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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. 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: Cy Whittaker's Place
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #3281]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+
+
+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+
+By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I.--     THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+II.--    THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+III.--   "FIXIN' OVER"
+
+IV.--    BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+V.--     A FRONT DOOR CALLER
+
+VI.--    ICICLES AND DUST
+
+VII.--   CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+VIII.--  THE "COW LADY"
+
+IX.--    POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+X.--     A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+XI.--    A BARGAIN OFF
+
+XII.--   "TOWN MEETIN'"
+
+XIII.--  THE REPULSE
+
+XIV.--   A CLEW
+
+XV.--    DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+XVI.--   A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+XVII.--  THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+XVIII.-- CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+XIX.--   THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+XX.--    DIVIDED HONORS
+
+XXI.--   CAPTAIN CY'S "PICTURE"
+
+
+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+
+It is queer, but Captain Cy himself doesn't remember whether the day was
+Tuesday or Wednesday. Asaph Tidditt's records ought to settle it, for
+there was a meeting of the board of selectmen that day, and Asaph has
+been town clerk in Bayport since the summer before the Baptist meeting
+house burned. But on the record the date, in Asaph's handwriting, stands
+"Tuesday, May 10, 189-" and, as it happens, May 10 of that year fell on
+Wednesday, not Tuesday at all.
+
+Keturah Bangs, who keeps "the perfect boarding house," says it was
+Tuesday, because she remembers they had fried cod cheeks and cabbage
+that day--as they have every Tuesday--and neither Mr. Tidditt nor Bailey
+Bangs, Keturah's husband, was on hand when the dinner bell rang. Keturah
+says she is certain it was Tuesday, because she remembers smelling the
+boiled cabbage as she stood at the side door, looking up the road to
+see if either Asaph or Bailey was coming. As for Bailey, he says he
+remembers being late to dinner and his wife's "startin' to heave a
+broadsides into him" because of it, but he doesn't remember what day it
+was. This isn't surprising; Keturah's verbal cannonades are likely to
+make one forgetful of trifles.
+
+At any rate, whether Tuesday or Wednesday, it is certain that it was
+quarter past twelve, according to the clock presented to the Methodist
+Society by the Honorable Heman Atkins, when Asaph Tidditt came down the
+steps of the townhall, after the selectmen's meeting, and saw Bailey
+Bangs waiting for him on the opposite side of the road.
+
+"Hello, Ase!" hailed Mr. Bangs. "You'll be late to dinner, if you don't
+hurry. I was headin' for home, all sail sot, when I see you. What kept
+you?"
+
+"Town business, of course," replied Mr. Tidditt, with the importance
+pertaining to his official position. "What kept YOU, for the land sakes?
+Won't Ketury be in your wool?"
+
+Bailey hasn't any "wool" worth mentioning now, and he had very little
+more then, but he mopped his forehead, or the extension above it, taking
+off his cap to do so.
+
+"I cal'late she will," he said, uneasily. "Tell you the truth, Ase,
+I was up to the store, and Cap'n Josiah Dimick and some more of
+'em drifted in and we got talkin' about the chances of the harbor
+appropriation, and one thing or 'nother, and 'twas later'n I thought
+'twas 'fore I knew it."
+
+The appropriation from the government, which was to deepen and widen our
+harbor here at Bayport, was a very vital topic among us just then. Heman
+Atkins, the congressman from our district, had promised to do his best
+for the appropriation, and had for a time been very sanguine of securing
+it. Recently, however, he had not been quite as hopeful.
+
+"What's Cap'n Josiah think about the chances?" asked Asaph eagerly.
+
+"Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'" replied
+Bailey. "He says, of course, if Heman is able to get it he will, but if
+he ain't able to, he--he--"
+
+"He won't, I s'pose. Well, _I_ can think that myself, and I don't set
+up to be no inspired know-it-all, like Joe Dimick. He ain't heard from
+Heman lately, has he?"
+
+"No, he ain't. Neither's anybody else, so fur as I can find out."
+
+"Oh, yes, they have. _I_ have, for one."
+
+Mr. Bangs stopped short in his double-quick march for home and dinner,
+and looked his companion in the face.
+
+"Ase Tidditt!" he cried. "Do you mean to tell me you've had a letter
+from Heman Atkins, from Washin'ton?"
+
+Asaph nodded portentously.
+
+"Yes, sir," he declared. "A letter from the Honorable Heman G. Atkins,
+of Washin'ton, D. C., come to me last night. I read it afore I turned
+in."
+
+"You did! And never said nothin' about it?"
+
+"Why should I say anything about it? 'Twas addressed to me as town
+clerk, and was concernin' a matter to be took up with the board of
+s'lectmen. I ain't in the habit of hollerin' town affairs through a
+speakin' trumpet. Folks that vote for me town-meetin' day know that, I
+guess. Angie Phinney says to me only yesterday, 'Mr. Tidditt,' says she,
+'there's one thing I'll say for you--you don't talk.'"
+
+Miss Phinney boarded with the Bangses, and Bailey was acquainted with
+her personal peculiarities; for that matter so were most of Bayport's
+permanent residents.
+
+"Humph!" he snorted indignantly. "She thought 'twas a good thing not
+to talk, hey? SHE did? Well, by mighty! you never get no CHANCE to talk
+when she's around. Angie Phinney! Why, when that poll parrot of hers
+died, Alph'us Smalley declared up and down that what killed it was
+jealousy and disapp'inted ambition; he said it broke its heart tryin' to
+keep up with Angie. Her ma was the same breed of cats. I remember--"
+
+The talking proclivities of females is the one topic upon which
+Keturah's husband is touchiest. Asaph knew this, but he delighted to
+stir up his chum occasionally. He chuckled as he interrupted the flow of
+reminiscence.
+
+"There, there, Bailey!" he exclaimed. "I know as much about Angie's
+tribe as you do, I cal'late. Ain't we a little mite off the course?
+Seems to me we was talkin' about Heman's letter."
+
+"Is that so? I judged from what you said we wa'n't goin' to talk about
+it. Aw, don't be so mean, Ase! Showin' off your importance like a young
+one! What did Heman say about the appropriation? Is he goin' to get it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt paused before replying. Then, bending over, he whispered in
+his chum's ear:
+
+"He never said one word about the appropriation, Bailey; not one word.
+He wanted to know if we'd got this year's taxes on the Whittaker place.
+And, if we hadn't, what was we goin' to do about it? Bailey, between you
+and me and the mizzenmast, Heman Atkins wants to get ahold of that place
+the worst way."
+
+"He does? He DOES? For the land sakes, ain't he got property enough
+already? Ain't a--a palace like that enough for one man, without wantin'
+to buy a rattletrap like THAT?"
+
+The first "that" was emphasized by a brandished but reverent left hand;
+the second by a derisively pointing right. The two friends had reached
+the crest of the long slope leading up from the townhall. On one side
+of the road stretched the imposing frontage of the "Atkins estate," with
+its iron fence and stone posts; on the other slouched the weed-grown,
+tumble-down desolation of the "Cy Whittaker place." The contrast was
+that of opulent prosperity and poverty-stricken neglect.
+
+If our village boasted one of those horseless juggernauts, such as are
+used to carry sightseers in Boston from the old North Church to the
+Public Library and other points of interest--that is, if there was a
+"seeing Bayport" car, it is from this hill that its occupants would be
+given their finest view of the village and its surroundings. As Captain
+Josiah Dimick always says: "Bayport is all north and south, like a
+codfish line. It puts me in mind of Seth Higgins's oldest boy. He was so
+tall and thin that when they bought a suit of clothes for him, they used
+to take reefs in the sides of the jacket and use the cloth to piece onto
+the bottoms of the trousers' legs." What Captain Joe means is that
+the houses in the village are all built beside three roads running
+longitudinally. There is the "main road" and the "upper road"--or
+"Woodchuck Lane," just as you prefer--and the "lower road," otherwise
+known as "Bassett's Holler."
+
+The "upper road" is sometimes called the "depot road," because the
+railroad station is conveniently located thereon--convenient for the
+railroad, that is--the station being a full mile from Simmons's "general
+store," which is considered the center of the town. The upper road
+enters the main road at the corner by the store, and there also are
+the Methodist meetinghouse and the schoolhouse. The townhall is in the
+hollow farther on. Then comes the big hill--
+
+"Whittaker's Hill"--and from the top of this hill you can, on a clear
+day, see for miles across the salt marshes and over the bay to the
+eastward, and west as far as the church steeple in Orham. If there
+happens to be a fog, with a strong easterly wind, you cannot see the
+marshes or the bay, but you can smell them, wet and salty and sweet. It
+is a smell that the born Bayporter never forgets, but carries with him
+in memory wherever he goes; and that, in the palmy days of the merchant
+marine, was likely, to be far, for every male baby in the village was
+born with web feet, so people said, and was predestined to be a sailor.
+
+When Heman Atkins came back from the South Seas early in the '60's,
+"rich as dock mud," though still a young man, he promptly tore down his
+father's old house, which stood on the crest of Whittaker's Hill, and
+built in its place a big imposing residence. It was by far the finest
+house in Bayport, and Heman made it finer as the years passed. There
+were imitation brownstone pillars supporting its front porch, iron dogs
+and scroll work iron benches bordering its front walk, and a pair of
+stone urns, in summer filled with flowers, beside its big iron front
+gate.
+
+Heman was our leading citizen, our representative in Washington, and the
+town's philanthropist. He gave the Atkins memorial window and the Atkins
+tower clock to the Methodist Church. The Atkins town pump, also his
+gift, stood before the townhall. The Atkins portrait in the Bayport
+Ladies' Library was much admired; and the size of the Atkins fortune was
+the principal subject of conversation at sewing circle, at the table of
+"the perfect boarding house," around the stove in Simmons's store, or
+wherever Bayporters were used to gather. We never exactly worshipped
+Heman Atkins, perhaps, but we figuratively doffed our hats when his name
+was mentioned.
+
+The "Cy Whittaker place" faced the Atkins estate from the opposite side
+of the main road, but it was the general opinion that it ought to be
+ashamed to face it. Almost everybody called it "the Cy Whittaker place,"
+although some of the younger set spoke of it as the "Sea Sight House."
+It was a big, old-fashioned dwelling, gambrel-roofed and brown and
+dilapidated. Originally it had enjoyed the dignified seclusion afforded
+by a white picket fence with square gateposts, and the path to its
+seldom-used front door had been guarded by rigid lines of box hedge.
+This, however, was years ago, before the second Captain Cy Whittaker
+died, and before the Howes family turned it into the "Sea Sight House,"
+a hotel for summer boarders.
+
+The Howeses "improved" the house and grounds. They tore down the picket
+fence, uprooted the box hedges, hung a sign over the sacred front door,
+and built a wide veranda under the parlor windows.
+
+They took boarders for five consecutive summers; then they gave up the
+unprofitable undertaking, returned to Concord, New Hampshire, their
+native city, and left the Cy Whittaker place to bear the ravages of
+Bayport winters and Bayport small boys as best it might.
+
+For years it stood empty. The weeds grew high about its foundations; the
+sparrows built nests behind such of its shutters as had not been ripped
+from their hinges by February no'theasters; its roof grew bald in spots
+as the shingles loosened and were blown away; the swallows flew in and
+out of its stone-broken windowpanes. Year by year it became more of a
+disgrace in the eyes of Bayport's neat and thrifty inhabitants--for neat
+and thrifty we are, if we do say it. The selectmen would have liked
+to tear it down, but they could not, because it was private property,
+having been purchased from the Howes heirs by the third Cy Whittaker,
+Captain Cy's only son, who ran away to sea when he was sixteen years
+old, and was disinherited and cast off by the proud old skipper in
+consequence. Each March, Asaph Tidditt, in his official capacity as town
+clerk, had been accustomed to receive an envelope with a South American
+postmark, and in that envelope was a draft on a Boston banking house for
+the sum due as taxes on the "Cy Whittaker place." The drafts were signed
+"Cyrus M. Whittaker."
