + ain't fetched up pretty sudden. 'Course, I know what he needs is to be + made to mind fust, and then preached to afterwards. And I know that + nat'rally I'm the one that ought to do it, but I jest can't—there! + If I should start out to give him the dressin' down he needs, I'd be + thinkin' of his mother every minute, and how I promised to treat him + gentle and not be cross to him. But SOMETHIN'S got to be done, and if you + can help me out any way I'll never forgit it, Eri.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri scratched his chin. “Humph!” he grunted reflectively. “He + couldn't git into the Navy, he's too young. More likely to be a stowaway + on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, or some such thing. + Even if he lied 'bout his age and did git to be a sort of a ship's boy on + a sailin' vessel, you and me know what that means nowadays. I presume + likely 'twould end in his bein' killed in some rumshop scrimmage later on. + Let—me—see. Bound to be a sailor, is he?” + </p> + <p> + “He's dead sot on it.” + </p> + <p> + “More fool he. Comes from readin' them ridic'lous story books, I s'pose. + He ain't been on the water much sence he's been down here, has he?” + </p> + <p> + “Not more 'n once or twice, except in a dory goin' to the beach, or + somethin' like that.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so, that's what I thought. Well, Perez, I'll tell you. The boy + does need breakin' in, that's a fact, and I think maybe I could do it. I + could use a young feller on my boat; to go coddin' with me, I mean. Let me + have the boy under me—no meddlin' from anybody—for a couple of + months. Let him sign reg'lar articles and ship 'long of me for that time. + Maybe I could make a white man of him.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve he'd do it.” + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late I could talk him into it. There's some butter on my tongue + when it's necessary.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd have to promise not to lay a hand on him in anger. That's what I + promised his mother.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, I promise it now. That's all right, Perez. You and me are old + shipmates, and bound to help each other out. Just trust him to me, and + don't ask too many questions. Is it a trade? Good! Shake.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands on it, and then Captain Eri went in to talk to the + unreconciled runaway. That young gentleman, fresh from his triumph over + his uncle, at first refused to have anything to do with the scheme. He + wasn't going to be a “cheap guy fisherman,” he was going into the Navy. + The Captain did not attempt to urge him, neither did he preach or + patronize. He simply leaned back in the rocker and began spinning sailor + yarns. He told of all sorts of adventures in all climates, and with all + sorts of people. He had seen everything under the sun, apparently, and, + according to him, there was no life so free and void of all restraint as + that of an able seaman on a merchant ship, or, preferably, on a fisherman; + but one point he made clear, and that was that, unless the applicant had + had previous training, his lot was likely to be an unhappy one. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” he said, as he rose to go, “it was my idea to sort of train + you up so's you could be ready when 'twas time to ship, but long's you + don't want to, why it's all off.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll go with you, Cap!” said Josiah, whose eyes were shining. + </p> + <p> + “Good! That's the talk! You might as well sign articles right away. Wait + till I git 'em ready.” + </p> + <p> + He brought pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to indite a formidable + document to the effect that “Josiah Bartlett, able seaman,” was to ship + aboard the catboat Mary Ellen for a term of two months. Wages, five + dollars a month. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” he said, “I've put you down as able seaman 'cause that's what + you'll be when I git through with you. Now sign.” + </p> + <p> + So Josiah signed, and then Captain Eri affixed his own signature with a + flourish. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the Captain, bringing his big palm down on the back of + the “able seaman” with a thump that brought water into the eyes of that + proud youth, “You're my man, shipmate. We sail to-morrer mornin' at four, + rain or shine. I'll call you at quarter of. Be ready.” + </p> + <p> + “You bet, old man!” said Josiah. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez met his friend as they came out of the parlor. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Eri,” he whispered, “be easy as you can with him, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain answered in the very words of his crew. + </p> + <p> + “You bet!” he said fervently, and went away whistling. Captain Perez slept + better that night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN” + </h3> + <p> + Promptly at a quarter to four the next morning Captain Eri rapped on the + parlor door. Josiah, who had been dressed since three, appeared almost + instantly. They walked down to the shore together, and the Captain's eyes + twinkled as he noted the elaborate roll in the boy's walk. + </p> + <p> + The Mary Ellen was anchored between the beaches, and they rowed off to her + in a dory. It was pitch-dark, and cold and raw. Lanterns showed on two or + three of the other boats near by, and, as Josiah and the Captain pulled up + the eelgrass-covered anchor, a dim shape glided past in the blackness. It + was the You and I, bound out. Ira Sparrow was at the helm, and he hailed + the Mary Ellen, saying something about the weather. + </p> + <p> + “It 'll be kind of ca'm for a spell,” replied Captain Eri, “but I wouldn't + wonder if we had some wind 'fore night. Here you, fo'mast hand,” he added, + turning to Josiah, “stand by to git the canvas on her.” + </p> + <p> + The mainsail was soon hoisted, and the catboat moved slowly out of the + bay. + </p> + <p> + “Gee! it's dark,” exclaimed Josiah, “what are you goin' way off here for? + Why don't you go straight out?” + </p> + <p> + “I gin'rally take the short cut through the narrers,” replied the Captain, + “but I thought you mightn't like the breakers on the shoals, so I'm goin' + 'round the p'int flat.” + </p> + <p> + “Huh! I ain't a-scared of breakers. Can't be too rough for me. Wisht + 'twould blow to beat the band.” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe 'twill by and by. Pretty toler'ble slick now, though.” + </p> + <p> + It was after sunrise when they reached the ledge where codfish most do + congregate. The land was a mere yellow streak on the horizon. The stiff + easterly blow of the day before had left a smooth, heavy swell that, + tripping over the submerged ledge, alternately tossed the Mary Ellen high + in air and dropped her toward the bottom. It was cold, and the newly risen + December sun did not seem to have much warmth in it. Anchor over the side, + the Captain proposed breakfast. + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” did not feel very hungry, but he managed to swallow a + hard-boiled egg and a sandwich, and then, just to show that he had reached + the dignity of manhood, leaned back against the side of the cockpit, lit a + cigarette, and observed cheerfully, “This is hot stuff, ain't it, Cap?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri wiped the crumbs from his mouth, leisurely produced his pipe, + and proceeded to fill it with tobacco shaved from a chunky plug. + </p> + <p> + “What d'you smoke them things for?” he asked contemptuously, referring to + the cigarette. “Nobody but dudes and sissies smoke that kind of truck. + Here, take this pipe, and smoke like a man.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah looked askance at the proffered pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no!” he said magnanimously, “you'll want it yourself. I'll get along + with these things till I git ashore; then I'll buy a pipe of my own.” + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind 'bout me. I've got two or three more below there, + some'eres. Take it and light up.” + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” took the reeking, nicotine soaked affair, placed it + gingerly between his teeth, held a match to the bowl and coughingly + emitted a cloud of ill-smelling smoke. The pipe wheezed and gurgled, and + the Mary Ellen rocked and rolled. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said Captain Eri, “we've sojered long enough. Go below, and + bring up the bait bucket and the lines.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah staggered into the little cabin, reappeared with the heavy cod + lines and the bucket of mussels, and watched while the Captain “baited + up.” + </p> + <p> + “All ready!” said the skipper. “Two lines apiece, one over each side. + Watch me.” + </p> + <p> + The cod bit almost immediately, and for ten minutes the work was exciting + and lively. The Captain, watching from the corner of his eye, noticed that + his assistant's pipe was wheezing less regularly, and that his lines were + thrown over more and more listlessly. At length he said, “Haven't stopped + smokin' so quick, have you? What's the matter—gone out? Here's a + match.” + </p> + <p> + “I guessed I've smoked enough for now. I can't fish so well when I'm + smokin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Bosh! If you want to be a reel sailor you must smoke all the time. Light + up.” + </p> + <p> + Reluctantly the boy obeyed, and puffed with feverish energy. Also he + swallowed with vigor. The cod smelt fishy; so did the bait, and the + catboat rolled and rolled. Suddenly Josiah pulled in his lines, and took + the pipe from his lips. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter?” inquired the watchful skipper. + </p> + <p> + “I—I guess I won't fish any more, Cap. Kind of slow sport, ain't it? + Guess I'll go in there and take a snooze.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess you won't! You shipped to fish, and you're goin' to fish. Pick up + them lines.” + </p> + <p> + The boy sullenly turned toward the cabin door. Was he, who had just + declared himself independent of school restraint, he who had once been the + thorn in the flesh of every policeman in the —th ward, to be ordered + about by this Cape Cod countryman! “Aw, go chase yourself!” he said + contemptuously. A minute after, when he picked himself up from the heap of + slimy fish in the bottom of the boat, he saw the Captain standing solidly + on one cowhide-shod foot, while the other was drawn easily back and rested + on its toe. When Josiah recovered his breath, the burst of bad language + with which he assailed his companion did credit to his street bringing up. + It was as short as it was fierce, however, and ended amid the cod and the + mussels from the overturned bait bucket. But, as the Captain said + afterwards, he was “spunky” and rose again, incoherent with rage. + </p> + <p> + “You—you—I'll kill you!” he shrieked. “You promised not to + touch me, you lyin' old—” + </p> + <p> + He tried to get out of the way, but didn't succeed, and this time merely + sat up and sobbed as Captain Eri said in even tones: + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm not lyin'. I promised not to lay a hand on you in anger, that's + all. Fust place, I don't kick with my hands, and, second place, I ain't + angry. Now, then, pick up them lines.” + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” was frightened. This sort of treatment was new to him. + He judged it best to obey now and “get square” later on. He sulkily picked + up the codlines, and threw the hooks overboard. Captain Eri, calmly + resuming his fishing, went on to say, “The fust thing a sailor has to + l'arn is to obey orders. I see you've stopped smokin'. Light up.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't want to.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I want you TO. Light up.” + </p> + <p> + “I won't. Oh, yes, I will!” + </p> + <p> + He eyed the threatening boot fearfully and lit the awful pipe with shaking + fingers. But he had taken but a few puffs when it went over the side, and + it seemed to Josiah that the larger half of himself went with it. The + Captain watched the paroxysm grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Sick, hey?” he grunted, “and not a capful of wind stirrin'. You're a + healthy sailor! I thought I'd shipped a man, but I see 'twas only a sassy + baby. My uncle Labe had a good cure for seasickness. You take a big hunk + of fat salt pork, dip it in molasses, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, d-o-n-'t!” Another spasm. + </p> + <p> + “Dip it in molasses,” repeated Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Don't, Cap! PLEASE don't!” + </p> + <p> + “Another thing a sailor learns is not to call his skipper 'Cap.' A fo'mast + hand always says 'Aye, aye, sir,' when his off'cer speaks to him. + Understand that?” + </p> + <p> + “Y-e-s. Oh, Lord!” + </p> + <p> + “WHAT?” + </p> + <p> + “Ye—I mean aye, aye.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, WHAT?” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, SIR! OH, dear me!” + </p> + <p> + “That's better. Now pick up them lines.” + </p> + <p> + Well, 'twas a dreadful forenoon for Josiah; one not to be forgotten. The + boat rolled unceasingly, his head ached, and pulling the heavy cod made + his back and shoulders lame; also, he was wet and cold. The other boats + scattered about the fishing grounds pulled up their anchors and started + for home, but Captain Eri did not budge. At noon he opened his lunch + basket again, and munched serenely. The sight of the greasy ham sandwiches + was too much for the “able seaman.” He suffered a relapse and, when it was + over, tumbled on the seat which encircled the cockpit and, being + completely worn out, went fast asleep. The Captain watched him for a + minute or two, smiled in a not unkindly way, and, going into the cabin, + brought out an old pea jacket and some other wraps with which he covered + the sleeper. Then he went back to his fishing. + </p> + <p> + When Josiah awoke the Mary Ellen was heeled over on her side, her sail as + tight as a drumhead. The wind was whistling through the cordage, and the + boat was racing through seas that were steel-blue and angry, with + whitecaps on their crests. The sun was hidden by tumbling, dust-colored + clouds. The boy felt weak and strangely humble; the dreadful nausea was + gone. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, standing at the tiller, regarded him sternly, but there was + the suspicion of a twinkle in his eye. + </p> + <p> + “Feelin' better?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Ye—aye, aye, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! Want to smoke again. Pipe right there on the thwart.” + </p> + <p> + “No, thank you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + It was some time before anything more was said. Josiah was gazing at the + yellow sand-cliffs that, on every tack, grew nearer. At length the Captain + again addressed him. + </p> + <p> + “Perez ever tell you 'bout our fust v'yage? Never did, hey? Well, I will. + Him and me run away to sea together, you know.” + </p> + <p> + And then Captain Eri began a tale that caused the cold shivers to chase + themselves from Josiah's big toe to the longest hair on his head. It was + the story of two boys who ran away and shipped aboard an Australian + sailing packet, and contained more first-class horrors than any one of his + beloved dime novels. As a finishing touch the narrator turned back the + grizzled hair on his forehead and showed a three-inch scar, souvenir of a + first mate and a belaying pin. He rolled up his flannel shirtsleeve and + displayed a slightly misshapen left arm, broken by a kick from a drunken + captain and badly set by the same individual. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he said in conclusion, “I cal'late you think I was pretty hard on + you this mornin', but what do you figger that you'd have got if you talked + to a mate the way you done to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know. S'pose I'd have been killed,—sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you would, mighty nigh, and that's a fact. Now, I'll tell you + somethin' else. You wanted to enlist in the Navy, I understand. You + couldn't git in the Navy, anyway, you're too young, but s'pose you could, + what then? You'd never git any higher 'n a petty officer, 'cause you don't + know enough. The only way to git into the Navy is to go through Annapolis, + and git an education. I tell you, education counts. Me and Perez would + have been somethin' more 'n cheap fishin' and coastin' skippers if we'd + had an education; don't forgit that.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess I don't want to be a sailor, anyway, sir. This one trip is enough + for me, thank you.” + </p> + <p> + “Can't help that. You shipped 'long with me for two months, and you'll + sail with me for two months, every time I go out. You won't run away again + neither, I'll look out for that. You'll sail with me and you'll help clean + fish, and you'll mind me and you'll say 'sir.' You needn't smoke if you + don't want to,” with a smile. “I ain't p'tic'lar 'bout that. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” went on the Captain, “when the two months is up you'll be your own + master again. You can go back to 'Web' Saunders and 'Squealer' Wixon and + 'Ily' Tucker and their tribe, if you want to, and be a town nuisance and a + good-for-nuthin'. OR you can do this: You can go to school for a few years + more and behave yourself and then, if I've got any influence with the + Congressman from this district—and I sort of b'lieve I have, + second-handed, at any rate—you can go to Annapolis and learn to be a + Navy officer. That's my offer. You've got a couple of months to think it + over in.” + </p> + <p> + The catboat swung about on her final tack and stood in for the narrows, + the route which the Captain had spoken of as the “short cut.” From where + Josiah sat the way seemed choked with lines of roaring, frothing breakers + that nothing could approach and keep above water. But Captain Eri steered + the Mary Ellen through them as easily as a New York cabdriver guides his + vehicle through a jam on Broadway, picking out the smooth places and + avoiding the rough ones until the last bar was crossed and the boat + entered the sheltered waters of the bay. + </p> + <p> + “By gum!” exclaimed the enthusiastic “able seaman.” “That was great—er—sir!” + </p> + <p> + “That's part of what I'll l'arn you in the next two months,” said the + Captain. “'Twon't do you any harm to know it when you're in the Navy + neither. Stand by to let go anchor!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + </h3> + <p> + If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline he was + disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the “shipping + articles.” The Captain even went to the length of transferring Perez to + the parlor cot and of compelling the boy to share his own room. This was, + of course, a precaution against further attempts at running away. Morning + after morning the pair rose before daylight and started for the fishing + grounds. There were two or three outbreaks on the part of the “able + seaman,” but they ended in but one way, complete submission. After a while + Josiah, being by no means dull, came to realize that when he behaved like + a man he was treated like one. He learned to steer the Mary Ellen, and to + handle her in all weathers. Also, his respect for Captain Eri developed + into a liking. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was gratified and delighted at the change in his + grandnephew's behavior and manners, and was not a little curious to learn + the methods by which the result had been brought about. His hints being + fruitless, he finally asked his friend point-blank. Captain Eri's answer + was something like this: + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” he said, “do you remember old man Sanborn, that kept school here + when you and me was boys? Well, when the old man run foul of a youngster + that was sassy and uppish he knocked the sass out of him fust, and then + talked to him like a Dutch uncle. He used to call that kind of treatment + 'moral suasion.' That's what I'm doin' to Josiah; I'm 'moral suasionin' + him.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was a little anxious concerning the first part of this + course of training, but its results were so satisfactory that he asked no + more questions. The fact is, Captain Perez' mind was too much occupied + with another subject just at this time to allow him to be over-anxious. + The other subject was Miss Patience Davis. + </p> + <p> + Miss Davis, her visit with her brother being over, was acting as companion + to an old lady who lived in a little house up the shore, a mile or so + above the station. This elderly female, whose name was Mayo, had a son who + kept a grocery store in the village and was, therefore, obliged to be away + all day and until late in the evening. Miss Patience found Mrs. Mayo's + crotchets a bit trying, but the work was easy and to her liking, and she + was, as she said, “right across the way, as you might say, from Luther.” + The “way” referred to was the stretch of water between the outer beach and + the mainland. + </p> + <p> + And Captain Perez was much interested in Miss patience—very much so, + indeed. His frequent visits to the Mayo homestead furnished no end of + amusement to Captain Eri, and also to Captain Jerry, who found poking fun + at his friend an agreeable change from the old programme of being the butt + himself. He wasn't entirely free from this persecution, however, for Eri + more than once asked him, in tones the sarcasm of which was elaborately + veiled, if his match-making scheme had gotten tired and was sitting down + to rest. To which the sacrifice would reply stoutly, “Oh, it's comin' out + all right; you wait and see.” + </p> + <p> + But in his heart Captain Jerry knew better. He had been wise enough to say + nothing to his friends concerning his interviews with Elsie and Ralph, but + apparently the breaking-off between the pair was final. Hazeltine called + occasionally, it is true, but his stays were short and, at the slightest + inclination shown by the older people to leave the room, he left the + house. There was some comment by Eri and Mrs. Snow on this sudden change, + but they were far from suspecting the real reason. Elsie continued to be + as reticent as she had been of late; her school work was easier now that + Josiah was no longer a pupil. + </p> + <p> + Christmas was rather a failure. There were presents, of course, but the + planned festivities were omitted owing to a change in John Baxter's + condition. From growing gradually better, he now grew slowly, but surely, + worse. Dr. Palmer's calls were more frequent, and he did not conceal from + Mrs. Snow or the captains his anxiety. They hid much of this from Elsie, + but she, too, noticed the change, and was evidently worried by it. Strange + to say, as his strength ebbed, the patient's mind grew clearer. His + speech, that in his intervals of consciousness had heretofore dealt with + events of the past, was now more concerned with recent happenings. But + Captain Eri had never heard him mention the fire. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon in January Mrs. Snow and Captain Eri were together in the + sick room. The rest of the household was absent on various errands; + Captain Perez paying a visit to the life-saver's sister and Elsie staying + after school to go over some examination papers. There was snow on the + ground, and a “Jinooary thaw” was causing the eaves to drip, and the + puddles in the road to grow larger. The door of the big stove was open, + and the coals within showed red-hot. Captain Baxter was apparently asleep. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see,” said Mrs. Snow musingly, in a low tone. “I've been here now, + two, three, over four months. Seems longer, somehow.” + </p> + <p> + “Seems almost as if you'd always been here,” replied Captain Eri. “Queer + how soon we git used to a change. I don't know how we got along afore, but + we did some way or other, if you call it gittin' along,” he added with a + shrug. “I should hate to have to try it over again.” + </p> + <p> + “It's always seemed funny to me,” remarked the lady, “that you men, all + sailors so—and used to doin' for yourselves, should have had such a + time when you come to try keepin' house. I should have expected it if you + was—well, doctors, or somethin' like that—used to havin' folks + wait on you, but all sea captains, it seems queer.” + </p> + <p> + “It does, don't it? I've thought of that myself. Anybody'd think we was + the most shif'less lot that ever lived, but we wa'n't. Even Jerry—and + he's the wust one of the three when it comes to leavin' things at loose + ends—always had a mighty neat vessel, and had the name of makin' his + crews toe the mark. I honestly b'lieve it come of us bein' on shore and + runnin' the shebang on a share and share alike idee. If there'd been a + skipper, a feller to boss things, we'd have done better, but when all + hands was boss—nobody felt like doin' anything. Then, too, we begun + too old. A feller gits sort of sot in his ways, and it's hard to give in + to the other chap. + </p> + <p> + “Now, take that marryin' idee,” he went on. “I laughed at that a good deal + at fust and didn't really take any stock in it, but I guess 'twas real + hoss sense, after all. Anyhow, it brought you down here, and what we'd + done without you when John was took sick, <i>I</i> don't know. I haven't + said much about it, but I've felt enough, and I know the other fellers + feel the same way. You've been so mighty good and put up with so many + things that must have fretted you like the nation, and the way you've + managed—my!” + </p> + <p> + The whole-souled admiration in the Captain's voice made the housekeeper + blush like a girl. + </p> + <p> + “Don't say a word, Cap'n Eri,” she protested. “It's been jest a pleasure + to me, honest. I've had more comfort and—well, peace, you might say, + sence I've been in this house than I've had afore for years.” + </p> + <p> + “When I think,” said the Captain, “of what we might have got for that + advertisement, I swan it makes my hair curl. Advertisin' that way in that + kind of a paper, why we might have had a—a play actress, or I don't + know what, landed on us. Seems 's if there was a Providence in it: seems + 's if you was kind of SENT—there!” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what you must think of me answerin' an advertisement for a + husband that way. It makes me 'shamed of myself when I think of it, I + declare. And in that kind of a paper, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I've wondered more times than a few how you ever got a hold of that + paper. 'Tain't one you'd see every day nat'rally, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow paused before she answered. Then she said slowly, “Well, I'm + s'prised you ain't asked that afore. I haven't said much about myself + sence I've been here, for no p'tic'lar reason that I know of, except that + there wasn't much to tell and it wasn't a very interestin' yarn to other + folks. My husband's name was Jubal Snow—” + </p> + <p> + “You don't say!” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, Jerry used to know him.” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't wonder. Jubal knew a lot of folks on the Cape here. He was a + good husband—no better anywheres—and he and I had a good life + together long as he was well. I've sailed a good many v'yages with him, + and I feel pretty nigh as much at home on the water as I do on land. Our + trouble was the same that a good many folks have; we didn't cal'late that + fair weather wouldn't last all the time, that's all. + </p> + <p> + “It wasn't his fault any more than 'twas mine. We saved a little money, + but not enough, as it turned out. Well, he was took down sick and had to + give up goin' to sea, and we had a little place over in Nantucket, and + settled down on it. Fust along, Jubal was able to do a little farmin' and + so on, and we got along pretty well, but by and by he got so he wa'n't + able to work, and then 'twas harder. What little we'd saved went for + doctor's bills and this, that, and t'other. He didn't like to have me + leave him, so I couldn't earn much of anything, and fin'lly we come to + where somethin' had to be done right away, and we talked the thing over + and decided to mortgage the house. The money we got on the mortgage lasted + until he died. + </p> + <p> + “He had a little life insurance, not enough, of course, but a little. He + was plannin' to take on more, but somehow it never seemed as if he could + die, he so big and strong, and we put it off until he got so he couldn't + pass the examination. When the insurance money come I took it to Jedge + Briar, a mighty good friend of Jubal's and mine and the one that held the + mortgage on the house, and I told him I wanted to pay off the mortgage + with it, so's I'd have the house free and clear. But the Jedge advised me + not to, said the mortgage was costin' me only six per cent., and why + didn't I put the money where 'twas likely to be a good investment that + would pay me eight or ten per cent.? Then I'd be makin' money, he said. I + asked him to invest it for me, and he put it into the Bay Shore Land + Company, where most of his own was.” + </p> + <p> + “Sho! I want to know!” broke in the Captain. “He did, hey! Well, I had + some there, too, and so did Perez. Precious few fam'lies on the Cape that + didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he thought 'twas the safest and best place he knew of. The officers + bein' sons of Cape people and their fathers such fine men, everybody said + 'twas all right. I got my dividends reg'lar for a while, and I went out + nussin' and did sewin' and got along reel well. I kept thinkin' some day + I'd be able to pay off the mortgage and I put away what little I could + towards it, but then <i>I</i> was took sick and that money went, and then + the Land Company went up the spout.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded. The failure of the company had brought poverty to + hundreds of widows. Mrs. Snow's case was but another instance. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see,” said the lady. “Where was I? Oh, yes! the Land Company's + failin'. Well, it failed and the insurance money went with it. It was + discouragin', of course, but I had my house, except for the mortgage, and + I had my health again, and, if I do say it, I ain't afraid of work, so I + jest made up my mind there was no use cryin' over spilt milk, and that I + must git along and begin to save all over again. Then Jedge Briar died and + his nephew up to Boston come into the property. I was behind in my + payments a little, and they sent me word they should foreclose the + mortgage, and they did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan! The mean sculpins! Didn't you have NOBODY you could go to; + no relations nor nothin'?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got a brother out in Chicago, but he married rich and his wife + doesn't care much for her husband's relations. I never saw her but once, + and then one of the first things she asked me was if it was true that + there was more crazy people in Nantucket than in any other place of its + size on earth, and afore I could answer she asked me what made 'em crazy. + I told her I didn't know unless it was answerin' city folks' questions. + She didn't like that very well, and I haven't heard from Job—that's + my brother—for a long time. All my other near relations are dead. + </p> + <p> + “So they foreclosed the mortgage, and gave me notice to move out. I packed + my things, and watered my flowers—I had quite a pretty flower garden—for + the last time, and then come in and set down in the rocker to wait for the + wagon that was goin' to move me. I got to thinkin' how proud Jubal and me + was when we bought that house and how we planned about fixin' it up, and + how our baby that died was born in it, and how Jubal himself had died + there, and told me that he was glad he was leavin' me a home, at any rate; + and I got so lonesome and discouraged that I jest cried, I couldn't help + it. But I've never found that cryin' did much good, so I wiped my eyes and + looked for somethin' to read to take up my mind. And that Chime paper was + what I took up. + </p> + <p> + “You see, there'd been a big excursion from Boston down the day before, + and some of the folks come down my way to have a sort of picnic. Two of + 'em, factory girls from Brockton, they was, come to the house for a drink + of water. They were gigglin', foolish enough critters, but I asked 'em in, + and they eat their lunches on my table. They left two or three story + papers and that Chime thing when they went away. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I looked it over, and almost the first thing I saw was that + advertisement signed 'Skipper.' It didn't read like the other trashy + things in there, and it sounded honest. And all of a sudden it come over + me that I'd answer it. I was lonesome and tired and sort of didn't care, + and I answered it right off without waitin' another minute. That's all + there is to tell. When I come here to be housekeeper I wrote the folks + that's takin' care of my furniture—they're reel kind people; I was + goin' to board there if I had stayed in Nantucket—to keep it till I + come back. There! I meant to tell you this long ago, and I don't know why + I haven't.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain knew why she hadn't. It was easy to read between the lines the + tale of the years of disappointment and anxiety. Such stories are not easy + to tell, and he respected the widow more than ever for the simple way in + which she had told hers. + </p> + <p> + “That Land Company bus'ness,” he said, “carried off a good lot of Cape Cod + money. I never saw but one man that I thought was glad it busted, and that + was old Caleb Weeks, over to Harniss. The old man was rich, but closer 'n + the bark of a tree—he'd skin a flea for the hide and taller—and + used to be a hard case into the bargain. One time they had a big revival + over there and he got religion. The boys used to say what caught Caleb was + the minister's sayin' salvation was free. Well, anyhow, he got converted + and j'ined the church. That was all right, only while the fit was fresh he + pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to help build the new chapel. + When he cooled down a little he was sorry, and every time they'd hint at + his comin' down with the cash, he'd back and fill, and put it off for a + spell. When the Land Company went up he was the only happy one in town, + 'cause he said he'd lost all his money. Course, under the circumstances, + they couldn't ask him to pay, so he didn't. From what I hear he lost as + much as fifty dollars.” + </p> + <p> + They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was + interrupted. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said a weak voice. “Eri.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain started, turned sharply, and saw the sick man watching him, + his eyes fixed and unwavering. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said John Baxter again, “come here.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow hurried to her patient, but the latter impatiently bade her let + him alone. + </p> + <p> + “Not you,” he said, “I want Eri.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri stooped down beside the bed. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, John?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Eri s'pose God called you to break man's law and keep his, what would you + do?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced anxiously at the house-keeper. Then he said + soothingly: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's all right, John. Don't worry 'bout that. You and me settled + that long ago. How are you feelin' now?” + </p> + <p> + “I know, I know,” with the monotonous persistence of those whose minds are + wandering,—and then cleanly once more, “Eri, I've been called.” + </p> + <p> + “Ssh-h! That's all right, John; that's all right. Don't you want Mrs. Snow + to fix your piller? P'raps you'd lay a little easier, then. Now, Mrs. + Snow, if you'll jest turn it while I lift him. So; that's better now, + ain't it, shipmate, hey?” But the sick man muttered an unintelligible + something, and relapsed once more into the half-doze, half-stupor that was + his usual state. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri sighed in relief. + </p> + <p> + “That was queer, wa'n't it?” he observed. + </p> + <p> + “He's had two or three of those spells in the last day or two,” was the + answer. + </p> + <p> + The Captain wondered what his friend might have said during those + “spells,” but he was afraid to inquire. Instead, he asked, “What did the + doctor say when he was here this mornin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin' very hopeful. I asked him plain what he thought of the case, and + he answered jest as plain. He said Cap'n Baxter had failed dreadful in the + last week, and that he wouldn't be s'prised if he dropped off most any + time. Then again, he said he might live for months.” + </p> + <p> + “I see, I see.” + </p> + <p> + They were silent for a while, watching the sick man, whose sleep, or + stupor, was not as tranquil as usual. Two or three times his eyes opened, + and he muttered audibly. + </p> + <p> + “I never saw him so restless afore,” commented Captain Eri anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “He was so last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Did Elsie see him?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I was alone here, and she was asleep in the next room. I got up and + shut the door.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced keenly at the housekeeper, but her face was placid and + inscrutable. He shifted uneasily and then said, “Elsie's late to-night, + ain't she? I wonder what's keepin' her.” + </p> + <p> + “School work, I s'pose. She's workin' harder 'n she ought to, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “FIRE!” + </p> + <p> + The word was shouted, and the room rang with it. John Baxter, whose + weakness had hitherto been so great that he could not turn himself in bed, + was leaning on his elbow and pointing with outstretched finger to the open + stove door. + </p> + <p> + “Fire!” he shouted again. “It's blazin'! It's burnin'! It's wipin' the + plague spot from the earth. I hear you, Lord! I'm old, but I hear you, and + your servant's ready. Where will it be to-morrer? Gone! burnt up! and the + ways of the wicked shan't prevail.” + </p> + <p> + They forced him back on the pillow, but he fought them fiercely for a + moment or two. After they thought they had quieted him, he broke out + again, talking rapidly and clearly. + </p> + <p> + “I hear the call, Lord,” he said. “I thank thee for showin' it to me in + your Book. 'And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all + their goodly castles, with fire.' With fire! With fire!” + </p> + <p> + “Ssh-h! There, there, John! Don't talk so,” entreated the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “Where's the kerosene?” continued the old man. “And the matches? Now + softly, softly. The shavin's. It's dark. Here, in the corner. Ah, ha! ah, + ha! 'And all their goodly castles with fire!' Now, Web Saunders, you + wicked man! Now! Burn! I've done it, Lord! I've done it!” + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” almost shouted the agonized Captain Eri. “Hush, John! Be still!” + </p> + <p> + “There, there, Cap'n Baxter,” said Mrs. Snow soothingly, laying her hand + on the sick man's forehead. Somehow, the touch seemed to quiet him; his + eyes lost their fire, and he muttered absently that he was tired. Then the + eyes closed and he lay still, breathing heavily. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love!” exclaimed the Captain. “That was awful! Hadn't I better go + for the doctor?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think so, unless he gits worse. He had jest such a turn, as I + told you, last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he talk like he did jest now?” + </p> + <p> + “Jest the same.” + </p> + <p> + “'Bout the same things?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain gasped. “Then you knew!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “That he set the billiard room afire? Yes. I've always rather suspicioned + that he did, and last night, of course, made me sure of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well! You haven't said nothin' 'bout it to anybody?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not.” + </p> + <p> + “No, 'course you haven't. You must excuse me—I'm kind of upset, I + guess. Dear! dear! Did you think <i>I</i> knew it?” + </p> + <p> + “I sort of guessed that you did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I did. I've known it ever sence that night he was found. He had his + coat on when I found him, and 'twas all burnt, and there was an empty + kerosene bottle in his pocket. I hid the coat, and threw the bottle away, + and turned him so he was facin' towards the saloon 'stead of from it. And + I lied when I told the doctor that he was jest as he fell. There! the + murder's out! Now, what do you think of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Think? I think you did exactly right.” + </p> + <p> + “You DO?” + </p> + <p> + “I sartinly do.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I snum! I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've + felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes. I've heard folks + layin' it to fust one and then the other, and cal'latin' that Web did it + himself to git the insurance, and all the time I've known who really did + do it, and haven't said anything. I jest couldn't. You see, John and me's + been brothers almost. But I didn't s'pose anybody else would see it the + same way.” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Eri, do you s'pose I blame you for tryin' to keep your best friend + out of trouble that he got into by bein'—well—out of his head. + Why, land of mercy! He ain't no more to be held responsible than a baby. + You did what I'd have done if I'd been in your place, and I respect you + for it.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's voice shook as he answered: + </p> + <p> + “Marthy Snow,” he said, “you're the kind of woman that I'd like to have + had for a sister.” + </p> + <p> + It was perhaps a half-hour later when Captain Eri started for the + schoolhouse to bring Elsie home. John Baxter had not wakened, and Mrs. + Snow said she was not afraid to remain alone with him. The thaw had turned + to a light rain and the Captain carried an umbrella. It was dark by this + time, and when he came in sight of the schoolhouse he saw a light in the + window. + </p> + <p> + One of the scholars—a by no means brilliant one—whose + principal educational achievement was the frequency with which he + succeeded in being “kept after school,” was seated on the fence, doing his + best to whittle it to pieces with a new jackknife. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, sonny!” said the Captain. “Miss Preston gone yit?” + </p> + <p> + “No, she ain't,” replied the boy, continuing to whittle. “She's up there. + Mr. Saunders is there, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Saunders? WEB SAUNDERS?” + </p> + <p> + “Yup. I see him go in there a little while ago.” Captain Eri started + toward the schoolhouse at a rapid pace; then he suddenly stopped; and + then, as suddenly, walked on again. All at once he dropped his umbrella + and struck one hand into the palm of the other with a smack. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the door, he leaned the umbrella in the corner and walked + up the stairs very softly, indeed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + A BUSINESS CALL + </h3> + <p> + That enterprising business man, Mr. “Web” Saunders, opened the door of his + renovated billiard room a little later than usual the next morning. It was + common report about the village that Mr. Saunders occasionally sampled the + contents of some of the “original packages” which, bearing the name and + address of a Boston wholesale liquor dealer, came to him by express at + irregular intervals. It was also reported, probably by unreliable total + abstainers, that during these “sampling” seasons his temper was not of the + best. Perhaps Mrs. Saunders might have said something concerning this + report if she had been so disposed, but unless a discolored eye might be + taken as evidence, she never offered any. The injury to her eye she + explained by saying that something “flew up and hit her.” This was no + doubt true. + </p> + <p> + But, gossip aside, Mr. Saunders did not seem in good humor on this + particular morning. A yellow cur, of nondescript breed, taken since the + fire, in payment of a debt from “Squealer” Wixon, who had described it as + a “fust-class watchdog,” rose from its bed behind the cigar counter, + yawned, stretched, and came slinking over to greet its master. “Web” + forcibly hoisted it out of the door on the toe of his boot. Its yelp of + pained surprise seemed to afford the business man considerable relief, for + he moved more briskly afterward, and proceeded to sweep the floor with + some degree of speed. + </p> + <p> + The forenoon trade at the billiard room was never very lively, and this + forenoon was no exception. “Bluey” Batcheldor drifted in, stepped into the + little room the door of which was lettered “Ice Cream Parlor,” and busied + himself with a glass and bottle for a few moments. Then he helped himself + to a cigar from the showcase, and told his friend to “chalk it up.” This + Mr. Saunders didn't seem to care to do, and there was a lively argument. + At length “Bluey's” promise to “square up in a day or so” was accepted, + under protest, and the customer departed. + </p> + <p> + At half-past eleven the man of business was dozing in a chair by the + stove, and the “watchdog,” having found it chilly outside and venturing + in, was dozing near him. The bell attached to the door rang vigorously, + and both dog and man awoke with a start. The visitor was Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Now, the Captain was perhaps the last person whom the proprietor of the + billiard room expected to see, but a stranger never would have guessed it. + In fact, the stranger might reasonably have supposed that the visitor was + Mr. Saunders' dearest friend, and that his call was a pleasure long looked + forward to. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Cap'n!” exclaimed “Web,” “how are you? Put her there! I'm glad to + see you lookin' so well. I said to 'Squealer' the other day, s'I, + 'Squealer, I never see a man hold his age like Cap'n Hedge. I'll be + blessed if he looks a day over forty,' I says. Take off your coat, won't + you?” + </p> + <p> + Somehow or other, the Captain must have lost sight of “Web's” extended + hand. Certainly, the hand was large enough to be seen, but he did not take + it. He did, however, accept the invitation to remove his coat, and, + slipping out of the faded brown pea jacket, threw it on a settee at the + side of the room. His face was stern and his manner quiet, and in spite Of + Mr. Saunders' flattering reference to his youthful appearance, this + morning he looked at least more than a day past forty. + </p> + <p> + But, if Captain Eri was more than usually quiet and reserved, “Web” was + unchanged, and, if he noticed that the handshake was declined, said + nothing about it. His smile was sweetness itself, as he observed, “Well, + Cap'n, mighty mod'rate weather we're having for this time of year, ain't + it? What's new down your way? That's right, have a chair.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain had no doubt anticipated this cordial invitation, for he + seated himself before it was given, and, crossing his legs, extended his + dripping rubber boots toward the fire. The rain was still falling, and it + beat against the windows of the saloon in gusts. + </p> + <p> + “Web,” said Captain Eri, “set down a minute. I want to talk to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, sure!” exclaimed the genial man of business, pulling up another + chair. “Have a cigar, won't you? You don't come to see me very often, and + I feel's though we ought to celebrate. Ha! ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + “No, I guess not, thank you,” was the answer. “I'll smoke my pipe, if it's + all the same to you.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders didn't mind in the least, but thought he would have a cigar + himself. So he lit one and smoked in silence as the Captain filled his + pipe. “Web” knew that this was something more than an ordinary social + visit. Captain Eri's calls at the billiard room were few and far between. + The Captain, for his part, knew what his companion was thinking, and the + pair watched each other through the smoke. + </p> + <p> + The pipe drew well, and the Captain sent a blue cloud whirling toward the + ceiling. Then he asked suddenly, “Web, how much money has Elsie Preston + paid you altogether?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders started the least bit, and his small eyes narrowed a trifle. + But the innocent surprise in his reply was a treat to hear. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie? Paid ME?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. How much has she paid you?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what you mean.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you do. She's been payin' you money reg'lar for more 'n a month. I + want to know how much it is.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge, I don't know what you're talkin' about. Nobody's paid + me a cent except them that's owed me. Who did you say? Elsie Preston? + That's the school-teacher, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Web, you're a liar, and always was, but you needn't lie to me this + mornin', 'cause it won't be healthy; I don't feel like hearin' it. You + understand that, do you?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders thought it time to bluster a little. He rose to his feet + threateningly. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” he said, “no man 'll call me a liar.” + </p> + <p> + “There's a precious few that calls you anything else.” + </p> + <p> + “You're an old man, or I'd—” + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind how old I am. A minute ago you said I didn't look more 'n + forty; maybe I don't feel any older, either.” + </p> + <p> + “If that Preston girl has told you any—” + </p> + <p> + “She hasn't told me anything. She doesn't know that I know anything. But I + do know. I was in the entry upstairs at the schoolhouse for about ten + minutes last night.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders' start was perceptible this time. He stood for a moment + without speaking. Then he jerked the chair around, threw himself into it, + and said cautiously, “Well, what of it?” + </p> + <p> + “I come up from the house to git Elsie home 'cause 'twas rainin'. I was + told you was with her, and I thought there was somethin' crooked goin' on; + fact is, I had a suspicion what 'twas. So when I got up to the door I + didn't go in right away; I jest stood outside.” + </p> + <p> + “Listenin', hey! Spyin'!” + </p> + <p> + “Yup. I don't think much of folks that listens, gin'rally speakin', but + there's times when I b'lieve in it. When I'm foolin' with a snake I'd jest + as soon hit him from behind as in front. I didn't hear much, but I heard + enough to let me know that you'd been takin' money from that girl right + along. And I think I know why.” + </p> + <p> + “You do, hey?” + </p> + <p> + “Yup.” + </p> + <p> + Then Mr. Saunders asked the question that a bigger rascal than he had + asked some years before. He leaned back in his chair, took a pull at his + cigar, and said sneeringly, “Well, what are you goin' to do 'bout it?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm goin' to stop it, and I'm goin' to make you give the money back. How + much has she paid you?” + </p> + <p> + “None of your d—n bus'ness.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain rose to his feet. Mr. Saunders sprang up, also, and reached + for the coal shovel, evidently expecting trouble. But if he feared a + physical assault, his fear was groundless. Captain Eri merely took up his + coat. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe it ain't none of my bus'ness,” he said. “I ain't a s'lectman nor + sheriff. But there's such things in town, and p'raps they'll be + int'rested. Seems to me that I've heard that blackmailin' has got folks + into State's prison afore now.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that so? Never heard that folks that set fire to other people's + prop'ty got there, did you? Yes, and folks that helps 'em gits there, too, + sometimes. Who was it hid a coat a spell ago?” + </p> + <p> + It was Captain Eri's turn to start. He hesitated a moment, tossed the pea + jacket back on the settee and sat down once more. Mr. Saunders watched + him, grinning triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” he said with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “A coat, you say?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a coat. Maybe you know who hid it; I can guess, myself. That coat + was burned some. How do you s'pose it got burned? And say! who used to + wear a big white hat round these diggin's? Ah, ha! Who did?” + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt about the Captain's start this time. He wheeled sharply + in his chair, and looked at the speaker. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” he exclaimed. “You found that hat, did you?” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I done! And where do you think I found it? Why, right at the + back of my shed where the fire started. And there'd been a pile of + shavin's there, too, and there'd been kerosene on 'em. Who smashed the + bottle over in the field, hey?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri seemed to be thinking. “Web” evidently set his own + interpretation on this silence, for he went on, raising his voice as he + did so. + </p> + <p> + “Did you think I was fool enough not to know who set that fire? I knew the + night she burned, and when I met Dr. Palmer jest comin' from your house, + and he told me how old Baxter was took sick goin' to the fire—oh, + yes, GOIN'—I went up on that hill right off, and I hunted and I + found things, and what I found I kept. And what I found when I pulled that + burned shed to pieces I kept, too. And I've got 'em yit!” + </p> + <p> + “You have, hey? Dear! dear!” + </p> + <p> + “You bet I have! And somebody's goin' to pay for 'em. Goin' to pay, pay, + PAY! Is that plain?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain made no answer. He thrust his hands into his pockets and + looked at the stove dolefully, so it seemed to the man of business. + </p> + <p> + “Fust off I thought I'd have the old cuss jailed,” continued Mr. Saunders. + “Then, thinks I, 'No, that won't pay me for my buildin' and my bus'ness + hurt and all that.' So I waited for Baxter to git well, meanin' to make + him pay or go to the jug. But he stayed sick a-purpose, I b'lieve, the + mean, white-headed, psalm-singin'—” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri moved uneasily and broke in, “You got your insurance money, + didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did, but whose fault is that? 'Twa'n't his, nor any other darned + 'Come-Outer's.' It don't pay me for my trouble, nor it don't make me + square with the gang. I gen'rally git even sometime or 'nother, and I'll + git square now. When that girl come here, swellin' 'round and puttin' on + airs, I see my chance, and told her to pay up or her granddad would be + shoved into Ostable jail. That give her the jumps, I tell you!” + </p> + <p> + “You wrote her a letter, didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “You bet I did! She come 'round to see me in a hurry. Said she didn't have + no money. I told her her granddad did, an she could git that or go to work + and earn some. I guess she thought she'd ruther work. Oh, I've got her and + her prayin', house-burnin' granddad where I want 'em, and I've got you, + too, Eri Hedge, stickin' your oar in. Talk to me 'bout blackmail! For two + cents I'd jail the old man and you, too!” + </p> + <p> + This was the real Mr. Saunders. He usually kept this side of his nature + for home use; his wife was well acquainted with it. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was evidently frightened. His manner had become almost + apologetic. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, “I wouldn't do that if I was you, Web. I heard you tell + Elsie last night she wa'n't payin' you enough, and I thought—” + </p> + <p> + “I know what you thought. You thought you could scare me. You didn't know + I had the coat and hat, did you? Well, what I said I stand by. The girl + AIN'T payin' me enough. Fourteen dollars a week she gits, and she's only + been givin' up ten. I want more. I want—” + </p> + <p> + But here Captain Eri interrupted him. + </p> + <p> + “I guess that 'll do,” he said calmly. “You've told me what I wanted to + know. Ten dollars a week sence the middle of November. 'Bout seventy + dollars, rough figgerin'. Now, then, hand it over.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Hand over that seventy dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Hand over hell! What are you talkin' 'bout?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain rose and, leaning over, shook his forefinger in Mr. Saunders' + flabby red face. + </p> + <p> + “You low-lived, thievin' rascal,” he said, “I'm givin' you a chance you + don't deserve. Either you'll pay me that money you've stole from that girl + or I'll walk out of that door, and when I come in again the sheriff 'll be + with me. Now, which 'll it be? Think quick.” + </p> + <p> + Web's triumphant expression was gone, and rage and malice had taken its + place. He saw, now, that the Captain had tricked him into telling more + than he ought. But he burst out again, tripping over words in his + excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Think!” he yelled. “I don't need to think. Bring in your sheriff. I'll + march down to your house and I'll show him the man that set fire to my + buildin'. What 'll you and that snivelin' granddaughter of his do then? + You make off to think a turrible lot of the old prayer-machine 'cause he's + your chum. How'd you like to see him took up for a firebug, hey?” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't afraid of that.” + </p> + <p> + “You ain't? You AIN'T! Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cause he's gone where you can't git at him. He died jest afore I left + the house.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders' brandished fist fell heavily on the arm of his chair. His + face turned white in patches, and then flamed red again. + </p> + <p> + “Died!” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Died.” + </p> + <p> + “You—you're a liar!” + </p> + <p> + “No, I ain't. John Baxter's dead. He was a chum of mine—you're right + there—and if I'd known a sneak like you was after him I'd have been + here long afore this. Why, you—” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's voice shook, but he restrained himself and went on. + </p> + <p> + “Now, you see where you stand, don't you? Long's John lived you had the + proof to convict him; I'll own up to that much. I hid the coat; I smashed + the bottle. The hat I didn't know 'bout. I might have told you at fust + that all that didn't amount to anything, but I thought I'd wait and let + you tell me what more I wanted to know. John Baxter's gone, poor feller, + and all your proof ain't worth a cent. Not one red cent. Understand?” + </p> + <p> + It was quite evident that Mr. Saunders did understand, for his countenance + showed it. But the bluster was not out of him yet. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “Anyhow, the girl's left, and if she don't pay I'll + show her granddad up for what he was. And I'll show you up, too. Yes, I + will!” he shouted, as this possibility began to dawn on him. “I'll let + folks know how you hid that coat and—and all the rest of it.” + </p> + <p> + “No, you won't.” + </p> + <p> + “Why won't I?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cause you won't dare to. You've been hittin' at a sick man through a + girl; neither of 'em could hit back. But now you're doin' bus'ness with + me, and I ain't sick. If you open your mouth to anybody,—if you let + a soul know who set that fire,—I'll walk straight to Jedge Baker, + and I'll tell him the whole story. I'll tell him what I did and why I did + it. And THEN I'll tell him what you did—how you bullied money out of + that girl that hadn't no more to do with the fire than a baby. If it comes + to facin' a jury I'll take my chances, but how 'bout you? You, runnin' a + town nuisance that the s'lectmen are talkin' of stoppin' already; sellin' + rum by the drink when your license says it shan't be sold 'cept by the + bottle. Where'll YOUR character land you on a charge of blackmail? + </p> + <p> + “And another thing. The folks in this town knew John Baxter afore he was + like what he's been lately. A good many of 'em swore by him—yes, + sir, by mighty, some of 'em loved him! This is a law-abidin' town, but + s'pose—jest s'pose I should go to some of the fellers that used to + sail with him, and tell 'em what you've been up to. Think you'd stay here + long? <i>I</i> think you'd move out—on a rail.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused and sat on the arm of his chair, grimly watching his + opponent, whose turn for thinking had come. The face of the billiard + magnate was an interesting study in expression during the Captain's + speech. From excited triumph it had fallen to fear and dejection; and now, + out of the wreck, was appearing once more the oily smile, the sugared + sweetness of the every-day Mr. Saunders. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge,” purred the reconstructed one, “you and me has always + been good friends. We hadn't ought to fight like this. I don't think + either of us wants to go to court. Let's see if we can't fix the thing up + some way.” + </p> + <p> + “We'll fix it up when you pay me the seventy dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge, 'tain't likely I've got seventy dollars in my pocket. + Seems to me you're pretty hard on a poor feller that's jest been burnt + out. I think we'd ought to—” + </p> + <p> + “How much HAVE you got?” + </p> + <p> + After a good deal of talk and protestation Mr. Saunders acknowledged being + the possessor of twenty-six dollars, divided between the cash drawer and + his pocket. This he reluctantly handed to the Captain. + </p> + <p> + Then the Captain demanded pen, ink, and paper; and when they were brought + he laboriously wrote out a screed to the effect that Webster Saunders had + received of Elsie Preston forty-four dollars, which sum he promised to pay + on demand. + </p> + <p> + “There,” he said, pushing the writing materials across the table. “Sign + that.” + </p> + <p> + At first Mr. Saunders positively refused to sign. Then he intimated that + he had rather wait and think it over a little while. Finally he affixed + his signature and spitefully threw the pen across the room. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Then he rose and + put on his pea jacket. + </p> + <p> + “Now, there's jest one thing more,” he said. “Trot out that coat and hat.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + “Trot out that coat and hat of John's. I want 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “I shan't do it.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, then. It's all off. I'll step over and see the Jedge. You'll + hear from him and me later.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold on a minute, Cap'n. You're in such a everlastin' hurry. I don't care + anything 'bout the old duds, but I don't know's I know where they are. + Seems to me they're up to the house somewheres. I'll give 'em to you + to-morrer.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll give 'em to me right now. I'll tend shop while you go after 'em.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment it looked as though the man of business would rebel outright. + But the Captain was so calm, and evidently so determined to do exactly + what he promised, that “Web” gave up in despair. Muttering that maybe they + were “'round the place, after all,” he went into the back room and + reappeared with the burned coat and the scorched white felt hat. Slamming + them down on the counter, he said sulkily, “There they be. Any more of my + prop'ty you'd like to have?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri didn't answer. Coolly tearing off several sheets of wrapping + paper from the roll at the back of the counter, he made a bundle of the + hat and coat, and tucked it under his arm. Then he put on his own hat and + started for the door. + </p> + <p> + “Good-mornin',” he said. + </p> + <p> + The temper of the exasperated Mr. Saunders flared up in a final outburst. + </p> + <p> + “You think you're almighty smart, don't you?” he growled between his + teeth. “I'll square up with you by and by.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain turned sharply, his hand on the latch. + </p> + <p> + “I wish you'd try,” he said. “I jest wish to God you'd try. I've held in + more 'n I thought I could when I come up here, but if you want to start a + reel fust-class rumpus, one that 'll land you where you b'long and rid + this town of you for keeps, jest try some of your tricks on me. And if I + hear of one word that you've said 'bout this whole bus'ness, I'll know + it's time to start in. Now, you can keep still or fight, jest as you + please. I tell you honest, I 'most wish you'd fight.” + </p> + <p> + The door slammed. Mr. Saunders opened it again and gazed vindictively + after the bulky figure splashing through the slush. The dog came sneaking + up and rubbed his nose against his master's hand; it was an impolitic move + on his part. + </p> + <p> + “Git out!” roared Web, delighted at the opportunity. “You good-for-nothin' + pup! How's that set?” + </p> + <p> + “That” was a kick that doubled the cur up against the settee. As it + scrambled to its feet, Mr. Saunders kicked it again. And then the + “watchdog” exhibited the first evidence of spirit that it had ever been + known to show. With a snarl, as the man turned away, it settled its teeth + into the calf of his leg, and then shot out of the door and, with its tail + between its legs, went down the road like a yellow cannon ball. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + </h3> + <p> + It was true—John Baxter was dead. His violent outbreak of the + previous afternoon had hastened the end that the doctor had prophesied. + There was no harrowing death scene. The weather-beaten old face grew + calmer, and, the sleep sounder, until the tide went out—that was + all. It was like a peaceful coming into port after a rough voyage. No one + of the watchers about the bed could wish him back, not even Elsie, who was + calm and brave through it all. When it was over, she went to her room and + Mrs. Snow went with her. Captain Eri went out to make his call upon Mr. + Saunders. + </p> + <p> + The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Orham. The little house + was crowded. Old friends, who had drifted away from the fanatic in his + latter days, came back to pay tribute to the strong man whom they had + known and loved. There was some discussion among the captains as to who + should preach the funeral sermon. Elsie had left this question to Captain + Eri for settlement, and the trio and Mrs. Snow went into executive session + immediately. + </p> + <p> + “If John had had the settlin' of it himself,” observed Eri, “he'd have + picked Perley, there ain't no doubt 'bout that.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” said Captain Perez, “but you must remember that John wa'n't + himself for years, and what he'd have done now ain't what he'd have done + 'fore he broke down. I hate to think of Perley's doin' it, somehow.” + </p> + <p> + “Isn't Mr. Perley a good man?” asked the housekeeper. + </p> + <p> + “He's good enough, fur's I know,” replied Captain Jerry, “but I know what + Perez means. A funeral, seems to me, ought to be a quiet, soothin' sort of + a thing, and there ain't nothin' soothin' 'bout Come-Outer' preachin'. + He'll beller and rave 'round, I'm 'fraid, and stir up poor Elsie so she + won't never git over it.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” agreed Captain Eri. “That's what I've been afraid of. And + yit,” he added, “I should feel we was doin' somethin' jest opposite from + what John would like, if we had anybody else.” + </p> + <p> + “Couldn't you see Mr. Perley beforehand,” suggested Mrs. Snow, “and tell + him jest the kind of sermon he must preach. Tell him it must be quiet and + comfortin' and—” + </p> + <p> + “And short.” Captain Eri finished the sentence for her. “I guess that's + the way we'll have to settle it. I'll make him understand one thing, + though—he mustn't drag in rum sellin' and all the rest of it by the + heels. If he does I'll—I don't know what I'll do to him.” + </p> + <p> + The interview with the Reverend Perley that followed this conversation + must have been effective, for the sermon was surprisingly brief and as + surprisingly calm. In fact, so rational was it that a few of the more + extreme among the preacher's following were a bit disappointed and + inquired anxiously as to their leader's health, after the ceremony was + over. + </p> + <p> + The procession of carryalls and buggies followed the hearse to the + cemetery among the pines, and, as the mourners stood about the grave, the + winter wind sang through the evergreen branches a song so like the roar of + the surf that it seemed like a dirge of the sea for the mariner who would + sail no more. As they were clearing away the supper dishes that night + Captain Eri said to Mrs. Snow, “Well, John's gone. I wonder if he's + happier now than he has been for the last ten years or so.” + </p> + <p> + “I think he is,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, so do I, but if he hadn't been a 'Come Outer' I don't s'pose + Brother Perley and his crowd would have figgered that he had much show. + Seems sometimes as if folks like that—reel good-hearted folks, too, + that wouldn't hurt a fly—git solid comfort out of the feelin' that + everybody that don't agree with 'em is bound to everlastin' torment. I + don't know but it's wicked to say it, but honest, it seems as if them kind + would 'bout as soon give up the hopes of Heaven for themselves as they + would the satisfaction of knowin' 'twas t'other place for the other + feller.” + </p> + <p> + To which remark the somewhat shocked housekeeper made no reply. + </p> + <p> + The following day Elsie went back to her school. Captain Eri walked up + with her, and, on the way, told her of his discovery of her secret, and of + his interview with “Web” Saunders. It was exactly as the Captain had + surmised. The note she had received on the evening of the return from the + life-saving station was from the proprietor of the billiard saloon, and in + it he hinted at some dire calamity that overshadowed her grandfather, and + demanded an immediate interview. She had seen him that night and, under + threat of instant exposure, had promised to pay the sum required for + silence. She had not wished to use her grandfather's money for this + purpose, and so had taken the position as teacher. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the Captain, “I wish you'd have come to me right away, and + told me the whole bus'ness. 'Twould have saved a pile of trouble.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady stopped short and faced him. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri,” she said, “how could I? I was sure grandfather had set the + fire. I knew how ill he was, and I knew that any shock might kill him. + Besides, how could I drag you into it, when you had done so much already? + It would have been dreadful. No, I thought it all out, and decided I must + face it alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I tell you this, Elsie; pretty gin'rally a mean dog 'll bite if he + sees you're afraid of him. The only way to handle that kind is to run + straight at him and kick the meanness out of him. The more he barks the + harder you ought to kick. If you run away once it 'll be mighty + uncomf'table every time you go past that house. But never mind; I cal'late + this p'tic'lar pup won't bite; I've pulled his teeth, I guess. What's your + plans, now? Goin' to keep on with the school, or go back to Boston?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston didn't know; she said she had not yet decided, and, as the + schoolhouse was reached by this time, the Captain said no more. + </p> + <p> + There was, however, another question that troubled him, and that seemed to + call for almost immediate settlement. It was: What should be done with + Mrs. Snow? The housekeeper had been hired to act as such while John Baxter + was in the house. Now he was gone, and there remained the original + marriage agreement between Captain Jerry and the widow, and honor called + for a decision one way or the other. Mrs. Snow, of course, said nothing + about it, neither did Captain Jerry, and Captain Eri felt that he must + take the initiative as usual. But, somehow, he was not as prompt as was + his wont, and sat evening after evening, whittling at the clipper and + smoking thoughtfully. And another week went by. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez might, and probably would, have suggested action upon this + important matter, had not his mind been taken up with what, to him, was + the most important of all. He had made up his mind to ask Patience Davis + to marry him. + </p> + <p> + Love is like the measles; it goes hard with a man past fifty, and Captain + Perez was severely smitten. The decision just mentioned was not exactly a + brand-new one, his mind had been made up for some time, but he lacked the + courage to ask the momentous question. Something the lady had said during + the first stages of their acquaintance made a great impression on the + Captain. She gave it as her opinion that a man who loved a woman should be + willing to go through fire and water to win her. Captain Perez went home + that night pondering deeply. + </p> + <p> + “Fire and water!” he mused. “That's a turrible test. But she's a wonderful + woman, and would expect it of a feller. I wonder if I could do it; seems + 's if I would now, but flesh is weak, and I might flunk, and that would + settle it. Fire and water! My! my! that's awful!” + </p> + <p> + So the Captain delayed and Miss Patience, who had cherished hopes, found + need of a good share of the virtue for which she was named. + </p> + <p> + But one afternoon at the end of the week following that of the funeral, + Perez set out for a call upon his intended which he meant should be a + decisive one. He had screwed his courage up to the top notch, and as he + told Captain Eri afterwards, he meant to “hail her and git his bearin's, + if he foundered the next minute.” + </p> + <p> + He found the lady alone, for old Mrs. Mayo had gone with her son, whose + name was Abner, to visit a cousin in Harniss, and would not be back until + late in the evening. Miss Patience was very glad to have company, and it + required no great amount of urging to persuade the infatuated swain to + stay to tea. When the meal was over—they washed the dishes together, + and the Captain was so nervous that it is a wonder there was a whole plate + left—the pair were seated in the parlor. Then said Captain Perez, + turning red and hesitating, “Pashy, do you know what a feller told me + 'bout you?” + </p> + <p> + Now, this remark was purely a pleasant fiction, for the Captain was about + to undertake a compliment, and was rather afraid to shoulder the entire + responsibility. + </p> + <p> + “No; I'm sure I don't, Perez,” replied Miss Davis, smiling sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, a feller told me you was the best housekeeper in Orham. He said + that the man that got you would be lucky.” + </p> + <p> + This was encouraging. Miss Patience colored and simpered a little. + </p> + <p> + “Land sake!” she exclaimed. “Whoever told you such rubbish as that? + Besides,” with downcast eyes, “I guess no man would ever want me.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't know.” The Captain moved uneasily in his chair, as if he + contemplated hitching it nearer to that occupied by his companion. “I + guess there's plenty would be mighty glad to git you. Anyhow, there's—there's + one that—that—I cal'late the fog's thick as ever, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience didn't mean to give up in this way. + </p> + <p> + “What was it you was goin' to say?” she asked, by way of giving the + bashful one another chance. + </p> + <p> + “I was goin' to say, Pashy, that—that—I asked if you thought + the fog was as thick as ever.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear me! Yes, I s'pose likely 'tis,” was the discouraged answer. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me I never see such weather for this time of year. The ice is + all out of the bay, and there ain't a bit of wind, and it's warm as + summer, pretty nigh. Kind of a storm-breeder, I'm afraid.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me comp'ny. I've never been sole alone + in this house afore, and I should be dreadful lonesome if you hadn't + come.” This was offered as a fresh bait. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy, I've got somethin' I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could—er—er—” + </p> + <p> + “What, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “I wanted to ask you”—the Captain swallowed several times—“to + ask you—What in the nation is that?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's nothin' only the hens squawkin'. Go on!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but hens don't squawk this time of night 'thout they have some + reason to. It's that fox come back; that's what 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience, earlier in the evening, had related a harrowing tale of the + loss of two of Mrs. Mayo's best Leghorns that had gone to furnish a Sunday + meal for a marauding fox. As the said Leghorns were the pride of the old + lady's heart, even the impending proposal was driven from Miss Davis' + mind. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez! you don't s'pose 'tis the fox, do you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, MA'AM, I do! Where's the gun?” + </p> + <p> + “There 'tis, behind the door, but there ain't a mite of shot in the house. + Abner's been goin' to fetch some from the store for I don't know how long, + but he's always forgot it.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind. I'll pound the critter with the butt. Come quick, and bring a + lamp.” + </p> + <p> + The noise in the henyard continued, and when they opened the door it was + louder than ever. + </p> + <p> + “He's in the henhouse,” whispered Miss Patience. “He must have gone in + that hole at the side that had the loose board over it.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” murmured the Captain. “You go 'round with the lamp and open + the door. That 'll scare him, and I'll stand at the hole and thump him + when he comes out.” + </p> + <p> + So, shielding the lamp with her apron, the guardian of Mrs. Mayo's + outraged Leghorns tiptoed around to the henhouse door, while Captain + Perez, brandishing the gun like a club, took up his stand by the hole at + the side. + </p> + <p> + Without the lamp the darkness was pitchy. The Captain, stooping down to + watch, saw something coming out of the hole—something that was alive + and moved. He swung the gun above his head, and, bringing it down with all + his might, knocked into eternal oblivion the little life remaining in the + finest Leghorn rooster. + </p> + <p> + “Consarn it!” yelled the executioner, stooping and laying his hand on the + victim, “I've killed a hen!” + </p> + <p> + Just then there came a scream from the other side of the henhouse, + followed by a crash and the sound of a fall. Running around the corner the + alarmed Perez saw his lady-love stretched upon the ground, groaning + dismally. + </p> + <p> + “Great land of Goshen!” he cried. “Pashy, are you hurt?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” gasped the fallen one. “Oh, Perez!” + </p> + <p> + This pitiful appeal had such an effect upon the Captain that he dropped + upon his knees and, raising Miss Davis' head in his hands, begged her to + say she wasn't killed. After some little time she obligingly complied, and + then, having regained her breath, explained the situation. + </p> + <p> + What had happened was this: The fox, having selected his victim the + rooster, had rendered it helpless, and was pushing it out of the hole + ahead of him. The Captain had struck the rooster just as Miss Patience + opened the door, and the fox, seizing this chance of escape, had dodged by + the lady, upsetting her as he went. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” she said, laughing, “there's no great harm done. I'm sorry for the + rooster, but I guess the fox had fixed him anyway. Oh, my soul and body! + look there!” + </p> + <p> + Perez turned, looked as directed, and saw the henhouse in flames. + </p> + <p> + The lighted lamp, which Miss Patience had dropped as she fell, lay broken + on the floor, and the blazing oil had run in every direction. The flames + were making such headway that they both saw there was practically no + chance of saving the building. The frightened hens were huddled in the + furthest corner, gazing stupidly at the fire. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, those poor Leghorns!” wailed Miss Patience. “Those hens Mrs. Mayo + thought the world of, and left me to look out for. Last thing she asked me + was to be sure they was fed. And now they'll be all burned up! What SHALL + I do?” + </p> + <p> + Here the lady began to cry. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy!” roared the Captain, whom the sight of his charmer's tears had + driven almost wild, “don't say another word. I'll save them hens or git + cooked along with 'em!” + </p> + <p> + And turning up his coat collar, as though he was going into a refrigerator + instead of a burning building, Captain Perez sprang through the door. + </p> + <p> + Miss Davis screamed wildly to him to come back, and danced about, wringing + her hands. The interior of the henhouse was now a mass of black smoke, + from which the voices of the Captain and the Leghorns floated in a + discordant medley, something like this: + </p> + <p> + “Hold still, you lunatics! ('Squawk! squawk!') Druther be roasted than + have me catch you, hadn't you? ('Squawk! squawk!') A—kershew! Land! + I'm smothered! NOW I've got you! Thunderation! Hold STILL! HOLD STILL, I + tell you!” + </p> + <p> + Just as the agonized Miss Patience was on the point of fainting, the + little window at the back of the shanty was thrown open and two hens, like + feathered comets, shot through it. Then the red face of the Captain + appeared for an instant as he caught his breath with a “Woosh!” and dived + back again. This performance was repeated six times, the Captain's + language and the compliments he paid the hens becoming more picturesque + every moment. + </p> + <p> + At length he announced, “That's all, thank goodness!” and began to climb + through the window. This was a difficult task; for the window was narrow + and, in spite of what Captain Eri had called his “ingy-rubber” make up, + Captain Perez stuck fast. + </p> + <p> + “Catch hold of my hands and haul, will you, Pashy?” he pleaded. “That's + it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy in behind here. I'll never + complain at havin' cold feet ag'in if I git out of this. Now, then! Ugh! + Here we be!” + </p> + <p> + He came out with a jerk, like a cork out of a bottle, and rolled on the + ground at his lady's feet. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” she exclaimed, “are you hurt?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin' but my feelin's,” growled the rescuer, scrambling upright. “I + read a book once by a feller named Joshua Billin's, or somethin' like it. + He was a ignorant chap—couldn't spell two words right—but he + had consider'ble sense. He said a hen was a darn fool, and he was right; + she's all that.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, but his + spirit was undaunted. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” he said, “do you realize that if we don't git help, this whole + shebang, house and all, will burn down?” + </p> + <p> + “Perez, you don't mean it!” + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't swear that I didn't. Look how that thing's blazin'! There's + the barn t'other side of it, and the house t'other side of that.” + </p> + <p> + “But can't you and me put it out?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've got to git help, and git it in a + hurry, too!” + </p> + <p> + “Won't somebody from the station see the light and come over?” + </p> + <p> + “Not in this fog. You can't see a hundred foot. No, I've got to go right + off. Good land! I never thought! Is the horse gone?” + </p> + <p> + “No; the horse is here. Abner took one of the store horses to go to + Harniss with. But he did take the buggy, and there's no other carriage but + the old carryall, and that's almost tumblin' to pieces.” + </p> + <p> + “I was cal'latin' to go horseback.” + </p> + <p> + “What! and leave me here alone with the house afire? No, indeed! If you + go, I'm goin', too.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, the carryll's got to do, whether or no. Git on a shawl or + somethin', while I harness up.” + </p> + <p> + It was a frantic harnessing, but it was done in a hurry, and the + ramshackle old carryall, dusty and cobwebbed, was dragged out of the barn, + and Horace Greeley, the horse, was backed into the shafts. As they drove + out of the yard the flames were roaring through the roof of the henhouse, + and the lath fence surrounding it was beginning to blaze. + </p> + <p> + “Everything's so wet from the fog and the melted snow,” observed the + Captain, “that it 'll take some time for the fire to git to the barn. If + we can git a gang here we can save the house easy, and maybe more. By + mighty!” he ejaculated, “I tell you what we'll do. I'll drive across the + ford and git Luther and some of the station men to come right across. Then + I'll go on to the village to fetch more. It was seven when I looked at the + clock as we come in from washin' dishes, so the tide must be still goin' + out, and the ford jest right. Git dap!” + </p> + <p> + “Hurry all you can, for goodness' sake! Is this as fast as we can go?” + </p> + <p> + “Fast as we can go with this everlastin' Noah's Ark. Heavens! how them + wheels squeal!” + </p> + <p> + “The axles ain't been greased for I don't know when. Abner was going to + have the old carriage chopped up for kindlin' wood.” + </p> + <p> + “Lucky for him and us 'tain't chopped up now. Git dap, slow-poke! Better + chop the horse up, too, while he's 'bout it.” + </p> + <p> + The last remark the Captain made under his breath. + </p> + <p> + “My gracious, how dark it is! Think you can find the crossin'?” + </p> + <p> + “GOT to find it; that's all. 'Tis dark, that's a fact.” + </p> + <p> + It was. They had gone but a few hundred yards; yet the fire was already + merely a shapeless, red smudge on the foggy blackness behind them. Horace + Greeley pounded along at a jog, and when the Captain slapped him with the + end of the reins, broke into a jerky gallop that was slower than the trot. + </p> + <p> + “Stop your hoppin' up and down!” commanded Perez, whose temper was + becoming somewhat frayed. “You make me think of the walkin' beam on a + steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly and go straight ahead we'd do + better.” + </p> + <p> + They progressed in this fashion for some distance. Then Miss Davis, from + the curtained depths of the back seat, spoke again. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear me!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure you're on the right track? + Seems 's if we MUST be abreast the station, and this road's awful rough.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez had remarked the roughness of the road. The carryall was + pitching from one hummock to another, and Horace Greeley stumbled once or + twice. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa!” commanded the Captain. Then he got down, lit a match, and, + shielding it with his hands, scrutinized the ground. “I'm kind of 'fraid,” + he said presently, “that we've got off the road somehow. But we must be + 'bout opposite the crossin'. I'm goin' to drive down and see if I can find + it.” + </p> + <p> + He turned the horse's head at right angles from the way they were going, + and they pitched onward for another hundred yards. Then they came out upon + the hard, smooth sand, and heard the water lapping on the shore. Captain + Perez got out once more and walked along the strand, bending forward as he + walked. Soon Miss Patience heard him calling. + </p> + <p> + “I've found it, I guess,” he said, coming back to the vehicle. “Anyhow, it + looks like it. We'll be over in a few minutes now. Git dap, you!” + </p> + <p> + Horace Greeley shivered as the cold water splashed his legs, but waded + bravely in. They moved further from the shore and the water seemed to grow + no deeper. + </p> + <p> + “Guess this is the crossin' all right,” said the Captain, who had + cherished some secret doubts. “Here's the deep part comin'. We'll be + across in a jiffy.” + </p> + <p> + The water mounted to the hubs, then to the bottom of the carryall. Miss + Davis' feet grew damp and she drew them up. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” she faltered, “are you sure this is the ford?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't git scared, Pashy! I guess maybe we've got a little to one side of + the track. I'll turn 'round and try again.” + </p> + <p> + But Horace Greeley was of a different mind. From long experience he knew + that the way to cross a ford was to go straight ahead. The bottom of the + carryall was awash. + </p> + <p> + “Port your hellum, you lubber!” shouted the driver, pulling with all his + might on one rein. “Heave to! Come 'bout! Gybe! consarn you! gybe!” + </p> + <p> + Then Horace Greeley tried to obey orders, but it was too late. He + endeavored to touch bottom with his forelegs, but could not; tried to swim + with his hind ones, but found that impossible; then wallowed wildly to one + side and snapped a shaft and the rotten whiffletree short off. The + carryall tipped alarmingly and Miss Patience screamed. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa!” yelled the agitated Perez. “'Vast heavin'! belay!” + </p> + <p> + The animal, as much frightened by his driver's shouts as by the water, + shot ahead and tried to tear himself loose. The other sun-warped and + rotten shaft broke. The carryall was now floating, with the water covering + the floor. + </p> + <p> + “No use; I'll have to cut away the wreck, or we'll be on our beam ends!” + shouted the Captain. + </p> + <p> + He took out his jackknife, and reaching over, severed the traces. Horace + Greeley gave another wallow, and finding himself free, disappeared in the + darkness amid a lather of foam. The carriage, now well out in the channel, + drifted with the current. + </p> + <p> + “Don't cry, Pashy!” said the Captain, endeavoring to cheer his sobbing + companion, “we ain't shark bait yit. As the song used to say: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'We're afloat, we're afloat, + And the rover is free.' +</pre> + <p> + “I've shipped aboard of 'most every kind of craft,” he added, “but blessed + if I ever expected to be skipper of a carryall!” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience, shut up in the back part of the carriage like a water + nymph in her cave, still wept hysterically. So Captain Perez continued his + dismal attempt at facetiousness. + </p> + <p> + “The main thing,” he said, “is to keep her on an even keel. If she teeters + to one side, you teeter to t'other. Drat that fox!” he ejaculated. “I + thought when Web's place burned we'd had fire enough to last for one + spell, but it never rains but it pours.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” sobbed the lady. “Now everything 'll burn up, and they'll + blame me for it. Well, I'll be drownded anyway, so I shan't be there to + hear 'em. Oh, dear! dear!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't talk that way. We're driftin' somewheres, but we're spinnin' + 'round so I can't tell which way. Judas!” he exclaimed, more soberly, “I + remember, now; it ain't but a little past seven o'clock, and the tide's + goin' out.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course it is,” resignedly, “and we'll drift into the breakers in the + bay, and that 'll be the end.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, I guess not. We ain't dead yit. If I had an oar or somethin' to + steer this clipper with, maybe we could git into shoal water. As 'tis, + we'll have to manage her the way Ote Wixon used to manage his wife, by + lettin' her have her own way.” + </p> + <p> + They floated in silence for a few moments. Then Miss Patience, who had + bravely tried to stifle her sobs, said with chattering teeth, “Perez, I'm + pretty nigh froze to death.” + </p> + <p> + It will be remembered that the Captain had spoken of the weather as being + almost as warm as summer. This was a slight exaggeration. It happened, + fortunately for the castaways, that this particular night, coming as it + did just at the end of the long thaw, was the mildest of the winter and + there was no wind, but the air was chill, and the damp fog raw and biting. + </p> + <p> + “Well, now you mention it,” said Captain Perez, “it IS cold, ain't it? + I've a good mind to jump overboard, and try to swim ashore and tow the + carryall.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you DO it! My land! if YOU should drown what would become of ME?” + </p> + <p> + It was the tone of this speech, as much as the words, that hit the Captain + hard. He himself almost sobbed as he said: + </p> + <p> + “Pashy, I want you to try to git over on this front seat with me. Then I + can put my coat 'round you, and you won't be so cold. Take hold of my + hand.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience at first protested that she never could do it in the world, + the carriage would upset, and that would be the end. But her companion + urged her to try, and at last she did so. It was a risky proceeding, but + she reached the front seat somehow, and the carryall still remained + right-side-up. Luckily, in the channel between the beaches there was not + the slightest semblance of a wave. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez pulled off his coat, and wrapped it about his protesting + companion. He was obliged to hold it in place, and he found the task + rather pleasing. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you're SO good!” murmured Miss Patience. “What should I have done + without you?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Guess you'd have been better off. You'd never gone after that fox + if it hadn't been for me, and there wouldn't have been none of this fuss.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't say that! You've been so brave. Anyhow, we'll die together, + that's a comfort.” + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” said Captain Perez solemnly, “it's mighty good to hear you say + that.” + </p> + <p> + It is, perhaps, needless to explain that the “dying” portion of the lady's + speech was not that referred to by the Captain; the word “together” was + what appealed to him. Miss Patience apparently understood. + </p> + <p> + “Is it?” she said softly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—yes, 'tis.” The arm holding the coat about the lady's shoulder + tightened just a little. The Captain had often dreamed of something like + this, but never with quite these surroundings. However, he was rapidly + becoming oblivious to such trivial details as surroundings. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” he said huskily, “I've been thinkin' of you consider'ble lately. + Fact is, I—I—well, I come down to-day a-purpose to ask you + somethin'. I know it's a queer place to ask it, and—and I s'pose + it's kind of sudden, but—will—will you—Breakers! by + mighty!” + </p> + <p> + The carryall had suddenly begun to rock, and there were streaks of foam + about it. Now, it gave a most alarming heave, grounded, swung clear, and + tipped yet more. + </p> + <p> + “We're capsizin',” yelled Perez. “Hang on to me, Pashy!” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience didn't intend to let this, perhaps the final + opportunity, slip. As she told her brother afterward, she would have made + him say it then if they had been “two fathom under water.” + </p> + <p> + “Will I what, Perez?” she demanded. + </p> + <p> + The carryall rose on two wheels and begun to turn over, but the Captain + did not notice it. The arms of his heart's desire were about his neck, and + he was looking into her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Will you marry me?” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Miss Patience, and they went under together. + </p> + <p> + The Captain staggered to his feet, and dragged his chosen bride to hers. + The ice-cold water reached their shoulders. And, like a flash, as they + stood there, came a torrent of rain and a wind that drove the fog before + it like smoke. Captain Perez saw the shore, with its silhouetted bushes, + only a few yards away. Beyond that, in the blackness, was a light, a + flickering blaze, that rose and fell and rose and fell again. + </p> + <p> + The Captain dragged Miss Patience to the beach. + </p> + <p> + “Run!” he chattered, “run, or we'll turn into icicles. Come on!” + </p> + <p> + With his arm about her waist Perez guided his dripping companion, as fast + as they could run, toward the light. And as they came nearer to it they + saw that it flickered about the blackened ruins of a hen-house and a lath + fence. + </p> + <p> + It was Mrs. Mayo's henhouse, and Mrs. Mayo's fence. Their adventurous + journey had ended where it began. + </p> + <p> + “You see, Eri,” said Captain Perez, as he told his friend the story that + night, “that clock in the dining room that I looked at hadn't been goin' + for a week; the mainspring was broke. 'Twa'n't seven o'clock, 'twas nearer + nine when the fire started, and the tide wa'n't goin' out, 'twas comin' + in. I drove into the water too soon, missed the crossin', and we jest + drifted back home ag'in. The horse had more sense than I did. We found him + in the barn waiting for us.” + </p> + <p> + Abner Mayo had piled against the back of his barn a great heap of damp + seaweed that he intended using in the spring as a fertilizer. The fire had + burned until it reached this seaweed and then had gone no further. The + rain extinguished the last spark. + </p> + <p> + “Well, by mighty!” exclaimed Captain Perez for at least the tenth time, as + he sat in the kitchen, wrapped in an old ulster of Mr. Mayo's, and + toasting his feet in the oven, “if I don't feel like a fool. All that + scare and wet for nothin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not for nothin', Perez,” said Miss Patience, looking tenderly down + into his face. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no, not for nothin' by a good deal! I've got you by it, and that's + everything. But say, Pashy!” and the Captain looked awed by the + coincidence, “I went through fire and water to git you!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + </h3> + <p> + Captain Perez made a clean breast of it to Captain Eri when he reached + home that night. It was after twelve o'clock, but he routed his friend out + of bed to tell him the news and the story. Captain Eri was not as + surprised to hear of the engagement as he pretended to be, for he had long + ago made up his mind that Perez meant business this time. But the tale of + the fire and the voyage in the carryall tickled him immensely, and he + rolled back and forth in the rocker and laughed until his side ached. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose it does sound kind of ridic'lous,” said the accepted suitor in a + rather aggrieved tone, “but it wa'n't ha'f so funny when 'twas goin' on. + Fust I thought I'd roast to death, then I thought I'd freeze, and then I + thought I'd drown.” + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” said the panting Eri, “you're a wonder. I'm goin' to tell Sol + Bangs 'bout you next time I see him. He'll want you to enter in the races + next Fourth of July. We've had tub races and the like of that, but a + carryall sailin' match 'll be somethin' new. I'll back you against the + town, though. You can count on me.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, look here, Eri Hedge, if you tell a livin' soul 'bout it, I'll—” + </p> + <p> + “All right, shipmate, all right; but it's too good to keep. You ought to + write a book, one of them kind like Josiah used to read. Call it 'The + Carryall Pirate, or The Terror of the Channel,' hey? Gee! you'd be famous! + But, say, old man,” he added more seriously, “I'll shake hands with you. I + b'lieve you've got a good woman, one that 'll make it smooth sailin' for + you the rest of your life. I wish you both luck.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez shook hands very gravely. He was still a little suspicious + of his chum's propensity to tease. It did not tend to make him less uneasy + when, a little later, Captain Eri opened the parlor door and whispered, + “Say, Perez, I've jest thought of some-thin'. What are you goin' to say to + M'lissy Busteed? Her heart 'll be broke.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, git out!” was the disgusted answer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I only mentioned it. Folks have had to pay heavy for breach of + promise 'fore now. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + Perez manfully told of his engagement at the breakfast table next morning, + although he said nothing concerning the rest of his adventures. He was + rather taken aback to find that no one seemed greatly surprised. Everyone + congratulated him, of course, and it was gratifying to discern the high + opinion of the future Mrs. Ryder held by Mrs. Snow and the rest. Captain + Jerry solemnly shook hands with him after the meal was over and said, + “Perez, you done the right thing. There's nothin' like married life, after + all.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why don't you try it yourself?” was the unexpected question. “Seems + to me we'll have to settle that matter of yours pretty soon. I meant to + speak to Eri 'bout it 'fore this, but I've had so much on my mind. I will + to-night when he comes back from fishin'.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry made no further remarks, but walked thoughtfully away. + </p> + <p> + So that evening, when they were together in Captain Jerry's room after + supper, Perez, true to his promise, said: + </p> + <p> + “Eri, it seems to me we've got to do somethin' 'bout Mrs. Snow. She was + hired to be housekeeper while John was sick. Now he's dead, and she'll + think it's queer if we don't settle that marryin' bus'ness. Ain't that + so?” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Jerry. “Perez is in a mighty sweat to git other + folks married jest 'cause he's goin' to be. I don't see why she can't keep + on bein' housekeeper jest the same as she's always been.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I do, and so do you, and you know it. We agreed to the housekeepin' + bus'ness jest as a sort of put off. Now we can't put off no longer. Mrs. + Snow come down here 'cause we advertised for a wife, and she's been so + everlastin' good that I feel 'most ashamed every time I think of it. No + use, you've got to ask her to marry you. He has, hasn't he, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Captain Eri laconically. + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice squirmed. “I hate to ask,” he said. “Why don't we wait a + spell, and let her say somethin' fust?” + </p> + <p> + “That WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? She's that kind of a woman, ain't she?” + sputtered Perez. “No, you bet she ain't! What she'd say would be to give + her opinion of us and our manners, and walk out of the house bag and + baggage, and I wouldn't blame her for doin' it.” + </p> + <p> + “P'raps she wouldn't have me. She never said she would.” + </p> + <p> + “Never said she would! Have you ever asked her? She's had all this time to + l'arn to know you in, and I cal'late if she was willin' to think 'bout it + 'fore she ever see you, she'd be more willin' now. Ain't that so, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + And again Captain Eri said shortly, “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you'd mind your own consarns, and give me time,” protested Captain + Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Time! How much time do you want? Land of Goshen! I should think you'd had + time enough. Why—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, let up!” snorted the persecuted. “Why don't you git married yourself, + and bring Pashy over to keep house? What we started to git in the fust + place was jest a wife for one of us that would keep things shipshape, and + now—” + </p> + <p> + The withering look of scorn that Perez bent upon him caused him to + hesitate and stop. Captain Perez haughtily marched to the door. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “I ain't goin' to waste my time talkin' to a—a + dogfish like him. He ain't wuth it.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, now, Perez!” pleaded the discomfited sacrifice, alarmed at his + comrade's threatened desertion. “I was only foolin'. Can't you take a + joke? I haven't said I wouldn't do it. I think a heap of Mrs. Snow; it's + only that I ain't got the spunk to ask her, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! it don't take much spunk,” replied the successful wooer, forgetful + of his own past trepidation. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” Captain Jerry wriggled and twisted, but saw no loophole. “Well, + give me a month to git up my courage in and—” + </p> + <p> + “A month! A month's ridic'lous; ain't it, Eri” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, three weeks, then.” + </p> + <p> + This offer, too, was rejected. Then Captain Jerry held out for a fortnight—for + ten days. Finally, it was settled that within one week from that very + night he was to offer his heart and hand to the lady from Nantucket. He + pledged his solemn word to do it. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the gratified Captain Perez. “That's a good job done. + He won't never be sorry for it, will he, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Eri made his fourth contribution to the conversation. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Josiah went up to the post-office late in the afternoon of the next day. + The “able seaman” was behaving himself remarkably well. He had become a + real help to Captain Eri, and the latter said that sailing alone would be + doubly hard when his foremast hand went back to school again, which he was + to do very shortly, for Josiah meant to accept the Captain's offer, and to + try for the Annapolis appointment when the time came. + </p> + <p> + The boy came back with the mail and an item of news. The mail, a paper + only, he handed to Mrs. Snow, and the news he announced at the supper + table as follows: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine's goin' to leave the cable station,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Goin' to leave!” repeated the housekeeper, “what for?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, ma'am. All I know is what I heard Mr. Wingate say. He said + Mr. Hazeltine was goin' to get through over at the station pretty soon. He + said one of the operators told him so.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, for the land's sake! Did you know anything 'bout it, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, a little. I met Hazeltine yesterday, and he told me that some + folks out West had made him a pretty good offer, and he didn't know + whether to take it or not. Said the salary was good, and the whole thing + looked sort of temptin'. He hadn't decided what to do yit. That's all + there is to it.” + </p> + <p> + There was little else talked about during the meal. Captain Perez, Captain + Jerry, and Mrs. Snow argued, surmised, and questioned Captain Eri, who + said little. Elsie said almost nothing, and went to her room shortly after + the dishes were washed. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed Captain Perez, when they were alone, “I guess your + match-makin' scheme's up spout, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + And, for a wonder, Captain Jerry did not contradict him. + </p> + <p> + The weather changed that night, and it grew cold rapidly. In the morning + the pump was frozen, and Captain Jerry and Mrs. Snow spent some time and + much energy in thawing it out. It was later than usual when the former set + out for the schoolhouse. As he was putting on his cap, Elsie suggested + that he wait for her, as she had some lessons to prepare, and wanted an + hour or so to herself at her desk. So they walked on together under a + cloudy sky. The mud in the road was frozen into all sorts of fantastic + shapes, and the little puddles had turned to ice. + </p> + <p> + “That thaw was a weather-breeder, sure enough,” observed Captain Jerry. + “We'll git a storm out of this, 'fore we're done.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me,” said Elsie, “that the winter has been a very mild one. + From what I had heard I supposed you must have some dreadful gales here, + but there has been none so far.” + </p> + <p> + “We'll git 'em yit. February's jist the time. Git a good no'theaster + goin', and you'll think the whole house is comin' down. Nothin' to what + they used to have, though, 'cordin' to tell. Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to + swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all + off a dog, and then the wind changed of a sudden, and blew it all on + again.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie laughed. “That must have been a blow,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's somethin' of a blow himself, so he ought to be a + good jedge. The outer beach is the place that catches it when there's a + gale on. Oh, say! that reminds me. I s'pose you was glad to hear the news + last night?” + </p> + <p> + “What news?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, that 'bout Mr. Hazeltine's goin' away. You're glad he's goin', of + course.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned and looked + wonderingly at her companion. + </p> + <p> + “Why should I be glad, pray?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I don't know. I jest took it for granted you would be. You didn't + want him to come and see you, and if he was gone he couldn't come, so—” + </p> + <p> + “Just a minute, please. What makes you think I didn't want Mr. Hazeltine + to call?” + </p> + <p> + And now it was the Captain's turn to stare and hesitate. + </p> + <p> + “What makes me think—” he gasped. “Why—you told me so, + yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I</i> told you so? I'm certain that I never told you anything of the + kind.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry stood stock-still, and if ever a face expressed complete + amazement, it was his. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie Preston!” he ejaculated, “are you losin' your mem'ry or what? + Didn't you pitch into me hot-foot for lettin' him be alone with you? + Didn't you give me 'hark from the tomb' for gittin' up and goin' away? + Didn't you say his calls was perfect torture to you, and that you had to + be decent to him jest out of common politeness? Now, didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that was it! No, of course I didn't say any such thing.” + </p> + <p> + “You DIDN'T! Why, I heard you! Land of love! my ears smarted for a week + afterward. I ain't had sech a goin' over sence mother used to git at me + for goin' in swimmin' on Sunday. And now you say you didn't say it.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't. You misunderstood me. I did object to your leaving the room + every time he called, and making me appear so ridiculous; and I did say + that his visits might be a torture for all that you knew to the contrary, + but I certainly didn't say that they WERE.” + </p> + <p> + “SUFFERIN'! And you ain't glad he stopped comin'?” + </p> + <p> + The air of complete indifference assumed by the young lady was a triumph. + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course,” she said, “Mr. Hazeltine is a free agent, and I don't + know of any reason why he should be compelled to go where he doesn't wish + to go. I enjoyed his society, and I'm sure Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow + enjoyed it, too; but it is quite evident that he did not enjoy ours, so I + don't see that there need be any more said on the subject.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was completely crushed. If the gale described by the + redoubtable grandsire of Jonadab Wixon had struck him, he could not have + been more upset. + </p> + <p> + “My! my! my!” he murmured. “And after my beggin' his pardon and all!” + </p> + <p> + “Begging his pardon? For what?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, for leavin' you two alone. Of course, after you pitched into me so I + see how foolish I'd been actin', and I—honest, I didn't sleep + scursely a bit that night thinkin' 'bout it. Thinks I, 'If Elsie feels + that way, why, there ain't no doubt that Mr. Hazeltine feels the same.' + There wa'n't but one thing to be done. When a man makes a mistake, if he + is any kind of a man, he owns up, and does his best to straighten things + out. 'Twa'n't easy to do, but duty's duty, and the next time I see Mr. + Hazeltine I told him the whole thing, and—” + </p> + <p> + “You DID!” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin I did.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you tell him?” + </p> + <p> + They had stopped on the sidewalk nearly opposite the post-office. Each was + too much engrossed in the conversation to pay any heed to anything else. + If the few passersby thought it strange that the schoolmistress should + care to loiter out of doors on that cold and disagreeable morning, they + said nothing about it. One young man in particular, who, standing just + inside the post-office door, was buttoning his overcoat and putting on his + gloves, looked earnestly at the pair, but he, too, said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I told him,” said Captain Jerry, in reply to the question, “how you + didn't like to have me go out of the room when he was there. Course, I + told him I didn't mean to do nothin' out of the way. Then he asked me some + more questions, and I answered 'em best I could, and—well, I guess + that's 'bout all.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you tell him that I said his visits were a torture?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—” the Captain shuffled his feet uneasily—“seems to me I + said somethin' 'bout it—not jest that, you know, but somethin'. Fact + is, I was so muddle-headed and upset that I don't know exactly what I did + say. Anyhow, he said 'twas all right, so there ain't nothin' to worry + 'bout.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jeremiah Burgess!” exclaimed Elsie. Then she added, “What MUST he + think of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'll fix that!” exclaimed the Captain. “I'll see him some time + to-day, and I'll tell him you didn't mean it. Why, I declare! Yes, 'tis! + There he is, now! Hi! Mr. Hazeltine! Come here a minute.” + </p> + <p> + A mischievous imp was certainly directing Captain Jerry's movements. Ralph + had, almost for the first time since he came to Orham, paid an early + morning visit to the office in order to send an important letter in the + first mail. The slamming of the door had attracted the Captain's attention + and, in response to the hail, Mr. Hazeltine crossed the road. + </p> + <p> + And then Captain Jerry felt his arm clutched with a grip that meant + business, as Miss Preston whispered, “Don't you dare say one word to him + about it. Don't you DARE!” + </p> + <p> + If Ralph had been surprised by the request to join the couple, he was more + surprised by the reception he received. Elsie's face was crimson, and as + for the Captain, he looked like a man who had suddenly been left standing + alone in the middle of a pond covered with very thin ice. + </p> + <p> + The electrician bowed and shook hands gravely. As no remark seemed to be + forthcoming from those who had summoned him, he observed that it was an + unpleasant morning. This commonplace reminded him of one somewhat similar + that he had made to a supposed Miss “Gusty” Black, and he, too, colored. + </p> + <p> + “Did you want to speak with me, Captain?” he asked, to cover his + confusion. + </p> + <p> + “Why—why, I did,” stammered poor Captain Jerry, “but—but I + don't know's I do now.” Then he realized that this was not exactly + complimentary, and added, “That is, I don't know—I don't know's I—Elsie, + what was it I was goin' to say to Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + At another time it is likely that the young lady's quick wit would have + helped her out of the difficulty, but now she was too much disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure I don't know,” she said coldly. + </p> + <p> + “You don't know! Why, yes you do? 'Twas—'twas—” The Captain + was frantically grasping at straws. “Why, we was wonderin' why you didn't + come to see us nowadays.” + </p> + <p> + If the Captain had seen the look that Elsie shot at him, as he delivered + this brilliant observation, he might have been more, instead of less, + uncomfortable. As it was, he felt rather proud of having discovered a way + out of the difficulty. But Ralph's embarrassment increased. He hurriedly + said something about having been very busy. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” went on the Captain, intent on making the explanation as plausible + as possible, “we've missed you consider'ble. We was sayin' we hoped you + wouldn't give us up altogether. Ain't that so, Elsie?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston's foot tapped the sidewalk several times, but she answered, + though not effusively: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine is always welcome, of course.” Then, she added, turning + away, “Really, Captain Jerry, I must hurry to school. I have a great deal + of work to do before nine o'clock. Good-morning, Mr. Hazeltine.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain paused long enough to say, “We'll expect you now, so come,” + and then hurried after her. He was feeling very well satisfied with + himself. + </p> + <p> + “By mighty! Elsie,” he chuckled, “I got out of that nice, didn't I?” + </p> + <p> + He received no answer, even when he repeated the remark, and, although he + endeavored, as he swept out the schoolroom, to engage the teacher in + conversation, her replies were as cold as they were short. The Captain + went home in the last stages of dismalness. + </p> + <p> + That afternoon, when Captain Eri returned from the fishing grounds, he + found Captain Jerry waiting for him at the shanty. The humiliated + matchmaker sent Josiah up to the grocery store on an errand, and then + dragged his friend inside and shut the door. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the woe-begone face with some concern. + </p> + <p> + “What ails you, Jerry?” he demanded. “Have you—have you spoken to + Mrs. Snow 'bout that—that marriage?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I ain't, Eri, but I'm in a turrible mess, and I don't know why, + neither. Seems to me the more I try to do for other folks the wuss off I + am; and, instead of gittin' thanks, all I git is blame.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, what's the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now I know you'll think I'm a fool, and 'll jest pester the life + out of me. See here, Eri Hedge! If I tell you what I want to, will you + promise not to pitch into me, and not to nag and poke fun? If you don't + promise I won't tell one single word, no matter what happens.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Eri promised, and then Captain Jerry, stammering and + hesitating, unburdened his mind of the whole affair, telling of his first + reproof by Elsie, his “explanation” to Ralph, and the subsequent + developments. Long before he finished, Captain Eri rose and, walking over + to the door, stood looking out through the dim pane at the top, while his + shoulders shook as if there was a smothered earthquake inside. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the injured matrimonial agent, in conclusion. “There's + the whole fool thing, and I 'most wish I'd never seen either of 'em. I + thought I did fust-rate this mornin' when I was tryin' to think up + somethin' to show why I hailed Hazeltine, but no, Elsie won't hardly speak + to me. I wish to goodness you'd tell me what to do.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri turned away from the door. His eyes were watery, and his face + was red, but he managed to say: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Jerry, Jerry! Your heart's big as a bucket, but fishin' 's more in + your line than gittin' folks married to order is, I'm 'fraid. You stay + here, and unload them fish in the dory. There ain't many of 'em, and + Josiah 'll help when he gits back. I'm goin' out for a few minutes.” + </p> + <p> + He went down to the beach, climbed into a dory belonging to a neighbor, + and Captain Jerry saw him row away in the direction of the cable station. + </p> + <p> + That evening, after the dishes were washed and the table cleared, there + came a knock at the door. Mrs. Snow opened it. + </p> + <p> + “Why, for goodness sake! Mr. Hazeltine!” she exclaimed. “Come right in. + What a stranger you are!” + </p> + <p> + Ralph entered, shook the snow, which had just begun to fall, from his hat + and coat, took off these articles, in response to the hearty invitation of + Captain Eri, and shook hands with all present. Elsie's face was an + interesting study. Captain Jerry looked scared. + </p> + <p> + After a few minutes' talk, Captain Eri rose. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” he said, “come upstairs a little while. I want to talk to you + 'bout somethin'. You come, too, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry looked from Elsie to the speaker, and then to Elsie again. + But Captain Eri's hand was on his arm, and he rose and went. + </p> + <p> + Elsie watched this wholesale desertion with amazement. Then the door + opened again, and Captain Eri put in his head. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie,” he said, “I jest want to tell you that this is my doin's, not + Jerry's. That's all.” And the door shut. + </p> + <p> + Elsie faced the caller with astonishment written on her face. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” she said icily, “you may know what this means, but I + don't.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph looked at her and answered solemnly, but with a twinkle in his eye: + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I can guess, Miss Preston. You see Captain Jerry paid Captain + Eri a call this afternoon and, as a result, Captain Eri called upon me. + Then, as a result of THAT, I—well, I came here.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady blushed furiously. “What did Captain Eri tell you?” she + demanded. + </p> + <p> + “Just what Captain Jerry told him.” + </p> + <p> + “And that was?” + </p> + <p> + “What you told Captain Jerry this morning concerning something that you + told him before, I believe.” + </p> + <p> + There was no answer to this. Miss Preston looked as if she had a mind to + run out of the room, then as if she might cry, and finally as if she + wanted to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I humbly apologize,” said the electrician contritely. + </p> + <p> + “YOU apologize? For what?” + </p> + <p> + “For my stupidity in believing that Captain Jerry was to be accepted + seriously.” + </p> + <p> + “You were excusable, certainly. And now I must apologize; also for taking + the Captain too seriously.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose we pair the apologies as they do the votes in the Senate. Then + one will offset the other.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid that isn't fair, for the blunder was all on my part.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if we can't pair apologies, suppose we pair blunders. I don't + accept your statement of guilt, mind, but since you are determined to + shoulder it, we might put it on one side and on the other we'll put—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “'Gusty' Black.” + </p> + <p> + And then they both laughed. + </p> + <p> + A little later Captain Eri knocked at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Is it safe for a feller to come in?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Elsie severely, “I don't know whether talebearers should be + admitted or not, but if they do come they must beg pardon for interfering + in other people's affairs.” + </p> + <p> + “Ma'am,” and the Captain made a profound bow, “I hope you'll be so 'kind + and condescendin', and stoop so low, and be so bendin'' as to forgive me. + And, while I'm 'bout it, I'll apologize for Jerry, too.” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir,” said the young lady decidedly. “Captain Jerry must apologize + for himself. Captain Jeremiah Burgess,” she called up the stairway, “come + into court, and answer for your sins.” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Jerry tremblingly came. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <h3> + A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS + </h3> + <p> + It had begun to snow early in the evening, a light fall at first, but + growing heavier every minute, and, as the flakes fell thicker and faster, + the wind began to blow, and its force increased steadily. Ralph, hearing + the gusts as they swooped about the corners of the house, and the “swish” + of the snow as it was thrown against the window panes, several times rose + to go, but Captain Eri in each instance urged him to stay a little longer. + Finally, the electrician rebelled. + </p> + <p> + “I should like to stay, Captain,” he said, “but how do you think I am + going to get over to the station if this storm grows worse, as it seems to + be doing?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think,” was the calm reply. “You're goin' to stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess not.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess yes. S'pose we're goin' to let you try to row over to the beach a + night like this? It's darker 'n a nigger's pocket, and blowin' and snowin' + great guns besides. Jest you look out here.” + </p> + <p> + He rose, beckoned to Ralph, and then opened the outer door. He had to use + considerable strength to do this, and a gust of wind and a small avalanche + of snow roared in, and sent the lighter articles flying from the table. + Elsie gave a little scream, and Mrs. Snow exclaimed, “For the land's sake, + shut that door this minute! Everything 'll be soppin' wet.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain pulled the door shut again, and dropped the hook into the + staple. + </p> + <p> + “Nice night for a pull, ain't it?” he observed, smiling. “No, sir, I've + heard it comin' on, and I made up my mind you'd have to stay on dry land + for a spell, no matter if all creation wanted you on t'other side.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph looked troubled. “I ought to be at the station,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe so, but you ain't, and you'll have to put up at this boardin' house + till mornin'. When it's daylight one of us 'll set you across. Mr. Langley + ain't foolish. He won't expect you to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the housekeeper, “you might jest as well give + it up fust as last. You KNOW you can't go over to that station jest as + well as I do.” + </p> + <p> + So Ralph did give it up, although rather against his will. There was + nothing of importance to be done, but he felt a little like a deserter, + nevertheless. + </p> + <p> + “Perez won't git home neither,” observed Captain Eri. “He's snowed in, + too.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez had that afternoon gone down to the Mayo homestead to take + tea with Miss Davis. + </p> + <p> + “Git home! I should think not!” said Mrs. Snow decidedly. “Pashy's got too + much sense to let him try it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Elsie,” commented Captain Jerry, “I told you we'd have a + no'theaster 'fore the winter was over. I guess there'll be gale enough to + satisfy you, now. No school to-morrer.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's settled! Let's be comf'table. Ain't there some of that cider + down cellar? Where's the pitcher?” And Captain Eri hurried off to find it. + </p> + <p> + When bedtime came there was some argument as to where the guest should + sleep. Ralph insisted that the haircloth sofa in the parlor was just the + thing, but Captain Eri wouldn't hear of it. + </p> + <p> + “Haircloth's all right to look at,” he said, “but it's the slipperiest + stuff that ever was, I cal'late. Every time I set on a haircloth chair I + feel's if I was draggin' anchor.” + </p> + <p> + The cot was declared ineligible, also, and the question was finally + settled by Josiah and Captain Eri going upstairs to the room once occupied + by John Baxter, while Ralph took that which they vacated. + </p> + <p> + It was some time before he fell asleep. The gale seemed to be tearing + loose the eternal foundations. The house shook and the bed trembled as if + a great hand was moving them, and the snow slapped against the windows + till it seemed that they must break. + </p> + <p> + In the morning there was little change in the weather. The snow had turned + to a sleet, half rain, that stuck to everything and coated it with ice. + The wind was blowing as hard as ever. Captain Eri and Ralph, standing just + outside the kitchen door, and in the lee of the barn, paused to watch the + storm for a minute before they went down to the beach. At intervals they + caught glimpses of the snow-covered roofs of the fish shanties, and the + water of the inner bay, black and threatening and scarred with whitecaps; + then another gust would come, and they could scarcely see the posts at the + yard gate. + </p> + <p> + “Think you want to go over, do you?” asked the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “I certainly do, if I can get there.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we can git there all right. I've rowed a dory a good many times when + 'twas as bad as this. This ain't no picnic day, though, that's a fact,” he + added, as they crossed the yard, and caught the full force of the wind. + “Lucky you put on them ileskins.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was arrayed in Captain Jerry's “dirty-weather rig,” and although, as + Captain Eri said, the garments fitted him “like a shirt on a handspike,” + they were very acceptable. + </p> + <p> + They found the dory covered with snow and half-full of slush, and it took + some few minutes to get her into condition. When this was accomplished + they hauled her down to the shore, and Captain Eri, standing knee-deep in + water, steadied her while Ralph climbed in. Then the Captain tumbled in + himself, picked up the oars, and settled down for the pull to the outer + beach. + </p> + <p> + A dory, as everyone acquainted alongshore knows, is the safest of all + small craft for use in heavy weather. It is unsinkable for one thing, and, + being flat-bottomed, slips over the waves instead of plowing through them. + But the high freeboard is a mark for the wind, and to keep a straight + course on such a morning as this requires skill, and no small amount of + muscle. Ralph, seated in the stern, found himself wondering how on earth + his companion managed to row as he did, and steer at the same time. The + strokes were short, but there was power in them, and the dory, although + moving rather slowly, went doggedly on. + </p> + <p> + “Let me take her,” shouted Ralph after a while, “you must be tired.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, me?” Captain Eri laughed. “I could keep this up for a week. There + ain't any sea in here. If we was outside now, 'twould be diff'rent, + maybe.” + </p> + <p> + They hit the beach almost exactly at the right spot, a feat which the + passenger considered a miracle, but which the Captain seemed to take as a + matter of course. They beached and anchored the dory, and, bending almost + double as they faced the wind, plowed through the sand to the back door of + the station. There was comparatively little snow here on the outer beach—the + gale had swept it nearly all away. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Langley met them as they tramped into the hall. The old gentleman was + glad to see his assistant, for he had begun to fear that the latter might + have tried to row over during the evening, and met with disaster. As they + sat round the stove in his room he said, “We don't need any wrecks inside + the beach. We shall have enough outside, I'm afraid. I hear there is one + schooner in trouble now.” + </p> + <p> + “That so?” asked Captain Eri. “Where is she?” + </p> + <p> + “On the Hog's Back shoal, they think. One of the life-saving crew told + McLaughlin that they saw her last night, when the gale first began, trying + to make an offing, and that wreckage was coming ashore this morning. + Captain Davis was going to try to reach her with the boat, I believe.” + </p> + <p> + “I should like to be at the life-saving station when they land,” said + Ralph. “It would be a new experience for me. I've seen the crew drill + often enough, but I have never seen them actually at work.” + </p> + <p> + “What d'you say if we go down to the station?” asked the Captain. “That + is, if Mr. Langley here can spare you.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I can spare him,” said the superintendent. “There is nothing of + importance to be done here just now. But it will be a terrible walk down + the beach this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Wind 'll be at our backs, and we're rigged for it, too. What d'you say, + Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was only too glad of the opportunity to see, at least, the finish of + a rescuing expedition, and he said so. So they got into the oilskins + again, pulled their “sou'westers” down over their ears, and started on the + tramp to the life-saving station. + </p> + <p> + The electrician is not likely to forget that walk. The wind was, as the + Captain said, at their backs, but it whistled in from the sea with + terrific strength, and carried the sleet with it. It deluged them with + water, and plastered them with flying seaweed and ice. The wet sand came + in showers like hail, and beat against their shoulders until they felt the + sting, even through their clothes. Toward the bay was nothing but gray + mist, streaked with rain and sleet; toward the sea was the same mist, + flying with the wind over such a huddle of tossing green and white as + Ralph had never seen. The surf poured in in rollers that leaped over each + other's humped backs in their savage energy to get at the shore, which + trembled as they beat upon it. The ripples from one wave had not time to + flow back before those of the next came threshing in. Great blobs of foam + shot down the strand like wild birds, and the gurgle and splash and roar + were terrific. + </p> + <p> + They walked as near the water line as they dared, because the sand was + harder there. Captain Eri went ahead, hands in his pockets and head down. + Ralph followed, sometimes watching his companion, but oftener gazing at + the sea. At intervals there would be a lull, as if the storm giant had + paused for breath, and they could see for half a mile over the crazy + water; then the next gust would pull the curtain down again, and a whirl + of rain and sleet would shut them in. Conversation meant only a series of + shrieks and they gave it up. + </p> + <p> + At length the Captain turned, grinned pleasantly, while the rain drops + splashed on his nose, and waved one arm. Ralph looked and saw ahead of + them the clustered buildings of the life-saving station. And he was glad + to see them. + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” puffed Captain Eri as they opened the door. “Nice mornin' for + ducks. Hey, Luther!” he shouted, “wake up here; you've got callers.” + </p> + <p> + They heard footsteps in the next room, the door opened, and in came—not + Luther Davis, but Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Eri!” he exclaimed amazedly. + </p> + <p> + “For the land's sake, Perez! What are you doin' here?” + </p> + <p> + “What are YOU doin' here, I should say. How d'you do, Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri pushed back his “sou'wester,” and strolled over to the stove. + Ralph followed suit. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Perez,” said the former, extending his hands over the fire, “it's + easy enough to tell you why we're here. We heard there was a wreck.” + </p> + <p> + “There is. She's a schooner, and she's off there on the Hog's Back. Luther + and the crew put off to her more 'n two hours ago, and I'm gittin' + worried.” + </p> + <p> + Then Perez went on to explain that, because of the storm, he had been + persuaded to stay at Mrs. Mayo's all night; that Captain Davis had been + over for a moment that evening on an errand, and had said that the + schooner had been sighted and that, as the northeaster was coming on, she + was almost certain to get into trouble; that he, Perez, had rowed over the + first thing in the morning to get the news, and had been just in time to + see the launching of the lifeboat, as the crew put off to the schooner. + </p> + <p> + “There ain't nothin' to worry 'bout,” observed Captain Eri. “It's no + slouch of a pull off to the Hog's Back this weather, and besides, I'd + trust Lute Davis anywhere on salt water.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know,” replied the unconvinced Captain Perez, “but he ought to + have been back afore this. There was a kind of let-up in the storm jest + afore I got here, and they see her fast on the shoal with the crew in the + riggin'. Luther took the small boat 'cause he thought he could handle her + better, and that's what's worryin' me; I'm 'fraid she's overloaded. I was + jest thinkin' of goin' out on the p'int to see if I could see anything of + 'em when you folks come.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, go ahead. We'll go with you, if Mr. Hazeltine's got any of the + chill out of him.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was feeling warm by this time and, after Perez had put on his coat + and hat, they went out once more into the gale. The point of which Perez + had spoken was a wedge-shaped sand ridge that, thrown up by the waves and + tide, thrust itself out from the beach some few hundred yards below the + station. They reached its tip, and stood there in the very midst of the + storm, waiting for the lulls, now more frequent, and scanning the tumbling + water for the returning lifeboat. + </p> + <p> + “Schooner's layin' right over there,” shouted Captain Perez in Ralph's + ear, pointing off into the mist. “'Bout a mile off shore, I cal'late. + Wicked place, the Hog's Back is, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Wind's lettin' up a little mite,” bellowed Captain Eri. “We've had the + wust of it, I guess. There ain't so much—” + </p> + <p> + He did not finish the sentence. The curtain of sleet parted, leaving a + quarter-mile-long lane, through which they could see the frothing ridges + racing one after the other, endlessly. And across this lane, silent and + swift, like a moving picture on a screen, drifted a white turtleback with + black dots clinging to it. It was in sight not more than a half minute, + then the lane closed again, as the rain lashed their faces. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gasped, and clutched the electrician by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Godfrey mighty!” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” shouted Ralph. “What was it, Captain Eri?” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Eri did not answer. He had turned, and was running at full + speed back to the beach. When they came up they found him straining at the + side of the dory that Luther Davis used in tending his lobster pots. The + boat, turned bottom up, lay high above tide mark in the little cove behind + the point. + </p> + <p> + “Quick, now!” shouted the Captain, in a tone Ralph had never heard him use + before. “Over with her! Lively!” + </p> + <p> + They obeyed him without question. As the dory settled right side up two + heavy oars, that had been secured by being thrust under the seats, fell + back with a clatter. + </p> + <p> + “What was it, Captain?” shouted Ralph. + </p> + <p> + “The lifeboat upset. How many did you make out hangin' onto her, Perez? + Five, seemed to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Four, I thought. Eri, you ain't goin' to try to reach her with this dory? + You couldn't do it. You'll only be drownded yourself. My Lord!” he moaned, + wringing his hands, “what 'll Pashy do?” + </p> + <p> + “Catch a-holt now,” commanded Captain Eri. “Down to the shore with her! + Now!” + </p> + <p> + They dragged the dory to the water's edge with one rush. Then Eri + hurriedly thrust in the tholepins. Perez protested again. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “it ain't no use. She won't live to git through the + breakers.” + </p> + <p> + His friend answered without looking up. “Do you s'pose,” he said, “that + I'm goin' to let Lute Davis and them other fellers drown without makin' a + try for 'em? Push off when I tell you to.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you let me go instead of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't talk foolish. You've got Pashy to look after. Ready now!” + </p> + <p> + But Ralph Hazeltine intervened. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going myself,” he said firmly, putting one foot over the gunwale. + “I'm a younger man than either of you, and I'm used to a boat. I mean it. + I'm, going.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the electrician's face; he saw nothing but + determination there. + </p> + <p> + “We'll all go,” he said suddenly. “Mr. Hazeltine, run as fast as the Lord + 'll let you back to the station and git another set of oars. Hurry!” + </p> + <p> + Without answering, the young man sprang up the beach and ran toward the + buildings. The moment that he was inside Captain Eri leaped into the dory. + </p> + <p> + “Push off, Perez!” he commanded. “That young feller's got a life to live.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't go without me,” asserted Perez stoutly. + </p> + <p> + “All right! Push off, and then jump in.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez attempted to obey. He waded into the water and gave the dory + a push, but, just as he was about to scramble in, he received a shove that + sent him backwards. + </p> + <p> + “Your job's takin' care of Pashy!” roared Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Perez scrambled to his feet, but the dory was already half-way across the + little patch of comparatively smooth water in the cove. As he looked he + saw it enter the first line of breakers, rise amid a shower of foam, poise + on the crest, and slip over. The second line of roaring waves came surging + on, higher and more threatening than the first. Captain Eri glanced over + his shoulder, turned the dory's bow toward them and waited. They broke, + and, as they did so, the boat shot forward into the whirlpool of froth. + Then the sleet came pouring down and shut everything from sight. + </p> + <p> + When Ralph came hurrying to the beach, bearing the oars, he found Captain + Perez alone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <h3> + ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + </h3> + <p> + Captain Eri knew that the hardest and most dangerous portion of his + perilous trip was just at its beginning. If the dory got through the surf + without capsizing, it was an even bet that she would stay right-side-up + for a while longer, at any rate. So he pulled out of the little cove, and + pointed the boat's bow toward the thundering smother of white, his + shoulders squared, his hands tightened on the oar handles, and his + under-jaw pushed out beyond the upper. Old foremast hands, those who had + sailed with the Captain on his coasting voyages, would, had they seen + these signs, have prophesied trouble for someone. They were Captain Eri's + battle-flags, and just now his opponent was the gray Atlantic. If the + latter won, it would only be after a fight. + </p> + <p> + The first wave tripped over the bar and whirled beneath him, sending the + dory high into the air and splashing its occupant with spray. The Captain + held the boat stationary, waiting for the second to break, and then, half + rising, put all his weight and strength on the oars. The struggle had + begun. + </p> + <p> + They used to say on board the Hannah M. that the skipper never got + rattled. The same cool head and steady nerve that Josiah had admired when + the catboat threaded the breakers at the entrance of the bay, now served + the same purpose in this more tangled and infinitely more wicked maze. The + dory climbed and ducked, rolled and slid, but gained, inch by inch, foot + by foot. The advancing waves struck savage blows at the bow, the wind did + its best to swing her broadside on, but there was one hundred and eighty + pounds of clear grit and muscle tugging at the oars, and, though the + muscles were not as young as they had been, there were years of experience + to make every pound count. At last the preliminary round was over. The + boat sprang clear of the breakers and crept out farther and farther, with + six inches of water slopping in her bottom, but afloat and seaworthy. + </p> + <p> + It was not until she was far into deep water that the Captain turned her + bow down the shore. When this was done, it was on the instant, and, + although a little more water came inboard, there was not enough to be + dangerous. Then, with the gale astern and the tide to help, Captain Eri + made the dory go as she, or any other on that coast, had never gone + before. + </p> + <p> + The Captain knew that the wind and the tide that were now aiding him were + also sweeping the overturned lifeboat along at a rapid rate. He must come + up with it before it reached the next shoal. He must reach it before the + waves, and, worse than all, the cold had caused the poor fellows clinging + to it for life to loose their grip. + </p> + <p> + The dory jumped from crest to crest like a hurdler. The sleet now beat + directly into the Captain's face and froze on his eyebrows and lashes, but + he dared not draw in an oar to free a hand. The wind caught up the + spindrift and poured it over him in icy baths, but he was too warm from + the furious exercise to mind. + </p> + <p> + In the lulls he turned his head and gazed over the sea, looking for the + boat. Once he saw it, before the storm shut down again, and he groaned + aloud to count but two black dots on its white surface. He pulled harder + than ever, and grunted with every stroke, while the perspiration poured + down his forehead and froze when it reached the ice dams over his eyes. + </p> + <p> + At last it was in plain sight, and the two dots, now clearly human beings, + were still there. He pointed the bow straight at it and rowed on. When he + looked again there was but one, a figure sprawled along the keel, clinging + to the centerboard. + </p> + <p> + The flying dory bore down upon the lifeboat, and the Captain risked what + little breath he had in a hail. The clinging figure raised its head, and + Captain Eri felt an almost selfish sense of relief to see that it was + Luther Davis. If it had to be but one, he would rather it was that one. + </p> + <p> + The bottom of the lifeboat rose like a dome from the sea that beat and + roared over and around it. The centerboard had floated up and projected at + the top, and it was about this that Captain Davis' arms were clasped. + Captain Eri shot the dory alongside, pulled in one oar, and the two boats + fitted closely together. Then Eri reached out, and, seizing his friend by + the belt round his waist, pulled him from his hold. Davis fell into the + bottom of the dory, only half conscious and entirely helpless. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri lifted him so that his head and shoulders rested on a thwart, + and then, setting his oar against the lifeboat's side, pushed the dory + clear. Then he began rowing again. + </p> + <p> + So far he had been more successful than he had reason to expect, but the + task that he must now accomplish was not less difficult. He must reach the + shore safely, and with another life beside his own to guard. + </p> + <p> + It was out of the question to attempt to get back to the cove; the landing + must be made on the open beach, and, although Captain Eri had more than + once brought a dory safely through a high surf, he had never attempted it + when his boat had nearly a foot of water in her and carried a helpless + passenger. + </p> + <p> + Little by little, still running before the wind, the Captain edged in + toward the shore. Luther Davis moved once or twice, but said nothing. His + oilskins were frozen stiff and his beard was a lump of ice. Captain Eri + began to fear that he might die from cold and exhaustion before the + attempt at landing was made. The Captain resolved to wait no longer, but + to take the risk of running directly for the beach. + </p> + <p> + He was near enough now to see the leaping spray of the breakers, and their + bellow sounded louder than the howl of the wind or the noises of the sea + about him. He bent forward and shouted in the ear of the prostrate + life-saver. + </p> + <p> + “Luther!” he yelled, “Lute!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis' head rolled back, his eyes opened, and, in a dazed way, he + looked at the figure swinging back and forth with the oars. + </p> + <p> + “Lute!” shouted Captain Eri, “listen to me! I'm goin' to try to land. + D'you hear me?” + </p> + <p> + Davis' thoughts seemed to be gathering slowly. He was, ordinarily, a man + of strong physique, courageous, and a fighter every inch of him, but his + strength had been beaten out by the waves and chilled by the cold, and the + sight of the men with whom he had lived and worked for years drowning one + by one, had broken his nerve. He looked at his friend, and then at the + waves. + </p> + <p> + “What's the use?” he said feebly. “They're all gone. I might as well go, + too.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's eyes snapped. “Lute Davis,” he exclaimed, “I never thought + I'd see you playin' crybaby. Brace up! What are you, anyway?” + </p> + <p> + The half-frozen man made a plucky effort. + </p> + <p> + “All right, Eri,” he said. “I'm with you, but I ain't much good.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you stand up?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. I'll try.” + </p> + <p> + Little by little he raised himself to his knees. + </p> + <p> + “'Bout as fur's I can go, Eri,” he said, between his teeth. “You look out + for yourself. I'll do my durndest.” + </p> + <p> + The dory was caught by the first of the great waves, and, on its crest, + went flying toward the beach. Captain Eri steered it with the oars as well + as he could. The wave broke, and the half-filled boat paused, was caught + up by the succeeding breaker, and thrown forward again. The Captain, still + trying to steer with one oar, let go of the other, and seizing his + companion by the belt, pulled him to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “Now then,” he shouted, “stand by!” + </p> + <p> + The boat poised on the curling wave, went down like a hammer, struck the + sand, and was buried in water. Just as it struck, Captain Eri jumped as + far shoreward as he could. Davis sprang with him, but it was really the + Captain's strength that carried them clear of the rail. + </p> + <p> + They kept their feet for an instant, but, in that instant, Captain Eri + dragged his friend a yard or so up the shelving beach. Then they were + knocked flat by the next wave. The Captain dug his toes into the sand and + braced himself as the undertow sucked back. Once more he rose and they + staggered on again, only to go down when the next rush of water came. + Three times this performance was repeated, and, as they rose for the + fourth time, the Captain roared, “Now!” + </p> + <p> + Another plunge, a splashing run, and they were on the hard sand of the + beach. Then they both tumbled on their faces and breathed in great gasps. + </p> + <p> + But the Captain realized that this would not do, for, in their soaked + condition, freezing to death was a matter of but a short time. He seized + Davis by the shoulder and shook him again and again. + </p> + <p> + “Come on, Lute! Come on!” he insisted. “Git up! You've GOT to git up!” + </p> + <p> + And, after a while, the life-saver did get up, although he could scarcely + stand. Then, with the Captain's arm around his waist, they started slowly + up the beach toward the station. + </p> + <p> + They had gone but a little way when they were met by Ralph Hazeltine and + Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather nervous all that forenoon. She + performed her household duties as thoroughly as usual, but Elsie, to whom + the storm had brought a holiday, noticed that she looked out of the window + and at the clock frequently. Once she even went so far as to tell the + young lady that she felt “kind of queer; jest as if somethin' was goin' to + happen.” As the housekeeper was not the kind to be troubled with + presentiments, Elsie was surprised. + </p> + <p> + Dinner was on the table at twelve o'clock, but Captain Eri was not there + to help eat it, and they sat down without him. And here again Mrs. Snow + departed from her regular habit, for she ate little and was very quiet. + She was the first to hear an unusual sound outside, and, jumping up, ran + to the window. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody's drivin' into the yard,” she said. “Who on airth would be + comin' here such a day as this?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry joined her at the window. + </p> + <p> + “It's Abner Mayo's horse,” he said. “Maybe it's Perez comin' home.” + </p> + <p> + It was not Captain Perez, but Mr. Mayo himself, as they saw when the + rubber blanket fastened across the front of the buggy was dropped and the + driver sprang out. Mrs. Snow opened the door for him. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Abner!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, as the newcomer stopped to knock + the snow from his boots before coming in, “what have you done to Perez? + Goin' to keep him for a steady boarder?” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Mayo had important news to communicate, and he did not intend to + lose the effect of his sensation by springing it without due preparation. + He took off his hat and mittens and solemnly declined a proffered chair. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Burgess,” he said, “I've got somethin' to tell you—somethin' + awful. The whole life-savin' crew but one is drownded, and Cap'n Eri Hedge—” + </p> + <p> + An exclamation from Mrs. Snow interrupted him. The housekeeper clasped her + hands together tightly and sank into a chair. She was very white. Elsie + ran to her. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Mrs. Snow?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Nothin', nothin'! Go on, Mr. Mayo. Go on!” + </p> + <p> + The bearer of ill-tidings, gratified at the result of his first attempt, + proceeded deliberately: + </p> + <p> + “And Cap'n Hedge and Luther Davis are over at the station pretty nigh + dead. If it wa'n't for the Cap'n, Luther'd have gone, too. Eri took a dory + and went off and picked him up. Perez come over to my house and told us + about it, and Pashy's gone back with him to see to her brother. I didn't + go down to the store this mornin', 'twas stormin' so, but as soon as I + heard I harnessed up to come and tell you.” + </p> + <p> + Then, in answer to the hurried questions of Captain Jerry and Elsie, Mr. + Mayo told the whole story as far as he knew it. Mrs. Snow said nothing, + but sat with her hands still clasped in her lap. + </p> + <p> + “Luther is ha'f drownded and froze,” concluded Abner, “and the Cap'n got a + bang with an oar when they jumped out of the dory that, Perez is afraid, + broke his arm. I'm goin' right back to git Dr. Palmer. They tried to + telephone him, but the wire's down.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear! dear! dear!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, completely demoralized by the + news. “That's dreadful! I must go right down there, mustn't I? The poor + fellers!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow rose to her feet quietly, but with a determined air. + </p> + <p> + “Are you goin' right back soon's you've got the Doctor, Mr. Mayo?” she + asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, no, I wa'n't. I ain't been to my store this mornin', and I'm 'fraid + I ought to be there.” + </p> + <p> + To be frank, Abner was too great a sensation lover to forfeit the + opportunity of springing his startling news on the community. + </p> + <p> + “Then, Josiah, you'll have to harness Dan'l and take me down. I mustn't + wait another minute.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” expostulated Captain Jerry, “you mustn't go down there. + The Doctor's goin', and I'll go, and Pashy's there already.” + </p> + <p> + But the housekeeper merely waved him aside. + </p> + <p> + “I want you to stay here with Elsie,” she said. “There's no tellin' how + long I may be gone. Josiah 'll drive me down, won't you, Josiah?” + </p> + <p> + There was no lack of enthusiasm in the “able seaman's” answer. The boy was + only too glad of the chance. + </p> + <p> + “But it ain't fit weather for you to be out in. You'll git soakin' wet.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess if Pashy Davis can stand it, I can. Elsie, will you come and help + me git ready, while Josiah's harnessin'?” + </p> + <p> + As they entered the chamber above, Elsie was thunderstruck to see her + companion seat herself in the rocker and cover her face with her hands. If + it had been anyone else it would not have been so astonishing, but the + cool, self-possessed housekeeper—she could scarcely believe it. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” she exclaimed, “what IS it?” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket hastily rose and wiped her eyes with her apron. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin',” she answered, with an attempt at a smile. “I'm kind of + fidgety this mornin', and the way that man started off to tell his yarn + upset me; that's all. I mustn't be such a fool.” + </p> + <p> + She set about getting ready with a vim and attention to detail that proved + that her “fidgets” had not affected her common-sense. She was pale and her + hands trembled a little, but she took a covered basket and packed in it + cloth for bandages, a hot-water bottle, mustard, a bottle of liniment, and + numerous other things likely to be of use. Last of all, she added a bottle + of whisky that had been prescribed as a stimulant for John Baxter. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose some folks would think 'twas terrible carryin' this with me,” + she observed. “A woman pitched into me once for givin' it to her husband + when he was sick. I told her I didn't favor RHUBARB as a steady drink, but + I hoped I knew enough to give it when 'twas necessary.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Captain Perez were surprised men when the housekeeper, dripping, + but cheerful, appeared on the scene. She and Josiah had had a stormy + passage on the way down, for the easy-going Daniel had objected to being + asked to trot through drifts, and Mrs. Snow had insisted that he should be + made to do it. The ford was out of the question, so they stalled the old + horse in the Mayo barn and borrowed Abner's dory to make the crossing. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow took charge at once of the tired men, and the overtaxed Miss + Patience was glad enough to have her do it. Luther Davis was in bed, and + Captain Eri, after an hour's sojourn in the same snug harbor, had utterly + refused to stay there longer, and now, dressed in a suit belonging to the + commandant, was stretched upon a sofa in the front room. + </p> + <p> + The Captain was the most surprised of all when Mrs. Snow appeared. He + fairly gasped when she first entered the room, and seemed to be struck + speechless, for he said scarcely a word while she dosed him with hot + drinks, rubbed his shoulder—the bone was not broken, but there was a + bruise there as big as a saucer—with the liniment, and made him + generally comfortable. He watched her every movement with a sort of + worshipful wonder, and seemed to be thinking hard. + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis, although feeling a little better, was still very weak, and + his sister and Captain Perez were with him. Josiah soon returned to the + Mayo homestead to act as ferryman for Dr. Palmer when the latter should + arrive, and Ralph, finding that there was nothing more that he could do, + went back to the cable station. The storm had abated somewhat and the wind + had gone down. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were alone in the front room, + and, for the first time since she entered the house, the lady from + Nantucket sat down to rest. Then the Captain spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” he said gravely, “I don't believe you've changed your clothes + sence you got here. You must have been soaked through, too. I wish you + wouldn't take such risks. You hadn't ought to have come over here a day + like this, anyway. Not but what the Lord knows it's good to have you + here,” he added hastily. + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper seemed surprised. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Eri,” she said, “I b'lieve if you was dyin' you'd worry for fear + somebody else wouldn't be comf'table while you was doing it. 'Twould be + pretty hard for me to change my clothes,” she added, with a laugh, “seein' + that there probably ain't anything but men's clothes in the place.” Then, + with a sigh, “Poor fellers, they won't need 'em any more.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so. And they were all alive and hearty this mornin'. It's an awful + thing for Luther. Has he told anything yit 'bout how it come to happen?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a little. The schooner was from Maine, bound to New York. Besides + her own crew she had some Italians aboard, coal-handlers, they was, goin' + over on a job for the owner. Cap'n Davis says he saw right away that the + lifeboat would be overloaded, but he had to take 'em all, there wa'n't + time for a second trip. He made the schooner's crew and the others lay + down in the boat where they wouldn't hinder the men at the oars, but when + they got jest at the tail of the shoal, where the sea was heaviest, them + Italians lost their heads and commenced to stand up and yell, and fust + thing you know, she swung broadside on and capsized. Pashy says Luther + don't say much more, but she jedges, from what he does say, that some of + the men hung on with him for a while, but was washed off and drownded.” + </p> + <p> + “That's right; there was four or five there when we saw her fust. 'Twas + Lute's grip on the centerboard that saved him. It's an awful thing—awful!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and he would have gone, too, if it hadn't been for you. And you talk + about MY takin' risks!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Jerry hadn't ought to have let you come.” + </p> + <p> + “LET me come! I should like to have seen him try to stop me. The idea! + Where would I be if 'twa'n't helpin' you, after all you've done for me?” + </p> + <p> + “I'VE done? I haven't done anything!” + </p> + <p> + “You've made me happier 'n I've been for years. You've been so kind that—that—” + </p> + <p> + She stopped and looked out of the window. + </p> + <p> + “It's you that's been kind,” said the Captain. “You've made a home for me; + somethin' I ain't had afore sence I was a boy.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow went on as if he had not spoken. + </p> + <p> + “And to think that you might have been drownded the same as the rest,” she + said. “I knew somethin' was happenin'. I jest felt it, somehow. I told + Elsie I was sure of it. I couldn't think of anything but you all the + forenoon.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain sat up on the couch. + </p> + <p> + “Marthy,” he said in an awed tone, “do you know what I was thinkin' of + when I was pullin' through the wust of it this mornin'? I was thinkin' of + you. I thought of Luther and the rest of them poor souls, of course, but I + thought of you most of the time. It kept comin' back to me that if I went + under I shouldn't see you ag'in. And you was thinkin' of me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, when that Mayo man said he had awful news, I felt sure 'twas you he + was goin' to tell about. I never fainted away in my life that I know of, + but I think I 'most fainted then.” + </p> + <p> + “And you cared as much as that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + Somehow both were speaking quietly, but as if it was useless longer to + keep back anything. To speak the exact truth without reserve seemed the + most natural thing in the world. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, well!” said the Captain reverently, and still in the same low + tone. “I said once afore that I b'lieved you was sent here, and now I'm + sure of it. It seems almost as if you was sent to ME, don't it?” + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper still looked out of the window, but she answered simply, + “I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “It does, it does so. Marthy, we've been happy together while you've been + here. Do you b'lieve you could be happy with me always—if you + married me, I mean?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow turned and looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, but she + did not wipe them away. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich.” + </p> + <p> + “What am I?” with a little smile. + </p> + <p> + “And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old + codger like me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” The answer was short, but it was convincing. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri rose to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “Gosh!” he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. “Marthy, are you willin' + to try?” + </p> + <p> + And again Mrs. Snow said “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri + was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about him + that the man of medicine was amazed. + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord, man!” he exclaimed, “I expected to find you flat on your back, + and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a salt-water bath + in mid-winter must agree with you.” + </p> + <p> + “It ain't so much that,” replied the Captain serenely. “It's the pay I got + for takin' it.” + </p> + <p> + When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close watch + on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion and + exposure might have affected the Captain's brain. + </p> + <p> + Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, but he + saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to start for home, + Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding slap + </p> + <p> + “Jerry!” he groaned distressfully. “I clean forgot. I've gone back on + Jerry!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI + </h2> + <h3> + “DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + </h3> + <p> + Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner Mayo's news + spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, the stores, and + the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, notably “Cy” Warner and + “Rufe” Smith, local representatives of the big Boston dailies, hurried off + to the life-saving station to get the facts at first hand. Others came + down to talk with Captain Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's shawl was on + her shoulders and her “cloud” was tied about her head in less than two + minutes after her next-door neighbor shouted the story across the back + yards. She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry was delivering a + sarcastic speech concerning “talkin' machines,” when Daniel plodded + through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, Mrs. Snow, and + Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + For a man who had been described as “half-dead,” Captain Eri looked very + well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he jumped out + himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with an air of proud + proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like a returned prodigal, and + Captain Jerry shook his well hand until the arm belonging to it seemed + likely to become as stiff and sore as the other. While this handshaking + was going on Captain Eri was embarrassed. He did not look his friend in + the face, and most of his conversation was addressed to Elsie. + </p> + <p> + As soon as he had warmed his hands and told the story of the wreck and + rescue, he said, “Jerry, come up to my room a minute, won't you? I've got + somethin' I want to say.” + </p> + <p> + Vaguely wondering what the private conversation might be, Jerry followed + his friend upstairs. When they were in the room, Captain Eri closed the + door and faced his companion. He was confused, and stammered a little, as + he said, “Jerry, I've—I've got somethin' to say to you 'bout Mrs. + Snow.” + </p> + <p> + Then it was Captain Jerry's turn to be confused. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Eri,” he protested, “'tain't fair to keep pesterin' me like this. I + know I ain't said nothin' to her yit, but I'm goin' to. I had a week, + anyhow, and it ain't ha'f over. Land sake!” he burst forth, “d'you s'pose + I ain't been thinkin' 'bout it? I ain't thought of nothin' else, hardly. I + bet you I've been over the whole thing every night sence we had that talk. + I go over it and GO over it. I've thought of more 'n a million ways to ask + her, but there ain't one of 'em that suits me. If I was goin' to be hung + 'twouldn't be no worse, and now you've got to keep a-naggin'. Let me alone + till my time is up, can't you?” + </p> + <p> + “I wa'n't naggin'. I was jest goin' to tell you that you won't have to + ask. I've been talkin' to her myself, and—” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice sprang out of his chair. + </p> + <p> + “Eri Hedge!” he exclaimed indignantly. “I thought you was a friend of + mine! I give you my word I'd do it in a week, and the least you could have + done, seems to me, would have been to wait and give me the chance. But no! + all you think 'bout's yourself. So 'fraid she'd say no and you'd lose your + old housekeeper, wa'n't you? The idea! She must think I'm a good one—can't + do my own courtin', and have to git somebody to do it for me! What did she + say?” he asked suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “She said yes to what I asked her,” was the reply with a half smile. + </p> + <p> + Upon Captain Jerry's face settled the look of one who accepts the + melancholy inevitable. He sat down again. + </p> + <p> + “I s'posed she would,” he said with a sigh. “She's known me for quite a + spell now, and she's had a chance to see what kind of a man I be. Well, + what else did you do? Ain't settled the weddin' day, have you?” This with + marked sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + “Not yit. Jerry, you've made a mistake. I didn't ask her for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Didn't ask her—didn't—What are you talkin' 'bout, then?” + </p> + <p> + “I asked her for myself. She's goin' to marry me.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was too much astonished even to get up. Instead, he simply + sat still with open mouth while his friend continued. + </p> + <p> + “I've come to think a lot of Mrs. Snow sence she's been here,” Captain Eri + said slowly, “and I've found out that she's felt the same way 'bout me. + I've kept still and said nothin' 'cause I thought you ought to have the + fust chance and, besides, I didn't know how she felt. But to-day, while we + was talkin', it all come out of itself, seems so, and—well, we're + goin' to be married.” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice—a sacrifice no longer—still sat silent, but + curious changes of expression were passing over his face. Surprise, + amazement, relief, and now a sort of grieved resignation. + </p> + <p> + “I feel small enough 'bout the way I've treated you, Jerry,” continued + Captain Eri. “I didn't mean to—but there! it's done, and all I can + do is say I'm sorry and that I meant to give you your chance. I shan't + blame you if you git mad, not a bit; but I hope you won't.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry sighed. When he spoke it was in a tone of sublime + forgiveness. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “I ain't mad. I won't say my feelin's ain't hurt, 'cause—'cause—well, + never mind. If a wife and a home ain't for me, why I ought to be glad that + you're goin' to have 'em. I wish you both luck and a good v'yage. Now, + don't talk to me for a few minutes. Let me git sort of used to it.” + </p> + <p> + So they shook hands and Captain Eri, with a troubled look at his friend, + went out. After he had gone, Captain Jerry got up and danced three steps + of an improvised jig, his face one broad grin. Then, with an effort, he + sobered down, assumed an air of due solemnity, and tramped downstairs. + </p> + <p> + If the announcement of Captain Perez' engagement caused no surprise, that + of Captain Eri's certainly did—surprise and congratulation on the + part of those let into the secret, for it was decided to say nothing to + outsiders as yet. Ralph came over that evening and they told him about it, + and he was as pleased as the rest. As for the Captain, he was only too + willing to shake hands with any and everybody, although he insisted that + the housekeeper had nothing to be congratulated upon, and that she was + “takin' big chances.” The lady herself merely smiled at this, and quietly + said that she was willing to take them. + </p> + <p> + The storm had wrecked every wire and stalled every train, and Orham was + isolated for two days. Then communication was established once more, and + the Boston dailies received the news of the loss of the life-savers and + the crew of the schooner. And they made the most of it; sensational items + were scarce just then, and the editors welcomed this one. The big black + headlines spread halfway across the front pages. There were pictures of + the wreck, “drawn by our artist from description,” and there were + “descriptions” of all kinds. Special reporters arrived in the village and + interviewed everyone they could lay hands on. Abner Mayo felt that for + once he was receiving the attention he deserved. + </p> + <p> + The life-saving station and the house by the shore were besieged by + photographers and newspaper men. Captain Eri indignantly refused to pose + for his photograph, so he was “snapped” as he went out to the barn, and + had the pleasure of seeing a likeness of himself, somewhat out of focus, + and with one leg stiffly elevated, in the Sunday Blanket. The reporters + waylaid him at the post-office, or at his fish shanty, and begged for + interviews. They got them, brief and pointedly personal, and, though these + were not printed, columns describing him as “a bluff, big-hearted hero,” + were. + </p> + <p> + If ever a man was mad and disgusted, that man was the Captain. In the + first place, as he said, what he had done was nothing more than any other + man 'longshore would have done, and, secondly, it was nobody's business. + Then again, he said, and with truth: + </p> + <p> + “This whole fuss makes me sick. Here's them fellers in the crew been goin' + out, season after season, takin' folks off wrecks, and the fool papers + never say nothin' 'bout it; but they go out this time, and don't save + nobody and git drownded themselves, and they're heroes of a sudden. I hear + they're raisin' money up to Boston to give to the widders and orphans. + Well, that's all right, but they'd better keep on and git the Gov'ment to + raise the sal'ries of them that's left in the service.” + </p> + <p> + The climax came when a flashily dressed stranger called, and insisted upon + seeing the Captain alone. The interview lasted just about three minutes. + When Mrs. Snow, alarmed by the commotion, rushed into the room, she found + Captain Eri in the act of throwing after the fleeing stranger the shiny + silk hat that the latter had left behind. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know what that—that swab wanted?” hotly demanded the + indignant Captain. “He wanted me to rig up in ileskins and a sou'wester + and show myself in dime museums. Said he'd buy that dory of Luther's that + I went out in, and show that 'long with me. I told him that dory was + spread up and down the beach from here to Setuckit, but he said that + didn't make no diff'rence, he'd have a dory there and say 'twas the reel + one. Offered me a hundred dollars a week, the skate! I'd give ten dollars + right now to tell him the rest of what I had to say.” + </p> + <p> + After this the Captain went fishing every day, and when at home refused to + see anybody not known personally. But the agitation went on, for the + papers fed the flames, and in Boston they were raising a purse to buy gold + watches and medals for him and for Captain Davis. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after four o'clock one afternoon of the week following that of the + wreck, Captain Eri ventured to walk up to the village, keeping a weather + eye out for reporters and smoking his pipe. He made several stops, one of + them being at the schoolhouse where Josiah, now back at his desk, was + studying overtime to catch up with his class. + </p> + <p> + As the Captain was strolling along, someone touched him from behind, and + he turned to face Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician had been a pretty + regular caller at the house of late, but Captain Eri had seen but little + of him, for reasons unnecessary to state. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Captain!” said Ralph. “Taking a constitutional? You want to look + out for Warner; I hear he's after you for another rescue 'special.'” + </p> + <p> + “He'll need somebody to rescue him if he comes pesterin' 'round me,” was + the reply. “You ain't seen my dime show friend nowheres, have you? I'd + sort of like to meet HIM again; our other talk broke off kind of sudden.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed, and said he was afraid that the museum manager wouldn't + come to Orham again very soon. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose likely not,” chuckled Captain Eri. “I ought to have kept his + hat; then, maybe, he'd have come back after it. Oh, say!” he added, “I've + been meanin' to ask you somethin'. Made up your mind 'bout that western + job yit?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph shook his head. “Not yet,” he said slowly. “I shall very soon, + though, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “Kind of puzzlin' you, is it? Not that it's really any of my affairs, you + understand. There's only a few of us good folks left, as the feller said, + and I'd hate to see you leave, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not anxious to go, myself. My present position gives me a good deal + of leisure time for experimental work—and—well, I'll tell you + in confidence—there's a possibility of my becoming superintendent + one of these days, if I wish to.” + </p> + <p> + “Sho! you don't say! Mr. Langley goin' to quit?” + </p> + <p> + “He is thinking of it. The old gentleman has saved some money, and he has + a sister in the West who is anxious to have him come out there and spend + the remainder of his days with her. If he does, I can have his position, I + guess. In fact, he has been good enough to say so.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's pretty fine, ain't it? Langley ain't the man to chuck his + good opinions round like clam shells. You ought to feel proud.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I ought.” + </p> + <p> + They walked on silently for a few steps, the Captain waiting for his + companion to speak, and the latter seeming disinclined to do so. At length + the older man asked another question. + </p> + <p> + “Is t'other job so much better?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Silence again. Then Ralph said, “The other position, Captain, is very much + like this one in some respects. It will place me in a country town, even + smaller than Orham, where there are few young people, no amusements, and + no society, in the fashionable sense of the word.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! I thought you didn't care much for them things.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't.” + </p> + <p> + To this enigmatical answer the Captain made no immediate reply. After a + moment, however, he said, slowly and with apparent irrelevance, “Mr. + Hazeltine, I can remember my father tellin' 'bout a feller that lived down + on the South Harniss shore when he was a boy. Queer old chap he was, named + Elihu Bassett; everybody called him Uncle Elihu. In them days all hands + drunk more or less rum, and Uncle Elihu drunk more. He had a way of + stayin' sober for a spell, and then startin' off on a regular jamboree all + by himself. He had an old flat-bottomed boat that he used to sail 'round + in, but she broke her moorin's one time and got smashed up, so he wanted + to buy another. Shadrach Wingate, Seth's granddad 'twas, tried to fix up a + dicker with him for a boat he had. They agreed on the price, and + everything was all right 'cept that Uncle Elihu stuck out that he must try + her 'fore he bought her. + </p> + <p> + “So Shad fin'lly give in, and Uncle Elihu sailed over to Wellmouth in the + boat. He put in his time 'round the tavern there, and when he come down to + the boat ag'in, he had a jugful of Medford in his hand, and pretty nigh as + much of the same stuff under his hatches. He got afloat somehow, h'isted + the sail, lashed the tiller after a fashion, took a nip out of the jug and + tumbled over and went fast asleep. 'Twas a still night or 'twould have + been the finish. As 'twas he run aground on a flat and stuck there till + mornin'. + </p> + <p> + “Next day back he comes with the boat all scraped up, and says he, 'She + won't do, Shad; she don't keep her course.' + </p> + <p> + “'Don't keep her course, you old fool!' bellers Shad. 'And you tight as a + drumhead and sound asleep! Think she can find her way home herself?' he + says. + </p> + <p> + “'Well,' says Uncle Elihu, 'if she can't she ain't the boat for me.'” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “I see,” he said. “Perhaps Uncle Elihu was wise. Still, if + he wanted the boat very much, he must have hated to put her to the test.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” assented the Captain, “but 'twas better to know it then than + to be sorry for it afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + Both seemed to be thinking, and neither spoke again until they came to the + grocery store, where Hazeltine stopped, saying that he must do an errand + for Mr. Langley. They said good-night, and the Captain turned away, but + came quickly back and said: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine, if it ain't too much trouble, would you mind steppin' up + to the schoolhouse when you've done your errand? I've left somethin' there + with Josiah, and I'd like to have you git it. Will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” was the reply, and it was not until the Captain had gone that + Ralph remembered he did not know what he was to get. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the school he climbed the stairs and opened the door, + expecting to find Josiah alone. Instead, there was no one there but Elsie, + who was sitting at the desk. She sprang up as he entered. Both were + somewhat confused. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, Miss Preston,” he said. “Captain Eri sent me here. He said he + left something with Josiah, and wished me to call for it.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I'm sure I don't know what it can be,” replied Elsie. “Josiah has + been gone for some time, and he said nothing to me about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it is in his desk,” suggested Ralph. “Suppose we look.” + </p> + <p> + So they looked, but found nothing more than the usual assortment contained + in the desk of a healthy schoolboy. The raised lid shut off the light from + the window, and the desk's interior was rather dark. They had to grope in + the corners, and occasionally their hands touched. Every time this + happened Ralph thought of the decision that he must make so soon. + </p> + <p> + He thought of it still more when, after the search was abandoned, Elsie + suggested that he help her with some problems that she was preparing for + the next day's labors of the first class in arithmetic. In fact, as he sat + beside her, pretending to figure, but really watching her dainty profile + as it moved back and forth before his eyes, his own particular problem + received far more attention than did those of the class. Suddenly he + spoke: + </p> + <p> + “Teacher,” he said, “please, may I ask a question?” + </p> + <p> + “You should hold up your hand if you wish permission to speak,” was the + stern reply. + </p> + <p> + “Please consider it held up.” + </p> + <p> + “Is the question as important as 'How many bushels did C. sell?' which + happens to be my particular trouble just now.” + </p> + <p> + “It is to me, certainly.” Ralph was serious enough now. “It is a question + that I have been wrestling with for some time. It is, shall I take the + position that has been offered me in the West, or shall I stay here and + become superintendent of the station? The superintendent's place may be + mine, I think, if I want it.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie laid down her pencil and hesitated for a moment before she spoke. + When she did reply her face was turned away from her companion. + </p> + <p> + “I should think that question might best be decided by comparing the + salaries and prospects of the two positions,” she said quietly. + </p> + <p> + “The two positions are much alike in one way. You know what the life at + the station means the greater portion of the year—no companions of + your own age and condition, no society, no amusements. The Western offer + means all this and worse, for the situation is the same all the year. I + say these things because I hope you may be willing to consider them, not + from my point of view solely, but from yours.” + </p> + <p> + “From mine?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You see I am recklessly daring to hope that, whichever lot is + chosen, you may be willing to share it with me—as my wife. Elsie, do + you think you could consider the question from that viewpoint?” + </p> + <p> + And—well—Elsie thought she could. + </p> + <p> + The consideration—we suppose it was the consideration—took so + long that it was nearly dark when Elsie announced that she simply MUST go. + It was Ralph's duty as a gentleman to help her in putting on her coat, and + this took an astonishingly long time. Finally it was done, however, and + they came downstairs. + </p> + <p> + “Dearest,” said Ralph, after the door was locked, “I forgot to have + another hunt for whatever it was that Captain Eri wanted me to get.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie smiled rather oddly. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you haven't got it?” she asked demurely. + </p> + <p> + “Got it! Why—why, by George, what a numbskull I am! The old rascal! + I thought there was a twinkle in his eye.” + </p> + <p> + “He said he should come back after me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well! Bless his heart, it's sound and sweet all the way through. + Yes, I HAVE got it, and, what's more, I shall tell him that I mean to keep + it.” + </p> + <p> + The gold watches from the people to the heroes of the Orham wreck having + been duly bought and inscribed and the medals struck, there came up the + question of presentation, and it was decided to perform the ceremony in + the Orham town hall, and to make the occasion notable. The Congressman + from the district agreed to make the necessary speech. The Harniss Cornet + Band was to furnish music. All preparations were made, and it remained + only to secure the consent of the parties most interested, namely, Captain + Eri and Luther Davis. + </p> + <p> + And this was the hardest task of all. Both men at first flatly refused to + be present. The Captain said he might as well go to the dime museum and be + done with it; he was much obliged to the Boston folks, but his own watch + was keeping good time, and he didn't need a new one badly enough to make a + show of himself to get it. Captain Davis said very much the same. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience was proud of her brother's rise to fame, and didn't + intend to let him forfeit the crowning glory. She enlisted Captain Perez + as a supporter, and together they finally got Luther's unwilling consent + to sit on the platform and be stared at for one evening. Meanwhile, + Captain Jerry, Elsie, Ralph, and Mrs. Snow were doing their best to win + Captain Eri over. When Luther surrendered, the forces joined, and the + Captain threw up his hands. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “Only I ought to beg that dime museum feller's + pardon. 'Tain't right to be partial this way.” + </p> + <p> + The hall was jammed to the doors. Captain Eri, seated on the platform at + one end of the half-circle of selectmen, local politicians, and minor + celebrities, looked from the Congressman in the middle to Luther on the + other end, and then out over the crowded settees. He saw Mrs. Snow's + pleasant, wholesome face beaming proudly beside Captain Jerry's red one. + He saw Captain Perez and Miss Patience sitting together close to the + front, and Ralph and Elsie a little further back. The Reverend Mr. Perley + was there; so were the Smalls and Miss Abigail Mullett. Melissa Busteed + was on the very front bench with the boys, of whom Josiah was one. The + “train committee” was there—not a member missing—and at the + rear of the hall, smiling and unctuous as ever, was “Web” Saunders. In + spite of his stage fright the Captain grinned when he saw “Web.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Solomon Bangs, his shirt-bosom crackling with importance, introduced + the Congressman. The latter's address was, so the Item said, “a triumph of + oratorical effort.” It really was a good speech, and when it touched upon + the simple sacrifice of the men who had given up their lives in the course + of what, to them, was everyday work, there were stifled sobs all through + the hall. Luther Davis, during this portion of the address, sat with his + big hand shading his eyes. Later on, when the speaker was sounding the + praises of the man who “alone, forgetful of himself, braved the sea and + the storm to save his friends,” those who looked at Captain Eri saw his + chair hitched back, inch by inch, until, as the final outburst came, + little more than his Sunday shoes was in sight. He had retired, chair and + all, to the wings. + </p> + <p> + But they called him to the platform again and, amid—we quote from + the Item once more—“a hurricane of applause,” the two heroes were + adorned with the watches and the medals. + </p> + <p> + There was a sort of impromptu reception after the ceremony, when Captain + Eri, with Mrs. Snow on his arm, struggled through the crowd toward the + door. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas great, shipmate, and you deserved it!” declared magnanimous Captain + Jerry, wringing his hand. + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't ha'f what you ought to have, Eri,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't said much to thank you for savin' Luther,” whispered Miss + Patience, “but I hope you know that we both appreciate what you done and + never 'll forgit it.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Elsie also shook hands with him, and said some pleasant things. + So did many others, Dr. Palmer among the number. Altogether, the journey + through the hall was a sort of triumphal progress. + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” gasped the Captain, as they came out into the clear air and the + moonlight, “let's hope that's the last of the dime-show bus'ness.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” whispered Mrs. Snow, “I'm so proud of you, I don't know what to + do.” + </p> + <p> + And that remark was sweeter to the Captain's ears than all those that had + preceded it. + </p> + <p> + They turned into the shore road and were alone. It was a clear winter + night, fresh, white snow on the ground, not a breath of wind, and the full + moon painting land and sea dark blue and silver white. The surf sounded + faint and far off. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking, and + through the stillness came an occasional laugh or shout from the people + going home from the hall. + </p> + <p> + “Lots of things can happen in a few months, can't they?” said Mrs. Snow, + glancing at the black shadow of the shuttered Baxter homestead. + </p> + <p> + “They can so,” replied the Captain. “Think what's happened sence last + September. I didn't know you then, and now it seems 's if I'd always known + you. John was alive then, and Elsie nor Ralph hadn't come. Perez hadn't + met Pashy neither. My! my! Everybody's choosed partners but Jerry,” he + chuckled, “and Jerry looked the most likely candidate 'long at the + beginnin'. I'm glad,” he added, “that Ralph's made up his mind to stay + here. We shan't lose him nor Elsie for a few years, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + They paused at the knoll by the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Fair day to-morrer,” observed the Captain, looking up at the sky. + </p> + <p> + “I hope it 'll be fair weather for us the rest of our days,” said Mrs. + Snow. + </p> + <p> + “You've HAD it rough enough, that's sure. Well, I hope you'll have a + smooth v'yage, now.” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket looked up into his face with a happy laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I shall,” she said. “I know I've got a good pilot.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + +***** This file should be named 3240-h.htm or 3240-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/3240/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; 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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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: Cap'n Eri + +Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +Release Date: May 30, 2006 [EBook #3240] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson + + + + + +CAP'N ERI + + +By Joseph Crosby Lincoln + + + + +CONTENTS + + + I. A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + + II. THE TRAIN COMES IN + + III. THE "COME-OUTERS'" MEETING + + IV. A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + + V. THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + + VI. THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + + VII. CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + + VIII. HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + + IX. ELSIE PRESTON + + X. MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + + XI. HEROES AND A MYSTERY + + XII. A LITTLE POLITICS + + XIII. CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + + XIV. THE VOYAGE OF AN "ABLE SEAMAN" + + XV. IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + + XVI. A BUSINESS CALL + + XVII. THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + + XVIII. THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + + XIX. A "NO'THEASTER" BLOWS + + XX. ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + + XXI. "DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS" + + + + +CAP'N ERI + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + + +"Perez," observed Captain Eri cheerfully, "I'm tryin' to average up with +the mistakes of Providence." + +The Captain was seated by the open door of the dining room, in the +rocker with the patched cane seat. He was apparently very busy doing +something with a piece of fishline and a pair of long-legged rubber +boots. Captain Perez, swinging back and forth in the parlor rocker with +the patch-work cushion, was puffing deliberately at a wooden pipe, the +bowl of which was carved into the likeness of a very rakish damsel with +a sailor's cap set upon the side of her once flaxen head. In response +to his companion's remark he lazily turned his sunburned face toward the +cane-seated rocker and inquired: + +"What on airth are you doin' with them boots?" + +Captain Eri tied a knot with his fingers and teeth and then held the +boots out at arm's length. + +"Why, Perez," he said, "I'm averagin' up, same as I told you. Providence +made me a two-legged critter, and a two-legged critter needs two boots. +I've always been able to find one of these boots right off whenever I +wanted it, but it's took me so plaguey long to find the other one that +whatever wet there was dried up afore I got out of the house. Yesterday +when I wanted to go clammin' I found the left one on the mantelpiece, no +trouble at all, but it was pretty nigh high water before I dug the other +one out of the washb'iler. That's why I'm splicin' 'em together this +way. I don't want to promise nothin' rash, but I'm in hopes that even +Jerry can't lose 'em now." + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Perez. "I don't think much of that plan. 