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diff --git a/3240.txt b/3240.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..51e9417 --- /dev/null +++ b/3240.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9874 @@ +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] + +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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