+
+But this particular year--the year in which this chronicle begins--no
+draft had been received. Asaph waited a few weeks and then wrote to the
+address indicated by the postmark. His letter was unanswered. The taxes
+were due in March and it was now May. Mr. Tidditt wrote again; then he
+laid the case before the board of selectmen, and Captain Eben Salters,
+chairman of that august body, also wrote. But even Captain Eben's
+authoritative demand was ignored. Next to the harbor appropriation, the
+question of what should be done about the "Cy Whittaker place" filled
+Bayport's thoughts that spring. No one, however, had supposed that
+the Honorable Heman might wish to buy it. Bailey Bangs's surprise was
+excusable.
+
+"What in the world," repeated Bailey, "does Heman want of a shebang like
+that? Ain't he got enough already?"
+
+His friend shook his head.
+
+"'Pears not," he said. "I judge it's this way, Bailey: Heman, he's a
+proud man--"
+
+"Well, ain't he got a right to be proud?" broke in Mr. Bangs, hastening
+to resent any criticism of the popular idol. "Cal'late you and me'd be
+proud if we was able to carry as much sail as he does, wouldn't we?"
+
+"Yes, I guess like we would. But you needn't get red in the face and
+strain your biler just because I said that. I ain't finding fault with
+Heman; I'm only tellin' you. He's proud, as I said, and his wife--"
+
+"She's dead this four year. What are you resurrectin' her for?"
+
+"Land! you're peppery as a West Injy omelet this mornin'. Let me alone
+till I've finished. His wife, when she was alive, she was proud, too.
+And his daughter, Alicia, she's eight year old now, and by and by she'll
+be grown up into a high-toned young woman. Well, Heman is fur-sighted,
+and I s'pose likely he's thinkin' of the days when there'll be young
+rich fellers--senators and--and--well, counts and lords, maybe--cruisin'
+down here courtin' her. By that time the Whittaker place'll be a worse
+disgrace than 'tis now. I presume he don't want those swells to sit on
+his front piazza and see the crows buildin' nests in the ruins acrost
+the road. So--"
+
+"Crows! Did you ever see a crow build a nest in a house? I never did!"
+
+"Oh, belay! Crows or canary birds, what difference does it make?
+SOMETHIN' 'll nest there, if it's only A'nt Sophrony Hallett's hens.
+So Heman he writes to the board, askin' if the taxes is paid, if we've
+heard any reason why they ain't paid, and what we're goin' to do about
+it. If there's a sale for taxes he wants to be fust bidder. Then, when
+the place is his, he can tear down or rebuild, just as he sees fit.
+See?"
+
+"Yes, I see. Well, I feel about that the way Joe Dimick felt when he
+heard the doctor had told Elviry Pepper she must stop singin' in
+the choir or lose her voice altogether. 'Whichever happens 'll be an
+improvement,' says Cap'n Joe; and whatever Heman does 'll help the
+Whittaker place. What did you decide at the meetin'?"
+
+"Nothin'. We can't decide yet. We ain't sure about the law and we want
+to wait a spell, anyhow. But I know how 'twill end: Atkins 'll get the
+place. He always gets what he wants, Heman does."
+
+Bailey turned and looked back at the old house, forlorn amidst
+its huddle of blackberry briers and weeds, and with the ubiquitous
+"silver-leaf" saplings springing up in clusters everywhere about it and
+closing in on its defenseless walls like squads of victorious soldiery
+making the final charge upon a conquered fort.
+
+"Well," sighed Mr. Bangs, "so that 'll be the end of the old Whittaker
+place, hey? Sho! things change in a feller's lifetime, don't they? You
+and me can remember, Ase, when Cap'n Cy Whittaker was one of the biggest
+men we had in this town. So was his dad afore him, the Cap'n Cy that
+built the house. I wonder the looks of things here now don't bring them
+two up out of their graves. Do you remember young Cy--'Whit' we used to
+call him--or 'Reddy Whit,' 'count of his red hair? I don't know's you
+do, though; guess you'd gone to sea when he run away from home."
+
+Mr. Tidditt shook his head.
+
+"No, no!" he said. "I was to home that year. Remember 'Whit'? Well, I
+should say I did. He was a holy terror--yes, sir! Wan't no monkey shines
+or didos cut up in this town that young Cy wan't into. Fur's that goes,
+you and me was in 'em, too, Bailey. We was all holy terrors then. Young
+ones nowadays ain't got the spunk we used to have."
+
+His friend chuckled.
+
+"That's so," he declared. "That's so. Whit was a good-hearted boy, too,
+but full of the Old Scratch and as sot in his ways as his dad, and if
+Cap'n Cy wan't sot, then there ain't no sotness. 'You'll go to college
+and be a parson,' says the Cap'n. 'I'll go to sea and be a sailor, same
+as you done,' says Whit. And he did, too; run away one night, took the
+packet to Boston, and shipped aboard an Australian clipper. Cap'n Cy
+didn't go after him to fetch him home. No, sir--ee! not a fetch. Sent
+him a letter plumb to Melbourne and, says he: 'You've made your bed; now
+lay in it. Don't you never dast to come back to me or your ma,' he says.
+And Whit didn't, he wan't that kind."
+
+"Pretty nigh killed the old lady--Whit's ma--that did," mused Asaph.
+"She died a little spell afterwards. And the old man pined away, too,
+but he never give in or asked the boy to come back. Stubborn as all
+get-out to the end, he was, and willed the place, all he had left, to
+them Howes folks. And a nice mess THEY made of it. Young Cy, he--"
+
+"Young Cy!" interrupted Bailey. "We're always callin' him 'young Cy,'
+and yet, when you come to think of it, he must be pretty nigh fifty-five
+now; 'most as old as you and I be. Wonder if he'll ever come back here."
+
+"You bet he won't!" was the oracular reply. "You bet he won't! From what
+I hear he got to be a sea cap'n himself and settled down there in Buenos
+Ayres. He's made all kinds of money, they say, out of hides and such.
+What he ever bought his dad's old place for, _I_ can't see. He'll never
+come back to these common, one-horse latitudes, now you mark my word on
+that!"
+
+It was a prophecy Mr. Tidditt was accustomed to make each year to the
+crowd at the post office, when the receipt for the draft for taxes
+caused him to wax reminiscent. The younger generation here in Bayport
+regard their town clerk as something of an oracle, and this regard has
+made Asaph a trifle vain and positive.
+
+Bailey chuckled again.
+
+"We WAS a spunky, dare-devil lot in the old days, wan't we, Ase?" he
+said. "Spunk was kind of born in us, as you might say. And even now
+we're--"
+
+The Atkins tower clock boomed once--a solemn, dignified stroke. Mr.
+Tidditt and his companion started and looked at each other.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" gasped Asaph. "Is that half past twelve?"
+
+Mr. Bangs pulled a big worn silver watch from his pocket and glanced at
+the dial.
+
+"It is!" he moaned. "As sure's you're born, it is! We've kept Ketury's
+dinner waitin' twenty minutes. You and me are in for it now, Ase
+Tidditt! Twenty minutes late! She'll skin us alive."
+
+Mr. Tidditt did not pause to answer, but plunged headlong down the
+hill at a race-horse gait, Bailey pounding at his heels. For "born
+dare-devils," self-confessed, they were a nervous and apprehensive pair.
+
+The "perfect boarding house" is situated a quarter of a mile beyond
+"Whittaker's Hill," nearly opposite the Salters homestead. The sign,
+hung on the pole by the front gate, reads, "Bayport Hotel. Bailey Bangs,
+Proprietor," but no one except the stranger in Bayport accepts that sign
+seriously. When, owing to an unexpected change in the administration
+at Washington, Mr. Bangs was obliged to relinquish his position as our
+village postmaster, his wife came to the rescue with the proposal that
+they open a boarding house. "'Whatsoe'er you find to do,' quoted Keturah
+at sewing-circle meeting, 'do it then with all your might!' That's a
+good Sabbath-school hymn tune and it's good sense besides. I intend to
+make it my life work to run just as complete a--a eatin' and lodgin'
+establishment as I can. If, when I'm laid to rest, they can put onto my
+gravestone, 'She run the perfect boardin' house,' I'LL be satisfied."
+
+This remark, and subsequent similar declarations, were widely quoted,
+and, therefore, though casual visitors may refer to the "Bayport Hotel,"
+to us natives the Bangs residence is always "Keturah's perfect boarding
+house." As for the sign's affirmation of Mr. Bangs proprietorship,
+that is considered the cream of the joke. The idea of meek, bald-headed
+little Bailey posing as proprietor of anything while his wife is on
+deck, tickles Bayport's sense of humor.
+
+The perspiring delinquents panted into the yard of the perfect boarding
+house and tremblingly opened the door leading to the dining room. Dinner
+was well under way, and Mrs. Bangs, enthroned at the end of the long
+table, behind the silver-plated teapot, was waiting to receive them. The
+silence was appalling.
+
+"Sorry to be a little behindhand, Ketury," stammered Asaph hurriedly.
+"Town affairs are important, of course, and can't be neglected. I--"
+
+"Yes, yes; that's so, Ketury," cut in Mr. Bangs.
+
+"You see--"
+
+"Hum! Yes, I see." Keturah's tone was several degrees below freezing.
+"Hum! I s'pose 'twas town affairs kept you, too, hey?"
+
+"Well, well--er--not exactly, as you might say, but--" Bailey squeezed
+himself into the armchair at the end of the table opposite his wife, the
+end which, with sarcasm not the less keen for being unintentional, was
+called the "head." "Not exactly town affairs, 'twan't that kept me,
+Ketury, but--My! don't them cod cheeks smell good? You always could cook
+cod cheeks, if I do say it."
+
+The compliment was wasted. Mrs. Bangs had a sermon to deliver, and its
+text was not "cod cheeks."
+
+"Bailey Bangs," she began, "when I was brought to realize that my
+husband, although apparently an able-bodied man, couldn't support me as
+I'd been used to be supported, and when I was forced to support HIM
+by keepin' boarders, I says, 'If there's one thing that my house shall
+stand for it's punctual promptness at meal times. I say nothing,' I
+says, 'about the inconvenience of gettin' on with only one hired help
+when we ought to have three. If Providence, in its unscrutable wisdom,'
+I says, 'has seen fit to lay this burden onto me, the burden of a
+household of boarders and a husband whom--'"
+
+And just then the power referred to by Mrs. Bangs intervened to spare
+her husband the remainder of the preachment. From the driveway of the
+yard, beside the dining-room windows, came the rattle of wheels and
+the tramp of a horse's feet. Mrs. Matilda Tripp, who sat nearest the
+windows, on that side, rose and peered out.
+
+"It's the depot wagon, Ketury," she said. "There's somebody inside it. I
+wonder if they're comin' here."
+
+"Transients" were almost unknown quantities at the Bayport Hotel in May.
+Consequently, all the boarders and the landlady herself crowded to the
+windows. The "depot wagon" had drawn up by the steps, and Gabe Lumley,
+the driver, had descended from his seat and was doing his best to open
+the door of the ancient vehicle. It stuck, of course; the doors of all
+depot wagons stick.
+
+"Hold on a shake!" commanded some one inside the carriage. "Wait till
+I get a purchase on her. Now, then! All hands to the ropes! Heave--ho!
+THERE she comes!"