'Stead +of losin' one you'll lose both of 'em." + +"Yes, but then I shan't care. If there ain't NO boots in sight; I'll +go barefoot or stay at home. It's the kind of responsibleness that goes +with havin' one boot that's wearin' me out. Where IS Jerry?" + +"He went out to feed Lorenzo. I heard him callin' a minute ago. That cat +ain't been home sence noon, and Jerry's worried." + +A stentorian shout of "Puss! puss! Come, kitty, kitty, kitty!" came from +somewhere outside. Captain Eri smiled. + +"I'm 'fraid Lorenzo's gittin' dissipated in his old age," he observed. +Then, as a fat gray cat shot past the door, "There he is! Reg'lar +prodigal son. Comes home when the fatted ca'f's ready." + +A moment later Captain Jerry appeared, milk pitcher in hand. He entered +the dining room and, putting the pitcher down on the table, pulled +forward the armchair with the painted sunset on the back, produced his +own pipe, and proceeded to hunt through one pocket after the other with +a troubled expression of countenance. + +"Where in tunket is my terbacker?" he asked, after finishing the round +of pockets and preparing to begin all over again. + +"I see it on the top of the clock a spell ago," said Captain Perez. + +"Was that yours, Jerry?" exclaimed Captain Eri. "Well, that's too bad! I +see it there and thought 'twas mine. Here 'tis, or what's left of it." + +Captain Jerry took the remnant of a plug from his friend and said in an +aggrieved tone: + +"That's jest like you, Eri! Never have a place for nothin' and help +yourself to anything you happen to want, don't make no odds whose 'tis. +Why don't you take care of your terbacker, same's I do of mine?" + +"Now see here, Jerry! I ain't so sure that is yours. Let me see it. +Humph! I thought so! This is 'Navy Plug' and you always smoke 'Sailor's +Sweetheart.' Talk about havin' a place for things!" + +"That's MY terbacker, if you want to know," observed Captain Perez. +"I've got yours, Eri. Here 'tis." + +"Well, then, where IS mine?" said Captain Jerry somewhat snappishly. + +"Bet a dollar you've got it in your pocket," said Captain Eri. + +"Bet ten dollars I ain't! I ain't quite a fool yit, Eri Hedge. I guess +I know--well, I snum! I forgot that upper vest pocket!" and from the +pocket mentioned Captain Jerry produced the missing tobacco. + +There was a general laugh, in which Captain Jerry was obliged to join, +and the trio smoked in silence for a time, while the expanse of water +to the eastward darkened, and the outer beach became but a dusky streak +separating the ocean from the inner bay. At length Captain Perez rose +and, knocking the ashes from his pipe, announced that he was going to +"show a glim." + +"Yes, go ahead, Jerry!" said Captain Eri, "it's gittin' dark." + +"It's darker in the grave," observed Captain Perez with lugubrious +philosophy. + +"Then for the land's sake let's have it light while we can! Here, Jerry! +them matches is burnt ones. Try this, 'twon't be so damagin' to the +morals." + +Captain Jerry took the proffered match and lit the two bracket lamps, +fastened to the walls of the dining room. The room, seen by the +lamplight, was shiplike, but as decidedly not shipshape. The chronometer +on the mantel was obscured by a thick layer of dust. The three gorgeous +oil paintings--from the brush of the local sign painter--respectively +representing the coasting packet Hannah M., Eri Hedge, Master, and the +fishing schooners, Georgie Baker, Jeremiah Burgess, Master, and the +Flying Duck, Perez Ryder, Master, were shrouded in a very realistic fog +of the same dust. Even the imposing gilt-lettered set of "Lives of Great +Naval Commanders," purchased by Captain Perez some months before, and +being slowly paid for on an apparently never-ending installment plan, +was cloaked with it. The heap of newspapers, shoved under the couch to +get them out of the way, peeped forth in a tell-tale manner. The windows +were not too clean and the floor needed sweeping. Incidentally the +supper table had not been cleared. Each one of the three noted these +things and each sighed. Then Captain Eri said, as if to change the +subject, though no one had spoken: + +"What started you talkin' about the grave, Perez? Was it them clam +fritters of Jerry's?" + +"No," answered the ex-skipper of the Flying Duck, pulling at his +grizzled scrap of throat whisker and looking rather shamefaced. "You +see, M'lissy Busteed dropped in a few minutes this mornin' while you +fellers was out and--" + +Both Captain Eri and Captain Jerry set up a hilarious shout. + +"Haw! haw!" roared the former, slapping his knee. "I wouldn't be so +fascinatin' as you be for no money, Perez. She'll have you yit; you +can't git away! But say, I don't wonder you got to thinkin' 'bout the +grave. Ten minutes of M'lissy gits me thinkin' of things way t'other +side of that!" + +"Aw, belay there, Eri" protested Captain Perez testily. "'Twan't my +fault. I didn't see her comin' or I'd have got out of sight. She was +cruisin' 'round the way she always does with a cargo of gabble, and, she +put in here to unload. Talk! I never heard a woman talk the way she can! +She'd be a good one to have on board in a calm. Git her talkin' abaft +the mains'l and we'd have a twenty-knot breeze in a shake." + +"What was it this time?" asked Captain Jerry. + +"Oh, a little of everything. She begun about the 'beautiful' sermon that +Mr. Perley preached at the last 'Come-Outers'' meetin'. That was what +started me thinkin' about the grave, I guess. Then she pitched into +Seth Wingate's wife for havin' a new bunnit this season when the old one +wan't ha'f wore out. She talked for ten minutes or so on that, and then +she begun about Parker's bein' let go over at the cable station and +about the new feller that's been signed to take his place. She's all for +Parker. Says he was a 'perfectly lovely' man and that 'twas outrageous +the way he was treated, and all that sort of thing." + +"She ain't the only one that thinks so," observed Captain Jerry. +"There's a heap of folks in this town that think Parker was a mighty +fine feller." + +"Yes," said Captain Eri, "and it's worth while noticin' who they be. +Perez' friend, M'lissy, thinks so, and 'Squealer' Wixon and his gang +think so, and 'Web' Saunders thinks so, and a lot more like them. Parker +was TOO good a feller, that's what was the matter with him. His talk +always reminded me of washday at the poorhouse, lots of soft soap with +plenty of lye in it." + +"Well, M'lissy says that the men over to the station--all except +Langley, of course--are mad as all git-out because Parker was let +go, and she says somebody told somebody else, and somebody else told +somebody else, and somebody else told HER--she says it come reel +straight--that the men are goin' to make it hot for the new feller when +he comes. She says his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' like that, and +that he's goin' to get here to-morrer or next day." + +"Well," said Captain Eri, "it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If that +man should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill her sure +as fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, Perez." + +He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the dial. + +"I mustn't be settin' round here much longer," he added. "John Baxter's +goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his picked +to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to-night's train. +John asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down for him, but I ain't +got nothin' special to do to-night, so I thought I'd hitch up and go +and git 'em myself. You and Jerry can match cents to see who does the +dishes. I did 'em last night, so it's my watch below." + +"Well, _I_ shan't do 'em," declared Captain Perez. "Blessed if I'd do +the durn things to-night if the President of the United States asked me +to." + +"Humph!" sputtered Captain Jerry. "I s'pose you fellers think I'll do +'em all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. 'Twan't last +night you done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I done 'em last night, +and I'm ready to take my chances agin if we match, but I'm jiggered if +I let you shove the whole thing off onto me. I didn't ship for cook no +more 'n the rest of you." + +Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of independence +and there was a pause in the conversation. Then Captain Jerry said +moodily: + +"It ain't no use. It don't work." + +"What don't work?" asked Captain Eri. + +"Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' to +sea reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and live +economical and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I thought I +wouldn't mind doin' my share of the work a bit, thought 'twould be kind +of fun to swab decks and all that. Well, 'twas for a spell, but 'tain't +now. I'm so sick of it that I don't know what to do. And I'm sick of +livin' in a pigpen, too. Look at them dead-lights! They're so dirty that +when I turn out in the mornin' and go to look through 'em, I can't tell +whether it's foul weather or fair." + +Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed and +signed assent. + +"There's no use talkin'," he observed, "we've got to have a steward +aboard this craft." + +"Yes," said Captain Perez emphatically, "a steward or a woman." + +"A WOMAN!" exclaimed Captain Eri. Then he shook his head solemnly and +added, "There, Jerry! What did I tell you? M'lissy!" + +But Captain Perez did not smile. + +"I ain't foolin'," he said; "I mean it." + +Captain Jerry thought of the spick-and-span days of his wife, dead these +twenty years, and sighed again. "I s'pose we might have a housekeeper," +he said. + +"Housekeeper!" sneered Captain Eri. "Who'd you hire? Perez don't, +seemin'ly, take to M'lissy, and there ain't nobody else in Orham that +you could git, 'less 'twas old A'nt Zuby Higgins, and that would be +actin' like the feller that jumped overboard when his boat sprung a +leak. No, sir! If A'nt Zuby ships aboard here I heave up MY commission." + +"Who said anything about A'nt Zuby or housekeepers either?" inquired +Captain Perez. "I said we'd got to have a woman, and we have. One of us +'ll have to git married, that's all." + +"MARRIED!" roared the two in chorus. + +"That's what I said, married, and take the others to board in this +house. Look here now! When a shipwrecked crew's starvin' one of 'em has +to be sacrificed for the good of the rest, and that's what we've got to +do. One of us has got to git married for the benefit of the other two." + +Captain Eri shouted hilariously. "Good boy, Perez!" he cried. "Goin' to +be the first offerin'?" + +"Not unless it's my luck, Eri. We'll all three match for it, same as we +do 'bout washin' the dishes." + +"Where are you goin' to find a wife?" asked Captain Jerry. + +"Now that's jest what I'm goin' to show you. I see how things was goin', +and I've been thinkin' this over for a consid'rable spell. Hold on a +minute till I overhaul my kit." + +He went into the front bedroom, and through the open door they could see +him turning over the contents of the chest with P. R. in brass nails +on the lid. He scattered about him fish-lines, hooks, lead for sinkers, +oilcloth jackets, whales' teeth, and various other articles, and at +length came back bearing a much-crumpled sheet of printed paper. This he +spread out upon the dining table, first pushing aside the dishes to make +room, and, after adjusting his spectacles, said triumphantly: + +"There! There she is! The Nup-ti-al Chime. A Journal of Matrimony. I +see a piece about it in the Herald the other day, and sent a dime for +a sample copy. It's chock-full of advertisements from women that wants +husbands." + +Captain Eri put on his spectacles and hitched his chair up to the table. +After giving the pages of the Nuptial Chime a hurried inspection, he +remarked: + +"There seems to be a strong runnin' to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and +'blondes with tender and romantic dispositions.' Which of them kinds are +you sufferin' for, Perez? Oh, say! here's a lady that's willin' to +heave herself away on a young and handsome bachelor with a income of ten +thousand a year. Seems to me you ought to answer that." + +"Oh, hush up, Eri! 'Tain't likely I'd want to write to any of them in +there. The thing for us to do would be to write out a advertisement of +our own; tell what sort of woman we want, and then set back and wait for +answers. Now, what do you say?" + +Captain Eri looked at the advocate of matrimony for a moment without +speaking. Then he said: "Do you really mean it, Perez?" + +"Sartin I do." + +"What do you think of it, Jerry?" + +"Think it's a good idee," said that ancient mariner decisively. "We've +got to do somethin', and this looks like the only sensible thing." + +"Then Eri's GOT to do it!" asserted Captain Perez dogmatically. "We +agreed to stick together, and two to one's a vote. Come on now, Eri, +we'll match." + +Captain Eri hesitated. + +"Come on, Eri!" ordered Captain Jerry. "Ain't goin' to mutiny, are you?" + +"All right!" said Captain Eri, "I'll stick to the ship. Only," he added, +with a quizzical glance at his companions, "it's got to be settled +that the feller that's stuck can pick his wife, and don't have to marry +unless he finds one that suits him." + +The others agreed to this stipulation, and Captain Perez, drawing a long +breath, took a coin from his pocket, flipped it in the air and covered +it, as it fell on the table, with a big hairy hand. Captain Eri did +likewise; so did Captain Jerry. Then Captain Eri lifted his hand and +showed the coin beneath; it was a head. Captain Jerry's was a tail. +Under Captain Perez' hand lurked the hidden fate. The Captain's lips +closed in a grim line. With a desperate glance at the others he jerked +his hand away. + +The penny lay head uppermost. Captain Jerry was "stuck." + +Captain Eri rose, glanced at his watch, and, taking his hat from the +shelf where the dishes should have been, opened the door. Before he went +out, however, he turned and said: + +"Perez, you and Jerry can be fixin' up the advertisement while I'm gone. +You can let me see it when I come back. I say, Jerry," he added to the +"sacrifice," who sat gazing at the pennies on the table in a sort of +trance, "don't feel bad about it. Why, when you come to think of it, +it's a providence it turned out that way. Me and Perez are bachelors, +and we'd be jest green hands. But you're a able seaman, you know what it +is to manage a wife." + +"Yes, I do," groaned Captain Jerry lugubriously. "Durn it, that's jest +it!" + +Captain Eri was chuckling as, lantern in hand, he passed around the +corner of the little white house on the way to the barn. He chuckled +all through the harnessing of Daniel, the venerable white horse. He was +still chuckling as, perched on the seat of the "truck wagon," he rattled +and shook out of the yard and turned into the sandy road that led up to +the village. And an outsider, hearing these chuckles, and knowing what +had gone before, might have inferred that perhaps Captain Eri did not +view the "matching" and the matrimonial project with quite the deadly +seriousness of the other two occupants of the house by the shore. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRAIN COMES IN + + +There is in Orham a self-appointed committee whose duty it is to see the +train come in. The committeemen receive no salary for their services; +the sole compensation is the pleasure derived from the sense of duty +done. Rain, snow, or shine, the committee is on hand at the station--the +natives, of course, call it the "deepo"--to consume borrowed tobacco +and to favor Providence with its advice concerning the running of the +universe. Also it discusses local affairs with fluency and more or less +point. + +Mr. "Squealer" Wixon, a lifelong member of this committee, was the first +to sight Captain Eri as the latter strolled across the tracks into the +circle of light from the station lamps. The Captain had moored Daniel to +a picket in the fence over by the freight-house. He had heard the clock +in the belfry of the Methodist church strike eight as he drove by that +edifice, but he heard no whistle from the direction of the West Orham +woods, so he knew that the down train would arrive at its usual time, +that is, from fifteen to twenty minutes behind the schedule. + +"Hey!" shouted Mr. Wixon with enthusiasm. "Here's Cap'n Eri! Well, Cap, +how's she headin'?" + +"'Bout no'theast by no'th," was the calm reply. "Runnin' fair, but with +lookout for wind ahead." + +"Hain't got a spare chaw nowheres about you, have you, Cap'n?" anxiously +inquired "Bluey" Batcheldor. Mr. Batcheldor is called "Bluey" for the +same reason that Mr. Wixon is called "Squealer," and that reason has +been forgotten for years. + +Captain Eri obligingly produced a black plug of smoking tobacco, and Mr. +Batcheldor bit off two-thirds and returned the balance. After adjusting +the morsel so that it might interfere in the least degree with his vocal +machinery, he drawled: + +"I cal'late you ain't heard the news, Eri. Web Saunders has got his +original-package license. It come on the noon mail." + +The Captain turned sharply toward the speaker. "Is that a fact?" he +asked. "Who told you?" + +"See it myself. So did Squealer and a whole lot more. Web was showin' it +round." + +"We was wonderin'," said Jabez Smalley, a member of the committee whose +standing was somewhat impaired, inasmuch as he went fishing occasionally +and was, therefore, obliged to miss some of the meetings, "what kind of +a fit John Baxter would have now. He's been pretty nigh distracted ever +sence Web started his billiard room, callin' it a 'ha'nt of sin' and a +whole lot more names. There ain't been a 'Come-Outers' meetin' 'sence +I don't know when that he ain't pitched into that saloon. Now, when he +hears that Web's goin' to sell rum, he'll bust a biler sure." + +The committee received this prophecy with an hilarious shout of approval +and each member began to talk. Captain Eri took advantage of this +simultaneous expression of opinion to walk away. He looked in at the +window of the ticket-office, exchanged greetings with Sam Hardy, the +stationmaster, and then leaned against the corner of the building +furthest removed from Mr. Wixon and his friends, lit his pipe and puffed +thoughtfully with a troubled expression on his face. + +From the clump of blackness that indicated the beginning of the West +Orham woods came a long-drawn dismal "toot"; then two shorter ones. The +committee sprang to its feet and looked interested. Sam Hardy came out +of the ticket office. The stage-driver, a sharp-looking boy of about +fourteen, with a disagreeable air of cheap smartness sticking out all +over him, left his seat in the shadow of Mr. Batcheldor's manly form, +tossed a cigarette stump away and loafed over to the vicinity of the +"depot wagon," which was backed up against the platform. Captain Eri +knocked the ashes from his pipe and put that service-stained veteran in +his pocket. The train was really "coming in" at last. + +If this had been an August evening instead of a September one, both +train and platform would have been crowded. But the butterfly summer +maiden had flitted and, as is his wont, the summer man had flitted after +her, so the passengers who alighted from the two coaches that, with +the freight car, made up the Orham Branch train, were few in number and +homely in flavor. There was a very stout lady with a canvas extension +case and an umbrella in one hand and a bulging shawl-strap and a +pasteboard box in the other, who panted and wheezed like the locomotive +itself and who asked the brakeman, "What on airth DO they have such high +steps for?" There was a slim, not to say gawky, individual with a chin +beard and rubber boots, whom the committee hailed as "Andy" and welcomed +to its bosom. There were two young men, drummers, evidently, who nodded +to Hardy, and seemed very much at home. Also, there was another young +man, smooth-shaven and square-shouldered, who deposited a suit-case on +the platform and looked about him with the air of being very far from +home, indeed. + +The drummers and the stout lady got into the stage. The young man with +the suit-case picked up the latter and walked toward the same vehicle. +He accosted the sharp boy, who had lighted another cigarette. + +"Can you direct me to the cable station?" he asked. + +"Sure thing!" said the youth, and there was no Cape Cod twist to his +accent. "Git aboard." + +"I didn't intend to ride," said the stranger. + +"What was you goin' to do? Walk?" + +"Yes, if it's not far." + +The boy grinned, and the members of the committee, who had been staring +with all their might, grinned also. The young man's mention of the cable +station seemed to have caused considerable excitement. + +"Oh, it ain't too FAR!" said the stage-driver. Then he added: "Say, +you're the new electrician, ain't you?" + +The young man hesitated for a moment. Then he said, "Yes," and +suggested, "I asked the way." + +"Two blocks to the right; that's the main road, keep on that for four +blocks, then turn to the left, and if you keep on straight ahead you'll +get to the station." + +"Blocks?" The stranger smiled. "I think you must be from New York." + +"Do you?" inquired the youthful prodigy, climbing to the wagon seat. +"Don't forget to keep straight ahead after you turn off the main road. +Git dap! So long, fellers!" He leaned over the wheel, as the stage +turned, and bestowed a wink upon the delighted "Squealer," who was +holding one freckled paw over his mouth; then the "depot wagon" creaked +away. + +The square-shouldered young man looked after the equipage with an odd +expression of countenance. Then he shrugged his shoulders, picked up the +suitcase, and walked off the platform into the darkness. + +Mr. Wixon removed the hand from his mouth and displayed a mammoth +grin, that grew into a shriek of laughter in which every member of the +committee joined. + +"Haw! haw!" bellowed "Bluey," "so that's the feller that done Parker out +of his job! Well, he may be mighty smart, but if that Joe Bartlett ain't +smarter then I'm a skate, that's all! Smartest boy ever I see! 'If you +keep on straight ahead you'll git to the station!' Gosh! he'll have to +wear rubbers!" + +"Maybe he's web-footed," suggested Smalley, and they laughed again. + +A little later Captain Eri, with a dozen new, clean-smelling cranberry +barrels in the wagon behind him, drove slowly down the "depot road." It +was a clear night, but there was no moon, and Orham was almost at its +darkest, which is very dark, indeed. The "depot road"--please bear in +mind that there are no streets in Orham--was full of ruts, and although +Daniel knew his way and did his best to follow it, the cranberry barrels +rattled and shook in lively fashion. There are few homes near the +station, and the dwellers in them conscientiously refrain from showing +lights except in the ends of the buildings furthest from the front. +Strangers are inclined to wonder at this, but when they become better +acquainted with the town and its people, they come to know that front +gates and parlors are, by the majority of the inhabitants, restricted in +their use to occasions such as a funeral, or, possibly, a wedding. For +the average Orham family to sit in the parlor on a week evening would be +an act bordering pretty closely on sacrilege. + +It is from the hill by the Methodist church that the visitor to Orham +gets his best view of the village. It is all about him, and for the most +part below him. At night the lights in the houses show only here and +there through the trees, but those on the beaches and at sea shine +out plainly. The brilliant yellow gleam a mile away is from the Orham +lighthouse on the bluff. The smaller white dot marks the light on +Baker's Beach. The tiny red speck in the distance, that goes and comes +again, is the flash-light at Setuckit Point, and the twinkle on the +horizon to the south is the beacon of the lightship on Sand Hill Shoal. + +It is on his arrival at this point, too, that the stranger first notices +the sound of the surf. Being a newcomer, he notices this at once; after +he has been in the village a few weeks, he ceases to notice it at all. +It is like the ticking of a clock, so incessant and regular, that one +has to listen intently for a moment or two before his accustomed ear +will single it out and make it definite. One low, steady, continuous +roar, a little deeper in tone when the wind is easterly, the voice of +the old dog Ocean gnawing with foaming mouth at the bone of the Cape and +growling as he gnaws. + +It may be that the young man with the square shoulders and the suit-case +had paused at the turn of the road by the church to listen to this +song of the sea; at any rate he was there, and when Captain Eri steered +Daniel and the cranberry barrels around the corner and into the "main +road," he stepped out and hailed. + +"I beg your pardon," he said; "I'm afraid I'm mixed in my directions. +The stage-driver told me the way to the cable station, but I've +forgotten whether he said to turn to the right when I reached here, or +to the left." + +Captain Eri took his lantern from the floor of the wagon and held it up. +He had seen the stranger when the latter left the train, but he had not +heard the dialogue with Josiah Bartlett. + +"How was you cal'latin' to go to the station?" he asked. + +"Why, I intended to walk." + +"Did you tell them fellers at the depot that you wanted to walk?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well, I swan! And they give you the direction?" + +"Yes," a little impatiently; "why shouldn't they? So many blocks till I +got to the main street, or road, and so many more, till I got somewhere +else, and then straight on." + +"Blocks, hey? That's Joe Bartlett. That boy ought to be mastheaded, and +I've told Perez so more'n once. Well, Mister, I guess maybe you'd better +not try to walk to the cable station to-night. You see, there's one +thing they forgot to tell you. The station's on the outer beach, and +there's a ha'f mile of pretty wet water between here and there." + +The young man whistled. "You don't mean it!" he exclaimed. + +"I sartin do, unless there's been an almighty drought since I left the +house. I tell you what! If you'll jump in here with me, and don't mind +waitin' till I leave these barrels at the house of the man that owns +'em, I'll drive you down to the shore and maybe find somebody to row you +over. That is," with a chuckle, "if you ain't dead set on walkin'." + +The stranger laughed heartily. "I'm not so stubborn as all that," he +said. "It's mighty good of you, all the same." + +"Don't say a word," said the Captain. "Give us your satchel. Now your +flipper! There you are! Git dap, Dan'l!" + +Daniel accepted the Captain's command in a tolerant spirit. He paddled +along at a jog-trot for perhaps a hundred yards, and then, evidently +feeling that he had done all that could be expected, settled back into a +walk. The Captain turned towards his companion on the seat: + +"I don't know as I mentioned it," he observed, "but my name is Hedge." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Hedge," said the stranger. "My name is +Hazeltine." + +"I kind of jedged it might be when you said you wanted to git to the +cable station. We heard you was expected." + +"Did you? From Mr. Langley, I presume." + +"No-o, not d'rectly. Of course, we knew Parker had been let go, and that +somebody would have to take his place. I guess likely it was one of the +operators that told it fust that you was the man, but anyhow it got as +fur as M'lissy Busteed, and after that 'twas plain sailin'. You come +from New York, don't you?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, you know how 'tis when a thing gits into the papers. Orham ain't +big enough to have a paper of its own, so the Almighty give us M'lissy, +I jedge, as a sort of substitute. She can spread a little news over more +country than anybody I know. If she spreads butter the same way, she +could make money keepin' boarders. Is this your fust visit to the Cape?" + +"Yes. I hardly know why I'm here now. I have been with the Cable Company +at their New York experimental station for some years, and the other day +the General Manager called me into his office and told me I was expected +to take the position of electrician here. I thought it might add to my +experience, so I accepted." + +"Humph! Did he say anything about the general liveliness of things +around the station?" + +Mr. Hazeltine laughed. "Why," he answered, "now that you speak of it, +I remember that he began by asking me if I had any marked objection to +premature burial." + +The Captain chuckled. "The outer beach in winter ain't exactly a +camp-meeting for sociableness," he said. "And the idea of that Bartlett +boy tellin' you how to walk there!" + +"Is he a specimen of your Cape Cod youngsters?" + +"Not exactly. He's a new shipment from New York. Grand-nephew of a +messmate of mine, Cap'n Perez Ryder. Perez, he's a bachelor, but his +sister's daughter married a feller named Bartlett. Maybe you knew him; +he used to run a tugboat in the Sound." + +Mr. Hazeltine, much amused, denied the acquaintance. + +"Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally," continued the Captain. +"Anyhow, Perez's niece's husband died, and the boy sort of run loose, +as yer might say. Went to school when he had to, and raised Ned when +he didn't, near's I can find out. 'Lizabeth, that's his ma, died last +spring, and she made Perez promise--he being the only relation the +youngster had--to fetch the boy down here and sort of bring him up. +Perez knows as much about bringing up a boy as a hen does about the Ten +Commandments, and 'Lizabeth made him promise not to lick the youngster +and a whole lot more foolishness. School don't commence here till +October, so we got him a job with Lem Mullett at the liv'ry stable. He's +boardin' with Lem till school opens. He ain't a reel bad boy, but he +knows too much 'bout some things and not ha'f enough 'bout others. +You've seen fellers like that, maybe?" + +Hazeltine nodded. "There are a good many of that kind in New York, I'm +afraid," he said. + +Captain Eri smiled. "I shouldn't wonder," he observed. "The boys down +here think Josiah's the whole crew, and the girls ain't fur behind. +There's been more deviltry in this village sence he landed than there +ever was afore. He needs somethin', and needs it bad, but I ain't +decided jest what it is yit. Are you a married man?" + +"No." + +"Same here. Never had the disease. Perez, he's had symptoms every once +in a while, but nothin' lastin'. Jerry's the only one of us three that's +been through the mill. His wife died twenty year ago. I don't know as +I told you, but Jerry and Perez and me are keepin' house down by the +shore. That is, we call it keepin' house, but--" + +Here the Captain broke off and seemed to meditate. + +Ralph Hazeltine forbore to interrupt, and occupied himself by +scrutinizing the buildings that they were passing. They were nearing the +center of the town now, and the houses were closer together than they +had been on the "depot road," but never so close as to be in the least +crowded. Each house had its ample front yard, and the new arrival +could smell the box hedges and see, now and then, the whiteness of the +kalsomined stones that bordered a driveway. It was too dark for the big +seashells at the front steps to be visible, but they were there, all the +same; every third house of respectability in Orham has them. There was +an occasional shop, too, with signs like "Cape Cod Variety Store," or +"The Boston Dry Goods Emporium," over their doors. On the platform of +one a small crowd was gathered, and from the interior came shouts of +laughter and the sound of a tin-panny piano. + +"That's the billiard saloon," volunteered Captain Eri, suddenly waking +from his trance. "Play pool, Mr. Hazeltine?" + +"Sometimes." + +"What d'ye play it with?" + +"Why, with a cue, generally speaking." + +"That so! Most of the fellers in there play it with their mouths. Miss a +shot and then spend the rest of the evenin' tellin' how it happened." + +"I don't think I should care to play it that way," said Ralph, laughing. + +"Well, it has its good p'ints. Kind of all-round exercise; develops the +lungs and strengthens the muscles, as the patent-medicine almanac says. +Parker played it considerable." + +"I judge that your opinion of my predecessor isn't a high one." + +"Who? Oh, Parker! He was all right in his way. Good many folks in this +town swore by him. I understand the fellers over at the station thought +he was about the ticket." + +"Mr. Langley included?" + +"Oh, Mr. Langley, bein' manager, had his own ideas, I s'pose! Langley +don't play pool much; not at Web Saunders' place, anyhow. We turn in +here." + +They rolled up a long driveway, very dark and overgrown with trees, and +drew up at the back door of a good-sized two-story house. There was a +light in the kitchen window. + +"Whoa, Dan'l!" commanded the Captain. Then he began to shout, "Ship +ahoy!" at the top of his lungs. + +The kitchen door opened and a man came out, carrying a lamp, its light +shining full upon his face. It was an old face, a stern face, with white +eyebrows and a thin-lipped mouth. Just such a face as looked on with +approval when the executioner held up the head of Charles I., at +Whitehall. There was, however, a tremble about the chin that told of +infirm health. + +"Hello, John!" said Captain Eri heartily. "John, let me make you +acquainted with Mr. Hazeltine, the new man at the cable station. Mr. +Hazeltine, this is my friend, Cap'n John Baxter." + +The two shook hands, and then Captain Eri said: + +"John, I brought down them barrels for you. Hawkins got 'em here, same +as he always does, by the skin of his teeth. Stand by now, 'cause I've +got to deliver Mr. Hazeltine at the station, and it's gittin' late." + +John Baxter said nothing, beyond thanking his friend for the good turn, +but he "stood by," as directed, and the barrels were quickly unloaded. +As they were about to drive out of the yard, Captain Eri turned in his +seat and said: + +"John, guess I'll be up some time to-morrow. I want to talk with you +about that billiard-room business." + +The lamp in Baxter's hand shook. + +"God A'mighty's got his eye on that place, Eri Hedge," he shouted, "and +on them that's runnin' it!" + +"That's all right," said the Captain. "Then the job's in good hands, and +we ain't got to worry. Good-night." + +But, in spite of this assurance, Hazeltine noticed that his driver was +silent and preoccupied until they reached the end of the road by the +shore, when he brought the willing Daniel to a stand still and announced +that it was time to "change cars." + +It is a fifteen-minute row from the mainland to the outer beach, and +Captain Eri made it on schedule time. Hazeltine protested that he was +used to a boat, and could go alone and return the dory in the morning, +but the Captain wouldn't hear of it. The dory slid up on the sand and +the passenger climbed out. The sound of the surf on the ocean side of +the beach was no longer a steady roar, it was broken into splashing +plunges and hisses with, running through it, a series of blows like +those of a muffled hammer. The wind was wet and smelt salty. + +"There's the station," said the Captain, pointing to a row of lighted +windows a quarter of a mile away. "It IS straight ahead this time, and +the walkin's better'n it has been for the last few minutes. Good-night!" + +The electrician put his hand in his pocket, hesitated, and then withdrew +it, empty. + +"I'm very much obliged to you for all this," he said. "I'm glad to have +made your acquaintance, and I hope we shall see each other often." + +"Same here!" said the Captain heartily. "We're likely to git together +once in a while, seein' as we're next-door neighbors, right across the +road, as you might say. That's my berth over yonder, where you see them +lights. It's jest 'round the corner from the road we drove down last. +Good-night! Good luck to you!" + +And he settled himself for the row home. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE "COME-OUTERS'" MEETING + + +The house where the three Captains lived was as near salt water as it +could be and remain out of reach of the highest tides. When Captain Eri, +after beaching and anchoring his dory and stabling Daniel for the night, +entered the dining room he found his two messmates deep in consultation, +and with evidences of strenuous mental struggle written upon their +faces. Captain Perez's right hand was smeared with ink and there were +several spatters of the same fluid on Captain Jerry's perspiring nose. +Crumpled sheets of note paper were on the table and floor, and Lorenzo, +who was purring restfully upon the discarded jackets of the two +mariners, alone seemed to be enjoying himself. + +"Well, you fellers look as if you'd had a rough v'yage," commented +Captain Eri, slipping out of his own jacket and pulling his chair up +beside those of his friends. "What's the trouble?" + +"Gosh, Eri, I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed Captain Perez, drawing the +hand, just referred to, across his forehead and thereby putting +that portion of his countenance into mourning. "How do you spell +conscientious?" + +"I don't, unless it's owner's orders," was the answer. "What do you want +to spell it for?" + +"We've writ much as four hundred advertisements, I do believe!" said +Captain Jerry, "and there ain't one of them fit to feed to a pig. Perez +here, he's got such hifalutin' notions, that nothin' less than a circus +bill 'll do him. _I_ don't see why somethin' plain and sensible like +'Woman wanted to do dishes and clean house for three men,' wouldn't be +all right; but no, it's got to have more fancy trimmin's than a Sunday +bunnit. Foolishness, I call it." + +"You'd have a whole lot of women answerin' that advertisement, now +wouldn't you?" snorted Captain Perez hotly. "'To do dishes for three +men!' That's a healthy bait to catch a wife with, ain't it? I can see +'em comin'. I cal'late you'd stay single till Jedgment, and then you +wouldn't git one. No, sir! The thing to do is to be sort of soft-soapy +and high-toned. Let 'em think they're goin' to git a bargain when +they git you. Make believe it's goin' to be a privilege to git sech a +husband." + +"Well, 'tis," declared the sacrifice indignantly. "They might git a +dum-sight worse one." + +"I cal'late that's so, Jerry," said Captain Eri. "Still, Perez ain't +altogether wrong. Guess you'd better keep the dishwashin' out of it. +I know dishwashin' would never git ME; I've got so I hate the sight of +soap and hot water as bad as if I was a Portugee. Pass me that pen." + +Captain Perez gladly relinquished the writing materials, and Captain +Eri, after two or three trials, by which he added to the paper +decorations of the floor, produced the following: + +"Wife Wanted--By an ex-seafaring man of steady habbits. Must be willing +to Work and Keep House shipshape and aboveboard. No sea-lawyers need +apply. Address--Skipper, care the Nuptial Chime, Boston, Mass." + +The line relating to sea-lawyers was insisted upon by Captain Jerry. +"That'll shut out the tonguey kind," he explained. The advertisement, +with this addition, being duly approved, the required fifty cents was +inclosed, as was a letter to the editor of the matrimonial journal +requesting all answers to be forwarded to Captain Jeremiah Burgess, +Orham, Mass. Then the envelope was directed and the stamp affixed. + +"There," said Captain Eri, "that's done. All you've got to do now, +Jerry, is to pick out your wife and let us know what you want for a +weddin' present. You're a lucky man." + +"Aw, let's talk about somethin' else," said the lucky one rather +gloomily. "What's the news up at the depot, Eri?" + +They received the tidings of the coming of Hazeltine with the interest +due to such an event. Captain Eri gave them a detailed account of his +meeting with the new electrician, omitting, however, in consideration +for the feelings of Captain Perez, to mention the fact that it was +the Bartlett boy who started that gentleman upon his walk to the cable +station. + +"Well, what did you think of him?" asked Captain Perez, when the recital +was finished. + +"Seemed to me like a pretty good feller," answered Captain Eri +deliberately. "He didn't git mad at the joke the gang played on him, for +one thing. He ain't so smooth-tongued as Parker used to be and he didn't +treat Baxter and me as if Cape Codders was a kind of animals, the way +some of the summer folks do. He had the sense not to offer to pay me for +takin' him over to the station, and I liked that. Take it altogether, +he seemed like a pretty decent chap--for a New Yorker," he added, as an +after thought. + +"But say," he said a moment later, "I've got some more news and it ain't +good news, either. Web Saunders has got his liquor license." + +"I want to know!" exclaimed Captain Perez. + +"You don't tell me!" said Captain Jerry. + +Then they both said, "What will John Baxter do now?" And Captain Eri +shook his head dubiously. + +The cod bit well next morning and Captain Eri did not get in from the +Windward Ledge until afternoon. By the way, it may be well to explain +that Captain Jerry's remarks concerning "settlin' down" and "restin'," +which we chronicled in the first chapter must not be accepted too +literally. While it is true that each of the trio had given up long +voyages, it is equally true that none had given up work entirely. Some +people might not consider it restful to rise at four every weekday +morning and sail in a catboat twelve miles out to sea and haul a wet +cod line for hours, not to mention the sail home and the cleaning and +barreling of the catch. Captain Eri did that. Captain Perez was what +he called "stevedore"--that is, general caretaker during the owner's +absence, at Mr. Delancy Barry's summer estate on the "cliff road." As +for Captain Jerry, he was janitor at the schoolhouse. + +The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the time +the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway +station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had intended calling +on Baxter early in the day, but now he determined to wait until after +supper. + +The Captain had bad luck in the "matching" that followed the meal, and +it was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. This +distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter homestead. + +The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those of +many Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, but his +scruples were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett, +whose proudest boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor +prescribed it as the stimulant needed to save her life. Over and over +again has Miss Abigail told it in prayer-meeting; how she "riz up" in +her bed, "expectin' every breath to be the last" and said, "Dr. Palmer, +if it's got to be liquor or death, then death referred to!"--meaning, +it is fair to presume, that death was preferred rather than the brandy. +With much more concerning her miraculous recovery through the aid of a +"terbacker and onion poultice." + +On general principles the Captain objected to the granting of a license +to a fellow like "Web" Saunders, but it was the effect that this action +of the State authorities might have upon his friend John Baxter that +troubled him most. + +For forty-five years John Baxter was called by Cape Cod people "as smart +a skipper as ever trod a plank." He saved money, built an attractive +home for his wife and daughter, and would, in the ordinary course of +events, have retired to enjoy a comfortable old age. But his wife died +shortly after the daughter's marriage to a Boston man, and on a voyage +to Manila, Baxter himself suffered from a sunstroke and a subsequent +fever, that left him a physical wreck and for a time threatened to +unsettle his reason. He recovered a portion of his health and the +threatened insanity disappeared, except for a religious fanaticism +that caused him to accept the Bible literally and to interpret it +accordingly. When his daughter and her husband were drowned in the +terrible City of Belfast disaster, it is an Orham tradition that John +Baxter, dressed in gunny-bags and sitting on an ash-heap, was found by +his friends mourning in what he believed to be the Biblical "sackcloth +and ashes." His little baby granddaughter had been looked out for by +some kind friends in Boston. Only Captain Eri knew that John Baxter's +yearly trip to Boston was made for the purpose of visiting the girl who +was his sole reminder of the things that might have been, but even the +Captain did not know that the money that paid her board and, as she grew +older, for her gowns and schooling, came from the bigoted, stern old +hermit, living alone in the old house at Orham. + +In Orham, and in other sections of the Cape as well, there is a sect +called by the ungodly, "The Come-Outers." They were originally seceders +from the Methodist churches who disapproved of modern innovations. They +"come out" once a week to meet at the houses of the members, and theirs +are lively meetings. John Baxter was a "Come-Outer," and ever since +the enterprising Mr. Saunders opened his billiard room, the old man's +tirades of righteous wrath had been directed against this den of +iniquity. Since it became known that "Web" had made application for the +license, it was a regular amusement for the unregenerate to attend the +gatherings of the "Come-Outers" and hear John Baxter call down fire from +Heaven upon the billiard room, its proprietor, and its patrons. Orham +people had begun to say that John Baxter was "billiard-saloon crazy." + +And John Baxter was Captain Eri's friend, a friendship that had begun in +school when the declaimer of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech +on Examination Day took a fancy to and refused to laugh at the little +chap who tremblingly ventured to assert that he loved "little Pussy, her +coat is so warm." The two had changed places until now it was Captain +Eri who protected and advised. + +When the Captain rapped at John Baxter's kitchen door no one answered, +and, after yelling "Ship ahoy!" through the keyhole a number of times, +he was forced to the conclusion that his friend was not at home. + +"You lookin' fer Cap'n Baxter?" queried Mrs. Sarah Taylor, who lived +just across the road. "He's gone to Come-Outers' meetin', I guess. +There's one up to Barzilla Small's to-night." + +Mr. Barzilla Small lived in that part of the village called "down to the +neck," and when the Captain arrived there, he found the parlor filled +with the devout, who were somewhat surprised to see him. + +"Why, how do you do?" said Mrs. Small, resplendent in black "alpaca" and +wearing her jet earrings. "I snum if you ain't a stranger! We'll have a +reel movin' meetin' to-night because Mr. Perley's here, and he says +he feels the sperrit a-workin'. Set right down there by the what-not. +Luther," to her oldest but three, "give Cap'n Hedge your chair. You can +set on the cricket. Yes, you can! Don't answer back!" + +"Aw, ma!" burst out the indignant Luther, "how d'yer think I'm goin' to +set on that cricket? My laigs 'll be way up under my chin. Make Hart set +on it; he's shorter'n me." + +"Shan't nuther, Lute Small!" declared Hartwell, a freckle-faced +youngster, who was the next step downward in the family stair of +children. "Set on it yourself. Make him, ma, now! You said he'd have +to." + +"Now, ma, I--" + +"Be still, both of you! I sh'd think you'd be ashamed, with everybody +here so! Oh, my soul and body!" turning to the company, "if it ain't +enough to try a saint! Sometimes seems's if I SHOULD give up. You be +thankful, Abigail," to Miss Mullett, who sat by the door, "that you +ain't got nine in a family and nobody to help teach 'em manners. If +Barzilla was like most men, he'd have some dis-CIP-line in the house; +but no, I have to do it all, and--" + +Mr. Small, thus publicly rebuked, rose from his seat in the corner by +the melodeon and proclaimed in a voice that he tried hard not to make +apologetic: + +"Now, Luther, if I was you I'd be a good boy and mind ma." + +Even this awe-inspiring command had little effect upon the reluctant +Luther, but Captain Eri, who, smiling and bowing right and left, had +been working his passage to the other side of the room, announced +that he was all right and would "squeeze in on the sofy 'side of Cap'n +Baxter." So there was peace once more, that is, as much peace as half a +dozen feminine tongues, all busy with different subjects, would allow. + +"Why, Eri" whispered John Baxter, "I didn't expect to see you here. I'm +glad, though; Lord knows every God-fearin' man in this town has need to +be on his knees this night. Have you heard about it?" + +"Cap'n John means about the rum-sellin' license that Web Saunders has +got," volunteered Miss Melissa Busteed, leaning over from her seat in +the patent rocker that had been the premium earned by Mrs. Small for +selling one hundred and fifty pounds of tea for a much-advertised house. +"Ain't it awful? I says to Prissy Baker this mornin', soon 's I heard of +it, 'Prissy,' s' I, 'there 'll be a jedgment on this town sure's you're +a livin' woman,' s' I. Says she, 'That's so, M'lissy,' s' she, and I +says--" + +Well, when Miss Busteed talks, interruptions are futile, so Captain Eri +sat silent, as the comments of at least one-tenth of the population of +Orham were poured into his ears. The recitation was cut short by Mrs. +Small's vigorous pounding on the center table. + +"We're blessed this evenin'," said the hostess with emotion, "in havin' +Mr. Perley with us. He's goin' to lead the meetin'." + +The Reverend Mr. Perley--Reverend by courtesy; he had never been +ordained--stood up, cleared his throat with vigor, rose an inch or two +on the toes of a very squeaky pair of boots, sank to heel level again +and announced that everyone would join in singing, "Hymn number one +hundred and ten, omitting the second and fourth stanzas: hymn number +one hundred and ten, second and fourth stanzas omitted." The melodeon, +tormented by Mrs. Lurania Bassett, shrieked and groaned, and the hymn +was sung. So was another, and yet another. Then Mr. Perley squeaked to +his tiptoes again, subsided, and began a lengthy and fervent discourse. + +Mr. Perley had been a blacksmith in Ostable before he "got religion," +and now spent the major portion of his time in "boardin' 'round" with +"Come-Outers" up and down the Cape and taking part in their meetings. +His services at such gatherings paid for his food and lodging. He had +been a vigorous horseshoer in the old days; now he preached just as +vigorously. + +He spoke of the faithful few here gathered together. He spoke of the +scoffing of those outside the pale and hinted at the uncomfortable +future that awaited them. He ran over the various denominations one by +one, and one by one showed them to be worshipers of idols and followers +after strange gods. He sank hoarsely into the bass and quavered up into +falsetto and a chorus of "Amens!" and "Hallelujahs!" followed him. + +"Oh, brothers and sisters!" he shouted, "here we are a-kneelin' at +the altar's foot and what's goin' on outside? Why, the Devil's got +his clutches in our midst. The horn of the wicked is exalted. They're +sellin' rum--RUM--in this town! They're a-sellin' rum and drinkin' of it +and gloryin' in their shame. But the Lord ain't asleep! He's got his eye +on 'em! He's watchin' 'em! And some of these fine days he'll send down +fire out of Heaven and wipe 'em off the face of the earth!" ("Amen! +Glory! Glory! Glory!") + +John Baxter was on his feet, his lean face working, the perspiration +shining on his forehead, his eyes gleaming like lamps under his rough +white eyebrows, and his clenched fists pounding the back of the chair in +front of him. His hallelujahs were the last to cease. Captain Eri had to +use some little force to pull him down on the sofa again. + +Then Mrs. Small struck up, "Oh, brother, have you heard?" and they sang +it with enthusiasm. Next, Miss Mullett told her story of the brandy +and the defiance of the doctor. Nobody seemed much interested except a +nervous young man with sandy hair and a celluloid collar, who had come +with Mr. Tobias Wixon and was evidently a stranger. He had not heard it +before and seemed somewhat puzzled when Miss Abigail repeated the "Death +referred to" passage. + +There was more singing. Mrs. Small "testified." So did Barzilla, with +many hesitations and false starts and an air of relief when it was +over. Then another hymn and more testimony, each speaker denouncing the +billiard saloon. Then John Baxter arose and spoke. + +He began by saying that the people of Orham had been slothful in the +Lord's vineyard. They had allowed weeds to spring up and wax strong. +They had been tried and found wanting. + +"I tell you, brothers and sisters," he declaimed, leaning over the chair +back and shaking a thin forefinger in Mr. Perley's face, "God has given +us a task to do and how have we done it? We've set still and let the +Devil have his way. We've talked and talked, but what have we done? +Nothin'! Nothin' at all; and now the grip of Satan is tighter on the +town than it ever has been afore. The Lord set us a watch to keep and +we've slept on watch. And now there's a trap set for every young man in +this c'munity. Do you think that that hell-hole down yonder is goin' to +shut up because we talk about it in meetin'? Do you think Web Saunders +is goin' to quit sellin' rum because we say he ought to? Do you think +God's goin' to walk up to that door and nail it up himself? No, sir! He +don't work that way! We've talked and talked, and now it's time to DO. +Ain't there anybody here that feels a call? Ain't there axes to chop +with and fire to burn? I tell you, brothers, we've waited long enough! +I--old as I am--am ready. Lord, here I am! Here I am--" + +He swayed, broke into a fit of coughing, and sank back upon the sofa, +trembling all over and still muttering that he was ready. There was a +hushed silence for a moment or two, and then a storm of hallelujahs and +shouts. Mr. Perley started another hymn, and it was sung with tremendous +enthusiasm. + +Just behind the nervous young man with the celluloid collar sat a stout +individual with a bald head. This was Abijah Thompson, known by the +irreverent as "Barking" Thompson, a nickname bestowed because of his +peculiar habit of gradually puffing up, like a frog, under religious +excitement, and then bursting forth in an inarticulate shout, +disconcerting to the uninitiated. During Baxter's speech and the singing +of the hymn his expansive red cheeks had been distended like balloons, +and his breath came shorter and shorter. Mr. Perley had arisen and was +holding up his hand for silence, when with one terrific "Boo!" "Barking" +Thompson's spiritual exaltation exploded directly in the ear of the +nervous stranger. + +The young man shot out of his chair as if Mr. Thompson had fired a +dynamite charge beneath him. "Oh, the Devil!" he shrieked, and then +subsided, blushing to the back of his neck. + +Somehow this interruption took the spirit out of the meeting. Giggles +from Luther and the younger element interfered with the solemnity of Mr. +Perley's closing remarks, and no one else was brave enough to "testify" +under the circumstances. They sang again, and the meeting broke up. The +nervous young man was the first one to leave. + +Captain Eri got his friend out of the clutches of the "Come-Outers" as +quickly as possible, and piloted him down the road toward his home. John +Baxter was silent and absent-minded, and most of the Captain's cheerful +remarks concerning Orham affairs in general went unanswered. As they +turned in at the gate the elder man said: + +"Eri, do you believe that man's law ought to be allowed to interfere +with God's law?" + +"Well, John, in most cases it's my jedgment that it pays to steer pretty +close to both of 'em." + +"S'pose God called you to break man's law and keep His; what would you +do?" + +"Guess the fust thing would be to make sure 'twas the Almighty that was +callin'. I don't want to say nothin' to hurt your feelin's, but I +should advise the feller that thought that he had that kind of a call to +'beware of imitations,' as the soap folks advertise." + +"Eri, I've got a call." + +"Now, John Baxter, you listen. You and me have been sailin' together, as +you might say, for forty odd years. I ain't a religious man 'cordin' to +your way of thinkin', but I've generally found that the Lord runs things +most as well as us folks could run 'em. When there's a leak at one end +of the schooner it don't pay to bore a hole at the other end to let the +water out. Don't you worry no more about Web Saunders and that billiard +saloon. The s'lectmen 'll attend to them afore very long. Why don't you +go up to Boston for a couple of weeks? 'Twill do you good." + +"Do you think so, Eri? Well, maybe 'twould--maybe 'twould. Sometimes I +feel as if my head was kind of wearin' out. I'll think about it." + +"Better not think any more; better go right ahead." + +"Well, I'll see. Good-night." + +"Good-night, John." + + +"Perez," said Captain Eri, next day, "seems to me some kinds of religion +is like whisky, mighty bad for a weak head. I wish somebody 'd invent a +gold cure for Come-Outers." + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + + +Something over a fortnight went by and the three captains had received +no answers from the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime. The suspense +affected each of them in a different manner. Captain Jerry was nervous +and apprehensive. He said nothing, and asked no questions, but it was +noticeable that he was the first to greet the carrier of the "mail box" +when that individual came down the road, and, as the days passed and +nothing more important than the Cape Cod Item and a patent-medicine +circular came to hand, a look that a suspicious person might have deemed +expressive of hope began to appear in his face. + +Captain Perez, on the contrary, grew more and more disgusted with the +delay. He spent a good deal of time wondering why there were no replies, +and he even went so far as to suggest writing to the editor of +the Chime. He was disposed to lay the blame upon Captain Eri's +advertisement, and hinted that the latter was not "catchy" enough. + +Captain Eri, alone of the trio, got any amusement out of the situation. +He pretended to see in Captain Jerry an impatient bridegroom and +administered comfort in large doses by suggesting that, in all +probability, there had been so many replies that it had been found +necessary to charter a freight-car to bring them down. + +"Cheer up, Jerry!" he said. "It's tough on you, I know, but think of all +them poor sufferin' females that's settin' up nights and worryin' for +fear they won't be picked out. Why, say, when you make your ch'ice +you'll have to let the rest know right off; 'twould be cruelty to +animals not to. You ought to put 'em out of their misery quick's +possible." + +Captain Jerry's laugh was almost dismal. + +The first batch of answers from the Chime came by an evening mail. +Captain Eri happened to beat the post-office that night and brought them +home himself. They filled three of his pockets to overflowing, and +he dumped them by handfuls on the dining table, under the nose of the +pallid Jerry. + +"What did I tell you, Jerry?" he crowed. "I knew they was on the way. +What have you got to say about my advertisement now, Perez?" + +There were twenty-six letters altogether. It was surprising how +many women were willing, even anxious, to ally themselves with "an +ex-seafaring man of steady habbits." But most of the applicants were of +unsatisfactory types. As Captain Perez expressed it, "There's too many +of them everlastin' 'blondes' and things." + +There was one note, however, that even Captain Eri was disposed to +consider seriously. It was postmarked Nantucket, was written on half a +sheet of blue-lined paper, and read as follows: + + +"MR. SKIPPER: + +"Sir: I saw your advertisements in the paper and think perhaps you might +suit me. Please answer these questions by return mail. What is your +religious belief? Do you drink liquor? Are you a profane man? If you +want to, you might send me your real name and a photograph. If I think +you will suit maybe we might sign articles. + +"Yours truly, + +"MARTHA B. SNOW. + +"NANTUCKET, MASS." + + +"What I like about that is the shipshape way she puts it," commented +Captain Perez. "She don't say that she 'jest adores the ocean.'" + +"She's mighty handy about takin' hold and bossin' things; there ain't +no doubt of that," said Captain Eri. "Notice it's us that's got to suit +her, not her us. I kind of like that 'signin' articles,' too. You bet +she's been brought up in a seagoin' family." + +"I used to know a Jubal Snow that hailed from Nantucket," suggested +Perez; "maybe she's some of his folks." + +"'Tain't likely," sniffed Captain Jerry. "There's more Snows in Nantucket +than you can shake a stick at. You can't heave a rock without hittin' +one." + +"I b'lieve she's jest the kind we want," said Captain Perez with +conviction. + +"What do you say, Jerry?" asked Captain Eri. "You're goin' to be the +lucky man, you know." + +"Oh, I don't know. What's the use of hurryin'? More 'n likely the next +lot of letters 'll have somethin' better yit." + +"Now, that's jest like you, Jerry Burgess!" exclaimed Perez disgustedly. +"Want to put off and put off and put off. And the house gittin' more +like the fo'castle on a cattleboat every day." + +"I don't b'lieve myself you'd do much better, Jerry," said Captain Eri +seriously. "I like that letter somehow. Seems to me it's worth a try." + +"Oh, all right! Have it your own way. Of course, _I_ ain't got nothin' +to say. I'm only the divilish fool that's got to git married and keep +boarders; that's all _I_ am!" + +"Be careful! She asked if you was a profane man." + +"Aw, shut up! You fellers are enough to make a minister swear. _I_ don't +care what you do. Go ahead and write to her if you want to, only I give +you fair warnin', I ain't goin' to have her if she don't suit. I ain't +goin' to marry no scarecrow." + +Between them, and with much diplomacy, they soothed the indignant +candidate for matrimony until he agreed to sign his name to a letter to +the Nantucket lady. Then Captain Perez said: + +"But, I say, Jerry; she wants your picture. Have you got one to send +her?" + +"I've got that daguerreotype I had took when I was married afore." + +He rummaged it out of his chest and displayed it rather proudly. It +showed him as a short, sandy-haired youth, whose sunburned face beamed +from the depths of an enormous choker, and whose head was crowned with a +tall, flat-brimmed silk hat of a forgotten style. + +"I s'pose that might do," said Cap'n Perez hesitatingly. + +"Do! 'Twill HAVE to do, seein' it's all he's got," said Captain Eri. +"Good land!" he chuckled; "look at that hat! Say, Jerry, she'll think +you done your seafarin' in Noah's ark." + +But Captain Jerry was oblivious to sarcasm just then. He was gazing at +the daguerreotype in a sentimental sort of way, blowing the dust from +the glass, and tilting it up and down so as to bring it to the most +effective light. + +"I swan!" he mused, "I don't know when I've looked at that afore. I +remember when I bought that hat, jest as well. Took care of it and +brushed it--my! my! I don't know but it's somewheres around now. I +thought I was jest about the ticket then, and--and I wa'n't BAD lookin', +that's a fact!" + +This last with a burst of enthusiasm. + +"Ho, ho! Perez," roared Captain Eri; "Jerry's fallin' in love with his +own picture. Awful thing for one so young, ain't it?" + +"I ain't such a turrible sight older 'n you be, Eri Hedge," sputtered +the prospective bridegroom with righteous indignation. Then he added in +a rather crestfallen tone, "But I am a heap older 'n I was when I had +that daguerreotype took. See here; if I send that Nantucket woman this +picture won't she notice the difference when she sees me?" + +"What if she does?" broke in Captain Perez. "You can tell her how 'twas. +Talk her over. A feller that's been married, like you, ought to be able +to talk ANY woman over." + +Captain Jerry didn't appear sanguine concerning his ability to "talk her +over," but his fellow-conspirators made light of his feeble objections, +and the daguerreotype, carefully wrapped, was mailed the next morning, +accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the original and his +avowed adherence to the Baptist creed and the Good Templar's abstinence. + +"I hope she'll hurry up and answer," said the impatient Captain Perez. +"I want to get this thing settled one way or another. Don't you, Jerry?" + +"Yes," was the hesitating reply. "One way or another." + +Captain Eri had seen John Baxter several times since the evening of +the "Come-Outers'" meeting. The old man was calmer apparently, and was +disposed to take the billiard-saloon matter less seriously, particularly +as it was reported that the town selectmen were to hold a special +meeting to consider the question of allowing Mr. Saunders to continue in +business. The last-named gentleman had given what he was pleased to call +a "blow-out" to his regular patrons in celebration of the granting of +the license, and "Squealer" Wixon and one or two more spent a dreary day +and night in the town lock-up in consequence. Baxter told the Captain +that he had not yet made up his mind concerning the proposed Boston +trip, but he thought "more 'n likely" he should go. + +Captain Eri was obliged to be content with this assurance, but he +determined to keep a close watch on his friend just the same. + +He had met Ralph Hazeltine once or twice since the latter's arrival in +Orham, and, in response to questions as to how he was getting on at the +station, the new electrician invariably responded, "First-rate." Gossip, +however, in the person of Miss Busteed, reported that the operators were +doing their best to keep Mr. Hazeltine's lot from being altogether a bed +of roses, and there were dark hints of something more to come. + +On the morning following the receipt of the letter from the Nantucket +lady, Captain Eri was busy at his fish shanty, putting his lines in +order and sewing a patch on the mainsail of his catboat. These necessary +repairs had prevented his taking the usual trip to the fishing grounds. +Looking up from his work, he saw, through the open door, Ralph Hazeltine +just stepping out of the cable-station skiff. He tucked his sail needle +into the canvas and hailed the young man with a shouted "Good-morning!" + +"How do you do, Cap'n Hedge?" said Hazeltine, walking toward the shanty. +"Good weather, isn't it?" + +"Tip-top. Long 's the wind stays westerly and there ain't no +Sunday-school picnics on, we don't squabble with the weather folks. +The only thing that 'll fetch a squall with a westerly wind is a +Sunday-school picnic. That 'll do it, sure as death. Busy over across?" + +"Pretty busy just now. The cable parted day before yesterday, and I've +been getting things ready for the repair ship. She was due this morning, +and we're likely to hear from her at any time." + +"You don't say! Cable broke, hey? Now it's a queer thing, but I've never +been inside that station since 'twas built. Too handy, I guess. I've got +a second cousin up in Charlestown, lived there all his life, and he's +never been up in Bunker Hill monument yit. Fust time I landed in Boston +I dug for that monument, and I can tell you how many steps there is in +it to this day. If that cable station was fifty mile off I'd have been +through it two weeks after it started up, but bein' jest over there, I +ain't ever done it. Queer, ain't it?" + +"Perhaps you'd like to go over with me. I'm going up to the post-office, +and when I come back I should be glad of your company." + +"Well, now, that's kind of you. I cal'late I will. You might sing out +as you go past. I've got a ha'f-hour job on this sail and then it's my +watch below." + +The cable station at Orham is a low whitewashed building with many +windows. The vegetation about it is limited exclusively to "beach grass" +and an occasional wild-plum bush. The nearest building which may be +reached without a boat is the life-saving station, two miles below. The +outer beach changes its shape every winter. The gales tear great holes +in its sides, and then, as if in recompense, throw up new shoals and +build new promontories. From the cable-station doorway in fair weather +may be counted the sails of over one hundred vessels going and coming +between Boston and New York. They come and go, and, alas! sometimes +stop by the way. Then the life-saving crews are busy and the Boston +newspapers report another wreck. All up and down the outer beach are +the sun-whitened bones of schooners and ships; and all about them, and +partially covering them, is sand, sand, sand, as white and much coarser +than granulated sugar. + +Hazeltine's post-office trip and other errands had taken much more +time than he anticipated, and more than two hours had gone by before +he called for Captain Eri. During the row to the beach the electrician +explained to the Captain the processes by which a break in the cable is +located and repaired. + +"You see," he said, "as soon as the line breaks we set about finding +where it is broken. To do this we use an instrument called the +Wheatstone bridge. In this case the break is about six hundred miles +from the American shore. The next thing is to get at the company's +repair ship. She lies, usually, at Halifax when she isn't busy, and +that is where she was this time. We wired her and she left for the spot +immediately. It was up to me to get ready the testing apparatus--we +generally set up special instruments for testing. Judging by the +distance, the ship should have been over the break early this morning. +She will grapple for the broken cable ends, and as soon as she catches +our end she'll send us a message. It's simple enough." + +"Like takin' wormwood tea--easy enough if you've been brought up that +way. I think I'd make more money catchin' codfish, myself," commented +the Captain dryly. + +Ralph laughed. "Well, it really is a very simple matter," he said. "The +only thing we have to be sure of is that our end of the line is ready +by the time the ship reaches the break. If the weather is bad the +ship can't work, and so, when she does work, she works quick. I had my +instruments in condition yesterday, so we're all right this time." + +They landed at the little wharf and plodded through the heavy sand. + +"Dismal-looking place, isn't it?" said Hazeltine, as he opened the back +door of the station. + +"Well, I don't know; it has its good p'ints," replied his companion. +"Your neighbors' hens don't scratch up your garden, for one thing. What +do you do in here?" + +"This is the room where we receive and send. This is the receiver." + +The captain noticed with interest the recorder, with its two brass +supports and the little glass tube, half filled with ink, that, when +the cable was working, wrote the messages upon the paper tape traveling +beneath it. + +"Pretty nigh as finicky as a watch, ain't it?" he observed. + +"Fully as delicate in its way. Do you see this little screw on the +centerpiece? Turn that a little, one way or the other, and the operator +on the other side might send until doomsday, we wouldn't know it. I'll +show you the living rooms and the laboratory now." + +Just then the door at the other end of the room opened, and a man, whom +Captain Eri recognized as one of the operators, came in. He started when +he saw Hazeltine and turned to go out again. Ralph spoke to him: + +"Peters," he said, "where is Mr. Langley?" + +"Don't know," answered the fellow gruffly. + +"Wait a minute. Tell me where Mr. Langley is." + +"I don't know where he is. He went over to the village a while ago." + +"Where are the rest of the men?" + +"Don't know." + +The impudence and thinly veiled hostility in the man's tone were +unmistakable. Hazeltine hesitated, seemed about to speak, and then +silently led the way to the hall. + +"I'll show you the laboratory later on," he said. "We'll go up to the +testing room now." Then he added, apparently as much to himself as to +his visitor, "I told those fellows that I wouldn't be back until noon." + +There was a door at the top of the stairs. Ralph opened this quietly. As +they passed through, Captain Eri noticed that Peters had followed them +into the hall and stood there, looking up. + +The upper hall had a straw matting on the floor. There was another door +at the end of the passage, and this was ajar. Toward it the electrician +walked rapidly. From the room behind the door came a shout of laughter; +then someone said: + +"Better give it another turn, hadn't I, to make sure? If two turns fixes +it so we don't hear for a couple of hours, another one ought to shut it +up for a week. That's arithmetic, ain't it?" + +The laugh that followed this was cut short by Hazeltine's throwing the +door wide open. + +Captain Eri, close at the electrician's heels, saw a long room, empty +save for a few chairs and a table in the center. Upon this table stood +the testing instruments, exactly like those in the receiving room +downstairs. Three men lounged in the chairs, and standing beside the +table, with his fingers upon the regulating screw at the centerpiece +of the recorder, was another, a big fellow, with a round, smooth-shaven +face. + +The men in the chairs sprang to their feet as Hazeltine came in. The +face of the individual by the table turned white and his fingers fell +from the regulating screw, as though the latter were red hot. The +Captain recognized the men; they were day operators whom he had met in +the village many times. Incidentally, they were avowed friends of the +former electrician, Parker. The name of the taller one was McLoughlin. + +No one spoke. Ralph strode quickly to the table, pushed McLoughlin to +one side and stooped over the instruments. When he straightened up, +Captain Eri noticed that his face also was white, but evidently not from +fear. He turned sharply and looked at the four operators, who were doing +their best to appear at ease and not succeeding. The electrician looked +them over, one by one. Then he gave a short laugh. + +"You damned sneaks!" he said, and turned again to the testing apparatus. + +He began slowly to turn the regulating screw on the recorder. He had +given it but a few revolutions when the point of the little glass +siphon, that had been tracing a straight black line on the sliding tape, +moved up and down in curving zigzags. Hazeltine turned to the operator. + +"Palmer," he said curtly, "answer that call." + +The man addressed seated himself at the table, turned a switch, and +clicked off a message. After a moment the line on the moving tape +zigzagged again. Ralph glanced at the zigzags and bit his lip. + +"Apologize to them," he said to Palmer. "Tell them we regret exceedingly +that the ship should have been kept waiting. Tell them our recorder was +out of adjustment." + +The operator cabled the message. The three men at the end of the room +glanced at each other; this evidently was not what they expected. + +Steps sounded on the stairs and Peters hurriedly entered. + +"The old man's comin'," he said. + +Mr. Langley, the superintendent of the station, had been in the +company's employ for years. He had been in charge of the Cape Cod +station since it was built, and he liked the job. He knew cable work, +too, from A to Z, and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, would +forgive a man's getting drunk occasionally, sooner than condone +carelessness. He was eccentric, but even those who did not like him +acknowledged that he was "square." + +He came into the room, tossed a cigar stump out of the window, and +nodded to Captain Eri. + +"How are you, Captain Hedge?" he said. Then, stepping to the table, he +picked up the tape. + +"Everything all right, Mr. Hazeltine?" he asked. "Hello! What does this +mean? They say they have been calling for two hours without getting an +answer. How do you explain that?" + +It was very quiet in the room when the electrician answered. + +"The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir," he said simply. + +"Out of adjustment! I thought you told me everything was in perfect +order before you left this morning." + +"I thought so, sir, but I find the screw was too loose. That would +account for the call not reaching us." + +"Too loose! Humph!" The superintendent looked steadfastly at Hazeltine, +then at the operators, and then at the electrician once more. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," he said at length, "I will hear what explanations you +may have to make in my office later on. I will attend to the testing +myself. That will do." + +Captain Eri silently followed his young friend to the back door of the +station. Hazeltine had seen fit to make no comment on the scene just +described, and the captain did not feel like offering any. They were +standing on the steps when the big operator, McLoughlin, came out of the +building behind them. + +"Well," he said gruffly to the electrician. "Shall I quit now or wait +until Saturday?" + +"What?" + +"Shall I git out now or wait till Saturday night? I suppose you'll have +me fired." + +Then Hazeltine's pent-up rage boiled over. + +"If you mean that I'll tell Mr. Langley of your cowardly trick and have +you discharged--No! I don't pay my debts that way. But I'll tell you +this,--you and your sneaking friends. If you try another game like +that,--yes, or if you so much as speak to me, other than on business +while I'm here, I WILL fire you--out of the window. Clear out!" + +"Mr. Hazeltine," said Captain Eri a few moments later, "I hope you don't +mind my sayin' that I like you fust-rate. Me and Perez and Jerry ain't +the biggest bugs in town, but we like to have our friends come and see +us. I wish you'd drop in once 'n a while." + +"I certainly will," said the young man, and the two shook hands. That +vigorous handshake was enough of itself to convince Ralph Hazeltine that +he had made, at any rate, one friend in Orham. + +And we may as well add here that he had made two. For that evening Jack +McLoughlin said to his fellow conspirators: + +"He said he'd fire me out of the window,--ME, mind you! And, by thunder! +I believe he'd have DONE it too. Boys, there ain't any more 'con' games +played on that kid while I'm around--Parker or no Parker. He's white, +that's what HE is!" + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + + +Conversation among the captains was, for the next two days, confined to +two topics, speculation as to how soon they might expect a reply from +the Nantucket female and whether or not Mr. Langley would discharge +Hazeltine. On the latter point Captain Eri was decided. + +"He won't be bounced," said the Captain; "now you just put that down in +your log. Langley ain't a fool, and he can put two and two together as +well as the next feller. If I thought there was any need of it, I'd just +drop him a hint myself, but there ain't, so I shan't put my oar in. But +I wish you two could have heard that youngster talk to that McLoughlin +critter; 'twould have done you good. That boy's all right." + +Captain Jerry was alone when the expected letter came. He glanced at +the postmark, saw that it was Nantucket, and stuck the note behind +the clock. He did his best to forget it, but he looked so guilty when +Captain Perez returned at supper time that that individual suspected +something, made his friend confess, and, a little later when Captain Eri +came in, the envelope, bearing many thumb-prints, was propped up against +the sugar bowl in the middle of the table. + +"We didn't open it, Eri," said Perez proudly. "We did want to, but we +thought all hands ought to be on deck when anything as important as this +was goin' to be done." + +"He's been holdin' it up to the light for the last ha'f hour," sneered +Captain Jerry. "Anybody 'd think it had a million dollars in it. For the +land's sake, open it, Eri, 'fore he has a fit!" + +Captain Eri picked up the letter, looked it over very deliberately, and +then tore off the end of the envelope. The inclosure was another +sheet of note paper like the first epistle. The Captain took out his +spectacles, wiped them, and read the following aloud: + + +"CAPTAIN JEREMIAH BURGESS. + +"Sir: I like your looks well enough, though it don't pay to put too much +dependence in looks, as nobody knows better than me. Besides, I judge +that picture was took quite a spell ago. Anyway, you look honest, and +I am willing to risk money enough to carry me to Orham and back, though +the dear land knows I ain't got none to throw away. If we don't agree +to sign articles, I suppose likely you will be willing to stand half the +fare. That ain't any more than right, the way I look at it. I shall come +to Orham on the afternoon train, Thursday. Meet me at the depot. + +"Yours truly, + +"MARTHA B. SNOW. + +"P. S.--I should have liked it better if you was a Methodist, but we +can't have everything just as we want it in this world." + + +Nobody spoke for a moment after the reading of this intensely practical +note. Captain Eri whistled softly, scratched his head, and then read the +letter over again to himself. At length Captain Perez broke the spell. + +"Jerusalem!" he exclaimed. "She don't lose no time, does she?" + +"She's pretty prompt, that's a fact," assented Captain Eri. + +Captain Jerry burst forth in indignation: + +"Is THAT all you've got to say?" he inquired with sarcasm, "after +gittin' me into a scrape like this? Well now, I tell you one thing, I--" + +"Don't go on your beam ends, Jerry," interrupted Captain Eri. "There +ain't no harm done yit." + +"Ain't no harm done? Why how you talk, Eri Hedge! Here's a woman that +I ain't never seen, and might be a hundred years old, for all I know, +comin' down here to-morrow night to marry me by main force, as you might +say, and you set here and talk about--" + +"Now, hold on, hold on, Jerry! She ain't goin' to marry you unless you +want her to, 'tain't likely. More I think of it, the more I like the +woman's way of doin' things. She's got sense, there's no doubt of that. +You can't sell HER a cat in a bag. She's comin' down here to see you and +talk the thing over, and I glory in her spunk." + +"Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways enough +to spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks." + +"If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay more +than fares," said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I think same +as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet her at the depot, +of course." + +"Well _I_ won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I cal'late +she'll have to do some huntin'." + +"Now, see here, Jerry," said Captain Eri, "you was jest as anxious to +have one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to marry +the woman unless you want to, but you have got to help us see the thing +through. I wish myself that we hadn't been quite so pesky anxious +to give her the latitude and longitude, and had took some sort of an +observation ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've got to treat her +decent. You'll be at that depot along with Perez and me." + +When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed +orders. Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for his +younger friend, gave in after some grumbling. + +They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and +appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that he +didn't know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about forty +and slim. Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where agreement +with anyone was out of the question, gave it as his opinion that she +was thirty odd and rather plump. Captain Eri didn't hazard a guess, but +suggested that they wait and see. + +But even Captain Eri's calmness was more or less assumed, for he did not +go fishing the next morning, but stayed about the house, whittling at +the model of a clipper ship and tormenting Captain Jerry. The model was +one that he had been at work upon at odd times ever since he gave up +sea-going. It had never been completed for the very good reason that +when one part was finished the Captain tore another part to pieces, and +began over again. It was a sort of barometer of his feelings, and when +his companions saw him take down the clipper and go to work, they knew +he was either thinking deeply upon a perplexing problem or was troubled +in his mind. + +Captain Perez sang a good deal, principally confining his musical +efforts to a ballad with a chorus of, + + | "Storm along, John; + | John, storm along; + | Ain't I glad my day's work's done!" + +Also, he glanced at his watch every few minutes and then went to consult +the chronometer to make sure of the time. + +Captain Jerry went up to the schoolhouse and gave its vacant rooms a +thorough sweeping for no particular reason except to be doing something. +His appetite was poor, and he actually forgot to feed Lorenzo, a +hitherto unheard-of slight, and one that brought down upon him a long +lecture from Captain Eri, who vowed that loss of memory was a sure sign +of lovesickness. + +They started for the railway station immediately after supper. As they +passed John Baxter's house they noticed a light in an upper chamber, and +wondered if the old man was ill. Captain Eri would have stopped to find +out, but Captain Perez insisted that it could be done just as well when +they came back, and expressed a fear that they might miss the train. +Captain Jerry hadn't spoken since they left home, and walked gloomily +ahead with his hands in his pockets. + +Mr. "Web" Saunders, fat and in his pink-striped shirtsleeves, sat upon +the steps of his saloon as they went by. He wished them an unctuous +good-evening. The oily smoothness of Mr. Saunders' voice cannot be +described with plain pen and ink; it gurgled with sweetness, like +molasses poured from a jug. This was not a special tone put on for the +occasion; no one except his wife ever heard him speak otherwise. + +The response from the three captains was not enthusiastic, but Mr. +Saunders continued to talk of the weather, the fishing, and the +cranberry crop until a customer came and gave them a chance to get away. + +"Slick! slick! slick!" commented Captain Eri, as they hurried along. +"Blessed if he don't pretty nigh purr. I like a cat fust-rate, but I'm +always suspicious of a cat-man. You know he's got claws, but you can't +tell where he's goin' to use 'em. When a feller like that comes slidin' +around and rubbin' his head against my shin, I always feel like keepin' +t'other foot ready for a kick. You're pretty sartin to need it one time +or another." + +The train was nearly an hour late this evening, owing to a hot box, and +the "ex-seafaring man" and his two friends peered anxiously out at it +from around the corner of the station. The one coach stopped directly +under the lights, and they could see the passengers as they came down +the steps. Two or three got out, but these were men. Then came an +apparition that caused Captain Jerry to gasp and clutch at Perez for +support. + +Down the steps of the car came a tall, coal-black negress, and in her +hand was a canvas extension case, on the side of which was blazoned in +two-inch letters the fateful name, "M. B. Snow, Nantucket." + +Captain Eri gazed at this astounding spectacle for a full thirty +seconds. Then he woke up. + +"Godfrey domino!" he ejaculated. "BLACK! BLACK! Run! Run for your lives, +'fore she sees us!" + +This order was superfluous. Captain Jerry was already half-way to the +fence, and going at a rate which bid fair to establish a record for +his age. The others fell into his wake, and the procession moved across +country like a steeplechase. + +They climbed over stone walls and splashed into meadows. They took every +short cut between the station and their home. As they came in sight of +the latter, Captain Perez' breath gave out almost entirely. + +"Heave to!" he gasped. "Heave to, or I'll founder. I wouldn't run +another step for all the darkies in the West Indies." + +Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain Jerry +was persuaded to halt. + +"I shan't do it, Eri!" he vowed wildly. "I shan't do it! There ain't no +use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, by thunder!" + +"There! there! Jerry!" said Captain Eri soothingly. "Nobody wants you +to. There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us." + +"Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where I live +and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!" + +The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain Eri +caught him by the arm. + +"I'll tell you what," he said, "we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty and +hide there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't come, +anyhow." + +The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late Nathaniel +Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. In a few moments +the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the door. Then Captain +Eri pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket and laughed until the +tears came into his eyes. + +"That's it, laff!" almost sobbed Captain Jerry. "Set there and tee-hee +like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till the rest of the +town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' then, and you won't +feel so funny. We'll never hear the last of it in this world. If that +darky comes down here, I'll--I'll drown her; I will--" + +"I don't blame Jerry," said Perez indignantly. "I don't see much to laff +at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now." + +They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together at the +cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the "depot wagon" rock past. +They waited, breathless, until they saw it go back again up the road. + +"Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?" asked Captain Eri. + +"Course I didn't. Why should I?" + +It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham except +at bedtime. + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Eri. "She'll see the light in the dining room, +and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's nothin' for us to +do but to stay here for a while, and then, if she ain't gone, one of +us 'll have to go up and tell her she won't suit and pay her fare home, +that's all. I think Jerry ought to be the one," he added mischievously. +"He bein' the bridegroom, as you might say." + +"Me!" almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. "You go to grass! You +fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me out of it. +I don't stir one step." + +They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an occasional +chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was meditating, and +observed, after a while: + +"Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?" + +"That colored man up at Barry's place was named White," said Captain +Jerry, "and he was black as your hat. Names don't count." + +"They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry," slyly remarked Eri. +"Maybe you'd better think it over." + +The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the minutes +crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone whistling. Perez +went to the window to take an observation. + +"It's a man," he said disappointedly. "He's been to our house, too. My +land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller Hazeltine; that's who +'tis." + +"Is it?" exclaimed Eri eagerly. "That's so! so 'tis. Let's give him a +hail." + +Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the door, +had opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the opening, +was whistling shrilly. + +The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort of +way, but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter the +whistles came. + +"Mr. Hazeltine!" hailed the Captain, in what might be called a whispered +yell or a shouted whisper. "Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on your lee bow. In the +shanty." + +The word "shanty" was the only part of the speech that brought light to +Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the hill, left the +road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to the door. + +"Who is it?" he asked. "Why, hello, Captain! What on earth--" + +Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, pulled +him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry hastened to set the +saw-horse in place again. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," said Captain Eri, "let me make you acquainted with +Cap'n Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me speak of +'em." + +Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered voices +express themselves as glad to know him. + +"You see," continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, "we're sort +of layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. We ain't +out of our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's what it looks +like." + +The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it. +To tell the truth, he had begun to think that something or other had +suddenly driven his nearest neighbors crazy. + +"I--I--I don't know how to explain it to you," the Captain stumbled on. +"Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It does sound +so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you understand it. What we +want to know is, have you been to our house and is there anybody there?" + +"Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a minute, +as you suggested the other day. The housekeeper--I suppose it was the +housekeeper--that opened the door, said you were out, and I--" + +He was interrupted by a hopeless groan. + +"I knew it!" wailed Captain Jerry. "I knew it! And you said there wa'n't +no danger, Eri!" + +"Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she doin', +Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? Did she look +as if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have her bunnit on?" + +"No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought--" + +But again Captain Jerry broke in, "Well, by mighty!" he ejaculated. +"That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! She's +goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too good a +thing. Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other gab machine +like her, 'll be the next one to call, and if they see that great black +critter! Oh! my soul!" + +"Black!" said Ralph amazedly. "Why, the woman at your house isn't black. +She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of her age." + +"WHAT?" This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said: + +"Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?" + +"Of course it's a fact." + +The Captain wiped his forehead. "Mr. Hazeltine," he said, "if anybody +had told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three biggest fools in +Orham, I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis now, I cal'late I'd thank +him for lettin' me off so easy. You'll have to excuse us to-night, I'm +afraid. We're in a ridic'lous scrape that we've got to git out of all +alone. I'll tell you 'bout it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this +kind of quiet to oblige me." + +Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his immediate +departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, felt there +was nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised faithfully to call +again later in the week, and then, the sawhorse having been removed by +Captain Perez,--Captain Jerry was apparently suffering from a sort of +dazed paralysis,--he went away. As soon as he had gone, Captain Eri +began to lay down the law. + +"Now then," he said, "there's been some sort of a mistake; that's plain +enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel when she got up +to come out of the car. That woman at the house is the real Marthy Snow +all right, and we've got to go right up there and see her. Come on!" + +But Captain Jerry mutinied outright. He declared that the sight of that +darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would not see +the candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No persuasion +could budge him. He simply would not stir from that shanty until the +house had been cleared of female visitors. + +"Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it," he declared. "I +shan't!" + +"All right," said Captain Eri calmly. "I will. I'll tell her you're +bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have you if she +only waits long enough." + +With this he turned on his heel and walked out. + +"Hold on, Eri!" shouted the frantic Jerry. "Don't you do it! Don't you +tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he will?" + +"I don't know," was the answer in a disgusted tone. "You hadn't ought to +have been so pig-headed, Jerry." + +Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face, +walked straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he +opened it and stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in Captain +Perez' rocker, rose as he entered. + +The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She was +of middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes behind +brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black "alpaca" gown that +was faded a little in places and had been neatly mended in others. She +spoke first. + +"You're not Cap'n Burgess?" she said. + +"No, ma'am," said the Captain uneasily. "My name is Hedge. I'm a sort of +messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?" + +"Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow." + +They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very nervous +and not knowing how to begin. + +"I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge," said the widow, as the Captain +slid into his own rocker. "The boy on the depot wagon told me a lot +about you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess." + +"Did, hey?" The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's +grandnephew. "Hope he gave us a clean bill." + +"Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. If he +had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've lived +long enough to want to find out things for myself, and not take folks' +say-so." + +The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement, +Captain Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out things +for one's self was a good "idee." Then, after another fidgety silence, +he observed that it was a fine evening. There being no dispute on this +point, he endeavored to think of something else to say. Mrs. Snow, +however, saved him the trouble. + +"Cap'n Hedge," she said, "as I'm here on what you might call a bus'ness +errand, and as I've been waitin' pretty nigh two hours already, p'raps +we'd better talk about somethin' besides fine evenin's. I've got to be +lookin' up a hotel or boardin' house or somewheres to stay to-night, and +I can't wait much longer. I jedge you got my letter and was expectin' +me. Now, if it ain't askin' too much, I'd like to know where Cap'n +Burgess is, and why he wa'n't at the depot to meet me." + +This was a leading question, and the Captain was more embarrassed than +ever. However, he felt that something had to be done and that it was +wisest to get it over with as soon as possible. + +"Well, ma'am," he said, "we--we got your letter all right, and, to tell +you the truth, we was at the depot--Perez and me and Jerry." + +"You WAS! Well, then, for the land of goodness, why didn't you let me +know it? Such a time as I had tryin' to find out where you lived and +all!" + +The Captain saw but one plausible explanation, and that was the plain +truth. Slowly he told the story of the colored woman and the extension +case. The widow laughed until her spectacles fell off. + +"Well, there!" she exclaimed. "If that don't beat all! I don't blame +Cap'n Burgess a mite. Poor thing! I guess I'd have run, too, if I'd have +seen that darky. She was settin' right in the next seat to me, and she +had a shut-over bag consid'rable like mine, and when she got up to git +out, she took mine by mistake. I was a good deal put out about it, and +I expect I talked to her like a Dutch uncle when I caught up with her. +Dear! dear! Where is Cap'n Burgess?" + +"He's shut up in a fish shanty down the road, and he's so upsot that I +dunno's he'll stir from there tonight. Jerry ain't prejudiced, but that +darky was too much for him." + +And then they both laughed, the widow because of the ludicrous nature +of the affair and the Captain because of the relief that the lady's +acceptance of it afforded his mind. + +Mrs. Snow was the first to become grave. "Cap'n Hedge," she said, +"there's one or two things I must say right here. In the first place, I +ain't in the habit of answerin' advertisements from folks that wants +to git married; I ain't so hard up for a man as all that comes to. +Next thing, I didn't come down here with my mind made up to marry Cap'n +Burgess, not by no means. I wanted to see him and talk with him, and +tell him jest all about how things was with me and find out about him +and then--why, if everything was shipshape, I might, p'raps, think +about--" + +"Jest so, ma'am, jest so," broke in her companion. "That's about the +way we felt. You see, there's prob'ly a long story on both sides, and if +you'll excuse me I'll go down to the shanty and see if I can't git Jerry +up here. It'll be a job, I'm 'fraid, but--" + +"No, you shan't either. I'll tell you what we'll do. It's awful late +now and I must be gittin' up to the tavern. S'pose, if 'tain't too much +trouble, you walk up there with me and I'll stay there to-night and +to-morrer I'll come down here, and we'll all have a common-sense talk. +P'raps by that time your friend 'll have the darky woman some off his +mind, too." + +Needless to say Captain Eri agreed to this plan with alacrity. The +widow carefully tied on a black, old-fashioned bonnet, picked up a fat, +wooden-handled umbrella and the extension case, and said that she was +ready. + +They walked up the road together, the Captain carrying the extension +case. They talked, but not of matrimonial prospects. Mrs. Snow knew +almost as much about the sea and the goings and comings thereon as did +her escort, and the conversation was salty in the extreme. It +developed that the Nantucket lady had a distant relative who was in the +life-saving service at Cuttyhunk station, and as the Captain knew every +station man for twenty miles up and down the coast, wrecks and maritime +disasters of all kinds were discussed in detail. + +At the Traveler's Rest Mrs. Snow was introduced by the unblushing Eri as +a cousin from Provincetown, and, after some controversy concerning the +price of board and lodging, she was shown up to her room. Captain Eri +walked home, absorbed in meditation. Whatever his thoughts were they +were not disagreeable, for he smiled and shook his head more than once, +as if with satisfaction. As he passed John Baxter's house he noticed +that the light in the upper window was still burning. + +Captain Perez was half asleep when Eri opened the door of the shanty. +Captain Jerry, however, was very much awake and demanded to be told +things right away. His friend briefly explained the situation. + +"I don't care if she stays here till doomsday," emphatically declared +the disgruntled one, "I shan't marry her. What's she like, anyhow?" + +He was surprised at the enthusiasm of Captain Eri's answer. + +"She's a mighty good woman; that's what I think she is, and she'd make +a fust-class wife for any man. I hope you'll say so, too, when you +see her. There ain't nothin' hity-tity about her, but she's got more +common-sense than any woman I ever saw. But there! I shan't talk another +bit about her to-night. Come on home and turn in." + +And go home and turn in they did, but not without protestation from the +pair who had yet to meet the woman from Nantucket. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + + +"All hands on deck! Turn out there! Turnout!" + +Captain Eri grunted and rolled over in his bed; for a moment or two he +fancied himself back in the fo'castle of the Sea Mist, the bark in which +he had made his first voyage. Then, as he grew wider awake, he heard, +somewhere in the distance, a bell ringing furiously. + +"Turn out, all hands! Turn out!" + +Captain Eri sat up. That voice was no part of a dream. It belonged to +Captain Jerry, and the tone of it meant business. The bell continued to +ring. + +"Aye, aye, Jerry! What's the matter?" he shouted. + +"Fire! There's a big fire up in the village. Look out of the window, and +you can see. They're ringing the schoolhouse bell; don't you hear it?" + +The Captain, wide awake enough by this time, jumped out of bed, carrying +the blankets with him, and ran to the window. Opening it, he thrust out +his head. The wind had changed to the eastward, and a thick fog had come +in with it. The house was surrounded by a wet, black wall, but off to +the west a red glow shone through it, now brighter and now fainter. The +schoolhouse bell was turning somersaults in its excitement. + +Only once, since Captain Jerry had been janitor, had the schoolhouse +bell been rung except in the performance of its regular duties. That +once was on a night before the Fourth of July, when some mischievous +youngsters climbed in at a window and proclaimed to sleeping Orham that +Young America was celebrating the anniversary of its birth. Since then, +on nights before the Fourth, Captain Jerry had slept in the schoolhouse, +armed with a horsewhip and an ancient navy revolver. The revolver was +strictly for show, and the horsewhip for use, but neither was called +into service, for even if some dare-devil spirits did venture near the +building, the Captain's snores, as he slumbered by the front door, were +danger signals that could not be disregarded. + +But there was no flavor of the Fourth in the bell's note this night. +Whoever the ringer might be, he was ringing as though it was his only +hope for life, and the bell swung back and forth without a pause. The +red glow in the fog brightened again as the Captain gazed at it. + +Captain Jerry came tumbling up the stairs, breathless and half dressed. + +"Where do you make it out to be?" he panted. + +"Somewhere's nigh the post-office. Looks 's if it might be Weeks's +store. Where's Perez?" + +Captain Eri had lighted a lamp and was pulling on his boots, as he +spoke. + +"Here I be!" shouted the missing member of the trio from the dining room +below. "I'm all ready. Hurry up, Eri!" + +Captain Eri jumped into his trousers, slipped into a faded pea-jacket +and clattered downstairs, followed by the wildly excited Jerry. + +"Good land, Perez!" he cried, as he came into the dining room, "I +thought you said you was all ready!" + +Captain Perez paused in the vain attempt to make Captain Jerry's hat +cover his own cranium and replied indignantly, "Well, I am, ain't I?" + +"Seems to me I'd put somethin' on my feet besides them socks, if I was +you. You might catch cold." + +Perez glanced down at his blue-yarn extremities in blank astonishment. +"Well, now," he exclaimed, "if I hain't forgot my boots!" + +"Well, git 'em on, and be quick. There's your hat. Give Jerry his." + +The excited Perez vanished through the door of his chamber, and Captain +Eri glanced at the chronometer; the time was a quarter after two. + +They hurried out of the door and through the yard. The wind, as has been +said, was from the east, but there was little of it and, except for the +clanging of the bell, the night was very still. The fog was heavy and +wet, and the trees and bushes dripped as if from a shower. There was the +salt smell of the marshes in the air, and the hissing and splashing of +the surf on the outer beach were plainly to be heard. Also there was the +clicking sound of oars in row-locks. + +"Somebody is comin' over from the station," gasped Captain Jerry. "Don't +run so, Eri. It's too dark. I've pretty nigh broke my neck already." + +They passed the lily pond, where the frogs had long since adjourned +their concert and gone to bed, dodged through the yard of the tightly +shuttered summer hotel, and came out at the corner of the road, having +saved some distance by the "short-cut." + +"That ain't Weeks's store," declared Captain Perez, who was in the lead. +"It's Web Saunders's place; that's what it is." + +Captain Eri paused and looked over to the left in the direction of the +Baxter homestead. The light in the window was still burning. + +They turned into the "main road" at a dog trot and became part of a +crowd of oddly dressed people, all running in the same direction. + +"Web's place, ain't it?" asked Eri of Seth Wingate, who was lumbering +along with a wooden bucket in one hand and the pitcher of his wife's +best washstand set in the other. + +"Yes," breathlessly answered Mr. Wingate, "and it's a goner, they tell +me. Every man's got to do his part if they're going to save it. I allers +said we ought to have a fire department in this town." + +Considering that Seth had, for the past eight years, persistently +opposed in town-meeting any attempt to purchase a hand engine, this was +a rather surprising speech, but no one paid any attention to it then. + +The fire was in the billiard saloon sure enough, and the back portion +of the building was in a blaze when they reached it. Ladders were placed +against the eaves, and a line of men with buckets were pouring water on +the roof. The line extended to the town pump, where two energetic youths +in their shirtsleeves were working the handle with might and main. The +houses near at hand were brilliantly illuminated, and men and women were +bringing water from them in buckets, tin pails, washboilers, and even +coalscuttles. + +Inside the saloon another hustling crowd was busily working to "save" +Mr. Saunders' property. A dozen of the members had turned the biggest +pool table over on its back and were unscrewing the legs, heedless of +the fact that to attempt to get the table through the front door was +an impossibility and that, as the back door was in the thickest of the +fire, it, too, was out of the question. A man appeared at the open front +window of the second story with his arms filled with bottles of various +liquids, "original packages" and others. These, with feverish energy, he +threw one by one into the street, endangering the lives of everyone +in range and, of course, breaking every bottle thrown. Some one of +the cooler heads calling his attention to these facts, he retired and +carefully packed all the empty bottles, the only ones remaining, into a +peach basket and tugged the latter downstairs and to a safe place on a +neighboring piazza. Then he rested from his labors as one who had done +all that might reasonably be expected. + +Mr. Saunders himself, lightly attired in a nightshirt tucked into a +pair of trousers, was rushing here and there, now loudly demanding more +water, and then stopping to swear at the bottle-thrower or some other +enthusiast. "Web's" smoothness was all gone, and the language he used +was, as Abigail Mullett said afterward, "enough to bring down a jedgment +on anybody." + +Captain Eri caught him by the sleeve as he was running past and +inquired, "How'd it start, Web?" + +"How'd it START? I know mighty well HOW it started, and 'fore I git +through I'll know WHO started it. Somebody 'll pay for this, now you +hear me! Hurry up with the water, you--" + +He tore frantically away to the pump and the three captains joined the +crowd of volunteer firemen. Captain Eri, running round to the back of +the building, took in the situation at once. Back of the main portion of +the saloon was an ell, and it was in this ell that the fire had started. +The ell, itself, was in a bright blaze, but the larger building in front +was only just beginning to burn. The Captain climbed one of the ladders +to the roof and called to the men at work there. + +"That shed's gone, Ben," he said. "Chuck your water on the main part +here. Maybe, if we had some ropes we might be able to pull the shed +clear, and then we could save the rest." + +"How'd you fasten the ropes?" was the panted reply. "She's all ablaze, +and a rope would burn through in a minute if you tied it anywheres." + +"Git some grapples and anchors out of Rogers' shop. He's got a whole lot +of 'em. Keep on with the water bus'ness. I'll git the other stuff." + +He descended the ladder and explained his idea to the crowd below. There +was a great shout and twenty men and boys started on a run after ropes, +while as many more stormed at the door of Nathaniel Rogers' blacksmith +shop. Rogers was the local dealer in anchors and other marine ironwork. +The door of the shop was locked and there was a yell for axes to burst +it open. + +Then arose an agonized shriek of "Don't chop! don't chop!" and Mr. +Rogers himself came struggling to the defense of his property. +In concert the instant need was explained to him, but he remained +unconvinced. + +"We can't stay here arguin' all night!" roared one of the leaders. "He's +got to let us in. Go ahead and chop! I'll hold him." + +"I give you fair warnin', Squealer Wixon! If you chop that door, I'll +have the law onto you. I just had that door painted, and--STOP! I've got +the key in my pocket!" + +It was plain that the majority were still in favor of chopping, as +affording a better outlet for surplus energy, but they waited while Mr. +Rogers, still protesting, produced the key and unlocked the door. In +another minute the greater portion of the ironwork in the establishment +was on its way to the fire. + +The rope-seekers were just returning, laden with everything from +clothes-lines to cables. Half a dozen boat anchors and a grapnel were +fastened to as many ropes, and the crowd pranced gayly about the burning +ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain Eri found a party +with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the side of the saloon in +order to get out the pool table. After some endeavor he persuaded them +to desist and they came around to the rear and, taking turns, ran in +close to the shed and chopped at it until the fire drove them away. At +last they made a hole close to where it joined the main building, large +enough to attach the grapnel. Then, with a "Yo heave ho!" everyone took +hold of the rope and pulled. Of course the grapnel pulled out with only +a board or two, but they tried again, and, this time getting it around a +beam, pulled a large portion of the shed to the ground. + +Meanwhile, another ax party had attached an anchor to the opposite side, +and were making good progress. In due time the shed yawned away from the +saloon, tottered, and collapsed in a shower of sparks. A deluge of water +soon extinguished these. Then everyone turned to the main building, +and, as the fire had not yet taken a firm hold of this, they soon had it +under control. + +Captain Eri worked with the rest until he saw that the worst was over. +Then he began the search that had been in his mind since he first saw +the blaze. He found Captain Jerry and Captain Perez perspiringly passing +buckets of water from hand to hand in the line, and, calling them to one +side, asked anxiously: + +"Have either of you fellers seen John Baxter tonight?" + +Captain Perez looked surprised, and then some of the trouble discernible +in Eri's face was apparent in his own. + +"Why, no," he replied slowly, "I ain't seen him, now you speak of it. +Everybody in town's here, too. Queer, ain't it? + +"Haven't you seen him, either, Jerry?" + +Captain Jerry answered with a shake of the head. "But then," he said, +"Perez and me have been right here by the pump ever sence we come. He +might be 'most anywheres else, and we wouldn't see him. Want me to ask +some of the other fellers?" + +"No!" exclaimed his friend, almost fiercely. "Don't you mention his name +to a soul, nor let 'em know you've thought of him. If anybody should +ask, tell 'em you guess he's right around somewheres. You two git to +work ag'in. I'll let you know if I want you." + +The pair took up their buckets, and the Captain walked on from group to +group, looking carefully at each person. The Reverend Perley and some +of his flock were standing by themselves on a neighboring stoop, and to +them the searcher turned eagerly. + +"Why, Cap'n Eri!" exclaimed Miss Busteed, the first to identify him, +"how you've worked! You must be tired pretty nigh to death. Ain't it +awful! But it's the Lord's doin's; I'm jest as sure of that as I can be, +and I says so to Mr. Perley. Didn't I, Mr. Perley? I says--" + +"Lookin' for anybody, Cap'n?" interrupted the reverend gentleman. + +"No," lied the Captain calmly, "jest walkin' around to git cooled off a +little. Good-night." + +There was the most likely place, and John Baxter was not there. +Certainly every citizen in Orham, who was able to crawl, would be out +this night, and if the old puritan hermit of the big house was not +present to exult over the downfall of the wicked, it would be because +he was ill or because--The Captain didn't like to think of the other +reason. + +Mrs. "Web" Saunders, quietly weeping, was seated on a knoll near the +pump. Three of the Saunders' hopefuls, also weeping, but not quietly, +were seated beside her. Another, the youngest of the family, was being +rocked soothingly in the arms of a stout female, who was singing to it +as placidly as though fires were an every day, or night, occurrence. The +Captain peered down, and the stout woman looked up. + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" exclaimed Captain Eri. + +The lady from Nantucket made no immediate reply. She rose, however, +shook down the black "alpaca" skirt, which had been folded up to keep +it out of the dew, and, still humming softly to the child, walked off a +little way, motioning with her head for the Captain to follow. When +she had reached a spot sufficiently remote from Mrs. Saunders, she +whispered: + +"How d'ye do, Cap'n Hedge? I guess the wust is over now, isn't it? I saw +you workin' with them ropes; you must be awful tired." + +"How long have you been here?" asked the Captain somewhat astonished at +her calmness. + +"Oh, I come right down as soon as I heard the bell. I'm kind of used to +fires. My husband's schooner got afire twice while I was with him. He +used to run a coal vessel, you know. I got right up and packed my bag, +'cause I didn't know how the fire might spread. You never can tell in +a town like this. Ssh'h, dearie," to the baby, "there, there, it's all +right. Lay still." + +"How'd you git acquainted with her?" nodding toward the wife of the +proprietor of the scorched saloon. + +"Oh, I see the poor thing settin' there with all them children and +nobody paying much attention to her, so I went over and asked if I +couldn't help out. I haven't got any children of my own, but I was +number three in a fam'ly of fourteen, so I know how it's done. Oh! that +husband of hers! He's a nice one, he is! Would you b'lieve it, he come +along and she spoke to him, and he swore at her somethin' dreadful. +That's why she's cryin'. Poor critter, I guess by the looks she's used +to it. Well, I give HIM a piece of my mind. He went away with a flea in +his ear. I do despise a profane man above all things. Yes, the baby's +all right, Mrs. Saunders. I'm a-comin'. Good-night, Cap'n Hedge. I +s'pose I shall see you all in the mornin'. You ought to be careful and +not stand still much this damp night. It's bad when you're het up so." + +She went back, still singing to the baby, to where Mrs. Saunders sat, +and the Captain looked after her in a kind of amazed fashion. + +"By mighty!" he muttered, and then repeated it. Then he resumed his +search. + +He remembered that there had been a number of people on the side of +the burning shed opposite that on which he had been employed, and he +determined to have one look there before going to the Baxter homestead. +Almost the first man he saw as he approached the dying fire was Ralph +Hazeltine. The electrician's hands and face were blackened by soot, and +the perspiration sparkled on his forehead. + +"Hello, Captain!" he said, holding out his hand. "Lively for a while, +wasn't it? They tell me you were the man who suggested pulling down the +shed. It saved the day, all right enough." + +"You look as if you'd been workin' some yourself. Was you one of the +fellers that got that anchor in on this side?" + +"He was THE one," broke in Mr. Wingate, who was standing at Hazeltine's +elbow. "He waded in with an ax and stayed there till I thought he'd burn +the hair off his head. Web ought to pay you and him salvage, Eri. The +whole craft would have gone up if it hadn't been for you two." + +"I wonder if they got that pool table out," laughed Ralph. "They did +everything but saw it into chunks." + +"I never saw Bluey Bacheldor work so afore," commented the Captain. "I +wish somebody'd took a photograph of him. I'll bet you could sell 'em +round town for curiosities. Well, I can't be standin' here." + +"If you're going home I'll go along with you. I may as well be getting +down toward the station. The excitement is about over." + +"I ain't goin' right home, Mr. Hazeltine. I've got an errand to do. +Prob'ly I'll be goin' pretty soon, though." + +"Oh, all right! I'll wait here a while longer then. See you later +perhaps." + +The fog had lifted somewhat and as the Captain, running silently, turned +into the "shore road," he saw that the light in the Baxter homestead had +not been extinguished. The schoolhouse bell had ceased to ring, and the +shouts of the crowd at the fire sounded faintly. There were no other +sounds. + +Up the driveway Captain Eri hurried. There were no lights in the lower +part of the house and the dining-room door was locked. The kitchen +door, however, was not fastened and the Captain opened it and entered. +Shutting it carefully behind him, he groped along to the entrance of the +next room. + +"John!" he called softly. There was no answer, and the house was +perfectly still save for the ticking of the big clock. Captain Eri +scratched a match and by its light climbed the stairs. His friend's +room was empty. The lamp was burning on the bureau and a Bible was open +beside it. The bed had not been slept in. + +Thoroughly alarmed now, the Captain, lamp in hand, went through one room +after the other. John Baxter was not at home, and he was not with the +crowd at the fire. Where was he? There was, of course, a chance that his +friend had passed him on the way or that he had been at the fire, after +all, but this did not seem possible. However, there was nothing to do +but go back, and this time the Captain took the path across the fields. + +The Baxter house was on the "shore road," and the billiard room and +post-office were on the "main road." People in a hurry sometimes avoided +the corner by climbing the fence opposite the Baxter gate, going through +the Dawes' pasture and over the little hill back of the livery stable, +and coming out in the rear of the post-office and close to the saloon. + +Captain Eri, worried, afraid to think of the fire and its cause, and +only anxious to ascertain where his friend was and what he had been +doing that night, trotted through the pasture and over the hill. Just +as he came to the bayberry bushes on the other side he stumbled and fell +flat. + +He knew what it was that he had stumbled over the moment that he fell +across it, and his fingers trembled, so that he could scarcely scratch +the match that he took from his pocket. But it was lighted at last and, +as its tiny blaze grew brighter, the Captain saw John Baxter lying face +downward in the path, his head pointed toward his home and his feet +toward the billiard saloon. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + + +For a second, only, Captain Eri stood there motionless, stooping over +the body of his friend. Then he sprang into vigorous action. He dropped +upon his knees and, seizing the shoulder of the prostrate figure, +shook it gently, whispering, "John! John!" There was no answer and no +responsive movement, and the Captain bent his head and listened. Breath +was there and life; but, oh, so little of either! The next thought was, +of course, to run for help and for a doctor, but he took but a few steps +when a new idea struck him and he came back. + +Lighting another match he examined the fallen man hurriedly. The old +"Come-Outer" lay in the path with his arms outstretched, as if he had +fallen while running. He was bare-headed, and there was no sign of a +wound upon him. One coat-sleeve was badly scorched, and from a pocket in +the coat protruded the neck of a bottle. The bottle was empty, but its +odor was strong; it had contained kerosene. The evidence was clear, and +the Captain knew that what he had feared was the truth. + +For a moment he stood erect and pondered as to what was best to do. +Whatever it was, it must be done quickly, but if the doctor and those +that might come with him should find the burned coat and the tell-tale +bottle, it were better for John Baxter that consciousness and life never +were his again. There might, and probably would, be suspicion; but here +was proof absolute that meant prison and disgrace for a man whom all the +community had honored and respected. + +Captain Eri weighed the chances, speculated on the result, and then did +what seemed to him right. He threw the bottle as far away from the path +as he could and then stripped off the coat, and, folding it into a small +bundle, hid it in the bushes near by. Then he lifted the limp body, and +turned it so that the gray head was toward the billiard saloon instead +of from it. + +Perez and Jerry were still busy with the water buckets when their friend +came panting up the knoll to the pump. + +"Hello, Eri!" said the former, wiping his forehead with his arm. "It's +'bout out, ain't it? Why, what's the matter?" + +"Nothin'; nothin' to speak of. Put down them buckets, and you and Jerry +come with me. I've got somethin' that I want you to do." + +Nodding and exchanging congratulations with acquaintances in the crowd +on the success of the fire-fighting, Captain Eri led his messmates to a +dark corner under a clump of trees. Then he took each of them by the arm +and whispered sharply: + +"Dr. Palmer's somewheres in this crowd. I want each of you fellers to go +diff'rent ways and look for him. Whichever one finds him fust can bring +him up to the corner by the post-office. Whistle when you git there and +the rest of us 'll come. Don't stop to ask questions. I ain't hurt, but +John Baxter's had a stroke or somethin'. I can't tell you no more now. +Hurry! And say, don't you mention to a soul what the matter is." + +A sea-faring life has its advantages. It teaches prompt obedience, for +one thing. The two mariners did not hesitate an instant, but bolted in +opposite directions. Captain Eri watched them go, and then set off in +another. He was stopped every few moments and all sorts of questions and +comments concerning the fire and its cause were fired at him, but he +put off some inquiries with a curt "Don't know" and others with nods +or negatives, and threaded his way from one clump of townspeople to +another. As he came close to the blackened and smoking billiard saloon, +Ralph Hazeltine caught him by the arm. + +"Hello!" said the electrician. "Haven't you gone home yet?" + +"No, not yit. Say, I'll ask you, 'cause I cal'late you can keep your +mouth shut if it's necessary: Have you seen the Doctor anywheres 'round +lately? He was here, 'cause I saw him when I fust come." + +"Who, Dr. Palmer? No; I haven't seen him. Is anyone hurt? Can I help?" + +"I guess not. John Baxter's sick, but--oh, Lord! Here comes Wingate. +He'll talk for a week." + +Seth, panting and excited, was pushing his way toward them, shouting the +Captain's name at the top of his voice. + +"Hey, Eri!" he hailed. "I want to know if you'll sign a petition to git +the town a fire ingyne? I've been talkin' to a couple of the s'lectmen +and they--" + +"Oh, Mr. Wingate," interrupted Ralph, "Mr. Mullett's been looking for +you. He's over there by the pump, I think." + +"Who, Lem Mullett? Is that so! He's jest the feller I want to see. See +you later, Eri." + +The Captain grinned appreciatively as the convert to the hand-engine +proposal disappeared. + +"That wasn't so bad," he said. "I'm much obliged. Hey! There's the +whistle. Come on, Mr. Hazeltine, if you ain't in a special hurry. Maybe +we WILL need you." + +They reached the corner by the post-office to find Dr. Palmer, who had +practiced medicine in Orham since he received his diploma, waiting for +them. Captain Perez, who had discovered the physician on the Nickerson +piazza, was standing close by with his fingers in his mouth, whistling +with the regularity of a foghorn. + +"Cut it short, Perez!" commanded Eri. "We're here now." + +"Yes, but Jerry ain't." And the whistling began again. + +"Dry up, for the land's sake! D'you want to fetch the whole tribe here? +There's Jerry, now. Come on, Doctor." + +John Baxter was lying just as the Captain had left him, and the others +watched anxiously as the doctor listened at the parted lips, and thrust +his hand inside the faded blue waistcoat. + +"He's alive," he said after a moment, "but unconscious. We must get him +home at once." + +"He heard the bell and was runnin' to the fire when he was took," said +Captain Jerry. "Run out in his shirt sleeves, and was took when he got +as fur as here." + +"That's the way I figger it," said Eri unblushingly. "Lift him +carefully, you fellers. Now then!" + +"I warned him against over-exertion or excitement months ago," said the +Doctor, as they bore the senseless burden toward the big house, now as +black as the grave that was so near its owner. "We must find someone +to take care of him at once. I don't believe the old man has a relation +within a hundred miles." + +"Why don't we take him to our house?" suggested Captain Jerry. +"'Twouldn't seem so plaguey lonesome, anyhow." + +"By mighty!" ejaculated Captain Eri in astonishment. "Well, Jerry, I'll +be switched if you ain't right down brilliant once in a while. Of course +we will. He can have the spare room. Why didn't I think of that, I +wonder?" + +And so John Baxter, who had not paid a visit in his native village since +his wife died, came at last to his friend's home to pay what seemed +likely to be a final one. They carried him up the stairs to the spare +room, as dismal and cheerless as spare rooms in the country generally +are, undressed him as tenderly as their rough hands would allow, robed +him in one of Captain Jerry's nightshirts--the buttons that fastened +it had been sewed on by the Captain himself, and were all sizes and +colors--and laid him in the big corded bedstead. The Doctor hastened +away to procure his medicine case. Ralph Hazeltine, having been +profusely thanked for his services and promising to call the next day, +went back to the station, and the three captains sat down by the bedside +to watch and wait. + +Captain Eri was too much perturbed to talk, but the other two, although +sympathetically sorry for the sufferer, were bursting with excitement +and curiosity. + +"Well, if THIS ain't been a night!" exclaimed Captain Jerry. "Seem's if +everything happened at once. Fust that darky and then the fire and then +this. Don't it beat all? + +"Eri," said Captain Perez anxiously, "was John layin' jest the same way +when you found him as he was when we come?" + +"Right in the same place," was the answer. + +"I didn't say in the same place. I asked if he was layin' the same way." + +"He hadn't moved a muscle. Laid jest as if he was dead." + +It will be noticed that Captain Eri was adhering strictly to the +truth. Luckily, Perez seemed to be satisfied, for he asked no further +questions, but observed, "It's a good thing we've got a crowd to swear +how we found him. There's a heap of folks in this town would be sayin' +he set that fire if 'twa'n't for that." + +"Some of 'em will be sayin' it anyhow," remarked Jerry. + +"Some folks 'll say anything but their prayers," snapped Eri savagely. +"They won't say it while I'm around. And look here! if you hear anybody +sayin' it, you tell 'em it's a lie. If that don't keep 'em quiet, let me +know." + +"Oh, all right. WE know he didn't set it. I was jest sayin'--" + +"Well, don't say it." + +"My, you're techy! Guess fires and colored folks don't agree with you. +What are we goin' to do now? If John don't die, and the Lord knows I +hope he won't, he's likely to be sick here a long spell. Who are we +goin' to git to take care of him? That's what I want to know. Somebody's +got to do it and we ain't fit. If Jerry 'd only give in and git married +now--" + +But Captain Jerry's protest against matrimony was as obstinate as ever. +Even Perez gave up urging after a while and conversation lagged again. +In a few minutes the Doctor came back, and his examination of the +patient and demands for glasses of water, teaspoons, and the like, kept +Perez and Jerry busy. It was some time before they noticed that Captain +Eri had disappeared. Even then they did not pay much attention to the +circumstance, but watched the physician at work and questioned him +concerning the nature of their guest's illness. + +"D'you think he'll die, Doctor?" inquired Jerry in a hushed voice, as +they came out of the sick room into the connecting chamber. + +"Can't say. He has had a stroke of paralysis, and there seem to be +other complications. If he regains consciousness I shall think he has a +chance, but not a very good one. His pulse is a little stronger. I don't +think he'll die to-night, but if he lives he will need a good nurse, and +I don't know of one in town." + +"Nor me neither," said Captain Perez. + +"Well, A'nt Zuby might come," suggested Jerry, "but I should hate to +have her nuss me, and as for bein' WELL in a house where she was--whew!" + +"A'nt Zuby!" sneered his messmate. "If Lorenzo had a fit and they called +A'nt Zuby he'd have another one and die. A'nt Zuby! I'd 'bout as soon +have M'lissy and be done with it." + +"Yes, I don't doubt YOU WOULD," was the anything but gentle retort. + +What Perez would have said to this thrust must be surmised, for just +then the dining-room door opened and closed again. + +"There's Eri," said Captain Jerry. Then he added in an alarmed whisper, +"Who on airth has he got with him?" + +They heard their friend's voice warning someone to be careful of the top +step, and then the chamber door opened and Captain Eri appeared. There +were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and he was carrying a shabby +canvas extension-case. Captain Jerry gazed at the extension-case with +bulging eyes. + +Captain Eri put down the extension-case and opened the door wide. A +woman came in; a stout woman dressed in black "alpaca" and wearing +brass-rimmed spectacles. Captain Jerry gasped audibly. + +"Dr. Palmer," said Captain Eri, "let me make you acquainted with Mrs. +Snow of Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Dr. Palmer." + +The Doctor and the lady from Nantucket shook hands, the former with a +puzzled expression on his face. + +"Perez," continued the Captain, "let me make you known to Mrs. +Snow--Mrs. Marthy B. Snow,"--this with especial emphasis,--"of +Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Cap'n Perez Ryder." + +They shook hands; Captain Perez managed to say that he was glad to meet +Mrs. Snow. Captain Jerry said nothing, but he looked like a criminal +awaiting the fall of the drop. + +"Doctor," continued the Captain, paying no attention to the signals of +distress displayed by his friend, "I heard you say a spell ago that +John here needed somebody to take care of him. Well, Mrs. Snow--she's +a--a--sort of relation of Jerry's"--just a suspicion of a smile +accompanied this assertion--"and she's done consid'rable nussin' in her +time. I've been talkin' the thing over with her and she's willin' to +look out for John till he gits better." + +The physician adjusted his eyeglasses and looked the volunteer nurse +over keenly. The lady paid no attention to the scrutiny, but calmly +removed her bonnet and placed it on the bureau. The room was Captain +Eri's, and the general disarrangement of everything movable was only a +little less marked than in those of his companions. Mrs. Snow glanced +over the heap of odds and ends on the bureau and picked up a comb. There +were some teeth in it, but they were distant neighbors. + +"I don't use that comb very much," said Captain Eri rather +apologetically. "I gin'rally use the one downstairs." + +The new-found relative of Captain Jerry said nothing, but, laying down +the ruin, marched over to the extension-case, opened it, and took +out another comb--a whole one. With this she arranged the hair on her +forehead. It, the hair, was parted in the middle and drawn back smoothly +at the sides, and Captain Eri noticed that it was brown with a little +gray in it. When the last stray wisp was in place, she turned calmly to +the Doctor and said: + +"Cap'n Baxter's in here, I s'pose. Shall I walk right in?" + +The man of medicine seemed a little surprised at the lady's command of +the situation, but he said: + +"Why, yes, ma'am; I guess you may. You have nursed before, I think the +Captain said." + +"Five years with my husband. He had slow consumption. Before that with +my mother, and most of my brothers and sisters at one time or another. +I've seen consid'rable sickness all my life. More of that than anything +else, I guess. Now, if you'll come in with me, so's to tell me about the +medicine and so on." + +With a short "Humph!" the physician followed her into the sick room, +while the three mariners gazed wide-eyed in at the door. They watched, +as Doctor Palmer explained medicines and gave directions. It did not +need an expert to see that the new nurse understood her business. + +When the Doctor came out his face shone with gratification. + +"She'll do," he said emphatically. "If all your relatives are like that, +Cap'n Burgess, I'd like to know 'em; 'twould help me in my business." +Then he added in response to a question, "He seems to be a little better +just now. I think there will be no change for a while; if there should +be, send for me. I'll call in the morning. Gracious! it's almost +daylight now." + +They saw him to the door and then came back upstairs. Mrs. Snow was +busy, arranging the pillows, setting the room in something like +order, and caring for her patient's garments, that had been tossed +helter-skelter on the floor in the hurry of undressing. She came to the +door as they entered Captain Eri's chamber. + +"Mrs. Snow," said the Captain, "you'd better sleep in my room here +long's you stay. I'll bunk in with Perez downstairs. I'll git my dunnage +out of here right off. I think likely you'll want to clean up some." + +The lady from Nantucket glanced at the bureau top and seemed about to +say something, but checked herself. What she did say was: + +"P'raps you'd better introduce me to Cap'n Burgess. I don't think we've +ever met, if we ARE relations." + +Captain Eri actually blushed a little. "Why, of course," he said. +"Excuse me, ma'am. Jerry, this is Mrs. Snow. I don't know what's got +into me, bein' so careless." + +The sacrifice shook the nurse's hand and said something, nobody knew +exactly what. Mrs. Snow went on to say, "Now, I want you men to go right +on to bed, for I know you're all tuckered out. We can talk to-morrow--I +mean to-day, of course: I forgot 'twas next-door to daylight now. I +shall set up with Cap'n Baxter, and if I need you I'll call you. I'll +call you anyway when I think it's time. Good-night." + +They protested, of course, but the lady would not listen. She calmly +seated herself in the rocker by the bed and waved to them to go, which +two of them reluctantly did after a while. The other one had gone +already. It would be superfluous to mention his name. + +Downstairs again and in Perez' room Captain Eri came in for a +questioning that bade fair to keep up forever. He shut off all +inquiries, however, with the announcement that he wouldn't tell them a +word about it till he'd had some sleep. Then he would explain the whole +thing, and they could decide whether he had done right or not. There +were all sorts of things to be considered, he said, and they had better +take a nap now while they could. + +"Well, I'd jest like to ask you this, Eri Hedge," demanded Captain +Jerry. "What in time did you tell the Doctor that she was a relation of +mine for? That was a nice thing to do, wa'n't it? I'll have to answer +more fool questions 'bout that than a little. What sort of a relation +shall I tell folks she is? Jest tell me that, will you?" + +"Oh, tell 'em she's a relation by marriage," was the answer, muffled by +the bed clothes. "Maybe that 'll be true by the time they ask you." + +"I'll BET it won't!" snorted the rebel. + +Captain Perez fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Jerry, tired out, +did the same, but Captain Eri's eyes did not close. The surf pounded +and grumbled. A rooster, early astir, crowed somewhere in the distance. +Daniel thumped the side of his stall and then subsided for another nap. +The gray morning light brightened the window of the little house. + +Then Captain Eri slid silently out of bed, dressed with elaborate +precautions against noise, put on his cap, and tiptoed out of the house. +He walked through the dripping grass, climbed the back fence and +hurried to the hill where John Baxter had fallen. Once there, he looked +carefully around to be sure that no one was watching. Orham, as a rule, +is an early riser, but this morning most of the inhabitants, having been +up for the greater part of the night, were making up lost sleep and the +Captain was absolutely alone. + +Assured of this, he turned to the bush underneath which he had hidden +the burned coat, pushed aside the drenched boughs with their fading +leaves and reached down for the tell-tale garment. + +And then he made an unpleasant discovery. The coat was gone. + +He spent an agitated quarter of an hour hunting through every clump of +bushes in the immediate vicinity, but there was no doubt of it. Someone +had been there before him and had taken the coat away. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + + +There was a knock on the door of Captain Perez's sleeping apartment. + +"Cap'n Hedge," said Mrs. Snow, "Cap'n Hedge! I'm sorry to wake you up, +but it's 'most ten o'clock and--" + +"What? Ten o'clock! Godfrey scissors! Of all the lazy--I'll be out in a +jiffy. Perez, turn out there! Turn out, I tell you!" + +Captain Eri had fallen asleep in the rocker where he had seated himself +upon his return from the fruitless search for the coat. He had had no +intention of sleeping, but he was tired after his strenuous work at the +fire, and had dropped off in the midst of his worry. He sprang to his +feet, and tried to separate dreams from realities. + +"Land of love, Perez!" he ejaculated. "Here you and me have been +sleepin' ha'f the forenoon. We'd ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Let's +git dressed quicker 'n chain lightnin'." + +"Dressed?" queried Perez, sitting up in bed. "I should think you was +dressed now, boots and all. What are you talkin' 'bout?" + +The Captain glanced down at his clothes and seemed as much surprised as +his friend. He managed to pull himself together, however, and stammered: + +"Dressed? Oh, I'm dressed, of course. It's you I'm tryin' to git some +life into." + +"Well, why didn't you call a feller, 'stead of gittin' up and dressin' +all by yourself. I never see such a critter. Where's my socks?" + +To avoid further perplexing questions Captain Eri went into the dining +room. The table was set, really set, with a clean cloth and dishes that +shone. The knives and forks were arranged by the plates, not piled in a +heap for each man to help himself. The Captain gasped. + +"Well, I swan to man!" he said. "Has Jerry had a fit or what's struck +him? I ain't seen him do anything like this for I don't know when." + +"Oh, Cap'n Burgess didn't fix the table, if that's what you mean," said +the new nurse. "Cap'n Baxter seemed to be sleepin' or in a stupor like, +and the Doctor, when he come, said I might leave him long enough to run +downstairs for a few minutes, so--" + +"The Doctor? Has the Doctor been here this mornin'?" + +"Yes, he come 'bout an hour ago. Now, if you wouldn't mind goin' up +and stayin' with Cap'n Baxter for a few minutes while I finish gettin' +breakfast. I've been up and down so many times in the last ha'f hour, I +don't know's I'm sartin whether I'm on my head or my heels." + +The Captain went upstairs in a dazed state. As he passed through what +had been his room he vaguely noticed that the bureau top was clean, and +that most of the rubbish that had ornamented it had disappeared. + +The sick man lay just as he had left him, his white face as colorless +as the clean pillow case against which it rested. Captain Eri remembered +that the pillow cases in the spare room had looked a little yellow the +night before, possibly owing to the fact that, as the room had not been +occupied for months, they had not been changed. He reasoned that the +improvement was another one of the reforms instituted by the lady from +Nantucket. + +He sat down in the rocker by the bed and thought, with a shiver, of the +missing coat. There were nine chances out of ten that whoever found it +would recognize it as belonging to the old "Come-Outer." The contents +of the pocket would be almost certain to reveal the secret if the coat +itself did not. It remained to be seen who the finder was and what +he would do. Meanwhile there was no use worrying. Having come to this +conclusion the Captain, with customary philosophy, resolved to think of +something else. + +Mrs. Snow entered and announced that breakfast was ready and that +he must go down at once and eat it while it was hot. She, having +breakfasted some time before, would stay with the patient until the meal +was over. Captain Eri at first flatly declined to listen to any such +arrangement, but the calm insistence of the Nantucket visitor prevailed +as usual. The Captain realized that the capacity for "bossin' things," +that he had discerned in the letter, was even more apparent in the lady +herself. One thing he did insist upon, however, and this was that Mrs. +Snow should "turn in" as soon as breakfast was over. One of the three +would take the watch in the sick room while the other two washed the +dishes. The nurse was inclined to balk on the dishwashing proposition, +saying that she could do it herself after she had had a wink or two, +but this the Captain wouldn't hear of. He went away, however, with an +unsettled conviction that, although he and his partners might wash +the dishes, Mrs. Snow would wash them again as soon as she had an +opportunity. "She didn't say so, but she sort of looked it," he +explained afterward. + +He found his friends seated at the table and feasting on hot biscuits, +eggs, and clear, appetizing coffee. They greeted him joyously. + +"Hey, Eri!" hailed Captain Perez. "Ain't this gay? Look at them eggs; +b'iled jest to a T. Ain't much like Jerry's h'af raw kind." + +"Humph! You needn't say nothin', Perez," observed Captain Jerry, his +mouth full of biscuit. "When you was cook, you allers b'iled 'em so hard +they'd dent the barn if you'd fired 'em at it. How's John, Eri?" + +Captain Eri gave his and the Doctor's opinion of his friend's condition +and then said, "Now, we've got to have some kind of a settlement on this +marryin' question. Last night, when I was up in the room there, it come +acrost me all of a sudden that, from what I'd seen of this Nantucket +woman, she'd be jest the sort of nurse that John needed. So I skipped +out while you fellers was busy with the Doctor, found her at the hotel, +explained things to her, and got her to come down. That's all there is +to that. I ain't made no arrangement with her, and somethin's got to be +done. What do you think of her, jedgin' by what you've seen?" + +Captain Perez gave it as his opinion that she was "all right," and +added, "If Jerry here wa'n't so pigheaded all at once, he'd marry her +without waitin' another minute." + +Eri nodded. "That's my idee," he said emphatically. + +But Captain Jerry was as obstinate as ever. He simply would not consider +immediate marriage. In vain his comrades reminded him of the original +compact, and the fact that the vote was two to one against him; he +announced that he had changed his mind, and that that was all there was +about it. + +At length Captain Eri lost patience. + +"Jerry," he exclaimed, "you remind me of that old white hen we used +to have. When we didn't want her to set she'd set on anything from a +doorknob to a rock, couldn't keep her off; but when we give in finally +and got a settin' of eggs for her, she wouldn't come nigher to 'em than +the other end of the hen-yard. Now you might as well make up your mind +that somethin's got to be done. This Mrs. Snow ain't nobody's fool. We +put out a bait that anybody with sense would say couldn't catch nothin' +but sculpin, and, by mighty, we hooked a halibut! If the woman was +anything like what you'd think she'd be, answerin' an advertisement like +that, I'd be the fust to say let her go, but she ain't; she's all right, +and we need her to nuss John besides." + +"Tell you what we might do," said Perez slowly; "we might explain to her +that Jerry don't feel that 'twould be right to think of marryin' with +Cap'n Baxter so sick in the house and that, if she's willin', we'll put +it off till he dies or gets better. Meantime, we'll pay her so much to +stay here and nuss. Seems to me that's about the only way out of it." + +So they agreed to lay this proposal before the Nantucket lady, Captain +Jerry reluctantly consenting. Then Captain Eri took up another subject. + +John Baxter, as has been said, had one relative, a granddaughter, living +somewhere near Boston. Captain Eri felt that this granddaughter should +be notified of the old man's illness at once. The difficulty was that +none of them knew the young lady's address. + +"Her fust name's Elizabeth, same as her mothers was," said Eri, "and her +dad's name was Preston. They called her Elsie. John used to write to her +every once in a while. P'raps Sam would know where she lived." + +"Jest' cause Sam's postmaster," observed Perez, "it don't foller that he +reads the name on every letter that goes out and remembers 'em besides." + +"Well, if he don't," said Captain Jerry decidedly, "Mary Emma does. She +reads everything, postals and all." + +Miss Mary Emma Cahoon was the assistant at the post-office, and was +possessed of a well-developed curiosity concerning other people's +correspondence. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Eri, "that's so. We'll write the letter, and +I'll ask Mary Emma for the address when I go up to mail it." + +So Captain Perez went upstairs to take Mrs Snow's place as nurse, while +that lady "turned in." Captain Jerry went into the kitchen to wash the +dishes, and Captain Eri sat down to write the note that should inform +Elizabeth Preston of her grandfather's illness. It was a very short +note, and merely stated the fact without further information. Having had +some experience in that line, the Captain placed very little reliance +upon the help to be expected from relatives. + +Dr. Palmer had spread the news as he went upon his round of visits that +morning, and callers began to drop in to inquire after the sick man. +Miss Busteed was one of the first arrivals, and, as Captain Eri had +seen her through the window, he went upstairs and took Perez' place +as temporary nurse. To Perez, therefore, fell the delightful task of +entertaining the voluble female for something like an hour, while she +talked fire, paralysis, and general gossip at express speed. + +Ralph Hazeltine came in a little later, and was introduced to Mrs. +Snow, that lady's nap having been but a short one. Ralph was favorably +impressed with the capable appearance of the new nurse, and so expressed +himself to Captain Eri as they walked together toward the post-office. + +"I like her," he said emphatically. "She's quiet and sensible and +cheerful besides. She looks as if trouble didn't trouble her very much." + +"I jedge she's seen enough of it in her time, too," observed the Captain +reflectively. "Queer thing how trouble acts different on folks. Kind +of like hot weather, sours milk, but sweetens apples. She's one of the +sweetened kind. And yet, I cal'late she can be pretty sharp, too, if you +try to tread on her toes. Sort of a sweet pickle, hey?" and he laughed. + +Miss Cahoon remembered the Preston girl's address. It was Cambridge, +Kirkland Street, but the number, she did declare, had skipped her mind. +The Captain said he would chance it without the number, so the letter +was posted. Then, with the electrician, he strolled over to inspect the +remains of the billiard saloon. + +There was a small crowd gathered about the building, prominent among +its members being the "train committee," who were evidently holding +a special session on this momentous occasion. The busy "Squealer," a +trifle enlivened by some of Mr. Saunders' wet goods that had escaped +the efforts of the volunteer salvage corps, hailed the new arrivals as +brother heroes. + +"Well now, Cap'n Eri!" he exclaimed, shaking hands vigorously. "And Mr. +Hazeltine, too! How're you feelin' after last night? I says to Web, I +says, 'There's folks in this town besides me that kept you from losin' +the whole thing and you ought to thank 'em,' I says. 'One of 'em 's +Cap'n Eri and t'other one's Mr. Hazeltine. If we three didn't work, then +_I_ don't know,' I says." + +"Web found out how the fire started yit?" inquired the Captain with +apparent unconcern. + +"No, he hain't for sure. There was a lot of us thought old Baxter might +have set it, but they tell me it couldn't have been him, cause he was +took down runnin' to the fire. Web, he's sort of changed his tune, and +don't seem to think anybody set it; thinks it catched itself." + +Mr. Saunders, his smooth self again, with all traces of mental +disturbance gone from his face and all roughness from his tongue, came +briskly up, smiling as if the burning of his place of business was but a +trifling incident, a little annoying, of course, but not worth fretting +about. He thanked the Captain and Hazeltine effusively for their service +of the previous night, and piled the weight of his obligations upon them +until, as Captain Eri said afterwards, "the syrup fairly dripped off his +chin." The Captain broke in upon the sugary flow as soon as he could. + +"How d'you think it started, Web?" he asked. + +"Well," replied Mr. Saunders slowly, "I kind of cal'late she started +herself. There was some of the boys in here most of the evenin', +and, jest like's not, a cigar butt, or a match, or somethin' +dropped somewheres and got to smolderin', and smoldered along till +bime-by--puff!" An expressive wave of a fat hand finished the sentence. + +"Humph!" grunted the Captain. "Changed your mind sence last night. Seems +to me I heard you then swearin' you knew 'twas set and who set it." + +"Well, ye-es. I was considerable shook up last night and maybe I said +things I hadn't ought to. You see there's been a good deal of hard +feelin's towards me in town and for a spell I thought some feller'd +tried to burn me out. But I guess not; I guess not. More I think of it, +more I think it catched itself. Seems to me I remember smellin' sort of +a scorchin' smell when I was lockin' up. Oh, say! I was mighty sorry to +hear 'bout Cap'n Baxter bein' took sick. The old man was dreadful +down on liquor, but I laid that to his religion and never had no hard +feelin's against him. How's he gittin' along?" + +Captain Eri brusquely replied that his friend was "'bout the same," and +asked if Mr. Saunders intended to rebuild. "Web" didn't know just yet. +He was a poor man, didn't carry much insurance, and so on. Thought +likely he should fix up again if it didn't cost too much. Did the Doctor +say whether Captain Baxter would pull through or not? + +Captain Eri gave an evasive answer and turned away. He was silent for +some little time, and when Ralph commented on "Web's" overnight change +of manner, his rejoinder was to the effect that "ile was bound to rise, +but that didn't mean there wa'n't dirty water underneath." On the way +home he asked Hazeltine concerning the trouble at the cable station, and +how Mr. Langley had treated the matter. + +Ralph replied that Mr. Langley had said nothing to him about it. It was +his opinion that the old gentleman understood the affair pretty well, +and was not disposed to blame him. As for the men, they had been as +docile as lambs, and he thought the feeling toward himself was not as +bitter as it had been. All of which his companion said he was glad to +hear. + +They separated at the gate, and the Captain entered the house to find +Mrs. Snow wielding a broom and surrounded by a cloud of dust. Perez +was upstairs with the patient, and Captain Jerry, whose habits had been +considerably upset by the sweeping, was out in the barn. + +That evening the situation was explained to Mrs. Snow by Captain Eri, in +accordance with the talk at the breakfast table. The lady from Nantucket +understood and respected Captain Jerry's unwillingness to discuss the +marriage question while John Baxter's condition continued critical, and +she agreed to act as nurse and housekeeper for a while, at least, +for the sum of six dollars a week. This price was fixed only after +considerable discussion by the three mariners, for Captain Eri was +inclined to offer eight, and Captain Jerry but four. + +When Ralph Hazeltine called late in the afternoon of the following day, +the dining room was so transformed that he scarcely knew it. The dust +had disappeared; the chronometer was polished till it shone; the table +was covered with a cloth that was snow-white, and everything movable had +the appearance of being in its place. Altogether, there was an evidence +of order that was almost startling. + +Captain Eri came to the door in response to his knock, and grinned +appreciatively at his caller's look of wonder. + +"I don't wonder you're s'prised," he said, with a chuckle. "I ain't +begun to git over it yit, myself, and Lorenzo's so shook up he ain't +been in the house sence breakfast time. He's out in the barn, keepin' +Dan'l comp'ny and waitin' for the end of the world to strike, I +cal'late." + +Ralph laughed. "Mrs. Snow?" he inquired. + +"Mrs. Snow," answered the Captain. "It beats all what a woman can do +when she's that kind of a woman. She's done more swabbin' decks and +overhaulin' runnin' riggin' than a new mate on a clipper. The place is +so all-fired clean that I feel like brushin' myself every time I go to +set down." + +"How's Captain Baxter?" asked Hazeltine. + +"Seems to be some better. He come to a little this mornin', and seemed +to know some of us, but he ain't sensed where he is yit, nor I don't +b'lieve he will fur a spell. Set down and keep me comp'ny. It's my watch +jest now. Perez, he's over to Barry's; Jerry's up to the schoolhouse, +and Mrs. Snow's run up to the post-office to mail a letter. John's +asleep, so I can stay downstairs a little while, long's the door's open. +What's the news uptown? Web changed his mind ag'in 'bout the fire?" + +It appeared that Mr. Saunders had not changed his mind, at least so +current gossip reported. And it may be remarked here that, curiously +enough, the opinion that the fire "caught itself" came at last to +be generally accepted in the village. For some weeks Captain Eri was +troubled with thoughts concerning the missing coat, but, as time passed, +and the accusing garment did not turn up, he came to believe that +some boy must have found it and that it had, in all probability, been +destroyed. There were, of course, some persons who still suspected John +Baxter as the incendiary, but the old man's serious illness and respect +for his former standing in the community kept these few silent. The +Baxter house had been locked up and the Captain had the key. + +Hazeltine and his host chatted for a few minutes on various topics. The +gilt titles on the imposing "Lives of Great Naval Commanders," +having received their share of the general dusting, now shone forth +resplendent, and the Captain noticed Ralph's eye as it involuntarily +turned toward them. + +"Noticin' our library?" he chuckled. "Perez' property, that is. 'Gusty +Black talked him into buyin' 'em. Never met 'Gusty, did you? No, I +guess likely not. She lives over to the Neck, and don't git down to the +village much. 'Gusty's what you call a business woman. She' always up to +somethin' to make a dollar, and she's as slick a talker as ever was, +I guess. She never give Perez no rest till he signed the deed for them +books. Told him they'd give liter'ry tone to the shebang. Perez started +to read 'em out loud when they fust come, but he had to stop so often to +spell out the furrin names that me and Jerry used to go to sleep. That +made him mad, and he said, liter'ry tone be durned; he wa'n't goin' to +waste his breath readin' us to sleep; so they've been on the shelf ever +sence." + +Ralph laughed. "So you have book agents, too?" he said. + +"Well, we've got 'Gusty," was the reply, "and she's enough to keep us +goin'. Gits round reg'lar as clockwork once a month to collect the two +dollars from Perez. It's her day now, and I told Perez that that was +why he sneaked off to Barry's. You see, 'Gusty's after him to buy the +history of Methuselah, or some old critter, and he don't like to +see her. She's after me, too, but I'm 'fraid she don't git much +encouragement." + +After they had talked a little longer, the Captain seemed to remember +something, for he glanced at his watch and said, "Mr. Hazeltine, I +wonder if I could git you to do me a favor. I really ought to go down +and see to my shanty. Ain't been there sence day afore yesterday, +and there's so many boys 'round, I'm 'fraid to leave it unlocked much +longer. I thought some of the folks would be back 'fore this, but if you +could stay here long enough for me to run down there a minute or two, +I'd be ever so much obliged. I'll step up and see how John is." + +He went upstairs and returned to report that the patient was quiet and +seemed to be asleep. + +"If you hear him groan, or anything," he said, "jest come to the door +and whistle. Whistle anyway, if you want me. Ain't nobody likely to +come, 'less it's 'Gusty or the Reverend Perley come to ask 'bout John. +If it's a middlin' good-lookin' young woman with a satchel, that's +'Gusty. Don't whistle; tell her I'm out. I'll be back in a jiffy, but +you needn't tell either of them so unless your conscience hurts you TOO +much." + +After the Captain had gone Ralph took down a volume of the "Great +Commanders" and sat down in a chair by the table to look it over. He +was smiling over the gaudy illustrations and flamboyant descriptions +of battles, when there was a step on the walk outside and knock at the +door. "Which is it," he thought, "'Gusty or the Reverend?" + +Obviously it was Miss Black. She stood on the mica slab that formed the +step and looked up at him as he swung the door open. She had a small +leather bag in her hand, just as the Captain had said she would +have, but it flashed across Mr. Hazeltine's mind that the rest of +the description was not a fair one; she was certainly much more than +"middlin' good-lookin'!" + +"Is Captain Hedge in?" she asked. + +Now, from his friend's hints, Ralph had expected to hear a rather sharp +and unpleasant voice,--certain disagreeable remembrances of former +encounters with female book agents had helped to form the impression +perhaps,--but Miss Black's voice was mellow, quiet, and rather pleasing +than otherwise. + +"No," said Mr. Hazeltine, obeying orders with exactitude. "Captain Hedge +is out just now." + +"'Gusty"--somehow the name didn't seem to fit--was manifestly +disappointed. + +"Oh, dear!" she said, and then added, "Will he be back soon?" + +Now this was a question unprovided for. Ralph stammered, and then +miserably equivocated. He really couldn't say just when the Captain +would return. + +"Oh, dear!" said the young lady again. Then she seemed to be waiting for +some further observation on the part of the gentleman at the door. None +being forthcoming, she seemed to make up her mind to act on her own +initiative. + +"I think I will come in and wait," she said with decision. And come +in she did, Mr. Hazeltine not knowing exactly what to do, under the +circumstances. + +Now this was much more in keeping with the electrician's preconceived +ideas of a book agent's behavior; nevertheless, when he turned and found +the young lady standing in the middle of the floor, he felt obliged to +be at least decently polite. + +"Won't you take a chair?" he asked. + +"Thank you," said the caller, and took one. + +The situation was extremely awkward, but Ralph felt that loyalty +to Captain Eri forbade his doing anything that might urge the +self-possessed Miss Black to prolong her visit, so for a time he said +nothing. The young lady looked out of the window and Mr. Hazeltine +looked at her. He was more than ever of the opinion that the "middlin'" +term should be cut out of her description. He rather liked her +appearance, so he decided. He liked the way she wore her hair; so simple +an arrangement, but so effective. Also he liked her dress. It was the +first tailor-made walking suit he had seen since his arrival in Orham. +And worn by a country book agent, of all people. + +Just then Miss Black turned and caught him intently gazing at her. +She colored, apparently with displeasure, and looked out of the window +again. Mr. Hazeltine colored also and fidgeted with the book on the +table. The situation was confoundedly embarrassing. He felt that he must +say something now, so he made the original observation that it had been +a pleasant day. + +To this the young lady agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her tone. +Then Ralph, nervously fishing for another topic, thought of the book in +his hand. + +"I was just reading this," he said. "I found it quite interesting." + +The next moment he realized that he had said what, of all things, was +the most impolitic. It was nothing less than a bid for a "canvass," +and he fully expected to be confronted with the necessary order blanks +without delay. But, strangely enough, the book lady made no such move. +She looked at him, it is true, but with an expression of surprise and +what seemed to be amusement on her face. He was certain that her lips +twitched as she said calmly: + +"Did you? I am glad to hear it." + +This dispassionate remark was entirely unexpected, and the electrician, +as Captain Eri would have said, "lost his bearings" completely. + +"Yes--er, yes," he stammered. "Very interesting indeed. I--I suppose you +must take a good many orders in the course of a week." + +"A good many ORDERS?" + +"Why, yes. Orders for the books, I mean. The books--the 'Great Naval +Lives'--er--these books here." + +"I beg your pardon, but who do you think I am?" + +And it was then that the perception of some tremendous blunder began +to seize upon Mr. Hazeltine. He had been red before; now, he felt the +redness creeping over his scalp under his hair. + +"Why, why, Miss Black, I suppose; that is, I--" + +Just here the door opened and Captain Eri came in. He took off his cap +and then, seeing the visitor, remained standing, apparently waiting for +an introduction. But the young lady did not keep him waiting long. + +"Are you Captain Eri Hedge?" she asked. + +"Yes'm," answered the Captain. + +"Oh, I'm SO glad. Your letter came this morning, and I hurried down on +the first train. I'm Elizabeth Preston." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ELSIE PRESTON + + +Perhaps, on the whole, it is not surprising that Captain Eri didn't +grasp the situation. Neither his two partners nor himself had given +much thought to the granddaughter of the sick man in the upper room. The +Captain knew that there was a granddaughter, hence his letter; but +he had heard John Baxter speak of her as being in school somewhere +in Boston, and had all along conceived of her as a miss of sixteen or +thereabouts. No wonder that at first he looked at the stylishly gowned +young woman, who stood before him with one gloved hand extended, in a +puzzled, uncomprehending way. + +"Excuse me, ma'am," he said slowly, mechanically swallowing up the +proffered hand in his own mammoth fist, "but I don't know's I jest +caught the name. Would you mind sayin' it ag'in?" + +"Elizabeth Preston," repeated the visitor. "Captain Baxter's +granddaughter. You wrote me that he was ill, you know, and I--" + +"What!" roared the Captain, delighted amazement lighting up his face +like a sunrise. "You don't mean to tell me you're 'Liz'beth Baxter's +gal Elsie! Well! Well! I want to know! If this don't beat all! Set down! +Take your things right off. I'm mighty glad to see you." + +Captain Eri's hand, with Miss Preston's hidden in it, was moving up +and down as if it worked by a clock-work arrangement. The young lady +withdrew her fingers from the trap as soon as she conveniently could, +but it might have been noticed that she glanced at them when she had +done so, as if to make sure that the original shape remained. + +"Thank you, Captain Hedge," she said. "And now, please tell me about +grandfather. How is he? May I see him?" + +The Captain's expression changed to one of concern. + +"Why, now, Miss Preston," he said, "your grandpa is pretty sick. Oh, I +don't mean he's goin' to die right off or anything like that," he added +hastily. "I mean he's had a stroke of palsy, or somethin', and he ain't +got so yit that he senses much of what goes on. Now I don't want to +frighten you, you know, but really there's a chance--a leetle mite of +a chance--that he won't know you. Don't feel bad if he don't, now will +you?" + +"I knew he must be very ill from your letter," said the girl simply. "I +was afraid that he might not be living when I reached here. They told me +at the station that he was at your house and so I came. He has been very +good to me and I--" + +Her voice broke a little and she hesitated. Captain Eri was a picture of +nervous distress. + +"Yes, yes, I know," he said hastily. "Don't you worry now. He's better; +the Doctor said he was consid'rably better to-day; didn't he, Mr. +Hazeltine? Why, what am I thinkin' of? Let me make you known to Mr. +Hazeltine; next-door neighbor of ours; right acrost the road," and he +waved toward the bay. + +Ralph and Miss Preston shook hands. The electrician managed to utter +some sort of formality, but he couldn't have told what it was. He was +glad when the Captain announced that, if Mr. Hazeltine would excuse +them, he guessed Miss Preston and he would step upstairs and see John. +The young lady took off her hat and jacket, and Captain Eri lighted a +lamp, for it was almost dark by this time. As its light shone upon +the visitor's face and hair the crimson flush before mentioned +circumnavigated the electrician's head once more, and his bump of +self-esteem received a finishing blow. That any man supposed to possess +two fairly good eyes and a workable brain could have mistaken her for an +Orham Neck book agent by the name of "'Gusty--'Gusty Black!" Heavens! + +"I'll be down in a few minutes, Mr. Hazeltine," said the Captain. "Set +still, won't you?" + +But Mr. Hazeltine wouldn't sit still. He announced that it was late and +he must be going. And go he did, in spite of his host's protestations. + +"Look out for the stairs," cautioned the Captain, leading the way with +the lamp. "The feller that built 'em must have b'lieved that savin' +distance lengthens out life. Come to think of it, I wouldn't wonder if +them stairs was the reason why me and Jerry and Perez took this house. +They reminded us so of the shrouds on a three-master." + +Elsie Preston did her best to smile as her companion rattled on in this +fashion, but both the smile and the Captain's cheerfulness were too +plainly assumed to be convincing, and they passed down the hall in +silence. At the open door of the sick room Captain Eri paused. + +"He's asleep," he whispered, "and, remember, if he wakes up and doesn't +know you, you needn't feel bad." + +Elsie slipped by him and knelt by the bed, looking into the white, old +face on the pillow. Somehow the harsh lines had faded out of it, and it +looked only old and pitiful. + +The Captain watched the tableau for a moment or two, and then tiptoed +into the room and placed the lamp on the bureau. + +"Now, I think likely," he said in a rather husky whisper, "that you'd +like to stay with your grandpa for a little while, so I'll go downstairs +and see about supper. No, no, no!" he added, holding up his hand as the +girl spoke some words of protest, "you ain't goin' nowheres to supper. +You're goin' to stay right here. If you want me, jest speak." + +And he hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, clearing his throat with +vigor and making a great to-do over the scratching of a match. + +Mrs. Snow returned a few minutes later and to her the news of the +arrival was told, as it was also to Perez and Jerry when they came. Mrs. +Snow took charge of the supper arrangements. When the meal was ready, +she said to Captain Eri: + +"Now, I'll go upstairs and tell her to come down. I'll stay with Cap'n +Baxter till you're through, and then p'raps, if one of you'll take my +place, I'll eat my supper and wash the dishes. You needn't come up now. +I'll introduce myself." + +Some few minutes passed before Miss Preston came down. When she did so +her eyes were wet, but her manner was cheerful, and the unaffected way +in which she greeted Captain Perez and Captain Jerry, when these two +rather bashful mariners were introduced by Eri, won them at once. + +The supper was a great success. It was Saturday night, and a Saturday +night supper to the average New Englander means baked beans. The +captains had long ago given up this beloved dish, because, although each +had tried his hand at preparing it, none had wholly succeeded, and the +caustic criticisms of the other two had prevented further trials. But +Mrs. Snow's baked beans were a triumph. So, also, was the brown bread. + +"I snum," exclaimed Captain Perez, "if I don't b'lieve I'd sooner have +these beans than turkey. What do you say, Jerry?" + +"I don't know but I had," assented the sacrifice, upon whose countenance +sat a placidity that had not been there since the night of the +"matching." "'Specially if the turkey was like the one we tried to cook +last Thanksgivin'. 'Member that, Eri?" + +Captain Eri, his mouth full, grunted an emphatic assent. + +"Tell me," said Miss Preston, who had eaten but little, but was +apparently getting more satisfaction from watching her companions, "did +you three men try to keep house here alone?" + +"Yes," answered Eri dryly. "We tried. First we thought 'twas goin' to +be fine; then we thought we'd like it better after we got used to it; +finally we decided that by the time we got used to it we'd die, like the +horse that was fed on sawdust." + +"And so you hired Mrs. Snow to keep house for you? Well, I don't see how +you could have made a better choice; she's a dear, good woman; I'm +sure of it. And now I want to thank you all for what you've done for +grandfather. Mrs. Snow told me all about it; you've been so kind that +I--" + +"That's all right! that's all right!" hastily interrupted Captain Eri. +"Pity if we couldn't help out a shipmate we've sailed with for years and +years. But you'd ought to have tried some of OUR cookin'. Tell her about +the sugar cake you made, Perez. The one that killed the yaller chicken." + +So Captain Perez told it, and then their visitor set them all laughing +by relating some queer housekeeping experiences that she and a school +friend had had while camping at Chautauqua. Somehow each one felt at +home with her. As Captain Eri said afterwards, "She didn't giggle, and +then ag'in she didn't talk down at you." + +As they rose from the table the young lady asked a question concerning +the location of the hotel. The Captain made no answer at the time, but +after a short consultation with the remainder of the triumvirate, he +came to her as she stood by the window and, laying his hand on her +shoulder, said: + +"Now, Elsie--I hope you don't mind my callin' you Elsie, but I've +been chums with your grandpa so long seems's if you must be a sort of +relation of mine--Elsie, you ain't goin' to no hotel, that is, unless +you're real set on it. Your grandpa's here and we're here, and there's +room enough. I don't want to say too much, but I'd like to have you +b'lieve that me and Perez and Jerry want you to stay right in this house +jest as long's you stop in Orham. Now you will, won't you?" + +And so it was settled, and Captain Perez harnessed Daniel and went to +the station for the trunk. + +That evening, just before going to bed, the captains stood by the door +of the sick room watching Elsie and the lady from Nantucket as they sat +beside John Baxter's bed. Mrs. Snow was knitting, and Elsie was reading. +Later, as Captain Eri peered out of the dining-room window to take a +final look at the sky in order to get a line on the weather, he said +slowly: + +"Fellers, do you know what I was thinkin' when I see them two women in +there with John? I was thinkin' that it must be a mighty pleasant thing +to know that if you're took sick somebody like that 'll take care of +you." + +Perez nodded. "I think so, too," he said. + +But if this was meant to influence the betrothed one, it didn't succeed, +apparently, for all Captain Jerry said was: + +"Humph! 'Twould take more than that to make me hanker after a stroke of +palsy." + + + +And with the coming of Elsie Preston and Mrs. Snow life in the little +house by the shore took on a decided change. The Nantucket lady having +satisfied herself that John Baxter's illness was likely to be a long +one, wrote several letters to persons in her native town, which letters, +although she did not say so, were supposed by the captains to deal with +the care of her property while she was away. Having apparently relieved +her mind by this method, and evidently considering the marriage question +postponed for the present, she settled down to nurse the sick man and to +keep house as, in her opinion, a house should be kept. The captains knew +nothing of her past history beyond what they had gathered from stray +bits of her conversation. She evidently did not consider it necessary to +tell anything further, and, on the other hand, asked no questions. + +In her care of Baxter she was more like a sister than a hired nurse. No +wife could have been more tender in her ministrations or more devotedly +anxious for the patient's welfare. + +In her care of the house, she was neatness itself. She scoured and swept +and washed until the rooms were literally spotless. Order was Heaven's +first law, in her opinion, and she expected everyone else to keep up to +the standard. Captain Perez and Captain Eri soon got used to the change +and gloried in it, but to Captain Jerry it was not altogether welcome. + +"Oh, cat's foot!" he exclaimed one day, after hunting everywhere for his +Sunday tie, and at length finding it in his bureau drawer. "I can't git +used to this everlastin' spruced-up bus'ness. Way it used to be, this +necktie was likely to be 'most anywheres 'round, and if I looked out in +the kitchen or under the sofy, I was jest as likely to find it. But now +everything's got a place and is in it." + +"Well, that's the way it ought to be, ain't it?" said Eri. "Then all +you've got to do is look in the place." + +"Yes, and that's jest it, I'm always forgittin' the place. My shoes is +sech a place; my hankerchers is sech a place; my pipe is sech a place; +my terbacker is another place. When I want my pipe I look where my shoes +is, and when I want my shoes I go and look where I found my pipe. How a +feller's goin' to keep run of 'em is what _I_ can't see." + +"You was the one that did most of the growlin' when things was the old +way." + +"Yes, but jest 'cause a man don't want to live in a pigpen it ain't no +sign he wants to be put under a glass case." + +Elsie's influence upon the house and its inmates had become almost as +marked as Mrs. Snow's. The young lady was of an artistic bent, and the +stiff ornaments in the shut-up parlor and the wonderful oil-paintings +jarred upon her. Strange to say, even the wax-dipped wreath that hung +in its circular black frame over the whatnot did not appeal to her. +The captains considered that wreath--it had been the principal floral +offering at the funeral of Captain Perez's sister, and there was a lock +of her hair framed with it--the gem of the establishment. They could +understand, to a certain degree, why Miss Preston objected to the +prominence given the spatter-work "God bless our Home" motto, but her +failure to enthuse over the wreath was inexplicable. + +But by degrees they became used to seeing the blinds open at the parlor +windows the week through, and innovations like muslin curtains and vases +filled with late wild flowers came to be at first tolerated and then +liked. "Elsie's notions," the captains called them. + +There were some great discussions on art, over the teacups after supper. +Miss Preston painted very prettily in water-colors, and her sketches +were received with enthusiastic praise by the captains and Mrs. Snow. +But one day she painted a little picture of a fishing boat and, to her +surprise, it came in for some rather sharp criticism. + +"That's a pretty picture, Elsie," said Captain Eri, holding the sketch +at arm's length and squinting at it with his head on one side, "but +if that's Caleb Titcomb's boat, and I jedge 'tis, it seems to me she's +carryin' too much sail. What do you think, Jerry?" + +Captain Jerry took the painting from his friend and critically examined +it, also at arm's length. + +"Caleb's boat ain't got no sech sail as that," was his deliberate +comment. "She couldn't carry it and stand up that way. Besides, the way +I look at it, she's down by the head more 'n she'd ought to be." + +"But I didn't try to get it EXACTLY right," said the bewildered artist. +"The boat's sails were so white, and the water was so blue, and the sand +so yellow that I thought it made a pretty picture. I didn't think of the +size of the sail." + +"Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally," observed Captain Perez, who +was looking over Jerry's shoulder. "But you have to be awful careful +paintin' vessels. Now you jest look at that picture," pointing to the +glaring likeness of the Flying Duck, that hung on the wall. "Jest look +at them sails, every one of 'em drawin' fine; and them ropes, every one +in JEST the right place. That's what I call paintin'." + +"But don't you think, Captain Perez, that the waves in that picture +would be better if they weren't so all in a row, like a picket fence?" + +"Well, now, that ain't it. That's a picture of the A1 two-masted +schooner Flyin' Duck, and the waves is only thrown in, as you might say. +The reel thing is the schooner, rigged jest right, trimmed jest right, +and colored jest the way the Flyin' Duck was colored. You understand +them waves was put there jest 'cause there had to be some to set the +schooner in, that's all." + +"But you needn't feel bad, Elsie," said Captain Jerry soothingly. +"'Tain't to be expected that you could paint vessels like Eben Lothrop +can. Eben he used to work in a shipyard up to East Boston once, and when +he was there he had to paint schooners and things, reely put the paint +onto 'em I mean, so, of course, when it come to paintin' pictures of +'em, why--" + +And Captain Jerry waved his hand. + +So, as there was no answer to an argument like this, Miss Preston gave +up marine painting for the time and began a water-color of the house and +its inmates. This was an elaborate affair, and as the captains insisted +that each member of the family, Daniel and Lorenzo included, should +pose, it seemed unlikely to be finished for some months, at least. + +Ralph Hazeltine called on the afternoon following Elsie's arrival, and +Captain Eri insisted on his staying to tea. It might have been noticed +that the electrician seemed a trifle embarrassed when Miss Preston came +into the room, but as the young lady was not embarrassed in the least, +and had apparently forgotten the mistaken-identity incident, his +nervousness soon wore off. + +But it came back again when Captain Eri said: + +"Oh, I say, Mr. Hazeltine, I forgot to ask you, did 'Gusty come +yesterday?" + +Ralph answered, rather hurriedly, that she did not. He endeavored to +change the subject, but the Captain wouldn't let him. + +"Well, there!" he exclaimed amazedly; "if 'Gusty ain't broke her record! +Fust time sence Perez was took with the 'Naval Commander' disease that +she ain't been on hand when the month was up, to git her two dollars. +Got so we sort of reckoned by her like an almanac. Kind of thought she +was sure, like death and taxes. And now she has gone back on us. Blessed +if I ain't disapp'inted in 'Gusty!" + +"Who is she?" inquired Mrs. Snow. "One of those book-agent critters?" + +"Well, if you called her that to her face, I expect there'd be squalls, +but I cal'late she couldn't prove a alibi in court." + +Now it may have been Mr. Hazeltine's fancy, but he could have sworn that +there was just the suspicion of a twinkle in Miss Preston's eye as she +asked, innocently enough: + +"Is she a young lady, Captain Eri?" + +"Well, she hopes she is," was the deliberate answer. "Why?" + +"Does she look like me?" + +"Like YOU? Oh, my soul and body! Wait till you see her. What made you +ask that?" + +"Oh, nothing! I was a little curious, that's all. Have you seen her, Mr. +Hazeltine?" + +Ralph stammered, somewhat confusedly, that he hadn't had the pleasure. +The Captain glanced from the electrician to Miss Preston and back again. +Then he suddenly realized the situation. + +"Ho! ho!" he roared, slapping his knee and rocking back and forth in his +chair. "Don't for the land's sake tell me you took Elsie here for 'Gusty +Black! Don't now! Don't!" + +"He asked me if I had taken many orders," remarked the young lady +demurely. + +When the general hilarity had abated a little Ralph penitently explained +that it was dark, that Captain Eri had said Miss Black was young, and +that she carried a bag. + +"So I did, so I did," chuckled the Captain. "I s'pose 'twas nat'ral +enough, but, oh dear, it's awful funny! Now, Elsie, you'd ought to +feel flattered. Wait till you see 'Gusty's hat, the one she got up to +Boston." + +"Am I forgiven, Miss Preston?" asked Hazeltine, as he said good-night. + +"Well, I don't know," was the rather non-committal answer. "I think I +shall have to wait until I see 'Gusty." + +But Mr. Hazeltine apparently took his forgiveness for granted, for his +calls became more and more frequent, until his dropping in after supper +came to be a regular occurrence. Young people of the better class are +scarce in Orham during the fall and winter months, and Ralph found few +congenial companions. He liked the captains and Mrs. Snow, and Elsie's +society was a relief after a day with the operators at the station. Mr. +Langley was entirely absorbed in his business, and spent his evenings in +his room, reading and smoking. + +So September and October passed and November came. School opened in +October and the captains had another boarder, for Josiah Bartlett, +against his wishes, gave up his position as stage-driver, and was sent +to school again. As the boy was no longer employed at the livery stable, +Captain Perez felt the necessity of having him under his eye, and so +Josiah lived at the house by the shore, a cot being set up in the parlor +for his use. His coming made more work for Mrs. Snow, but that energetic +lady did not seem to mind, and even succeeded in getting the youngster +to do a few "chores" about the place, an achievement that won the +everlasting admiration of Captain Perez, who had no governing power +whatever over the boy, and condoned the most of his faults or scolded +him feebly for the others. + +John Baxter continued to waver between this world and the next. He +had intervals of consciousness in which he recognized the captains and +Elsie, but these rational moments were few and, although he talked a +little, he never mentioned recent events nor alluded to the fire. + +The fire itself became an old story and gossip took up other subjects. +The "Come-Outers" held a jubilee service because of the destruction +of the saloon, but, as "Web" soon began to rebuild and repair, their +jollification was short-lived. As for Mr. Saunders, he was the same +unctuous, smiling personage that he had formerly been. It was a curious +fact, and one that Captain Eri noted, that he never ceased to inquire +after John Baxter's health, and seemed honestly glad to hear of the old +man's improvement. He asked a good many questions about Elsie, too, but +received little satisfaction from the Captain on this subject. + + + +CHAPTER X + +MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + + +Captain Jerry sat behind the woodshed, in the sunshine, smoking and +thinking. He had done a good deal of the first ever since he was sixteen +years old; the second was, in a measure, a more recent acquirement. The +Captain had things on his mind. + +It was one of those perfect, springlike mornings that sometimes come +in early November. The sky was clear blue, and the air was so free from +haze that the houses at Cranberry Point could be seen in every detail. +The flag on the cable station across the bay stood out stiff in the +steady breeze, and one might almost count the stripes. The pines on +Signal Hill were a bright green patch against the yellow grass. The sea +was a dark sapphire, with slashes of silver to mark the shoals, and +the horizon was notched with sails. The boats at anchor in front of the +shanties swung with the outgoing tide. + +Then came Captain Eri, also smoking. + +"Hello!" said Captain Jerry. "How is it you ain't off fishin' a mornin' +like this?" + +"Somethin' else on the docket," was the answer. "How's matchmakin' these +days?" + +Now this question touched vitally the subject of Captain Jerry's +thoughts. From a placid, easygoing retired mariner, recent events had +transformed the Captain into a plotter, a man with a "deep-laid scheme," +as the gentlemanly, cigarette-smoking villain of the melodrama used to +love to call it. To tell the truth, petticoat government was wearing on +him. The marriage agreement, to which his partners considered him bound, +and which he saw no way to evade, hung over him always, but he had put +this threat of the future from his mind so far as possible. He had not +found orderly housekeeping the joy that he once thought it would be, but +even this he could bear. Elsie Preston was the drop too much. + +He liked Mrs. Snow, except in a marrying sense. He liked Elsie better +than any young lady he had ever seen. The trouble was, that between +the two, he, as he would have expressed it, "didn't have the peace of a +dog." + +Before Elsie came, a game of checkers between Perez and himself had been +the regular after-supper amusement. Now they played whist, Captain Eri +and Elsie against him and his former opponent. As Elsie and her partner +almost invariably won, and as Perez usually found fault with him because +they lost, this was not an agreeable change. But it was but one. He +didn't like muslin curtains in his bedroom, because they were a nuisance +when he wanted to sit up in bed and look out of the window; but the +curtains were put there, and everybody else seemed to think them +beautiful, so he could not protest. Captain Perez and Captain Eri had +taken to "dressing up" for supper, to the extent of putting on neckties +and clean collars. Also they shaved every day. He stuck to the old +"twice-a-week" plan for a while, but looked so scrubby by contrast that +out of mere self-respect he had to follow suit. Obviously two females in +the house were one too many. Something had to be done. + +Ralph Hazeltine's frequent calls gave him the inspiration he was looking +for. This was to bring about a marriage between Ralph and Miss Preston. +After deliberation he decided that if this could be done the pair would +live somewhere else, even though John Baxter was still too ill to be +moved. Elsie could come in every day, but she would be too busy with her +own establishment to bother with the "improvement" of theirs. It wasn't +a very brilliant plan and had some vital objections, but Captain Jerry +considered it a wonder. + +He broached it to his partners, keeping his real object strictly in the +background and enlarging upon his great regard for Ralph and Elsie, and +their obvious fitness for each other. Captain Perez liked the scheme +well enough, provided it could be carried out. Captain Eri seemed to +think it better to let events take their own course. However, they both +agreed to help if the chance offered. + +So, when Mr. Hazeltine called to spend the evening, Captain Jerry +would rise from his chair and, with an elaborate cough and several +surreptitious winks to his messmates, would announce that he guessed +he would "take a little walk," or "go out to the barn," or something +similar. Captain Perez would, more than likely, go also. As for Captain +Eri, he usually "cal'lated" he would step upstairs, and see how John was +getting along. + +But in spite of this loyal support, the results obtained from Captain +Jerry's wonderful plan had not been so startlingly successful as to +warrant his feeling much elated. Ralph and Elsie were good friends and +seemed to enjoy each other's society, but that was all that might be +truthfully said, so far. + +Captain Jerry, therefore, was a little discouraged as he sat in the +sunshine and smoked and pondered. He hid his discouragement, however, +and in response to Captain Eri's question concerning the progress of the +matchmaking, said cheerfully: + +"Oh, it's comin' along, comin' along. Kind of slow, of course, but you +can't expect nothin' diff'rent. I s'pose you noticed he was here four +times last week?" + +"Why, no," said Captain Eri, "I don't know's I did." + +"Well, he was, and week a fore that 'twas only three. So that's a gain, +ain't it?" + +"Sartin." + +"I didn't count the time he stopped after a drink of water neither. That +wasn't a real call, but--" + +"Oh, it ought to count for somethin'! Call it a ha'f a time. That would +make four times and a ha'f he was here." + +Captain Jerry looked suspiciously at his friend's face, but its +soberness was irreproachable, so he said: + +"Well, it's kind of slow work, but, as I said afore, it's comin' along, +and I have the satisfaction of knowin' it's all for their good." + +"Yes, like the feller that ate all the apple-dumplin's so's his children +wouldn't have the stomach-ache. But say, Jerry, I come out to ask if +you'd mind bein' housekeeper to-day. Luther Davis has been after me +sence I don't know when to come down to the life-savin' station and stay +to dinner. His sister Pashy--the old maid one--is down there, and it's +such a fine day I thought I'd take Perez and Elsie and Mrs. Snow and, +maybe, Hazeltine along. Somebody's got to stay with John, and I thought +p'raps you would. I'd stay myself only Luther asked me so particular, +and you was down there two or three months ago. When Josiah comes back +from school he'll help you some, if you need him." + +Captain Jerry didn't mind staying at home, and so Eri went into the +house to make arrangements for the proposed excursion. He had some +difficulty in persuading Mrs. Snow and Elsie to leave the sick man, +but both were tired and needed a rest, and there was a telephone at the +station, so that news of a change in the patient's condition could be +sent almost immediately. Under these conditions, and as Captain Jerry +was certain to take good care of their charge, the two were persuaded +to go. Perez took the dory and rowed over to the cable station to see if +Mr. Hazeltine cared to make one of the party. When he returned, bringing +the electrician with him, Daniel, harnessed to the carryall, was +standing at the side door, and Captain Eri, Mrs. Snow, and Elsie were +waiting. + +Ralph glanced at the carryall, and then at those who were expected to +occupy it. + +"I think I'd better row down, Captain," he said. "I don't see how five +of us are going to find room in there." + +"What, in a carryall?" exclaimed the Captain. "Why, that's what a +carryall's for. I've carried six in a carryall 'fore now. 'Twas a good +while ago, though," he added with a chuckle, "when I was consid'rable +younger 'n I am now. Squeezin' didn't count in them days, 'specially if +the girls wanted to go to camp-meetin'. I cal'late we can fix it. You +and me'll set on the front seat, and the rest in back. Elsie ain't a +very big package, and Perez, he's sort of injy-rubber; he'll fit in +'most anywheres. Let's try it anyhow." + +And try it they did. While it was true that Elsie was rather small, +Mrs. Snow was distinctly large, and how Captain Perez, in spite of his +alleged elasticity, managed to find room between them is a mystery. He, +however, announced that he was all right, adding, as a caution: + +"Don't jolt none, Eri, 'cause I'm kind of hangin' on the little aidge of +nothin'." + +"I'll look out for you," answered his friend, picking up the reins. "All +ashore that's goin' ashore. So long, Jerry. Git dap, Thousand Dollars!" + +Daniel complacently accepted this testimony to his monetary worth and +jogged out of the yard. Fortunately appearances do not count for much in +Orham, except in the summer, and the spectacle of five in a carryall +is nothing out of the ordinary. They turned into the "cliff road," the +finest thoroughfare in town, kept in good condition for the benefit of +the cottagers and the boarders at the big hotel. The ocean was on the +left, and from the hill by the Barry estate--Captain Perez' charge--they +saw twenty miles of horizon line with craft of all descriptions +scattered along it. + +Schooners there were of all sizes, from little mackerel seiners to big +four- and five-masters. A tug with a string of coal barges behind it +was so close in that they could make out the connecting hawsers. A black +freight steamer was pushing along, leaving a thick line of smoke like a +charcoal mark on the sky. One square-rigger was in sight, but far out. + +"What do you make of that bark, Perez?" inquired Captain Eri, pointing +to the distant vessel. "British, ain't she?" + +Captain Perez leaned forward and peered from under his hand. "French, +looks to me," he said. + +"Don't think so. Way she's rigged for'ard looks like Johnny Bull. Look +at that fo'tops'l." + +"Guess you're right, Eri, now I come to notice it. Can you make out her +flag? Wish I'd brought my glass." + +"Great Scott, man!" exclaimed Ralph. "What sort of eyes have you got? I +couldn't tell whether she had a flag or not at this distance. How do you +do it?" + +"'Cordin' to how you're brought up, as the goat said 'bout eatin' +shingle-nails," replied Captain Eri. "When you're at sea you've jest got +to git used to seein' things a good ways off and knowin' 'em when you +see 'em, too." + +"I remember, one time," remarked Mrs. Snow, "that my brother +Nathan--he's dead now--was bound home from Hong Kong fust mate on +the bark Di'mond King. 