+
+The door flew back with a bang. A man sprang out upon the lower step of
+the porch. The eye of every inmate of the perfect boarding house was on
+him. Even the "hired help" peered from the kitchen door.
+
+"He's a stranger," whispered Mrs. Tripp. "I never see him before, did
+you, Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+The town clerk did not answer. He was staring at the depot wagon's
+passenger, staring with a face the interested expression of which was
+changing to that of surprise and amazed incredulity. Mrs. Tripp turned
+to Mr. Bangs; he also was staring, open-mouthed.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" gasped Asaph, under his breath. "Godfrey--SCISSORS!
+Bailey, I--I believe--I swan to man, I believe--"
+
+"Ase Tidditt!" exclaimed Mr. Bangs, "am I goin' looney, or is that--is
+that--"
+
+Neither finished his sentence. There are times when language seems so
+pitifully inadequate.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+
+Here in Bayport, nowadays, the collecting of "antiques" is a favorite
+amusement of our summer visitors. Those of us who were fortunate enough
+to possess a set of nicked blue dishes, a warming pan, or a tall clock
+with wooden wheels, have long ago parted with these treasures for
+considerable sums. Oddly enough Sylvanus Cahoon has profited most by
+this craze. Sylvanus used to be judged the unluckiest man in town; of
+late this judgment has been revised.
+
+It was Sylvanus who, confined to the house by an illness brought on by
+eating too much "sugar cake" at a free sociable given by the Methodist
+Society, arose in the night and drank copiously of what he supposed to
+be the medicine left by the doctor. It happened to be water-bug poison,
+and Sylvanus was nearly killed by the dose. He is reported as having
+admitted that he "didn't mind dyin' so much, but hated to die such a dum
+mean death."
+
+While convalescent he took to smoking in bed and was burned out of
+house and home in consequence. Then it was that his kind-hearted fellow
+citizens donated, for the furnishing of his new residence, all the
+cast-off bits of furniture and odds and ends from their garrets.
+"Charity," observed Captain Josiah Dimick at the time, "begins at home
+with us Bayporters, and it generally begins up attic, that bein' nighest
+to heaven."
+
+Later Sylvanus sold most of the donations as "antiques" and made money
+enough therefrom to buy a new plush parlor set. Miss Angeline Phinney
+never called on the Cahoons after that without making her appearance at
+the front door. "I'll get some good out of that plush sofy I helped to
+pay for," declared Angeline, "if it's only to wear it out by settin' on
+it."
+
+There are two "antiques" in Bayport which have not yet been sold or even
+bid for. One is Gabe Lumley's "depot wagon," and the other is "Dan'l
+Webster," the horse which draws it. Both are very ancient, sadly in need
+of upholstery, and jerky of locomotion.
+
+Gabe was, as usual, waiting at the station when the down train arrived,
+on the Tuesday--or Wednesday--of the selectmen's meeting. The train was
+due, according to the time-table, at eleven forty-five. This time-table,
+and the signboard of the "Bayport Hotel" are the only bits of humorous
+literature peculiar to our village, unless we add the political
+editorials of the Bayport Breeze.
+
+So, at eleven forty-five, Mr. Lumley was serenely dozing on the baggage
+truck, which he had wheeled to the sunny side of the platform. At five
+minutes past twelve, he yawned, stretched, and looked at his watch.
+Then, rolling off the truck, he strolled to the edge of the platform and
+spoke authoritatively to "Dan'l Webster."
+
+"Hi there! stand still!" commanded Mr. Lumley.
+
+Standing still being Dan'l's long suit, the order was obeyed. Gabe then
+loafed to the door of the station and accosted the depot master, who was
+nodding in his chair beside the telegraph instrument.
+
+"Where is she now, Ed?" asked Mr. Lumley, referring to the train.
+
+"Just left South Harniss. Be here pretty soon. What's your hurry?
+Expectin' anybody?"
+
+"Naw; nobody that I know of, special. Sophrony Hallett's gone to
+Ostable, but she won't be back till to-morrow I cal'late. Hello! there
+she whistles now."
+
+Needless to say it was the train, not the widow Hallett, that had
+whistled. The depot master rose from his chair. A yellow dog, his
+property, scrambled from beneath it, and rushing out of the door and
+to the farther end of the platform, barked furiously. Cephas Baker, who
+lives across the road from the depot, slouched down to his front gate.
+His wife opened the door of her kitchen and stood there, her wet arms
+wrapped in her apron. The five Baker children tore round the corner of
+the house, over the back fence, and lined up, whooping joyously, on the
+platform. A cloud of white smoke billowed above the clump of cedars at
+the bend of the track. Then the locomotive rounded the curve and bore
+down upon the station.
+
+"Stand still, I tell you!" shouted Gabe, addressing the horse.
+
+Dan'l Webster opened one eye, closed it and relapsed into slumber.
+
+The train, a combination baggage car and smoker, two freight cars and
+a passenger coach, rolled ponderously alongside the platform. From the
+open door of the baggage car were tossed the mail sack and two express
+packages. The conductor stepped from the passenger coach. Following
+him came briskly a short, thickset man with a reddish-gray beard and
+grayish-red hair.
+
+"Goin' down to the village, Mister?" inquired Mr. Lumley. "Carriage
+right here."
+
+The stranger inspected the driver of the depot wagon, inspected him
+deliberately from top to toe. Then he said:
+
+"Down to the village? Why, yes, I wouldn't wonder. Say! you're a Lumley,
+ain't you?"
+
+"Why! why--yes, I be! How'd you know that? Ain't ever seen you afore,
+have I?"
+
+"Guess not," with a quiet chuckle. "I've never seen you, either, but
+I've seen your nose. I'd know a Lumley nose if I run across it in
+China."
+
+The possessor of the "Lumley nose" rubbed that organ in a bewildered
+fashion. Recovering in a measure he laughed, rather half-heartedly, and
+begged to know if the trunk, then being unloaded from the baggage car,
+belonged to his prospective passenger. As the answer was an affirmative
+nod, he secured the trunk check and departed, still rubbing his nose.
+
+When he returned, with the trunk on the truck, he found the stranger,
+with his hands in his pockets, standing before Dan'l Webster and gazing
+at that animal with an expression of acute interest.
+
+"Is this your--horse?" demanded the newcomer, pausing before the final
+word of his question.
+
+"It's so cal'lated to be," replied Gabe, with dignity.
+
+"Hum! Does he work nights?"
+
+"Work nights? No, course he don't!"
+
+"Oh, all right! Then you can wake him up with a clear conscience. I
+didn't know but he needed the sleep. What's his record?"
+
+"Record?"
+
+"Yup; his trottin' record. Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow
+in the beam and sharp fore and aft. Shall I get aboard the barouche?"
+
+The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned
+broadly. Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might get
+aboard if he wanted to. Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang into the
+depot wagon with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock on its springs.
+
+"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "she rolls some, don't she? Never mind, MY
+ballast 'll keep her on an even keel. Trunk made fast astern? All
+right! Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's I can take
+an observation as we go along. Don't go so fast that the scenery gets
+blurred, will you? It's been some time since I made this cruise, and I'd
+rather like to keep a lookout."
+
+The driver "furled the canvas"--that is, he rolled up the curtains at
+the sides of the carryall. Then he climbed to the front seat and took up
+the reins.
+
+"Git up!" he shouted savagely. Dan'l Webster did not move.
+
+The passenger offered a suggestion. "Why don't you try hangin' an alarm
+clock in his fore-riggin'?" he asked.
+
+"Haw! haw!" roared the depot master.
+
+"Git up, you--you lump!" bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley. Dan'l pricked
+up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way. As the equipage
+passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered about the
+gate, staring at the occupant of the wagon. The stare was returned.
+
+"Who lives in there?" demanded the stranger. "Who are those folks?"
+
+"Ceph Baker's tribe," was the sullen answer.
+
+"Baker, hey? Humph! new folks, I presume likely. Used to be Seth Snow's
+house, that did. Where'd Seth go to?"
+
+Gabe grunted that he did not know. He believed Mr. Snow was dead, had
+died years before.
+
+"Humph! dead, hey? Then I know where he went. Do you ever smoke--or does
+drivin' this horse make you too nervous?"
+
+Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar. He admitted
+that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed "'twouldn't interfere
+with the drivin' none."
+
+"Good enough! then we'll light up. I can talk better if I'm under a head
+of steam. There's a new house; who built that?"
+
+The "new" house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of its
+builder. Then, thinking that the catechising had been altogether too
+one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
+
+"This is a pretty good cigar, Mister," he said. "Smokes like a
+Snowflake."
+
+"Like a what?"
+
+"Like a Snowflake. That's about the best straight five center you can
+get around here. Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's cart ain't
+called lately and he's all out."
+
+"That's a shame. I told the train boy that these smoked like somethin',
+but I didn't know what to call it. Much obliged to you. Here's another;
+put it in your pocket. Oh, no thanks; pleasure's all mine. Who's
+Simmons?"
+
+Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor. Then he
+added:
+
+"I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered over
+with labels, ain't it? Cal'late that trunk's done some travelin', hey?"
+
+"Think so, do you?"
+
+"Yup. Gee! I'd like to travel myself. But no! I got to stay all my life
+in this dead 'n' alive hole. I wanted to go to Boston and clerk in
+a store, but the old man put his foot down, and here I've stuck ever
+sence. Git up, Dan'l! What's the matter with you?"
+
+The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
+
+"Don't find fault, son," he said. "There's worse places in the world
+than old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad. Don't forget
+that or you may be sorry for it some day." He sniffed eagerly. "Ah!" he
+exclaimed, "just smell that, will you? Ain't that FINE?"
+
+"Humph! that's the flats. You can smell 'em any time when the tide's out
+and the wind's right. You see, the tide goes out pretty fur here and--"
+
+"Don't I know it? Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that smell
+and here 'tis at last. Drive slow and let me fill up on it. Just blow
+that--that Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell, won't you?
+Thanks."
+
+The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley paid
+no attention to it. He puffed industriously at the Snowflake and watched
+his companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was gazing out at
+the town and the bay beyond it. The "depot hill" is not as high as
+Whittaker's Hill, but the view is almost as extensive.
+
+"Excuse me, Mister," observed Gabe, after an interval, "but you ain't
+said where you're goin'."
+
+The passenger came out of his day dream with a start.
+
+"Why, that's right!" he exclaimed. "So I haven't! Well, now, where would
+you go, if you was me? Is there a hotel or tavern or somethin'?"
+
+"Yup. There's the Bayport Hotel. 'Tain't exactly a hotel, neither. We
+call it the perfect boardin' house 'round here. You see--"
+
+He proceeded to tell the story of "the perfect boarding house." His
+listener seemed greatly interested, and although he laughed, did not
+interrupt until the tale was ended.
+
+"So!" he said, chuckling. "Bailey Bangs, hey? Stub Bangs! Well, well!
+And he married Ketury Payson! How in time did he ever find spunk enough
+to propose? And Ketury runs the perfect boardin' house! Well, that ought
+to be job enough for one woman. She runs Bailey, too, on the side, I
+s'pose?"
+
+"You bet you! He don't dast to say 'boo' to a chicken when she's 'round.
+I say, Mister! I don't know's I know your name, do I? I judge you've
+been here afore so--"
+
+"Yes, I've been here before. Whose is that big place up there across our
+bows? The one with the cupola on the main truck?"
+
+"That, sir," said Mr. Lumley, oratorically, "belongs to the Honorable
+Heman G. Atkins, and it's probably the finest in this county. Heman is
+our representative in Washin'ton, and--Did you say anything?"
+
+The passenger had said something, but he did not repeat it. He was
+leaning from the carriage and gazing steadily up the slope ahead.
+And his gaze, strange to say, was not directed at the imposing Atkins
+estate, but at its opposite neighbor, the old "Cy Whittaker place."
+
+Slowly, laboriously, Dan'l Webster mounted the hill. At the crest he
+would have paused to take breath, but the driver would not let him.
+
+"Git along, you!" he commanded, flapping the reins.
+
+And then Mr. Lumley suffered the shock of a surprise. The hitherto cool
+and self-possessed occupant of the rear seat seemed very much excited.
+His big red hand clasped Mr. Lumley's over the reins, and Dan'l was
+brought to an abrupt standstill.
+
+"Heave to!" he ordered, sharply, and the tone was that of one who has
+given many orders and expects them to be obeyed. "Belay! Whoa, there!
+Great land of love! look at that! LOOK at it! Who did that?"
+
+The mate to the big red hand pointed to the front door of the Whittaker
+place. Gabe was alarmed.
+
+"Done what? Done which?" he gasped. "What you talkin' about? There ain't
+nobody lives in there. That house has been empty for--"
+
+"Where's the front fence?" demanded the excited passenger. "What's
+become of the hedge? And who put up that--that darned piazza?"
+
+The piazza had been where it now was almost since Mr. Lumley could
+remember. He hastened to reply that he didn't know; he wasn't sure;
+he presumed likely 'twas "them New Hampshire Howeses," when they ran a
+summer boarding house.
+
+The stranger drew a long breath. "Well, of all the--" he began. Then
+he choked, hesitated, and ordered his driver to heave ahead and run
+alongside the hotel as quick as the Almighty would let him. Gabe
+hastened to obey. He was now absolutely certain that his companion was
+an escaped lunatic, and the sooner another keeper was appointed the
+better. The remainder of the trip was made in silence.
+
+Mrs. Bangs opened the door of the perfect boarding house and stood
+majestically waiting to receive the prospective guest. Over her
+shoulders peered the faces of the boarders.
+
+"Good afternoon," began the landlady. "I presume likely you would like
+to--"
+
+She was interrupted. The newcomer turned toward her and extended his
+hand.
+
+"Hello, Ketury!" he said. "I ain't seen you sence you wore your hair
+up, but you're just as good-lookin' as ever. And ain't that Bailey? Yes,
+'tis, and Asaph, too! How are you, boys? Shake!"
+
+Mr. Bangs and his chum, the town clerk, had emerged from the doorway.
+Their mouths and eyes were wide open and they seemed to be suffering
+from a sort of paralysis.
+
+"Well? What's the matter with you?" demanded the arrival. "Ain't too
+stuck up to shake hands after all these years, are you?"
+
+Bailey's mouth closed in order that it's possessor might swallow. Then
+it slowly reopened.
+
+"I swan to man!" he ejaculated. "WELL! I swan to man! I--I b'lieve
+you're Cy Whittaker!"
+
+"Course I am. Have to dye my carrot top if I want to play anybody else.
+But look here, boys, you answer my question: who had the cheek to rig
+up that blasted piazza on my house? It starts to come down to-morrow
+mornin'!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"FIXIN' OVER"
+
+
+Miss Angeline Phinney made no less than nine calls that afternoon.
+Before bedtime it was known, from the last house in Woodchuck Lane to
+the fish shanties at West Bayport, that "young Cy" Whittaker had come
+back; that he had come back "for good"; that he was staying temporarily
+at the perfect boarding house; that he was "awful well off"--having made
+lots of money down in South America; that he intended to "fix over"
+the Whittaker place, and that it was to be fixed over, not in a modern
+manner, with plush parlor sets--a la Sylvanus Cahoon--nor with onyx
+tables and blue and gold chairs like those adorning the Atkins mansion.
+It was to be, as near as possible, a reproduction of what it had been in
+the time of the late "Cap'n Cy," young Cy's father.
+
+"_I_ think he's out of his head," declared Miss Phinney, in confidence,
+to each of the nine females whom she favored with her calls. "Not crazy,
+you understand, but sort of touched in the upper story. I says so to
+Matildy Tripp, said it right out, too: 'Matildy,' I says, 'he's got a
+screw loose up aloft just as sure as you're a born woman!' 'What makes
+you think so?' says she. 'Well,' says I, 'do you s'pose anybody that
+wan't foolish would be for spendin' good money on an old house to
+make it OLDER?' I says. Goin' to tear down the piazza the fust thing!
+Perfectly good piazza that cost ninety-eight dollars and sixty cents to
+build; I know, because I see the bill when the Howeses had it done. And
+he's goin' to set out box hedges, somethin' that ain't been the style
+in this town sence Congressman Atkins pulled up his. 'What in the world,
+Cap'n Whittaker,' says I to him, 'do you want of box hedges? Homely
+and stiff and funeral lookin'! I might have 'em around my grave in the
+buryin' ground,' I says, 'but nowheres else.' 'All right, Angie,' says
+he, 'you shall have 'em there; I'll cut some slips purpose for you.
+It'll be a pleasure,' he says. Now ain't that crazy talk for a grown
+man?"
+
+Miss Phinney was not the only one in our village to question Captain
+Cy Whittaker's sanity during the next few months. The majority of
+our people didn't understand him at all. He was generally liked, for
+although he had money, he did not put on airs, but he had his own way of
+doing things, and they were not Bayport ways.
+
+True to his promise, he had a squad of carpenters busy, on the
+day following his arrival, tearing down the loathed piazza. These
+carpenters, and more, were kept busy throughout that entire spring
+and well into the summer. Then came painters and gardeners. The piazza
+disappeared; a new picket fence, exactly like the old one torn down by
+the Howeses, was erected; new shutters were hung; new windowpanes were
+set; the roof was newly shingled. Captain Cy, Senior, had, in his day,
+cherished a New England fondness for white and green paint; therefore
+the new fence was white and the house was white and the blinds a
+brilliant green. Rows of box hedge, the plants brought from Boston, were
+set out on each side of the front walk. The Howes front-door bell--a
+clamorous gong--was removed, and a glass knob attached to a spring bell
+of the old-fashioned "jingle" variety took its place. An old-fashioned
+flower garden--Cap'n Cy's mother had loved posies--was laid out on
+the west lawn beyond the pear trees. All these changes the captain
+superintended; when they were complete he turned his attention to
+interior decoration.
+
+And now Captain Cy proceeded to, literally, astonish the natives. Among
+the Howes "improvements" were gilt wall papers and modern furniture for
+the lower floor of the house. The furniture they had taken with them;
+the wall paper had perforce been left behind. And the captain had every
+scrap of that paper stripped from the walls, and the latter re-covered
+with quaint, ugly, old-fashioned patterns, stripes and roses and
+flowered sprays with impossible birds flitting among them. The Bassett
+decorators has pasted the gilt improvement over the old Whittaker paper,
+and it was the Whittaker paper that the captain did his best to match,
+sending samples here, there, and everywhere in the effort. Then, upon
+the walls he hung old-fashioned pictures, such as Bayport dwellers had
+long ago relegated to their attics, pictures like "From Shore to Shore,"
+"Christian Viewing the City Beautiful," and "Signing the Declaration."
+To these he added, bringing them from the crowded garret of the
+homestead, oil paintings of ships commanded by his father and
+grandfather, and family portraits, executed--which is a peculiarly
+fitting word--by deceased local artists in oil and crayon.
+
+He boarded up the fireplace in the sitting room and installed a
+base-burner stove, resurrected from the tinsmith's barn. He purchased
+a full "haircloth set" of parlor furniture from old Mrs. Penniman, who
+never had been known to sell any of her hoarded belongings before, even
+to the "antiquers," and wouldn't have done so now, had it not been that
+the captain's offer was too princely to be real, and the old lady feared
+she might be dreaming and would wake up before she received the money.
+And from Trumet to Ostable he journeyed, buying a chair here and a table
+there, braided rag mats from this one, and corded bedsteads and "rising
+sun" quilts from that. At least half of Bayport believed with Gabe
+Lumley and Miss Phinney that, if Captain Cy had not escaped from a home
+for the insane, he was a likely candidate for such an institution.
+
+At the table of the perfect boarding house the captain was not inclined
+to be communicative regarding his reasons and his intentions. He was a
+prime favorite there, praising Keturah's cooking, joking with Angeline
+concerning what he was pleased to call her "giddy" manner of dressing
+and wearing "side curls," and telling yarns of South American dress
+and behavior, which would probably have shocked Mrs. Tripp--she having
+recently left the Methodist church to join the "Come-Outers," because
+the Sunday services of the former were, with the organ and a paid choir,
+altogether "too play-actin'"--if they had not been so interesting, and
+if Captain Cy had not always concluded them with the observation: "But
+there! you can't expect nothin' more from ignorant critters denied
+the privileges of congregational singin' and experience meetin's; hey,
+Matilda?"
+
+Mrs. Tripp would sigh and admit that she supposed not.
+
+"Only I do wish Mr. Daniels, OUR minister, might have a chance to preach
+over 'em, poor things!"
+
+"So do I," with a covert wink at Mrs. Bangs, who was a stanch adherent
+of the regular faith. "South America 'd be just the place for him; ain't
+that so, Keturah?"
+
+He evaded all personal questions put to him by the boarders, explaining
+that he was renovating the old place just for fun--he always had had a
+gang of men working for him, and it seemed natural somehow. But to the
+friends of his boyhood, Asaph Tidditt and Bailey Bangs, he told the real
+truth.
+
+"I swan to man!" exclaimed Bailey, almost tearfully, as the trio
+wandered through the rooms of the Cy Whittaker place, dodging paper
+hangers and plasterers; "I swan to man, Whit, if it don't almost seem as
+though I was a boy again. Why! it's your dad's house come back alive,
+it is so! Look at this settin' room! Seem's if I could see him now
+a-settin' by that ere stove, and Mrs. Whittaker, your ma, over there
+a-sewin', and old Cap'n Cy--your granddad--snoozin' in that big
+armchair--Why! why, whit! it's the very image of the chair he always set
+in!"
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud.
+
+"It's more n' that, Bailey," he said; "it's THE chair. 'Twas up attic,
+all busted and crippled, but I had it made over like new. And there's
+granddad's picture, lookin' just as I remember him--only he wan't quite
+so much of a frozen wax image as he's painted there. I'm goin' to hang
+it where it always hung, over the mantelpiece, next to the lookin'
+glass.
+
+"Great land of love, boys!" he went on, "you fellers don't know what
+this means to me. Many and many's the time I've had this old house and
+this old room in my mind. I've seen 'em aboard ship in a howlin' gale
+off the Horn. I've seen 'em down in Surinam of a hot night, when
+there wan't a breath scurcely and the Caribs went around dressed in a
+handkerchief and a paper cigar, and it made you wish you could. I've
+seen 'em--but there! every time I've seen 'em I've swore that some day
+I'd come back and LIVE 'em, and now, by the big dipper! here I am. Oh, I
+tell you, chummies, you want to be fired OUT of a home and out of a town
+to appreciate 'em! Not that I blame the old man; he and I was too
+much alike to cruise in company. But Bayport I was born in, and in the
+Bayport graveyard they can plant me when I'm ready for the scrap heap.
+It's in the blood and--Why, see here! Don't I TALK like a Bayporter?"
+
+"You sartin do!" replied Asaph emphatically.
+
+"A body 'd think you'd been diggin' clams and pickin' cranberries in
+Bassett's Holler all your life long, to hear you."