'Twas the time of the war and the Alabama was +cruisin' 'round, lookin' out for our ships. Nate and the skipper--a +Bangor man he was--was on deck, and they sighted a steamer a good ways +off. The skipper spied her and see she was flyin' the United States +flag. But when Nate got the glass he took one look and says, 'That +Yankee buntin' don't b'long over that English hull,' he says. You see +he knew she was English build right away. So the skipper pulled down his +own flag and h'isted British colors, but 'twa'n't no use; the steamer +was the Alabama sure enough, and the Di'mond King was burned, and +all hands took pris'ners. Nate didn't git home for ever so long, and +everybody thought he was lost." + +This set the captains going, and they told sea-stories until they came +to the road that led down to the beach beneath the lighthouse bluff. The +lifesaving station was in plain sight now, but on the outer beach, and +that was separated from them by a two-hundred-yard stretch of water. + +"Well," observed Captain Eri, "here's where we take Adam's bridge." + +"Adam's bridge?" queried Elsie, puzzled. + +"Yes; the only kind he had, I cal'late. Git dap, Daniel! What are you +waitin' for? Left your bathin' suit to home?" + +Then, as Daniel stepped rather gingerly into the clear water, he +explained that, at a time ranging from three hours before low tide +to three hours after, one may reach the outer beach at this point +by driving over in an ordinary vehicle. The life-savers add to this +time-limit by using a specially built wagon, with large wheels and a +body considerably elevated. + +"Well, there now!" exclaimed the lady from Nantucket, as Daniel +splashingly emerged on the other side. "I thought I'd done about +everything a body could do with salt water, but I never went ridin' in +it afore." + +The remainder of the way to the station was covered by Daniel at a walk, +for the wheels of the heavy carryall sank two inches or more in the +coarse sand as they turned. The road wound between sand dunes, riven and +heaped in all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, and with clumps of the +persevering beach grass clinging to their tops like the last treasured +tufts of hair on partially bald heads. Here and there, half buried, +sand-scoured planks and fragments of spars showed, relics of wrecks that +had come ashore in past winters. + +"Five years ago," remarked Captain Eri, "there was six foot of water +where we are now. This beach changes every winter. One good no'theaster +jest rips things loose over here; tears out a big chunk of beach and +makes a cut-through one season, and fills in a deep hole and builds +a new shoal the next. I've heard my father tell 'bout pickin' +huckleberries when he was a boy off where them breakers are now. Good +dry land it was then. Hey! there's Luther. Ship ahoy, Lute!" + +The little brown life-saving station was huddled between two sand-hills. +There was a small stable and a henhouse and yard just behind it. Captain +Davis, rawboned and brown-faced, waved a welcome to them from the side +door. + +"Spied you comin', Eri," he said in a curiously mild voice, that sounded +odd coming from such a deep chest. "I'm mighty glad to see you, too? +Jump down and come right in. Pashy 'll be out in a minute. Here she is +now." + +Miss Patience Davis was as plump as her brother was tall. She impressed +one as a comfortable sort of person. Captain Eri did the honors and +everyone shook hands. Then they went into the living room of the +station. + +What particularly struck Mrs. Snow was the neatness of everything. The +brass on the pump in the sink shone like fire as the sunlight from the +window struck it. The floor was white from scouring. There were shelves +on the walls and on these, arranged in orderly piles, were canned goods +of all descriptions. The table was covered with a figured oilcloth. + +Two or three men, members of the crew, were seated in the wooden chairs +along the wall, but rose as the party came in. Captain Davis introduced +them, one after the other. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of +these men was the quiet, almost bashful, way in which they spoke; they +seemed like big boys, as much as anything, and yet the oldest was nearly +fifty. + +"Ever been in a life-saving station afore?" asked Captain Eri. + +Elsie had not. Ralph had and so had Mrs. Snow, but not for years. + +"This is where we keep the boat and the rest of the gear," said Captain +Davis, opening a door and leading the way into a large, low-studded +room. "Them's the spare oars on the wall. The reg'lar ones are in the +boat." + +The boat itself was on its carriage in the middle of the room. Along the +walls on hooks hung the men's suits of oilskins and their sou'westers. +The Captain pointed out one thing after another, the cork jackets and +life-preservers, the gun for shooting the life line across a stranded +vessel, the life car hanging from the roof, and the "breeches buoy." + +"I don't b'lieve you'd ever git me into that thing," said the Nantucket +lady decidedly, referring to the buoy. "I don't know but I'd 'bout as +liefs be drownded as make sech a show of myself." + +"Took off a bigger woman than you one time," said Captain Davis. "Wife +of a Portland skipper, she was, and he was on his fust v'yage in a +brand-new schooner jest off the stocks. Struck on the Hog's Back off +here and then drifted close in and struck again. We got 'em all, the +woman fust. That was the only time we've used the buoy sence I've been +at the station. Most of the wrecks are too fur off shore and we have to +git out the boat." + +He took them upstairs to the men's sleeping rooms and then up to the +little cupola on the roof. + +"Why do you have ground-glass windows on this side of the house?" asked +Elsie, as they passed the window on the landing. + +Captain Davis laughed. + +"Well, it is pretty nigh ground-glass now," he answered, "but it wa'n't +when it was put in. The sand did that. It blows like all possessed when +there's a gale on." + +"Do you mean that those windows were ground that way by the beach sand +blowing against them?" asked Ralph, astonished. + +"Sartin. Git a good no'therly wind comin' up the beach and it fetches +the sand with it. Mighty mean stuff to face, sand blowin' like that is; +makes you think you're fightin' a nest of yaller-jackets." + +With the telescope in the cupola they could see for miles up and down +the beach and out to sea. An ocean tug bound toward Boston was passing, +and Elsie, looking through the glass, saw the cook come out of the +galley, empty a pan over the side, and go back again. + +"Let me look through that a minute," said Captain Eri, when the rest had +had their turn. He swung the glass around until it pointed toward their +home away up the shore. + +"Perez," he called anxiously, "look here quick!" + +Captain Perez hastily put his eye to the glass, and his friend went on: + +"You see our house?" he said. "Yes; well, you see the dinin'-room door. +Notice that chair by the side of it?" + +"Yes, what of it?" + +"Well, that's the rocker that Elsie made the velvet cushion for. I want +you to look at the upper southeast corner of that cushion, and see if +there ain't a cat's hair there. Lorenzo's possessed to sleep in that +chair, and--" + +"Oh, you git out!" indignantly exclaimed Captain Perez, straightening +up. + +"Well, it was a pretty important thing, and I wanted to make sure. I +left that chair out there, and I knew what I'd catch if any cat's hairs +got on that cushion while I was gone. Ain't that so, Mrs. Snow?" + +The housekeeper expressed her opinion that Captain Eri was a "case," +whatever that may be. + +They had clam chowder for dinner--a New England clam chowder, made with +milk and crackers, and clams with shells as white as snow. They were +what the New Yorker calls "soft-shell" clams, for a Fulton Market +chowder is a "quahaug soup" to the native of the Cape. + +Now that chowder was good; everybody said so, and if the proof of the +chowder, like that of the pudding, is in the eating of it, this one had +a clear case. Also, there were boiled striped bass, which is good enough +for anybody, hot biscuits, pumpkin pie, and beach-plum preserves. There +was a running fire of apologies from Miss Patience and answering volleys +of compliments from Mrs. Snow. + +"I don't see how you make sech beach-plum preserves, Miss Davis," +exclaimed the lady from Nantucket. "I declare! I'm goin' to ask you for +another sasserful. I b'lieve they're the best I ever ate." + +"Well, now! Do you think so? I kind of suspected that the plums was a +little mite too ripe. You know how 'tis with beach-plums, they've got to +be put up when they're jest so, else they ain't good for much. I was at +Luther for I don't know how long 'fore I could git him to go over to the +P'int and pick 'em, and I was 'fraid he'd let it go too long. I only put +up twenty-two jars of 'em on that account. How much sugar do you use?" + +There was material here for the discussion that country housewives love, +and the two ladies took advantage of it. When it was over the female +portion of the company washed the dishes, while the men walked up and +down the beach and smoked. Here they were joined after a while by the +ladies, for even by the ocean it was as mild as early May, and the wind +was merely bracing and had no sting in it. + +The big blue waves shouldered themselves up from the bosom of the sea, +marched toward the beach, and tumbled to pieces in a roaring tumult +of white and green. The gulls skimmed along their tops or dropped +like falling stones into the water after sand eels, emerging again, +screaming, to repeat the performance. + +The conversation naturally turned to wrecks, and Captain Davis, his +reserve vanishing before the tactful inquiries of the captains and +Ralph, talked shop and talked it well. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HEROES AND A MYSTERY + + +Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for years +and "Number One Man" before that, so his experience with wrecks and +disabled craft of all kinds had been long and varied. He told them +of disasters the details of which had been telegraphed all over the +country, and of rescues of half-frozen crews from ice-crested schooners +whose signals of distress had been seen from the observatory on the roof +of the station. He told of long rows in midwinter through seas the spray +of which turned to ice as they struck, and froze the men's mittens to +the oar-handles. He told of picking up draggled corpses in the surf at +midnight, when, as he said, "You couldn't tell whether 'twas a man or +a roll of seaweed, and the only way to make sure was to reach down and +feel." + +Captain Eri left them after a while, as he had some acquaintances +among the men at the station, and wished to talk with them. Miss Davis +remembered that she had not fed the chickens, and hurried away to +perform that humane duty, gallantly escorted by Captain Perez. The +Captain, by the way, was apparently much taken with the plump spinster +and, although usually rather bashful where ladies were concerned, had +managed to keep up a sort of side conversation with Miss Patience while +the storytelling was going on. But Ralph and Elsie and Mrs. Snow were +hungry for more tales, and Captain Davis obligingly told them. + +"One of the wust wrecks we ever had off here," he said, "was the +Bluebell, British ship, she was: from Singapore, bound to Boston, and +loaded with hemp. We see her about off that p'int there, jest at dusk, +and she was makin' heavy weather then. It come on to snow soon as it got +dark, and blow--don't talk! Seems to me 'twas one of the meanest nights +I ever saw. 'Tween the snow flyin' and the dark you couldn't see +two feet ahead of you. We was kind of worried about the vessel all +evenin'--for one thing she was too close in shore when we see her +last--but there wa'n't nothin' to be done except to keep a weather eye +out for signs of trouble. + +"Fust thing we knew of the wreck was when the man on patrol up the +beach--Philander Vose 'twas--telephoned from the shanty that a ship's +long-boat had come ashore at Knowles' Cove, two mile above the station. +That was about one o'clock in the mornin'. 'Bout h'af-past two Sim +Gould--he was drownded the next summer, fishin' on the Banks--telephoned +from the shanty BELOW the station--the one a mile or so 'tother side of +the cable house, Mr. Hazeltine--that wreckage was washin' up abreast of +where he was; that was six miles from where the longboat come ashore. +So there we was. There wa'n't any way of tellin' whereabouts she was +layin'; she might have been anywheres along them six miles, and you +couldn't hear nothin' nor see nothin'. But anyhow, the wreckage kept +comin' in below the cable station, so I jedged she was somewheres in +that neighborhood and we got the boat out--on the cart, of course--and +hauled it down there. + +"'Twas a tremendous job, too, that haulin' was. We had the horse and +the whole of us helpin' him, but I swan! I begun to think we'd never git +anywheres. 'Tween the wind and the sand and the snow I thought we'd flap +to pieces, like a passel of shirts on a clothes line. But we got there +after a spell, and then there was nothin' to do but wait for daylight. + +"'Bout seven o'clock the snow let up a little bit, and then we see her. +There was a bar jest about opposite the cable station--it's been washed +away sence--and she'd struck on that, and the sea was makin' a clean +breach over her. There was a ha'f a dozen of her crew lashed in the +riggin', but I didn't see 'em move, so I presume likely they was froze +stiff then, for 'twas perishin' cold. But we wrastled the boat down to +the water and was jest goin' to launch her when the whole three masts +went by the 'board, men and all. We put off to her, but she was in a +reg'lar soapsuds of a sea and awash from stem to stern, so we knew there +was nothin' livin' aboard. + +"Yes, siree," continued the Captain meditatively, "that was a mean +night. I had this ear frost-bit, and it's been tender ever sence. One +of the fellers had a rib broke; he was a little light chap, and the wind +jest slammed him up against the cart like as if he was a chip. And jest +to show you," he added, "how the tide runs around this place, the bodies +of that crew was picked up from Wellmouth to Setuckit P'int--twenty-mile +stretch that is. The skipper's body never come ashore. He had a son, +nice young feller, that was goin' to meet him in Boston, and that boy +spent a month down here, waitin' for his father's body to be washed up. +He'd walk up and down this beach, and walk up and down. Pitiful sight as +ever I see." + +"And they were all lost?" asked Elsie with a shiver. + +"Every man Jack. But 'twas cu'rus about that hemp. The Bluebell was +loaded with it, as I told you, and when she went to pieces the tide +took that hemp and strung it from here to glory. They picked it up all +'longshore, and for much as a month afterwards you'd go along the 'main +road' over in the village, and see it hung over fences or spread out in +the sun to dry. Looked like all the blonde girls in creation had had a +hair-cut." + +"Captain Davis," said Ralph, "you must have seen some plucky things in +your life. What was the bravest thing you ever saw done?" + +The life saver took the cigar that Hazeltine had given him from his +mouth, and blew the smoke into the air over his head. + +"Well," he said slowly, "I don't know exactly. I've seen some pretty +gritty things done 'long-shore here, in the service. When there's +somebody drowndin', and you know there's a chance to save 'em, you'll +take chances, and think nothin' of 'em, that you wouldn't take if you +had time to set down and cal'late a little. I see somethin' done once +that may not strike you as bein' anything out of the usual run, but that +has always seemed to me clear grit and nothin' else. 'Twa'n't savin' +life neither; 'twas jest a matter of bus'ness. + +"It happened up off the coast of Maine 'long in the seventies. I was +actin' as sort of second mate on a lumber schooner. 'Twas a pitch-black +night, or mornin' rather, 'bout six o'clock, blowin' like all possessed +and colder 'n Greenland. We struck a rock that wa'n't even down on an +Eldredge chart and punched a hole in the schooner's side, jest above +what ought to have been the water line, only she was heeled over so that +'twas consider'ble below it most of the time. We had a mean crew aboard, +Portugees mainly, and poor ones at that. The skipper was below, asleep, +and when he come on deck things was in a bad way. We'd got the canvas +off her, but she was takin' in water every time she rolled, and there +was a sea goin' that was tearin' things loose in great shape. We shipped +one old grayback that ripped off a strip of the lee rail jest the same +as you'd rip the edge off the cover of a pasteboard box--never made no +more fuss about it, either. + +"I didn't see nothin' to do but get out the boats, but the skipper he +wa'n't that kind. He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you. He drove +the crew--ha'f of 'em was prayin' to the Virgin and t'other ha'f +swearin' a blue streak--to the pumps, and set me over 'em with a +revolver to keep 'em workin'. Then him and the fust mate and one or two +of the best hands rousted out a spare sail, weighted one edge of it to +keep it down, and got it over the side, made fast, of course. + +"Then him and the mate stripped to their underclothes, rigged a sort of +bos'n's chair over where the hole in the side was, took hammers and a +pocketful of nails apiece, and started in to nail that canvas over the +hole. + +"'Twas freezin' cold, and the old schooner was rollin' like a washtub. +One minute I'd see the skipper and the mate h'isted up in the air, +hammerin' for dear life, and then, swash! under they'd go, clear under, +and stay there, seemed to me, forever. Every dip I thought would be the +end, and I'd shet my eyes, expectin' to see 'em gone when she lifted; +but no, up they'd come, fetch a breath, shake the salt water out of +their eyes, and go to work again. + +"Four hours and a quarter they was at it, four hours, mind you, and +under water a good ha'f of the time; but they got that sail nailed fast +fin'lly. We got 'em on deck when 'twas done, and we had to carry the +fust mate to the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the cook for a pail +of bilin' hot coffee, drunk the whole of it, put on dry clothes over his +wet flannels, and stayed on deck and worked that schooner into Portland +harbor, the men pumpin' clear green water out of the hold every minute +of the way. + +"Now, that always seemed to me to be the reel thing. 'Twa'n't a question +of savin' life--we could have took to the boats and, nine chances out +of ten, got ashore all right, for 'twa'n't very fur. But no, the skipper +said he'd never lost a vessel for an owner yit and he wa'n't goin' to +lose this one. And he didn't either, by Judas! No, sir!" + +"That was splendid!" exclaimed Elsie. "I should like to have known that +captain. Who was he, Captain Davis?" + +"Well, the fust mate was Obed Simmons--he's dead now--but he used to +live over on the road towards East Harniss. The skipper--well, he was a +feller you know." + +"'Twas Cap'n Eri," said Mrs. Snow with conviction. + +"That's right, ma'am. Perez told you, I s'pose." + +"No, nobody told me. I jest guessed it. I've seen a good many folks in +my time, and I cal'late I've got so I can tell what kind a man is after +I've known him a little while. I jedged Cap'n Eri was that kind, and, +when you said we knew that skipper, I was almost sartin 'twas him." + +"Well!" exclaimed Ralph, "I don't believe I should have guessed it. +I've always liked the Captain, but he has seemed so full of fun and +so easy-going that I never thought of his doing anything quite so +strenuous." + +Captain Davis laughed. "I've seen fo'mast hands try to take advantage +of that easy-goin' way 'fore now," he said, "but they never did it but +once. Cap'n Eri is one of the finest fellers that ever stepped, but you +can't stomp on his toes much, and he's clear grit inside. And say," he +added, "don't you tell anybody I told that story, for he'd skin me alive +if he knew it." + +As they walked back toward the station Ralph and Elsie lingered a little +behind the others, and then stopped to watch a big four-master that, +under full sail, was spinning along a mile or two from the beach. They +watched it for a moment or two without speaking. Elsie's cheeks were +brown from the sun, stray wisps of her hair fluttered in the wind, and +her trim, healthy figure stood out against the white sandhill behind +them as if cut from cardboard. The electrician looked at her, and again +the thought of that disgraceful "'Gusty" Black episode was forced into +his mind. They had had many a good laugh over it since, and Elsie had +apparently forgotten it, but he had not, by a good deal. + +She was the first to speak, and then as much to herself as to him. + +"I think they are the best people I ever knew," she said. + +"Who?" he asked. + +"Oh, all of them! The captains and Mrs. Snow, and Captain Davis and his +sister. They are so simple and kind and generous. And the best of it is, +they don't seem to know it, and wouldn't believe it if you told them." + +Ralph nodded emphatically. + +"I imagine it would take a good deal to convince Davis or any of these +station men that there was anything heroic in their lives," he said. "As +for Captain Eri, I have known him only a month or two, but I don't know +of anyone to whom I would rather go if I were in trouble." + +"He has been so kind to grandfather and me," said Elsie, "that I feel +as though we were under an obligation we never could repay. When I came +down here I knew no one in Orham, and he and Captain Jerry and Captain +Perez have made me feel more at home than I have ever felt before. You +know," she added, "grandfather is the only relative I have." + +"I suppose you will go back to your studies when your grandfather +recovers." + +"I don't know. If grandfather is well enough I think I shall try to +persuade him to come up to Boston and live with me. Then I might perhaps +teach. This was to have been my last year at Radcliffe, so my giving it +up will not make so much difference. Do you intend to stay here long? I +suppose you do. Your profession, I know, means so much to you, and your +work at the station must be very interesting." + +"It would be more so if I had someone who was interested with me. Mr. +Langley is kind, but he is so wrapped up in his own work that I see very +little of him. I took the place because I thought it would give me a +good deal of spare time that I might use in furthering some experiments +of my own. Electricity is my hobby, and I have one or two ideas that +I am foolish enough to hope may be worth developing. I have had time +enough, goodness knows, but it's a lonesome sort of life. If it had not +been for the captains--and you--I think I should have given it up before +this." + +"Oh, I hope you won't." + +"Why?" + +"Why--why, because it seems like running away, almost, doesn't it? If +a thing is hard to do, but is worth doing, I think the satisfaction IN +doing it is ever so much greater, don't you? I know it must be lonely +for you; but, then, it is lonely for Mr. Langley and the other men, +too." + +"I doubt if Mr. Langley would be happy anywhere else, and the other men +are married, most of them, and live over in the village." + +Now, there isn't any real reason why this simple remark should have +caused a halt in the conversation, but it did. Miss Preston said, "Oh, +indeed!" rather hurriedly, and her next speech was concerning the height +of a particularly big wave. Mr. Hazeltine answered this commonplace +somewhat absent-mindedly. He acted like a man to whom a startling idea +had suddenly occurred. Just then they heard Captain Eri calling them. + +The Captain was standing on a sand dune near the station, shouting their +names through a speaking trumpet formed by placing his hands about his +mouth. As the pair came strolling toward him, he shifted his hands to +his trousers pockets and stood watching the young couple with a sort of +half smile. + +"I s'pose if Jerry was here now," he mused, "he'd think his scheme was +workin'. Well, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis. You can't never tell. Well, I +swan!" + +The exclamation was called forth by the sight of Captain Perez and Miss +Patience, who suddenly came into view around the corner of the station. +The Captain was gallantly assisting his companion over the rough places +in the path, and she was leaning upon his arm in a manner that implied +implicit confidence. Captain Eri glanced from one couple to the other, +and then grinned broadly. The grin had not entirely disappeared when +Captain Perez came up, and the latter rather crisply asked what the joke +was. + +"Oh, nothin'!" was the reply. "I was jest thinkin' we must be playin' +some kind of a game, and I was It." + +"It?" queried Miss Patience, puzzled. + +"Why, yes. I'm kinder like 'Rastus Bailey used to be at the dances +when you and me was younger, Perez. Old man Alexander--he was the +fiddler--used to sing out 'Choose partners for Hull's Vict'ry,' or +somethin' like that, and it always took 'Ras so long to make up his mind +what girl to choose that he gin'rally got left altogether. Then he'd +set on the settee all through the dance and say he never cared much for +Hull's Vict'ry, anyway. Seems to me, I'm the only one that ain't choosed +partners. How 'bout it, Perez?" + +"More fool you, that's all I've got to say," replied Captain Perez +stoutly. + +Miss Patience laughed so heartily at this rejoinder that Perez began +to think he had said a very good thing indeed, and so repeated it for +greater effect. + +"You want to look out for him, Miss Davis," said Captain Eri. "He's the +most fascinatin' youngster of his age I ever see. Me and Jerry's been +thinkin' we'd have to build a fence 'round the house to keep the girls +away when he's home. Why, M'lissy Busteed fairly--" + +"Oh, give us a rest, Eri!" exclaimed Perez, with even more indignation +than was necessary. "M'lissy Busteed!" + +Just then Ralph and Elsie came up, and Captain Eri explained that he had +hailed them because it was time to be going if they wanted to get across +to the mainland without swimming. They walked around to the back door of +the station and there found Mrs. Snow and Captain Davis by the hen-yard. +The lady from Nantucket had discovered a sick chicken in the collection, +and she was holding it in her lap and at the same time discoursing +learnedly on the relative value of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, +as layers. + +"See there!" exclaimed Captain Eri delightedly, pointing to the +suffering pullet, "what did I tell you? D'you wonder we picked her out +for nuss for John, Luther? Even a sick hen knows enough to go to her." + +They harnessed Daniel to the carryall, and stowed the living freight +aboard somehow, although Captain Perez protested that he had eaten so +much dinner he didn't know's he'd be able to hang on the way he did +coming down. Then they said farewell to Captain Davis and his sister and +started for home. The members of the crew, such of them as were about +the station, waved good-by to them as they passed. + +"Things kind of average up in this world, don't they?" said Captain Eri +reflectively, as he steered Daniel along the soft beach toward the ford. +"We're all the time readin' 'bout fellers that work for the Gov'ment +gittin' high sal'ries and doin' next to nothin'. Now there's a gang--the +life-savin' crew, I mean--that does what you and me would call almighty +hard work and git next to nothin' for it. Uncle Sam gits square there, +it seems to me. A few dollars a month and find yourself ain't gilt-edged +wages for bein' froze and drownded and blown to pieces ten months out of +the year, is it?" + +The tide was higher when they came to the crossing than it had been when +they drove over before, but they made the passage all right, although +there was some nervousness displayed by the feminine portion of the +party. When they reached home they found Captain Jerry contentedly +smoking his pipe, the sick man was asleep, and everything was serene. +Josiah appeared from behind the barn, where he had been smoking a +cigarette. + +They pressed Mr. Hazeltine to stay to supper, but he declined, alleging +that he had been away from business too long already. He had been +remarkably silent during the homeward ride, and Elsie, too, had seemed +busy with her thoughts. She was full of fun at the supper table, +however, and the meal was a jolly one. Just as it was finished Captain +Jerry struck the table a bang with his palm that made the knives and +forks jump, and so startled Captain Perez as to cause him to spill half +a cup of tea over his shirt bosom. + +"Land of love!" ejaculated the victim, mopping his chin and his tie +with his napkin. "It's bad enough to scare a feller to death, let alone +drowndin' and scaldin' him at the same time. What did you do that for?" + +"I jest thought of somethin'," exclaimed Captain Jerry, going through +one pocket after the other. + +"Well, I wish you'd have your thinkin' fits in the barn or somewheres +else next time. I put this shirt on clean this mornin' and now look at +it!" + +His friend was too busy to pay any attention to this advice. The pocket +search apparently being unsatisfactory, he rose from the table and +hurriedly made a round of the room, looking on the mantelpiece and under +chairs. + +"I had it when I come in," he soliloquized. "I know I did, 'cause I was +wearin' it when I went out to see to the hens. I don't see where--" + +"If it's your hat you're looking for," observed Josiah, "I saw Mrs. Snow +hang it up on the nail behind the door. There it is now." + +The reply to this was merely a grunt, which may, or may not have +expressed approval. At any rate, the hat was apparently the object of +his search, for he took it from the nail, looked inside, and with a sigh +of relief took out a crumpled envelope. + +"I knew I put it somewheres," he said. "It's a letter for you, Elsie. +Josiah, here, he brought it down from the post-office when he come from +school this afternoon. I meant to give it to you afore." + +Captain Eri, who sat next to the young lady, noticed that the envelope +was addressed in an irregular, sprawling hand to "Miss Elizabeth +Preston, Orham, Mass." Elsie looked it over in the absent way in which +so many of us examine the outside of a letter which comes unexpectedly. + +"I wonder who it is from," she said. + +She did not open it at once, but, tucking it into her waist, announced +that she must run upstairs, in order that Mrs. Snow might come down to +supper. The housekeeper did come down a few minutes later, and, as she +was interested to know more about Luther Davis and his sister, the talk +became animated and general. + +It was after eight o'clock when Mrs. Snow, having finished washing the +dishes--she allowed no one to assist her in this operation since the +time when she caught Captain Jerry absent-mindedly using the dust +rag instead of the dishcloth--went upstairs to her patient. Shortly +afterward Elsie came down, wearing her hat and jacket. + +"I'm going out for a little while," she said. "No, I don't want anyone +to go with me. I'll be back soon." + +Her back was turned to the three captains as she spoke, but, as she +opened the door, the lamplight shone for an instant on her face, and +Captain Eri noticed, or fancied that he did, that she was paler than +usual. He rose, and again offered to accompany her, but met with such a +firm refusal that he could not insist further. + +"Now, that's kind of funny, ain't it?" remarked Perez. "I don't b'lieve +she's been out alone afore after dark sence she's been here." + +"Where did you git that letter, Josiah?" asked Captain Eri. + +It may as well be explained here that Captain Perez' grand-nephew was a +thorn in the flesh to everyone, including his indulgent relative. He was +a little afraid of Mrs. Snow, and obeyed her better than he did anyone +else, but that is not saying a great deal. He was in mischief in school +two-thirds of the time, and his reports, made out by the teacher, were +anything but complimentary. He was a good-looking boy, the image of his +mother, who had been her uncle's favorite, and he was popular with a +certain class of youngsters. Also, and this was worse, his work at +the livery stable had thrown him in contact with a crowd of men like +"Squealer" Wixon, "Web" Saunders, and others of their class, and they +appreciated his New York street training and made much of him. Captain +Perez, mindful of his promise to the boy's mother, did not use the +necessary measures to control him, and Captain Eri and Captain Jerry did +not like to interfere. + +Just now he was seated in the corner, and he looked up with a start, +hurriedly folded up the tattered paper book he was reading, stuffed it +into his pocket, and said, "What?" + +"Who give you that letter that come for Elsie?" + +"Miss Cahoon up at the office. It was in our box," said the boy. + +"Humph! What are you readin' that's so interestin'?" + +"Oh, nothin'. A book, that's all." + +"Let me look at it." + +Josiah hesitated, looked as if he would like to refuse, and then +sullenly took the ragged volume from his pocket and handed it to the +Captain, who deliberately unfolded it, and looked at the cover. + +"'Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific,'" he read +aloud. "Humph! Is it good?" + +"Bet your life! It's a red-hot story." + +"I want to know! Who was Mr. Moonshine--what's his name--Starlight?" + +"He was a sailor," was the sulky answer. Josiah was no fool, and knew +when he was being made fun of. + +The Captain opened the book, and read a page or two to himself. Then he +said, "I see he knocked the skipper down 'cause he insulted him. Nice, +spunky chap; I'd like to have had him aboard a vessel of mine. And he +called the old man a 'caitiff hound'? Awful thing to call a feller, that +is. I'll bet that skipper felt ashamed. Looks like a good book. I'll +borrow it to-night to read while you're doin' your lessons." + +"I ain't got any lessons to do." + +"Oh, ain't you? I thought that was a 'rithmetic over there." + +"Well, I know 'em now. Besides, you ain't got any right to order me +around. You ain't my uncle. Can't I read that book, Uncle Perez?" + +Poor Perez! He hesitated, swallowed once or twice, and answered, "You +can read it after you've studied a spell. You'll let him have it then, +won't you, Eri? Now study, like a good boy." + +Captain Eri looked as if he would like to say something further, but +he evidently thought better of it, and tossed the paper novel across to +Captain Perez, who put it on the table, saying, rather feebly: + +"There now, it's right there, where you can have it soon's you've +l'arned your examples. Now pitch in, so's the teacher can see how smart +you are." + +His nephew grumblingly got his paper and pencil, took the arithmetic +and went to work. No one spoke for a while, Captain Perez twirling his +thumbs and looking, as he felt, uncomfortable. Soon Josiah, announcing +that his studies were completed, grabbed the novel from the table, took +a lamp from the kitchen and went off to bed. When he had gone Captain +Jerry said, "Perez, you're sp'ilin' that boy." + +"I s'pose I am, I s'pose I am, but I can't bear to be cross to him, +somehow. Poor Lizzie, she made me promise I wouldn't be, and I jest +can't; that's all. You understand how 'tis, don't you, Eri?" + +The Captain nodded. "I understand," he said. "I'm sorry I said anything. +I hadn't ought to be givin' orders 'bout what's none of my affairs. What +time is it gittin' to be?" + +Captain Jerry announced that it was bedtime, and that he was going to +turn in. Perez, still looking worried and anxious, said that he also was +going to bed. Captain Eri thought that he would sit up for a while. + +Another hour and still another went by, and the Captain sat there in his +rocker. His two friends were sound asleep. Mrs. Snow called twice from +the head of the stairs to know if Elsie had come back, and where on +earth she could be. Captain Eri's answers were cheery and to the effect +that the young lady had an errand up town, and would be home pretty +soon, he guessed. Nevertheless, it might have been noticed that he +glanced at the clock every few minutes, and grew more and more fidgety. + +It was after eleven when Elsie came in. She hurriedly and with some +confusion apologized for being so late, and thanked the Captain for +sitting up for her. She made no offer to explain her long absence +and, as she went upstairs, Captain Eri noticed that her face was, if +anything, paler than when she went out, and her eyes looked as if +she had been crying. He wanted to ask her some questions, but didn't, +because she evidently did not wish to talk. He pondered over the matter +while undressing, and for a long time after that lay awake thinking. +That the girl was in trouble of some sort was plain, but he could not +understand why she said nothing about it, or what its cause might be. +She had been her bright, happy self all day and a part of the evening. +Then she had suddenly changed. The Captain wondered what was in that +letter. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A LITTLE POLITICS + + +Elsie, when she came down to breakfast next morning, was quieter than +usual, and to the joking questions of Captain Jerry and Captain Perez, +who were curious concerning her "errand" of the previous evening, and +who pretended to believe that she had gone to a dance or "time" with +some "feller" unknown, she gave evasive, but good-humored replies. +Captain Eri was on his usual fishing trip, and after breakfast was over +Perez departed to the Barry place, and Jerry to his beloved schoolhouse. +The sacrifice, whose impending matrimonial doom had not been mentioned +for some time by the trio interested, was gradually becoming his own +garrulous self, and his principal topic of conversation recently had +been the coming marriage of the "upstairs teacher"--that is, the lady +who presided over the grammar grade of the school--and the question of +her probable successor. In fact, this question of who the new teacher +was to be was the prevailing subject of surmise and conjecture in the +village just then. + +When Captain Jerry came back to the house he went out to the barn to +feed Lorenzo and the hens, and attend to Daniel's toilet. He was busy +with the curry-comb when Elsie came in. She seated herself on a box, and +watched the performance for a while without speaking. The Captain, who +took this part of his duties very seriously, was too intent on crimping +Daniel's rather scraggy forelock to talk much. At length Miss Preston +broke the silence. + +"Captain Jerry," she said, "you have never told me just where you found +grandfather that night when he was taken sick. On the hill back of the +post-office, wasn't it?" + +"Yes, jest on the top. You see, he'd fell down when he was runnin' to +the fire." + +"Captain Eri found him, didn't he?" + +"Yep. Whoa there, Dan'l; stand still, can't you? Yes, Eri found him." + +"How was he dressed?" + +"Who? John? Oh, he was bareheaded and in his shirtsleeves, jest as he +run outdoors when he heard the bell. Queer, he didn't put on that +old white hat of his. I never knew him to be without it afore; but a +feller's li'ble to forgit 'most anything a night like that was. Did Eri +tell you how Perez forgot his shoes? Funniest thing I ever see, that +was." + +He began the story of his friend's absent-mindedness, but his companion +did not seem to pay much attention to it. In fact, it was evident that +her thoughts were somewhere else, for when the Captain asked her a +question that plainly called for a negative, she replied "Yes," very +calmly, and didn't seem to know that she had said it. She went into +the house soon after and Captain Jerry, after considering the matter, +decided that she was probably thinking of Hazeltine. He derived much +comfort from the idea. + +When he, too, entered the dining room, Elsie said to him: + +"Oh, Captain Jerry! Please don't tell the others that I asked about +grandfather. They would think that I was worrying, and I'm not, a bit. +You won't mention it, will you? Just promise, to please me." + +So the Captain promised, although he did not understand why it was asked +of him. + +When Captain Eri came home that afternoon, and was cleaning his catch at +the shanty, he was surprised to receive a call from Miss Preston. + +"Hello!" he exclaimed. "Come to l'arn the trade?" + +Elsie smiled, and disclaimed any intention of apprenticeship. + +"Captain Eri," she said, "I want to have a talk with you, a business +talk." + +The Captain looked at her keenly. All he said, however, was, "You don't +tell me!" + +"Yes, I want to talk with you about getting me a position." + +"A position?" + +"Yes, I've been thinking a great deal lately, and, now that grandfather +seems to be a little better, and I'm not needed to help take care of +him, I want to do something to earn my living." + +"Earn your livin'? Why, child alive, you don't need to do that. You +ain't a mite of trouble at the house; fact is, I don't know how we'd get +along without you, and, as for money, why I cal'late your grandpa ain't +so poor but what, if I let you have a little change once in a while, +he'd be able to pay me back, when he got better." + +"But I don't want to use your money or his either. Captain Eri, you +don't know what he has done for me ever since I was a little girl. He +has clothed me and given me an education, and been so kind and good +that, now that he is ill and helpless, I simply can't go on using his +money. I can't, and I won't." + +The tears stood in the girl's eyes, as she spoke, and the Captain, +noticing her emotion, thought it better to treat the matter seriously, +for the present at any rate. + +"All right," he said. "'Independence shows a proper sperit and saves +grocery bills,' as old man Scudder said when his wife run off with the +tin-peddler. What kind of a place was you thinkin' of takin'?" + +"I want to get the appointment to teach in the grammar school here. Miss +Nixon is going to be married, and when she leaves I want her place--and +I want you to help me get it." + +Captain Eri whistled. "I want to know!" he exclaimed. Then he said, +"Look here, Elsie, I don't want you to think I'm tryin' to be cur'ous +'bout your affairs, or anything like that, but are you sure there ain't +some reason more 'n you've told me of for your wantin' this place? I +ain't no real relation of yours, you understand, but I would like to +have you feel that you could come to me with your troubles jest the +same as you would to your grandpa. Now, honest and true, ain't there +somethin' back of this?" + +It was only for a moment that Elsie hesitated, but that moment's +hesitation and the manner in which she answered went far toward +confirming the Captain's suspicions. + +"No, Captain Eri," she said. "It is just as I've told you. I don't want +to be dependent on grandfather any longer." + +"And there ain't a single other reason for--Of course, I ought to mind +my business, but--Well, there! what was it you wanted me to do? Help you +git the place?" + +"Yes, if you will. I know Captain Perez has said that you were +interested in the town-meetings and helped to nominate some of the +selectmen and the school-committee, so I thought perhaps, if you used +your influence, you might get the position for me." + +"Well, I don't know. I did do a little electioneerin' for one or two +fellers and maybe they'd ought to be willin' to do somethin' for me. +Still, you can't never tell. A cat 'll jump over your hands if she knows +there's a piece of fish comin' afterwards, but when she's swallowed that +fish, it's a diff'rent job altogether. Same way with a politician. But, +then, you let me think over it for a spell, and p'raps to-morrow we'll +see. You think it over, too. Maybe you'll change your mind." + +"No, I shan't change my mind. I'm ever and ever so much obliged to you, +though." + +She started toward the door, but turned impulsively and said, "Oh, +Captain Eri, you don't think that I'm ungrateful, do you? You nor +Captain Perez nor Captain Jerry won't think that I do not appreciate +all your kindness? You won't think that I'm shirking my duty, or that +I don't want to help take care of grandfather any longer? You won't? +Promise me you won't." + +She choked down a sob as she asked the question. + +Captain Eri was as much moved as she was. He hastened to answer. + +"No, no, no!" he exclaimed. "Course we won't do no such thing. Run right +along, and don't think another word about it. Wait till to-morrer. I'll +have a plan fixed up to land that school-committee, see if I don't." + +But all that evening he worked at the model of the clipper, and the +expression on his face as he whittled showed that he was puzzled, and +not a little troubled. + +He came back from his fishing next day a little earlier than usual, +changed his working-clothes for his second best suit, harnessed Daniel +into the buggy, and then came into the house, and announced that he was +going over to the Neck on an errand, and if Elsie wanted to go with him, +he should be glad of her company. As this was but part of a pre-arranged +scheme, the young lady declared that a ride was just what she needed. + +Captain Eri said but little, as they drove up to the "main road"; he +seemed to be thinking. Elsie, too, was very quiet. When they reached the +fruit and candy shop, just around the corner, the Captain stopped the +horse, got down, and went in. When he came out he had a handful of +cigars. + +"Why, Captain Eri," said Elsie, "I didn't know that you smoked cigars. I +thought a pipe was your favorite." + +"Well, gin'rally speakin', 'tis," was the answer, "but I'm +electioneerin' now, and politics without cigars would be like a chowder +without any clams. Rum goes with some kind of politics, but terbacker +kind of chums in with all kinds. 'Tain't always safe to jedge a +candidate by the kind of cigars he gives out neither; I've found that +out. + +"Reminds me of a funny thing that Obed Nickerson told me one time. Obed +used to be in politics a good deal up and down the Cape, here, and he +had consider'ble influence. 'Twas when Bradley up to Fall River was +runnin' for Congress. They had a kind of pow-wow in his office--a whole +gang of district leaders--and Obed he was one of 'em. Bradley went to +git out the cigar-box, and 'twas empty, so he called in the boy that +swept out and run errands for him, give the youngster a ten-dollar bill, +and told him to go down to a terbacker store handy and buy another box. +Well, the boy, he was a new one that Bradley'd jest hired, seemed kind +of surprised to think of anybody's bein' so reckless as to buy a whole +box of cigars at once, but he went and pretty soon come back with the +box. + +"The old man told him to open it and pass 'em round. Well, everybody +was lookin' for'ard to a treat, 'cause Bradley had the name of smokin' +better stuff than the average; but when they lit up and got a-goin', +Obed said you could see that the gang was s'prised and some disgusted. +The old man didn't take one at fust, but everybody else puffed away, and +the smoke and smell got thicker 'n' thicker. Obed said it reminded him +of a stable afire more 'n anything else. Pretty soon Bradley bit the end +of one of the things and touched a match to it. He puffed twice--Obed +swears 'twa'n't more'n that--and then he yelled for the boy. + +"'For the Lord's sake!' he says, 'where'd you git them cigars?' Well, +it come out that the boy hadn't told who the cigars was for, and he'd +bought a box of the kind his brother that worked in the cotton mill +smoked. Obed said you'd ought to have seen Bradley's face when the +youngster handed him back seven dollars and seventy-five cents change." + +They reached that part of Orham which is called the Neck, and pulled +up before a small building bearing the sign "Solomon Bangs, +Attorney-at-Law, Real Estate and Insurance." Here the Captain turned to +his companion and asked, "Sure you haven't changed your mind, Elsie? You +want that school-teachin' job?" + +"I haven't changed my mind, Captain Eri." + +"Well, I wanted to be sure. I should hate to ask Sol Bangs for anything +and then have to back out afterwards. Come on, now." + +Mr. Soloman Bangs was the chairman of the Orham school-committee. He was +a short, stout man with sandy side-whiskers and a bald head. He received +them with becoming condescension, and asked if they wouldn't sit down. + +"Why, I've got a little bus'ness I want to talk with you 'bout, +Sol," said the Captain. "Elsie, you set down here, and make yourself +comf'table, and Sol and me 'll go inside for a minute." + +As he led the way into the little private office at the back of the +building, and seemed to take it for granted that Mr. Bangs would follow, +the latter gentleman couldn't well refuse. The private office was +usually reserved for interviews with widows whose homestead mortgages +were to be foreclosed, guileless individuals who had indorsed notes +for friends, or others whose business was unpleasant and likely to +be accompanied with weeping or profanity. Mr. Bangs didn't object to +foreclosing a mortgage, but he disliked to have a prospective customer +hear the dialogue that preceded the operation. + +On this occasion the door of the sanctum was left ajar so that Elsie, +although she did not try to listen, could not very well help hearing +what was said. + +She heard the Captain commenting on the late cranberry crop, the +exceptionally pleasant weather of the past month, and other irrelevant +subjects. Then the perfumes of the campaign cigars floated out through +the doorway. + +"Let's see," said Captain Eri, "when's town meetin' day?" + +"First Tuesday in December," replied Mr. Bangs. + +"Why, so 'tis, so 'tis. Gittin' pretty nigh, ain't it? What are you +goin' to git off the school-committee for?" + +"Me? Get off the committee? Who told you that?" + +"Why, I don't know. You are, ain't you? Seems to me I heard Seth Wingate +was goin' to run and he's from your district, so I thought, of course--" + +"Is Seth going to try for the committee?" + +"Seth's a good man," was the equivocal answer. + +"A good man! He ain't any better man than I am. What's he know about +schools, or how to run 'em?" + +"Well, he's pretty popular. Folks like him. See here, Sol; what's this +'bout your turnin' Betsy Godfrey off her place?" + +"Who said I turned her off? I've been carrying that mortgage for so long +it's gray-headed. I can't be Santa Claus for the whole town. Business is +business, and I've got to look out for myself." + +"Ye-es, I s'pose that's so. Still, folks talk, and Seth's got lots of +friends." + +"Eri, I ain't denying that you could do a heap to hurt me if you wanted +to, but I don't know why you should. I've always been square with you, +far's I know. What have you got against me?" + +"Oh, nuthin', nuthin'! Didn't I hear you was tryin' to get that Harniss +teacher to come down here and take Carrie Nixon's place when she got +married?" + +"Well, I thought of her. She's all night, isn't she?" + +"Yes, I s'pose she is. 'Twould be better if she lived in Orham, maybe, +and folks couldn't say you went out of town for a teacher when you could +have had one right from home. Then, she's some relation of your cousin, +ain't she? 'Course, that's all right, but--well, you can't pay attention +to everything that's said." + +"Could have got one right from home! Who'd we get? Dave Eldredge's girl, +I suppose. I heard she was after it." + +The conversation that followed was in a lower tone, and Elsie heard but +little of it. She heard enough, however, to infer that Captain Eri was +still the disinterested friend, and that Solomon was very anxious to +retain that friendship. After a while the striking of matches indicated +that fresh cigars were being lighted, and then the pair rose from their +chairs, and entered the outer office. Mr. Bangs was very gracious, +exceedingly so. + +"Miss Preston," he said, "Cap'n Hedge tells me that it--er--might be +possible for us--er--for the town to secure--er--to--in short, for us to +have you for our teacher in the upstairs room. It ain't necessary for me +to say that--er--a teacher from Radcliffe don't come our way very often, +and that we--that is, the town of Orham, would--er--feel itself lucky if +you'd be willing to come." + +"Of course, I told him, Elsie," said Captain Eri, "that you wouldn't +think of comin' for forty-five dollars a month or anything like that. Of +course, 'tisn't as though you really needed the place." + +"I understand, I understand," said the pompous committeeman. "I think +that can be arranged. I really think--er--Miss Preston, that there ain't +any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!" + +Elsie thanked him, trying her best not to smile, and they were bowed +out by the great man, who, however, called the Captain to one side, +and whispered eagerly to him for a moment or two. The word "Seth" was +mentioned at least once. + +"Why, Captain Eri!" exclaimed Elsie, as they drove away. + +The Captain grinned. "Didn't know I was such a heeler, did you?" he +said. "Well, I tell you. If you're fishin' for eels there ain't no use +usin' a mack'rel jig. Sol, he's a little mite eely, and you've got to +use the kind of bait that 'll fetch that sort of critter." + +"But I shouldn't think he would care whether he was on the +school-committee or not. It isn't such an exalted position." + +Captain Eri's answer was in the form of a parable. "Old Laban Simpkins +that lived 'round here one time," he said, "was a mighty hard ticket. +Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she left him, and was +a tough nut gin'rally. Well, one evenin' Labe was comin' home pretty +how-come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab Wixon's well. Wonder he wa'n't +killed, but he wa'n't, and they fished him out in a little while. He +said that was the deepest well he ever saw; said he begun to think it +reached clear through to the hereafter, and when he struck the water he +was s'prised to find it wa'n't hot. He j'ined the church the next +week, and somebody asked him if he thought religion would keep him from +fallin' into any more wells. He said no; said he was lookin' out for +somethin' further on. + +"Well, that's the way 'tis with Sol. School-committee's all right, but +this section of the Cape nominates a State representative next year. + +"I mustn't forgit to see Seth," he added. "I promised I would, and +besides," with a wink, "I think 'twould be better to do it 'cause, +between you and me, I don't b'lieve Seth knows that he's been thinkin' +of runnin' for the committee and has decided not to." + +The second member of the school board, John Mullett, was, so the Captain +said, a sort of "me too" to Mr. Bangs, and would vote as his friend +directed. The third member was Mr. Langworthy, the Baptist minister +and, although two to one was a clear majority, Captain Eri asserted that +there was nothing like a unanimous vote, and so they decided to call +upon the reverend gentleman. + +They found him at home, and Elsie was surprised, after the previous +interview, to see how differently her champion handled the case. There +was no preliminary parley and no beating about the bush. Miss Preston's +claim to the soon-to-be-vacant position was stated clearly and with +vigor. Also the reasons why she should receive a higher salary than had +previously been paid were set forth. It was something of a surprise to +Elsie, as it had been to Ralph, to see how highly the towns-people, that +is, the respectable portion of them, seemed to value the opinions of +this good-natured but uneducated seaman. And yet when she considered +that she, too, went to him for advice that she would not have asked of +other and far more learned acquaintances, it did not seem so surprising +after all. + +The clergyman had had several candidates in mind, but he was easily +won over to Elsie's side, partly by the Captain's argument, and partly +because he was favorably impressed by the young lady's appearance +and manner. He expressed himself as being convinced that she would be +exactly the sort of teacher that the school required and pledged his +vote unconditionally. + +And so, as Captain Eri said, the stump-speaking being over, there was +nothing to do but to wait for the election, and Elsie and he agreed +to keep the affair a secret until she received formal notice of the +appointment. This was undoubtedly a good plan, but, unfortunately for +its success, Solomon Bangs called upon his fellow in the committee, Mr. +Mullett, to inform the latter that he, entirely unaided, had discovered +the very teacher that Orham needed in the person of John Baxter's +granddaughter. Mr. Mullett, living up to his "me too" reputation, +indorsed the selection with enthusiasm, and not only did that, but +also told everyone he met, so that Captain Perez heard of it at the +post-office the very next afternoon. + +The natural surprise of this gentleman and of Captain Jerry at their +guest's sudden determination was met by plausible explanations from +Captain Eri, to the effect that Elsie was a smart girl, and didn't +like to be "hangin' 'round doin' nothin', now that her grandpa was some +better." Elsie's own reason, as expressed to them, being just this, the +pair accepted it without further questioning. Neither of them attached +much importance to the letter which she had received, although Captain +Perez did ask Mrs. Snow if she knew from whom it came. + +The lady from Nantucket was not so easily satisfied. At her first +opportunity she cornered Captain Eri, and they discussed the whole +affair from beginning to end. There was nothing unusual in this +proceeding, for discussions concerning household matters and questions +of domestic policy were, between these two, getting to be more and more +frequent. Mrs. Snow was now accepted by all as one of the family, and +Captain Eri had come to hold a high opinion of her and her views. What +he liked about her, he said, was her "good old-fashioned common-sense," +and, whereas he had formerly trusted to his own share of this virtue +almost altogether, now he was glad to have hers to help out. + +The marriage idea, that which had brought the housekeeper to Orham, was +now seldom mentioned. In fact, Captain Eri had almost entirely ceased to +ruffle Jerry's feelings with reference to it. Mrs. Snow, of course, +said nothing about it. But, for that matter, she said very little about +herself or her affairs. + +It was a curious fact that the lady from Nantucket had never referred, +except in a casual way, to her past history. She had never told how she +came to answer the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime, nor to explain +how so matter-of-fact a person as she was had ever seen that famous +sheet. As she said nothing concerning these things, no one felt at +liberty to inquire, and, in the course of time, even Captain Perez' +lively curiosity had lapsed into a trance. + +Mrs. Snow was certain that Elsie's reason for wishing to obtain the +position of school-teacher was something more specific than the +one advanced. She was also certain that the girl was troubled about +something. The root of the matter, she believed, was contained in the +mysterious letter. As Captain Eri was of precisely the same opinion, +speculation between the two as to what that letter might have contained +was as lively as it was unfruitful. + +One thing was certain, Elsie was not as she had formerly been. She did +her best to appear the same, but she was much more quiet, and had fits +of absentmindedness that the Captain and the housekeeper noticed. She +had no more evening "errands," but she occasionally took long walks in +the afternoons, and on these walks she evidently preferred to be alone. + +Whether Mr. Hazeltine noticed this change in her was a question. The +Captain thought he did, but at any rate, his calls were none the less +frequent, and he showed no marked objection when Captain Jerry, who now +considered himself bound in honor to bring about the union he had so +actively championed, brought to bear his artful schemes for leaving the +young folks alone. These devices were so apparent that Elsie had more +than once betrayed some symptoms of annoyance, all of which were lost on +the zealous match-maker. Ralph, like the others, was much surprised at +Miss Preston's application for employment, but, as it was manifestly +none of his business, he, of course, said nothing. + +At the next committee meeting Elsie was unanimously chosen to fill Miss +Nixon's shoes as trainer of the young idea at the grammar school, and, +as Miss Nixon was very anxious to be rid of her responsibilities in +order that she might become the carefree bride of a widower with two +small children, the shoe-filling took place in a fortnight. + +From her first day's labors Elsie returned calm and unruffled. She had +met the usual small rebellion against a new teacher, and had conquered +it. She said she believed she had a good class and she should get on +with them very nicely. It should be mentioned in passing, however, that +Josiah Bartlett, usually the ring-leader in all sorts of trouble, was a +trifle upset because the new schoolmistress lived in the same house +with him, and so had not yet decided just how far it was safe to go in +trespassing against law and order. + +Thanksgiving day came, and the Captains entertained Miss Patience Davis +and her brother and Ralph Hazeltine at dinner. That dinner was an event. +Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow spent a full twenty minutes with the driver of +the butcher's cart, giving him directions concerning the exact breed +of turkey that was to be delivered, and apparently these orders were +effectual, for Captain Luther, who was obliged to hurry back to the +life-saving station as soon as dinner was over, said that he was so full +of white meat and stuffing that he cal'lated he should "gobble" all the +way to the beach. His sister stayed until the next day, and this was +very pleasing to all hands, particularly Captain Perez. + +They had games in the evening, and here the captains distinguished +themselves. Seth Wingate and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Obed Nickerson +came in, as did several other retired mariners and their better-halves. +Obed brought his fiddle and sat in the corner and played the music for +a Virginia reel, and Ralph laughed until he choked to see Captain +Jerry--half of his shirt-collar torn loose from the button and flapping +like a sail--convoy stout Mrs. Wingate from one end of the line to +the other, throwing into the performance all the fancy "cuts" and +"double-shuffles" he learned at the Thanksgiving balls of a good many +years before. Captain Perez danced with Miss Patience, who assured him +she had never had such a good time since she was born. The only scoffer +was the bored Josiah, who, being a sophisticated New Yorker, sat in the +best chair and gazed contemptuously upon the entire proceeding. He told +"Web" Saunders the next day that he never saw such a gang of "crazy +jays" in his life. + +Even John Baxter was better that day. He seemed a trifle more rational, +and apparently understood when they told him that it was Thanksgiving. +There would have been no cloud anywhere had not Mrs. Snow, entering her +room after Elsie had gone to bed, found that young lady awake and crying +silently. + +"And she wouldn't tell what the trouble was," said the housekeeper to +Captain Eri, the next day. "Said it was nothin'; she was kind of worried +'bout her grandpa. Now, you and me know it wa'n't THAT. I wish to +goodness we knew WHAT it was." + +The Captain scratched his nose with a perplexed air. "There's one feller +I'd like to have a talk with jest 'bout now," he said; "that's the +one that invented that yarn 'bout a woman's not bein' able to keep a +secret." + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + + +It was during the week that followed the holiday so gloriously +celebrated that Captain Jerry made a mess of it, and all with the +best intentions in the world. Elsie had had a hard day at the school, +principally owing to the perversity of the irrepressible Josiah, whose +love for deviltry was getting the better of his respect for the new +teacher. The boy had discovered that Elsie never reported his bad +conduct to Captain Perez, and, therefore, that the situation was not +greatly different from what it had been during the reign of Miss Nixon. + +On this particular day he had been a little worse than usual, and, +as uneasiness and mischief in a schoolroom are as catching as the +chickenpox, Elsie came home tired and nervous. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow +were certain that this increasing nervousness on the part of their guest +was not due to school troubles alone, but, at any rate, nervous she was, +and particularly nervous, and, it must be confessed, somewhat inclined +to be irritable, during the supper and afterward, on this ill-starred +night. + +The beginning of the trouble was when Ralph Hazeltine called. Mrs. Snow +was with her patient in the upper room, Captain Eri was out, and +Captain Perez and Captain Jerry were with Elsie in the dining room. +The electrician was made welcome by the trio--more especially by the +captains, for Miss Preston was in no mood to be over-effusive--and a +few minutes of general conversation followed. Then Captain Jerry, in +accordance with his plan of campaign, laid down his newspaper, coughed +emphatically to attract the attention of his partner, and said, "Well, I +guess I'll go out and look at the weather for a spell. Come on, Perez." + +"Why, Captain Jerry!" exclaimed Elsie, "you were out looking at the +weather only ten minutes ago. I don't think it has changed much since +then. Why don't you stay here and keep us company?" + +"Oh, you can't never tell about the weather 'long this coast. It's +likely to change most any time. Besides," with a wink that expressed +comprehension unlimited, "I reckon you and Mr. Hazeltine don't care much +'bout the company of old fogies like me and Perez. Two's company and +three's a crowd, you know. Ho, ho, ho!" + +"Captain Jerry, come back this minute!" + +But the Captain chuckled and shook out of the door, followed by the +obedient Perez, who, having pledged fealty, stuck to his colors whatever +might happen. + +At another time, Elsie would probably have appreciated and enjoyed the +joke as much as anyone, but this evening it did not appeal to her in +the least. Ralph put in a very uncomfortable half-hour, and then cut his +visit short and departed. It was rather sharp and chilly outside, +but the breeze felt like a breath from the tropics compared with the +atmosphere of that dining room. + +It certainly was Captain Jerry's unlucky evening, for he left Perez +chatting with a fisherman friend, who had left a favorite pipe in his +shanty and had come down to get it, and entered the house alone. He had +seen the electrician go, and was surprised at the brevity of his call, +but he was as far from suspecting that he himself was the indirect cause +of the said brevity as a mortal could be. + +He came into the dining room, hung his cap on the back of a chair, and +remarked cheerfully, "Well, Elsie, what did you send your company home +so quick for? Land sake! twelve o'clock wa'n't none too late for me when +I was young and goin' round to see the girls." + +But Miss Preston did not smile. On the contrary, she frowned, and when +she spoke the Captain had a vague feeling that someone had dropped an +icicle inside his shirt collar. + +"Captain Jerry," said the young lady, "I want to have a talk with you. +Why do you think it necessary to get up and leave the room whenever Mr. +Hazeltine calls? You do it every time, and to-night was no exception, +except that by what you said you made me appear a little more ridiculous +than usual. Now, why do you do it?" + +The Captain's jaw fell. He stared at his questioner to see if she was +not joking, but, finding no encouragement of that kind, stammered, "Why +do I do it? Why?" + +"Yes, why?" + +"Why, 'cause I thought you wanted me to." + +"_I_ wanted you to! Why should you think that, please?" + +"Well, I don't know. I thought you two would ruther be alone. I know, +when I used to go to see my wife 'fore we was married, I--" + +"Please, what has that got to do with Mr. Hazeltine's visits here?" + +"Why, why, nothin', I s'pose, if you say so. I jest thought--" + +"What right have you to suppose that Mr. Hazeltine is calling on me more +than any other person or persons in this house?" + +This was something of a poser, but the Captain did his best. He sat on +the edge of a chair and rubbed his knee, and then blurted out, "Well, +I s'pose I--that is, we thought he was, jest 'cause he nat'rally would; +that's 'bout all. If I'd thought--why, see here, Elsie, don't YOU think +he's comin' to see you?" + +This was a return thrust that was hard to parry, but, although the +young lady's color heightened just a bit, she answered without much +hesitation: + +"I don't know that I do. At any rate, I have given you no authority to +act on any such assumption, and I DON'T want you to put me again in the +ridiculous position you did this evening, and as you have done so often +before. Why, his visits might be perfect torture to me, and still I +should have to endure them out of common politeness. I couldn't go away +and leave him alone." + +Captain Jerry's face was a study of chagrin and troubled repentance. + +"Elsie," he said, "I'm awful sorry; I am so. If I'd thought I was +torturin' of you, 'stead of makin' it pleasant, I'd never have done it, +sure. I won't go out again; I won't, honest. I hope you won't lay it up +against me. I meant well." + +Now, if Captain Perez had delayed his entrance to that dining room +only two or three minutes longer, if he had not come in just in time to +prevent Elsie's making the explanatory and soothing answer that was on +her tongue, events would probably have been entirely different, and a +good deal of trouble might have been saved. But in he came, as if some +perverse imp had been waiting to give him the signal, and the interview +between Captain Jerry and the young lady whom he had unwittingly +offended broke off then and there. + +Elsie went upstairs feeling a little conscience-stricken, and with an +uneasy idea that she had said more than she should have. Captain Perez +took up the newspaper and sat down to read. As for Captain Jerry, he sat +down, too, but merely to get his thoughts assorted into an arrangement +less like a spilled box of jackstraws. The Captain's wonderful scheme, +that he had boasted of and worked so hard for, had fallen to earth like +an exploded airship, and when it hit it hurt. + +His first idea was to follow the usual procedure, and take the whole +matter to Captain Eri for settlement, but the more he considered this +plan the less he liked it. Captain Eri was an unmerciful tease, and he +would be sure to "rub it in," in a way the mere thought of which made +his friend squirm. There wasn't much use in confiding to Captain Perez, +either. He must keep the secret and pretend that everything was working +smoothly. + +Then his thoughts turned to Hazeltine, and when he considered the wrong +he had done that young man, he squirmed again. There wasn't a doubt in +his mind that Ralph felt exactly as Elsie did about his interference. +Captain Jerry decided that he owed the electrician an apology, and +determined to offer it at the first opportunity. + +And the opportunity came the very next morning, for Mrs. Snow wanted +some clams for dinner, and asked him to dig some for her. The best clams +in the vicinity were those in the flat across the bay near the cable +station, and the Captain took his bucket and hoe and rowed over there. +As he was digging, Ralph came strolling down to the shore. + +Mr. Hazeltine's "Good-morning" was clear and hearty. Captain Jerry's +was hesitating and formal. The talk that followed was rather one-sided. +Finally, the Captain laid down his hoe, and came splashing over to where +his friend was standing. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," he said confusedly, "I kind of feel as if I ought to +beg your pardon. I'm awful sorry I done what I did, but, as I said to +Elsie, I meant well, and I'm sorry." + +"Sorry? Sorry for what?" + +"Why, for leavin' you and her alone so when you come to the house. You +see, I never thought but what you'd both like it, and 'twa'n't till she +raked me over the coals so for doin' it that I realized how things was." + +"Raked you over the coals? I'm afraid I don't understand." + +It is unnecessary to repeat the whole of the long and tangled +conversation that ensued. The Captain tried to explain, tumbled down, +metaphorically speaking, got up again, and started off on another tack. +In his anxiety to make his position perfectly clear, he quoted from +Elsie's remarks of the previous evening, and then, thinking perhaps +he had gone too far, tried to smooth these over by more explanations. +Repeating this process several times got him into such a snarl that +he scarcely knew what he was saying. When the agony was over Ralph had +received the impression that Miss Preston had said his visits were a +perfect torture to her, that she objected to being left alone with him, +that she held Captain Jerry responsible for these things, and that the +latter was sorry for something or other, though what it was he, Ralph, +didn't know or care particularly. To the Captain's continued apologies +he muttered absently that it was "all right," and walked slowly away +with his hands in his pockets. Captain Jerry was relieved by this +expression of forgiveness. He felt that the situation wasn't what he +would like to have it, but, at any rate, he had done his duty. This was +a great consolation. + +Ralph didn't call that evening or the next. When he did drop in it was +merely to inquire concerning John Baxter's progress, and to chat for a +moment with the captains. His next visit was a week later, and was just +as brief and formal. + +If Elsie noticed this sudden change she said nothing. There might have +been some comment by the others, had not a new sensation so occupied +their minds as to shut out everything else. This sensation was caused by +Josiah Bartlett, who ran away one night, with his belongings tied up in +a brown paper parcel, leaving a note saying that he had gone to enlist +in the Navy and wasn't coming back any more. + +There were lively times the next morning when the note was found. +Captain Perez was for harnessing up immediately and starting off to find +the lost one, hit or miss. Captain Eri soon showed him the folly of +this proceeding and, instead, hurried to the railway station and sent a +telegram describing the fugitive to the conductor of the Boston +train. It caught the conductor at Sandwich, and the local constable at +Buzzard's Bay caught the boy. Josiah was luxuriously puffing a five-cent +cigar in the smoking car, and it was a crest-fallen and humiliated +prodigal that, accompanied by the a fore-mentioned constable, returned +to Orham that night. + +But the stubbornness remained, and the next day Perez sought Captain Eri +in a troubled frame of mind. + +"Eri," he said dejectedly, "I don't know what I'm goin' to do with that +boy. He's too many for ME, that boy is. Seems he's been plannin' this +runnin' away bus'ness for more 'n a month; been doin' errands and odd +jobs 'round town and savin' up his money on purpose. Says he won't go +back to school again, no matter what we do to him, and that he's goin' +to git into the Navy if it takes ten year. He says he'll run away again +fust chance he gits, and he WILL, too. He's got the sperit of the Old +Scratch in him, and I can't git it out. I'm clean discouraged and wore +out, and I know that he'll do somethin' pretty soon that 'll disgrace us +all." + +"Humph!" exclaimed his friend. "Stuffy as all that, is he? You don't +say! He ain't a bad boy, that is a REEL bad boy, either." + +"No, that's jest it. He ain't reel bad--yit. But he will be if he ain't +fetched up pretty sudden. 'Course, I know what he needs is to be made +to mind fust, and then preached to afterwards. And I know that nat'rally +I'm the one that ought to do it, but I jest can't--there! If I should +start out to give him the dressin' down he needs, I'd be thinkin' of his +mother every minute, and how I promised to treat him gentle and not be +cross to him. But SOMETHIN'S got to be done, and if you can help me out +any way I'll never forgit it, Eri." + +Captain Eri scratched his chin. "Humph!" he grunted reflectively. "He +couldn't git into the Navy, he's too young. More likely to be a stowaway +on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, or some such +thing. Even if he lied 'bout his age and did git to be a sort of +a ship's boy on a sailin' vessel, you and me know what that means +nowadays. I presume likely 'twould end in his bein' killed in some +rumshop scrimmage later on. Let--me--see. Bound to be a sailor, is he?" + +"He's dead sot on it." + +"More fool he. Comes from readin' them ridic'lous story books, I s'pose. +He ain't been on the water much sence he's been down here, has he?" + +"Not more 'n once or twice, except in a dory goin' to the beach, or +somethin' like that." + +"That's so, that's what I thought. Well, Perez, I'll tell you. The boy +does need breakin' in, that's a fact, and I think maybe I could do it. I +could use a young feller on my boat; to go coddin' with me, I mean. +Let me have the boy under me--no meddlin' from anybody--for a couple +of months. Let him sign reg'lar articles and ship 'long of me for that +time. Maybe I could make a white man of him." + +"I don't b'lieve he'd do it." + +"I cal'late I could talk him into it. There's some butter on my tongue +when it's necessary." + +"You'd have to promise not to lay a hand on him in anger. That's what I +promised his mother." + +"All right, I promise it now. That's all right, Perez. You and me are +old shipmates, and bound to help each other out. Just trust him to me, +and don't ask too many questions. Is it a trade? Good! Shake." + +They shook hands on it, and then Captain Eri went in to talk to the +unreconciled runaway. That young gentleman, fresh from his triumph over +his uncle, at first refused to have anything to do with the scheme. He +wasn't going to be a "cheap guy fisherman," he was going into the +Navy. The Captain did not attempt to urge him, neither did he preach or +patronize. He simply leaned back in the rocker and began spinning sailor +yarns. He told of all sorts of adventures in all climates, and with all +sorts of people. He had seen everything under the sun, apparently, and, +according to him, there was no life so free and void of all restraint +as that of an able seaman on a merchant ship, or, preferably, on a +fisherman; but one point he made clear, and that was that, unless the +applicant had had previous training, his lot was likely to be an unhappy +one. + +"Of course," he said, as he rose to go, "it was my idea to sort of train +you up so's you could be ready when 'twas time to ship, but long's you +don't want to, why it's all off." + +"I'll go with you, Cap!" said Josiah, whose eyes were shining. + +"Good! That's the talk! You might as well sign articles right away. Wait +till I git 'em ready." + +He brought pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to indite a formidable +document to the effect that "Josiah Bartlett, able seaman," was to ship +aboard the catboat Mary Ellen for a term of two months. Wages, five +dollars a month. + +"You see," he said, "I've put you down as able seaman 'cause that's what +you'll be when I git through with you. Now sign." + +So Josiah signed, and then Captain Eri affixed his own signature with a +flourish. + +"There!" exclaimed the Captain, bringing his big palm down on the back +of the "able seaman" with a thump that brought water into the eyes of +that proud youth, "You're my man, shipmate. We sail to-morrer mornin' at +four, rain or shine. I'll call you at quarter of. Be ready." + +"You bet, old man!" said Josiah. + +Captain Perez met his friend as they came out of the parlor. + +"Now, Eri," he whispered, "be easy as you can with him, won't you?" + +The Captain answered in the very words of his crew. + +"You bet!" he said fervently, and went away whistling. Captain Perez +slept better that night. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VOYAGE OF AN "ABLE SEAMAN" + + +Promptly at a quarter to four the next morning Captain Eri rapped on the +parlor door. Josiah, who had been dressed since three, appeared almost +instantly. They walked down to the shore together, and the Captain's +eyes twinkled as he noted the elaborate roll in the boy's walk. + +The Mary Ellen was anchored between the beaches, and they rowed off to +her in a dory. It was pitch-dark, and cold and raw. Lanterns showed on +two or three of the other boats near by, and, as Josiah and the Captain +pulled up the eelgrass-covered anchor, a dim shape glided past in the +blackness. It was the You and I, bound out. Ira Sparrow was at the helm, +and he hailed the Mary Ellen, saying something about the weather. + +"It 'll be kind of ca'm for a spell," replied Captain Eri, "but I +wouldn't wonder if we had some wind 'fore night. Here you, fo'mast +hand," he added, turning to Josiah, "stand by to git the canvas on her." + +The mainsail was soon hoisted, and the catboat moved slowly out of the +bay. + +"Gee! it's dark," exclaimed Josiah, "what are you goin' way off here +for? Why don't you go straight out?" + +"I gin'rally take the short cut through the narrers," replied the +Captain, "but I thought you mightn't like the breakers on the shoals, so +I'm goin' 'round the p'int flat." + +"Huh! I ain't a-scared of breakers. Can't be too rough for me. Wisht +'twould blow to beat the band." + +"Maybe 'twill by and by. Pretty toler'ble slick now, though." + +It was after sunrise when they reached the ledge where codfish most do +congregate. The land was a mere yellow streak on the horizon. The stiff +easterly blow of the day before had left a smooth, heavy swell that, +tripping over the submerged ledge, alternately tossed the Mary Ellen +high in air and dropped her toward the bottom. It was cold, and the +newly risen December sun did not seem to have much warmth in it. Anchor +over the side, the Captain proposed breakfast. + +The "able seaman" did not feel very hungry, but he managed to swallow +a hard-boiled egg and a sandwich, and then, just to show that he had +reached the dignity of manhood, leaned back against the side of the +cockpit, lit a cigarette, and observed cheerfully, "This is hot stuff, +ain't it, Cap?" + +Captain Eri wiped the crumbs from his mouth, leisurely produced his +pipe, and proceeded to fill it with tobacco shaved from a chunky plug. + +"What d'you smoke them things for?" he asked contemptuously, referring +to the cigarette. "Nobody but dudes and sissies smoke that kind of +truck. Here, take this pipe, and smoke like a man." + +Josiah looked askance at the proffered pipe. + +"Oh, no!" he said magnanimously, "you'll want it yourself. I'll get +along with these things till I git ashore; then I'll buy a pipe of my +own." + +"Never you mind 'bout me. I've got two or three more below there, +some'eres. Take it and light up." + +The "able seaman" took the reeking, nicotine soaked affair, placed it +gingerly between his teeth, held a match to the bowl and coughingly +emitted a cloud of ill-smelling smoke. The pipe wheezed and gurgled, and +the Mary Ellen rocked and rolled. + +"Now, then," said Captain Eri, "we've sojered long enough. Go below, and +bring up the bait bucket and the lines." + +Josiah staggered into the little cabin, reappeared with the heavy cod +lines and the bucket of mussels, and watched while the Captain "baited +up." + +"All ready!" said the skipper. "Two lines apiece, one over each side. +Watch me." + +The cod bit almost immediately, and for ten minutes the work was +exciting and lively. The Captain, watching from the corner of his eye, +noticed that his assistant's pipe was wheezing less regularly, and that +his lines were thrown over more and more listlessly. At length he said, +"Haven't stopped smokin' so quick, have you? What's the matter--gone +out? Here's a match." + +"I guessed I've smoked enough for now. I can't fish so well when I'm +smokin'." + +"Bosh! If you want to be a reel sailor you must smoke all the time. +Light up." + +Reluctantly the boy obeyed, and puffed with feverish energy. Also he +swallowed with vigor. The cod smelt fishy; so did the bait, and the +catboat rolled and rolled. Suddenly Josiah pulled in his lines, and took +the pipe from his lips. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the watchful skipper. + +"I--I guess I won't fish any more, Cap. Kind of slow sport, ain't it? +Guess I'll go in there and take a snooze." + +"I guess you won't! You shipped to fish, and you're goin' to fish. Pick +up them lines." + +The boy sullenly turned toward the cabin door. Was he, who had just +declared himself independent of school restraint, he who had once +been the thorn in the flesh of every policeman in the --th ward, to be +ordered about by this Cape Cod countryman! "Aw, go chase yourself!" he +said contemptuously. A minute after, when he picked himself up from +the heap of slimy fish in the bottom of the boat, he saw the Captain +standing solidly on one cowhide-shod foot, while the other was drawn +easily back and rested on its toe. When Josiah recovered his breath, the +burst of bad language with which he assailed his companion did credit to +his street bringing up. It was as short as it was fierce, however, and +ended amid the cod and the mussels from the overturned bait bucket. +But, as the Captain said afterwards, he was "spunky" and rose again, +incoherent with rage. + +"You--you--I'll kill you!" he shrieked. "You promised not to touch me, +you lyin' old--" + +He tried to get out of the way, but didn't succeed, and this time merely +sat up and sobbed as Captain Eri said in even tones: + +"No, I'm not lyin'. I promised not to lay a hand on you in anger, that's +all. Fust place, I don't kick with my hands, and, second place, I ain't +angry. Now, then, pick up them lines." + +The "able seaman" was frightened. This sort of treatment was new to +him. He judged it best to obey now and "get square" later on. He sulkily +picked up the codlines, and threw the hooks overboard. Captain Eri, +calmly resuming his fishing, went on to say, "The fust thing a sailor +has to l'arn is to obey orders. I see you've stopped smokin'. Light up." + +"I don't want to." + +"Well, I want you TO. Light up." + +"I won't. Oh, yes, I will!" + +He eyed the threatening boot fearfully and lit the awful pipe with +shaking fingers. But he had taken but a few puffs when it went over the +side, and it seemed to Josiah that the larger half of himself went with +it. The Captain watched the paroxysm grimly. + +"Sick, hey?" he grunted, "and not a capful of wind stirrin'. You're +a healthy sailor! I thought I'd shipped a man, but I see 'twas only a +sassy baby. My uncle Labe had a good cure for seasickness. You take a +big hunk of fat salt pork, dip it in molasses, and--" + +"Oh, d-o-n-'t!" Another spasm. + +"Dip it in molasses," repeated Captain Eri. + +"Don't, Cap! PLEASE don't!" + +"Another thing a sailor learns is not to call his skipper 'Cap.' A +fo'mast hand always says 'Aye, aye, sir,' when his off'cer speaks to +him. Understand that?" + +"Y-e-s. Oh, Lord!" + +"WHAT?" + +"Ye--I mean aye, aye." + +"Aye, aye, WHAT?" + +"Aye, aye, SIR! OH, dear me!" + +"That's better. Now pick up them lines." + +Well, 'twas a dreadful forenoon for Josiah; one not to be forgotten. The +boat rolled unceasingly, his head ached, and pulling the heavy cod made +his back and shoulders lame; also, he was wet and cold. The other boats +scattered about the fishing grounds pulled up their anchors and started +for home, but Captain Eri did not budge. At noon he opened his lunch +basket again, and munched serenely. The sight of the greasy ham +sandwiches was too much for the "able seaman." He suffered a relapse +and, when it was over, tumbled on the seat which encircled the cockpit +and, being completely worn out, went fast asleep. The Captain watched +him for a minute or two, smiled in a not unkindly way, and, going into +the cabin, brought out an old pea jacket and some other wraps with which +he covered the sleeper. Then he went back to his fishing. + +When Josiah awoke the Mary Ellen was heeled over on her side, her sail +as tight as a drumhead. The wind was whistling through the cordage, and +the boat was racing through seas that were steel-blue and angry, with +whitecaps on their crests. The sun was hidden by tumbling, dust-colored +clouds. The boy felt weak and strangely humble; the dreadful nausea was +gone. + +Captain Eri, standing at the tiller, regarded him sternly, but there was +the suspicion of a twinkle in his eye. + +"Feelin' better?" he asked. + +"Ye--aye, aye, sir." + +"Humph! Want to smoke again. Pipe right there on the thwart." + +"No, thank you, sir." + +It was some time before anything more was said. Josiah was gazing at +the yellow sand-cliffs that, on every tack, grew nearer. At length the +Captain again addressed him. + +"Perez ever tell you 'bout our fust v'yage? Never did, hey? Well, I +will. Him and me run away to sea together, you know." + +And then Captain Eri began a tale that caused the cold shivers to chase +themselves from Josiah's big toe to the longest hair on his head. It +was the story of two boys who ran away and shipped aboard an Australian +sailing packet, and contained more first-class horrors than any one of +his beloved dime novels. As a finishing touch the narrator turned back +the grizzled hair on his forehead and showed a three-inch scar, souvenir +of a first mate and a belaying pin. He rolled up his flannel shirtsleeve +and displayed a slightly misshapen left arm, broken by a kick from a +drunken captain and badly set by the same individual. + +"Now," he said in conclusion, "I cal'late you think I was pretty hard +on you this mornin', but what do you figger that you'd have got if you +talked to a mate the way you done to me?" + +"Don't know. S'pose I'd have been killed,--sir." + +"Well, you would, mighty nigh, and that's a fact. Now, I'll tell you +somethin' else. You wanted to enlist in the Navy, I understand. You +couldn't git in the Navy, anyway, you're too young, but s'pose you +could, what then? You'd never git any higher 'n a petty officer, 'cause +you don't know enough. The only way to git into the Navy is to go +through Annapolis, and git an education. I tell you, education counts. +Me and Perez would have been somethin' more 'n cheap fishin' and +coastin' skippers if we'd had an education; don't forgit that." + +"I guess I don't want to be a sailor, anyway, sir. This one trip is +enough for me, thank you." + +"Can't help that. You shipped 'long with me for two months, and you'll +sail with me for two months, every time I go out. You won't run away +again neither, I'll look out for that. You'll sail with me and you'll +help clean fish, and you'll mind me and you'll say 'sir.' You needn't +smoke if you don't want to," with a smile. "I ain't p'tic'lar 'bout +that. + +"Then," went on the Captain, "when the two months is up you'll be your +own master again. You can go back to 'Web' Saunders and 'Squealer' Wixon +and 'Ily' Tucker and their tribe, if you want to, and be a town nuisance +and a good-for-nuthin'. OR you can do this: You can go to school for a +few years more and behave yourself and then, if I've got any influence +with the Congressman from this district--and I sort of b'lieve I have, +second-handed, at any rate--you can go to Annapolis and learn to be a +Navy officer. That's my offer. You've got a couple of months to think it +over in." + +The catboat swung about on her final tack and stood in for the narrows, +the route which the Captain had spoken of as the "short cut." From +where Josiah sat the way seemed choked with lines of roaring, frothing +breakers that nothing could approach and keep above water. But Captain +Eri steered the Mary Ellen through them as easily as a New York +cabdriver guides his vehicle through a jam on Broadway, picking out the +smooth places and avoiding the rough ones until the last bar was crossed +and the boat entered the sheltered waters of the bay. + +"By gum!" exclaimed the enthusiastic "able seaman." "That was +great--er--sir!" + +"That's part of what I'll l'arn you in the next two months," said the +Captain. "'Twon't do you any harm to know it when you're in the Navy +neither. Stand by to let go anchor!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + + +If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline he +was disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the "shipping +articles." The Captain even went to the length of transferring Perez +to the parlor cot and of compelling the boy to share his own room. This +was, of course, a precaution against further attempts at running away. +Morning after morning the pair rose before daylight and started for the +fishing grounds. There were two or three outbreaks on the part of the +"able seaman," but they ended in but one way, complete submission. After +a while Josiah, being by no means dull, came to realize that when he +behaved like a man he was treated like one. He learned to steer the Mary +Ellen, and to handle her in all weathers. Also, his respect for Captain +Eri developed into a liking. + +Captain Perez was gratified and delighted at the change in his +grandnephew's behavior and manners, and was not a little curious to +learn the methods by which the result had been brought about. His hints +being fruitless, he finally asked his friend point-blank. Captain Eri's +answer was something like this: + +"Perez," he said, "do you remember old man Sanborn, that kept school +here when you and me was boys? Well, when the old man run foul of a +youngster that was sassy and uppish he knocked the sass out of him fust, +and then talked to him like a Dutch uncle. He used to call that kind of +treatment 'moral suasion.' That's what I'm doin' to Josiah; I'm 'moral +suasionin' him." + +Captain Perez was a little anxious concerning the first part of this +course of training, but its results were so satisfactory that he +asked no more questions. The fact is, Captain Perez' mind was too much +occupied with another subject just at this time to allow him to be +over-anxious. The other subject was Miss Patience Davis. + +Miss Davis, her visit with her brother being over, was acting as +companion to an old lady who lived in a little house up the shore, a +mile or so above the station. This elderly female, whose name was Mayo, +had a son who kept a grocery store in the village and was, therefore, +obliged to be away all day and until late in the evening. Miss Patience +found Mrs. Mayo's crotchets a bit trying, but the work was easy and +to her liking, and she was, as she said, "right across the way, as you +might say, from Luther." The "way" referred to was the stretch of water +between the outer beach and the mainland. + +And Captain Perez was much interested in Miss patience--very much so, +indeed. His frequent visits to the Mayo homestead furnished no end of +amusement to Captain Eri, and also to Captain Jerry, who found poking +fun at his friend an agreeable change from the old programme of being +the butt himself. He wasn't entirely free from this persecution, +however, for Eri more than once asked him, in tones the sarcasm of which +was elaborately veiled, if his match-making scheme had gotten tired and +was sitting down to rest. To which the sacrifice would reply stoutly, +"Oh, it's comin' out all right; you wait and see." + +But in his heart Captain Jerry knew better. He had been wise enough +to say nothing to his friends concerning his interviews with Elsie +and Ralph, but apparently the breaking-off between the pair was final. +Hazeltine called occasionally, it is true, but his stays were short +and, at the slightest inclination shown by the older people to leave the +room, he left the house. There was some comment by Eri and Mrs. Snow on +this sudden change, but they were far from suspecting the real reason. +Elsie continued to be as reticent as she had been of late; her school +work was easier now that Josiah was no longer a pupil. + +Christmas was rather a failure. There were presents, of course, but +the planned festivities were omitted owing to a change in John Baxter's +condition. From growing gradually better, he now grew slowly, but +surely, worse. Dr. Palmer's calls were more frequent, and he did not +conceal from Mrs. Snow or the captains his anxiety. They hid much of +this from Elsie, but she, too, noticed the change, and was evidently +worried by it. Strange to say, as his strength ebbed, the patient's mind +grew clearer. His speech, that in his intervals of consciousness had +heretofore dealt with events of the past, was now more concerned with +recent happenings. But Captain Eri had never heard him mention the fire. + +One afternoon in January Mrs. Snow and Captain Eri were together in +the sick room. The rest of the household was absent on various errands; +Captain Perez paying a visit to the life-saver's sister and Elsie +staying after school to go over some examination papers. There was snow +on the ground, and a "Jinooary thaw" was causing the eaves to drip, and +the puddles in the road to grow larger. The door of the big stove was +open, and the coals within showed red-hot. Captain Baxter was apparently +asleep. + +"Let me see," said Mrs. Snow musingly, in a low tone. "I've been here +now, two, three, over four months. Seems longer, somehow." + +"Seems almost as if you'd always been here," replied Captain Eri. "Queer +how soon we git used to a change. I don't know how we got along afore, +but we did some way or other, if you call it gittin' along," he added +with a shrug. "I should hate to have to try it over again." + +"It's always seemed funny to me," remarked the lady, "that you men, all +sailors so--and used to doin' for yourselves, should have had such a +time when you come to try keepin' house. I should have expected it if +you was--well, doctors, or somethin' like that--used to havin' folks +wait on you, but all sea captains, it seems queer." + +"It does, don't it? I've thought of that myself. Anybody'd think we was +the most shif'less lot that ever lived, but we wa'n't. Even Jerry--and +he's the wust one of the three when it comes to leavin' things at loose +ends--always had a mighty neat vessel, and had the name of makin' his +crews toe the mark. I honestly b'lieve it come of us bein' on shore and +runnin' the shebang on a share and share alike idee. If there'd been a +skipper, a feller to boss things, we'd have done better, but when all +hands was boss--nobody felt like doin' anything. Then, too, we begun too +old. A feller gits sort of sot in his ways, and it's hard to give in to +the other chap. + +"Now, take that marryin' idee," he went on. "I laughed at that a good +deal at fust and didn't really take any stock in it, but I guess 'twas +real hoss sense, after all. Anyhow, it brought you down here, and what +we'd done without you when John was took sick, _I_ don't know. I haven't +said much about it, but I've felt enough, and I know the other fellers +feel the same way. You've been so mighty good and put up with so many +things that must have fretted you like the nation, and the way you've +managed--my!" + +The whole-souled admiration in the Captain's voice made the housekeeper +blush like a girl. + +"Don't say a word, Cap'n Eri," she protested. "It's been jest a pleasure +to me, honest. I've had more comfort and--well, peace, you might say, +sence I've been in this house than I've had afore for years." + +"When I think," said the Captain, "of what we might have got for that +advertisement, I swan it makes my hair curl. Advertisin' that way in +that kind of a paper, why we might have had a--a play actress, or I +don't know what, landed on us. Seems 's if there was a Providence in it: +seems 's if you was kind of SENT--there!" + +"I don't know what you must think of me answerin' an advertisement for +a husband that way. It makes me 'shamed of myself when I think of it, I +declare. And in that kind of a paper, too." + +"I've wondered more times than a few how you ever got a hold of that +paper. 'Tain't one you'd see every day nat'rally, you know." + +Mrs. Snow paused before she answered. Then she said slowly, "Well, I'm +s'prised you ain't asked that afore. I haven't said much about myself +sence I've been here, for no p'tic'lar reason that I know of, except +that there wasn't much to tell and it wasn't a very interestin' yarn to +other folks. My husband's name was Jubal Snow--" + +"You don't say!" exclaimed the Captain. "Why, Jerry used to know him." + +"I shouldn't wonder. Jubal knew a lot of folks on the Cape here. He +was a good husband--no better anywheres--and he and I had a good life +together long as he was well. I've sailed a good many v'yages with him, +and I feel pretty nigh as much at home on the water as I do on land. +Our trouble was the same that a good many folks have; we didn't cal'late +that fair weather wouldn't last all the time, that's all. + +"It wasn't his fault any more than 'twas mine. We saved a little money, +but not enough, as it turned out. Well, he was took down sick and had to +give up goin' to sea, and we had a little place over in Nantucket, and +settled down on it. Fust along, Jubal was able to do a little farmin' +and so on, and we got along pretty well, but by and by he got so he +wa'n't able to work, and then 'twas harder. What little we'd saved went +for doctor's bills and this, that, and t'other. He didn't like to have +me leave him, so I couldn't earn much of anything, and fin'lly we come +to where somethin' had to be done right away, and we talked the thing +over and decided to mortgage the house. The money we got on the mortgage +lasted until he died. + +"He had a little life insurance, not enough, of course, but a little. He +was plannin' to take on more, but somehow it never seemed as if he could +die, he so big and strong, and we put it off until he got so he couldn't +pass the examination. When the insurance money come I took it to Jedge +Briar, a mighty good friend of Jubal's and mine and the one that held +the mortgage on the house, and I told him I wanted to pay off the +mortgage with it, so's I'd have the house free and clear. But the Jedge +advised me not to, said the mortgage was costin' me only six per +cent., and why didn't I put the money where 'twas likely to be a good +investment that would pay me eight or ten per cent.? Then I'd be makin' +money, he said. I asked him to invest it for me, and he put it into the +Bay Shore Land Company, where most of his own was." + +"Sho! I want to know!" broke in the Captain. "He did, hey! Well, I had +some there, too, and so did Perez. Precious few fam'lies on the Cape +that didn't." + +"Yes, he thought 'twas the safest and best place he knew of. The +officers bein' sons of Cape people and their fathers such fine men, +everybody said 'twas all right. I got my dividends reg'lar for a while, +and I went out nussin' and did sewin' and got along reel well. I kept +thinkin' some day I'd be able to pay off the mortgage and I put away +what little I could towards it, but then _I_ was took sick and that +money went, and then the Land Company went up the spout." + +The Captain nodded. The failure of the company had brought poverty to +hundreds of widows. Mrs. Snow's case was but another instance. + +"Let me see," said the lady. "Where was I? Oh, yes! the Land Company's +failin'. Well, it failed and the insurance money went with it. It was +discouragin', of course, but I had my house, except for the mortgage, +and I had my health again, and, if I do say it, I ain't afraid of work, +so I jest made up my mind there was no use cryin' over spilt milk, and +that I must git along and begin to save all over again. Then Jedge Briar +died and his nephew up to Boston come into the property. I was behind +in my payments a little, and they sent me word they should foreclose the +mortgage, and they did." + +"Well, I swan! The mean sculpins! Didn't you have NOBODY you could go +to; no relations nor nothin'?" + +"I've got a brother out in Chicago, but he married rich and his wife +doesn't care much for her husband's relations. I never saw her but once, +and then one of the first things she asked me was if it was true that +there was more crazy people in Nantucket than in any other place of +its size on earth, and afore I could answer she asked me what made 'em +crazy. I told her I didn't know unless it was answerin' city folks' +questions. She didn't like that very well, and I haven't heard from +Job--that's my brother--for a long time. All my other near relations are +dead. + +"So they foreclosed the mortgage, and gave me notice to move out. I +packed my things, and watered my flowers--I had quite a pretty flower +garden--for the last time, and then come in and set down in the rocker +to wait for the wagon that was goin' to move me. I got to thinkin' how +proud Jubal and me was when we bought that house and how we planned +about fixin' it up, and how our baby that died was born in it, and +how Jubal himself had died there, and told me that he was glad he was +leavin' me a home, at any rate; and I got so lonesome and discouraged +that I jest cried, I couldn't help it. But I've never found that cryin' +did much good, so I wiped my eyes and looked for somethin' to read to +take up my mind. And that Chime paper was what I took up. + +"You see, there'd been a big excursion from Boston down the day before, +and some of the folks come down my way to have a sort of picnic. Two +of 'em, factory girls from Brockton, they was, come to the house for a +drink of water. They were gigglin', foolish enough critters, but I asked +'em in, and they eat their lunches on my table. They left two or three +story papers and that Chime thing when they went away. + +"Well, I looked it over, and almost the first thing I saw was that +advertisement signed 'Skipper.' It didn't read like the other trashy +things in there, and it sounded honest. And all of a sudden it come over +me that I'd answer it. I was lonesome and tired and sort of didn't care, +and I answered it right off without waitin' another minute. That's all +there is to tell. When I come here to be housekeeper I wrote the folks +that's takin' care of my furniture--they're reel kind people; I was +goin' to board there if I had stayed in Nantucket--to keep it till I +come back. There! I meant to tell you this long ago, and I don't know +why I haven't." + +The Captain knew why she hadn't. It was easy to read between the lines +the tale of the years of disappointment and anxiety. Such stories are +not easy to tell, and he respected the widow more than ever for the +simple way in which she had told hers. + +"That Land Company bus'ness," he said, "carried off a good lot of Cape +Cod money. I never saw but one man that I thought was glad it busted, +and that was old Caleb Weeks, over to Harniss. The old man was rich, +but closer 'n the bark of a tree--he'd skin a flea for the hide and +taller--and used to be a hard case into the bargain. One time they had +a big revival over there and he got religion. The boys used to say what +caught Caleb was the minister's sayin' salvation was free. Well, anyhow, +he got converted and j'ined the church. That was all right, only while +the fit was fresh he pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to +help build the new chapel. When he cooled down a little he was sorry, +and every time they'd hint at his comin' down with the cash, he'd back +and fill, and put it off for a spell. When the Land Company went up he +was the only happy one in town, 'cause he said he'd lost all his money. +Course, under the circumstances, they couldn't ask him to pay, so he +didn't. From what I hear he lost as much as fifty dollars." + +They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was +interrupted. + +"Eri," said a weak voice. "Eri." + +The Captain started, turned sharply, and saw the sick man watching him, +his eyes fixed and unwavering. + +"Eri," said John Baxter again, "come here." + +Mrs. Snow hurried to her patient, but the latter impatiently bade her +let him alone. + +"Not you," he said, "I want Eri." + +Captain Eri stooped down beside the bed. + +"What is it, John?" he asked. + +"Eri s'pose God called you to break man's law and keep his, what would +you do?" + +The Captain glanced anxiously at the house-keeper. Then he said +soothingly: + +"Oh, that's all right, John. Don't worry 'bout that. You and me settled +that long ago. How are you feelin' now?" + +"I know, I know," with the monotonous persistence of those whose minds +are wandering,--and then cleanly once more, "Eri, I've been called." + +"Ssh-h! That's all right, John; that's all right. Don't you want Mrs. +Snow to fix your piller? P'raps you'd lay a little easier, then. Now, +Mrs. Snow, if you'll jest turn it while I lift him. So; that's +better now, ain't it, shipmate, hey?" But the sick man muttered an +unintelligible something, and relapsed once more into the half-doze, +half-stupor that was his usual state. + +Captain Eri sighed in relief. + +"That was queer, wa'n't it?" he observed. + +"He's had two or three of those spells in the last day or two," was the +answer. + +The Captain wondered what his friend might have said during those +"spells," but he was afraid to inquire. Instead, he asked, "What did the +doctor say when he was here this mornin'?" + +"Nothin' very hopeful. I asked him plain what he thought of the case, +and he answered jest as plain. He said Cap'n Baxter had failed dreadful +in the last week, and that he wouldn't be s'prised if he dropped off +most any time. Then again, he said he might live for months." + +"I see, I see." + +They were silent for a while, watching the sick man, whose sleep, +or stupor, was not as tranquil as usual. Two or three times his eyes +opened, and he muttered audibly. + +"I never saw him so restless afore," commented Captain Eri anxiously. + +"He was so last night." + +"Did Elsie see him?" + +"No, I was alone here, and she was asleep in the next room. I got up and +shut the door." + +The Captain glanced keenly at the housekeeper, but her face was placid +and inscrutable. He shifted uneasily and then said, "Elsie's late +to-night, ain't she? I wonder what's keepin' her." + +"School work, I s'pose. She's workin' harder 'n she ought to, I think." + +"FIRE!" + +The word was shouted, and the room rang with it. John Baxter, whose +weakness had hitherto been so great that he could not turn himself in +bed, was leaning on his elbow and pointing with outstretched finger to +the open stove door. + +"Fire!" he shouted again. "It's blazin'! It's burnin'! It's wipin' the +plague spot from the earth. I hear you, Lord! I'm old, but I hear you, +and your servant's ready. Where will it be to-morrer? Gone! burnt up! +and the ways of the wicked shan't prevail." + +They forced him back on the pillow, but he fought them fiercely for a +moment or two. After they thought they had quieted him, he broke out +again, talking rapidly and clearly. + +"I hear the call, Lord," he said. "I thank thee for showin' it to me in +your Book. 'And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all +their goodly castles, with fire.' With fire! With fire!" + +"Ssh-h! There, there, John! Don't talk so," entreated the Captain. + +"Where's the kerosene?" continued the old man. "And the matches? Now +softly, softly. The shavin's. It's dark. Here, in the corner. Ah, ha! +ah, ha! 'And all their goodly castles with fire!' Now, Web Saunders, you +wicked man! Now! Burn! I've done it, Lord! I've done it!" + +"Hush!" almost shouted the agonized Captain Eri. "Hush, John! Be still!" + +"There, there, Cap'n Baxter," said Mrs. Snow soothingly, laying her hand +on the sick man's forehead. Somehow, the touch seemed to quiet him; his +eyes lost their fire, and he muttered absently that he was tired. Then +the eyes closed and he lay still, breathing heavily. + +"Land of love!" exclaimed the Captain. "That was awful! Hadn't I better +go for the doctor?" + +"I don't think so, unless he gits worse. He had jest such a turn, as I +told you, last night." + +"Did he talk like he did jest now?" + +"Jest the same." + +"'Bout the same things?" + +"Yes." + +The Captain gasped. "Then you knew!" he said. + +"That he set the billiard room afire? Yes. I've always rather +suspicioned that he did, and last night, of course, made me sure of it." + +"Well, well! You haven't said nothin' 'bout it to anybody?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, 'course you haven't. You must excuse me--I'm kind of upset, I +guess. Dear! dear! Did you think _I_ knew it?" + +"I sort of guessed that you did." + +"Well, I did. I've known it ever sence that night he was found. He had +his coat on when I found him, and 'twas all burnt, and there was an +empty kerosene bottle in his pocket. I hid the coat, and threw the +bottle away, and turned him so he was facin' towards the saloon 'stead +of from it. And I lied when I told the doctor that he was jest as he +fell. There! the murder's out! Now, what do you think of me?" + +"Think? I think you did exactly right." + +"You DO?" + +"I sartinly do." + +"Well, I snum! I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've +felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes. I've heard folks +layin' it to fust one and then the other, and cal'latin' that Web did it +himself to git the insurance, and all the time I've known who really +did do it, and haven't said anything. I jest couldn't. You see, John and +me's been brothers almost. But I didn't s'pose anybody else would see it +the same way." + +"Cap'n Eri, do you s'pose I blame you for tryin' to keep your best +friend out of trouble that he got into by bein'--well--out of his head. +Why, land of mercy! He ain't no more to be held responsible than a baby. +You did what I'd have done if I'd been in your place, and I respect you +for it." + +The Captain's voice shook as he answered: + +"Marthy Snow," he said, "you're the kind of woman that I'd like to have +had for a sister." + +It was perhaps a half-hour later when Captain Eri started for the +schoolhouse to bring Elsie home. John Baxter had not wakened, and Mrs. +Snow said she was not afraid to remain alone with him. The thaw had +turned to a light rain and the Captain carried an umbrella. It was dark +by this time, and when he came in sight of the schoolhouse he saw a +light in the window. + +One of the scholars--a by no means brilliant one--whose principal +educational achievement was the frequency with which he succeeded in +being "kept after school," was seated on the fence, doing his best to +whittle it to pieces with a new jackknife. + +"Hello, sonny!" said the Captain. "Miss Preston gone yit?" + +"No, she ain't," replied the boy, continuing to whittle. "She's up +there. Mr. Saunders is there, too." + +"Saunders? WEB SAUNDERS?" + +"Yup. I see him go in there a little while ago." Captain Eri started +toward the schoolhouse at a rapid pace; then he suddenly stopped; and +then, as suddenly, walked on again. All at once he dropped his umbrella +and struck one hand into the palm of the other with a smack. + +When he reached the door, he leaned the umbrella in the corner and +walked up the stairs very softly, indeed. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A BUSINESS CALL + + +That enterprising business man, Mr. "Web" Saunders, opened the door of +his renovated billiard room a little later than usual the next morning. +It was common report about the village that Mr. Saunders occasionally +sampled the contents of some of the "original packages" which, bearing +the name and address of a Boston wholesale liquor dealer, came to him +by express at irregular intervals. It was also reported, probably by +unreliable total abstainers, that during these "sampling" seasons +his temper was not of the best. Perhaps Mrs. Saunders might have said +something concerning this report if she had been so disposed, but unless +a discolored eye might be taken as evidence, she never offered any. The +injury to her eye she explained by saying that something "flew up and +hit her." This was no doubt true. + +But, gossip aside, Mr. Saunders did not seem in good humor on this +particular morning. A yellow cur, of nondescript breed, taken since the +fire, in payment of a debt from "Squealer" Wixon, who had described it +as a "fust-class watchdog," rose from its bed behind the cigar counter, +yawned, stretched, and came slinking over to greet its master. "Web" +forcibly hoisted it out of the door on the toe of his boot. Its yelp of +pained surprise seemed to afford the business man considerable relief, +for he moved more briskly afterward, and proceeded to sweep the floor +with some degree of speed. + +The forenoon trade at the billiard room was never very lively, and this +forenoon was no exception. "Bluey" Batcheldor drifted in, stepped into +the little room the door of which was lettered "Ice Cream Parlor," and +busied himself with a glass and bottle for a few moments. Then he helped +himself to a cigar from the showcase, and told his friend to "chalk it +up." This Mr. Saunders didn't seem to care to do, and there was a lively +argument. At length "Bluey's" promise to "square up in a day or so" was +accepted, under protest, and the customer departed. + +At half-past eleven the man of business was dozing in a chair by the +stove, and the "watchdog," having found it chilly outside and venturing +in, was dozing near him. The bell attached to the door rang vigorously, +and both dog and man awoke with a start. The visitor was Captain Eri. + +Now, the Captain was perhaps the last person whom the proprietor of the +billiard room expected to see, but a stranger never would have guessed +it. In fact, the stranger might reasonably have supposed that the +visitor was Mr. Saunders' dearest friend, and that his call was a +pleasure long looked forward to. + +"Why, Cap'n!" exclaimed "Web," "how are you? Put her there! I'm glad +to see you lookin' so well. I said to 'Squealer' the other day, s'I, +'Squealer, I never see a man hold his age like Cap'n Hedge. I'll be +blessed if he looks a day over forty,' I says. Take off your coat, won't +you?" + +Somehow or other, the Captain must have lost sight of "Web's" extended +hand. Certainly, the hand was large enough to be seen, but he did not +take it. He did, however, accept the invitation to remove his coat, and, +slipping out of the faded brown pea jacket, threw it on a settee at the +side of the room. His face was stern and his manner quiet, and in spite +Of Mr. Saunders' flattering reference to his youthful appearance, this +morning he looked at least more than a day past forty. + +But, if Captain Eri was more than usually quiet and reserved, "Web" +was unchanged, and, if he noticed that the handshake was declined, said +nothing about it. His smile was sweetness itself, as he observed, "Well, +Cap'n, mighty mod'rate weather we're having for this time of year, ain't +it? What's new down your way? That's right, have a chair." + +The Captain had no doubt anticipated this cordial invitation, for he +seated himself before it was given, and, crossing his legs, extended his +dripping rubber boots toward the fire. The rain was still falling, and +it beat against the windows of the saloon in gusts. + +"Web," said Captain Eri, "set down a minute. I want to talk to you." + +"Why, sure!" exclaimed the genial man of business, pulling up another +chair. "Have a cigar, won't you? You don't come to see me very often, +and I feel's though we ought to celebrate. Ha! ha! ha!" + +"No, I guess not, thank you," was the answer. "I'll smoke my pipe, if +it's all the same to you." + +Mr. Saunders didn't mind in the least, but thought he would have a cigar +himself. So he lit one and smoked in silence as the Captain filled his +pipe. "Web" knew that this was something more than an ordinary social +visit. Captain Eri's calls at the billiard room were few and far +between. The Captain, for his part, knew what his companion was +thinking, and the pair watched each other through the smoke. + +The pipe drew well, and the Captain sent a blue cloud whirling toward +the ceiling. Then he asked suddenly, "Web, how much money has Elsie +Preston paid you altogether?" + +Mr. Saunders started the least bit, and his small eyes narrowed a +trifle. But the innocent surprise in his reply was a treat to hear. + +"Elsie? Paid ME?" he asked. + +"Yes. How much has she paid you?" + +"I don't know what you mean." + +"Yes, you do. She's been payin' you money reg'lar for more 'n a month. I +want to know how much it is." + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge, I don't know what you're talkin' about. Nobody's paid +me a cent except them that's owed me. Who did you say? Elsie Preston? +That's the school-teacher, ain't it?" + +"Web, you're a liar, and always was, but you needn't lie to me this +mornin', 'cause it won't be healthy; I don't feel like hearin' it. You +understand that, do you?" + +Mr. Saunders thought it time to bluster a little. He rose to his feet +threateningly. + +"Cap'n Hedge," he said, "no man 'll call me a liar." + +"There's a precious few that calls you anything else." + +"You're an old man, or I'd--" + +"Never you mind how old I am. A minute ago you said I didn't look more +'n forty; maybe I don't feel any older, either." + +"If that Preston girl has told you any--" + +"She hasn't told me anything. She doesn't know that I know anything. But +I do know. I was in the entry upstairs at the schoolhouse for about ten +minutes last night." + +Mr. Saunders' start was perceptible this time. He stood for a moment +without speaking. Then he jerked the chair around, threw himself into +it, and said cautiously, "Well, what of it?" + +"I come up from the house to git Elsie home 'cause 'twas rainin'. I was +told you was with her, and I thought there was somethin' crooked goin' +on; fact is, I had a suspicion what 'twas. So when I got up to the door +I didn't go in right away; I jest stood outside." + +"Listenin', hey! Spyin'!" + +"Yup. I don't think much of folks that listens, gin'rally speakin', but +there's times when I b'lieve in it. When I'm foolin' with a snake I'd +jest as soon hit him from behind as in front. I didn't hear much, but I +heard enough to let me know that you'd been takin' money from that girl +right along. And I think I know why." + +"You do, hey?" + +"Yup." + +Then Mr. Saunders asked the question that a bigger rascal than he had +asked some years before. He leaned back in his chair, took a pull at his +cigar, and said sneeringly, "Well, what are you goin' to do 'bout it?" + +"I'm goin' to stop it, and I'm goin' to make you give the money back. +How much has she paid you?" + +"None of your d--n bus'ness." + +The Captain rose to his feet. Mr. Saunders sprang up, also, and reached +for the coal shovel, evidently expecting trouble. But if he feared a +physical assault, his fear was groundless. Captain Eri merely took up +his coat. + +"Maybe it ain't none of my bus'ness," he said. "I ain't a s'lectman +nor sheriff. But there's such things in town, and p'raps they'll be +int'rested. Seems to me that I've heard that blackmailin' has got folks +into State's prison afore now." + +"Is that so? Never heard that folks that set fire to other people's +prop'ty got there, did you? Yes, and folks that helps 'em gits there, +too, sometimes. Who was it hid a coat a spell ago?" + +It was Captain Eri's turn to start. He hesitated a moment, tossed the +pea jacket back on the settee and sat down once more. Mr. Saunders +watched him, grinning triumphantly. + +"Well?" he said with a sneer. + +"A coat, you say?" + +"Yes, a coat. Maybe you know who hid it; I can guess, myself. That coat +was burned some. How do you s'pose it got burned? And say! who used to +wear a big white hat round these diggin's? Ah, ha! Who did?" + +There was no doubt about the Captain's start this time. He wheeled +sharply in his chair, and looked at the speaker. + +"Humph!" he exclaimed. "You found that hat, did you?" + +"That's what I done! And where do you think I found it? Why, right at +the back of my shed where the fire started. And there'd been a pile of +shavin's there, too, and there'd been kerosene on 'em. Who smashed the +bottle over in the field, hey?" + +Captain Eri seemed to be thinking. "Web" evidently set his own +interpretation on this silence, for he went on, raising his voice as he +did so. + +"Did you think I was fool enough not to know who set that fire? I knew +the night she burned, and when I met Dr. Palmer jest comin' from +your house, and he told me how old Baxter was took sick goin' to the +fire--oh, yes, GOIN'--I went up on that hill right off, and I hunted and +I found things, and what I found I kept. And what I found when I pulled +that burned shed to pieces I kept, too. And I've got 'em yit!" + +"You have, hey? Dear! dear!" + +"You bet I have! And somebody's goin' to pay for 'em. Goin' to pay, pay, +PAY! Is that plain?" + +The Captain made no answer. He thrust his hands into his pockets and +looked at the stove dolefully, so it seemed to the man of business. + +"Fust off I thought I'd have the old cuss jailed," continued Mr. +Saunders. "Then, thinks I, 'No, that won't pay me for my buildin' and my +bus'ness hurt and all that.' So I waited for Baxter to git well, meanin' +to make him pay or go to the jug. But he stayed sick a-purpose, I +b'lieve, the mean, white-headed, psalm-singin'--" + +Captain Eri moved uneasily and broke in, "You got your insurance money, +didn't you?" + +"Yes, I did, but whose fault is that? 'Twa'n't his, nor any other darned +'Come-Outer's.' It don't pay me for my trouble, nor it don't make me +square with the gang. I gen'rally git even sometime or 'nother, and I'll +git square now. When that girl come here, swellin' 'round and puttin' on +airs, I see my chance, and told her to pay up or her granddad would be +shoved into Ostable jail. That give her the jumps, I tell you!" + +"You wrote her a letter, didn't you?" + +"You bet I did! She come 'round to see me in a hurry. Said she didn't +have no money. I told her her granddad did, an she could git that or go +to work and earn some. I guess she thought she'd ruther work. Oh, I've +got her and her prayin', house-burnin' granddad where I want 'em, and +I've got you, too, Eri Hedge, stickin' your oar in. Talk to me 'bout +blackmail! For two cents I'd jail the old man and you, too!" + +This was the real Mr. Saunders. He usually kept this side of his nature +for home use; his wife was well acquainted with it. + +Captain Eri was evidently frightened. His manner had become almost +apologetic. + +"Well," he said, "I wouldn't do that if I was you, Web. I heard you tell +Elsie last night she wa'n't payin' you enough, and I thought--" + +"I know what you thought. You thought you could scare me. You didn't +know I had the coat and hat, did you? Well, what I said I stand by. The +girl AIN'T payin' me enough. Fourteen dollars a week she gits, and she's +only been givin' up ten. I want more. I want--" + +But here Captain Eri interrupted him. + +"I guess that 'll do," he said calmly. "You've told me what I wanted +to know. Ten dollars a week sence the middle of November. 'Bout seventy +dollars, rough figgerin'. Now, then, hand it over." + +"What?" + +"Hand over that seventy dollars." + +"Hand over hell! What are you talkin' 'bout?" + +The Captain rose and, leaning over, shook his forefinger in Mr. +Saunders' flabby red face. + +"You low-lived, thievin' rascal," he said, "I'm givin' you a chance you +don't deserve. Either you'll pay me that money you've stole from that +girl or I'll walk out of that door, and when I come in again the sheriff +'ll be with me. Now, which 'll it be? Think quick." + +Web's triumphant expression was gone, and rage and malice had taken its +place. He saw, now, that the Captain had tricked him into telling +more than he ought. But he burst out again, tripping over words in his +excitement. + +"Think!" he yelled. "I don't need to think. Bring in your sheriff. I'll +march down to your house and I'll show him the man that set fire to my +buildin'. What 'll you and that snivelin' granddaughter of his do then? +You make off to think a turrible lot of the old prayer-machine 'cause +he's your chum. How'd you like to see him took up for a firebug, hey?" + +"I ain't afraid of that." + +"You ain't? You AIN'T! Why not?" + +"'Cause he's gone where you can't git at him. He died jest afore I left +the house." + +Mr. Saunders' brandished fist fell heavily on the arm of his chair. His +face turned white in patches, and then flamed red again. + +"Died!" he gasped. + +"Died." + +"You--you're a liar!" + +"No, I ain't. John Baxter's dead. He was a chum of mine--you're right +there--and if I'd known a sneak like you was after him I'd have been +here long afore this. Why, you--" + +The Captain's voice shook, but he restrained himself and went on. + +"Now, you see where you stand, don't you? Long's John lived you had +the proof to convict him; I'll own up to that much. I hid the coat; I +smashed the bottle. The hat I didn't know 'bout. I might have told you +at fust that all that didn't amount to anything, but I thought I'd wait +and let you tell me what more I wanted to know. John Baxter's gone, +poor feller, and all your proof ain't worth a cent. Not one red cent. +Understand?" + +It was quite evident that Mr. Saunders did understand, for his +countenance showed it. But the bluster was not out of him yet. + +"All right," he said. "Anyhow, the girl's left, and if she don't pay +I'll show her granddad up for what he was. And I'll show you up, too. +Yes, I will!" he shouted, as this possibility began to dawn on him. +"I'll let folks know how you hid that coat and--and all the rest of it." + +"No, you won't." + +"Why won't I?" + +"'Cause you won't dare to. You've been hittin' at a sick man through a +girl; neither of 'em could hit back. But now you're doin' bus'ness with +me, and I ain't sick. If you open your mouth to anybody,--if you let +a soul know who set that fire,--I'll walk straight to Jedge Baker, and +I'll tell him the whole story. I'll tell him what I did and why I did +it. And THEN I'll tell him what you did--how you bullied money out of +that girl that hadn't no more to do with the fire than a baby. If it +comes to facin' a jury I'll take my chances, but how 'bout you? You, +runnin' a town nuisance that the s'lectmen are talkin' of stoppin' +already; sellin' rum by the drink when your license says it shan't be +sold 'cept by the bottle. Where'll YOUR character land you on a charge +of blackmail? + +"And another thing. The folks in this town knew John Baxter afore he was +like what he's been lately. A good many of 'em swore by him--yes, +sir, by mighty, some of 'em loved him! This is a law-abidin' town, but +s'pose--jest s'pose I should go to some of the fellers that used to sail +with him, and tell 'em what you've been up to. Think you'd stay here +long? _I_ think you'd move out--on a rail." + +Captain Eri paused and sat on the arm of his chair, grimly watching his +opponent, whose turn for thinking had come. The face of the billiard +magnate was an interesting study in expression during the Captain's +speech. From excited triumph it had fallen to fear and dejection; and +now, out of the wreck, was appearing once more the oily smile, the +sugared sweetness of the every-day Mr. Saunders. + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge," purred the reconstructed one, "you and me has always +been good friends. We hadn't ought to fight like this. I don't think +either of us wants to go to court. Let's see if we can't fix the thing +up some way." + +"We'll fix it up when you pay me the seventy dollars." + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge, 'tain't likely I've got seventy dollars in my pocket. +Seems to me you're pretty hard on a poor feller that's jest been burnt +out. I think we'd ought to--" + +"How much HAVE you got?" + +After a good deal of talk and protestation Mr. Saunders acknowledged +being the possessor of twenty-six dollars, divided between the cash +drawer and his pocket. This he reluctantly handed to the Captain. + +Then the Captain demanded pen, ink, and paper; and when they were +brought he laboriously wrote out a screed to the effect that Webster +Saunders had received of Elsie Preston forty-four dollars, which sum he +promised to pay on demand. + +"There," he said, pushing the writing materials across the table. "Sign +that." + +At first Mr. Saunders positively refused to sign. Then he intimated that +he had rather wait and think it over a little while. Finally he affixed +his signature and spitefully threw the pen across the room. + +Captain Eri folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Then he rose +and put on his pea jacket. + +"Now, there's jest one thing more," he said. "Trot out that coat and +hat." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Trot out that coat and hat of John's. I want 'em." + +"I shan't do it." + +"All right, then. It's all off. I'll step over and see the Jedge. You'll +hear from him and me later." + +"Hold on a minute, Cap'n. You're in such a everlastin' hurry. I don't +care anything 'bout the old duds, but I don't know's I know where they +are. Seems to me they're up to the house somewheres. I'll give 'em to +you to-morrer." + +"You'll give 'em to me right now. I'll tend shop while you go after +'em." + +For a moment it looked as though the man of business would rebel +outright. But the Captain was so calm, and evidently so determined to do +exactly what he promised, that "Web" gave up in despair. Muttering that +maybe they were "'round the place, after all," he went into the back +room and reappeared with the burned coat and the scorched white felt +hat. Slamming them down on the counter, he said sulkily, "There they be. +Any more of my prop'ty you'd like to have?" + +Captain Eri didn't answer. Coolly tearing off several sheets of wrapping +paper from the roll at the back of the counter, he made a bundle of the +hat and coat, and tucked it under his arm. Then he put on his own hat +and started for the door. + +"Good-mornin'," he said. + +The temper of the exasperated Mr. Saunders flared up in a final +outburst. + +"You think you're almighty smart, don't you?" he growled between his +teeth. "I'll square up with you by and by." + +The Captain turned sharply, his hand on the latch. + +"I wish you'd try," he said. "I jest wish to God you'd try. I've held in +more 'n I thought I could when I come up here, but if you want to start +a reel fust-class rumpus, one that 'll land you where you b'long and rid +this town of you for keeps, jest try some of your tricks on me. And if +I hear of one word that you've said 'bout this whole bus'ness, I'll know +it's time to start in. Now, you can keep still or fight, jest as you +please. I tell you honest, I 'most wish you'd fight." + +The door slammed. Mr. Saunders opened it again and gazed vindictively +after the bulky figure splashing through the slush. The dog came +sneaking up and rubbed his nose against his master's hand; it was an +impolitic move on his part. + +"Git out!" roared Web, delighted at the opportunity. "You +good-for-nothin' pup! How's that set?" + +"That" was a kick that doubled the cur up against the settee. As it +scrambled to its feet, Mr. Saunders kicked it again. And then the +"watchdog" exhibited the first evidence of spirit that it had ever been +known to show. With a snarl, as the man turned away, it settled its +teeth into the calf of his leg, and then shot out of the door and, with +its tail between its legs, went down the road like a yellow cannon ball. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + + +It was true--John Baxter was dead. His violent outbreak of the previous +afternoon had hastened the end that the doctor had prophesied. There was +no harrowing death scene. The weather-beaten old face grew calmer, and, +the sleep sounder, until the tide went out--that was all. It was like a +peaceful coming into port after a rough voyage. No one of the watchers +about the bed could wish him back, not even Elsie, who was calm and +brave through it all. When it was over, she went to her room and Mrs. +Snow went with her. Captain Eri went out to make his call upon Mr. +Saunders. + +The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Orham. The little house +was crowded. Old friends, who had drifted away from the fanatic in his +latter days, came back to pay tribute to the strong man whom they had +known and loved. There was some discussion among the captains as to +who should preach the funeral sermon. Elsie had left this question +to Captain Eri for settlement, and the trio and Mrs. Snow went into +executive session immediately. + +"If John had had the settlin' of it himself," observed Eri, "he'd have +picked Perley, there ain't no doubt 'bout that." + +"I know it," said Captain Perez, "but you must remember that John wa'n't +himself for years, and what he'd have done now ain't what he'd have done +'fore he broke down. I hate to think of Perley's doin' it, somehow." + +"Isn't Mr. Perley a good man?" asked the housekeeper. + +"He's good enough, fur's I know," replied Captain Jerry, "but I know +what Perez means. A funeral, seems to me, ought to be a quiet, soothin' +sort of a thing, and there ain't nothin' soothin' 'bout Come-Outer' +preachin'. He'll beller and rave 'round, I'm 'fraid, and stir up poor +Elsie so she won't never git over it." + +"I know it," agreed Captain Eri. "That's what I've been afraid of. And +yit," he added, "I should feel we was doin' somethin' jest opposite from +what John would like, if we had anybody else." + +"Couldn't you see Mr. Perley beforehand," suggested Mrs. Snow, "and tell +him jest the kind of sermon he must preach. Tell him it must be quiet +and comfortin' and--" + +"And short." Captain Eri finished the sentence for her. "I guess that's +the way we'll have to settle it. I'll make him understand one thing, +though--he mustn't drag in rum sellin' and all the rest of it by the +heels. If he does I'll--I don't know what I'll do to him." + +The interview with the Reverend Perley that followed this conversation +must have been effective, for the sermon was surprisingly brief and as +surprisingly calm. In fact, so rational was it that a few of the more +extreme among the preacher's following were a bit disappointed and +inquired anxiously as to their leader's health, after the ceremony was +over. + +The procession of carryalls and buggies followed the hearse to the +cemetery among the pines, and, as the mourners stood about the grave, +the winter wind sang through the evergreen branches a song so like the +roar of the surf that it seemed like a dirge of the sea for the mariner +who would sail no more. As they were clearing away the supper dishes +that night Captain Eri said to Mrs. Snow, "Well, John's gone. I wonder +if he's happier now than he has been for the last ten years or so." + +"I think he is," was the answer. + +"Well, so do I, but if he hadn't been a 'Come Outer' I don't s'pose +Brother Perley and his crowd would have figgered that he had much show. +Seems sometimes as if folks like that--reel good-hearted folks, too, +that wouldn't hurt a fly--git solid comfort out of the feelin' that +everybody that don't agree with 'em is bound to everlastin' torment. I +don't know but it's wicked to say it, but honest, it seems as if them +kind would 'bout as soon give up the hopes of Heaven for themselves as +they would the satisfaction of knowin' 'twas t'other place for the other +feller." + +To which remark the somewhat shocked housekeeper made no reply. + +The following day Elsie went back to her school. Captain Eri walked up +with her, and, on the way, told her of his discovery of her secret, and +of his interview with "Web" Saunders. It was exactly as the Captain had +surmised. The note she had received on the evening of the return from +the life-saving station was from the proprietor of the billiard +saloon, and in it he hinted at some dire calamity that overshadowed her +grandfather, and demanded an immediate interview. She had seen him that +night and, under threat of instant exposure, had promised to pay the sum +required for silence. She had not wished to use her grandfather's money +for this purpose, and so had taken the position as teacher. + +"Well," said the Captain, "I wish you'd have come to me right away, and +told me the whole bus'ness. 'Twould have saved a pile of trouble." + +The young lady stopped short and faced him. + +"Captain Eri," she said, "how could I? I was sure grandfather had set +the fire. I knew how ill he was, and I knew that any shock might kill +him. Besides, how could I drag you into it, when you had done so much +already? It would have been dreadful. No, I thought it all out, and +decided I must face it alone." + +"Well, I tell you this, Elsie; pretty gin'rally a mean dog 'll bite if +he sees you're afraid of him. The only way to handle that kind is to run +straight at him and kick the meanness out of him. The more he barks +the harder you ought to kick. If you run away once it 'll be mighty +uncomf'table every time you go past that house. But never mind; I +cal'late this p'tic'lar pup won't bite; I've pulled his teeth, I guess. +What's your plans, now? Goin' to keep on with the school, or go back to +Boston?" + +Miss Preston didn't know; she said she had not yet decided, and, as the +schoolhouse was reached by this time, the Captain said no more. + +There was, however, another question that troubled him, and that seemed +to call for almost immediate settlement. It was: What should be done +with Mrs. Snow? The housekeeper had been hired to act as such while +John Baxter was in the house. Now he was gone, and there remained the +original marriage agreement between Captain Jerry and the widow, and +honor called for a decision one way or the other. Mrs. Snow, of course, +said nothing about it, neither did Captain Jerry, and Captain Eri felt +that he must take the initiative as usual. But, somehow, he was not as +prompt as was his wont, and sat evening after evening, whittling at the +clipper and smoking thoughtfully. And another week went by. + +Captain Perez might, and probably would, have suggested action upon this +important matter, had not his mind been taken up with what, to him, was +the most important of all. He had made up his mind to ask Patience Davis +to marry him. + +Love is like the measles; it goes hard with a man past fifty, and +Captain Perez was severely smitten. The decision just mentioned was not +exactly a brand-new one, his mind had been made up for some time, but he +lacked the courage to ask the momentous question. Something the lady +had said during the first stages of their acquaintance made a great +impression on the Captain. She gave it as her opinion that a man who +loved a woman should be willing to go through fire and water to win her. +Captain Perez went home that night pondering deeply. + +"Fire and water!" he mused. "That's a turrible test. But she's a +wonderful woman, and would expect it of a feller. I wonder if I could do +it; seems 's if I would now, but flesh is weak, and I might flunk, and +that would settle it. Fire and water! My! my! that's awful!" + +So the Captain delayed and Miss Patience, who had cherished hopes, found +need of a good share of the virtue for which she was named. + +But one afternoon at the end of the week following that of the funeral, +Perez set out for a call upon his intended which he meant should be a +decisive one. He had screwed his courage up to the top notch, and as he +told Captain Eri afterwards, he meant to "hail her and git his bearin's, +if he foundered the next minute." + +He found the lady alone, for old Mrs. Mayo had gone with her son, whose +name was Abner, to visit a cousin in Harniss, and would not be back +until late in the evening. Miss Patience was very glad to have company, +and it required no great amount of urging to persuade the infatuated +swain to stay to tea. When the meal was over--they washed the dishes +together, and the Captain was so nervous that it is a wonder there was a +whole plate left--the pair were seated in the parlor. Then said Captain +Perez, turning red and hesitating, "Pashy, do you know what a feller +told me 'bout you?" + +Now, this remark was purely a pleasant fiction, for the Captain was +about to undertake a compliment, and was rather afraid to shoulder the +entire responsibility. + +"No; I'm sure I don't, Perez," replied Miss Davis, smiling sweetly. + +"Well, a feller told me you was the best housekeeper in Orham. He said +that the man that got you would be lucky." + +This was encouraging. Miss Patience colored and simpered a little. + +"Land sake!" she exclaimed. "Whoever told you such rubbish as that? +Besides," with downcast eyes, "I guess no man would ever want me." + +"Oh, I don't know." The Captain moved uneasily in his chair, as if he +contemplated hitching it nearer to that occupied by his companion. +"I guess there's plenty would be mighty glad to git you. Anyhow, +there's--there's one that--that--I cal'late the fog's thick as ever, +don't you?" + +But Miss Patience didn't mean to give up in this way. + +"What was it you was goin' to say?" she asked, by way of giving the +bashful one another chance. + +"I was goin' to say, Pashy, that--that--I asked if you thought the fog +was as thick as ever." + +"Oh, dear me! Yes, I s'pose likely 'tis," was the discouraged answer. + +"Seems to me I never see such weather for this time of year. The ice +is all out of the bay, and there ain't a bit of wind, and it's warm as +summer, pretty nigh. Kind of a storm-breeder, I'm afraid." + +"Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me comp'ny. I've never been sole +alone in this house afore, and I should be dreadful lonesome if you +hadn't come." This was offered as a fresh bait. + +"Pashy, I've got somethin' I wanted to ask you. Do you think you +could--er--er--" + +"What, Perez?" + +"I wanted to ask you"--the Captain swallowed several times--"to ask +you--What in the nation is that?" + +"Oh, that's nothin' only the hens squawkin'. Go on!" + +"Yes, but hens don't squawk this time of night 'thout they have some +reason to. It's that fox come back; that's what 'tis." + +Miss Patience, earlier in the evening, had related a harrowing tale of +the loss of two of Mrs. Mayo's best Leghorns that had gone to furnish a +Sunday meal for a marauding fox. As the said Leghorns were the pride of +the old lady's heart, even the impending proposal was driven from Miss +Davis' mind. + +"Oh, Perez! you don't s'pose 'tis the fox, do you?" + +"Yes, MA'AM, I do! Where's the gun?" + +"There 'tis, behind the door, but there ain't a mite of shot in the +house. Abner's been goin' to fetch some from the store for I don't know +how long, but he's always forgot it." + +"Never mind. I'll pound the critter with the butt. Come quick, and bring +a lamp." + +The noise in the henyard continued, and when they opened the door it was +louder than ever. + +"He's in the henhouse," whispered Miss Patience. "He must have gone in +that hole at the side that had the loose board over it." + +"All right," murmured the Captain. "You go 'round with the lamp and open +the door. That 'll scare him, and I'll stand at the hole and thump him +when he comes out." + +So, shielding the lamp with her apron, the guardian of Mrs. Mayo's +outraged Leghorns tiptoed around to the henhouse door, while Captain +Perez, brandishing the gun like a club, took up his stand by the hole at +the side. + +Without the lamp the darkness was pitchy. The Captain, stooping down to +watch, saw something coming out of the hole--something that was alive +and moved. He swung the gun above his head, and, bringing it down with +all his might, knocked into eternal oblivion the little life remaining +in the finest Leghorn rooster. + +"Consarn it!" yelled the executioner, stooping and laying his hand on +the victim, "I've killed a hen!" + +Just then there came a scream from the other side of the henhouse, +followed by a crash and the sound of a fall. Running around the corner +the alarmed Perez saw his lady-love stretched upon the ground, groaning +dismally. + +"Great land of Goshen!" he cried. "Pashy, are you hurt?" + +"Oh, Perez!" gasped the fallen one. "Oh, Perez!" + +This pitiful appeal had such an effect upon the Captain that he dropped +upon his knees and, raising Miss Davis' head in his hands, begged her to +say she wasn't killed. After some little time she obligingly complied, +and then, having regained her breath, explained the situation. + +What had happened was this: The fox, having selected his victim the +rooster, had rendered it helpless, and was pushing it out of the hole +ahead of him. The Captain had struck the rooster just as Miss Patience +opened the door, and the fox, seizing this chance of escape, had dodged +by the lady, upsetting her as he went. + +"Well," she said, laughing, "there's no great harm done. I'm sorry for +the rooster, but I guess the fox had fixed him anyway. Oh, my soul and +body! look there!" + +Perez turned, looked as directed, and saw the henhouse in flames. + +The lighted lamp, which Miss Patience had dropped as she fell, lay +broken on the floor, and the blazing oil had run in every direction. The +flames were making such headway that they both saw there was practically +no chance of saving the building. The frightened hens were huddled in +the furthest corner, gazing stupidly at the fire. + +"Oh, those poor Leghorns!" wailed Miss Patience. "Those hens Mrs. Mayo +thought the world of, and left me to look out for. Last thing she asked +me was to be sure they was fed. And now they'll be all burned up! What +SHALL I do?" + +Here the lady began to cry. + +"Pashy!" roared the Captain, whom the sight of his charmer's tears had +driven almost wild, "don't say another word. I'll save them hens or git +cooked along with 'em!" + +And turning up his coat collar, as though he was going into a +refrigerator instead of a burning building, Captain Perez sprang through +the door. + +Miss Davis screamed wildly to him to come back, and danced about, +wringing her hands. The interior of the henhouse was now a mass of black +smoke, from which the voices of the Captain and the Leghorns floated in +a discordant medley, something like this: + +"Hold still, you lunatics! ('Squawk! squawk!') Druther be roasted than +have me catch you, hadn't you? ('Squawk! squawk!') A--kershew! Land! +I'm smothered! NOW I've got you! Thunderation! Hold STILL! HOLD STILL, I +tell you!" + +Just as the agonized Miss Patience was on the point of fainting, the +little window at the back of the shanty was thrown open and two hens, +like feathered comets, shot through it. Then the red face of the Captain +appeared for an instant as he caught his breath with a "Woosh!" and +dived back again. This performance was repeated six times, the Captain's +language and the compliments he paid the hens becoming more picturesque +every moment. + +At length he announced, "That's all, thank goodness!" and began to climb +through the window. This was a difficult task; for the window was narrow +and, in spite of what Captain Eri had called his "ingy-rubber" make up, +Captain Perez stuck fast. + +"Catch hold of my hands and haul, will you, Pashy?" he pleaded. "That's +it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy in behind here. I'll never +complain at havin' cold feet ag'in if I git out of this. Now, then! Ugh! +Here we be!" + +He came out with a jerk, like a cork out of a bottle, and rolled on the +ground at his lady's feet. + +"Oh, Perez!" she exclaimed, "are you hurt?" + +"Nothin' but my feelin's," growled the rescuer, scrambling upright. "I +read a book once by a feller named Joshua Billin's, or somethin' like +it. He was a ignorant chap--couldn't spell two words right--but he had +consider'ble sense. He said a hen was a darn fool, and he was right; +she's all that." + +The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, but his +spirit was undaunted. + +"Pashy," he said, "do you realize that if we don't git help, this whole +shebang, house and all, will burn down?" + +"Perez, you don't mean it!" + +"I wouldn't swear that I didn't. Look how that thing's blazin'! There's +the barn t'other side of it, and the house t'other side of that." + +"But can't you and me put it out?" + +"I don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've got to git help, and git it in a +hurry, too!" + +"Won't somebody from the station see the light and come over?" + +"Not in this fog. You can't see a hundred foot. No, I've got to go right +off. Good land! I never thought! Is the horse gone?" + +"No; the horse is here. Abner took one of the store horses to go to +Harniss with. But he did take the buggy, and there's no other carriage +but the old carryall, and that's almost tumblin' to pieces." + +"I was cal'latin' to go horseback." + +"What! and leave me here alone with the house afire? No, indeed! If you +go, I'm goin', too." + +"Well, then, the carryll's got to do, whether or no. Git on a shawl or +somethin', while I harness up." + +It was a frantic harnessing, but it was done in a hurry, and the +ramshackle old carryall, dusty and cobwebbed, was dragged out of the +barn, and Horace Greeley, the horse, was backed into the shafts. As they +drove out of the yard the flames were roaring through the roof of the +henhouse, and the lath fence surrounding it was beginning to blaze. + +"Everything's so wet from the fog and the melted snow," observed the +Captain, "that it 'll take some time for the fire to git to the barn. +If we can git a gang here we can save the house easy, and maybe more. By +mighty!" he ejaculated, "I tell you what we'll do. I'll drive across the +ford and git Luther and some of the station men to come right across. +Then I'll go on to the village to fetch more. It was seven when I looked +at the clock as we come in from washin' dishes, so the tide must be +still goin' out, and the ford jest right. Git dap!" + +"Hurry all you can, for goodness' sake! Is this as fast as we can go?" + +"Fast as we can go with this everlastin' Noah's Ark. Heavens! how them +wheels squeal!" + +"The axles ain't been greased for I don't know when. Abner was going to +have the old carriage chopped up for kindlin' wood." + +"Lucky for him and us 'tain't chopped up now. Git dap, slow-poke! Better +chop the horse up, too, while he's 'bout it." + +The last remark the Captain made under his breath. + +"My gracious, how dark it is! Think you can find the crossin'?" + +"GOT to find it; that's all. 'Tis dark, that's a fact." + +It was. They had gone but a few hundred yards; yet the fire was already +merely a shapeless, red smudge on the foggy blackness behind them. +Horace Greeley pounded along at a jog, and when the Captain slapped him +with the end of the reins, broke into a jerky gallop that was slower +than the trot. + +"Stop your hoppin' up and down!" commanded Perez, whose temper was +becoming somewhat frayed. "You make me think of the walkin' beam on a +steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly and go straight ahead we'd do +better." + +They progressed in this fashion for some distance. Then Miss Davis, from +the curtained depths of the back seat, spoke again. + +"Oh, dear me!" she exclaimed. "Are you sure you're on the right track? +Seems 's if we MUST be abreast the station, and this road's awful +rough." + +Captain Perez had remarked the roughness of the road. The carryall was +pitching from one hummock to another, and Horace Greeley stumbled once +or twice. + +"Whoa!" commanded the Captain. Then he got down, lit a match, and, +shielding it with his hands, scrutinized the ground. "I'm kind of +'fraid," he said presently, "that we've got off the road somehow. But we +must be 'bout opposite the crossin'. I'm goin' to drive down and see if +I can find it." + +He turned the horse's head at right angles from the way they were going, +and they pitched onward for another hundred yards. Then they came out +upon the hard, smooth sand, and heard the water lapping on the shore. +Captain Perez got out once more and walked along the strand, bending +forward as he walked. Soon Miss Patience heard him calling. + +"I've found it, I guess," he said, coming back to the vehicle. "Anyhow, +it looks like it. We'll be over in a few minutes now. Git dap, you!" + +Horace Greeley shivered as the cold water splashed his legs, but waded +bravely in. They moved further from the shore and the water seemed to +grow no deeper. + +"Guess this is the crossin' all right," said the Captain, who had +cherished some secret doubts. "Here's the deep part comin'. We'll be +across in a jiffy." + +The water mounted to the hubs, then to the bottom of the carryall. Miss +Davis' feet grew damp and she drew them up. + +"Oh, Perez!" she faltered, "are you sure this is the ford?" + +"Don't git scared, Pashy! I guess maybe we've got a little to one side +of the track. I'll turn 'round and try again." + +But Horace Greeley was of a different mind. From long experience he knew +that the way to cross a ford was to go straight ahead. The bottom of the +carryall was awash. + +"Port your hellum, you lubber!" shouted the driver, pulling with all his +might on one rein. "Heave to! Come 'bout! Gybe! consarn you! gybe!" + +Then Horace Greeley tried to obey orders, but it was too late. He +endeavored to touch bottom with his forelegs, but could not; tried to +swim with his hind ones, but found that impossible; then wallowed wildly +to one side and snapped a shaft and the rotten whiffletree short off. +The carryall tipped alarmingly and Miss Patience screamed. + +"Whoa!" yelled the agitated Perez. "'Vast heavin'! belay!" + +The animal, as much frightened by his driver's shouts as by the water, +shot ahead and tried to tear himself loose. The other sun-warped and +rotten shaft broke. The carryall was now floating, with the water +covering the floor. + +"No use; I'll have to cut away the wreck, or we'll be on our beam ends!" +shouted the Captain. + +He took out his jackknife, and reaching over, severed the traces. Horace +Greeley gave another wallow, and finding himself free, disappeared in +the darkness amid a lather of foam. The carriage, now well out in the +channel, drifted with the current. + +"Don't cry, Pashy!" said the Captain, endeavoring to cheer his sobbing +companion, "we ain't shark bait yit. As the song used to say: + + "'We're afloat, we're afloat, + And the rover is free.' + +"I've shipped aboard of 'most every kind of craft," he added, "but +blessed if I ever expected to be skipper of a carryall!" + +But Miss Patience, shut up in the back part of the carriage like a water +nymph in her cave, still wept hysterically. So Captain Perez continued +his dismal attempt at facetiousness. + +"The main thing," he said, "is to keep her on an even keel. If +she teeters to one side, you teeter to t'other. Drat that fox!" he +ejaculated. "I thought when Web's place burned we'd had fire enough to +last for one spell, but it never rains but it pours." + +"Oh, dear!" sobbed the lady. "Now everything 'll burn up, and they'll +blame me for it. Well, I'll be drownded anyway, so I shan't be there to +hear 'em. Oh, dear! dear!" + +"Oh, don't talk that way. We're driftin' somewheres, but we're spinnin' +'round so I can't tell which way. Judas!" he exclaimed, more soberly, "I +remember, now; it ain't but a little past seven o'clock, and the tide's +goin' out." + +"Of course it is," resignedly, "and we'll drift into the breakers in the +bay, and that 'll be the end." + +"No, no, I guess not. We ain't dead yit. If I had an oar or somethin' to +steer this clipper with, maybe we could git into shoal water. As 'tis, +we'll have to manage her the way Ote Wixon used to manage his wife, by +lettin' her have her own way." + +They floated in silence for a few moments. Then Miss Patience, who had +bravely tried to stifle her sobs, said with chattering teeth, "Perez, +I'm pretty nigh froze to death." + +It will be remembered that the Captain had spoken of the weather as +being almost as warm as summer. This was a slight exaggeration. It +happened, fortunately for the castaways, that this particular night, +coming as it did just at the end of the long thaw, was the mildest of +the winter and there was no wind, but the air was chill, and the damp +fog raw and biting. + +"Well, now you mention it," said Captain Perez, "it IS cold, ain't it? +I've a good mind to jump overboard, and try to swim ashore and tow the +carryall." + +"Don't you DO it! My land! if YOU should drown what would become of ME?" + +It was the tone of this speech, as much as the words, that hit the +Captain hard. He himself almost sobbed as he said: + +"Pashy, I want you to try to git over on this front seat with me. Then +I can put my coat 'round you, and you won't be so cold. Take hold of my +hand." + +Miss Patience at first protested that she never could do it in the +world, the carriage would upset, and that would be the end. But her +companion urged her to try, and at last she did so. It was a risky +proceeding, but she reached the front seat somehow, and the carryall +still remained right-side-up. Luckily, in the channel between the +beaches there was not the slightest semblance of a wave. + +Captain Perez pulled off his coat, and wrapped it about his protesting +companion. He was obliged to hold it in place, and he found the task +rather pleasing. + +"Oh, you're SO good!" murmured Miss Patience. "What should I have done +without you?" + +"Hush! Guess you'd have been better off. You'd never gone after that +fox if it hadn't been for me, and there wouldn't have been none of this +fuss." + +"Oh, don't say that! You've been so brave. Anyhow, we'll die together, +that's a comfort." + +"Pashy," said Captain Perez solemnly, "it's mighty good to hear you say +that." + +It is, perhaps, needless to explain that the "dying" portion of +the lady's speech was not that referred to by the Captain; the +word "together" was what appealed to him. Miss Patience apparently +understood. + +"Is it?" she said softly. + +"Yes--yes, 'tis." The arm holding the coat about the lady's shoulder +tightened just a little. The Captain had often dreamed of something like +this, but never with quite these surroundings. However, he was rapidly +becoming oblivious to such trivial details as surroundings. + +"Pashy," he said huskily, "I've been thinkin' of you consider'ble +lately. Fact is, I--I--well, I come down to-day a-purpose to ask you +somethin'. I know it's a queer place to ask it, and--and I s'pose it's +kind of sudden, but--will--will you--Breakers! by mighty!" + +The carryall had suddenly begun to rock, and there were streaks of foam +about it. Now, it gave a most alarming heave, grounded, swung clear, and +tipped yet more. + +"We're capsizin'," yelled Perez. "Hang on to me, Pashy!" + +But Miss Patience didn't intend to let this, perhaps the final +opportunity, slip. As she told her brother afterward, she would have +made him say it then if they had been "two fathom under water." + +"Will I what, Perez?" she demanded. + +The carryall rose on two wheels and begun to turn over, but the Captain +did not notice it. The arms of his heart's desire were about his neck, +and he was looking into her eyes. + +"Will you marry me?" he gasped. + +"Yes," answered Miss Patience, and they went under together. + +The Captain staggered to his feet, and dragged his chosen bride to hers. +The ice-cold water reached their shoulders. And, like a flash, as they +stood there, came a torrent of rain and a wind that drove the fog before +it like smoke. Captain Perez saw the shore, with its silhouetted bushes, +only a few yards away. Beyond that, in the blackness, was a light, a +flickering blaze, that rose and fell and rose and fell again. + +The Captain dragged Miss Patience to the beach. + +"Run!" he chattered, "run, or we'll turn into icicles. Come on!" + +With his arm about her waist Perez guided his dripping companion, as +fast as they could run, toward the light. And as they came nearer to it +they saw that it flickered about the blackened ruins of a hen-house and +a lath fence. + +It was Mrs. Mayo's henhouse, and Mrs. Mayo's fence. Their adventurous +journey had ended where it began. + +"You see, Eri," said Captain Perez, as he told his friend the story that +night, "that clock in the dining room that I looked at hadn't been goin' +for a week; the mainspring was broke. 'Twa'n't seven o'clock, 'twas +nearer nine when the fire started, and the tide wa'n't goin' out, 'twas +comin' in. I drove into the water too soon, missed the crossin', and we +jest drifted back home ag'in. The horse had more sense than I did. We +found him in the barn waiting for us." + +Abner Mayo had piled against the back of his barn a great heap of damp +seaweed that he intended using in the spring as a fertilizer. The fire +had burned until it reached this seaweed and then had gone no further. +The rain extinguished the last spark. + +"Well, by mighty!" exclaimed Captain Perez for at least the tenth time, +as he sat in the kitchen, wrapped in an old ulster of Mr. Mayo's, and +toasting his feet in the oven, "if I don't feel like a fool. All that +scare and wet for nothin'." + +"Oh, not for nothin', Perez," said Miss Patience, looking tenderly down +into his face. + +"Well, no, not for nothin' by a good deal! I've got you by it, and +that's everything. But say, Pashy!" and the Captain looked awed by the +coincidence, "I went through fire and water to git you!" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + + +Captain Perez made a clean breast of it to Captain Eri when he reached +home that night. It was after twelve o'clock, but he routed his friend +out of bed to tell him the news and the story. Captain Eri was not as +surprised to hear of the engagement as he pretended to be, for he had +long ago made up his mind that Perez meant business this time. But the +tale of the fire and the voyage in the carryall tickled him immensely, +and he rolled back and forth in the rocker and laughed until his side +ached. + +"I s'pose it does sound kind of ridic'lous," said the accepted suitor in +a rather aggrieved tone, "but it wa'n't ha'f so funny when 'twas goin' +on. Fust I thought I'd roast to death, then I thought I'd freeze, and +then I thought I'd drown." + +"Perez," said the panting Eri, "you're a wonder. I'm goin' to tell Sol +Bangs 'bout you next time I see him. He'll want you to enter in the +races next Fourth of July. We've had tub races and the like of that, but +a carryall sailin' match 'll be somethin' new. I'll back you against the +town, though. You can count on me." + +"Now, look here, Eri Hedge, if you tell a livin' soul 'bout it, I'll--" + +"All right, shipmate, all right; but it's too good to keep. You ought +to write a book, one of them kind like Josiah used to read. Call it +'The Carryall Pirate, or The Terror of the Channel,' hey? Gee! you'd be +famous! But, say, old man," he added more seriously, "I'll shake hands +with you. I b'lieve you've got a good woman, one that 'll make it smooth +sailin' for you the rest of your life. I wish you both luck." + +Captain Perez shook hands very gravely. He was still a little suspicious +of his chum's propensity to tease. It did not tend to make him less +uneasy when, a little later, Captain Eri opened the parlor door and +whispered, "Say, Perez, I've jest thought of some-thin'. What are you +goin' to say to M'lissy Busteed? Her heart 'll be broke." + +"Aw, git out!" was the disgusted answer. + +"Well, I only mentioned it. Folks have had to pay heavy for breach of +promise 'fore now. Good-night." + +Perez manfully told of his engagement at the breakfast table next +morning, although he said nothing concerning the rest of his adventures. +He was rather taken aback to find that no one seemed greatly surprised. +Everyone congratulated him, of course, and it was gratifying to discern +the high opinion of the future Mrs. Ryder held by Mrs. Snow and the +rest. Captain Jerry solemnly shook hands with him after the meal was +over and said, "Perez, you done the right thing. There's nothin' like +married life, after all." + +"Then why don't you try it yourself?" was the unexpected question. +"Seems to me we'll have to settle that matter of yours pretty soon. I +meant to speak to Eri 'bout it 'fore this, but I've had so much on my +mind. I will to-night when he comes back from fishin'." + +Captain Jerry made no further remarks, but walked thoughtfully away. + +So that evening, when they were together in Captain Jerry's room after +supper, Perez, true to his promise, said: + +"Eri, it seems to me we've got to do somethin' 'bout Mrs. Snow. She was +hired to be housekeeper while John was sick. Now he's dead, and she'll +think it's queer if we don't settle that marryin' bus'ness. Ain't that +so?" + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Jerry. "Perez is in a mighty sweat to git other +folks married jest 'cause he's goin' to be. I don't see why she can't +keep on bein' housekeeper jest the same as she's always been." + +"Well, I do, and so do you, and you know it. We agreed to the +housekeepin' bus'ness jest as a sort of put off. Now we can't put off +no longer. Mrs. Snow come down here 'cause we advertised for a wife, and +she's been so everlastin' good that I feel 'most ashamed every time I +think of it. No use, you've got to ask her to marry you. He has, hasn't +he, Eri?" + +"Yes," answered Captain Eri laconically. + +The sacrifice squirmed. "I hate to ask," he said. "Why don't we wait a +spell, and let her say somethin' fust?" + +"That WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? She's that kind of a woman, ain't +she?" sputtered Perez. "No, you bet she ain't! What she'd say would be +to give her opinion of us and our manners, and walk out of the house bag +and baggage, and I wouldn't blame her for doin' it." + +"P'raps she wouldn't have me. She never said she would." + +"Never said she would! Have you ever asked her? She's had all this time +to l'arn to know you in, and I cal'late if she was willin' to think +'bout it 'fore she ever see you, she'd be more willin' now. Ain't that +so, Eri?" + +And again Captain Eri said shortly, "Yes." + +"I wish you'd mind your own consarns, and give me time," protested +Captain Jerry. + +"Time! How much time do you want? Land of Goshen! I should think you'd +had time enough. Why--" + +"Oh, let up!" snorted the persecuted. "Why don't you git married +yourself, and bring Pashy over to keep house? What we started to git +in the fust place was jest a wife for one of us that would keep things +shipshape, and now--" + +The withering look of scorn that Perez bent upon him caused him to +hesitate and stop. Captain Perez haughtily marched to the door. + +"Eri," he said, "I ain't goin' to waste my time talkin' to a--a dogfish +like him. He ain't wuth it." + +"Hold on, now, Perez!" pleaded the discomfited sacrifice, alarmed at his +comrade's threatened desertion. "I was only foolin'. Can't you take a +joke? I haven't said I wouldn't do it. I think a heap of Mrs. Snow; it's +only that I ain't got the spunk to ask her, that's all." + +"Humph! it don't take much spunk," replied the successful wooer, +forgetful of his own past trepidation. + +"Well," Captain Jerry wriggled and twisted, but saw no loophole. "Well, +give me a month to git up my courage in and--" + +"A month! A month's ridic'lous; ain't it, Eri" + +"Yes." + +"Well, three weeks, then." + +This offer, too, was rejected. Then Captain Jerry held out for a +fortnight--for ten days. Finally, it was settled that within one week +from that very night he was to offer his heart and hand to the lady from +Nantucket. He pledged his solemn word to do it. + +"There!" exclaimed the gratified Captain Perez. "That's a good job done. +He won't never be sorry for it, will he, Eri?" + +And Captain Eri made his fourth contribution to the conversation. + +"No," he said. + + +Josiah went up to the post-office late in the afternoon of the next day. +The "able seaman" was behaving himself remarkably well. He had become a +real help to Captain Eri, and the latter said that sailing alone would +be doubly hard when his foremast hand went back to school again, which +he was to do very shortly, for Josiah meant to accept the Captain's +offer, and to try for the Annapolis appointment when the time came. + +The boy came back with the mail and an item of news. The mail, a paper +only, he handed to Mrs. Snow, and the news he announced at the supper +table as follows: + +"Mr. Hazeltine's goin' to leave the cable station," he said. + +"Goin' to leave!" repeated the housekeeper, "what for?" + +"I don't know, ma'am. All I know is what I heard Mr. Wingate say. He +said Mr. Hazeltine was goin' to get through over at the station pretty +soon. He said one of the operators told him so." + +"Well, for the land's sake! Did you know anything 'bout it, Eri?" + +"Why, yes, a little. I met Hazeltine yesterday, and he told me that +some folks out West had made him a pretty good offer, and he didn't know +whether to take it or not. Said the salary was good, and the whole thing +looked sort of temptin'. He hadn't decided what to do yit. That's all +there is to it." + +There was little else talked about during the meal. Captain Perez, +Captain Jerry, and Mrs. Snow argued, surmised, and questioned Captain +Eri, who said little. Elsie said almost nothing, and went to her room +shortly after the dishes were washed. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Perez, when they were alone, "I guess your +match-makin' scheme's up spout, Jerry." + +And, for a wonder, Captain Jerry did not contradict him. + +The weather changed that night, and it grew cold rapidly. In the morning +the pump was frozen, and Captain Jerry and Mrs. Snow spent some time and +much energy in thawing it out. It was later than usual when the former +set out for the schoolhouse. As he was putting on his cap, Elsie +suggested that he wait for her, as she had some lessons to prepare, and +wanted an hour or so to herself at her desk. So they walked on together +under a cloudy sky. The mud in the road was frozen into all sorts of +fantastic shapes, and the little puddles had turned to ice. + +"That thaw was a weather-breeder, sure enough," observed Captain Jerry. +"We'll git a storm out of this, 'fore we're done." + +"It seems to me," said Elsie, "that the winter has been a very mild one. +From what I had heard I supposed you must have some dreadful gales here, +but there has been none so far." + +"We'll git 'em yit. February's jist the time. Git a good no'theaster +goin', and you'll think the whole house is comin' down. Nothin' to what +they used to have, though, 'cordin' to tell. Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to +swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all +off a dog, and then the wind changed of a sudden, and blew it all on +again." + +Elsie laughed. "That must have been a blow," she said. + +"Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's somethin' of a blow himself, so he ought to be a +good jedge. The outer beach is the place that catches it when there's +a gale on. Oh, say! that reminds me. I s'pose you was glad to hear the +news last night?" + +"What news?" + +"Why, that 'bout Mr. Hazeltine's goin' away. You're glad he's goin', of +course." + +Miss Preston did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned and looked +wonderingly at her companion. + +"Why should I be glad, pray?" she asked. + +"Why, I don't know. I jest took it for granted you would be. You didn't +want him to come and see you, and if he was gone he couldn't come, so--" + +"Just a minute, please. What makes you think I didn't want Mr. Hazeltine +to call?" + +And now it was the Captain's turn to stare and hesitate. + +"What makes me think--" he gasped. "Why--you told me so, yourself." + +"_I_ told you so? I'm certain that I never told you anything of the +kind." + +Captain Jerry stood stock-still, and if ever a face expressed complete +amazement, it was his. + +"Elsie Preston!" he ejaculated, "are you losin' your mem'ry or what? +Didn't you pitch into me hot-foot for lettin' him be alone with you? +Didn't you give me 'hark from the tomb' for gittin' up and goin' away? +Didn't you say his calls was perfect torture to you, and that you had to +be decent to him jest out of common politeness? Now, didn't you?" + +"Oh, that was it! No, of course I didn't say any such thing." + +"You DIDN'T! Why, I heard you! Land of love! my ears smarted for a week +afterward. I ain't had sech a goin' over sence mother used to git at me +for goin' in swimmin' on Sunday. And now you say you didn't say it." + +"I didn't. You misunderstood me. I did object to your leaving the room +every time he called, and making me appear so ridiculous; and I did +say that his visits might be a torture for all that you knew to the +contrary, but I certainly didn't say that they WERE." + +"SUFFERIN'! And you ain't glad he stopped comin'?" + +The air of complete indifference assumed by the young lady was a +triumph. + +"Why, of course," she said, "Mr. Hazeltine is a free agent, and I don't +know of any reason why he should be compelled to go where he doesn't +wish to go. I enjoyed his society, and I'm sure Captain Eri and Mrs. +Snow enjoyed it, too; but it is quite evident that he did not enjoy +ours, so I don't see that there need be any more said on the subject." + +Captain Jerry was completely crushed. If the gale described by the +redoubtable grandsire of Jonadab Wixon had struck him, he could not have +been more upset. + +"My! my! my!" he murmured. "And after my beggin' his pardon and all!" + +"Begging his pardon? For what?" + +"Why, for leavin' you two alone. Of course, after you pitched into me +so I see how foolish I'd been actin', and I--honest, I didn't sleep +scursely a bit that night thinkin' 'bout it. Thinks I, 'If Elsie feels +that way, why, there ain't no doubt that Mr. Hazeltine feels the same.' +There wa'n't but one thing to be done. When a man makes a mistake, if he +is any kind of a man, he owns up, and does his best to straighten things +out. 'Twa'n't easy to do, but duty's duty, and the next time I see Mr. +Hazeltine I told him the whole thing, and--" + +"You DID!" + +"Sartin I did." + +"What did you tell him?" + +They had stopped on the sidewalk nearly opposite the post-office. Each +was too much engrossed in the conversation to pay any heed to anything +else. If the few passersby thought it strange that the schoolmistress +should care to loiter out of doors on that cold and disagreeable +morning, they said nothing about it. One young man in particular, who, +standing just inside the post-office door, was buttoning his overcoat +and putting on his gloves, looked earnestly at the pair, but he, too, +said nothing. + +"Why, I told him," said Captain Jerry, in reply to the question, "how +you didn't like to have me go out of the room when he was there. Course, +I told him I didn't mean to do nothin' out of the way. Then he asked me +some more questions, and I answered 'em best I could, and--well, I guess +that's 'bout all." + +"Did you tell him that I said his visits were a torture?" + +"Why--" the Captain shuffled his feet uneasily--"seems to me I said +somethin' 'bout it--not jest that, you know, but somethin'. Fact is, I +was so muddle-headed and upset that I don't know exactly what I did say. +Anyhow, he said 'twas all right, so there ain't nothin' to worry 'bout." + +"Captain Jeremiah Burgess!" exclaimed Elsie. Then she added, "What MUST +he think of me?" + +"Oh, I'll fix that!" exclaimed the Captain. "I'll see him some time +to-day, and I'll tell him you didn't mean it. Why, I declare! Yes, 'tis! +There he is, now! Hi! Mr. Hazeltine! Come here a minute." + +A mischievous imp was certainly directing Captain Jerry's movements. +Ralph had, almost for the first time since he came to Orham, paid an +early morning visit to the office in order to send an important letter +in the first mail. The slamming of the door had attracted the Captain's +attention and, in response to the hail, Mr. Hazeltine crossed the road. + +And then Captain Jerry felt his arm clutched with a grip that meant +business, as Miss Preston whispered, "Don't you dare say one word to him +about it. Don't you DARE!" + +If Ralph had been surprised by the request to join the couple, he was +more surprised by the reception he received. Elsie's face was crimson, +and as for the Captain, he looked like a man who had suddenly been left +standing alone in the middle of a pond covered with very thin ice. + +The electrician bowed and shook hands gravely. As no remark seemed to be +forthcoming from those who had summoned him, he observed that it was +an unpleasant morning. This commonplace reminded him of one somewhat +similar that he had made to a supposed Miss "Gusty" Black, and he, too, +colored. + +"Did you want to speak with me, Captain?" he asked, to cover his +confusion. + +"Why--why, I did," stammered poor Captain Jerry, "but--but I +don't know's I do now." Then he realized that this was not exactly +complimentary, and added, "That is, I don't know--I don't know's +I--Elsie, what was it I was goin' to say to Mr. Hazeltine?" + +At another time it is likely that the young lady's quick wit would have +helped her out of the difficulty, but now she was too much disturbed. + +"I'm sure I don't know," she said coldly. + +"You don't know! Why, yes you do? 'Twas--'twas--" The Captain was +frantically grasping at straws. "Why, we was wonderin' why you didn't +come to see us nowadays." + +If the Captain had seen the look that Elsie shot at him, as he delivered +this brilliant observation, he might have been more, instead of less, +uncomfortable. As it was, he felt rather proud of having discovered +a way out of the difficulty. But Ralph's embarrassment increased. He +hurriedly said something about having been very busy. + +"Well," went on the Captain, intent on making the explanation as +plausible as possible, "we've missed you consider'ble. We was sayin' we +hoped you wouldn't give us up altogether. Ain't that so, Elsie?" + +Miss Preston's foot tapped the sidewalk several times, but she answered, +though not effusively: + +"Mr. Hazeltine is always welcome, of course." Then, she added, turning +away, "Really, Captain Jerry, I must hurry to school. I have a great +deal of work to do before nine o'clock. Good-morning, Mr. Hazeltine." + +The Captain paused long enough to say, "We'll expect you now, so come," +and then hurried after her. He was feeling very well satisfied with +himself. + +"By mighty! Elsie," he chuckled, "I got out of that nice, didn't I?" + +He received no answer, even when he repeated the remark, and, although +he endeavored, as he swept out the schoolroom, to engage the teacher in +conversation, her replies were as cold as they were short. The Captain +went home in the last stages of dismalness. + +That afternoon, when Captain Eri returned from the fishing grounds, +he found Captain Jerry waiting for him at the shanty. The humiliated +matchmaker sent Josiah up to the grocery store on an errand, and then +dragged his friend inside and shut the door. + +Captain Eri looked at the woe-begone face with some concern. + +"What ails you, Jerry?" he demanded. "Have you--have you spoken to Mrs. +Snow 'bout that--that marriage?" + +"No, I ain't, Eri, but I'm in a turrible mess, and I don't know why, +neither. Seems to me the more I try to do for other folks the wuss off I +am; and, instead of gittin' thanks, all I git is blame." + +"Why, what's the matter?" + +"Well, now I know you'll think I'm a fool, and 'll jest pester the life +out of me. See here, Eri Hedge! If I tell you what I want to, will you +promise not to pitch into me, and not to nag and poke fun? If you don't +promise I won't tell one single word, no matter what happens." + +So Captain Eri promised, and then Captain Jerry, stammering and +hesitating, unburdened his mind of the whole affair, telling of his +first reproof by Elsie, his "explanation" to Ralph, and the subsequent +developments. Long before he finished, Captain Eri rose and, walking +over to the door, stood looking out through the dim pane at the top, +while his shoulders shook as if there was a smothered earthquake inside. + +"There!" exclaimed the injured matrimonial agent, in conclusion. +"There's the whole fool thing, and I 'most wish I'd never seen either of +'em. I thought I did fust-rate this mornin' when I was tryin' to think +up somethin' to show why I hailed Hazeltine, but no, Elsie won't hardly +speak to me. I wish to goodness you'd tell me what to do." + +Captain Eri turned away from the door. His eyes were watery, and his +face was red, but he managed to say: + +"Oh, Jerry, Jerry! Your heart's big as a bucket, but fishin' 's more in +your line than gittin' folks married to order is, I'm 'fraid. You stay +here, and unload them fish in the dory. There ain't many of 'em, and +Josiah 'll help when he gits back. I'm goin' out for a few minutes." + +He went down to the beach, climbed into a dory belonging to a neighbor, +and Captain Jerry saw him row away in the direction of the cable +station. + +That evening, after the dishes were washed and the table cleared, there +came a knock at the door. Mrs. Snow opened it. + +"Why, for goodness sake! Mr. Hazeltine!" she exclaimed. "Come right in. +What a stranger you are!" + +Ralph entered, shook the snow, which had just begun to fall, from +his hat and coat, took off these articles, in response to the hearty +invitation of Captain Eri, and shook hands with all present. Elsie's +face was an interesting study. Captain Jerry looked scared. + +After a few minutes' talk, Captain Eri rose. + +"Mrs. Snow," he said, "come upstairs a little while. I want to talk to +you 'bout somethin'. You come, too, Jerry." + +Captain Jerry looked from Elsie to the speaker, and then to Elsie again. +But Captain Eri's hand was on his arm, and he rose and went. + +Elsie watched this wholesale desertion with amazement. Then the door +opened again, and Captain Eri put in his head. + +"Elsie," he said, "I jest want to tell you that this is my doin's, not +Jerry's. That's all." And the door shut. + +Elsie faced the caller with astonishment written on her face. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," she said icily, "you may know what this means, but I +don't." + +Ralph looked at her and answered solemnly, but with a twinkle in his +eye: + +"I'm afraid I can guess, Miss Preston. You see Captain Jerry paid +Captain Eri a call this afternoon and, as a result, Captain Eri called +upon me. Then, as a result of THAT, I--well, I came here." + +The young lady blushed furiously. "What did Captain Eri tell you?" she +demanded. + +"Just what Captain Jerry told him." + +"And that was?" + +"What you told Captain Jerry this morning concerning something that you +told him before, I believe." + +There was no answer to this. Miss Preston looked as if she had a mind +to run out of the room, then as if she might cry, and finally as if she +wanted to laugh. + +"I humbly apologize," said the electrician contritely. + +"YOU apologize? For what?" + +"For my stupidity in believing that Captain Jerry was to be accepted +seriously." + +"You were excusable, certainly. And now I must apologize; also for +taking the Captain too seriously." + +"Suppose we pair the apologies as they do the votes in the Senate. Then +one will offset the other." + +"I'm afraid that isn't fair, for the blunder was all on my part." + +"Well, if we can't pair apologies, suppose we pair blunders. I don't +accept your statement of guilt, mind, but since you are determined to +shoulder it, we might put it on one side and on the other we'll put--" + +"What?" + +"'Gusty' Black." + +And then they both laughed. + +A little later Captain Eri knocked at the door. + +"Is it safe for a feller to come in?" he asked. + +"Well," said Elsie severely, "I don't know whether talebearers should +be admitted or not, but if they do come they must beg pardon for +interfering in other people's affairs." + +"Ma'am," and the Captain made a profound bow, "I hope you'll be so 'kind +and condescendin', and stoop so low, and be so bendin'' as to forgive +me. And, while I'm 'bout it, I'll apologize for Jerry, too." + +"No, sir," said the young lady decidedly. "Captain Jerry must apologize +for himself. Captain Jeremiah Burgess," she called up the stairway, +"come into court, and answer for your sins." + +And Captain Jerry tremblingly came. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A "NO'THEASTER" BLOWS + + +It had begun to snow early in the evening, a light fall at first, +but growing heavier every minute, and, as the flakes fell thicker and +faster, the wind began to blow, and its force increased steadily. Ralph, +hearing the gusts as they swooped about the corners of the house, and +the "swish" of the snow as it was thrown against the window panes, +several times rose to go, but Captain Eri in each instance urged him to +stay a little longer. Finally, the electrician rebelled. + +"I should like to stay, Captain," he said, "but how do you think I am +going to get over to the station if this storm grows worse, as it seems +to be doing?" + +"I don't think," was the calm reply. "You're goin' to stay here." + +"Well, I guess not." + +"I guess yes. S'pose we're goin' to let you try to row over to the beach +a night like this? It's darker 'n a nigger's pocket, and blowin' and +snowin' great guns besides. Jest you look out here." + +He rose, beckoned to Ralph, and then opened the outer door. He had to +use considerable strength to do this, and a gust of wind and a small +avalanche of snow roared in, and sent the lighter articles flying from +the table. Elsie gave a little scream, and Mrs. Snow exclaimed, "For the +land's sake, shut that door this minute! Everything 'll be soppin' wet." + +The Captain pulled the door shut again, and dropped the hook into the +staple. + +"Nice night for a pull, ain't it?" he observed, smiling. "No, sir, I've +heard it comin' on, and I made up my mind you'd have to stay on dry land +for a spell, no matter if all creation wanted you on t'other side." + +Ralph looked troubled. "I ought to be at the station," he said. + +"Maybe so, but you ain't, and you'll have to put up at this boardin' +house till mornin'. When it's daylight one of us 'll set you across. Mr. +Langley ain't foolish. He won't expect you to-night." + +"Now, Mr. Hazeltine," said the housekeeper, "you might jest as well give +it up fust as last. You KNOW you can't go over to that station jest as +well as I do." + +So Ralph did give it up, although rather against his will. There was +nothing of importance to be done, but he felt a little like a deserter, +nevertheless. + +"Perez won't git home neither," observed Captain Eri. "He's snowed in, +too." + +Captain Perez had that afternoon gone down to the Mayo homestead to take +tea with Miss Davis. + +"Git home! I should think not!" said Mrs. Snow decidedly. "Pashy's got +too much sense to let him try it." + +"Well, Elsie," commented Captain Jerry, "I told you we'd have a +no'theaster 'fore the winter was over. I guess there'll be gale enough +to satisfy you, now. No school to-morrer." + +"Well, that's settled! Let's be comf'table. Ain't there some of that +cider down cellar? Where's the pitcher?" And Captain Eri hurried off to +find it. + +When bedtime came there was some argument as to where the guest should +sleep. Ralph insisted that the haircloth sofa in the parlor was just the +thing, but Captain Eri wouldn't hear of it. + +"Haircloth's all right to look at," he said, "but it's the slipperiest +stuff that ever was, I cal'late. Every time I set on a haircloth chair I +feel's if I was draggin' anchor." + +The cot was declared ineligible, also, and the question was finally +settled by Josiah and Captain Eri going upstairs to the room once +occupied by John Baxter, while Ralph took that which they vacated. + +It was some time before he fell asleep. The gale seemed to be tearing +loose the eternal foundations. The house shook and the bed trembled +as if a great hand was moving them, and the snow slapped against the +windows till it seemed that they must break. + +In the morning there was little change in the weather. The snow had +turned to a sleet, half rain, that stuck to everything and coated it +with ice. The wind was blowing as hard as ever. Captain Eri and Ralph, +standing just outside the kitchen door, and in the lee of the barn, +paused to watch the storm for a minute before they went down to the +beach. At intervals they caught glimpses of the snow-covered roofs of +the fish shanties, and the water of the inner bay, black and threatening +and scarred with whitecaps; then another gust would come, and they could +scarcely see the posts at the yard gate. + +"Think you want to go over, do you?" asked the Captain. + +"I certainly do, if I can get there." + +"Oh, we can git there all right. I've rowed a dory a good many times +when 'twas as bad as this. This ain't no picnic day, though, that's a +fact," he added, as they crossed the yard, and caught the full force of +the wind. "Lucky you put on them ileskins." + +Ralph was arrayed in Captain Jerry's "dirty-weather rig," and although, +as Captain Eri said, the garments fitted him "like a shirt on a +handspike," they were very acceptable. + +They found the dory covered with snow and half-full of slush, and +it took some few minutes to get her into condition. When this was +accomplished they hauled her down to the shore, and Captain Eri, +standing knee-deep in water, steadied her while Ralph climbed in. Then +the Captain tumbled in himself, picked up the oars, and settled down for +the pull to the outer beach. + +A dory, as everyone acquainted alongshore knows, is the safest of all +small craft for use in heavy weather. It is unsinkable for one thing, +and, being flat-bottomed, slips over the waves instead of plowing +through them. But the high freeboard is a mark for the wind, and to keep +a straight course on such a morning as this requires skill, and no small +amount of muscle. Ralph, seated in the stern, found himself wondering +how on earth his companion managed to row as he did, and steer at the +same time. The strokes were short, but there was power in them, and the +dory, although moving rather slowly, went doggedly on. + +"Let me take her," shouted Ralph after a while, "you must be tired." + +"Who, me?" Captain Eri laughed. "I could keep this up for a week. There +ain't any sea in here. If we was outside now, 'twould be diff'rent, +maybe." + +They hit the beach almost exactly at the right spot, a feat which the +passenger considered a miracle, but which the Captain seemed to take +as a matter of course. They beached and anchored the dory, and, bending +almost double as they faced the wind, plowed through the sand to the +back door of the station. There was comparatively little snow here on +the outer beach--the gale had swept it nearly all away. + +Mr. Langley met them as they tramped into the hall. The old gentleman +was glad to see his assistant, for he had begun to fear that the latter +might have tried to row over during the evening, and met with disaster. +As they sat round the stove in his room he said, "We don't need any +wrecks inside the beach. We shall have enough outside, I'm afraid. I +hear there is one schooner in trouble now." + +"That so?" asked Captain Eri. "Where is she?" + +"On the Hog's Back shoal, they think. One of the life-saving crew told +McLaughlin that they saw her last night, when the gale first began, +trying to make an offing, and that wreckage was coming ashore this +morning. Captain Davis was going to try to reach her with the boat, I +believe." + +"I should like to be at the life-saving station when they land," said +Ralph. "It would be a new experience for me. I've seen the crew drill +often enough, but I have never seen them actually at work." + +"What d'you say if we go down to the station?" asked the Captain. "That +is, if Mr. Langley here can spare you." + +"Oh, I can spare him," said the superintendent. "There is nothing of +importance to be done here just now. But it will be a terrible walk down +the beach this morning." + +"Wind 'll be at our backs, and we're rigged for it, too. What d'you say, +Mr. Hazeltine?" + +Ralph was only too glad of the opportunity to see, at least, the finish +of a rescuing expedition, and he said so. So they got into the oilskins +again, pulled their "sou'westers" down over their ears, and started on +the tramp to the life-saving station. + +The electrician is not likely to forget that walk. The wind was, as +the Captain said, at their backs, but it whistled in from the sea with +terrific strength, and carried the sleet with it. It deluged them with +water, and plastered them with flying seaweed and ice. The wet sand came +in showers like hail, and beat against their shoulders until they felt +the sting, even through their clothes. Toward the bay was nothing but +gray mist, streaked with rain and sleet; toward the sea was the same +mist, flying with the wind over such a huddle of tossing green and white +as Ralph had never seen. The surf poured in in rollers that leaped over +each other's humped backs in their savage energy to get at the shore, +which trembled as they beat upon it. The ripples from one wave had not +time to flow back before those of the next came threshing in. Great +blobs of foam shot down the strand like wild birds, and the gurgle and +splash and roar were terrific. + +They walked as near the water line as they dared, because the sand was +harder there. Captain Eri went ahead, hands in his pockets and head +down. Ralph followed, sometimes watching his companion, but oftener +gazing at the sea. At intervals there would be a lull, as if the storm +giant had paused for breath, and they could see for half a mile over the +crazy water; then the next gust would pull the curtain down again, and +a whirl of rain and sleet would shut them in. Conversation meant only a +series of shrieks and they gave it up. + +At length the Captain turned, grinned pleasantly, while the rain drops +splashed on his nose, and waved one arm. Ralph looked and saw ahead of +them the clustered buildings of the life-saving station. And he was glad +to see them. + +"Whew!" puffed Captain Eri as they opened the door. "Nice mornin' for +ducks. Hey, Luther!" he shouted, "wake up here; you've got callers." + +They heard footsteps in the next room, the door opened, and in came--not +Luther Davis, but Captain Perez. + +"Why, Eri!" he exclaimed amazedly. + +"For the land's sake, Perez! What are you doin' here?" + +"What are YOU doin' here, I should say. How d'you do, Mr. Hazeltine?" + +Captain Eri pushed back his "sou'wester," and strolled over to the +stove. Ralph followed suit. + +"Well, Perez," said the former, extending his hands over the fire, "it's +easy enough to tell you why we're here. We heard there was a wreck." + +"There is. She's a schooner, and she's off there on the Hog's Back. +Luther and the crew put off to her more 'n two hours ago, and I'm +gittin' worried." + +Then Perez went on to explain that, because of the storm, he had been +persuaded to stay at Mrs. Mayo's all night; that Captain Davis had +been over for a moment that evening on an errand, and had said that the +schooner had been sighted and that, as the northeaster was coming on, +she was almost certain to get into trouble; that he, Perez, had rowed +over the first thing in the morning to get the news, and had been just +in time to see the launching of the lifeboat, as the crew put off to the +schooner. + +"There ain't nothin' to worry 'bout," observed Captain Eri. "It's no +slouch of a pull off to the Hog's Back this weather, and besides, I'd +trust Lute Davis anywhere on salt water." + +"Yes, I know," replied the unconvinced Captain Perez, "but he ought to +have been back afore this. There was a kind of let-up in the storm jest +afore I got here, and they see her fast on the shoal with the crew +in the riggin'. Luther took the small boat 'cause he thought he could +handle her better, and that's what's worryin' me; I'm 'fraid she's +overloaded. I was jest thinkin' of goin' out on the p'int to see if I +could see anything of 'em when you folks come." + +"Well, go ahead. We'll go with you, if Mr. Hazeltine's got any of the +chill out of him." + +Ralph was feeling warm by this time and, after Perez had put on his coat +and hat, they went out once more into the gale. The point of which Perez +had spoken was a wedge-shaped sand ridge that, thrown up by the waves +and tide, thrust itself out from the beach some few hundred yards below +the station. They reached its tip, and stood there in the very midst of +the storm, waiting for the lulls, now more frequent, and scanning the +tumbling water for the returning lifeboat. + +"Schooner's layin' right over there," shouted Captain Perez in Ralph's +ear, pointing off into the mist. "'Bout a mile off shore, I cal'late. +Wicked place, the Hog's Back is, too." + +"Wind's lettin' up a little mite," bellowed Captain Eri. "We've had the +wust of it, I guess. There ain't so much--" + +He did not finish the sentence. The curtain of sleet parted, leaving a +quarter-mile-long lane, through which they could see the frothing ridges +racing one after the other, endlessly. And across this lane, silent and +swift, like a moving picture on a screen, drifted a white turtleback +with black dots clinging to it. It was in sight not more than a half +minute, then the lane closed again, as the rain lashed their faces. + +Captain Perez gasped, and clutched the electrician by the arm. + +"Godfrey mighty!" he exclaimed. + +"What was it?" shouted Ralph. "What was it, Captain Eri?" + +But Captain Eri did not answer. He had turned, and was running at full +speed back to the beach. When they came up they found him straining at +the side of the dory that Luther Davis used in tending his lobster pots. +The boat, turned bottom up, lay high above tide mark in the little cove +behind the point. + +"Quick, now!" shouted the Captain, in a tone Ralph had never heard him +use before. "Over with her! Lively!" + +They obeyed him without question. As the dory settled right side up two +heavy oars, that had been secured by being thrust under the seats, fell +back with a clatter. + +"What was it, Captain?" shouted Ralph. + +"The lifeboat upset. How many did you make out hangin' onto her, Perez? +Five, seemed to me." + +"Four, I thought. Eri, you ain't goin' to try to reach her with this +dory? You couldn't do it. You'll only be drownded yourself. My Lord!" he +moaned, wringing his hands, "what 'll Pashy do?" + +"Catch a-holt now," commanded Captain Eri. "Down to the shore with her! +Now!" + +They dragged the dory to the water's edge with one rush. Then Eri +hurriedly thrust in the tholepins. Perez protested again. + +"Eri," he said, "it ain't no use. She won't live to git through the +breakers." + +His friend answered without looking up. "Do you s'pose," he said, "that +I'm goin' to let Lute Davis and them other fellers drown without makin' +a try for 'em? Push off when I tell you to." + +"Then you let me go instead of you." + +"Don't talk foolish. You've got Pashy to look after. Ready now!" + +But Ralph Hazeltine intervened. + +"I'm going myself," he said firmly, putting one foot over the gunwale. +"I'm a younger man than either of you, and I'm used to a boat. I mean +it. I'm, going." + +Captain Eri looked at the electrician's face; he saw nothing but +determination there. + +"We'll all go," he said suddenly. "Mr. Hazeltine, run as fast as the +Lord 'll let you back to the station and git another set of oars. +Hurry!" + +Without answering, the young man sprang up the beach and ran toward the +buildings. The moment that he was inside Captain Eri leaped into the +dory. + +"Push off, Perez!" he commanded. "That young feller's got a life to +live." + +"You don't go without me," asserted Perez stoutly. + +"All right! Push off, and then jump in." + +Captain Perez attempted to obey. He waded into the water and gave the +dory a push, but, just as he was about to scramble in, he received a +shove that sent him backwards. + +"Your job's takin' care of Pashy!" roared Captain Eri. + +Perez scrambled to his feet, but the dory was already half-way across +the little patch of comparatively smooth water in the cove. As he looked +he saw it enter the first line of breakers, rise amid a shower of foam, +poise on the crest, and slip over. The second line of roaring waves +came surging on, higher and more threatening than the first. Captain Eri +glanced over his shoulder, turned the dory's bow toward them and +waited. They broke, and, as they did so, the boat shot forward into the +whirlpool of froth. Then the sleet came pouring down and shut everything +from sight. + +When Ralph came hurrying to the beach, bearing the oars, he found +Captain Perez alone. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + + +Captain Eri knew that the hardest and most dangerous portion of his +perilous trip was just at its beginning. If the dory got through +the surf without capsizing, it was an even bet that she would stay +right-side-up for a while longer, at any rate. So he pulled out of the +little cove, and pointed the boat's bow toward the thundering smother +of white, his shoulders squared, his hands tightened on the oar handles, +and his under-jaw pushed out beyond the upper. Old foremast hands, those +who had sailed with the Captain on his coasting voyages, would, had they +seen these signs, have prophesied trouble for someone. They were Captain +Eri's battle-flags, and just now his opponent was the gray Atlantic. If +the latter won, it would only be after a fight. + +The first wave tripped over the bar and whirled beneath him, sending +the dory high into the air and splashing its occupant with spray. The +Captain held the boat stationary, waiting for the second to break, and +then, half rising, put all his weight and strength on the oars. The +struggle had begun. + +They used to say on board the Hannah M. that the skipper never got +rattled. The same cool head and steady nerve that Josiah had admired +when the catboat threaded the breakers at the entrance of the bay, now +served the same purpose in this more tangled and infinitely more wicked +maze. The dory climbed and ducked, rolled and slid, but gained, inch by +inch, foot by foot. The advancing waves struck savage blows at the +bow, the wind did its best to swing her broadside on, but there was one +hundred and eighty pounds of clear grit and muscle tugging at the oars, +and, though the muscles were not as young as they had been, there were +years of experience to make every pound count. At last the preliminary +round was over. The boat sprang clear of the breakers and crept out +farther and farther, with six inches of water slopping in her bottom, +but afloat and seaworthy. + +It was not until she was far into deep water that the Captain turned +her bow down the shore. When this was done, it was on the instant, and, +although a little more water came inboard, there was not enough to be +dangerous. Then, with the gale astern and the tide to help, Captain +Eri made the dory go as she, or any other on that coast, had never gone +before. + +The Captain knew that the wind and the tide that were now aiding him +were also sweeping the overturned lifeboat along at a rapid rate. He +must come up with it before it reached the next shoal. He must reach +it before the waves, and, worse than all, the cold had caused the poor +fellows clinging to it for life to loose their grip. + +The dory jumped from crest to crest like a hurdler. The sleet now beat +directly into the Captain's face and froze on his eyebrows and lashes, +but he dared not draw in an oar to free a hand. The wind caught up the +spindrift and poured it over him in icy baths, but he was too warm from +the furious exercise to mind. + +In the lulls he turned his head and gazed over the sea, looking for the +boat. Once he saw it, before the storm shut down again, and he groaned +aloud to count but two black dots on its white surface. He pulled harder +than ever, and grunted with every stroke, while the perspiration poured +down his forehead and froze when it reached the ice dams over his eyes. + +At last it was in plain sight, and the two dots, now clearly human +beings, were still there. He pointed the bow straight at it and rowed +on. When he looked again there was but one, a figure sprawled along the +keel, clinging to the centerboard. + +The flying dory bore down upon the lifeboat, and the Captain risked what +little breath he had in a hail. The clinging figure raised its head, and +Captain Eri felt an almost selfish sense of relief to see that it was +Luther Davis. If it had to be but one, he would rather it was that one. + +The bottom of the lifeboat rose like a dome from the sea that beat and +roared over and around it. The centerboard had floated up and projected +at the top, and it was about this that Captain Davis' arms were clasped. +Captain Eri shot the dory alongside, pulled in one oar, and the two +boats fitted closely together. Then Eri reached out, and, seizing his +friend by the belt round his waist, pulled him from his hold. Davis fell +into the bottom of the dory, only half conscious and entirely helpless. + +Captain Eri lifted him so that his head and shoulders rested on a +thwart, and then, setting his oar against the lifeboat's side, pushed +the dory clear. Then he began rowing again. + +So far he had been more successful than he had reason to expect, but the +task that he must now accomplish was not less difficult. He must reach +the shore safely, and with another life beside his own to guard. + +It was out of the question to attempt to get back to the cove; the +landing must be made on the open beach, and, although Captain Eri had +more than once brought a dory safely through a high surf, he had never +attempted it when his boat had nearly a foot of water in her and carried +a helpless passenger. + +Little by little, still running before the wind, the Captain edged in +toward the shore. Luther Davis moved once or twice, but said nothing. +His oilskins were frozen stiff and his beard was a lump of ice. Captain +Eri began to fear that he might die from cold and exhaustion before the +attempt at landing was made. The Captain resolved to wait no longer, but +to take the risk of running directly for the beach. + +He was near enough now to see the leaping spray of the breakers, and +their bellow sounded louder than the howl of the wind or the noises +of the sea about him. He bent forward and shouted in the ear of the +prostrate life-saver. + +"Luther!" he yelled, "Lute!" + +Captain Davis' head rolled back, his eyes opened, and, in a dazed way, +he looked at the figure swinging back and forth with the oars. + +"Lute!" shouted Captain Eri, "listen to me! I'm goin' to try to land. +D'you hear me?" + +Davis' thoughts seemed to be gathering slowly. He was, ordinarily, a man +of strong physique, courageous, and a fighter every inch of him, but his +strength had been beaten out by the waves and chilled by the cold, +and the sight of the men with whom he had lived and worked for years +drowning one by one, had broken his nerve. He looked at his friend, and +then at the waves. + +"What's the use?" he said feebly. "They're all gone. I might as well go, +too." + +Captain Eri's eyes snapped. "Lute Davis," he exclaimed, "I never thought +I'd see you playin' crybaby. Brace up! What are you, anyway?" + +The half-frozen man made a plucky effort. + +"All right, Eri," he said. "I'm with you, but I ain't much good." + +"Can you stand up?" + +"I don't know. I'll try." + +Little by little he raised himself to his knees. + +"'Bout as fur's I can go, Eri," he said, between his teeth. "You look +out for yourself. I'll do my durndest." + +The dory was caught by the first of the great waves, and, on its crest, +went flying toward the beach. Captain Eri steered it with the oars as +well as he could. The wave broke, and the half-filled boat paused, +was caught up by the succeeding breaker, and thrown forward again. The +Captain, still trying to steer with one oar, let go of the other, and +seizing his companion by the belt, pulled him to his feet. + +"Now then," he shouted, "stand by!" + +The boat poised on the curling wave, went down like a hammer, struck the +sand, and was buried in water. Just as it struck, Captain Eri jumped as +far shoreward as he could. Davis sprang with him, but it was really the +Captain's strength that carried them clear of the rail. + +They kept their feet for an instant, but, in that instant, Captain Eri +dragged his friend a yard or so up the shelving beach. Then they were +knocked flat by the next wave. The Captain dug his toes into the sand +and braced himself as the undertow sucked back. Once more he rose and +they staggered on again, only to go down when the next rush of water +came. Three times this performance was repeated, and, as they rose for +the fourth time, the Captain roared, "Now!" + +Another plunge, a splashing run, and they were on the hard sand of +the beach. Then they both tumbled on their faces and breathed in great +gasps. + +But the Captain realized that this would not do, for, in their soaked +condition, freezing to death was a matter of but a short time. He seized +Davis by the shoulder and shook him again and again. + +"Come on, Lute! Come on!" he insisted. "Git up! You've GOT to git up!" + +And, after a while, the life-saver did get up, although he could +scarcely stand. Then, with the Captain's arm around his waist, they +started slowly up the beach toward the station. + +They had gone but a little way when they were met by Ralph Hazeltine and +Captain Perez. + + +Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather nervous all that forenoon. She +performed her household duties as thoroughly as usual, but Elsie, to +whom the storm had brought a holiday, noticed that she looked out of the +window and at the clock frequently. Once she even went so far as to tell +the young lady that she felt "kind of queer; jest as if somethin' was +goin' to happen." As the housekeeper was not the kind to be troubled +with presentiments, Elsie was surprised. + +Dinner was on the table at twelve o'clock, but Captain Eri was not there +to help eat it, and they sat down without him. And here again Mrs. Snow +departed from her regular habit, for she ate little and was very quiet. +She was the first to hear an unusual sound outside, and, jumping up, ran +to the window. + +"Somebody's drivin' into the yard," she said. "Who on airth would be +comin' here such a day as this?" + +Captain Jerry joined her at the window. + +"It's Abner Mayo's horse," he said. "Maybe it's Perez comin' home." + +It was not Captain Perez, but Mr. Mayo himself, as they saw when the +rubber blanket fastened across the front of the buggy was dropped and +the driver sprang out. Mrs. Snow opened the door for him. + +"Hello, Abner!" exclaimed Captain Jerry, as the newcomer stopped to +knock the snow from his boots before coming in, "what have you done to +Perez? Goin' to keep him for a steady boarder?" + +But Mr. Mayo had important news to communicate, and he did not intend +to lose the effect of his sensation by springing it without due +preparation. He took off his hat and mittens and solemnly declined a +proffered chair. + +"Cap'n Burgess," he said, "I've got somethin' to tell you--somethin' +awful. The whole life-savin' crew but one is drownded, and Cap'n Eri +Hedge--" + +An exclamation from Mrs. Snow interrupted him. The housekeeper clasped +her hands together tightly and sank into a chair. She was very white. +Elsie ran to her. + +"What is it, Mrs. Snow?" she asked. + +"Nothin', nothin'! Go on, Mr. Mayo. Go on!" + +The bearer of ill-tidings, gratified at the result of his first attempt, +proceeded deliberately: + +"And Cap'n Hedge and Luther Davis are over at the station pretty nigh +dead. If it wa'n't for the Cap'n, Luther'd have gone, too. Eri took a +dory and went off and picked him up. Perez come over to my house and +told us about it, and Pashy's gone back with him to see to her brother. +I didn't go down to the store this mornin', 'twas stormin' so, but as +soon as I heard I harnessed up to come and tell you." + +Then, in answer to the hurried questions of Captain Jerry and Elsie, Mr. +Mayo told the whole story as far as he knew it. Mrs. Snow said nothing, +but sat with her hands still clasped in her lap. + +"Luther is ha'f drownded and froze," concluded Abner, "and the Cap'n +got a bang with an oar when they jumped out of the dory that, Perez +is afraid, broke his arm. I'm goin' right back to git Dr. Palmer. They +tried to telephone him, but the wire's down." + +"Dear! dear! dear!" exclaimed Captain Jerry, completely demoralized by +the news. "That's dreadful! I must go right down there, mustn't I? The +poor fellers!" + +Mrs. Snow rose to her feet quietly, but with a determined air. + +"Are you goin' right back soon's you've got the Doctor, Mr. Mayo?" she +asked. + +"Why, no, I wa'n't. I ain't been to my store this mornin', and I'm +'fraid I ought to be there." + +To be frank, Abner was too great a sensation lover to forfeit the +opportunity of springing his startling news on the community. + +"Then, Josiah, you'll have to harness Dan'l and take me down. I mustn't +wait another minute." + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" expostulated Captain Jerry, "you mustn't go down +there. The Doctor's goin', and I'll go, and Pashy's there already." + +But the housekeeper merely waved him aside. + +"I want you to stay here with Elsie," she said. "There's no tellin' how +long I may be gone. Josiah 'll drive me down, won't you, Josiah?" + +There was no lack of enthusiasm in the "able seaman's" answer. The boy +was only too glad of the chance. + +"But it ain't fit weather for you to be out in. You'll git soakin' wet." + +"I guess if Pashy Davis can stand it, I can. Elsie, will you come and +help me git ready, while Josiah's harnessin'?" + +As they entered the chamber above, Elsie was thunderstruck to see her +companion seat herself in the rocker and cover her face with her hands. +If it had been anyone else it would not have been so astonishing, but +the cool, self-possessed housekeeper--she could scarcely believe it. + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" she exclaimed, "what IS it?" + +The lady from Nantucket hastily rose and wiped her eyes with her apron. + +"Oh, nothin'," she answered, with an attempt at a smile. "I'm kind of +fidgety this mornin', and the way that man started off to tell his yarn +upset me; that's all. I mustn't be such a fool." + +She set about getting ready with a vim and attention to detail that +proved that her "fidgets" had not affected her common-sense. She was +pale and her hands trembled a little, but she took a covered basket and +packed in it cloth for bandages, a hot-water bottle, mustard, a bottle +of liniment, and numerous other things likely to be of use. Last of all, +she added a bottle of whisky that had been prescribed as a stimulant for +John Baxter. + +"I s'pose some folks would think 'twas terrible carryin' this with me," +she observed. "A woman pitched into me once for givin' it to her husband +when he was sick. I told her I didn't favor RHUBARB as a steady drink, +but I hoped I knew enough to give it when 'twas necessary." + +Ralph and Captain Perez were surprised men when the housekeeper, +dripping, but cheerful, appeared on the scene. She and Josiah had had a +stormy passage on the way down, for the easy-going Daniel had objected +to being asked to trot through drifts, and Mrs. Snow had insisted that +he should be made to do it. The ford was out of the question, so they +stalled the old horse in the Mayo barn and borrowed Abner's dory to make +the crossing. + +Mrs. Snow took charge at once of the tired men, and the overtaxed Miss +Patience was glad enough to have her do it. Luther Davis was in bed, +and Captain Eri, after an hour's sojourn in the same snug harbor, +had utterly refused to stay there longer, and now, dressed in a suit +belonging to the commandant, was stretched upon a sofa in the front +room. + +The Captain was the most surprised of all when Mrs. Snow appeared. He +fairly gasped when she first entered the room, and seemed to be struck +speechless, for he said scarcely a word while she dosed him with hot +drinks, rubbed his shoulder--the bone was not broken, but there was +a bruise there as big as a saucer--with the liniment, and made him +generally comfortable. He watched her every movement with a sort of +worshipful wonder, and seemed to be thinking hard. + +Captain Davis, although feeling a little better, was still very weak, +and his sister and Captain Perez were with him. Josiah soon returned +to the Mayo homestead to act as ferryman for Dr. Palmer when the latter +should arrive, and Ralph, finding that there was nothing more that he +could do, went back to the cable station. The storm had abated somewhat +and the wind had gone down. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were alone in the +front room, and, for the first time since she entered the house, the +lady from Nantucket sat down to rest. Then the Captain spoke. + +"Mrs. Snow," he said gravely, "I don't believe you've changed your +clothes sence you got here. You must have been soaked through, too. I +wish you wouldn't take such risks. You hadn't ought to have come over +here a day like this, anyway. Not but what the Lord knows it's good to +have you here," he added hastily. + +The housekeeper seemed surprised. + +"Cap'n Eri," she said, "I b'lieve if you was dyin' you'd worry for fear +somebody else wouldn't be comf'table while you was doing it. 'Twould +be pretty hard for me to change my clothes," she added, with a laugh, +"seein' that there probably ain't anything but men's clothes in the +place." Then, with a sigh, "Poor fellers, they won't need 'em any more." + +"That's so. And they were all alive and hearty this mornin'. It's an +awful thing for Luther. Has he told anything yit 'bout how it come to +happen?" + +"Yes, a little. The schooner was from Maine, bound to New York. Besides +her own crew she had some Italians aboard, coal-handlers, they was, +goin' over on a job for the owner. Cap'n Davis says he saw right away +that the lifeboat would be overloaded, but he had to take 'em all, +there wa'n't time for a second trip. He made the schooner's crew and the +others lay down in the boat where they wouldn't hinder the men at the +oars, but when they got jest at the tail of the shoal, where the sea was +heaviest, them Italians lost their heads and commenced to stand up and +yell, and fust thing you know, she swung broadside on and capsized. +Pashy says Luther don't say much more, but she jedges, from what he does +say, that some of the men hung on with him for a while, but was washed +off and drownded." + +"That's right; there was four or five there when we saw her fust. +'Twas Lute's grip on the centerboard that saved him. It's an awful +thing--awful!" + +"Yes, and he would have gone, too, if it hadn't been for you. And you +talk about MY takin' risks!" + +"Well, Jerry hadn't ought to have let you come." + +"LET me come! I should like to have seen him try to stop me. The idea! +Where would I be if 'twa'n't helpin' you, after all you've done for me?" + +"I'VE done? I haven't done anything!" + +"You've made me happier 'n I've been for years. You've been so kind +that--that--" + +She stopped and looked out of the window. + +"It's you that's been kind," said the Captain. "You've made a home for +me; somethin' I ain't had afore sence I was a boy." + +Mrs. Snow went on as if he had not spoken. + +"And to think that you might have been drownded the same as the rest," +she said. "I knew somethin' was happenin'. I jest felt it, somehow. I +told Elsie I was sure of it. I couldn't think of anything but you all +the forenoon." + +The Captain sat up on the couch. + +"Marthy," he said in an awed tone, "do you know what I was thinkin' of +when I was pullin' through the wust of it this mornin'? I was thinkin' +of you. I thought of Luther and the rest of them poor souls, of course, +but I thought of you most of the time. It kept comin' back to me that if +I went under I shouldn't see you ag'in. And you was thinkin' of me!" + +"Yes, when that Mayo man said he had awful news, I felt sure 'twas you +he was goin' to tell about. I never fainted away in my life that I know +of, but I think I 'most fainted then." + +"And you cared as much as that?" + +"Yes." + +Somehow both were speaking quietly, but as if it was useless longer to +keep back anything. To speak the exact truth without reserve seemed the +most natural thing in the world. + +"Well, well, well!" said the Captain reverently, and still in the same +low tone. "I said once afore that I b'lieved you was sent here, and now +I'm sure of it. It seems almost as if you was sent to ME, don't it?" + +The housekeeper still looked out of the window, but she answered simply, +"I don't know." + +"It does, it does so. Marthy, we've been happy together while you've +been here. Do you b'lieve you could be happy with me always--if you +married me, I mean?" + +Mrs. Snow turned and looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, but +she did not wipe them away. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich." + +"What am I?" with a little smile. + +"And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old +codger like me?" + +"Yes." The answer was short, but it was convincing. + +Captain Eri rose to his feet. + +"Gosh!" he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. "Marthy, are you +willin' to try?" + +And again Mrs. Snow said "Yes." + + +When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri +was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about +him that the man of medicine was amazed. + +"Good Lord, man!" he exclaimed, "I expected to find you flat on your +back, and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a +salt-water bath in mid-winter must agree with you." + +"It ain't so much that," replied the Captain serenely. "It's the pay I +got for takin' it." + +When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close +watch on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion +and exposure might have affected the Captain's brain. + +Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, but +he saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to start for +home, Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding slap + +"Jerry!" he groaned distressfully. "I clean forgot. I've gone back on +Jerry!" + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS" + + +Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner Mayo's news +spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, the stores, and +the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, notably "Cy" Warner +and "Rufe" Smith, local representatives of the big Boston dailies, +hurried off to the life-saving station to get the facts at first hand. +Others came down to talk with Captain Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's +shawl was on her shoulders and her "cloud" was tied about her head in +less than two minutes after her next-door neighbor shouted the story +across the back yards. She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry +was delivering a sarcastic speech concerning "talkin' machines," when +Daniel plodded through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, +Mrs. Snow, and Captain Eri. + +For a man who had been described as "half-dead," Captain Eri looked very +well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he jumped out +himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with an air of proud +proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like a returned prodigal, +and Captain Jerry shook his well hand until the arm belonging to it +seemed likely to become as stiff and sore as the other. While this +handshaking was going on Captain Eri was embarrassed. He did not look +his friend in the face, and most of his conversation was addressed to +Elsie. + +As soon as he had warmed his hands and told the story of the wreck and +rescue, he said, "Jerry, come up to my room a minute, won't you? I've +got somethin' I want to say." + +Vaguely wondering what the private conversation might be, Jerry followed +his friend upstairs. When they were in the room, Captain Eri closed the +door and faced his companion. He was confused, and stammered a little, +as he said, "Jerry, I've--I've got somethin' to say to you 'bout Mrs. +Snow." + +Then it was Captain Jerry's turn to be confused. + +"Now, Eri," he protested, "'tain't fair to keep pesterin' me like this. +I know I ain't said nothin' to her yit, but I'm goin' to. I had a week, +anyhow, and it ain't ha'f over. Land sake!" he burst forth, "d'you +s'pose I ain't been thinkin' 'bout it? I ain't thought of nothin' else, +hardly. I bet you I've been over the whole thing every night sence we +had that talk. I go over it and GO over it. I've thought of more 'n a +million ways to ask her, but there ain't one of 'em that suits me. If I +was goin' to be hung 'twouldn't be no worse, and now you've got to keep +a-naggin'. Let me alone till my time is up, can't you?" + +"I wa'n't naggin'. I was jest goin' to tell you that you won't have to +ask. I've been talkin' to her myself, and--" + +The sacrifice sprang out of his chair. + +"Eri Hedge!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I thought you was a friend of +mine! I give you my word I'd do it in a week, and the least you could +have done, seems to me, would have been to wait and give me the chance. +But no! all you think 'bout's yourself. So 'fraid she'd say no and you'd +lose your old housekeeper, wa'n't you? The idea! She must think I'm a +good one--can't do my own courtin', and have to git somebody to do it +for me! What did she say?" he asked suddenly. + +"She said yes to what I asked her," was the reply with a half smile. + +Upon Captain Jerry's face settled the look of one who accepts the +melancholy inevitable. He sat down again. + +"I s'posed she would," he said with a sigh. "She's known me for quite a +spell now, and she's had a chance to see what kind of a man I be. Well, +what else did you do? Ain't settled the weddin' day, have you?" This +with marked sarcasm. + +"Not yit. Jerry, you've made a mistake. I didn't ask her for you." + +"Didn't ask her--didn't--What are you talkin' 'bout, then?" + +"I asked her for myself. She's goin' to marry me." + +Captain Jerry was too much astonished even to get up. Instead, he simply +sat still with open mouth while his friend continued. + +"I've come to think a lot of Mrs. Snow sence she's been here," Captain +Eri said slowly, "and I've found out that she's felt the same way 'bout +me. I've kept still and said nothin' 'cause I thought you ought to have +the fust chance and, besides, I didn't know how she felt. But to-day, +while we was talkin', it all come out of itself, seems so, and--well, +we're goin' to be married." + +The sacrifice--a sacrifice no longer--still sat silent, but curious +changes of expression were passing over his face. Surprise, amazement, +relief, and now a sort of grieved resignation. + +"I feel small enough 'bout the way I've treated you, Jerry," continued +Captain Eri. "I didn't mean to--but there! it's done, and all I can +do is say I'm sorry and that I meant to give you your chance. I shan't +blame you if you git mad, not a bit; but I hope you won't." + +Captain Jerry sighed. When he spoke it was in a tone of sublime +forgiveness. + +"Eri," he said, "I ain't mad. I won't say my feelin's ain't hurt, +'cause--'cause--well, never mind. If a wife and a home ain't for me, why +I ought to be glad that you're goin' to have 'em. I wish you both luck +and a good v'yage. Now, don't talk to me for a few minutes. Let me git +sort of used to it." + +So they shook hands and Captain Eri, with a troubled look at his friend, +went out. After he had gone, Captain Jerry got up and danced three steps +of an improvised jig, his face one broad grin. Then, with an effort, he +sobered down, assumed an air of due solemnity, and tramped downstairs. + +If the announcement of Captain Perez' engagement caused no surprise, +that of Captain Eri's certainly did--surprise and congratulation on the +part of those let into the secret, for it was decided to say nothing to +outsiders as yet. Ralph came over that evening and they told him about +it, and he was as pleased as the rest. As for the Captain, he was only +too willing to shake hands with any and everybody, although he insisted +that the housekeeper had nothing to be congratulated upon, and that she +was "takin' big chances." The lady herself merely smiled at this, and +quietly said that she was willing to take them. + +The storm had wrecked every wire and stalled every train, and Orham was +isolated for two days. Then communication was established once more, and +the Boston dailies received the news of the loss of the life-savers +and the crew of the schooner. And they made the most of it; sensational +items were scarce just then, and the editors welcomed this one. The +big black headlines spread halfway across the front pages. There were +pictures of the wreck, "drawn by our artist from description," and +there were "descriptions" of all kinds. Special reporters arrived in +the village and interviewed everyone they could lay hands on. Abner Mayo +felt that for once he was receiving the attention he deserved. + +The life-saving station and the house by the shore were besieged by +photographers and newspaper men. Captain Eri indignantly refused to pose +for his photograph, so he was "snapped" as he went out to the barn, and +had the pleasure of seeing a likeness of himself, somewhat out of focus, +and with one leg stiffly elevated, in the Sunday Blanket. The reporters +waylaid him at the post-office, or at his fish shanty, and begged for +interviews. They got them, brief and pointedly personal, and, though +these were not printed, columns describing him as "a bluff, big-hearted +hero," were. + +If ever a man was mad and disgusted, that man was the Captain. In the +first place, as he said, what he had done was nothing more than any +other man 'longshore would have done, and, secondly, it was nobody's +business. Then again, he said, and with truth: + +"This whole fuss makes me sick. Here's them fellers in the crew been +goin' out, season after season, takin' folks off wrecks, and the fool +papers never say nothin' 'bout it; but they go out this time, and don't +save nobody and git drownded themselves, and they're heroes of a sudden. +I hear they're raisin' money up to Boston to give to the widders and +orphans. Well, that's all right, but they'd better keep on and git the +Gov'ment to raise the sal'ries of them that's left in the service." + +The climax came when a flashily dressed stranger called, and insisted +upon seeing the Captain alone. The interview lasted just about three +minutes. When Mrs. Snow, alarmed by the commotion, rushed into the room, +she found Captain Eri in the act of throwing after the fleeing stranger +the shiny silk hat that the latter had left behind. + +"Do you know what that--that swab wanted?" hotly demanded the indignant +Captain. "He wanted me to rig up in ileskins and a sou'wester and show +myself in dime museums. Said he'd buy that dory of Luther's that I went +out in, and show that 'long with me. I told him that dory was spread up +and down the beach from here to Setuckit, but he said that didn't +make no diff'rence, he'd have a dory there and say 'twas the reel one. +Offered me a hundred dollars a week, the skate! I'd give ten dollars +right now to tell him the rest of what I had to say." + +After this the Captain went fishing every day, and when at home refused +to see anybody not known personally. But the agitation went on, for the +papers fed the flames, and in Boston they were raising a purse to buy +gold watches and medals for him and for Captain Davis. + +Shortly after four o'clock one afternoon of the week following that of +the wreck, Captain Eri ventured to walk up to the village, keeping a +weather eye out for reporters and smoking his pipe. He made several +stops, one of them being at the schoolhouse where Josiah, now back at +his desk, was studying overtime to catch up with his class. + +As the Captain was strolling along, someone touched him from behind, +and he turned to face Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician had been a pretty +regular caller at the house of late, but Captain Eri had seen but little +of him, for reasons unnecessary to state. + +"Hello, Captain!" said Ralph. "Taking a constitutional? You want to look +out for Warner; I hear he's after you for another rescue 'special.'" + +"He'll need somebody to rescue him if he comes pesterin' 'round me," was +the reply. "You ain't seen my dime show friend nowheres, have you? +I'd sort of like to meet HIM again; our other talk broke off kind of +sudden." + +Ralph laughed, and said he was afraid that the museum manager wouldn't +come to Orham again very soon. + +"I s'pose likely not," chuckled Captain Eri. "I ought to have kept his +hat; then, maybe, he'd have come back after it. Oh, say!" he added, +"I've been meanin' to ask you somethin'. Made up your mind 'bout that +western job yit?" + +Ralph shook his head. "Not yet," he said slowly. "I shall very soon, +though, I think." + +"Kind of puzzlin' you, is it? Not that it's really any of my affairs, +you understand. There's only a few of us good folks left, as the feller +said, and I'd hate to see you leave, that's all." + +"I am not anxious to go, myself. My present position gives me a good +deal of leisure time for experimental work--and--well, I'll tell you in +confidence--there's a possibility of my becoming superintendent one of +these days, if I wish to." + +"Sho! you don't say! Mr. Langley goin' to quit?" + +"He is thinking of it. The old gentleman has saved some money, and he +has a sister in the West who is anxious to have him come out there and +spend the remainder of his days with her. If he does, I can have his +position, I guess. In fact, he has been good enough to say so." + +"Well, that's pretty fine, ain't it? Langley ain't the man to chuck his +good opinions round like clam shells. You ought to feel proud." + +"I suppose I ought." + +They walked on silently for a few steps, the Captain waiting for his +companion to speak, and the latter seeming disinclined to do so. At +length the older man asked another question. + +"Is t'other job so much better?" + +"No." + +Silence again. Then Ralph said, "The other position, Captain, is very +much like this one in some respects. It will place me in a country +town, even smaller than Orham, where there are few young people, no +amusements, and no society, in the fashionable sense of the word." + +"Humph! I thought you didn't care much for them things." + +"I don't." + +To this enigmatical answer the Captain made no immediate reply. After +a moment, however, he said, slowly and with apparent irrelevance, "Mr. +Hazeltine, I can remember my father tellin' 'bout a feller that lived +down on the South Harniss shore when he was a boy. Queer old chap he +was, named Elihu Bassett; everybody called him Uncle Elihu. In them days +all hands drunk more or less rum, and Uncle Elihu drunk more. He had +a way of stayin' sober for a spell, and then startin' off on a regular +jamboree all by himself. He had an old flat-bottomed boat that he used +to sail 'round in, but she broke her moorin's one time and got smashed +up, so he wanted to buy another. Shadrach Wingate, Seth's granddad +'twas, tried to fix up a dicker with him for a boat he had. They agreed +on the price, and everything was all right 'cept that Uncle Elihu stuck +out that he must try her 'fore he bought her. + +"So Shad fin'lly give in, and Uncle Elihu sailed over to Wellmouth in +the boat. He put in his time 'round the tavern there, and when he come +down to the boat ag'in, he had a jugful of Medford in his hand, and +pretty nigh as much of the same stuff under his hatches. He got afloat +somehow, h'isted the sail, lashed the tiller after a fashion, took a +nip out of the jug and tumbled over and went fast asleep. 'Twas a still +night or 'twould have been the finish. As 'twas he run aground on a flat +and stuck there till mornin'. + +"Next day back he comes with the boat all scraped up, and says he, 'She +won't do, Shad; she don't keep her course.' + +"'Don't keep her course, you old fool!' bellers Shad. 'And you tight as +a drumhead and sound asleep! Think she can find her way home herself?' +he says. + +"'Well,' says Uncle Elihu, 'if she can't she ain't the boat for me.'" + +Ralph laughed. "I see," he said. "Perhaps Uncle Elihu was wise. Still, +if he wanted the boat very much, he must have hated to put her to the +test." + +"That's so," assented the Captain, "but 'twas better to know it then +than to be sorry for it afterwards." + +Both seemed to be thinking, and neither spoke again until they came to +the grocery store, where Hazeltine stopped, saying that he must do an +errand for Mr. Langley. They said good-night, and the Captain turned +away, but came quickly back and said: + +"Mr. Hazeltine, if it ain't too much trouble, would you mind steppin' +up to the schoolhouse when you've done your errand? I've left somethin' +there with Josiah, and I'd like to have you git it. Will you?" + +"Certainly," was the reply, and it was not until the Captain had gone +that Ralph remembered he did not know what he was to get. + +When he reached the school he climbed the stairs and opened the door, +expecting to find Josiah alone. Instead, there was no one there but +Elsie, who was sitting at the desk. She sprang up as he entered. Both +were somewhat confused. + +"Pardon me, Miss Preston," he said. "Captain Eri sent me here. He said +he left something with Josiah, and wished me to call for it." + +"Why, I'm sure I don't know what it can be," replied Elsie. "Josiah has +been gone for some time, and he said nothing to me about it." + +"Perhaps it is in his desk," suggested Ralph. "Suppose we look." + +So they looked, but found nothing more than the usual assortment +contained in the desk of a healthy schoolboy. The raised lid shut off +the light from the window, and the desk's interior was rather dark. They +had to grope in the corners, and occasionally their hands touched. Every +time this happened Ralph thought of the decision that he must make so +soon. + +He thought of it still more when, after the search was abandoned, Elsie +suggested that he help her with some problems that she was preparing for +the next day's labors of the first class in arithmetic. In fact, as he +sat beside her, pretending to figure, but really watching her dainty +profile as it moved back and forth before his eyes, his own particular +problem received far more attention than did those of the class. +Suddenly he spoke: + +"Teacher," he said, "please, may I ask a question?" + +"You should hold up your hand if you wish permission to speak," was the +stern reply. + +"Please consider it held up." + +"Is the question as important as 'How many bushels did C. sell?' which +happens to be my particular trouble just now." + +"It is to me, certainly." Ralph was serious enough now. "It is a +question that I have been wrestling with for some time. It is, shall I +take the position that has been offered me in the West, or shall I stay +here and become superintendent of the station? The superintendent's +place may be mine, I think, if I want it." + +Elsie laid down her pencil and hesitated for a moment before she spoke. +When she did reply her face was turned away from her companion. + +"I should think that question might best be decided by comparing the +salaries and prospects of the two positions," she said quietly. + +"The two positions are much alike in one way. You know what the life at +the station means the greater portion of the year--no companions of +your own age and condition, no society, no amusements. The Western offer +means all this and worse, for the situation is the same all the year. I +say these things because I hope you may be willing to consider them, not +from my point of view solely, but from yours." + +"From mine?" + +"Yes. You see I am recklessly daring to hope that, whichever lot is +chosen, you may be willing to share it with me--as my wife. Elsie, do +you think you could consider the question from that viewpoint?" + +And--well--Elsie thought she could. + +The consideration--we suppose it was the consideration--took so long +that it was nearly dark when Elsie announced that she simply MUST go. It +was Ralph's duty as a gentleman to help her in putting on her coat, and +this took an astonishingly long time. Finally it was done, however, and +they came downstairs. + +"Dearest," said Ralph, after the door was locked, "I forgot to have +another hunt for whatever it was that Captain Eri wanted me to get." + +Elsie smiled rather oddly. + +"Are you sure you haven't got it?" she asked demurely. + +"Got it! Why--why, by George, what a numbskull I am! The old rascal! I +thought there was a twinkle in his eye." + +"He said he should come back after me." + +"Well, well! Bless his heart, it's sound and sweet all the way through. +Yes, I HAVE got it, and, what's more, I shall tell him that I mean to +keep it." + + +The gold watches from the people to the heroes of the Orham wreck having +been duly bought and inscribed and the medals struck, there came up the +question of presentation, and it was decided to perform the ceremony in +the Orham town hall, and to make the occasion notable. The Congressman +from the district agreed to make the necessary speech. The Harniss +Cornet Band was to furnish music. All preparations were made, and it +remained only to secure the consent of the parties most interested, +namely, Captain Eri and Luther Davis. + +And this was the hardest task of all. Both men at first flatly refused +to be present. The Captain said he might as well go to the dime museum +and be done with it; he was much obliged to the Boston folks, but his +own watch was keeping good time, and he didn't need a new one badly +enough to make a show of himself to get it. Captain Davis said very much +the same. + +But Miss Patience was proud of her brother's rise to fame, and didn't +intend to let him forfeit the crowning glory. She enlisted Captain Perez +as a supporter, and together they finally got Luther's unwilling consent +to sit on the platform and be stared at for one evening. Meanwhile, +Captain Jerry, Elsie, Ralph, and Mrs. Snow were doing their best to win +Captain Eri over. When Luther surrendered, the forces joined, and the +Captain threw up his hands. + +"All right," he said. "Only I ought to beg that dime museum feller's +pardon. 'Tain't right to be partial this way." + + +The hall was jammed to the doors. Captain Eri, seated on the platform +at one end of the half-circle of selectmen, local politicians, and minor +celebrities, looked from the Congressman in the middle to Luther on the +other end, and then out over the crowded settees. He saw Mrs. Snow's +pleasant, wholesome face beaming proudly beside Captain Jerry's red one. +He saw Captain Perez and Miss Patience sitting together close to the +front, and Ralph and Elsie a little further back. The Reverend Mr. +Perley was there; so were the Smalls and Miss Abigail Mullett. Melissa +Busteed was on the very front bench with the boys, of whom Josiah was +one. The "train committee" was there--not a member missing--and at the +rear of the hall, smiling and unctuous as ever, was "Web" Saunders. In +spite of his stage fright the Captain grinned when he saw "Web." + +Mr. Solomon Bangs, his shirt-bosom crackling with importance, introduced +the Congressman. The latter's address was, so the Item said, "a triumph +of oratorical effort." It really was a good speech, and when it touched +upon the simple sacrifice of the men who had given up their lives in the +course of what, to them, was everyday work, there were stifled sobs all +through the hall. Luther Davis, during this portion of the address, +sat with his big hand shading his eyes. Later on, when the speaker was +sounding the praises of the man who "alone, forgetful of himself, braved +the sea and the storm to save his friends," those who looked at Captain +Eri saw his chair hitched back, inch by inch, until, as the final +outburst came, little more than his Sunday shoes was in sight. He had +retired, chair and all, to the wings. + +But they called him to the platform again and, amid--we quote from the +Item once more--"a hurricane of applause," the two heroes were adorned +with the watches and the medals. + +There was a sort of impromptu reception after the ceremony, when Captain +Eri, with Mrs. Snow on his arm, struggled through the crowd toward the +door. + +"'Twas great, shipmate, and you deserved it!" declared magnanimous +Captain Jerry, wringing his hand. + +"'Tain't ha'f what you ought to have, Eri," said Captain Perez. + +"I haven't said much to thank you for savin' Luther," whispered Miss +Patience, "but I hope you know that we both appreciate what you done and +never 'll forgit it." + +Ralph and Elsie also shook hands with him, and said some pleasant +things. So did many others, Dr. Palmer among the number. Altogether, the +journey through the hall was a sort of triumphal progress. + +"Whew!" gasped the Captain, as they came out into the clear air and the +moonlight, "let's hope that's the last of the dime-show bus'ness." + +"Eri," whispered Mrs. Snow, "I'm so proud of you, I don't know what to +do." + +And that remark was sweeter to the Captain's ears than all those that +had preceded it. + +They turned into the shore road and were alone. It was a clear winter +night, fresh, white snow on the ground, not a breath of wind, and the +full moon painting land and sea dark blue and silver white. The surf +sounded faint and far off. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking, +and through the stillness came an occasional laugh or shout from the +people going home from the hall. + +"Lots of things can happen in a few months, can't they?" said Mrs. Snow, +glancing at the black shadow of the shuttered Baxter homestead. + +"They can so," replied the Captain. "Think what's happened sence last +September. I didn't know you then, and now it seems 's if I'd always +known you. John was alive then, and Elsie nor Ralph hadn't come. Perez +hadn't met Pashy neither. My! my! Everybody's choosed partners but +Jerry," he chuckled, "and Jerry looked the most likely candidate 'long +at the beginnin'. I'm glad," he added, "that Ralph's made up his mind to +stay here. We shan't lose him nor Elsie for a few years, anyhow." + +They paused at the knoll by the gate. + +"Fair day to-morrer," observed the Captain, looking up at the sky. + +"I hope it 'll be fair weather for us the rest of our days," said Mrs. +Snow. + +"You've HAD it rough enough, that's sure. Well, I hope you'll have a +smooth v'yage, now." + +The lady from Nantucket looked up into his face with a happy laugh. + +"I guess I shall," she said. "I know I've got a good pilot." + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + +***** This file should be named 3240.txt or 3240.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/3240/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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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: Cap'n Eri + +Author: Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +Release Date: May 30, 2006 [EBook #3240] +Last Updated: March 4, 2019 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + CAP'N ERI + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Joseph Crosby Lincoln + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>CAP'N ERI</b></big> </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> -- A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> -- THE TRAIN COMES IN<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0003"> + CHAPTER III </a> --THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING <br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV </a> -- A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> -- THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0006"> + CHAPTER VI </a> -- THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> -- CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII </a> -- HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> -- ELSIE PRESTON<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0010"> + CHAPTER X </a> -- MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI </a> -- HEROES AND A MYSTERY<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> -- A LITTLE POLITICS<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> -- CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0014"> + CHAPTER XIV </a> -- THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV </a> -- IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> -- A BUSINESS CALL<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> -- THROUGH FIRE AND WATER<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0018"> + CHAPTER XVIII </a> -- THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> -- A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS<br /><br /> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX </a> -- ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND<br /><br /> <a + href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> -- “DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + CAP'N ERI + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I + </h2> + <h3> + A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + </h3> + <p> + “Perez,” observed Captain Eri cheerfully, “I'm tryin' to average up with + the mistakes of Providence.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain was seated by the open door of the dining room, in the rocker + with the patched cane seat. He was apparently very busy doing something + with a piece of fishline and a pair of long-legged rubber boots. Captain + Perez, swinging back and forth in the parlor rocker with the patch-work + cushion, was puffing deliberately at a wooden pipe, the bowl of which was + carved into the likeness of a very rakish damsel with a sailor's cap set + upon the side of her once flaxen head. In response to his companion's + remark he lazily turned his sunburned face toward the cane-seated rocker + and inquired: + </p> + <p> + “What on airth are you doin' with them boots?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri tied a knot with his fingers and teeth and then held the boots + out at arm's length. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Perez,” he said, “I'm averagin' up, same as I told you. Providence + made me a two-legged critter, and a two-legged critter needs two boots. + I've always been able to find one of these boots right off whenever I + wanted it, but it's took me so plaguey long to find the other one that + whatever wet there was dried up afore I got out of the house. Yesterday + when I wanted to go clammin' I found the left one on the mantelpiece, no + trouble at all, but it was pretty nigh high water before I dug the other + one out of the washb'iler. That's why I'm splicin' 'em together this way. + I don't want to promise nothin' rash, but I'm in hopes that even Jerry + can't lose 'em now.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Perez. “I don't think much of that plan. 'Stead + of losin' one you'll lose both of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but then I shan't care. If there ain't NO boots in sight; I'll go + barefoot or stay at home. It's the kind of responsibleness that goes with + havin' one boot that's wearin' me out. Where IS Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “He went out to feed Lorenzo. I heard him callin' a minute ago. That cat + ain't been home sence noon, and Jerry's worried.” + </p> + <p> + A stentorian shout of “Puss! puss! Come, kitty, kitty, kitty!” came from + somewhere outside. Captain Eri smiled. + </p> + <p> + “I'm 'fraid Lorenzo's gittin' dissipated in his old age,” he observed. + Then, as a fat gray cat shot past the door, “There he is! Reg'lar prodigal + son. Comes home when the fatted ca'f's ready.” + </p> + <p> + A moment later Captain Jerry appeared, milk pitcher in hand. He entered + the dining room and, putting the pitcher down on the table, pulled forward + the armchair with the painted sunset on the back, produced his own pipe, + and proceeded to hunt through one pocket after the other with a troubled + expression of countenance. + </p> + <p> + “Where in tunket is my terbacker?” he asked, after finishing the round of + pockets and preparing to begin all over again. + </p> + <p> + “I see it on the top of the clock a spell ago,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Was that yours, Jerry?” exclaimed Captain Eri. “Well, that's too bad! I + see it there and thought 'twas mine. Here 'tis, or what's left of it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the remnant of a plug from his friend and said in an + aggrieved tone: + </p> + <p> + “That's jest like you, Eri! Never have a place for nothin' and help + yourself to anything you happen to want, don't make no odds whose 'tis. + Why don't you take care of your terbacker, same's I do of mine?” + </p> + <p> + “Now see here, Jerry! I ain't so sure that is yours. Let me see it. Humph! + I thought so! This is 'Navy Plug' and you always smoke 'Sailor's + Sweetheart.' Talk about havin' a place for things!” + </p> + <p> + “That's MY terbacker, if you want to know,” observed Captain Perez. “I've + got yours, Eri. Here 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, where IS mine?” said Captain Jerry somewhat snappishly. + </p> + <p> + “Bet a dollar you've got it in your pocket,” said Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Bet ten dollars I ain't! I ain't quite a fool yit, Eri Hedge. I guess I + know—well, I snum! I forgot that upper vest pocket!” and from the + pocket mentioned Captain Jerry produced the missing tobacco. + </p> + <p> + There was a general laugh, in which Captain Jerry was obliged to join, and + the trio smoked in silence for a time, while the expanse of water to the + eastward darkened, and the outer beach became but a dusky streak + separating the ocean from the inner bay. At length Captain Perez rose and, + knocking the ashes from his pipe, announced that he was going to “show a + glim.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, go ahead, Jerry!” said Captain Eri, “it's gittin' dark.” + </p> + <p> + “It's darker in the grave,” observed Captain Perez with lugubrious + philosophy. + </p> + <p> + “Then for the land's sake let's have it light while we can! Here, Jerry! + them matches is burnt ones. Try this, 'twon't be so damagin' to the + morals.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the proffered match and lit the two bracket lamps, + fastened to the walls of the dining room. The room, seen by the lamplight, + was shiplike, but as decidedly not shipshape. The chronometer on the + mantel was obscured by a thick layer of dust. The three gorgeous oil + paintings—from the brush of the local sign painter—respectively + representing the coasting packet Hannah M., Eri Hedge, Master, and the + fishing schooners, Georgie Baker, Jeremiah Burgess, Master, and the Flying + Duck, Perez Ryder, Master, were shrouded in a very realistic fog of the + same dust. Even the imposing gilt-lettered set of “Lives of Great Naval + Commanders,” purchased by Captain Perez some months before, and being + slowly paid for on an apparently never-ending installment plan, was + cloaked with it. The heap of newspapers, shoved under the couch to get + them out of the way, peeped forth in a tell-tale manner. The windows were + not too clean and the floor needed sweeping. Incidentally the supper table + had not been cleared. Each one of the three noted these things and each + sighed. Then Captain Eri said, as if to change the subject, though no one + had spoken: + </p> + <p> + “What started you talkin' about the grave, Perez? Was it them clam + fritters of Jerry's?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered the ex-skipper of the Flying Duck, pulling at his grizzled + scrap of throat whisker and looking rather shamefaced. “You see, M'lissy + Busteed dropped in a few minutes this mornin' while you fellers was out + and—” + </p> + <p> + Both Captain Eri and Captain Jerry set up a hilarious shout. + </p> + <p> + “Haw! haw!” roared the former, slapping his knee. “I wouldn't be so + fascinatin' as you be for no money, Perez. She'll have you yit; you can't + git away! But say, I don't wonder you got to thinkin' 'bout the grave. Ten + minutes of M'lissy gits me thinkin' of things way t'other side of that!” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, belay there, Eri” protested Captain Perez testily. “'Twan't my fault. + I didn't see her comin' or I'd have got out of sight. She was cruisin' + 'round the way she always does with a cargo of gabble, and, she put in + here to unload. Talk! I never heard a woman talk the way she can! She'd be + a good one to have on board in a calm. Git her talkin' abaft the mains'l + and we'd have a twenty-knot breeze in a shake.” + </p> + <p> + “What was it this time?” asked Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, a little of everything. She begun about the 'beautiful' sermon that + Mr. Perley preached at the last 'Come-Outers'' meetin'. That was what + started me thinkin' about the grave, I guess. Then she pitched into Seth + Wingate's wife for havin' a new bunnit this season when the old one wan't + ha'f wore out. She talked for ten minutes or so on that, and then she + begun about Parker's bein' let go over at the cable station and about the + new feller that's been signed to take his place. She's all for Parker. + Says he was a 'perfectly lovely' man and that 'twas outrageous the way he + was treated, and all that sort of thing.” + </p> + <p> + “She ain't the only one that thinks so,” observed Captain Jerry. “There's + a heap of folks in this town that think Parker was a mighty fine feller.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Captain Eri, “and it's worth while noticin' who they be. + Perez' friend, M'lissy, thinks so, and 'Squealer' Wixon and his gang think + so, and 'Web' Saunders thinks so, and a lot more like them. Parker was TOO + good a feller, that's what was the matter with him. His talk always + reminded me of washday at the poorhouse, lots of soft soap with plenty of + lye in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, M'lissy says that the men over to the station—all except + Langley, of course—are mad as all git-out because Parker was let go, + and she says somebody told somebody else, and somebody else told somebody + else, and somebody else told HER—she says it come reel straight—that + the men are goin' to make it hot for the new feller when he comes. She + says his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' like that, and that he's goin' to + get here to-morrer or next day.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Captain Eri, “it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If that man + should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill her sure as + fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, Perez.” + </p> + <p> + He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the dial. + </p> + <p> + “I mustn't be settin' round here much longer,” he added. “John Baxter's + goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his picked + to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to-night's train. John + asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down for him, but I ain't got + nothin' special to do to-night, so I thought I'd hitch up and go and git + 'em myself. You and Jerry can match cents to see who does the dishes. I + did 'em last night, so it's my watch below.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, <i>I</i> shan't do 'em,” declared Captain Perez. “Blessed if I'd do + the durn things to-night if the President of the United States asked me + to.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” sputtered Captain Jerry. “I s'pose you fellers think I'll do 'em + all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. 'Twan't last night you + done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I done 'em last night, and I'm ready + to take my chances agin if we match, but I'm jiggered if I let you shove + the whole thing off onto me. I didn't ship for cook no more 'n the rest of + you.” + </p> + <p> + Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of independence + and there was a pause in the conversation. Then Captain Jerry said + moodily: + </p> + <p> + “It ain't no use. It don't work.” + </p> + <p> + “What don't work?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' to sea + reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and live economical + and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I thought I wouldn't mind doin' + my share of the work a bit, thought 'twould be kind of fun to swab decks + and all that. Well, 'twas for a spell, but 'tain't now. I'm so sick of it + that I don't know what to do. And I'm sick of livin' in a pigpen, too. + Look at them dead-lights! They're so dirty that when I turn out in the + mornin' and go to look through 'em, I can't tell whether it's foul weather + or fair.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed and + signed assent. + </p> + <p> + “There's no use talkin',” he observed, “we've got to have a steward aboard + this craft.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Captain Perez emphatically, “a steward or a woman.” + </p> + <p> + “A WOMAN!” exclaimed Captain Eri. Then he shook his head solemnly and + added, “There, Jerry! What did I tell you? M'lissy!” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Perez did not smile. + </p> + <p> + “I ain't foolin',” he said; “I mean it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry thought of the spick-and-span days of his wife, dead these + twenty years, and sighed again. “I s'pose we might have a housekeeper,” he + said. + </p> + <p> + “Housekeeper!” sneered Captain Eri. “Who'd you hire? Perez don't, + seemin'ly, take to M'lissy, and there ain't nobody else in Orham that you + could git, 'less 'twas old A'nt Zuby Higgins, and that would be actin' + like the feller that jumped overboard when his boat sprung a leak. No, + sir! If A'nt Zuby ships aboard here I heave up MY commission.” + </p> + <p> + “Who said anything about A'nt Zuby or housekeepers either?” inquired + Captain Perez. “I said we'd got to have a woman, and we have. One of us + 'll have to git married, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “MARRIED!” roared the two in chorus. + </p> + <p> + “That's what I said, married, and take the others to board in this house. + Look here now! When a shipwrecked crew's starvin' one of 'em has to be + sacrificed for the good of the rest, and that's what we've got to do. One + of us has got to git married for the benefit of the other two.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri shouted hilariously. “Good boy, Perez!” he cried. “Goin' to be + the first offerin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Not unless it's my luck, Eri. We'll all three match for it, same as we do + 'bout washin' the dishes.” + </p> + <p> + “Where are you goin' to find a wife?” asked Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Now that's jest what I'm goin' to show you. I see how things was goin', + and I've been thinkin' this over for a consid'rable spell. Hold on a + minute till I overhaul my kit.” + </p> + <p> + He went into the front bedroom, and through the open door they could see + him turning over the contents of the chest with P. R. in brass nails on + the lid. He scattered about him fish-lines, hooks, lead for sinkers, + oilcloth jackets, whales' teeth, and various other articles, and at length + came back bearing a much-crumpled sheet of printed paper. This he spread + out upon the dining table, first pushing aside the dishes to make room, + and, after adjusting his spectacles, said triumphantly: + </p> + <p> + “There! There she is! The Nup-ti-al Chime. A Journal of Matrimony. I see a + piece about it in the Herald the other day, and sent a dime for a sample + copy. It's chock-full of advertisements from women that wants husbands.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri put on his spectacles and hitched his chair up to the table. + After giving the pages of the Nuptial Chime a hurried inspection, he + remarked: + </p> + <p> + “There seems to be a strong runnin' to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and + 'blondes with tender and romantic dispositions.' Which of them kinds are + you sufferin' for, Perez? Oh, say! here's a lady that's willin' to heave + herself away on a young and handsome bachelor with a income of ten + thousand a year. Seems to me you ought to answer that.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, hush up, Eri! 'Tain't likely I'd want to write to any of them in + there. The thing for us to do would be to write out a advertisement of our + own; tell what sort of woman we want, and then set back and wait for + answers. Now, what do you say?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the advocate of matrimony for a moment without + speaking. Then he said: “Do you really mean it, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin I do.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you think of it, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “Think it's a good idee,” said that ancient mariner decisively. “We've got + to do somethin', and this looks like the only sensible thing.” + </p> + <p> + “Then Eri's GOT to do it!” asserted Captain Perez dogmatically. “We agreed + to stick together, and two to one's a vote. Come on now, Eri, we'll + match.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Come on, Eri!” ordered Captain Jerry. “Ain't goin' to mutiny, are you?” + </p> + <p> + “All right!” said Captain Eri, “I'll stick to the ship. Only,” he added, + with a quizzical glance at his companions, “it's got to be settled that + the feller that's stuck can pick his wife, and don't have to marry unless + he finds one that suits him.” + </p> + <p> + The others agreed to this stipulation, and Captain Perez, drawing a long + breath, took a coin from his pocket, flipped it in the air and covered it, + as it fell on the table, with a big hairy hand. Captain Eri did likewise; + so did Captain Jerry. Then Captain Eri lifted his hand and showed the coin + beneath; it was a head. Captain Jerry's was a tail. Under Captain Perez' + hand lurked the hidden fate. The Captain's lips closed in a grim line. + With a desperate glance at the others he jerked his hand away. + </p> + <p> + The penny lay head uppermost. Captain Jerry was “stuck.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri rose, glanced at his watch, and, taking his hat from the shelf + where the dishes should have been, opened the door. Before he went out, + however, he turned and said: + </p> + <p> + “Perez, you and Jerry can be fixin' up the advertisement while I'm gone. + You can let me see it when I come back. I say, Jerry,” he added to the + “sacrifice,” who sat gazing at the pennies on the table in a sort of + trance, “don't feel bad about it. Why, when you come to think of it, it's + a providence it turned out that way. Me and Perez are bachelors, and we'd + be jest green hands. But you're a able seaman, you know what it is to + manage a wife.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do,” groaned Captain Jerry lugubriously. “Durn it, that's jest + it!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was chuckling as, lantern in hand, he passed around the corner + of the little white house on the way to the barn. He chuckled all through + the harnessing of Daniel, the venerable white horse. He was still + chuckling as, perched on the seat of the “truck wagon,” he rattled and + shook out of the yard and turned into the sandy road that led up to the + village. And an outsider, hearing these chuckles, and knowing what had + gone before, might have inferred that perhaps Captain Eri did not view the + “matching” and the matrimonial project with quite the deadly seriousness + of the other two occupants of the house by the shore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II + </h2> + <h3> + THE TRAIN COMES IN + </h3> + <p> + There is in Orham a self-appointed committee whose duty it is to see the + train come in. The committeemen receive no salary for their services; the + sole compensation is the pleasure derived from the sense of duty done. + Rain, snow, or shine, the committee is on hand at the station—the + natives, of course, call it the “deepo”—to consume borrowed tobacco + and to favor Providence with its advice concerning the running of the + universe. Also it discusses local affairs with fluency and more or less + point. + </p> + <p> + Mr. “Squealer” Wixon, a lifelong member of this committee, was the first + to sight Captain Eri as the latter strolled across the tracks into the + circle of light from the station lamps. The Captain had moored Daniel to a + picket in the fence over by the freight-house. He had heard the clock in + the belfry of the Methodist church strike eight as he drove by that + edifice, but he heard no whistle from the direction of the West Orham + woods, so he knew that the down train would arrive at its usual time, that + is, from fifteen to twenty minutes behind the schedule. + </p> + <p> + “Hey!” shouted Mr. Wixon with enthusiasm. “Here's Cap'n Eri! Well, Cap, + how's she headin'?” + </p> + <p> + “'Bout no'theast by no'th,” was the calm reply. “Runnin' fair, but with + lookout for wind ahead.” + </p> + <p> + “Hain't got a spare chaw nowheres about you, have you, Cap'n?” anxiously + inquired “Bluey” Batcheldor. Mr. Batcheldor is called “Bluey” for the same + reason that Mr. Wixon is called “Squealer,” and that reason has been + forgotten for years. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri obligingly produced a black plug of smoking tobacco, and Mr. + Batcheldor bit off two-thirds and returned the balance. After adjusting + the morsel so that it might interfere in the least degree with his vocal + machinery, he drawled: + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late you ain't heard the news, Eri. Web Saunders has got his + original-package license. It come on the noon mail.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain turned sharply toward the speaker. “Is that a fact?” he asked. + “Who told you?” + </p> + <p> + “See it myself. So did Squealer and a whole lot more. Web was showin' it + round.” + </p> + <p> + “We was wonderin',” said Jabez Smalley, a member of the committee whose + standing was somewhat impaired, inasmuch as he went fishing occasionally + and was, therefore, obliged to miss some of the meetings, “what kind of a + fit John Baxter would have now. He's been pretty nigh distracted ever + sence Web started his billiard room, callin' it a 'ha'nt of sin' and a + whole lot more names. There ain't been a 'Come-Outers' meetin' 'sence I + don't know when that he ain't pitched into that saloon. Now, when he hears + that Web's goin' to sell rum, he'll bust a biler sure.” + </p> + <p> + The committee received this prophecy with an hilarious shout of approval + and each member began to talk. Captain Eri took advantage of this + simultaneous expression of opinion to walk away. He looked in at the + window of the ticket-office, exchanged greetings with Sam Hardy, the + stationmaster, and then leaned against the corner of the building furthest + removed from Mr. Wixon and his friends, lit his pipe and puffed + thoughtfully with a troubled expression on his face. + </p> + <p> + From the clump of blackness that indicated the beginning of the West Orham + woods came a long-drawn dismal “toot”; then two shorter ones. The + committee sprang to its feet and looked interested. Sam Hardy came out of + the ticket office. The stage-driver, a sharp-looking boy of about + fourteen, with a disagreeable air of cheap smartness sticking out all over + him, left his seat in the shadow of Mr. Batcheldor's manly form, tossed a + cigarette stump away and loafed over to the vicinity of the “depot wagon,” + which was backed up against the platform. Captain Eri knocked the ashes + from his pipe and put that service-stained veteran in his pocket. The + train was really “coming in” at last. + </p> + <p> + If this had been an August evening instead of a September one, both train + and platform would have been crowded. But the butterfly summer maiden had + flitted and, as is his wont, the summer man had flitted after her, so the + passengers who alighted from the two coaches that, with the freight car, + made up the Orham Branch train, were few in number and homely in flavor. + There was a very stout lady with a canvas extension case and an umbrella + in one hand and a bulging shawl-strap and a pasteboard box in the other, + who panted and wheezed like the locomotive itself and who asked the + brakeman, “What on airth DO they have such high steps for?” There was a + slim, not to say gawky, individual with a chin beard and rubber boots, + whom the committee hailed as “Andy” and welcomed to its bosom. There were + two young men, drummers, evidently, who nodded to Hardy, and seemed very + much at home. Also, there was another young man, smooth-shaven and + square-shouldered, who deposited a suit-case on the platform and looked + about him with the air of being very far from home, indeed. + </p> + <p> + The drummers and the stout lady got into the stage. The young man with the + suit-case picked up the latter and walked toward the same vehicle. He + accosted the sharp boy, who had lighted another cigarette. + </p> + <p> + “Can you direct me to the cable station?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Sure thing!” said the youth, and there was no Cape Cod twist to his + accent. “Git aboard.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't intend to ride,” said the stranger. + </p> + <p> + “What was you goin' to do? Walk?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if it's not far.” + </p> + <p> + The boy grinned, and the members of the committee, who had been staring + with all their might, grinned also. The young man's mention of the cable + station seemed to have caused considerable excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it ain't too FAR!” said the stage-driver. Then he added: “Say, you're + the new electrician, ain't you?” + </p> + <p> + The young man hesitated for a moment. Then he said, “Yes,” and suggested, + “I asked the way.” + </p> + <p> + “Two blocks to the right; that's the main road, keep on that for four + blocks, then turn to the left, and if you keep on straight ahead you'll + get to the station.” + </p> + <p> + “Blocks?” The stranger smiled. “I think you must be from New York.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you?” inquired the youthful prodigy, climbing to the wagon seat. + “Don't forget to keep straight ahead after you turn off the main road. Git + dap! So long, fellers!” He leaned over the wheel, as the stage turned, and + bestowed a wink upon the delighted “Squealer,” who was holding one + freckled paw over his mouth; then the “depot wagon” creaked away. + </p> + <p> + The square-shouldered young man looked after the equipage with an odd + expression of countenance. Then he shrugged his shoulders, picked up the + suitcase, and walked off the platform into the darkness. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wixon removed the hand from his mouth and displayed a mammoth grin, + that grew into a shriek of laughter in which every member of the committee + joined. + </p> + <p> + “Haw! haw!” bellowed “Bluey,” “so that's the feller that done Parker out + of his job! Well, he may be mighty smart, but if that Joe Bartlett ain't + smarter then I'm a skate, that's all! Smartest boy ever I see! 'If you + keep on straight ahead you'll git to the station!' Gosh! he'll have to + wear rubbers!” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe he's web-footed,” suggested Smalley, and they laughed again. + </p> + <p> + A little later Captain Eri, with a dozen new, clean-smelling cranberry + barrels in the wagon behind him, drove slowly down the “depot road.” It + was a clear night, but there was no moon, and Orham was almost at its + darkest, which is very dark, indeed. The “depot road”—please bear in + mind that there are no streets in Orham—was full of ruts, and + although Daniel knew his way and did his best to follow it, the cranberry + barrels rattled and shook in lively fashion. There are few homes near the + station, and the dwellers in them conscientiously refrain from showing + lights except in the ends of the buildings furthest from the front. + Strangers are inclined to wonder at this, but when they become better + acquainted with the town and its people, they come to know that front + gates and parlors are, by the majority of the inhabitants, restricted in + their use to occasions such as a funeral, or, possibly, a wedding. For the + average Orham family to sit in the parlor on a week evening would be an + act bordering pretty closely on sacrilege. + </p> + <p> + It is from the hill by the Methodist church that the visitor to Orham gets + his best view of the village. It is all about him, and for the most part + below him. At night the lights in the houses show only here and there + through the trees, but those on the beaches and at sea shine out plainly. + The brilliant yellow gleam a mile away is from the Orham lighthouse on the + bluff. The smaller white dot marks the light on Baker's Beach. The tiny + red speck in the distance, that goes and comes again, is the flash-light + at Setuckit Point, and the twinkle on the horizon to the south is the + beacon of the lightship on Sand Hill Shoal. + </p> + <p> + It is on his arrival at this point, too, that the stranger first notices + the sound of the surf. Being a newcomer, he notices this at once; after he + has been in the village a few weeks, he ceases to notice it at all. It is + like the ticking of a clock, so incessant and regular, that one has to + listen intently for a moment or two before his accustomed ear will single + it out and make it definite. One low, steady, continuous roar, a little + deeper in tone when the wind is easterly, the voice of the old dog Ocean + gnawing with foaming mouth at the bone of the Cape and growling as he + gnaws. + </p> + <p> + It may be that the young man with the square shoulders and the suit-case + had paused at the turn of the road by the church to listen to this song of + the sea; at any rate he was there, and when Captain Eri steered Daniel and + the cranberry barrels around the corner and into the “main road,” he + stepped out and hailed. + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon,” he said; “I'm afraid I'm mixed in my directions. The + stage-driver told me the way to the cable station, but I've forgotten + whether he said to turn to the right when I reached here, or to the left.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri took his lantern from the floor of the wagon and held it up. + He had seen the stranger when the latter left the train, but he had not + heard the dialogue with Josiah Bartlett. + </p> + <p> + “How was you cal'latin' to go to the station?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I intended to walk.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you tell them fellers at the depot that you wanted to walk?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan! And they give you the direction?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” a little impatiently; “why shouldn't they? So many blocks till I + got to the main street, or road, and so many more, till I got somewhere + else, and then straight on.” + </p> + <p> + “Blocks, hey? That's Joe Bartlett. That boy ought to be mastheaded, and + I've told Perez so more'n once. Well, Mister, I guess maybe you'd better + not try to walk to the cable station to-night. You see, there's one thing + they forgot to tell you. The station's on the outer beach, and there's a + ha'f mile of pretty wet water between here and there.” + </p> + <p> + The young man whistled. “You don't mean it!” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “I sartin do, unless there's been an almighty drought since I left the + house. I tell you what! If you'll jump in here with me, and don't mind + waitin' till I leave these barrels at the house of the man that owns 'em, + I'll drive you down to the shore and maybe find somebody to row you over. + That is,” with a chuckle, “if you ain't dead set on walkin'.” + </p> + <p> + The stranger laughed heartily. “I'm not so stubborn as all that,” he said. + “It's mighty good of you, all the same.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't say a word,” said the Captain. “Give us your satchel. Now your + flipper! There you are! Git dap, Dan'l!” + </p> + <p> + Daniel accepted the Captain's command in a tolerant spirit. He paddled + along at a jog-trot for perhaps a hundred yards, and then, evidently + feeling that he had done all that could be expected, settled back into a + walk. The Captain turned towards his companion on the seat: + </p> + <p> + “I don't know as I mentioned it,” he observed, “but my name is Hedge.” + </p> + <p> + “Glad to meet you, Mr. Hedge,” said the stranger. “My name is Hazeltine.” + </p> + <p> + “I kind of jedged it might be when you said you wanted to git to the cable + station. We heard you was expected.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you? From Mr. Langley, I presume.” + </p> + <p> + “No-o, not d'rectly. Of course, we knew Parker had been let go, and that + somebody would have to take his place. I guess likely it was one of the + operators that told it fust that you was the man, but anyhow it got as fur + as M'lissy Busteed, and after that 'twas plain sailin'. You come from New + York, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you know how 'tis when a thing gits into the papers. Orham ain't + big enough to have a paper of its own, so the Almighty give us M'lissy, I + jedge, as a sort of substitute. She can spread a little news over more + country than anybody I know. If she spreads butter the same way, she could + make money keepin' boarders. Is this your fust visit to the Cape?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. I hardly know why I'm here now. I have been with the Cable Company + at their New York experimental station for some years, and the other day + the General Manager called me into his office and told me I was expected + to take the position of electrician here. I thought it might add to my + experience, so I accepted.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! Did he say anything about the general liveliness of things around + the station?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine laughed. “Why,” he answered, “now that you speak of it, I + remember that he began by asking me if I had any marked objection to + premature burial.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain chuckled. “The outer beach in winter ain't exactly a + camp-meeting for sociableness,” he said. “And the idea of that Bartlett + boy tellin' you how to walk there!” + </p> + <p> + “Is he a specimen of your Cape Cod youngsters?” + </p> + <p> + “Not exactly. He's a new shipment from New York. Grand-nephew of a + messmate of mine, Cap'n Perez Ryder. Perez, he's a bachelor, but his + sister's daughter married a feller named Bartlett. Maybe you knew him; he + used to run a tugboat in the Sound.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine, much amused, denied the acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” continued the Captain. “Anyhow, + Perez's niece's husband died, and the boy sort of run loose, as yer might + say. Went to school when he had to, and raised Ned when he didn't, near's + I can find out. 'Lizabeth, that's his ma, died last spring, and she made + Perez promise—he being the only relation the youngster had—to + fetch the boy down here and sort of bring him up. Perez knows as much + about bringing up a boy as a hen does about the Ten Commandments, and + 'Lizabeth made him promise not to lick the youngster and a whole lot more + foolishness. School don't commence here till October, so we got him a job + with Lem Mullett at the liv'ry stable. He's boardin' with Lem till school + opens. He ain't a reel bad boy, but he knows too much 'bout some things + and not ha'f enough 'bout others. You've seen fellers like that, maybe?” + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine nodded. “There are a good many of that kind in New York, I'm + afraid,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri smiled. “I shouldn't wonder,” he observed. “The boys down here + think Josiah's the whole crew, and the girls ain't fur behind. There's + been more deviltry in this village sence he landed than there ever was + afore. He needs somethin', and needs it bad, but I ain't decided jest what + it is yit. Are you a married man?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + “Same here. Never had the disease. Perez, he's had symptoms every once in + a while, but nothin' lastin'. Jerry's the only one of us three that's been + through the mill. His wife died twenty year ago. I don't know as I told + you, but Jerry and Perez and me are keepin' house down by the shore. That + is, we call it keepin' house, but—” + </p> + <p> + Here the Captain broke off and seemed to meditate. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine forbore to interrupt, and occupied himself by scrutinizing + the buildings that they were passing. They were nearing the center of the + town now, and the houses were closer together than they had been on the + “depot road,” but never so close as to be in the least crowded. Each house + had its ample front yard, and the new arrival could smell the box hedges + and see, now and then, the whiteness of the kalsomined stones that + bordered a driveway. It was too dark for the big seashells at the front + steps to be visible, but they were there, all the same; every third house + of respectability in Orham has them. There was an occasional shop, too, + with signs like “Cape Cod Variety Store,” or “The Boston Dry Goods + Emporium,” over their doors. On the platform of one a small crowd was + gathered, and from the interior came shouts of laughter and the sound of a + tin-panny piano. + </p> + <p> + “That's the billiard saloon,” volunteered Captain Eri, suddenly waking + from his trance. “Play pool, Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + “Sometimes.” + </p> + <p> + “What d'ye play it with?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, with a cue, generally speaking.” + </p> + <p> + “That so! Most of the fellers in there play it with their mouths. Miss a + shot and then spend the rest of the evenin' tellin' how it happened.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think I should care to play it that way,” said Ralph, laughing. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it has its good p'ints. Kind of all-round exercise; develops the + lungs and strengthens the muscles, as the patent-medicine almanac says. + Parker played it considerable.” + </p> + <p> + “I judge that your opinion of my predecessor isn't a high one.” + </p> + <p> + “Who? Oh, Parker! He was all right in his way. Good many folks in this + town swore by him. I understand the fellers over at the station thought he + was about the ticket.” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Langley included?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Mr. Langley, bein' manager, had his own ideas, I s'pose! Langley + don't play pool much; not at Web Saunders' place, anyhow. We turn in + here.” + </p> + <p> + They rolled up a long driveway, very dark and overgrown with trees, and + drew up at the back door of a good-sized two-story house. There was a + light in the kitchen window. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa, Dan'l!” commanded the Captain. Then he began to shout, “Ship ahoy!” + at the top of his lungs. + </p> + <p> + The kitchen door opened and a man came out, carrying a lamp, its light + shining full upon his face. It was an old face, a stern face, with white + eyebrows and a thin-lipped mouth. Just such a face as looked on with + approval when the executioner held up the head of Charles I., at + Whitehall. There was, however, a tremble about the chin that told of + infirm health. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, John!” said Captain Eri heartily. “John, let me make you + acquainted with Mr. Hazeltine, the new man at the cable station. Mr. + Hazeltine, this is my friend, Cap'n John Baxter.” + </p> + <p> + The two shook hands, and then Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “John, I brought down them barrels for you. Hawkins got 'em here, same as + he always does, by the skin of his teeth. Stand by now, 'cause I've got to + deliver Mr. Hazeltine at the station, and it's gittin' late.” + </p> + <p> + John Baxter said nothing, beyond thanking his friend for the good turn, + but he “stood by,” as directed, and the barrels were quickly unloaded. As + they were about to drive out of the yard, Captain Eri turned in his seat + and said: + </p> + <p> + “John, guess I'll be up some time to-morrow. I want to talk with you about + that billiard-room business.” + </p> + <p> + The lamp in Baxter's hand shook. + </p> + <p> + “God A'mighty's got his eye on that place, Eri Hedge,” he shouted, “and on + them that's runnin' it!” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right,” said the Captain. “Then the job's in good hands, and + we ain't got to worry. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + But, in spite of this assurance, Hazeltine noticed that his driver was + silent and preoccupied until they reached the end of the road by the + shore, when he brought the willing Daniel to a stand still and announced + that it was time to “change cars.” + </p> + <p> + It is a fifteen-minute row from the mainland to the outer beach, and + Captain Eri made it on schedule time. Hazeltine protested that he was used + to a boat, and could go alone and return the dory in the morning, but the + Captain wouldn't hear of it. The dory slid up on the sand and the + passenger climbed out. The sound of the surf on the ocean side of the + beach was no longer a steady roar, it was broken into splashing plunges + and hisses with, running through it, a series of blows like those of a + muffled hammer. The wind was wet and smelt salty. + </p> + <p> + “There's the station,” said the Captain, pointing to a row of lighted + windows a quarter of a mile away. “It IS straight ahead this time, and the + walkin's better'n it has been for the last few minutes. Good-night!” + </p> + <p> + The electrician put his hand in his pocket, hesitated, and then withdrew + it, empty. + </p> + <p> + “I'm very much obliged to you for all this,” he said. “I'm glad to have + made your acquaintance, and I hope we shall see each other often.” + </p> + <p> + “Same here!” said the Captain heartily. “We're likely to git together once + in a while, seein' as we're next-door neighbors, right across the road, as + you might say. That's my berth over yonder, where you see them lights. + It's jest 'round the corner from the road we drove down last. Good-night! + Good luck to you!” + </p> + <p> + And he settled himself for the row home. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III + </h2> + <h3> + THE “COME-OUTERS'” MEETING + </h3> + <p> + The house where the three Captains lived was as near salt water as it + could be and remain out of reach of the highest tides. When Captain Eri, + after beaching and anchoring his dory and stabling Daniel for the night, + entered the dining room he found his two messmates deep in consultation, + and with evidences of strenuous mental struggle written upon their faces. + Captain Perez's right hand was smeared with ink and there were several + spatters of the same fluid on Captain Jerry's perspiring nose. Crumpled + sheets of note paper were on the table and floor, and Lorenzo, who was + purring restfully upon the discarded jackets of the two mariners, alone + seemed to be enjoying himself. + </p> + <p> + “Well, you fellers look as if you'd had a rough v'yage,” commented Captain + Eri, slipping out of his own jacket and pulling his chair up beside those + of his friends. “What's the trouble?” + </p> + <p> + “Gosh, Eri, I'm glad to see you!” exclaimed Captain Perez, drawing the + hand, just referred to, across his forehead and thereby putting that + portion of his countenance into mourning. “How do you spell + conscientious?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't, unless it's owner's orders,” was the answer. “What do you want + to spell it for?” + </p> + <p> + “We've writ much as four hundred advertisements, I do believe!” said + Captain Jerry, “and there ain't one of them fit to feed to a pig. Perez + here, he's got such hifalutin' notions, that nothin' less than a circus + bill 'll do him. <i>I</i> don't see why somethin' plain and sensible like + 'Woman wanted to do dishes and clean house for three men,' wouldn't be all + right; but no, it's got to have more fancy trimmin's than a Sunday bunnit. + Foolishness, I call it.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd have a whole lot of women answerin' that advertisement, now + wouldn't you?” snorted Captain Perez hotly. “'To do dishes for three men!' + That's a healthy bait to catch a wife with, ain't it? I can see 'em + comin'. I cal'late you'd stay single till Jedgment, and then you wouldn't + git one. No, sir! The thing to do is to be sort of soft-soapy and + high-toned. Let 'em think they're goin' to git a bargain when they git + you. Make believe it's goin' to be a privilege to git sech a husband.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, 'tis,” declared the sacrifice indignantly. “They might git a + dum-sight worse one.” + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late that's so, Jerry,” said Captain Eri. “Still, Perez ain't + altogether wrong. Guess you'd better keep the dishwashin' out of it. I + know dishwashin' would never git ME; I've got so I hate the sight of soap + and hot water as bad as if I was a Portugee. Pass me that pen.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gladly relinquished the writing materials, and Captain Eri, + after two or three trials, by which he added to the paper decorations of + the floor, produced the following: + </p> + <p> + “Wife Wanted—By an ex-seafaring man of steady habbits. Must be + willing to Work and Keep House shipshape and aboveboard. No sea-lawyers + need apply. Address—Skipper, care the Nuptial Chime, Boston, Mass.” + </p> + <p> + The line relating to sea-lawyers was insisted upon by Captain Jerry. + “That'll shut out the tonguey kind,” he explained. The advertisement, with + this addition, being duly approved, the required fifty cents was inclosed, + as was a letter to the editor of the matrimonial journal requesting all + answers to be forwarded to Captain Jeremiah Burgess, Orham, Mass. Then the + envelope was directed and the stamp affixed. + </p> + <p> + “There,” said Captain Eri, “that's done. All you've got to do now, Jerry, + is to pick out your wife and let us know what you want for a weddin' + present. You're a lucky man.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, let's talk about somethin' else,” said the lucky one rather gloomily. + “What's the news up at the depot, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + They received the tidings of the coming of Hazeltine with the interest due + to such an event. Captain Eri gave them a detailed account of his meeting + with the new electrician, omitting, however, in consideration for the + feelings of Captain Perez, to mention the fact that it was the Bartlett + boy who started that gentleman upon his walk to the cable station. + </p> + <p> + “Well, what did you think of him?” asked Captain Perez, when the recital + was finished. + </p> + <p> + “Seemed to me like a pretty good feller,” answered Captain Eri + deliberately. “He didn't git mad at the joke the gang played on him, for + one thing. He ain't so smooth-tongued as Parker used to be and he didn't + treat Baxter and me as if Cape Codders was a kind of animals, the way some + of the summer folks do. He had the sense not to offer to pay me for takin' + him over to the station, and I liked that. Take it altogether, he seemed + like a pretty decent chap—for a New Yorker,” he added, as an after + thought. + </p> + <p> + “But say,” he said a moment later, “I've got some more news and it ain't + good news, either. Web Saunders has got his liquor license.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to know!” exclaimed Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “You don't tell me!” said Captain Jerry. + </p> + <p> + Then they both said, “What will John Baxter do now?” And Captain Eri shook + his head dubiously. + </p> + <p> + The cod bit well next morning and Captain Eri did not get in from the + Windward Ledge until afternoon. By the way, it may be well to explain that + Captain Jerry's remarks concerning “settlin' down” and “restin',” which we + chronicled in the first chapter must not be accepted too literally. While + it is true that each of the trio had given up long voyages, it is equally + true that none had given up work entirely. Some people might not consider + it restful to rise at four every weekday morning and sail in a catboat + twelve miles out to sea and haul a wet cod line for hours, not to mention + the sail home and the cleaning and barreling of the catch. Captain Eri did + that. Captain Perez was what he called “stevedore”—that is, general + caretaker during the owner's absence, at Mr. Delancy Barry's summer estate + on the “cliff road.” As for Captain Jerry, he was janitor at the + schoolhouse. + </p> + <p> + The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the time + the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to the railway + station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had intended calling on + Baxter early in the day, but now he determined to wait until after supper. + </p> + <p> + The Captain had bad luck in the “matching” that followed the meal, and it + was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. This + distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter homestead. + </p> + <p> + The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those of many + Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, but his scruples + were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail Mullett, whose proudest + boast was that she had refused brandy when the doctor prescribed it as the + stimulant needed to save her life. Over and over again has Miss Abigail + told it in prayer-meeting; how she “riz up” in her bed, “expectin' every + breath to be the last” and said, “Dr. Palmer, if it's got to be liquor or + death, then death referred to!”—meaning, it is fair to presume, that + death was preferred rather than the brandy. With much more concerning her + miraculous recovery through the aid of a “terbacker and onion poultice.” + </p> + <p> + On general principles the Captain objected to the granting of a license to + a fellow like “Web” Saunders, but it was the effect that this action of + the State authorities might have upon his friend John Baxter that troubled + him most. + </p> + <p> + For forty-five years John Baxter was called by Cape Cod people “as smart a + skipper as ever trod a plank.” He saved money, built an attractive home + for his wife and daughter, and would, in the ordinary course of events, + have retired to enjoy a comfortable old age. But his wife died shortly + after the daughter's marriage to a Boston man, and on a voyage to Manila, + Baxter himself suffered from a sunstroke and a subsequent fever, that left + him a physical wreck and for a time threatened to unsettle his reason. He + recovered a portion of his health and the threatened insanity disappeared, + except for a religious fanaticism that caused him to accept the Bible + literally and to interpret it accordingly. When his daughter and her + husband were drowned in the terrible City of Belfast disaster, it is an + Orham tradition that John Baxter, dressed in gunny-bags and sitting on an + ash-heap, was found by his friends mourning in what he believed to be the + Biblical “sackcloth and ashes.” His little baby granddaughter had been + looked out for by some kind friends in Boston. Only Captain Eri knew that + John Baxter's yearly trip to Boston was made for the purpose of visiting + the girl who was his sole reminder of the things that might have been, but + even the Captain did not know that the money that paid her board and, as + she grew older, for her gowns and schooling, came from the bigoted, stern + old hermit, living alone in the old house at Orham. + </p> + <p> + In Orham, and in other sections of the Cape as well, there is a sect + called by the ungodly, “The Come-Outers.” They were originally seceders + from the Methodist churches who disapproved of modern innovations. They + “come out” once a week to meet at the houses of the members, and theirs + are lively meetings. John Baxter was a “Come-Outer,” and ever since the + enterprising Mr. Saunders opened his billiard room, the old man's tirades + of righteous wrath had been directed against this den of iniquity. Since + it became known that “Web” had made application for the license, it was a + regular amusement for the unregenerate to attend the gatherings of the + “Come-Outers” and hear John Baxter call down fire from Heaven upon the + billiard room, its proprietor, and its patrons. Orham people had begun to + say that John Baxter was “billiard-saloon crazy.” + </p> + <p> + And John Baxter was Captain Eri's friend, a friendship that had begun in + school when the declaimer of Patrick Henry's “Liberty or Death” speech on + Examination Day took a fancy to and refused to laugh at the little chap + who tremblingly ventured to assert that he loved “little Pussy, her coat + is so warm.” The two had changed places until now it was Captain Eri who + protected and advised. + </p> + <p> + When the Captain rapped at John Baxter's kitchen door no one answered, + and, after yelling “Ship ahoy!” through the keyhole a number of times, he + was forced to the conclusion that his friend was not at home. + </p> + <p> + “You lookin' fer Cap'n Baxter?” queried Mrs. Sarah Taylor, who lived just + across the road. “He's gone to Come-Outers' meetin', I guess. There's one + up to Barzilla Small's to-night.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Barzilla Small lived in that part of the village called “down to the + neck,” and when the Captain arrived there, he found the parlor filled with + the devout, who were somewhat surprised to see him. + </p> + <p> + “Why, how do you do?” said Mrs. Small, resplendent in black “alpaca” and + wearing her jet earrings. “I snum if you ain't a stranger! We'll have a + reel movin' meetin' to-night because Mr. Perley's here, and he says he + feels the sperrit a-workin'. Set right down there by the what-not. + Luther,” to her oldest but three, “give Cap'n Hedge your chair. You can + set on the cricket. Yes, you can! Don't answer back!” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, ma!” burst out the indignant Luther, “how d'yer think I'm goin' to + set on that cricket? My laigs 'll be way up under my chin. Make Hart set + on it; he's shorter'n me.” + </p> + <p> + “Shan't nuther, Lute Small!” declared Hartwell, a freckle-faced youngster, + who was the next step downward in the family stair of children. “Set on it + yourself. Make him, ma, now! You said he'd have to.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, ma, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Be still, both of you! I sh'd think you'd be ashamed, with everybody here + so! Oh, my soul and body!” turning to the company, “if it ain't enough to + try a saint! Sometimes seems's if I SHOULD give up. You be thankful, + Abigail,” to Miss Mullett, who sat by the door, “that you ain't got nine + in a family and nobody to help teach 'em manners. If Barzilla was like + most men, he'd have some dis-CIP-line in the house; but no, I have to do + it all, and—” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Small, thus publicly rebuked, rose from his seat in the corner by the + melodeon and proclaimed in a voice that he tried hard not to make + apologetic: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Luther, if I was you I'd be a good boy and mind ma.” + </p> + <p> + Even this awe-inspiring command had little effect upon the reluctant + Luther, but Captain Eri, who, smiling and bowing right and left, had been + working his passage to the other side of the room, announced that he was + all right and would “squeeze in on the sofy 'side of Cap'n Baxter.” So + there was peace once more, that is, as much peace as half a dozen feminine + tongues, all busy with different subjects, would allow. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Eri” whispered John Baxter, “I didn't expect to see you here. I'm + glad, though; Lord knows every God-fearin' man in this town has need to be + on his knees this night. Have you heard about it?” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n John means about the rum-sellin' license that Web Saunders has + got,” volunteered Miss Melissa Busteed, leaning over from her seat in the + patent rocker that had been the premium earned by Mrs. Small for selling + one hundred and fifty pounds of tea for a much-advertised house. “Ain't it + awful? I says to Prissy Baker this mornin', soon 's I heard of it, + 'Prissy,' s' I, 'there 'll be a jedgment on this town sure's you're a + livin' woman,' s' I. Says she, 'That's so, M'lissy,' s' she, and I says—” + </p> + <p> + Well, when Miss Busteed talks, interruptions are futile, so Captain Eri + sat silent, as the comments of at least one-tenth of the population of + Orham were poured into his ears. The recitation was cut short by Mrs. + Small's vigorous pounding on the center table. + </p> + <p> + “We're blessed this evenin',” said the hostess with emotion, “in havin' + Mr. Perley with us. He's goin' to lead the meetin'.” + </p> + <p> + The Reverend Mr. Perley—Reverend by courtesy; he had never been + ordained—stood up, cleared his throat with vigor, rose an inch or + two on the toes of a very squeaky pair of boots, sank to heel level again + and announced that everyone would join in singing, “Hymn number one + hundred and ten, omitting the second and fourth stanzas: hymn number one + hundred and ten, second and fourth stanzas omitted.” The melodeon, + tormented by Mrs. Lurania Bassett, shrieked and groaned, and the hymn was + sung. So was another, and yet another. Then Mr. Perley squeaked to his + tiptoes again, subsided, and began a lengthy and fervent discourse. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Perley had been a blacksmith in Ostable before he “got religion,” and + now spent the major portion of his time in “boardin' 'round” with + “Come-Outers” up and down the Cape and taking part in their meetings. His + services at such gatherings paid for his food and lodging. He had been a + vigorous horseshoer in the old days; now he preached just as vigorously. + </p> + <p> + He spoke of the faithful few here gathered together. He spoke of the + scoffing of those outside the pale and hinted at the uncomfortable future + that awaited them. He ran over the various denominations one by one, and + one by one showed them to be worshipers of idols and followers after + strange gods. He sank hoarsely into the bass and quavered up into falsetto + and a chorus of “Amens!” and “Hallelujahs!” followed him. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, brothers and sisters!” he shouted, “here we are a-kneelin' at the + altar's foot and what's goin' on outside? Why, the Devil's got his + clutches in our midst. The horn of the wicked is exalted. They're sellin' + rum—RUM—in this town! They're a-sellin' rum and drinkin' of it + and gloryin' in their shame. But the Lord ain't asleep! He's got his eye + on 'em! He's watchin' 'em! And some of these fine days he'll send down + fire out of Heaven and wipe 'em off the face of the earth!” (“Amen! Glory! + Glory! Glory!”) + </p> + <p> + John Baxter was on his feet, his lean face working, the perspiration + shining on his forehead, his eyes gleaming like lamps under his rough + white eyebrows, and his clenched fists pounding the back of the chair in + front of him. His hallelujahs were the last to cease. Captain Eri had to + use some little force to pull him down on the sofa again. + </p> + <p> + Then Mrs. Small struck up, “Oh, brother, have you heard?” and they sang it + with enthusiasm. Next, Miss Mullett told her story of the brandy and the + defiance of the doctor. Nobody seemed much interested except a nervous + young man with sandy hair and a celluloid collar, who had come with Mr. + Tobias Wixon and was evidently a stranger. He had not heard it before and + seemed somewhat puzzled when Miss Abigail repeated the “Death referred to” + passage. + </p> + <p> + There was more singing. Mrs. Small “testified.” So did Barzilla, with many + hesitations and false starts and an air of relief when it was over. Then + another hymn and more testimony, each speaker denouncing the billiard + saloon. Then John Baxter arose and spoke. + </p> + <p> + He began by saying that the people of Orham had been slothful in the + Lord's vineyard. They had allowed weeds to spring up and wax strong. They + had been tried and found wanting. + </p> + <p> + “I tell you, brothers and sisters,” he declaimed, leaning over the chair + back and shaking a thin forefinger in Mr. Perley's face, “God has given us + a task to do and how have we done it? We've set still and let the Devil + have his way. We've talked and talked, but what have we done? Nothin'! + Nothin' at all; and now the grip of Satan is tighter on the town than it + ever has been afore. The Lord set us a watch to keep and we've slept on + watch. And now there's a trap set for every young man in this c'munity. Do + you think that that hell-hole down yonder is goin' to shut up because we + talk about it in meetin'? Do you think Web Saunders is goin' to quit + sellin' rum because we say he ought to? Do you think God's goin' to walk + up to that door and nail it up himself? No, sir! He don't work that way! + We've talked and talked, and now it's time to DO. Ain't there anybody here + that feels a call? Ain't there axes to chop with and fire to burn? I tell + you, brothers, we've waited long enough! I—old as I am—am + ready. Lord, here I am! Here I am—” + </p> + <p> + He swayed, broke into a fit of coughing, and sank back upon the sofa, + trembling all over and still muttering that he was ready. There was a + hushed silence for a moment or two, and then a storm of hallelujahs and + shouts. Mr. Perley started another hymn, and it was sung with tremendous + enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + Just behind the nervous young man with the celluloid collar sat a stout + individual with a bald head. This was Abijah Thompson, known by the + irreverent as “Barking” Thompson, a nickname bestowed because of his + peculiar habit of gradually puffing up, like a frog, under religious + excitement, and then bursting forth in an inarticulate shout, + disconcerting to the uninitiated. During Baxter's speech and the singing + of the hymn his expansive red cheeks had been distended like balloons, and + his breath came shorter and shorter. Mr. Perley had arisen and was holding + up his hand for silence, when with one terrific “Boo!” “Barking” + Thompson's spiritual exaltation exploded directly in the ear of the + nervous stranger. + </p> + <p> + The young man shot out of his chair as if Mr. Thompson had fired a + dynamite charge beneath him. “Oh, the Devil!” he shrieked, and then + subsided, blushing to the back of his neck. + </p> + <p> + Somehow this interruption took the spirit out of the meeting. Giggles from + Luther and the younger element interfered with the solemnity of Mr. + Perley's closing remarks, and no one else was brave enough to “testify” + under the circumstances. They sang again, and the meeting broke up. The + nervous young man was the first one to leave. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri got his friend out of the clutches of the “Come-Outers” as + quickly as possible, and piloted him down the road toward his home. John + Baxter was silent and absent-minded, and most of the Captain's cheerful + remarks concerning Orham affairs in general went unanswered. As they + turned in at the gate the elder man said: + </p> + <p> + “Eri, do you believe that man's law ought to be allowed to interfere with + God's law?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, John, in most cases it's my jedgment that it pays to steer pretty + close to both of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “S'pose God called you to break man's law and keep His; what would you + do?” + </p> + <p> + “Guess the fust thing would be to make sure 'twas the Almighty that was + callin'. I don't want to say nothin' to hurt your feelin's, but I should + advise the feller that thought that he had that kind of a call to 'beware + of imitations,' as the soap folks advertise.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri, I've got a call.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, John Baxter, you listen. You and me have been sailin' together, as + you might say, for forty odd years. I ain't a religious man 'cordin' to + your way of thinkin', but I've generally found that the Lord runs things + most as well as us folks could run 'em. When there's a leak at one end of + the schooner it don't pay to bore a hole at the other end to let the water + out. Don't you worry no more about Web Saunders and that billiard saloon. + The s'lectmen 'll attend to them afore very long. Why don't you go up to + Boston for a couple of weeks? 'Twill do you good.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think so, Eri? Well, maybe 'twould—maybe 'twould. Sometimes + I feel as if my head was kind of wearin' out. I'll think about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Better not think any more; better go right ahead.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'll see. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Good-night, John.” + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” said Captain Eri, next day, “seems to me some kinds of religion + is like whisky, mighty bad for a weak head. I wish somebody 'd invent a + gold cure for Come-Outers.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV + </h2> + <h3> + A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + </h3> + <p> + Something over a fortnight went by and the three captains had received no + answers from the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime. The suspense affected + each of them in a different manner. Captain Jerry was nervous and + apprehensive. He said nothing, and asked no questions, but it was + noticeable that he was the first to greet the carrier of the “mail box” + when that individual came down the road, and, as the days passed and + nothing more important than the Cape Cod Item and a patent-medicine + circular came to hand, a look that a suspicious person might have deemed + expressive of hope began to appear in his face. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez, on the contrary, grew more and more disgusted with the + delay. He spent a good deal of time wondering why there were no replies, + and he even went so far as to suggest writing to the editor of the Chime. + He was disposed to lay the blame upon Captain Eri's advertisement, and + hinted that the latter was not “catchy” enough. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, alone of the trio, got any amusement out of the situation. He + pretended to see in Captain Jerry an impatient bridegroom and administered + comfort in large doses by suggesting that, in all probability, there had + been so many replies that it had been found necessary to charter a + freight-car to bring them down. + </p> + <p> + “Cheer up, Jerry!” he said. “It's tough on you, I know, but think of all + them poor sufferin' females that's settin' up nights and worryin' for fear + they won't be picked out. Why, say, when you make your ch'ice you'll have + to let the rest know right off; 'twould be cruelty to animals not to. You + ought to put 'em out of their misery quick's possible.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry's laugh was almost dismal. + </p> + <p> + The first batch of answers from the Chime came by an evening mail. Captain + Eri happened to beat the post-office that night and brought them home + himself. They filled three of his pockets to overflowing, and he dumped + them by handfuls on the dining table, under the nose of the pallid Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “What did I tell you, Jerry?” he crowed. “I knew they was on the way. What + have you got to say about my advertisement now, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + There were twenty-six letters altogether. It was surprising how many women + were willing, even anxious, to ally themselves with “an ex-seafaring man + of steady habbits.” But most of the applicants were of unsatisfactory + types. As Captain Perez expressed it, “There's too many of them + everlastin' 'blondes' and things.” + </p> + <p> + There was one note, however, that even Captain Eri was disposed to + consider seriously. It was postmarked Nantucket, was written on half a + sheet of blue-lined paper, and read as follows: + </p> + <p> + “MR. SKIPPER: + </p> + <p> + “Sir: I saw your advertisements in the paper and think perhaps you might + suit me. Please answer these questions by return mail. What is your + religious belief? Do you drink liquor? Are you a profane man? If you want + to, you might send me your real name and a photograph. If I think you will + suit maybe we might sign articles. + </p> + <p> + “Yours truly, + </p> + <p> + “MARTHA B. SNOW. “NANTUCKET, MASS.” + </p> + <p> + “What I like about that is the shipshape way she puts it,” commented + Captain Perez. “She don't say that she 'jest adores the ocean.'” + </p> + <p> + “She's mighty handy about takin' hold and bossin' things; there ain't no + doubt of that,” said Captain Eri. “Notice it's us that's got to suit her, + not her us. I kind of like that 'signin' articles,' too. You bet she's + been brought up in a seagoin' family.” + </p> + <p> + “I used to know a Jubal Snow that hailed from Nantucket,” suggested Perez; + “maybe she's some of his folks.” + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't likely,” sniffed Captain Jerry. “There's more Snows in Nantucket + than you can shake a stick at. You can't heave a rock without hittin' + one.” + </p> + <p> + “I b'lieve she's jest the kind we want,” said Captain Perez with + conviction. + </p> + <p> + “What do you say, Jerry?” asked Captain Eri. “You're goin' to be the lucky + man, you know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't know. What's the use of hurryin'? More 'n likely the next lot + of letters 'll have somethin' better yit.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's jest like you, Jerry Burgess!” exclaimed Perez disgustedly. + “Want to put off and put off and put off. And the house gittin' more like + the fo'castle on a cattleboat every day.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve myself you'd do much better, Jerry,” said Captain Eri + seriously. “I like that letter somehow. Seems to me it's worth a try.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right! Have it your own way. Of course, <i>I</i> ain't got + nothin' to say. I'm only the divilish fool that's got to git married and + keep boarders; that's all <i>I</i> am!” + </p> + <p> + “Be careful! She asked if you was a profane man.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, shut up! You fellers are enough to make a minister swear. <i>I</i> + don't care what you do. Go ahead and write to her if you want to, only I + give you fair warnin', I ain't goin' to have her if she don't suit. I + ain't goin' to marry no scarecrow.” + </p> + <p> + Between them, and with much diplomacy, they soothed the indignant + candidate for matrimony until he agreed to sign his name to a letter to + the Nantucket lady. Then Captain Perez said: + </p> + <p> + “But, I say, Jerry; she wants your picture. Have you got one to send her?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got that daguerreotype I had took when I was married afore.” + </p> + <p> + He rummaged it out of his chest and displayed it rather proudly. It showed + him as a short, sandy-haired youth, whose sunburned face beamed from the + depths of an enormous choker, and whose head was crowned with a tall, + flat-brimmed silk hat of a forgotten style. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose that might do,” said Cap'n Perez hesitatingly. + </p> + <p> + “Do! 'Twill HAVE to do, seein' it's all he's got,” said Captain Eri. “Good + land!” he chuckled; “look at that hat! Say, Jerry, she'll think you done + your seafarin' in Noah's ark.” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry was oblivious to sarcasm just then. He was gazing at the + daguerreotype in a sentimental sort of way, blowing the dust from the + glass, and tilting it up and down so as to bring it to the most effective + light. + </p> + <p> + “I swan!” he mused, “I don't know when I've looked at that afore. I + remember when I bought that hat, jest as well. Took care of it and brushed + it—my! my! I don't know but it's somewheres around now. I thought I + was jest about the ticket then, and—and I wa'n't BAD lookin', that's + a fact!” + </p> + <p> + This last with a burst of enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “Ho, ho! Perez,” roared Captain Eri; “Jerry's fallin' in love with his own + picture. Awful thing for one so young, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't such a turrible sight older 'n you be, Eri Hedge,” sputtered the + prospective bridegroom with righteous indignation. Then he added in a + rather crestfallen tone, “But I am a heap older 'n I was when I had that + daguerreotype took. See here; if I send that Nantucket woman this picture + won't she notice the difference when she sees me?” + </p> + <p> + “What if she does?” broke in Captain Perez. “You can tell her how 'twas. + Talk her over. A feller that's been married, like you, ought to be able to + talk ANY woman over.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry didn't appear sanguine concerning his ability to “talk her + over,” but his fellow-conspirators made light of his feeble objections, + and the daguerreotype, carefully wrapped, was mailed the next morning, + accompanied by a brief biographical sketch of the original and his avowed + adherence to the Baptist creed and the Good Templar's abstinence. + </p> + <p> + “I hope she'll hurry up and answer,” said the impatient Captain Perez. “I + want to get this thing settled one way or another. Don't you, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” was the hesitating reply. “One way or another.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had seen John Baxter several times since the evening of the + “Come-Outers'” meeting. The old man was calmer apparently, and was + disposed to take the billiard-saloon matter less seriously, particularly + as it was reported that the town selectmen were to hold a special meeting + to consider the question of allowing Mr. Saunders to continue in business. + The last-named gentleman had given what he was pleased to call a + “blow-out” to his regular patrons in celebration of the granting of the + license, and “Squealer” Wixon and one or two more spent a dreary day and + night in the town lock-up in consequence. Baxter told the Captain that he + had not yet made up his mind concerning the proposed Boston trip, but he + thought “more 'n likely” he should go. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was obliged to be content with this assurance, but he + determined to keep a close watch on his friend just the same. + </p> + <p> + He had met Ralph Hazeltine once or twice since the latter's arrival in + Orham, and, in response to questions as to how he was getting on at the + station, the new electrician invariably responded, “First-rate.” Gossip, + however, in the person of Miss Busteed, reported that the operators were + doing their best to keep Mr. Hazeltine's lot from being altogether a bed + of roses, and there were dark hints of something more to come. + </p> + <p> + On the morning following the receipt of the letter from the Nantucket + lady, Captain Eri was busy at his fish shanty, putting his lines in order + and sewing a patch on the mainsail of his catboat. These necessary repairs + had prevented his taking the usual trip to the fishing grounds. Looking up + from his work, he saw, through the open door, Ralph Hazeltine just + stepping out of the cable-station skiff. He tucked his sail needle into + the canvas and hailed the young man with a shouted “Good-morning!” + </p> + <p> + “How do you do, Cap'n Hedge?” said Hazeltine, walking toward the shanty. + “Good weather, isn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Tip-top. Long 's the wind stays westerly and there ain't no Sunday-school + picnics on, we don't squabble with the weather folks. The only thing that + 'll fetch a squall with a westerly wind is a Sunday-school picnic. That + 'll do it, sure as death. Busy over across?” + </p> + <p> + “Pretty busy just now. The cable parted day before yesterday, and I've + been getting things ready for the repair ship. She was due this morning, + and we're likely to hear from her at any time.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't say! Cable broke, hey? Now it's a queer thing, but I've never + been inside that station since 'twas built. Too handy, I guess. I've got a + second cousin up in Charlestown, lived there all his life, and he's never + been up in Bunker Hill monument yit. Fust time I landed in Boston I dug + for that monument, and I can tell you how many steps there is in it to + this day. If that cable station was fifty mile off I'd have been through + it two weeks after it started up, but bein' jest over there, I ain't ever + done it. Queer, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps you'd like to go over with me. I'm going up to the post-office, + and when I come back I should be glad of your company.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now, that's kind of you. I cal'late I will. You might sing out as + you go past. I've got a ha'f-hour job on this sail and then it's my watch + below.” + </p> + <p> + The cable station at Orham is a low whitewashed building with many + windows. The vegetation about it is limited exclusively to “beach grass” + and an occasional wild-plum bush. The nearest building which may be + reached without a boat is the life-saving station, two miles below. The + outer beach changes its shape every winter. The gales tear great holes in + its sides, and then, as if in recompense, throw up new shoals and build + new promontories. From the cable-station doorway in fair weather may be + counted the sails of over one hundred vessels going and coming between + Boston and New York. They come and go, and, alas! sometimes stop by the + way. Then the life-saving crews are busy and the Boston newspapers report + another wreck. All up and down the outer beach are the sun-whitened bones + of schooners and ships; and all about them, and partially covering them, + is sand, sand, sand, as white and much coarser than granulated sugar. + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine's post-office trip and other errands had taken much more time + than he anticipated, and more than two hours had gone by before he called + for Captain Eri. During the row to the beach the electrician explained to + the Captain the processes by which a break in the cable is located and + repaired. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” he said, “as soon as the line breaks we set about finding where + it is broken. To do this we use an instrument called the Wheatstone + bridge. In this case the break is about six hundred miles from the + American shore. The next thing is to get at the company's repair ship. She + lies, usually, at Halifax when she isn't busy, and that is where she was + this time. We wired her and she left for the spot immediately. It was up + to me to get ready the testing apparatus—we generally set up special + instruments for testing. Judging by the distance, the ship should have + been over the break early this morning. She will grapple for the broken + cable ends, and as soon as she catches our end she'll send us a message. + It's simple enough.” + </p> + <p> + “Like takin' wormwood tea—easy enough if you've been brought up that + way. I think I'd make more money catchin' codfish, myself,” commented the + Captain dryly. + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “Well, it really is a very simple matter,” he said. “The + only thing we have to be sure of is that our end of the line is ready by + the time the ship reaches the break. If the weather is bad the ship can't + work, and so, when she does work, she works quick. I had my instruments in + condition yesterday, so we're all right this time.” + </p> + <p> + They landed at the little wharf and plodded through the heavy sand. + </p> + <p> + “Dismal-looking place, isn't it?” said Hazeltine, as he opened the back + door of the station. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know; it has its good p'ints,” replied his companion. “Your + neighbors' hens don't scratch up your garden, for one thing. What do you + do in here?” + </p> + <p> + “This is the room where we receive and send. This is the receiver.” + </p> + <p> + The captain noticed with interest the recorder, with its two brass + supports and the little glass tube, half filled with ink, that, when the + cable was working, wrote the messages upon the paper tape traveling + beneath it. + </p> + <p> + “Pretty nigh as finicky as a watch, ain't it?” he observed. + </p> + <p> + “Fully as delicate in its way. Do you see this little screw on the + centerpiece? Turn that a little, one way or the other, and the operator on + the other side might send until doomsday, we wouldn't know it. I'll show + you the living rooms and the laboratory now.” + </p> + <p> + Just then the door at the other end of the room opened, and a man, whom + Captain Eri recognized as one of the operators, came in. He started when + he saw Hazeltine and turned to go out again. Ralph spoke to him: + </p> + <p> + “Peters,” he said, “where is Mr. Langley?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know,” answered the fellow gruffly. + </p> + <p> + “Wait a minute. Tell me where Mr. Langley is.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know where he is. He went over to the village a while ago.” + </p> + <p> + “Where are the rest of the men?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know.” + </p> + <p> + The impudence and thinly veiled hostility in the man's tone were + unmistakable. Hazeltine hesitated, seemed about to speak, and then + silently led the way to the hall. + </p> + <p> + “I'll show you the laboratory later on,” he said. “We'll go up to the + testing room now.” Then he added, apparently as much to himself as to his + visitor, “I told those fellows that I wouldn't be back until noon.” + </p> + <p> + There was a door at the top of the stairs. Ralph opened this quietly. As + they passed through, Captain Eri noticed that Peters had followed them + into the hall and stood there, looking up. + </p> + <p> + The upper hall had a straw matting on the floor. There was another door at + the end of the passage, and this was ajar. Toward it the electrician + walked rapidly. From the room behind the door came a shout of laughter; + then someone said: + </p> + <p> + “Better give it another turn, hadn't I, to make sure? If two turns fixes + it so we don't hear for a couple of hours, another one ought to shut it up + for a week. That's arithmetic, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + The laugh that followed this was cut short by Hazeltine's throwing the + door wide open. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, close at the electrician's heels, saw a long room, empty save + for a few chairs and a table in the center. Upon this table stood the + testing instruments, exactly like those in the receiving room downstairs. + Three men lounged in the chairs, and standing beside the table, with his + fingers upon the regulating screw at the centerpiece of the recorder, was + another, a big fellow, with a round, smooth-shaven face. + </p> + <p> + The men in the chairs sprang to their feet as Hazeltine came in. The face + of the individual by the table turned white and his fingers fell from the + regulating screw, as though the latter were red hot. The Captain + recognized the men; they were day operators whom he had met in the village + many times. Incidentally, they were avowed friends of the former + electrician, Parker. The name of the taller one was McLoughlin. + </p> + <p> + No one spoke. Ralph strode quickly to the table, pushed McLoughlin to one + side and stooped over the instruments. When he straightened up, Captain + Eri noticed that his face also was white, but evidently not from fear. He + turned sharply and looked at the four operators, who were doing their best + to appear at ease and not succeeding. The electrician looked them over, + one by one. Then he gave a short laugh. + </p> + <p> + “You damned sneaks!” he said, and turned again to the testing apparatus. + </p> + <p> + He began slowly to turn the regulating screw on the recorder. He had given + it but a few revolutions when the point of the little glass siphon, that + had been tracing a straight black line on the sliding tape, moved up and + down in curving zigzags. Hazeltine turned to the operator. + </p> + <p> + “Palmer,” he said curtly, “answer that call.” + </p> + <p> + The man addressed seated himself at the table, turned a switch, and + clicked off a message. After a moment the line on the moving tape + zigzagged again. Ralph glanced at the zigzags and bit his lip. + </p> + <p> + “Apologize to them,” he said to Palmer. “Tell them we regret exceedingly + that the ship should have been kept waiting. Tell them our recorder was + out of adjustment.” + </p> + <p> + The operator cabled the message. The three men at the end of the room + glanced at each other; this evidently was not what they expected. + </p> + <p> + Steps sounded on the stairs and Peters hurriedly entered. + </p> + <p> + “The old man's comin',” he said. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Langley, the superintendent of the station, had been in the company's + employ for years. He had been in charge of the Cape Cod station since it + was built, and he liked the job. He knew cable work, too, from A to Z, + and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, would forgive a man's getting + drunk occasionally, sooner than condone carelessness. He was eccentric, + but even those who did not like him acknowledged that he was “square.” + </p> + <p> + He came into the room, tossed a cigar stump out of the window, and nodded + to Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “How are you, Captain Hedge?” he said. Then, stepping to the table, he + picked up the tape. + </p> + <p> + “Everything all right, Mr. Hazeltine?” he asked. “Hello! What does this + mean? They say they have been calling for two hours without getting an + answer. How do you explain that?” + </p> + <p> + It was very quiet in the room when the electrician answered. + </p> + <p> + “The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir,” he said simply. + </p> + <p> + “Out of adjustment! I thought you told me everything was in perfect order + before you left this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so, sir, but I find the screw was too loose. That would account + for the call not reaching us.” + </p> + <p> + “Too loose! Humph!” The superintendent looked steadfastly at Hazeltine, + then at the operators, and then at the electrician once more. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said at length, “I will hear what explanations you may + have to make in my office later on. I will attend to the testing myself. + That will do.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri silently followed his young friend to the back door of the + station. Hazeltine had seen fit to make no comment on the scene just + described, and the captain did not feel like offering any. They were + standing on the steps when the big operator, McLoughlin, came out of the + building behind them. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said gruffly to the electrician. “Shall I quit now or wait + until Saturday?” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Shall I git out now or wait till Saturday night? I suppose you'll have me + fired.” + </p> + <p> + Then Hazeltine's pent-up rage boiled over. + </p> + <p> + “If you mean that I'll tell Mr. Langley of your cowardly trick and have + you discharged—No! I don't pay my debts that way. But I'll tell you + this,—you and your sneaking friends. If you try another game like + that,—yes, or if you so much as speak to me, other than on business + while I'm here, I WILL fire you—out of the window. Clear out!” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri a few moments later, “I hope you don't + mind my sayin' that I like you fust-rate. Me and Perez and Jerry ain't the + biggest bugs in town, but we like to have our friends come and see us. I + wish you'd drop in once 'n a while.” + </p> + <p> + “I certainly will,” said the young man, and the two shook hands. That + vigorous handshake was enough of itself to convince Ralph Hazeltine that + he had made, at any rate, one friend in Orham. + </p> + <p> + And we may as well add here that he had made two. For that evening Jack + McLoughlin said to his fellow conspirators: + </p> + <p> + “He said he'd fire me out of the window,—ME, mind you! And, by + thunder! I believe he'd have DONE it too. Boys, there ain't any more 'con' + games played on that kid while I'm around—Parker or no Parker. He's + white, that's what HE is!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V + </h2> + <h3> + THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + </h3> + <p> + Conversation among the captains was, for the next two days, confined to + two topics, speculation as to how soon they might expect a reply from the + Nantucket female and whether or not Mr. Langley would discharge Hazeltine. + On the latter point Captain Eri was decided. + </p> + <p> + “He won't be bounced,” said the Captain; “now you just put that down in + your log. Langley ain't a fool, and he can put two and two together as + well as the next feller. If I thought there was any need of it, I'd just + drop him a hint myself, but there ain't, so I shan't put my oar in. But I + wish you two could have heard that youngster talk to that McLoughlin + critter; 'twould have done you good. That boy's all right.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was alone when the expected letter came. He glanced at the + postmark, saw that it was Nantucket, and stuck the note behind the clock. + He did his best to forget it, but he looked so guilty when Captain Perez + returned at supper time that that individual suspected something, made his + friend confess, and, a little later when Captain Eri came in, the + envelope, bearing many thumb-prints, was propped up against the sugar bowl + in the middle of the table. + </p> + <p> + “We didn't open it, Eri,” said Perez proudly. “We did want to, but we + thought all hands ought to be on deck when anything as important as this + was goin' to be done.” + </p> + <p> + “He's been holdin' it up to the light for the last ha'f hour,” sneered + Captain Jerry. “Anybody 'd think it had a million dollars in it. For the + land's sake, open it, Eri, 'fore he has a fit!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri picked up the letter, looked it over very deliberately, and + then tore off the end of the envelope. The inclosure was another sheet of + note paper like the first epistle. The Captain took out his spectacles, + wiped them, and read the following aloud: + </p> + <p> + “CAPTAIN JEREMIAH BURGESS. + </p> + <p> + “Sir: I like your looks well enough, though it don't pay to put too much + dependence in looks, as nobody knows better than me. Besides, I judge that + picture was took quite a spell ago. Anyway, you look honest, and I am + willing to risk money enough to carry me to Orham and back, though the + dear land knows I ain't got none to throw away. If we don't agree to sign + articles, I suppose likely you will be willing to stand half the fare. + That ain't any more than right, the way I look at it. I shall come to + Orham on the afternoon train, Thursday. Meet me at the depot. + </p> + <p> + “Yours truly, + </p> + <p> + “MARTHA B. SNOW. + </p> + <p> + “P. S.—I should have liked it better if you was a Methodist, but we + can't have everything just as we want it in this world.” + </p> + <p> + Nobody spoke for a moment after the reading of this intensely practical + note. Captain Eri whistled softly, scratched his head, and then read the + letter over again to himself. At length Captain Perez broke the spell. + </p> + <p> + “Jerusalem!” he exclaimed. “She don't lose no time, does she?” + </p> + <p> + “She's pretty prompt, that's a fact,” assented Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry burst forth in indignation: + </p> + <p> + “Is THAT all you've got to say?” he inquired with sarcasm, “after gittin' + me into a scrape like this? Well now, I tell you one thing, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Don't go on your beam ends, Jerry,” interrupted Captain Eri. “There ain't + no harm done yit.” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't no harm done? Why how you talk, Eri Hedge! Here's a woman that I + ain't never seen, and might be a hundred years old, for all I know, comin' + down here to-morrow night to marry me by main force, as you might say, and + you set here and talk about—” + </p> + <p> + “Now, hold on, hold on, Jerry! She ain't goin' to marry you unless you + want her to, 'tain't likely. More I think of it, the more I like the + woman's way of doin' things. She's got sense, there's no doubt of that. + You can't sell HER a cat in a bag. She's comin' down here to see you and + talk the thing over, and I glory in her spunk.” + </p> + <p> + “Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways enough to + spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks.” + </p> + <p> + “If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay more + than fares,” said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. “I think same + as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet her at the depot, of + course.” + </p> + <p> + “Well <i>I</i> won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I + cal'late she'll have to do some huntin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, see here, Jerry,” said Captain Eri, “you was jest as anxious to have + one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to marry the woman + unless you want to, but you have got to help us see the thing through. I + wish myself that we hadn't been quite so pesky anxious to give her the + latitude and longitude, and had took some sort of an observation + ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've got to treat her decent. You'll be + at that depot along with Perez and me.” + </p> + <p> + When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed orders. + Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for his younger + friend, gave in after some grumbling. + </p> + <p> + They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and + appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that he didn't + know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about forty and slim. + Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where agreement with anyone was + out of the question, gave it as his opinion that she was thirty odd and + rather plump. Captain Eri didn't hazard a guess, but suggested that they + wait and see. + </p> + <p> + But even Captain Eri's calmness was more or less assumed, for he did not + go fishing the next morning, but stayed about the house, whittling at the + model of a clipper ship and tormenting Captain Jerry. The model was one + that he had been at work upon at odd times ever since he gave up + sea-going. It had never been completed for the very good reason that when + one part was finished the Captain tore another part to pieces, and began + over again. It was a sort of barometer of his feelings, and when his + companions saw him take down the clipper and go to work, they knew he was + either thinking deeply upon a perplexing problem or was troubled in his + mind. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez sang a good deal, principally confining his musical efforts + to a ballad with a chorus of, + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + | “Storm along, John; + | John, storm along; + | Ain't I glad my day's work's done!” + </pre> + <p> + Also, he glanced at his watch every few minutes and then went to consult + the chronometer to make sure of the time. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry went up to the schoolhouse and gave its vacant rooms a + thorough sweeping for no particular reason except to be doing something. + His appetite was poor, and he actually forgot to feed Lorenzo, a hitherto + unheard-of slight, and one that brought down upon him a long lecture from + Captain Eri, who vowed that loss of memory was a sure sign of + lovesickness. + </p> + <p> + They started for the railway station immediately after supper. As they + passed John Baxter's house they noticed a light in an upper chamber, and + wondered if the old man was ill. Captain Eri would have stopped to find + out, but Captain Perez insisted that it could be done just as well when + they came back, and expressed a fear that they might miss the train. + Captain Jerry hadn't spoken since they left home, and walked gloomily + ahead with his hands in his pockets. + </p> + <p> + Mr. “Web” Saunders, fat and in his pink-striped shirtsleeves, sat upon the + steps of his saloon as they went by. He wished them an unctuous + good-evening. The oily smoothness of Mr. Saunders' voice cannot be + described with plain pen and ink; it gurgled with sweetness, like molasses + poured from a jug. This was not a special tone put on for the occasion; no + one except his wife ever heard him speak otherwise. + </p> + <p> + The response from the three captains was not enthusiastic, but Mr. + Saunders continued to talk of the weather, the fishing, and the cranberry + crop until a customer came and gave them a chance to get away. + </p> + <p> + “Slick! slick! slick!” commented Captain Eri, as they hurried along. + “Blessed if he don't pretty nigh purr. I like a cat fust-rate, but I'm + always suspicious of a cat-man. You know he's got claws, but you can't + tell where he's goin' to use 'em. When a feller like that comes slidin' + around and rubbin' his head against my shin, I always feel like keepin' + t'other foot ready for a kick. You're pretty sartin to need it one time or + another.” + </p> + <p> + The train was nearly an hour late this evening, owing to a hot box, and + the “ex-seafaring man” and his two friends peered anxiously out at it from + around the corner of the station. The one coach stopped directly under the + lights, and they could see the passengers as they came down the steps. Two + or three got out, but these were men. Then came an apparition that caused + Captain Jerry to gasp and clutch at Perez for support. + </p> + <p> + Down the steps of the car came a tall, coal-black negress, and in her hand + was a canvas extension case, on the side of which was blazoned in two-inch + letters the fateful name, “M. B. Snow, Nantucket.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gazed at this astounding spectacle for a full thirty seconds. + Then he woke up. + </p> + <p> + “Godfrey domino!” he ejaculated. “BLACK! BLACK! Run! Run for your lives, + 'fore she sees us!” + </p> + <p> + This order was superfluous. Captain Jerry was already half-way to the + fence, and going at a rate which bid fair to establish a record for his + age. The others fell into his wake, and the procession moved across + country like a steeplechase. + </p> + <p> + They climbed over stone walls and splashed into meadows. They took every + short cut between the station and their home. As they came in sight of the + latter, Captain Perez' breath gave out almost entirely. + </p> + <p> + “Heave to!” he gasped. “Heave to, or I'll founder. I wouldn't run another + step for all the darkies in the West Indies.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain Jerry + was persuaded to halt. + </p> + <p> + “I shan't do it, Eri!” he vowed wildly. “I shan't do it! There ain't no + use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, by thunder!” + </p> + <p> + “There! there! Jerry!” said Captain Eri soothingly. “Nobody wants you to. + There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us.” + </p> + <p> + “Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where I live + and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!” + </p> + <p> + The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain Eri + caught him by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “I'll tell you what,” he said, “we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty and hide + there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't come, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late Nathaniel + Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. In a few moments + the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the door. Then Captain Eri + pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket and laughed until the tears + came into his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “That's it, laff!” almost sobbed Captain Jerry. “Set there and tee-hee + like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till the rest of the + town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' then, and you won't feel + so funny. We'll never hear the last of it in this world. If that darky + comes down here, I'll—I'll drown her; I will—” + </p> + <p> + “I don't blame Jerry,” said Perez indignantly. “I don't see much to laff + at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now.” + </p> + <p> + They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together at the + cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the “depot wagon” rock past. They + waited, breathless, until they saw it go back again up the road. + </p> + <p> + “Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Course I didn't. Why should I?” + </p> + <p> + It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham except at + bedtime. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Eri. “She'll see the light in the dining room, + and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's nothin' for us to do + but to stay here for a while, and then, if she ain't gone, one of us 'll + have to go up and tell her she won't suit and pay her fare home, that's + all. I think Jerry ought to be the one,” he added mischievously. “He bein' + the bridegroom, as you might say.” + </p> + <p> + “Me!” almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. “You go to grass! You + fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me out of it. I + don't stir one step.” + </p> + <p> + They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an occasional + chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was meditating, and + observed, after a while: + </p> + <p> + “Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “That colored man up at Barry's place was named White,” said Captain + Jerry, “and he was black as your hat. Names don't count.” + </p> + <p> + “They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry,” slyly remarked Eri. + “Maybe you'd better think it over.” + </p> + <p> + The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the minutes + crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone whistling. Perez + went to the window to take an observation. + </p> + <p> + “It's a man,” he said disappointedly. “He's been to our house, too. My + land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller Hazeltine; that's who + 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it?” exclaimed Eri eagerly. “That's so! so 'tis. Let's give him a + hail.” + </p> + <p> + Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the door, had + opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the opening, was + whistling shrilly. + </p> + <p> + The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort of way, + but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter the whistles + came. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine!” hailed the Captain, in what might be called a whispered + yell or a shouted whisper. “Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on your lee bow. In the + shanty.” + </p> + <p> + The word “shanty” was the only part of the speech that brought light to + Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the hill, left the + road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to the door. + </p> + <p> + “Who is it?” he asked. “Why, hello, Captain! What on earth—” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, pulled + him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry hastened to set the + saw-horse in place again. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with Cap'n + Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me speak of 'em.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered voices + express themselves as glad to know him. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, “we're sort of + layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. We ain't out of + our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's what it looks like.” + </p> + <p> + The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it. To tell + the truth, he had begun to think that something or other had suddenly driven + his nearest neighbors crazy. + </p> + <p> + “I—I—I don't know how to explain it to you,” the Captain + stumbled on. “Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It + does sound so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you understand it. + What we want to know is, have you been to our house and is there anybody + there?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a minute, as + you suggested the other day. The housekeeper—I suppose it was the + housekeeper—that opened the door, said you were out, and I—” + </p> + <p> + He was interrupted by a hopeless groan. + </p> + <p> + “I knew it!” wailed Captain Jerry. “I knew it! And you said there wa'n't + no danger, Eri!” + </p> + <p> + “Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she doin', + Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? Did she look as + if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have her bunnit on?” + </p> + <p> + “No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought—” + </p> + <p> + But again Captain Jerry broke in, “Well, by mighty!” he ejaculated. + “That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! She's + goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too good a thing. + Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other gab machine like her, + 'll be the next one to call, and if they see that great black critter! Oh! + my soul!” + </p> + <p> + “Black!” said Ralph amazedly. “Why, the woman at your house isn't black. + She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of her age.” + </p> + <p> + “WHAT?” This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course it's a fact.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain wiped his forehead. “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said, “if anybody had + told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three biggest fools in Orham, + I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis now, I cal'late I'd thank him for + lettin' me off so easy. You'll have to excuse us to-night, I'm afraid. + We're in a ridic'lous scrape that we've got to git out of all alone. I'll + tell you 'bout it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this kind of quiet to + oblige me.” + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his immediate + departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, felt there was + nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised faithfully to call again + later in the week, and then, the sawhorse having been removed by Captain + Perez,—Captain Jerry was apparently suffering from a sort of dazed + paralysis,—he went away. As soon as he had gone, Captain Eri began + to lay down the law. + </p> + <p> + “Now then,” he said, “there's been some sort of a mistake; that's plain + enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel when she got up + to come out of the car. That woman at the house is the real Marthy Snow + all right, and we've got to go right up there and see her. Come on!” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry mutinied outright. He declared that the sight of that + darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would not see the + candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No persuasion could + budge him. He simply would not stir from that shanty until the house had + been cleared of female visitors. + </p> + <p> + “Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it,” he declared. “I + shan't!” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” said Captain Eri calmly. “I will. I'll tell her you're + bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have you if she + only waits long enough.” + </p> + <p> + With this he turned on his heel and walked out. + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, Eri!” shouted the frantic Jerry. “Don't you do it! Don't you + tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he will?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” was the answer in a disgusted tone. “You hadn't ought to + have been so pig-headed, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face, walked + straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he opened it and + stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in Captain Perez' rocker, + rose as he entered. + </p> + <p> + The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She was of + middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes behind + brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black “alpaca” gown that was + faded a little in places and had been neatly mended in others. She spoke + first. + </p> + <p> + “You're not Cap'n Burgess?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “No, ma'am,” said the Captain uneasily. “My name is Hedge. I'm a sort of + messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very nervous and + not knowing how to begin. + </p> + <p> + “I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge,” said the widow, as the Captain + slid into his own rocker. “The boy on the depot wagon told me a lot about + you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess.” + </p> + <p> + “Did, hey?” The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's + grandnephew. “Hope he gave us a clean bill.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. If he + had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've lived long + enough to want to find out things for myself, and not take folks' say-so.” + </p> + <p> + The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement, Captain + Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out things for one's + self was a good “idee.” Then, after another fidgety silence, he observed + that it was a fine evening. There being no dispute on this point, he + endeavored to think of something else to say. Mrs. Snow, however, saved + him the trouble. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” she said, “as I'm here on what you might call a bus'ness + errand, and as I've been waitin' pretty nigh two hours already, p'raps + we'd better talk about somethin' besides fine evenin's. I've got to be + lookin' up a hotel or boardin' house or somewheres to stay to-night, and I + can't wait much longer. I jedge you got my letter and was expectin' me. + Now, if it ain't askin' too much, I'd like to know where Cap'n Burgess is, + and why he wa'n't at the depot to meet me.” + </p> + <p> + This was a leading question, and the Captain was more embarrassed than + ever. However, he felt that something had to be done and that it was + wisest to get it over with as soon as possible. + </p> + <p> + “Well, ma'am,” he said, “we—we got your letter all right, and, to + tell you the truth, we was at the depot—Perez and me and Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + “You WAS! Well, then, for the land of goodness, why didn't you let me know + it? Such a time as I had tryin' to find out where you lived and all!” + </p> + <p> + The Captain saw but one plausible explanation, and that was the plain + truth. Slowly he told the story of the colored woman and the extension + case. The widow laughed until her spectacles fell off. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there!” she exclaimed. “If that don't beat all! I don't blame Cap'n + Burgess a mite. Poor thing! I guess I'd have run, too, if I'd have seen + that darky. She was settin' right in the next seat to me, and she had a + shut-over bag consid'rable like mine, and when she got up to git out, she + took mine by mistake. I was a good deal put out about it, and I expect I + talked to her like a Dutch uncle when I caught up with her. Dear! dear! + Where is Cap'n Burgess?” + </p> + <p> + “He's shut up in a fish shanty down the road, and he's so upsot that I + dunno's he'll stir from there tonight. Jerry ain't prejudiced, but that + darky was too much for him.” + </p> + <p> + And then they both laughed, the widow because of the ludicrous nature of + the affair and the Captain because of the relief that the lady's + acceptance of it afforded his mind. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow was the first to become grave. “Cap'n Hedge,” she said, “there's + one or two things I must say right here. In the first place, I ain't in + the habit of answerin' advertisements from folks that wants to git + married; I ain't so hard up for a man as all that comes to. Next thing, I + didn't come down here with my mind made up to marry Cap'n Burgess, not by + no means. I wanted to see him and talk with him, and tell him jest all + about how things was with me and find out about him and then—why, if + everything was shipshape, I might, p'raps, think about—” + </p> + <p> + “Jest so, ma'am, jest so,” broke in her companion. “That's about the way + we felt. You see, there's prob'ly a long story on both sides, and if + you'll excuse me I'll go down to the shanty and see if I can't git Jerry + up here. It'll be a job, I'm 'fraid, but—” + </p> + <p> + “No, you shan't either. I'll tell you what we'll do. It's awful late now + and I must be gittin' up to the tavern. S'pose, if 'tain't too much + trouble, you walk up there with me and I'll stay there to-night and + to-morrer I'll come down here, and we'll all have a common-sense talk. + P'raps by that time your friend 'll have the darky woman some off his + mind, too.” + </p> + <p> + Needless to say Captain Eri agreed to this plan with alacrity. The widow + carefully tied on a black, old-fashioned bonnet, picked up a fat, + wooden-handled umbrella and the extension case, and said that she was + ready. + </p> + <p> + They walked up the road together, the Captain carrying the extension case. + They talked, but not of matrimonial prospects. Mrs. Snow knew almost as + much about the sea and the goings and comings thereon as did her escort, + and the conversation was salty in the extreme. It developed that the + Nantucket lady had a distant relative who was in the life-saving service + at Cuttyhunk station, and as the Captain knew every station man for twenty + miles up and down the coast, wrecks and maritime disasters of all kinds + were discussed in detail. + </p> + <p> + At the Traveler's Rest Mrs. Snow was introduced by the unblushing Eri as a + cousin from Provincetown, and, after some controversy concerning the price + of board and lodging, she was shown up to her room. Captain Eri walked + home, absorbed in meditation. Whatever his thoughts were they were not + disagreeable, for he smiled and shook his head more than once, as if with + satisfaction. As he passed John Baxter's house he noticed that the light + in the upper window was still burning. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was half asleep when Eri opened the door of the shanty. + Captain Jerry, however, was very much awake and demanded to be told things + right away. His friend briefly explained the situation. + </p> + <p> + “I don't care if she stays here till doomsday,” emphatically declared the + disgruntled one, “I shan't marry her. What's she like, anyhow?” + </p> + <p> + He was surprised at the enthusiasm of Captain Eri's answer. + </p> + <p> + “She's a mighty good woman; that's what I think she is, and she'd make a + fust-class wife for any man. I hope you'll say so, too, when you see her. + There ain't nothin' hity-tity about her, but she's got more common-sense + than any woman I ever saw. But there! I shan't talk another bit about her + to-night. Come on home and turn in.” + </p> + <p> + And go home and turn in they did, but not without protestation from the + pair who had yet to meet the woman from Nantucket. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI + </h2> + <h3> + THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + </h3> + <p> + “All hands on deck! Turn out there! Turnout!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri grunted and rolled over in his bed; for a moment or two he + fancied himself back in the fo'castle of the Sea Mist, the bark in which + he had made his first voyage. Then, as he grew wider awake, he heard, + somewhere in the distance, a bell ringing furiously. + </p> + <p> + “Turn out, all hands! Turn out!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri sat up. That voice was no part of a dream. It belonged to + Captain Jerry, and the tone of it meant business. The bell continued to + ring. + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, Jerry! What's the matter?” he shouted. + </p> + <p> + “Fire! There's a big fire up in the village. Look out of the window, and + you can see. They're ringing the schoolhouse bell; don't you hear it?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain, wide awake enough by this time, jumped out of bed, carrying + the blankets with him, and ran to the window. Opening it, he thrust out + his head. The wind had changed to the eastward, and a thick fog had come + in with it. The house was surrounded by a wet, black wall, but off to the + west a red glow shone through it, now brighter and now fainter. The + schoolhouse bell was turning somersaults in its excitement. + </p> + <p> + Only once, since Captain Jerry had been janitor, had the schoolhouse bell + been rung except in the performance of its regular duties. That once was + on a night before the Fourth of July, when some mischievous youngsters + climbed in at a window and proclaimed to sleeping Orham that Young America + was celebrating the anniversary of its birth. Since then, on nights before + the Fourth, Captain Jerry had slept in the schoolhouse, armed with a + horsewhip and an ancient navy revolver. The revolver was strictly for + show, and the horsewhip for use, but neither was called into service, for + even if some dare-devil spirits did venture near the building, the + Captain's snores, as he slumbered by the front door, were danger signals + that could not be disregarded. + </p> + <p> + But there was no flavor of the Fourth in the bell's note this night. + Whoever the ringer might be, he was ringing as though it was his only hope + for life, and the bell swung back and forth without a pause. The red glow + in the fog brightened again as the Captain gazed at it. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry came tumbling up the stairs, breathless and half dressed. + </p> + <p> + “Where do you make it out to be?” he panted. + </p> + <p> + “Somewhere's nigh the post-office. Looks 's if it might be Weeks's store. + Where's Perez?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had lighted a lamp and was pulling on his boots, as he spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Here I be!” shouted the missing member of the trio from the dining room + below. “I'm all ready. Hurry up, Eri!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri jumped into his trousers, slipped into a faded pea-jacket and + clattered downstairs, followed by the wildly excited Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Good land, Perez!” he cried, as he came into the dining room, “I thought + you said you was all ready!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez paused in the vain attempt to make Captain Jerry's hat cover + his own cranium and replied indignantly, “Well, I am, ain't I?” + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me I'd put somethin' on my feet besides them socks, if I was + you. You might catch cold.” + </p> + <p> + Perez glanced down at his blue-yarn extremities in blank astonishment. + “Well, now,” he exclaimed, “if I hain't forgot my boots!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, git 'em on, and be quick. There's your hat. Give Jerry his.” + </p> + <p> + The excited Perez vanished through the door of his chamber, and Captain + Eri glanced at the chronometer; the time was a quarter after two. + </p> + <p> + They hurried out of the door and through the yard. The wind, as has been + said, was from the east, but there was little of it and, except for the + clanging of the bell, the night was very still. The fog was heavy and wet, + and the trees and bushes dripped as if from a shower. There was the salt + smell of the marshes in the air, and the hissing and splashing of the surf + on the outer beach were plainly to be heard. Also there was the clicking + sound of oars in row-locks. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody is comin' over from the station,” gasped Captain Jerry. “Don't + run so, Eri. It's too dark. I've pretty nigh broke my neck already.” + </p> + <p> + They passed the lily pond, where the frogs had long since adjourned their + concert and gone to bed, dodged through the yard of the tightly shuttered + summer hotel, and came out at the corner of the road, having saved some + distance by the “short-cut.” + </p> + <p> + “That ain't Weeks's store,” declared Captain Perez, who was in the lead. + “It's Web Saunders's place; that's what it is.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused and looked over to the left in the direction of the + Baxter homestead. The light in the window was still burning. + </p> + <p> + They turned into the “main road” at a dog trot and became part of a crowd + of oddly dressed people, all running in the same direction. + </p> + <p> + “Web's place, ain't it?” asked Eri of Seth Wingate, who was lumbering + along with a wooden bucket in one hand and the pitcher of his wife's best + washstand set in the other. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” breathlessly answered Mr. Wingate, “and it's a goner, they tell me. + Every man's got to do his part if they're going to save it. I allers said + we ought to have a fire department in this town.” + </p> + <p> + Considering that Seth had, for the past eight years, persistently opposed + in town-meeting any attempt to purchase a hand engine, this was a rather + surprising speech, but no one paid any attention to it then. + </p> + <p> + The fire was in the billiard saloon sure enough, and the back portion of + the building was in a blaze when they reached it. Ladders were placed + against the eaves, and a line of men with buckets were pouring water on + the roof. The line extended to the town pump, where two energetic youths + in their shirtsleeves were working the handle with might and main. The + houses near at hand were brilliantly illuminated, and men and women were + bringing water from them in buckets, tin pails, washboilers, and even + coalscuttles. + </p> + <p> + Inside the saloon another hustling crowd was busily working to “save” Mr. + Saunders' property. A dozen of the members had turned the biggest pool + table over on its back and were unscrewing the legs, heedless of the fact + that to attempt to get the table through the front door was an + impossibility and that, as the back door was in the thickest of the fire, + it, too, was out of the question. A man appeared at the open front window + of the second story with his arms filled with bottles of various liquids, + “original packages” and others. These, with feverish energy, he threw one + by one into the street, endangering the lives of everyone in range and, of + course, breaking every bottle thrown. Some one of the cooler heads calling + his attention to these facts, he retired and carefully packed all the + empty bottles, the only ones remaining, into a peach basket and tugged the + latter downstairs and to a safe place on a neighboring piazza. Then he + rested from his labors as one who had done all that might reasonably be + expected. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders himself, lightly attired in a nightshirt tucked into a pair + of trousers, was rushing here and there, now loudly demanding more water, + and then stopping to swear at the bottle-thrower or some other enthusiast. + “Web's” smoothness was all gone, and the language he used was, as Abigail + Mullett said afterward, “enough to bring down a jedgment on anybody.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri caught him by the sleeve as he was running past and inquired, + “How'd it start, Web?” + </p> + <p> + “How'd it START? I know mighty well HOW it started, and 'fore I git + through I'll know WHO started it. Somebody 'll pay for this, now you hear + me! Hurry up with the water, you—” + </p> + <p> + He tore frantically away to the pump and the three captains joined the + crowd of volunteer firemen. Captain Eri, running round to the back of the + building, took in the situation at once. Back of the main portion of the + saloon was an ell, and it was in this ell that the fire had started. The + ell, itself, was in a bright blaze, but the larger building in front was + only just beginning to burn. The Captain climbed one of the ladders to the + roof and called to the men at work there. + </p> + <p> + “That shed's gone, Ben,” he said. “Chuck your water on the main part here. + Maybe, if we had some ropes we might be able to pull the shed clear, and + then we could save the rest.” + </p> + <p> + “How'd you fasten the ropes?” was the panted reply. “She's all ablaze, and + a rope would burn through in a minute if you tied it anywheres.” + </p> + <p> + “Git some grapples and anchors out of Rogers' shop. He's got a whole lot + of 'em. Keep on with the water bus'ness. I'll git the other stuff.” + </p> + <p> + He descended the ladder and explained his idea to the crowd below. There + was a great shout and twenty men and boys started on a run after ropes, + while as many more stormed at the door of Nathaniel Rogers' blacksmith + shop. Rogers was the local dealer in anchors and other marine ironwork. + The door of the shop was locked and there was a yell for axes to burst it + open. + </p> + <p> + Then arose an agonized shriek of “Don't chop! don't chop!” and Mr. Rogers + himself came struggling to the defense of his property. In concert the + instant need was explained to him, but he remained unconvinced. + </p> + <p> + “We can't stay here arguin' all night!” roared one of the leaders. “He's + got to let us in. Go ahead and chop! I'll hold him.” + </p> + <p> + “I give you fair warnin', Squealer Wixon! If you chop that door, I'll have + the law onto you. I just had that door painted, and—STOP! I've got + the key in my pocket!” + </p> + <p> + It was plain that the majority were still in favor of chopping, as + affording a better outlet for surplus energy, but they waited while Mr. + Rogers, still protesting, produced the key and unlocked the door. In + another minute the greater portion of the ironwork in the establishment + was on its way to the fire. + </p> + <p> + The rope-seekers were just returning, laden with everything from + clothes-lines to cables. Half a dozen boat anchors and a grapnel were + fastened to as many ropes, and the crowd pranced gayly about the burning + ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain Eri found a party + with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the side of the saloon in + order to get out the pool table. After some endeavor he persuaded them to + desist and they came around to the rear and, taking turns, ran in close to + the shed and chopped at it until the fire drove them away. At last they + made a hole close to where it joined the main building, large enough to + attach the grapnel. Then, with a “Yo heave ho!” everyone took hold of the + rope and pulled. Of course the grapnel pulled out with only a board or + two, but they tried again, and, this time getting it around a beam, pulled + a large portion of the shed to the ground. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile, another ax party had attached an anchor to the opposite side, + and were making good progress. In due time the shed yawned away from the + saloon, tottered, and collapsed in a shower of sparks. A deluge of water + soon extinguished these. Then everyone turned to the main building, and, + as the fire had not yet taken a firm hold of this, they soon had it under + control. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri worked with the rest until he saw that the worst was over. + Then he began the search that had been in his mind since he first saw the + blaze. He found Captain Jerry and Captain Perez perspiringly passing + buckets of water from hand to hand in the line, and, calling them to one + side, asked anxiously: + </p> + <p> + “Have either of you fellers seen John Baxter tonight?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez looked surprised, and then some of the trouble discernible + in Eri's face was apparent in his own. + </p> + <p> + “Why, no,” he replied slowly, “I ain't seen him, now you speak of it. + Everybody in town's here, too. Queer, ain't it? + </p> + <p> + “Haven't you seen him, either, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry answered with a shake of the head. “But then,” he said, + “Perez and me have been right here by the pump ever sence we come. He + might be 'most anywheres else, and we wouldn't see him. Want me to ask + some of the other fellers?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” exclaimed his friend, almost fiercely. “Don't you mention his name + to a soul, nor let 'em know you've thought of him. If anybody should ask, + tell 'em you guess he's right around somewheres. You two git to work + ag'in. I'll let you know if I want you.” + </p> + <p> + The pair took up their buckets, and the Captain walked on from group to + group, looking carefully at each person. The Reverend Perley and some of + his flock were standing by themselves on a neighboring stoop, and to them + the searcher turned eagerly. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Cap'n Eri!” exclaimed Miss Busteed, the first to identify him, “how + you've worked! You must be tired pretty nigh to death. Ain't it awful! But + it's the Lord's doin's; I'm jest as sure of that as I can be, and I says + so to Mr. Perley. Didn't I, Mr. Perley? I says—” + </p> + <p> + “Lookin' for anybody, Cap'n?” interrupted the reverend gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “No,” lied the Captain calmly, “jest walkin' around to git cooled off a + little. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + There was the most likely place, and John Baxter was not there. Certainly + every citizen in Orham, who was able to crawl, would be out this night, + and if the old puritan hermit of the big house was not present to exult + over the downfall of the wicked, it would be because he was ill or because—The + Captain didn't like to think of the other reason. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. “Web” Saunders, quietly weeping, was seated on a knoll near the pump. + Three of the Saunders' hopefuls, also weeping, but not quietly, were + seated beside her. Another, the youngest of the family, was being rocked + soothingly in the arms of a stout female, who was singing to it as + placidly as though fires were an every day, or night, occurrence. The + Captain peered down, and the stout woman looked up. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” exclaimed Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket made no immediate reply. She rose, however, shook + down the black “alpaca” skirt, which had been folded up to keep it out of + the dew, and, still humming softly to the child, walked off a little way, + motioning with her head for the Captain to follow. When she had reached a + spot sufficiently remote from Mrs. Saunders, she whispered: + </p> + <p> + “How d'ye do, Cap'n Hedge? I guess the wust is over now, isn't it? I saw + you workin' with them ropes; you must be awful tired.” + </p> + <p> + “How long have you been here?” asked the Captain somewhat astonished at + her calmness. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I come right down as soon as I heard the bell. I'm kind of used to + fires. My husband's schooner got afire twice while I was with him. He used + to run a coal vessel, you know. I got right up and packed my bag, 'cause I + didn't know how the fire might spread. You never can tell in a town like + this. Ssh'h, dearie,” to the baby, “there, there, it's all right. Lay + still.” + </p> + <p> + “How'd you git acquainted with her?” nodding toward the wife of the + proprietor of the scorched saloon. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I see the poor thing settin' there with all them children and nobody + paying much attention to her, so I went over and asked if I couldn't help + out. I haven't got any children of my own, but I was number three in a + fam'ly of fourteen, so I know how it's done. Oh! that husband of hers! + He's a nice one, he is! Would you b'lieve it, he come along and she spoke + to him, and he swore at her somethin' dreadful. That's why she's cryin'. + Poor critter, I guess by the looks she's used to it. Well, I give HIM a + piece of my mind. He went away with a flea in his ear. I do despise a + profane man above all things. Yes, the baby's all right, Mrs. Saunders. + I'm a-comin'. Good-night, Cap'n Hedge. I s'pose I shall see you all in the + mornin'. You ought to be careful and not stand still much this damp night. + It's bad when you're het up so.” + </p> + <p> + She went back, still singing to the baby, to where Mrs. Saunders sat, and + the Captain looked after her in a kind of amazed fashion. + </p> + <p> + “By mighty!” he muttered, and then repeated it. Then he resumed his + search. + </p> + <p> + He remembered that there had been a number of people on the side of the + burning shed opposite that on which he had been employed, and he + determined to have one look there before going to the Baxter homestead. + Almost the first man he saw as he approached the dying fire was Ralph + Hazeltine. The electrician's hands and face were blackened by soot, and + the perspiration sparkled on his forehead. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Captain!” he said, holding out his hand. “Lively for a while, + wasn't it? They tell me you were the man who suggested pulling down the + shed. It saved the day, all right enough.” + </p> + <p> + “You look as if you'd been workin' some yourself. Was you one of the + fellers that got that anchor in on this side?” + </p> + <p> + “He was THE one,” broke in Mr. Wingate, who was standing at Hazeltine's + elbow. “He waded in with an ax and stayed there till I thought he'd burn + the hair off his head. Web ought to pay you and him salvage, Eri. The + whole craft would have gone up if it hadn't been for you two.” + </p> + <p> + “I wonder if they got that pool table out,” laughed Ralph. “They did + everything but saw it into chunks.” + </p> + <p> + “I never saw Bluey Bacheldor work so afore,” commented the Captain. “I + wish somebody'd took a photograph of him. I'll bet you could sell 'em + round town for curiosities. Well, I can't be standin' here.” + </p> + <p> + “If you're going home I'll go along with you. I may as well be getting + down toward the station. The excitement is about over.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't goin' right home, Mr. Hazeltine. I've got an errand to do. + Prob'ly I'll be goin' pretty soon, though.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right! I'll wait here a while longer then. See you later + perhaps.” + </p> + <p> + The fog had lifted somewhat and as the Captain, running silently, turned + into the “shore road,” he saw that the light in the Baxter homestead had + not been extinguished. The schoolhouse bell had ceased to ring, and the + shouts of the crowd at the fire sounded faintly. There were no other + sounds. + </p> + <p> + Up the driveway Captain Eri hurried. There were no lights in the lower + part of the house and the dining-room door was locked. The kitchen door, + however, was not fastened and the Captain opened it and entered. Shutting + it carefully behind him, he groped along to the entrance of the next room. + </p> + <p> + “John!” he called softly. There was no answer, and the house was perfectly + still save for the ticking of the big clock. Captain Eri scratched a match + and by its light climbed the stairs. His friend's room was empty. The lamp + was burning on the bureau and a Bible was open beside it. The bed had not + been slept in. + </p> + <p> + Thoroughly alarmed now, the Captain, lamp in hand, went through one room + after the other. John Baxter was not at home, and he was not with the + crowd at the fire. Where was he? There was, of course, a chance that his + friend had passed him on the way or that he had been at the fire, after + all, but this did not seem possible. However, there was nothing to do but + go back, and this time the Captain took the path across the fields. + </p> + <p> + The Baxter house was on the “shore road,” and the billiard room and + post-office were on the “main road.” People in a hurry sometimes avoided + the corner by climbing the fence opposite the Baxter gate, going through + the Dawes' pasture and over the little hill back of the livery stable, and + coming out in the rear of the post-office and close to the saloon. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, worried, afraid to think of the fire and its cause, and only + anxious to ascertain where his friend was and what he had been doing that + night, trotted through the pasture and over the hill. Just as he came to + the bayberry bushes on the other side he stumbled and fell flat. + </p> + <p> + He knew what it was that he had stumbled over the moment that he fell + across it, and his fingers trembled, so that he could scarcely scratch the + match that he took from his pocket. But it was lighted at last and, as its + tiny blaze grew brighter, the Captain saw John Baxter lying face downward + in the path, his head pointed toward his home and his feet toward the + billiard saloon. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII + </h2> + <h3> + CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + </h3> + <p> + For a second, only, Captain Eri stood there motionless, stooping over the + body of his friend. Then he sprang into vigorous action. He dropped upon + his knees and, seizing the shoulder of the prostrate figure, shook it + gently, whispering, “John! John!” There was no answer and no responsive + movement, and the Captain bent his head and listened. Breath was there and + life; but, oh, so little of either! The next thought was, of course, to + run for help and for a doctor, but he took but a few steps when a new idea + struck him and he came back. + </p> + <p> + Lighting another match he examined the fallen man hurriedly. The old + “Come-Outer” lay in the path with his arms outstretched, as if he had + fallen while running. He was bare-headed, and there was no sign of a wound + upon him. One coat-sleeve was badly scorched, and from a pocket in the + coat protruded the neck of a bottle. The bottle was empty, but its odor + was strong; it had contained kerosene. The evidence was clear, and the + Captain knew that what he had feared was the truth. + </p> + <p> + For a moment he stood erect and pondered as to what was best to do. + Whatever it was, it must be done quickly, but if the doctor and those that + might come with him should find the burned coat and the tell-tale bottle, + it were better for John Baxter that consciousness and life never were his + again. There might, and probably would, be suspicion; but here was proof + absolute that meant prison and disgrace for a man whom all the community + had honored and respected. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri weighed the chances, speculated on the result, and then did + what seemed to him right. He threw the bottle as far away from the path as + he could and then stripped off the coat, and, folding it into a small + bundle, hid it in the bushes near by. Then he lifted the limp body, and + turned it so that the gray head was toward the billiard saloon instead of + from it. + </p> + <p> + Perez and Jerry were still busy with the water buckets when their friend + came panting up the knoll to the pump. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Eri!” said the former, wiping his forehead with his arm. “It's + 'bout out, ain't it? Why, what's the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin'; nothin' to speak of. Put down them buckets, and you and Jerry + come with me. I've got somethin' that I want you to do.” + </p> + <p> + Nodding and exchanging congratulations with acquaintances in the crowd on + the success of the fire-fighting, Captain Eri led his messmates to a dark + corner under a clump of trees. Then he took each of them by the arm and + whispered sharply: + </p> + <p> + “Dr. Palmer's somewheres in this crowd. I want each of you fellers to go + diff'rent ways and look for him. Whichever one finds him fust can bring + him up to the corner by the post-office. Whistle when you git there and + the rest of us 'll come. Don't stop to ask questions. I ain't hurt, but + John Baxter's had a stroke or somethin'. I can't tell you no more now. + Hurry! And say, don't you mention to a soul what the matter is.” + </p> + <p> + A sea-faring life has its advantages. It teaches prompt obedience, for one + thing. The two mariners did not hesitate an instant, but bolted in + opposite directions. Captain Eri watched them go, and then set off in + another. He was stopped every few moments and all sorts of questions and + comments concerning the fire and its cause were fired at him, but he put + off some inquiries with a curt “Don't know” and others with nods or + negatives, and threaded his way from one clump of townspeople to another. + As he came close to the blackened and smoking billiard saloon, Ralph + Hazeltine caught him by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” said the electrician. “Haven't you gone home yet?” + </p> + <p> + “No, not yit. Say, I'll ask you, 'cause I cal'late you can keep your mouth + shut if it's necessary: Have you seen the Doctor anywheres 'round lately? + He was here, 'cause I saw him when I fust come.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, Dr. Palmer? No; I haven't seen him. Is anyone hurt? Can I help?” + </p> + <p> + “I guess not. John Baxter's sick, but—oh, Lord! Here comes Wingate. + He'll talk for a week.” + </p> + <p> + Seth, panting and excited, was pushing his way toward them, shouting the + Captain's name at the top of his voice. + </p> + <p> + “Hey, Eri!” he hailed. “I want to know if you'll sign a petition to git + the town a fire ingyne? I've been talkin' to a couple of the s'lectmen and + they—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Mr. Wingate,” interrupted Ralph, “Mr. Mullett's been looking for you. + He's over there by the pump, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, Lem Mullett? Is that so! He's jest the feller I want to see. See you + later, Eri.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain grinned appreciatively as the convert to the hand-engine + proposal disappeared. + </p> + <p> + “That wasn't so bad,” he said. “I'm much obliged. Hey! There's the + whistle. Come on, Mr. Hazeltine, if you ain't in a special hurry. Maybe we + WILL need you.” + </p> + <p> + They reached the corner by the post-office to find Dr. Palmer, who had + practiced medicine in Orham since he received his diploma, waiting for + them. Captain Perez, who had discovered the physician on the Nickerson + piazza, was standing close by with his fingers in his mouth, whistling + with the regularity of a foghorn. + </p> + <p> + “Cut it short, Perez!” commanded Eri. “We're here now.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but Jerry ain't.” And the whistling began again. + </p> + <p> + “Dry up, for the land's sake! D'you want to fetch the whole tribe here? + There's Jerry, now. Come on, Doctor.” + </p> + <p> + John Baxter was lying just as the Captain had left him, and the others + watched anxiously as the doctor listened at the parted lips, and thrust + his hand inside the faded blue waistcoat. + </p> + <p> + “He's alive,” he said after a moment, “but unconscious. We must get him + home at once.” + </p> + <p> + “He heard the bell and was runnin' to the fire when he was took,” said + Captain Jerry. “Run out in his shirt sleeves, and was took when he got as + fur as here.” + </p> + <p> + “That's the way I figger it,” said Eri unblushingly. “Lift him carefully, + you fellers. Now then!” + </p> + <p> + “I warned him against over-exertion or excitement months ago,” said the + Doctor, as they bore the senseless burden toward the big house, now as + black as the grave that was so near its owner. “We must find someone to + take care of him at once. I don't believe the old man has a relation + within a hundred miles.” + </p> + <p> + “Why don't we take him to our house?” suggested Captain Jerry. “'Twouldn't + seem so plaguey lonesome, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + “By mighty!” ejaculated Captain Eri in astonishment. “Well, Jerry, I'll be + switched if you ain't right down brilliant once in a while. Of course we + will. He can have the spare room. Why didn't I think of that, I wonder?” + </p> + <p> + And so John Baxter, who had not paid a visit in his native village since + his wife died, came at last to his friend's home to pay what seemed likely + to be a final one. They carried him up the stairs to the spare room, as + dismal and cheerless as spare rooms in the country generally are, + undressed him as tenderly as their rough hands would allow, robed him in + one of Captain Jerry's nightshirts—the buttons that fastened it had + been sewed on by the Captain himself, and were all sizes and colors—and + laid him in the big corded bedstead. The Doctor hastened away to procure + his medicine case. Ralph Hazeltine, having been profusely thanked for his + services and promising to call the next day, went back to the station, and + the three captains sat down by the bedside to watch and wait. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was too much perturbed to talk, but the other two, although + sympathetically sorry for the sufferer, were bursting with excitement and + curiosity. + </p> + <p> + “Well, if THIS ain't been a night!” exclaimed Captain Jerry. “Seem's if + everything happened at once. Fust that darky and then the fire and then + this. Don't it beat all? + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said Captain Perez anxiously, “was John layin' jest the same way + when you found him as he was when we come?” + </p> + <p> + “Right in the same place,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't say in the same place. I asked if he was layin' the same way.” + </p> + <p> + “He hadn't moved a muscle. Laid jest as if he was dead.” + </p> + <p> + It will be noticed that Captain Eri was adhering strictly to the truth. + Luckily, Perez seemed to be satisfied, for he asked no further questions, + but observed, “It's a good thing we've got a crowd to swear how we found + him. There's a heap of folks in this town would be sayin' he set that fire + if 'twa'n't for that.” + </p> + <p> + “Some of 'em will be sayin' it anyhow,” remarked Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Some folks 'll say anything but their prayers,” snapped Eri savagely. + “They won't say it while I'm around. And look here! if you hear anybody + sayin' it, you tell 'em it's a lie. If that don't keep 'em quiet, let me + know.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all right. WE know he didn't set it. I was jest sayin'—” + </p> + <p> + “Well, don't say it.” + </p> + <p> + “My, you're techy! Guess fires and colored folks don't agree with you. + What are we goin' to do now? If John don't die, and the Lord knows I hope + he won't, he's likely to be sick here a long spell. Who are we goin' to + git to take care of him? That's what I want to know. Somebody's got to do + it and we ain't fit. If Jerry 'd only give in and git married now—” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry's protest against matrimony was as obstinate as ever. + Even Perez gave up urging after a while and conversation lagged again. In + a few minutes the Doctor came back, and his examination of the patient and + demands for glasses of water, teaspoons, and the like, kept Perez and + Jerry busy. It was some time before they noticed that Captain Eri had + disappeared. Even then they did not pay much attention to the + circumstance, but watched the physician at work and questioned him + concerning the nature of their guest's illness. + </p> + <p> + “D'you think he'll die, Doctor?” inquired Jerry in a hushed voice, as they + came out of the sick room into the connecting chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Can't say. He has had a stroke of paralysis, and there seem to be other + complications. If he regains consciousness I shall think he has a chance, + but not a very good one. His pulse is a little stronger. I don't think + he'll die to-night, but if he lives he will need a good nurse, and I don't + know of one in town.” + </p> + <p> + “Nor me neither,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Well, A'nt Zuby might come,” suggested Jerry, “but I should hate to have + her nuss me, and as for bein' WELL in a house where she was—whew!” + </p> + <p> + “A'nt Zuby!” sneered his messmate. “If Lorenzo had a fit and they called + A'nt Zuby he'd have another one and die. A'nt Zuby! I'd 'bout as soon have + M'lissy and be done with it.