+
+"You bet! Well, that's pride; that's what that is. I prided myself
+on hangin' to the Bayport twang through thick and thin. Among all the
+Spanish 'Carambas' and 'Madre de Dioses' it did me good to come out with
+a good old Yankee 'darn' once in a while. Kept me feelin' like a white
+man. Oh, I'm a Whittaker! _I_ know it. And I've got all the Whittaker
+pig-headedness, I guess. And because the old man--bless his heart, I
+say now--told me I shouldn't BE a Whittaker no more, nor live like a
+Whittaker, I simply swore up and down I would be one and come back here,
+when I'd made my pile, to heave anchor and stay one till I die. Maybe
+that's foolishness, but it's me."
+
+He puffed vigorously at the pipe which had taken the place of the
+Snowflake cigar, and added:
+
+"Take this old settin' room--why, here it is; see! Here's dad in his
+chair and ma in hers, and, if you go back far enough, granddad in his,
+just as you say, Bailey. And here's me, a little shaver, squattin' on
+the floor by the stove, lookin' at the pictures in a heap of Godey's
+Lady's Book. And says dad, 'Bos'n,' he says--he used to call me 'Bos'n'
+in those days--'Bos'n,' says dad, 'run down cellar and fetch me up a
+pitcher of cider, that's a good feller.' Yes, yes; that's this room as
+I've seen it in my mind ever since I tiptoed through it the night I
+run away, with my duds in a bundle under my arm. Do you wonder I was
+fightin' mad when I saw what that Howes tribe had done to it?"
+
+Superintending the making over of the old home occupied most of Captain
+Cy's daylight time that summer. His evenings were spent at Simmons's
+store. We have no clubs in Bayport, strictly speaking, for the sewing
+circle and the Shakespeare Reading Society are exclusively feminine in
+membership; therefore Simmons's store is the gathering place of those
+males who are bachelors or widowers or who are sufficiently free from
+petticoat government to risk an occasional evening out. Asaph Tidditt
+was a regular sojourner at the store. Bailey Bangs, happening in to
+purchase fifty cents' worth of sugar or to have the molasses jug filled,
+lingered occasionally, but not often. Captain Cy explained Bailey's
+absence in characteristic fashion.
+
+"Variety," observed the captain, "is the spice of life. Bailey gets talk
+enough to home. What's the use of his comin' up here to get more?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Josiah Dimick, with a grin, "we let him do some
+of the talkin' himself up here. Down at the boardin' house Keturah and
+Angie Phinney do it all."
+
+"Yes. Still, if a feller was condemned to live over a biler factory he
+wouldn't hanker to get a job IN it, would he? When Bailey was a delegate
+to the Methodist Conference up in Boston, him and a crowd visited the
+deef and dumb asylum. When 'twas time to go, he was missin', and they
+found him in the female ward lookin' at the inmates. Said that the sight
+of all them women, every one of 'em not able to say a word, was the
+most wonderful thing ever he laid eyes on. Said it made him feel kind of
+reverent and holy, almost as if he was in Paradise. So Ase Tidditt says,
+anyway; it's his yarn."
+
+"'Tain't nuther, Cy Whittaker!" declared the indignant Asaph. "If you
+expect I'm goin' to father all your lies, you're mistaken."
+
+The crowd at Simmons's discuss politics, as a general thing; state
+and national politics in their seasons, but county politics and local
+affairs always. The question in Bayport that summer, aside from that of
+the harbor appropriation, was who should be hired as downstairs teacher.
+Our schoolhouse is a two-story building, with a schoolroom on each
+floor. The lower room, where the little tots begin with their "C--A--T
+Cat," and progress until they have mastered the Fourth Reader, is called
+"downstairs." "Upstairs" is, of course, the second story, where the
+older children are taught. To handle some of the "big boys" upstairs
+is a task for a healthy man, and such a one usually fills the teacher's
+position there. Downstairs being, in theory, at least, less strenuous,
+is presided over by a woman.
+
+Miss Seabury, who had been downstairs teacher for one lively term, had
+resigned that spring in tears and humiliation. Her scholars had enjoyed
+themselves and would have liked her to continue, but the committee and
+the townspeople thought otherwise. There was a general feeling that
+enjoyment was not the whole aim of education.
+
+"Betty," said Captain Dimick, referring to his small granddaughter, "has
+done fust rate so fur's marksmanship and lung trainin' goes. I cal'late
+she can hit a nail head ten foot off with a spitball three times out of
+four, and she can whisper loud enough to be understood in Jericho. But,
+not wishing to be unreasonable, still I should like to have her spell
+'door' without an 'e.' I've always been used to seein' it spelled that
+way and--well, I'm kind of old-fashioned, anyway."
+
+There was a difference of opinion concerning Miss Seabury's successor.
+A portion of the townspeople were for hiring a graduate of the State
+Normal School, a young woman with modern training. Others, remembering
+that Miss Seabury had graduated from that school, were for proved
+ability and less up-to-date methods. These latter had selected a
+candidate in the person of a Miss Phoebe Dawes, a resident of Wellmouth,
+and teacher of the Wellmouth "downstairs" for some years. The arguments
+at Simmons's were hot ones.
+
+"What's the use of hirin' somebody from right next door to us, as you
+might say?" demanded Alpheus Smalley, clerk at the store. "Don't we want
+our teachin' to be abreast of the times, and is Wellmouth abreast of
+ANYthing?"
+
+"It's abreast of the bay, that's about all, I will give in," replied Mr.
+Tidditt. "But, the way I look at it, we need disCIPline more 'n anything
+else, and Phoebe Dawes has had the best disCIPline in her school, that's
+been known in these latitudes. Order? Why, say! Eben Salters told me
+that when he visited her room over there 'twas so still that he didn't
+dast to rub one shoe against t'other, it sounded up so. He had to set
+still and bear his chilblains best he could. And POPULAR! Why, when she
+hinted that she might leave in May, her scholars more 'n ha'f of 'em,
+bust out cryin'. Now you hear me, I--"
+
+"It seems to me," put in Thaddeus Simpson, who ran the barber shop
+and was something of a politician, "it seems to me, fellers, that we'd
+better wait and hear what Mr. Atkins has to say in this matter. I
+guess that's what the committee 'll do, anyhow. We wouldn't want to go
+contrary to Heman, none of us; hey?"
+
+"Tad" Simpson was known to be deep in Congressman Atkins's confidence.
+The mention of the great man's name was received with reverence and nods
+of approval.
+
+"That's right. We mustn't do nothin' to displease Heman," was the
+general opinion.
+
+Captain Cy did not join the chorus. He refilled his pipe and crossed his
+legs.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted. "Heman Atkins seems to be--Give me a match, Ase,
+won't you? Thanks. I understand there's a special prayer meetin' at the
+church to-morrow night, Alpheus. What's it for?"
+
+"For?" Mr. Smalley seemed surprised. "It's to pray for rain, that's
+what. You know it, Cap'n, as well's I do. Ain't everybody's garden
+dryin' up and the ponds so low that we shan't be able to get water
+for the cranberry ditches pretty soon? There's need to pray, I should
+think!"
+
+"Humph! Seems a roundabout way of gettin' a thing, don't it? Why don't
+you telegraph to Heman and ask him to fix it for you? Save time."
+
+This remark was received in horrified silence. Tad Simpson was the first
+to recover.
+
+"Cap'n," he said, "you ain't met Mr. Atkins yet. When you do, you'll
+feel same as the rest of us. He's comin' home next week; then you'll
+see."
+
+A part at least of Mr. Simpson's prophecy proved true. The Honorable
+Atkins did come to Bayport the following week, accompanied by his little
+daughter Alicia, the housekeeper, and the Atkins servants. The Honorable
+and his daughter had been, since the adjournment of Congress, on a
+pleasure trip to the Yosemite and Yellowstone Park, and now they were
+to remain in the mansion on the hill for some time. The big house was
+opened, the stone urns burst into refulgent bloom, the iron dogs were
+refreshed with a coat of black paint, and the big iron gate was swung
+wide. Bayport sat up and took notice. Angeline Phinney was in her glory.
+
+The meeting between Captain Cy and Mr. Atkins took place the morning
+after the latter's return. The captain and his two chums had been
+inspecting the progress made by the carpenters and were leaning over the
+new fence, then just erected, but not yet painted. Down the gravel walk
+of the mansion across the road came strolling its owner, silk-hatted,
+side-whiskered, benignant.
+
+"Godfrey!" exclaimed Asaph. "There's Heman. See him, Whit?"
+
+"Yup, I see him. Seems to be headin' this way."
+
+"I--I do believe he's comin' across," whispered Mr. Bangs. "Yes, he is.
+He's real everyday, Cy. HE won't mind if you ain't dressed up."
+
+"Won't he? That's comfortin'. Well, I'll do the best I can without
+stimulants, as the doctor says. If you hear my knees rattle just nudge
+me, will you, Bailey?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt removed his hat. Bailey touched his. Captain Cy looked
+provokingly indifferent; he even whistled.
+
+"Good mornin', Mr. Atkins," hailed the town clerk, raising his voice
+because of the whistle. "I'm proud to see you back among us, sir. Hope
+you and Alicia had a nice time out West. How is she--pretty smart?"
+
+Mr. Atkins smiled a bland, congressional smile. He approached the group
+by the fence and extended his hand.
+
+"Ah, Asaph!" he said; "it is you then? I thought so. And Bailey, too. It
+is certainly delightful to see you both again. Yes, my daughter is well,
+I thank you. She, like her father, is glad to be back in the old
+home nest after the round of hotel life and gayety which we
+have--er--recently undergone. Yes."
+
+"Mr. Atkins," said Bailey, glancing nervously at Captain Cy, who had
+stopped whistling and was regarding the Atkins hat and whiskers with an
+interested air, "I want to make you acquainted with your new neighbor.
+You used to know him when you was a boy, but--but--er--Mr. Atkins, this
+is Captain Cyrus Whittaker. Cy, this is Congressman Atkins. You've heard
+us speak of him."
+
+The great man started.
+
+"Is it possible!" he exclaimed. "Is it possible that this is really my
+old playmate Cyrus Whittaker?"
+
+"Yup," replied the captain calmly. "How are you, Heman? Fatter'n you
+used to be, ain't you? Washin'ton must agree with you."
+
+Bailey and Asaph were scandalized. Mr. Atkins himself seemed a trifle
+taken aback. Comments on his personal appearance were not usual in
+Bayport. But he rallied bravely.
+
+"Well, well!" he cried. "Cyrus, I am delighted to welcome you back among
+us. I should scarcely have known you. You are older--yes, much older."
+
+"Well, forty year more or less, added to what you started with, is apt
+to make a feller some older. Don't need any Normal School graduate to do
+that sum for us. I'm within seven or eight year of bein' as old as you
+are, Heman, and that's too antique to be sold for veal."
+
+Mr. Atkins changed the subject.
+
+"I had heard of your return, Cyrus," he said. "It gave me much pleasure
+to learn that you were rebuilding and--er--renovating the--er--the
+ancestral--er--"
+
+"The old home nest? Yup, I'm puttin' back a few feathers. Old birds like
+to roost comf'table. You've got a fairly roomy coop yourself."
+
+"Hum! Isn't it--er--I should suppose you would find it rather expensive.
+Can you--do you--"
+
+"Yes, I can afford it, thank you. Maybe there'll be enough left in the
+stockin' to buy a few knickknacks for the yard. You can't tell."
+
+The captain glanced at the iron dogs guarding the Atkins gate. His tone
+was rather sharp.
+
+"Yes, yes, certainly; certainly; of course. It gives me much pleasure to
+have you as a neighbor. I have always felt a fondness for the old place,
+even when you allowed it--even when it was most--er--run down, if you'll
+excuse the term. I always felt a liking for it and--"
+
+"Yes," was the significant interruption. "I judged you must have, from
+what I heard."
+
+This was steering dangerously close to the selectmen and the
+contemplated "sale for taxes." The town clerk broke in nervously.
+
+"Mr. Atkins," he said, "there's been consider'ble talk in town about
+who's to be teacher downstairs this comin' year. We've sort of chawed it
+over among us, but naturally we wanted your opinion. What do you think?
+I'm kind of leanin' toward the Dawes woman, myself."
+
+The Congressman cleared his throat.
+
+"Far be it from me," he said, "to speak except as a mere member of our
+little community, an ordinary member, but, AS such a member, with the
+welfare of my birthplace very near and dear to me, I confess that I
+am inclined to favor a modern teacher, one educated and trained in the
+institution provided for the purpose by our great commonwealth.
+The Dawes--er--person is undoubtedly worthy and capable in her way,
+but--well--er--we know that Wellmouth is not Bayport."
+
+The reference to "our great commonwealth" had been given in the voice
+and the manner wont to thrill us at our Fourth-of-July celebrations and
+October "rallies." Two of his hearers, at least, were visibly impressed.
+Asaph looked somewhat crestfallen, but he surrendered gracefully to
+superior wisdom.
+
+"That's so," he said. "That's so, ain't it, Cy? I hadn't thought of
+that."
+
+"What's so?" asked the captain.
+
+"Why--why, that Wellmouth ain't Bayport."
+
+"No doubt of it. They're twenty miles apart."
+
+"Yes. Well, I'm glad to hear you put it so conclusive, Mr. Atkins. I can
+see now that Phoebe wouldn't do. Hum! Yes."
+
+Mr. Atkins buttoned the frock coat and turned to go.
+
+"Good day, gentlemen," he said. "Cyrus, permit me once more to welcome
+you heartily to our village. We--my daughter and myself--will probably
+remain at home until the fall. I trust you will be a frequent caller.
+Run in on us at any time. Pray do not stand upon ceremony."
+
+"No," said Captain Cy shortly, "I won't."
+
+"That's right. That's right. Good morning."
+
+He walked briskly down the hill. The trio gazed after him.
+
+"Well," sighed Mr. Tidditt. "That's settled. And it's a comfort to know
+'tis settled. Still I did kind of want Phoebe Dawes; but of course Heman
+knows best."
+
+"Course he knows best!" snapped Bailey. "Ain't he the biggest gun in
+this county, pretty nigh? I'd like to know who is if he ain't. The
+committee 'll call the Normal School girl now, and a good thing, too."
+
+Captain Cy was still gazing at the dignified form of the "biggest gun in
+the county."
+
+"Let's see," he asked. "Who's on the school committee? Eben Salters, of
+course, and--"
+
+"Yes. Eben's chairman and he'll vote Phoebe, anyhow; he's that
+pig-headed that nobody--not even a United States Representative--could
+change him. But Darius Ellis 'll be for Heman's way and so 'll Lemuel
+Myrick.
+
+"Lemuel Myrick? Lem Myrick, the painter?"
+
+"Sartin. There ain't but one Myrick in town."
+
+"Hum!" murmured the captain and was silent for some minutes.
+
+The school committee met on the following Wednesday evening. On Thursday
+morning a startling rumor spread throughout Bayport. Phoebe Dawes had
+been called, by a vote of two to one, to teach the downstairs school.
+Asaph, aghast, rushed out of Simmons's store and up to the hill to the
+Cy Whittaker place. He found Captain Cy in the front yard. Mr. Myrick,
+school committeeman and house painter, was with him.
+
+"Hello, Ase!" hailed the captain. "What's the matter? Hasn't the tide
+come in this mornin'?"
+
+Asaph, somewhat embarrassed by the presence of Mr. Myrick, hesitated
+over his news. Lemuel came to his rescue.
+
+"Ase has just heard that we called Phoebe," he said. "What of it? I
+voted for her, and I ain't ashamed of it."
+
+"But--but Mr. Atkins, he--"
+
+"Well, Heman ain't on the committee, is he? I vote the way I think
+right, and no one in this town can change me. Anyway," he added, "I'm
+going to resign next spring. Yes, Cap'n Whittaker, I think three coats
+of white 'll do on the sides here."
+
+"Lem's goin' to do my paintin' jobs," explained Captain Cy. "His price
+was a little higher than some of the other fellers, but I like his
+work."
+
+Mr. Tidditt pondered deeply until dinner time. Then he cornered the
+captain behind the Bangs barn and spoke with conviction.
+
+"Whit," he said, "you're the one responsible for the committee's hirin'
+Phoebe Dawes. You offered Lem the paintin' job if he'd vote for her.
+What did you do it for? You don't know her, do you?"
+
+"Never set eyes on her in my life."
+
+"Then--then--You heard Heman say he wanted the other one. What made you
+do it?"
+
+Captain Cy grinned.
+
+"Ase," he said, "I've always been a great hand for tryin' experiments.
+Had one of my cooks aboard put raisins in the flapjacks once, just to
+see what they tasted like. I judged Heman had had his own way in this
+town for thirty odd year. I kind of wanted to see what would happen if
+he didn't have it."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+
+Lemuel Myrick's painting jobs have the quality so prized by our village
+small boys in the species of candy called "jaw breakers," namely, that
+of "lasting long." But even Lem must finish sometime or other and, late
+in July, the Cy Whittaker place was ready for occupancy. The pictures
+were in their places on the walls, the old-fashioned furniture filled
+the rooms, there was even a pile of old magazines, back numbers of
+Godey's Lady's Book, on the shelf in the sitting room closet.
+
+Then, when Captain Cy had notified Mrs. Bangs that the perfect boarding
+house would shelter him no longer than the coming week, a new problem
+arose.
+
+"Whit," said Asaph earnestly, "you've sartin made the place rise up out
+of its tomb; you have so. It's a miracle, pretty nigh, and I cal'late
+it must have cost a heap, but you've done it--all but the old folks
+themselves. You can't raise them up, Cy; money won't do that. And you
+can't live in this great house all alone. Who's goin' to cook for you,
+and sweep and dust, and swab decks, and one thing a'nother? You'll have
+to have a housekeeper, as I told you a spell ago. Have you done any
+thinkin' about that?"
+
+And the captain, taking his pipe from his lips, stared blankly at his
+friend, and answered:
+
+"By the big dipper, Ase, I ain't! I remember we did mention it, but I've
+been so busy gettin' this craft off the ways that I forgot all about
+it."
+
+The discussion which followed Mr. Tidditt's reminder was long and
+serious. Asaph and Bailey Bangs racked their brains and offered numerous
+suggestions, but the majority of these were not favorably received.
+
+"There's Matildy Tripp," said Bailey. "She'd like the job, I'm sartin.
+She's a widow, too, and she's had experience keepin' house along of
+Tobias, him that was her husband. But, if you do hire her, don't let
+Ketury know I hinted at it, 'cause we're goin' to lose one boarder
+when you quit, and that's too many, 'cordin' to the old lady's way of
+thinkin'."
+
+"You can keep Matildy, for all me," replied the captain decidedly.
+"Come-Outer religion's all right, for those that have that kind of
+appetite, but havin' it passed to me three times a day, same as I've
+had it at your house, is enough; I don't hanker to have it warmed over
+between meals. If I shipped Matildy aboard here she and the Reverend
+Daniels would stand over me, watch and watch, till I was converted or
+crazy, one or the other."
+
+"Well, there's Angie. She--"
+
+"Angie!" sniffed Mr. Tidditt. "Stop your jokin', Bailey. This is a
+serious matter."
+
+"I wan't jokin'. What--"
+
+"There! there! boys," interrupted the captain; "don't fight. Bailey
+didn't mean to joke, Ase; he's full of what the papers call 'unconscious
+humor.' I'll give in that Angie is about as serious a matter as I can
+think of without settin' down to rest. Humph! so fur we haven't gained
+any knots to speak of. Any more candidates on your mind?"
+
+More possibilities were mentioned, but none of them seemed to fill the
+bill. The conference broke up without arriving at a decision. Mr. Bangs
+and the town clerk walked down the hill together.
+
+"Do you know, Bailey," said Asaph, "the way I look at it, this pickin'
+out a housekeeper for Whit ain't any common job. It's somethin' to think
+over. Cy's a restless critter; been cruisin' hither and yon all his
+life. I'm sort of scared that he'll get tired of Bayport and quit if
+things here don't go to suit him. Now if a real good nice woman--a nice
+LOOKIN' woman, say--was to keep house for him it--it--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, I mean--that is, don't you s'pose if some such woman as that
+was to be found for the job he might in time come to like her
+and--and--er--"
+
+"Ase Tidditt, what are you drivin' at?"
+
+"Why, I mean he might come to marry her; there! Then he'd be contented
+to settle down to home and stay put. What do you think of the idea?"
+
+"Think of it? I think it's the dumdest foolishness ever I heard. I
+declare if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches
+don't make your heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun! Ain't Cy
+Whittaker got money? Ain't he got a nice home? Ain't he happy?"
+
+"Yes, he is now, I s'pose, but--"
+
+"WELL, then! And you want him to get married! What do you know about
+marryin'? Never tried it, have you?"
+
+"Course I ain't! You know I ain't."
+
+"All right. Then I'd keep quiet about such things, if I was you."
+
+"You needn't fly up like a settin' hen. Everybody's wife ain't--"
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence.
+
+"What's that?" demanded his companion, sharply.
+
+"Nothin'; nothin'. _I_ don't care; I was only tryin' to fix things
+comf'table for Whit. Has Heman said anything about the harbor
+appropriation sence he's been home? I haven't heard of it if he has."
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was a grunt, signifying a negative. Congressman
+Atkins had been, since his return to Bayport, exceedingly noncommittal
+concerning the appropriation. To Tad Simpson and a very few chosen
+lieutenants and intimates he had said that he hoped to get it; that was
+all. This was a disquieting change of attitude, for, at the beginning
+of the term just passed, he had affirmed that he was GOING to get it.
+However, as Mr. Simpson reassuringly said: "The job's in as good hands
+as can be, so what's the use of OUR worryin'?"
+
+Bailey Bangs certainly was not troubled on that score; but the town
+clerk's proposal that Captain Cy be provided with a suitable wife did
+worry him. Bailey was so very much married himself and had such decided,
+though unspoken, views concerning matrimony that such a proposal seemed
+to him lunacy, pure and simple. He had liked and admired his friend
+"Whit" in the old days, when the latter led them into all sorts of
+boyish scrapes; now he regarded him with a liking that was close
+to worship. The captain was so jolly and outspoken; so brave and
+independent--witness his crossing of the great Atkins in the matter of
+the downstairs teacher. That was a reckless piece of folly which would,
+doubtless, be rewarded after its kind, but Bailey, though he professed
+to condemn it, secretly wished he had the pluck to dare such things. As
+it was, he didn't dare contradict Keturah.
+
+With the exception of one voyage as cabin boy to New Orleans, a voyage
+which convinced him that he was not meant for a seaman, Mr. Bangs had
+never been farther from his native village than Boston. Captain Cy had
+been almost everywhere and seen almost everything. He could spin yarns
+that beat the serial stories in the patent inside of the Bayport Breeze
+all hollow. Bailey had figured that, when the "fixin' over" was ended,
+the Cy Whittaker place would be for him a delightful haven of refuge,
+where he could put his boots on the furniture, smoke until dizzy without
+being pounced upon, be entertained and thrilled with tales of adventure
+afloat and ashore, and even express his own opinion, when he had any,
+with the voice and lung power of a free-born American citizen.
+
+And now Asaph Tidditt, who should know better, even though he was a
+bachelor, wanted to bring a wife into this paradise; not a paid domestic
+who could be silenced, or discharged, if she became a nuisance, but a
+WIFE! Bailey guessed not; not if he could prevent it.