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I don't doubt YOU WOULD,” was the anything but gentle retort. + </p> + <p> + What Perez would have said to this thrust must be surmised, for just then + the dining-room door opened and closed again. + </p> + <p> + “There's Eri,” said Captain Jerry. Then he added in an alarmed whisper, + “Who on airth has he got with him?” + </p> + <p> + They heard their friend's voice warning someone to be careful of the top + step, and then the chamber door opened and Captain Eri appeared. There + were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and he was carrying a shabby + canvas extension-case. Captain Jerry gazed at the extension-case with + bulging eyes. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri put down the extension-case and opened the door wide. A woman + came in; a stout woman dressed in black “alpaca” and wearing brass-rimmed + spectacles. Captain Jerry gasped audibly. + </p> + <p> + “Dr. Palmer,” said Captain Eri, “let me make you acquainted with Mrs. Snow + of Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Dr. Palmer.” + </p> + <p> + The Doctor and the lady from Nantucket shook hands, the former with a + puzzled expression on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” continued the Captain, “let me make you known to Mrs. Snow—Mrs. + Marthy B. Snow,”—this with especial emphasis,—“of Nantucket. + Mrs. Snow, this is Cap'n Perez Ryder.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands; Captain Perez managed to say that he was glad to meet + Mrs. Snow. Captain Jerry said nothing, but he looked like a criminal + awaiting the fall of the drop. + </p> + <p> + “Doctor,” continued the Captain, paying no attention to the signals of + distress displayed by his friend, “I heard you say a spell ago that John + here needed somebody to take care of him. Well, Mrs. Snow—she's a—a—sort + of relation of Jerry's”—just a suspicion of a smile accompanied this + assertion—“and she's done consid'rable nussin' in her time. I've + been talkin' the thing over with her and she's willin' to look out for + John till he gits better.” + </p> + <p> + The physician adjusted his eyeglasses and looked the volunteer nurse over + keenly. The lady paid no attention to the scrutiny, but calmly removed her + bonnet and placed it on the bureau. The room was Captain Eri's, and the + general disarrangement of everything movable was only a little less marked + than in those of his companions. Mrs. Snow glanced over the heap of odds + and ends on the bureau and picked up a comb. There were some teeth in it, + but they were distant neighbors. + </p> + <p> + “I don't use that comb very much,” said Captain Eri rather apologetically. + “I gin'rally use the one downstairs.” + </p> + <p> + The new-found relative of Captain Jerry said nothing, but, laying down the + ruin, marched over to the extension-case, opened it, and took out another + comb—a whole one. With this she arranged the hair on her forehead. + It, the hair, was parted in the middle and drawn back smoothly at the + sides, and Captain Eri noticed that it was brown with a little gray in it. + When the last stray wisp was in place, she turned calmly to the Doctor and + said: + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Baxter's in here, I s'pose. Shall I walk right in?” + </p> + <p> + The man of medicine seemed a little surprised at the lady's command of the + situation, but he said: + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, ma'am; I guess you may. You have nursed before, I think the + Captain said.” + </p> + <p> + “Five years with my husband. He had slow consumption. Before that with my + mother, and most of my brothers and sisters at one time or another. I've + seen consid'rable sickness all my life. More of that than anything else, I + guess. Now, if you'll come in with me, so's to tell me about the medicine + and so on.” + </p> + <p> + With a short “Humph!” the physician followed her into the sick room, while + the three mariners gazed wide-eyed in at the door. They watched, as Doctor + Palmer explained medicines and gave directions. It did not need an expert + to see that the new nurse understood her business. + </p> + <p> + When the Doctor came out his face shone with gratification. + </p> + <p> + “She'll do,” he said emphatically. “If all your relatives are like that, + Cap'n Burgess, I'd like to know 'em; 'twould help me in my business.” Then + he added in response to a question, “He seems to be a little better just + now. I think there will be no change for a while; if there should be, send + for me. I'll call in the morning. Gracious! it's almost daylight now.” + </p> + <p> + They saw him to the door and then came back upstairs. Mrs. Snow was busy, + arranging the pillows, setting the room in something like order, and + caring for her patient's garments, that had been tossed helter-skelter on + the floor in the hurry of undressing. She came to the door as they entered + Captain Eri's chamber. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” said the Captain, “you'd better sleep in my room here long's + you stay. I'll bunk in with Perez downstairs. I'll git my dunnage out of + here right off. I think likely you'll want to clean up some.” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket glanced at the bureau top and seemed about to say + something, but checked herself. What she did say was: + </p> + <p> + “P'raps you'd better introduce me to Cap'n Burgess. I don't think we've + ever met, if we ARE relations.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri actually blushed a little. “Why, of course,” he said. “Excuse + me, ma'am. Jerry, this is Mrs. Snow. I don't know what's got into me, + bein' so careless.” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice shook the nurse's hand and said something, nobody knew + exactly what. Mrs. Snow went on to say, “Now, I want you men to go right + on to bed, for I know you're all tuckered out. We can talk to-morrow—I + mean to-day, of course: I forgot 'twas next-door to daylight now. I shall + set up with Cap'n Baxter, and if I need you I'll call you. I'll call you + anyway when I think it's time. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + They protested, of course, but the lady would not listen. She calmly + seated herself in the rocker by the bed and waved to them to go, which two + of them reluctantly did after a while. The other one had gone already. It + would be superfluous to mention his name. + </p> + <p> + Downstairs again and in Perez' room Captain Eri came in for a questioning + that bade fair to keep up forever. He shut off all inquiries, however, + with the announcement that he wouldn't tell them a word about it till he'd + had some sleep. Then he would explain the whole thing, and they could + decide whether he had done right or not. There were all sorts of things to + be considered, he said, and they had better take a nap now while they + could. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'd jest like to ask you this, Eri Hedge,” demanded Captain Jerry. + “What in time did you tell the Doctor that she was a relation of mine for? + That was a nice thing to do, wa'n't it? I'll have to answer more fool + questions 'bout that than a little. What sort of a relation shall I tell + folks she is? Jest tell me that, will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, tell 'em she's a relation by marriage,” was the answer, muffled by + the bed clothes. “Maybe that 'll be true by the time they ask you.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll BET it won't!” snorted the rebel. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Jerry, tired out, + did the same, but Captain Eri's eyes did not close. The surf pounded and + grumbled. A rooster, early astir, crowed somewhere in the distance. Daniel + thumped the side of his stall and then subsided for another nap. The gray + morning light brightened the window of the little house. + </p> + <p> + Then Captain Eri slid silently out of bed, dressed with elaborate + precautions against noise, put on his cap, and tiptoed out of the house. + He walked through the dripping grass, climbed the back fence and hurried + to the hill where John Baxter had fallen. Once there, he looked carefully + around to be sure that no one was watching. Orham, as a rule, is an early + riser, but this morning most of the inhabitants, having been up for the + greater part of the night, were making up lost sleep and the Captain was + absolutely alone. + </p> + <p> + Assured of this, he turned to the bush underneath which he had hidden the + burned coat, pushed aside the drenched boughs with their fading leaves and + reached down for the tell-tale garment. + </p> + <p> + And then he made an unpleasant discovery. The coat was gone. + </p> + <p> + He spent an agitated quarter of an hour hunting through every clump of + bushes in the immediate vicinity, but there was no doubt of it. Someone + had been there before him and had taken the coat away. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII + </h2> + <h3> + HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + </h3> + <p> + There was a knock on the door of Captain Perez's sleeping apartment. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” said Mrs. Snow, “Cap'n Hedge! I'm sorry to wake you up, but + it's 'most ten o'clock and—” + </p> + <p> + “What? Ten o'clock! Godfrey scissors! Of all the lazy—I'll be out in + a jiffy. Perez, turn out there! Turn out, I tell you!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri had fallen asleep in the rocker where he had seated himself + upon his return from the fruitless search for the coat. He had had no + intention of sleeping, but he was tired after his strenuous work at the + fire, and had dropped off in the midst of his worry. He sprang to his + feet, and tried to separate dreams from realities. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love, Perez!” he ejaculated. “Here you and me have been sleepin' + ha'f the forenoon. We'd ought to be ashamed of ourselves. Let's git + dressed quicker 'n chain lightnin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Dressed?” queried Perez, sitting up in bed. “I should think you was + dressed now, boots and all. What are you talkin' 'bout?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced down at his clothes and seemed as much surprised as + his friend. He managed to pull himself together, however, and stammered: + </p> + <p> + “Dressed? Oh, I'm dressed, of course. It's you I'm tryin' to git some life + into.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, why didn't you call a feller, 'stead of gittin' up and dressin' all + by yourself. I never see such a critter. Where's my socks?” + </p> + <p> + To avoid further perplexing questions Captain Eri went into the dining + room. The table was set, really set, with a clean cloth and dishes that + shone. The knives and forks were arranged by the plates, not piled in a + heap for each man to help himself. The Captain gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan to man!” he said. “Has Jerry had a fit or what's struck him? + I ain't seen him do anything like this for I don't know when.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Cap'n Burgess didn't fix the table, if that's what you mean,” said + the new nurse. “Cap'n Baxter seemed to be sleepin' or in a stupor like, + and the Doctor, when he come, said I might leave him long enough to run + downstairs for a few minutes, so—” + </p> + <p> + “The Doctor? Has the Doctor been here this mornin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he come 'bout an hour ago. Now, if you wouldn't mind goin' up and + stayin' with Cap'n Baxter for a few minutes while I finish gettin' + breakfast. I've been up and down so many times in the last ha'f hour, I + don't know's I'm sartin whether I'm on my head or my heels.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain went upstairs in a dazed state. As he passed through what had + been his room he vaguely noticed that the bureau top was clean, and that + most of the rubbish that had ornamented it had disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The sick man lay just as he had left him, his white face as colorless as + the clean pillow case against which it rested. Captain Eri remembered that + the pillow cases in the spare room had looked a little yellow the night + before, possibly owing to the fact that, as the room had not been occupied + for months, they had not been changed. He reasoned that the improvement + was another one of the reforms instituted by the lady from Nantucket. + </p> + <p> + He sat down in the rocker by the bed and thought, with a shiver, of the + missing coat. There were nine chances out of ten that whoever found it + would recognize it as belonging to the old “Come-Outer.” The contents of + the pocket would be almost certain to reveal the secret if the coat itself + did not. It remained to be seen who the finder was and what he would do. + Meanwhile there was no use worrying. Having come to this conclusion the + Captain, with customary philosophy, resolved to think of something else. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow entered and announced that breakfast was ready and that he must + go down at once and eat it while it was hot. She, having breakfasted some + time before, would stay with the patient until the meal was over. Captain + Eri at first flatly declined to listen to any such arrangement, but the + calm insistence of the Nantucket visitor prevailed as usual. The Captain + realized that the capacity for “bossin' things,” that he had discerned in + the letter, was even more apparent in the lady herself. One thing he did + insist upon, however, and this was that Mrs. Snow should “turn in” as soon + as breakfast was over. One of the three would take the watch in the sick + room while the other two washed the dishes. The nurse was inclined to balk + on the dishwashing proposition, saying that she could do it herself after + she had had a wink or two, but this the Captain wouldn't hear of. He went + away, however, with an unsettled conviction that, although he and his + partners might wash the dishes, Mrs. Snow would wash them again as soon as + she had an opportunity. “She didn't say so, but she sort of looked it,” he + explained afterward. + </p> + <p> + He found his friends seated at the table and feasting on hot biscuits, + eggs, and clear, appetizing coffee. They greeted him joyously. + </p> + <p> + “Hey, Eri!” hailed Captain Perez. “Ain't this gay? Look at them eggs; + b'iled jest to a T. Ain't much like Jerry's h'af raw kind.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! You needn't say nothin', Perez,” observed Captain Jerry, his mouth + full of biscuit. “When you was cook, you allers b'iled 'em so hard they'd + dent the barn if you'd fired 'em at it. How's John, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gave his and the Doctor's opinion of his friend's condition + and then said, “Now, we've got to have some kind of a settlement on this + marryin' question. Last night, when I was up in the room there, it come + acrost me all of a sudden that, from what I'd seen of this Nantucket + woman, she'd be jest the sort of nurse that John needed. So I skipped out + while you fellers was busy with the Doctor, found her at the hotel, + explained things to her, and got her to come down. That's all there is to + that. I ain't made no arrangement with her, and somethin's got to be done. + What do you think of her, jedgin' by what you've seen?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gave it as his opinion that she was “all right,” and added, + “If Jerry here wa'n't so pigheaded all at once, he'd marry her without + waitin' another minute.” + </p> + <p> + Eri nodded. “That's my idee,” he said emphatically. + </p> + <p> + But Captain Jerry was as obstinate as ever. He simply would not consider + immediate marriage. In vain his comrades reminded him of the original + compact, and the fact that the vote was two to one against him; he + announced that he had changed his mind, and that that was all there was + about it. + </p> + <p> + At length Captain Eri lost patience. + </p> + <p> + “Jerry,” he exclaimed, “you remind me of that old white hen we used to + have. When we didn't want her to set she'd set on anything from a doorknob + to a rock, couldn't keep her off; but when we give in finally and got a + settin' of eggs for her, she wouldn't come nigher to 'em than the other + end of the hen-yard. Now you might as well make up your mind that + somethin's got to be done. This Mrs. Snow ain't nobody's fool. We put out + a bait that anybody with sense would say couldn't catch nothin' but + sculpin, and, by mighty, we hooked a halibut! If the woman was anything + like what you'd think she'd be, answerin' an advertisement like that, I'd + be the fust to say let her go, but she ain't; she's all right, and we need + her to nuss John besides.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell you what we might do,” said Perez slowly; “we might explain to her + that Jerry don't feel that 'twould be right to think of marryin' with + Cap'n Baxter so sick in the house and that, if she's willin', we'll put it + off till he dies or gets better. Meantime, we'll pay her so much to stay + here and nuss. Seems to me that's about the only way out of it.” + </p> + <p> + So they agreed to lay this proposal before the Nantucket lady, Captain + Jerry reluctantly consenting. Then Captain Eri took up another subject. + </p> + <p> + John Baxter, as has been said, had one relative, a granddaughter, living + somewhere near Boston. Captain Eri felt that this granddaughter should be + notified of the old man's illness at once. The difficulty was that none of + them knew the young lady's address. + </p> + <p> + “Her fust name's Elizabeth, same as her mothers was,” said Eri, “and her + dad's name was Preston. They called her Elsie. John used to write to her + every once in a while. P'raps Sam would know where she lived.” + </p> + <p> + “Jest' cause Sam's postmaster,” observed Perez, “it don't foller that he + reads the name on every letter that goes out and remembers 'em besides.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if he don't,” said Captain Jerry decidedly, “Mary Emma does. She + reads everything, postals and all.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Mary Emma Cahoon was the assistant at the post-office, and was + possessed of a well-developed curiosity concerning other people's + correspondence. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed Captain Eri, “that's so. We'll write the letter, and + I'll ask Mary Emma for the address when I go up to mail it.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Perez went upstairs to take Mrs Snow's place as nurse, while + that lady “turned in.” Captain Jerry went into the kitchen to wash the + dishes, and Captain Eri sat down to write the note that should inform + Elizabeth Preston of her grandfather's illness. It was a very short note, + and merely stated the fact without further information. Having had some + experience in that line, the Captain placed very little reliance upon the + help to be expected from relatives. + </p> + <p> + Dr. Palmer had spread the news as he went upon his round of visits that + morning, and callers began to drop in to inquire after the sick man. Miss + Busteed was one of the first arrivals, and, as Captain Eri had seen her + through the window, he went upstairs and took Perez' place as temporary + nurse. To Perez, therefore, fell the delightful task of entertaining the + voluble female for something like an hour, while she talked fire, + paralysis, and general gossip at express speed. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine came in a little later, and was introduced to Mrs. Snow, + that lady's nap having been but a short one. Ralph was favorably impressed + with the capable appearance of the new nurse, and so expressed himself to + Captain Eri as they walked together toward the post-office. + </p> + <p> + “I like her,” he said emphatically. “She's quiet and sensible and cheerful + besides. She looks as if trouble didn't trouble her very much.” + </p> + <p> + “I jedge she's seen enough of it in her time, too,” observed the Captain + reflectively. “Queer thing how trouble acts different on folks. Kind of + like hot weather, sours milk, but sweetens apples. She's one of the + sweetened kind. And yet, I cal'late she can be pretty sharp, too, if you + try to tread on her toes. Sort of a sweet pickle, hey?” and he laughed. + </p> + <p> + Miss Cahoon remembered the Preston girl's address. It was Cambridge, + Kirkland Street, but the number, she did declare, had skipped her mind. + The Captain said he would chance it without the number, so the letter was + posted. Then, with the electrician, he strolled over to inspect the + remains of the billiard saloon. + </p> + <p> + There was a small crowd gathered about the building, prominent among its + members being the “train committee,” who were evidently holding a special + session on this momentous occasion. The busy “Squealer,” a trifle + enlivened by some of Mr. Saunders' wet goods that had escaped the efforts + of the volunteer salvage corps, hailed the new arrivals as brother heroes. + </p> + <p> + “Well now, Cap'n Eri!” he exclaimed, shaking hands vigorously. “And Mr. + Hazeltine, too! How're you feelin' after last night? I says to Web, I + says, 'There's folks in this town besides me that kept you from losin' the + whole thing and you ought to thank 'em,' I says. 'One of 'em 's Cap'n Eri + and t'other one's Mr. Hazeltine. If we three didn't work, then <i>I</i> + don't know,' I says.” + </p> + <p> + “Web found out how the fire started yit?” inquired the Captain with + apparent unconcern. + </p> + <p> + “No, he hain't for sure. There was a lot of us thought old Baxter might + have set it, but they tell me it couldn't have been him, cause he was took + down runnin' to the fire. Web, he's sort of changed his tune, and don't + seem to think anybody set it; thinks it catched itself.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders, his smooth self again, with all traces of mental disturbance + gone from his face and all roughness from his tongue, came briskly up, + smiling as if the burning of his place of business was but a trifling + incident, a little annoying, of course, but not worth fretting about. He + thanked the Captain and Hazeltine effusively for their service of the + previous night, and piled the weight of his obligations upon them until, + as Captain Eri said afterwards, “the syrup fairly dripped off his chin.” + The Captain broke in upon the sugary flow as soon as he could. + </p> + <p> + “How d'you think it started, Web?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” replied Mr. Saunders slowly, “I kind of cal'late she started + herself. There was some of the boys in here most of the evenin', and, jest + like's not, a cigar butt, or a match, or somethin' dropped somewheres and + got to smolderin', and smoldered along till bime-by—puff!” An + expressive wave of a fat hand finished the sentence. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted the Captain. “Changed your mind sence last night. Seems + to me I heard you then swearin' you knew 'twas set and who set it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, ye-es. I was considerable shook up last night and maybe I said + things I hadn't ought to. You see there's been a good deal of hard + feelin's towards me in town and for a spell I thought some feller'd tried + to burn me out. But I guess not; I guess not. More I think of it, more I + think it catched itself. Seems to me I remember smellin' sort of a + scorchin' smell when I was lockin' up. Oh, say! I was mighty sorry to hear + 'bout Cap'n Baxter bein' took sick. The old man was dreadful down on + liquor, but I laid that to his religion and never had no hard feelin's + against him. How's he gittin' along?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri brusquely replied that his friend was “'bout the same,” and + asked if Mr. Saunders intended to rebuild. “Web” didn't know just yet. He + was a poor man, didn't carry much insurance, and so on. Thought likely he + should fix up again if it didn't cost too much. Did the Doctor say whether + Captain Baxter would pull through or not? + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri gave an evasive answer and turned away. He was silent for some + little time, and when Ralph commented on “Web's” overnight change of + manner, his rejoinder was to the effect that “ile was bound to rise, but + that didn't mean there wa'n't dirty water underneath.” On the way home he + asked Hazeltine concerning the trouble at the cable station, and how Mr. + Langley had treated the matter. + </p> + <p> + Ralph replied that Mr. Langley had said nothing to him about it. It was + his opinion that the old gentleman understood the affair pretty well, and + was not disposed to blame him. As for the men, they had been as docile as + lambs, and he thought the feeling toward himself was not as bitter as it + had been. All of which his companion said he was glad to hear. + </p> + <p> + They separated at the gate, and the Captain entered the house to find Mrs. + Snow wielding a broom and surrounded by a cloud of dust. Perez was + upstairs with the patient, and Captain Jerry, whose habits had been + considerably upset by the sweeping, was out in the barn. + </p> + <p> + That evening the situation was explained to Mrs. Snow by Captain Eri, in + accordance with the talk at the breakfast table. The lady from Nantucket + understood and respected Captain Jerry's unwillingness to discuss the + marriage question while John Baxter's condition continued critical, and + she agreed to act as nurse and housekeeper for a while, at least, for the + sum of six dollars a week. This price was fixed only after considerable + discussion by the three mariners, for Captain Eri was inclined to offer + eight, and Captain Jerry but four. + </p> + <p> + When Ralph Hazeltine called late in the afternoon of the following day, + the dining room was so transformed that he scarcely knew it. The dust had + disappeared; the chronometer was polished till it shone; the table was + covered with a cloth that was snow-white, and everything movable had the + appearance of being in its place. Altogether, there was an evidence of + order that was almost startling. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri came to the door in response to his knock, and grinned + appreciatively at his caller's look of wonder. + </p> + <p> + “I don't wonder you're s'prised,” he said, with a chuckle. “I ain't begun + to git over it yit, myself, and Lorenzo's so shook up he ain't been in the + house sence breakfast time. He's out in the barn, keepin' Dan'l comp'ny + and waitin' for the end of the world to strike, I cal'late.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “Mrs. Snow?” he inquired. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” answered the Captain. “It beats all what a woman can do when + she's that kind of a woman. She's done more swabbin' decks and overhaulin' + runnin' riggin' than a new mate on a clipper. The place is so all-fired + clean that I feel like brushin' myself every time I go to set down.” + </p> + <p> + “How's Captain Baxter?” asked Hazeltine. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to be some better. He come to a little this mornin', and seemed to + know some of us, but he ain't sensed where he is yit, nor I don't b'lieve + he will fur a spell. Set down and keep me comp'ny. It's my watch jest now. + Perez, he's over to Barry's; Jerry's up to the schoolhouse, and Mrs. + Snow's run up to the post-office to mail a letter. John's asleep, so I can + stay downstairs a little while, long's the door's open. What's the news + uptown? Web changed his mind ag'in 'bout the fire?” + </p> + <p> + It appeared that Mr. Saunders had not changed his mind, at least so + current gossip reported. And it may be remarked here that, curiously + enough, the opinion that the fire “caught itself” came at last to be + generally accepted in the village. For some weeks Captain Eri was troubled + with thoughts concerning the missing coat, but, as time passed, and the + accusing garment did not turn up, he came to believe that some boy must + have found it and that it had, in all probability, been destroyed. There + were, of course, some persons who still suspected John Baxter as the + incendiary, but the old man's serious illness and respect for his former + standing in the community kept these few silent. The Baxter house had been + locked up and the Captain had the key. + </p> + <p> + Hazeltine and his host chatted for a few minutes on various topics. The + gilt titles on the imposing “Lives of Great Naval Commanders,” having + received their share of the general dusting, now shone forth resplendent, + and the Captain noticed Ralph's eye as it involuntarily turned toward + them. + </p> + <p> + “Noticin' our library?” he chuckled. “Perez' property, that is. 'Gusty + Black talked him into buyin' 'em. Never met 'Gusty, did you? No, I guess + likely not. She lives over to the Neck, and don't git down to the village + much. 'Gusty's what you call a business woman. She' always up to somethin' + to make a dollar, and she's as slick a talker as ever was, I guess. She + never give Perez no rest till he signed the deed for them books. Told him + they'd give liter'ry tone to the shebang. Perez started to read 'em out + loud when they fust come, but he had to stop so often to spell out the + furrin names that me and Jerry used to go to sleep. That made him mad, and + he said, liter'ry tone be durned; he wa'n't goin' to waste his breath + readin' us to sleep; so they've been on the shelf ever sence.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “So you have book agents, too?” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Well, we've got 'Gusty,” was the reply, “and she's enough to keep us + goin'. Gits round reg'lar as clockwork once a month to collect the two + dollars from Perez. It's her day now, and I told Perez that that was why + he sneaked off to Barry's. You see, 'Gusty's after him to buy the history + of Methuselah, or some old critter, and he don't like to see her. She's + after me, too, but I'm 'fraid she don't git much encouragement.” + </p> + <p> + After they had talked a little longer, the Captain seemed to remember + something, for he glanced at his watch and said, “Mr. Hazeltine, I wonder + if I could git you to do me a favor. I really ought to go down and see to + my shanty. Ain't been there sence day afore yesterday, and there's so many + boys 'round, I'm 'fraid to leave it unlocked much longer. I thought some + of the folks would be back 'fore this, but if you could stay here long + enough for me to run down there a minute or two, I'd be ever so much + obliged. I'll step up and see how John is.” + </p> + <p> + He went upstairs and returned to report that the patient was quiet and + seemed to be asleep. + </p> + <p> + “If you hear him groan, or anything,” he said, “jest come to the door and + whistle. Whistle anyway, if you want me. Ain't nobody likely to come, + 'less it's 'Gusty or the Reverend Perley come to ask 'bout John. If it's a + middlin' good-lookin' young woman with a satchel, that's 'Gusty. Don't + whistle; tell her I'm out. I'll be back in a jiffy, but you needn't tell + either of them so unless your conscience hurts you TOO much.” + </p> + <p> + After the Captain had gone Ralph took down a volume of the “Great + Commanders” and sat down in a chair by the table to look it over. He was + smiling over the gaudy illustrations and flamboyant descriptions of + battles, when there was a step on the walk outside and knock at the door. + “Which is it,” he thought, “'Gusty or the Reverend?” + </p> + <p> + Obviously it was Miss Black. She stood on the mica slab that formed the + step and looked up at him as he swung the door open. She had a small + leather bag in her hand, just as the Captain had said she would have, but + it flashed across Mr. Hazeltine's mind that the rest of the description + was not a fair one; she was certainly much more than “middlin' + good-lookin'!” + </p> + <p> + “Is Captain Hedge in?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + Now, from his friend's hints, Ralph had expected to hear a rather sharp + and unpleasant voice,—certain disagreeable remembrances of former + encounters with female book agents had helped to form the impression + perhaps,—but Miss Black's voice was mellow, quiet, and rather + pleasing than otherwise. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Mr. Hazeltine, obeying orders with exactitude. “Captain Hedge + is out just now.” + </p> + <p> + “'Gusty”—somehow the name didn't seem to fit—was manifestly + disappointed. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” she said, and then added, “Will he be back soon?” + </p> + <p> + Now this was a question unprovided for. Ralph stammered, and then + miserably equivocated. He really couldn't say just when the Captain would + return. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” said the young lady again. Then she seemed to be waiting for + some further observation on the part of the gentleman at the door. None + being forthcoming, she seemed to make up her mind to act on her own + initiative. + </p> + <p> + “I think I will come in and wait,” she said with decision. And come in she + did, Mr. Hazeltine not knowing exactly what to do, under the + circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Now this was much more in keeping with the electrician's preconceived + ideas of a book agent's behavior; nevertheless, when he turned and found + the young lady standing in the middle of the floor, he felt obliged to be + at least decently polite. + </p> + <p> + “Won't you take a chair?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you,” said the caller, and took one. + </p> + <p> + The situation was extremely awkward, but Ralph felt that loyalty to + Captain Eri forbade his doing anything that might urge the self-possessed + Miss Black to prolong her visit, so for a time he said nothing. The young + lady looked out of the window and Mr. Hazeltine looked at her. He was more + than ever of the opinion that the “middlin'” term should be cut out of her + description. He rather liked her appearance, so he decided. He liked the + way she wore her hair; so simple an arrangement, but so effective. Also he + liked her dress. It was the first tailor-made walking suit he had seen + since his arrival in Orham. And worn by a country book agent, of all + people. + </p> + <p> + Just then Miss Black turned and caught him intently gazing at her. She + colored, apparently with displeasure, and looked out of the window again. + Mr. Hazeltine colored also and fidgeted with the book on the table. The + situation was confoundedly embarrassing. He felt that he must say + something now, so he made the original observation that it had been a + pleasant day. + </p> + <p> + To this the young lady agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her tone. + Then Ralph, nervously fishing for another topic, thought of the book in + his hand. + </p> + <p> + “I was just reading this,” he said. “I found it quite interesting.” + </p> + <p> + The next moment he realized that he had said what, of all things, was the + most impolitic. It was nothing less than a bid for a “canvass,” and he + fully expected to be confronted with the necessary order blanks without + delay. But, strangely enough, the book lady made no such move. She looked + at him, it is true, but with an expression of surprise and what seemed to + be amusement on her face. He was certain that her lips twitched as she + said calmly: + </p> + <p> + “Did you? I am glad to hear it.” + </p> + <p> + This dispassionate remark was entirely unexpected, and the electrician, as + Captain Eri would have said, “lost his bearings” completely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—er, yes,” he stammered. “Very interesting indeed. I—I + suppose you must take a good many orders in the course of a week.” + </p> + <p> + “A good many ORDERS?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes. Orders for the books, I mean. The books—the 'Great Naval + Lives'—er—these books here.” + </p> + <p> + “I beg your pardon, but who do you think I am?” + </p> + <p> + And it was then that the perception of some tremendous blunder began to + seize upon Mr. Hazeltine. He had been red before; now, he felt the redness + creeping over his scalp under his hair. + </p> + <p> + “Why, why, Miss Black, I suppose; that is, I—” + </p> + <p> + Just here the door opened and Captain Eri came in. He took off his cap and + then, seeing the visitor, remained standing, apparently waiting for an + introduction. But the young lady did not keep him waiting long. + </p> + <p> + “Are you Captain Eri Hedge?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes'm,” answered the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'm SO glad. Your letter came this morning, and I hurried down on the + first train. I'm Elizabeth Preston.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX + </h2> + <h3> + ELSIE PRESTON + </h3> + <p> + Perhaps, on the whole, it is not surprising that Captain Eri didn't grasp + the situation. Neither his two partners nor himself had given much thought + to the granddaughter of the sick man in the upper room. The Captain knew + that there was a granddaughter, hence his letter; but he had heard John + Baxter speak of her as being in school somewhere in Boston, and had all + along conceived of her as a miss of sixteen or thereabouts. No wonder that + at first he looked at the stylishly gowned young woman, who stood before + him with one gloved hand extended, in a puzzled, uncomprehending way. + </p> + <p> + “Excuse me, ma'am,” he said slowly, mechanically swallowing up the + proffered hand in his own mammoth fist, “but I don't know's I jest caught + the name. Would you mind sayin' it ag'in?” + </p> + <p> + “Elizabeth Preston,” repeated the visitor. “Captain Baxter's + granddaughter. You wrote me that he was ill, you know, and I—” + </p> + <p> + “What!” roared the Captain, delighted amazement lighting up his face like + a sunrise. “You don't mean to tell me you're 'Liz'beth Baxter's gal Elsie! + Well! Well! I want to know! If this don't beat all! Set down! Take your + things right off. I'm mighty glad to see you.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's hand, with Miss Preston's hidden in it, was moving up and + down as if it worked by a clock-work arrangement. The young lady withdrew + her fingers from the trap as soon as she conveniently could, but it might + have been noticed that she glanced at them when she had done so, as if to + make sure that the original shape remained. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, Captain Hedge,” she said. “And now, please tell me about + grandfather. How is he? May I see him?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's expression changed to one of concern. + </p> + <p> + “Why, now, Miss Preston,” he said, “your grandpa is pretty sick. Oh, I + don't mean he's goin' to die right off or anything like that,” he added + hastily. “I mean he's had a stroke of palsy, or somethin', and he ain't + got so yit that he senses much of what goes on. Now I don't want to + frighten you, you know, but really there's a chance—a leetle mite of + a chance—that he won't know you. Don't feel bad if he don't, now + will you?” + </p> + <p> + “I knew he must be very ill from your letter,” said the girl simply. “I + was afraid that he might not be living when I reached here. They told me + at the station that he was at your house and so I came. He has been very + good to me and I—” + </p> + <p> + Her voice broke a little and she hesitated. Captain Eri was a picture of + nervous distress. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes, I know,” he said hastily. “Don't you worry now. He's better; + the Doctor said he was consid'rably better to-day; didn't he, Mr. + Hazeltine? Why, what am I thinkin' of? Let me make you known to Mr. + Hazeltine; next-door neighbor of ours; right acrost the road,” and he + waved toward the bay. + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Miss Preston shook hands. The electrician managed to utter some + sort of formality, but he couldn't have told what it was. He was glad when + the Captain announced that, if Mr. Hazeltine would excuse them, he guessed + Miss Preston and he would step upstairs and see John. The young lady took + off her hat and jacket, and Captain Eri lighted a lamp, for it was almost + dark by this time. As its light shone upon the visitor's face and hair the + crimson flush before mentioned circumnavigated the electrician's head once + more, and his bump of self-esteem received a finishing blow. That any man + supposed to possess two fairly good eyes and a workable brain could have + mistaken her for an Orham Neck book agent by the name of “'Gusty—'Gusty + Black!” Heavens! + </p> + <p> + “I'll be down in a few minutes, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the Captain. “Set + still, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hazeltine wouldn't sit still. He announced that it was late and he + must be going. And go he did, in spite of his host's protestations. + </p> + <p> + “Look out for the stairs,” cautioned the Captain, leading the way with the + lamp. “The feller that built 'em must have b'lieved that savin' distance + lengthens out life. Come to think of it, I wouldn't wonder if them stairs + was the reason why me and Jerry and Perez took this house. They reminded + us so of the shrouds on a three-master.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie Preston did her best to smile as her companion rattled on in this + fashion, but both the smile and the Captain's cheerfulness were too + plainly assumed to be convincing, and they passed down the hall in + silence. At the open door of the sick room Captain Eri paused. + </p> + <p> + “He's asleep,” he whispered, “and, remember, if he wakes up and doesn't + know you, you needn't feel bad.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie slipped by him and knelt by the bed, looking into the white, old + face on the pillow. Somehow the harsh lines had faded out of it, and it + looked only old and pitiful. + </p> + <p> + The Captain watched the tableau for a moment or two, and then tiptoed into + the room and placed the lamp on the bureau. + </p> + <p> + “Now, I think likely,” he said in a rather husky whisper, “that you'd like + to stay with your grandpa for a little while, so I'll go downstairs and + see about supper. No, no, no!” he added, holding up his hand as the girl + spoke some words of protest, “you ain't goin' nowheres to supper. You're + goin' to stay right here. If you want me, jest speak.” + </p> + <p> + And he hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, clearing his throat with + vigor and making a great to-do over the scratching of a match. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow returned a few minutes later and to her the news of the arrival + was told, as it was also to Perez and Jerry when they came. Mrs. Snow took + charge of the supper arrangements. When the meal was ready, she said to + Captain Eri: + </p> + <p> + “Now, I'll go upstairs and tell her to come down. I'll stay with Cap'n + Baxter till you're through, and then p'raps, if one of you'll take my + place, I'll eat my supper and wash the dishes. You needn't come up now. + I'll introduce myself.” + </p> + <p> + Some few minutes passed before Miss Preston came down. When she did so her + eyes were wet, but her manner was cheerful, and the unaffected way in + which she greeted Captain Perez and Captain Jerry, when these two rather + bashful mariners were introduced by Eri, won them at once. + </p> + <p> + The supper was a great success. It was Saturday night, and a Saturday + night supper to the average New Englander means baked beans. The captains + had long ago given up this beloved dish, because, although each had tried + his hand at preparing it, none had wholly succeeded, and the caustic + criticisms of the other two had prevented further trials. But Mrs. Snow's + baked beans were a triumph. So, also, was the brown bread. + </p> + <p> + “I snum,” exclaimed Captain Perez, “if I don't b'lieve I'd sooner have + these beans than turkey. What do you say, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know but I had,” assented the sacrifice, upon whose countenance + sat a placidity that had not been there since the night of the “matching.” + “'Specially if the turkey was like the one we tried to cook last + Thanksgivin'. 'Member that, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, his mouth full, grunted an emphatic assent. + </p> + <p> + “Tell me,” said Miss Preston, who had eaten but little, but was apparently + getting more satisfaction from watching her companions, “did you three men + try to keep house here alone?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Eri dryly. “We tried. First we thought 'twas goin' to be + fine; then we thought we'd like it better after we got used to it; finally + we decided that by the time we got used to it we'd die, like the horse + that was fed on sawdust.” + </p> + <p> + “And so you hired Mrs. Snow to keep house for you? Well, I don't see how + you could have made a better choice; she's a dear, good woman; I'm sure of + it. And now I want to thank you all for what you've done for grandfather. + Mrs. Snow told me all about it; you've been so kind that I—” + </p> + <p> + “That's all right! that's all right!” hastily interrupted Captain Eri. + “Pity if we couldn't help out a shipmate we've sailed with for years and + years. But you'd ought to have tried some of OUR cookin'. Tell her about + the sugar cake you made, Perez. The one that killed the yaller chicken.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Perez told it, and then their visitor set them all laughing by + relating some queer housekeeping experiences that she and a school friend + had had while camping at Chautauqua. Somehow each one felt at home with + her. As Captain Eri said afterwards, “She didn't giggle, and then ag'in + she didn't talk down at you.” + </p> + <p> + As they rose from the table the young lady asked a question concerning the + location of the hotel. The Captain made no answer at the time, but after a + short consultation with the remainder of the triumvirate, he came to her + as she stood by the window and, laying his hand on her shoulder, said: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Elsie—I hope you don't mind my callin' you Elsie, but I've + been chums with your grandpa so long seems's if you must be a sort of + relation of mine—Elsie, you ain't goin' to no hotel, that is, unless + you're real set on it. Your grandpa's here and we're here, and there's + room enough. I don't want to say too much, but I'd like to have you + b'lieve that me and Perez and Jerry want you to stay right in this house + jest as long's you stop in Orham. Now you will, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + And so it was settled, and Captain Perez harnessed Daniel and went to the + station for the trunk. + </p> + <p> + That evening, just before going to bed, the captains stood by the door of + the sick room watching Elsie and the lady from Nantucket as they sat + beside John Baxter's bed. Mrs. Snow was knitting, and Elsie was reading. + Later, as Captain Eri peered out of the dining-room window to take a final + look at the sky in order to get a line on the weather, he said slowly: + </p> + <p> + “Fellers, do you know what I was thinkin' when I see them two women in + there with John? I was thinkin' that it must be a mighty pleasant thing to + know that if you're took sick somebody like that 'll take care of you.” + </p> + <p> + Perez nodded. “I think so, too,” he said. + </p> + <p> + But if this was meant to influence the betrothed one, it didn't succeed, + apparently, for all Captain Jerry said was: + </p> + <p> + “Humph! 'Twould take more than that to make me hanker after a stroke of + palsy.” + </p> + <p> + And with the coming of Elsie Preston and Mrs. Snow life in the little + house by the shore took on a decided change. The Nantucket lady having + satisfied herself that John Baxter's illness was likely to be a long one, + wrote several letters to persons in her native town, which letters, + although she did not say so, were supposed by the captains to deal with + the care of her property while she was away. Having apparently relieved + her mind by this method, and evidently considering the marriage question + postponed for the present, she settled down to nurse the sick man and to + keep house as, in her opinion, a house should be kept. The captains knew + nothing of her past history beyond what they had gathered from stray bits + of her conversation. She evidently did not consider it necessary to tell + anything further, and, on the other hand, asked no questions. + </p> + <p> + In her care of Baxter she was more like a sister than a hired nurse. No + wife could have been more tender in her ministrations or more devotedly + anxious for the patient's welfare. + </p> + <p> + In her care of the house, she was neatness itself. She scoured and swept + and washed until the rooms were literally spotless. Order was Heaven's + first law, in her opinion, and she expected everyone else to keep up to + the standard. Captain Perez and Captain Eri soon got used to the change + and gloried in it, but to Captain Jerry it was not altogether welcome. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, cat's foot!” he exclaimed one day, after hunting everywhere for his + Sunday tie, and at length finding it in his bureau drawer. “I can't git + used to this everlastin' spruced-up bus'ness. Way it used to be, this + necktie was likely to be 'most anywheres 'round, and if I looked out in + the kitchen or under the sofy, I was jest as likely to find it. But now + everything's got a place and is in it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the way it ought to be, ain't it?” said Eri. “Then all + you've got to do is look in the place.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and that's jest it, I'm always forgittin' the place. My shoes is + sech a place; my hankerchers is sech a place; my pipe is sech a place; my + terbacker is another place. When I want my pipe I look where my shoes is, + and when I want my shoes I go and look where I found my pipe. How a + feller's goin' to keep run of 'em is what <i>I</i> can't see.” + </p> + <p> + “You was the one that did most of the growlin' when things was the old + way.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but jest 'cause a man don't want to live in a pigpen it ain't no + sign he wants to be put under a glass case.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie's influence upon the house and its inmates had become almost as + marked as Mrs. Snow's. The young lady was of an artistic bent, and the + stiff ornaments in the shut-up parlor and the wonderful oil-paintings + jarred upon her. Strange to say, even the wax-dipped wreath that hung in + its circular black frame over the whatnot did not appeal to her. The + captains considered that wreath—it had been the principal floral + offering at the funeral of Captain Perez's sister, and there was a lock of + her hair framed with it—the gem of the establishment. They could + understand, to a certain degree, why Miss Preston objected to the + prominence given the spatter-work “God bless our Home” motto, but her + failure to enthuse over the wreath was inexplicable. + </p> + <p> + But by degrees they became used to seeing the blinds open at the parlor + windows the week through, and innovations like muslin curtains and vases + filled with late wild flowers came to be at first tolerated and then + liked. “Elsie's notions,” the captains called them. + </p> + <p> + There were some great discussions on art, over the teacups after supper. + Miss Preston painted very prettily in water-colors, and her sketches were + received with enthusiastic praise by the captains and Mrs. Snow. But one + day she painted a little picture of a fishing boat and, to her surprise, + it came in for some rather sharp criticism. + </p> + <p> + “That's a pretty picture, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, holding the sketch at + arm's length and squinting at it with his head on one side, “but if that's + Caleb Titcomb's boat, and I jedge 'tis, it seems to me she's carryin' too + much sail. What do you think, Jerry?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry took the painting from his friend and critically examined + it, also at arm's length. + </p> + <p> + “Caleb's boat ain't got no sech sail as that,” was his deliberate comment. + “She couldn't carry it and stand up that way. Besides, the way I look at + it, she's down by the head more 'n she'd ought to be.” + </p> + <p> + “But I didn't try to get it EXACTLY right,” said the bewildered artist. + “The boat's sails were so white, and the water was so blue, and the sand + so yellow that I thought it made a pretty picture. I didn't think of the + size of the sail.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally,” observed Captain Perez, who was + looking over Jerry's shoulder. “But you have to be awful careful paintin' + vessels. Now you jest look at that picture,” pointing to the glaring + likeness of the Flying Duck, that hung on the wall. “Jest look at them + sails, every one of 'em drawin' fine; and them ropes, every one in JEST + the right place. That's what I call paintin'.” + </p> + <p> + “But don't you think, Captain Perez, that the waves in that picture would + be better if they weren't so all in a row, like a picket fence?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now, that ain't it. That's a picture of the A1 two-masted schooner + Flyin' Duck, and the waves is only thrown in, as you might say. The reel + thing is the schooner, rigged jest right, trimmed jest right, and colored + jest the way the Flyin' Duck was colored. You understand them waves was + put there jest 'cause there had to be some to set the schooner in, that's + all.” + </p> + <p> + “But you needn't feel bad, Elsie,” said Captain Jerry soothingly. “'Tain't + to be expected that you could paint vessels like Eben Lothrop can. Eben he + used to work in a shipyard up to East Boston once, and when he was there + he had to paint schooners and things, reely put the paint onto 'em I mean, + so, of course, when it come to paintin' pictures of 'em, why—” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Jerry waved his hand. + </p> + <p> + So, as there was no answer to an argument like this, Miss Preston gave up + marine painting for the time and began a water-color of the house and its + inmates. This was an elaborate affair, and as the captains insisted that + each member of the family, Daniel and Lorenzo included, should pose, it + seemed unlikely to be finished for some months, at least. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine called on the afternoon following Elsie's arrival, and + Captain Eri insisted on his staying to tea. It might have been noticed + that the electrician seemed a trifle embarrassed when Miss Preston came + into the room, but as the young lady was not embarrassed in the least, and + had apparently forgotten the mistaken-identity incident, his nervousness + soon wore off. + </p> + <p> + But it came back again when Captain Eri said: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I say, Mr. Hazeltine, I forgot to ask you, did 'Gusty come + yesterday?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph answered, rather hurriedly, that she did not. He endeavored to + change the subject, but the Captain wouldn't let him. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there!” he exclaimed amazedly; “if 'Gusty ain't broke her record! + Fust time sence Perez was took with the 'Naval Commander' disease that she + ain't been on hand when the month was up, to git her two dollars. Got so + we sort of reckoned by her like an almanac. Kind of thought she was sure, + like death and taxes. And now she has gone back on us. Blessed if I ain't + disapp'inted in 'Gusty!” + </p> + <p> + “Who is she?” inquired Mrs. Snow. “One of those book-agent critters?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if you called her that to her face, I expect there'd be squalls, + but I cal'late she couldn't prove a alibi in court.” + </p> + <p> + Now it may have been Mr. Hazeltine's fancy, but he could have sworn that + there was just the suspicion of a twinkle in Miss Preston's eye as she + asked, innocently enough: + </p> + <p> + “Is she a young lady, Captain Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, she hopes she is,” was the deliberate answer. “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Does she look like me?” + </p> + <p> + “Like YOU? Oh, my soul and body! Wait till you see her. What made you ask + that?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothing! I was a little curious, that's all. Have you seen her, Mr. + Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph stammered, somewhat confusedly, that he hadn't had the pleasure. The + Captain glanced from the electrician to Miss Preston and back again. Then + he suddenly realized the situation. + </p> + <p> + “Ho! ho!” he roared, slapping his knee and rocking back and forth in his + chair. “Don't for the land's sake tell me you took Elsie here for 'Gusty + Black! Don't now! Don't!” + </p> + <p> + “He asked me if I had taken many orders,” remarked the young lady + demurely. + </p> + <p> + When the general hilarity had abated a little Ralph penitently explained + that it was dark, that Captain Eri had said Miss Black was young, and that + she carried a bag. + </p> + <p> + “So I did, so I did,” chuckled the Captain. “I s'pose 'twas nat'ral + enough, but, oh dear, it's awful funny! Now, Elsie, you'd ought to feel + flattered. Wait till you see 'Gusty's hat, the one she got up to Boston.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I forgiven, Miss Preston?” asked Hazeltine, as he said good-night. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know,” was the rather non-committal answer. “I think I + shall have to wait until I see 'Gusty.” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Hazeltine apparently took his forgiveness for granted, for his + calls became more and more frequent, until his dropping in after supper + came to be a regular occurrence. Young people of the better class are + scarce in Orham during the fall and winter months, and Ralph found few + congenial companions. He liked the captains and Mrs. Snow, and Elsie's + society was a relief after a day with the operators at the station. Mr. + Langley was entirely absorbed in his business, and spent his evenings in + his room, reading and smoking. + </p> + <p> + So September and October passed and November came. School opened in + October and the captains had another boarder, for Josiah Bartlett, against + his wishes, gave up his position as stage-driver, and was sent to school + again. As the boy was no longer employed at the livery stable, Captain + Perez felt the necessity of having him under his eye, and so Josiah lived + at the house by the shore, a cot being set up in the parlor for his use. + His coming made more work for Mrs. Snow, but that energetic lady did not + seem to mind, and even succeeded in getting the youngster to do a few + “chores” about the place, an achievement that won the everlasting + admiration of Captain Perez, who had no governing power whatever over the + boy, and condoned the most of his faults or scolded him feebly for the + others. + </p> + <p> + John Baxter continued to waver between this world and the next. He had + intervals of consciousness in which he recognized the captains and Elsie, + but these rational moments were few and, although he talked a little, he + never mentioned recent events nor alluded to the fire. + </p> + <p> + The fire itself became an old story and gossip took up other subjects. The + “Come-Outers” held a jubilee service because of the destruction of the + saloon, but, as “Web” soon began to rebuild and repair, their + jollification was short-lived. As for Mr. Saunders, he was the same + unctuous, smiling personage that he had formerly been. It was a curious + fact, and one that Captain Eri noted, that he never ceased to inquire + after John Baxter's health, and seemed honestly glad to hear of the old + man's improvement. He asked a good many questions about Elsie, too, but + received little satisfaction from the Captain on this subject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X + </h2> + <h3> + MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + </h3> + <p> + Captain Jerry sat behind the woodshed, in the sunshine, smoking and + thinking. He had done a good deal of the first ever since he was sixteen + years old; the second was, in a measure, a more recent acquirement. The + Captain had things on his mind. + </p> + <p> + It was one of those perfect, springlike mornings that sometimes come in + early November. The sky was clear blue, and the air was so free from haze + that the houses at Cranberry Point could be seen in every detail. The flag + on the cable station across the bay stood out stiff in the steady breeze, + and one might almost count the stripes. The pines on Signal Hill were a + bright green patch against the yellow grass. The sea was a dark sapphire, + with slashes of silver to mark the shoals, and the horizon was notched + with sails. The boats at anchor in front of the shanties swung with the + outgoing tide. + </p> + <p> + Then came Captain Eri, also smoking. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” said Captain Jerry. “How is it you ain't off fishin' a mornin' + like this?” + </p> + <p> + “Somethin' else on the docket,” was the answer. “How's matchmakin' these + days?” + </p> + <p> + Now this question touched vitally the subject of Captain Jerry's thoughts. + From a placid, easygoing retired mariner, recent events had transformed + the Captain into a plotter, a man with a “deep-laid scheme,” as the + gentlemanly, cigarette-smoking villain of the melodrama used to love to + call it. To tell the truth, petticoat government was wearing on him. The + marriage agreement, to which his partners considered him bound, and which + he saw no way to evade, hung over him always, but he had put this threat + of the future from his mind so far as possible. He had not found orderly + housekeeping the joy that he once thought it would be, but even this he + could bear. Elsie Preston was the drop too much. + </p> + <p> + He liked Mrs. Snow, except in a marrying sense. He liked Elsie better than + any young lady he had ever seen. The trouble was, that between the two, + he, as he would have expressed it, “didn't have the peace of a dog.” + </p> + <p> + Before Elsie came, a game of checkers between Perez and himself had been + the regular after-supper amusement. Now they played whist, Captain Eri and + Elsie against him and his former opponent. As Elsie and her partner almost + invariably won, and as Perez usually found fault with him because they + lost, this was not an agreeable change. But it was but one. He didn't like + muslin curtains in his bedroom, because they were a nuisance when he + wanted to sit up in bed and look out of the window; but the curtains were + put there, and everybody else seemed to think them beautiful, so he could + not protest. Captain Perez and Captain Eri had taken to “dressing up” for + supper, to the extent of putting on neckties and clean collars. Also they + shaved every day. He stuck to the old “twice-a-week” plan for a while, but + looked so scrubby by contrast that out of mere self-respect he had to + follow suit. Obviously two females in the house were one too many. + Something had to be done. + </p> + <p> + Ralph Hazeltine's frequent calls gave him the inspiration he was looking + for. This was to bring about a marriage between Ralph and Miss Preston. + After deliberation he decided that if this could be done the pair would + live somewhere else, even though John Baxter was still too ill to be + moved. Elsie could come in every day, but she would be too busy with her + own establishment to bother with the “improvement” of theirs. It wasn't a + very brilliant plan and had some vital objections, but Captain Jerry + considered it a wonder. + </p> + <p> + He broached it to his partners, keeping his real object strictly in the + background and enlarging upon his great regard for Ralph and Elsie, and + their obvious fitness for each other. Captain Perez liked the scheme well + enough, provided it could be carried out. Captain Eri seemed to think it + better to let events take their own course. However, they both agreed to + help if the chance offered. + </p> + <p> + So, when Mr. Hazeltine called to spend the evening, Captain Jerry would + rise from his chair and, with an elaborate cough and several surreptitious + winks to his messmates, would announce that he guessed he would “take a + little walk,” or “go out to the barn,” or something similar. Captain Perez + would, more than likely, go also. As for Captain Eri, he usually + “cal'lated” he would step upstairs, and see how John was getting along. + </p> + <p> + But in spite of this loyal support, the results obtained from Captain + Jerry's wonderful plan had not been so startlingly successful as to + warrant his feeling much elated. Ralph and Elsie were good friends and + seemed to enjoy each other's society, but that was all that might be + truthfully said, so far. + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry, therefore, was a little discouraged as he sat in the + sunshine and smoked and pondered. He hid his discouragement, however, and + in response to Captain Eri's question concerning the progress of the + matchmaking, said cheerfully: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it's comin' along, comin' along. Kind of slow, of course, but you + can't expect nothin' diff'rent. I s'pose you noticed he was here four + times last week?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, no,” said Captain Eri, “I don't know's I did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he was, and week a fore that 'twas only three. So that's a gain, + ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't count the time he stopped after a drink of water neither. That + wasn't a real call, but—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it ought to count for somethin'! Call it a ha'f a time. That would + make four times and a ha'f he was here.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry looked suspiciously at his friend's face, but its soberness + was irreproachable, so he said: + </p> + <p> + “Well, it's kind of slow work, but, as I said afore, it's comin' along, + and I have the satisfaction of knowin' it's all for their good.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, like the feller that ate all the apple-dumplin's so's his children + wouldn't have the stomach-ache. But say, Jerry, I come out to ask if you'd + mind bein' housekeeper to-day. Luther Davis has been after me sence I + don't know when to come down to the life-savin' station and stay to + dinner. His sister Pashy—the old maid one—is down there, and + it's such a fine day I thought I'd take Perez and Elsie and Mrs. Snow and, + maybe, Hazeltine along. Somebody's got to stay with John, and I thought + p'raps you would. I'd stay myself only Luther asked me so particular, and + you was down there two or three months ago. When Josiah comes back from + school he'll help you some, if you need him.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry didn't mind staying at home, and so Eri went into the house + to make arrangements for the proposed excursion. He had some difficulty in + persuading Mrs. Snow and Elsie to leave the sick man, but both were tired + and needed a rest, and there was a telephone at the station, so that news + of a change in the patient's condition could be sent almost immediately. + Under these conditions, and as Captain Jerry was certain to take good care + of their charge, the two were persuaded to go. Perez took the dory and + rowed over to the cable station to see if Mr. Hazeltine cared to make one + of the party. When he returned, bringing the electrician with him, Daniel, + harnessed to the carryall, was standing at the side door, and Captain Eri, + Mrs. Snow, and Elsie were waiting. + </p> + <p> + Ralph glanced at the carryall, and then at those who were expected to + occupy it. + </p> + <p> + “I think I'd better row down, Captain,” he said. “I don't see how five of + us are going to find room in there.” + </p> + <p> + “What, in a carryall?” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, that's what a + carryall's for. I've carried six in a carryall 'fore now. 'Twas a good + while ago, though,” he added with a chuckle, “when I was consid'rable + younger 'n I am now. Squeezin' didn't count in them days, 'specially if + the girls wanted to go to camp-meetin'. I cal'late we can fix it. You and + me'll set on the front seat, and the rest in back. Elsie ain't a very big + package, and Perez, he's sort of injy-rubber; he'll fit in 'most + anywheres. Let's try it anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + And try it they did. While it was true that Elsie was rather small, Mrs. + Snow was distinctly large, and how Captain Perez, in spite of his alleged + elasticity, managed to find room between them is a mystery. He, however, + announced that he was all right, adding, as a caution: + </p> + <p> + “Don't jolt none, Eri, 'cause I'm kind of hangin' on the little aidge of + nothin'.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll look out for you,” answered his friend, picking up the reins. “All + ashore that's goin' ashore. So long, Jerry. Git dap, Thousand Dollars!” + </p> + <p> + Daniel complacently accepted this testimony to his monetary worth and + jogged out of the yard. Fortunately appearances do not count for much in + Orham, except in the summer, and the spectacle of five in a carryall is + nothing out of the ordinary. They turned into the “cliff road,” the finest + thoroughfare in town, kept in good condition for the benefit of the + cottagers and the boarders at the big hotel. The ocean was on the left, + and from the hill by the Barry estate—Captain Perez' charge—they + saw twenty miles of horizon line with craft of all descriptions scattered + along it. + </p> + <p> + Schooners there were of all sizes, from little mackerel seiners to big + four- and five-masters. A tug with a string of coal barges behind it was + so close in that they could make out the connecting hawsers. A black + freight steamer was pushing along, leaving a thick line of smoke like a + charcoal mark on the sky. One square-rigger was in sight, but far out. + </p> + <p> + “What do you make of that bark, Perez?” inquired Captain Eri, pointing to + the distant vessel. “British, ain't she?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez leaned forward and peered from under his hand. “French, + looks to me,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Don't think so. Way she's rigged for'ard looks like Johnny Bull. Look at + that fo'tops'l.” + </p> + <p> + “Guess you're right, Eri, now I come to notice it. Can you make out her + flag? Wish I'd brought my glass.” + </p> + <p> + “Great Scott, man!” exclaimed Ralph. “What sort of eyes have you got? I + couldn't tell whether she had a flag or not at this distance. How do you + do it?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cordin' to how you're brought up, as the goat said 'bout eatin' + shingle-nails,” replied Captain Eri. “When you're at sea you've jest got + to git used to seein' things a good ways off and knowin' 'em when you see + 'em, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I remember, one time,” remarked Mrs. Snow, “that my brother Nathan—he's + dead now—was bound home from Hong Kong fust mate on the bark Di'mond + King. 'Twas the time of the war and the Alabama was cruisin' 'round, + lookin' out for our ships. Nate and the skipper—a Bangor man he was—was + on deck, and they sighted a steamer a good ways off. The skipper spied her + and see she was flyin' the United States flag. But when Nate got the glass + he took one look and says, 'That Yankee buntin' don't b'long over that + English hull,' he says. You see he knew she was English build right away. + So the skipper pulled down his own flag and h'isted British colors, but + 'twa'n't no use; the steamer was the Alabama sure enough, and the Di'mond + King was burned, and all hands took pris'ners. Nate didn't git home for + ever so long, and everybody thought he was lost.” + </p> + <p> + This set the captains going, and they told sea-stories until they came to + the road that led down to the beach beneath the lighthouse bluff. The + lifesaving station was in plain sight now, but on the outer beach, and + that was separated from them by a two-hundred-yard stretch of water. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” observed Captain Eri, “here's where we take Adam's bridge.” + </p> + <p> + “Adam's bridge?” queried Elsie, puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Yes; the only kind he had, I cal'late. Git dap, Daniel! What are you + waitin' for? Left your bathin' suit to home?” + </p> + <p> + Then, as Daniel stepped rather gingerly into the clear water, he explained + that, at a time ranging from three hours before low tide to three hours + after, one may reach the outer beach at this point by driving over in an + ordinary vehicle. The life-savers add to this time-limit by using a + specially built wagon, with large wheels and a body considerably elevated. + </p> + <p> + “Well, there now!” exclaimed the lady from Nantucket, as Daniel + splashingly emerged on the other side. “I thought I'd done about + everything a body could do with salt water, but I never went ridin' in it + afore.” + </p> + <p> + The remainder of the way to the station was covered by Daniel at a walk, + for the wheels of the heavy carryall sank two inches or more in the coarse + sand as they turned. The road wound between sand dunes, riven and heaped + in all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, and with clumps of the + persevering beach grass clinging to their tops like the last treasured + tufts of hair on partially bald heads. Here and there, half buried, + sand-scoured planks and fragments of spars showed, relics of wrecks that + had come ashore in past winters. + </p> + <p> + “Five years ago,” remarked Captain Eri, “there was six foot of water where + we are now. This beach changes every winter. One good no'theaster jest + rips things loose over here; tears out a big chunk of beach and makes a + cut-through one season, and fills in a deep hole and builds a new shoal + the next. I've heard my father tell 'bout pickin' huckleberries when he + was a boy off where them breakers are now. Good dry land it was then. Hey! + there's Luther. Ship ahoy, Lute!” + </p> + <p> + The little brown life-saving station was huddled between two sand-hills. + There was a small stable and a henhouse and yard just behind it. Captain + Davis, rawboned and brown-faced, waved a welcome to them from the side + door. + </p> + <p> + “Spied you comin', Eri,” he said in a curiously mild voice, that sounded + odd coming from such a deep chest. “I'm mighty glad to see you, too? Jump + down and come right in. Pashy 'll be out in a minute. Here she is now.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience Davis was as plump as her brother was tall. She impressed + one as a comfortable sort of person. Captain Eri did the honors and + everyone shook hands. Then they went into the living room of the station. + </p> + <p> + What particularly struck Mrs. Snow was the neatness of everything. The + brass on the pump in the sink shone like fire as the sunlight from the + window struck it. The floor was white from scouring. There were shelves on + the walls and on these, arranged in orderly piles, were canned goods of + all descriptions. The table was covered with a figured oilcloth. + </p> + <p> + Two or three men, members of the crew, were seated in the wooden chairs + along the wall, but rose as the party came in. Captain Davis introduced + them, one after the other. Perhaps the most striking characteristic of + these men was the quiet, almost bashful, way in which they spoke; they + seemed like big boys, as much as anything, and yet the oldest was nearly + fifty. + </p> + <p> + “Ever been in a life-saving station afore?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Elsie had not. Ralph had and so had Mrs. Snow, but not for years. + </p> + <p> + “This is where we keep the boat and the rest of the gear,” said Captain + Davis, opening a door and leading the way into a large, low-studded room. + “Them's the spare oars on the wall. The reg'lar ones are in the boat.” + </p> + <p> + The boat itself was on its carriage in the middle of the room. Along the + walls on hooks hung the men's suits of oilskins and their sou'westers. The + Captain pointed out one thing after another, the cork jackets and + life-preservers, the gun for shooting the life line across a stranded + vessel, the life car hanging from the roof, and the “breeches buoy.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve you'd ever git me into that thing,” said the Nantucket + lady decidedly, referring to the buoy. “I don't know but I'd 'bout as + liefs be drownded as make sech a show of myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Took off a bigger woman than you one time,” said Captain Davis. “Wife of + a Portland skipper, she was, and he was on his fust v'yage in a brand-new + schooner jest off the stocks. Struck on the Hog's Back off here and then + drifted close in and struck again. We got 'em all, the woman fust. That + was the only time we've used the buoy sence I've been at the station. Most + of the wrecks are too fur off shore and we have to git out the boat.” + </p> + <p> + He took them upstairs to the men's sleeping rooms and then up to the + little cupola on the roof. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you have ground-glass windows on this side of the house?” asked + Elsie, as they passed the window on the landing. + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis laughed. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it is pretty nigh ground-glass now,” he answered, “but it wa'n't + when it was put in. The sand did that. It blows like all possessed when + there's a gale on.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that those windows were ground that way by the beach sand + blowing against them?” asked Ralph, astonished. + </p> + <p> + “Sartin. Git a good no'therly wind comin' up the beach and it fetches the + sand with it. Mighty mean stuff to face, sand blowin' like that is; makes + you think you're fightin' a nest of yaller-jackets.” + </p> + <p> + With the telescope in the cupola they could see for miles up and down the + beach and out to sea. An ocean tug bound toward Boston was passing, and + Elsie, looking through the glass, saw the cook come out of the galley, + empty a pan over the side, and go back again. + </p> + <p> + “Let me look through that a minute,” said Captain Eri, when the rest had + had their turn. He swung the glass around until it pointed toward their + home away up the shore. + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” he called anxiously, “look here quick!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez hastily put his eye to the glass, and his friend went on: + </p> + <p> + “You see our house?” he said. “Yes; well, you see the dinin'-room door. + Notice that chair by the side of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, what of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the rocker that Elsie made the velvet cushion for. I want + you to look at the upper southeast corner of that cushion, and see if + there ain't a cat's hair there. Lorenzo's possessed to sleep in that + chair, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you git out!” indignantly exclaimed Captain Perez, straightening up. + </p> + <p> + “Well, it was a pretty important thing, and I wanted to make sure. I left + that chair out there, and I knew what I'd catch if any cat's hairs got on + that cushion while I was gone. Ain't that so, Mrs. Snow?” + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper expressed her opinion that Captain Eri was a “case,” + whatever that may be. + </p> + <p> + They had clam chowder for dinner—a New England clam chowder, made + with milk and crackers, and clams with shells as white as snow. They were + what the New Yorker calls “soft-shell” clams, for a Fulton Market chowder + is a “quahaug soup” to the native of the Cape. + </p> + <p> + Now that chowder was good; everybody said so, and if the proof of the + chowder, like that of the pudding, is in the eating of it, this one had a + clear case. Also, there were boiled striped bass, which is good enough for + anybody, hot biscuits, pumpkin pie, and beach-plum preserves. There was a + running fire of apologies from Miss Patience and answering volleys of + compliments from Mrs. Snow. + </p> + <p> + “I don't see how you make sech beach-plum preserves, Miss Davis,” + exclaimed the lady from Nantucket. “I declare! I'm goin' to ask you for + another sasserful. I b'lieve they're the best I ever ate.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now! Do you think so? I kind of suspected that the plums was a + little mite too ripe. You know how 'tis with beach-plums, they've got to + be put up when they're jest so, else they ain't good for much. I was at + Luther for I don't know how long 'fore I could git him to go over to the + P'int and pick 'em, and I was 'fraid he'd let it go too long. I only put + up twenty-two jars of 'em on that account. How much sugar do you use?” + </p> + <p> + There was material here for the discussion that country housewives love, + and the two ladies took advantage of it. When it was over the female + portion of the company washed the dishes, while the men walked up and down + the beach and smoked. Here they were joined after a while by the ladies, + for even by the ocean it was as mild as early May, and the wind was merely + bracing and had no sting in it. + </p> + <p> + The big blue waves shouldered themselves up from the bosom of the sea, + marched toward the beach, and tumbled to pieces in a roaring tumult of + white and green. The gulls skimmed along their tops or dropped like + falling stones into the water after sand eels, emerging again, screaming, + to repeat the performance. + </p> + <p> + The conversation naturally turned to wrecks, and Captain Davis, his + reserve vanishing before the tactful inquiries of the captains and Ralph, + talked shop and talked it well. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI + </h2> + <h3> + HEROES AND A MYSTERY + </h3> + <p> + Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for years and + “Number One Man” before that, so his experience with wrecks and disabled + craft of all kinds had been long and varied. He told them of disasters the + details of which had been telegraphed all over the country, and of rescues + of half-frozen crews from ice-crested schooners whose signals of distress + had been seen from the observatory on the roof of the station. He told of + long rows in midwinter through seas the spray of which turned to ice as + they struck, and froze the men's mittens to the oar-handles. He told of + picking up draggled corpses in the surf at midnight, when, as he said, + “You couldn't tell whether 'twas a man or a roll of seaweed, and the only + way to make sure was to reach down and feel.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri left them after a while, as he had some acquaintances among + the men at the station, and wished to talk with them. Miss Davis + remembered that she had not fed the chickens, and hurried away to perform + that humane duty, gallantly escorted by Captain Perez. The Captain, by the + way, was apparently much taken with the plump spinster and, although + usually rather bashful where ladies were concerned, had managed to keep up + a sort of side conversation with Miss Patience while the storytelling was + going on. But Ralph and Elsie and Mrs. Snow were hungry for more tales, + and Captain Davis obligingly told them. + </p> + <p> + “One of the wust wrecks we ever had off here,” he said, “was the Bluebell, + British ship, she was: from Singapore, bound to Boston, and loaded with + hemp. We see her about off that p'int there, jest at dusk, and she was + makin' heavy weather then. It come on to snow soon as it got dark, and + blow—don't talk! Seems to me 'twas one of the meanest nights I ever + saw. 'Tween the snow flyin' and the dark you couldn't see two feet ahead + of you. We was kind of worried about the vessel all evenin'—for one + thing she was too close in shore when we see her last—but there + wa'n't nothin' to be done except to keep a weather eye out for signs of + trouble. + </p> + <p> + “Fust thing we knew of the wreck was when the man on patrol up the beach—Philander + Vose 'twas—telephoned from the shanty that a ship's long-boat had + come ashore at Knowles' Cove, two mile above the station. That was about + one o'clock in the mornin'. 'Bout h'af-past two Sim Gould—he was + drownded the next summer, fishin' on the Banks—telephoned from the + shanty BELOW the station—the one a mile or so 'tother side of the + cable house, Mr. Hazeltine—that wreckage was washin' up abreast of + where he was; that was six miles from where the longboat come ashore. So + there we was. There wa'n't any way of tellin' whereabouts she was layin'; + she might have been anywheres along them six miles, and you couldn't hear + nothin' nor see nothin'. But anyhow, the wreckage kept comin' in below the + cable station, so I jedged she was somewheres in that neighborhood and we + got the boat out—on the cart, of course—and hauled it down + there. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas a tremendous job, too, that haulin' was. We had the horse and the + whole of us helpin' him, but I swan! I begun to think we'd never git + anywheres. 'Tween the wind and the sand and the snow I thought we'd flap + to pieces, like a passel of shirts on a clothes line. But we got there + after a spell, and then there was nothin' to do but wait for daylight. + </p> + <p> + “'Bout seven o'clock the snow let up a little bit, and then we see her. + There was a bar jest about opposite the cable station—it's been + washed away sence—and she'd struck on that, and the sea was makin' a + clean breach over her. There was a ha'f a dozen of her crew lashed in the + riggin', but I didn't see 'em move, so I presume likely they was froze + stiff then, for 'twas perishin' cold. But we wrastled the boat down to the + water and was jest goin' to launch her when the whole three masts went by + the 'board, men and all. We put off to her, but she was in a reg'lar + soapsuds of a sea and awash from stem to stern, so we knew there was + nothin' livin' aboard. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, siree,” continued the Captain meditatively, “that was a mean night. + I had this ear frost-bit, and it's been tender ever sence. One of the + fellers had a rib broke; he was a little light chap, and the wind jest + slammed him up against the cart like as if he was a chip. And jest to show + you,” he added, “how the tide runs around this place, the bodies of that + crew was picked up from Wellmouth to Setuckit P'int—twenty-mile + stretch that is. The skipper's body never come ashore. He had a son, nice + young feller, that was goin' to meet him in Boston, and that boy spent a + month down here, waitin' for his father's body to be washed up. He'd walk + up and down this beach, and walk up and down. Pitiful sight as ever I + see.” + </p> + <p> + “And they were all lost?” asked Elsie with a shiver. + </p> + <p> + “Every man Jack. But 'twas cu'rus about that hemp. The Bluebell was loaded + with it, as I told you, and when she went to pieces the tide took that + hemp and strung it from here to glory. They picked it up all 'longshore, + and for much as a month afterwards you'd go along the 'main road' over in + the village, and see it hung over fences or spread out in the sun to dry. + Looked like all the blonde girls in creation had had a hair-cut.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Davis,” said Ralph, “you must have seen some plucky things in + your life. What was the bravest thing you ever saw done?” + </p> + <p> + The life saver took the cigar that Hazeltine had given him from his mouth, + and blew the smoke into the air over his head. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said slowly, “I don't know exactly. I've seen some pretty + gritty things done 'long-shore here, in the service. When there's somebody + drowndin', and you know there's a chance to save 'em, you'll take chances, + and think nothin' of 'em, that you wouldn't take if you had time to set + down and cal'late a little. I see somethin' done once that may not strike + you as bein' anything out of the usual run, but that has always seemed to + me clear grit and nothin' else. 'Twa'n't savin' life neither; 'twas jest a + matter of bus'ness. + </p> + <p> + “It happened up off the coast of Maine 'long in the seventies. I was + actin' as sort of second mate on a lumber schooner. 'Twas a pitch-black + night, or mornin' rather, 'bout six o'clock, blowin' like all possessed + and colder 'n Greenland. We struck a rock that wa'n't even down on an + Eldredge chart and punched a hole in the schooner's side, jest above what + ought to have been the water line, only she was heeled over so that 'twas + consider'ble below it most of the time. We had a mean crew aboard, + Portugees mainly, and poor ones at that. The skipper was below, asleep, + and when he come on deck things was in a bad way. We'd got the canvas off + her, but she was takin' in water every time she rolled, and there was a + sea goin' that was tearin' things loose in great shape. We shipped one old + grayback that ripped off a strip of the lee rail jest the same as you'd + rip the edge off the cover of a pasteboard box—never made no more + fuss about it, either. + </p> + <p> + “I didn't see nothin' to do but get out the boats, but the skipper he + wa'n't that kind. He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you. He drove the + crew—ha'f of 'em was prayin' to the Virgin and t'other ha'f swearin' + a blue streak—to the pumps, and set me over 'em with a revolver to + keep 'em workin'. Then him and the fust mate and one or two of the best + hands rousted out a spare sail, weighted one edge of it to keep it down, + and got it over the side, made fast, of course. + </p> + <p> + “Then him and the mate stripped to their underclothes, rigged a sort of + bos'n's chair over where the hole in the side was, took hammers and a + pocketful of nails apiece, and started in to nail that canvas over the + hole. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas freezin' cold, and the old schooner was rollin' like a washtub. One + minute I'd see the skipper and the mate h'isted up in the air, hammerin' + for dear life, and then, swash! under they'd go, clear under, and stay + there, seemed to me, forever. Every dip I thought would be the end, and + I'd shet my eyes, expectin' to see 'em gone when she lifted; but no, up + they'd come, fetch a breath, shake the salt water out of their eyes, and + go to work again. + </p> + <p> + “Four hours and a quarter they was at it, four hours, mind you, and under + water a good ha'f of the time; but they got that sail nailed fast fin'lly. + We got 'em on deck when 'twas done, and we had to carry the fust mate to + the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the cook for a pail of bilin' hot + coffee, drunk the whole of it, put on dry clothes over his wet flannels, + and stayed on deck and worked that schooner into Portland harbor, the men + pumpin' clear green water out of the hold every minute of the way. + </p> + <p> + “Now, that always seemed to me to be the reel thing. 'Twa'n't a question + of savin' life—we could have took to the boats and, nine chances out + of ten, got ashore all right, for 'twa'n't very fur. But no, the skipper + said he'd never lost a vessel for an owner yit and he wa'n't goin' to lose + this one. And he didn't either, by Judas! No, sir!” + </p> + <p> + “That was splendid!” exclaimed Elsie. “I should like to have known that + captain. Who was he, Captain Davis?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, the fust mate was Obed Simmons—he's dead now—but he + used to live over on the road towards East Harniss. The skipper—well, + he was a feller you know.” + </p> + <p> + “'Twas Cap'n Eri,” said Mrs. Snow with conviction. + </p> + <p> + “That's right, ma'am. Perez told you, I s'pose.” + </p> + <p> + “No, nobody told me. I jest guessed it. I've seen a good many folks in my + time, and I cal'late I've got so I can tell what kind a man is after I've + known him a little while. I jedged Cap'n Eri was that kind, and, when you + said we knew that skipper, I was almost sartin 'twas him.” + </p> + <p> + “Well!” exclaimed Ralph, “I don't believe I should have guessed it. I've + always liked the Captain, but he has seemed so full of fun and so + easy-going that I never thought of his doing anything quite so strenuous.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis laughed. “I've seen fo'mast hands try to take advantage of + that easy-goin' way 'fore now,” he said, “but they never did it but once. + Cap'n Eri is one of the finest fellers that ever stepped, but you can't + stomp on his toes much, and he's clear grit inside. And say,” he added, + “don't you tell anybody I told that story, for he'd skin me alive if he + knew it.” + </p> + <p> + As they walked back toward the station Ralph and Elsie lingered a little + behind the others, and then stopped to watch a big four-master that, under + full sail, was spinning along a mile or two from the beach. They watched + it for a moment or two without speaking. Elsie's cheeks were brown from + the sun, stray wisps of her hair fluttered in the wind, and her trim, + healthy figure stood out against the white sandhill behind them as if cut + from cardboard. The electrician looked at her, and again the thought of + that disgraceful “'Gusty” Black episode was forced into his mind. They had + had many a good laugh over it since, and Elsie had apparently forgotten + it, but he had not, by a good deal. + </p> + <p> + She was the first to speak, and then as much to herself as to him. + </p> + <p> + “I think they are the best people I ever knew,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Who?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, all of them! The captains and Mrs. Snow, and Captain Davis and his + sister. They are so simple and kind and generous. And the best of it is, + they don't seem to know it, and wouldn't believe it if you told them.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph nodded emphatically. + </p> + <p> + “I imagine it would take a good deal to convince Davis or any of these + station men that there was anything heroic in their lives,” he said. “As + for Captain Eri, I have known him only a month or two, but I don't know of + anyone to whom I would rather go if I were in trouble.” + </p> + <p> + “He has been so kind to grandfather and me,” said Elsie, “that I feel as + though we were under an obligation we never could repay. When I came down + here I knew no one in Orham, and he and Captain Jerry and Captain Perez + have made me feel more at home than I have ever felt before. You know,” + she added, “grandfather is the only relative I have.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose you will go back to your studies when your grandfather + recovers.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. If grandfather is well enough I think I shall try to + persuade him to come up to Boston and live with me. Then I might perhaps + teach. This was to have been my last year at Radcliffe, so my giving it up + will not make so much difference. Do you intend to stay here long? I + suppose you do. Your profession, I know, means so much to you, and your + work at the station must be very interesting.” + </p> + <p> + “It would be more so if I had someone who was interested with me. Mr. + Langley is kind, but he is so wrapped up in his own work that I see very + little of him. I took the place because I thought it would give me a good + deal of spare time that I might use in furthering some experiments of my + own. Electricity is my hobby, and I have one or two ideas that I am + foolish enough to hope may be worth developing. I have had time enough, + goodness knows, but it's a lonesome sort of life. If it had not been for + the captains—and you—I think I should have given it up before + this.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I hope you won't.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—why, because it seems like running away, almost, doesn't it? If + a thing is hard to do, but is worth doing, I think the satisfaction IN + doing it is ever so much greater, don't you? I know it must be lonely for + you; but, then, it is lonely for Mr. Langley and the other men, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I doubt if Mr. Langley would be happy anywhere else, and the other men + are married, most of them, and live over in the village.” + </p> + <p> + Now, there isn't any real reason why this simple remark should have caused + a halt in the conversation, but it did. Miss Preston said, “Oh, indeed!” + rather hurriedly, and her next speech was concerning the height of a + particularly big wave. Mr. Hazeltine answered this commonplace somewhat + absent-mindedly. He acted like a man to whom a startling idea had suddenly + occurred. Just then they heard Captain Eri calling them. + </p> + <p> + The Captain was standing on a sand dune near the station, shouting their + names through a speaking trumpet formed by placing his hands about his + mouth. As the pair came strolling toward him, he shifted his hands to his + trousers pockets and stood watching the young couple with a sort of half + smile. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose if Jerry was here now,” he mused, “he'd think his scheme was + workin'. Well, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis. You can't never tell. Well, I + swan!” + </p> + <p> + The exclamation was called forth by the sight of Captain Perez and Miss + Patience, who suddenly came into view around the corner of the station. + The Captain was gallantly assisting his companion over the rough places in + the path, and she was leaning upon his arm in a manner that implied + implicit confidence. Captain Eri glanced from one couple to the other, and + then grinned broadly. The grin had not entirely disappeared when Captain + Perez came up, and the latter rather crisply asked what the joke was. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin'!” was the reply. “I was jest thinkin' we must be playin' some + kind of a game, and I was It.” + </p> + <p> + “It?” queried Miss Patience, puzzled. + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes. I'm kinder like 'Rastus Bailey used to be at the dances when + you and me was younger, Perez. Old man Alexander—he was the fiddler—used + to sing out 'Choose partners for Hull's Vict'ry,' or somethin' like that, + and it always took 'Ras so long to make up his mind what girl to choose + that he gin'rally got left altogether. Then he'd set on the settee all + through the dance and say he never cared much for Hull's Vict'ry, anyway. + Seems to me, I'm the only one that ain't choosed partners. How 'bout it, + Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “More fool you, that's all I've got to say,” replied Captain Perez + stoutly. + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience laughed so heartily at this rejoinder that Perez began to + think he had said a very good thing indeed, and so repeated it for greater + effect. + </p> + <p> + “You want to look out for him, Miss Davis,” said Captain Eri. “He's the + most fascinatin' youngster of his age I ever see. Me and Jerry's been + thinkin' we'd have to build a fence 'round the house to keep the girls + away when he's home. Why, M'lissy Busteed fairly—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, give us a rest, Eri!” exclaimed Perez, with even more indignation + than was necessary. “M'lissy Busteed!” + </p> + <p> + Just then Ralph and Elsie came up, and Captain Eri explained that he had + hailed them because it was time to be going if they wanted to get across + to the mainland without swimming. They walked around to the back door of + the station and there found Mrs. Snow and Captain Davis by the hen-yard. + The lady from Nantucket had discovered a sick chicken in the collection, + and she was holding it in her lap and at the same time discoursing + learnedly on the relative value of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, + as layers. + </p> + <p> + “See there!” exclaimed Captain Eri delightedly, pointing to the suffering + pullet, “what did I tell you? D'you wonder we picked her out for nuss for + John, Luther? Even a sick hen knows enough to go to her.” + </p> + <p> + They harnessed Daniel to the carryall, and stowed the living freight + aboard somehow, although Captain Perez protested that he had eaten so much + dinner he didn't know's he'd be able to hang on the way he did coming + down. Then they said farewell to Captain Davis and his sister and started + for home. The members of the crew, such of them as were about the station, + waved good-by to them as they passed. + </p> + <p> + “Things kind of average up in this world, don't they?” said Captain Eri + reflectively, as he steered Daniel along the soft beach toward the ford. + “We're all the time readin' 'bout fellers that work for the Gov'ment + gittin' high sal'ries and doin' next to nothin'. Now there's a gang—the + life-savin' crew, I mean—that does what you and me would call + almighty hard work and git next to nothin' for it. Uncle Sam gits square + there, it seems to me. A few dollars a month and find yourself ain't + gilt-edged wages for bein' froze and drownded and blown to pieces ten + months out of the year, is it?” + </p> + <p> + The tide was higher when they came to the crossing than it had been when + they drove over before, but they made the passage all right, although + there was some nervousness displayed by the feminine portion of the party. + When they reached home they found Captain Jerry contentedly smoking his + pipe, the sick man was asleep, and everything was serene. Josiah appeared + from behind the barn, where he had been smoking a cigarette. + </p> + <p> + They pressed Mr. Hazeltine to stay to supper, but he declined, alleging + that he had been away from business too long already. He had been + remarkably silent during the homeward ride, and Elsie, too, had seemed + busy with her thoughts. She was full of fun at the supper table, however, + and the meal was a jolly one. Just as it was finished Captain Jerry struck + the table a bang with his palm that made the knives and forks jump, and so + startled Captain Perez as to cause him to spill half a cup of tea over his + shirt bosom. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love!” ejaculated the victim, mopping his chin and his tie with + his napkin. “It's bad enough to scare a feller to death, let alone + drowndin' and scaldin' him at the same time. What did you do that for?” + </p> + <p> + “I jest thought of somethin',” exclaimed Captain Jerry, going through one + pocket after the other. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wish you'd have your thinkin' fits in the barn or somewheres else + next time. I put this shirt on clean this mornin' and now look at it!” + </p> + <p> + His friend was too busy to pay any attention to this advice. The pocket + search apparently being unsatisfactory, he rose from the table and + hurriedly made a round of the room, looking on the mantelpiece and under + chairs. + </p> + <p> + “I had it when I come in,” he soliloquized. “I know I did, 'cause I was + wearin' it when I went out to see to the hens. I don't see where—” + </p> + <p> + “If it's your hat you're looking for,” observed Josiah, “I saw Mrs. Snow + hang it up on the nail behind the door. There it is now.” + </p> + <p> + The reply to this was merely a grunt, which may, or may not have expressed + approval. At any rate, the hat was apparently the object of his search, + for he took it from the nail, looked inside, and with a sigh of relief + took out a crumpled envelope. + </p> + <p> + “I knew I put it somewheres,” he said. “It's a letter for you, Elsie. + Josiah, here, he brought it down from the post-office when he come from + school this afternoon. I meant to give it to you afore.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, who sat next to the young lady, noticed that the envelope was + addressed in an irregular, sprawling hand to “Miss Elizabeth Preston, + Orham, Mass.” Elsie looked it over in the absent way in which so many of + us examine the outside of a letter which comes unexpectedly. + </p> + <p> + “I wonder who it is from,” she said. + </p> + <p> + She did not open it at once, but, tucking it into her waist, announced + that she must run upstairs, in order that Mrs. Snow might come down to + supper. The housekeeper did come down a few minutes later, and, as she was + interested to know more about Luther Davis and his sister, the talk became + animated and general. + </p> + <p> + It was after eight o'clock when Mrs. Snow, having finished washing the + dishes—she allowed no one to assist her in this operation since the + time when she caught Captain Jerry absent-mindedly using the dust rag + instead of the dishcloth—went upstairs to her patient. Shortly + afterward Elsie came down, wearing her hat and jacket. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going out for a little while,” she said. “No, I don't want anyone to + go with me. I'll be back soon.” + </p> + <p> + Her back was turned to the three captains as she spoke, but, as she opened + the door, the lamplight shone for an instant on her face, and Captain Eri + noticed, or fancied that he did, that she was paler than usual. He rose, + and again offered to accompany her, but met with such a firm refusal that + he could not insist further. + </p> + <p> + “Now, that's kind of funny, ain't it?” remarked Perez. “I don't b'lieve + she's been out alone afore after dark sence she's been here.” + </p> + <p> + “Where did you git that letter, Josiah?” asked Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + It may as well be explained here that Captain Perez' grand-nephew was a + thorn in the flesh to everyone, including his indulgent relative. He was a + little afraid of Mrs. Snow, and obeyed her better than he did anyone else, + but that is not saying a great deal. He was in mischief in school + two-thirds of the time, and his reports, made out by the teacher, were + anything but complimentary. He was a good-looking boy, the image of his + mother, who had been her uncle's favorite, and he was popular with a + certain class of youngsters. Also, and this was worse, his work at the + livery stable had thrown him in contact with a crowd of men like + “Squealer” Wixon, “Web” Saunders, and others of their class, and they + appreciated his New York street training and made much of him. Captain + Perez, mindful of his promise to the boy's mother, did not use the + necessary measures to control him, and Captain Eri and Captain Jerry did + not like to interfere. + </p> + <p> + Just now he was seated in the corner, and he looked up with a start, + hurriedly folded up the tattered paper book he was reading, stuffed it + into his pocket, and said, “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Who give you that letter that come for Elsie?” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Cahoon up at the office. It was in our box,” said the boy. + </p> + <p> + “Humph! What are you readin' that's so interestin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin'. A book, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Let me look at it.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah hesitated, looked as if he would like to refuse, and then sullenly + took the ragged volume from his pocket and handed it to the Captain, who + deliberately unfolded it, and looked at the cover. + </p> + <p> + “'Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific,'” he read aloud. + “Humph! Is it good?” + </p> + <p> + “Bet your life! It's a red-hot story.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to know! Who was Mr. Moonshine—what's his name—Starlight?” + </p> + <p> + “He was a sailor,” was the sulky answer. Josiah was no fool, and knew when + he was being made fun of. + </p> + <p> + The Captain opened the book, and read a page or two to himself. Then he + said, “I see he knocked the skipper down 'cause he insulted him. Nice, + spunky chap; I'd like to have had him aboard a vessel of mine. And he + called the old man a 'caitiff hound'? Awful thing to call a feller, that + is. I'll bet that skipper felt ashamed. Looks like a good book. I'll + borrow it to-night to read while you're doin' your lessons.” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't got any lessons to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, ain't you? I thought that was a 'rithmetic over there.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I know 'em now. Besides, you ain't got any right to order me + around. You ain't my uncle. Can't I read that book, Uncle Perez?” + </p> + <p> + Poor Perez! He hesitated, swallowed once or twice, and answered, “You can + read it after you've studied a spell. You'll let him have it then, won't + you, Eri? Now study, like a good boy.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked as if he would like to say something further, but he + evidently thought better of it, and tossed the paper novel across to + Captain Perez, who put it on the table, saying, rather feebly: + </p> + <p> + “There now, it's right there, where you can have it soon's you've l'arned + your examples. Now pitch in, so's the teacher can see how smart you are.” + </p> + <p> + His nephew grumblingly got his paper and pencil, took the arithmetic and + went to work. No one spoke for a while, Captain Perez twirling his thumbs + and looking, as he felt, uncomfortable. Soon Josiah, announcing that his + studies were completed, grabbed the novel from the table, took a lamp from + the kitchen and went off to bed. When he had gone Captain Jerry said, + “Perez, you're sp'ilin' that boy.” + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose I am, I s'pose I am, but I can't bear to be cross to him, + somehow. Poor Lizzie, she made me promise I wouldn't be, and I jest can't; + that's all. You understand how 'tis, don't you, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded. “I understand,” he said. “I'm sorry I said anything. I + hadn't ought to be givin' orders 'bout what's none of my affairs. What + time is it gittin' to be?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry announced that it was bedtime, and that he was going to turn + in. Perez, still looking worried and anxious, said that he also was going + to bed. Captain Eri thought that he would sit up for a while. + </p> + <p> + Another hour and still another went by, and the Captain sat there in his + rocker. His two friends were sound asleep. Mrs. Snow called twice from the + head of the stairs to know if Elsie had come back, and where on earth she + could be. Captain Eri's answers were cheery and to the effect that the + young lady had an errand up town, and would be home pretty soon, he + guessed. Nevertheless, it might have been noticed that he glanced at the + clock every few minutes, and grew more and more fidgety. + </p> + <p> + It was after eleven when Elsie came in. She hurriedly and with some + confusion apologized for being so late, and thanked the Captain for + sitting up for her. She made no offer to explain her long absence and, as + she went upstairs, Captain Eri noticed that her face was, if anything, + paler than when she went out, and her eyes looked as if she had been + crying. He wanted to ask her some questions, but didn't, because she + evidently did not wish to talk. He pondered over the matter while + undressing, and for a long time after that lay awake thinking. That the + girl was in trouble of some sort was plain, but he could not understand + why she said nothing about it, or what its cause might be. She had been + her bright, happy self all day and a part of the evening. Then she had + suddenly changed. The Captain wondered what was in that letter. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII + </h2> + <h3> + A LITTLE POLITICS + </h3> + <p> + Elsie, when she came down to breakfast next morning, was quieter than + usual, and to the joking questions of Captain Jerry and Captain Perez, who + were curious concerning her “errand” of the previous evening, and who + pretended to believe that she had gone to a dance or “time” with some + “feller” unknown, she gave evasive, but good-humored replies. Captain Eri + was on his usual fishing trip, and after breakfast was over Perez departed + to the Barry place, and Jerry to his beloved schoolhouse. The sacrifice, + whose impending matrimonial doom had not been mentioned for some time by + the trio interested, was gradually becoming his own garrulous self, and + his principal topic of conversation recently had been the coming marriage + of the “upstairs teacher”—that is, the lady who presided over the + grammar grade of the school—and the question of her probable + successor. In fact, this question of who the new teacher was to be was the + prevailing subject of surmise and conjecture in the village just then. + </p> + <p> + When Captain Jerry came back to the house he went out to the barn to feed + Lorenzo and the hens, and attend to Daniel's toilet. He was busy with the + curry-comb when Elsie came in. She seated herself on a box, and watched + the performance for a while without speaking. The Captain, who took this + part of his duties very seriously, was too intent on crimping Daniel's + rather scraggy forelock to talk much. At length Miss Preston broke the + silence. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry,” she said, “you have never told me just where you found + grandfather that night when he was taken sick. On the hill back of the + post-office, wasn't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, jest on the top. You see, he'd fell down when he was runnin' to the + fire.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri found him, didn't he?” + </p> + <p> + “Yep. Whoa there, Dan'l; stand still, can't you? Yes, Eri found him.” + </p> + <p> + “How was he dressed?” + </p> + <p> + “Who? John? Oh, he was bareheaded and in his shirtsleeves, jest as he run + outdoors when he heard the bell. Queer, he didn't put on that old white + hat of his. I never knew him to be without it afore; but a feller's li'ble + to forgit 'most anything a night like that was. Did Eri tell you how Perez + forgot his shoes? Funniest thing I ever see, that was.” + </p> + <p> + He began the story of his friend's absent-mindedness, but his companion + did not seem to pay much attention to it. In fact, it was evident that her + thoughts were somewhere else, for when the Captain asked her a question + that plainly called for a negative, she replied “Yes,” very calmly, and + didn't seem to know that she had said it. She went into the house soon + after and Captain Jerry, after considering the matter, decided that she + was probably thinking of Hazeltine. He derived much comfort from the idea. + </p> + <p> + When he, too, entered the dining room, Elsie said to him: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Captain Jerry! Please don't tell the others that I asked about + grandfather. They would think that I was worrying, and I'm not, a bit. You + won't mention it, will you? Just promise, to please me.” + </p> + <p> + So the Captain promised, although he did not understand why it was asked + of him. + </p> + <p> + When Captain Eri came home that afternoon, and was cleaning his catch at + the shanty, he was surprised to receive a call from Miss Preston. + </p> + <p> + “Hello!” he exclaimed. “Come to l'arn the trade?” + </p> + <p> + Elsie smiled, and disclaimed any intention of apprenticeship. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri,” she said, “I want to have a talk with you, a business + talk.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain looked at her keenly. All he said, however, was, “You don't + tell me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I want to talk with you about getting me a position.” + </p> + <p> + “A position?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I've been thinking a great deal lately, and, now that grandfather + seems to be a little better, and I'm not needed to help take care of him, + I want to do something to earn my living.” + </p> + <p> + “Earn your livin'? Why, child alive, you don't need to do that. You ain't + a mite of trouble at the house; fact is, I don't know how we'd get along + without you, and, as for money, why I cal'late your grandpa ain't so poor + but what, if I let you have a little change once in a while, he'd be able + to pay me back, when he got better.” + </p> + <p> + “But I don't want to use your money or his either. Captain Eri, you don't + know what he has done for me ever since I was a little girl. He has + clothed me and given me an education, and been so kind and good that, now + that he is ill and helpless, I simply can't go on using his money. I + can't, and I won't.” + </p> + <p> + The tears stood in the girl's eyes, as she spoke, and the Captain, + noticing her emotion, thought it better to treat the matter seriously, for + the present at any rate. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “'Independence shows a proper sperit and saves + grocery bills,' as old man Scudder said when his wife run off with the + tin-peddler. What kind of a place was you thinkin' of takin'?” + </p> + <p> + “I want to get the appointment to teach in the grammar school here. Miss + Nixon is going to be married, and when she leaves I want her place—and + I want you to help me get it.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri whistled. “I want to know!” he exclaimed. Then he said, “Look + here, Elsie, I don't want you to think I'm tryin' to be cur'ous 'bout your + affairs, or anything like that, but are you sure there ain't some reason + more 'n you've told me of for your wantin' this place? I ain't no real + relation of yours, you understand, but I would like to have you feel that + you could come to me with your troubles jest the same as you would to your + grandpa. Now, honest and true, ain't there somethin' back of this?” + </p> + <p> + It was only for a moment that Elsie hesitated, but that moment's + hesitation and the manner in which she answered went far toward confirming + the Captain's suspicions. + </p> + <p> + “No, Captain Eri,” she said. “It is just as I've told you. I don't want to + be dependent on grandfather any longer.” + </p> + <p> + “And there ain't a single other reason for—Of course, I ought to + mind my business, but—Well, there! what was it you wanted me to do? + Help you git the place?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if you will. I know Captain Perez has said that you were interested + in the town-meetings and helped to nominate some of the selectmen and the + school-committee, so I thought perhaps, if you used your influence, you + might get the position for me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know. I did do a little electioneerin' for one or two + fellers and maybe they'd ought to be willin' to do somethin' for me. + Still, you can't never tell. A cat 'll jump over your hands if she knows + there's a piece of fish comin' afterwards, but when she's swallowed that + fish, it's a diff'rent job altogether. Same way with a politician. But, + then, you let me think over it for a spell, and p'raps to-morrow we'll + see. You think it over, too. Maybe you'll change your mind.” + </p> + <p> + “No, I shan't change my mind. I'm ever and ever so much obliged to you, + though.” + </p> + <p> + She started toward the door, but turned impulsively and said, “Oh, Captain + Eri, you don't think that I'm ungrateful, do you? You nor Captain Perez + nor Captain Jerry won't think that I do not appreciate all your kindness? + You won't think that I'm shirking my duty, or that I don't want to help + take care of grandfather any longer? You won't? Promise me you won't.” + </p> + <p> + She choked down a sob as she asked the question. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was as much moved as she was. He hastened to answer. + </p> + <p> + “No, no, no!” he exclaimed. “Course we won't do no such thing. Run right + along, and don't think another word about it. Wait till to-morrer. I'll + have a plan fixed up to land that school-committee, see if I don't.” + </p> + <p> + But all that evening he worked at the model of the clipper, and the + expression on his face as he whittled showed that he was puzzled, and not + a little troubled. + </p> + <p> + He came back from his fishing next day a little earlier than usual, + changed his working-clothes for his second best suit, harnessed Daniel + into the buggy, and then came into the house, and announced that he was + going over to the Neck on an errand, and if Elsie wanted to go with him, + he should be glad of her company. As this was but part of a pre-arranged + scheme, the young lady declared that a ride was just what she needed. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri said but little, as they drove up to the “main road”; he + seemed to be thinking. Elsie, too, was very quiet. When they reached the + fruit and candy shop, just around the corner, the Captain stopped the + horse, got down, and went in. When he came out he had a handful of cigars. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Eri,” said Elsie, “I didn't know that you smoked cigars. I + thought a pipe was your favorite.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, gin'rally speakin', 'tis,” was the answer, “but I'm electioneerin' + now, and politics without cigars would be like a chowder without any + clams. Rum goes with some kind of politics, but terbacker kind of chums in + with all kinds. 'Tain't always safe to jedge a candidate by the kind of + cigars he gives out neither; I've found that out. + </p> + <p> + “Reminds me of a funny thing that Obed Nickerson told me one time. Obed + used to be in politics a good deal up and down the Cape, here, and he had + consider'ble influence. 'Twas when Bradley up to Fall River was runnin' + for Congress. They had a kind of pow-wow in his office—a whole gang + of district leaders—and Obed he was one of 'em. Bradley went to git + out the cigar-box, and 'twas empty, so he called in the boy that swept out + and run errands for him, give the youngster a ten-dollar bill, and told + him to go down to a terbacker store handy and buy another box. Well, the + boy, he was a new one that Bradley'd jest hired, seemed kind of surprised + to think of anybody's bein' so reckless as to buy a whole box of cigars at + once, but he went and pretty soon come back with the box. + </p> + <p> + “The old man told him to open it and pass 'em round. Well, everybody was + lookin' for'ard to a treat, 'cause Bradley had the name of smokin' better + stuff than the average; but when they lit up and got a-goin', Obed said + you could see that the gang was s'prised and some disgusted. The old man + didn't take one at fust, but everybody else puffed away, and the smoke and + smell got thicker 'n' thicker. Obed said it reminded him of a stable afire + more 'n anything else. Pretty soon Bradley bit the end of one of the + things and touched a match to it. He puffed twice—Obed swears + 'twa'n't more'n that—and then he yelled for the boy. + </p> + <p> + “'For the Lord's sake!' he says, 'where'd you git them cigars?' Well, it + come out that the boy hadn't told who the cigars was for, and he'd bought + a box of the kind his brother that worked in the cotton mill smoked. Obed + said you'd ought to have seen Bradley's face when the youngster handed him + back seven dollars and seventy-five cents change.” + </p> + <p> + They reached that part of Orham which is called the Neck, and pulled up + before a small building bearing the sign “Solomon Bangs, Attorney-at-Law, + Real Estate and Insurance.” Here the Captain turned to his companion and + asked, “Sure you haven't changed your mind, Elsie? You want that + school-teachin' job?” + </p> + <p> + “I haven't changed my mind, Captain Eri.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I wanted to be sure. I should hate to ask Sol Bangs for anything + and then have to back out afterwards. Come on, now.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Soloman Bangs was the chairman of the Orham school-committee. He was a + short, stout man with sandy side-whiskers and a bald head. He received + them with becoming condescension, and asked if they wouldn't sit down. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I've got a little bus'ness I want to talk with you 'bout, Sol,” said + the Captain. “Elsie, you set down here, and make yourself comf'table, and + Sol and me 'll go inside for a minute.” + </p> + <p> + As he led the way into the little private office at the back of the + building, and seemed to take it for granted that Mr. Bangs would follow, + the latter gentleman couldn't well refuse. The private office was usually + reserved for interviews with widows whose homestead mortgages were to be + foreclosed, guileless individuals who had indorsed notes for friends, or + others whose business was unpleasant and likely to be accompanied with + weeping or profanity. Mr. Bangs didn't object to foreclosing a mortgage, + but he disliked to have a prospective customer hear the dialogue that + preceded the operation. + </p> + <p> + On this occasion the door of the sanctum was left ajar so that Elsie, + although she did not try to listen, could not very well help hearing what + was said. + </p> + <p> + She heard the Captain commenting on the late cranberry crop, the + exceptionally pleasant weather of the past month, and other irrelevant + subjects. Then the perfumes of the campaign cigars floated out through the + doorway. + </p> + <p> + “Let's see,” said Captain Eri, “when's town meetin' day?” + </p> + <p> + “First Tuesday in December,” replied Mr. Bangs. + </p> + <p> + “Why, so 'tis, so 'tis. Gittin' pretty nigh, ain't it? What are you goin' + to git off the school-committee for?” + </p> + <p> + “Me? Get off the committee? Who told you that?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I don't know. You are, ain't you? Seems to me I heard Seth Wingate + was goin' to run and he's from your district, so I thought, of course—” + </p> + <p> + “Is Seth going to try for the committee?” + </p> + <p> + “Seth's a good man,” was the equivocal answer. + </p> + <p> + “A good man! He ain't any better man than I am. What's he know about + schools, or how to run 'em?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, he's pretty popular. Folks like him. See here, Sol; what's this + 'bout your turnin' Betsy Godfrey off her place?” + </p> + <p> + “Who said I turned her off? I've been carrying that mortgage for so long + it's gray-headed. I can't be Santa Claus for the whole town. Business is + business, and I've got to look out for myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Ye-es, I s'pose that's so. Still, folks talk, and Seth's got lots of + friends.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri, I ain't denying that you could do a heap to hurt me if you wanted + to, but I don't know why you should. I've always been square with you, + far's I know. What have you got against me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nuthin', nuthin'! Didn't I hear you was tryin' to get that Harniss + teacher to come down here and take Carrie Nixon's place when she got + married?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I thought of her. She's all night, isn't she?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I s'pose she is. 'Twould be better if she lived in Orham, maybe, and + folks couldn't say you went out of town for a teacher when you could have + had one right from home. Then, she's some relation of your cousin, ain't + she? 'Course, that's all right, but—well, you can't pay attention to + everything that's said.” + </p> + <p> + “Could have got one right from home! Who'd we get? Dave Eldredge's girl, I + suppose. I heard she was after it.” + </p> + <p> + The conversation that followed was in a lower tone, and Elsie heard but + little of it. She heard enough, however, to infer that Captain Eri was + still the disinterested friend, and that Solomon was very anxious to + retain that friendship. After a while the striking of matches indicated + that fresh cigars were being lighted, and then the pair rose from their + chairs, and entered the outer office. Mr. Bangs was very gracious, + exceedingly so. + </p> + <p> + “Miss Preston,” he said, “Cap'n Hedge tells me that it—er—might + be possible for us—er—for the town to secure—er—to—in + short, for us to have you for our teacher in the upstairs room. It ain't + necessary for me to say that—er—a teacher from Radcliffe don't + come our way very often, and that we—that is, the town of Orham, + would—er—feel itself lucky if you'd be willing to come.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course, I told him, Elsie,” said Captain Eri, “that you wouldn't think + of comin' for forty-five dollars a month or anything like that. Of course, + 'tisn't as though you really needed the place.” + </p> + <p> + “I understand, I understand,” said the pompous committeeman. “I think that + can be arranged. I really think—er—Miss Preston, that there + ain't any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!” + </p> + <p> + Elsie thanked him, trying her best not to smile, and they were bowed out + by the great man, who, however, called the Captain to one side, and + whispered eagerly to him for a moment or two. The word “Seth” was + mentioned at least once. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Eri!” exclaimed Elsie, as they drove away. + </p> + <p> + The Captain grinned. “Didn't know I was such a heeler, did you?” he said. + “Well, I tell you. If you're fishin' for eels there ain't no use usin' a + mack'rel jig. Sol, he's a little mite eely, and you've got to use the kind + of bait that 'll fetch that sort of critter.” + </p> + <p> + “But I shouldn't think he would care whether he was on the + school-committee or not. It isn't such an exalted position.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's answer was in the form of a parable. “Old Laban Simpkins + that lived 'round here one time,” he said, “was a mighty hard ticket. + Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she left him, and was a + tough nut gin'rally. Well, one evenin' Labe was comin' home pretty + how-come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab Wixon's well. Wonder he wa'n't + killed, but he wa'n't, and they fished him out in a little while. He said + that was the deepest well he ever saw; said he begun to think it reached + clear through to the hereafter, and when he struck the water he was + s'prised to find it wa'n't hot. He j'ined the church the next week, and + somebody asked him if he thought religion would keep him from fallin' into + any more wells. He said no; said he was lookin' out for somethin' further + on. + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's the way 'tis with Sol. School-committee's all right, but + this section of the Cape nominates a State representative next year. + </p> + <p> + “I mustn't forgit to see Seth,” he added. “I promised I would, and + besides,” with a wink, “I think 'twould be better to do it 'cause, between + you and me, I don't b'lieve Seth knows that he's been thinkin' of runnin' + for the committee and has decided not to.” + </p> + <p> + The second member of the school board, John Mullett, was, so the Captain + said, a sort of “me too” to Mr. Bangs, and would vote as his friend + directed. The third member was Mr. Langworthy, the Baptist minister and, + although two to one was a clear majority, Captain Eri asserted that there + was nothing like a unanimous vote, and so they decided to call upon the + reverend gentleman. + </p> + <p> + They found him at home, and Elsie was surprised, after the previous + interview, to see how differently her champion handled the case. There was + no preliminary parley and no beating about the bush. Miss Preston's claim + to the soon-to-be-vacant position was stated clearly and with vigor. Also + the reasons why she should receive a higher salary than had previously + been paid were set forth. It was something of a surprise to Elsie, as it + had been to Ralph, to see how highly the towns-people, that is, the + respectable portion of them, seemed to value the opinions of this + good-natured but uneducated seaman. And yet when she considered that she, + too, went to him for advice that she would not have asked of other and far + more learned acquaintances, it did not seem so surprising after all. + </p> + <p> + The clergyman had had several candidates in mind, but he was easily won + over to Elsie's side, partly by the Captain's argument, and partly because + he was favorably impressed by the young lady's appearance and manner. He + expressed himself as being convinced that she would be exactly the sort of + teacher that the school required and pledged his vote unconditionally. + </p> + <p> + And so, as Captain Eri said, the stump-speaking being over, there was + nothing to do but to wait for the election, and Elsie and he agreed to + keep the affair a secret until she received formal notice of the + appointment. This was undoubtedly a good plan, but, unfortunately for its + success, Solomon Bangs called upon his fellow in the committee, Mr. + Mullett, to inform the latter that he, entirely unaided, had discovered + the very teacher that Orham needed in the person of John Baxter's + granddaughter. Mr. Mullett, living up to his “me too” reputation, indorsed + the selection with enthusiasm, and not only did that, but also told + everyone he met, so that Captain Perez heard of it at the post-office the + very next afternoon. + </p> + <p> + The natural surprise of this gentleman and of Captain Jerry at their + guest's sudden determination was met by plausible explanations from + Captain Eri, to the effect that Elsie was a smart girl, and didn't like to + be “hangin' 'round doin' nothin', now that her grandpa was some better.” + Elsie's own reason, as expressed to them, being just this, the pair + accepted it without further questioning. Neither of them attached much + importance to the letter which she had received, although Captain Perez + did ask Mrs. Snow if she knew from whom it came. + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket was not so easily satisfied. At her first + opportunity she cornered Captain Eri, and they discussed the whole affair + from beginning to end. There was nothing unusual in this proceeding, for + discussions concerning household matters and questions of domestic policy + were, between these two, getting to be more and more frequent. Mrs. Snow + was now accepted by all as one of the family, and Captain Eri had come to + hold a high opinion of her and her views. What he liked about her, he + said, was her “good old-fashioned common-sense,” and, whereas he had + formerly trusted to his own share of this virtue almost altogether, now he + was glad to have hers to help out. + </p> + <p> + The marriage idea, that which had brought the housekeeper to Orham, was + now seldom mentioned. In fact, Captain Eri had almost entirely ceased to + ruffle Jerry's feelings with reference to it. Mrs. Snow, of course, said + nothing about it. But, for that matter, she said very little about herself + or her affairs. + </p> + <p> + It was a curious fact that the lady from Nantucket had never referred, + except in a casual way, to her past history. She had never told how she + came to answer the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime, nor to explain how + so matter-of-fact a person as she was had ever seen that famous sheet. As + she said nothing concerning these things, no one felt at liberty to + inquire, and, in the course of time, even Captain Perez' lively curiosity + had lapsed into a trance. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow was certain that Elsie's reason for wishing to obtain the + position of school-teacher was something more specific than the one + advanced. She was also certain that the girl was troubled about something. + The root of the matter, she believed, was contained in the mysterious + letter. As Captain Eri was of precisely the same opinion, speculation + between the two as to what that letter might have contained was as lively + as it was unfruitful. + </p> + <p> + One thing was certain, Elsie was not as she had formerly been. She did her + best to appear the same, but she was much more quiet, and had fits of + absentmindedness that the Captain and the housekeeper noticed. She had no + more evening “errands,” but she occasionally took long walks in the + afternoons, and on these walks she evidently preferred to be alone. + </p> + <p> + Whether Mr. Hazeltine noticed this change in her was a question. The + Captain thought he did, but at any rate, his calls were none the less + frequent, and he showed no marked objection when Captain Jerry, who now + considered himself bound in honor to bring about the union he had so + actively championed, brought to bear his artful schemes for leaving the + young folks alone. These devices were so apparent that Elsie had more than + once betrayed some symptoms of annoyance, all of which were lost on the + zealous match-maker. Ralph, like the others, was much surprised at Miss + Preston's application for employment, but, as it was manifestly none of + his business, he, of course, said nothing. + </p> + <p> + At the next committee meeting Elsie was unanimously chosen to fill Miss + Nixon's shoes as trainer of the young idea at the grammar school, and, as + Miss Nixon was very anxious to be rid of her responsibilities in order + that she might become the carefree bride of a widower with two small + children, the shoe-filling took place in a fortnight. + </p> + <p> + From her first day's labors Elsie returned calm and unruffled. She had met + the usual small rebellion against a new teacher, and had conquered it. She + said she believed she had a good class and she should get on with them + very nicely. It should be mentioned in passing, however, that Josiah + Bartlett, usually the ring-leader in all sorts of trouble, was a trifle + upset because the new schoolmistress lived in the same house with him, and + so had not yet decided just how far it was safe to go in trespassing + against law and order. + </p> + <p> + Thanksgiving day came, and the Captains entertained Miss Patience Davis + and her brother and Ralph Hazeltine at dinner. That dinner was an event. + Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow spent a full twenty minutes with the driver of + the butcher's cart, giving him directions concerning the exact breed of + turkey that was to be delivered, and apparently these orders were + effectual, for Captain Luther, who was obliged to hurry back to the + life-saving station as soon as dinner was over, said that he was so full + of white meat and stuffing that he cal'lated he should “gobble” all the + way to the beach. His sister stayed until the next day, and this was very + pleasing to all hands, particularly Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + They had games in the evening, and here the captains distinguished + themselves. Seth Wingate and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Obed Nickerson + came in, as did several other retired mariners and their better-halves. + Obed brought his fiddle and sat in the corner and played the music for a + Virginia reel, and Ralph laughed until he choked to see Captain Jerry—half + of his shirt-collar torn loose from the button and flapping like a sail—convoy + stout Mrs. Wingate from one end of the line to the other, throwing into + the performance all the fancy “cuts” and “double-shuffles” he learned at + the Thanksgiving balls of a good many years before. Captain Perez danced + with Miss Patience, who assured him she had never had such a good time + since she was born. The only scoffer was the bored Josiah, who, being a + sophisticated New Yorker, sat in the best chair and gazed contemptuously + upon the entire proceeding. He told “Web” Saunders the next day that he + never saw such a gang of “crazy jays” in his life. + </p> + <p> + Even John Baxter was better that day. He seemed a trifle more rational, + and apparently understood when they told him that it was Thanksgiving. + There would have been no cloud anywhere had not Mrs. Snow, entering her + room after Elsie had gone to bed, found that young lady awake and crying + silently. + </p> + <p> + “And she wouldn't tell what the trouble was,” said the housekeeper to + Captain Eri, the next day. “Said it was nothin'; she was kind of worried + 'bout her grandpa. Now, you and me know it wa'n't THAT. I wish to goodness + we knew WHAT it was.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain scratched his nose with a perplexed air. “There's one feller + I'd like to have a talk with jest 'bout now,” he said; “that's the one + that invented that yarn 'bout a woman's not bein' able to keep a secret.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII + </h2> + <h3> + CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + </h3> + <p> + It was during the week that followed the holiday so gloriously celebrated + that Captain Jerry made a mess of it, and all with the best intentions in + the world. Elsie had had a hard day at the school, principally owing to + the perversity of the irrepressible Josiah, whose love for deviltry was + getting the better of his respect for the new teacher. The boy had + discovered that Elsie never reported his bad conduct to Captain Perez, + and, therefore, that the situation was not greatly different from what it + had been during the reign of Miss Nixon. + </p> + <p> + On this particular day he had been a little worse than usual, and, as + uneasiness and mischief in a schoolroom are as catching as the chickenpox, + Elsie came home tired and nervous. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were certain + that this increasing nervousness on the part of their guest was not due to + school troubles alone, but, at any rate, nervous she was, and particularly + nervous, and, it must be confessed, somewhat inclined to be irritable, + during the supper and afterward, on this ill-starred night. + </p> + <p> + The beginning of the trouble was when Ralph Hazeltine called. Mrs. Snow + was with her patient in the upper room, Captain Eri was out, and Captain + Perez and Captain Jerry were with Elsie in the dining room. The + electrician was made welcome by the trio—more especially by the + captains, for Miss Preston was in no mood to be over-effusive—and a + few minutes of general conversation followed. Then Captain Jerry, in + accordance with his plan of campaign, laid down his newspaper, coughed + emphatically to attract the attention of his partner, and said, “Well, I + guess I'll go out and look at the weather for a spell. Come on, Perez.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Captain Jerry!” exclaimed Elsie, “you were out looking at the + weather only ten minutes ago. I don't think it has changed much since + then. Why don't you stay here and keep us company?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you can't never tell about the weather 'long this coast. It's likely + to change most any time. Besides,” with a wink that expressed + comprehension unlimited, “I reckon you and Mr. Hazeltine don't care much + 'bout the company of old fogies like me and Perez. Two's company and + three's a crowd, you know. Ho, ho, ho!” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry, come back this minute!” + </p> + <p> + But the Captain chuckled and shook out of the door, followed by the + obedient Perez, who, having pledged fealty, stuck to his colors whatever + might happen. + </p> + <p> + At another time, Elsie would probably have appreciated and enjoyed the + joke as much as anyone, but this evening it did not appeal to her in the + least. Ralph put in a very uncomfortable half-hour, and then cut his visit + short and departed. It was rather sharp and chilly outside, but the breeze + felt like a breath from the tropics compared with the atmosphere of that + dining room. + </p> + <p> + It certainly was Captain Jerry's unlucky evening, for he left Perez + chatting with a fisherman friend, who had left a favorite pipe in his + shanty and had come down to get it, and entered the house alone. He had + seen the electrician go, and was surprised at the brevity of his call, but + he was as far from suspecting that he himself was the indirect cause of + the said brevity as a mortal could be. + </p> + <p> + He came into the dining room, hung his cap on the back of a chair, and + remarked cheerfully, “Well, Elsie, what did you send your company home so + quick for? Land sake! twelve o'clock wa'n't none too late for me when I + was young and goin' round to see the girls.” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Preston did not smile. On the contrary, she frowned, and when she + spoke the Captain had a vague feeling that someone had dropped an icicle + inside his shirt collar. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jerry,” said the young lady, “I want to have a talk with you. Why + do you think it necessary to get up and leave the room whenever Mr. + Hazeltine calls? You do it every time, and to-night was no exception, + except that by what you said you made me appear a little more ridiculous + than usual. Now, why do you do it?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's jaw fell. He stared at his questioner to see if she was not + joking, but, finding no encouragement of that kind, stammered, “Why do I + do it? Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, why?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, 'cause I thought you wanted me to.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I</i> wanted you to! Why should you think that, please?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I don't know. I thought you two would ruther be alone. I know, when + I used to go to see my wife 'fore we was married, I—” + </p> + <p> + “Please, what has that got to do with Mr. Hazeltine's visits here?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, why, nothin', I s'pose, if you say so. I jest thought—” + </p> + <p> + “What right have you to suppose that Mr. Hazeltine is calling on me more + than any other person or persons in this house?” + </p> + <p> + This was something of a poser, but the Captain did his best. He sat on the + edge of a chair and rubbed his knee, and then blurted out, “Well, I s'pose + I—that is, we thought he was, jest 'cause he nat'rally would; that's + 'bout all. If I'd thought—why, see here, Elsie, don't YOU think he's + comin' to see you?” + </p> + <p> + This was a return thrust that was hard to parry, but, although the young + lady's color heightened just a bit, she answered without much hesitation: + </p> + <p> + “I don't know that I do. At any rate, I have given you no authority to act + on any such assumption, and I DON'T want you to put me again in the + ridiculous position you did this evening, and as you have done so often + before. Why, his visits might be perfect torture to me, and still I should + have to endure them out of common politeness. I couldn't go away and leave + him alone.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry's face was a study of chagrin and troubled repentance. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie,” he said, “I'm awful sorry; I am so. If I'd thought I was + torturin' of you, 'stead of makin' it pleasant, I'd never have done it, + sure. I won't go out again; I won't, honest. I hope you won't lay it up + against me. I meant well.” + </p> + <p> + Now, if Captain Perez had delayed his entrance to that dining room only + two or three minutes longer, if he had not come in just in time to prevent + Elsie's making the explanatory and soothing answer that was on her tongue, + events would probably have been entirely different, and a good deal of + trouble might have been saved. But in he came, as if some perverse imp had + been waiting to give him the signal, and the interview between Captain + Jerry and the young lady whom he had unwittingly offended broke off then + and there. + </p> + <p> + Elsie went upstairs feeling a little conscience-stricken, and with an + uneasy idea that she had said more than she should have. Captain Perez + took up the newspaper and sat down to read. As for Captain Jerry, he sat + down, too, but merely to get his thoughts assorted into an arrangement + less like a spilled box of jackstraws. The Captain's wonderful scheme, + that he had boasted of and worked so hard for, had fallen to earth like an + exploded airship, and when it hit it hurt. + </p> + <p> + His first idea was to follow the usual procedure, and take the whole + matter to Captain Eri for settlement, but the more he considered this plan + the less he liked it. Captain Eri was an unmerciful tease, and he would be + sure to “rub it in,” in a way the mere thought of which made his friend + squirm. There wasn't much use in confiding to Captain Perez, either. He + must keep the secret and pretend that everything was working smoothly. + </p> + <p> + Then his thoughts turned to Hazeltine, and when he considered the wrong he + had done that young man, he squirmed again. There wasn't a doubt in his + mind that Ralph felt exactly as Elsie did about his interference. Captain + Jerry decided that he owed the electrician an apology, and determined to + offer it at the first opportunity. + </p> + <p> + And the opportunity came the very next morning, for Mrs. Snow wanted some + clams for dinner, and asked him to dig some for her. The best clams in the + vicinity were those in the flat across the bay near the cable station, and + the Captain took his bucket and hoe and rowed over there. As he was + digging, Ralph came strolling down to the shore. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Hazeltine's “Good-morning” was clear and hearty. Captain Jerry's was + hesitating and formal. The talk that followed was rather one-sided. + Finally, the Captain laid down his hoe, and came splashing over to where + his friend was standing. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” he said confusedly, “I kind of feel as if I ought to beg + your pardon. I'm awful sorry I done what I did, but, as I said to Elsie, I + meant well, and I'm sorry.” + </p> + <p> + “Sorry? Sorry for what?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, for leavin' you and her alone so when you come to the house. You + see, I never thought but what you'd both like it, and 'twa'n't till she + raked me over the coals so for doin' it that I realized how things was.” + </p> + <p> + “Raked you over the coals? I'm afraid I don't understand.” + </p> + <p> + It is unnecessary to repeat the whole of the long and tangled conversation + that ensued. The Captain tried to explain, tumbled down, metaphorically + speaking, got up again, and started off on another tack. In his anxiety to + make his position perfectly clear, he quoted from Elsie's remarks of the + previous evening, and then, thinking perhaps he had gone too far, tried to + smooth these over by more explanations. Repeating this process several + times got him into such a snarl that he scarcely knew what he was saying. + When the agony was over Ralph had received the impression that Miss + Preston had said his visits were a perfect torture to her, that she + objected to being left alone with him, that she held Captain Jerry + responsible for these things, and that the latter was sorry for something + or other, though what it was he, Ralph, didn't know or care particularly. + To the Captain's continued apologies he muttered absently that it was “all + right,” and walked slowly away with his hands in his pockets. Captain + Jerry was relieved by this expression of forgiveness. He felt that the + situation wasn't what he would like to have it, but, at any rate, he had + done his duty. This was a great consolation. + </p> + <p> + Ralph didn't call that evening or the next. When he did drop in it was + merely to inquire concerning John Baxter's progress, and to chat for a + moment with the captains. His next visit was a week later, and was just as + brief and formal. + </p> + <p> + If Elsie noticed this sudden change she said nothing. There might have + been some comment by the others, had not a new sensation so occupied their + minds as to shut out everything else. This sensation was caused by Josiah + Bartlett, who ran away one night, with his belongings tied up in a brown + paper parcel, leaving a note saying that he had gone to enlist in the Navy + and wasn't coming back any more. + </p> + <p> + There were lively times the next morning when the note was found. Captain + Perez was for harnessing up immediately and starting off to find the lost + one, hit or miss. Captain Eri soon showed him the folly of this proceeding + and, instead, hurried to the railway station and sent a telegram + describing the fugitive to the conductor of the Boston train. It caught + the conductor at Sandwich, and the local constable at Buzzard's Bay caught + the boy. Josiah was luxuriously puffing a five-cent cigar in the smoking + car, and it was a crest-fallen and humiliated prodigal that, accompanied + by the a fore-mentioned constable, returned to Orham that night. + </p> + <p> + But the stubbornness remained, and the next day Perez sought Captain Eri + in a troubled frame of mind. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said dejectedly, “I don't know what I'm goin' to do with that + boy. He's too many for ME, that boy is. Seems he's been plannin' this + runnin' away bus'ness for more 'n a month; been doin' errands and odd jobs + 'round town and savin' up his money on purpose. Says he won't go back to + school again, no matter what we do to him, and that he's goin' to git into + the Navy if it takes ten year. He says he'll run away again fust chance he + gits, and he WILL, too. He's got the sperit of the Old Scratch in him, and + I can't git it out. I'm clean discouraged and wore out, and I know that + he'll do somethin' pretty soon that 'll disgrace us all.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed his friend. “Stuffy as all that, is he? You don't say! + He ain't a bad boy, that is a REEL bad boy, either.” + </p> + <p> + “No, that's jest it. He ain't reel bad—yit. But he will be if he + ain't fetched up pretty sudden. 'Course, I know what he needs is to be + made to mind fust, and then preached to afterwards. And I know that + nat'rally I'm the one that ought to do it, but I jest can't—there! + If I should start out to give him the dressin' down he needs, I'd be + thinkin' of his mother every minute, and how I promised to treat him + gentle and not be cross to him. But SOMETHIN'S got to be done, and if you + can help me out any way I'll never forgit it, Eri.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri scratched his chin. “Humph!” he grunted reflectively. “He + couldn't git into the Navy, he's too young. More likely to be a stowaway + on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, or some such thing. + Even if he lied 'bout his age and did git to be a sort of a ship's boy on + a sailin' vessel, you and me know what that means nowadays. I presume + likely 'twould end in his bein' killed in some rumshop scrimmage later on. + Let—me—see. Bound to be a sailor, is he?” + </p> + <p> + “He's dead sot on it.” + </p> + <p> + “More fool he. Comes from readin' them ridic'lous story books, I s'pose. + He ain't been on the water much sence he's been down here, has he?” + </p> + <p> + “Not more 'n once or twice, except in a dory goin' to the beach, or + somethin' like that.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so, that's what I thought. Well, Perez, I'll tell you. The boy + does need breakin' in, that's a fact, and I think maybe I could do it. I + could use a young feller on my boat; to go coddin' with me, I mean. Let me + have the boy under me—no meddlin' from anybody—for a couple of + months. Let him sign reg'lar articles and ship 'long of me for that time. + Maybe I could make a white man of him.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't b'lieve he'd do it.” + </p> + <p> + “I cal'late I could talk him into it. There's some butter on my tongue + when it's necessary.” + </p> + <p> + “You'd have to promise not to lay a hand on him in anger. That's what I + promised his mother.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, I promise it now. That's all right, Perez. You and me are old + shipmates, and bound to help each other out. Just trust him to me, and + don't ask too many questions. Is it a trade? Good! Shake.” + </p> + <p> + They shook hands on it, and then Captain Eri went in to talk to the + unreconciled runaway. That young gentleman, fresh from his triumph over + his uncle, at first refused to have anything to do with the scheme. He + wasn't going to be a “cheap guy fisherman,” he was going into the Navy. + The Captain did not attempt to urge him, neither did he preach or + patronize. He simply leaned back in the rocker and began spinning sailor + yarns. He told of all sorts of adventures in all climates, and with all + sorts of people. He had seen everything under the sun, apparently, and, + according to him, there was no life so free and void of all restraint as + that of an able seaman on a merchant ship, or, preferably, on a fisherman; + but one point he made clear, and that was that, unless the applicant had + had previous training, his lot was likely to be an unhappy one. + </p> + <p> + “Of course,” he said, as he rose to go, “it was my idea to sort of train + you up so's you could be ready when 'twas time to ship, but long's you + don't want to, why it's all off.” + </p> + <p> + “I'll go with you, Cap!” said Josiah, whose eyes were shining. + </p> + <p> + “Good! That's the talk! You might as well sign articles right away. Wait + till I git 'em ready.” + </p> + <p> + He brought pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to indite a formidable + document to the effect that “Josiah Bartlett, able seaman,” was to ship + aboard the catboat Mary Ellen for a term of two months. Wages, five + dollars a month. + </p> + <p> + “You see,” he said, “I've put you down as able seaman 'cause that's what + you'll be when I git through with you. Now sign.” + </p> + <p> + So Josiah signed, and then Captain Eri affixed his own signature with a + flourish. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the Captain, bringing his big palm down on the back of + the “able seaman” with a thump that brought water into the eyes of that + proud youth, “You're my man, shipmate. We sail to-morrer mornin' at four, + rain or shine. I'll call you at quarter of. Be ready.” + </p> + <p> + “You bet, old man!” said Josiah. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez met his friend as they came out of the parlor. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Eri,” he whispered, “be easy as you can with him, won't you?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain answered in the very words of his crew. + </p> + <p> + “You bet!” he said fervently, and went away whistling. Captain Perez slept + better that night. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV + </h2> + <h3> + THE VOYAGE OF AN “ABLE SEAMAN” + </h3> + <p> + Promptly at a quarter to four the next morning Captain Eri rapped on the + parlor door. Josiah, who had been dressed since three, appeared almost + instantly. They walked down to the shore together, and the Captain's eyes + twinkled as he noted the elaborate roll in the boy's walk. + </p> + <p> + The Mary Ellen was anchored between the beaches, and they rowed off to her + in a dory. It was pitch-dark, and cold and raw. Lanterns showed on two or + three of the other boats near by, and, as Josiah and the Captain pulled up + the eelgrass-covered anchor, a dim shape glided past in the blackness. It + was the You and I, bound out. Ira Sparrow was at the helm, and he hailed + the Mary Ellen, saying something about the weather. + </p> + <p> + “It 'll be kind of ca'm for a spell,” replied Captain Eri, “but I wouldn't + wonder if we had some wind 'fore night. Here you, fo'mast hand,” he added, + turning to Josiah, “stand by to git the canvas on her.” + </p> + <p> + The mainsail was soon hoisted, and the catboat moved slowly out of the + bay. + </p> + <p> + “Gee! it's dark,” exclaimed Josiah, “what are you goin' way off here for? + Why don't you go straight out?” + </p> + <p> + “I gin'rally take the short cut through the narrers,” replied the Captain, + “but I thought you mightn't like the breakers on the shoals, so I'm goin' + 'round the p'int flat.” + </p> + <p> + “Huh! I ain't a-scared of breakers. Can't be too rough for me. Wisht + 'twould blow to beat the band.” + </p> + <p> + “Maybe 'twill by and by. Pretty toler'ble slick now, though.” + </p> + <p> + It was after sunrise when they reached the ledge where codfish most do + congregate. The land was a mere yellow streak on the horizon. The stiff + easterly blow of the day before had left a smooth, heavy swell that, + tripping over the submerged ledge, alternately tossed the Mary Ellen high + in air and dropped her toward the bottom. It was cold, and the newly risen + December sun did not seem to have much warmth in it. Anchor over the side, + the Captain proposed breakfast. + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” did not feel very hungry, but he managed to swallow a + hard-boiled egg and a sandwich, and then, just to show that he had reached + the dignity of manhood, leaned back against the side of the cockpit, lit a + cigarette, and observed cheerfully, “This is hot stuff, ain't it, Cap?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri wiped the crumbs from his mouth, leisurely produced his pipe, + and proceeded to fill it with tobacco shaved from a chunky plug. + </p> + <p> + “What d'you smoke them things for?” he asked contemptuously, referring to + the cigarette. “Nobody but dudes and sissies smoke that kind of truck. + Here, take this pipe, and smoke like a man.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah looked askance at the proffered pipe. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, no!” he said magnanimously, “you'll want it yourself. I'll get along + with these things till I git ashore; then I'll buy a pipe of my own.” + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind 'bout me. I've got two or three more below there, + some'eres. Take it and light up.” + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” took the reeking, nicotine soaked affair, placed it + gingerly between his teeth, held a match to the bowl and coughingly + emitted a cloud of ill-smelling smoke. The pipe wheezed and gurgled, and + the Mary Ellen rocked and rolled. + </p> + <p> + “Now, then,” said Captain Eri, “we've sojered long enough. Go below, and + bring up the bait bucket and the lines.” + </p> + <p> + Josiah staggered into the little cabin, reappeared with the heavy cod + lines and the bucket of mussels, and watched while the Captain “baited + up.” + </p> + <p> + “All ready!” said the skipper. “Two lines apiece, one over each side. + Watch me.” + </p> + <p> + The cod bit almost immediately, and for ten minutes the work was exciting + and lively. The Captain, watching from the corner of his eye, noticed that + his assistant's pipe was wheezing less regularly, and that his lines were + thrown over more and more listlessly. At length he said, “Haven't stopped + smokin' so quick, have you? What's the matter—gone out? Here's a + match.” + </p> + <p> + “I guessed I've smoked enough for now. I can't fish so well when I'm + smokin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Bosh! If you want to be a reel sailor you must smoke all the time. Light + up.” + </p> + <p> + Reluctantly the boy obeyed, and puffed with feverish energy. Also he + swallowed with vigor. The cod smelt fishy; so did the bait, and the + catboat rolled and rolled. Suddenly Josiah pulled in his lines, and took + the pipe from his lips. + </p> + <p> + “What's the matter?” inquired the watchful skipper. + </p> + <p> + “I—I guess I won't fish any more, Cap. Kind of slow sport, ain't it? + Guess I'll go in there and take a snooze.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess you won't! You shipped to fish, and you're goin' to fish. Pick up + them lines.” + </p> + <p> + The boy sullenly turned toward the cabin door. Was he, who had just + declared himself independent of school restraint, he who had once been the + thorn in the flesh of every policeman in the —th ward, to be ordered + about by this Cape Cod countryman! “Aw, go chase yourself!” he said + contemptuously. A minute after, when he picked himself up from the heap of + slimy fish in the bottom of the boat, he saw the Captain standing solidly + on one cowhide-shod foot, while the other was drawn easily back and rested + on its toe. When Josiah recovered his breath, the burst of bad language + with which he assailed his companion did credit to his street bringing up. + It was as short as it was fierce, however, and ended amid the cod and the + mussels from the overturned bait bucket. But, as the Captain said + afterwards, he was “spunky” and rose again, incoherent with rage. + </p> + <p> + “You—you—I'll kill you!” he shrieked. “You promised not to + touch me, you lyin' old—” + </p> + <p> + He tried to get out of the way, but didn't succeed, and this time merely + sat up and sobbed as Captain Eri said in even tones: + </p> + <p> + “No, I'm not lyin'. I promised not to lay a hand on you in anger, that's + all. Fust place, I don't kick with my hands, and, second place, I ain't + angry. Now, then, pick up them lines.” + </p> + <p> + The “able seaman” was frightened. This sort of treatment was new to him. + He judged it best to obey now and “get square” later on. He sulkily picked + up the codlines, and threw the hooks overboard. Captain Eri, calmly + resuming his fishing, went on to say, “The fust thing a sailor has to + l'arn is to obey orders. I see you've stopped smokin'. Light up.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't want to.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I want you TO. Light up.” + </p> + <p> + “I won't. Oh, yes, I will!” + </p> + <p> + He eyed the threatening boot fearfully and lit the awful pipe with shaking + fingers. But he had taken but a few puffs when it went over the side, and + it seemed to Josiah that the larger half of himself went with it. The + Captain watched the paroxysm grimly. + </p> + <p> + “Sick, hey?” he grunted, “and not a capful of wind stirrin'. You're a + healthy sailor! I thought I'd shipped a man, but I see 'twas only a sassy + baby. My uncle Labe had a good cure for seasickness. You take a big hunk + of fat salt pork, dip it in molasses, and—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, d-o-n-'t!” Another spasm. + </p> + <p> + “Dip it in molasses,” repeated Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + “Don't, Cap! PLEASE don't!” + </p> + <p> + “Another thing a sailor learns is not to call his skipper 'Cap.' A fo'mast + hand always says 'Aye, aye, sir,' when his off'cer speaks to him. + Understand that?” + </p> + <p> + “Y-e-s. Oh, Lord!” + </p> + <p> + “WHAT?” + </p> + <p> + “Ye—I mean aye, aye.” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, WHAT?” + </p> + <p> + “Aye, aye, SIR! OH, dear me!” + </p> + <p> + “That's better. Now pick up them lines.” + </p> + <p> + Well, 'twas a dreadful forenoon for Josiah; one not to be forgotten. The + boat rolled unceasingly, his head ached, and pulling the heavy cod made + his back and shoulders lame; also, he was wet and cold. The other boats + scattered about the fishing grounds pulled up their anchors and started + for home, but Captain Eri did not budge. At noon he opened his lunch + basket again, and munched serenely. The sight of the greasy ham sandwiches + was too much for the “able seaman.” He suffered a relapse and, when it was + over, tumbled on the seat which encircled the cockpit and, being + completely worn out, went fast asleep. The Captain watched him for a + minute or two, smiled in a not unkindly way, and, going into the cabin, + brought out an old pea jacket and some other wraps with which he covered + the sleeper. Then he went back to his fishing. + </p> + <p> + When Josiah awoke the Mary Ellen was heeled over on her side, her sail as + tight as a drumhead. The wind was whistling through the cordage, and the + boat was racing through seas that were steel-blue and angry, with + whitecaps on their crests. The sun was hidden by tumbling, dust-colored + clouds. The boy felt weak and strangely humble; the dreadful nausea was + gone. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri, standing at the tiller, regarded him sternly, but there was + the suspicion of a twinkle in his eye. + </p> + <p> + “Feelin' better?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Ye—aye, aye, sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! Want to smoke again. Pipe right there on the thwart.” + </p> + <p> + “No, thank you, sir.” + </p> + <p> + It was some time before anything more was said. Josiah was gazing at the + yellow sand-cliffs that, on every tack, grew nearer. At length the Captain + again addressed him. + </p> + <p> + “Perez ever tell you 'bout our fust v'yage? Never did, hey? Well, I will. + Him and me run away to sea together, you know.” + </p> + <p> + And then Captain Eri began a tale that caused the cold shivers to chase + themselves from Josiah's big toe to the longest hair on his head. It was + the story of two boys who ran away and shipped aboard an Australian + sailing packet, and contained more first-class horrors than any one of his + beloved dime novels. As a finishing touch the narrator turned back the + grizzled hair on his forehead and showed a three-inch scar, souvenir of a + first mate and a belaying pin. He rolled up his flannel shirtsleeve and + displayed a slightly misshapen left arm, broken by a kick from a drunken + captain and badly set by the same individual. + </p> + <p> + “Now,” he said in conclusion, “I cal'late you think I was pretty hard on + you this mornin', but what do you figger that you'd have got if you talked + to a mate the way you done to me?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't know. S'pose I'd have been killed,—sir.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you would, mighty nigh, and that's a fact. Now, I'll tell you + somethin' else. You wanted to enlist in the Navy, I understand. You + couldn't git in the Navy, anyway, you're too young, but s'pose you could, + what then? You'd never git any higher 'n a petty officer, 'cause you don't + know enough. The only way to git into the Navy is to go through Annapolis, + and git an education. I tell you, education counts. Me and Perez would + have been somethin' more 'n cheap fishin' and coastin' skippers if we'd + had an education; don't forgit that.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess I don't want to be a sailor, anyway, sir. This one trip is enough + for me, thank you.” + </p> + <p> + “Can't help that. You shipped 'long with me for two months, and you'll + sail with me for two months, every time I go out. You won't run away again + neither, I'll look out for that. You'll sail with me and you'll help clean + fish, and you'll mind me and you'll say 'sir.' You needn't smoke if you + don't want to,” with a smile. “I ain't p'tic'lar 'bout that. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” went on the Captain, “when the two months is up you'll be your own + master again. You can go back to 'Web' Saunders and 'Squealer' Wixon and + 'Ily' Tucker and their tribe, if you want to, and be a town nuisance and a + good-for-nuthin'. OR you can do this: You can go to school for a few years + more and behave yourself and then, if I've got any influence with the + Congressman from this district—and I sort of b'lieve I have, + second-handed, at any rate—you can go to Annapolis and learn to be a + Navy officer. That's my offer. You've got a couple of months to think it + over in.” + </p> + <p> + The catboat swung about on her final tack and stood in for the narrows, + the route which the Captain had spoken of as the “short cut.” From where + Josiah sat the way seemed choked with lines of roaring, frothing breakers + that nothing could approach and keep above water. But Captain Eri steered + the Mary Ellen through them as easily as a New York cabdriver guides his + vehicle through a jam on Broadway, picking out the smooth places and + avoiding the rough ones until the last bar was crossed and the boat + entered the sheltered waters of the bay. + </p> + <p> + “By gum!” exclaimed the enthusiastic “able seaman.” “That was great—er—sir!” + </p> + <p> + “That's part of what I'll l'arn you in the next two months,” said the + Captain. “'Twon't do you any harm to know it when you're in the Navy + neither. Stand by to let go anchor!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV + </h2> + <h3> + IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + </h3> + <p> + If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline he was + disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the “shipping + articles.” The Captain even went to the length of transferring Perez to + the parlor cot and of compelling the boy to share his own room. This was, + of course, a precaution against further attempts at running away. Morning + after morning the pair rose before daylight and started for the fishing + grounds. There were two or three outbreaks on the part of the “able + seaman,” but they ended in but one way, complete submission. After a while + Josiah, being by no means dull, came to realize that when he behaved like + a man he was treated like one. He learned to steer the Mary Ellen, and to + handle her in all weathers. Also, his respect for Captain Eri developed + into a liking. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was gratified and delighted at the change in his + grandnephew's behavior and manners, and was not a little curious to learn + the methods by which the result had been brought about. His hints being + fruitless, he finally asked his friend point-blank. Captain Eri's answer + was something like this: + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” he said, “do you remember old man Sanborn, that kept school here + when you and me was boys? Well, when the old man run foul of a youngster + that was sassy and uppish he knocked the sass out of him fust, and then + talked to him like a Dutch uncle. He used to call that kind of treatment + 'moral suasion.' That's what I'm doin' to Josiah; I'm 'moral suasionin' + him.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez was a little anxious concerning the first part of this + course of training, but its results were so satisfactory that he asked no + more questions. The fact is, Captain Perez' mind was too much occupied + with another subject just at this time to allow him to be over-anxious. + The other subject was Miss Patience Davis. + </p> + <p> + Miss Davis, her visit with her brother being over, was acting as companion + to an old lady who lived in a little house up the shore, a mile or so + above the station. This elderly female, whose name was Mayo, had a son who + kept a grocery store in the village and was, therefore, obliged to be away + all day and until late in the evening. Miss Patience found Mrs. Mayo's + crotchets a bit trying, but the work was easy and to her liking, and she + was, as she said, “right across the way, as you might say, from Luther.” + The “way” referred to was the stretch of water between the outer beach and + the mainland. + </p> + <p> + And Captain Perez was much interested in Miss patience—very much so, + indeed. His frequent visits to the Mayo homestead furnished no end of + amusement to Captain Eri, and also to Captain Jerry, who found poking fun + at his friend an agreeable change from the old programme of being the butt + himself. He wasn't entirely free from this persecution, however, for Eri + more than once asked him, in tones the sarcasm of which was elaborately + veiled, if his match-making scheme had gotten tired and was sitting down + to rest. To which the sacrifice would reply stoutly, “Oh, it's comin' out + all right; you wait and see.” + </p> + <p> + But in his heart Captain Jerry knew better. He had been wise enough to say + nothing to his friends concerning his interviews with Elsie and Ralph, but + apparently the breaking-off between the pair was final. Hazeltine called + occasionally, it is true, but his stays were short and, at the slightest + inclination shown by the older people to leave the room, he left the + house. There was some comment by Eri and Mrs. Snow on this sudden change, + but they were far from suspecting the real reason. Elsie continued to be + as reticent as she had been of late; her school work was easier now that + Josiah was no longer a pupil. + </p> + <p> + Christmas was rather a failure. There were presents, of course, but the + planned festivities were omitted owing to a change in John Baxter's + condition. From growing gradually better, he now grew slowly, but surely, + worse. Dr. Palmer's calls were more frequent, and he did not conceal from + Mrs. Snow or the captains his anxiety. They hid much of this from Elsie, + but she, too, noticed the change, and was evidently worried by it. Strange + to say, as his strength ebbed, the patient's mind grew clearer. His + speech, that in his intervals of consciousness had heretofore dealt with + events of the past, was now more concerned with recent happenings. But + Captain Eri had never heard him mention the fire. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon in January Mrs. Snow and Captain Eri were together in the + sick room. The rest of the household was absent on various errands; + Captain Perez paying a visit to the life-saver's sister and Elsie staying + after school to go over some examination papers. There was snow on the + ground, and a “Jinooary thaw” was causing the eaves to drip, and the + puddles in the road to grow larger. The door of the big stove was open, + and the coals within showed red-hot. Captain Baxter was apparently asleep. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see,” said Mrs. Snow musingly, in a low tone. “I've been here now, + two, three, over four months. Seems longer, somehow.” + </p> + <p> + “Seems almost as if you'd always been here,” replied Captain Eri. “Queer + how soon we git used to a change. I don't know how we got along afore, but + we did some way or other, if you call it gittin' along,” he added with a + shrug. “I should hate to have to try it over again.” + </p> + <p> + “It's always seemed funny to me,” remarked the lady, “that you men, all + sailors so—and used to doin' for yourselves, should have had such a + time when you come to try keepin' house. I should have expected it if you + was—well, doctors, or somethin' like that—used to havin' folks + wait on you, but all sea captains, it seems queer.” + </p> + <p> + “It does, don't it? I've thought of that myself. Anybody'd think we was + the most shif'less lot that ever lived, but we wa'n't. Even Jerry—and + he's the wust one of the three when it comes to leavin' things at loose + ends—always had a mighty neat vessel, and had the name of makin' his + crews toe the mark. I honestly b'lieve it come of us bein' on shore and + runnin' the shebang on a share and share alike idee. If there'd been a + skipper, a feller to boss things, we'd have done better, but when all + hands was boss—nobody felt like doin' anything. Then, too, we begun + too old. A feller gits sort of sot in his ways, and it's hard to give in + to the other chap. + </p> + <p> + “Now, take that marryin' idee,” he went on. “I laughed at that a good deal + at fust and didn't really take any stock in it, but I guess 'twas real + hoss sense, after all. Anyhow, it brought you down here, and what we'd + done without you when John was took sick, <i>I</i> don't know. I haven't + said much about it, but I've felt enough, and I know the other fellers + feel the same way. You've been so mighty good and put up with so many + things that must have fretted you like the nation, and the way you've + managed—my!” + </p> + <p> + The whole-souled admiration in the Captain's voice made the housekeeper + blush like a girl. + </p> + <p> + “Don't say a word, Cap'n Eri,” she protested. “It's been jest a pleasure + to me, honest. I've had more comfort and—well, peace, you might say, + sence I've been in this house than I've had afore for years.” + </p> + <p> + “When I think,” said the Captain, “of what we might have got for that + advertisement, I swan it makes my hair curl. Advertisin' that way in that + kind of a paper, why we might have had a—a play actress, or I don't + know what, landed on us. Seems 's if there was a Providence in it: seems + 's if you was kind of SENT—there!” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what you must think of me answerin' an advertisement for a + husband that way. It makes me 'shamed of myself when I think of it, I + declare. And in that kind of a paper, too.” + </p> + <p> + “I've wondered more times than a few how you ever got a hold of that + paper. 'Tain't one you'd see every day nat'rally, you know.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow paused before she answered. Then she said slowly, “Well, I'm + s'prised you ain't asked that afore. I haven't said much about myself + sence I've been here, for no p'tic'lar reason that I know of, except that + there wasn't much to tell and it wasn't a very interestin' yarn to other + folks. My husband's name was Jubal Snow—” + </p> + <p> + “You don't say!” exclaimed the Captain. “Why, Jerry used to know him.” + </p> + <p> + “I shouldn't wonder. Jubal knew a lot of folks on the Cape here. He was a + good husband—no better anywheres—and he and I had a good life + together long as he was well. I've sailed a good many v'yages with him, + and I feel pretty nigh as much at home on the water as I do on land. Our + trouble was the same that a good many folks have; we didn't cal'late that + fair weather wouldn't last all the time, that's all. + </p> + <p> + “It wasn't his fault any more than 'twas mine. We saved a little money, + but not enough, as it turned out. Well, he was took down sick and had to + give up goin' to sea, and we had a little place over in Nantucket, and + settled down on it. Fust along, Jubal was able to do a little farmin' and + so on, and we got along pretty well, but by and by he got so he wa'n't + able to work, and then 'twas harder. What little we'd saved went for + doctor's bills and this, that, and t'other. He didn't like to have me + leave him, so I couldn't earn much of anything, and fin'lly we come to + where somethin' had to be done right away, and we talked the thing over + and decided to mortgage the house. The money we got on the mortgage lasted + until he died. + </p> + <p> + “He had a little life insurance, not enough, of course, but a little. He + was plannin' to take on more, but somehow it never seemed as if he could + die, he so big and strong, and we put it off until he got so he couldn't + pass the examination. When the insurance money come I took it to Jedge + Briar, a mighty good friend of Jubal's and mine and the one that held the + mortgage on the house, and I told him I wanted to pay off the mortgage + with it, so's I'd have the house free and clear. But the Jedge advised me + not to, said the mortgage was costin' me only six per cent., and why + didn't I put the money where 'twas likely to be a good investment that + would pay me eight or ten per cent.? Then I'd be makin' money, he said. I + asked him to invest it for me, and he put it into the Bay Shore Land + Company, where most of his own was.” + </p> + <p> + “Sho! I want to know!” broke in the Captain. “He did, hey! Well, I had + some there, too, and so did Perez. Precious few fam'lies on the Cape that + didn't.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, he thought 'twas the safest and best place he knew of. The officers + bein' sons of Cape people and their fathers such fine men, everybody said + 'twas all right. I got my dividends reg'lar for a while, and I went out + nussin' and did sewin' and got along reel well. I kept thinkin' some day + I'd be able to pay off the mortgage and I put away what little I could + towards it, but then <i>I</i> was took sick and that money went, and then + the Land Company went up the spout.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain nodded. The failure of the company had brought poverty to + hundreds of widows. Mrs. Snow's case was but another instance. + </p> + <p> + “Let me see,” said the lady. “Where was I? Oh, yes! the Land Company's + failin'. Well, it failed and the insurance money went with it. It was + discouragin', of course, but I had my house, except for the mortgage, and + I had my health again, and, if I do say it, I ain't afraid of work, so I + jest made up my mind there was no use cryin' over spilt milk, and that I + must git along and begin to save all over again. Then Jedge Briar died and + his nephew up to Boston come into the property. I was behind in my + payments a little, and they sent me word they should foreclose the + mortgage, and they did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I swan! The mean sculpins! Didn't you have NOBODY you could go to; + no relations nor nothin'?” + </p> + <p> + “I've got a brother out in Chicago, but he married rich and his wife + doesn't care much for her husband's relations. I never saw her but once, + and then one of the first things she asked me was if it was true that + there was more crazy people in Nantucket than in any other place of its + size on earth, and afore I could answer she asked me what made 'em crazy. + I told her I didn't know unless it was answerin' city folks' questions. + She didn't like that very well, and I haven't heard from Job—that's + my brother—for a long time. All my other near relations are dead. + </p> + <p> + “So they foreclosed the mortgage, and gave me notice to move out. I packed + my things, and watered my flowers—I had quite a pretty flower garden—for + the last time, and then come in and set down in the rocker to wait for the + wagon that was goin' to move me. I got to thinkin' how proud Jubal and me + was when we bought that house and how we planned about fixin' it up, and + how our baby that died was born in it, and how Jubal himself had died + there, and told me that he was glad he was leavin' me a home, at any rate; + and I got so lonesome and discouraged that I jest cried, I couldn't help + it. But I've never found that cryin' did much good, so I wiped my eyes and + looked for somethin' to read to take up my mind. And that Chime paper was + what I took up. + </p> + <p> + “You see, there'd been a big excursion from Boston down the day before, + and some of the folks come down my way to have a sort of picnic. Two of + 'em, factory girls from Brockton, they was, come to the house for a drink + of water. They were gigglin', foolish enough critters, but I asked 'em in, + and they eat their lunches on my table. They left two or three story + papers and that Chime thing when they went away. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I looked it over, and almost the first thing I saw was that + advertisement signed 'Skipper.' It didn't read like the other trashy + things in there, and it sounded honest. And all of a sudden it come over + me that I'd answer it. I was lonesome and tired and sort of didn't care, + and I answered it right off without waitin' another minute. That's all + there is to tell. When I come here to be housekeeper I wrote the folks + that's takin' care of my furniture—they're reel kind people; I was + goin' to board there if I had stayed in Nantucket—to keep it till I + come back. There! I meant to tell you this long ago, and I don't know why + I haven't.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain knew why she hadn't. It was easy to read between the lines the + tale of the years of disappointment and anxiety. Such stories are not easy + to tell, and he respected the widow more than ever for the simple way in + which she had told hers. + </p> + <p> + “That Land Company bus'ness,” he said, “carried off a good lot of Cape Cod + money. I never saw but one man that I thought was glad it busted, and that + was old Caleb Weeks, over to Harniss. The old man was rich, but closer 'n + the bark of a tree—he'd skin a flea for the hide and taller—and + used to be a hard case into the bargain. One time they had a big revival + over there and he got religion. The boys used to say what caught Caleb was + the minister's sayin' salvation was free. Well, anyhow, he got converted + and j'ined the church. That was all right, only while the fit was fresh he + pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to help build the new chapel. + When he cooled down a little he was sorry, and every time they'd hint at + his comin' down with the cash, he'd back and fill, and put it off for a + spell. When the Land Company went up he was the only happy one in town, + 'cause he said he'd lost all his money. Course, under the circumstances, + they couldn't ask him to pay, so he didn't. From what I hear he lost as + much as fifty dollars.” + </p> + <p> + They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was + interrupted. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said a weak voice. “Eri.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain started, turned sharply, and saw the sick man watching him, + his eyes fixed and unwavering. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” said John Baxter again, “come here.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow hurried to her patient, but the latter impatiently bade her let + him alone. + </p> + <p> + “Not you,” he said, “I want Eri.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri stooped down beside the bed. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, John?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Eri s'pose God called you to break man's law and keep his, what would you + do?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced anxiously at the house-keeper. Then he said + soothingly: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's all right, John. Don't worry 'bout that. You and me settled + that long ago. How are you feelin' now?” + </p> + <p> + “I know, I know,” with the monotonous persistence of those whose minds are + wandering,—and then cleanly once more, “Eri, I've been called.” + </p> + <p> + “Ssh-h! That's all right, John; that's all right. Don't you want Mrs. Snow + to fix your piller? P'raps you'd lay a little easier, then. Now, Mrs. + Snow, if you'll jest turn it while I lift him. So; that's better now, + ain't it, shipmate, hey?” But the sick man muttered an unintelligible + something, and relapsed once more into the half-doze, half-stupor that was + his usual state. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri sighed in relief. + </p> + <p> + “That was queer, wa'n't it?” he observed. + </p> + <p> + “He's had two or three of those spells in the last day or two,” was the + answer. + </p> + <p> + The Captain wondered what his friend might have said during those + “spells,” but he was afraid to inquire. Instead, he asked, “What did the + doctor say when he was here this mornin'?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin' very hopeful. I asked him plain what he thought of the case, and + he answered jest as plain. He said Cap'n Baxter had failed dreadful in the + last week, and that he wouldn't be s'prised if he dropped off most any + time. Then again, he said he might live for months.” + </p> + <p> + “I see, I see.” + </p> + <p> + They were silent for a while, watching the sick man, whose sleep, or + stupor, was not as tranquil as usual. Two or three times his eyes opened, + and he muttered audibly. + </p> + <p> + “I never saw him so restless afore,” commented Captain Eri anxiously. + </p> + <p> + “He was so last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Did Elsie see him?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I was alone here, and she was asleep in the next room. I got up and + shut the door.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain glanced keenly at the housekeeper, but her face was placid and + inscrutable. He shifted uneasily and then said, “Elsie's late to-night, + ain't she? I wonder what's keepin' her.” + </p> + <p> + “School work, I s'pose. She's workin' harder 'n she ought to, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “FIRE!” + </p> + <p> + The word was shouted, and the room rang with it. John Baxter, whose + weakness had hitherto been so great that he could not turn himself in bed, + was leaning on his elbow and pointing with outstretched finger to the open + stove door. + </p> + <p> + “Fire!” he shouted again. “It's blazin'! It's burnin'! It's wipin' the + plague spot from the earth. I hear you, Lord! I'm old, but I hear you, and + your servant's ready. Where will it be to-morrer? Gone! burnt up! and the + ways of the wicked shan't prevail.” + </p> + <p> + They forced him back on the pillow, but he fought them fiercely for a + moment or two. After they thought they had quieted him, he broke out + again, talking rapidly and clearly. + </p> + <p> + “I hear the call, Lord,” he said. “I thank thee for showin' it to me in + your Book. 'And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all + their goodly castles, with fire.' With fire! With fire!” + </p> + <p> + “Ssh-h! There, there, John! Don't talk so,” entreated the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “Where's the kerosene?” continued the old man. “And the matches? Now + softly, softly. The shavin's. It's dark. Here, in the corner. Ah, ha! ah, + ha! 'And all their goodly castles with fire!' Now, Web Saunders, you + wicked man! Now! Burn! I've done it, Lord! I've done it!” + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” almost shouted the agonized Captain Eri. “Hush, John! Be still!” + </p> + <p> + “There, there, Cap'n Baxter,” said Mrs. Snow soothingly, laying her hand + on the sick man's forehead. Somehow, the touch seemed to quiet him; his + eyes lost their fire, and he muttered absently that he was tired. Then the + eyes closed and he lay still, breathing heavily. + </p> + <p> + “Land of love!” exclaimed the Captain. “That was awful! Hadn't I better go + for the doctor?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think so, unless he gits worse. He had jest such a turn, as I + told you, last night.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he talk like he did jest now?” + </p> + <p> + “Jest the same.” + </p> + <p> + “'Bout the same things?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain gasped. “Then you knew!” he said. + </p> + <p> + “That he set the billiard room afire? Yes. I've always rather suspicioned + that he did, and last night, of course, made me sure of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well! You haven't said nothin' 'bout it to anybody?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not.” + </p> + <p> + “No, 'course you haven't. You must excuse me—I'm kind of upset, I + guess. Dear! dear! Did you think <i>I</i> knew it?” + </p> + <p> + “I sort of guessed that you did.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I did. I've known it ever sence that night he was found. He had his + coat on when I found him, and 'twas all burnt, and there was an empty + kerosene bottle in his pocket. I hid the coat, and threw the bottle away, + and turned him so he was facin' towards the saloon 'stead of from it. And + I lied when I told the doctor that he was jest as he fell. There! the + murder's out! Now, what do you think of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Think? I think you did exactly right.” + </p> + <p> + “You DO?” + </p> + <p> + “I sartinly do.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I snum! I've been over that thing time and time again, and I've + felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes. I've heard folks + layin' it to fust one and then the other, and cal'latin' that Web did it + himself to git the insurance, and all the time I've known who really did + do it, and haven't said anything. I jest couldn't. You see, John and me's + been brothers almost. But I didn't s'pose anybody else would see it the + same way.” + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Eri, do you s'pose I blame you for tryin' to keep your best friend + out of trouble that he got into by bein'—well—out of his head. + Why, land of mercy! He ain't no more to be held responsible than a baby. + You did what I'd have done if I'd been in your place, and I respect you + for it.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's voice shook as he answered: + </p> + <p> + “Marthy Snow,” he said, “you're the kind of woman that I'd like to have + had for a sister.” + </p> + <p> + It was perhaps a half-hour later when Captain Eri started for the + schoolhouse to bring Elsie home. John Baxter had not wakened, and Mrs. + Snow said she was not afraid to remain alone with him. The thaw had turned + to a light rain and the Captain carried an umbrella. It was dark by this + time, and when he came in sight of the schoolhouse he saw a light in the + window. + </p> + <p> + One of the scholars—a by no means brilliant one—whose + principal educational achievement was the frequency with which he + succeeded in being “kept after school,” was seated on the fence, doing his + best to whittle it to pieces with a new jackknife. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, sonny!” said the Captain. “Miss Preston gone yit?” + </p> + <p> + “No, she ain't,” replied the boy, continuing to whittle. “She's up there. + Mr. Saunders is there, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Saunders? WEB SAUNDERS?” + </p> + <p> + “Yup. I see him go in there a little while ago.” Captain Eri started + toward the schoolhouse at a rapid pace; then he suddenly stopped; and + then, as suddenly, walked on again. All at once he dropped his umbrella + and struck one hand into the palm of the other with a smack. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the door, he leaned the umbrella in the corner and walked + up the stairs very softly, indeed. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI + </h2> + <h3> + A BUSINESS CALL + </h3> + <p> + That enterprising business man, Mr. “Web” Saunders, opened the door of his + renovated billiard room a little later than usual the next morning. It was + common report about the village that Mr. Saunders occasionally sampled the + contents of some of the “original packages” which, bearing the name and + address of a Boston wholesale liquor dealer, came to him by express at + irregular intervals. It was also reported, probably by unreliable total + abstainers, that during these “sampling” seasons his temper was not of the + best. Perhaps Mrs. Saunders might have said something concerning this + report if she had been so disposed, but unless a discolored eye might be + taken as evidence, she never offered any. The injury to her eye she + explained by saying that something “flew up and hit her.” This was no + doubt true. + </p> + <p> + But, gossip aside, Mr. Saunders did not seem in good humor on this + particular morning. A yellow cur, of nondescript breed, taken since the + fire, in payment of a debt from “Squealer” Wixon, who had described it as + a “fust-class watchdog,” rose from its bed behind the cigar counter, + yawned, stretched, and came slinking over to greet its master. “Web” + forcibly hoisted it out of the door on the toe of his boot. Its yelp of + pained surprise seemed to afford the business man considerable relief, for + he moved more briskly afterward, and proceeded to sweep the floor with + some degree of speed. + </p> + <p> + The forenoon trade at the billiard room was never very lively, and this + forenoon was no exception. “Bluey” Batcheldor drifted in, stepped into the + little room the door of which was lettered “Ice Cream Parlor,” and busied + himself with a glass and bottle for a few moments. Then he helped himself + to a cigar from the showcase, and told his friend to “chalk it up.” This + Mr. Saunders didn't seem to care to do, and there was a lively argument. + At length “Bluey's” promise to “square up in a day or so” was accepted, + under protest, and the customer departed. + </p> + <p> + At half-past eleven the man of business was dozing in a chair by the + stove, and the “watchdog,” having found it chilly outside and venturing + in, was dozing near him. The bell attached to the door rang vigorously, + and both dog and man awoke with a start. The visitor was Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Now, the Captain was perhaps the last person whom the proprietor of the + billiard room expected to see, but a stranger never would have guessed it. + In fact, the stranger might reasonably have supposed that the visitor was + Mr. Saunders' dearest friend, and that his call was a pleasure long looked + forward to. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Cap'n!” exclaimed “Web,” “how are you? Put her there! I'm glad to + see you lookin' so well. I said to 'Squealer' the other day, s'I, + 'Squealer, I never see a man hold his age like Cap'n Hedge. I'll be + blessed if he looks a day over forty,' I says. Take off your coat, won't + you?” + </p> + <p> + Somehow or other, the Captain must have lost sight of “Web's” extended + hand. Certainly, the hand was large enough to be seen, but he did not take + it. He did, however, accept the invitation to remove his coat, and, + slipping out of the faded brown pea jacket, threw it on a settee at the + side of the room. His face was stern and his manner quiet, and in spite Of + Mr. Saunders' flattering reference to his youthful appearance, this + morning he looked at least more than a day past forty. + </p> + <p> + But, if Captain Eri was more than usually quiet and reserved, “Web” was + unchanged, and, if he noticed that the handshake was declined, said + nothing about it. His smile was sweetness itself, as he observed, “Well, + Cap'n, mighty mod'rate weather we're having for this time of year, ain't + it? What's new down your way? That's right, have a chair.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain had no doubt anticipated this cordial invitation, for he + seated himself before it was given, and, crossing his legs, extended his + dripping rubber boots toward the fire. The rain was still falling, and it + beat against the windows of the saloon in gusts. + </p> + <p> + “Web,” said Captain Eri, “set down a minute. I want to talk to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, sure!” exclaimed the genial man of business, pulling up another + chair. “Have a cigar, won't you? You don't come to see me very often, and + I feel's though we ought to celebrate. Ha! ha! ha!” + </p> + <p> + “No, I guess not, thank you,” was the answer. “I'll smoke my pipe, if it's + all the same to you.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders didn't mind in the least, but thought he would have a cigar + himself. So he lit one and smoked in silence as the Captain filled his + pipe. “Web” knew that this was something more than an ordinary social + visit. Captain Eri's calls at the billiard room were few and far between. + The Captain, for his part, knew what his companion was thinking, and the + pair watched each other through the smoke. + </p> + <p> + The pipe drew well, and the Captain sent a blue cloud whirling toward the + ceiling. Then he asked suddenly, “Web, how much money has Elsie Preston + paid you altogether?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders started the least bit, and his small eyes narrowed a trifle. + But the innocent surprise in his reply was a treat to hear. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie? Paid ME?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. How much has she paid you?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know what you mean.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, you do. She's been payin' you money reg'lar for more 'n a month. I + want to know how much it is.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge, I don't know what you're talkin' about. Nobody's paid + me a cent except them that's owed me. Who did you say? Elsie Preston? + That's the school-teacher, ain't it?” + </p> + <p> + “Web, you're a liar, and always was, but you needn't lie to me this + mornin', 'cause it won't be healthy; I don't feel like hearin' it. You + understand that, do you?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders thought it time to bluster a little. He rose to his feet + threateningly. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Hedge,” he said, “no man 'll call me a liar.” + </p> + <p> + “There's a precious few that calls you anything else.” + </p> + <p> + “You're an old man, or I'd—” + </p> + <p> + “Never you mind how old I am. A minute ago you said I didn't look more 'n + forty; maybe I don't feel any older, either.” + </p> + <p> + “If that Preston girl has told you any—” + </p> + <p> + “She hasn't told me anything. She doesn't know that I know anything. But I + do know. I was in the entry upstairs at the schoolhouse for about ten + minutes last night.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders' start was perceptible this time. He stood for a moment + without speaking. Then he jerked the chair around, threw himself into it, + and said cautiously, “Well, what of it?” + </p> + <p> + “I come up from the house to git Elsie home 'cause 'twas rainin'. I was + told you was with her, and I thought there was somethin' crooked goin' on; + fact is, I had a suspicion what 'twas. So when I got up to the door I + didn't go in right away; I jest stood outside.” + </p> + <p> + “Listenin', hey! Spyin'!” + </p> + <p> + “Yup. I don't think much of folks that listens, gin'rally speakin', but + there's times when I b'lieve in it. When I'm foolin' with a snake I'd jest + as soon hit him from behind as in front. I didn't hear much, but I heard + enough to let me know that you'd been takin' money from that girl right + along. And I think I know why.” + </p> + <p> + “You do, hey?” + </p> + <p> + “Yup.” + </p> + <p> + Then Mr. Saunders asked the question that a bigger rascal than he had + asked some years before. He leaned back in his chair, took a pull at his + cigar, and said sneeringly, “Well, what are you goin' to do 'bout it?” + </p> + <p> + “I'm goin' to stop it, and I'm goin' to make you give the money back. How + much has she paid you?” + </p> + <p> + “None of your d—n bus'ness.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain rose to his feet. Mr. Saunders sprang up, also, and reached + for the coal shovel, evidently expecting trouble. But if he feared a + physical assault, his fear was groundless. Captain Eri merely took up his + coat. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe it ain't none of my bus'ness,” he said. “I ain't a s'lectman nor + sheriff. But there's such things in town, and p'raps they'll be + int'rested. Seems to me that I've heard that blackmailin' has got folks + into State's prison afore now.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that so? Never heard that folks that set fire to other people's + prop'ty got there, did you? Yes, and folks that helps 'em gits there, too, + sometimes. Who was it hid a coat a spell ago?” + </p> + <p> + It was Captain Eri's turn to start. He hesitated a moment, tossed the pea + jacket back on the settee and sat down once more. Mr. Saunders watched + him, grinning triumphantly. + </p> + <p> + “Well?” he said with a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “A coat, you say?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a coat. Maybe you know who hid it; I can guess, myself. That coat + was burned some. How do you s'pose it got burned? And say! who used to + wear a big white hat round these diggin's? Ah, ha! Who did?” + </p> + <p> + There was no doubt about the Captain's start this time. He wheeled sharply + in his chair, and looked at the speaker. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” he exclaimed. “You found that hat, did you?” + </p> + <p> + “That's what I done! And where do you think I found it? Why, right at the + back of my shed where the fire started. And there'd been a pile of + shavin's there, too, and there'd been kerosene on 'em. Who smashed the + bottle over in the field, hey?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri seemed to be thinking. “Web” evidently set his own + interpretation on this silence, for he went on, raising his voice as he + did so. + </p> + <p> + “Did you think I was fool enough not to know who set that fire? I knew the + night she burned, and when I met Dr. Palmer jest comin' from your house, + and he told me how old Baxter was took sick goin' to the fire—oh, + yes, GOIN'—I went up on that hill right off, and I hunted and I + found things, and what I found I kept. And what I found when I pulled that + burned shed to pieces I kept, too. And I've got 'em yit!” + </p> + <p> + “You have, hey? Dear! dear!” + </p> + <p> + “You bet I have! And somebody's goin' to pay for 'em. Goin' to pay, pay, + PAY! Is that plain?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain made no answer. He thrust his hands into his pockets and + looked at the stove dolefully, so it seemed to the man of business. + </p> + <p> + “Fust off I thought I'd have the old cuss jailed,” continued Mr. Saunders. + “Then, thinks I, 'No, that won't pay me for my buildin' and my bus'ness + hurt and all that.' So I waited for Baxter to git well, meanin' to make + him pay or go to the jug. But he stayed sick a-purpose, I b'lieve, the + mean, white-headed, psalm-singin'—” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri moved uneasily and broke in, “You got your insurance money, + didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I did, but whose fault is that? 'Twa'n't his, nor any other darned + 'Come-Outer's.' It don't pay me for my trouble, nor it don't make me + square with the gang. I gen'rally git even sometime or 'nother, and I'll + git square now. When that girl come here, swellin' 'round and puttin' on + airs, I see my chance, and told her to pay up or her granddad would be + shoved into Ostable jail. That give her the jumps, I tell you!” + </p> + <p> + “You wrote her a letter, didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “You bet I did! She come 'round to see me in a hurry. Said she didn't have + no money. I told her her granddad did, an she could git that or go to work + and earn some. I guess she thought she'd ruther work. Oh, I've got her and + her prayin', house-burnin' granddad where I want 'em, and I've got you, + too, Eri Hedge, stickin' your oar in. Talk to me 'bout blackmail! For two + cents I'd jail the old man and you, too!” + </p> + <p> + This was the real Mr. Saunders. He usually kept this side of his nature + for home use; his wife was well acquainted with it. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri was evidently frightened. His manner had become almost + apologetic. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” he said, “I wouldn't do that if I was you, Web. I heard you tell + Elsie last night she wa'n't payin' you enough, and I thought—” + </p> + <p> + “I know what you thought. You thought you could scare me. You didn't know + I had the coat and hat, did you? Well, what I said I stand by. The girl + AIN'T payin' me enough. Fourteen dollars a week she gits, and she's only + been givin' up ten. I want more. I want—” + </p> + <p> + But here Captain Eri interrupted him. + </p> + <p> + “I guess that 'll do,” he said calmly. “You've told me what I wanted to + know. Ten dollars a week sence the middle of November. 'Bout seventy + dollars, rough figgerin'. Now, then, hand it over.” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “Hand over that seventy dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Hand over hell! What are you talkin' 'bout?” + </p> + <p> + The Captain rose and, leaning over, shook his forefinger in Mr. Saunders' + flabby red face. + </p> + <p> + “You low-lived, thievin' rascal,” he said, “I'm givin' you a chance you + don't deserve. Either you'll pay me that money you've stole from that girl + or I'll walk out of that door, and when I come in again the sheriff 'll be + with me. Now, which 'll it be? Think quick.” + </p> + <p> + Web's triumphant expression was gone, and rage and malice had taken its + place. He saw, now, that the Captain had tricked him into telling more + than he ought. But he burst out again, tripping over words in his + excitement. + </p> + <p> + “Think!” he yelled. “I don't need to think. Bring in your sheriff. I'll + march down to your house and I'll show him the man that set fire to my + buildin'. What 'll you and that snivelin' granddaughter of his do then? + You make off to think a turrible lot of the old prayer-machine 'cause he's + your chum. How'd you like to see him took up for a firebug, hey?” + </p> + <p> + “I ain't afraid of that.” + </p> + <p> + “You ain't? You AIN'T! Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cause he's gone where you can't git at him. He died jest afore I left + the house.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Saunders' brandished fist fell heavily on the arm of his chair. His + face turned white in patches, and then flamed red again. + </p> + <p> + “Died!” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Died.” + </p> + <p> + “You—you're a liar!” + </p> + <p> + “No, I ain't. John Baxter's dead. He was a chum of mine—you're right + there—and if I'd known a sneak like you was after him I'd have been + here long afore this. Why, you—” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's voice shook, but he restrained himself and went on. + </p> + <p> + “Now, you see where you stand, don't you? Long's John lived you had the + proof to convict him; I'll own up to that much. I hid the coat; I smashed + the bottle. The hat I didn't know 'bout. I might have told you at fust + that all that didn't amount to anything, but I thought I'd wait and let + you tell me what more I wanted to know. John Baxter's gone, poor feller, + and all your proof ain't worth a cent. Not one red cent. Understand?” + </p> + <p> + It was quite evident that Mr. Saunders did understand, for his countenance + showed it. But the bluster was not out of him yet. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “Anyhow, the girl's left, and if she don't pay I'll + show her granddad up for what he was. And I'll show you up, too. Yes, I + will!” he shouted, as this possibility began to dawn on him. “I'll let + folks know how you hid that coat and—and all the rest of it.” + </p> + <p> + “No, you won't.” + </p> + <p> + “Why won't I?” + </p> + <p> + “'Cause you won't dare to. You've been hittin' at a sick man through a + girl; neither of 'em could hit back. But now you're doin' bus'ness with + me, and I ain't sick. If you open your mouth to anybody,—if you let + a soul know who set that fire,—I'll walk straight to Jedge Baker, + and I'll tell him the whole story. I'll tell him what I did and why I did + it. And THEN I'll tell him what you did—how you bullied money out of + that girl that hadn't no more to do with the fire than a baby. If it comes + to facin' a jury I'll take my chances, but how 'bout you? You, runnin' a + town nuisance that the s'lectmen are talkin' of stoppin' already; sellin' + rum by the drink when your license says it shan't be sold 'cept by the + bottle. Where'll YOUR character land you on a charge of blackmail? + </p> + <p> + “And another thing. The folks in this town knew John Baxter afore he was + like what he's been lately. A good many of 'em swore by him—yes, + sir, by mighty, some of 'em loved him! This is a law-abidin' town, but + s'pose—jest s'pose I should go to some of the fellers that used to + sail with him, and tell 'em what you've been up to. Think you'd stay here + long? <i>I</i> think you'd move out—on a rail.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri paused and sat on the arm of his chair, grimly watching his + opponent, whose turn for thinking had come. The face of the billiard + magnate was an interesting study in expression during the Captain's + speech. From excited triumph it had fallen to fear and dejection; and now, + out of the wreck, was appearing once more the oily smile, the sugared + sweetness of the every-day Mr. Saunders. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge,” purred the reconstructed one, “you and me has always + been good friends. We hadn't ought to fight like this. I don't think + either of us wants to go to court. Let's see if we can't fix the thing up + some way.” + </p> + <p> + “We'll fix it up when you pay me the seventy dollars.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Cap'n Hedge, 'tain't likely I've got seventy dollars in my pocket. + Seems to me you're pretty hard on a poor feller that's jest been burnt + out. I think we'd ought to—” + </p> + <p> + “How much HAVE you got?” + </p> + <p> + After a good deal of talk and protestation Mr. Saunders acknowledged being + the possessor of twenty-six dollars, divided between the cash drawer and + his pocket. This he reluctantly handed to the Captain. + </p> + <p> + Then the Captain demanded pen, ink, and paper; and when they were brought + he laboriously wrote out a screed to the effect that Webster Saunders had + received of Elsie Preston forty-four dollars, which sum he promised to pay + on demand. + </p> + <p> + “There,” he said, pushing the writing materials across the table. “Sign + that.” + </p> + <p> + At first Mr. Saunders positively refused to sign. Then he intimated that + he had rather wait and think it over a little while. Finally he affixed + his signature and spitefully threw the pen across the room. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Then he rose and + put on his pea jacket. + </p> + <p> + “Now, there's jest one thing more,” he said. “Trot out that coat and hat.” + </p> + <p> + “What do you mean?” + </p> + <p> + “Trot out that coat and hat of John's. I want 'em.” + </p> + <p> + “I shan't do it.” + </p> + <p> + “All right, then. It's all off. I'll step over and see the Jedge. You'll + hear from him and me later.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold on a minute, Cap'n. You're in such a everlastin' hurry. I don't care + anything 'bout the old duds, but I don't know's I know where they are. + Seems to me they're up to the house somewheres. I'll give 'em to you + to-morrer.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll give 'em to me right now. I'll tend shop while you go after 'em.” + </p> + <p> + For a moment it looked as though the man of business would rebel outright. + But the Captain was so calm, and evidently so determined to do exactly + what he promised, that “Web” gave up in despair. Muttering that maybe they + were “'round the place, after all,” he went into the back room and + reappeared with the burned coat and the scorched white felt hat. Slamming + them down on the counter, he said sulkily, “There they be. Any more of my + prop'ty you'd like to have?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri didn't answer. Coolly tearing off several sheets of wrapping + paper from the roll at the back of the counter, he made a bundle of the + hat and coat, and tucked it under his arm. Then he put on his own hat and + started for the door. + </p> + <p> + “Good-mornin',” he said. + </p> + <p> + The temper of the exasperated Mr. Saunders flared up in a final outburst. + </p> + <p> + “You think you're almighty smart, don't you?” he growled between his + teeth. “I'll square up with you by and by.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain turned sharply, his hand on the latch. + </p> + <p> + “I wish you'd try,” he said. “I jest wish to God you'd try. I've held in + more 'n I thought I could when I come up here, but if you want to start a + reel fust-class rumpus, one that 'll land you where you b'long and rid + this town of you for keeps, jest try some of your tricks on me. And if I + hear of one word that you've said 'bout this whole bus'ness, I'll know + it's time to start in. Now, you can keep still or fight, jest as you + please. I tell you honest, I 'most wish you'd fight.” + </p> + <p> + The door slammed. Mr. Saunders opened it again and gazed vindictively + after the bulky figure splashing through the slush. The dog came sneaking + up and rubbed his nose against his master's hand; it was an impolitic move + on his part. + </p> + <p> + “Git out!” roared Web, delighted at the opportunity. “You good-for-nothin' + pup! How's that set?” + </p> + <p> + “That” was a kick that doubled the cur up against the settee. As it + scrambled to its feet, Mr. Saunders kicked it again. And then the + “watchdog” exhibited the first evidence of spirit that it had ever been + known to show. With a snarl, as the man turned away, it settled its teeth + into the calf of his leg, and then shot out of the door and, with its tail + between its legs, went down the road like a yellow cannon ball. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII + </h2> + <h3> + THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + </h3> + <p> + It was true—John Baxter was dead. His violent outbreak of the + previous afternoon had hastened the end that the doctor had prophesied. + There was no harrowing death scene. The weather-beaten old face grew + calmer, and, the sleep sounder, until the tide went out—that was + all. It was like a peaceful coming into port after a rough voyage. No one + of the watchers about the bed could wish him back, not even Elsie, who was + calm and brave through it all. When it was over, she went to her room and + Mrs. Snow went with her. Captain Eri went out to make his call upon Mr. + Saunders. + </p> + <p> + The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Orham. The little house + was crowded. Old friends, who had drifted away from the fanatic in his + latter days, came back to pay tribute to the strong man whom they had + known and loved. There was some discussion among the captains as to who + should preach the funeral sermon. Elsie had left this question to Captain + Eri for settlement, and the trio and Mrs. Snow went into executive session + immediately. + </p> + <p> + “If John had had the settlin' of it himself,” observed Eri, “he'd have + picked Perley, there ain't no doubt 'bout that.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” said Captain Perez, “but you must remember that John wa'n't + himself for years, and what he'd have done now ain't what he'd have done + 'fore he broke down. I hate to think of Perley's doin' it, somehow.” + </p> + <p> + “Isn't Mr. Perley a good man?” asked the housekeeper. + </p> + <p> + “He's good enough, fur's I know,” replied Captain Jerry, “but I know what + Perez means. A funeral, seems to me, ought to be a quiet, soothin' sort of + a thing, and there ain't nothin' soothin' 'bout Come-Outer' preachin'. + He'll beller and rave 'round, I'm 'fraid, and stir up poor Elsie so she + won't never git over it.” + </p> + <p> + “I know it,” agreed Captain Eri. “That's what I've been afraid of. And + yit,” he added, “I should feel we was doin' somethin' jest opposite from + what John would like, if we had anybody else.” + </p> + <p> + “Couldn't you see Mr. Perley beforehand,” suggested Mrs. Snow, “and tell + him jest the kind of sermon he must preach. Tell him it must be quiet and + comfortin' and—” + </p> + <p> + “And short.” Captain Eri finished the sentence for her. “I guess that's + the way we'll have to settle it. I'll make him understand one thing, + though—he mustn't drag in rum sellin' and all the rest of it by the + heels. If he does I'll—I don't know what I'll do to him.” + </p> + <p> + The interview with the Reverend Perley that followed this conversation + must have been effective, for the sermon was surprisingly brief and as + surprisingly calm. In fact, so rational was it that a few of the more + extreme among the preacher's following were a bit disappointed and + inquired anxiously as to their leader's health, after the ceremony was + over. + </p> + <p> + The procession of carryalls and buggies followed the hearse to the + cemetery among the pines, and, as the mourners stood about the grave, the + winter wind sang through the evergreen branches a song so like the roar of + the surf that it seemed like a dirge of the sea for the mariner who would + sail no more. As they were clearing away the supper dishes that night + Captain Eri said to Mrs. Snow, “Well, John's gone. I wonder if he's + happier now than he has been for the last ten years or so.” + </p> + <p> + “I think he is,” was the answer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, so do I, but if he hadn't been a 'Come Outer' I don't s'pose + Brother Perley and his crowd would have figgered that he had much show. + Seems sometimes as if folks like that—reel good-hearted folks, too, + that wouldn't hurt a fly—git solid comfort out of the feelin' that + everybody that don't agree with 'em is bound to everlastin' torment. I + don't know but it's wicked to say it, but honest, it seems as if them kind + would 'bout as soon give up the hopes of Heaven for themselves as they + would the satisfaction of knowin' 'twas t'other place for the other + feller.” + </p> + <p> + To which remark the somewhat shocked housekeeper made no reply. + </p> + <p> + The following day Elsie went back to her school. Captain Eri walked up + with her, and, on the way, told her of his discovery of her secret, and of + his interview with “Web” Saunders. It was exactly as the Captain had + surmised. The note she had received on the evening of the return from the + life-saving station was from the proprietor of the billiard saloon, and in + it he hinted at some dire calamity that overshadowed her grandfather, and + demanded an immediate interview. She had seen him that night and, under + threat of instant exposure, had promised to pay the sum required for + silence. She had not wished to use her grandfather's money for this + purpose, and so had taken the position as teacher. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said the Captain, “I wish you'd have come to me right away, and + told me the whole bus'ness. 'Twould have saved a pile of trouble.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady stopped short and faced him. + </p> + <p> + “Captain Eri,” she said, “how could I? I was sure grandfather had set the + fire. I knew how ill he was, and I knew that any shock might kill him. + Besides, how could I drag you into it, when you had done so much already? + It would have been dreadful. No, I thought it all out, and decided I must + face it alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I tell you this, Elsie; pretty gin'rally a mean dog 'll bite if he + sees you're afraid of him. The only way to handle that kind is to run + straight at him and kick the meanness out of him. The more he barks the + harder you ought to kick. If you run away once it 'll be mighty + uncomf'table every time you go past that house. But never mind; I cal'late + this p'tic'lar pup won't bite; I've pulled his teeth, I guess. What's your + plans, now? Goin' to keep on with the school, or go back to Boston?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston didn't know; she said she had not yet decided, and, as the + schoolhouse was reached by this time, the Captain said no more. + </p> + <p> + There was, however, another question that troubled him, and that seemed to + call for almost immediate settlement. It was: What should be done with + Mrs. Snow? The housekeeper had been hired to act as such while John Baxter + was in the house. Now he was gone, and there remained the original + marriage agreement between Captain Jerry and the widow, and honor called + for a decision one way or the other. Mrs. Snow, of course, said nothing + about it, neither did Captain Jerry, and Captain Eri felt that he must + take the initiative as usual. But, somehow, he was not as prompt as was + his wont, and sat evening after evening, whittling at the clipper and + smoking thoughtfully. And another week went by. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez might, and probably would, have suggested action upon this + important matter, had not his mind been taken up with what, to him, was + the most important of all. He had made up his mind to ask Patience Davis + to marry him. + </p> + <p> + Love is like the measles; it goes hard with a man past fifty, and Captain + Perez was severely smitten. The decision just mentioned was not exactly a + brand-new one, his mind had been made up for some time, but he lacked the + courage to ask the momentous question. Something the lady had said during + the first stages of their acquaintance made a great impression on the + Captain. She gave it as her opinion that a man who loved a woman should be + willing to go through fire and water to win her. Captain Perez went home + that night pondering deeply. + </p> + <p> + “Fire and water!” he mused. “That's a turrible test. But she's a wonderful + woman, and would expect it of a feller. I wonder if I could do it; seems + 's if I would now, but flesh is weak, and I might flunk, and that would + settle it. Fire and water! My! my! that's awful!” + </p> + <p> + So the Captain delayed and Miss Patience, who had cherished hopes, found + need of a good share of the virtue for which she was named. + </p> + <p> + But one afternoon at the end of the week following that of the funeral, + Perez set out for a call upon his intended which he meant should be a + decisive one. He had screwed his courage up to the top notch, and as he + told Captain Eri afterwards, he meant to “hail her and git his bearin's, + if he foundered the next minute.” + </p> + <p> + He found the lady alone, for old Mrs. Mayo had gone with her son, whose + name was Abner, to visit a cousin in Harniss, and would not be back until + late in the evening. Miss Patience was very glad to have company, and it + required no great amount of urging to persuade the infatuated swain to + stay to tea. When the meal was over—they washed the dishes together, + and the Captain was so nervous that it is a wonder there was a whole plate + left—the pair were seated in the parlor. Then said Captain Perez, + turning red and hesitating, “Pashy, do you know what a feller told me + 'bout you?” + </p> + <p> + Now, this remark was purely a pleasant fiction, for the Captain was about + to undertake a compliment, and was rather afraid to shoulder the entire + responsibility. + </p> + <p> + “No; I'm sure I don't, Perez,” replied Miss Davis, smiling sweetly. + </p> + <p> + “Well, a feller told me you was the best housekeeper in Orham. He said + that the man that got you would be lucky.” + </p> + <p> + This was encouraging. Miss Patience colored and simpered a little. + </p> + <p> + “Land sake!” she exclaimed. “Whoever told you such rubbish as that? + Besides,” with downcast eyes, “I guess no man would ever want me.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I don't know.” The Captain moved uneasily in his chair, as if he + contemplated hitching it nearer to that occupied by his companion. “I + guess there's plenty would be mighty glad to git you. Anyhow, there's—there's + one that—that—I cal'late the fog's thick as ever, don't you?” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience didn't mean to give up in this way. + </p> + <p> + “What was it you was goin' to say?” she asked, by way of giving the + bashful one another chance. + </p> + <p> + “I was goin' to say, Pashy, that—that—I asked if you thought + the fog was as thick as ever.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear me! Yes, I s'pose likely 'tis,” was the discouraged answer. + </p> + <p> + “Seems to me I never see such weather for this time of year. The ice is + all out of the bay, and there ain't a bit of wind, and it's warm as + summer, pretty nigh. Kind of a storm-breeder, I'm afraid.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me comp'ny. I've never been sole alone + in this house afore, and I should be dreadful lonesome if you hadn't + come.” This was offered as a fresh bait. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy, I've got somethin' I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could—er—er—” + </p> + <p> + “What, Perez?” + </p> + <p> + “I wanted to ask you”—the Captain swallowed several times—“to + ask you—What in the nation is that?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that's nothin' only the hens squawkin'. Go on!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but hens don't squawk this time of night 'thout they have some + reason to. It's that fox come back; that's what 'tis.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience, earlier in the evening, had related a harrowing tale of the + loss of two of Mrs. Mayo's best Leghorns that had gone to furnish a Sunday + meal for a marauding fox. As the said Leghorns were the pride of the old + lady's heart, even the impending proposal was driven from Miss Davis' + mind. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez! you don't s'pose 'tis the fox, do you?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, MA'AM, I do! Where's the gun?” + </p> + <p> + “There 'tis, behind the door, but there ain't a mite of shot in the house. + Abner's been goin' to fetch some from the store for I don't know how long, + but he's always forgot it.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind. I'll pound the critter with the butt. Come quick, and bring a + lamp.” + </p> + <p> + The noise in the henyard continued, and when they opened the door it was + louder than ever. + </p> + <p> + “He's in the henhouse,” whispered Miss Patience. “He must have gone in + that hole at the side that had the loose board over it.” + </p> + <p> + “All right,” murmured the Captain. “You go 'round with the lamp and open + the door. That 'll scare him, and I'll stand at the hole and thump him + when he comes out.” + </p> + <p> + So, shielding the lamp with her apron, the guardian of Mrs. Mayo's + outraged Leghorns tiptoed around to the henhouse door, while Captain + Perez, brandishing the gun like a club, took up his stand by the hole at + the side. + </p> + <p> + Without the lamp the darkness was pitchy. The Captain, stooping down to + watch, saw something coming out of the hole—something that was alive + and moved. He swung the gun above his head, and, bringing it down with all + his might, knocked into eternal oblivion the little life remaining in the + finest Leghorn rooster. + </p> + <p> + “Consarn it!” yelled the executioner, stooping and laying his hand on the + victim, “I've killed a hen!” + </p> + <p> + Just then there came a scream from the other side of the henhouse, + followed by a crash and the sound of a fall. Running around the corner the + alarmed Perez saw his lady-love stretched upon the ground, groaning + dismally. + </p> + <p> + “Great land of Goshen!” he cried. “Pashy, are you hurt?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” gasped the fallen one. “Oh, Perez!” + </p> + <p> + This pitiful appeal had such an effect upon the Captain that he dropped + upon his knees and, raising Miss Davis' head in his hands, begged her to + say she wasn't killed. After some little time she obligingly complied, and + then, having regained her breath, explained the situation. + </p> + <p> + What had happened was this: The fox, having selected his victim the + rooster, had rendered it helpless, and was pushing it out of the hole + ahead of him. The Captain had struck the rooster just as Miss Patience + opened the door, and the fox, seizing this chance of escape, had dodged by + the lady, upsetting her as he went. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” she said, laughing, “there's no great harm done. I'm sorry for the + rooster, but I guess the fox had fixed him anyway. Oh, my soul and body! + look there!” + </p> + <p> + Perez turned, looked as directed, and saw the henhouse in flames. + </p> + <p> + The lighted lamp, which Miss Patience had dropped as she fell, lay broken + on the floor, and the blazing oil had run in every direction. The flames + were making such headway that they both saw there was practically no + chance of saving the building. The frightened hens were huddled in the + furthest corner, gazing stupidly at the fire. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, those poor Leghorns!” wailed Miss Patience. “Those hens Mrs. Mayo + thought the world of, and left me to look out for. Last thing she asked me + was to be sure they was fed. And now they'll be all burned up! What SHALL + I do?” + </p> + <p> + Here the lady began to cry. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy!” roared the Captain, whom the sight of his charmer's tears had + driven almost wild, “don't say another word. I'll save them hens or git + cooked along with 'em!” + </p> + <p> + And turning up his coat collar, as though he was going into a refrigerator + instead of a burning building, Captain Perez sprang through the door. + </p> + <p> + Miss Davis screamed wildly to him to come back, and danced about, wringing + her hands. The interior of the henhouse was now a mass of black smoke, + from which the voices of the Captain and the Leghorns floated in a + discordant medley, something like this: + </p> + <p> + “Hold still, you lunatics! ('Squawk! squawk!') Druther be roasted than + have me catch you, hadn't you? ('Squawk! squawk!') A—kershew! Land! + I'm smothered! NOW I've got you! Thunderation! Hold STILL! HOLD STILL, I + tell you!” + </p> + <p> + Just as the agonized Miss Patience was on the point of fainting, the + little window at the back of the shanty was thrown open and two hens, like + feathered comets, shot through it. Then the red face of the Captain + appeared for an instant as he caught his breath with a “Woosh!” and dived + back again. This performance was repeated six times, the Captain's + language and the compliments he paid the hens becoming more picturesque + every moment. + </p> + <p> + At length he announced, “That's all, thank goodness!” and began to climb + through the window. This was a difficult task; for the window was narrow + and, in spite of what Captain Eri had called his “ingy-rubber” make up, + Captain Perez stuck fast. + </p> + <p> + “Catch hold of my hands and haul, will you, Pashy?” he pleaded. “That's + it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy in behind here. I'll never + complain at havin' cold feet ag'in if I git out of this. Now, then! Ugh! + Here we be!” + </p> + <p> + He came out with a jerk, like a cork out of a bottle, and rolled on the + ground at his lady's feet. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” she exclaimed, “are you hurt?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothin' but my feelin's,” growled the rescuer, scrambling upright. “I + read a book once by a feller named Joshua Billin's, or somethin' like it. + He was a ignorant chap—couldn't spell two words right—but he + had consider'ble sense. He said a hen was a darn fool, and he was right; + she's all that.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, but his + spirit was undaunted. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” he said, “do you realize that if we don't git help, this whole + shebang, house and all, will burn down?” + </p> + <p> + “Perez, you don't mean it!” + </p> + <p> + “I wouldn't swear that I didn't. Look how that thing's blazin'! There's + the barn t'other side of it, and the house t'other side of that.” + </p> + <p> + “But can't you and me put it out?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've got to git help, and git it in a + hurry, too!” + </p> + <p> + “Won't somebody from the station see the light and come over?” + </p> + <p> + “Not in this fog. You can't see a hundred foot. No, I've got to go right + off. Good land! I never thought! Is the horse gone?” + </p> + <p> + “No; the horse is here. Abner took one of the store horses to go to + Harniss with. But he did take the buggy, and there's no other carriage but + the old carryall, and that's almost tumblin' to pieces.” + </p> + <p> + “I was cal'latin' to go horseback.” + </p> + <p> + “What! and leave me here alone with the house afire? No, indeed! If you + go, I'm goin', too.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, the carryll's got to do, whether or no. Git on a shawl or + somethin', while I harness up.” + </p> + <p> + It was a frantic harnessing, but it was done in a hurry, and the + ramshackle old carryall, dusty and cobwebbed, was dragged out of the barn, + and Horace Greeley, the horse, was backed into the shafts. As they drove + out of the yard the flames were roaring through the roof of the henhouse, + and the lath fence surrounding it was beginning to blaze. + </p> + <p> + “Everything's so wet from the fog and the melted snow,” observed the + Captain, “that it 'll take some time for the fire to git to the barn. If + we can git a gang here we can save the house easy, and maybe more. By + mighty!” he ejaculated, “I tell you what we'll do. I'll drive across the + ford and git Luther and some of the station men to come right across. Then + I'll go on to the village to fetch more. It was seven when I looked at the + clock as we come in from washin' dishes, so the tide must be still goin' + out, and the ford jest right. Git dap!” + </p> + <p> + “Hurry all you can, for goodness' sake! Is this as fast as we can go?” + </p> + <p> + “Fast as we can go with this everlastin' Noah's Ark. Heavens! how them + wheels squeal!” + </p> + <p> + “The axles ain't been greased for I don't know when. Abner was going to + have the old carriage chopped up for kindlin' wood.” + </p> + <p> + “Lucky for him and us 'tain't chopped up now. Git dap, slow-poke! Better + chop the horse up, too, while he's 'bout it.” + </p> + <p> + The last remark the Captain made under his breath. + </p> + <p> + “My gracious, how dark it is! Think you can find the crossin'?” + </p> + <p> + “GOT to find it; that's all. 'Tis dark, that's a fact.” + </p> + <p> + It was. They had gone but a few hundred yards; yet the fire was already + merely a shapeless, red smudge on the foggy blackness behind them. Horace + Greeley pounded along at a jog, and when the Captain slapped him with the + end of the reins, broke into a jerky gallop that was slower than the trot. + </p> + <p> + “Stop your hoppin' up and down!” commanded Perez, whose temper was + becoming somewhat frayed. “You make me think of the walkin' beam on a + steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly and go straight ahead we'd do + better.” + </p> + <p> + They progressed in this fashion for some distance. Then Miss Davis, from + the curtained depths of the back seat, spoke again. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear me!” she exclaimed. “Are you sure you're on the right track? + Seems 's if we MUST be abreast the station, and this road's awful rough.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez had remarked the roughness of the road. The carryall was + pitching from one hummock to another, and Horace Greeley stumbled once or + twice. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa!” commanded the Captain. Then he got down, lit a match, and, + shielding it with his hands, scrutinized the ground. “I'm kind of 'fraid,” + he said presently, “that we've got off the road somehow. But we must be + 'bout opposite the crossin'. I'm goin' to drive down and see if I can find + it.” + </p> + <p> + He turned the horse's head at right angles from the way they were going, + and they pitched onward for another hundred yards. Then they came out upon + the hard, smooth sand, and heard the water lapping on the shore. Captain + Perez got out once more and walked along the strand, bending forward as he + walked. Soon Miss Patience heard him calling. + </p> + <p> + “I've found it, I guess,” he said, coming back to the vehicle. “Anyhow, it + looks like it. We'll be over in a few minutes now. Git dap, you!” + </p> + <p> + Horace Greeley shivered as the cold water splashed his legs, but waded + bravely in. They moved further from the shore and the water seemed to grow + no deeper. + </p> + <p> + “Guess this is the crossin' all right,” said the Captain, who had + cherished some secret doubts. “Here's the deep part comin'. We'll be + across in a jiffy.” + </p> + <p> + The water mounted to the hubs, then to the bottom of the carryall. Miss + Davis' feet grew damp and she drew them up. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Perez!” she faltered, “are you sure this is the ford?” + </p> + <p> + “Don't git scared, Pashy! I guess maybe we've got a little to one side of + the track. I'll turn 'round and try again.” + </p> + <p> + But Horace Greeley was of a different mind. From long experience he knew + that the way to cross a ford was to go straight ahead. The bottom of the + carryall was awash. + </p> + <p> + “Port your hellum, you lubber!” shouted the driver, pulling with all his + might on one rein. “Heave to! Come 'bout! Gybe! consarn you! gybe!” + </p> + <p> + Then Horace Greeley tried to obey orders, but it was too late. He + endeavored to touch bottom with his forelegs, but could not; tried to swim + with his hind ones, but found that impossible; then wallowed wildly to one + side and snapped a shaft and the rotten whiffletree short off. The + carryall tipped alarmingly and Miss Patience screamed. + </p> + <p> + “Whoa!” yelled the agitated Perez. “'Vast heavin'! belay!” + </p> + <p> + The animal, as much frightened by his driver's shouts as by the water, + shot ahead and tried to tear himself loose. The other sun-warped and + rotten shaft broke. The carryall was now floating, with the water covering + the floor. + </p> + <p> + “No use; I'll have to cut away the wreck, or we'll be on our beam ends!” + shouted the Captain. + </p> + <p> + He took out his jackknife, and reaching over, severed the traces. Horace + Greeley gave another wallow, and finding himself free, disappeared in the + darkness amid a lather of foam. The carriage, now well out in the channel, + drifted with the current. + </p> + <p> + “Don't cry, Pashy!” said the Captain, endeavoring to cheer his sobbing + companion, “we ain't shark bait yit. As the song used to say: + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + “'We're afloat, we're afloat, + And the rover is free.' +</pre> + <p> + “I've shipped aboard of 'most every kind of craft,” he added, “but blessed + if I ever expected to be skipper of a carryall!” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience, shut up in the back part of the carriage like a water + nymph in her cave, still wept hysterically. So Captain Perez continued his + dismal attempt at facetiousness. + </p> + <p> + “The main thing,” he said, “is to keep her on an even keel. If she teeters + to one side, you teeter to t'other. Drat that fox!” he ejaculated. “I + thought when Web's place burned we'd had fire enough to last for one + spell, but it never rains but it pours.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear!” sobbed the lady. “Now everything 'll burn up, and they'll + blame me for it. Well, I'll be drownded anyway, so I shan't be there to + hear 'em. Oh, dear! dear!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't talk that way. We're driftin' somewheres, but we're spinnin' + 'round so I can't tell which way. Judas!” he exclaimed, more soberly, “I + remember, now; it ain't but a little past seven o'clock, and the tide's + goin' out.” + </p> + <p> + “Of course it is,” resignedly, “and we'll drift into the breakers in the + bay, and that 'll be the end.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no, I guess not. We ain't dead yit. If I had an oar or somethin' to + steer this clipper with, maybe we could git into shoal water. As 'tis, + we'll have to manage her the way Ote Wixon used to manage his wife, by + lettin' her have her own way.” + </p> + <p> + They floated in silence for a few moments. Then Miss Patience, who had + bravely tried to stifle her sobs, said with chattering teeth, “Perez, I'm + pretty nigh froze to death.” + </p> + <p> + It will be remembered that the Captain had spoken of the weather as being + almost as warm as summer. This was a slight exaggeration. It happened, + fortunately for the castaways, that this particular night, coming as it + did just at the end of the long thaw, was the mildest of the winter and + there was no wind, but the air was chill, and the damp fog raw and biting. + </p> + <p> + “Well, now you mention it,” said Captain Perez, “it IS cold, ain't it? + I've a good mind to jump overboard, and try to swim ashore and tow the + carryall.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you DO it! My land! if YOU should drown what would become of ME?” + </p> + <p> + It was the tone of this speech, as much as the words, that hit the Captain + hard. He himself almost sobbed as he said: + </p> + <p> + “Pashy, I want you to try to git over on this front seat with me. Then I + can put my coat 'round you, and you won't be so cold. Take hold of my + hand.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Patience at first protested that she never could do it in the world, + the carriage would upset, and that would be the end. But her companion + urged her to try, and at last she did so. It was a risky proceeding, but + she reached the front seat somehow, and the carryall still remained + right-side-up. Luckily, in the channel between the beaches there was not + the slightest semblance of a wave. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez pulled off his coat, and wrapped it about his protesting + companion. He was obliged to hold it in place, and he found the task + rather pleasing. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you're SO good!” murmured Miss Patience. “What should I have done + without you?” + </p> + <p> + “Hush! Guess you'd have been better off. You'd never gone after that fox + if it hadn't been for me, and there wouldn't have been none of this fuss.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, don't say that! You've been so brave. Anyhow, we'll die together, + that's a comfort.” + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” said Captain Perez solemnly, “it's mighty good to hear you say + that.” + </p> + <p> + It is, perhaps, needless to explain that the “dying” portion of the lady's + speech was not that referred to by the Captain; the word “together” was + what appealed to him. Miss Patience apparently understood. + </p> + <p> + “Is it?” she said softly. + </p> + <p> + “Yes—yes, 'tis.” The arm holding the coat about the lady's shoulder + tightened just a little. The Captain had often dreamed of something like + this, but never with quite these surroundings. However, he was rapidly + becoming oblivious to such trivial details as surroundings. + </p> + <p> + “Pashy,” he said huskily, “I've been thinkin' of you consider'ble lately. + Fact is, I—I—well, I come down to-day a-purpose to ask you + somethin'. I know it's a queer place to ask it, and—and I s'pose + it's kind of sudden, but—will—will you—Breakers! by + mighty!” + </p> + <p> + The carryall had suddenly begun to rock, and there were streaks of foam + about it. Now, it gave a most alarming heave, grounded, swung clear, and + tipped yet more. + </p> + <p> + “We're capsizin',” yelled Perez. “Hang on to me, Pashy!” + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience didn't intend to let this, perhaps the final + opportunity, slip. As she told her brother afterward, she would have made + him say it then if they had been “two fathom under water.” + </p> + <p> + “Will I what, Perez?” she demanded. + </p> + <p> + The carryall rose on two wheels and begun to turn over, but the Captain + did not notice it. The arms of his heart's desire were about his neck, and + he was looking into her eyes. + </p> + <p> + “Will you marry me?” he gasped. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Miss Patience, and they went under together. + </p> + <p> + The Captain staggered to his feet, and dragged his chosen bride to hers. + The ice-cold water reached their shoulders. And, like a flash, as they + stood there, came a torrent of rain and a wind that drove the fog before + it like smoke. Captain Perez saw the shore, with its silhouetted bushes, + only a few yards away. Beyond that, in the blackness, was a light, a + flickering blaze, that rose and fell and rose and fell again. + </p> + <p> + The Captain dragged Miss Patience to the beach. + </p> + <p> + “Run!” he chattered, “run, or we'll turn into icicles. Come on!” + </p> + <p> + With his arm about her waist Perez guided his dripping companion, as fast + as they could run, toward the light. And as they came nearer to it they + saw that it flickered about the blackened ruins of a hen-house and a lath + fence. + </p> + <p> + It was Mrs. Mayo's henhouse, and Mrs. Mayo's fence. Their adventurous + journey had ended where it began. + </p> + <p> + “You see, Eri,” said Captain Perez, as he told his friend the story that + night, “that clock in the dining room that I looked at hadn't been goin' + for a week; the mainspring was broke. 'Twa'n't seven o'clock, 'twas nearer + nine when the fire started, and the tide wa'n't goin' out, 'twas comin' + in. I drove into the water too soon, missed the crossin', and we jest + drifted back home ag'in. The horse had more sense than I did. We found him + in the barn waiting for us.” + </p> + <p> + Abner Mayo had piled against the back of his barn a great heap of damp + seaweed that he intended using in the spring as a fertilizer. The fire had + burned until it reached this seaweed and then had gone no further. The + rain extinguished the last spark. + </p> + <p> + “Well, by mighty!” exclaimed Captain Perez for at least the tenth time, as + he sat in the kitchen, wrapped in an old ulster of Mr. Mayo's, and + toasting his feet in the oven, “if I don't feel like a fool. All that + scare and wet for nothin'.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, not for nothin', Perez,” said Miss Patience, looking tenderly down + into his face. + </p> + <p> + “Well, no, not for nothin' by a good deal! I've got you by it, and that's + everything. But say, Pashy!” and the Captain looked awed by the + coincidence, “I went through fire and water to git you!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII + </h2> + <h3> + THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + </h3> + <p> + Captain Perez made a clean breast of it to Captain Eri when he reached + home that night. It was after twelve o'clock, but he routed his friend out + of bed to tell him the news and the story. Captain Eri was not as + surprised to hear of the engagement as he pretended to be, for he had long + ago made up his mind that Perez meant business this time. But the tale of + the fire and the voyage in the carryall tickled him immensely, and he + rolled back and forth in the rocker and laughed until his side ached. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose it does sound kind of ridic'lous,” said the accepted suitor in a + rather aggrieved tone, “but it wa'n't ha'f so funny when 'twas goin' on. + Fust I thought I'd roast to death, then I thought I'd freeze, and then I + thought I'd drown.” + </p> + <p> + “Perez,” said the panting Eri, “you're a wonder. I'm goin' to tell Sol + Bangs 'bout you next time I see him. He'll want you to enter in the races + next Fourth of July. We've had tub races and the like of that, but a + carryall sailin' match 'll be somethin' new. I'll back you against the + town, though. You can count on me.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, look here, Eri Hedge, if you tell a livin' soul 'bout it, I'll—” + </p> + <p> + “All right, shipmate, all right; but it's too good to keep. You ought to + write a book, one of them kind like Josiah used to read. Call it 'The + Carryall Pirate, or The Terror of the Channel,' hey? Gee! you'd be famous! + But, say, old man,” he added more seriously, “I'll shake hands with you. I + b'lieve you've got a good woman, one that 'll make it smooth sailin' for + you the rest of your life. I wish you both luck.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez shook hands very gravely. He was still a little suspicious + of his chum's propensity to tease. It did not tend to make him less uneasy + when, a little later, Captain Eri opened the parlor door and whispered, + “Say, Perez, I've jest thought of some-thin'. What are you goin' to say to + M'lissy Busteed? Her heart 'll be broke.” + </p> + <p> + “Aw, git out!” was the disgusted answer. + </p> + <p> + “Well, I only mentioned it. Folks have had to pay heavy for breach of + promise 'fore now. Good-night.” + </p> + <p> + Perez manfully told of his engagement at the breakfast table next morning, + although he said nothing concerning the rest of his adventures. He was + rather taken aback to find that no one seemed greatly surprised. Everyone + congratulated him, of course, and it was gratifying to discern the high + opinion of the future Mrs. Ryder held by Mrs. Snow and the rest. Captain + Jerry solemnly shook hands with him after the meal was over and said, + “Perez, you done the right thing. There's nothin' like married life, after + all.” + </p> + <p> + “Then why don't you try it yourself?” was the unexpected question. “Seems + to me we'll have to settle that matter of yours pretty soon. I meant to + speak to Eri 'bout it 'fore this, but I've had so much on my mind. I will + to-night when he comes back from fishin'.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry made no further remarks, but walked thoughtfully away. + </p> + <p> + So that evening, when they were together in Captain Jerry's room after + supper, Perez, true to his promise, said: + </p> + <p> + “Eri, it seems to me we've got to do somethin' 'bout Mrs. Snow. She was + hired to be housekeeper while John was sick. Now he's dead, and she'll + think it's queer if we don't settle that marryin' bus'ness. Ain't that + so?” + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” grunted Captain Jerry. “Perez is in a mighty sweat to git other + folks married jest 'cause he's goin' to be. I don't see why she can't keep + on bein' housekeeper jest the same as she's always been.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I do, and so do you, and you know it. We agreed to the housekeepin' + bus'ness jest as a sort of put off. Now we can't put off no longer. Mrs. + Snow come down here 'cause we advertised for a wife, and she's been so + everlastin' good that I feel 'most ashamed every time I think of it. No + use, you've got to ask her to marry you. He has, hasn't he, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” answered Captain Eri laconically. + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice squirmed. “I hate to ask,” he said. “Why don't we wait a + spell, and let her say somethin' fust?” + </p> + <p> + “That WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? She's that kind of a woman, ain't she?” + sputtered Perez. “No, you bet she ain't! What she'd say would be to give + her opinion of us and our manners, and walk out of the house bag and + baggage, and I wouldn't blame her for doin' it.” + </p> + <p> + “P'raps she wouldn't have me. She never said she would.” + </p> + <p> + “Never said she would! Have you ever asked her? She's had all this time to + l'arn to know you in, and I cal'late if she was willin' to think 'bout it + 'fore she ever see you, she'd be more willin' now. Ain't that so, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + And again Captain Eri said shortly, “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you'd mind your own consarns, and give me time,” protested Captain + Jerry. + </p> + <p> + “Time! How much time do you want? Land of Goshen! I should think you'd had + time enough. Why—” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, let up!” snorted the persecuted. “Why don't you git married yourself, + and bring Pashy over to keep house? What we started to git in the fust + place was jest a wife for one of us that would keep things shipshape, and + now—” + </p> + <p> + The withering look of scorn that Perez bent upon him caused him to + hesitate and stop. Captain Perez haughtily marched to the door. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “I ain't goin' to waste my time talkin' to a—a + dogfish like him. He ain't wuth it.” + </p> + <p> + “Hold on, now, Perez!” pleaded the discomfited sacrifice, alarmed at his + comrade's threatened desertion. “I was only foolin'. Can't you take a + joke? I haven't said I wouldn't do it. I think a heap of Mrs. Snow; it's + only that I ain't got the spunk to ask her, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! it don't take much spunk,” replied the successful wooer, forgetful + of his own past trepidation. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” Captain Jerry wriggled and twisted, but saw no loophole. “Well, + give me a month to git up my courage in and—” + </p> + <p> + “A month! A month's ridic'lous; ain't it, Eri” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, three weeks, then.” + </p> + <p> + This offer, too, was rejected. Then Captain Jerry held out for a fortnight—for + ten days. Finally, it was settled that within one week from that very + night he was to offer his heart and hand to the lady from Nantucket. He + pledged his solemn word to do it. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the gratified Captain Perez. “That's a good job done. + He won't never be sorry for it, will he, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Eri made his fourth contribution to the conversation. + </p> + <p> + “No,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Josiah went up to the post-office late in the afternoon of the next day. + The “able seaman” was behaving himself remarkably well. He had become a + real help to Captain Eri, and the latter said that sailing alone would be + doubly hard when his foremast hand went back to school again, which he was + to do very shortly, for Josiah meant to accept the Captain's offer, and to + try for the Annapolis appointment when the time came. + </p> + <p> + The boy came back with the mail and an item of news. The mail, a paper + only, he handed to Mrs. Snow, and the news he announced at the supper + table as follows: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine's goin' to leave the cable station,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Goin' to leave!” repeated the housekeeper, “what for?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know, ma'am. All I know is what I heard Mr. Wingate say. He said + Mr. Hazeltine was goin' to get through over at the station pretty soon. He + said one of the operators told him so.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, for the land's sake! Did you know anything 'bout it, Eri?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, yes, a little. I met Hazeltine yesterday, and he told me that some + folks out West had made him a pretty good offer, and he didn't know + whether to take it or not. Said the salary was good, and the whole thing + looked sort of temptin'. He hadn't decided what to do yit. That's all + there is to it.” + </p> + <p> + There was little else talked about during the meal. Captain Perez, Captain + Jerry, and Mrs. Snow argued, surmised, and questioned Captain Eri, who + said little. Elsie said almost nothing, and went to her room shortly after + the dishes were washed. + </p> + <p> + “Humph!” exclaimed Captain Perez, when they were alone, “I guess your + match-makin' scheme's up spout, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + And, for a wonder, Captain Jerry did not contradict him. + </p> + <p> + The weather changed that night, and it grew cold rapidly. In the morning + the pump was frozen, and Captain Jerry and Mrs. Snow spent some time and + much energy in thawing it out. It was later than usual when the former set + out for the schoolhouse. As he was putting on his cap, Elsie suggested + that he wait for her, as she had some lessons to prepare, and wanted an + hour or so to herself at her desk. So they walked on together under a + cloudy sky. The mud in the road was frozen into all sorts of fantastic + shapes, and the little puddles had turned to ice. + </p> + <p> + “That thaw was a weather-breeder, sure enough,” observed Captain Jerry. + “We'll git a storm out of this, 'fore we're done.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me,” said Elsie, “that the winter has been a very mild one. + From what I had heard I supposed you must have some dreadful gales here, + but there has been none so far.” + </p> + <p> + “We'll git 'em yit. February's jist the time. Git a good no'theaster + goin', and you'll think the whole house is comin' down. Nothin' to what + they used to have, though, 'cordin' to tell. Cap'n Jonadab Wixon used to + swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a gale that blew the hair all + off a dog, and then the wind changed of a sudden, and blew it all on + again.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie laughed. “That must have been a blow,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's somethin' of a blow himself, so he ought to be a + good jedge. The outer beach is the place that catches it when there's a + gale on. Oh, say! that reminds me. I s'pose you was glad to hear the news + last night?” + </p> + <p> + “What news?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, that 'bout Mr. Hazeltine's goin' away. You're glad he's goin', of + course.” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned and looked + wonderingly at her companion. + </p> + <p> + “Why should I be glad, pray?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I don't know. I jest took it for granted you would be. You didn't + want him to come and see you, and if he was gone he couldn't come, so—” + </p> + <p> + “Just a minute, please. What makes you think I didn't want Mr. Hazeltine + to call?” + </p> + <p> + And now it was the Captain's turn to stare and hesitate. + </p> + <p> + “What makes me think—” he gasped. “Why—you told me so, + yourself.” + </p> + <p> + “<i>I</i> told you so? I'm certain that I never told you anything of the + kind.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry stood stock-still, and if ever a face expressed complete + amazement, it was his. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie Preston!” he ejaculated, “are you losin' your mem'ry or what? + Didn't you pitch into me hot-foot for lettin' him be alone with you? + Didn't you give me 'hark from the tomb' for gittin' up and goin' away? + Didn't you say his calls was perfect torture to you, and that you had to + be decent to him jest out of common politeness? Now, didn't you?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, that was it! No, of course I didn't say any such thing.” + </p> + <p> + “You DIDN'T! Why, I heard you! Land of love! my ears smarted for a week + afterward. I ain't had sech a goin' over sence mother used to git at me + for goin' in swimmin' on Sunday. And now you say you didn't say it.” + </p> + <p> + “I didn't. You misunderstood me. I did object to your leaving the room + every time he called, and making me appear so ridiculous; and I did say + that his visits might be a torture for all that you knew to the contrary, + but I certainly didn't say that they WERE.” + </p> + <p> + “SUFFERIN'! And you ain't glad he stopped comin'?” + </p> + <p> + The air of complete indifference assumed by the young lady was a triumph. + </p> + <p> + “Why, of course,” she said, “Mr. Hazeltine is a free agent, and I don't + know of any reason why he should be compelled to go where he doesn't wish + to go. I enjoyed his society, and I'm sure Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow + enjoyed it, too; but it is quite evident that he did not enjoy ours, so I + don't see that there need be any more said on the subject.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was completely crushed. If the gale described by the + redoubtable grandsire of Jonadab Wixon had struck him, he could not have + been more upset. + </p> + <p> + “My! my! my!” he murmured. “And after my beggin' his pardon and all!” + </p> + <p> + “Begging his pardon? For what?” + </p> + <p> + “Why, for leavin' you two alone. Of course, after you pitched into me so I + see how foolish I'd been actin', and I—honest, I didn't sleep + scursely a bit that night thinkin' 'bout it. Thinks I, 'If Elsie feels + that way, why, there ain't no doubt that Mr. Hazeltine feels the same.' + There wa'n't but one thing to be done. When a man makes a mistake, if he + is any kind of a man, he owns up, and does his best to straighten things + out. 'Twa'n't easy to do, but duty's duty, and the next time I see Mr. + Hazeltine I told him the whole thing, and—” + </p> + <p> + “You DID!” + </p> + <p> + “Sartin I did.” + </p> + <p> + “What did you tell him?” + </p> + <p> + They had stopped on the sidewalk nearly opposite the post-office. Each was + too much engrossed in the conversation to pay any heed to anything else. + If the few passersby thought it strange that the schoolmistress should + care to loiter out of doors on that cold and disagreeable morning, they + said nothing about it. One young man in particular, who, standing just + inside the post-office door, was buttoning his overcoat and putting on his + gloves, looked earnestly at the pair, but he, too, said nothing. + </p> + <p> + “Why, I told him,” said Captain Jerry, in reply to the question, “how you + didn't like to have me go out of the room when he was there. Course, I + told him I didn't mean to do nothin' out of the way. Then he asked me some + more questions, and I answered 'em best I could, and—well, I guess + that's 'bout all.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you tell him that I said his visits were a torture?” + </p> + <p> + “Why—” the Captain shuffled his feet uneasily—“seems to me I + said somethin' 'bout it—not jest that, you know, but somethin'. Fact + is, I was so muddle-headed and upset that I don't know exactly what I did + say. Anyhow, he said 'twas all right, so there ain't nothin' to worry + 'bout.” + </p> + <p> + “Captain Jeremiah Burgess!” exclaimed Elsie. Then she added, “What MUST he + think of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I'll fix that!” exclaimed the Captain. “I'll see him some time + to-day, and I'll tell him you didn't mean it. Why, I declare! Yes, 'tis! + There he is, now! Hi! Mr. Hazeltine! Come here a minute.” + </p> + <p> + A mischievous imp was certainly directing Captain Jerry's movements. Ralph + had, almost for the first time since he came to Orham, paid an early + morning visit to the office in order to send an important letter in the + first mail. The slamming of the door had attracted the Captain's attention + and, in response to the hail, Mr. Hazeltine crossed the road. + </p> + <p> + And then Captain Jerry felt his arm clutched with a grip that meant + business, as Miss Preston whispered, “Don't you dare say one word to him + about it. Don't you DARE!” + </p> + <p> + If Ralph had been surprised by the request to join the couple, he was more + surprised by the reception he received. Elsie's face was crimson, and as + for the Captain, he looked like a man who had suddenly been left standing + alone in the middle of a pond covered with very thin ice. + </p> + <p> + The electrician bowed and shook hands gravely. As no remark seemed to be + forthcoming from those who had summoned him, he observed that it was an + unpleasant morning. This commonplace reminded him of one somewhat similar + that he had made to a supposed Miss “Gusty” Black, and he, too, colored. + </p> + <p> + “Did you want to speak with me, Captain?” he asked, to cover his + confusion. + </p> + <p> + “Why—why, I did,” stammered poor Captain Jerry, “but—but I + don't know's I do now.” Then he realized that this was not exactly + complimentary, and added, “That is, I don't know—I don't know's I—Elsie, + what was it I was goin' to say to Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + At another time it is likely that the young lady's quick wit would have + helped her out of the difficulty, but now she was too much disturbed. + </p> + <p> + “I'm sure I don't know,” she said coldly. + </p> + <p> + “You don't know! Why, yes you do? 'Twas—'twas—” The Captain + was frantically grasping at straws. “Why, we was wonderin' why you didn't + come to see us nowadays.” + </p> + <p> + If the Captain had seen the look that Elsie shot at him, as he delivered + this brilliant observation, he might have been more, instead of less, + uncomfortable. As it was, he felt rather proud of having discovered a way + out of the difficulty. But Ralph's embarrassment increased. He hurriedly + said something about having been very busy. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” went on the Captain, intent on making the explanation as plausible + as possible, “we've missed you consider'ble. We was sayin' we hoped you + wouldn't give us up altogether. Ain't that so, Elsie?” + </p> + <p> + Miss Preston's foot tapped the sidewalk several times, but she answered, + though not effusively: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine is always welcome, of course.” Then, she added, turning + away, “Really, Captain Jerry, I must hurry to school. I have a great deal + of work to do before nine o'clock. Good-morning, Mr. Hazeltine.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain paused long enough to say, “We'll expect you now, so come,” + and then hurried after her. He was feeling very well satisfied with + himself. + </p> + <p> + “By mighty! Elsie,” he chuckled, “I got out of that nice, didn't I?” + </p> + <p> + He received no answer, even when he repeated the remark, and, although he + endeavored, as he swept out the schoolroom, to engage the teacher in + conversation, her replies were as cold as they were short. The Captain + went home in the last stages of dismalness. + </p> + <p> + That afternoon, when Captain Eri returned from the fishing grounds, he + found Captain Jerry waiting for him at the shanty. The humiliated + matchmaker sent Josiah up to the grocery store on an errand, and then + dragged his friend inside and shut the door. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the woe-begone face with some concern. + </p> + <p> + “What ails you, Jerry?” he demanded. “Have you—have you spoken to + Mrs. Snow 'bout that—that marriage?” + </p> + <p> + “No, I ain't, Eri, but I'm in a turrible mess, and I don't know why, + neither. Seems to me the more I try to do for other folks the wuss off I + am; and, instead of gittin' thanks, all I git is blame.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, what's the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, now I know you'll think I'm a fool, and 'll jest pester the life + out of me. See here, Eri Hedge! If I tell you what I want to, will you + promise not to pitch into me, and not to nag and poke fun? If you don't + promise I won't tell one single word, no matter what happens.” + </p> + <p> + So Captain Eri promised, and then Captain Jerry, stammering and + hesitating, unburdened his mind of the whole affair, telling of his first + reproof by Elsie, his “explanation” to Ralph, and the subsequent + developments. Long before he finished, Captain Eri rose and, walking over + to the door, stood looking out through the dim pane at the top, while his + shoulders shook as if there was a smothered earthquake inside. + </p> + <p> + “There!” exclaimed the injured matrimonial agent, in conclusion. “There's + the whole fool thing, and I 'most wish I'd never seen either of 'em. I + thought I did fust-rate this mornin' when I was tryin' to think up + somethin' to show why I hailed Hazeltine, but no, Elsie won't hardly speak + to me. I wish to goodness you'd tell me what to do.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri turned away from the door. His eyes were watery, and his face + was red, but he managed to say: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Jerry, Jerry! Your heart's big as a bucket, but fishin' 's more in + your line than gittin' folks married to order is, I'm 'fraid. You stay + here, and unload them fish in the dory. There ain't many of 'em, and + Josiah 'll help when he gits back. I'm goin' out for a few minutes.” + </p> + <p> + He went down to the beach, climbed into a dory belonging to a neighbor, + and Captain Jerry saw him row away in the direction of the cable station. + </p> + <p> + That evening, after the dishes were washed and the table cleared, there + came a knock at the door. Mrs. Snow opened it. + </p> + <p> + “Why, for goodness sake! Mr. Hazeltine!” she exclaimed. “Come right in. + What a stranger you are!” + </p> + <p> + Ralph entered, shook the snow, which had just begun to fall, from his hat + and coat, took off these articles, in response to the hearty invitation of + Captain Eri, and shook hands with all present. Elsie's face was an + interesting study. Captain Jerry looked scared. + </p> + <p> + After a few minutes' talk, Captain Eri rose. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” he said, “come upstairs a little while. I want to talk to you + 'bout somethin'. You come, too, Jerry.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry looked from Elsie to the speaker, and then to Elsie again. + But Captain Eri's hand was on his arm, and he rose and went. + </p> + <p> + Elsie watched this wholesale desertion with amazement. Then the door + opened again, and Captain Eri put in his head. + </p> + <p> + “Elsie,” he said, “I jest want to tell you that this is my doin's, not + Jerry's. That's all.” And the door shut. + </p> + <p> + Elsie faced the caller with astonishment written on her face. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine,” she said icily, “you may know what this means, but I + don't.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph looked at her and answered solemnly, but with a twinkle in his eye: + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid I can guess, Miss Preston. You see Captain Jerry paid Captain + Eri a call this afternoon and, as a result, Captain Eri called upon me. + Then, as a result of THAT, I—well, I came here.” + </p> + <p> + The young lady blushed furiously. “What did Captain Eri tell you?” she + demanded. + </p> + <p> + “Just what Captain Jerry told him.” + </p> + <p> + “And that was?” + </p> + <p> + “What you told Captain Jerry this morning concerning something that you + told him before, I believe.” + </p> + <p> + There was no answer to this. Miss Preston looked as if she had a mind to + run out of the room, then as if she might cry, and finally as if she + wanted to laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I humbly apologize,” said the electrician contritely. + </p> + <p> + “YOU apologize? For what?” + </p> + <p> + “For my stupidity in believing that Captain Jerry was to be accepted + seriously.” + </p> + <p> + “You were excusable, certainly. And now I must apologize; also for taking + the Captain too seriously.” + </p> + <p> + “Suppose we pair the apologies as they do the votes in the Senate. Then + one will offset the other.” + </p> + <p> + “I'm afraid that isn't fair, for the blunder was all on my part.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, if we can't pair apologies, suppose we pair blunders. I don't + accept your statement of guilt, mind, but since you are determined to + shoulder it, we might put it on one side and on the other we'll put—” + </p> + <p> + “What?” + </p> + <p> + “'Gusty' Black.” + </p> + <p> + And then they both laughed. + </p> + <p> + A little later Captain Eri knocked at the door. + </p> + <p> + “Is it safe for a feller to come in?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “Well,” said Elsie severely, “I don't know whether talebearers should be + admitted or not, but if they do come they must beg pardon for interfering + in other people's affairs.” + </p> + <p> + “Ma'am,” and the Captain made a profound bow, “I hope you'll be so 'kind + and condescendin', and stoop so low, and be so bendin'' as to forgive me. + And, while I'm 'bout it, I'll apologize for Jerry, too.” + </p> + <p> + “No, sir,” said the young lady decidedly. “Captain Jerry must apologize + for himself. Captain Jeremiah Burgess,” she called up the stairway, “come + into court, and answer for your sins.” + </p> + <p> + And Captain Jerry tremblingly came. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX + </h2> + <h3> + A “NO'THEASTER” BLOWS + </h3> + <p> + It had begun to snow early in the evening, a light fall at first, but + growing heavier every minute, and, as the flakes fell thicker and faster, + the wind began to blow, and its force increased steadily. Ralph, hearing + the gusts as they swooped about the corners of the house, and the “swish” + of the snow as it was thrown against the window panes, several times rose + to go, but Captain Eri in each instance urged him to stay a little longer. + Finally, the electrician rebelled. + </p> + <p> + “I should like to stay, Captain,” he said, “but how do you think I am + going to get over to the station if this storm grows worse, as it seems to + be doing?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't think,” was the calm reply. “You're goin' to stay here.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, I guess not.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess yes. S'pose we're goin' to let you try to row over to the beach a + night like this? It's darker 'n a nigger's pocket, and blowin' and snowin' + great guns besides. Jest you look out here.” + </p> + <p> + He rose, beckoned to Ralph, and then opened the outer door. He had to use + considerable strength to do this, and a gust of wind and a small avalanche + of snow roared in, and sent the lighter articles flying from the table. + Elsie gave a little scream, and Mrs. Snow exclaimed, “For the land's sake, + shut that door this minute! Everything 'll be soppin' wet.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain pulled the door shut again, and dropped the hook into the + staple. + </p> + <p> + “Nice night for a pull, ain't it?” he observed, smiling. “No, sir, I've + heard it comin' on, and I made up my mind you'd have to stay on dry land + for a spell, no matter if all creation wanted you on t'other side.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph looked troubled. “I ought to be at the station,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Maybe so, but you ain't, and you'll have to put up at this boardin' house + till mornin'. When it's daylight one of us 'll set you across. Mr. Langley + ain't foolish. He won't expect you to-night.” + </p> + <p> + “Now, Mr. Hazeltine,” said the housekeeper, “you might jest as well give + it up fust as last. You KNOW you can't go over to that station jest as + well as I do.” + </p> + <p> + So Ralph did give it up, although rather against his will. There was + nothing of importance to be done, but he felt a little like a deserter, + nevertheless. + </p> + <p> + “Perez won't git home neither,” observed Captain Eri. “He's snowed in, + too.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez had that afternoon gone down to the Mayo homestead to take + tea with Miss Davis. + </p> + <p> + “Git home! I should think not!” said Mrs. Snow decidedly. “Pashy's got too + much sense to let him try it.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Elsie,” commented Captain Jerry, “I told you we'd have a + no'theaster 'fore the winter was over. I guess there'll be gale enough to + satisfy you, now. No school to-morrer.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's settled! Let's be comf'table. Ain't there some of that cider + down cellar? Where's the pitcher?” And Captain Eri hurried off to find it. + </p> + <p> + When bedtime came there was some argument as to where the guest should + sleep. Ralph insisted that the haircloth sofa in the parlor was just the + thing, but Captain Eri wouldn't hear of it. + </p> + <p> + “Haircloth's all right to look at,” he said, “but it's the slipperiest + stuff that ever was, I cal'late. Every time I set on a haircloth chair I + feel's if I was draggin' anchor.” + </p> + <p> + The cot was declared ineligible, also, and the question was finally + settled by Josiah and Captain Eri going upstairs to the room once occupied + by John Baxter, while Ralph took that which they vacated. + </p> + <p> + It was some time before he fell asleep. The gale seemed to be tearing + loose the eternal foundations. The house shook and the bed trembled as if + a great hand was moving them, and the snow slapped against the windows + till it seemed that they must break. + </p> + <p> + In the morning there was little change in the weather. The snow had turned + to a sleet, half rain, that stuck to everything and coated it with ice. + The wind was blowing as hard as ever. Captain Eri and Ralph, standing just + outside the kitchen door, and in the lee of the barn, paused to watch the + storm for a minute before they went down to the beach. At intervals they + caught glimpses of the snow-covered roofs of the fish shanties, and the + water of the inner bay, black and threatening and scarred with whitecaps; + then another gust would come, and they could scarcely see the posts at the + yard gate. + </p> + <p> + “Think you want to go over, do you?” asked the Captain. + </p> + <p> + “I certainly do, if I can get there.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, we can git there all right. I've rowed a dory a good many times when + 'twas as bad as this. This ain't no picnic day, though, that's a fact,” he + added, as they crossed the yard, and caught the full force of the wind. + “Lucky you put on them ileskins.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was arrayed in Captain Jerry's “dirty-weather rig,” and although, as + Captain Eri said, the garments fitted him “like a shirt on a handspike,” + they were very acceptable. + </p> + <p> + They found the dory covered with snow and half-full of slush, and it took + some few minutes to get her into condition. When this was accomplished + they hauled her down to the shore, and Captain Eri, standing knee-deep in + water, steadied her while Ralph climbed in. Then the Captain tumbled in + himself, picked up the oars, and settled down for the pull to the outer + beach. + </p> + <p> + A dory, as everyone acquainted alongshore knows, is the safest of all + small craft for use in heavy weather. It is unsinkable for one thing, and, + being flat-bottomed, slips over the waves instead of plowing through them. + But the high freeboard is a mark for the wind, and to keep a straight + course on such a morning as this requires skill, and no small amount of + muscle. Ralph, seated in the stern, found himself wondering how on earth + his companion managed to row as he did, and steer at the same time. The + strokes were short, but there was power in them, and the dory, although + moving rather slowly, went doggedly on. + </p> + <p> + “Let me take her,” shouted Ralph after a while, “you must be tired.” + </p> + <p> + “Who, me?” Captain Eri laughed. “I could keep this up for a week. There + ain't any sea in here. If we was outside now, 'twould be diff'rent, + maybe.” + </p> + <p> + They hit the beach almost exactly at the right spot, a feat which the + passenger considered a miracle, but which the Captain seemed to take as a + matter of course. They beached and anchored the dory, and, bending almost + double as they faced the wind, plowed through the sand to the back door of + the station. There was comparatively little snow here on the outer beach—the + gale had swept it nearly all away. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Langley met them as they tramped into the hall. The old gentleman was + glad to see his assistant, for he had begun to fear that the latter might + have tried to row over during the evening, and met with disaster. As they + sat round the stove in his room he said, “We don't need any wrecks inside + the beach. We shall have enough outside, I'm afraid. I hear there is one + schooner in trouble now.” + </p> + <p> + “That so?” asked Captain Eri. “Where is she?” + </p> + <p> + “On the Hog's Back shoal, they think. One of the life-saving crew told + McLaughlin that they saw her last night, when the gale first began, trying + to make an offing, and that wreckage was coming ashore this morning. + Captain Davis was going to try to reach her with the boat, I believe.” + </p> + <p> + “I should like to be at the life-saving station when they land,” said + Ralph. “It would be a new experience for me. I've seen the crew drill + often enough, but I have never seen them actually at work.” + </p> + <p> + “What d'you say if we go down to the station?” asked the Captain. “That + is, if Mr. Langley here can spare you.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I can spare him,” said the superintendent. “There is nothing of + importance to be done here just now. But it will be a terrible walk down + the beach this morning.” + </p> + <p> + “Wind 'll be at our backs, and we're rigged for it, too. What d'you say, + Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was only too glad of the opportunity to see, at least, the finish of + a rescuing expedition, and he said so. So they got into the oilskins + again, pulled their “sou'westers” down over their ears, and started on the + tramp to the life-saving station. + </p> + <p> + The electrician is not likely to forget that walk. The wind was, as the + Captain said, at their backs, but it whistled in from the sea with + terrific strength, and carried the sleet with it. It deluged them with + water, and plastered them with flying seaweed and ice. The wet sand came + in showers like hail, and beat against their shoulders until they felt the + sting, even through their clothes. Toward the bay was nothing but gray + mist, streaked with rain and sleet; toward the sea was the same mist, + flying with the wind over such a huddle of tossing green and white as + Ralph had never seen. The surf poured in in rollers that leaped over each + other's humped backs in their savage energy to get at the shore, which + trembled as they beat upon it. The ripples from one wave had not time to + flow back before those of the next came threshing in. Great blobs of foam + shot down the strand like wild birds, and the gurgle and splash and roar + were terrific. + </p> + <p> + They walked as near the water line as they dared, because the sand was + harder there. Captain Eri went ahead, hands in his pockets and head down. + Ralph followed, sometimes watching his companion, but oftener gazing at + the sea. At intervals there would be a lull, as if the storm giant had + paused for breath, and they could see for half a mile over the crazy + water; then the next gust would pull the curtain down again, and a whirl + of rain and sleet would shut them in. Conversation meant only a series of + shrieks and they gave it up. + </p> + <p> + At length the Captain turned, grinned pleasantly, while the rain drops + splashed on his nose, and waved one arm. Ralph looked and saw ahead of + them the clustered buildings of the life-saving station. And he was glad + to see them. + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” puffed Captain Eri as they opened the door. “Nice mornin' for + ducks. Hey, Luther!” he shouted, “wake up here; you've got callers.” + </p> + <p> + They heard footsteps in the next room, the door opened, and in came—not + Luther Davis, but Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Eri!” he exclaimed amazedly. + </p> + <p> + “For the land's sake, Perez! What are you doin' here?” + </p> + <p> + “What are YOU doin' here, I should say. How d'you do, Mr. Hazeltine?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri pushed back his “sou'wester,” and strolled over to the stove. + Ralph followed suit. + </p> + <p> + “Well, Perez,” said the former, extending his hands over the fire, “it's + easy enough to tell you why we're here. We heard there was a wreck.” + </p> + <p> + “There is. She's a schooner, and she's off there on the Hog's Back. Luther + and the crew put off to her more 'n two hours ago, and I'm gittin' + worried.” + </p> + <p> + Then Perez went on to explain that, because of the storm, he had been + persuaded to stay at Mrs. Mayo's all night; that Captain Davis had been + over for a moment that evening on an errand, and had said that the + schooner had been sighted and that, as the northeaster was coming on, she + was almost certain to get into trouble; that he, Perez, had rowed over the + first thing in the morning to get the news, and had been just in time to + see the launching of the lifeboat, as the crew put off to the schooner. + </p> + <p> + “There ain't nothin' to worry 'bout,” observed Captain Eri. “It's no + slouch of a pull off to the Hog's Back this weather, and besides, I'd + trust Lute Davis anywhere on salt water.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I know,” replied the unconvinced Captain Perez, “but he ought to + have been back afore this. There was a kind of let-up in the storm jest + afore I got here, and they see her fast on the shoal with the crew in the + riggin'. Luther took the small boat 'cause he thought he could handle her + better, and that's what's worryin' me; I'm 'fraid she's overloaded. I was + jest thinkin' of goin' out on the p'int to see if I could see anything of + 'em when you folks come.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, go ahead. We'll go with you, if Mr. Hazeltine's got any of the + chill out of him.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph was feeling warm by this time and, after Perez had put on his coat + and hat, they went out once more into the gale. The point of which Perez + had spoken was a wedge-shaped sand ridge that, thrown up by the waves and + tide, thrust itself out from the beach some few hundred yards below the + station. They reached its tip, and stood there in the very midst of the + storm, waiting for the lulls, now more frequent, and scanning the tumbling + water for the returning lifeboat. + </p> + <p> + “Schooner's layin' right over there,” shouted Captain Perez in Ralph's + ear, pointing off into the mist. “'Bout a mile off shore, I cal'late. + Wicked place, the Hog's Back is, too.” + </p> + <p> + “Wind's lettin' up a little mite,” bellowed Captain Eri. “We've had the + wust of it, I guess. There ain't so much—” + </p> + <p> + He did not finish the sentence. The curtain of sleet parted, leaving a + quarter-mile-long lane, through which they could see the frothing ridges + racing one after the other, endlessly. And across this lane, silent and + swift, like a moving picture on a screen, drifted a white turtleback with + black dots clinging to it. It was in sight not more than a half minute, + then the lane closed again, as the rain lashed their faces. + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez gasped, and clutched the electrician by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Godfrey mighty!” he exclaimed. + </p> + <p> + “What was it?” shouted Ralph. “What was it, Captain Eri?” + </p> + <p> + But Captain Eri did not answer. He had turned, and was running at full + speed back to the beach. When they came up they found him straining at the + side of the dory that Luther Davis used in tending his lobster pots. The + boat, turned bottom up, lay high above tide mark in the little cove behind + the point. + </p> + <p> + “Quick, now!” shouted the Captain, in a tone Ralph had never heard him use + before. “Over with her! Lively!” + </p> + <p> + They obeyed him without question. As the dory settled right side up two + heavy oars, that had been secured by being thrust under the seats, fell + back with a clatter. + </p> + <p> + “What was it, Captain?” shouted Ralph. + </p> + <p> + “The lifeboat upset. How many did you make out hangin' onto her, Perez? + Five, seemed to me.” + </p> + <p> + “Four, I thought. Eri, you ain't goin' to try to reach her with this dory? + You couldn't do it. You'll only be drownded yourself. My Lord!” he moaned, + wringing his hands, “what 'll Pashy do?” + </p> + <p> + “Catch a-holt now,” commanded Captain Eri. “Down to the shore with her! + Now!” + </p> + <p> + They dragged the dory to the water's edge with one rush. Then Eri + hurriedly thrust in the tholepins. Perez protested again. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “it ain't no use. She won't live to git through the + breakers.” + </p> + <p> + His friend answered without looking up. “Do you s'pose,” he said, “that + I'm goin' to let Lute Davis and them other fellers drown without makin' a + try for 'em? Push off when I tell you to.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you let me go instead of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't talk foolish. You've got Pashy to look after. Ready now!” + </p> + <p> + But Ralph Hazeltine intervened. + </p> + <p> + “I'm going myself,” he said firmly, putting one foot over the gunwale. + “I'm a younger man than either of you, and I'm used to a boat. I mean it. + I'm, going.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri looked at the electrician's face; he saw nothing but + determination there. + </p> + <p> + “We'll all go,” he said suddenly. “Mr. Hazeltine, run as fast as the Lord + 'll let you back to the station and git another set of oars. Hurry!” + </p> + <p> + Without answering, the young man sprang up the beach and ran toward the + buildings. The moment that he was inside Captain Eri leaped into the dory. + </p> + <p> + “Push off, Perez!” he commanded. “That young feller's got a life to live.” + </p> + <p> + “You don't go without me,” asserted Perez stoutly. + </p> + <p> + “All right! Push off, and then jump in.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Perez attempted to obey. He waded into the water and gave the dory + a push, but, just as he was about to scramble in, he received a shove that + sent him backwards. + </p> + <p> + “Your job's takin' care of Pashy!” roared Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + Perez scrambled to his feet, but the dory was already half-way across the + little patch of comparatively smooth water in the cove. As he looked he + saw it enter the first line of breakers, rise amid a shower of foam, poise + on the crest, and slip over. The second line of roaring waves came surging + on, higher and more threatening than the first. Captain Eri glanced over + his shoulder, turned the dory's bow toward them and waited. They broke, + and, as they did so, the boat shot forward into the whirlpool of froth. + Then the sleet came pouring down and shut everything from sight. + </p> + <p> + When Ralph came hurrying to the beach, bearing the oars, he found Captain + Perez alone. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX + </h2> + <h3> + ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + </h3> + <p> + Captain Eri knew that the hardest and most dangerous portion of his + perilous trip was just at its beginning. If the dory got through the surf + without capsizing, it was an even bet that she would stay right-side-up + for a while longer, at any rate. So he pulled out of the little cove, and + pointed the boat's bow toward the thundering smother of white, his + shoulders squared, his hands tightened on the oar handles, and his + under-jaw pushed out beyond the upper. Old foremast hands, those who had + sailed with the Captain on his coasting voyages, would, had they seen + these signs, have prophesied trouble for someone. They were Captain Eri's + battle-flags, and just now his opponent was the gray Atlantic. If the + latter won, it would only be after a fight. + </p> + <p> + The first wave tripped over the bar and whirled beneath him, sending the + dory high into the air and splashing its occupant with spray. The Captain + held the boat stationary, waiting for the second to break, and then, half + rising, put all his weight and strength on the oars. The struggle had + begun. + </p> + <p> + They used to say on board the Hannah M. that the skipper never got + rattled. The same cool head and steady nerve that Josiah had admired when + the catboat threaded the breakers at the entrance of the bay, now served + the same purpose in this more tangled and infinitely more wicked maze. The + dory climbed and ducked, rolled and slid, but gained, inch by inch, foot + by foot. The advancing waves struck savage blows at the bow, the wind did + its best to swing her broadside on, but there was one hundred and eighty + pounds of clear grit and muscle tugging at the oars, and, though the + muscles were not as young as they had been, there were years of experience + to make every pound count. At last the preliminary round was over. The + boat sprang clear of the breakers and crept out farther and farther, with + six inches of water slopping in her bottom, but afloat and seaworthy. + </p> + <p> + It was not until she was far into deep water that the Captain turned her + bow down the shore. When this was done, it was on the instant, and, + although a little more water came inboard, there was not enough to be + dangerous. Then, with the gale astern and the tide to help, Captain Eri + made the dory go as she, or any other on that coast, had never gone + before. + </p> + <p> + The Captain knew that the wind and the tide that were now aiding him were + also sweeping the overturned lifeboat along at a rapid rate. He must come + up with it before it reached the next shoal. He must reach it before the + waves, and, worse than all, the cold had caused the poor fellows clinging + to it for life to loose their grip. + </p> + <p> + The dory jumped from crest to crest like a hurdler. The sleet now beat + directly into the Captain's face and froze on his eyebrows and lashes, but + he dared not draw in an oar to free a hand. The wind caught up the + spindrift and poured it over him in icy baths, but he was too warm from + the furious exercise to mind. + </p> + <p> + In the lulls he turned his head and gazed over the sea, looking for the + boat. Once he saw it, before the storm shut down again, and he groaned + aloud to count but two black dots on its white surface. He pulled harder + than ever, and grunted with every stroke, while the perspiration poured + down his forehead and froze when it reached the ice dams over his eyes. + </p> + <p> + At last it was in plain sight, and the two dots, now clearly human beings, + were still there. He pointed the bow straight at it and rowed on. When he + looked again there was but one, a figure sprawled along the keel, clinging + to the centerboard. + </p> + <p> + The flying dory bore down upon the lifeboat, and the Captain risked what + little breath he had in a hail. The clinging figure raised its head, and + Captain Eri felt an almost selfish sense of relief to see that it was + Luther Davis. If it had to be but one, he would rather it was that one. + </p> + <p> + The bottom of the lifeboat rose like a dome from the sea that beat and + roared over and around it. The centerboard had floated up and projected at + the top, and it was about this that Captain Davis' arms were clasped. + Captain Eri shot the dory alongside, pulled in one oar, and the two boats + fitted closely together. Then Eri reached out, and, seizing his friend by + the belt round his waist, pulled him from his hold. Davis fell into the + bottom of the dory, only half conscious and entirely helpless. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri lifted him so that his head and shoulders rested on a thwart, + and then, setting his oar against the lifeboat's side, pushed the dory + clear. Then he began rowing again. + </p> + <p> + So far he had been more successful than he had reason to expect, but the + task that he must now accomplish was not less difficult. He must reach the + shore safely, and with another life beside his own to guard. + </p> + <p> + It was out of the question to attempt to get back to the cove; the landing + must be made on the open beach, and, although Captain Eri had more than + once brought a dory safely through a high surf, he had never attempted it + when his boat had nearly a foot of water in her and carried a helpless + passenger. + </p> + <p> + Little by little, still running before the wind, the Captain edged in + toward the shore. Luther Davis moved once or twice, but said nothing. His + oilskins were frozen stiff and his beard was a lump of ice. Captain Eri + began to fear that he might die from cold and exhaustion before the + attempt at landing was made. The Captain resolved to wait no longer, but + to take the risk of running directly for the beach. + </p> + <p> + He was near enough now to see the leaping spray of the breakers, and their + bellow sounded louder than the howl of the wind or the noises of the sea + about him. He bent forward and shouted in the ear of the prostrate + life-saver. + </p> + <p> + “Luther!” he yelled, “Lute!” + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis' head rolled back, his eyes opened, and, in a dazed way, he + looked at the figure swinging back and forth with the oars. + </p> + <p> + “Lute!” shouted Captain Eri, “listen to me! I'm goin' to try to land. + D'you hear me?” + </p> + <p> + Davis' thoughts seemed to be gathering slowly. He was, ordinarily, a man + of strong physique, courageous, and a fighter every inch of him, but his + strength had been beaten out by the waves and chilled by the cold, and the + sight of the men with whom he had lived and worked for years drowning one + by one, had broken his nerve. He looked at his friend, and then at the + waves. + </p> + <p> + “What's the use?” he said feebly. “They're all gone. I might as well go, + too.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri's eyes snapped. “Lute Davis,” he exclaimed, “I never thought + I'd see you playin' crybaby. Brace up! What are you, anyway?” + </p> + <p> + The half-frozen man made a plucky effort. + </p> + <p> + “All right, Eri,” he said. “I'm with you, but I ain't much good.” + </p> + <p> + “Can you stand up?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. I'll try.” + </p> + <p> + Little by little he raised himself to his knees. + </p> + <p> + “'Bout as fur's I can go, Eri,” he said, between his teeth. “You look out + for yourself. I'll do my durndest.” + </p> + <p> + The dory was caught by the first of the great waves, and, on its crest, + went flying toward the beach. Captain Eri steered it with the oars as well + as he could. The wave broke, and the half-filled boat paused, was caught + up by the succeeding breaker, and thrown forward again. The Captain, still + trying to steer with one oar, let go of the other, and seizing his + companion by the belt, pulled him to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “Now then,” he shouted, “stand by!” + </p> + <p> + The boat poised on the curling wave, went down like a hammer, struck the + sand, and was buried in water. Just as it struck, Captain Eri jumped as + far shoreward as he could. Davis sprang with him, but it was really the + Captain's strength that carried them clear of the rail. + </p> + <p> + They kept their feet for an instant, but, in that instant, Captain Eri + dragged his friend a yard or so up the shelving beach. Then they were + knocked flat by the next wave. The Captain dug his toes into the sand and + braced himself as the undertow sucked back. Once more he rose and they + staggered on again, only to go down when the next rush of water came. + Three times this performance was repeated, and, as they rose for the + fourth time, the Captain roared, “Now!” + </p> + <p> + Another plunge, a splashing run, and they were on the hard sand of the + beach. Then they both tumbled on their faces and breathed in great gasps. + </p> + <p> + But the Captain realized that this would not do, for, in their soaked + condition, freezing to death was a matter of but a short time. He seized + Davis by the shoulder and shook him again and again. + </p> + <p> + “Come on, Lute! Come on!” he insisted. “Git up! You've GOT to git up!” + </p> + <p> + And, after a while, the life-saver did get up, although he could scarcely + stand. Then, with the Captain's arm around his waist, they started slowly + up the beach toward the station. + </p> + <p> + They had gone but a little way when they were met by Ralph Hazeltine and + Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather nervous all that forenoon. She + performed her household duties as thoroughly as usual, but Elsie, to whom + the storm had brought a holiday, noticed that she looked out of the window + and at the clock frequently. Once she even went so far as to tell the + young lady that she felt “kind of queer; jest as if somethin' was goin' to + happen.” As the housekeeper was not the kind to be troubled with + presentiments, Elsie was surprised. + </p> + <p> + Dinner was on the table at twelve o'clock, but Captain Eri was not there + to help eat it, and they sat down without him. And here again Mrs. Snow + departed from her regular habit, for she ate little and was very quiet. + She was the first to hear an unusual sound outside, and, jumping up, ran + to the window. + </p> + <p> + “Somebody's drivin' into the yard,” she said. “Who on airth would be + comin' here such a day as this?” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry joined her at the window. + </p> + <p> + “It's Abner Mayo's horse,” he said. “Maybe it's Perez comin' home.” + </p> + <p> + It was not Captain Perez, but Mr. Mayo himself, as they saw when the + rubber blanket fastened across the front of the buggy was dropped and the + driver sprang out. Mrs. Snow opened the door for him. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Abner!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, as the newcomer stopped to knock + the snow from his boots before coming in, “what have you done to Perez? + Goin' to keep him for a steady boarder?” + </p> + <p> + But Mr. Mayo had important news to communicate, and he did not intend to + lose the effect of his sensation by springing it without due preparation. + He took off his hat and mittens and solemnly declined a proffered chair. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Burgess,” he said, “I've got somethin' to tell you—somethin' + awful. The whole life-savin' crew but one is drownded, and Cap'n Eri Hedge—” + </p> + <p> + An exclamation from Mrs. Snow interrupted him. The housekeeper clasped her + hands together tightly and sank into a chair. She was very white. Elsie + ran to her. + </p> + <p> + “What is it, Mrs. Snow?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “Nothin', nothin'! Go on, Mr. Mayo. Go on!” + </p> + <p> + The bearer of ill-tidings, gratified at the result of his first attempt, + proceeded deliberately: + </p> + <p> + “And Cap'n Hedge and Luther Davis are over at the station pretty nigh + dead. If it wa'n't for the Cap'n, Luther'd have gone, too. Eri took a dory + and went off and picked him up. Perez come over to my house and told us + about it, and Pashy's gone back with him to see to her brother. I didn't + go down to the store this mornin', 'twas stormin' so, but as soon as I + heard I harnessed up to come and tell you.” + </p> + <p> + Then, in answer to the hurried questions of Captain Jerry and Elsie, Mr. + Mayo told the whole story as far as he knew it. Mrs. Snow said nothing, + but sat with her hands still clasped in her lap. + </p> + <p> + “Luther is ha'f drownded and froze,” concluded Abner, “and the Cap'n got a + bang with an oar when they jumped out of the dory that, Perez is afraid, + broke his arm. I'm goin' right back to git Dr. Palmer. They tried to + telephone him, but the wire's down.” + </p> + <p> + “Dear! dear! dear!” exclaimed Captain Jerry, completely demoralized by the + news. “That's dreadful! I must go right down there, mustn't I? The poor + fellers!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow rose to her feet quietly, but with a determined air. + </p> + <p> + “Are you goin' right back soon's you've got the Doctor, Mr. Mayo?” she + asked. + </p> + <p> + “Why, no, I wa'n't. I ain't been to my store this mornin', and I'm 'fraid + I ought to be there.” + </p> + <p> + To be frank, Abner was too great a sensation lover to forfeit the + opportunity of springing his startling news on the community. + </p> + <p> + “Then, Josiah, you'll have to harness Dan'l and take me down. I mustn't + wait another minute.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” expostulated Captain Jerry, “you mustn't go down there. + The Doctor's goin', and I'll go, and Pashy's there already.” + </p> + <p> + But the housekeeper merely waved him aside. + </p> + <p> + “I want you to stay here with Elsie,” she said. “There's no tellin' how + long I may be gone. Josiah 'll drive me down, won't you, Josiah?” + </p> + <p> + There was no lack of enthusiasm in the “able seaman's” answer. The boy was + only too glad of the chance. + </p> + <p> + “But it ain't fit weather for you to be out in. You'll git soakin' wet.” + </p> + <p> + “I guess if Pashy Davis can stand it, I can. Elsie, will you come and help + me git ready, while Josiah's harnessin'?” + </p> + <p> + As they entered the chamber above, Elsie was thunderstruck to see her + companion seat herself in the rocker and cover her face with her hands. If + it had been anyone else it would not have been so astonishing, but the + cool, self-possessed housekeeper—she could scarcely believe it. + </p> + <p> + “Why, Mrs. Snow!” she exclaimed, “what IS it?” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket hastily rose and wiped her eyes with her apron. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, nothin',” she answered, with an attempt at a smile. “I'm kind of + fidgety this mornin', and the way that man started off to tell his yarn + upset me; that's all. I mustn't be such a fool.” + </p> + <p> + She set about getting ready with a vim and attention to detail that proved + that her “fidgets” had not affected her common-sense. She was pale and her + hands trembled a little, but she took a covered basket and packed in it + cloth for bandages, a hot-water bottle, mustard, a bottle of liniment, and + numerous other things likely to be of use. Last of all, she added a bottle + of whisky that had been prescribed as a stimulant for John Baxter. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose some folks would think 'twas terrible carryin' this with me,” + she observed. “A woman pitched into me once for givin' it to her husband + when he was sick. I told her I didn't favor RHUBARB as a steady drink, but + I hoped I knew enough to give it when 'twas necessary.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Captain Perez were surprised men when the housekeeper, dripping, + but cheerful, appeared on the scene. She and Josiah had had a stormy + passage on the way down, for the easy-going Daniel had objected to being + asked to trot through drifts, and Mrs. Snow had insisted that he should be + made to do it. The ford was out of the question, so they stalled the old + horse in the Mayo barn and borrowed Abner's dory to make the crossing. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow took charge at once of the tired men, and the overtaxed Miss + Patience was glad enough to have her do it. Luther Davis was in bed, and + Captain Eri, after an hour's sojourn in the same snug harbor, had utterly + refused to stay there longer, and now, dressed in a suit belonging to the + commandant, was stretched upon a sofa in the front room. + </p> + <p> + The Captain was the most surprised of all when Mrs. Snow appeared. He + fairly gasped when she first entered the room, and seemed to be struck + speechless, for he said scarcely a word while she dosed him with hot + drinks, rubbed his shoulder—the bone was not broken, but there was a + bruise there as big as a saucer—with the liniment, and made him + generally comfortable. He watched her every movement with a sort of + worshipful wonder, and seemed to be thinking hard. + </p> + <p> + Captain Davis, although feeling a little better, was still very weak, and + his sister and Captain Perez were with him. Josiah soon returned to the + Mayo homestead to act as ferryman for Dr. Palmer when the latter should + arrive, and Ralph, finding that there was nothing more that he could do, + went back to the cable station. The storm had abated somewhat and the wind + had gone down. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow were alone in the front room, + and, for the first time since she entered the house, the lady from + Nantucket sat down to rest. Then the Captain spoke. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Snow,” he said gravely, “I don't believe you've changed your clothes + sence you got here. You must have been soaked through, too. I wish you + wouldn't take such risks. You hadn't ought to have come over here a day + like this, anyway. Not but what the Lord knows it's good to have you + here,” he added hastily. + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper seemed surprised. + </p> + <p> + “Cap'n Eri,” she said, “I b'lieve if you was dyin' you'd worry for fear + somebody else wouldn't be comf'table while you was doing it. 'Twould be + pretty hard for me to change my clothes,” she added, with a laugh, “seein' + that there probably ain't anything but men's clothes in the place.” Then, + with a sigh, “Poor fellers, they won't need 'em any more.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so. And they were all alive and hearty this mornin'. It's an awful + thing for Luther. Has he told anything yit 'bout how it come to happen?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, a little. The schooner was from Maine, bound to New York. Besides + her own crew she had some Italians aboard, coal-handlers, they was, goin' + over on a job for the owner. Cap'n Davis says he saw right away that the + lifeboat would be overloaded, but he had to take 'em all, there wa'n't + time for a second trip. He made the schooner's crew and the others lay + down in the boat where they wouldn't hinder the men at the oars, but when + they got jest at the tail of the shoal, where the sea was heaviest, them + Italians lost their heads and commenced to stand up and yell, and fust + thing you know, she swung broadside on and capsized. Pashy says Luther + don't say much more, but she jedges, from what he does say, that some of + the men hung on with him for a while, but was washed off and drownded.” + </p> + <p> + “That's right; there was four or five there when we saw her fust. 'Twas + Lute's grip on the centerboard that saved him. It's an awful thing—awful!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and he would have gone, too, if it hadn't been for you. And you talk + about MY takin' risks!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, Jerry hadn't ought to have let you come.” + </p> + <p> + “LET me come! I should like to have seen him try to stop me. The idea! + Where would I be if 'twa'n't helpin' you, after all you've done for me?” + </p> + <p> + “I'VE done? I haven't done anything!” + </p> + <p> + “You've made me happier 'n I've been for years. You've been so kind that—that—” + </p> + <p> + She stopped and looked out of the window. + </p> + <p> + “It's you that's been kind,” said the Captain. “You've made a home for me; + somethin' I ain't had afore sence I was a boy.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow went on as if he had not spoken. + </p> + <p> + “And to think that you might have been drownded the same as the rest,” she + said. “I knew somethin' was happenin'. I jest felt it, somehow. I told + Elsie I was sure of it. I couldn't think of anything but you all the + forenoon.” + </p> + <p> + The Captain sat up on the couch. + </p> + <p> + “Marthy,” he said in an awed tone, “do you know what I was thinkin' of + when I was pullin' through the wust of it this mornin'? I was thinkin' of + you. I thought of Luther and the rest of them poor souls, of course, but I + thought of you most of the time. It kept comin' back to me that if I went + under I shouldn't see you ag'in. And you was thinkin' of me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, when that Mayo man said he had awful news, I felt sure 'twas you he + was goin' to tell about. I never fainted away in my life that I know of, + but I think I 'most fainted then.” + </p> + <p> + “And you cared as much as that?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + Somehow both were speaking quietly, but as if it was useless longer to + keep back anything. To speak the exact truth without reserve seemed the + most natural thing in the world. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, well!” said the Captain reverently, and still in the same low + tone. “I said once afore that I b'lieved you was sent here, and now I'm + sure of it. It seems almost as if you was sent to ME, don't it?” + </p> + <p> + The housekeeper still looked out of the window, but she answered simply, + “I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “It does, it does so. Marthy, we've been happy together while you've been + here. Do you b'lieve you could be happy with me always—if you + married me, I mean?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Snow turned and looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, but she + did not wipe them away. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich.” + </p> + <p> + “What am I?” with a little smile. + </p> + <p> + “And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an old + codger like me?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” The answer was short, but it was convincing. + </p> + <p> + Captain Eri rose to his feet. + </p> + <p> + “Gosh!” he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. “Marthy, are you willin' + to try?” + </p> + <p> + And again Mrs. Snow said “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but Captain Eri + was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of happiness about him + that the man of medicine was amazed. + </p> + <p> + “Good Lord, man!” he exclaimed, “I expected to find you flat on your back, + and you look better than I've seen you for years. Taking a salt-water bath + in mid-winter must agree with you.” + </p> + <p> + “It ain't so much that,” replied the Captain serenely. “It's the pay I got + for takin' it.” + </p> + <p> + When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a close watch + on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that the exertion and + exposure might have affected the Captain's brain. + </p> + <p> + Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, but he + saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to start for home, + Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding slap + </p> + <p> + “Jerry!” he groaned distressfully. “I clean forgot. I've gone back on + Jerry!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XXI + </h2> + <h3> + “DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS” + </h3> + <p> + Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner Mayo's news + spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, the stores, and + the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, notably “Cy” Warner and + “Rufe” Smith, local representatives of the big Boston dailies, hurried off + to the life-saving station to get the facts at first hand. Others came + down to talk with Captain Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's shawl was on + her shoulders and her “cloud” was tied about her head in less than two + minutes after her next-door neighbor shouted the story across the back + yards. She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry was delivering a + sarcastic speech concerning “talkin' machines,” when Daniel plodded + through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, Mrs. Snow, and + Captain Eri. + </p> + <p> + For a man who had been described as “half-dead,” Captain Eri looked very + well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he jumped out + himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with an air of proud + proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like a returned prodigal, and + Captain Jerry shook his well hand until the arm belonging to it seemed + likely to become as stiff and sore as the other. While this handshaking + was going on Captain Eri was embarrassed. He did not look his friend in + the face, and most of his conversation was addressed to Elsie. + </p> + <p> + As soon as he had warmed his hands and told the story of the wreck and + rescue, he said, “Jerry, come up to my room a minute, won't you? I've got + somethin' I want to say.” + </p> + <p> + Vaguely wondering what the private conversation might be, Jerry followed + his friend upstairs. When they were in the room, Captain Eri closed the + door and faced his companion. He was confused, and stammered a little, as + he said, “Jerry, I've—I've got somethin' to say to you 'bout Mrs. + Snow.” + </p> + <p> + Then it was Captain Jerry's turn to be confused. + </p> + <p> + “Now, Eri,” he protested, “'tain't fair to keep pesterin' me like this. I + know I ain't said nothin' to her yit, but I'm goin' to. I had a week, + anyhow, and it ain't ha'f over. Land sake!” he burst forth, “d'you s'pose + I ain't been thinkin' 'bout it? I ain't thought of nothin' else, hardly. I + bet you I've been over the whole thing every night sence we had that talk. + I go over it and GO over it. I've thought of more 'n a million ways to ask + her, but there ain't one of 'em that suits me. If I was goin' to be hung + 'twouldn't be no worse, and now you've got to keep a-naggin'. Let me alone + till my time is up, can't you?” + </p> + <p> + “I wa'n't naggin'. I was jest goin' to tell you that you won't have to + ask. I've been talkin' to her myself, and—” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice sprang out of his chair. + </p> + <p> + “Eri Hedge!” he exclaimed indignantly. “I thought you was a friend of + mine! I give you my word I'd do it in a week, and the least you could have + done, seems to me, would have been to wait and give me the chance. But no! + all you think 'bout's yourself. So 'fraid she'd say no and you'd lose your + old housekeeper, wa'n't you? The idea! She must think I'm a good one—can't + do my own courtin', and have to git somebody to do it for me! What did she + say?” he asked suddenly. + </p> + <p> + “She said yes to what I asked her,” was the reply with a half smile. + </p> + <p> + Upon Captain Jerry's face settled the look of one who accepts the + melancholy inevitable. He sat down again. + </p> + <p> + “I s'posed she would,” he said with a sigh. “She's known me for quite a + spell now, and she's had a chance to see what kind of a man I be. Well, + what else did you do? Ain't settled the weddin' day, have you?” This with + marked sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + “Not yit. Jerry, you've made a mistake. I didn't ask her for you.” + </p> + <p> + “Didn't ask her—didn't—What are you talkin' 'bout, then?” + </p> + <p> + “I asked her for myself. She's goin' to marry me.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry was too much astonished even to get up. Instead, he simply + sat still with open mouth while his friend continued. + </p> + <p> + “I've come to think a lot of Mrs. Snow sence she's been here,” Captain Eri + said slowly, “and I've found out that she's felt the same way 'bout me. + I've kept still and said nothin' 'cause I thought you ought to have the + fust chance and, besides, I didn't know how she felt. But to-day, while we + was talkin', it all come out of itself, seems so, and—well, we're + goin' to be married.” + </p> + <p> + The sacrifice—a sacrifice no longer—still sat silent, but + curious changes of expression were passing over his face. Surprise, + amazement, relief, and now a sort of grieved resignation. + </p> + <p> + “I feel small enough 'bout the way I've treated you, Jerry,” continued + Captain Eri. “I didn't mean to—but there! it's done, and all I can + do is say I'm sorry and that I meant to give you your chance. I shan't + blame you if you git mad, not a bit; but I hope you won't.” + </p> + <p> + Captain Jerry sighed. When he spoke it was in a tone of sublime + forgiveness. + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” he said, “I ain't mad. I won't say my feelin's ain't hurt, 'cause—'cause—well, + never mind. If a wife and a home ain't for me, why I ought to be glad that + you're goin' to have 'em. I wish you both luck and a good v'yage. Now, + don't talk to me for a few minutes. Let me git sort of used to it.” + </p> + <p> + So they shook hands and Captain Eri, with a troubled look at his friend, + went out. After he had gone, Captain Jerry got up and danced three steps + of an improvised jig, his face one broad grin. Then, with an effort, he + sobered down, assumed an air of due solemnity, and tramped downstairs. + </p> + <p> + If the announcement of Captain Perez' engagement caused no surprise, that + of Captain Eri's certainly did—surprise and congratulation on the + part of those let into the secret, for it was decided to say nothing to + outsiders as yet. Ralph came over that evening and they told him about it, + and he was as pleased as the rest. As for the Captain, he was only too + willing to shake hands with any and everybody, although he insisted that + the housekeeper had nothing to be congratulated upon, and that she was + “takin' big chances.” The lady herself merely smiled at this, and quietly + said that she was willing to take them. + </p> + <p> + The storm had wrecked every wire and stalled every train, and Orham was + isolated for two days. Then communication was established once more, and + the Boston dailies received the news of the loss of the life-savers and + the crew of the schooner. And they made the most of it; sensational items + were scarce just then, and the editors welcomed this one. The big black + headlines spread halfway across the front pages. There were pictures of + the wreck, “drawn by our artist from description,” and there were + “descriptions” of all kinds. Special reporters arrived in the village and + interviewed everyone they could lay hands on. Abner Mayo felt that for + once he was receiving the attention he deserved. + </p> + <p> + The life-saving station and the house by the shore were besieged by + photographers and newspaper men. Captain Eri indignantly refused to pose + for his photograph, so he was “snapped” as he went out to the barn, and + had the pleasure of seeing a likeness of himself, somewhat out of focus, + and with one leg stiffly elevated, in the Sunday Blanket. The reporters + waylaid him at the post-office, or at his fish shanty, and begged for + interviews. They got them, brief and pointedly personal, and, though these + were not printed, columns describing him as “a bluff, big-hearted hero,” + were. + </p> + <p> + If ever a man was mad and disgusted, that man was the Captain. In the + first place, as he said, what he had done was nothing more than any other + man 'longshore would have done, and, secondly, it was nobody's business. + Then again, he said, and with truth: + </p> + <p> + “This whole fuss makes me sick. Here's them fellers in the crew been goin' + out, season after season, takin' folks off wrecks, and the fool papers + never say nothin' 'bout it; but they go out this time, and don't save + nobody and git drownded themselves, and they're heroes of a sudden. I hear + they're raisin' money up to Boston to give to the widders and orphans. + Well, that's all right, but they'd better keep on and git the Gov'ment to + raise the sal'ries of them that's left in the service.” + </p> + <p> + The climax came when a flashily dressed stranger called, and insisted upon + seeing the Captain alone. The interview lasted just about three minutes. + When Mrs. Snow, alarmed by the commotion, rushed into the room, she found + Captain Eri in the act of throwing after the fleeing stranger the shiny + silk hat that the latter had left behind. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know what that—that swab wanted?” hotly demanded the + indignant Captain. “He wanted me to rig up in ileskins and a sou'wester + and show myself in dime museums. Said he'd buy that dory of Luther's that + I went out in, and show that 'long with me. I told him that dory was + spread up and down the beach from here to Setuckit, but he said that + didn't make no diff'rence, he'd have a dory there and say 'twas the reel + one. Offered me a hundred dollars a week, the skate! I'd give ten dollars + right now to tell him the rest of what I had to say.” + </p> + <p> + After this the Captain went fishing every day, and when at home refused to + see anybody not known personally. But the agitation went on, for the + papers fed the flames, and in Boston they were raising a purse to buy gold + watches and medals for him and for Captain Davis. + </p> + <p> + Shortly after four o'clock one afternoon of the week following that of the + wreck, Captain Eri ventured to walk up to the village, keeping a weather + eye out for reporters and smoking his pipe. He made several stops, one of + them being at the schoolhouse where Josiah, now back at his desk, was + studying overtime to catch up with his class. + </p> + <p> + As the Captain was strolling along, someone touched him from behind, and + he turned to face Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician had been a pretty + regular caller at the house of late, but Captain Eri had seen but little + of him, for reasons unnecessary to state. + </p> + <p> + “Hello, Captain!” said Ralph. “Taking a constitutional? You want to look + out for Warner; I hear he's after you for another rescue 'special.'” + </p> + <p> + “He'll need somebody to rescue him if he comes pesterin' 'round me,” was + the reply. “You ain't seen my dime show friend nowheres, have you? I'd + sort of like to meet HIM again; our other talk broke off kind of sudden.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed, and said he was afraid that the museum manager wouldn't + come to Orham again very soon. + </p> + <p> + “I s'pose likely not,” chuckled Captain Eri. “I ought to have kept his + hat; then, maybe, he'd have come back after it. Oh, say!” he added, “I've + been meanin' to ask you somethin'. Made up your mind 'bout that western + job yit?” + </p> + <p> + Ralph shook his head. “Not yet,” he said slowly. “I shall very soon, + though, I think.” + </p> + <p> + “Kind of puzzlin' you, is it? Not that it's really any of my affairs, you + understand. There's only a few of us good folks left, as the feller said, + and I'd hate to see you leave, that's all.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not anxious to go, myself. My present position gives me a good deal + of leisure time for experimental work—and—well, I'll tell you + in confidence—there's a possibility of my becoming superintendent + one of these days, if I wish to.” + </p> + <p> + “Sho! you don't say! Mr. Langley goin' to quit?” + </p> + <p> + “He is thinking of it. The old gentleman has saved some money, and he has + a sister in the West who is anxious to have him come out there and spend + the remainder of his days with her. If he does, I can have his position, I + guess. In fact, he has been good enough to say so.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, that's pretty fine, ain't it? Langley ain't the man to chuck his + good opinions round like clam shells. You ought to feel proud.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I ought.” + </p> + <p> + They walked on silently for a few steps, the Captain waiting for his + companion to speak, and the latter seeming disinclined to do so. At length + the older man asked another question. + </p> + <p> + “Is t'other job so much better?” + </p> + <p> + “No.” + </p> + <p> + Silence again. Then Ralph said, “The other position, Captain, is very much + like this one in some respects. It will place me in a country town, even + smaller than Orham, where there are few young people, no amusements, and + no society, in the fashionable sense of the word.” + </p> + <p> + “Humph! I thought you didn't care much for them things.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't.” + </p> + <p> + To this enigmatical answer the Captain made no immediate reply. After a + moment, however, he said, slowly and with apparent irrelevance, “Mr. + Hazeltine, I can remember my father tellin' 'bout a feller that lived down + on the South Harniss shore when he was a boy. Queer old chap he was, named + Elihu Bassett; everybody called him Uncle Elihu. In them days all hands + drunk more or less rum, and Uncle Elihu drunk more. He had a way of + stayin' sober for a spell, and then startin' off on a regular jamboree all + by himself. He had an old flat-bottomed boat that he used to sail 'round + in, but she broke her moorin's one time and got smashed up, so he wanted + to buy another. Shadrach Wingate, Seth's granddad 'twas, tried to fix up a + dicker with him for a boat he had. They agreed on the price, and + everything was all right 'cept that Uncle Elihu stuck out that he must try + her 'fore he bought her. + </p> + <p> + “So Shad fin'lly give in, and Uncle Elihu sailed over to Wellmouth in the + boat. He put in his time 'round the tavern there, and when he come down to + the boat ag'in, he had a jugful of Medford in his hand, and pretty nigh as + much of the same stuff under his hatches. He got afloat somehow, h'isted + the sail, lashed the tiller after a fashion, took a nip out of the jug and + tumbled over and went fast asleep. 'Twas a still night or 'twould have + been the finish. As 'twas he run aground on a flat and stuck there till + mornin'. + </p> + <p> + “Next day back he comes with the boat all scraped up, and says he, 'She + won't do, Shad; she don't keep her course.' + </p> + <p> + “'Don't keep her course, you old fool!' bellers Shad. 'And you tight as a + drumhead and sound asleep! Think she can find her way home herself?' he + says. + </p> + <p> + “'Well,' says Uncle Elihu, 'if she can't she ain't the boat for me.'” + </p> + <p> + Ralph laughed. “I see,” he said. “Perhaps Uncle Elihu was wise. Still, if + he wanted the boat very much, he must have hated to put her to the test.” + </p> + <p> + “That's so,” assented the Captain, “but 'twas better to know it then than + to be sorry for it afterwards.” + </p> + <p> + Both seemed to be thinking, and neither spoke again until they came to the + grocery store, where Hazeltine stopped, saying that he must do an errand + for Mr. Langley. They said good-night, and the Captain turned away, but + came quickly back and said: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Hazeltine, if it ain't too much trouble, would you mind steppin' up + to the schoolhouse when you've done your errand? I've left somethin' there + with Josiah, and I'd like to have you git it. Will you?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” was the reply, and it was not until the Captain had gone that + Ralph remembered he did not know what he was to get. + </p> + <p> + When he reached the school he climbed the stairs and opened the door, + expecting to find Josiah alone. Instead, there was no one there but Elsie, + who was sitting at the desk. She sprang up as he entered. Both were + somewhat confused. + </p> + <p> + “Pardon me, Miss Preston,” he said. “Captain Eri sent me here. He said he + left something with Josiah, and wished me to call for it.” + </p> + <p> + “Why, I'm sure I don't know what it can be,” replied Elsie. “Josiah has + been gone for some time, and he said nothing to me about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it is in his desk,” suggested Ralph. “Suppose we look.” + </p> + <p> + So they looked, but found nothing more than the usual assortment contained + in the desk of a healthy schoolboy. The raised lid shut off the light from + the window, and the desk's interior was rather dark. They had to grope in + the corners, and occasionally their hands touched. Every time this + happened Ralph thought of the decision that he must make so soon. + </p> + <p> + He thought of it still more when, after the search was abandoned, Elsie + suggested that he help her with some problems that she was preparing for + the next day's labors of the first class in arithmetic. In fact, as he sat + beside her, pretending to figure, but really watching her dainty profile + as it moved back and forth before his eyes, his own particular problem + received far more attention than did those of the class. Suddenly he + spoke: + </p> + <p> + “Teacher,” he said, “please, may I ask a question?” + </p> + <p> + “You should hold up your hand if you wish permission to speak,” was the + stern reply. + </p> + <p> + “Please consider it held up.” + </p> + <p> + “Is the question as important as 'How many bushels did C. sell?' which + happens to be my particular trouble just now.” + </p> + <p> + “It is to me, certainly.” Ralph was serious enough now. “It is a question + that I have been wrestling with for some time. It is, shall I take the + position that has been offered me in the West, or shall I stay here and + become superintendent of the station? The superintendent's place may be + mine, I think, if I want it.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie laid down her pencil and hesitated for a moment before she spoke. + When she did reply her face was turned away from her companion. + </p> + <p> + “I should think that question might best be decided by comparing the + salaries and prospects of the two positions,” she said quietly. + </p> + <p> + “The two positions are much alike in one way. You know what the life at + the station means the greater portion of the year—no companions of + your own age and condition, no society, no amusements. The Western offer + means all this and worse, for the situation is the same all the year. I + say these things because I hope you may be willing to consider them, not + from my point of view solely, but from yours.” + </p> + <p> + “From mine?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes. You see I am recklessly daring to hope that, whichever lot is + chosen, you may be willing to share it with me—as my wife. Elsie, do + you think you could consider the question from that viewpoint?” + </p> + <p> + And—well—Elsie thought she could. + </p> + <p> + The consideration—we suppose it was the consideration—took so + long that it was nearly dark when Elsie announced that she simply MUST go. + It was Ralph's duty as a gentleman to help her in putting on her coat, and + this took an astonishingly long time. Finally it was done, however, and + they came downstairs. + </p> + <p> + “Dearest,” said Ralph, after the door was locked, “I forgot to have + another hunt for whatever it was that Captain Eri wanted me to get.” + </p> + <p> + Elsie smiled rather oddly. + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you haven't got it?” she asked demurely. + </p> + <p> + “Got it! Why—why, by George, what a numbskull I am! The old rascal! + I thought there was a twinkle in his eye.” + </p> + <p> + “He said he should come back after me.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well! Bless his heart, it's sound and sweet all the way through. + Yes, I HAVE got it, and, what's more, I shall tell him that I mean to keep + it.” + </p> + <p> + The gold watches from the people to the heroes of the Orham wreck having + been duly bought and inscribed and the medals struck, there came up the + question of presentation, and it was decided to perform the ceremony in + the Orham town hall, and to make the occasion notable. The Congressman + from the district agreed to make the necessary speech. The Harniss Cornet + Band was to furnish music. All preparations were made, and it remained + only to secure the consent of the parties most interested, namely, Captain + Eri and Luther Davis. + </p> + <p> + And this was the hardest task of all. Both men at first flatly refused to + be present. The Captain said he might as well go to the dime museum and be + done with it; he was much obliged to the Boston folks, but his own watch + was keeping good time, and he didn't need a new one badly enough to make a + show of himself to get it. Captain Davis said very much the same. + </p> + <p> + But Miss Patience was proud of her brother's rise to fame, and didn't + intend to let him forfeit the crowning glory. She enlisted Captain Perez + as a supporter, and together they finally got Luther's unwilling consent + to sit on the platform and be stared at for one evening. Meanwhile, + Captain Jerry, Elsie, Ralph, and Mrs. Snow were doing their best to win + Captain Eri over. When Luther surrendered, the forces joined, and the + Captain threw up his hands. + </p> + <p> + “All right,” he said. “Only I ought to beg that dime museum feller's + pardon. 'Tain't right to be partial this way.” + </p> + <p> + The hall was jammed to the doors. Captain Eri, seated on the platform at + one end of the half-circle of selectmen, local politicians, and minor + celebrities, looked from the Congressman in the middle to Luther on the + other end, and then out over the crowded settees. He saw Mrs. Snow's + pleasant, wholesome face beaming proudly beside Captain Jerry's red one. + He saw Captain Perez and Miss Patience sitting together close to the + front, and Ralph and Elsie a little further back. The Reverend Mr. Perley + was there; so were the Smalls and Miss Abigail Mullett. Melissa Busteed + was on the very front bench with the boys, of whom Josiah was one. The + “train committee” was there—not a member missing—and at the + rear of the hall, smiling and unctuous as ever, was “Web” Saunders. In + spite of his stage fright the Captain grinned when he saw “Web.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Solomon Bangs, his shirt-bosom crackling with importance, introduced + the Congressman. The latter's address was, so the Item said, “a triumph of + oratorical effort.” It really was a good speech, and when it touched upon + the simple sacrifice of the men who had given up their lives in the course + of what, to them, was everyday work, there were stifled sobs all through + the hall. Luther Davis, during this portion of the address, sat with his + big hand shading his eyes. Later on, when the speaker was sounding the + praises of the man who “alone, forgetful of himself, braved the sea and + the storm to save his friends,” those who looked at Captain Eri saw his + chair hitched back, inch by inch, until, as the final outburst came, + little more than his Sunday shoes was in sight. He had retired, chair and + all, to the wings. + </p> + <p> + But they called him to the platform again and, amid—we quote from + the Item once more—“a hurricane of applause,” the two heroes were + adorned with the watches and the medals. + </p> + <p> + There was a sort of impromptu reception after the ceremony, when Captain + Eri, with Mrs. Snow on his arm, struggled through the crowd toward the + door. + </p> + <p> + “'Twas great, shipmate, and you deserved it!” declared magnanimous Captain + Jerry, wringing his hand. + </p> + <p> + “'Tain't ha'f what you ought to have, Eri,” said Captain Perez. + </p> + <p> + “I haven't said much to thank you for savin' Luther,” whispered Miss + Patience, “but I hope you know that we both appreciate what you done and + never 'll forgit it.” + </p> + <p> + Ralph and Elsie also shook hands with him, and said some pleasant things. + So did many others, Dr. Palmer among the number. Altogether, the journey + through the hall was a sort of triumphal progress. + </p> + <p> + “Whew!” gasped the Captain, as they came out into the clear air and the + moonlight, “let's hope that's the last of the dime-show bus'ness.” + </p> + <p> + “Eri,” whispered Mrs. Snow, “I'm so proud of you, I don't know what to + do.” + </p> + <p> + And that remark was sweeter to the Captain's ears than all those that had + preceded it. + </p> + <p> + They turned into the shore road and were alone. It was a clear winter + night, fresh, white snow on the ground, not a breath of wind, and the full + moon painting land and sea dark blue and silver white. The surf sounded + faint and far off. Somewhere in the distance a dog was barking, and + through the stillness came an occasional laugh or shout from the people + going home from the hall. + </p> + <p> + “Lots of things can happen in a few months, can't they?” said Mrs. Snow, + glancing at the black shadow of the shuttered Baxter homestead. + </p> + <p> + “They can so,” replied the Captain. “Think what's happened sence last + September. I didn't know you then, and now it seems 's if I'd always known + you. John was alive then, and Elsie nor Ralph hadn't come. Perez hadn't + met Pashy neither. My! my! Everybody's choosed partners but Jerry,” he + chuckled, “and Jerry looked the most likely candidate 'long at the + beginnin'. I'm glad,” he added, “that Ralph's made up his mind to stay + here. We shan't lose him nor Elsie for a few years, anyhow.” + </p> + <p> + They paused at the knoll by the gate. + </p> + <p> + “Fair day to-morrer,” observed the Captain, looking up at the sky. + </p> + <p> + “I hope it 'll be fair weather for us the rest of our days,” said Mrs. + Snow. + </p> + <p> + “You've HAD it rough enough, that's sure. Well, I hope you'll have a + smooth v'yage, now.” + </p> + <p> + The lady from Nantucket looked up into his face with a happy laugh. + </p> + <p> + “I guess I shall,” she said. “I know I've got a good pilot.” + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAP'N ERI *** + +***** This file should be named 3240-h.htm or 3240-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/3240/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; 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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A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + +V. THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + +VI. THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + +VII. CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + +VIII. HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + +IX. ELSIE PRESTON + +X. MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + +XI. HEROES AND A MYSTERY + +XII. A LITTLE POLITICS + +XIII. CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + +XIV. THE VOYAGE OF AN "ABLE SEAMAN" + +XV. IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + +XVI. A BUSINESS CALL + +XVII. THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + +XVIII. THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + +XIX. A "NO'THEASTER" BLOWS + +XX. ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + +XXI. "DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS" + + + +CAP'N ERI + + +CHAPTER I + +A LAMB FOR THE SACRIFICE + + +"Perez," observed Captain Eri cheerfully, "I'm tryin' to average up +with the mistakes of Providence." + +The Captain was seated by the open door of the dining room, in the +rocker with the patched cane seat. He was apparently very busy +doing something with a piece of fishline and a pair of long-legged +rubber boots. Captain Perez, swinging back and forth in the parlor +rocker with the patch-work cushion, was puffing deliberately at a +wooden pipe, the bowl of which was carved into the likeness of a +very rakish damsel with a sailor's cap set upon the side of her +once flaxen head. In response to his companion's remark he lazily +turned his sunburned face toward the cane-seated rocker and +inquired: + +"What on airth are you doin' with them boots?" + +Captain Eri tied a knot with his fingers and teeth and then held +the boots out at arm's length. + +"Why, Perez," he said, "I'm averagin' up, same as I told you. +Providence made me a two-legged critter, and a two-legged critter +needs two boots. I've always been able to find one of these boots +right off whenever I wanted it, but it's took me so plaguey long to +find the other one that whatever wet there was dried up afore I got +out of the house. Yesterday when I wanted to go clammin' I found +the left one on the mantelpiece, no trouble at all, but it was +pretty nigh high water before I dug the other one out of the +washb'iler. That's why I'm splicin' 'em together this way. I +don't want to promise nothin' rash, but I'm in hopes that even +Jerry can't lose 'em now." + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Perez. "I don't think much of that plan. +'Stead of losin' one you'll lose both of 'em." + +"Yes, but then I shan't care. If there ain't NO boots in sight; +I'll go barefoot or stay at home. It's the kind of responsibleness +that goes with havin' one boot that's wearin' me out. Where IS +Jerry?" + +"He went out to feed Lorenzo. I heard him callin' a minute ago. +That cat ain't been home sence noon, and Jerry's worried." + +A stentorian shout of "Puss! puss! Come, kitty, kitty, kitty!" +came from somewhere outside. Captain Eri smiled. + +"I'm 'fraid Lorenzo's gittin' dissipated in his old age," he +observed. Then, as a fat gray cat shot past the door, "There he +is! Reg'lar prodigal son. Comes home when the fatted ca'f's +ready." + +A moment later Captain Jerry appeared, milk pitcher in hand. He +entered the dining room and, putting the pitcher down on the table, +pulled forward the armchair with the painted sunset on the back, +produced his own pipe, and proceeded to hunt through one pocket +after the other with a troubled expression of countenance. + +"Where in tunket is my terbacker?" he asked, after finishing the +round of pockets and preparing to begin all over again. + +"I see it on the top of the clock a spell ago," said Captain Perez. + +"Was that yours, Jerry?" exclaimed Captain Eri. "Well, that's too +bad! I see it there and thought 'twas mine. Here 'tis, or what's +left of it." + +Captain Jerry took the remnant of a plug from his friend and said +in an aggrieved tone: + +"That's jest like you, Eri! Never have a place for nothin' and +help yourself to anything you happen to want, don't make no odds +whose 'tis. Why don't you take care of your terbacker, same's I do +of mine?" + +"Now see here, Jerry! I ain't so sure that is yours. Let me see +it. Humph! I thought so! This is 'Navy Plug' and you always +smoke 'Sailor's Sweetheart.' Talk about havin' a place for +things!" + +"That's MY terbacker, if you want to know," observed Captain Perez. +"I've got yours, Eri. Here 'tis." + +"Well, then, where IS mine?" said Captain Jerry somewhat snappishly. + +"Bet a dollar you've got it in your pocket," said Captain Eri. + +"Bet ten dollars I ain't! I ain't quite a fool yit, Eri Hedge. I +guess I know--well, I snum! I forgot that upper vest pocket!" and +from the pocket mentioned Captain Jerry produced the missing +tobacco. + +There was a general laugh, in which Captain Jerry was obliged to +join, and the trio smoked in silence for a time, while the expanse +of water to the eastward darkened, and the outer beach became but a +dusky streak separating the ocean from the inner bay. At length +Captain Perez rose and, knocking the ashes from his pipe, announced +that he was going to "show a glim." + +"Yes, go ahead, Jerry!" said Captain Eri, "it's gittin' dark." + +"It's darker in the grave," observed Captain Perez with lugubrious +philosophy. + +"Then for the land's sake let's have it light while we can! Here, +Jerry! them matches is burnt ones. Try this, 'twon't be so +damagin' to the morals." + +Captain Jerry took the proffered match and lit the two bracket +lamps, fastened to the walls of the dining room. The room, seen by +the lamplight, was shiplike, but as decidedly not shipshape. The +chronometer on the mantel was obscured by a thick layer of dust. +The three gorgeous oil paintings--from the brush of the local sign +painter--respectively representing the coasting packet Hannah M., +Eri Hedge, Master, and the fishing schooners, Georgie Baker, +Jeremiah Burgess, Master, and the Flying Duck, Perez Ryder, Master, +were shrouded in a very realistic fog of the same dust. Even the +imposing gilt-lettered set of "Lives of Great Naval Commanders," +purchased by Captain Perez some months before, and being slowly +paid for on an apparently never-ending installment plan, was +cloaked with it. The heap of newspapers, shoved under the couch to +get them out of the way, peeped forth in a tell-tale manner. The +windows were not too clean and the floor needed sweeping. +Incidentally the supper table had not been cleared. Each one of +the three noted these things and each sighed. Then Captain Eri +said, as if to change the subject, though no one had spoken: + +"What started you talkin' about the grave, Perez? Was it them clam +fritters of Jerry's?" + +"No," answered the ex-skipper of the Flying Duck, pulling at his +grizzled scrap of throat whisker and looking rather shamefaced. +"You see, M'lissy Busteed dropped in a few minutes this mornin' +while you fellers was out and--" + +Both Captain Eri and Captain Jerry set up a hilarious shout. + +"Haw! haw!" roared the former, slapping his knee. "I wouldn't be +so fascinatin' as you be for no money, Perez. She'll have you yit; +you can't git away! But say, I don't wonder you got to thinkin' +'bout the grave. Ten minutes of M'lissy gits me thinkin' of things +way t'other side of that!" + +"Aw, belay there, Eri" protested Captain Perez testily. "'Twan't +my fault. I didn't see her comin' or I'd have got out of sight. +She was cruisin' 'round the way she always does with a cargo of +gabble, and, she put in here to unload. Talk! I never heard a +woman talk the way she can! She'd be a good one to have on board +in a calm. Git her talkin' abaft the mains'l and we'd have a +twenty-knot breeze in a shake." + +"What was it this time?" asked Captain Jerry. + +"Oh, a little of everything. She begun about the 'beautiful' +sermon that Mr. Perley preached at the last 'Come-Outers'' meetin'. +That was what started me thinkin' about the grave, I guess. Then +she pitched into Seth Wingate's wife for havin' a new bunnit this +season when the old one wan't ha'f wore out. She talked for ten +minutes or so on that, and then she begun about Parker's bein' let +go over at the cable station and about the new feller that's been +signed to take his place. She's all for Parker. Says he was a +'perfectly lovely' man and that 'twas outrageous the way he was +treated, and all that sort of thing." + +"She ain't the only one that thinks so," observed Captain Jerry. +"There's a heap of folks in this town that think Parker was a +mighty fine feller." + +"Yes," said Captain Eri, "and it's worth while noticin' who they +be. Perez' friend, M'lissy, thinks so, and 'Squealer' Wixon and +his gang think so, and 'Web' Saunders thinks so, and a lot more +like them. Parker was TOO good a feller, that's what was the +matter with him. His talk always reminded me of washday at the +poorhouse, lots of soft soap with plenty of lye in it." + +"Well, M'lissy says that the men over to the station--all except +Langley, of course--are mad as all git-out because Parker was let +go, and she says somebody told somebody else, and somebody else +told somebody else, and somebody else told HER--she says it come +reel straight--that the men are goin' to make it hot for the new +feller when he comes. She says his name's Hazeltine, or somethin' +like that, and that he's goin' to get here to-morrer or next day." + +"Well," said Captain Eri, "it's a mercy M'lissy found it out. If +that man should git here and she not know it aforehand 'twould kill +her sure as fate, and think what a blow that would be to you, +Perez." + +He took his old-fashioned watch from his pocket and glanced at the +dial. + +"I mustn't be settin' round here much longer," he added. "John +Baxter's goin' to have that little patch of cranberry swamp of his +picked to-morrer, and he's expectin' some barrels down on to- +night's train. John asked me to git Zoeth Cahoon to cart 'em down +for him, but I ain't got nothin' special to do to-night, so I +thought I'd hitch up and go and git 'em myself. You and Jerry can +match cents to see who does the dishes. I did 'em last night, so +it's my watch below." + +"Well, _I_ shan't do 'em," declared Captain Perez. "Blessed if I'd +do the durn things to-night if the President of the United States +asked me to." + +"Humph!" sputtered Captain Jerry. "I s'pose you fellers think I'll +do 'em all the time. If you do you're mistook, that's all. +'Twan't last night you done 'em, Eri; 'twas the night afore. I +done 'em last night, and I'm ready to take my chances agin if we +match, but I'm jiggered if I let you shove the whole thing off onto +me. I didn't ship for cook no more 'n the rest of you." + +Neither of the others saw fit to answer this declaration of +independence and there was a pause in the conversation. Then +Captain Jerry said moodily: + +"It ain't no use. It don't work." + +"What don't work?" asked Captain Eri. + +"Why, this plan of ours. I thought when we fellers give up goin' +to sea reg'lar and settled down here to keep house ourselves and +live economical and all that, that 'twas goin' to be fine. I +thought I wouldn't mind doin' my share of the work a bit, thought +'twould be kind of fun to swab decks and all that. Well, 'twas for +a spell, but 'tain't now. I'm so sick of it that I don't know what +to do. And I'm sick of livin' in a pigpen, too. Look at them +dead-lights! They're so dirty that when I turn out in the mornin' +and go to look through 'em, I can't tell whether it's foul weather +or fair." + +Captain Eri looked at the windows toward which his friend pointed +and signed assent. + +"There's no use talkin'," he observed, "we've got to have a steward +aboard this craft." + +"Yes," said Captain Perez emphatically, "a steward or a woman." + +"A WOMAN!" exclaimed Captain Eri. Then he shook his head solemnly +and added, "There, Jerry! What did I tell you? M'lissy!" + +But Captain Perez did not smile. + +"I ain't foolin'," he said; "I mean it." + +Captain Jerry thought of the spick-and-span days of his wife, dead +these twenty years, and sighed again. "I s'pose we might have a +housekeeper," he said. + +"Housekeeper!" sneered Captain Eri. "Who'd you hire? Perez don't, +seemin'ly, take to M'lissy, and there ain't nobody else in Orham +that you could git, 'less 'twas old A'nt Zuby Higgins, and that +would be actin' like the feller that jumped overboard when his boat +sprung a leak. No, sir! If A'nt Zuby ships aboard here I heave up +MY commission." + +"Who said anything about A'nt Zuby or housekeepers either?" +inquired Captain Perez. "I said we'd got to have a woman, and we +have. One of us 'll have to git married, that's all." + +"MARRIED!" roared the two in chorus. + +"That's what I said, married, and take the others to board in this +house. Look here now! When a shipwrecked crew's starvin' one of +'em has to be sacrificed for the good of the rest, and that's what +we've got to do. One of us has got to git married for the benefit +of the other two." + +Captain Eri shouted hilariously. "Good boy, Perez!" he cried. +"Goin' to be the first offerin'?" + +"Not unless it's my luck, Eri. We'll all three match for it, same +as we do 'bout washin' the dishes." + +"Where are you goin' to find a wife?" asked Captain Jerry. + +"Now that's jest what I'm goin' to show you. I see how things was +goin', and I've been thinkin' this over for a consid'rable spell. +Hold on a minute till I overhaul my kit." + +He went into the front bedroom, and through the open door they +could see him turning over the contents of the chest with P. R. in +brass nails on the lid. He scattered about him fish-lines, hooks, +lead for sinkers, oilcloth jackets, whales' teeth, and various +other articles, and at length came back bearing a much-crumpled +sheet of printed paper. This he spread out upon the dining table, +first pushing aside the dishes to make room, and, after adjusting +his spectacles, said triumphantly: + +"There! There she is! The Nup-ti-al Chime. A Journal of +Matrimony. I see a piece about it in the Herald the other day, and +sent a dime for a sample copy. It's chock-full of advertisements +from women that wants husbands." + +Captain Eri put on his spectacles and hitched his chair up to the +table. After giving the pages of the Nuptial Chime a hurried +inspection, he remarked: + +"There seems to be a strong runnin' to 'vi-va-ci-ous brunettes' and +'blondes with tender and romantic dispositions.' Which of them +kinds are you sufferin' for, Perez? Oh, say! here's a lady that's +willin' to heave herself away on a young and handsome bachelor with +a income of ten thousand a year. Seems to me you ought to answer +that." + +"Oh, hush up, Eri! 'Tain't likely I'd want to write to any of +them in there. The thing for us to do would be to write out a +advertisement of our own; tell what sort of woman we want, and +then set back and wait for answers. Now, what do you say?" + +Captain Eri looked at the advocate of matrimony for a moment +without speaking. Then he said: "Do you really mean it, Perez?" + +"Sartin I do." + +"What do you think of it, Jerry?" + +"Think it's a good idee," said that ancient mariner decisively. +"We've got to do somethin', and this looks like the only sensible +thing." + +"Then Eri's GOT to do it!" asserted Captain Perez dogmatically. +"We agreed to stick together, and two to one's a vote. Come on +now, Eri, we'll match." + +Captain Eri hesitated. + +"Come on, Eri!" ordered Captain Jerry. "Ain't goin' to mutiny, are +you?" + +"All right!" said Captain Eri, "I'll stick to the ship. Only," he +added, with a quizzical glance at his companions, "it's got to be +settled that the feller that's stuck can pick his wife, and don't +have to marry unless he finds one that suits him." + +The others agreed to this stipulation, and Captain Perez, drawing a +long breath, took a coin from his pocket, flipped it in the air and +covered it, as it fell on the table, with a big hairy hand. +Captain Eri did likewise; so did Captain Jerry. Then Captain Eri +lifted his hand and showed the coin beneath; it was a head. +Captain Jerry's was a tail. Under Captain Perez' hand lurked the +hidden fate. The Captain's lips closed in a grim line. With a +desperate glance at the others he jerked his hand away. + +The penny lay head uppermost. Captain Jerry was "stuck." + +Captain Eri rose, glanced at his watch, and, taking his hat from +the shelf where the dishes should have been, opened the door. +Before he went out, however, he turned and said: + +"Perez, you and Jerry can be fixin' up the advertisement while I'm +gone. You can let me see it when I come back. I say, Jerry," he +added to the "sacrifice," who sat gazing at the pennies on the +table in a sort of trance, "don't feel bad about it. Why, when you +come to think of it, it's a providence it turned out that way. Me +and Perez are bachelors, and we'd be jest green hands. But you're +a able seaman, you know what it is to manage a wife." + +"Yes, I do," groaned Captain Jerry lugubriously. "Durn it, that's +jest it!" + +Captain Eri was chuckling as, lantern in hand, he passed around the +corner of the little white house on the way to the barn. He +chuckled all through the harnessing of Daniel, the venerable white +horse. He was still chuckling as, perched on the seat of the +"truck wagon," he rattled and shook out of the yard and turned into +the sandy road that led up to the village. And an outsider, +hearing these chuckles, and knowing what had gone before, might +have inferred that perhaps Captain Eri did not view the "matching" +and the matrimonial project with quite the deadly seriousness of +the other two occupants of the house by the shore. + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRAIN COMES IN + + +There is in Orham a self-appointed committee whose duty it is to +see the train come in. The committeemen receive no salary for +their services; the sole compensation is the pleasure derived from +the sense of duty done. Rain, snow, or shine, the committee is on +hand at the station--the natives, of course, call it the "deepo"-- +to consume borrowed tobacco and to favor Providence with its advice +concerning the running of the universe. Also it discusses local +affairs with fluency and more or less point. + +Mr. "Squealer" Wixon, a lifelong member of this committee, was the +first to sight Captain Eri as the latter strolled across the tracks +into the circle of light from the station lamps. The Captain had +moored Daniel to a picket in the fence over by the freight-house. +He had heard the clock in the belfry of the Methodist church strike +eight as he drove by that edifice, but he heard no whistle from the +direction of the West Orham woods, so he knew that the down train +would arrive at its usual time, that is, from fifteen to twenty +minutes behind the schedule. + +"Hey!" shouted Mr. Wixon with enthusiasm. "Here's Cap'n Eri! +Well, Cap, how's she headin'?" + +"'Bout no'theast by no'th," was the calm reply. "Runnin' fair, but +with lookout for wind ahead." + +"Hain't got a spare chaw nowheres about you, have you, Cap'n?" +anxiously inquired "Bluey" Batcheldor. Mr. Batcheldor is called +"Bluey" for the same reason that Mr. Wixon is called "Squealer," +and that reason has been forgotten for years. + +Captain Eri obligingly produced a black plug of smoking tobacco, +and Mr. Batcheldor bit off two-thirds and returned the balance. +After adjusting the morsel so that it might interfere in the least +degree with his vocal machinery, he drawled: + +"I cal'late you ain't heard the news, Eri. Web Saunders has got +his original-package license. It come on the noon mail." + +The Captain turned sharply toward the speaker. "Is that a fact?" +he asked. "Who told you?" + +"See it myself. So did Squealer and a whole lot more. Web was +showin' it round." + +"We was wonderin'," said Jabez Smalley, a member of the committee +whose standing was somewhat impaired, inasmuch as he went fishing +occasionally and was, therefore, obliged to miss some of the +meetings, "what kind of a fit John Baxter would have now. He's +been pretty nigh distracted ever sence Web started his billiard +room, callin' it a 'ha'nt of sin' and a whole lot more names. +There ain't been a 'Come-Outers' meetin' 'sence I don't know when +that he ain't pitched into that saloon. Now, when he hears that +Web's goin' to sell rum, he'll bust a biler sure." + +The committee received this prophecy with an hilarious shout of +approval and each member began to talk. Captain Eri took advantage +of this simultaneous expression of opinion to walk away. He looked +in at the window of the ticket-office, exchanged greetings with Sam +Hardy, the stationmaster, and then leaned against the corner of the +building furthest removed from Mr. Wixon and his friends, lit his +pipe and puffed thoughtfully with a troubled expression on his +face. + +From the clump of blackness that indicated the beginning of the +West Orham woods came a long-drawn dismal "toot"; then two shorter +ones. The committee sprang to its feet and looked interested. Sam +Hardy came out of the ticket office. The stage-driver, a sharp- +looking boy of about fourteen, with a disagreeable air of cheap +smartness sticking out all over him, left his seat in the shadow of +Mr. Batcheldor's manly form, tossed a cigarette stump away and +loafed over to the vicinity of the "depot wagon," which was backed +up against the platform. Captain Eri knocked the ashes from his +pipe and put that service-stained veteran in his pocket. The train +was really "coming in" at last. + +If this had been an August evening instead of a September one, both +train and platform would have been crowded. But the butterfly +summer maiden had flitted and, as is his wont, the summer man had +flitted after her, so the passengers who alighted from the two +coaches that, with the freight car, made up the Orham Branch train, +were few in number and homely in flavor. There was a very stout +lady with a canvas extension case and an umbrella in one hand and a +bulging shawl-strap and a pasteboard box in the other, who panted +and wheezed like the locomotive itself and who asked the brakeman, +"What on airth DO they have such high steps for?" There was a +slim, not to say gawky, individual with a chin beard and rubber +boots, whom the committee hailed as "Andy" and welcomed to its +bosom. There were two young men, drummers, evidently, who nodded +to Hardy, and seemed very much at home. Also, there was another +young man, smooth-shaven and square-shouldered, who deposited a +suit-case on the platform and looked about him with the air of +being very far from home, indeed. + +The drummers and the stout lady got into the stage. The young man +with the suit-case picked up the latter and walked toward the same +vehicle. He accosted the sharp boy, who had lighted another +cigarette. + +"Can you direct me to the cable station?" he asked. + +"Sure thing!" said the youth, and there was no Cape Cod twist to +his accent. "Git aboard." + +"I didn't intend to ride," said the stranger. + +"What was you goin' to do? Walk?" + +"Yes, if it's not far." + +The boy grinned, and the members of the committee, who had been +staring with all their might, grinned also. The young man's +mention of the cable station seemed to have caused considerable +excitement. + +"Oh, it ain't too FAR!" said the stage-driver. Then he added: +"Say, you're the new electrician, ain't you?" + +The young man hesitated for a moment. Then he said, "Yes," and +suggested, "I asked the way." + +"Two blocks to the right; that's the main road, keep on that for +four blocks, then turn to the left, and if you keep on straight +ahead you'll get to the station." + +"Blocks?" The stranger smiled. "I think you must be from New +York." + +"Do you?" inquired the youthful prodigy, climbing to the wagon +seat. "Don't forget to keep straight ahead after you turn off the +main road. Git dap! So long, fellers!" He leaned over the wheel, +as the stage turned, and bestowed a wink upon the delighted +"Squealer," who was holding one freckled paw over his mouth; then +the "depot wagon" creaked away. + +The square-shouldered young man looked after the equipage with an +odd expression of countenance. Then he shrugged his shoulders, +picked up the suitcase, and walked off the platform into the +darkness. + +Mr. Wixon removed the hand from his mouth and displayed a mammoth +grin, that grew into a shriek of laughter in which every member of +the committee joined. + +"Haw! haw!" bellowed "Bluey," "so that's the feller that done +Parker out of his job! Well, he may be mighty smart, but if that +Joe Bartlett ain't smarter then I'm a skate, that's all! Smartest +boy ever I see! 'If you keep on straight ahead you'll git to the +station!' Gosh! he'll have to wear rubbers!" + +"Maybe he's web-footed," suggested Smalley, and they laughed again. + +A little later Captain Eri, with a dozen new, clean-smelling +cranberry barrels in the wagon behind him, drove slowly down the +"depot road." It was a clear night, but there was no moon, and +Orham was almost at its darkest, which is very dark, indeed. The +"depot road"--please bear in mind that there are no streets in +Orham--was full of ruts, and although Daniel knew his way and did +his best to follow it, the cranberry barrels rattled and shook in +lively fashion. There are few homes near the station, and the +dwellers in them conscientiously refrain from showing lights except +in the ends of the buildings furthest from the front. Strangers +are inclined to wonder at this, but when they become better +acquainted with the town and its people, they come to know that +front gates and parlors are, by the majority of the inhabitants, +restricted in their use to occasions such as a funeral, or, +possibly, a wedding. For the average Orham family to sit in the +parlor on a week evening would be an act bordering pretty closely +on sacrilege. + +It is from the hill by the Methodist church that the visitor to +Orham gets his best view of the village. It is all about him, and +for the most part below him. At night the lights in the houses +show only here and there through the trees, but those on the +beaches and at sea shine out plainly. The brilliant yellow gleam a +mile away is from the Orham lighthouse on the bluff. The smaller +white dot marks the light on Baker's Beach. The tiny red speck in +the distance, that goes and comes again, is the flash-light at +Setuckit Point, and the twinkle on the horizon to the south is the +beacon of the lightship on Sand Hill Shoal. + +It is on his arrival at this point, too, that the stranger first +notices the sound of the surf. Being a newcomer, he notices this +at once; after he has been in the village a few weeks, he ceases to +notice it at all. It is like the ticking of a clock, so incessant +and regular, that one has to listen intently for a moment or two +before his accustomed ear will single it out and make it definite. +One low, steady, continuous roar, a little deeper in tone when the +wind is easterly, the voice of the old dog Ocean gnawing with +foaming mouth at the bone of the Cape and growling as he gnaws. + +It may be that the young man with the square shoulders and the +suit-case had paused at the turn of the road by the church to +listen to this song of the sea; at any rate he was there, and when +Captain Eri steered Daniel and the cranberry barrels around the +corner and into the "main road," he stepped out and hailed. + +"I beg your pardon," he said; "I'm afraid I'm mixed in my +directions. The stage-driver told me the way to the cable station, +but I've forgotten whether he said to turn to the right when I +reached here, or to the left." + +Captain Eri took his lantern from the floor of the wagon and held +it up. He had seen the stranger when the latter left the train, +but he had not heard the dialogue with Josiah Bartlett. + +"How was you cal'latin' to go to the station?" he asked. + +"Why, I intended to walk." + +"Did you tell them fellers at the depot that you wanted to walk?" + +"Certainly." + +"Well, I swan! And they give you the direction?" + +"Yes," a little impatiently; "why shouldn't they? So many blocks +till I got to the main street, or road, and so many more, till I +got somewhere else, and then straight on." + +"Blocks, hey? That's Joe Bartlett. That boy ought to be +mastheaded, and I've told Perez so more'n once. Well, Mister, I +guess maybe you'd better not try to walk to the cable station to- +night. You see, there's one thing they forgot to tell you. The +station's on the outer beach, and there's a ha'f mile of pretty wet +water between here and there." + +The young man whistled. "You don't mean it!" he exclaimed. + +"I sartin do, unless there's been an almighty drought since I left +the house. I tell you what! If you'll jump in here with me, and +don't mind waitin' till I leave these barrels at the house of the +man that owns 'em, I'll drive you down to the shore and maybe find +somebody to row you over. That is," with a chuckle, "if you ain't +dead set on walkin'." + +The stranger laughed heartily. "I'm not so stubborn as all that," +he said. "It's mighty good of you, all the same." + +"Don't say a word," said the Captain. "Give us your satchel. Now +your flipper! There you are! Git dap, Dan'l!" + +Daniel accepted the Captain's command in a tolerant spirit. He +paddled along at a jog-trot for perhaps a hundred yards, and then, +evidently feeling that he had done all that could be expected, +settled back into a walk. The Captain turned towards his companion +on the seat: + +"I don't know as I mentioned it," he observed, "but my name is +Hedge." + +"Glad to meet you, Mr. Hedge," said the stranger. "My name is +Hazeltine." + +"I kind of jedged it might be when you said you wanted to git to +the cable station. We heard you was expected." + +"Did you? From Mr. Langley, I presume." + +"No-o, not d'rectly. Of course, we knew Parker had been let go, +and that somebody would have to take his place. I guess likely it +was one of the operators that told it fust that you was the man, +but anyhow it got as fur as M'lissy Busteed, and after that 'twas +plain sailin'. You come from New York, don't you?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, you know how 'tis when a thing gits into the papers. Orham +ain't big enough to have a paper of its own, so the Almighty give +us M'lissy, I jedge, as a sort of substitute. She can spread a +little news over more country than anybody I know. If she spreads +butter the same way, she could make money keepin' boarders. Is +this your fust visit to the Cape?" + +"Yes. I hardly know why I'm here now. I have been with the Cable +Company at their New York experimental station for some years, and +the other day the General Manager called me into his office and +told me I was expected to take the position of electrician here. I +thought it might add to my experience, so I accepted." + +"Humph! Did he say anything about the general liveliness of things +around the station?" + +Mr. Hazeltine laughed. "Why," he answered, "now that you speak of +it, I remember that he began by asking me if I had any marked +objection to premature burial." + +The Captain chuckled. "The outer beach in winter ain't exactly a +camp-meeting for sociableness," he said. "And the idea of that +Bartlett boy tellin' you how to walk there!" + +"Is he a specimen of your Cape Cod youngsters?" + +"Not exactly. He's a new shipment from New York. Grand-nephew of +a messmate of mine, Cap'n Perez Ryder. Perez, he's a bachelor, but +his sister's daughter married a feller named Bartlett. Maybe you +knew him; he used to run a tugboat in the Sound." + +Mr. Hazeltine, much amused, denied the acquaintance. + +"Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally," continued the Captain. +"Anyhow, Perez's niece's husband died, and the boy sort of run +loose, as yer might say. Went to school when he had to, and raised +Ned when he didn't, near's I can find out. 'Lizabeth, that's his +ma, died last spring, and she made Perez promise--he being the only +relation the youngster had--to fetch the boy down here and sort of +bring him up. Perez knows as much about bringing up a boy as a hen +does about the Ten Commandments, and 'Lizabeth made him promise not +to lick the youngster and a whole lot more foolishness. School +don't commence here till October, so we got him a job with Lem +Mullett at the liv'ry stable. He's boardin' with Lem till school +opens. He ain't a reel bad boy, but he knows too much 'bout some +things and not ha'f enough 'bout others. You've seen fellers like +that, maybe?" + +Hazeltine nodded. "There are a good many of that kind in New York, +I'm afraid," he said. + +Captain Eri smiled. "I shouldn't wonder," he observed. "The boys +down here think Josiah's the whole crew, and the girls ain't fur +behind. There's been more deviltry in this village sence he landed +than there ever was afore. He needs somethin', and needs it bad, +but I ain't decided jest what it is yit. Are you a married man?" + +"No." + +"Same here. Never had the disease. Perez, he's had symptoms every +once in a while, but nothin' lastin'. Jerry's the only one of us +three that's been through the mill. His wife died twenty year ago. +I don't know as I told you, but Jerry and Perez and me are keepin' +house down by the shore. That is, we call it keepin' house, but--" + +Here the Captain broke off and seemed to meditate. + +Ralph Hazeltine forbore to interrupt, and occupied himself by +scrutinizing the buildings that they were passing. They were +nearing the center of the town now, and the houses were closer +together than they had been on the "depot road," but never so close +as to be in the least crowded. Each house had its ample front +yard, and the new arrival could smell the box hedges and see, now +and then, the whiteness of the kalsomined stones that bordered a +driveway. It was too dark for the big seashells at the front steps +to be visible, but they were there, all the same; every third house +of respectability in Orham has them. There was an occasional shop, +too, with signs like "Cape Cod Variety Store," or "The Boston Dry +Goods Emporium," over their doors. On the platform of one a small +crowd was gathered, and from the interior came shouts of laughter +and the sound of a tin-panny piano. + +"That's the billiard saloon," volunteered Captain Eri, suddenly +waking from his trance. "Play pool, Mr. Hazeltine?" + +"Sometimes." + +"What d'ye play it with?" + +"Why, with a cue, generally speaking." + +"That so! Most of the fellers in there play it with their mouths. +Miss a shot and then spend the rest of the evenin' tellin' how it +happened." + +"I don't think I should care to play it that way," said Ralph, +laughing. + +"Well, it has its good p'ints. Kind of all-round exercise; +develops the lungs and strengthens the muscles, as the patent- +medicine almanac says. Parker played it considerable." + +"I judge that your opinion of my predecessor isn't a high one." + +"Who? Oh, Parker! He was all right in his way. Good many folks +in this town swore by him. I understand the fellers over at the +station thought he was about the ticket." + +"Mr. Langley included?" + +"Oh, Mr. Langley, bein' manager, had his own ideas, I s'pose! +Langley don't play pool much; not at Web Saunders' place, anyhow. +We turn in here." + +They rolled up a long driveway, very dark and overgrown with trees, +and drew up at the back door of a good-sized two-story house. +There was a light in the kitchen window. + +"Whoa, Dan'l!" commanded the Captain. Then he began to shout, +"Ship ahoy!" at the top of his lungs. + +The kitchen door opened and a man came out, carrying a lamp, its +light shining full upon his face. It was an old face, a stern +face, with white eyebrows and a thin-lipped mouth. Just such a +face as looked on with approval when the executioner held up the +head of Charles I., at Whitehall. There was, however, a tremble +about the chin that told of infirm health. + +"Hello, John!" said Captain Eri heartily. "John, let me make you +acquainted with Mr. Hazeltine, the new man at the cable station. +Mr. Hazeltine, this is my friend, Cap'n John Baxter." + +The two shook hands, and then Captain Eri said: + +"John, I brought down them barrels for you. Hawkins got 'em here, +same as he always does, by the skin of his teeth. Stand by now, +'cause I've got to deliver Mr. Hazeltine at the station, and it's +gittin' late." + +John Baxter said nothing, beyond thanking his friend for the good +turn, but he "stood by," as directed, and the barrels were quickly +unloaded. As they were about to drive out of the yard, Captain Eri +turned in his seat and said: + +"John, guess I'll be up some time to-morrow. I want to talk with +you about that billiard-room business." + +The lamp in Baxter's hand shook. + +"God A'mighty's got his eye on that place, Eri Hedge," he shouted, +"and on them that's runnin' it!" + +"That's all right," said the Captain. "Then the job's in good +hands, and we ain't got to worry. Good-night." + +But, in spite of this assurance, Hazeltine noticed that his driver +was silent and preoccupied until they reached the end of the road +by the shore, when he brought the willing Daniel to a stand still +and announced that it was time to "change cars." + +It is a fifteen-minute row from the mainland to the outer beach, +and Captain Eri made it on schedule time. Hazeltine protested that +he was used to a boat, and could go alone and return the dory in +the morning, but the Captain wouldn't hear of it. The dory slid up +on the sand and the passenger climbed out. The sound of the surf +on the ocean side of the beach was no longer a steady roar, it was +broken into splashing plunges and hisses with, running through it, +a series of blows like those of a muffled hammer. The wind was wet +and smelt salty. + +"There's the station," said the Captain, pointing to a row of +lighted windows a quarter of a mile away. "It IS straight ahead +this time, and the walkin's better'n it has been for the last few +minutes. Good-night!" + +The electrician put his hand in his pocket, hesitated, and then +withdrew it, empty. + +"I'm very much obliged to you for all this," he said. "I'm glad to +have made your acquaintance, and I hope we shall see each other +often." + +"Same here!" said the Captain heartily. "We're likely to git +together once in a while, seein' as we're next-door neighbors, +right across the road, as you might say. That's my berth over +yonder, where you see them lights. It's jest 'round the corner +from the road we drove down last. Good-night! Good luck to you!" + +And he settled himself for the row home. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE "COME-OUTERS'" MEETING + + +The house where the three Captains lived was as near salt water as +it could be and remain out of reach of the highest tides. When +Captain Eri, after beaching and anchoring his dory and stabling +Daniel for the night, entered the dining room he found his two +messmates deep in consultation, and with evidences of strenuous +mental struggle written upon their faces. Captain Perez's right +hand was smeared with ink and there were several spatters of the +same fluid on Captain Jerry's perspiring nose. Crumpled sheets +of note paper were on the table and floor, and Lorenzo, who was +purring restfully upon the discarded jackets of the two mariners, +alone seemed to be enjoying himself. + +"Well, you fellers look as if you'd had a rough v'yage," commented +Captain Eri, slipping out of his own jacket and pulling his chair +up beside those of his friends. "What's the trouble?" + +"Gosh, Eri, I'm glad to see you!" exclaimed Captain Perez, drawing +the hand, just referred to, across his forehead and thereby putting +that portion of his countenance into mourning. "How do you spell +conscientious?" + +"I don't, unless it's owner's orders," was the answer. "What do +you want to spell it for?" + +"We've writ much as four hundred advertisements, I do believe!" +said Captain Jerry, "and there ain't one of them fit to feed to a +pig. Perez here, he's got such hifalutin' notions, that nothin' +less than a circus bill 'll do him. _I_ don't see why somethin' +plain and sensible like 'Woman wanted to do dishes and clean house +for three men,' wouldn't be all right; but no, it's got to have +more fancy trimmin's than a Sunday bunnit. Foolishness, I call +it." + +"You'd have a whole lot of women answerin' that advertisement, now +wouldn't you?" snorted Captain Perez hotly. "'To do dishes for +three men!' That's a healthy bait to catch a wife with, ain't it? +I can see 'em comin'. I cal'late you'd stay single till Jedgment, +and then you wouldn't git one. No, sir! The thing to do is to be +sort of soft-soapy and high-toned. Let 'em think they're goin' to +git a bargain when they git you. Make believe it's goin' to be a +privilege to git sech a husband." + +"Well, 'tis," declared the sacrifice indignantly. "They might git +a dum-sight worse one." + +"I cal'late that's so, Jerry," said Captain Eri. "Still, Perez +ain't altogether wrong. Guess you'd better keep the dishwashin' +out of it. I know dishwashin' would never git ME; I've got so I +hate the sight of soap and hot water as bad as if I was a Portugee. +Pass me that pen." + +Captain Perez gladly relinquished the writing materials, and +Captain Eri, after two or three trials, by which he added to the +paper decorations of the floor, produced the following: + +"Wife Wanted--By an ex-seafaring man of steady habbits. Must be +willing to Work and Keep House shipshape and aboveboard. No sea- +lawyers need apply. Address--Skipper, care the Nuptial Chime, +Boston, Mass." + +The line relating to sea-lawyers was insisted upon by Captain +Jerry. "That'll shut out the tonguey kind," he explained. The +advertisement, with this addition, being duly approved, the +required fifty cents was inclosed, as was a letter to the editor of +the matrimonial journal requesting all answers to be forwarded to +Captain Jeremiah Burgess, Orham, Mass. Then the envelope was +directed and the stamp affixed. + +"There," said Captain Eri, "that's done. All you've got to do now, +Jerry, is to pick out your wife and let us know what you want for a +weddin' present. You're a lucky man." + +"Aw, let's talk about somethin' else," said the lucky one rather +gloomily. "What's the news up at the depot, Eri?" + +They received the tidings of the coming of Hazeltine with the +interest due to such an event. Captain Eri gave them a detailed +account of his meeting with the new electrician, omitting, however, +in consideration for the feelings of Captain Perez, to mention the +fact that it was the Bartlett boy who started that gentleman upon +his walk to the cable station. + +"Well, what did you think of him?" asked Captain Perez, when the +recital was finished. + +"Seemed to me like a pretty good feller," answered Captain Eri +deliberately. "He didn't git mad at the joke the gang played on +him, for one thing. He ain't so smooth-tongued as Parker used to +be and he didn't treat Baxter and me as if Cape Codders was a kind +of animals, the way some of the summer folks do. He had the sense +not to offer to pay me for takin' him over to the station, and I +liked that. Take it altogether, he seemed like a pretty decent +chap--for a New Yorker," he added, as an after thought. + +"But say," he said a moment later, "I've got some more news and it +ain't good news, either. Web Saunders has got his liquor license." + +"I want to know!" exclaimed Captain Perez. + +"You don't tell me!" said Captain Jerry. + +Then they both said, "What will John Baxter do now?" And Captain +Eri shook his head dubiously. + +The cod bit well next morning and Captain Eri did not get in from +the Windward Ledge until afternoon. By the way, it may be well to +explain that Captain Jerry's remarks concerning "settlin' down" and +"restin'," which we chronicled in the first chapter must not be +accepted too literally. While it is true that each of the trio had +given up long voyages, it is equally true that none had given up +work entirely. Some people might not consider it restful to rise +at four every weekday morning and sail in a catboat twelve miles +out to sea and haul a wet cod line for hours, not to mention the +sail home and the cleaning and barreling of the catch. Captain Eri +did that. Captain Perez was what he called "stevedore"--that is, +general caretaker during the owner's absence, at Mr. Delancy +Barry's summer estate on the "cliff road." As for Captain Jerry, +he was janitor at the schoolhouse. + +The catch was heavy the next morning, as has been said, and by the +time the last fish was split and iced and the last barrel sent to +the railway station it was almost supper time. Captain Eri had +intended calling on Baxter early in the day, but now he determined +to wait until after supper. + +The Captain had bad luck in the "matching" that followed the meal, +and it was nearly eight o'clock before he finished washing dishes. +This distasteful task being completed, he set out for the Baxter +homestead. + +The Captain's views on the liquor question were broader than those +of many Orham citizens. He was an abstainer, generally speaking, +but his scruples were not as pronounced as those of Miss Abigail +Mullett, whose proudest boast was that she had refused brandy when +the doctor prescribed it as the stimulant needed to save her life. +Over and over again has Miss Abigail told it in prayer-meeting; how +she "riz up" in her bed, "expectin' every breath to be the last" +and said, "Dr. Palmer, if it's got to be liquor or death, then +death referred to!"