+
+So he lay awake nights thinking of possible housekeepers for Captain Cy,
+and carefully rejecting all those possessing dangerous attractions of
+any kind. Each morning, after breakfast, he ran over the list with the
+captain, taking care that Asaph was not present. Captain Cy, who was
+very busy with the finishing touches at the new old house, wearied on
+the third morning.
+
+"There, there, Bailey!" he said. "Don't bother me now. I've got other
+things on my mind. How do I know who all these women folks are you're
+stringing off to me? Let me alone, do."
+
+"But you must have a housekeeper, Cy. You'll move in Monday and you
+won't have nobody to--"
+
+"Oh, dry up! I want to think who I must see this morning. There's Lem
+and old lady Penniman, and--"
+
+"But the housekeeper, Cy! Don't you see--"
+
+"Hire one yourself, then. You know 'em; I don't."
+
+"Hey? Hire one myself? Do you mean you'll leave it in my hands?"
+
+"Yes, yes! I guess so. Run along, that's a good feller."
+
+He departed hurriedly. Mr. Bangs scratched his head. A weighty
+responsibility had been laid upon him.
+
+Monday morning after breakfast Captain Cy's trunk was put aboard
+the depot wagon, and Dan'l Webster drew it to its owner's home. The
+farewells at the perfect boarding house were affecting. Mrs. Tripp said
+that she had spoken to the Reverend Mr. Daniels, and he would be sure to
+call the very first thing. Keturah affirmed that the captain's stay had
+been a real pleasure.
+
+"You never find fault, Cap'n Whittaker," she said. "You're such a manly
+man, if you'll excuse my sayin' so. I only wish there was more like
+you," with a significant glance at her husband. As for Miss Phinney,
+she might have been saying good-by yet if the captain had not excused
+himself.
+
+Asaph accompanied his friend to the house on the hill. The trunk was
+unloaded from the wagon and carried into the bedroom on the first floor,
+the room which had been Captain Cy's so long ago. Gabe shrieked at Dan'l
+Webster, and the depot wagon crawled away toward the upper road.
+
+"Got to meet the up train," grumbled the driver. "Not that anybody ever
+comes on it, but I cal'late I'm s'posed to be there. Be more talk than a
+little if I wan't. Git dap, Dan'l! you're slower'n the moral law."
+
+"So you're goin' to do your own cookin' for a spell, Cy?" observed
+Asaph, a half hour later, "Well, I guess that's a good idea, till you
+can find the right housekeeper. I ain't been able to think of one that
+would suit you yet."
+
+"Nor I, either. Neither's Bailey, I judge, though for a while he was as
+full of suggestions as a pine grove is of woodticks. He started to say
+somethin' about it to me last night, but Ketury hove in sight and yanked
+him off to prayer meetin'."
+
+"Yes, I know. She cal'lates to get him into heaven somehow."
+
+"I guess 'twouldn't BE heaven for her unless he was round to pick at.
+There he comes now. How'd he get out of wipin' dishes?"
+
+Mr. Bangs strolled into the yard.
+
+"Hello!" he hailed. "I was on my way to Simmons's on an errand and I
+thought I'd stop in a minute. Got somethin' to tell you, Whit."
+
+"All right. Overboard with it! It won't keep long this hot weather."
+
+Bailey smiled knowingly. "Didn't I hear the up train whistle as I was
+comin' along?" he asked. "Seems to me I did. Yes; well, if I ain't
+mistaken somebody's comin' on that train. Somebody for you, Cy
+Whittaker."
+
+"Somebody for ME?"
+
+"Um--hum! I can gen'rally be depended on, I cal'late, and when you says
+to me: 'Bailey, you get me a housekeeper,' I didn't lose much time. I
+got her."
+
+Mr. Tidditt gasped.
+
+"GOT her?" he repeated. "Got who? Got what? Bailey Bangs, what in the
+world have--"
+
+"Belay, Ase!" ordered Captain Cy. "Bailey, what are you givin' us?"
+
+"Givin' you a housekeeper, and a good one, too, I shouldn't wonder. She
+may not be one of them ten-thousand-dollar prize museum beauties," with
+a scornful wink at Asaph, "but if what I hear's true she can keep house.
+Anyhow she's kept one for forty odd year. Her name's Deborah Beasley,
+she's a widow over to East Trumet, and if I don't miss my guess, she's
+in the depot wagon now headed in this direction."
+
+Captain Cy whistled. Mr. Tidditt was too much surprised to do even that.
+
+"I was speakin' to the feller that drives the candy cart," continued
+Bailey, "and I asked him if he'd run acrost anybody, durin' his trips
+'round the country, who'd be likely to hire out for a housekeeper. He
+thought a spell and then named over some. Among 'em was this Beasley
+one. I asked some more questions and, the answers bein' satisfactory to
+ME, though they might not be to some folks--" another derisive wink at
+Asaph--"I set down and wrote her, tellin' what you'd pay, Cy, what she'd
+have to do, and when she'd have to come. Saturday night I got a letter,
+sayin' terms was all right, and she'd be on hand by this mornin's train.
+Course she's only on trial for a month, but you had to have SOMEBODY,
+and the candy-cart feller said--"
+
+The town clerk slapped his knee.
+
+"Debby Beasley!" he cried. "I know who she is! I've got a cousin in
+Trumet. Debby Beasley! Aunt Debby, they call her. Why! she's old enough
+to be Methusalem's grandmarm, and--"
+
+"If I recollect right," interrupted Bailey, with dignity, "Cy never said
+he wanted a YOUNG woman--a frivolous, giddy critter, always riggin' up
+and chasin' the fellers. He wanted a sot, sober housekeeper."
+
+"Godfrey! Aunt Debby ain't frivolous! She couldn't chase a lame
+clam--and catch it. And DEEF! Godfrey--scissors! she's deefer 'n one of
+them cast-iron Newfoundlands in Heman's yard! Do you mean to say, Bailey
+Bangs, that you went ahead, on your own hook, and hired that old relic
+to--"
+
+"I did. And I had my authority, didn't I, Whit? You told me you'd leave
+it in my hands, now didn't you?"
+
+The captain smiled somewhat ruefully, and scratched his head. "Why,
+to be honest, Bailey, I believe I did," he admitted. "Still, I hardly
+expected--Humph! is she deef, as Ase says?"
+
+"I understand she's a little mite hard of hearin'," replied Mr. Bangs,
+with dignity; "but that ain't any drawback, the way I look at it. Fact
+is, I'd call it an advantage, but you folks seem to be hard to please.
+I ruther imagined you'd thank me for gettin' her, but I s'pose that was
+too much to expect. All right, pitch her out! Don't mind MY feelin's!
+Poor homeless critter comin' to--"
+
+"Homeless!" repeated Asaph. "What's that got to do with it? Cy ain't
+runnin' the Old Woman's Home."
+
+"Well, well!" observed the captain resignedly. "There's no use in rowin'
+about what can't be helped. Bailey says he shipped her for a month's
+trial, and here comes the depot wagon now. That's her on the aft thwart,
+I judge. She AIN'T what you'd call a spring pullet, is she!"
+
+She certainly was not. The occupant of the depot wagon's rear seat was a
+thin, not to say scraggy, female, wearing a black, beflowered bonnet and
+a black gown. A black knit shawl was draped about her shoulders and she
+wore spectacles.
+
+"Whoa!" commanded Mr. Lumley, piloting the depot wagon to the side door
+of the Whittaker house. Dan'l Webster came to anchor immediately. Gabe
+turned and addressed his passenger.
+
+"Here we be!" he shouted.
+
+"Hey?" observed the lady in black.
+
+"Here--we--be!" repeated Gabe, raising his voice.
+
+"See? See what?"
+
+"Oh, heavens to Betsey! I'm gettin' the croup from howlin'.
+I--say--HERE--WE--BE! GET OUT!"
+
+He accompanied the final bellow with an expressive pantomime indicating
+that the passenger was expected to alight. She seemed to understand,
+for she opened the door of the carriage and slowly descended. Mr. Bangs
+advanced to meet her.
+
+"How d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley!" he said. "Glad to see you all safe and
+sound."
+
+Mrs. Beasley shook his hand; hers were covered, as far as the knuckles,
+by black mitts.
+
+"How d'ye do, Cap'n Whittaker?" she said, in a shrill voice. "You pretty
+smart?"
+
+Bailey hastened to explain.
+
+"I ain't Cap'n Whittaker," he roared. "I'm Bailey Bangs, the one that
+wrote to you."
+
+"Hey?"
+
+Mr. Lumley and Asaph chuckled. Bailey colored and tried again.
+
+"I ain't the cap'n," he whooped. "Here he is--here!"
+
+He led her over to her prospective employer and tapped the latter on the
+chest.
+
+"How d'ye do, sir?" said the housekeeper. "I don't know's I just caught
+your name."
+
+In five minutes or so the situation was made reasonably clear. Mrs.
+Beasley then demanded her trunk and carpet bag. The grinning Lumley bore
+them into the house. Then he drove away, still grinning. Bailey looked
+fearfully at Captain Cy.
+
+"She IS kind of hard of hearin', ain't she?" he said reluctantly. "You
+remember I said she was."
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "you're a truth-tellin' chap, Bailey, I'll say that
+for you. You don't exaggerate your statements."
+
+"Hard of hearin'!" snapped Mr. Tidditt. "If the last trump ain't a steam
+whistle she'll miss Judgment Day. I'll stop into Simmons's on my way
+along and buy you a bottle of throat balsam, Cy; you're goin' to need
+it."
+
+The captain needed more than throat balsam during the fortnight which
+followed. The widow Beasley's deafness was not her only failing. In fact
+she was altogether a failure, so far as her housekeeping was concerned.
+She could cook, after a fashion, but the fashion was so limited that
+even the bill of fare at the perfect boarding house looked tempting in
+retrospect.
+
+"Baked beans again, Cy!" exclaimed Asaph, dropping in one evening after
+supper. "'Tain't Saturday night so soon, is it?"
+
+"No," was the dismal rejoinder. "It's Tuesday, if my almanac ain't out
+of joint. But we had beans Saturday and they ain't all gone yet, so I
+presume we'll have 'em till the last one's swallowed. Aunt Debby's got
+what the piece in the Reader used to call a 'frugal mind.' She don't
+intend to waste anything. Last Thursday I spunked up courage enough to
+yell for salt fish and potatoes--fixed up with pork scraps, you know,
+same's we used to have when I was a boy. We had 'em all right, and if
+beans of a Saturday hadn't been part of her religion we'd be warmin' 'em
+up yet. I took in a cat for company 'tother day, but the critter's
+run away. To see it look at the beans in its saucer and then at me was
+pitiful; I felt like handin' myself over to the Cruelty to Animals'
+folks."
+
+"Is she neat?" inquired Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"I don't know. I guess so--on the installment plan. It takes her a week
+to scrub up the kitchen, and then one end of it is so dirty she has to
+begin again. Consequently the dust is so thick in the rest of the house
+that I can see my tracks. If 'twan't so late in the season I'd plant
+garden stuff in the parlor--nice soil and lots of shade, with the
+curtains down."
+
+From the rooms in the rear came the words of a gospel hymn sung in a
+tremulous soprano and at concert pitch.
+
+"Music with my meals, just like a high-toned restaurant," commented
+Captain Cy.
+
+"But what makes her sing so everlastin' LOUD?"
+
+"Can't hear herself if she don't. I could stand her deefness, because
+that's an affliction and we may all come to it; but--"
+
+The housekeeper, still singing, entered the room and planted herself in
+a chair.
+
+"Good evenin', Mr. Tidditt," she said, smiling genially. "Nice weather
+we've been havin'."
+
+Asaph nodded.