--meaning, it is fair to presume, that death was +preferred rather than the brandy. With much more concerning her +miraculous recovery through the aid of a "terbacker and onion +poultice." + +On general principles the Captain objected to the granting of a +license to a fellow like "Web" Saunders, but it was the effect that +this action of the State authorities might have upon his friend +John Baxter that troubled him most. + +For forty-five years John Baxter was called by Cape Cod people "as +smart a skipper as ever trod a plank." He saved money, built an +attractive home for his wife and daughter, and would, in the +ordinary course of events, have retired to enjoy a comfortable old +age. But his wife died shortly after the daughter's marriage to a +Boston man, and on a voyage to Manila, Baxter himself suffered from +a sunstroke and a subsequent fever, that left him a physical wreck +and for a time threatened to unsettle his reason. He recovered a +portion of his health and the threatened insanity disappeared, +except for a religious fanaticism that caused him to accept the +Bible literally and to interpret it accordingly. When his daughter +and her husband were drowned in the terrible City of Belfast +disaster, it is an Orham tradition that John Baxter, dressed in +gunny-bags and sitting on an ash-heap, was found by his friends +mourning in what he believed to be the Biblical "sackcloth and +ashes." His little baby granddaughter had been looked out for by +some kind friends in Boston. Only Captain Eri knew that John +Baxter's yearly trip to Boston was made for the purpose of visiting +the girl who was his sole reminder of the things that might have +been, but even the Captain did not know that the money that paid +her board and, as she grew older, for her gowns and schooling, came +from the bigoted, stern old hermit, living alone in the old house +at Orham. + +In Orham, and in other sections of the Cape as well, there is +a sect called by the ungodly, "The Come-Outers." They were +originally seceders from the Methodist churches who disapproved of +modern innovations. They "come out" once a week to meet at the +houses of the members, and theirs are lively meetings. John Baxter +was a "Come-Outer," and ever since the enterprising Mr. Saunders +opened his billiard room, the old man's tirades of righteous wrath +had been directed against this den of iniquity. Since it became +known that "Web" had made application for the license, it was a +regular amusement for the unregenerate to attend the gatherings of +the "Come-Outers" and hear John Baxter call down fire from Heaven +upon the billiard room, its proprietor, and its patrons. Orham +people had begun to say that John Baxter was "billiard-saloon +crazy." + +And John Baxter was Captain Eri's friend, a friendship that had +begun in school when the declaimer of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or +Death" speech on Examination Day took a fancy to and refused to +laugh at the little chap who tremblingly ventured to assert that he +loved "little Pussy, her coat is so warm." The two had changed +places until now it was Captain Eri who protected and advised. + +When the Captain rapped at John Baxter's kitchen door no one +answered, and, after yelling "Ship ahoy!" through the keyhole a +number of times, he was forced to the conclusion that his friend +was not at home. + +"You lookin' fer Cap'n Baxter?" queried Mrs. Sarah Taylor, who +lived just across the road. "He's gone to Come-Outers' meetin', I +guess. There's one up to Barzilla Small's to-night." + +Mr. Barzilla Small lived in that part of the village called "down +to the neck," and when the Captain arrived there, he found the +parlor filled with the devout, who were somewhat surprised to see +him. + +"Why, how do you do?" said Mrs. Small, resplendent in black +"alpaca" and wearing her jet earrings. "I snum if you ain't a +stranger! We'll have a reel movin' meetin' to-night because Mr. +Perley's here, and he says he feels the sperrit a-workin'. Set +right down there by the what-not. Luther," to her oldest but +three, "give Cap'n Hedge your chair. You can set on the cricket. +Yes, you can! Don't answer back!" + +"Aw, ma!" burst out the indignant Luther, "how d'yer think I'm +goin' to set on that cricket? My laigs 'll be way up under my +chin. Make Hart set on it; he's shorter'n me." + +"Shan't nuther, Lute Small!" declared Hartwell, a freckle-faced +youngster, who was the next step downward in the family stair of +children. "Set on it yourself. Make him, ma, now! You said he'd +have to." + +"Now, ma, I--" + +"Be still, both of you! I sh'd think you'd be ashamed, with +everybody here so! Oh, my soul and body!" turning to the company, +"if it ain't enough to try a saint! Sometimes seems's if I SHOULD +give up. You be thankful, Abigail," to Miss Mullett, who sat by +the door, "that you ain't got nine in a family and nobody to help +teach 'em manners. If Barzilla was like most men, he'd have some +dis-CIP-line in the house; but no, I have to do it all, and--" + +Mr. Small, thus publicly rebuked, rose from his seat in the corner +by the melodeon and proclaimed in a voice that he tried hard not to +make apologetic: + +"Now, Luther, if I was you I'd be a good boy and mind ma." + +Even this awe-inspiring command had little effect upon the +reluctant Luther, but Captain Eri, who, smiling and bowing right +and left, had been working his passage to the other side of the +room, announced that he was all right and would "squeeze in on the +sofy 'side of Cap'n Baxter." So there was peace once more, that +is, as much peace as half a dozen feminine tongues, all busy with +different subjects, would allow. + +"Why, Eri" whispered John Baxter, "I didn't expect to see you here. +I'm glad, though; Lord knows every God-fearin' man in this town has +need to be on his knees this night. Have you heard about it?" + +"Cap'n John means about the rum-sellin' license that Web Saunders +has got," volunteered Miss Melissa Busteed, leaning over from her +seat in the patent rocker that had been the premium earned by Mrs. +Small for selling one hundred and fifty pounds of tea for a much- +advertised house. "Ain't it awful? I says to Prissy Baker this +mornin', soon 's I heard of it, 'Prissy,' s' I, 'there 'll be a +jedgment on this town sure's you're a livin' woman,' s' I. Says +she, 'That's so, M'lissy,' s' she, and I says--" + +Well, when Miss Busteed talks, interruptions are futile, so Captain +Eri sat silent, as the comments of at least one-tenth of the +population of Orham were poured into his ears. The recitation was +cut short by Mrs. Small's vigorous pounding on the center table. + +"We're blessed this evenin'," said the hostess with emotion, "in +havin' Mr. Perley with us. He's goin' to lead the meetin'." + +The Reverend Mr. Perley--Reverend by courtesy; he had never been +ordained--stood up, cleared his throat with vigor, rose an inch or +two on the toes of a very squeaky pair of boots, sank to heel level +again and announced that everyone would join in singing, "Hymn +number one hundred and ten, omitting the second and fourth stanzas: +hymn number one hundred and ten, second and fourth stanzas +omitted." The melodeon, tormented by Mrs. Lurania Bassett, +shrieked and groaned, and the hymn was sung. So was another, and +yet another. Then Mr. Perley squeaked to his tiptoes again, +subsided, and began a lengthy and fervent discourse. + +Mr. Perley had been a blacksmith in Ostable before he "got +religion," and now spent the major portion of his time in "boardin' +'round" with "Come-Outers" up and down the Cape and taking part in +their meetings. His services at such gatherings paid for his food +and lodging. He had been a vigorous horseshoer in the old days; +now he preached just as vigorously. + +He spoke of the faithful few here gathered together. He spoke +of the scoffing of those outside the pale and hinted at the +uncomfortable future that awaited them. He ran over the various +denominations one by one, and one by one showed them to be +worshipers of idols and followers after strange gods. He sank +hoarsely into the bass and quavered up into falsetto and a chorus +of "Amens!" and "Hallelujahs!" followed him. + +"Oh, brothers and sisters!" he shouted, "here we are a-kneelin' at +the altar's foot and what's goin' on outside? Why, the Devil's got +his clutches in our midst. The horn of the wicked is exalted. +They're sellin' rum--RUM--in this town! They're a-sellin' rum and +drinkin' of it and gloryin' in their shame. But the Lord ain't +asleep! He's got his eye on 'em! He's watchin' 'em! And some of +these fine days he'll send down fire out of Heaven and wipe 'em off +the face of the earth!" ("Amen! Glory! Glory! Glory!") + +John Baxter was on his feet, his lean face working, the perspiration +shining on his forehead, his eyes gleaming like lamps under his +rough white eyebrows, and his clenched fists pounding the back of +the chair in front of him. His hallelujahs were the last to cease. +Captain Eri had to use some little force to pull him down on the +sofa again. + +Then Mrs. Small struck up, "Oh, brother, have you heard?" and they +sang it with enthusiasm. Next, Miss Mullett told her story of the +brandy and the defiance of the doctor. Nobody seemed much +interested except a nervous young man with sandy hair and a +celluloid collar, who had come with Mr. Tobias Wixon and was +evidently a stranger. He had not heard it before and seemed +somewhat puzzled when Miss Abigail repeated the "Death referred to" +passage. + +There was more singing. Mrs. Small "testified." So did Barzilla, +with many hesitations and false starts and an air of relief when it +was over. Then another hymn and more testimony, each speaker +denouncing the billiard saloon. Then John Baxter arose and spoke. + +He began by saying that the people of Orham had been slothful in +the Lord's vineyard. They had allowed weeds to spring up and wax +strong. They had been tried and found wanting. + +"I tell you, brothers and sisters," he declaimed, leaning over the +chair back and shaking a thin forefinger in Mr. Perley's face, "God +has given us a task to do and how have we done it? We've set still +and let the Devil have his way. We've talked and talked, but what +have we done? Nothin'! Nothin' at all; and now the grip of Satan +is tighter on the town than it ever has been afore. The Lord set +us a watch to keep and we've slept on watch. And now there's a +trap set for every young man in this c'munity. Do you think that +that hell-hole down yonder is goin' to shut up because we talk +about it in meetin'? Do you think Web Saunders is goin' to quit +sellin' rum because we say he ought to? Do you think God's goin' +to walk up to that door and nail it up himself? No, sir! He don't +work that way! We've talked and talked, and now it's time to DO. +Ain't there anybody here that feels a call? Ain't there axes to +chop with and fire to burn? I tell you, brothers, we've waited +long enough! I--old as I am--am ready. Lord, here I am! Here I +am--" + +He swayed, broke into a fit of coughing, and sank back upon the +sofa, trembling all over and still muttering that he was ready. +There was a hushed silence for a moment or two, and then a storm of +hallelujahs and shouts. Mr. Perley started another hymn, and it +was sung with tremendous enthusiasm. + +Just behind the nervous young man with the celluloid collar sat a +stout individual with a bald head. This was Abijah Thompson, known +by the irreverent as "Barking" Thompson, a nickname bestowed +because of his peculiar habit of gradually puffing up, like a frog, +under religious excitement, and then bursting forth in an +inarticulate shout, disconcerting to the uninitiated. During +Baxter's speech and the singing of the hymn his expansive red +cheeks had been distended like balloons, and his breath came +shorter and shorter. Mr. Perley had arisen and was holding up his +hand for silence, when with one terrific "Boo!" "Barking" +Thompson's spiritual exaltation exploded directly in the ear of the +nervous stranger. + +The young man shot out of his chair as if Mr. Thompson had fired a +dynamite charge beneath him. "Oh, the Devil!" he shrieked, and +then subsided, blushing to the back of his neck. + +Somehow this interruption took the spirit out of the meeting. +Giggles from Luther and the younger element interfered with the +solemnity of Mr. Perley's closing remarks, and no one else was +brave enough to "testify" under the circumstances. They sang +again, and the meeting broke up. The nervous young man was the +first one to leave. + +Captain Eri got his friend out of the clutches of the "Come-Outers" +as quickly as possible, and piloted him down the road toward his +home. John Baxter was silent and absent-minded, and most of the +Captain's cheerful remarks concerning Orham affairs in general went +unanswered. As they turned in at the gate the elder man said: + +"Eri, do you believe that man's law ought to be allowed to +interfere with God's law?" + +"Well, John, in most cases it's my jedgment that it pays to steer +pretty close to both of 'em." + +"S'pose God called you to break man's law and keep His; what would +you do?" + +"Guess the fust thing would be to make sure 'twas the Almighty that +was callin'. I don't want to say nothin' to hurt your feelin's, +but I should advise the feller that thought that he had that kind +of a call to 'beware of imitations,' as the soap folks advertise." + +"Eri, I've got a call." + +"Now, John Baxter, you listen. You and me have been sailin' +together, as you might say, for forty odd years. I ain't a +religious man 'cordin' to your way of thinkin', but I've generally +found that the Lord runs things most as well as us folks could run +'em. When there's a leak at one end of the schooner it don't pay +to bore a hole at the other end to let the water out. Don't you +worry no more about Web Saunders and that billiard saloon. The +s'lectmen 'll attend to them afore very long. Why don't you go up +to Boston for a couple of weeks? 'Twill do you good." + +"Do you think so, Eri? Well, maybe 'twould--maybe 'twould. +Sometimes I feel as if my head was kind of wearin' out. I'll think +about it." + +"Better not think any more; better go right ahead." + +"Well, I'll see. Good-night." + +"Good-night, John." + + +"Perez," said Captain Eri, next day, "seems to me some kinds of +religion is like whisky, mighty bad for a weak head. I wish +somebody 'd invent a gold cure for Come-Outers." + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A PICTURE SENT AND A CABLE TESTED + + +Something over a fortnight went by and the three captains had +received no answers from the advertisement in the Nuptial Chime. +The suspense affected each of them in a different manner. Captain +Jerry was nervous and apprehensive. He said nothing, and asked no +questions, but it was noticeable that he was the first to greet the +carrier of the "mail box" when that individual came down the road, +and, as the days passed and nothing more important than the Cape +Cod Item and a patent-medicine circular came to hand, a look that a +suspicious person might have deemed expressive of hope began to +appear in his face. + +Captain Perez, on the contrary, grew more and more disgusted with +the delay. He spent a good deal of time wondering why there were +no replies, and he even went so far as to suggest writing to the +editor of the Chime. He was disposed to lay the blame upon Captain +Eri's advertisement, and hinted that the latter was not "catchy" +enough. + +Captain Eri, alone of the trio, got any amusement out of the +situation. He pretended to see in Captain Jerry an impatient +bridegroom and administered comfort in large doses by suggesting +that, in all probability, there had been so many replies that it +had been found necessary to charter a freight-car to bring them +down. + +"Cheer up, Jerry!" he said. "It's tough on you, I know, but think +of all them poor sufferin' females that's settin' up nights and +worryin' for fear they won't be picked out. Why, say, when you +make your ch'ice you'll have to let the rest know right off; +'twould be cruelty to animals not to. You ought to put 'em out of +their misery quick's possible." + +Captain Jerry's laugh was almost dismal. + +The first batch of answers from the Chime came by an evening mail. +Captain Eri happened to beat the post-office that night and brought +them home himself. They filled three of his pockets to overflowing, +and he dumped them by handfuls on the dining table, under the nose +of the pallid Jerry. + +"What did I tell you, Jerry?" he crowed. "I knew they was on the +way. What have you got to say about my advertisement now, Perez?" + +There were twenty-six letters altogether. It was surprising how +many women were willing, even anxious, to ally themselves with "an +ex-seafaring man of steady habbits." But most of the applicants +were of unsatisfactory types. As Captain Perez expressed it, +"There's too many of them everlastin' 'blondes' and things." + +There was one note, however, that even Captain Eri was disposed to +consider seriously. It was postmarked Nantucket, was written on +half a sheet of blue-lined paper, and read as follows: + + +"MR. SKIPPER: + +"Sir: I saw your advertisements in the paper and think perhaps you +might suit me. Please answer these questions by return mail. What +is your religious belief? Do you drink liquor? Are you a profane +man? If you want to, you might send me your real name and a +photograph. If I think you will suit maybe we might sign articles. + +Yours truly, + +"MARTHA B. SNOW. + +"NANTUCKET, MASS." + + +"What I like about that is the shipshape way she puts it," +commented Captain Perez. "She don't say that she 'jest adores the +ocean.'" + +"She's mighty handy about takin' hold and bossin' things; there +ain't no doubt of that," said Captain Eri. "Notice it's us that's +got to suit her, not her us. I kind of like that 'signin' +articles,' too. You bet she's been brought up in a seagoin' +family." + +"I used to know a Jubal Snow that hailed from Nantucket," suggested +Perez; "maybe she's some of his folks." + +'Tain't likely," sniffed Captain Jerry. "There's more Snows in +Nantucket than you can shake a stick at. You can't heave a rock +without hittin' one." + +"I b'lieve she's jest the kind we want," said Captain Perez with +conviction. + +"What do you say, Jerry?" asked Captain Eri. "You're goin' to be +the lucky man, you know." + +"Oh, I don't know. What's the use of hurryin'? More 'n likely the +next lot of letters 'll have somethin' better yit." + +"Now, that's jest like you, Jerry Burgess!" exclaimed Perez +disgustedly. "Want to put off and put off and put off. And the +house gittin' more like the fo'castle on a cattleboat every day." + +"I don't b'lieve myself you'd do much better, Jerry," said Captain +Eri seriously. "I like that letter somehow. Seems to me it's +worth a try." + +"Oh, all right! Have it your own way. Of course, _I_ ain't got +nothin' to say. I'm only the divilish fool that's got to git +married and keep boarders; that's all _I_ am!" + +"Be careful! She asked if you was a profane man." + +"Aw, shut up! You fellers are enough to make a minister swear. +_I_ don't care what you do. Go ahead and write to her if you want +to, only I give you fair warnin', I ain't goin' to have her if she +don't suit. I ain't goin' to marry no scarecrow." + +Between them, and with much diplomacy, they soothed the indignant +candidate for matrimony until he agreed to sign his name to a +letter to the Nantucket lady. Then Captain Perez said: + +"But, I say, Jerry; she wants your picture. Have you got one to +send her?" + +"I've got that daguerreotype I had took when I was married afore." + +He rummaged it out of his chest and displayed it rather proudly. +It showed him as a short, sandy-haired youth, whose sunburned face +beamed from the depths of an enormous choker, and whose head was +crowned with a tall, flat-brimmed silk hat of a forgotten style. + +"I s'pose that might do," said Cap'n Perez hesitatingly. + +"Do! 'Twill HAVE to do, seein' it's all he's got," said Captain +Eri. "Good land!" he chuckled; "look at that hat! Say, Jerry, +she'll think you done your seafarin' in Noah's ark." + +But Captain Jerry was oblivious to sarcasm just then. He was +gazing at the daguerreotype in a sentimental sort of way, blowing +the dust from the glass, and tilting it up and down so as to bring +it to the most effective light. + +"I swan!" he mused, "I don't know when I've looked at that afore. +I remember when I bought that hat, jest as well. Took care of it +and brushed it--my! my! I don't know but it's somewheres around +now. I thought I was jest about the ticket then, and--and I wa'n't +BAD lookin', that's a fact!" + +This last with a burst of enthusiasm. + +"Ho, ho! Perez," roared Captain Eri; "Jerry's fallin' in love with +his own picture. Awful thing for one so young, ain't it?" + +"I ain't such a turrible sight older 'n you be, Eri Hedge," +sputtered the prospective bridegroom with righteous indignation. +Then he added in a rather crestfallen tone, "But I am a heap older +'n I was when I had that daguerreotype took. See here; if I send +that Nantucket woman this picture won't she notice the difference +when she sees me?" + +"What if she does?" broke in Captain Perez. "You can tell her how +'twas. Talk her over. A feller that's been married, like you, +ought to be able to talk ANY woman over." + +Captain Jerry didn't appear sanguine concerning his ability to +"talk her over," but his fellow-conspirators made light of his +feeble objections, and the daguerreotype, carefully wrapped, was +mailed the next morning, accompanied by a brief biographical sketch +of the original and his avowed adherence to the Baptist creed and +the Good Templar's abstinence. + +"I hope she'll hurry up and answer," said the impatient Captain +Perez. "I want to get this thing settled one way or another. +Don't you, Jerry?" + +"Yes," was the hesitating reply. "One way or another." + +Captain Eri had seen John Baxter several times since the evening of +the "Come-Outers'" meeting. The old man was calmer apparently, and +was disposed to take the billiard-saloon matter less seriously, +particularly as it was reported that the town selectmen were to +hold a special meeting to consider the question of allowing Mr. +Saunders to continue in business. The last-named gentleman had +given what he was pleased to call a "blow-out" to his regular +patrons in celebration of the granting of the license, and +"Squealer" Wixon and one or two more spent a dreary day and night +in the town lock-up in consequence. Baxter told the Captain that +he had not yet made up his mind concerning the proposed Boston +trip, but he thought "more 'n likely" he should go. + +Captain Eri was obliged to be content with this assurance, but he +determined to keep a close watch on his friend just the same. + +He had met Ralph Hazeltine once or twice since the latter's arrival +in Orham, and, in response to questions as to how he was getting on +at the station, the new electrician invariably responded, "First- +rate." Gossip, however, in the person of Miss Busteed, reported +that the operators were doing their best to keep Mr. Hazeltine's +lot from being altogether a bed of roses, and there were dark hints +of something more to come. + +On the morning following the receipt of the letter from the +Nantucket lady, Captain Eri was busy at his fish shanty, putting +his lines in order and sewing a patch on the mainsail of his +catboat. These necessary repairs had prevented his taking the +usual trip to the fishing grounds. Looking up from his work, he +saw, through the open door, Ralph Hazeltine just stepping out of +the cable-station skiff. He tucked his sail needle into the canvas +and hailed the young man with a shouted "Good-morning!" + +"How do you do, Cap'n Hedge?" said Hazeltine, walking toward the +shanty. "Good weather, isn't it?" + +"Tip-top. Long 's the wind stays westerly and there ain't no +Sunday-school picnics on, we don't squabble with the weather folks. +The only thing that 'll fetch a squall with a westerly wind is a +Sunday-school picnic. That 'll do it, sure as death. Busy over +across?" + +"Pretty busy just now. The cable parted day before yesterday, and +I've been getting things ready for the repair ship. She was due +this morning, and we're likely to hear from her at any time." + +"You don't say! Cable broke, hey? Now it's a queer thing, but +I've never been inside that station since 'twas built. Too handy, +I guess. I've got a second cousin up in Charlestown, lived there +all his life, and he's never been up in Bunker Hill monument yit. +Fust time I landed in Boston I dug for that monument, and I can +tell you how many steps there is in it to this day. If that cable +station was fifty mile off I'd have been through it two weeks after +it started up, but bein' jest over there, I ain't ever done it. +Queer, ain't it?" + +"Perhaps you'd like to go over with me. I'm going up to the post- +office, and when I come back I should be glad of your company." + +"Well, now, that's kind of you. I cal'late I will. You might sing +out as you go past. I've got a ha'f-hour job on this sail and then +it's my watch below." + +The cable station at Orham is a low whitewashed building with many +windows. The vegetation about it is limited exclusively to "beach +grass" and an occasional wild-plum bush. The nearest building +which may be reached without a boat is the life-saving station, two +miles below. The outer beach changes its shape every winter. The +gales tear great holes in its sides, and then, as if in recompense, +throw up new shoals and build new promontories. From the cable- +station doorway in fair weather may be counted the sails of over +one hundred vessels going and coming between Boston and New York. +They come and go, and, alas! sometimes stop by the way. Then the +life-saving crews are busy and the Boston newspapers report another +wreck. All up and down the outer beach are the sun-whitened bones +of schooners and ships; and all about them, and partially covering +them, is sand, sand, sand, as white and much coarser than +granulated sugar. + +Hazeltine's post-office trip and other errands had taken much more +time than he anticipated, and more than two hours had gone by +before he called for Captain Eri. During the row to the beach the +electrician explained to the Captain the processes by which a break +in the cable is located and repaired. + +"You see," he said, "as soon as the line breaks we set about +finding where it is broken. To do this we use an instrument called +the Wheatstone bridge. In this case the break is about six hundred +miles from the American shore. The next thing is to get at the +company's repair ship. She lies, usually, at Halifax when she +isn't busy, and that is where she was this time. We wired her and +she left for the spot immediately. It was up to me to get ready +the testing apparatus--we generally set up special instruments for +testing. Judging by the distance, the ship should have been over +the break early this morning. She will grapple for the broken +cable ends, and as soon as she catches our end she'll send us a +message. It's simple enough." + +"Like takin' wormwood tea--easy enough if you've been brought up +that way. I think I'd make more money catchin' codfish, myself," +commented the Captain dryly. + +Ralph laughed. "Well, it really is a very simple matter," he said. +"The only thing we have to be sure of is that our end of the line +is ready by the time the ship reaches the break. If the weather is +bad the ship can't work, and so, when she does work, she works +quick. I had my instruments in condition yesterday, so we're all +right this time." + +They landed at the little wharf and plodded through the heavy sand. + +"Dismal-looking place, isn't it?" said Hazeltine, as he opened the +back door of the station. + +"Well, I don't know; it has its good p'ints," replied his +companion. "Your neighbors' hens don't scratch up your garden, for +one thing. What do you do in here?" + +"This is the room where we receive and send. This is the receiver." + +The captain noticed with interest the recorder, with its two brass +supports and the little glass tube, half filled with ink, that, +when the cable was working, wrote the messages upon the paper tape +traveling beneath it. + +"Pretty nigh as finicky as a watch, ain't it?" he observed. + +"Fully as delicate in its way. Do you see this little screw on the +centerpiece? Turn that a little, one way or the other, and the +operator on the other side might send until doomsday, we wouldn't +know it. I'll show you the living rooms and the laboratory now." + +Just then the door at the other end of the room opened, and a man, +whom Captain Eri recognized as one of the operators, came in. He +started when he saw Hazeltine and turned to go out again. Ralph +spoke to him: + +"Peters," he said, "where is Mr. Langley?" + +"Don't know," answered the fellow gruffly. + +"Wait a minute. Tell me where Mr. Langley is." + +"I don't know where he is. He went over to the village a while +ago." + +"Where are the rest of the men?" + +"Don't know." + +The impudence and thinly veiled hostility in the man's tone were +unmistakable. Hazeltine hesitated, seemed about to speak, and then +silently led the way to the hall. + +"I'll show you the laboratory later on," he said. "We'll go up to +the testing room now." Then he added, apparently as much to +himself as to his visitor, "I told those fellows that I wouldn't be +back until noon." + +There was a door at the top of the stairs. Ralph opened this +quietly. As they passed through, Captain Eri noticed that Peters +had followed them into the hall and stood there, looking up. + +The upper hall had a straw matting on the floor. There was another +door at the end of the passage, and this was ajar. Toward it the +electrician walked rapidly. From the room behind the door came a +shout of laughter; then someone said: + +"Better give it another turn, hadn't I, to make sure? If two turns +fixes it so we don't hear for a couple of hours, another one ought +to shut it up for a week. That's arithmetic, ain't it?" + +The laugh that followed this was cut short by Hazeltine's throwing +the door wide open. + +Captain Eri, close at the electrician's heels, saw a long room, +empty save for a few chairs and a table in the center. Upon this +table stood the testing instruments, exactly like those in the +receiving room downstairs. Three men lounged in the chairs, and +standing beside the table, with his fingers upon the regulating +screw at the centerpiece of the recorder, was another, a big +fellow, with a round, smooth-shaven face. + +The men in the chairs sprang to their feet as Hazeltine came in. +The face of the individual by the table turned white and his +fingers fell from the regulating screw, as though the latter were +red hot. The Captain recognized the men; they were day operators +whom he had met in the village many times. Incidentally, they were +avowed friends of the former electrician, Parker. The name of the +taller one was McLoughlin. + +No one spoke. Ralph strode quickly to the table, pushed McLoughlin +to one side and stooped over the instruments. When he straightened +up, Captain Eri noticed that his face also was white, but evidently +not from fear. He turned sharply and looked at the four operators, +who were doing their best to appear at ease and not succeeding. +The electrician looked them over, one by one. Then he gave a short +laugh. + +"You damned sneaks!" he said, and turned again to the testing +apparatus. + +He began slowly to turn the regulating screw on the recorder. He +had given it but a few revolutions when the point of the little +glass siphon, that had been tracing a straight black line on the +sliding tape, moved up and down in curving zigzags. Hazeltine +turned to the operator. + +"Palmer," he said curtly, "answer that call." + +The man addressed seated himself at the table, turned a switch, and +clicked off a message. After a moment the line on the moving tape +zigzagged again. Ralph glanced at the zigzags and bit his lip. + +"Apologize to them," he said to Palmer. "Tell them we regret +exceedingly that the ship should have been kept waiting. Tell them +our recorder was out of adjustment." + +The operator cabled the message. The three men at the end of the +room glanced at each other; this evidently was not what they +expected. + +Steps sounded on the stairs and Peters hurriedly entered. + +"The old man's comin'," he said. + +Mr. Langley, the superintendent of the station, had been in the +company's employ for years. He had been in charge of the Cape Cod +station since it was built, and he liked the job. He knew cable +work, too, from A to Z, and, though he was a strict disciplinarian, +would forgive a man's getting drunk occasionally, sooner than +condone carelessness. He was eccentric, but even those who did not +like him acknowledged that he was "square." + +He came into the room, tossed a cigar stump out of the window, and +nodded to Captain Eri. + +"How are you, Captain Hedge?" he said. Then, stepping to the +table, he picked up the tape. + +"Everything all right, Mr. Hazeltine?" he asked. "Hello! What +does this mean? They say they have been calling for two hours +without getting an answer. How do you explain that?" + +It was very quiet in the room when the electrician answered. + +"The recorder here was out of adjustment, sir," he said simply. + +"Out of adjustment! I thought you told me everything was in +perfect order before you left this morning." + +"I thought so, sir, but I find the screw was too loose. That would +account for the call not reaching us." + +"Too loose! Humph!" The superintendent looked steadfastly at +Hazeltine, then at the operators, and then at the electrician once +more. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," he said at length, "I will hear what explanations +you may have to make in my office later on. I will attend to the +testing myself. That will do." + +Captain Eri silently followed his young friend to the back door of +the station. Hazeltine had seen fit to make no comment on the +scene just described, and the captain did not feel like offering +any. They were standing on the steps when the big operator, +McLoughlin, came out of the building behind them. + +"Well," he said gruffly to the electrician. "Shall I quit now or +wait until Saturday?" + +"What?" + +"Shall I git out now or wait till Saturday night? I suppose you'll +have me fired." + +Then Hazeltine's pent-up rage boiled over. + +"If you mean that I'll tell Mr. Langley of your cowardly trick and +have you discharged--No! I don't pay my debts that way. But I'll +tell you this,--you and your sneaking friends. If you try another +game like that,--yes, or if you so much as speak to me, other than +on business while I'm here, I WILL fire you--out of the window. +Clear out!" + +"Mr. Hazeltine," said Captain Eri a few moments later, "I hope you +don't mind my sayin' that I like you fust-rate. Me and Perez and +Jerry ain't the biggest bugs in town, but we like to have our +friends come and see us. I wish you'd drop in once 'n a while." + +"I certainly will," said the young man, and the two shook hands. +That vigorous handshake was enough of itself to convince Ralph +Hazeltine that he had made, at any rate, one friend in Orham. + +And we may as well add here that he had made two. For that evening +Jack McLoughlin said to his fellow conspirators: + +"He said he'd fire me out of the window,--ME, mind you! And, by +thunder! I believe he'd have DONE it too. Boys, there ain't any +more 'con' games played on that kid while I'm around--Parker or no +Parker. He's white, that's what HE is!" + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE WOMAN FROM NANTUCKET + + +Conversation among the captains was, for the next two days, +confined to two topics, speculation as to how soon they might +expect a reply from the Nantucket female and whether or not Mr. +Langley would discharge Hazeltine. On the latter point Captain Eri +was decided. + +"He won't be bounced," said the Captain; "now you just put that +down in your log. Langley ain't a fool, and he can put two and two +together as well as the next feller. If I thought there was any +need of it, I'd just drop him a hint myself, but there ain't, so I +shan't put my oar in. But I wish you two could have heard that +youngster talk to that McLoughlin critter; 'twould have done you +good. That boy's all right." + +Captain Jerry was alone when the expected letter came. He glanced +at the postmark, saw that it was Nantucket, and stuck the note +behind the clock. He did his best to forget it, but he looked so +guilty when Captain Perez returned at supper time that that +individual suspected something, made his friend confess, and, a +little later when Captain Eri came in, the envelope, bearing many +thumb-prints, was propped up against the sugar bowl in the middle +of the table. + +"We didn't open it, Eri," said Perez proudly. "We did want to, but +we thought all hands ought to be on deck when anything as important +as this was goin' to be done." + +"He's been holdin' it up to the light for the last ha'f hour," +sneered Captain Jerry. "Anybody 'd think it had a million dollars +in it. For the land's sake, open it, Eri, 'fore he has a fit!" + +Captain Eri picked up the letter, looked it over very deliberately, +and then tore off the end of the envelope. The inclosure was +another sheet of note paper like the first epistle. The Captain +took out his spectacles, wiped them, and read the following aloud: + + +"CAPTAIN JEREMIAH BURGESS. + +"Sir: I like your looks well enough, though it don't pay to put too +much dependence in looks, as nobody knows better than me. Besides, +I judge that picture was took quite a spell ago. Anyway, you look +honest, and I am willing to risk money enough to carry me to Orham +and back, though the dear land knows I ain't got none to throw away. +If we don't agree to sign articles, I suppose likely you will be +willing to stand half the fare. That ain't any more than right, the +way I look at it. I shall come to Orham on the afternoon train, +Thursday. Meet me at the depot. + +"Yours truly, + +"MARTHA B. SNOW. + +"P. S.--I should have liked it better if you was a Methodist, but +we can't have everything just as we want it in this world." + + +Nobody spoke for a moment after the reading of this intensely +practical note. Captain Eri whistled softly, scratched his head, +and then read the letter over again to himself. At length Captain +Perez broke the spell. + +"Jerusalem!" he exclaimed. "She don't lose no time, does she?" + +"She's pretty prompt, that's a fact," assented Captain Eri. + +Captain Jerry burst forth in indignation: + +"Is THAT all you've got to say?" he inquired with sarcasm, "after +gittin' me into a scrape like this? Well now, I tell you one +thing, I--" + +"Don't go on your beam ends, Jerry," interrupted Captain Eri. +"There ain't no harm done yit." + +"Ain't no harm done? Why how you talk, Eri Hedge! Here's a woman +that I ain't never seen, and might be a hundred years old, for all +I know, comin' down here to-morrow night to marry me by main force, +as you might say, and you set here and talk about--" + +"Now, hold on, hold on, Jerry! She ain't goin' to marry you unless +you want her to, 'tain't likely. More I think of it, the more I +like the woman's way of doin' things. She's got sense, there's no +doubt of that. You can't sell HER a cat in a bag. She's comin' +down here to see you and talk the thing over, and I glory in her +spunk." + +"Wants me to pay her fare! I see myself doin' it! I've got ways +enough to spend my money without paying fares for Nantucket folks." + +"If you and she sign articles, as she calls it, you'll have to pay +more than fares," said Captain Perez, in a matter-of-fact tone. "I +think same as Eri does; she's a smart woman. We'll have to meet +her at the depot, of course." + +"Well _I_ won't! Cheeky thing! Let her find out where I am! I +cal'late she'll have to do some huntin'." + +"Now, see here, Jerry," said Captain Eri, "you was jest as anxious +to have one of us get married as anybody else. You haven't got to +marry the woman unless you want to, but you have got to help us see +the thing through. I wish myself that we hadn't been quite so +pesky anxious to give her the latitude and longitude, and had took +some sort of an observation ourselves; but we didn't, and now we've +got to treat her decent. You'll be at that depot along with Perez +and me." + +When Captain Eri spoke in that tone his two cronies usually obeyed +orders. Even the rebellious Jerry, who had a profound respect for +his younger friend, gave in after some grumbling. + +They sat up until late, speculating concerning the probable age and +appearance of the expected visitor. Captain Perez announced that +he didn't know why it was, but he had a notion that she was about +forty and slim. Captain Jerry, who was in a frame of mind where +agreement with anyone was out of the question, gave it as his +opinion that she was thirty odd and rather plump. Captain Eri +didn't hazard a guess, but suggested that they wait and see. + +But even Captain Eri's calmness was more or less assumed, for he +did not go fishing the next morning, but stayed about the house, +whittling at the model of a clipper ship and tormenting Captain +Jerry. The model was one that he had been at work upon at odd +times ever since he gave up sea-going. It had never been completed +for the very good reason that when one part was finished the +Captain tore another part to pieces, and began over again. It was +a sort of barometer of his feelings, and when his companions saw +him take down the clipper and go to work, they knew he was either +thinking deeply upon a perplexing problem or was troubled in his +mind. + +Captain Perez sang a good deal, principally confining his musical +efforts to a ballad with a chorus of, + + + "Storm along, John; + John, storm along; + Ain't I glad my day's work's done!" + + +Also, he glanced at his watch every few minutes and then went to +consult the chronometer to make sure of the time. + +Captain Jerry went up to the schoolhouse and gave its vacant rooms +a thorough sweeping for no particular reason except to be doing +something. His appetite was poor, and he actually forgot to feed +Lorenzo, a hitherto unheard-of slight, and one that brought down +upon him a long lecture from Captain Eri, who vowed that loss of +memory was a sure sign of lovesickness. + +They started for the railway station immediately after supper. As +they passed John Baxter's house they noticed a light in an upper +chamber, and wondered if the old man was ill. Captain Eri would +have stopped to find out, but Captain Perez insisted that it could +be done just as well when they came back, and expressed a fear that +they might miss the train. Captain Jerry hadn't spoken since they +left home, and walked gloomily ahead with his hands in his pockets. + +Mr. "Web" Saunders, fat and in his pink-striped shirtsleeves, sat +upon the steps of his saloon as they went by. He wished them an +unctuous good-evening. The oily smoothness of Mr. Saunders' voice +cannot be described with plain pen and ink; it gurgled with +sweetness, like molasses poured from a jug. This was not a special +tone put on for the occasion; no one except his wife ever heard him +speak otherwise. + +The response from the three captains was not enthusiastic, but Mr. +Saunders continued to talk of the weather, the fishing, and the +cranberry crop until a customer came and gave them a chance to get +away. + +"Slick! slick! slick!" commented Captain Eri, as they hurried +along. "Blessed if he don't pretty nigh purr. I like a cat fust- +rate, but I'm always suspicious of a cat-man. You know he's got +claws, but you can't tell where he's goin' to use 'em. When a +feller like that comes slidin' around and rubbin' his head against +my shin, I always feel like keepin' t'other foot ready for a kick. +You're pretty sartin to need it one time or another." + +The train was nearly an hour late this evening, owing to a hot box, +and the "ex-seafaring man" and his two friends peered anxiously out +at it from around the corner of the station. The one coach stopped +directly under the lights, and they could see the passengers as +they came down the steps. Two or three got out, but these were +men. Then came an apparition that caused Captain Jerry to gasp and +clutch at Perez for support. + +Down the steps of the car came a tall, coal-black negress, and in +her hand was a canvas extension case, on the side of which was +blazoned in two-inch letters the fateful name, "M. B. Snow, +Nantucket." + +Captain Eri gazed at this astounding spectacle for a full thirty +seconds. Then he woke up. + +"Godfrey domino!" he ejaculated. "BLACK! BLACK! Run! Run for +your lives, 'fore she sees us!" + +This order was superfluous. Captain Jerry was already half-way to +the fence, and going at a rate which bid fair to establish a record +for his age. The others fell into his wake, and the procession +moved across country like a steeplechase. + +They climbed over stone walls and splashed into meadows. They took +every short cut between the station and their home. As they came +in sight of the latter, Captain Perez' breath gave out almost +entirely. + +"Heave to!" he gasped. "Heave to, or I'll founder. I wouldn't run +another step for all the darkies in the West Indies." + +Captain Eri paused, but it was only after a struggle that Captain +Jerry was persuaded to halt. + +"I shan't do it, Eri!" he vowed wildly. "I shan't do it! There +ain't no use askin' me; I won't marry that black woman! I won't, +by thunder!" + +"There! there! Jerry!" said Captain Eri soothingly. "Nobody wants +you to. There ain't no danger now. She didn't see us." + +"Ain't no danger! There you go again, Eri Hedge! She'll ask where +I live and come right down in the depot wagon. Oh! Lordy! Lordy!" + +The frantic sacrifice was about to bound away again, when Captain +Eri caught him by the arm. + +"I'll tell you what," he said, "we'll scoot for Eldredge's shanty +and hide there till she gits tired and goes away. P'raps she won't +come, anyhow." + +The deserted fish shanty, property of the heirs of the late +Nathaniel Eldredge, was situated in a hollow close to the house. +In a few moments the three were inside, with a sawhorse against the +door. Then Captain Eri pantingly sat down on an overturned bucket +and laughed until the tears came into his eyes. + +"That's it, laff!" almost sobbed Captain Jerry. "Set there and +tee-hee like a Bedlamite. It's what you might expect. Wait till +the rest of the town finds out about this; they'll do the laffin' +then, and you won't feel so funny. We'll never hear the last of it +in this world. If that darky comes down here, I'll--I'll drown +her; I will--" + +"I don't blame Jerry," said Perez indignantly. "I don't see much +to laff at. Oh, my soul and body there she comes now." + +They heard the rattle of a heavy carriage, and, crowding together +at the cobwebbed window, saw the black shape of the "depot wagon" +rock past. They waited, breathless, until they saw it go back +again up the road. + +"Did you lock the dining-room door, Perez?" asked Captain Eri. + +"Course I didn't. Why should I?" + +It was a rather senseless question. Nobody locks doors in Orham +except at bedtime. + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Eri. "She'll see the light in the dining +room, and go inside and wait, more 'n likely. Well, there's +nothin' for us to do but to stay here for a while, and then, if she +ain't gone, one of us 'll have to go up and tell her she won't suit +and pay her fare home, that's all. I think Jerry ought to be the +one," he added mischievously. "He bein' the bridegroom, as you +might say." + +"Me!" almost shouted the frantic Captain Jerry. "You go to grass! +You fellers got me into this scrape, and now let's see you git me +out of it. I don't stir one step." + +They sat there in darkness, the silence unbroken, save for an +occasional chuckle from the provoking Eri. Perez, however, was +meditating, and observed, after a while: + +"Snow! That's a queer name for a darky, ain't it?" + +"That colored man up at Barry's place was named White," said +Captain Jerry, "and he was black as your hat. Names don't count." + +"They say colored folks make good cooks, Jerry," slyly remarked +Eri. "Maybe you'd better think it over." + +The unlucky victim of chance did not deign an answer, and the +minutes crept slowly by. After a long while they heard someone +whistling. Perez went to the window to take an observation. + +"It's a man," he said disappointedly. "He's been to our house, +too. My land! I hope he didn't go in. It's that feller +Hazeltine; that's who 'tis." + +"Is it?" exclaimed Eri eagerly. "That's so! so 'tis. Let's give +him a hail." + +Before he could be stopped he had pulled the saw-horse from the +door, had opened the latter a little way, and, with his face at the +opening, was whistling shrilly. + +The electrician looked up and down the dark road in a puzzled sort +of way, but evidently could not make up his mind from what quarter +the whistles came. + +"Mr. Hazeltine!" hailed the Captain, in what might be called a +whispered yell or a shouted whisper. "Mr. Hazeltine! Here, on +your lee bow. In the shanty." + +The word "shanty" was the only part of the speech that brought +light to Ralph's mind, but that was sufficient; he came down the +hill, left the road, and plunged through the blackberry vines to +the door. + +"Who is it?" he asked. "Why, hello, Captain! What on earth--" + +Captain Eri signaled him to silence, and then, catching his arm, +pulled him into the shanty and shut the door. Captain Jerry +hastened to set the saw-horse in place again. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," said Captain Eri, "let me make you acquainted with +Cap'n Perez and Cap'n Jerry, shipmates of mine. You've heard me +speak of 'em." + +Ralph, in the darkness, shook two big hands and heard whispered +voices express themselves as glad to know him. + +"You see," continued Eri in a somewhat embarrassed fashion, "we're +sort of layin' to, as yer might say, waitin' to git our bearin's. +We ain't out of our heads; I tell you that, 'cause I know that's +what it looks like." + +The bewildered Hazeltine laughed and said he was glad to hear it. +To tell the truth, he had begun to think that something or other +had suddenly driven his nearest neighbors crazy. + +"I--I--I don't know how to explain it to you," the Captain stumbled +on. "Fact is, I guess I won't jest yit, if you don't mind. It +does sound so pesky ridic'lous, although it ain't, when you +understand it. What we want to know is, have you been to our house +and is there anybody there?" + +"Why, yes, I've been there. I rowed over and dropped in for a +minute, as you suggested the other day. The housekeeper--I suppose +it was the housekeeper--that opened the door, said you were out, +and I--" + +He was interrupted by a hopeless groan. + +"I knew it!" wailed Captain Jerry. "I knew it! And you said there +wa'n't no danger, Eri!" + +"Hush up, Jerry, a minute, for the love of goodness! What was she +doin', Mr. Hazeltine, this woman you thought was the housekeeper? +Did she look as if she was gettin' ready to go out? Did she have +her bunnit on?" + +"No. She seemed to be very much at home. That's why I thought--" + +But again Captain Jerry broke in, "Well, by mighty!" he ejaculated. +"That's nice, now, ain't it! SHE goin' away! You bet she ain't! +She's goin' to stay there and wait, if it's forever. She's got too +good a thing. Jest as like 's not, M'lissy Busteed, or some other +gab machine like her, 'll be the next one to call, and if they see +that great black critter! Oh! my soul!" + +"Black!" said Ralph amazedly. "Why, the woman at your house isn't +black. She's as white as I am, and not bad-looking for a woman of +her age." + +"WHAT?" This was the trio in chorus. Then Captain Eri said: + +"Mr. Hazeltine, now, honest and true, is that a fact?" + +"Of course it's a fact." + +The Captain wiped his forehead. "Mr. Hazeltine," he said, "if +anybody had told me a fortn't ago that I was one of the three +biggest fools in Orham, I'd have prob'ly rared up some. As 'tis +now, I cal'late I'd thank him for lettin' me off so easy. You'll +have to excuse us to-night, I'm afraid. We're in a ridic'lous +scrape that we've got to git out of all alone. I'll tell you 'bout +it some day. Jest now wish you'd keep this kind of quiet to oblige +me." + +Hazeltine saw that this was meant as a gentle hint for his +immediate departure, and although he had a fair share of curiosity, +felt there was nothing else to do. He promised secrecy, promised +faithfully to call again later in the week, and then, the sawhorse +having been removed by Captain Perez,--Captain Jerry was apparently +suffering from a sort of dazed paralysis,--he went away. As soon +as he had gone, Captain Eri began to lay down the law. + +"Now then," he said, "there's been some sort of a mistake; that's +plain enough. More 'n likely, the darky took the wrong satchel +when she got up to come out of the car. That woman at the house is +the real Marthy Snow all right, and we've got to go right up there +and see her. Come on!" + +But Captain Jerry mutinied outright. He declared that the sight of +that darky had sickened him of marrying forever, and that he would +not see the candidate from Nantucket, nor any other candidate. No +persuasion could budge him. He simply would not stir from that +shanty until the house had been cleared of female visitors. + +"Go and see her yourself, if you're so set on it," he declared. "I +shan't!" + +"All right," said Captain Eri calmly. "I will. I'll tell her +you're bashful, but jest dyin' to be married, and that she can have +you if she only waits long enough." + +With this he turned on his heel and walked out. + +"Hold on, Eri!" shouted the frantic Jerry. "Don't you do it! +Don't you tell her that! Land of love, Perez, do you s'pose he +will?" + +"I don't know," was the answer in a disgusted tone. "You hadn't +ought to have been so pig-headed, Jerry." + +Captain Eri, with set teeth and determination written on his face, +walked straight to the dining-room door. Drawing a long breath, he +opened it and stepped inside. A woman, who had been sitting in +Captain Perez' rocker, rose as he entered. + +The woman looked at the Captain and the Captain looked at her. She +was of middle age, inclined to stoutness, with a pair of keen eyes +behind brass-rimmed spectacles, and was dressed in a black "alpaca" +gown that was faded a little in places and had been neatly mended +in others. She spoke first. + +"You're not Cap'n Burgess?" she said. + +"No, ma'am," said the Captain uneasily. "My name is Hedge. I'm a +sort of messmate of his. You're Miss Snow?" + +"Mrs. Snow. I'm a widow." + +They shook hands. Mrs. Snow calmly expectant; the Captain very +nervous and not knowing how to begin. + +"I feel as if I knew you, Cap'n Hedge," said the widow, as the +Captain slid into his own rocker. "The boy on the depot wagon told +me a lot about you and Cap'n Ryder and Cap'n Burgess." + +"Did, hey?" The Captain inwardly vowed vengeance on his chum's +grandnephew. "Hope he gave us a clean bill." + +"Well, he didn't say nothin' against you, if that's what you mean. +If he had, I don't think it would have made much diff'rence. I've +lived long enough to want to find out things for myself, and not +take folks' say-so." + +The lady seeming to expect some sort of answer to this statement, +Captain Eri expressed his opinion that the plan of finding out +things for one's self was a good "idee." Then, after another +fidgety silence, he observed that it was a fine evening. There +being no dispute on this point, he endeavored to think of something +else to say. Mrs. Snow, however, saved him the trouble. + +"Cap'n Hedge," she said, "as I'm here on what you might call a +bus'ness errand, and as I've been waitin' pretty nigh two hours +already, p'raps we'd better talk about somethin' besides fine +evenin's. I've got to be lookin' up a hotel or boardin' house or +somewheres to stay to-night, and I can't wait much longer. I jedge +you got my letter and was expectin' me. Now, if it ain't askin' +too much, I'd like to know where Cap'n Burgess is, and why he +wa'n't at the depot to meet me." + +This was a leading question, and the Captain was more embarrassed +than ever. However, he felt that something had to be done and that +it was wisest to get it over with as soon as possible. + +"Well, ma'am," he said, "we--we got your letter all right, and, to +tell you the truth, we was at the depot--Perez and me and Jerry." + +"You WAS! Well, then, for the land of goodness, why didn't you let +me know it? Such a time as I had tryin' to find out where you +lived and all!" + +The Captain saw but one plausible explanation, and that was the +plain truth. Slowly he told the story of the colored woman and the +extension case. The widow laughed until her spectacles fell off. + +"Well, there!" she exclaimed. "If that don't beat all! I don't +blame Cap'n Burgess a mite. Poor thing! I guess I'd have run, +too, if I'd have seen that darky. She was settin' right in the +next seat to me, and she had a shut-over bag consid'rable like +mine, and when she got up to git out, she took mine by mistake. I +was a good deal put out about it, and I expect I talked to her like +a Dutch uncle when I caught up with her. Dear! dear! Where is +Cap'n Burgess?" + +"He's shut up in a fish shanty down the road, and he's so upsot +that I dunno's he'll stir from there tonight. Jerry ain't +prejudiced, but that darky was too much for him." + +And then they both laughed, the widow because of the ludicrous +nature of the affair and the Captain because of the relief that the +lady's acceptance of it afforded his mind. + +Mrs. Snow was the first to become grave. "Cap'n Hedge," she said, +"there's one or two things I must say right here. In the first +place, I ain't in the habit of answerin' advertisements from folks +that wants to git married; I ain't so hard up for a man as all that +comes to. Next thing, I didn't come down here with my mind made up +to marry Cap'n Burgess, not by no means. I wanted to see him and +talk with him, and tell him jest all about how things was with me +and find out about him and then--why, if everything was shipshape, +I might, p'raps, think about--" + +"Jest so, ma'am, jest so," broke in her companion. "That's about +the way we felt. You see, there's prob'ly a long story on both +sides, and if you'll excuse me I'll go down to the shanty and see +if I can't git Jerry up here. It'll be a job, I'm 'fraid, but--" + +"No, you shan't either. I'll tell you what we'll do. It's awful +late now and I must be gittin' up to the tavern. S'pose, if +'tain't too much trouble, you walk up there with me and I'll stay +there to-night and to-morrer I'll come down here, and we'll all +have a common-sense talk. P'raps by that time your friend 'll have +the darky woman some off his mind, too." + +Needless to say Captain Eri agreed to this plan with alacrity. The +widow carefully tied on a black, old-fashioned bonnet, picked up a +fat, wooden-handled umbrella and the extension case, and said that +she was ready. + +They walked up the road together, the Captain carrying the +extension case. They talked, but not of matrimonial prospects. +Mrs. Snow knew almost as much about the sea and the goings and +comings thereon as did her escort, and the conversation was salty +in the extreme. It developed that the Nantucket lady had a distant +relative who was in the life-saving service at Cuttyhunk station, +and as the Captain knew every station man for twenty miles up and +down the coast, wrecks and maritime disasters of all kinds were +discussed in detail. + +At the Traveler's Rest Mrs. Snow was introduced by the unblushing +Eri as a cousin from Provincetown, and, after some controversy +concerning the price of board and lodging, she was shown up to her +room. Captain Eri walked home, absorbed in meditation. Whatever +his thoughts were they were not disagreeable, for he smiled and +shook his head more than once, as if with satisfaction. As he +passed John Baxter's house he noticed that the light in the upper +window was still burning. + +Captain Perez was half asleep when Eri opened the door of the +shanty. Captain Jerry, however, was very much awake and demanded +to be told things right away. His friend briefly explained the +situation. + +"I don't care if she stays here till doomsday," emphatically +declared the disgruntled one, "I shan't marry her. What's she +like, anyhow?" + +He was surprised at the enthusiasm of Captain Eri's answer. + +"She's a mighty good woman; that's what I think she is, and she'd +make a fust-class wife for any man. I hope you'll say so, too, +when you see her. There ain't nothin' hity-tity about her, but +she's got more common-sense than any woman I ever saw. But there! +I shan't talk another bit about her to-night. Come on home and +turn in." + +And go home and turn in they did, but not without protestation from +the pair who had yet to meet the woman from Nantucket. + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE SCHOOLHOUSE BELL RINGS + + +"All hands on deck! Turn out there! Turnout!" + +Captain Eri grunted and rolled over in his bed; for a moment or two +he fancied himself back in the fo'castle of the Sea Mist, the bark +in which he had made his first voyage. Then, as he grew wider +awake, he heard, somewhere in the distance, a bell ringing +furiously. + +"Turn out, all hands! Turn out!" + +Captain Eri sat up. That voice was no part of a dream. It +belonged to Captain Jerry, and the tone of it meant business. The +bell continued to ring. + +"Aye, aye, Jerry! What's the matter?" he shouted. + +"Fire! There's a big fire up in the village. Look out of the +window, and you can see. They're ringing the schoolhouse bell; +don't you hear it?" + +The Captain, wide awake enough by this time, jumped out of bed, +carrying the blankets with him, and ran to the window. Opening it, +he thrust out his head. The wind had changed to the eastward, and +a thick fog had come in with it. The house was surrounded by a +wet, black wall, but off to the west a red glow shone through it, +now brighter and now fainter. The schoolhouse bell was turning +somersaults in its excitement. + +Only once, since Captain Jerry had been janitor, had the +schoolhouse bell been rung except in the performance of its regular +duties. That once was on a night before the Fourth of July, when +some mischievous youngsters climbed in at a window and proclaimed +to sleeping Orham that Young America was celebrating the +anniversary of its birth. Since then, on nights before the Fourth, +Captain Jerry had slept in the schoolhouse, armed with a horsewhip +and an ancient navy revolver. The revolver was strictly for show, +and the horsewhip for use, but neither was called into service, for +even if some dare-devil spirits did venture near the building, the +Captain's snores, as he slumbered by the front door, were danger +signals that could not be disregarded. + +But there was no flavor of the Fourth in the bell's note this +night. Whoever the ringer might be, he was ringing as though it +was his only hope for life, and the bell swung back and forth +without a pause. The red glow in the fog brightened again as the +Captain gazed at it. + +Captain Jerry came tumbling up the stairs, breathless and half +dressed. + +"Where do you make it out to be?" he panted. + +"Somewhere's nigh the post-office. Looks 's if it might be Weeks's +store. Where's Perez?" + +Captain Eri had lighted a lamp and was pulling on his boots, as he +spoke. + +"Here I be!" shouted the missing member of the trio from the dining +room below. "I'm all ready. Hurry up, Eri!" + +Captain Eri jumped into his trousers, slipped into a faded pea- +jacket and clattered downstairs, followed by the wildly excited +Jerry. + +"Good land, Perez!" he cried, as he came into the dining room, "I +thought you said you was all ready!" + +Captain Perez paused in the vain attempt to make Captain Jerry's +hat cover his own cranium and replied indignantly, "Well, I am, +ain't I?" + +"Seems to me I'd put somethin' on my feet besides them socks, if I +was you. You might catch cold." + +Perez glanced down at his blue-yarn extremities in blank +astonishment. "Well, now," he exclaimed, "if I hain't forgot my +boots!" + +"Well, git 'em on, and be quick. There's your hat. Give Jerry +his." + +The excited Perez vanished through the door of his chamber, and +Captain Eri glanced at the chronometer; the time was a quarter +after two. + +They hurried out of the door and through the yard. The wind, as +has been said, was from the east, but there was little of it and, +except for the clanging of the bell, the night was very still. The +fog was heavy and wet, and the trees and bushes dripped as if from +a shower. There was the salt smell of the marshes in the air, and +the hissing and splashing of the surf on the outer beach were +plainly to be heard. Also there was the clicking sound of oars in +row-locks. + +"Somebody is comin' over from the station," gasped Captain Jerry. +"Don't run so, Eri. It's too dark. I've pretty nigh broke my neck +already." + +They passed the lily pond, where the frogs had long since adjourned +their concert and gone to bed, dodged through the yard of the +tightly shuttered summer hotel, and came out at the corner of the +road, having saved some distance by the "short-cut." + +"That ain't Weeks's store," declared Captain Perez, who was in the +lead. "It's Web Saunders's place; that's what it is." + +Captain Eri paused and looked over to the left in the direction of +the Baxter homestead. The light in the window was still burning. + +They turned into the "main road" at a dog trot and became part of a +crowd of oddly dressed people, all running in the same direction. + +"Web's place, ain't it?" asked Eri of Seth Wingate, who was +lumbering along with a wooden bucket in one hand and the pitcher of +his wife's best washstand set in the other. + +"Yes," breathlessly answered Mr. Wingate, "and it's a goner, they +tell me. Every man's got to do his part if they're going to save +it. I allers said we ought to have a fire department in this +town." + +Considering that Seth had, for the past eight years, persistently +opposed in town-meeting any attempt to purchase a hand engine, this +was a rather surprising speech, but no one paid any attention to it +then. + +The fire was in the billiard saloon sure enough, and the back +portion of the building was in a blaze when they reached it. +Ladders were placed against the eaves, and a line of men with +buckets were pouring water on the roof. The line extended to the +town pump, where two energetic youths in their shirtsleeves were +working the handle with might and main. The houses near at hand +were brilliantly illuminated, and men and women were bringing water +from them in buckets, tin pails, washboilers, and even coalscuttles. + +Inside the saloon another hustling crowd was busily working to +"save" Mr. Saunders' property. A dozen of the members had turned +the biggest pool table over on its back and were unscrewing the +legs, heedless of the fact that to attempt to get the table through +the front door was an impossibility and that, as the back door was +in the thickest of the fire, it, too, was out of the question. A +man appeared at the open front window of the second story with his +arms filled with bottles of various liquids, "original packages" +and others. These, with feverish energy, he threw one by one into +the street, endangering the lives of everyone in range and, of +course, breaking every bottle thrown. Some one of the cooler heads +calling his attention to these facts, he retired and carefully +packed all the empty bottles, the only ones remaining, into a peach +basket and tugged the latter downstairs and to a safe place on a +neighboring piazza. Then he rested from his labors as one who had +done all that might reasonably be expected. + +Mr. Saunders himself, lightly attired in a nightshirt tucked into a +pair of trousers, was rushing here and there, now loudly demanding +more water, and then stopping to swear at the bottle-thrower or +some other enthusiast. "Web's" smoothness was all gone, and the +language he used was, as Abigail Mullett said afterward, "enough to +bring down a jedgment on anybody." + +Captain Eri caught him by the sleeve as he was running past and +inquired, "How'd it start, Web?" + +"How'd it START? I know mighty well HOW it started, and 'fore I +git through I'll know WHO started it. Somebody 'll pay for this, +now you hear me! Hurry up with the water, you--" + +He tore frantically away to the pump and the three captains joined +the crowd of volunteer firemen. Captain Eri, running round to the +back of the building, took in the situation at once. Back of the +main portion of the saloon was an ell, and it was in this ell that +the fire had started. The ell, itself, was in a bright blaze, but +the larger building in front was only just beginning to burn. The +Captain climbed one of the ladders to the roof and called to the +men at work there. + +"That shed's gone, Ben," he said. "Chuck your water on the main +part here. Maybe, if we had some ropes we might be able to pull +the shed clear, and then we could save the rest." + +"How'd you fasten the ropes?" was the panted reply. "She's all +ablaze, and a rope would burn through in a minute if you tied it +anywheres." + +"Git some grapples and anchors out of Rogers' shop. He's got a +whole lot of 'em. Keep on with the water bus'ness. I'll git the +other stuff." + +He descended the ladder and explained his idea to the crowd below. +There was a great shout and twenty men and boys started on a run +after ropes, while as many more stormed at the door of Nathaniel +Rogers' blacksmith shop. Rogers was the local dealer in anchors +and other marine ironwork. The door of the shop was locked and +there was a yell for axes to burst it open. + +Then arose an agonized shriek of "Don't chop! don't chop!" and Mr. +Rogers himself came struggling to the defense of his property. In +concert the instant need was explained to him, but he remained +unconvinced. + +"We can't stay here arguin' all night!" roared one of the leaders. +"He's got to let us in. Go ahead and chop! I'll hold him." + +"I give you fair warnin', Squealer Wixon! If you chop that door, +I'll have the law onto you. I just had that door painted, and-- +STOP! I've got the key in my pocket!" + +It was plain that the majority were still in favor of chopping, as +affording a better outlet for surplus energy, but they waited while +Mr. Rogers, still protesting, produced the key and unlocked the +door. In another minute the greater portion of the ironwork in the +establishment was on its way to the fire. + +The rope-seekers were just returning, laden with everything from +clothes-lines to cables. Half a dozen boat anchors and a grapnel +were fastened to as many ropes, and the crowd pranced gayly about +the burning ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain +Eri found a party with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the +side of the saloon in order to get out the pool table. After some +endeavor he persuaded them to desist and they came around to the +rear and, taking turns, ran in close to the shed and chopped at it +until the fire drove them away. At last they made a hole close to +where it joined the main building, large enough to attach the +grapnel. Then, with a "Yo heave ho!" everyone took hold of the +rope and pulled. Of course the grapnel pulled out with only a +board or two, but they tried again, and, this time getting it +around a beam, pulled a large portion of the shed to the ground. + +Meanwhile, another ax party had attached an anchor to the opposite +side, and were making good progress. In due time the shed yawned +away from the saloon, tottered, and collapsed in a shower of +sparks. A deluge of water soon extinguished these. Then everyone +turned to the main building, and, as the fire had not yet taken a +firm hold of this, they soon had it under control. + +Captain Eri worked with the rest until he saw that the worst was +over. Then he began the search that had been in his mind since he +first saw the blaze. He found Captain Jerry and Captain Perez +perspiringly passing buckets of water from hand to hand in the +line, and, calling them to one side, asked anxiously: + +"Have either of you fellers seen John Baxter tonight?" + +Captain Perez looked surprised, and then some of the trouble +discernible in Eri's face was apparent in his own. + +"Why, no," he replied slowly, "I ain't seen him, now you speak of +it. Everybody in town's here, too. Queer, ain't it? + +"Haven't you seen him, either, Jerry?" + +Captain Jerry answered with a shake of the head. "But then," he +said, "Perez and me have been right here by the pump ever sence we +come. He might be 'most anywheres else, and we wouldn't see him. +Want me to ask some of the other fellers?" + +"No!" exclaimed his friend, almost fiercely. "Don't you mention +his name to a soul, nor let 'em know you've thought of him. If +anybody should ask, tell 'em you guess he's right around +somewheres. You two git to work ag'in. I'll let you know if I +want you." + +The pair took up their buckets, and the Captain walked on from +group to group, looking carefully at each person. The Reverend +Perley and some of his flock were standing by themselves on a +neighboring stoop, and to them the searcher turned eagerly. + +"Why, Cap'n Eri!" exclaimed Miss Busteed, the first to identify +him, "how you've worked! You must be tired pretty nigh to death. +Ain't it awful! But it's the Lord's doin's; I'm jest as sure of +that as I can be, and I says so to Mr. Perley. Didn't I, Mr. +Perley? I says--" + +"Lookin' for anybody, Cap'n?" interrupted the reverend gentleman. + +"No," lied the Captain calmly, "jest walkin' around to git cooled +off a little. Good-night." + +There was the most likely place, and John Baxter was not there. +Certainly every citizen in Orham, who was able to crawl, would be +out this night, and if the old puritan hermit of the big house was +not present to exult over the downfall of the wicked, it would be +because he was ill or because-- The Captain didn't like to think +of the other reason. + +Mrs. "Web" Saunders, quietly weeping, was seated on a knoll near +the pump. Three of the Saunders' hopefuls, also weeping, but not +quietly, were seated beside her. Another, the youngest of the +family, was being rocked soothingly in the arms of a stout female, +who was singing to it as placidly as though fires were an every +day, or night, occurrence. The Captain peered down, and the stout +woman looked up. + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" exclaimed Captain Eri. + +The lady from Nantucket made no immediate reply. She rose, +however, shook down the black "alpaca" skirt, which had been folded +up to keep it out of the dew, and, still humming softly to the +child, walked off a little way, motioning with her head for the +Captain to follow. When she had reached a spot sufficiently remote +from Mrs. Saunders, she whispered: + +"How d'ye do, Cap'n Hedge? I guess the wust is over now, isn't it? +I saw you workin' with them ropes; you must be awful tired." + +"How long have you been here?" asked the Captain somewhat +astonished at her calmness. + +"Oh, I come right down as soon as I heard the bell. I'm kind of +used to fires. My husband's schooner got afire twice while I was +with him. He used to run a coal vessel, you know. I got right up +and packed my bag, 'cause I didn't know how the fire might spread. +You never can tell in a town like this. Ssh'h, dearie," to the +baby, "there, there, it's all right. Lay still." + +"How'd you git acquainted with her?" nodding toward the wife of the +proprietor of the scorched saloon. + +"Oh, I see the poor thing settin' there with all them children and +nobody paying much attention to her, so I went over and asked if I +couldn't help out. I haven't got any children of my own, but I was +number three in a fam'ly of fourteen, so I know how it's done. Oh! +that husband of hers! He's a nice one, he is! Would you b'lieve +it, he come along and she spoke to him, and he swore at her +somethin' dreadful. That's why she's cryin'. Poor critter, I +guess by the looks she's used to it. Well, I give HIM a piece of +my mind. He went away with a flea in his ear. I do despise a +profane man above all things. Yes, the baby's all right, Mrs. +Saunders. I'm a-comin'. Good-night, Cap'n Hedge. I s'pose I +shall see you all in the mornin'. You ought to be careful and not +stand still much this damp night. It's bad when you're het up so." + +She went back, still singing to the baby, to where Mrs. Saunders +sat, and the Captain looked after her in a kind of amazed fashion. + +"By mighty!" he muttered, and then repeated it. Then he resumed +his search. + +He remembered that there had been a number of people on the side of +the burning shed opposite that on which he had been employed, and +he determined to have one look there before going to the Baxter +homestead. Almost the first man he saw as he approached the dying +fire was Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician's hands and face were +blackened by soot, and the perspiration sparkled on his forehead. + +"Hello, Captain!" he said, holding out his hand. "Lively for a +while, wasn't it? They tell me you were the man who suggested +pulling down the shed. It saved the day, all right enough." + +"You look as if you'd been workin' some yourself. Was you one of +the fellers that got that anchor in on this side?" + +"He was THE one," broke in Mr. Wingate, who was standing at +Hazeltine's elbow. "He waded in with an ax and stayed there till I +thought he'd burn the hair off his head. Web ought to pay you and +him salvage, Eri. The whole craft would have gone up if it hadn't +been for you two." + +"I wonder if they got that pool table out," laughed Ralph. "They +did everything but saw it into chunks." + +"I never saw Bluey Bacheldor work so afore," commented the Captain. +"I wish somebody'd took a photograph of him. I'll bet you could +sell 'em round town for curiosities. Well, I can't be standin' +here." + +"If you're going home I'll go along with you. I may as well be +getting down toward the station. The excitement is about over." + +"I ain't goin' right home, Mr. Hazeltine. I've got an errand to +do. Prob'ly I'll be goin' pretty soon, though." + +"Oh, all right! I'll wait here a while longer then. See you later +perhaps." + +The fog had lifted somewhat and as the Captain, running silently, +turned into the "shore road," he saw that the light in the Baxter +homestead had not been extinguished. The schoolhouse bell had +ceased to ring, and the shouts of the crowd at the fire sounded +faintly. There were no other sounds. + +Up the driveway Captain Eri hurried. There were no lights in the +lower part of the house and the dining-room door was locked. The +kitchen door, however, was not fastened and the Captain opened it +and entered. Shutting it carefully behind him, he groped along to +the entrance of the next room. + +"John!" he called softly. There was no answer, and the house was +perfectly still save for the ticking of the big clock. Captain Eri +scratched a match and by its light climbed the stairs. His +friend's room was empty. The lamp was burning on the bureau and a +Bible was open beside it. The bed had not been slept in. + +Thoroughly alarmed now, the Captain, lamp in hand, went through one +room after the other. John Baxter was not at home, and he was not +with the crowd at the fire. Where was he? There was, of course, a +chance that his friend had passed him on the way or that he had +been at the fire, after all, but this did not seem possible. +However, there was nothing to do but go back, and this time the +Captain took the path across the fields. + +The Baxter house was on the "shore road," and the billiard room and +post-office were on the "main road." People in a hurry sometimes +avoided the corner by climbing the fence opposite the Baxter gate, +going through the Dawes' pasture and over the little hill back of +the livery stable, and coming out in the rear of the post-office +and close to the saloon. + +Captain Eri, worried, afraid to think of the fire and its cause, +and only anxious to ascertain where his friend was and what he had +been doing that night, trotted through the pasture and over the +hill. Just as he came to the bayberry bushes on the other side he +stumbled and fell flat. + +He knew what it was that he had stumbled over the moment that he +fell across it, and his fingers trembled, so that he could scarcely +scratch the match that he took from his pocket. But it was lighted +at last and, as its tiny blaze grew brighter, the Captain saw John +Baxter lying face downward in the path, his head pointed toward his +home and his feet toward the billiard saloon. + + + +CHAPTER VII + +CAPTAIN ERI FINDS A NURSE + + +For a second, only, Captain Eri stood there motionless, stooping +over the body of his friend. Then he sprang into vigorous action. +He dropped upon his knees and, seizing the shoulder of the +prostrate figure, shook it gently, whispering, "John! John!" +There was no answer and no responsive movement, and the Captain +bent his head and listened. Breath was there and life; but, oh, so +little of either! The next thought was, of course, to run for help +and for a doctor, but he took but a few steps when a new idea +struck him and he came back. + +Lighting another match he examined the fallen man hurriedly. The +old "Come-Outer" lay in the path with his arms outstretched, as if +he had fallen while running. He was bare-headed, and there was no +sign of a wound upon him. One coat-sleeve was badly scorched, and +from a pocket in the coat protruded the neck of a bottle. The +bottle was empty, but its odor was strong; it had contained +kerosene. The evidence was clear, and the Captain knew that what +he had feared was the truth. + +For a moment he stood erect and pondered as to what was best to do. +Whatever it was, it must be done quickly, but if the doctor and +those that might come with him should find the burned coat and the +tell-tale bottle, it were better for John Baxter that consciousness +and life never were his again. There might, and probably would, be +suspicion; but here was proof absolute that meant prison and +disgrace for a man whom all the community had honored and respected. + +Captain Eri weighed the chances, speculated on the result, and then +did what seemed to him right. He threw the bottle as far away from +the path as he could and then stripped off the coat, and, folding +it into a small bundle, hid it in the bushes near by. Then he +lifted the limp body, and turned it so that the gray head was +toward the billiard saloon instead of from it. + +Perez and Jerry were still busy with the water buckets when their +friend came panting up the knoll to the pump. + +"Hello, Eri!" said the former, wiping his forehead with his arm. +"It's 'bout out, ain't it? Why, what's the matter?" + +"Nothin'; nothin' to speak of. Put down them buckets, and you and +Jerry come with me. I've got somethin' that I want you to do." + +Nodding and exchanging congratulations with acquaintances in the +crowd on the success of the fire-fighting, Captain Eri led his +messmates to a dark corner under a clump of trees. Then he took +each of them by the arm and whispered sharply: + +"Dr. Palmer's somewheres in this crowd. I want each of you fellers +to go diff'rent ways and look for him. Whichever one finds him +fust can bring him up to the corner by the post-office. Whistle +when you git there and the rest of us 'll come. Don't stop to ask +questions. I ain't hurt, but John Baxter's had a stroke or +somethin'. I can't tell you no more now. Hurry! And say, don't +you mention to a soul what the matter is." + +A sea-faring life has its advantages. It teaches prompt obedience, +for one thing. The two mariners did not hesitate an instant, but +bolted in opposite directions. Captain Eri watched them go, and +then set off in another. He was stopped every few moments and all +sorts of questions and comments concerning the fire and its cause +were fired at him, but he put off some inquiries with a curt "Don't +know" and others with nods or negatives, and threaded his way from +one clump of townspeople to another. As he came close to the +blackened and smoking billiard saloon, Ralph Hazeltine caught him +by the arm. + +"Hello!" said the electrician. "Haven't you gone home yet?" + +"No, not yit. Say, I'll ask you, 'cause I cal'late you can keep +your mouth shut if it's necessary: Have you seen the Doctor +anywheres 'round lately? He was here, 'cause I saw him when I fust +come." + +"Who, Dr. Palmer? No; I haven't seen him. Is anyone hurt? Can I +help?" + +"I guess not. John Baxter's sick, but--oh, Lord! Here comes +Wingate. He'll talk for a week." + +Seth, panting and excited, was pushing his way toward them, +shouting the Captain's name at the top of his voice. + +"Hey, Eri!" he hailed. "I want to know if you'll sign a petition +to git the town a fire ingyne? I've been talkin' to a couple of +the s'lectmen and they--" + +"Oh, Mr. Wingate," interrupted Ralph, "Mr. Mullett's been looking +for you. He's over there by the pump, I think." + +"Who, Lem Mullett? Is that so! He's jest the feller I want to +see. See you later, Eri." + +The Captain grinned appreciatively as the convert to the hand- +engine proposal disappeared. + +"That wasn't so bad," he said. "I'm much obliged. Hey! There's +the whistle. Come on, Mr. Hazeltine, if you ain't in a special +hurry. Maybe we WILL need you." + +They reached the corner by the post-office to find Dr. Palmer, who +had practiced medicine in Orham since he received his diploma, +waiting for them. Captain Perez, who had discovered the physician +on the Nickerson piazza, was standing close by with his fingers in +his mouth, whistling with the regularity of a foghorn. + +"Cut it short, Perez!" commanded Eri. "We're here now." + +"Yes, but Jerry ain't." And the whistling began again. + +"Dry up, for the land's sake! D'you want to fetch the whole tribe +here? There's Jerry, now. Come on, Doctor." + +John Baxter was lying just as the Captain had left him, and the +others watched anxiously as the doctor listened at the parted lips, +and thrust his hand inside the faded blue waistcoat. + +"He's alive," he said after a moment, "but unconscious. We must +get him home at once." + +"He heard the bell and was runnin' to the fire when he was took," +said Captain Jerry. "Run out in his shirt sleeves, and was took +when he got as fur as here." + +"That's the way I figger it," said Eri unblushingly. "Lift him +carefully, you fellers. Now then!" + +"I warned him against over-exertion or excitement months ago," said +the Doctor, as they bore the senseless burden toward the big house, +now as black as the grave that was so near its owner. "We must +find someone to take care of him at once. I don't believe the old +man has a relation within a hundred miles." + +"Why don't we take him to our house?" suggested Captain Jerry. +"'Twouldn't seem so plaguey lonesome, anyhow." + +"By mighty!" ejaculated Captain Eri in astonishment. "Well, Jerry, +I'll be switched if you ain't right down brilliant once in a while. +Of course we will. He can have the spare room. Why didn't I think +of that, I wonder?" + +And so John Baxter, who had not paid a visit in his native village +since his wife died, came at last to his friend's home to pay what +seemed likely to be a final one. They carried him up the stairs to +the spare room, as dismal and cheerless as spare rooms in the +country generally are, undressed him as tenderly as their rough +hands would allow, robed him in one of Captain Jerry's nightshirts-- +the buttons that fastened it had been sewed on by the Captain +himself, and were all sizes and colors--and laid him in the big +corded bedstead. The Doctor hastened away to procure his medicine +case. Ralph Hazeltine, having been profusely thanked for his +services and promising to call the next day, went back to the +station, and the three captains sat down by the bedside to watch +and wait. + +Captain Eri was too much perturbed to talk, but the other two, +although sympathetically sorry for the sufferer, were bursting with +excitement and curiosity. + +"Well, if THIS ain't been a night!" exclaimed Captain Jerry. +"Seem's if everything happened at once. Fust that darky and then +the fire and then this. Don't it beat all? + +"Eri," said Captain Perez anxiously, "was John layin' jest the same +way when you found him as he was when we come?" + +"Right in the same place," was the answer. + +"I didn't say in the same place. I asked if he was layin' the same +way." + +"He hadn't moved a muscle. Laid jest as if he was dead." + +It will be noticed that Captain Eri was adhering strictly to the +truth. Luckily, Perez seemed to be satisfied, for he asked no +further questions, but observed, "It's a good thing we've got a +crowd to swear how we found him. There's a heap of folks in this +town would be sayin' he set that fire if 'twa'n't for that." + +"Some of 'em will be sayin' it anyhow," remarked Jerry. + +"Some folks 'll say anything but their prayers," snapped Eri +savagely. "They won't say it while I'm around. And look here! if +you hear anybody sayin' it, you tell 'em it's a lie. If that don't +keep 'em quiet, let me know." + +"Oh, all right. WE know he didn't set it. I was jest sayin'--" + +"Well, don't say it." + +"My, you're techy! Guess fires and colored folks don't agree with +you. What are we goin' to do now? If John don't die, and the Lord +knows I hope he won't, he's likely to be sick here a long spell. +Who are we goin' to git to take care of him? That's what I want to +know. Somebody's got to do it and we ain't fit. If Jerry 'd only +give in and git married now--" + +But Captain Jerry's protest against matrimony was as obstinate as +ever. Even Perez gave up urging after a while and conversation +lagged again. In a few minutes the Doctor came back, and his +examination of the patient and demands for glasses of water, +teaspoons, and the like, kept Perez and Jerry busy. It was some +time before they noticed that Captain Eri had disappeared. Even +then they did not pay much attention to the circumstance, but +watched the physician at work and questioned him concerning the +nature of their guest's illness. + +"D'you think he'll die, Doctor?" inquired Jerry in a hushed voice, +as they came out of the sick room into the connecting chamber. + +"Can't say. He has had a stroke of paralysis, and there seem to be +other complications. If he regains consciousness I shall think he +has a chance, but not a very good one. His pulse is a little +stronger. I don't think he'll die to-night, but if he lives he +will need a good nurse, and I don't know of one in town." + +"Nor me neither," said Captain Perez. + +"Well, A'nt Zuby might come," suggested Jerry, "but I should hate +to have her nuss me, and as for bein' WELL in a house where she +was--whew!" + +"A'nt Zuby!" sneered his messmate. "If Lorenzo had a fit and they +called A'nt Zuby he'd have another one and die. A'nt Zuby! I'd +'bout as soon have M'lissy and be done with it." + +"Yes, I don't doubt YOU WOULD," was the anything but gentle retort. + +What Perez would have said to this thrust must be surmised, for +just then the dining-room door opened and closed again. + +"There's Eri," said Captain Jerry. Then he added in an alarmed +whisper, "Who on airth has he got with him?" + +They heard their friend's voice warning someone to be careful of +the top step, and then the chamber door opened and Captain Eri +appeared. There were beads of perspiration on his forehead, and he +was carrying a shabby canvas extension-case. Captain Jerry gazed +at the extension-case with bulging eyes. + +Captain Eri put down the extension-case and opened the door wide. +A woman came in; a stout woman dressed in black "alpaca" and +wearing brass-rimmed spectacles. Captain Jerry gasped audibly. + +"Dr. Palmer," said Captain Eri, "let me make you acquainted with +Mrs. Snow of Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Dr. Palmer." + +The Doctor and the lady from Nantucket shook hands, the former with +a puzzled expression on his face. + +"Perez," continued the Captain, "let me make you known to Mrs. +Snow--Mrs. Marthy B. Snow,"--this with especial emphasis,--"of +Nantucket. Mrs. Snow, this is Cap'n Perez Ryder." + +They shook hands; Captain Perez managed to say that he was glad to +meet Mrs. Snow. Captain Jerry said nothing, but he looked like a +criminal awaiting the fall of the drop. + +"Doctor," continued the Captain, paying no attention to the signals +of distress displayed by his friend, "I heard you say a spell ago +that John here needed somebody to take care of him. Well, Mrs. +Snow--she's a--a--sort of relation of Jerry's"--just a suspicion of +a smile accompanied this assertion--"and she's done consid'rable +nussin' in her time. I've been talkin' the thing over with her and +she's willin' to look out for John till he gits better." + +The physician adjusted his eyeglasses and looked the volunteer +nurse over keenly. The lady paid no attention to the scrutiny, but +calmly removed her bonnet and placed it on the bureau. The room +was Captain Eri's, and the general disarrangement of everything +movable was only a little less marked than in those of his +companions. Mrs. Snow glanced over the heap of odds and ends on +the bureau and picked up a comb. There were some teeth in it, but +they were distant neighbors. + +"I don't use that comb very much," said Captain Eri rather +apologetically. "I gin'rally use the one downstairs." + +The new-found relative of Captain Jerry said nothing, but, laying +down the ruin, marched over to the extension-case, opened it, and +took out another comb--a whole one. With this she arranged the +hair on her forehead. It, the hair, was parted in the middle and +drawn back smoothly at the sides, and Captain Eri noticed that it +was brown with a little gray in it. When the last stray wisp was +in place, she turned calmly to the Doctor and said: + +"Cap'n Baxter's in here, I s'pose. Shall I walk right in?" + +The man of medicine seemed a little surprised at the lady's command +of the situation, but he said: + +"Why, yes, ma'am; I guess you may. You have nursed before, I think +the Captain said." + +"Five years with my husband. He had slow consumption. Before that +with my mother, and most of my brothers and sisters at one time or +another. I've seen consid'rable sickness all my life. More of +that than anything else, I guess. Now, if you'll come in with me, +so's to tell me about the medicine and so on." + +With a short "Humph!" the physician followed her into the sick +room, while the three mariners gazed wide-eyed in at the door. +They watched, as Doctor Palmer explained medicines and gave +directions. It did not need an expert to see that the new nurse +understood her business. + +When the Doctor came out his face shone with gratification. + +"She'll do," he said emphatically. "If all your relatives are like +that, Cap'n Burgess, I'd like to know 'em; 'twould help me in my +business." Then he added in response to a question, "He seems to +be a little better just now. I think there will be no change for a +while; if there should be, send for me. I'll call in the morning. +Gracious! it's almost daylight now." + +They saw him to the door and then came back upstairs. Mrs. Snow +was busy, arranging the pillows, setting the room in something like +order, and caring for her patient's garments, that had been tossed +helter-skelter on the floor in the hurry of undressing. She came +to the door as they entered Captain Eri's chamber. + +"Mrs. Snow," said the Captain, "you'd better sleep in my room here +long's you stay. I'll bunk in with Perez downstairs. I'll git my +dunnage out of here right off. I think likely you'll want to clean +up some." + +The lady from Nantucket glanced at the bureau top and seemed about +to say something, but checked herself. What she did say was: + +"P'raps you'd better introduce me to Cap'n Burgess. I don't think +we've ever met, if we ARE relations." + +Captain Eri actually blushed a little. "Why, of course," he said. +"Excuse me, ma'am. Jerry, this is Mrs. Snow. I don't know what's +got into me, bein' so careless." + +The sacrifice shook the nurse's hand and said something, nobody +knew exactly what. Mrs. Snow went on to say, "Now, I want you men +to go right on to bed, for I know you're all tuckered out. We can +talk to-morrow--I mean to-day, of course: I forgot 'twas next-door +to daylight now. I shall set up with Cap'n Baxter, and if I need +you I'll call you. I'll call you anyway when I think it's time. +Good-night." + +They protested, of course, but the lady would not listen. She +calmly seated herself in the rocker by the bed and waved to them to +go, which two of them reluctantly did after a while. The other one +had gone already. It would be superfluous to mention his name. + +Downstairs again and in Perez' room Captain Eri came in for a +questioning that bade fair to keep up forever. He shut off all +inquiries, however, with the announcement that he wouldn't tell +them a word about it till he'd had some sleep. Then he would +explain the whole thing, and they could decide whether he had done +right or not. There were all sorts of things to be considered, he +said, and they had better take a nap now while they could. + +"Well, I'd jest like to ask you this, Eri Hedge," demanded Captain +Jerry. "What in time did you tell the Doctor that she was a +relation of mine for? That was a nice thing to do, wa'n't it? +I'll have to answer more fool questions 'bout that than a little. +What sort of a relation shall I tell folks she is? Jest tell me +that, will you?" + +"Oh, tell 'em she's a relation by marriage," was the answer, +muffled by the bed clothes. "Maybe that 'll be true by the time +they ask you." + +"I'll BET it won't!" snorted the rebel. + +Captain Perez fell asleep almost immediately. Captain Jerry, tired +out, did the same, but Captain Eri's eyes did not close. The surf +pounded and grumbled. A rooster, early astir, crowed somewhere in +the distance. Daniel thumped the side of his stall and then +subsided for another nap. The gray morning light brightened the +window of the little house. + +Then Captain Eri slid silently out of bed, dressed with elaborate +precautions against noise, put on his cap, and tiptoed out of the +house. He walked through the dripping grass, climbed the back +fence and hurried to the hill where John Baxter had fallen. Once +there, he looked carefully around to be sure that no one was +watching. Orham, as a rule, is an early riser, but this morning +most of the inhabitants, having been up for the greater part of the +night, were making up lost sleep and the Captain was absolutely +alone. + +Assured of this, he turned to the bush underneath which he had +hidden the burned coat, pushed aside the drenched boughs with their +fading leaves and reached down for the tell-tale garment. + +And then he made an unpleasant discovery. The coat was gone. + +He spent an agitated quarter of an hour hunting through every clump +of bushes in the immediate vicinity, but there was no doubt of it. +Someone had been there before him and had taken the coat away. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +HOUSEKEEPER AND BOOK AGENT + + +There was a knock on the door of Captain Perez's sleeping apartment. + +"Cap'n Hedge," said Mrs. Snow, "Cap'n Hedge! I'm sorry to wake you +up, but it's 'most ten o'clock and--" + +"What? Ten o'clock! Godfrey scissors! Of all the lazy--I'll be +out in a jiffy. Perez, turn out there! Turn out, I tell you!" + +Captain Eri had fallen asleep in the rocker where he had seated +himself upon his return from the fruitless search for the coat. +He had had no intention of sleeping, but he was tired after his +strenuous work at the fire, and had dropped off in the midst of +his worry. He sprang to his feet, and tried to separate dreams +from realities. + +"Land of love, Perez!" he ejaculated. "Here you and me have been +sleepin' ha'f the forenoon. We'd ought to be ashamed of ourselves. +Let's git dressed quicker 'n chain lightnin'." + +"Dressed?" queried Perez, sitting up in bed. "I should think you +was dressed now, boots and all. What are you talkin' 'bout?" + +The Captain glanced down at his clothes and seemed as much +surprised as his friend. He managed to pull himself together, +however, and stammered: + +"Dressed? Oh, I'm dressed, of course. It's you I'm tryin' to git +some life into." + +"Well, why didn't you call a feller, 'stead of gittin' up and +dressin' all by yourself. I never see such a critter. Where's my +socks?" + +To avoid further perplexing questions Captain Eri went into the +dining room. The table was set, really set, with a clean cloth and +dishes that shone. The knives and forks were arranged by the +plates, not piled in a heap for each man to help himself. The +Captain gasped. + +"Well, I swan to man!" he said. "Has Jerry had a fit or what's +struck him? I ain't seen him do anything like this for I don't +know when." + +"Oh, Cap'n Burgess didn't fix the table, if that's what you mean," +said the new nurse. "Cap'n Baxter seemed to be sleepin' or in a +stupor like, and the Doctor, when he come, said I might leave him +long enough to run downstairs for a few minutes, so--" + +"The Doctor? Has the Doctor been here this mornin'?" + +"Yes, he come 'bout an hour ago. Now, if you wouldn't mind goin' +up and stayin' with Cap'n Baxter for a few minutes while I finish +gettin' breakfast. I've been up and down so many times in the last +ha'f hour, I don't know's I'm sartin whether I'm on my head or my +heels." + +The Captain went upstairs in a dazed state. As he passed through +what had been his room he vaguely noticed that the bureau top was +clean, and that most of the rubbish that had ornamented it had +disappeared. + +The sick man lay just as he had left him, his white face as +colorless as the clean pillow case against which it rested. +Captain Eri remembered that the pillow cases in the spare room had +looked a little yellow the night before, possibly owing to the fact +that, as the room had not been occupied for months, they had not +been changed. He reasoned that the improvement was another one of +the reforms instituted by the lady from Nantucket. + +He sat down in the rocker by the bed and thought, with a shiver, of +the missing coat. There were nine chances out of ten that whoever +found it would recognize it as belonging to the old "Come-Outer." +The contents of the pocket would be almost certain to reveal the +secret if the coat itself did not. It remained to be seen who the +finder was and what he would do. Meanwhile there was no use +worrying. Having come to this conclusion the Captain, with +customary philosophy, resolved to think of something else. + +Mrs. Snow entered and announced that breakfast was ready and that +he must go down at once and eat it while it was hot. She, having +breakfasted some time before, would stay with the patient until the +meal was over. Captain Eri at first flatly declined to listen to +any such arrangement, but the calm insistence of the Nantucket +visitor prevailed as usual. The Captain realized that the capacity +for "bossin' things," that he had discerned in the letter, was even +more apparent in the lady herself. One thing he did insist upon, +however, and this was that Mrs. Snow should "turn in" as soon as +breakfast was over. One of the three would take the watch in the +sick room while the other two washed the dishes. The nurse was +inclined to balk on the dishwashing proposition, saying that she +could do it herself after she had had a wink or two, but this the +Captain wouldn't hear of. He went away, however, with an unsettled +conviction that, although he and his partners might wash the +dishes, Mrs. Snow would wash them again as soon as she had an +opportunity. "She didn't say so, but she sort of looked it," he +explained afterward. + +He found his friends seated at the table and feasting on hot +biscuits, eggs, and clear, appetizing coffee. They greeted him +joyously. + +"Hey, Eri!" hailed Captain Perez. "Ain't this gay? Look at them +eggs; b'iled jest to a T. Ain't much like Jerry's h'af raw kind." + +"Humph! You needn't say nothin', Perez," observed Captain Jerry, +his mouth full of biscuit. "When you was cook, you allers b'iled +'em so hard they'd dent the barn if you'd fired 'em at it. How's +John, Eri?" + +Captain Eri gave his and the Doctor's opinion of his friend's +condition and then said, "Now, we've got to have some kind of a +settlement on this marryin' question. Last night, when I was up in +the room there, it come acrost me all of a sudden that, from what +I'd seen of this Nantucket woman, she'd be jest the sort of nurse +that John needed. So I skipped out while you fellers was busy with +the Doctor, found her at the hotel, explained things to her, and +got her to come down. That's all there is to that. I ain't made +no arrangement with her, and somethin's got to be done. What do +you think of her, jedgin' by what you've seen?" + +Captain Perez gave it as his opinion that she was "all right," and +added, "If Jerry here wa'n't so pigheaded all at once, he'd marry +her without waitin' another minute." + +Eri nodded. "That's my idee," he said emphatically. + +But Captain Jerry was as obstinate as ever. He simply would not +consider immediate marriage. In vain his comrades reminded him of +the original compact, and the fact that the vote was two to one +against him; he announced that he had changed his mind, and that +that was all there was about it. + +At length Captain Eri lost patience. + +"Jerry," he exclaimed, "you remind me of that old white hen we used +to have. When we didn't want her to set she'd set on anything from +a doorknob to a rock, couldn't keep her off; but when we give in +finally and got a settin' of eggs for her, she wouldn't come nigher +to 'em than the other end of the hen-yard. Now you might as well +make up your mind that somethin's got to be done. This Mrs. Snow +ain't nobody's fool. We put out a bait that anybody with sense +would say couldn't catch nothin' but sculpin, and, by mighty, we +hooked a halibut! If the woman was anything like what you'd think +she'd be, answerin' an advertisement like that, I'd be the fust to +say let her go, but she ain't; she's all right, and we need her to +nuss John besides." + +"Tell you what we might do," said Perez slowly; "we might explain +to her that Jerry don't feel that 'twould be right to think of +marryin' with Cap'n Baxter so sick in the house and that, if she's +willin', we'll put it off till he dies or gets better. Meantime, +we'll pay her so much to stay here and nuss. Seems to me that's +about the only way out of it." + +So they agreed to lay this proposal before the Nantucket lady, +Captain Jerry reluctantly consenting. Then Captain Eri took up +another subject. + +John Baxter, as has been said, had one relative, a granddaughter, +living somewhere near Boston. Captain Eri felt that this +granddaughter should be notified of the old man's illness at once. +The difficulty was that none of them knew the young lady's address. + +"Her fust name's Elizabeth, same as her mothers was," said Eri, +"and her dad's name was Preston. They called her Elsie. John used +to write to her every once in a while. P'raps Sam would know where +she lived." + +"Jest' cause Sam's postmaster," observed Perez, "it don't foller +that he reads the name on every letter that goes out and remembers +'em besides." + +"Well, if he don't," said Captain Jerry decidedly, "Mary Emma does. +She reads everything, postals and all." + +Miss Mary Emma Cahoon was the assistant at the post-office, and was +possessed of a well-developed curiosity concerning other people's +correspondence. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Eri, "that's so. We'll write the +letter, and I'll ask Mary Emma for the address when I go up to mail +it." + +So Captain Perez went upstairs to take Mrs Snow's place as nurse, +while that lady "turned in." Captain Jerry went into the kitchen +to wash the dishes, and Captain Eri sat down to write the note that +should inform Elizabeth Preston of her grandfather's illness. It +was a very short note, and merely stated the fact without further +information. Having had some experience in that line, the Captain +placed very little reliance upon the help to be expected from +relatives. + +Dr. Palmer had spread the news as he went upon his round of visits +that morning, and callers began to drop in to inquire after the +sick man. Miss Busteed was one of the first arrivals, and, as +Captain Eri had seen her through the window, he went upstairs and +took Perez' place as temporary nurse. To Perez, therefore, fell +the delightful task of entertaining the voluble female for +something like an hour, while she talked fire, paralysis, and +general gossip at express speed. + +Ralph Hazeltine came in a little later, and was introduced to Mrs. +Snow, that lady's nap having been but a short one. Ralph was +favorably impressed with the capable appearance of the new nurse, +and so expressed himself to Captain Eri as they walked together +toward the post-office. + +"I like her," he said emphatically. "She's quiet and sensible and +cheerful besides. She looks as if trouble didn't trouble her very +much." + +"I jedge she's seen enough of it in her time, too," observed the +Captain reflectively. "Queer thing how trouble acts different on +folks. Kind of like hot weather, sours milk, but sweetens apples. +She's one of the sweetened kind. And yet, I cal'late she can be +pretty sharp, too, if you try to tread on her toes. Sort of a +sweet pickle, hey?" and he laughed. + +Miss Cahoon remembered the Preston girl's address. It was +Cambridge, Kirkland Street, but the number, she did declare, had +skipped her mind. The Captain said he would chance it without the +number, so the letter was posted. Then, with the electrician, he +strolled over to inspect the remains of the billiard saloon. + +There was a small crowd gathered about the building, prominent +among its members being the "train committee," who were evidently +holding a special session on this momentous occasion. The busy +"Squealer," a trifle enlivened by some of Mr. Saunders' wet goods +that had escaped the efforts of the volunteer salvage corps, hailed +the new arrivals as brother heroes. + +"Well now, Cap'n Eri!" he exclaimed, shaking hands vigorously. +"And Mr. Hazeltine, too! How're you feelin' after last night? I +says to Web, I says, 'There's folks in this town besides me that +kept you from losin' the whole thing and you ought to thank 'em,' I +says. 'One of 'em 's Cap'n Eri and t'other one's Mr. Hazeltine. +If we three didn't work, then _I_ don't know,' I says." + +"Web found out how the fire started yit?" inquired the Captain with +apparent unconcern. + +"No, he hain't for sure. There was a lot of us thought old Baxter +might have set it, but they tell me it couldn't have been him, +cause he was took down runnin' to the fire. Web, he's sort of +changed his tune, and don't seem to think anybody set it; thinks it +catched itself." + +Mr. Saunders, his smooth self again, with all traces of mental +disturbance gone from his face and all roughness from his tongue, +came briskly up, smiling as if the burning of his place of business +was but a trifling incident, a little annoying, of course, but not +worth fretting about. He thanked the Captain and Hazeltine +effusively for their service of the previous night, and piled the +weight of his obligations upon them until, as Captain Eri said +afterwards, "the syrup fairly dripped off his chin." The Captain +broke in upon the sugary flow as soon as he could. + +"How d'you think it started, Web?" he asked. + +"Well," replied Mr. Saunders slowly, "I kind of cal'late she +started herself. There was some of the boys in here most of the +evenin', and, jest like's not, a cigar butt, or a match, or +somethin' dropped somewheres and got to smolderin', and smoldered +along till bime-by--puff!" An expressive wave of a fat hand +finished the sentence. + +"Humph!" grunted the Captain. "Changed your mind sence last night. +Seems to me I heard you then swearin' you knew 'twas set and who +set it." + +"Well, ye-es. I was considerable shook up last night and maybe I +said things I hadn't ought to. You see there's been a good deal of +hard feelin's towards me in town and for a spell I thought some +feller'd tried to burn me out. But I guess not; I guess not. More +I think of it, more I think it catched itself. Seems to me I +remember smellin' sort of a scorchin' smell when I was lockin' up. +Oh, say! I was mighty sorry to hear 'bout Cap'n Baxter bein' took +sick. The old man was dreadful down on liquor, but I laid that to +his religion and never had no hard feelin's against him. How's he +gittin' along?" + +Captain Eri brusquely replied that his friend was "'bout the same," +and asked if Mr. Saunders intended to rebuild. "Web" didn't know +just yet. He was a poor man, didn't carry much insurance, and so +on. Thought likely he should fix up again if it didn't cost too +much. Did the Doctor say whether Captain Baxter would pull through +or not? + +Captain Eri gave an evasive answer and turned away. He was silent +for some little time, and when Ralph commented on "Web's" overnight +change of manner, his rejoinder was to the effect that "ile was +bound to rise, but that didn't mean there wa'n't dirty water +underneath." On the way home he asked Hazeltine concerning the +trouble at the cable station, and how Mr. Langley had treated the +matter. + +Ralph replied that Mr. Langley had said nothing to him about it. +It was his opinion that the old gentleman understood the affair +pretty well, and was not disposed to blame him. As for the men, +they had been as docile as lambs, and he thought the feeling toward +himself was not as bitter as it had been. All of which his +companion said he was glad to hear. + +They separated at the gate, and the Captain entered the house to +find Mrs. Snow wielding a broom and surrounded by a cloud of dust. +Perez was upstairs with the patient, and Captain Jerry, whose +habits had been considerably upset by the sweeping, was out in the +barn. + +That evening the situation was explained to Mrs. Snow by Captain +Eri, in accordance with the talk at the breakfast table. The +lady from Nantucket understood and respected Captain Jerry's +unwillingness to discuss the marriage question while John Baxter's +condition continued critical, and she agreed to act as nurse and +housekeeper for a while, at least, for the sum of six dollars a +week. This price was fixed only after considerable discussion by +the three mariners, for Captain Eri was inclined to offer eight, +and Captain Jerry but four. + +When Ralph Hazeltine called late in the afternoon of the following +day, the dining room was so transformed that he scarcely knew it. +The dust had disappeared; the chronometer was polished till it +shone; the table was covered with a cloth that was snow-white, and +everything movable had the appearance of being in its place. +Altogether, there was an evidence of order that was almost +startling. + +Captain Eri came to the door in response to his knock, and grinned +appreciatively at his caller's look of wonder. + +"I don't wonder you're s'prised," he said, with a chuckle. "I +ain't begun to git over it yit, myself, and Lorenzo's so shook up +he ain't been in the house sence breakfast time. He's out in the +barn, keepin' Dan'l comp'ny and waitin' for the end of the world to +strike, I cal'late." + +Ralph laughed. "Mrs. Snow?" he inquired. + +"Mrs. Snow," answered the Captain. "It beats all what a woman can +do when she's that kind of a woman. She's done more swabbin' decks +and overhaulin' runnin' riggin' than a new mate on a clipper. The +place is so all-fired clean that I feel like brushin' myself every +time I go to set down." + +"How's Captain Baxter?" asked Hazeltine. + +"Seems to be some better. He come to a little this mornin', and +seemed to know some of us, but he ain't sensed where he is yit, nor +I don't b'lieve he will fur a spell. Set down and keep me comp'ny. +It's my watch jest now. Perez, he's over to Barry's; Jerry's up to +the schoolhouse, and Mrs. Snow's run up to the post-office to mail +a letter. John's asleep, so I can stay downstairs a little while, +long's the door's open. What's the news uptown? Web changed his +mind ag'in 'bout the fire?" + +It appeared that Mr. Saunders had not changed his mind, at least +so current gossip reported. And it may be remarked here that, +curiously enough, the opinion that the fire "caught itself" came at +last to be generally accepted in the village. For some weeks +Captain Eri was troubled with thoughts concerning the missing coat, +but, as time passed, and the accusing garment did not turn up, he +came to believe that some boy must have found it and that it had, +in all probability, been destroyed. There were, of course, some +persons who still suspected John Baxter as the incendiary, but the +old man's serious illness and respect for his former standing in +the community kept these few silent. The Baxter house had been +locked up and the Captain had the key. + +Hazeltine and his host chatted for a few minutes on various topics. +The gilt titles on the imposing "Lives of Great Naval Commanders," +having received their share of the general dusting, now shone +forth resplendent, and the Captain noticed Ralph's eye as it +involuntarily turned toward them. + +"Noticin' our library?" he chuckled. "Perez' property, that is. +'Gusty Black talked him into buyin' 'em. Never met 'Gusty, did +you? No, I guess likely not. She lives over to the Neck, and +don't git down to the village much. 'Gusty's what you call a +business woman. She' always up to somethin' to make a dollar, and +she's as slick a talker as ever was, I guess. She never give Perez +no rest till he signed the deed for them books. Told him they'd +give liter'ry tone to the shebang. Perez started to read 'em out +loud when they fust come, but he had to stop so often to spell out +the furrin names that me and Jerry used to go to sleep. That made +him mad, and he said, liter'ry tone be durned; he wa'n't goin' to +waste his breath readin' us to sleep; so they've been on the shelf +ever sence." + +Ralph laughed. "So you have book agents, too?" he said. + +"Well, we've got 'Gusty," was the reply, "and she's enough to keep +us goin'. Gits round reg'lar as clockwork once a month to collect +the two dollars from Perez. It's her day now, and I told Perez +that that was why he sneaked off to Barry's. You see, 'Gusty's +after him to buy the history of Methuselah, or some old critter, +and he don't like to see her. She's after me, too, but I'm 'fraid +she don't git much encouragement." + +After they had talked a little longer, the Captain seemed to +remember something, for he glanced at his watch and said, "Mr. +Hazeltine, I wonder if I could git you to do me a favor. I really +ought to go down and see to my shanty. Ain't been there sence day +afore yesterday, and there's so many boys 'round, I'm 'fraid to +leave it unlocked much longer. I thought some of the folks would +be back 'fore this, but if you could stay here long enough for me +to run down there a minute or two, I'd be ever so much obliged. +I'll step up and see how John is." + +He went upstairs and returned to report that the patient was quiet +and seemed to be asleep. + +"If you hear him groan, or anything," he said, "jest come to the +door and whistle. Whistle anyway, if you want me. Ain't nobody +likely to come, 'less it's 'Gusty or the Reverend Perley come to +ask 'bout John. If it's a middlin' good-lookin' young woman with a +satchel, that's 'Gusty. Don't whistle; tell her I'm out. I'll be +back in a jiffy, but you needn't tell either of them so unless your +conscience hurts you TOO much." + +After the Captain had gone Ralph took down a volume of the "Great +Commanders" and sat down in a chair by the table to look it over. +He was smiling over the gaudy illustrations and flamboyant +descriptions of battles, when there was a step on the walk outside +and knock at the door. "Which is it," he thought, "'Gusty or the +Reverend?" + +Obviously it was Miss Black. She stood on the mica slab that +formed the step and looked up at him as he swung the door open. +She had a small leather bag in her hand, just as the Captain had +said she would have, but it flashed across Mr. Hazeltine's mind +that the rest of the description was not a fair one; she was +certainly much more than "middlin' good-lookin'!" + +"Is Captain Hedge in?" she asked. + +Now, from his friend's hints, Ralph had expected to hear a rather +sharp and unpleasant voice,--certain disagreeable remembrances of +former encounters with female book agents had helped to form the +impression perhaps,--but Miss Black's voice was mellow, quiet, and +rather pleasing than otherwise. + +"No," said Mr. Hazeltine, obeying orders with exactitude. "Captain +Hedge is out just now." + +"'Gusty"--somehow the name didn't seem to fit--was manifestly +disappointed. + +"Oh, dear!" she said, and then added, "Will he be back soon?" + +Now this was a question unprovided for. Ralph stammered, and then +miserably equivocated. He really couldn't say just when the +Captain would return. + +"Oh, dear!" said the young lady again. Then she seemed to be +waiting for some further observation on the part of the gentleman +at the door. None being forthcoming, she seemed to make up her +mind to act on her own initiative. + +"I think I will come in and wait," she said with decision. And +come in she did, Mr. Hazeltine not knowing exactly what to do, +under the circumstances. + +Now this was much more in keeping with the electrician's +preconceived ideas of a book agent's behavior; nevertheless, when +he turned and found the young lady standing in the middle of the +floor, he felt obliged to be at least decently polite. + +"Won't you take a chair?" he asked. + +"Thank you," said the caller, and took one. + +The situation was extremely awkward, but Ralph felt that loyalty to +Captain Eri forbade his doing anything that might urge the self- +possessed Miss Black to prolong her visit, so for a time he said +nothing. The young lady looked out of the window and Mr. Hazeltine +looked at her. He was more than ever of the opinion that the +"middlin'" term should be cut out of her description. He rather +liked her appearance, so he decided. He liked the way she wore her +hair; so simple an arrangement, but so effective. Also he liked +her dress. It was the first tailor-made walking suit he had seen +since his arrival in Orham. And worn by a country book agent, of +all people. + +Just then Miss Black turned and caught him intently gazing at her. +She colored, apparently with displeasure, and looked out of the +window again. Mr. Hazeltine colored also and fidgeted with the +book on the table. The situation was confoundedly embarrassing. +He felt that he must say something now, so he made the original +observation that it had been a pleasant day. + +To this the young lady agreed, but there was no enthusiasm in her +tone. Then Ralph, nervously fishing for another topic, thought of +the book in his hand. + +"I was just reading this," he said. "I found it quite interesting." + +The next moment he realized that he had said what, of all things, +was the most impolitic. It was nothing less than a bid for a +"canvass," and he fully expected to be confronted with the +necessary order blanks without delay. But, strangely enough, the +book lady made no such move. She looked at him, it is true, but +with an expression of surprise and what seemed to be amusement on +her face. He was certain that her lips twitched as she said +calmly: + +"Did you? I am glad to hear it." + +This dispassionate remark was entirely unexpected, and the +electrician, as Captain Eri would have said, "lost his bearings" +completely. + +"Yes--er, yes," he stammered. "Very interesting indeed. I--I +suppose you must take a good many orders in the course of a week." + +"A good many ORDERS?" + +"Why, yes. Orders for the books, I mean. The books--the 'Great +Naval Lives'--er--these books here." + +"I beg your pardon, but who do you think I am?" + +And it was then that the perception of some tremendous blunder +began to seize upon Mr. Hazeltine. He had been red before; now, he +felt the redness creeping over his scalp under his hair. + +"Why, why, Miss Black, I suppose; that is, I--" + +Just here the door opened and Captain Eri came in. He took off his +cap and then, seeing the visitor, remained standing, apparently +waiting for an introduction. But the young lady did not keep him +waiting long. + +"Are you Captain Eri Hedge?" she asked. + +"Yes'm," answered the Captain. + +"Oh, I'm SO glad. Your letter came this morning, and I hurried +down on the first train. I'm Elizabeth Preston." + + + +CHAPTER IX + +ELSIE PRESTON + + +Perhaps, on the whole, it is not surprising that Captain Eri didn't +grasp the situation. Neither his two partners nor himself had +given much thought to the granddaughter of the sick man in the +upper room. The Captain knew that there was a granddaughter, hence +his letter; but he had heard John Baxter speak of her as being in +school somewhere in Boston, and had all along conceived of her as a +miss of sixteen or thereabouts. No wonder that at first he looked +at the stylishly gowned young woman, who stood before him with one +gloved hand extended, in a puzzled, uncomprehending way. + +"Excuse me, ma'am," he said slowly, mechanically swallowing up the +proffered hand in his own mammoth fist, "but I don't know's I jest +caught the name. Would you mind sayin' it ag'in?" + +"Elizabeth Preston," repeated the visitor. "Captain Baxter's +granddaughter. You wrote me that he was ill, you know, and I--" + +"What!" roared the Captain, delighted amazement lighting up his +face like a sunrise. "You don't mean to tell me you're 'Liz'beth +Baxter's gal Elsie! Well! Well! I want to know! If this don't +beat all! Set down! Take your things right off. I'm mighty glad +to see you." + +Captain Eri's hand, with Miss Preston's hidden in it, was moving up +and down as if it worked by a clock-work arrangement. The young +lady withdrew her fingers from the trap as soon as she conveniently +could, but it might have been noticed that she glanced at them when +she had done so, as if to make sure that the original shape +remained. + +"Thank you, Captain Hedge," she said. "And now, please tell me +about grandfather. How is he? May I see him?" + +The Captain's expression changed to one of concern. + +"Why, now, Miss Preston," he said, "your grandpa is pretty sick. +Oh, I don't mean he's goin' to die right off or anything like +that," he added hastily. "I mean he's had a stroke of palsy, or +somethin', and he ain't got so yit that he senses much of what goes +on. Now I don't want to frighten you, you know, but really there's +a chance--a leetle mite of a chance--that he won't know you. Don't +feel bad if he don't, now will you?" + +"I knew he must be very ill from your letter," said the girl +simply. "I was afraid that he might not be living when I reached +here. They told me at the station that he was at your house and so +I came. He has been very good to me and I--" + +Her voice broke a little and she hesitated. Captain Eri was a +picture of nervous distress. + +"Yes, yes, I know," he said hastily. "Don't you worry now. He's +better; the Doctor said he was consid'rably better to-day; didn't +he, Mr. Hazeltine? Why, what am I thinkin' of? Let me make you +known to Mr. Hazeltine; next-door neighbor of ours; right acrost +the road," and he waved toward the bay. + +Ralph and Miss Preston shook hands. The electrician managed to +utter some sort of formality, but he couldn't have told what it +was. He was glad when the Captain announced that, if Mr. Hazeltine +would excuse them, he guessed Miss Preston and he would step +upstairs and see John. The young lady took off her hat and jacket, +and Captain Eri lighted a lamp, for it was almost dark by this +time. As its light shone upon the visitor's face and hair the +crimson flush before mentioned circumnavigated the electrician's +head once more, and his bump of self-esteem received a finishing +blow. That any man supposed to possess two fairly good eyes and a +workable brain could have mistaken her for an Orham Neck book agent +by the name of "'Gusty--'Gusty Black!" Heavens! + +"I'll be down in a few minutes, Mr. Hazeltine," said the Captain. +"Set still, won't you?" + +But Mr. Hazeltine wouldn't sit still. He announced that it was +late and he must be going. And go he did, in spite of his host's +protestations. + +"Look out for the stairs," cautioned the Captain, leading the way +with the lamp. "The feller that built 'em must have b'lieved that +savin' distance lengthens out life. Come to think of it, I +wouldn't wonder if them stairs was the reason why me and Jerry and +Perez took this house. They reminded us so of the shrouds on a +three-master." + +Elsie Preston did her best to smile as her companion rattled on in +this fashion, but both the smile and the Captain's cheerfulness +were too plainly assumed to be convincing, and they passed down the +hall in silence. At the open door of the sick room Captain Eri +paused. + +"He's asleep," he whispered, "and, remember, if he wakes up and +doesn't know you, you needn't feel bad." + +Elsie slipped by him and knelt by the bed, looking into the white, +old face on the pillow. Somehow the harsh lines had faded out of +it, and it looked only old and pitiful. + +The Captain watched the tableau for a moment or two, and then +tiptoed into the room and placed the lamp on the bureau. + +"Now, I think likely," he said in a rather husky whisper, "that +you'd like to stay with your grandpa for a little while, so I'll go +downstairs and see about supper. No, no, no!" he added, holding up +his hand as the girl spoke some words of protest, "you ain't goin' +nowheres to supper. You're goin' to stay right here. If you want +me, jest speak." + +And he hurried downstairs and into the kitchen, clearing his throat +with vigor and making a great to-do over the scratching of a match. + +Mrs. Snow returned a few minutes later and to her the news of the +arrival was told, as it was also to Perez and Jerry when they came. +Mrs. Snow took charge of the supper arrangements. When the meal +was ready, she said to Captain Eri: + +"Now, I'll go upstairs and tell her to come down. I'll stay with +Cap'n Baxter till you're through, and then p'raps, if one of you'll +take my place, I'll eat my supper and wash the dishes. You needn't +come up now. I'll introduce myself." + +Some few minutes passed before Miss Preston came down. When she +did so her eyes were wet, but her manner was cheerful, and the +unaffected way in which she greeted Captain Perez and Captain +Jerry, when these two rather bashful mariners were introduced by +Eri, won them at once. + +The supper was a great success. It was Saturday night, and a +Saturday night supper to the average New Englander means baked +beans. The captains had long ago given up this beloved dish, +because, although each had tried his hand at preparing it, none had +wholly succeeded, and the caustic criticisms of the other two had +prevented further trials. But Mrs. Snow's baked beans were a +triumph. So, also, was the brown bread. + +"I snum," exclaimed Captain Perez, "if I don't b'lieve I'd sooner +have these beans than turkey. What do you say, Jerry?" + +"I don't know but I had," assented the sacrifice, upon whose +countenance sat a placidity that had not been there since the night +of the "matching." "'Specially if the turkey was like the one we +tried to cook last Thanksgivin'. 'Member that, Eri?" + +Captain Eri, his mouth full, grunted an emphatic assent. + +"Tell me," said Miss Preston, who had eaten but little, but was +apparently getting more satisfaction from watching her companions, +"did you three men try to keep house here alone?" + +"Yes," answered Eri dryly. "We tried. First we thought 'twas +goin' to be fine; then we thought we'd like it better after we got +used to it; finally we decided that by the time we got used to it +we'd die, like the horse that was fed on sawdust." + +"And so you hired Mrs. Snow to keep house for you? Well, I don't +see how you could have made a better choice; she's a dear, good +woman; I'm sure of it. And now I want to thank you all for what +you've done for grandfather. Mrs. Snow told me all about it; +you've been so kind that I--" + +"That's all right! that's all right!" hastily interrupted Captain +Eri. "Pity if we couldn't help out a shipmate we've sailed with +for years and years. But you'd ought to have tried some of OUR +cookin'. Tell her about the sugar cake you made, Perez. The one +that killed the yaller chicken." + +So Captain Perez told it, and then their visitor set them all +laughing by relating some queer housekeeping experiences that she +and a school friend had had while camping at Chautauqua. Somehow +each one felt at home with her. As Captain Eri said afterwards, +"She didn't giggle, and then ag'in she didn't talk down at you." + +As they rose from the table the young lady asked a question +concerning the location of the hotel. The Captain made no answer +at the time, but after a short consultation with the remainder of +the triumvirate, he came to her as she stood by the window and, +laying his hand on her shoulder, said: + +"Now, Elsie--I hope you don't mind my callin' you Elsie, but I've +been chums with your grandpa so long seems's if you must be a sort +of relation of mine--Elsie, you ain't goin' to no hotel, that is, +unless you're real set on it. Your grandpa's here and we're here, +and there's room enough. I don't want to say too much, but I'd +like to have you b'lieve that me and Perez and Jerry want you to +stay right in this house jest as long's you stop in Orham. Now you +will, won't you?" + +And so it was settled, and Captain Perez harnessed Daniel and went +to the station for the trunk. + +That evening, just before going to bed, the captains stood by the +door of the sick room watching Elsie and the lady from Nantucket as +they sat beside John Baxter's bed. Mrs. Snow was knitting, and +Elsie was reading. Later, as Captain Eri peered out of the dining- +room window to take a final look at the sky in order to get a line +on the weather, he said slowly: + +"Fellers, do you know what I was thinkin' when I see them two women +in there with John? I was thinkin' that it must be a mighty +pleasant thing to know that if you're took sick somebody like that +'ll take care of you." + +Perez nodded. "I think so, too," he said. + +But if this was meant to influence the betrothed one, it didn't +succeed, apparently, for all Captain Jerry said was: + +"Humph! 'Twould take more than that to make me hanker after a +stroke of palsy." + + + +And with the coming of Elsie Preston and Mrs. Snow life in the +little house by the shore took on a decided change. The Nantucket +lady having satisfied herself that John Baxter's illness was likely +to be a long one, wrote several letters to persons in her native +town, which letters, although she did not say so, were supposed by +the captains to deal with the care of her property while she was +away. Having apparently relieved her mind by this method, and +evidently considering the marriage question postponed for the +present, she settled down to nurse the sick man and to keep house +as, in her opinion, a house should be kept. The captains knew +nothing of her past history beyond what they had gathered from +stray bits of her conversation. She evidently did not consider it +necessary to tell anything further, and, on the other hand, asked +no questions. + +In her care of Baxter she was more like a sister than a hired +nurse. No wife could have been more tender in her ministrations or +more devotedly anxious for the patient's welfare. + +In her care of the house, she was neatness itself. She scoured and +swept and washed until the rooms were literally spotless. Order +was Heaven's first law, in her opinion, and she expected everyone +else to keep up to the standard. Captain Perez and Captain Eri +soon got used to the change and gloried in it, but to Captain Jerry +it was not altogether welcome. + +"Oh, cat's foot!" he exclaimed one day, after hunting everywhere +for his Sunday tie, and at length finding it in his bureau drawer. +"I can't git used to this everlastin' spruced-up bus'ness. Way it +used to be, this necktie was likely to be 'most anywheres 'round, +and if I looked out in the kitchen or under the sofy, I was jest as +likely to find it. But now everything's got a place and is in it." + +"Well, that's the way it ought to be, ain't it?" said Eri. "Then +all you've got to do is look in the place." + +"Yes, and that's jest it, I'm always forgittin' the place. My +shoes is sech a place; my hankerchers is sech a place; my pipe is +sech a place; my terbacker is another place. When I want my pipe I +look where my shoes is, and when I want my shoes I go and look +where I found my pipe. How a feller's goin' to keep run of 'em is +what _I_ can't see." + +"You was the one that did most of the growlin' when things was the +old way." + +"Yes, but jest 'cause a man don't want to live in a pigpen it ain't +no sign he wants to be put under a glass case." + +Elsie's influence upon the house and its inmates had become almost +as marked as Mrs. Snow's. The young lady was of an artistic bent, +and the stiff ornaments in the shut-up parlor and the wonderful +oil-paintings jarred upon her. Strange to say, even the wax-dipped +wreath that hung in its circular black frame over the whatnot did +not appeal to her. The captains considered that wreath--it had +been the principal floral offering at the funeral of Captain +Perez's sister, and there was a lock of her hair framed with it-- +the gem of the establishment. They could understand, to a certain +degree, why Miss Preston objected to the prominence given the +spatter-work "God bless our Home" motto, but her failure to enthuse +over the wreath was inexplicable. + +But by degrees they became used to seeing the blinds open at the +parlor windows the week through, and innovations like muslin +curtains and vases filled with late wild flowers came to be at +first tolerated and then liked. "Elsie's notions," the captains +called them. + +There were some great discussions on art, over the teacups after +supper. Miss Preston painted very prettily in water-colors, and +her sketches were received with enthusiastic praise by the captains +and Mrs. Snow. But one day she painted a little picture of a +fishing boat and, to her surprise, it came in for some rather sharp +criticism. + +"That's a pretty picture, Elsie," said Captain Eri, holding the +sketch at arm's length and squinting at it with his head on one +side, "but if that's Caleb Titcomb's boat, and I jedge 'tis, it +seems to me she's carryin' too much sail. What do you think, +Jerry?" + +Captain Jerry took the painting from his friend and critically +examined it, also at arm's length. + +"Caleb's boat ain't got no sech sail as that," was his deliberate +comment. "She couldn't carry it and stand up that way. Besides, +the way I look at it, she's down by the head more 'n she'd ought to +be." + +"But I didn't try to get it EXACTLY right," said the bewildered +artist. "The boat's sails were so white, and the water was so +blue, and the sand so yellow that I thought it made a pretty +picture. I didn't think of the size of the sail." + +"Well, I s'pose you wouldn't, nat'rally," observed Captain Perez, +who was looking over Jerry's shoulder. "But you have to be awful +careful paintin' vessels. Now you jest look at that picture," +pointing to the glaring likeness of the Flying Duck, that hung on +the wall. "Jest look at them sails, every one of 'em drawin' fine; +and them ropes, every one in JEST the right place. That's what I +call paintin'." + +"But don't you think, Captain Perez, that the waves in that picture +would be better if they weren't so all in a row, like a picket +fence?" + +"Well, now, that ain't it. That's a picture of the A1 two-masted +schooner Flyin' Duck, and the waves is only thrown in, as you might +say. The reel thing is the schooner, rigged jest right, trimmed +jest right, and colored jest the way the Flyin' Duck was colored. +You understand them waves was put there jest 'cause there had to be +some to set the schooner in, that's all." + +"But you needn't feel bad, Elsie," said Captain Jerry soothingly. +"'Tain't to be expected that you could paint vessels like Eben +Lothrop can. Eben he used to work in a shipyard up to East Boston +once, and when he was there he had to paint schooners and things, +reely put the paint onto 'em I mean, so, of course, when it come to +paintin' pictures of 'em, why--" + +And Captain Jerry waved his hand. + +So, as there was no answer to an argument like this, Miss Preston +gave up marine painting for the time and began a water-color of the +house and its inmates. This was an elaborate affair, and as the +captains insisted that each member of the family, Daniel and +Lorenzo included, should pose, it seemed unlikely to be finished +for some months, at least. + +Ralph Hazeltine called on the afternoon following Elsie's arrival, +and Captain Eri insisted on his staying to tea. It might have been +noticed that the electrician seemed a trifle embarrassed when Miss +Preston came into the room, but as the young lady was not +embarrassed in the least, and had apparently forgotten the +mistaken-identity incident, his nervousness soon wore off. + +But it came back again when Captain Eri said: + +"Oh, I say, Mr. Hazeltine, I forgot to ask you, did 'Gusty come +yesterday?" + +Ralph answered, rather hurriedly, that she did not. He endeavored +to change the subject, but the Captain wouldn't let him. + +"Well, there!" he exclaimed amazedly; "if 'Gusty ain't broke her +record! Fust time sence Perez was took with the 'Naval Commander' +disease that she ain't been on hand when the month was up, to git +her two dollars. Got so we sort of reckoned by her like an +almanac. Kind of thought she was sure, like death and taxes. And +now she has gone back on us. Blessed if I ain't disapp'inted in +'Gusty!" + +"Who is she?" inquired Mrs. Snow. "One of those book-agent +critters?" + +"Well, if you called her that to her face, I expect there'd be +squalls, but I cal'late she couldn't prove a alibi in court." + +Now it may have been Mr. Hazeltine's fancy, but he could have sworn +that there was just the suspicion of a twinkle in Miss Preston's +eye as she asked, innocently enough: + +"Is she a young lady, Captain Eri?" + +"Well, she hopes she is," was the deliberate answer. "Why?" + +"Does she look like me?" + +"Like YOU? Oh, my soul and body! Wait till you see her. What +made you ask that?" + +"Oh, nothing! I was a little curious, that's all. Have you seen +her, Mr. Hazeltine?" + +Ralph stammered, somewhat confusedly, that he hadn't had the +pleasure. The Captain glanced from the electrician to Miss Preston +and back again. Then he suddenly realized the situation. + +"Ho! ho!" he roared, slapping his knee and rocking back and forth +in his chair. "Don't for the land's sake tell me you took Elsie +here for 'Gusty Black! Don't now! Don't!" + +"He asked me if I had taken many orders," remarked the young lady +demurely. + +When the general hilarity had abated a little Ralph penitently +explained that it was dark, that Captain Eri had said Miss Black +was young, and that she carried a bag. + +"So I did, so I did," chuckled the Captain. "I s'pose 'twas +nat'ral enough, but, oh dear, it's awful funny! Now, Elsie, you'd +ought to feel flattered. Wait till you see 'Gusty's hat, the one +she got up to Boston." + +"Am I forgiven, Miss Preston?" asked Hazeltine, as he said good- +night. + +"Well, I don't know," was the rather non-committal answer. "I +think I shall have to wait until I see 'Gusty." + +But Mr. Hazeltine apparently took his forgiveness for granted, for +his calls became more and more frequent, until his dropping in +after supper came to be a regular occurrence. Young people of the +better class are scarce in Orham during the fall and winter months, +and Ralph found few congenial companions. He liked the captains +and Mrs. Snow, and Elsie's society was a relief after a day with +the operators at the station. Mr. Langley was entirely absorbed in +his business, and spent his evenings in his room, reading and +smoking. + +So September and October passed and November came. School opened +in October and the captains had another boarder, for Josiah +Bartlett, against his wishes, gave up his position as stage-driver, +and was sent to school again. As the boy was no longer employed at +the livery stable, Captain Perez felt the necessity of having him +under his eye, and so Josiah lived at the house by the shore, a cot +being set up in the parlor for his use. His coming made more work +for Mrs. Snow, but that energetic lady did not seem to mind, and +even succeeded in getting the youngster to do a few "chores" about +the place, an achievement that won the everlasting admiration of +Captain Perez, who had no governing power whatever over the boy, +and condoned the most of his faults or scolded him feebly for the +others. + +John Baxter continued to waver between this world and the next. He +had intervals of consciousness in which he recognized the captains +and Elsie, but these rational moments were few and, although he +talked a little, he never mentioned recent events nor alluded to +the fire. + +The fire itself became an old story and gossip took up other +subjects. The "Come-Outers" held a jubilee service because of the +destruction of the saloon, but, as "Web" soon began to rebuild and +repair, their jollification was short-lived. As for Mr. Saunders, +he was the same unctuous, smiling personage that he had formerly +been. It was a curious fact, and one that Captain Eri noted, that +he never ceased to inquire after John Baxter's health, and seemed +honestly glad to hear of the old man's improvement. He asked a +good many questions about Elsie, too, but received little +satisfaction from the Captain on this subject. + + + +CHAPTER X + +MATCHMAKING AND LIFE-SAVING + + +Captain Jerry sat behind the woodshed, in the sunshine, smoking and +thinking. He had done a good deal of the first ever since he was +sixteen years old; the second was, in a measure, a more recent +acquirement. The Captain had things on his mind. + +It was one of those perfect, springlike mornings that sometimes +come in early November. The sky was clear blue, and the air was so +free from haze that the houses at Cranberry Point could be seen in +every detail. The flag on the cable station across the bay stood +out stiff in the steady breeze, and one might almost count the +stripes. The pines on Signal Hill were a bright green patch +against the yellow grass. The sea was a dark sapphire, with +slashes of silver to mark the shoals, and the horizon was notched +with sails. The boats at anchor in front of the shanties swung +with the outgoing tide. + +Then came Captain Eri, also smoking. + +"Hello!" said Captain Jerry. "How is it you ain't off fishin' a +mornin' like this?" + +"Somethin' else on the docket," was the answer. "How's matchmakin' +these days?" + +Now this question touched vitally the subject of Captain Jerry's +thoughts. From a placid, easygoing retired mariner, recent events +had transformed the Captain into a plotter, a man with a "deep-laid +scheme," as the gentlemanly, cigarette-smoking villain of the +melodrama used to love to call it. To tell the truth, petticoat +government was wearing on him. The marriage agreement, to which +his partners considered him bound, and which he saw no way to +evade, hung over him always, but he had put this threat of the +future from his mind so far as possible. He had not found orderly +housekeeping the joy that he once thought it would be, but even +this he could bear. Elsie Preston was the drop too much. + +He liked Mrs. Snow, except in a marrying sense. He liked Elsie +better than any young lady he had ever seen. The trouble was, that +between the two, he, as he would have expressed it, "didn't have +the peace of a dog." + +Before Elsie came, a game of checkers between Perez and himself had +been the regular after-supper amusement. Now they played whist, +Captain Eri and Elsie against him and his former opponent. As +Elsie and her partner almost invariably won, and as Perez usually +found fault with him because they lost, this was not an agreeable +change. But it was but one. He didn't like muslin curtains in his +bedroom, because they were a nuisance when he wanted to sit up in +bed and look out of the window; but the curtains were put there, +and everybody else seemed to think them beautiful, so he could not +protest. Captain Perez and Captain Eri had taken to "dressing up" +for supper, to the extent of putting on neckties and clean collars. +Also they shaved every day. He stuck to the old "twice-a-week" +plan for a while, but looked so scrubby by contrast that out of +mere self-respect he had to follow suit. Obviously two females in +the house were one too many. Something had to be done. + +Ralph Hazeltine's frequent calls gave him the inspiration he was +looking for. This was to bring about a marriage between Ralph and +Miss Preston. After deliberation he decided that if this could be +done the pair would live somewhere else, even though John Baxter +was still too ill to be moved. Elsie could come in every day, but +she would be too busy with her own establishment to bother with the +"improvement" of theirs. It wasn't a very brilliant plan and had +some vital objections, but Captain Jerry considered it a wonder. + +He broached it to his partners, keeping his real object strictly in +the background and enlarging upon his great regard for Ralph and +Elsie, and their obvious fitness for each other. Captain Perez +liked the scheme well enough, provided it could be carried out. +Captain Eri seemed to think it better to let events take their own +course. However, they both agreed to help if the chance offered. + +So, when Mr. Hazeltine called to spend the evening, Captain Jerry +would rise from his chair and, with an elaborate cough and several +surreptitious winks to his messmates, would announce that he +guessed he would "take a little walk," or "go out to the barn," or +something similar. Captain Perez would, more than likely, go also. +As for Captain Eri, he usually "cal'lated" he would step upstairs, +and see how John was getting along. + +But in spite of this loyal support, the results obtained from +Captain Jerry's wonderful plan had not been so startlingly +successful as to warrant his feeling much elated. Ralph and Elsie +were good friends and seemed to enjoy each other's society, but +that was all that might be truthfully said, so far. + +Captain Jerry, therefore, was a little discouraged as he sat in the +sunshine and smoked and pondered. He hid his discouragement, +however, and in response to Captain Eri's question concerning the +progress of the matchmaking, said cheerfully: + +"Oh, it's comin' along, comin' along. Kind of slow, of course, but +you can't expect nothin' diff'rent. I s'pose you noticed he was +here four times last week?" + +"Why, no," said Captain Eri, "I don't know's I did." + +"Well, he was, and week a fore that 'twas only three. So that's a +gain, ain't it?" + +"Sartin." + +"I didn't count the time he stopped after a drink of water neither. +That wasn't a real call, but--" + +"Oh, it ought to count for somethin'! Call it a ha'f a time. That +would make four times and a ha'f he was here." + +Captain Jerry looked suspiciously at his friend's face, but its +soberness was irreproachable, so he said: + +"Well, it's kind of slow work, but, as I said afore, it's comin' +along, and I have the satisfaction of knowin' it's all for their +good." + +"Yes, like the feller that ate all the apple-dumplin's so's his +children wouldn't have the stomach-ache. But say, Jerry, I come +out to ask if you'd mind bein' housekeeper to-day. Luther Davis +has been after me sence I don't know when to come down to the life- +savin' station and stay to dinner. His sister Pashy--the old maid +one--is down there, and it's such a fine day I thought I'd take +Perez and Elsie and Mrs. Snow and, maybe, Hazeltine along. +Somebody's got to stay with John, and I thought p'raps you would. +I'd stay myself only Luther asked me so particular, and you was +down there two or three months ago. When Josiah comes back from +school he'll help you some, if you need him." + +Captain Jerry didn't mind staying at home, and so Eri went into the +house to make arrangements for the proposed excursion. He had some +difficulty in persuading Mrs. Snow and Elsie to leave the sick man, +but both were tired and needed a rest, and there was a telephone at +the station, so that news of a change in the patient's condition +could be sent almost immediately. Under these conditions, and as +Captain Jerry was certain to take good care of their charge, the +two were persuaded to go. Perez took the dory and rowed over to +the cable station to see if Mr. Hazeltine cared to make one of the +party. When he returned, bringing the electrician with him, +Daniel, harnessed to the carryall, was standing at the side door, +and Captain Eri, Mrs. Snow, and Elsie were waiting. + +Ralph glanced at the carryall, and then at those who were expected +to occupy it. + +"I think I'd better row down, Captain," he said. "I don't see how +five of us are going to find room in there." + +"What, in a carryall?" exclaimed the Captain. "Why, that's what a +carryall's for. I've carried six in a carryall 'fore now. 'Twas a +good while ago, though," he added with a chuckle, "when I was +consid'rable younger 'n I am now. Squeezin' didn't count in them +days, 'specially if the girls wanted to go to camp-meetin'. I +cal'late we can fix it. You and me'll set on the front seat, and +the rest in back. Elsie ain't a very big package, and Perez, he's +sort of injy-rubber; he'll fit in 'most anywheres. Let's try it +anyhow." + +And try it they did. While it was true that Elsie was rather +small, Mrs. Snow was distinctly large, and how Captain Perez, in +spite of his alleged elasticity, managed to find room between them +is a mystery. He, however, announced that he was all right, +adding, as a caution: + +"Don't jolt none, Eri, 'cause I'm kind of hangin' on the little +aidge of nothin'." + +"I'll look out for you," answered his friend, picking up the reins. +"All ashore that's goin' ashore. So long, Jerry. Git dap, +Thousand Dollars!" + +Daniel complacently accepted this testimony to his monetary worth +and jogged out of the yard. Fortunately appearances do not count +for much in Orham, except in the summer, and the spectacle of five +in a carryall is nothing out of the ordinary. They turned into the +"cliff road," the finest thoroughfare in town, kept in good +condition for the benefit of the cottagers and the boarders at the +big hotel. The ocean was on the left, and from the hill by the +Barry estate--Captain Perez' charge--they saw twenty miles of +horizon line with craft of all descriptions scattered along it. + +Schooners there were of all sizes, from little mackerel seiners to +big four- and five-masters. A tug with a string of coal barges +behind it was so close in that they could make out the connecting +hawsers. A black freight steamer was pushing along, leaving a +thick line of smoke like a charcoal mark on the sky. One square- +rigger was in sight, but far out. + +"What do you make of that bark, Perez?" inquired Captain Eri, +pointing to the distant vessel. British, ain't she?" + +Captain Perez leaned forward and peered from under his hand. +"French, looks to me," he said. + +"Don't think so. Way she's rigged for'ard looks like Johnny Bull. +Look at that fo'tops'l." + +"Guess you're right, Eri, now I come to notice it. Can you make +out her flag? Wish I'd brought my glass." + +"Great Scott, man!" exclaimed Ralph. "What sort of eyes have you +got? I couldn't tell whether she had a flag or not at this +distance. How do you do it?" + +"'Cordin' to how you're brought up, as the goat said 'bout eatin' +shingle-nails," replied Captain Eri. "When you're at sea you've +jest got to git used to seein' things a good ways off and knowin' +'em when you see 'em, too." + +"I remember, one time," remarked Mrs. Snow, "that my brother +Nathan--he's dead now--was bound home from Hong Kong fust mate on +the bark Di'mond King. 'Twas the time of the war and the Alabama +was cruisin' 'round, lookin' out for our ships. Nate and the +skipper--a Bangor man he was--was on deck, and they sighted a +steamer a good ways off. The skipper spied her and see she was +flyin' the United States flag. But when Nate got the glass he took +one look and says, 'That Yankee buntin' don't b'long over that +English hull,' he says. You see he knew she was English build +right away. So the skipper pulled down his own flag and h'isted +British colors, but 'twa'n't no use; the steamer was the Alabama +sure enough, and the Di'mond King was burned, and all hands took +pris'ners. Nate didn't git home for ever so long, and everybody +thought he was lost." + +This set the captains going, and they told sea-stories until they +came to the road that led down to the beach beneath the lighthouse +bluff. The lifesaving station was in plain sight now, but on the +outer beach, and that was separated from them by a two-hundred-yard +stretch of water. + +"Well," observed Captain Eri, "here's where we take Adam's bridge." + +"Adam's bridge?" queried Elsie, puzzled. + +"Yes; the only kind he had, I cal'late. Git dap, Daniel! What are +you waitin' for? Left your bathin' suit to home?" + +Then, as Daniel stepped rather gingerly into the clear water, he +explained that, at a time ranging from three hours before low tide +to three hours after, one may reach the outer beach at this point +by driving over in an ordinary vehicle. The life-savers add to +this time-limit by using a specially built wagon, with large wheels +and a body considerably elevated. + +"Well, there now!" exclaimed the lady from Nantucket, as Daniel +splashingly emerged on the other side. "I thought I'd done about +everything a body could do with salt water, but I never went ridin' +in it afore." + +The remainder of the way to the station was covered by Daniel at a +walk, for the wheels of the heavy carryall sank two inches or more +in the coarse sand as they turned. The road wound between sand +dunes, riven and heaped in all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, +and with clumps of the persevering beach grass clinging to their +tops like the last treasured tufts of hair on partially bald heads. +Here and there, half buried, sand-scoured planks and fragments of +spars showed, relics of wrecks that had come ashore in past +winters. + +"Five years ago," remarked Captain Eri, "there was six foot of +water where we are now. This beach changes every winter. One good +no'theaster jest rips things loose over here; tears out a big chunk +of beach and makes a cut-through one season, and fills in a deep +hole and builds a new shoal the next. I've heard my father tell +'bout pickin' huckleberries when he was a boy off where them +breakers are now. Good dry land it was then. Hey! there's Luther. +Ship ahoy, Lute!" + +The little brown life-saving station was huddled between two sand- +hills. There was a small stable and a henhouse and yard just +behind it. Captain Davis, rawboned and brown-faced, waved a +welcome to them from the side door. + +"Spied you comin', Eri," he said in a curiously mild voice, that +sounded odd coming from such a deep chest. "I'm mighty glad to see +you, too? Jump down and come right in. Pashy 'll be out in a +minute. Here she is now." + +Miss Patience Davis was as plump as her brother was tall. She +impressed one as a comfortable sort of person. Captain Eri did the +honors and everyone shook hands. Then they went into the living +room of the station. + +What particularly struck Mrs. Snow was the neatness of everything. +The brass on the pump in the sink shone like fire as the sunlight +from the window struck it. The floor was white from scouring. +There were shelves on the walls and on these, arranged in orderly +piles, were canned goods of all descriptions. The table was +covered with a figured oilcloth. + +Two or three men, members of the crew, were seated in the wooden +chairs along the wall, but rose as the party came in. Captain +Davis introduced them, one after the other. Perhaps the most +striking characteristic of these men was the quiet, almost bashful, +way in which they spoke; they seemed like big boys, as much as +anything, and yet the oldest was nearly fifty. + +"Ever been in a life-saving station afore?" asked Captain Eri. + +Elsie had not. Ralph had and so had Mrs. Snow, but not for years. + +"This is where we keep the boat and the rest of the gear," said +Captain Davis, opening a door and leading the way into a large, +low-studded room. "Them's the spare oars on the wall. The reg'lar +ones are in the boat." + +The boat itself was on its carriage in the middle of the room. +Along the walls on hooks hung the men's suits of oilskins and their +sou'westers. The Captain pointed out one thing after another, the +cork jackets and life-preservers, the gun for shooting the life +line across a stranded vessel, the life car hanging from the roof, +and the "breeches buoy." + +"I don't b'lieve you'd ever git me into that thing," said the +Nantucket lady decidedly, referring to the buoy. "I don't know but +I'd 'bout as liefs be drownded as make sech a show of myself." + +"Took off a bigger woman than you one time," said Captain Davis. +"Wife of a Portland skipper, she was, and he was on his fust v'yage +in a brand-new schooner jest off the stocks. Struck on the Hog's +Back off here and then drifted close in and struck again. We got +'em all, the woman fust. That was the only time we've used the +buoy sence I've been at the station. Most of the wrecks are too +fur off shore and we have to git out the boat." + +He took them upstairs to the men's sleeping rooms and then up to +the little cupola on the roof. + +"Why do you have ground-glass windows on this side of the house?" +asked Elsie, as they passed the window on the landing. + +Captain Davis laughed. + +"Well, it is pretty nigh ground-glass now," he answered, "but it +wa'n't when it was put in. The sand did that. It blows like all +possessed when there's a gale on." + +"Do you mean that those windows were ground that way by the beach +sand blowing against them?" asked Ralph, astonished. + +"Sartin. Git a good no'therly wind comin' up the beach and it +fetches the sand with it. Mighty mean stuff to face, sand blowin' +like that is; makes you think you're fightin' a nest of yaller- +jackets." + +With the telescope in the cupola they could see for miles up and +down the beach and out to sea. An ocean tug bound toward Boston +was passing, and Elsie, looking through the glass, saw the cook +come out of the galley, empty a pan over the side, and go back +again. + +"Let me look through that a minute," said Captain Eri, when the +rest had had their turn. He swung the glass around until it +pointed toward their home away up the shore. + +"Perez," he called anxiously, "look here quick!" + +Captain Perez hastily put his eye to the glass, and his friend went +on: + +"You see our house?" he said. "Yes; well, you see the dinin'-room +door. Notice that chair by the side of it?" + +"Yes, what of it?" + +"Well, that's the rocker that Elsie made the velvet cushion for. I +want you to look at the upper southeast corner of that cushion, and +see if there ain't a cat's hair there. Lorenzo's possessed to +sleep in that chair, and--" + +"Oh, you git out!" indignantly exclaimed Captain Perez, +straightening up. + +"Well, it was a pretty important thing, and I wanted to make sure. +I left that chair out there, and I knew what I'd catch if any cat's +hairs got on that cushion while I was gone. Ain't that so, Mrs. +Snow?" + +The housekeeper expressed her opinion that Captain Eri was a +"case," whatever that may be. + +They had clam chowder for dinner--a New England clam chowder, made +with milk and crackers, and clams with shells as white as snow. +They were what the New Yorker calls "soft-shell" clams, for a +Fulton Market chowder is a "quahaug soup" to the native of the +Cape. + +Now that chowder was good; everybody said so, and if the proof of +the chowder, like that of the pudding, is in the eating of it, this +one had a clear case. Also, there were boiled striped bass, which +is good enough for anybody, hot biscuits, pumpkin pie, and beach- +plum preserves. There was a running fire of apologies from Miss +Patience and answering volleys of compliments from Mrs. Snow. + +"I don't see how you make sech beach-plum preserves, Miss Davis," +exclaimed the lady from Nantucket. "I declare! I'm goin' to ask +you for another sasserful. I b'lieve they're the best I ever ate." + +"Well, now! Do you think so? I kind of suspected that the plums +was a little mite too ripe. You know how 'tis with beach-plums, +they've got to be put up when they're jest so, else they ain't good +for much. I was at Luther for I don't know how long 'fore I could +git him to go over to the P'int and pick 'em, and I was 'fraid he'd +let it go too long. I only put up twenty-two jars of 'em on that +account. How much sugar do you use?" + +There was material here for the discussion that country housewives +love, and the two ladies took advantage of it. When it was over +the female portion of the company washed the dishes, while the men +walked up and down the beach and smoked. Here they were joined +after a while by the ladies, for even by the ocean it was as mild +as early May, and the wind was merely bracing and had no sting in +it. + +The big blue waves shouldered themselves up from the bosom of the +sea, marched toward the beach, and tumbled to pieces in a roaring +tumult of white and green. The gulls skimmed along their tops or +dropped like falling stones into the water after sand eels, +emerging again, screaming, to repeat the performance. + +The conversation naturally turned to wrecks, and Captain Davis, his +reserve vanishing before the tactful inquiries of the captains and +Ralph, talked shop and talked it well. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +HEROES AND A MYSTERY + + +Luther Davis had been commandant at the life-saving station for +years and "Number One Man" before that, so his experience with +wrecks and disabled craft of all kinds had been long and varied. +He told them of disasters the details of which had been telegraphed +all over the country, and of rescues of half-frozen crews from ice- +crested schooners whose signals of distress had been seen from the +observatory on the roof of the station. He told of long rows in +midwinter through seas the spray of which turned to ice as they +struck, and froze the men's mittens to the oar-handles. He told of +picking up draggled corpses in the surf at midnight, when, as he +said, "You couldn't tell whether 'twas a man or a roll of seaweed, +and the only way to make sure was to reach down and feel." + +Captain Eri left them after a while, as he had some acquaintances +among the men at the station, and wished to talk with them. Miss +Davis remembered that she had not fed the chickens, and hurried +away to perform that humane duty, gallantly escorted by Captain +Perez. The Captain, by the way, was apparently much taken with the +plump spinster and, although usually rather bashful where ladies +were concerned, had managed to keep up a sort of side conversation +with Miss Patience while the storytelling was going on. But Ralph +and Elsie and Mrs. Snow were hungry for more tales, and Captain +Davis obligingly told them. + +"One of the wust wrecks we ever had off here," he said, "was the +Bluebell, British ship, she was: from Singapore, bound to Boston, +and loaded with hemp. We see her about off that p'int there, jest +at dusk, and she was makin' heavy weather then. It come on to snow +soon as it got dark, and blow--don't talk! Seems to me 'twas one +of the meanest nights I ever saw. 'Tween the snow flyin' and the +dark you couldn't see two feet ahead of you. We was kind of +worried about the vessel all evenin'--for one thing she was too +close in shore when we see her last--but there wa'n't nothin' to be +done except to keep a weather eye out for signs of trouble. + +"Fust thing we knew of the wreck was when the man on patrol up the +beach--Philander Vose 'twas--telephoned from the shanty that a +ship's long-boat had come ashore at Knowles' Cove, two mile above +the station. That was about one o'clock in the mornin'. 'Bout +h'af-past two Sim Gould--he was drownded the next summer, fishin' +on the Banks--telephoned from the shanty BELOW the station--the one +a mile or so 'tother side of the cable house, Mr. Hazeltine--that +wreckage was washin' up abreast of where he was; that was six miles +from where the longboat come ashore. So there we was. There +wa'n't any way of tellin' whereabouts she was layin'; she might +have been anywheres along them six miles, and you couldn't hear +nothin' nor see nothin'. But anyhow, the wreckage kept comin' in +below the cable station, so I jedged she was somewheres in that +neighborhood and we got the boat out--on the cart, of course--and +hauled it down there. + +"'Twas a tremendous job, too, that haulin' was. We had the horse +and the whole of us helpin' him, but I swan! I begun to think we'd +never git anywheres. 'Tween the wind and the sand and the snow I +thought we'd flap to pieces, like a passel of shirts on a clothes +line. But we got there after a spell, and then there was nothin' +to do but wait for daylight. + +"'Bout seven o'clock the snow let up a little bit, and then we see +her. There was a bar jest about opposite the cable station--it's +been washed away sence--and she'd struck on that, and the sea was +makin' a clean breach over her. There was a ha'f a dozen of her +crew lashed in the riggin', but I didn't see 'em move, so I presume +likely they was froze stiff then, for 'twas perishin' cold. But we +wrastled the boat down to the water and was jest goin' to launch +her when the whole three masts went by the 'board, men and all. We +put off to her, but she was in a reg'lar soapsuds of a sea and +awash from stem to stern, so we knew there was nothin' livin' +aboard. + +"Yes, siree," continued the Captain meditatively, "that was a mean +night. I had this ear frost-bit, and it's been tender ever sence. +One of the fellers had a rib broke; he was a little light chap, and +the wind jest slammed him up against the cart like as if he was a +chip. And jest to show you," he added, "how the tide runs around +this place, the bodies of that crew was picked up from Wellmouth to +Setuckit P'int--twenty-mile stretch that is. The skipper's body +never come ashore. He had a son, nice young feller, that was goin' +to meet him in Boston, and that boy spent a month down here, +waitin' for his father's body to be washed up. He'd walk up and +down this beach, and walk up and down. Pitiful sight as ever I +see." + +"And they were all lost?" asked Elsie with a shiver. + +"Every man Jack. But 'twas cu'rus about that hemp. The Bluebell +was loaded with it, as I told you, and when she went to pieces the +tide took that hemp and strung it from here to glory. They picked +it up all 'longshore, and for much as a month afterwards you'd go +along the 'main road' over in the village, and see it hung over +fences or spread out in the sun to dry. Looked like all the blonde +girls in creation had had a hair-cut." + +"Captain Davis," said Ralph, "you must have seen some plucky things +in your life. What was the bravest thing you ever saw done?" + +The life saver took the cigar that Hazeltine had given him from his +mouth, and blew the smoke into the air over his head. + +"Well," he said slowly, "I don't know exactly. I've seen some +pretty gritty things done 'long-shore here, in the service. When +there's somebody drowndin', and you know there's a chance to save +'em, you'll take chances, and think nothin' of 'em, that you +wouldn't take if you had time to set down and cal'late a little. I +see somethin' done once that may not strike you as bein' anything +out of the usual run, but that has always seemed to me clear grit +and nothin' else. 'Twa'n't savin' life neither; 'twas jest a +matter of bus'ness. + +"It happened up off the coast of Maine 'long in the seventies. I +was actin' as sort of second mate on a lumber schooner. 'Twas a +pitch-black night, or mornin' rather, 'bout six o'clock, blowin' +like all possessed and colder 'n Greenland. We struck a rock that +wa'n't even down on an Eldredge chart and punched a hole in the +schooner's side, jest above what ought to have been the water line, +only she was heeled over so that 'twas consider'ble below it most +of the time. We had a mean crew aboard, Portugees mainly, and poor +ones at that. The skipper was below, asleep, and when he come on +deck things was in a bad way. We'd got the canvas off her, but she +was takin' in water every time she rolled, and there was a sea +goin' that was tearin' things loose in great shape. We shipped one +old grayback that ripped off a strip of the lee rail jest the same +as you'd rip the edge off the cover of a pasteboard box--never made +no more fuss about it, either. + +"I didn't see nothin' to do but get out the boats, but the skipper +he wa'n't that kind. He sized things up in a hurry, I tell you. +He drove the crew--ha'f of 'em was prayin' to the Virgin and +t'other ha'f swearin' a blue streak--to the pumps, and set me over +'em with a revolver to keep 'em workin'. Then him and the fust +mate and one or two of the best hands rousted out a spare sail, +weighted one edge of it to keep it down, and got it over the side, +made fast, of course. + +"Then him and the mate stripped to their underclothes, rigged a +sort of bos'n's chair over where the hole in the side was, took +hammers and a pocketful of nails apiece, and started in to nail +that canvas over the hole. + +"'Twas freezin' cold, and the old schooner was rollin' like a +washtub. One minute I'd see the skipper and the mate h'isted up in +the air, hammerin' for dear life, and then, swash! under they'd go, +clear under, and stay there, seemed to me, forever. Every dip I +thought would be the end, and I'd shet my eyes, expectin' to see +'em gone when she lifted; but no, up they'd come, fetch a breath, +shake the salt water out of their eyes, and go to work again. + +"Four hours and a quarter they was at it, four hours, mind you, and +under water a good ha'f of the time; but they got that sail nailed +fast fin'lly. We got 'em on deck when 'twas done, and we had to +carry the fust mate to the cabin. But the skipper jest sent the +cook for a pail of bilin' hot coffee, drunk the whole of it, put on +dry clothes over his wet flannels, and stayed on deck and worked +that schooner into Portland harbor, the men pumpin' clear green +water out of the hold every minute of the way. + +"Now, that always seemed to me to be the reel thing. 'Twa'n't a +question of savin' life--we could have took to the boats and, nine +chances out of ten, got ashore all right, for 'twa'n't very fur. +But no, the skipper said he'd never lost a vessel for an owner yit +and he wa'n't goin' to lose this one. And he didn't either, by +Judas! No, sir!" + +"That was splendid!" exclaimed Elsie. "I should like to have known +that captain. Who was he, Captain Davis?" + +"Well, the fust mate was Obed Simmons--he's dead now--but he used +to live over on the road towards East Harniss. The skipper--well, +he was a feller you know." + +"'Twas Cap'n Eri," said Mrs. Snow with conviction. + +"That's right, ma'am. Perez told you, I s'pose." + +"No, nobody told me. I jest guessed it. I've seen a good many +folks in my time, and I cal'late I've got so I can tell what kind a +man is after I've known him a little while. I jedged Cap'n Eri was +that kind, and, when you said we knew that skipper, I was almost +sartin 'twas him." + +"Well!" exclaimed Ralph, "I don't believe I should have guessed it. +I've always liked the Captain, but he has seemed so full of fun and +so easy-going that I never thought of his doing anything quite so +strenuous." + +Captain Davis laughed. "I've seen fo'mast hands try to take +advantage of that easy-goin' way 'fore now," he said, "but they +never did it but once. Cap'n Eri is one of the finest fellers that +ever stepped, but you can't stomp on his toes much, and he's clear +grit inside. And say," he added, "don't you tell anybody I told +that story, for he'd skin me alive if he knew it." + +As they walked back toward the station Ralph and Elsie lingered a +little behind the others, and then stopped to watch a big four- +master that, under full sail, was spinning along a mile or two from +the beach. They watched it for a moment or two without speaking. +Elsie's cheeks were brown from the sun, stray wisps of her hair +fluttered in the wind, and her trim, healthy figure stood out +against the white sandhill behind them as if cut from cardboard. +The electrician looked at her, and again the thought of that +disgraceful "'Gusty" Black episode was forced into his mind. They +had had many a good laugh over it since, and Elsie had apparently +forgotten it, but he had not, by a good deal. + +She was the first to speak, and then as much to herself as to him. + +"I think they are the best people I ever knew," she said. + +"Who?" he asked. + +"Oh, all of them! The captains and Mrs. Snow, and Captain Davis +and his sister. They are so simple and kind and generous. And the +best of it is, they don't seem to know it, and wouldn't believe it +if you told them." + +Ralph nodded emphatically. + +"I imagine it would take a good deal to convince Davis or any of +these station men that there was anything heroic in their lives," +he said. "As for Captain Eri, I have known him only a month or +two, but I don't know of anyone to whom I would rather go if I were +in trouble." + +"He has been so kind to grandfather and me," said Elsie, "that I +feel as though we were under an obligation we never could repay. +When I came down here I knew no one in Orham, and he and Captain +Jerry and Captain Perez have made me feel more at home than I have +ever felt before. You know," she added, "grandfather is the only +relative I have." + +"I suppose you will go back to your studies when your grandfather +recovers." + +"I don't know. If grandfather is well enough I think I shall try +to persuade him to come up to Boston and live with me. Then I +might perhaps teach. This was to have been my last year at +Radcliffe, so my giving it up will not make so much difference. Do +you intend to stay here long? I suppose you do. Your profession, +I know, means so much to you, and your work at the station must be +very interesting." + +"It would be more so if I had someone who was interested with me. +Mr. Langley is kind, but he is so wrapped up in his own work that I +see very little of him. I took the place because I thought it +would give me a good deal of spare time that I might use in +furthering some experiments of my own. Electricity is my hobby, +and I have one or two ideas that I am foolish enough to hope may be +worth developing. I have had time enough, goodness knows, but it's +a lonesome sort of life. If it had not been for the captains--and +you--I think I should have given it up before this." + +"Oh, I hope you won't." + +"Why?" + +"Why--why, because it seems like running away, almost, doesn't it? +If a thing is hard to do, but is worth doing, I think the +satisfaction IN doing it is ever so much greater, don't you? I +know it must be lonely for you; but, then, it is lonely for Mr. +Langley and the other men, too." + +"I doubt if Mr. Langley would be happy anywhere else, and the other +men are married, most of them, and live over in the village." + +Now, there isn't any real reason why this simple remark should have +caused a halt in the conversation, but it did. Miss Preston said, +"Oh, indeed!" rather hurriedly, and her next speech was concerning +the height of a particularly big wave. Mr. Hazeltine answered this +commonplace somewhat absent-mindedly. He acted like a man to whom +a startling idea had suddenly occurred. Just then they heard +Captain Eri calling them. + +The Captain was standing on a sand dune near the station, shouting +their names through a speaking trumpet formed by placing his hands +about his mouth. As the pair came strolling toward him, he shifted +his hands to his trousers pockets and stood watching the young +couple with a sort of half smile. + +"I s'pose if Jerry was here now," he mused, "he'd think his scheme +was workin'. Well, maybe 'tis, maybe 'tis. You can't never tell. +Well, I swan!" + +The exclamation was called forth by the sight of Captain Perez and +Miss Patience, who suddenly came into view around the corner of the +station. The Captain was gallantly assisting his companion over +the rough places in the path, and she was leaning upon his arm in a +manner that implied implicit confidence. Captain Eri glanced from +one couple to the other, and then grinned broadly. The grin had +not entirely disappeared when Captain Perez came up, and the latter +rather crisply asked what the joke was. + +"Oh, nothin'!" was the reply. "I was jest thinkin' we must be +playin' some kind of a game, and I was It." + +"It?" queried Miss Patience, puzzled. + +"Why, yes. I'm kinder like 'Rastus Bailey used to be at the dances +when you and me was younger, Perez. Old man Alexander--he was the +fiddler--used to sing out 'Choose partners for Hull's Vict'ry,' or +somethin' like that, and it always took 'Ras so long to make up his +mind what girl to choose that he gin'rally got left altogether. +Then he'd set on the settee all through the dance and say he never +cared much for Hull's Vict'ry, anyway. Seems to me, I'm the only +one that ain't choosed partners. How 'bout it, Perez?" + +"More fool you, that's all I've got to say," replied Captain Perez +stoutly. + +Miss Patience laughed so heartily at this rejoinder that Perez +began to think he had said a very good thing indeed, and so +repeated it for greater effect. + +"You want to look out for him, Miss Davis," said Captain Eri. +"He's the most fascinatin' youngster of his age I ever see. Me and +Jerry's been thinkin' we'd have to build a fence 'round the house +to keep the girls away when he's home. Why, M'lissy Busteed +fairly--" + +"Oh, give us a rest, Eri!" exclaimed Perez, with even more +indignation than was necessary. "M'lissy Busteed!" + +Just then Ralph and Elsie came up, and Captain Eri explained that +he had hailed them because it was time to be going if they wanted +to get across to the mainland without swimming. They walked around +to the back door of the station and there found Mrs. Snow and +Captain Davis by the hen-yard. The lady from Nantucket had +discovered a sick chicken in the collection, and she was holding it +in her lap and at the same time discoursing learnedly on the +relative value of Plymouth Rocks and Rhode Island Reds, as layers. + +"See there!" exclaimed Captain Eri delightedly, pointing to the +suffering pullet, "what did I tell you? D'you wonder we picked her +out for nuss for John, Luther? Even a sick hen knows enough to go +to her." + +They harnessed Daniel to the carryall, and stowed the living +freight aboard somehow, although Captain Perez protested that he +had eaten so much dinner he didn't know's he'd be able to hang on +the way he did coming down. Then they said farewell to Captain +Davis and his sister and started for home. The members of the +crew, such of them as were about the station, waved good-by to them +as they passed. + +"Things kind of average up in this world, don't they?" said Captain +Eri reflectively, as he steered Daniel along the soft beach toward +the ford. "We're all the time readin' 'bout fellers that work for +the Gov'ment gittin' high sal'ries and doin' next to nothin'. Now +there's a gang--the life-savin' crew, I mean--that does what you +and me would call almighty hard work and git next to nothin' for +it. Uncle Sam gits square there, it seems to me. A few dollars a +month and find yourself ain't gilt-edged wages for bein' froze and +drownded and blown to pieces ten months out of the year, is it?" + +The tide was higher when they came to the crossing than it had been +when they drove over before, but they made the passage all right, +although there was some nervousness displayed by the feminine +portion of the party. When they reached home they found Captain +Jerry contentedly smoking his pipe, the sick man was asleep, and +everything was serene. Josiah appeared from behind the barn, where +he had been smoking a cigarette. + +They pressed Mr. Hazeltine to stay to supper, but he declined, +alleging that he had been away from business too long already. He +had been remarkably silent during the homeward ride, and Elsie, +too, had seemed busy with her thoughts. She was full of fun at the +supper table, however, and the meal was a jolly one. Just as it +was finished Captain Jerry struck the table a bang with his palm +that made the knives and forks jump, and so startled Captain Perez +as to cause him to spill half a cup of tea over his shirt bosom. + +"Land of love!" ejaculated the victim, mopping his chin and his tie +with his napkin. "It's bad enough to scare a feller to death, let +alone drowndin' and scaldin' him at the same time. What did you do +that for?" + +"I jest thought of somethin'," exclaimed Captain Jerry, going +through one pocket after the other. + +"Well, I wish you'd have your thinkin' fits in the barn or +somewheres else next time. I put this shirt on clean this mornin' +and now look at it!" + +His friend was too busy to pay any attention to this advice. The +pocket search apparently being unsatisfactory, he rose from the +table and hurriedly made a round of the room, looking on the +mantelpiece and under chairs. + +"I had it when I come in," he soliloquized. "I know I did, 'cause +I was wearin' it when I went out to see to the hens. I don't see +where--" + +"If it's your hat you're looking for," observed Josiah, "I saw Mrs. +Snow hang it up on the nail behind the door. There it is now." + +The reply to this was merely a grunt, which may, or may not have +expressed approval. At any rate, the hat was apparently the object +of his search, for he took it from the nail, looked inside, and +with a sigh of relief took out a crumpled envelope. + +"I knew I put it somewheres," he said. "It's a letter for you, +Elsie. Josiah, here, he brought it down from the post-office when +he come from school this afternoon. I meant to give it to you +afore." + +Captain Eri, who sat next to the young lady, noticed that the +envelope was addressed in an irregular, sprawling hand to "Miss +Elizabeth Preston, Orham, Mass." Elsie looked it over in the +absent way in which so many of us examine the outside of a letter +which comes unexpectedly. + +"I wonder who it is from," she said. + +She did not open it at once, but, tucking it into her waist, +announced that she must run upstairs, in order that Mrs. Snow might +come down to supper. The housekeeper did come down a few minutes +later, and, as she was interested to know more about Luther Davis +and his sister, the talk became animated and general. + +It was after eight o'clock when Mrs. Snow, having finished washing +the dishes--she allowed no one to assist her in this operation +since the time when she caught Captain Jerry absent-mindedly using +the dust rag instead of the dishcloth--went upstairs to her +patient. Shortly afterward Elsie came down, wearing her hat and +jacket. + +"I'm going out for a little while," she said. "No, I don't want +anyone to go with me. I'll be back soon." + +Her back was turned to the three captains as she spoke, but, as she +opened the door, the lamplight shone for an instant on her face, +and Captain Eri noticed, or fancied that he did, that she was paler +than usual. He rose, and again offered to accompany her, but met +with such a firm refusal that he could not insist further. + +"Now, that's kind of funny, ain't it?" remarked Perez. "I don't +b'lieve she's been out alone afore after dark sence she's been +here." + +"Where did you git that letter, Josiah?" asked Captain Eri. + +It may as well be explained here that Captain Perez' grand-nephew +was a thorn in the flesh to everyone, including his indulgent +relative. He was a little afraid of Mrs. Snow, and obeyed her +better than he did anyone else, but that is not saying a great +deal. He was in mischief in school two-thirds of the time, and his +reports, made out by the teacher, were anything but complimentary. +He was a good-looking boy, the image of his mother, who had been +her uncle's favorite, and he was popular with a certain class of +youngsters. Also, and this was worse, his work at the livery +stable had thrown him in contact with a crowd of men like +"Squealer" Wixon, "Web" Saunders, and others of their class, and +they appreciated his New York street training and made much of him. +Captain Perez, mindful of his promise to the boy's mother, did not +use the necessary measures to control him, and Captain Eri and +Captain Jerry did not like to interfere. + +Just now he was seated in the corner, and he looked up with a +start, hurriedly folded up the tattered paper book he was reading, +stuffed it into his pocket, and said, "What?" + +"Who give you that letter that come for Elsie?" + +"Miss Cahoon up at the office. It was in our box," said the boy. + +"Humph! What are you readin' that's so interestin'?" + +"Oh, nothin'. A book, that's all." + +"Let me look at it." + +Josiah hesitated, looked as if he would like to refuse, and then +sullenly took the ragged volume from his pocket and handed it to +the Captain, who deliberately unfolded it, and looked at the cover. + +"'Fightin' Fred Starlight, the Boy Rover of the Pacific,'" he read +aloud. "Humph! Is it good?" + +"Bet your life! It's a red-hot story." + +"I want to know! Who was Mr. Moonshine--what's his name--Starlight?" + +"He was a sailor," was the sulky answer. Josiah was no fool, and +knew when he was being made fun of. + +The Captain opened the book, and read a page or two to himself. +Then he said, "I see he knocked the skipper down 'cause he insulted +him. Nice, spunky chap; I'd like to have had him aboard a vessel +of mine. And he called the old man a 'caitiff hound'? Awful thing +to call a feller, that is. I'll bet that skipper felt ashamed. +Looks like a good book. I'll borrow it to-night to read while +you're doin' your lessons." + +"I ain't got any lessons to do." + +"Oh, ain't you? I thought that was a 'rithmetic over there." + +"Well, I know 'em now. Besides, you ain't got any right to order +me around. You ain't my uncle. Can't I read that book, Uncle +Perez?" + +Poor Perez! He hesitated, swallowed once or twice, and answered, +"You can read it after you've studied a spell. You'll let him have +it then, won't you, Eri? Now study, like a good boy." + +Captain Eri looked as if he would like to say something further, +but he evidently thought better of it, and tossed the paper novel +across to Captain Perez, who put it on the table, saying, rather +feebly: + +"There now, it's right there, where you can have it soon's you've +l'arned your examples. Now pitch in, so's the teacher can see how +smart you are." + +His nephew grumblingly got his paper and pencil, took the +arithmetic and went to work. No one spoke for a while, Captain +Perez twirling his thumbs and looking, as he felt, uncomfortable. +Soon Josiah, announcing that his studies were completed, grabbed +the novel from the table, took a lamp from the kitchen and went off +to bed. When he had gone Captain Jerry said, "Perez, you're +sp'ilin' that boy." + +"I s'pose I am, I s'pose I am, but I can't bear to be cross to him, +somehow. Poor Lizzie, she made me promise I wouldn't be, and I +jest can't; that's all. You understand how 'tis, don't you, Eri?" + +The Captain nodded. "I understand," he said. "I'm sorry I said +anything. I hadn't ought to be givin' orders 'bout what's none of +my affairs. What time is it gittin' to be?" + +Captain Jerry announced that it was bedtime, and that he was going +to turn in. Perez, still looking worried and anxious, said that he +also was going to bed. Captain Eri thought that he would sit up +for a while. + +Another hour and still another went by, and the Captain sat there +in his rocker. His two friends were sound asleep. Mrs. Snow +called twice from the head of the stairs to know if Elsie had come +back, and where on earth she could be. Captain Eri's answers were +cheery and to the effect that the young lady had an errand up town, +and would be home pretty soon, he guessed. Nevertheless, it might +have been noticed that he glanced at the clock every few minutes, +and grew more and more fidgety. + +It was after eleven when Elsie came in. She hurriedly and with +some confusion apologized for being so late, and thanked the +Captain for sitting up for her. She made no offer to explain her +long absence and, as she went upstairs, Captain Eri noticed that +her face was, if anything, paler than when she went out, and her +eyes looked as if she had been crying. He wanted to ask her some +questions, but didn't, because she evidently did not wish to talk. +He pondered over the matter while undressing, and for a long time +after that lay awake thinking. That the girl was in trouble of +some sort was plain, but he could not understand why she said +nothing about it, or what its cause might be. She had been her +bright, happy self all day and a part of the evening. Then she had +suddenly changed. The Captain wondered what was in that letter. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A LITTLE POLITICS + + +Elsie, when she came down to breakfast next morning, was quieter +than usual, and to the joking questions of Captain Jerry and +Captain Perez, who were curious concerning her "errand" of the +previous evening, and who pretended to believe that she had gone to +a dance or "time" with some "feller" unknown, she gave evasive, but +good-humored replies. Captain Eri was on his usual fishing trip, +and after breakfast was over Perez departed to the Barry place, and +Jerry to his beloved schoolhouse. The sacrifice, whose impending +matrimonial doom had not been mentioned for some time by the trio +interested, was gradually becoming his own garrulous self, and his +principal topic of conversation recently had been the coming +marriage of the "upstairs teacher"--that is, the lady who presided +over the grammar grade of the school--and the question of her +probable successor. In fact, this question of who the new teacher +was to be was the prevailing subject of surmise and conjecture in +the village just then. + +When Captain Jerry came back to the house he went out to the barn +to feed Lorenzo and the hens, and attend to Daniel's toilet. He +was busy with the curry-comb when Elsie came in. She seated +herself on a box, and watched the performance for a while without +speaking. The Captain, who took this part of his duties very +seriously, was too intent on crimping Daniel's rather scraggy +forelock to talk much. At length Miss Preston broke the silence. + +"Captain Jerry," she said, "you have never told me just where you +found grandfather that night when he was taken sick. On the hill +back of the post-office, wasn't it?" + +"Yes, jest on the top. You see, he'd fell down when he was runnin' +to the fire." + +"Captain Eri found him, didn't he?" + +"Yep. Whoa there, Dan'l; stand still, can't you? Yes, Eri found +him." + +"How was he dressed?" + +"Who? John? Oh, he was bareheaded and in his shirtsleeves, jest +as he run outdoors when he heard the bell. Queer, he didn't put on +that old white hat of his. I never knew him to be without it +afore; but a feller's li'ble to forgit 'most anything a night like +that was. Did Eri tell you how Perez forgot his shoes? Funniest +thing I ever see, that was." + +He began the story of his friend's absent-mindedness, but his +companion did not seem to pay much attention to it. In fact, it +was evident that her thoughts were somewhere else, for when the +Captain asked her a question that plainly called for a negative, +she replied "Yes," very calmly, and didn't seem to know that she +had said it. She went into the house soon after and Captain Jerry, +after considering the matter, decided that she was probably +thinking of Hazeltine. He derived much comfort from the idea. + +When he, too, entered the dining room, Elsie said to him: + +"Oh, Captain Jerry! Please don't tell the others that I asked +about grandfather. They would think that I was worrying, and I'm +not, a bit. You won't mention it, will you? Just promise, to +please me." + +So the Captain promised, although he did not understand why it was +asked of him. + +When Captain Eri came home that afternoon, and was cleaning his +catch at the shanty, he was surprised to receive a call from Miss +Preston. + +"Hello!" he exclaimed. "Come to l'arn the trade?" + +Elsie smiled, and disclaimed any intention of apprenticeship. + +"Captain Eri," she said, "I want to have a talk with you, a +business talk." + +The Captain looked at her keenly. All he said, however, was, "You +don't tell me!" + +"Yes, I want to talk with you about getting me a position." + +"A position?" + +"Yes, I've been thinking a great deal lately, and, now that +grandfather seems to be a little better, and I'm not needed to help +take care of him, I want to do something to earn my living." + +"Earn your livin'? Why, child alive, you don't need to do that. +You ain't a mite of trouble at the house; fact is, I don't know how +we'd get along without you, and, as for money, why I cal'late your +grandpa ain't so poor but what, if I let you have a little change +once in a while, he'd be able to pay me back, when he got better." + +"But I don't want to use your money or his either. Captain Eri, +you don't know what he has done for me ever since I was a little +girl. He has clothed me and given me an education, and been so +kind and good that, now that he is ill and helpless, I simply can't +go on using his money. I can't, and I won't." + +The tears stood in the girl's eyes, as she spoke, and the Captain, +noticing her emotion, thought it better to treat the matter +seriously, for the present at any rate. + +"All right," he said. "'Independence shows a proper sperit and +saves grocery bills,' as old man Scudder said when his wife run off +with the tin-peddler. What kind of a place was you thinkin' of +takin'?" + +"I want to get the appointment to teach in the grammar school here. +Miss Nixon is going to be married, and when she leaves I want her +place--and I want you to help me get it." + +Captain Eri whistled. "I want to know!" he exclaimed. Then he +said, "Look here, Elsie, I don't want you to think I'm tryin' to be +cur'ous 'bout your affairs, or anything like that, but are you sure +there ain't some reason more 'n you've told me of for your wantin' +this place? I ain't no real relation of yours, you understand, but +I would like to have you feel that you could come to me with your +troubles jest the same as you would to your grandpa. Now, honest +and true, ain't there somethin' back of this?" + +It was only for a moment that Elsie hesitated, but that moment's +hesitation and the manner in which she answered went far toward +confirming the Captain's suspicions. + +"No, Captain Eri," she said. "It is just as I've told you. I +don't want to be dependent on grandfather any longer." + +"And there ain't a single other reason for-- Of course, I ought to +mind my business, but-- Well, there! what was it you wanted me to +do? Help you git the place?" + +"Yes, if you will. I know Captain Perez has said that you were +interested in the town-meetings and helped to nominate some of the +selectmen and the school-committee, so I thought perhaps, if you +used your influence, you might get the position for me." + +"Well, I don't know. I did do a little electioneerin' for one or +two fellers and maybe they'd ought to be willin' to do somethin' +for me. Still, you can't never tell. A cat 'll jump over your +hands if she knows there's a piece of fish comin' afterwards, but +when she's swallowed that fish, it's a diff'rent job altogether. +Same way with a politician. But, then, you let me think over it +for a spell, and p'raps to-morrow we'll see. You think it over, +too. Maybe you'll change your mind." + +"No, I shan't change my mind. I'm ever and ever so much obliged to +you, though." + +She started toward the door, but turned impulsively and said, "Oh, +Captain Eri, you don't think that I'm ungrateful, do you? You nor +Captain Perez nor Captain Jerry won't think that I do not appreciate +all your kindness? You won't think that I'm shirking my duty, or +that I don't want to help take care of grandfather any longer? You +won't? Promise me you won't." + +She choked down a sob as she asked the question. + +Captain Eri was as much moved as she was. He hastened to answer. + +"No, no, no!" he exclaimed. "Course we won't do no such thing. +Run right along, and don't think another word about it. Wait till +to-morrer. I'll have a plan fixed up to land that school-committee, +see if I don't." + +But all that evening he worked at the model of the clipper, and the +expression on his face as he whittled showed that he was puzzled, +and not a little troubled. + +He came back from his fishing next day a little earlier than usual, +changed his working-clothes for his second best suit, harnessed +Daniel into the buggy, and then came into the house, and announced +that he was going over to the Neck on an errand, and if Elsie +wanted to go with him, he should be glad of her company. As this +was but part of a pre-arranged scheme, the young lady declared that +a ride was just what she needed. + +Captain Eri said but little, as they drove up to the "main road"; +he seemed to be thinking. Elsie, too, was very quiet. When they +reached the fruit and candy shop, just around the corner, the +Captain stopped the horse, got down, and went in. When he came out +he had a handful of cigars. + +"Why, Captain Eri," said Elsie, "I didn't know that you smoked +cigars. I thought a pipe was your favorite." + +"Well, gin'rally speakin', 'tis," was the answer, "but I'm +electioneerin' now, and politics without cigars would be like a +chowder without any clams. Rum goes with some kind of politics, +but terbacker kind of chums in with all kinds. 'Tain't always safe +to jedge a candidate by the kind of cigars he gives out neither; +I've found that out. + +"Reminds me of a funny thing that Obed Nickerson told me one time. +Obed used to be in politics a good deal up and down the Cape, here, +and he had consider'ble influence. 'Twas when Bradley up to Fall +River was runnin' for Congress. They had a kind of pow-wow in his +office--a whole gang of district leaders--and Obed he was one of +'em. Bradley went to git out the cigar-box, and 'twas empty, so he +called in the boy that swept out and run errands for him, give the +youngster a ten-dollar bill, and told him to go down to a terbacker +store handy and buy another box. Well, the boy, he was a new one +that Bradley'd jest hired, seemed kind of surprised to think of +anybody's bein' so reckless as to buy a whole box of cigars at +once, but he went and pretty soon come back with the box. + +"The old man told him to open it and pass 'em round. Well, +everybody was lookin' for'ard to a treat, 'cause Bradley had the +name of smokin' better stuff than the average; but when they lit up +and got a-goin', Obed said you could see that the gang was s'prised +and some disgusted. The old man didn't take one at fust, but +everybody else puffed away, and the smoke and smell got thicker 'n' +thicker. Obed said it reminded him of a stable afire more 'n +anything else. Pretty soon Bradley bit the end of one of the +things and touched a match to it. He puffed twice--Obed swears +'twa'n't more'n that--and then he yelled for the boy. + +"'For the Lord's sake!' he says, 'where'd you git them cigars?' +Well, it come out that the boy hadn't told who the cigars was for, +and he'd bought a box of the kind his brother that worked in the +cotton mill smoked. Obed said you'd ought to have seen Bradley's +face when the youngster handed him back seven dollars and seventy- +five cents change." + +They reached that part of Orham which is called the Neck, and +pulled up before a small building bearing the sign "Solomon Bangs, +Attorney-at-Law, Real Estate and Insurance." Here the Captain +turned to his companion and asked, "Sure you haven't changed your +mind, Elsie? You want that school-teachin' job?" + +"I haven't changed my mind, Captain Eri." + +"Well, I wanted to be sure. I should hate to ask Sol Bangs for +anything and then have to back out afterwards. Come on, now." + +Mr. Soloman Bangs was the chairman of the Orham school-committee. +He was a short, stout man with sandy side-whiskers and a bald head. +He received them with becoming condescension, and asked if they +wouldn't sit down. + +"Why, I've got a little bus'ness I want to talk with you 'bout, +Sol," said the Captain. "Elsie, you set down here, and make +yourself comf'table, and Sol and me 'll go inside for a minute." + +As he led the way into the little private office at the back of the +building, and seemed to take it for granted that Mr. Bangs would +follow, the latter gentleman couldn't well refuse. The private +office was usually reserved for interviews with widows whose +homestead mortgages were to be foreclosed, guileless individuals +who had indorsed notes for friends, or others whose business was +unpleasant and likely to be accompanied with weeping or profanity. +Mr. Bangs didn't object to foreclosing a mortgage, but he disliked +to have a prospective customer hear the dialogue that preceded the +operation. + +On this occasion the door of the sanctum was left ajar so that +Elsie, although she did not try to listen, could not very well help +hearing what was said. + +She heard the Captain commenting on the late cranberry crop, the +exceptionally pleasant weather of the past month, and other +irrelevant subjects. Then the perfumes of the campaign cigars +floated out through the doorway. + +"Let's see," said Captain Eri, "when's town meetin' day?" + +"First Tuesday in December," replied Mr. Bangs. + +"Why, so 'tis, so 'tis. Gittin' pretty nigh, ain't it? What are +you goin' to git off the school-committee for?" + +"Me? Get off the committee? Who told you that?" + +"Why, I don't know. You are, ain't you? Seems to me I heard Seth +Wingate was goin' to run and he's from your district, so I thought, +of course--" + +"Is Seth going to try for the committee?" + +"Seth's a good man," was the equivocal answer. + +"A good man! He ain't any better man than I am. What's he know +about schools, or how to run 'em?" + +"Well, he's pretty popular. Folks like him. See here, Sol; what's +this 'bout your turnin' Betsy Godfrey off her place?" + +"Who said I turned her off? I've been carrying that mortgage for +so long it's gray-headed. I can't be Santa Claus for the whole +town. Business is business, and I've got to look out for myself." + +"Ye-es, I s'pose that's so. Still, folks talk, and Seth's got lots +of friends." + +"Eri, I ain't denying that you could do a heap to hurt me if you +wanted to, but I don't know why you should. I've always been +square with you, far's I know. What have you got against me?" + +"Oh, nuthin', nuthin'! Didn't I hear you was tryin' to get that +Harniss teacher to come down here and take Carrie Nixon's place +when she got married?" + +"Well, I thought of her. She's all night, isn't she?" + +"Yes, I s'pose she is. 'Twould be better if she lived in Orham, +maybe, and folks couldn't say you went out of town for a teacher +when you could have had one right from home. Then, she's some +relation of your cousin, ain't she? 'Course, that's all right, +but--well, you can't pay attention to everything that's said." + +"Could have got one right from home! Who'd we get? Dave +Eldredge's girl, I suppose. I heard she was after it." + +The conversation that followed was in a lower tone, and Elsie heard +but little of it. She heard enough, however, to infer that Captain +Eri was still the disinterested friend, and that Solomon was very +anxious to retain that friendship. After a while the striking of +matches indicated that fresh cigars were being lighted, and then +the pair rose from their chairs, and entered the outer office. Mr. +Bangs was very gracious, exceedingly so. + +"Miss Preston," he said, "Cap'n Hedge tells me that it--er--might +be possible for us--er--for the town to secure--er--to--in short, +for us to have you for our teacher in the upstairs room. It ain't +necessary for me to say that--er--a teacher from Radcliffe don't +come our way very often, and that we--that is, the town of Orham, +would--er--feel itself lucky if you'd be willing to come." + +"Of course, I told him, Elsie," said Captain Eri, "that you +wouldn't think of comin' for forty-five dollars a month or anything +like that. Of course, 'tisn't as though you really needed the +place." + +"I understand, I understand," said the pompous committeeman. "I +think that can be arranged. I really think--er--Miss Preston, that +there ain't any reason why you can't consider it settled. Ahem!" + +Elsie thanked him, trying her best not to smile, and they were +bowed out by the great man, who, however, called the Captain to one +side, and whispered eagerly to him for a moment or two. The word +"Seth" was mentioned at least once. + +"Why, Captain Eri!" exclaimed Elsie, as they drove away. + +The Captain grinned. "Didn't know I was such a heeler, did you?" +he said. "Well, I tell you. If you're fishin' for eels there +ain't no use usin' a mack'rel jig. Sol, he's a little mite eely, +and you've got to use the kind of bait that 'll fetch that sort of +critter." + +"But I shouldn't think he would care whether he was on the school- +committee or not. It isn't such an exalted position." + +Captain Eri's answer was in the form of a parable. "Old Laban +Simpkins that lived 'round here one time," he said, "was a mighty +hard ticket. Drank rum by the hogshead, pounded his wife till she +left him, and was a tough nut gin'rally. Well, one evenin' Labe +was comin' home pretty how-come-you-so, and he fell into Jonadab +Wixon's well. Wonder he wa'n't killed, but he wa'n't, and they +fished him out in a little while. He said that was the deepest +well he ever saw; said he begun to think it reached clear through +to the hereafter, and when he struck the water he was s'prised to +find it wa'n't hot. He j'ined the church the next week, and +somebody asked him if he thought religion would keep him from +fallin' into any more wells. He said no; said he was lookin' out +for somethin' further on. + +"Well, that's the way 'tis with Sol. School-committee's all right, +but this section of the Cape nominates a State representative next +year. + +"I mustn't forgit to see Seth," he added. "I promised I would, and +besides," with a wink, "I think 'twould be better to do it 'cause, +between you and me, I don't b'lieve Seth knows that he's been +thinkin' of runnin' for the committee and has decided not to." + +The second member of the school board, John Mullett, was, so the +Captain said, a sort of "me too" to Mr. Bangs, and would vote as +his friend directed. The third member was Mr. Langworthy, the +Baptist minister and, although two to one was a clear majority, +Captain Eri asserted that there was nothing like a unanimous vote, +and so they decided to call upon the reverend gentleman. + +They found him at home, and Elsie was surprised, after the previous +interview, to see how differently her champion handled the case. +There was no preliminary parley and no beating about the bush. +Miss Preston's claim to the soon-to-be-vacant position was stated +clearly and with vigor. Also the reasons why she should receive a +higher salary than had previously been paid were set forth. It was +something of a surprise to Elsie, as it had been to Ralph, to see +how highly the towns-people, that is, the respectable portion of +them, seemed to value the opinions of this good-natured but +uneducated seaman. And yet when she considered that she, too, went +to him for advice that she would not have asked of other and far +more learned acquaintances, it did not seem so surprising after +all. + +The clergyman had had several candidates in mind, but he was easily +won over to Elsie's side, partly by the Captain's argument, and +partly because he was favorably impressed by the young lady's +appearance and manner. He expressed himself as being convinced +that she would be exactly the sort of teacher that the school +required and pledged his vote unconditionally. + +And so, as Captain Eri said, the stump-speaking being over, there +was nothing to do but to wait for the election, and Elsie and he +agreed to keep the affair a secret until she received formal notice +of the appointment. This was undoubtedly a good plan, but, +unfortunately for its success, Solomon Bangs called upon his fellow +in the committee, Mr. Mullett, to inform the latter that he, +entirely unaided, had discovered the very teacher that Orham needed +in the person of John Baxter's granddaughter. Mr. Mullett, living +up to his "me too" reputation, indorsed the selection with +enthusiasm, and not only did that, but also told everyone he met, +so that Captain Perez heard of it at the post-office the very next +afternoon. + +The natural surprise of this gentleman and of Captain Jerry at +their guest's sudden determination was met by plausible explanations +from Captain Eri, to the effect that Elsie was a smart girl, and +didn't like to be "hangin' 'round doin' nothin', now that her +grandpa was some better." Elsie's own reason, as expressed to them, +being just this, the pair accepted it without further questioning. +Neither of them attached much importance to the letter which she had +received, although Captain Perez did ask Mrs. Snow if she knew from +whom it came. + +The lady from Nantucket was not so easily satisfied. At her first +opportunity she cornered Captain Eri, and they discussed the whole +affair from beginning to end. There was nothing unusual in this +proceeding, for discussions concerning household matters and +questions of domestic policy were, between these two, getting to be +more and more frequent. Mrs. Snow was now accepted by all as one +of the family, and Captain Eri had come to hold a high opinion of +her and her views. What he liked about her, he said, was her "good +old-fashioned common-sense," and, whereas he had formerly trusted +to his own share of this virtue almost altogether, now he was glad +to have hers to help out. + +The marriage idea, that which had brought the housekeeper to Orham, +was now seldom mentioned. In fact, Captain Eri had almost entirely +ceased to ruffle Jerry's feelings with reference to it. Mrs. Snow, +of course, said nothing about it. But, for that matter, she said +very little about herself or her affairs. + +It was a curious fact that the lady from Nantucket had never +referred, except in a casual way, to her past history. She had +never told how she came to answer the advertisement in the Nuptial +Chime, nor to explain how so matter-of-fact a person as she was had +ever seen that famous sheet. As she said nothing concerning these +things, no one felt at liberty to inquire, and, in the course of +time, even Captain Perez' lively curiosity had lapsed into a +trance. + +Mrs. Snow was certain that Elsie's reason for wishing to obtain the +position of school-teacher was something more specific than the one +advanced. She was also certain that the girl was troubled about +something. The root of the matter, she believed, was contained in +the mysterious letter. As Captain Eri was of precisely the same +opinion, speculation between the two as to what that letter might +have contained was as lively as it was unfruitful. + +One thing was certain, Elsie was not as she had formerly been. She +did her best to appear the same, but she was much more quiet, and +had fits of absentmindedness that the Captain and the housekeeper +noticed. She had no more evening "errands," but she occasionally +took long walks in the afternoons, and on these walks she evidently +preferred to be alone. + +Whether Mr. Hazeltine noticed this change in her was a question. +The Captain thought he did, but at any rate, his calls were none +the less frequent, and he showed no marked objection when Captain +Jerry, who now considered himself bound in honor to bring about the +union he had so actively championed, brought to bear his artful +schemes for leaving the young folks alone. These devices were so +apparent that Elsie had more than once betrayed some symptoms of +annoyance, all of which were lost on the zealous match-maker. +Ralph, like the others, was much surprised at Miss Preston's +application for employment, but, as it was manifestly none of his +business, he, of course, said nothing. + +At the next committee meeting Elsie was unanimously chosen to fill +Miss Nixon's shoes as trainer of the young idea at the grammar +school, and, as Miss Nixon was very anxious to be rid of her +responsibilities in order that she might become the carefree bride +of a widower with two small children, the shoe-filling took place +in a fortnight. + +From her first day's labors Elsie returned calm and unruffled. She +had met the usual small rebellion against a new teacher, and had +conquered it. She said she believed she had a good class and she +should get on with them very nicely. It should be mentioned in +passing, however, that Josiah Bartlett, usually the ring-leader +in all sorts of trouble, was a trifle upset because the new +schoolmistress lived in the same house with him, and so had not yet +decided just how far it was safe to go in trespassing against law +and order. + +Thanksgiving day came, and the Captains entertained Miss Patience +Davis and her brother and Ralph Hazeltine at dinner. That dinner +was an event. Captain Eri and Mrs. Snow spent a full twenty +minutes with the driver of the butcher's cart, giving him +directions concerning the exact breed of turkey that was to be +delivered, and apparently these orders were effectual, for Captain +Luther, who was obliged to hurry back to the life-saving station as +soon as dinner was over, said that he was so full of white meat and +stuffing that he cal'lated he should "gobble" all the way to the +beach. His sister stayed until the next day, and this was very +pleasing to all hands, particularly Captain Perez. + +They had games in the evening, and here the captains distinguished +themselves. Seth Wingate and his wife, and Mr. and Mrs. Obed +Nickerson came in, as did several other retired mariners and their +better-halves. Obed brought his fiddle and sat in the corner and +played the music for a Virginia reel, and Ralph laughed until he +choked to see Captain Jerry--half of his shirt-collar torn loose +from the button and flapping like a sail--convoy stout Mrs. Wingate +from one end of the line to the other, throwing into the performance +all the fancy "cuts" and "double-shuffles" he learned at the +Thanksgiving balls of a good many years before. Captain Perez +danced with Miss Patience, who assured him she had never had such a +good time since she was born. The only scoffer was the bored +Josiah, who, being a sophisticated New Yorker, sat in the best chair +and gazed contemptuously upon the entire proceeding. He told "Web" +Saunders the next day that he never saw such a gang of "crazy jays" +in his life. + +Even John Baxter was better that day. He seemed a trifle more +rational, and apparently understood when they told him that it was +Thanksgiving. There would have been no cloud anywhere had not Mrs. +Snow, entering her room after Elsie had gone to bed, found that +young lady awake and crying silently. + +"And she wouldn't tell what the trouble was," said the housekeeper +to Captain Eri, the next day. "Said it was nothin'; she was kind +of worried 'bout her grandpa. Now, you and me know it wa'n't THAT. +I wish to goodness we knew WHAT it was." + +The Captain scratched his nose with a perplexed air. "There's one +feller I'd like to have a talk with jest 'bout now," he said; +"that's the one that invented that yarn 'bout a woman's not bein' +able to keep a secret." + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +CAPTAIN JERRY MAKES A MESS OF IT + + +It was during the week that followed the holiday so gloriously +celebrated that Captain Jerry made a mess of it, and all with the +best intentions in the world. Elsie had had a hard day at the +school, principally owing to the perversity of the irrepressible +Josiah, whose love for deviltry was getting the better of his +respect for the new teacher. The boy had discovered that Elsie +never reported his bad conduct to Captain Perez, and, therefore, +that the situation was not greatly different from what it had been +during the reign of Miss Nixon. + +On this particular day he had been a little worse than usual, and, +as uneasiness and mischief in a schoolroom are as catching as the +chickenpox, Elsie came home tired and nervous. Captain Eri and +Mrs. Snow were certain that this increasing nervousness on the part +of their guest was not due to school troubles alone, but, at any +rate, nervous she was, and particularly nervous, and, it must be +confessed, somewhat inclined to be irritable, during the supper and +afterward, on this ill-starred night. + +The beginning of the trouble was when Ralph Hazeltine called. +Mrs. Snow was with her patient in the upper room, Captain Eri was +out, and Captain Perez and Captain Jerry were with Elsie in the +dining room. The electrician was made welcome by the trio--more +especially by the captains, for Miss Preston was in no mood to be +over-effusive--and a few minutes of general conversation followed. +Then Captain Jerry, in accordance with his plan of campaign, laid +down his newspaper, coughed emphatically to attract the attention of +his partner, and said, "Well, I guess I'll go out and look at the +weather for a spell. Come on, Perez." + +"Why, Captain Jerry!" exclaimed Elsie, "you were out looking at the +weather only ten minutes ago. I don't think it has changed much +since then. Why don't you stay here and keep us company?" + +"Oh, you can't never tell about the weather 'long this coast. It's +likely to change most any time. Besides," with a wink that +expressed comprehension unlimited, "I reckon you and Mr. Hazeltine +don't care much 'bout the company of old fogies like me and Perez. +Two's company and three's a crowd, you know. Ho, ho, ho!" + +"Captain Jerry, come back this minute!" + +But the Captain chuckled and shook out of the door, followed by the +obedient Perez, who, having pledged fealty, stuck to his colors +whatever might happen. + +At another time, Elsie would probably have appreciated and enjoyed +the joke as much as anyone, but this evening it did not appeal to +her in the least. Ralph put in a very uncomfortable half-hour, and +then cut his visit short and departed. It was rather sharp and +chilly outside, but the breeze felt like a breath from the tropics +compared with the atmosphere of that dining room. + +It certainly was Captain Jerry's unlucky evening, for he left Perez +chatting with a fisherman friend, who had left a favorite pipe in +his shanty and had come down to get it, and entered the house +alone. He had seen the electrician go, and was surprised at the +brevity of his call, but he was as far from suspecting that he +himself was the indirect cause of the said brevity as a mortal +could be. + +He came into the dining room, hung his cap on the back of a chair, +and remarked cheerfully, "Well, Elsie, what did you send your +company home so quick for? Land sake! twelve o'clock wa'n't none +too late for me when I was young and goin' round to see the girls." + +But Miss Preston did not smile. On the contrary, she frowned, and +when she spoke the Captain had a vague feeling that someone had +dropped an icicle inside his shirt collar. + +"Captain Jerry," said the young lady, "I want to have a talk with +you. Why do you think it necessary to get up and leave the room +whenever Mr. Hazeltine calls? You do it every time, and to-night +was no exception, except that by what you said you made me appear a +little more ridiculous than usual. Now, why do you do it?" + +The Captain's jaw fell. He stared at his questioner to see if +she was not joking, but, finding no encouragement of that kind, +stammered, "Why do I do it? Why?" + +"Yes, why?" + +"Why, 'cause I thought you wanted me to." + +"_I_ wanted you to! Why should you think that, please?" + +"Well, I don't know. I thought you two would ruther be alone. I +know, when I used to go to see my wife 'fore we was married, I--" + +"Please, what has that got to do with Mr. Hazeltine's visits here?" + +"Why, why, nothin', I s'pose, if you say so. I jest thought--" + +"What right have you to suppose that Mr. Hazeltine is calling on me +more than any other person or persons in this house?" + +This was something of a poser, but the Captain did his best. He +sat on the edge of a chair and rubbed his knee, and then blurted +out, "Well, I s'pose I--that is, we thought he was, jest 'cause he +nat'rally would; that's 'bout all. If I'd thought--why, see here, +Elsie, don't YOU think he's comin' to see you?" + +This was a return thrust that was hard to parry, but, although the +young lady's color heightened just a bit, she answered without much +hesitation: + +"I don't know that I do. At any rate, I have given you no +authority to act on any such assumption, and I DON'T want you to +put me again in the ridiculous position you did this evening, and +as you have done so often before. Why, his visits might be perfect +torture to me, and still I should have to endure them out of common +politeness. I couldn't go away and leave him alone." + +Captain Jerry's face was a study of chagrin and troubled repentance. + +"Elsie," he said, "I'm awful sorry; I am so. If I'd thought I was +torturin' of you, 'stead of makin' it pleasant, I'd never have done +it, sure. I won't go out again; I won't, honest. I hope you won't +lay it up against me. I meant well." + +Now, if Captain Perez had delayed his entrance to that dining room +only two or three minutes longer, if he had not come in just in +time to prevent Elsie's making the explanatory and soothing answer +that was on her tongue, events would probably have been entirely +different, and a good deal of trouble might have been saved. But +in he came, as if some perverse imp had been waiting to give him +the signal, and the interview between Captain Jerry and the young +lady whom he had unwittingly offended broke off then and there. + +Elsie went upstairs feeling a little conscience-stricken, and with +an uneasy idea that she had said more than she should have. +Captain Perez took up the newspaper and sat down to read. As for +Captain Jerry, he sat down, too, but merely to get his thoughts +assorted into an arrangement less like a spilled box of jackstraws. +The Captain's wonderful scheme, that he had boasted of and worked +so hard for, had fallen to earth like an exploded airship, and when +it hit it hurt. + +His first idea was to follow the usual procedure, and take the +whole matter to Captain Eri for settlement, but the more he +considered this plan the less he liked it. Captain Eri was an +unmerciful tease, and he would be sure to "rub it in," in a way the +mere thought of which made his friend squirm. There wasn't much +use in confiding to Captain Perez, either. He must keep the secret +and pretend that everything was working smoothly. + +Then his thoughts turned to Hazeltine, and when he considered the +wrong he had done that young man, he squirmed again. There wasn't +a doubt in his mind that Ralph felt exactly as Elsie did about his +interference. Captain Jerry decided that he owed the electrician +an apology, and determined to offer it at the first opportunity. + +And the opportunity came the very next morning, for Mrs. Snow +wanted some clams for dinner, and asked him to dig some for her. +The best clams in the vicinity were those in the flat across the +bay near the cable station, and the Captain took his bucket and hoe +and rowed over there. As he was digging, Ralph came strolling down +to the shore. + +Mr. Hazeltine's "Good-morning" was clear and hearty. Captain +Jerry's was hesitating and formal. The talk that followed was +rather one-sided. Finally, the Captain laid down his hoe, and came +splashing over to where his friend was standing. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," he said confusedly, "I kind of feel as if I ought +to beg your pardon. I'm awful sorry I done what I did, but, as I +said to Elsie, I meant well, and I'm sorry." + +"Sorry? Sorry for what?" + +"Why, for leavin' you and her alone so when you come to the house. +You see, I never thought but what you'd both like it, and 'twa'n't +till she raked me over the coals so for doin' it that I realized +how things was." + +"Raked you over the coals? I'm afraid I don't understand." + +It is unnecessary to repeat the whole of the long and tangled +conversation that ensued. The Captain tried to explain, tumbled +down, metaphorically speaking, got up again, and started off on +another tack. In his anxiety to make his position perfectly clear, +he quoted from Elsie's remarks of the previous evening, and then, +thinking perhaps he had gone too far, tried to smooth these over by +more explanations. Repeating this process several times got him +into such a snarl that he scarcely knew what he was saying. When +the agony was over Ralph had received the impression that Miss +Preston had said his visits were a perfect torture to her, that she +objected to being left alone with him, that she held Captain Jerry +responsible for these things, and that the latter was sorry for +something or other, though what it was he, Ralph, didn't know or +care particularly. To the Captain's continued apologies he +muttered absently that it was "all right," and walked slowly away +with his hands in his pockets. Captain Jerry was relieved by this +expression of forgiveness. He felt that the situation wasn't what +he would like to have it, but, at any rate, he had done his duty. +This was a great consolation. + +Ralph didn't call that evening or the next. When he did drop in it +was merely to inquire concerning John Baxter's progress, and to +chat for a moment with the captains. His next visit was a week +later, and was just as brief and formal. + +If Elsie noticed this sudden change she said nothing. There might +have been some comment by the others, had not a new sensation so +occupied their minds as to shut out everything else. This +sensation was caused by Josiah Bartlett, who ran away one night, +with his belongings tied up in a brown paper parcel, leaving a note +saying that he had gone to enlist in the Navy and wasn't coming +back any more. + +There were lively times the next morning when the note was found. +Captain Perez was for harnessing up immediately and starting off to +find the lost one, hit or miss. Captain Eri soon showed him the +folly of this proceeding and, instead, hurried to the railway +station and sent a telegram describing the fugitive to the +conductor of the Boston train. It caught the conductor at +Sandwich, and the local constable at Buzzard's Bay caught the boy. +Josiah was luxuriously puffing a five-cent cigar in the smoking +car, and it was a crest-fallen and humiliated prodigal that, +accompanied by the a fore-mentioned constable, returned to Orham +that night. + +But the stubbornness remained, and the next day Perez sought +Captain Eri in a troubled frame of mind. + +"Eri," he said dejectedly, "I don't know what I'm goin' to do with +that boy. He's too many for ME, that boy is. Seems he's been +plannin' this runnin' away bus'ness for more 'n a month; been doin' +errands and odd jobs 'round town and savin' up his money on +purpose. Says he won't go back to school again, no matter what we +do to him, and that he's goin' to git into the Navy if it takes ten +year. He says he'll run away again fust chance he gits, and he +WILL, too. He's got the sperit of the Old Scratch in him, and I +can't git it out. I'm clean discouraged and wore out, and I know +that he'll do somethin' pretty soon that 'll disgrace us all." + +"Humph!" exclaimed his friend. "Stuffy as all that, is he? You +don't say! He ain't a bad boy, that is a REEL bad boy, either." + +"No, that's jest it. He ain't reel bad--yit. But he will be if he +ain't fetched up pretty sudden. 'Course, I know what he needs is +to be made to mind fust, and then preached to afterwards. And I +know that nat'rally I'm the one that ought to do it, but I jest +can't--there! If I should start out to give him the dressin' down +he needs, I'd be thinkin' of his mother every minute, and how I +promised to treat him gentle and not be cross to him. But +SOMETHIN'S got to be done, and if you can help me out any way I'll +never forgit it, Eri." + +Captain Eri scratched his chin. "Humph!" he grunted reflectively. +"He couldn't git into the Navy, he's too young. More likely to be +a stowaway on a merchantman and then roustabout on a cattle boat, +or some such thing. Even if he lied 'bout his age and did git to +be a sort of a ship's boy on a sailin' vessel, you and me know what +that means nowadays. I presume likely 'twould end in his bein' +killed in some rumshop scrimmage later on. Let--me--see. Bound to +be a sailor, is he?" + +"He's dead sot on it." + +"More fool he. Comes from readin' them ridic'lous story books, I +s'pose. He ain't been on the water much sence he's been down here, +has he?" + +"Not more 'n once or twice, except in a dory goin' to the beach, or +somethin' like that." + +"That's so, that's what I thought. Well, Perez, I'll tell you. +The boy does need breakin' in, that's a fact, and I think maybe I +could do it. I could use a young feller on my boat; to go coddin' +with me, I mean. Let me have the boy under me--no meddlin' from +anybody--for a couple of months. Let him sign reg'lar articles and +ship 'long of me for that time. Maybe I could make a white man of +him." + +"I don't b'lieve he'd do it." + +"I cal'late I could talk him into it. There's some butter on my +tongue when it's necessary." + +"You'd have to promise not to lay a hand on him in anger. That's +what I promised his mother." + +"All right, I promise it now. That's all right, Perez. You and me +are old shipmates, and bound to help each other out. Just trust +him to me, and don't ask too many questions. Is it a trade? Good! +Shake." + +They shook hands on it, and then Captain Eri went in to talk to the +unreconciled runaway. That young gentleman, fresh from his triumph +over his uncle, at first refused to have anything to do with the +scheme. He wasn't going to be a "cheap guy fisherman," he was +going into the Navy. The Captain did not attempt to urge him, +neither did he preach or patronize. He simply leaned back in the +rocker and began spinning sailor yarns. He told of all sorts of +adventures in all climates, and with all sorts of people. He had +seen everything under the sun, apparently, and, according to him, +there was no life so free and void of all restraint as that of an +able seaman on a merchant ship, or, preferably, on a fisherman; but +one point he made clear, and that was that, unless the applicant +had had previous training, his lot was likely to be an unhappy one. + +"Of course," he said, as he rose to go, "it was my idea to sort of +train you up so's you could be ready when 'twas time to ship, but +long's you don't want to, why it's all off." + +"I'll go with you, Cap!" said Josiah, whose eyes were shining. + +"Good! That's the talk! You might as well sign articles right +away. Wait till I git 'em ready." + +He brought pen, ink, and paper, and proceeded to indite a +formidable document to the effect that "Josiah Bartlett, able +seaman," was to ship aboard the catboat Mary Ellen for a term of +two months. Wages, five dollars a month. + +"You see," he said, "I've put you down as able seaman 'cause that's +what you'll be when I git through with you. Now sign." + +So Josiah signed, and then Captain Eri affixed his own signature +with a flourish. + +"There!" exclaimed the Captain, bringing his big palm down on the +back of the "able seaman" with a thump that brought water into the +eyes of that proud youth, "You're my man, shipmate. We sail to- +morrer mornin' at four, rain or shine. I'll call you at quarter +of. Be ready." + +"You bet, old man!" said Josiah. + +Captain Perez met his friend as they came out of the parlor. + +"Now, Eri," he whispered, "be easy as you can with him, won't you?" + +The Captain answered in the very words of his crew. + +"You bet!" he said fervently, and went away whistling. Captain +Perez slept better that night. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE VOYAGE OF AN "ABLE SEAMAN" + + +Promptly at a quarter to four the next morning Captain Eri rapped +on the parlor door. Josiah, who had been dressed since three, +appeared almost instantly. They walked down to the shore together, +and the Captain's eyes twinkled as he noted the elaborate roll in +the boy's walk. + +The Mary Ellen was anchored between the beaches, and they rowed off +to her in a dory. It was pitch-dark, and cold and raw. Lanterns +showed on two or three of the other boats near by, and, as Josiah +and the Captain pulled up the eelgrass-covered anchor, a dim shape +glided past in the blackness. It was the You and I, bound out. +Ira Sparrow was at the helm, and he hailed the Mary Ellen, saying +something about the weather. + +"It 'll be kind of ca'm for a spell," replied Captain Eri, "but I +wouldn't wonder if we had some wind 'fore night. Here you, fo'mast +hand," he added, turning to Josiah, "stand by to git the canvas on +her." + +The mainsail was soon hoisted, and the catboat moved slowly out of +the bay. + +"Gee! it's dark," exclaimed Josiah. "what are you goin' way off +here for? Why don't you go straight out?" + +"I gin'rally take the short cut through the narrers," replied the +Captain, "but I thought you mightn't like the breakers on the +shoals, so I'm goin' 'round the p'int flat." + +"Huh! I ain't a-scared of breakers. Can't be too rough for me. +Wisht 'twould blow to beat the band." + +"Maybe 'twill by and by. Pretty toler'ble slick now, though." + +It was after sunrise when they reached the ledge where codfish most +do congregate. The land was a mere yellow streak on the horizon. +The stiff easterly blow of the day before had left a smooth, heavy +swell that, tripping over the submerged ledge, alternately tossed +the Mary Ellen high in air and dropped her toward the bottom. It +was cold, and the newly risen December sun did not seem to have +much warmth in it. Anchor over the side, the Captain proposed +breakfast. + +The "able seaman" did not feel very hungry, but he managed to +swallow a hard-boiled egg and a sandwich, and then, just to show +that he had reached the dignity of manhood, leaned back against the +side of the cockpit, lit a cigarette, and observed cheerfully, +"This is hot stuff, ain't it, Cap?" + +Captain Eri wiped the crumbs from his mouth, leisurely produced his +pipe, and proceeded to fill it with tobacco shaved from a chunky +plug. + +"What d'you smoke them things for?" he asked contemptuously, +referring to the cigarette. "Nobody but dudes and sissies smoke +that kind of truck. Here, take this pipe, and smoke like a man." + +Josiah looked askance at the proffered pipe. + +"Oh, no!" he said magnanimously, "you'll want it yourself. I'll +get along with these things till I git ashore; then I'll buy a pipe +of my own." + +"Never you mind 'bout me. I've got two or three more below there, +some'eres. Take it and light up." + +The "able seaman" took the reeking, nicotine soaked affair, placed +it gingerly between his teeth, held a match to the bowl and +coughingly emitted a cloud of ill-smelling smoke. The pipe wheezed +and gurgled, and the Mary Ellen rocked and rolled. + +"Now, then," said Captain Eri, "we've sojered long enough. Go +below, and bring up the bait bucket and the lines." + +Josiah staggered into the little cabin, reappeared with the heavy +cod lines and the bucket of mussels, and watched while the Captain +"baited up." + +"All ready!" said the skipper. "Two lines apiece, one over each +side. Watch me." + +The cod bit almost immediately, and for ten minutes the work was +exciting and lively. The Captain, watching from the corner of his +eye, noticed that his assistant's pipe was wheezing less regularly, +and that his lines were thrown over more and more listlessly. At +length he said, "Haven't stopped smokin' so quick, have you? +What's the matter--gone out? Here's a match." + +"I guessed I've smoked enough for now. I can't fish so well when +I'm smokin'." + +"Bosh! If you want to be a reel sailor you must smoke all the +time. Light up." + +Reluctantly the boy obeyed, and puffed with feverish energy. Also +he swallowed with vigor. The cod smelt fishy; so did the bait, and +the catboat rolled and rolled. Suddenly Josiah pulled in his +lines, and took the pipe from his lips. + +"What's the matter?" inquired the watchful skipper. + +"I--I guess I won't fish any more, Cap. Kind of slow sport, ain't +it? Guess I'll go in there and take a snooze." + +"I guess you won't! You shipped to fish, and you're goin' to fish. +Pick up them lines." + +The boy sullenly turned toward the cabin door. Was he, who had +just declared himself independent of school restraint, he who had +once been the thorn in the flesh of every policeman in the --th +ward, to be ordered about by this Cape Cod countryman! "Aw, go +chase yourself!" he said contemptuously. A minute after, when he +picked himself up from the heap of slimy fish in the bottom of the +boat, he saw the Captain standing solidly on one cowhide-shod foot, +while the other was drawn easily back and rested on its toe. When +Josiah recovered his breath, the burst of bad language with which +he assailed his companion did credit to his street bringing up. It +was as short as it was fierce, however, and ended amid the cod and +the mussels from the overturned bait bucket. But, as the Captain +said afterwards, he was "spunky" and rose again, incoherent with +rage. + +"You--you--I'll kill you!" he shrieked. "You promised not to touch +me, you lyin' old--" + +He tried to get out of the way, but didn't succeed, and this time +merely sat up and sobbed as Captain Eri said in even tones: + +"No, I'm not lyin'. I promised not to lay a hand on you in anger, +that's all. Fust place, I don't kick with my hands, and, second +place, I ain't angry. Now, then, pick up them lines." + +The "able seaman" was frightened. This sort of treatment was new +to him. He judged it best to obey now and "get square" later on. +He sulkily picked up the codlines, and threw the hooks overboard. +Captain Eri, calmly resuming his fishing, went on to say, "The fust +thing a sailor has to l'arn is to obey orders. I see you've +stopped smokin'. Light up." + +"I don't want to." + +"Well, I want you TO. Light up." + +"I won't. Oh, yes, I will!" + +He eyed the threatening boot fearfully and lit the awful pipe with +shaking fingers. But he had taken but a few puffs when it went +over the side, and it seemed to Josiah that the larger half of +himself went with it. The Captain watched the paroxysm grimly. + +"Sick, hey?" he grunted, "and not a capful of wind stirrin'. +You're a healthy sailor! I thought I'd shipped a man, but I see +'twas only a sassy baby. My uncle Labe had a good cure for +seasickness. You take a big hunk of fat salt pork, dip it in +molasses, and--" + +"Oh, d-o-n-'t!" Another spasm. + +"Dip it in molasses," repeated Captain Eri. + +"Don't, Cap! PLEASE don't!" + +"Another thing a sailor learns is not to call his skipper 'Cap.' A +fo'mast hand always says 'Aye, aye, sir,' when his off'cer speaks +to him. Understand that?" + +"Y-e-s. Oh, Lord!" + +"WHAT?" + +"Ye--I mean aye, aye." + +"Aye, aye, WHAT?" + +"Aye, aye, SIR! OH, dear me!" + +"That's better. Now pick up them lines." + +Well, 'twas a dreadful forenoon for Josiah; one not to be forgotten. +The boat rolled unceasingly, his head ached, and pulling the heavy +cod made his back and shoulders lame; also, he was wet and cold. +The other boats scattered about the fishing grounds pulled up their +anchors and started for home, but Captain Eri did not budge. At +noon he opened his lunch basket again, and munched serenely. The +sight of the greasy ham sandwiches was too much for the "able +seaman." He suffered a relapse and, when it was over, tumbled on +the seat which encircled the cockpit and, being completely worn out, +went fast asleep. The Captain watched him for a minute or two, +smiled in a not unkindly way, and, going into the cabin, brought out +an old pea jacket and some other wraps with which he covered the +sleeper. Then he went back to his fishing. + +When Josiah awoke the Mary Ellen was heeled over on her side, her +sail as tight as a drumhead. The wind was whistling through the +cordage, and the boat was racing through seas that were steel-blue +and angry, with whitecaps on their crests. The sun was hidden by +tumbling, dust-colored clouds. The boy felt weak and strangely +humble; the dreadful nausea was gone. + +Captain Eri, standing at the tiller, regarded him sternly, but +there was the suspicion of a twinkle in his eye. + +"Feelin' better?" he asked. + +"Ye--aye, aye, sir." + +"Humph! Want to smoke again. Pipe right there on the thwart." + +"No, thank you, sir." + +It was some time before anything more was said. Josiah was gazing +at the yellow sand-cliffs that, on every tack, grew nearer. At +length the Captain again addressed him. + +"Perez ever tell you 'bout our fust v'yage? Never did, hey? Well, +I will. Him and me run away to sea together, you know." + +And then Captain Eri began a tale that caused the cold shivers to +chase themselves from Josiah's big toe to the longest hair on his +head. It was the story of two boys who ran away and shipped aboard +an Australian sailing packet, and contained more first-class +horrors than any one of his beloved dime novels. As a finishing +touch the narrator turned back the grizzled hair on his forehead +and showed a three-inch scar, souvenir of a first mate and a +belaying pin. He rolled up his flannel shirtsleeve and displayed +a slightly misshapen left arm, broken by a kick from a drunken +captain and badly set by the same individual. + +"Now," he said in conclusion, "I cal'late you think I was pretty +hard on you this mornin', but what do you figger that you'd have +got if you talked to a mate the way you done to me?" + +"Don't know. S'pose I'd have been killed,--sir." + +"Well, you would, mighty nigh, and that's a fact. Now, I'll tell +you somethin' else. You wanted to enlist in the Navy, I understand. +You couldn't git in the Navy, anyway, you're too young, but s'pose +you could, what then? You'd never git any higher 'n a petty +officer, 'cause you don't know enough. The only way to git into the +Navy is to go through Annapolis, and git an education. I tell you, +education counts. Me and Perez would have been somethin' more 'n +cheap fishin' and coastin' skippers if we'd had an education; don't +forgit that." + +"I guess I don't want to be a sailor, anyway, sir. This one trip +is enough for me, thank you." + +"Can't help that. You shipped 'long with me for two months, and +you'll sail with me for two months, every time I go out. You won't +run away again neither, I'll look out for that. You'll sail with +me and you'll help clean fish, and you'll mind me and you'll say +'sir.' You needn't smoke if you don't want to," with a smile. "I +ain't p'tic'lar 'bout that. + +"Then," went on the Captain, "when the two months is up you'll be +your own master again. You can go back to 'Web' Saunders and +'Squealer' Wixon and 'Ily' Tucker and their tribe, if you want to, +and be a town nuisance and a good-for-nuthin'. OR you can do this: +You can go to school for a few years more and behave yourself and +then, if I've got any influence with the Congressman from this +district--and I sort of b'lieve I have, second-handed, at any rate-- +you can go to Annapolis and learn to be a Navy officer. That's my +offer. You've got a couple of months to think it over in." + +The catboat swung about on her final tack and stood in for the +narrows, the route which the Captain had spoken of as the "short +cut." From where Josiah sat the way seemed choked with lines of +roaring, frothing breakers that nothing could approach and keep +above water. But Captain Eri steered the Mary Ellen through them +as easily as a New York cabdriver guides his vehicle through a jam +on Broadway, picking out the smooth places and avoiding the rough +ones until the last bar was crossed and the boat entered the +sheltered waters of the bay. + +"By gum!" exclaimed the enthusiastic "able seaman." "That was +great--er--sir!" + +"That's part of what I'll l'arn you in the next two months," said +the Captain. "'Twon't do you any harm to know it when you're in +the Navy neither. Stand by to let go anchor!" + + + +CHAPTER XV + +IN JOHN BAXTER'S ROOM + + +If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline +he was disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the +"shipping articles." The Captain even went to the length of +transferring Perez to the parlor cot and of compelling the boy to +share his own room. This was, of course, a precaution against +further attempts at running away. Morning after morning the pair +rose before daylight and started for the fishing grounds. There +were two or three outbreaks on the part of the "able seaman," but +they ended in but one way, complete submission. After a while +Josiah, being by no means dull, came to realize that when he +behaved like a man he was treated like one. He learned to steer +the Mary Ellen, and to handle her in all weathers. Also, his +respect for Captain Eri developed into a liking. + +Captain Perez was gratified and delighted at the change in his +grandnephew's behavior and manners, and was not a little curious to +learn the methods by which the result had been brought about. His +hints being fruitless, he finally asked his friend point-blank. +Captain Eri's answer was something like this: + +"Perez," he said, "do you remember old man Sanborn, that kept +school here when you and me was boys? Well, when the old man run +foul of a youngster that was sassy and uppish he knocked the sass +out of him fust, and then talked to him like a Dutch uncle. He +used to call that kind of treatment 'moral suasion.' That's what +I'm doin' to Josiah; I'm 'moral suasionin' him." + +Captain Perez was a little anxious concerning the first part of +this course of training, but its results were so satisfactory that +he asked no more questions. The fact is, Captain Perez' mind was +too much occupied with another subject just at this time to allow +him to be over-anxious. The other subject was Miss Patience Davis. + +Miss Davis, her visit with her brother being over, was acting as +companion to an old lady who lived in a little house up the shore, +a mile or so above the station. This elderly female, whose name +was Mayo, had a son who kept a grocery store in the village and +was, therefore, obliged to be away all day and until late in the +evening. Miss Patience found Mrs. Mayo's crotchets a bit trying, +but the work was easy and to her liking, and she was, as she said, +"right across the way, as you might say, from Luther." The "way" +referred to was the stretch of water between the outer beach and +the mainland. + +And Captain Perez was much interested in Miss patience--very much +so, indeed. His frequent visits to the Mayo homestead furnished no +end of amusement to Captain Eri, and also to Captain Jerry, who +found poking fun at his friend an agreeable change from the old +programme of being the butt himself. He wasn't entirely free from +this persecution, however, for Eri more than once asked him, in +tones the sarcasm of which was elaborately veiled, if his match- +making scheme had gotten tired and was sitting down to rest. To +which the sacrifice would reply stoutly, "Oh, it's comin' out all +right; you wait and see." + +But in his heart Captain Jerry knew better. He had been wise +enough to say nothing to his friends concerning his interviews with +Elsie and Ralph, but apparently the breaking-off between the pair +was final. Hazeltine called occasionally, it is true, but his +stays were short and, at the slightest inclination shown by the +older people to leave the room, he left the house. There was some +comment by Eri and Mrs. Snow on this sudden change, but they were +far from suspecting the real reason. Elsie continued to be as +reticent as she had been of late; her school work was easier now +that Josiah was no longer a pupil. + +Christmas was rather a failure. There were presents, of course, +but the planned festivities were omitted owing to a change in John +Baxter's condition. From growing gradually better, he now grew +slowly, but surely, worse. Dr. Palmer's calls were more frequent, +and he did not conceal from Mrs. Snow or the captains his anxiety. +They hid much of this from Elsie, but she, too, noticed the change, +and was evidently worried by it. Strange to say, as his strength +ebbed, the patient's mind grew clearer. His speech, that in his +intervals of consciousness had heretofore dealt with events of the +past, was now more concerned with recent happenings. But Captain +Eri had never heard him mention the fire. + +One afternoon in January Mrs. Snow and Captain Eri were together in +the sick room. The rest of the household was absent on various +errands; Captain Perez paying a visit to the life-saver's sister +and Elsie staying after school to go over some examination papers. +There was snow on the ground, and a "Jinooary thaw" was causing the +eaves to drip, and the puddles in the road to grow larger. The +door of the big stove was open, and the coals within showed red- +hot. Captain Baxter was apparently asleep. + +"Let me see," said Mrs. Snow musingly, in a low tone. "I've been +here now, two, three, over four months. Seems longer, somehow." + +"Seems almost as if you'd always been here," replied Captain Eri. +"Queer how soon we git used to a change. I don't know how we got +along afore, but we did some way or other, if you call it gittin' +along," he added with a shrug. "I should hate to have to try it +over again." + +"It's always seemed funny to me," remarked the lady, "that you men, +all sailors so--and used to doin' for yourselves, should have had +such a time when you come to try keepin' house. I should have +expected it if you was--well, doctors, or somethin' like that--used +to havin' folks wait on you, but all sea captains, it seems queer." + +"It does, don't it? I've thought of that myself. Anybody'd think +we was the most shif'less lot that ever lived, but we wa'n't. Even +Jerry--and he's the wust one of the three when it comes to leavin' +things at loose ends--always had a mighty neat vessel, and had the +name of makin' his crews toe the mark. I honestly b'lieve it come +of us bein' on shore and runnin' the shebang on a share and share +alike idee. If there'd been a skipper, a feller to boss things, +we'd have done better, but when all hands was boss--nobody felt +like doin' anything. Then, too, we begun too old. A feller gits +sort of sot in his ways, and it's hard to give in to the other +chap. + +"Now, take that marryin' idee," he went on. "I laughed at that a +good deal at fust and didn't really take any stock in it, but I +guess 'twas real hoss sense, after all. Anyhow, it brought you +down here, and what we'd done without you when John was took sick, +_I_ don't know. I haven't said much about it, but I've felt +enough, and I know the other fellers feel the same way. You've +been so mighty good and put up with so many things that must have +fretted you like the nation, and the way you've managed--my!" + +The whole-souled admiration in the Captain's voice made the +housekeeper blush like a girl. + +"Don't say a word, Cap'n Eri," she protested. "It's been jest a +pleasure to me, honest. I've had more comfort and--well, peace, +you might say, sence I've been in this house than I've had afore +for years." + +"When I think," said the Captain, "of what we might have got for +that advertisement, I swan it makes my hair curl. Advertisin' that +way in that kind of a paper, why we might have had a--a play +actress, or I don't know what, landed on us. Seems 's if there was +a Providence in it: seems 's if you was kind of SENT--there!" + +"I don't know what you must think of me answerin' an advertisement +for a husband that way. It makes me 'shamed of myself when I think +of it, I declare. And in that kind of a paper, too." + +"I've wondered more times than a few how you ever got a hold of +that paper. 'Tain't one you'd see every day nat'rally, you know." + +Mrs. Snow paused before she answered. Then she said slowly, "Well, +I'm s'prised you ain't asked that afore. I haven't said much about +myself sence I've been here, for no p'tic'lar reason that I know +of, except that there wasn't much to tell and it wasn't a very +interestin' yarn to other folks. My husband's name was Jubal +Snow--" + +"You don't say!" exclaimed the Captain. "Why, Jerry used to know +him." + +"I shouldn't wonder. Jubal knew a lot of folks on the Cape here. +He was a good husband--no better anywheres--and he and I had a good +life together long as he was well. I've sailed a good many v'yages +with him, and I feel pretty nigh as much at home on the water as I +do on land. Our trouble was the same that a good many folks have; +we didn't cal'late that fair weather wouldn't last all the time, +that's all. + +"It wasn't his fault any more than 'twas mine. We saved a little +money, but not enough, as it turned out. Well, he was took down +sick and had to give up goin' to sea, and we had a little place +over in Nantucket, and settled down on it. Fust along, Jubal was +able to do a little farmin' and so on, and we got along pretty +well, but by and by he got so he wa'n't able to work, and then +'twas harder. What little we'd saved went for doctor's bills and +this, that, and t'other. He didn't like to have me leave him, so I +couldn't earn much of anything, and fin'lly we come to where +somethin' had to be done right away, and we talked the thing over +and decided to mortgage the house. The money we got on the +mortgage lasted until he died. + +"He had a little life insurance, not enough, of course, but a +little. He was plannin' to take on more, but somehow it never +seemed as if he could die, he so big and strong, and we put it off +until he got so he couldn't pass the examination. When the +insurance money come I took it to Jedge Briar, a mighty good friend +of Jubal's and mine and the one that held the mortgage on the +house, and I told him I wanted to pay off the mortgage with it, +so's I'd have the house free and clear. But the Jedge advised me +not to, said the mortgage was costin' me only six per cent., and +why didn't I put the money where 'twas likely to be a good +investment that would pay me eight or ten per cent.? Then I'd be +makin' money, he said. I asked him to invest it for me, and he put +it into the Bay Shore Land Company, where most of his own was." + +"Sho! I want to know!" broke in the Captain. "He did, hey! Well, +I had some there, too, and so did Perez. Precious few fam'lies on +the Cape that didn't." + +"Yes, he thought 'twas the safest and best place he knew of. The +officers bein' sons of Cape people and their fathers such fine men, +everybody said 'twas all right. I got my dividends reg'lar for a +while, and I went out nussin' and did sewin' and got along reel +well. I kept thinkin' some day I'd be able to pay off the mortgage +and I put away what little I could towards it, but then _I_ was +took sick and that money went, and then the Land Company went up +the spout." + +The Captain nodded. The failure of the company had brought poverty +to hundreds of widows. Mrs. Snow's case was but another instance. + +"Let me see," said the lady. "Where was I? Oh, yes! the Land +Company's failin'. Well, it failed and the insurance money went +with it. It was discouragin', of course, but I had my house, +except for the mortgage, and I had my health again, and, if I do +say it, I ain't afraid of work, so I jest made up my mind there was +no use cryin' over spilt milk, and that I must git along and begin +to save all over again. Then Jedge Briar died and his nephew up to +Boston come into the property. I was behind in my payments a +little, and they sent me word they should foreclose the mortgage, +and they did." + +"Well, I swan! The mean sculpins! Didn't you have NOBODY you +could go to; no relations nor nothin'?" + +"I've got a brother out in Chicago, but he married rich and his +wife doesn't care much for her husband's relations. I never saw +her but once, and then one of the first things she asked me was if +it was true that there was more crazy people in Nantucket than in +any other place of its size on earth, and afore I could answer she +asked me what made 'em crazy. I told her I didn't know unless it +was answerin' city folks' questions. She didn't like that very +well, and I haven't heard from Job--that's my brother--for a long +time. All my other near relations are dead. + +"So they foreclosed the mortgage, and gave me notice to move out. +I packed my things, and watered my flowers--I had quite a pretty +flower garden--for the last time, and then come in and set down in +the rocker to wait for the wagon that was goin' to move me. I got +to thinkin' how proud Jubal and me was when we bought that house +and how we planned about fixin' it up, and how our baby that died +was born in it, and how Jubal himself had died there, and told me +that he was glad he was leavin' me a home, at any rate; and I got +so lonesome and discouraged that I jest cried, I couldn't help it. +But I've never found that cryin' did much good, so I wiped my eyes +and looked for somethin' to read to take up my mind. And that +Chime paper was what I took up. + +"You see, there'd been a big excursion from Boston down the day +before, and some of the folks come down my way to have a sort of +picnic. Two of 'em, factory girls from Brockton, they was, come to +the house for a drink of water. They were gigglin', foolish enough +critters, but I asked 'em in, and they eat their lunches on my +table. They left two or three story papers and that Chime thing +when they went away. + +"Well, I looked it over, and almost the first thing I saw was that +advertisement signed 'Skipper.' It didn't read like the other +trashy things in there, and it sounded honest. And all of a sudden +it come over me that I'd answer it. I was lonesome and tired and +sort of didn't care, and I answered it right off without waitin' +another minute. That's all there is to tell. When I come here +to be housekeeper I wrote the folks that's takin' care of my +furniture--they're reel kind people; I was goin' to board there if +I had stayed in Nantucket--to keep it till I come back. There! I +meant to tell you this long ago, and I don't know why I haven't." + +The Captain knew why she hadn't. It was easy to read between the +lines the tale of the years of disappointment and anxiety. Such +stories are not easy to tell, and he respected the widow more than +ever for the simple way in which she had told hers. + +"That Land Company bus'ness," he said, "carried off a good lot of +Cape Cod money. I never saw but one man that I thought was glad it +busted, and that was old Caleb Weeks, over to Harniss. The old man +was rich, but closer 'n the bark of a tree--he'd skin a flea for +the hide and taller--and used to be a hard case into the bargain. +One time they had a big revival over there and he got religion. +The boys used to say what caught Caleb was the minister's sayin' +salvation was free. Well, anyhow, he got converted and j'ined the +church. That was all right, only while the fit was fresh he +pledged himself to give five hundred dollars to help build the new +chapel. When he cooled down a little he was sorry, and every time +they'd hint at his comin' down with the cash, he'd back and fill, +and put it off for a spell. When the Land Company went up he was +the only happy one in town, 'cause he said he'd lost all his money. +Course, under the circumstances, they couldn't ask him to pay, so +he didn't. From what I hear he lost as much as fifty dollars." + +They both laughed, and Mrs. Snow was about to answer when she was +interrupted. + +"Eri," said a weak voice. "Eri." + +The Captain started, turned sharply, and saw the sick man watching +him, his eyes fixed and unwavering. + +"Eri," said John Baxter again, "come here." + +Mrs. Snow hurried to her patient, but the latter impatiently bade +her let him alone. + +"Not you," he said, "I want Eri." + +Captain Eri stooped down beside the bed. + +"What is it, John?" he asked. + +"Eri s'pose God called you to break man's law and keep his, what +would you do?" + +The Captain glanced anxiously at the house-keeper. Then he said +soothingly: + +"Oh, that's all right, John. Don't worry 'bout that. You and me +settled that long ago. How are you feelin' now?" + +"I know, I know," with the monotonous persistence of those whose +minds are wandering,--and then cleanly once more, "Eri, I've been +called." + +"Ssh-h! That's all right, John; that's all right. Don't you want +Mrs. Snow to fix your piller? P'raps you'd lay a little easier, +then. Now, Mrs. Snow, if you'll jest turn it while I lift him. +So; that's better now, ain't it, shipmate, hey?" But the sick man +muttered an unintelligible something, and relapsed once more into +the half-doze, half-stupor that was his usual state. + +Captain Eri sighed in relief. + +"That was queer, wa'n't it?" he observed. + +"He's had two or three of those spells in the last day or two," was +the answer. + +The Captain wondered what his friend might have said during those +"spells," but he was afraid to inquire. Instead, he asked, "What +did the doctor say when he was here this mornin'?" + +"Nothin' very hopeful. I asked him plain what he thought of the +case, and he answered jest as plain. He said Cap'n Baxter had +failed dreadful in the last week, and that he wouldn't be s'prised +if he dropped off most any time. Then again, he said he might live +for months." + +"I see, I see." + +They were silent for a while, watching the sick man, whose sleep, +or stupor, was not as tranquil as usual. Two or three times his +eyes opened, and he muttered audibly. + +"I never saw him so restless afore," commented Captain Eri +anxiously. + +"He was so last night." + +"Did Elsie see him?" + +"No, I was alone here, and she was asleep in the next room. I got +up and shut the door." + +The Captain glanced keenly at the housekeeper, but her face was +placid and inscrutable. He shifted uneasily and then said, +"Elsie's late to-night, ain't she? I wonder what's keepin' her." + +"School work, I s'pose. She's workin' harder 'n she ought to, I +think." + +"FIRE!" + +The word was shouted, and the room rang with it. John Baxter, +whose weakness had hitherto been so great that he could not turn +himself in bed, was leaning on his elbow and pointing with +outstretched finger to the open stove door. + +"Fire!" he shouted again. "It's blazin'! It's burnin'! It's +wipin' the plague spot from the earth. I hear you, Lord! I'm old, +but I hear you, and your servant's ready. Where will it be to- +morrer? Gone! burnt up! and the ways of the wicked shan't +prevail." + +They forced him back on the pillow, but he fought them fiercely for +a moment or two. After they thought they had quieted him, he broke +out again, talking rapidly and clearly. + +"I hear the call, Lord," he said. "I thank thee for showin' it to +me in your Book. 'And they burnt all their cities wherein they +dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.' With fire! With +fire!" + +"Ssh-h! There, there, John! Don't talk so," entreated the +Captain. + +"Where's the kerosene?" continued the old man. "And the matches? +Now softly, softly. The shavin's. It's dark. Here, in the +corner. Ah, ha! ah, ha! 'And all their goodly castles with fire!' +Now, Web Saunders, you wicked man! Now! Burn! I've done it, +Lord! I've done it!" + +"Hush!" almost shouted the agonized Captain Eri. "Hush, John! Be +still!" + +"There, there, Cap'n Baxter," said Mrs. Snow soothingly, laying her +hand on the sick man's forehead. Somehow, the touch seemed to +quiet him; his eyes lost their fire, and he muttered absently that +he was tired. Then the eyes closed and he lay still, breathing +heavily. + +"Land of love!" exclaimed the Captain. "That was awful! Hadn't I +better go for the doctor?" + +"I don't think so, unless he gits worse. He had jest such a turn, +as I told you, last night." + +"Did he talk like he did jest now?" + +"Jest the same." + +"'Bout the same things?" + +"Yes." + +The Captain gasped. "Then you knew!" he said. + +"That he set the billiard room afire? Yes. I've always rather +suspicioned that he did, and last night, of course, made me sure of +it." + +"Well, well! You haven't said nothin' 'bout it to anybody?" + +"Of course not." + +"No, 'course you haven't. You must excuse me--I'm kind of upset, I +guess. Dear! dear! Did you think _I_ knew it?" + +"I sort of guessed that you did." + +"Well, I did. I've known it ever sence that night he was found. +He had his coat on when I found him, and 'twas all burnt, and there +was an empty kerosene bottle in his pocket. I hid the coat, and +threw the bottle away, and turned him so he was facin' towards the +saloon 'stead of from it. And I lied when I told the doctor that +he was jest as he fell. There! the murder's out! Now, what do you +think of me?" + +"Think? I think you did exactly right." + +"You DO?" + +"I sartinly do." + +"Well, I snum! I've been over that thing time and time again, and +I've felt like I was sort of a firebug myself sometimes. I've +heard folks layin' it to fust one and then the other, and +cal'latin' that Web did it himself to git the insurance, and all +the time I've known who really did do it, and haven't said +anything. I jest couldn't. You see, John and me's been brothers +almost. But I didn't s'pose anybody else would see it the same +way." + +"Cap'n Eri, do you s'pose I blame you for tryin' to keep your best +friend out of trouble that he got into by bein'--well--out of his +head. Why, land of mercy! He ain't no more to be held responsible +than a baby. You did what I'd have done if I'd been in your place, +and I respect you for it." + +The Captain's voice shook as he answered: + +"Marthy Snow," he said, "you're the kind of woman that I'd like to +have had for a sister." + +It was perhaps a half-hour later when Captain Eri started for the +schoolhouse to bring Elsie home. John Baxter had not wakened, and +Mrs. Snow said she was not afraid to remain alone with him. The +thaw had turned to a light rain and the Captain carried an umbrella. +It was dark by this time, and when he came in sight of the +schoolhouse he saw a light in the window. + +One of the scholars--a by no means brilliant one--whose principal +educational achievement was the frequency with which he succeeded +in being "kept after school," was seated on the fence, doing his +best to whittle it to pieces with a new jackknife. + +"Hello, sonny!" said the Captain. "Miss Preston gone yit?" + +"No, she ain't," replied the boy, continuing to whittle. "She's up +there. Mr. Saunders is there, too." + +"Saunders? WEB SAUNDERS?" + +"Yup. I see him go in there a little while ago." Captain Eri +started toward the schoolhouse at a rapid pace; then he suddenly +stopped; and then, as suddenly, walked on again. All at once he +dropped his umbrella and struck one hand into the palm of the other +with a smack. + +When he reached the door, he leaned the umbrella in the corner and +walked up the stairs very softly, indeed. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +A BUSINESS CALL + + +That enterprising business man, Mr. "Web" Saunders, opened the door +of his renovated billiard room a little later than usual the next +morning. It was common report about the village that Mr. Saunders +occasionally sampled the contents of some of the "original packages" +which, bearing the name and address of a Boston wholesale liquor +dealer, came to him by express at irregular intervals. It was also +reported, probably by unreliable total abstainers, that during these +"sampling" seasons his temper was not of the best. Perhaps Mrs. +Saunders might have said something concerning this report if she had +been so disposed, but unless a discolored eye might be taken as +evidence, she never offered any. The injury to her eye she +explained by saying that something "flew up and hit her." This +was no doubt true. + +But, gossip aside, Mr. Saunders did not seem in good humor on this +particular morning. A yellow cur, of nondescript breed, taken +since the fire, in payment of a debt from "Squealer" Wixon, who had +described it as a "fust-class watchdog," rose from its bed behind +the cigar counter, yawned, stretched, and came slinking over to +greet its master. "Web" forcibly hoisted it out of the door on the +toe of his boot. Its yelp of pained surprise seemed to afford the +business man considerable relief, for he moved more briskly +afterward, and proceeded to sweep the floor with some degree of +speed. + +The forenoon trade at the billiard room was never very lively, and +this forenoon was no exception. "Bluey" Batcheldor drifted in, +stepped into the little room the door of which was lettered "Ice +Cream Parlor," and busied himself with a glass and bottle for a few +moments. Then he helped himself to a cigar from the showcase, and +told his friend to "chalk it up." This Mr. Saunders didn't seem to +care to do, and there was a lively argument. At length "Bluey's" +promise to "square up in a day or so" was accepted, under protest, +and the customer departed. + +At half-past eleven the man of business was dozing in a chair by +the stove, and the "watchdog," having found it chilly outside and +venturing in, was dozing near him. The bell attached to the door +rang vigorously, and both dog and man awoke with a start. The +visitor was Captain Eri. + +Now, the Captain was perhaps the last person whom the proprietor of +the billiard room expected to see, but a stranger never would have +guessed it. In fact, the stranger might reasonably have supposed +that the visitor was Mr. Saunders' dearest friend, and that his +call was a pleasure long looked forward to. + +"Why, Cap'n!" exclaimed "Web," "how are you? Put her there! I'm +glad to see you lookin' so well. I said to 'Squealer' the other +day, s'I, 'Squealer, I never see a man hold his age like Cap'n +Hedge. I'll be blessed if he looks a day over forty,' I says. +Take off your coat, won't you?" + +Somehow or other, the Captain must have lost sight of "Web's" +extended hand. Certainly, the hand was large enough to be seen, +but he did not take it. He did, however, accept the invitation to +remove his coat, and, slipping out of the faded brown pea jacket, +threw it on a settee at the side of the room. His face was stern +and his manner quiet, and in spite Of Mr. Saunders' flattering +reference to his youthful appearance, this morning he looked at +least more than a day past forty. + +But, if Captain Eri was more than usually quiet and reserved, "Web" +was unchanged, and, if he noticed that the handshake was declined, +said nothing about it. His smile was sweetness itself, as he +observed, "Well, Cap'n, mighty mod'rate weather we're having for +this time of year, ain't it? What's new down your way? That's +right, have a chair." + +The Captain had no doubt anticipated this cordial invitation, for +he seated himself before it was given, and, crossing his legs, +extended his dripping rubber boots toward the fire. The rain was +still falling, and it beat against the windows of the saloon in +gusts. + +"Web," said Captain Eri, "set down a minute. I want to talk to +you." + +"Why, sure!" exclaimed the genial man of business, pulling up +another chair. "Have a cigar, won't you? You don't come to see me +very often, and I feel's though we ought to celebrate. Ha! ha! ha!" + +"No, I guess not, thank you," was the answer. "I'll smoke my pipe, +if it's all the same to you." + +Mr. Saunders didn't mind in the least, but thought he would have a +cigar himself. So he lit one and smoked in silence as the Captain +filled his pipe. "Web" knew that this was something more than an +ordinary social visit. Captain Eri's calls at the billiard room +were few and far between. The Captain, for his part, knew what his +companion was thinking, and the pair watched each other through the +smoke. + +The pipe drew well, and the Captain sent a blue cloud whirling +toward the ceiling. Then he asked suddenly, "Web, how much money +has Elsie Preston paid you altogether?" + +Mr. Saunders started the least bit, and his small eyes narrowed a +trifle. But the innocent surprise in his reply was a treat to +hear. + +"Elsie? Paid ME?" he asked. + +"Yes. How much has she paid you?" + +"I don't know what you mean." + +"Yes, you do. She's been payin' you money reg'lar for more 'n a +month. I want to know how much it is." + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge, I don't know what you're talkin' about. +Nobody's paid me a cent except them that's owed me. Who did you +say? Elsie Preston? That's the school-teacher, ain't it?" + +"Web, you're a liar, and always was, but you needn't lie to me this +mornin', 'cause it won't be healthy; I don't feel like hearin' it. +You understand that, do you?" + +Mr. Saunders thought it time to bluster a little. He rose to his +feet threateningly. + +"Cap'n Hedge," he said, "no man 'll call me a liar." + +"There's a precious few that calls you anything else." + +"You're an old man, or I'd--" + +"Never you mind how old I am. A minute ago you said I didn't look +more 'n forty; maybe I don't feel any older, either." + +"If that Preston girl has told you any--" + +"She hasn't told me anything. She doesn't know that I know +anything. But I do know. I was in the entry upstairs at the +schoolhouse for about ten minutes last night." + +Mr. Saunders' start was perceptible this time. He stood for a +moment without speaking. Then he jerked the chair around, threw +himself into it, and said cautiously, "Well, what of it?" + +"I come up from the house to git Elsie home 'cause 'twas rainin'. +I was told you was with her, and I thought there was somethin' +crooked goin' on; fact is, I had a suspicion what 'twas. So when I +got up to the door I didn't go in right away; I jest stood +outside." + +"Listenin', hey! Spyin'!" + +"Yup. I don't think much of folks that listens, gin'rally speakin', +but there's times when I b'lieve in it. When I'm foolin' with a +snake I'd jest as soon hit him from behind as in front. I didn't +hear much, but I heard enough to let me know that you'd been takin' +money from that girl right along. And I think I know why." + +"You do, hey?" + +"Yup." + +Then Mr. Saunders asked the question that a bigger rascal than he +had asked some years before. He leaned back in his chair, took a +pull at his cigar, and said sneeringly, "Well, what are you goin' +to do 'bout it?" + +"I'm goin' to stop it, and I'm goin' to make you give the money +back. How much has she paid you?" + +"None of your d--n bus'ness." + +The Captain rose to his feet. Mr. Saunders sprang up, also, and +reached for the coal shovel, evidently expecting trouble. But if +he feared a physical assault, his fear was groundless. Captain Eri +merely took up his coat. + +"Maybe it ain't none of my bus'ness," he said. "I ain't a +s'lectman nor sheriff. But there's such things in town, and p'raps +they'll be int'rested. Seems to me that I've heard that +blackmailin' has got folks into State's prison afore now." + +"Is that so? Never heard that folks that set fire to other +people's prop'ty got there, did you? Yes, and folks that helps 'em +gits there, too, sometimes. Who was it hid a coat a spell ago?" + +It was Captain Eri's turn to start. He hesitated a moment, tossed +the pea jacket back on the settee and sat down once more. Mr. +Saunders watched him, grinning triumphantly. + +"Well?" he said with a sneer. + +"A coat, you say?" + +"Yes, a coat. Maybe you know who hid it; I can guess, myself. +That coat was burned some. How do you s'pose it got burned? And +say! who used to wear a big white hat round these diggin's? Ah, +ha! Who did?" + +There was no doubt about the Captain's start this time. He wheeled +sharply in his chair, and looked at the speaker. + +"Humph!" he exclaimed. "You found that hat, did you?" + +"That's what I done! And where do you think I found it? Why, +right at the back of my shed where the fire started. And there'd +been a pile of shavin's there, too, and there'd been kerosene on +'em. Who smashed the bottle over in the field, hey?" + +Captain Eri seemed to be thinking. "Web" evidently set his own +interpretation on this silence, for he went on, raising his voice +as he did so. + +"Did you think I was fool enough not to know who set that fire? I +knew the night she burned, and when I met Dr. Palmer jest comin' +from your house, and he told me how old Baxter was took sick goin' +to the fire--oh, yes, GOIN'--I went up on that hill right off, and +I hunted and I found things, and what I found I kept. And what I +found when I pulled that burned shed to pieces I kept, too. And +I've got 'em yit!" + +"You have, hey? Dear! dear!" + +"You bet I have! And somebody's goin' to pay for 'em. Goin' to +pay, pay, PAY! Is that plain?" + +The Captain made no answer. He thrust his hands into his pockets +and looked at the stove dolefully, so it seemed to the man of +business. + +"Fust off I thought I'd have the old cuss jailed," continued Mr. +Saunders. "Then, thinks I, 'No, that won't pay me for my buildin' +and my bus'ness hurt and all that.' So I waited for Baxter to git +well, meanin' to make him pay or go to the jug. But he stayed sick +a-purpose, I b'lieve, the mean, white-headed, psalm-singin'--" + +Captain Eri moved uneasily and broke in, "You got your insurance +money, didn't you?" + +"Yes, I did, but whose fault is that? 'Twa'n't his, nor any other +darned 'Come-Outer's.' It don't pay me for my trouble, nor it +don't make me square with the gang. I gen'rally git even sometime +or 'nother, and I'll git square now. When that girl come here, +swellin' 'round and puttin' on airs, I see my chance, and told her +to pay up or her granddad would be shoved into Ostable jail. That +give her the jumps, I tell you!" + +"You wrote her a letter, didn't you?" + +"You bet I did! She come 'round to see me in a hurry. Said she +didn't have no money. I told her her granddad did, an she could +git that or go to work and earn some. I guess she thought she'd +ruther work. Oh, I've got her and her prayin', house-burnin' +granddad where I want 'em, and I've got you, too, Eri Hedge, +stickin' your oar in. Talk to me 'bout blackmail! For two cents +I'd jail the old man and you, too!" + +This was the real Mr. Saunders. He usually kept this side of his +nature for home use; his wife was well acquainted with it. + +Captain Eri was evidently frightened. His manner had become almost +apologetic. + +"Well," he said, "I wouldn't do that if I was you, Web. I heard +you tell Elsie last night she wa'n't payin' you enough, and I +thought--" + +"I know what you thought. You thought you could scare me. You +didn't know I had the coat and hat, did you? Well, what I said I +stand by. The girl AIN'T payin' me enough. Fourteen dollars a +week she gits, and she's only been givin' up ten. I want more. I +want--" + +But here Captain Eri interrupted him. + +"I guess that 'll do," he said calmly. "You've told me what I +wanted to know. Ten dollars a week sence the middle of November. +'Bout seventy dollars, rough figgerin'. Now, then, hand it over." + +"What?" + +"Hand over that seventy dollars." + +"Hand over hell! What are you talkin' 'bout?" + +The Captain rose and, leaning over, shook his forefinger in Mr. +Saunders' flabby red face. + +"You low-lived, thievin' rascal," he said, "I'm givin' you a chance +you don't deserve. Either you'll pay me that money you've stole +from that girl or I'll walk out of that door, and when I come in +again the sheriff 'll be with me. Now, which 'll it be? Think +quick." + +Web's triumphant expression was gone, and rage and malice had taken +its place. He saw, now, that the Captain had tricked him into +telling more than he ought. But he burst out again, tripping over +words in his excitement. + +"Think!" he yelled. "I don't need to think. Bring in your +sheriff. I'll march down to your house and I'll show him the man +that set fire to my buildin'. What 'll you and that snivelin' +granddaughter of his do then? You make off to think a turrible lot +of the old prayer-machine 'cause he's your chum. How'd you like to +see him took up for a firebug, hey?" + +"I ain't afraid of that." + +"You ain't? You AIN'T! Why not?" + +"'Cause he's gone where you can't git at him. He died jest afore I +left the house." + +Mr. Saunders' brandished fist fell heavily on the arm of his chair. +His face turned white in patches, and then flamed red again. + +"Died!" he gasped. + +"Died." + +"You--you're a liar!" + +"No, I ain't. John Baxter's dead. He was a chum of mine--you're +right there--and if I'd known a sneak like you was after him I'd +have been here long afore this. Why, you--" + +The Captain's voice shook, but he restrained himself and went on. + +"Now, you see where you stand, don't you? Long's John lived you +had the proof to convict him; I'll own up to that much. I hid the +coat; I smashed the bottle. The hat I didn't know 'bout. I might +have told you at fust that all that didn't amount to anything, but +I thought I'd wait and let you tell me what more I wanted to know. +John Baxter's gone, poor feller, and all your proof ain't worth a +cent. Not one red cent. Understand?" + +It was quite evident that Mr. Saunders did understand, for his +countenance showed it. But the bluster was not out of him yet. + +"All right," he said. "Anyhow, the girl's left, and if she don't +pay I'll show her granddad up for what he was. And I'll show you +up, too. Yes, I will!" he shouted, as this possibility began to +dawn on him. "I'll let folks know how you hid that coat and--and +all the rest of it." + +"No, you won't." + +"Why won't I?" + +"'Cause you won't dare to. You've been hittin' at a sick man +through a girl; neither of 'em could hit back. But now you're +doin' bus'ness with me, and I ain't sick. If you open your mouth +to anybody,--if you let a soul know who set that fire,--I'll walk +straight to Jedge Baker, and I'll tell him the whole story. I'll +tell him what I did and why I did it. And THEN I'll tell him what +you did--how you bullied money out of that girl that hadn't no more +to do with the fire than a baby. If it comes to facin' a jury I'll +take my chances, but how 'bout you? You, runnin' a town nuisance +that the s'lectmen are talkin' of stoppin' already; sellin' rum by +the drink when your license says it shan't be sold 'cept by the +bottle. Where'll YOUR character land you on a charge of blackmail? + +"And another thing. The folks in this town knew John Baxter afore +he was like what he's been lately. A good many of 'em swore by +him--yes, sir, by mighty, some of 'em loved him! This is a law- +abidin' town, but s'pose--jest s'pose I should go to some of the +fellers that used to sail with him, and tell 'em what you've been +up to. Think you'd stay here long? _I_ think you'd move out--on a +rail." + +Captain Eri paused and sat on the arm of his chair, grimly watching +his opponent, whose turn for thinking had come. The face of the +billiard magnate was an interesting study in expression during the +Captain's speech. From excited triumph it had fallen to fear and +dejection; and now, out of the wreck, was appearing once more the +oily smile, the sugared sweetness of the every-day Mr. Saunders. + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge," purred the reconstructed one, "you and me has +always been good friends. We hadn't ought to fight like this. I +don't think either of us wants to go to court. Let's see if we +can't fix the thing up some way." + +"We'll fix it up when you pay me the seventy dollars." + +"Now, Cap'n Hedge, 'tain't likely I've got seventy dollars in my +pocket. Seems to me you're pretty hard on a poor feller that's +jest been burnt out. I think we'd ought to--" + +"How much HAVE you got?" + +After a good deal of talk and protestation Mr. Saunders acknowledged +being the possessor of twenty-six dollars, divided between the cash +drawer and his pocket. This he reluctantly handed to the Captain. + +Then the Captain demanded pen, ink, and paper; and when they were +brought he laboriously wrote out a screed to the effect that +Webster Saunders had received of Elsie Preston forty-four dollars, +which sum he promised to pay on demand. + +"There," he said, pushing the writing materials across the table. +"Sign that." + +At first Mr. Saunders positively refused to sign. Then he +intimated that he had rather wait and think it over a little while. +Finally he affixed his signature and spitefully threw the pen +across the room. + +Captain Eri folded up the paper and put it in his pocket. Then he +rose and put on his pea jacket. + +"Now, there's jest one thing more," he said. "Trot out that coat +and hat." + +"What do you mean?" + +"Trot out that coat and hat of John's. I want 'em." + +"I shan't do it." + +"All right, then. It's all off. I'll step over and see the Jedge. +You'll hear from him and me later." + +"Hold on a minute, Cap'n. You're in such a everlastin' hurry. I +don't care anything 'bout the old duds, but I don't know's I know +where they are. Seems to me they're up to the house somewheres. +I'll give 'em to you to-morrer." + +"You'll give 'em to me right now. I'll tend shop while you go +after 'em." + +For a moment it looked as though the man of business would rebel +outright. But the Captain was so calm, and evidently so determined +to do exactly what he promised, that "Web" gave up in despair. +Muttering that maybe they were "'round the place, after all," he +went into the back room and reappeared with the burned coat and the +scorched white felt hat. Slamming them down on the counter, he +said sulkily, "There they be. Any more of my prop'ty you'd like to +have?" + +Captain Eri didn't answer. Coolly tearing off several sheets of +wrapping paper from the roll at the back of the counter, he made a +bundle of the hat and coat, and tucked it under his arm. Then he +put on his own hat and started for the door. + +"Good-mornin'," he said. + +The temper of the exasperated Mr. Saunders flared up in a final +outburst. + +"You think you're almighty smart, don't you?" he growled between +his teeth. "I'll square up with you by and by." + +The Captain turned sharply, his hand on the latch. + +"I wish you'd try," he said. "I jest wish to God you'd try. I've +held in more 'n I thought I could when I come up here, but if you +want to start a reel fust-class rumpus, one that 'll land you where +you b'long and rid this town of you for keeps, jest try some of +your tricks on me. And if I hear of one word that you've said +'bout this whole bus'ness, I'll know it's time to start in. Now, +you can keep still or fight, jest as you please. I tell you +honest, I 'most wish you'd fight." + +The door slammed. Mr. Saunders opened it again and gazed +vindictively after the bulky figure splashing through the slush. +The dog came sneaking up and rubbed his nose against his master's +hand; it was an impolitic move on his part. + +"Git out! " roared "Web," delighted at the opportunity. "You good- +for-nothin' pup! How's that set?" + +"That" was a kick that doubled the cur up against the settee. As +it scrambled to its feet, Mr. Saunders kicked it again. And then +the "watchdog" exhibited the first evidence of spirit that it had +ever been known to show. With a snarl, as the man turned away, it +settled its teeth into the calf of his leg, and then shot out of +the door and, with its tail between its legs, went down the road +like a yellow cannon ball. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THROUGH FIRE AND WATER + + +It was true--John Baxter was dead. His violent outbreak of the +previous afternoon had hastened the end that the doctor had +prophesied. There was no harrowing death scene. The weather- +beaten old face grew calmer, and, the sleep sounder, until the tide +went out--that was all. It was like a peaceful coming into port +after a rough voyage. No one of the watchers about the bed could +wish him back, not even Elsie, who was calm and brave through it +all. When it was over, she went to her room and Mrs. Snow went +with her. Captain Eri went out to make his call upon Mr. Saunders. + +The funeral was one of the largest ever held in Orham. The little +house was crowded. Old friends, who had drifted away from the +fanatic in his latter days, came back to pay tribute to the strong +man whom they had known and loved. There was some discussion among +the captains as to who should preach the funeral sermon. Elsie had +left this question to Captain Eri for settlement, and the trio and +Mrs. Snow went into executive session immediately. + +"If John had had the settlin' of it himself," observed Eri, "he'd +have picked Perley, there ain't no doubt 'bout that." + +"I know it," said Captain Perez, "but you must remember that John +wa'n't himself for years, and what he'd have done now ain't what +he'd have done 'fore he broke down. I hate to think of Perley's +doin' it, somehow." + +"Isn't Mr. Perley a good man?" asked the housekeeper. + +"He's good enough, fur's I know," replied Captain Jerry, "but I +know what Perez means. A funeral, seems to me, ought to be a +quiet, soothin' sort of a thing, and there ain't nothin' soothin' +'bout Come-Outer' preachin'. He'll beller and rave 'round, I'm +'fraid, and stir up poor Elsie so she won't never git over it." + +"I know it," agreed Captain Eri. "That's what I've been afraid of. +And yit," he added, "I should feel we was doin' somethin' jest +opposite from what John would like, if we had anybody else." + +"Couldn't you see Mr. Perley beforehand," suggested Mrs. Snow, "and +tell him jest the kind of sermon he must preach. Tell him it must +be quiet and comfortin' and--" + +"And short." Captain Eri finished the sentence for her. "I guess +that's the way we'll have to settle it. I'll make him understand +one thing, though--he mustn't drag in rum sellin' and all the rest +of it by the heels. If he does I'll--I don't know what I'll do to +him." + +The interview with the Reverend Perley that followed this +conversation must have been effective, for the sermon was +surprisingly brief and as surprisingly calm. In fact, so rational +was it that a few of the more extreme among the preacher's +following were a bit disappointed and inquired anxiously as to +their leader's health, after the ceremony was over. + +The procession of carryalls and buggies followed the hearse to the +cemetery among the pines, and, as the mourners stood about the +grave, the winter wind sang through the evergreen branches a song +so like the roar of the surf that it seemed like a dirge of the sea +for the mariner who would sail no more. As they were clearing away +the supper dishes that night Captain Eri said to Mrs. Snow, "Well, +John's gone. I wonder if he's happier now than he has been for the +last ten years or so." + +"I think he is," was the answer. + +"Well, so do I, but if he hadn't been a 'Come Outer' I don't s'pose +Brother Perley and his crowd would have figgered that he had much +show. Seems sometimes as if folks like that--reel good-hearted +folks, too, that wouldn't hurt a fly--git solid comfort out of the +feelin' that everybody that don't agree with 'em is bound to +everlastin' torment. I don't know but it's wicked to say it, but +honest, it seems as if them kind would 'bout as soon give up the +hopes of Heaven for themselves as they would the satisfaction of +knowin' 'twas t'other place for the other feller." + +To which remark the somewhat shocked housekeeper made no reply. + +The following day Elsie went back to her school. Captain Eri +walked up with her, and, on the way, told her of his discovery of +her secret, and of his interview with "Web" Saunders. It was +exactly as the Captain had surmised. The note she had received on +the evening of the return from the life-saving station was from the +proprietor of the billiard saloon, and in it he hinted at some dire +calamity that overshadowed her grandfather, and demanded an +immediate interview. She had seen him that night and, under threat +of instant exposure, had promised to pay the sum required for +silence. She had not wished to use her grandfather's money for +this purpose, and so had taken the position as teacher. + +"Well," said the Captain, "I wish you'd have come to me right away, +and told me the whole bus'ness. 'Twould have saved a pile of +trouble." + +The young lady stopped short and faced him. + +"Captain Eri," she said, "how could I? I was sure grandfather had +set the fire. I knew how ill he was, and I knew that any shock +might kill him. Besides, how could I drag you into it, when you +had done so much already? It would have been dreadful. No, I +thought it all out, and decided I must face it alone." + +"Well, I tell you this, Elsie; pretty gin'rally a mean dog 'll bite +if he sees you're afraid of him. The only way to handle that kind +is to run straight at him and kick the meanness out of him. The +more he barks the harder you ought to kick. If you run away once +it 'll be mighty uncomf'table every time you go past that house. +But never mind; I cal'late this p'tic'lar pup won't bite; I've +pulled his teeth, I guess. What's your plans, now? Goin' to keep +on with the school, or go back to Boston?" + +Miss Preston didn't know; she said she had not yet decided, and, as +the schoolhouse was reached by this time, the Captain said no more. + +There was, however, another question that troubled him, and that +seemed to call for almost immediate settlement. It was: What +should be done with Mrs. Snow? The housekeeper had been hired to +act as such while John Baxter was in the house. Now he was gone, +and there remained the original marriage agreement between Captain +Jerry and the widow, and honor called for a decision one way or the +other. Mrs. Snow, of course, said nothing about it, neither did +Captain Jerry, and Captain Eri felt that he must take the +initiative as usual. But, somehow, he was not as prompt as was his +wont, and sat evening after evening, whittling at the clipper and +smoking thoughtfully. And another week went by. + +Captain Perez might, and probably would, have suggested action upon +this important matter, had not his mind been taken up with what, to +him, was the most important of all. He had made up his mind to ask +Patience Davis to marry him. + +Love is like the measles; it goes hard with a man past fifty, and +Captain Perez was severely smitten. The decision just mentioned +was not exactly a brand-new one, his mind had been made up for some +time, but he lacked the courage to ask the momentous question. +Something the lady had said during the first stages of their +acquaintance made a great impression on the Captain. She gave it +as her opinion that a man who loved a woman should be willing to go +through fire and water to win her. Captain Perez went home that +night pondering deeply. + +"Fire and water!" he mused. "That's a turrible test. But she's a +wonderful woman, and would expect it of a feller. I wonder if I +could do it; seems 's if I would now, but flesh is weak, and I +might flunk, and that would settle it. Fire and water! My! my! +that's awful!" + +So the Captain delayed and Miss Patience, who had cherished hopes, +found need of a good share of the virtue for which she was named. + +But one afternoon at the end of the week following that of the +funeral, Perez set out for a call upon his intended which he meant +should be a decisive one. He had screwed his courage up to the top +notch, and as he told Captain Eri afterwards, he meant to "hail her +and git his bearin's, if he foundered the next minute." + +He found the lady alone, for old Mrs. Mayo had gone with her son, +whose name was Abner, to visit a cousin in Harniss, and would not +be back until late in the evening. Miss Patience was very glad to +have company, and it required no great amount of urging to persuade +the infatuated swain to stay to tea. When the meal was over--they +washed the dishes together, and the Captain was so nervous that it +is a wonder there was a whole plate left--the pair were seated in +the parlor. Then said Captain Perez, turning red and hesitating, +"Pashy, do you know what a feller told me 'bout you?" + +Now, this remark was purely a pleasant fiction, for the Captain was +about to undertake a compliment, and was rather afraid to shoulder +the entire responsibility. + +"No; I'm sure I don't, Perez," replied Miss Davis, smiling sweetly. + +"Well, a feller told me you was the best housekeeper in Orham. He +said that the man that got you would be lucky." + +This was encouraging. Miss Patience colored and simpered a little. + +"Land sake!" she exclaimed. "Whoever told you such rubbish as +that? Besides," with downcast eyes, "I guess no man would ever +want me." + +"Oh, I don't know." The Captain moved uneasily in his chair, as if +he contemplated hitching it nearer to that occupied by his +companion. "I guess there's plenty would be mighty glad to git +you. Anyhow, there's--there's one that--that--I cal'late the fog's +thick as ever, don't you?" + +But Miss Patience didn't mean to give up in this way. + +"What was it you was goin' to say?" she asked, by way of giving the +bashful one another chance. + +"I was goin' to say, Pashy, that--that--I asked if you thought the +fog was as thick as ever." + +"Oh, dear me! Yes, I s'pose likely 'tis," was the discouraged +answer. + +"Seems to me I never see such weather for this time of year. The +ice is all out of the bay, and there ain't a bit of wind, and it's +warm as summer, pretty nigh. Kind of a storm-breeder, I'm afraid." + +"Well, I'm glad you're here to keep me comp'ny. I've never been +sole alone in this house afore, and I should be dreadful lonesome +if you hadn't come." This was offered as a fresh bait. + +"Pashy, I've got somethin' I wanted to ask you. Do you think you +could--er--er--" + +"What, Perez?" + +"I wanted to ask you"--the Captain swallowed several times--"to ask +you--What in the nation is that?" + +"Oh, that's nothin' only the hens squawkin'. Go on!" + +"Yes, but hens don't squawk this time of night 'thout they have +some reason to. It's that fox come back; that's what 'tis." + +Miss Patience, earlier in the evening, had related a harrowing tale +of the loss of two of Mrs. Mayo's best Leghorns that had gone to +furnish a Sunday meal for a marauding fox. As the said Leghorns +were the pride of the old lady's heart, even the impending proposal +was driven from Miss Davis' mind. + +"Oh, Perez! you don't s'pose 'tis the fox, do you?" + +"Yes, MA'AM, I do! Where's the gun?" + +"There 'tis, behind the door, but there ain't a mite of shot in the +house. Abner's been goin' to fetch some from the store for I don't +know how long, but he's always forgot it." + +"Never mind. I'll pound the critter with the butt. Come quick, +and bring a lamp." + +The noise in the henyard continued, and when they opened the door +it was louder than ever. + +"He's in the henhouse," whispered Miss Patience. "He must have +gone in that hole at the side that had the loose board over it." + +"All right," murmured the Captain. "You go 'round with the lamp +and open the door. That 'll scare him, and I'll stand at the hole +and thump him when he comes out." + +So, shielding the lamp with her apron, the guardian of Mrs. Mayo's +outraged Leghorns tiptoed around to the henhouse door, while +Captain Perez, brandishing the gun like a club, took up his stand +by the hole at the side. + +Without the lamp the darkness was pitchy. The Captain, stooping +down to watch, saw something coming out of the hole--something +that was alive and moved. He swung the gun above his head, and, +bringing it down with all his might, knocked into eternal oblivion +the little life remaining in the finest Leghorn rooster. + +"Consarn it!" yelled the executioner, stooping and laying his hand +on the victim, "I've killed a hen!" + +Just then there came a scream from the other side of the henhouse, +followed by a crash and the sound of a fall. Running around the +corner the alarmed Perez saw his lady-love stretched upon the +ground, groaning dismally. + +"Great land of Goshen!" he cried. "Pashy, are you hurt?" + +"Oh, Perez!" gasped the fallen one. "Oh, Perez!" + +This pitiful appeal had such an effect upon the Captain that he +dropped upon his knees and, raising Miss Davis' head in his hands, +begged her to say she wasn't killed. After some little time she +obligingly complied, and then, having regained her breath, +explained the situation. + +What had happened was this: The fox, having selected his victim +the rooster, had rendered it helpless, and was pushing it out of +the hole ahead of him. The Captain had struck the rooster just as +Miss Patience opened the door, and the fox, seizing this chance of +escape, had dodged by the lady, upsetting her as he went. + +"Well," she said, laughing, "there's no great harm done. I'm sorry +for the rooster, but I guess the fox had fixed him anyway. Oh, my +soul and body! look there!" + +Perez turned, looked as directed, and saw the henhouse in flames. + +The lighted lamp, which Miss Patience had dropped as she fell, lay +broken on the floor, and the blazing oil had run in every direction. +The flames were making such headway that they both saw there was +practically no chance of saving the building. The frightened hens +were huddled in the furthest corner, gazing stupidly at the fire. + +"Oh, those poor Leghorns!" wailed Miss Patience. "Those hens Mrs. +Mayo thought the world of, and left me to look out for. Last thing +she asked me was to be sure they was fed. And now they'll be all +burned up! What SHALL I do?" + +Here the lady began to cry. + +"Pashy!" roared the Captain, whom the sight of his charmer's tears +had driven almost wild, "don't say another word. I'll save them +hens or git cooked along with 'em!" + +And turning up his coat collar, as though he was going into a +refrigerator instead of a burning building, Captain Perez sprang +through the door. + +Miss Davis screamed wildly to him to come back, and danced about, +wringing her hands. The interior of the henhouse was now a mass of +black smoke, from which the voices of the Captain and the Leghorns +floated in a discordant medley, something like this: + +"Hold still, you lunatics! ("Squawk! squawk!") Druther be roasted +than have me catch you, hadn't you? ("Squawk! squawk!") A-- +kershew! Land! I'm smothered! NOW I've got you! Thunderation! +Hold STILL! HOLD STILL, I tell you!" + +Just as the agonized Miss Patience was on the point of fainting, +the little window at the back of the shanty was thrown open and two +hens, like feathered comets, shot through it. Then the red face of +the Captain appeared for an instant as he caught his breath with a +"Woosh!" and dived back again. This performance was repeated six +times, the Captain's language and the compliments he paid the hens +becoming more picturesque every moment. + +At length he announced, "That's all, thank goodness!" and began to +climb through the window. This was a difficult task; for the +window was narrow and, in spite of what Captain Eri had called his +"ingy-rubber" make up, Captain Perez stuck fast. + +"Catch hold of my hands and haul, will you, Pashy?" he pleaded. +"That's it; pull hard! It's gittin' sort of muggy in behind here. +I'll never complain at havin' cold feet ag'in if I git out of this. +Now, then! Ugh! Here we be!" + +He came out with a jerk, like a cork out of a bottle, and rolled on +the ground at his lady's feet. + +"Oh, Perez!" she exclaimed, "are you hurt?" + +"Nothin' but my feelin's," growled the rescuer, scrambling upright. +"I read a book once by a feller named Joshua Billin's, or somethin' +like it. He was a ignorant chap--couldn't spell two words right-- +but he had consider'ble sense. He said a hen was a darn fool, and +he was right; she's all that." + +The Captain's face was blackened, and his clothes were scorched, +but his spirit was undaunted. + +"Pashy," he said, "do you realize that if we don't git help, this +whole shebang, house and all, will burn down?" + +"Perez, you don't mean it!" + +"I wouldn't swear that I didn't. Look how that thing's blazin'! +There's the barn t'other side of it, and the house t'other side of +that." + +"But can't you and me put it out?" + +"I don't dare resk it. No, sir! We've got to git help, and git it +in a hurry, too!" + +"Won't somebody from the station see the light and come over?" + +"Not in this fog. You can't see a hundred foot. No, I've got to +go right off. Good land! I never thought! Is the horse gone?" + +"No; the horse is here. Abner took one of the store horses to go +to Harniss with. But he did take the buggy, and there's no other +carriage but the old carryall, and that's almost tumblin' to +pieces." + +"I was cal'latin' to go horseback." + +"What! and leave me here alone with the house afire? No, indeed! +If you go, I'm goin', too." + +"Well, then, the carryll's got to do, whether or no. Git on a +shawl or somethin', while I harness up." + +It was a frantic harnessing, but it was done in a hurry, and the +ramshackle old carryall, dusty and cobwebbed, was dragged out of +the barn, and Horace Greeley, the horse, was backed into the +shafts. As they drove out of the yard the flames were roaring +through the roof of the henhouse, and the lath fence surrounding it +was beginning to blaze. + +"Everything's so wet from the fog and the melted snow," observed +the Captain, "that it 'll take some time for the fire to git to the +barn. If we can git a gang here we can save the house easy, and +maybe more. By mighty!" he ejaculated, "I tell you what we'll do. +I'll drive across the ford and git Luther and some of the station +men to come right across. Then I'll go on to the village to fetch +more. It was seven when I looked at the clock as we come in from +washin' dishes, so the tide must be still goin' out, and the ford +jest right. Git dap!" + +"Hurry all you can, for goodness' sake! Is this as fast as we can +go?" + +"Fast as we can go with this everlastin' Noah's Ark. Heavens! how +them wheels squeal!" + +"The axles ain't been greased for I don't know when. Abner was +going to have the old carriage chopped up for kindlin' wood." + +"Lucky for him and us 'tain't chopped up now. Git dap, slow-poke! +Better chop the horse up, too, while he's 'bout it." + +The last remark the Captain made under his breath. + +"My gracious, how dark it is! Think you can find the crossin'?" + +"GOT to find it; that's all. 'Tis dark, that's a fact." + +It was. They had gone but a few hundred yards; yet the fire was +already merely a shapeless, red smudge on the foggy blackness +behind them. Horace Greeley pounded along at a jog, and when the +Captain slapped him with the end of the reins, broke into a jerky +gallop that was slower than the trot. + +"Stop your hoppin' up and down!" commanded Perez, whose temper was +becoming somewhat frayed. "You make me think of the walkin' beam +on a steamboat. If you'd stop tryin' to fly and go straight ahead +we'd do better." + +They progressed in this fashion for some distance. Then Miss +Davis, from the curtained depths of the back seat, spoke again. + +"Oh, dear me!" she exclaimed. "Are you sure you're on the right +track? Seems 's if we MUST be abreast the station, and this road's +awful rough." + +Captain Perez had remarked the roughness of the road. The carryall +was pitching from one hummock to another, and Horace Greeley +stumbled once or twice. + +"Whoa!" commanded the Captain. Then he got down, lit a match, and, +shielding it with his hands, scrutinized the ground. "I'm kind of +'fraid," he said presently, "that we've got off the road somehow. +But we must be 'bout opposite the crossin'. I'm goin' to drive +down and see if I can find it." + +He turned the horse's head at right angles from the way they were +going, and they pitched onward for another hundred yards. Then +they came out upon the hard, smooth sand, and heard the water +lapping on the shore. Captain Perez got out once more and walked +along the strand, bending forward as he walked. Soon Miss Patience +heard him calling. + +"I've found it, I guess," he said, coming back to the vehicle. +"Anyhow, it looks like it. We'll be over in a few minutes now. +Git dap, you!" + +Horace Greeley shivered as the cold water splashed his legs, but +waded bravely in. They moved further from the shore and the water +seemed to grow no deeper. + +"Guess this is the crossin' all right," said the Captain, who had +cherished some secret doubts. "Here's the deep part comin'. We'll +be across in a jiffy." + +The water mounted to the hubs, then to the bottom of the carryall. +Miss Davis' feet grew damp and she drew them up. + +"Oh, Perez!" she faltered, "are you sure this is the ford?" + +"Don't git scared, Pashy! I guess maybe we've got a little to one +side of the track. I'll turn 'round and try again." + +But Horace Greeley was of a different mind. From long experience +he knew that the way to cross a ford was to go straight ahead. The +bottom of the carryall was awash. + +"Port your hellum, you lubber!" shouted the driver, pulling with +all his might on one rein. "Heave to! Come 'bout! Gybe! consarn +you! gybe!" + +Then Horace Greeley tried to obey orders, but it was too late. He +endeavored to touch bottom with his forelegs, but could not; tried +to swim with his hind ones, but found that impossible; then +wallowed wildly to one side and snapped a shaft and the rotten +whiffletree short off. The carryall tipped alarmingly and Miss +Patience screamed. + +"Whoa!" yelled the agitated Perez. "'Vast heavin'! belay!" + +The animal, as much frightened by his driver's shouts as by the +water, shot ahead and tried to tear himself loose. The other sun- +warped and rotten shaft broke. The carryall was now floating, with +the water covering the floor. + +"No use; I'll have to cut away the wreck, or we'll be on our beam +ends!" shouted the Captain. + +He took out his jackknife, and reaching over, severed the traces. +Horace Greeley gave another wallow, and finding himself free, +disappeared in the darkness amid a lather of foam. The carriage, +now well out in the channel, drifted with the current. + +"Don't cry, Pashy!" said the Captain, endeavoring to cheer his +sobbing companion, "we ain't shark bait yit. As the song used to +say: + + + "'We're afloat, we're afloat, + And the rover is free.' + + +"I've shipped aboard of 'most every kind of craft," he added, "but +blessed if I ever expected to be skipper of a carryall!" + +But Miss Patience, shut up in the back part of the carriage like a +water nymph in her cave, still wept hysterically. So Captain Perez +continued his dismal attempt at facetiousness. + +"The main thing," he said, "is to keep her on an even keel. If she +teeters to one side, you teeter to t'other. Drat that fox!" he +ejaculated. "I thought when Web's place burned we'd had fire +enough to last for one spell, but it never rains but it pours." + +"Oh, dear!" sobbed the lady. "Now everything 'll burn up, and +they'll blame me for it. Well, I'll be drownded anyway, so I +shan't be there to hear 'em. Oh, dear! dear!" + +"Oh, don't talk that way. We're driftin' somewheres, but we're +spinnin' 'round so I can't tell which way. Judas!" he exclaimed, +more soberly, "I remember, now; it ain't but a little past seven +o'clock, and the tide's goin' out." + +"Of course it is," resignedly, "and we'll drift into the breakers +in the bay, and that 'll be the end." + +"No, no, I guess not. We ain't dead yit. If I had an oar or +somethin' to steer this clipper with, maybe we could git into shoal +water. As 'tis, we'll have to manage her the way Ote Wixon used to +manage his wife, by lettin' her have her own way." + +They floated in silence for a few moments. Then Miss Patience, who +had bravely tried to stifle her sobs, said with chattering teeth, +"Perez, I'm pretty nigh froze to death." + +It will be remembered that the Captain had spoken of the weather as +being almost as warm as summer. This was a slight exaggeration. +It happened, fortunately for the castaways, that this particular +night, coming as it did just at the end of the long thaw, was the +mildest of the winter and there was no wind, but the air was chill, +and the damp fog raw and biting. + +"Well, now you mention it," said Captain Perez, "it IS cold, ain't +it? I've a good mind to jump overboard, and try to swim ashore and +tow the carryall." + +"Don't you DO it! My land! if YOU should drown what would become +of ME?" + +It was the tone of this speech, as much as the words, that hit the +Captain hard. He himself almost sobbed as he said: + +"Pashy, I want you to try to git over on this front seat with me. +Then I can put my coat 'round you, and you won't be so cold. Take +hold of my hand." + +Miss Patience at first protested that she never could do it in the +world, the carriage would upset, and that would be the end. But +her companion urged her to try, and at last she did so. It was a +risky proceeding, but she reached the front seat somehow, and the +carryall still remained right-side-up. Luckily, in the channel +between the beaches there was not the slightest semblance of a +wave. + +Captain Perez pulled off his coat, and wrapped it about his +protesting companion. He was obliged to hold it in place, and he +found the task rather pleasing. + +"Oh, you're SO good!" murmured Miss Patience. "What should I have +done without you?" + +"Hush! Guess you'd have been better off. You'd never gone after +that fox if it hadn't been for me, and there wouldn't have been +none of this fuss." + +"Oh, don't say that! You've been so brave. Anyhow, we'll die +together, that's a comfort." + +"Pashy," said Captain Perez solemnly, "it's mighty good to hear you +say that." + +It is, perhaps, needless to explain that the "dying" portion of the +lady's speech was not that referred to by the Captain; the word +"together" was what appealed to him. Miss Patience apparently +understood. + +"Is it?" she said softly. + +"Yes--yes, 'tis." The arm holding the coat about the lady's +shoulder tightened just a little. The Captain had often dreamed of +something like this, but never with quite these surroundings. +However, he was rapidly becoming oblivious to such trivial details +as surroundings. + +"Pashy," he said huskily, "I've been thinkin' of you consider'ble +lately. Fact is, I--I--well, I come down to-day a-purpose to ask +you somethin'. I know it's a queer place to ask it, and--and I +s'pose it's kind of sudden, but--will--will you-- Breakers! by +mighty!" + +The carryall had suddenly begun to rock, and there were streaks of +foam about it. Now, it gave a most alarming heave, grounded, swung +clear, and tipped yet more. + +"We're capsizin'," yelled Perez. "Hang on to me, Pashy!" + +But Miss Patience didn't intend to let this, perhaps the final +opportunity, slip. As she told her brother afterward, she would +have made him say it then if they had been "two fathom under +water." + +"Will I what, Perez?" she demanded. + +The carryall rose on two wheels and begun to turn over, but the +Captain did not notice it. The arms of his heart's desire were +about his neck, and he was looking into her eyes. + +"Will you marry me?" he gasped. + +"Yes," answered Miss Patience, and they went under together. + +The Captain staggered to his feet, and dragged his chosen bride to +hers. The ice-cold water reached their shoulders. And, like a +flash, as they stood there, came a torrent of rain and a wind that +drove the fog before it like smoke. Captain Perez saw the shore, +with its silhouetted bushes, only a few yards away. Beyond that, +in the blackness, was a light, a flickering blaze, that rose and +fell and rose and fell again. + +The Captain dragged Miss Patience to the beach. + +"Run!" he chattered, "run, or we'll turn into icicles. Come on!" + +With his arm about her waist Perez guided his dripping companion, +as fast as they could run, toward the light. And as they came +nearer to it they saw that it flickered about the blackened ruins +of a hen-house and a lath fence. + +It was Mrs. Mayo's henhouse, and Mrs. Mayo's fence. Their +adventurous journey had ended where it began. + +"You see, Eri," said Captain Perez, as he told his friend the story +that night, "that clock in the dining room that I looked at hadn't +been goin' for a week; the mainspring was broke. 'Twa'n't seven +o'clock, 'twas nearer nine when the fire started, and the tide +wa'n't goin' out, 'twas comin' in. I drove into the water too +soon, missed the crossin', and we jest drifted back home ag'in. +The horse had more sense than I did. We found him in the barn +waiting for us." + +Abner Mayo had piled against the back of his barn a great heap of +damp seaweed that he intended using in the spring as a fertilizer. +The fire had burned until it reached this seaweed and then had gone +no further. The rain extinguished the last spark. + +"Well, by mighty!" exclaimed Captain Perez for at least the tenth +time, as he sat in the kitchen, wrapped in an old ulster of Mr. +Mayo's, and toasting his feet in the oven, "if I don't feel like a +fool. All that scare and wet for nothin'." + +"Oh, not for nothin', Perez," said Miss Patience, looking tenderly +down into his face. + +"Well, no, not for nothin' by a good deal! I've got you by it, and +that's everything. But say, Pashy!" and the Captain looked awed by +the coincidence, "I went through fire and water to git you!" + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +THE SINS OF CAPTAIN JERRY + + +Captain Perez made a clean breast of it to Captain Eri when he +reached home that night. It was after twelve o'clock, but he +routed his friend out of bed to tell him the news and the story. +Captain Eri was not as surprised to hear of the engagement as he +pretended to be, for he had long ago made up his mind that Perez +meant business this time. But the tale of the fire and the voyage +in the carryall tickled him immensely, and he rolled back and forth +in the rocker and laughed until his side ached. + +"I s'pose it does sound kind of ridic'lous," said the accepted +suitor in a rather aggrieved tone, "but it wa'n't ha'f so funny +when 'twas goin' on. Fust I thought I'd roast to death, then I +thought I'd freeze, and then I thought I'd drown." + +"Perez," said the panting Eri, "you're a wonder. I'm goin' to tell +Sol Bangs 'bout you next time I see him. He'll want you to enter +in the races next Fourth of July. We've had tub races and the like +of that, but a carryall sailin' match 'll be somethin' new. I'll +back you against the town, though. You can count on me." + +"Now, look here, Eri Hedge, if you tell a livin' soul 'bout it, +I'll--" + +"All right, shipmate, all right; but it's too good to keep. You +ought to write a book, one of them kind like Josiah used to read. +Call it 'The Carryall Pirate, or The Terror of the Channel,' hey? +Gee! you'd be famous! But, say, old man," he added more seriously, +"I'll shake hands with you. I b'lieve you've got a good woman, one +that 'll make it smooth sailin' for you the rest of your life. I +wish you both luck." + +Captain Perez shook hands very gravely. He was still a little +suspicious of his chum's propensity to tease. It did not tend to +make him less uneasy when, a little later, Captain Eri opened the +parlor door and whispered, "Say, Perez, I've jest thought of some- +thin'. What are you goin' to say to M'lissy Busteed? Her heart +'ll be broke." + +"Aw, git out!" was the disgusted answer. + +"Well, I only mentioned it. Folks have had to pay heavy for breach +of promise 'fore now. Good-night." + +Perez manfully told of his engagement at the breakfast table next +morning, although he said nothing concerning the rest of his +adventures. He was rather taken aback to find that no one seemed +greatly surprised. Everyone congratulated him, of course, and it +was gratifying to discern the high opinion of the future Mrs. Ryder +held by Mrs. Snow and the rest. Captain Jerry solemnly shook hands +with him after the meal was over and said, "Perez, you done the +right thing. There's nothin' like married life, after all." + +"Then why don't you try it yourself?" was the unexpected question. +"Seems to me we'll have to settle that matter of yours pretty soon. +I meant to speak to Eri 'bout it 'fore this, but I've had so much +on my mind. I will to-night when he comes back from fishin'." + +Captain Jerry made no further remarks, but walked thoughtfully +away. + +So that evening, when they were together in Captain Jerry's room +after supper, Perez, true to his promise, said: + +"Eri, it seems to me we've got to do somethin' 'bout Mrs. Snow. +She was hired to be housekeeper while John was sick. Now he's +dead, and she'll think it's queer if we don't settle that marryin' +bus'ness. Ain't that so?" + +"Humph!" grunted Captain Jerry. "Perez is in a mighty sweat to git +other folks married jest 'cause he's goin' to be. I don't see why +she can't keep on bein' housekeeper jest the same as she's always +been." + +"Well, I do, and so do you, and you know it. We agreed to the +housekeepin' bus'ness jest as a sort of put off. Now we can't put +off no longer. Mrs. Snow come down here 'cause we advertised for a +wife, and she's been so everlastin' good that I feel 'most ashamed +every time I think of it. No use, you've got to ask her to marry +you. He has, hasn't he, Eri?" + +"Yes," answered Captain Eri laconically. + +The sacrifice squirmed. "I hate to ask," he said. "Why don't we +wait a spell, and let her say somethin' fust?" + +"That WOULD be nice, wouldn't it? She's that kind of a woman, +ain't she?" sputtered Perez. "No, you bet she ain't! What she'd +say would be to give her opinion of us and our manners, and walk +out of the house bag and baggage, and I wouldn't blame her for +doin' it." + +"P'raps she wouldn't have me. She never said she would." + +"Never said she would! Have you ever asked her? She's had all +this time to l'arn to know you in, and I cal'late if she was +willin' to think 'bout it 'fore she ever see you, she'd be more +willin' now. Ain't that so, Eri? + +And again Captain Eri said shortly, "Yes." + +"I wish you'd mind your own consarns, and give me time," protested +Captain Jerry. + +"Time! How much time do you want? Land of Goshen! I should think +you'd had time enough. Why--" + +"Oh, let up!" snorted the persecuted. "Why don't you git married +yourself, and bring Pashy over to keep house? What we started to +git in the fust place was jest a wife for one of us that would keep +things shipshape, and now--" + +The withering look of scorn that Perez bent upon him caused him to +hesitate and stop. Captain Perez haughtily marched to the door. + +"Eri," he said, "I ain't goin' to waste my time talkin' to a--a +dogfish like him. He ain't wuth it." + +"Hold on, now, Perez!" pleaded the discomfited sacrifice, alarmed +at his comrade's threatened desertion. "I was only foolin'. Can't +you take a joke? I haven't said I wouldn't do it. I think a heap +of Mrs. Snow; it's only that I ain't got the spunk to ask her, +that's all." + +"Humph! it don't take much spunk," replied the successful wooer, +forgetful of his own past trepidation. + +"Well," Captain Jerry wriggled and twisted, but saw no loophole. +"Well, give me a month to git up my courage in and--" + +"A month! A month's ridic'lous; ain't it, Eri" + +"Yes." + +"Well, three weeks, then." + +This offer, too, was rejected. Then Captain Jerry held out for a +fortnight--for ten days. Finally, it was settled that within one +week from that very night he was to offer his heart and hand to the +lady from Nantucket. He pledged his solemn word to do it. + +"There!" exclaimed the gratified Captain Perez. "That's a good job +done. He won't never be sorry for it, will he, Eri?" + +And Captain Eri made his fourth contribution to the conversation. + +"No," he said. + + +Josiah went up to the post-office late in the afternoon of the next +day. The "able seaman" was behaving himself remarkably well. He +had become a real help to Captain Eri, and the latter said that +sailing alone would be doubly hard when his foremast hand went back +to school again, which he was to do very shortly, for Josiah meant +to accept the Captain's offer, and to try for the Annapolis +appointment when the time came. + +The boy came back with the mail and an item of news. The mail, a +paper only, he handed to Mrs. Snow, and the news he announced at +the supper table as follows: + +"Mr. Hazeltine's goin' to leave the cable station," he said. + +"Goin' to leave!" repeated the housekeeper, "what for?" + +"I don't know, ma'am. All I know is what I heard Mr. Wingate say. +He said Mr. Hazeltine was goin' to get through over at the station +pretty soon. He said one of the operators told him so." + +"Well, for the land's sake! Did you know anything 'bout it, Eri?" + +"Why, yes, a little. I met Hazeltine yesterday, and he told me +that some folks out West had made him a pretty good offer, and he +didn't know whether to take it or not. Said the salary was good, +and the whole thing looked sort of temptin'. He hadn't decided +what to do yit. That's all there is to it." + +There was little else talked about during the meal. Captain Perez, +Captain Jerry, and Mrs. Snow argued, surmised, and questioned +Captain Eri, who said little. Elsie said almost nothing, and went +to her room shortly after the dishes were washed. + +"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Perez, when they were alone, "I guess +your match-makin' scheme's up spout, Jerry." + +And, for a wonder, Captain Jerry did not contradict him. + +The weather changed that night, and it grew cold rapidly. In the +morning the pump was frozen, and Captain Jerry and Mrs. Snow spent +some time and much energy in thawing it out. It was later than +usual when the former set out for the schoolhouse. As he was +putting on his cap, Elsie suggested that he wait for her, as she +had some lessons to prepare, and wanted an hour or so to herself at +her desk. So they walked on together under a cloudy sky. The mud +in the road was frozen into all sorts of fantastic shapes, and the +little puddles had turned to ice. + +"That thaw was a weather-breeder, sure enough," observed Captain +Jerry. "We'll git a storm out of this, 'fore we're done." + +"It seems to me," said Elsie, "that the winter has been a very mild +one. From what I had heard I supposed you must have some dreadful +gales here, but there has been none so far." + +"We'll git 'em yit. February's jist the time. Git a good +no'theaster goin', and you'll think the whole house is comin' down. +Nothin' to what they used to have, though, 'cordin' to tell. Cap'n +Jonadab Wixon used to swear that his grandfather told him 'bout a +gale that blew the hair all off a dog, and then the wind changed of +a sudden, and blew it all on again." + +Elsie laughed. "That must have been a blow," she said. + +"Yes. Cap'n Jonadab's somethin' of a blow himself, so he ought to +be a good jedge. The outer beach is the place that catches it when +there's a gale on. Oh, say! that reminds me. I s'pose you was +glad to hear the news last night?" + +"What news?" + +"Why, that 'bout Mr. Hazeltine's goin' away. You're glad he's +goin', of course." + +Miss Preston did not answer immediately. Instead, she turned and +looked wonderingly at her companion. + +"Why should I be glad, pray?" she asked. + +"Why, I don't know. I jest took it for granted you would be. You +didn't want him to come and see you, and if he was gone he couldn't +come, so--" + +"Just a minute, please. What makes you think I didn't want Mr. +Hazeltine to call?" + +And now it was the Captain's turn to stare and hesitate. + +"What makes me think--" he gasped. "Why--you told me so, +yourself." + +"_I_ told you so? I'm certain that I never told you anything of +the kind." + +Captain Jerry stood stock-still, and if ever a face expressed +complete amazement, it was his. + +"Elsie Preston!" he ejaculated, "are you losin' your mem'ry or +what? Didn't you pitch into me hot-foot for lettin' him be alone +with you? Didn't you give me 'hark from the tomb' for gittin' up +and goin' away? Didn't you say his calls was perfect torture to +you, and that you had to be decent to him jest out of common +politeness? Now, didn't you?" + +"Oh, that was it! No, of course I didn't say any such thing." + +"You DIDN'T! Why, I heard you! Land of love! my ears smarted for +a week afterward. I ain't had sech a goin' over sence mother used +to git at me for goin' in swimmin' on Sunday. And now you say you +didn't say it." + +"I didn't. You misunderstood me. I did object to your leaving the +room every time he called, and making me appear so ridiculous; and +I did say that his visits might be a torture for all that you knew +to the contrary, but I certainly didn't say that they WERE." + +"SUFFERIN'! And you ain't glad he stopped comin'?" + +The air of complete indifference assumed by the young lady was a +triumph. + +"Why, of course," she said, "Mr. Hazeltine is a free agent, and I +don't know of any reason why he should be compelled to go where he +doesn't wish to go. I enjoyed his society, and I'm sure Captain +Eri and Mrs. Snow enjoyed it, too; but it is quite evident that he +did not enjoy ours, so I don't see that there need be any more said +on the subject." + +Captain Jerry was completely crushed. If the gale described by the +redoubtable grandsire of Jonadab Wixon had struck him, he could not +have been more upset. + +"My! my! my!" he murmured. "And after my beggin' his pardon and +all!" + +"Begging his pardon? For what?" + +"Why, for leavin' you two alone. Of course, after you pitched into +me so I see how foolish I'd been actin', and I--honest, I didn't +sleep scursely a bit that night thinkin' 'bout it. Thinks I, 'If +Elsie feels that way, why, there ain't no doubt that Mr. Hazeltine +feels the same.' There wa'n't but one thing to be done. When a +man makes a mistake, if he is any kind of a man, he owns up, and +does his best to straighten things out. 'Twa'n't easy to do, but +duty's duty, and the next time I see Mr. Hazeltine I told him the +whole thing, and--" + +"You DID!" + +"Sartin I did." + +"What did you tell him?" + +They had stopped on the sidewalk nearly opposite the post-office. +Each was too much engrossed in the conversation to pay any heed to +anything else. If the few passersby thought it strange that the +schoolmistress should care to loiter out of doors on that cold and +disagreeable morning, they said nothing about it. One young man in +particular, who, standing just inside the post-office door, was +buttoning his overcoat and putting on his gloves, looked earnestly +at the pair, but he, too, said nothing. + +"Why, I told him," said Captain Jerry, in reply to the question, +"how you didn't like to have me go out of the room when he was +there. Course, I told him I didn't mean to do nothin' out of the +way. Then he asked me some more questions, and I answered 'em best +I could, and--well, I guess that's 'bout all." + +"Did you tell him that I said his visits were a torture?" + +"Why--" the Captain shuffled his feet uneasily--"seems to me I said +somethin' 'bout it--not jest that, you know, but somethin'. Fact +is, I was so muddle-headed and upset that I don't know exactly what +I did say. Anyhow, he said 'twas all right, so there ain't nothin' +to worry 'bout." + +"Captain Jeremiah Burgess!" exclaimed Elsie. Then she added, "What +MUST he think of me?" + +"Oh, I'll fix that!" exclaimed the Captain. "I'll see him some +time to-day, and I'll tell him you didn't mean it. Why, I declare! +Yes, 'tis! There he is, now! Hi! Mr. Hazeltine! Come here a +minute." + +A mischievous imp was certainly directing Captain Jerry's movements. +Ralph had, almost for the first time since he came to Orham, paid an +early morning visit to the office in order to send an important +letter in the first mail. The slamming of the door had attracted +the Captain's attention and, in response to the hail, Mr. Hazeltine +crossed the road. + +And then Captain Jerry felt his arm clutched with a grip that meant +business, as Miss Preston whispered, "Don't you dare say one word +to him about it. Don't you DARE!" + +If Ralph had been surprised by the request to join the couple, he +was more surprised by the reception he received. Elsie's face was +crimson, and as for the Captain, he looked like a man who had +suddenly been left standing alone in the middle of a pond covered +with very thin ice. + +The electrician bowed and shook hands gravely. As no remark seemed +to be forthcoming from those who had summoned him, he observed that +it was an unpleasant morning. This commonplace reminded him of one +somewhat similar that he had made to a supposed Miss "Gusty" Black, +and he, too, colored. + +"Did you want to speak with me, Captain?" he asked, to cover his +confusion. + +"Why--why, I did," stammered poor Captain Jerry, "but--but I don't +know's I do now." Then he realized that this was not exactly +complimentary, and added, "That is, I don't know--I don't know's I-- +Elsie, what was it I was goin' to say to Mr. Hazeltine?" + +At another time it is likely that the young lady's quick wit would +have helped her out of the difficulty, but now she was too much +disturbed. + +"I'm sure I don't know," she said coldly. + +"You don't know! Why, yes you do? 'Twas--'twas--" The Captain +was frantically grasping at straws. "Why, we was wonderin' why you +didn't come to see us nowadays." + +If the Captain had seen the look that Elsie shot at him, as he +delivered this brilliant observation, he might have been more, +instead of less, uncomfortable. As it was, he felt rather proud +of having discovered a way out of the difficulty. But Ralph's +embarrassment increased. He hurriedly said something about having +been very busy. + +"Well," went on the Captain, intent on making the explanation as +plausible as possible, "we've missed you consider'ble. We was +sayin' we hoped you wouldn't give us up altogether. Ain't that so, +Elsie?" + +Miss Preston's foot tapped the sidewalk several times, but she +answered, though not effusively: + +"Mr. Hazeltine is always welcome, of course." Then, she added, +turning away, "Really, Captain Jerry, I must hurry to school. I +have a great deal of work to do before nine o'clock. Good-morning, +Mr. Hazeltine." + +The Captain paused long enough to say, "We'll expect you now, so +come," and then hurried after her. He was feeling very well +satisfied with himself. + +"By mighty! Elsie," he chuckled, "I got out of that nice, didn't +I?" + +He received no answer, even when he repeated the remark, and, +although he endeavored, as he swept out the schoolroom, to engage +the teacher in conversation, her replies were as cold as they were +short. The Captain went home in the last stages of dismalness. + +That afternoon, when Captain Eri returned from the fishing grounds, +he found Captain Jerry waiting for him at the shanty. The +humiliated matchmaker sent Josiah up to the grocery store on an +errand, and then dragged his friend inside and shut the door. + +Captain Eri looked at the woe-begone face with some concern. + +"What ails you, Jerry?" he demanded. "Have you--have you spoken to +Mrs. Snow 'bout that--that marriage?" + +"No, I ain't, Eri, but I'm in a turrible mess, and I don't know +why, neither. Seems to me the more I try to do for other folks the +wuss off I am; and, instead of gittin' thanks, all I git is blame." + +"Why, what's the matter?" + +"Well, now I know you'll think I'm a fool, and 'll jest pester the +life out of me. See here, Eri Hedge! If I tell you what I want +to, will you promise not to pitch into me, and not to nag and poke +fun? If you don't promise I won't tell one single word, no matter +what happens." + +So Captain Eri promised, and then Captain Jerry, stammering and +hesitating, unburdened his mind of the whole affair, telling of his +first reproof by Elsie, his "explanation" to Ralph, and the +subsequent developments. Long before he finished, Captain Eri rose +and, walking over to the door, stood looking out through the dim +pane at the top, while his shoulders shook as if there was a +smothered earthquake inside. + +"There!" exclaimed the injured matrimonial agent, in conclusion. +"There's the whole fool thing, and I 'most wish I'd never seen +either of 'em. I thought I did fust-rate this mornin' when I was +tryin' to think up somethin' to show why I hailed Hazeltine, but +no, Elsie won't hardly speak to me. I wish to goodness you'd tell +me what to do." + +Captain Eri turned away from the door. His eyes were watery, and +his face was red, but he managed to say: + +"Oh, Jerry, Jerry! Your heart's big as a bucket, but fishin' 's +more in your line than gittin' folks married to order is, I'm +'fraid. You stay here, and unload them fish in the dory. There +ain't many of 'em, and Josiah 'll help when he gits back. I'm +goin' out for a few minutes." + +He went down to the beach, climbed into a dory belonging to a +neighbor, and Captain Jerry saw him row away in the direction of +the cable station. + +That evening, after the dishes were washed and the table cleared, +there came a knock at the door. Mrs. Snow opened it. + +"Why, for goodness sake! Mr. Hazeltine!" she exclaimed. "Come +right in. What a stranger you are!" + +Ralph entered, shook the snow, which had just begun to fall, from +his hat and coat, took off these articles, in response to the +hearty invitation of Captain Eri, and shook hands with all present. +Elsie's face was an interesting study. Captain Jerry looked +scared. + +After a few minutes' talk, Captain Eri rose. + +"Mrs. Snow," he said, "come upstairs a little while. I want to +talk to you 'bout somethin'. You come, too, Jerry." + +Captain Jerry looked from Elsie to the speaker, and then to Elsie +again. But Captain Eri's hand was on his arm, and he rose and +went. + +Elsie watched this wholesale desertion with amazement. Then the +door opened again, and Captain Eri put in his head. + +"Elsie," he said, "I jest want to tell you that this is my doin's, +not Jerry's. That's all." And the door shut. + +Elsie faced the caller with astonishment written on her face. + +"Mr. Hazeltine," she said icily, "you may know what this means, but +I don't." + +Ralph looked at her and answered solemnly, but with a twinkle in +his eye: + +"I'm afraid I can guess, Miss Preston. You see Captain Jerry paid +Captain Eri a call this afternoon and, as a result, Captain Eri +called upon me. Then, as a result of THAT, I--well, I came here." + +The young lady blushed furiously. "What did Captain Eri tell you?" +she demanded. + +"Just what Captain Jerry told him." + +"And that was?" + +"What you told Captain Jerry this morning concerning something that +you told him before, I believe." + +There was no answer to this. Miss Preston looked as if she had a +mind to run out of the room, then as if she might cry, and finally +as if she wanted to laugh. + +"I humbly apologize," said the electrician contritely. + +"YOU apologize? For what?" + +"For my stupidity in believing that Captain Jerry was to be +accepted seriously." + +"You were excusable, certainly. And now I must apologize; also for +taking the Captain too seriously." + +"Suppose we pair the apologies as they do the votes in the Senate. +Then one will offset the other." + +"I'm afraid that isn't fair, for the blunder was all on my part." + +"Well, if we can't pair apologies, suppose we pair blunders. I +don't accept your statement of guilt, mind, but since you are +determined to shoulder it, we might put it on one side and on the +other we'll put--" + +"What?" + +"'Gusty' Black." + +And then they both laughed. + +A little later Captain Eri knocked at the door. + +"Is it safe for a feller to come in?" he asked. + +"Well," said Elsie severely, "I don't know whether talebearers +should be admitted or not, but if they do come they must beg pardon +for interfering in other people's affairs." + +"Ma'am," and the Captain made a profound bow, "I hope you'll be so +'kind and condescendin', and stoop so low, and be so bendin'' as to +forgive me. And, while I'm 'bout it, I'll apologize for Jerry, +too." + +"No, sir," said the young lady decidedly. "Captain Jerry must +apologize for himself. Captain Jeremiah Burgess," she called up +the stairway, "come into court, and answer for your sins." + +And Captain Jerry tremblingly came. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A "NO'THEASTER" BLOWS + + +It had begun to snow early in the evening, a light fall at first, +but growing heavier every minute, and, as the flakes fell thicker +and faster, the wind began to blow, and its force increased +steadily. Ralph, hearing the gusts as they swooped about the +corners of the house, and the "swish" of the snow as it was thrown +against the window panes, several times rose to go, but Captain Eri +in each instance urged him to stay a little longer. Finally, the +electrician rebelled. + +"I should like to stay, Captain," he said, "but how do you think I +am going to get over to the station if this storm grows worse, as +it seems to be doing?" + +"I don't think," was the calm reply. "You're goin' to stay here." + +"Well, I guess not." + +"I guess yes. S'pose we're goin' to let you try to row over to the +beach a night like this? It's darker 'n a nigger's pocket, and +blowin' and snowin' great guns besides. Jest you look out here." + +He rose, beckoned to Ralph, and then opened the outer door. He had +to use considerable strength to do this, and a gust of wind and a +small avalanche of snow roared in, and sent the lighter articles +flying from the table. Elsie gave a little scream, and Mrs. Snow +exclaimed, "For the land's sake, shut that door this minute! +Everything 'll be soppin' wet." + +The Captain pulled the door shut again, and dropped the hook into +the staple. + +"Nice night for a pull, ain't it?" he observed, smiling. "No, sir, +I've heard it comin' on, and I made up my mind you'd have to stay +on dry land for a spell, no matter if all creation wanted you on +t'other side." + +Ralph looked troubled. "I ought to be at the station," he said. + +"Maybe so, but you ain't, and you'll have to put up at this +boardin' house till mornin'. When it's daylight one of us 'll set +you across. Mr. Langley ain't foolish. He won't expect you to- +night." + +"Now, Mr. Hazeltine," said the housekeeper, "you might jest as well +give it up fust as last. You KNOW you can't go over to that +station jest as well as I do." + +So Ralph did give it up, although rather against his will. There +was nothing of importance to be done, but he felt a little like a +deserter, nevertheless. + +"Perez won't git home neither," observed Captain Eri. "He's snowed +in, too." + +Captain Perez had that afternoon gone down to the Mayo homestead to +take tea with Miss Davis. + +"Git home! I should think not!" said Mrs. Snow decidedly. +"Pashy's got too much sense to let him try it." + +"Well, Elsie," commented Captain Jerry, "I told you we'd have a +no'theaster 'fore the winter was over. I guess there'll be gale +enough to satisfy you, now. No school to-morrer." + +"Well, that's settled! Let's be comf'table. Ain't there some of +that cider down cellar? Where's the pitcher?" And Captain Eri +hurried off to find it. + +When bedtime came there was some argument as to where the guest +should sleep. Ralph insisted that the haircloth sofa in the parlor +was just the thing, but Captain Eri wouldn't hear of it. + +"Haircloth's all right to look at," he said, "but it's the +slipperiest stuff that ever was, I cal'late. Every time I set +on a haircloth chair I feel's if I was draggin' anchor." + +The cot was declared ineligible, also, and the question was finally +settled by Josiah and Captain Eri going upstairs to the room once +occupied by John Baxter, while Ralph took that which they vacated. + +It was some time before he fell asleep. The gale seemed to be +tearing loose the eternal foundations. The house shook and the bed +trembled as if a great hand was moving them, and the snow slapped +against the windows till it seemed that they must break. + +In the morning there was little change in the weather. The snow +had turned to a sleet, half rain, that stuck to everything and +coated it with ice. The wind was blowing as hard as ever. Captain +Eri and Ralph, standing just outside the kitchen door, and in the +lee of the barn, paused to watch the storm for a minute before they +went down to the beach. At intervals they caught glimpses of the +snow-covered roofs of the fish shanties, and the water of the inner +bay, black and threatening and scarred with whitecaps; then another +gust would come, and they could scarcely see the posts at the yard +gate. + +"Think you want to go over, do you?" asked the Captain. + +"I certainly do, if I can get there." + +"Oh, we can git there all right. I've rowed a dory a good many +times when 'twas as bad as this. This ain't no picnic day, though, +that's a fact," he added, as they crossed the yard, and caught the +full force of the wind. "Lucky you put on them ileskins." + +Ralph was arrayed in Captain Jerry's "dirty-weather rig," and +although, as Captain Eri said, the garments fitted him "like a +shirt on a handspike," they were very acceptable. + +They found the dory covered with snow and half-full of slush, and +it took some few minutes to get her into condition. When this was +accomplished they hauled her down to the shore, and Captain Eri, +standing knee-deep in water, steadied her while Ralph climbed in. +Then the Captain tumbled in himself, picked up the oars, and +settled down for the pull to the outer beach. + +A dory, as everyone acquainted alongshore knows, is the safest of +all small craft for use in heavy weather. It is unsinkable for one +thing, and, being flat-bottomed, slips over the waves instead of +plowing through them. But the high freeboard is a mark for the +wind, and to keep a straight course on such a morning as this +requires skill, and no small amount of muscle. Ralph, seated in +the stern, found himself wondering how on earth his companion +managed to row as he did, and steer at the same time. The strokes +were short, but there was power in them, and the dory, although +moving rather slowly, went doggedly on. + +"Let me take her," shouted Ralph after a while, "you must be +tired." + +"Who, me?" Captain Eri laughed. "I could keep this up for a week. +There ain't any sea in here. If we was outside now, 'twould be +diff'rent, maybe." + +They hit the beach almost exactly at the right spot, a feat which +the passenger considered a miracle, but which the Captain seemed to +take as a matter of course. They beached and anchored the dory, +and, bending almost double as they faced the wind, plowed through +the sand to the back door of the station. There was comparatively +little snow here on the outer beach--the gale had swept it nearly +all away. + +Mr. Langley met them as they tramped into the hall. The old +gentleman was glad to see his assistant, for he had begun to fear +that the latter might have tried to row over during the evening, +and met with disaster. As they sat round the stove in his room he +said, "We don't need any wrecks inside the beach. We shall have +enough outside, I'm afraid. I hear there is one schooner in +trouble now." + +"That so?" asked Captain Eri. "Where is she?" + +"On the Hog's Back shoal, they think. One of the life-saving crew +told McLaughlin that they saw her last night, when the gale first +began, trying to make an offing, and that wreckage was coming +ashore this morning. Captain Davis was going to try to reach her +with the boat, I believe." + +"I should like to be at the life-saving station when they land," +said Ralph. "It would be a new experience for me. I've seen the +crew drill often enough, but I have never seen them actually at +work." + +"What d'you say if we go down to the station?" asked the Captain. +"That is, if Mr. Langley here can spare you." + +"Oh, I can spare him," said the superintendent. "There is nothing +of importance to be done here just now. But it will be a terrible +walk down the beach this morning." + +"Wind 'll be at our backs, and we're rigged for it, too. What +d'you say, Mr. Hazeltine?" + +Ralph was only too glad of the opportunity to see, at least, the +finish of a rescuing expedition, and he said so. So they got into +the oilskins again, pulled their "sou'westers" down over their +ears, and started on the tramp to the life-saving station. + +The electrician is not likely to forget that walk. The wind was, +as the Captain said, at their backs, but it whistled in from the +sea with terrific strength, and carried the sleet with it. It +deluged them with water, and plastered them with flying seaweed and +ice. The wet sand came in showers like hail, and beat against +their shoulders until they felt the sting, even through their +clothes. Toward the bay was nothing but gray mist, streaked with +rain and sleet; toward the sea was the same mist, flying with the +wind over such a huddle of tossing green and white as Ralph had +never seen. The surf poured in in rollers that leaped over each +other's humped backs in their savage energy to get at the shore, +which trembled as they beat upon it. The ripples from one wave had +not time to flow back before those of the next came threshing in. +Great blobs of foam shot down the strand like wild birds, and the +gurgle and splash and roar were terrific. + +They walked as near the water line as they dared, because the sand +was harder there. Captain Eri went ahead, hands in his pockets and +head down. Ralph followed, sometimes watching his companion, but +oftener gazing at the sea. At intervals there would be a lull, as +if the storm giant had paused for breath, and they could see for +half a mile over the crazy water; then the next gust would pull the +curtain down again, and a whirl of rain and sleet would shut them +in. Conversation meant only a series of shrieks and they gave it +up. + +At length the Captain turned, grinned pleasantly, while the rain +drops splashed on his nose, and waved one arm. Ralph looked and +saw ahead of them the clustered buildings of the life-saving +station. And he was glad to see them. + +"Whew!" puffed Captain Eri as they opened the door. "Nice mornin' +for ducks. Hey, Luther!" he shouted, "wake up here; you've got +callers." + +They heard footsteps in the next room, the door opened, and in +came--not Luther Davis, but Captain Perez. + +"Why, Eri!" he exclaimed amazedly. + +"For the land's sake, Perez! What are you doin' here?" + +"What are YOU doin' here, I should say. How d'you do, Mr. +Hazeltine?" + +Captain Eri pushed back his "sou'wester," and strolled over to the +stove. Ralph followed suit. + +"Well, Perez," said the former, extending his hands over the fire, +"it's easy enough to tell you why we're here. We heard there was a +wreck." + +"There is. She's a schooner, and she's off there on the Hog's +Back. Luther and the crew put off to her more 'n two hours ago, +and I'm gittin' worried." + +Then Perez went on to explain that, because of the storm, he had +been persuaded to stay at Mrs. Mayo's all night; that Captain Davis +had been over for a moment that evening on an errand, and had said +that the schooner had been sighted and that, as the northeaster was +coming on, she was almost certain to get into trouble; that he, +Perez, had rowed over the first thing in the morning to get the +news, and had been just in time to see the launching of the +lifeboat, as the crew put off to the schooner. + +"There ain't nothin' to worry 'bout," observed Captain Eri. "It's +no slouch of a pull off to the Hog's Back this weather, and +besides, I'd trust Lute Davis anywhere on salt water." + +"Yes, I know," replied the unconvinced Captain Perez, "but he ought +to have been back afore this. There was a kind of let-up in the +storm jest afore I got here, and they see her fast on the shoal +with the crew in the riggin'. Luther took the small boat 'cause he +thought he could handle her better, and that's what's worryin' me; +I'm 'fraid she's overloaded. I was jest thinkin' of goin' out on +the p'int to see if I could see anything of 'em when you folks +come." + +"Well, go ahead. We'll go with you, if Mr. Hazeltine's got any of +the chill out of him." + +Ralph was feeling warm by this time and, after Perez had put on his +coat and hat, they went out once more into the gale. The point of +which Perez had spoken was a wedge-shaped sand ridge that, thrown +up by the waves and tide, thrust itself out from the beach some few +hundred yards below the station. They reached its tip, and stood +there in the very midst of the storm, waiting for the lulls, now +more frequent, and scanning the tumbling water for the returning +lifeboat. + +"Schooner's layin' right over there," shouted Captain Perez in +Ralph's ear, pointing off into the mist. "'Bout a mile off shore, +I cal'late. Wicked place, the Hog's Back is, too." + +"Wind's lettin' up a little mite," bellowed Captain Eri. "We've +had the wust of it, I guess. There ain't so much--" + +He did not finish the sentence. The curtain of sleet parted, +leaving a quarter-mile-long lane, through which they could see the +frothing ridges racing one after the other, endlessly. And across +this lane, silent and swift, like a moving picture on a screen, +drifted a white turtleback with black dots clinging to it. It was +in sight not more than a half minute, then the lane closed again, +as the rain lashed their faces. + +Captain Perez gasped, and clutched the electrician by the arm. + +"Godfrey mighty!" he exclaimed. + +"What was it?" shouted Ralph. "What was it, Captain Eri?" + +But Captain Eri did not answer. He had turned, and was running at +full speed back to the beach. When they came up they found him +straining at the side of the dory that Luther Davis used in tending +his lobster pots. The boat, turned bottom up, lay high above tide +mark in the little cove behind the point. + +"Quick, now!" shouted the Captain, in a tone Ralph had never heard +him use before. "Over with her! Lively!" + +They obeyed him without question. As the dory settled right side +up two heavy oars, that had been secured by being thrust under the +seats, fell back with a clatter. + +"What was it, Captain?" shouted Ralph. + +"The lifeboat upset. How many did you make out hangin' onto her, +Perez? Five, seemed to me." + +"Four, I thought. Eri, you ain't goin' to try to reach her with +this dory? You couldn't do it. You'll only be drownded yourself. +My Lord!" he moaned, wringing his hands, "what 'll Pashy do?" + +"Catch a-holt now," commanded Captain Eri. "Down to the shore with +her! Now!" + +They dragged the dory to the water's edge with one rush. Then Eri +hurriedly thrust in the tholepins. Perez protested again. + +"Eri," he said, "it ain't no use. She won't live to git through +the breakers." + +His friend answered without looking up. "Do you s'pose," he said, +"that I'm goin' to let Lute Davis and them other fellers drown +without makin' a try for 'em? Push off when I tell you to." + +"Then you let me go instead of you." + +"Don't talk foolish. You've got Pashy to look after. Ready now!" + +But Ralph Hazeltine intervened. + +"I'm going myself," he said firmly, putting one foot over the +gunwale. "I'm a younger man than either of you, and I'm used to a +boat. I mean it. I'm, going." + +Captain Eri looked at the electrician's face; he saw nothing but +determination there. + +"We'll all go," he said suddenly. "Mr. Hazeltine, run as fast as +the Lord 'll let you back to the station and git another set of +oars. Hurry!" + +Without answering, the young man sprang up the beach and ran toward +the buildings. The moment that he was inside Captain Eri leaped +into the dory. + +"Push off, Perez!" he commanded. "That young feller's got a life +to live." + +"You don't go without me," asserted Perez stoutly. + +"All right! Push off, and then jump in." + +Captain Perez attempted to obey. He waded into the water and gave +the dory a push, but, just as he was about to scramble in, he +received a shove that sent him backwards. + +"Your job's takin' care of Pashy!" roared Captain Eri. + +Perez scrambled to his feet, but the dory was already half-way +across the little patch of comparatively smooth water in the cove. +As he looked he saw it enter the first line of breakers, rise amid +a shower of foam, poise on the crest, and slip over. The second +line of roaring waves came surging on, higher and more threatening +than the first. Captain Eri glanced over his shoulder, turned the +dory's bow toward them and waited. They broke, and, as they did +so, the boat shot forward into the whirlpool of froth. Then the +sleet came pouring down and shut everything from sight. + +When Ralph came hurrying to the beach, bearing the oars, he found +Captain Perez alone. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +ERI GOES BACK ON A FRIEND + + +Captain Eri knew that the hardest and most dangerous portion of his +perilous trip was just at its beginning. If the dory got through +the surf without capsizing, it was an even bet that she would stay +right-side-up for a while longer, at any rate. So he pulled out of +the little cove, and pointed the boat's bow toward the thundering +smother of white, his shoulders squared, his hands tightened on the +oar handles, and his under-jaw pushed out beyond the upper. Old +foremast hands, those who had sailed with the Captain on his +coasting voyages, would, had they seen these signs, have prophesied +trouble for someone. They were Captain Eri's battle-flags, and +just now his opponent was the gray Atlantic. If the latter won, it +would only be after a fight. + +The first wave tripped over the bar and whirled beneath him, +sending the dory high into the air and splashing its occupant with +spray. The Captain held the boat stationary, waiting for the +second to break, and then, half rising, put all his weight and +strength on the oars. The struggle had begun. + +They used to say on board the Hannah M. that the skipper never got +rattled. The same cool head and steady nerve that Josiah had +admired when the catboat threaded the breakers at the entrance of +the bay, now served the same purpose in this more tangled and +infinitely more wicked maze. The dory climbed and ducked, rolled +and slid, but gained, inch by inch, foot by foot. The advancing +waves struck savage blows at the bow, the wind did its best to +swing her broadside on, but there was one hundred and eighty pounds +of clear grit and muscle tugging at the oars, and, though the +muscles were not as young as they had been, there were years of +experience to make every pound count. At last the preliminary +round was over. The boat sprang clear of the breakers and crept +out farther and farther, with six inches of water slopping in her +bottom, but afloat and seaworthy. + +It was not until she was far into deep water that the Captain +turned her bow down the shore. When this was done, it was on the +instant, and, although a little more water came inboard, there was +not enough to be dangerous. Then, with the gale astern and the +tide to help, Captain Eri made the dory go as she, or any other on +that coast, had never gone before. + +The Captain knew that the wind and the tide that were now aiding +him were also sweeping the overturned lifeboat along at a rapid +rate. He must come up with it before it reached the next shoal. +He must reach it before the waves, and, worse than all, the cold +had caused the poor fellows clinging to it for life to loose their +grip. + +The dory jumped from crest to crest like a hurdler. The sleet now +beat directly into the Captain's face and froze on his eyebrows and +lashes, but he dared not draw in an oar to free a hand. The wind +caught up the spindrift and poured it over him in icy baths, but he +was too warm from the furious exercise to mind. + +In the lulls he turned his head and gazed over the sea, looking for +the boat. Once he saw it, before the storm shut down again, and he +groaned aloud to count but two black dots on its white surface. He +pulled harder than ever, and grunted with every stroke, while the +perspiration poured down his forehead and froze when it reached the +ice dams over his eyes. + +At last it was in plain sight, and the two dots, now clearly human +beings, were still there. He pointed the bow straight at it and +rowed on. When he looked again there was but one, a figure +sprawled along the keel, clinging to the centerboard. + +The flying dory bore down upon the lifeboat, and the Captain risked +what little breath he had in a hail. The clinging figure raised +its head, and Captain Eri felt an almost selfish sense of relief to +see that it was Luther Davis. If it had to be but one, he would +rather it was that one. + +The bottom of the lifeboat rose like a dome from the sea that beat +and roared over and around it. The centerboard had floated up and +projected at the top, and it was about this that Captain Davis' +arms were clasped. Captain Eri shot the dory alongside, pulled in +one oar, and the two boats fitted closely together. Then Eri +reached out, and, seizing his friend by the belt round his waist, +pulled him from his hold. Davis fell into the bottom of the dory, +only half conscious and entirely helpless. + +Captain Eri lifted him so that his head and shoulders rested on a +thwart, and then, setting his oar against the lifeboat's side, +pushed the dory clear. Then he began rowing again. + +So far he had been more successful than he had reason to expect, +but the task that he must now accomplish was not less difficult. +He must reach the shore safely, and with another life beside his +own to guard. + +It was out of the question to attempt to get back to the cove; the +landing must be made on the open beach, and, although Captain Eri +had more than once brought a dory safely through a high surf, he +had never attempted it when his boat had nearly a foot of water in +her and carried a helpless passenger. + +Little by little, still running before the wind, the Captain edged +in toward the shore. Luther Davis moved once or twice, but said +nothing. His oilskins were frozen stiff and his beard was a lump +of ice. Captain Eri began to fear that he might die from cold and +exhaustion before the attempt at landing was made. The Captain +resolved to wait no longer, but to take the risk of running +directly for the beach. + +He was near enough now to see the leaping spray of the breakers, +and their bellow sounded louder than the howl of the wind or the +noises of the sea about him. He bent forward and shouted in the +ear of the prostrate life-saver. + +"Luther!" he yelled, "Lute!" + +Captain Davis' head rolled back, his eyes opened, and, in a dazed +way, he looked at the figure swinging back and forth with the oars. + +"Lute!" shouted Captain Eri, "listen to me! I'm goin' to try to +land. D'you hear me?" + +Davis' thoughts seemed to be gathering slowly. He was, ordinarily, +a man of strong physique, courageous, and a fighter every inch of +him, but his strength had been beaten out by the waves and chilled +by the cold, and the sight of the men with whom he had lived and +worked for years drowning one by one, had broken his nerve. He +looked at his friend, and then at the waves. + +"What's the use?" he said feebly. "They're all gone. I might as +well go, too." + +Captain Eri's eyes snapped. "Lute Davis," he exclaimed, "I never +thought I'd see you playin' crybaby. Brace up! What are you, +anyway?" + +The half-frozen man made a plucky effort. + +"All right, Eri," he said. "I'm with you, but I ain't much good." + +"Can you stand up?" + +"I don't know. I'll try." + +Little by little he raised himself to his knees. + +"'Bout as fur's I can go, Eri," he said, between his teeth. "You +look out for yourself. I'll do my durndest." + +The dory was caught by the first of the great waves, and, on its +crest, went flying toward the beach. Captain Eri steered it with +the oars as well as he could. The wave broke, and the half-filled +boat paused, was caught up by the succeeding breaker, and thrown +forward again. The Captain, still trying to steer with one oar, +let go of the other, and seizing his companion by the belt, pulled +him to his feet. + +"Now then," he shouted, "stand by!" + +The boat poised on the curling wave, went down like a hammer, +struck the sand, and was buried in water. Just as it struck, +Captain Eri jumped as far shoreward as he could. Davis sprang with +him, but it was really the Captain's strength that carried them +clear of the rail. + +They kept their feet for an instant, but, in that instant, Captain +Eri dragged his friend a yard or so up the shelving beach. Then +they were knocked flat by the next wave. The Captain dug his toes +into the sand and braced himself as the undertow sucked back. Once +more he rose and they staggered on again, only to go down when the +next rush of water came. Three times this performance was +repeated, and, as they rose for the fourth time, the Captain +roared, "Now!" + +Another plunge, a splashing run, and they were on the hard sand of +the beach. Then they both tumbled on their faces and breathed in +great gasps. + +But the Captain realized that this would not do, for, in their +soaked condition, freezing to death was a matter of but a short +time. He seized Davis by the shoulder and shook him again and +again. + +"Come on, Lute! Come on!" he insisted. "Git up! You've GOT to +git up!" + +And, after a while, the life-saver did get up, although he could +scarcely stand. Then, with the Captain's arm around his waist, +they started slowly up the beach toward the station. + +They had gone but a little way when they were met by Ralph +Hazeltine and Captain Perez. + + +Mrs. Snow had been, for her, rather nervous all that forenoon. She +performed her household duties as thoroughly as usual, but Elsie, +to whom the storm had brought a holiday, noticed that she looked +out of the window and at the clock frequently. Once she even went +so far as to tell the young lady that she felt "kind of queer; jest +as if somethin' was goin' to happen." As the housekeeper was not +the kind to be troubled with presentiments, Elsie was surprised. + +Dinner was on the table at twelve o'clock, but Captain Eri was not +there to help eat it, and they sat down without him. And here +again Mrs. Snow departed from her regular habit, for she ate little +and was very quiet. She was the first to hear an unusual sound +outside, and, jumping up, ran to the window. + +"Somebody's drivin' into the yard," she said. "Who on airth would +be comin' here such a day as this?" + +Captain Jerry joined her at the window. + +"It's Abner Mayo's horse," he said. "Maybe it's Perez comin' +home." + +It was not Captain Perez, but Mr. Mayo himself, as they saw when +the rubber blanket fastened across the front of the buggy was +dropped and the driver sprang out. Mrs. Snow opened the door for +him. + +"Hello, Abner!" exclaimed Captain Jerry, as the newcomer stopped to +knock the snow from his boots before coming in, "what have you done +to Perez? Goin' to keep him for a steady boarder?" + +But Mr. Mayo had important news to communicate, and he did not +intend to lose the effect of his sensation by springing it without +due preparation. He took off his hat and mittens and solemnly +declined a proffered chair. + +"Cap'n Burgess," he said, "I've got somethin' to tell you-- +somethin' awful. The whole life-savin' crew but one is drownded, +and Cap'n Eri Hedge--" + +An exclamation from Mrs. Snow interrupted him. The housekeeper +clasped her hands together tightly and sank into a chair. She was +very white. Elsie ran to her. + +"What is it, Mrs. Snow?" she asked. + +"Nothin', nothin'! Go on, Mr. Mayo. Go on!" + +The bearer of ill-tidings, gratified at the result of his first +attempt, proceeded deliberately: + +"And Cap'n Hedge and Luther Davis are over at the station pretty +nigh dead. If it wa'n't for the Cap'n, Luther'd have gone, too. +Eri took a dory and went off and picked him up. Perez come over to +my house and told us about it, and Pashy's gone back with him to +see to her brother. I didn't go down to the store this mornin', +'twas stormin' so, but as soon as I heard I harnessed up to come +and tell you." + +Then, in answer to the hurried questions of Captain Jerry and +Elsie, Mr. Mayo told the whole story as far as he knew it. Mrs. +Snow said nothing, but sat with her hands still clasped in her lap. + +"Luther is ha'f drownded and froze," concluded Abner, "and the +Cap'n got a bang with an oar when they jumped out of the dory that, +Perez is afraid, broke his arm. I'm goin' right back to git Dr. +Palmer. They tried to telephone him, but the wire's down." + +"Dear! dear! dear!" exclaimed Captain Jerry, completely demoralized +by the news. "That's dreadful! I must go right down there, +mustn't I? The poor fellers!" + +Mrs. Snow rose to her feet quietly, but with a determined air. + +"Are you goin' right back soon's you've got the Doctor, Mr. Mayo?" +she asked. + +"Why, no, I wa'n't. I ain't been to my store this mornin', and I'm +'fraid I ought to be there." + +To be frank, Abner was too great a sensation lover to forfeit the +opportunity of springing his startling news on the community. + +"Then, Josiah, you'll have to harness Dan'l and take me down. I +mustn't wait another minute." + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" expostulated Captain Jerry, "you mustn't go down +there. The Doctor's goin', and I'll go, and Pashy's there already." + +But the housekeeper merely waved him aside. + +"I want you to stay here with Elsie," she said. "There's no +tellin' how long I may be gone. Josiah 'll drive me down, won't +you, Josiah?" + +There was no lack of enthusiasm in the "able seaman's" answer. The +boy was only too glad of the chance. + +"But it ain't fit weather for you to be out in. You'll git soakin' +wet." + +"I guess if Pashy Davis can stand it, I can. Elsie, will you come +and help me git ready, while Josiah's harnessin'?" + +As they entered the chamber above, Elsie was thunderstruck to see +her companion seat herself in the rocker and cover her face with +her hands. If it had been anyone else it would not have been so +astonishing, but the cool, self-possessed housekeeper--she could +scarcely believe it. + +"Why, Mrs. Snow!" she exclaimed, "what IS it?" + +The lady from Nantucket hastily rose and wiped her eyes with her +apron. + +"Oh, nothin'," she answered, with an attempt at a smile. "I'm kind +of fidgety this mornin', and the way that man started off to tell +his yarn upset me; that's all. I mustn't be such a fool." + +She set about getting ready with a vim and attention to detail that +proved that her "fidgets" had not affected her common-sense. She +was pale and her hands trembled a little, but she took a covered +basket and packed in it cloth for bandages, a hot-water bottle, +mustard, a bottle of liniment, and numerous other things likely to +be of use. Last of all, she added a bottle of whisky that had been +prescribed as a stimulant for John Baxter. + +"I s'pose some folks would think 'twas terrible carryin' this with +me," she observed. "A woman pitched into me once for givin' it to +her husband when he was sick. I told her I didn't favor RHUBARB as +a steady drink, but I hoped I knew enough to give it when 'twas +necessary." + +Ralph and Captain Perez were surprised men when the housekeeper, +dripping, but cheerful, appeared on the scene. She and Josiah had +had a stormy passage on the way down, for the easy-going Daniel had +objected to being asked to trot through drifts, and Mrs. Snow had +insisted that he should be made to do it. The ford was out of the +question, so they stalled the old horse in the Mayo barn and +borrowed Abner's dory to make the crossing. + +Mrs. Snow took charge at once of the tired men, and the overtaxed +Miss Patience was glad enough to have her do it. Luther Davis was +in bed, and Captain Eri, after an hour's sojourn in the same snug +harbor, had utterly refused to stay there longer, and now, dressed +in a suit belonging to the commandant, was stretched upon a sofa in +the front room. + +The Captain was the most surprised of all when Mrs. Snow appeared. +He fairly gasped when she first entered the room, and seemed to be +struck speechless, for he said scarcely a word while she dosed him +with hot drinks, rubbed his shoulder--the bone was not broken, but +there was a bruise there as big as a saucer--with the liniment, and +made him generally comfortable. He watched her every movement with +a sort of worshipful wonder, and seemed to be thinking hard. + +Captain Davis, although feeling a little better, was still very +weak, and his sister and Captain Perez were with him. Josiah soon +returned to the Mayo homestead to act as ferryman for Dr. Palmer +when the latter should arrive, and Ralph, finding that there was +nothing more that he could do, went back to the cable station. The +storm had abated somewhat and the wind had gone down. Captain Eri +and Mrs. Snow were alone in the front room, and, for the first time +since she entered the house, the lady from Nantucket sat down to +rest. Then the Captain spoke. + +"Mrs. Snow," he said gravely, "I don't believe you've changed your +clothes sence you got here. You must have been soaked through, +too. I wish you wouldn't take such risks. You hadn't ought to +have come over here a day like this, anyway. Not but what the Lord +knows it's good to have you here," he added hastily. + +The housekeeper seemed surprised. + +"Cap'n Eri," she said, "I b'lieve if you was dyin' you'd worry for +fear somebody else wouldn't be comf'table while you was doing it. +'Twould be pretty hard for me to change my clothes," she added, +with a laugh, "seein' that there probably ain't anything but men's +clothes in the place." Then, with a sigh, "Poor fellers, they +won't need 'em any more." + +"That's so. And they were all alive and hearty this mornin'. It's +an awful thing for Luther. Has he told anything yit 'bout how it +come to happen?" + +"Yes, a little. The schooner was from Maine, bound to New York. +Besides her own crew she had some Italians aboard, coal-handlers, +they was, goin' over on a job for the owner. Cap'n Davis says he +saw right away that the lifeboat would be overloaded, but he had to +take 'em all, there wa'n't time for a second trip. He made the +schooner's crew and the others lay down in the boat where they +wouldn't hinder the men at the oars, but when they got jest at the +tail of the shoal, where the sea was heaviest, them Italians lost +their heads and commenced to stand up and yell, and fust thing you +know, she swung broadside on and capsized. Pashy says Luther don't +say much more, but she jedges, from what he does say, that some of +the men hung on with him for a while, but was washed off and +drownded." + +"That's right; there was four or five there when we saw her fust. +'Twas Lute's grip on the centerboard that saved him. It's an awful +thing--awful!" + +"Yes, and he would have gone, too, if it hadn't been for you. And +you talk about MY takin' risks!" + +"Well, Jerry hadn't ought to have let you come." + +"LET me come! I should like to have seen him try to stop me. The +idea! Where would I be if 'twa'n't helpin' you, after all you've +done for me?" + +"I'VE done? I haven't done anything!" + +"You've made me happier 'n I've been for years. You've been so +kind that--that--" + +She stopped and looked out of the window. + +"It's you that's been kind," said the Captain. "You've made a home +for me; somethin' I ain't had afore sence I was a boy." + +Mrs. Snow went on as if he had not spoken. + +"And to think that you might have been drownded the same as the +rest," she said. "I knew somethin' was happenin'. I jest felt it, +somehow. I told Elsie I was sure of it. I couldn't think of +anything but you all the forenoon." + +The Captain sat up on the couch. + +"Marthy," he said in an awed tone, "do you know what I was thinkin' +of when I was pullin' through the wust of it this mornin'? I was +thinkin' of you. I thought of Luther and the rest of them poor +souls, of course, but I thought of you most of the time. It kept +comin' back to me that if I went under I shouldn't see you ag'in. +And you was thinkin' of me!" + +"Yes, when that Mayo man said he had awful news, I felt sure 'twas +you he was goin' to tell about. I never fainted away in my life +that I know of, but I think I 'most fainted then." + +"And you cared as much as that?" + +"Yes." + +Somehow both were speaking quietly, but as if it was useless longer +to keep back anything. To speak the exact truth without reserve +seemed the most natural thing in the world. + +"Well, well, well!" said the Captain reverently, and still in the +same low tone. "I said once afore that I b'lieved you was sent +here, and now I'm sure of it. It seems almost as if you was sent +to ME, don't it?" + +The housekeeper still looked out of the window, but she answered +simply, "I don't know." + +"It does, it does so. Marthy, we've been happy together while +you've been here. Do you b'lieve you could be happy with me +always--if you married me, I mean?" + +Mrs. Snow turned and looked at him. There were tears in her eyes, +but she did not wipe them away. + +"Yes," she said. + +"Think now, Marthy. I ain't very young, and I ain't very rich." + +"What am I?" with a little smile. + +"And you really think you could be happy if you was the wife of an +old codger like me?" + +"Yes." The answer was short, but it was convincing. + +Captain Eri rose to his feet. + +"Gosh!" he said in a sort of unbelieving whisper. "Marthy, are you +willin' to try?" + +And again Mrs. Snow said "Yes." + + +When Dr. Palmer came he found Luther Davis still in bed, but +Captain Eri was up and dressed, and there was such a quiet air of +happiness about him that the man of medicine was amazed. + +"Good Lord, man!" he exclaimed, "I expected to find you flat on +your back, and you look better than I've seen you for years. +Taking a salt-water bath in mid-winter must agree with you." + +"It ain't so much that," replied the Captain serenely. "It's the +pay I got for takin' it." + +When the Doctor saw Perez alone, he asked the latter to keep a +close watch on Captain Eri's behavior. He said he was afraid that +the exertion and exposure might have affected the Captain's brain. + +Perez, alarmed by this caution, did watch his friend very closely, +but he saw nothing to frighten him until, as they were about to +start for home, Captain Eri suddenly struck his thigh a resounding +slap + +"Jerry!" he groaned distressfully. "I clean forgot. I've gone +back on Jerry!" + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +"DIME-SHOW BUS'NESS" + + +Elsie and Captain Jerry were kept busy that afternoon. Abner +Mayo's news spread quickly, and people gathered at the post-office, +the stores, and the billiard room to discuss it. Some of the men, +notably "Cy" Warner and "Rufe" Smith, local representatives of the +big Boston dailies, hurried off to the life-saving station to get +the facts at first hand. Others came down to talk with Captain +Jerry and Elsie. Melissa Busteed's shawl was on her shoulders and +her "cloud" was tied about her head in less than two minutes after +her next-door neighbor shouted the story across the back yards. +She had just left the house, and Captain Jerry was delivering a +sarcastic speech concerning "talkin' machines," when Daniel plodded +through the gate, drawing the buggy containing Josiah, Mrs. Snow, +and Captain Eri. + +For a man who had been described as "half-dead," Captain Eri looked +very well, indeed. Jerry ran to help him from the carriage, but he +jumped out himself and then assisted the housekeeper to alight with +an air of proud proprietorship. He was welcomed to the house like +a returned prodigal, and Captain Jerry shook his well hand until +the arm belonging to it seemed likely to become as stiff and sore +as the other. While this handshaking was going on Captain Eri was +embarrassed. He did not look his friend in the face, and most of +his conversation was addressed to Elsie. + +As soon as he had warmed his hands and told the story of the wreck +and rescue, he said, "Jerry, come up to my room a minute, won't +you? I've got somethin' I want to say." + +Vaguely wondering what the private conversation might be, Jerry +followed his friend upstairs. When they were in the room, Captain +Eri closed the door and faced his companion. He was confused, and +stammered a little, as he said, "Jerry, I've--I've got somethin' to +say to you 'bout Mrs. Snow." + +Then it was Captain Jerry's turn to be confused. + +"Now, Eri," he protested, "'tain't fair to keep pesterin' me like +this. I know I ain't said nothin' to her yit, but I'm goin' to. I +had a week, anyhow, and it ain't ha'f over. Land sake!" he burst +forth, "d'you s'pose I ain't been thinkin' 'bout it? I ain't +thought of nothin' else, hardly. I bet you I've been over the +whole thing every night sence we had that talk. I go over it and +GO over it. I've thought of more 'n a million ways to ask her, but +there ain't one of 'em that suits me. If I was goin' to be hung +'twouldn't be no worse, and now you've got to keep a-naggin'. Let +me alone till my time is up, can't you?" + +"I wa'n't naggin'. I was jest goin' to tell you that you won't +have to ask. I've been talkin' to her myself, and--" + +The sacrifice sprang out of his chair. + +"Eri Hedge!" he exclaimed indignantly. "I thought you was a friend +of mine! I give you my word I'd do it in a week, and the least you +could have done, seems to me, would have been to wait and give me +the chance. But no! all you think 'bout's yourself. So 'fraid +she'd say no and you'd lose your old housekeeper, wa'n't you? The +idea! She must think I'm a good one--can't do my own courtin', and +have to git somebody to do it for me! What did she say?" he asked +suddenly. + +"She said yes to what I asked her," was the reply with a half +smile. + +Upon Captain Jerry's face settled the look of one who accepts the +melancholy inevitable. He sat down again. + +"I s'posed she would," he said with a sigh. "She's known me for +quite a spell now, and she's had a chance to see what kind of a man +I be. Well, what else did you do? Ain't settled the weddin' day, +have you?" This with marked sarcasm. + +"Not yit. Jerry, you've made a mistake. I didn't ask her for +you." + +"Didn't ask her--didn't-- What are you talkin' 'bout, then?" + +"I asked her for myself. She's goin' to marry me." + +Captain Jerry was too much astonished even to get up. Instead, he +simply sat still with open mouth while his friend continued. + +"I've come to think a lot of Mrs. Snow sence she's been here," +Captain Eri said slowly, "and I've found out that she's felt the +same way 'bout me. I've kept still and said nothin' 'cause I +thought you ought to have the fust chance and, besides, I didn't +know how she felt. But to-day, while we was talkin', it all come +out of itself, seems so, and--well, we're goin' to be married." + +The sacrifice--a sacrifice no longer--still sat silent, but curious +changes of expression were passing over his face. Surprise, +amazement, relief, and now a sort of grieved resignation. + +"I feel small enough 'bout the way I've treated you, Jerry," +continued Captain Eri. "I didn't mean to--but there! it's done, +and all I can do is say I'm sorry and that I meant to give you your +chance. I shan't blame you if you git mad, not a bit; but I hope +you won't." + +Captain Jerry sighed. When he spoke it was in a tone of sublime +forgiveness. + +"Eri," he said, "I ain't mad. I won't say my feelin's ain't hurt, +'cause--'cause--well, never mind. If a wife and a home ain't for +me, why I ought to be glad that you're goin' to have 'em. I wish +you both luck and a good v'yage. Now, don't talk to me for a few +minutes. Let me git sort of used to it." + +So they shook hands and Captain Eri, with a troubled look at his +friend, went out. After he had gone, Captain Jerry got up and +danced three steps of an improvised jig, his face one broad grin. +Then, with an effort, he sobered down, assumed an air of due +solemnity, and tramped downstairs. + +If the announcement of Captain Perez' engagement caused no +surprise, that of Captain Eri's certainly did--surprise and +congratulation on the part of those let into the secret, for it was +decided to say nothing to outsiders as yet. Ralph came over that +evening and they told him about it, and he was as pleased as the +rest. As for the Captain, he was only too willing to shake hands +with any and everybody, although he insisted that the housekeeper +had nothing to be congratulated upon, and that she was "takin' big +chances." The lady herself merely smiled at this, and quietly said +that she was willing to take them. + +The storm had wrecked every wire and stalled every train, and Orham +was isolated for two days. Then communication was established once +more, and the Boston dailies received the news of the loss of the +life-savers and the crew of the schooner. And they made the most +of it; sensational items were scarce just then, and the editors +welcomed this one. The big black headlines spread halfway across +the front pages. There were pictures of the wreck, "drawn by our +artist from description," and there were "descriptions" of all +kinds. Special reporters arrived in the village and interviewed +everyone they could lay hands on. Abner Mayo felt that for once he +was receiving the attention he deserved. + +The life-saving station and the house by the shore were besieged by +photographers and newspaper men. Captain Eri indignantly refused +to pose for his photograph, so he was "snapped" as he went out to +the barn, and had the pleasure of seeing a likeness of himself, +somewhat out of focus, and with one leg stiffly elevated, in the +Sunday Blanket. The reporters waylaid him at the post-office, or +at his fish shanty, and begged for interviews. They got them, +brief and pointedly personal, and, though these were not printed, +columns describing him as "a bluff, big-hearted hero," were. + +If ever a man was mad and disgusted, that man was the Captain. In +the first place, as he said, what he had done was nothing more than +any other man 'longshore would have done, and, secondly, it was +nobody's business. Then again, he said, and with truth: + +"This whole fuss makes me sick. Here's them fellers in the crew +been goin' out, season after season, takin' folks off wrecks, and +the fool papers never say nothin' 'bout it; but they go out this +time, and don't save nobody and git drownded themselves, and +they're heroes of a sudden. I hear they're raisin' money up to +Boston to give to the widders and orphans. Well, that's all right, +but they'd better keep on and git the Gov'ment to raise the +sal'ries of them that's left in the service." + +The climax came when a flashily dressed stranger called, and +insisted upon seeing the Captain alone. The interview lasted just +about three minutes. When Mrs. Snow, alarmed by the commotion, +rushed into the room, she found Captain Eri in the act of throwing +after the fleeing stranger the shiny silk hat that the latter had +left behind. + +"Do you know what that--that swab wanted?" hotly demanded the +indignant Captain. "He wanted me to rig up in ileskins and a +sou'wester and show myself in dime museums. Said he'd buy that +dory of Luther's that I went out in, and show that 'long with me. +I told him that dory was spread up and down the beach from here to +Setuckit, but he said that didn't make no diff'rence, he'd have a +dory there and say 'twas the reel one. Offered me a hundred +dollars a week, the skate! I'd give ten dollars right now to tell +him the rest of what I had to say." + +After this the Captain went fishing every day, and when at home +refused to see anybody not known personally. But the agitation +went on, for the papers fed the flames, and in Boston they were +raising a purse to buy gold watches and medals for him and for +Captain Davis. + +Shortly after four o'clock one afternoon of the week following that +of the wreck, Captain Eri ventured to walk up to the village, +keeping a weather eye out for reporters and smoking his pipe. He +made several stops, one of them being at the schoolhouse where +Josiah, now back at his desk, was studying overtime to catch up +with his class. + +As the Captain was strolling along, someone touched him from +behind, and he turned to face Ralph Hazeltine. The electrician had +been a pretty regular caller at the house of late, but Captain Eri +had seen but little of him, for reasons unnecessary to state. + +"Hello, Captain!" said Ralph. "Taking a constitutional? You want +to look out for Warner; I hear he's after you for another rescue +'special.'" + +"He'll need somebody to rescue him if he comes pesterin' 'round +me," was the reply. "You ain't seen my dime show friend nowheres, +have you? I'd sort of like to meet HIM again; our other talk broke +off kind of sudden." + +Ralph laughed, and said he was afraid that the museum manager +wouldn't come to Orham again very soon. + +"I s'pose likely not," chuckled Captain Eri. "I ought to have kept +his hat; then, maybe, he'd have come back after it. Oh, say!" he +added, "I've been meanin' to ask you somethin'. Made up your mind +'bout that western job yit?" + +Ralph shook his head. "Not yet," he said slowly. "I shall very +soon, though, I think." + +"Kind of puzzlin' you, is it? Not that it's really any of my +affairs, you understand. There's only a few of us good folks left, +as the feller said, and I'd hate to see you leave, that's all." + +"I am not anxious to go, myself. My present position gives me a +good deal of leisure time for experimental work--and--well, I'll +tell you in confidence--there's a possibility of my becoming +superintendent one of these days, if I wish to." + +"Sho! you don't say! Mr. Langley goin' to quit?" + +"He is thinking of it. The old gentleman has saved some money, and +he has a sister in the West who is anxious to have him come out +there and spend the remainder of his days with her. If he does, I +can have his position, I guess. In fact, he has been good enough +to say so." + +"Well, that's pretty fine, ain't it? Langley ain't the man to +chuck his good opinions round like clam shells. You ought to feel +proud." + +"I suppose I ought." + +They walked on silently for a few steps, the Captain waiting for +his companion to speak, and the latter seeming disinclined to do +so. At length the older man asked another question. + +"Is t'other job so much better?" + +"No." + +Silence again. Then Ralph said, "The other position, Captain, is +very much like this one in some respects. It will place me in a +country town, even smaller than Orham, where there are few young +people, no amusements, and no society, in the fashionable sense of +the word." + +"Humph! I thought you didn't care much for them things." + +"I don't." + +To this enigmatical answer the Captain made no immediate reply. +After a moment, however, he said, slowly and with apparent +irrelevance, "Mr. Hazeltine, I can remember my father tellin' 'bout +a feller that lived down on the South Harniss shore when he was a +boy. Queer old chap he was, named Elihu Bassett; everybody called +him Uncle Elihu. In them days all hands drunk more or less rum, +and Uncle Elihu drunk more. He had a way of stayin' sober for a +spell, and then startin' off on a regular jamboree all by himself. +He had an old flat-bottomed boat that he used to sail 'round in, +but she broke her moorin's one time and got smashed up, so he +wanted to buy another. Shadrach Wingate, Seth's granddad 'twas, +tried to fix up a dicker with him for a boat he had. They agreed +on the price, and everything was all right 'cept that Uncle Elihu +stuck out that he must try her 'fore he bought her. + +"So Shad fin'lly give in, and Uncle Elihu sailed over to Wellmouth +in the boat. He put in his time 'round the tavern there, and when +he come down to the boat ag'in, he had a jugful of Medford in his +hand, and pretty nigh as much of the same stuff under his hatches. +He got afloat somehow, h'isted the sail, lashed the tiller after a +fashion, took a nip out of the jug and tumbled over and went fast +asleep. 'Twas a still night or 'twould have been the finish. As +'twas he run aground on a flat and stuck there till mornin'. + +"Next day back he comes with the boat all scraped up, and says he, +'She won't do, Shad; she don't keep her course.' + +"'Don't keep her course, you old fool!' bellers Shad. 'And you +tight as a drumhead and sound asleep! Think she can find her way +home herself?' he says. + +"'Well,' says Uncle Elihu, 'if she can't she ain't the boat for +me.'" + +Ralph laughed. "I see," he said. "Perhaps Uncle Elihu was wise. +Still, if he wanted the boat very much, he must have hated to put +her to the test." + +"That's so," assented the Captain, "but 'twas better to know it +then than to be sorry for it afterwards." + +Both seemed to be thinking, and neither spoke again until they came +to the grocery store, where Hazeltine stopped, saying that he must +do an errand for Mr. Langley. They said good-night, and the +Captain turned away, but came quickly back and said: + +"Mr. Hazeltine, if it ain't too much trouble, would you mind +steppin' up to the schoolhouse when you've done your errand? I've +left somethin' there with Josiah, and I'd like to have you git it. +Will you?" + +"Certainly," was the reply, and it was not until the Captain had +gone that Ralph remembered he did not know what he was to get. + +When he reached the school he climbed the stairs and opened the +door, expecting to find Josiah alone. Instead, there was no one +there but Elsie, who was sitting at the desk. She sprang up as he +entered. Both were somewhat confused. + +"Pardon me, Miss Preston," he said. "Captain Eri sent me here. He +said he left something with Josiah, and wished me to call for it." + +"Why, I'm sure I don't know what it can be," replied Elsie. +"Josiah has been gone for some time, and he said nothing to me +about it." + +"Perhaps it is in his desk," suggested Ralph. "Suppose we look." + +So they looked, but found nothing more than the usual assortment +contained in the desk of a healthy schoolboy. The raised lid shut +off the light from the window, and the desk's interior was rather +dark. They had to grope in the corners, and occasionally their +hands touched. Every time this happened Ralph thought of the +decision that he must make so soon. + +He thought of it still more when, after the search was abandoned, +Elsie suggested that he help her with some problems that she was +preparing for the next day's labors of the first class in +arithmetic. In fact, as he sat beside her, pretending to figure, +but really watching her dainty profile as it moved back and forth +before his eyes, his own particular problem received far more +attention than did those of the class. Suddenly he spoke: + +"Teacher," he said, "please, may I ask a question?" + +"You should hold up your hand if you wish permission to speak," was +the stern reply. + +"Please consider it held up." + +"Is the question as important as 'How many bushels did C. sell?' +which happens to be my particular trouble just now." + +"It is to me, certainly." Ralph was serious enough now. "It is a +question that I have been wrestling with for some time. It is, +shall I take the position that has been offered me in the West, or +shall I stay here and become superintendent of the station? The +superintendent's place may be mine, I think, if I want it." + +Elsie laid down her pencil and hesitated for a moment before she +spoke. When she did reply her face was turned away from her +companion. + +"I should think that question might best be decided by comparing +the salaries and prospects of the two positions," she said quietly. + +"The two positions are much alike in one way. You know what the +life at the station means the greater portion of the year--no +companions of your own age and condition, no society, no +amusements. The Western offer means all this and worse, for the +situation is the same all the year. I say these things because I +hope you may be willing to consider them, not from my point of view +solely, but from yours." + +"From mine?" + +"Yes. You see I am recklessly daring to hope that, whichever lot +is chosen, you may be willing to share it with me--as my wife. +Elsie, do you think you could consider the question from that +viewpoint?" + +And--well--Elsie thought she could. + +The consideration--we suppose it was the consideration--took so +long that it was nearly dark when Elsie announced that she simply +MUST go. It was Ralph's duty as a gentleman to help her in putting +on her coat, and this took an astonishingly long time. Finally it +was done, however, and they came downstairs. + +"Dearest," said Ralph, after the door was locked, "I forgot to have +another hunt for whatever it was that Captain Eri wanted me to +get." + +Elsie smiled rather oddly. + +"Are you sure you haven't got it?" she asked demurely. + +"Got it! Why--why, by George, what a numbskull I am! The old +rascal! I thought there was a twinkle in his eye." + +"He said he should come back after me." + +"Well, well! Bless his heart, it's sound and sweet all the way +through. Yes, I HAVE got it, and, what's more, I shall tell him +that I mean to keep it." + + +The gold watches from the people to the heroes of the Orham wreck +having been duly bought and inscribed and the medals struck, there +came up the question of presentation, and it was decided to perform +the ceremony in the Orham town hall, and to make the occasion +notable. The Congressman from the district agreed to make the +necessary speech. The Harniss Cornet Band was to furnish music. +All preparations were made, and it remained only to secure the +consent of the parties most interested, namely, Captain Eri and +Luther Davis. + +And this was the hardest task of all. Both men at first flatly +refused to be present. The Captain said he might as well go to the +dime museum and be done with it; he was much obliged to the Boston +folks, but his own watch was keeping good time, and he didn't need +a new one badly enough to make a show of himself to get it. +Captain Davis said very much the same. + +But Miss Patience was proud of her brother's rise to fame, and +didn't intend to let him forfeit the crowning glory. She enlisted +Captain Perez as a supporter, and together they finally got +Luther's unwilling consent to sit on the platform and be stared at +for one evening. Meanwhile, Captain Jerry, Elsie, Ralph, and Mrs. +Snow were doing their best to win Captain Eri over. When Luther +surrendered, the forces joined, and the Captain threw up his hands. + +"All right," he said. "Only I ought to beg that dime museum +feller's pardon. 'Tain't right to be partial this way." + + +The hall was jammed to the doors. Captain Eri, seated on the +platform at one end of the half-circle of selectmen, local +politicians, and minor celebrities, looked from the Congressman in +the middle to Luther on the other end, and then out over the +crowded settees. He saw Mrs. Snow's pleasant, wholesome face +beaming proudly beside Captain Jerry's red one. He saw Captain +Perez and Miss Patience sitting together close to the front, and +Ralph and Elsie a little further back. The Reverend Mr. Perley was +there; so were the Smalls and Miss Abigail Mullett. Melissa +Busteed was on the very front bench with the boys, of whom Josiah +was one. The "train committee" was there--not a member missing-- +and at the rear of the hall, smiling and unctuous as ever, was +"Web" Saunders. In spite of his stage fright the Captain grinned +when he saw "Web." + +Mr. Solomon Bangs, his shirt-bosom crackling with importance, +introduced the Congressman. The latter's address was, so the Item +said, "a triumph of oratorical effort." It really was a good +speech, and when it touched upon the simple sacrifice of the men +who had given up their lives in the course of what, to them, was +everyday work, there were stifled sobs all through the hall. +Luther Davis, during this portion of the address, sat with his big +hand shading his eyes. Later on, when the speaker was sounding the +praises of the man who "alone, forgetful of himself, braved the sea +and the storm to save his friends," those who looked at Captain Eri +saw his chair hitched back, inch by inch, until, as the final +outburst came, little more than his Sunday shoes was in sight. He +had retired, chair and all, to the wings. + +But they called him to the platform again and, amid--we quote from +the Item once more--"a hurricane of applause," the two heroes were +adorned with the watches and the medals. + +There was a sort of impromptu reception after the ceremony, when +Captain Eri, with Mrs. Snow on his arm, struggled through the crowd +toward the door. + +"'Twas great, shipmate, and you deserved it!" declared magnanimous +Captain Jerry, wringing his hand. + +"'Tain't ha'f what you ought to have, Eri," said Captain Perez. + +"I haven't said much to thank you for savin' Luther," whispered +Miss Patience, "but I hope you know that we both appreciate what +you done and never 'll forgit it." + +Ralph and Elsie also shook hands with him, and said some pleasant +things. So did many others, Dr. Palmer among the number. +Altogether, the journey through the hall was a sort of triumphal +progress. + +"Whew!" gasped the Captain, as they came out into the clear air and +the moonlight, "let's hope that's the last of the dime-show +bus'ness." + +"Eri," whispered Mrs. Snow, "I'm so proud of you, I don't know what +to do." + +And that remark was sweeter to the Captain's ears than all those +that had preceded it. + +They turned into the shore road and were alone. It was a clear +winter night, fresh, white snow on the ground, not a breath of +wind, and the full moon painting land and sea dark blue and silver +white. The surf sounded faint and far off. Somewhere in the +distance a dog was barking, and through the stillness came an +occasional laugh or shout from the people going home from the hall. + +"Lots of things can happen in a few months, can't they?" said Mrs. +Snow, glancing at the black shadow of the shuttered Baxter +homestead. + +"They can so," replied the Captain. "Think what's happened sence +last September. I didn't know you then, and now it seems 's if I'd +always known you. John was alive then, and Elsie nor Ralph hadn't +come. Perez hadn't met Pashy neither. My! my! Everybody's +choosed partners but Jerry," he chuckled, "and Jerry looked the +most likely candidate 'long at the beginnin'. I'm glad," he added, +"that Ralph's made up his mind to stay here. We shan't lose him +nor Elsie for a few years, anyhow." + +They paused at the knoll by the gate. + +"Fair day to-morrer," observed the Captain, looking up at the sky. + +"I hope it 'll be fair weather for us the rest of our days," said +Mrs. Snow. + +"You've HAD it rough enough, that's sure. Well, I hope you'll have +a smooth v'yage, now." + +The lady from Nantucket looked up into his face with a happy laugh. + +"I guess I shall," she said. "I know I've got a good pilot." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of Cap'n Eri, by Joseph Crosby Lincoln + diff --git a/old/cneri10.zip b/old/cneri10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..73186a6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cneri10.zip |