+
+"Sociable critter, ain't she!" observed the captain. "Always willin' to
+help entertain. Comes and sets up with me till bedtime. Tells about
+her family troubles. Preaches about her niece out West, and how set the
+niece and the rest of the Western relations are to have her make 'em a
+visit. I told her she better go--I thought 'twould do her good. I know
+'twould help ME consider'ble to see her start.
+
+"She's got so now she finds fault with my neckties," he added, "says I
+must be careful and not get my feet wet. Picks out what I ought to wear
+so's I won't get cold. She'll adopt me pretty soon. Oh, it's all right!
+She can't hear what you say. Are your dishes done?" he shrieked, turning
+to the old lady.
+
+"One? One what?" inquired Mrs. Beasley.
+
+"They won't BE done till you go, Ase," continued the master of the
+house. "She'll stay with us till the last gun fires. T'other day
+Angie Phinney called and I turned Debby loose on her. I didn't believe
+anything could wear out Angie's talkin' machinery, but she did it.
+Angeline stayed twenty minutes and then quit, hoarse as a crow."
+
+Here the widow joined in the conversation, evidently under the
+impression that nothing had been said since she last spoke. Continuing
+her favorable comments on the weather she observed that she was glad
+there was so little fog, because fog was hard for folks with "neuralgy
+pains." Her brother's wife's cousin had "neuralgy" for years, and
+she described his sufferings with enthusiasm and infinite detail. Mr.
+Tidditt answered her questions verbally at first; later by nods and
+shakes of the head. Captain Cy fidgeted in his chair.
+
+"Come on outdoor, Ase," he said at last. "No use to wait till she runs
+down, 'cause she's a self-winder, guaranteed to keep goin' for a year.
+Good-night!" he shouted, addressing Mrs. Beasley, and heading for the
+door.
+
+"Where you goin'?" asked the old lady.
+
+"No. Yes. Who said so? Hooray! Three cheers for Gen'ral Scott! Come on,
+Ase!" And the captain, seizing his friend by the arm, dragged him into
+the open air, and slammed the door.
+
+"Are you crazy?" demanded the astonished town clerk. "What makes you
+talk like that?"
+
+"Might as well. She wouldn't understand it any better if 'twas
+Scripture, and it saves brain work. The only satisfaction I get is
+bein' able to give my opinion of her and the grub without hurtin' her
+feelin's. If I called her a wooden-headed jumpin' jack she'd only smile
+and say No, she didn't think 'twas goin' to rain, or somethin' just as
+brilliant."
+
+"Well, why don't you give her her walkin' papers?"
+
+"I shall, when her month's up."
+
+"I wouldn't wait no month. I'd heave her overboard to-night. You hear
+ME!"
+
+Captain Cy shook his head.
+
+"I can't, very well," he replied. "I hate to make her feel TOO bad. When
+the month's over I'll have some excuse ready, maybe. The joke of it is
+that she don't really need to work out. She's got some money of her
+own, owns cranberry swamps and I don't know what all. Says she took up
+Bailey's offer 'cause she cal'lated I'd be company for her. I had to
+laugh, even in the face of those beans, when she said that."
+
+"Humph! if I don't tell Bailey what I think of him, then--"
+
+"No, no! Don't you say a word to Bailey. It's principally on his account
+that I'm tryin' to stick it out for the month. Bailey did his best; he
+thought he was helpin'. And he feels dreadfully because she's so deef.
+Only yesterday he asked me if I believed there was anything made that
+would fix her up and make it more comfortable for me. I could have
+prescribed a shotgun, but I didn't. You see, he thinks her deefness
+is the only trouble; I haven't told him the rest, and don't you do it,
+either. Bailey's a good-hearted chap."
+
+"Humph! his heart may be good, but his head's goin' to seed. I'll keep
+quiet if 'twill please you, though."
+
+"Yes. And, see here, Ase! I don't care to be the laughin' stock of
+Bayport. If any of the folks ask you how I like my new housekeeper, you
+tell 'em there's nothin' like her anywhere. That's no lie."
+
+So Mrs. Beasley stayed on at the Whittaker place and, thanks to Mr.
+Tidditt, the general opinion of inquisitive Bayport was that the new
+housekeeper was a grand success. Only Captain Cy and Asaph knew the
+whole truth, and Mr. Bangs a part. That part, Deborah's deafness,
+troubled him not a little and he thought much concerning it. As a result
+of this thinking he wrote a letter to a relative in Boston. The answer
+to this letter pleased him and he wrote again.
+
+One afternoon, during the third week of Mrs. Beasley's stay, Asaph
+called and found Captain Cy in the sitting room, reading the Breeze. The
+captain urged his friend to remain and have supper. "We've run out of
+beans, Ase," he explained, "and are just startin' in on a course of
+boiled cod. Do stay and eat a lot; then there won't be so much to warm
+over."
+
+Mr. Tidditt accepted the invitation, also a section of the Breeze. While
+they were reading they heard the back door slam.
+
+"It's the graven image," explained the captain. "She's been on a
+cruise down town somewheres. Be a lot of sore throats in that direction
+to-morrow mornin'."
+
+The town clerk looked up.
+
+"There now!" he exclaimed. "I believe 'twas her I saw walkin' with
+Bailey a spell ago. I thought so, but I didn't have my specs and I wan't
+sure."
+
+"With Bailey, hey? Humph! this is serious. Hope Ketury didn't see 'em.
+We mustn't have any scandal."
+
+The housekeeper entered the dining room. She was singing "Beulah Land,"
+but her tone was more subdued than usual. They heard her setting the
+table.
+
+"How's she gettin' along?" asked Asaph.
+
+"Progressin' backwards, same as ever. She's no better, thank you, and
+the doctor's given up hopes."
+
+"When you goin' to tell her she can clear out?"
+
+"What?" Captain Cy had returned to his paper and did not hear the
+question.
+
+"I say when is she goin' to be bounced? Deefness ain't catchin', is it?"
+
+"I wouldn't wonder if it might be. If 'tis, mine ought to be developin'
+fast. What makes her so still all at once?"
+
+"Gone to the kitchen, I guess. Wonder she hasn't sailed in and set down
+with us. Old chromo! You must be glad her month's most up?"
+
+Asaph proceeded to give his opinion of the housekeeper, raising his
+voice almost to a howl, as his indignation grew. If Mrs. Beasley's ears
+had been ordinary ones she might have heard the unflattering description
+in the kitchen; as it was Mr. Tidditt felt no fear.
+
+"Comin' here so's you could be company for her! The idea! Good to
+herself, ain't she! Godfrey scissors! And Bailey was fool enough to--"
+
+"There, there! Don't let it worry you, Ase. I've about decided what
+to say when I let her go. I'll tell her she is gettin' too old to be
+slavin' herself to death. You see, I don't want to make the old critter
+cry, nor I don't want her to get mad. Judgin' by the way she used to
+coax the cat outdoors with the broom handle she's got somethin' of a
+temper when she gets started. I'll give her an extry month's wages,
+and--"
+
+"You will, hey? You WILL?"
+
+The interruption came from behind the partially closed dining-room door.
+Mr. Tidditt sank back in his chair. Captain Cy sprang from his and threw
+the door wide open. Behind it crouched Mrs. Deborah Beasley. Her eyes
+snapped behind her spectacles, her lean form was trembling all over, and
+in her right hand she held a mammoth trumpet, the smaller end of which
+was connected with her ear.
+
+"You will, hey?" she screamed, brandishing her left fist, but still
+keeping the ear trumpet in place with her right. "You WILL? Well, I
+don't want none of your miser'ble money! Land knows how you made it,
+anyhow, and I wouldn't soil my hands with it. After all I've put up
+with, and the way I've done my work, and the things I've had to eat,
+and--and--"
+
+She paused for breath. Captain Cy scratched his chin. Asaph, gazing
+open-mouthed at the trumpet, stirred in his chair. Mrs. Beasley swooped
+down upon him like a gull on a minnow.
+
+"And you!" she shrieked. "You! a miserable little, good-for-nothin',
+lazy, ridiculous, dried-up-- . . . Oo--oo--OH! You call yourself a town
+clerk! YOU do! I--I wouldn't have you clerk for a hen house! I'm an old
+chromo, be I? Yes! that's nice talk, ain't it, to a woman old enough
+to be--that is--er--er--'most as old as you be! You sneakin',
+story-tellin', little, fat THING, you! You--oh, I can't lay my tongue to
+words to tell you WHAT you are."
+
+"You're doin' pretty well, seems to me," observed Captain Cy dryly. "I
+wouldn't be discouraged if I was you."
+
+The only effect of this remark was to turn the wordy torrent in his
+direction. The captain bore it for a while; then he rose to his feet and
+commanded silence.
+
+"That's enough! Stop it!" he ordered, and, strange to say, Mrs. Beasley
+did stop. "I'm sorry, Debby," he went on, "but you had no business to be
+listenin' even if--" and he smiled grimly, "you have got a new fog horn
+to hear with. You can go and pack your things as soon as you want to. I
+made up my mind the first day you come that you and me wouldn't cruise
+together long, and this only shortens the trip by a week or so. I'll pay
+you for this month and for the next, and I guess, when you come to think
+it over, you'll be willin' to risk soilin' your hands with the money.
+It's your own fault if anybody knows that you didn't leave of your own
+accord. _I_ shan't tell, and I'll see that Tidditt doesn't. Now trot!
+Ase and I'll get supper ourselves."
+
+It was evident that the ex-housekeeper had much more which she would
+have liked to say. But there was that in her late employer's manner
+which caused her to forbear. She slammed out of the room, and they heard
+her banging things about on the floor above.
+
+"But where--WHERE," repeated Mr. Tidditt, over and over, "did she get
+that trumpet?"
+
+The puzzle was solved soon after, when Bailey Bangs entered the house in
+a high state of excitement.
+
+"Well," he demanded, expectantly. "Did they help her? Has anything
+happened?"
+
+"HAPPENED!" began Asaph, but Captain Cy silenced him by a wink.
+
+"Yes," answered the captain; "something's happened. Why?"
+
+"Hurrah! I thought 'twould. She can hear better, can't she?"
+
+"Yes, I guess it's safe to say she can."
+
+"Good! You can thank me for it. When I see how dreadful deef she was I
+wrote my cousin Eddie T, who's an optician up to Boston--you know him,
+Ase--and I says: 'Ed, you know what's good for folks who can't see?
+Ain't there nothin',' says I, 'that'll help them who can't hear? How
+about ear trumpets?' And Ed wrote that an ear trumpet would probably
+help some, but why didn't I try a pair of them patent fixin's that are
+made to put inside deef people's ears? He'd known of cases where they
+helped a lot. So I sent for a pair, and the biggest ear trumpet made,
+besides. And when I met Debby to-day I give 'em to her and told her to
+put the patent things IN her ears and couple on the trumpet outside
+'em. And not to say nothin' to you, but just surprise you. And it did
+surprise you, didn't it?"
+
+The wrathful Mr. Tidditt could wait no longer. He burst into a vivid
+description of the "surprise." Bailey was aghast. Captain Cy laughed
+until his face was purple.
+
+"I declare, Cy!" exclaimed the dejected purchaser of the "ear fixin's"
+and the trumpet. "I do declare I'm awful sorry! if you'd only told me
+she was no good I'd have let her alone; but I thought 'twas just the
+deefness. I--I--"
+
+"I know, Bailey; you meant well, like the layin'-on-of-hands doctor who
+rubbed the rheumatic man's wooden leg. All right; _I_ forgive you. 'Twas
+worth it all to see Asaph's face when Marm Beasley was complimentin'
+him. Ha! ha! Oh, dear me! I've laughed till I'm sore. But there's one
+thing I SHOULD like to do, if you don't mind: I should like to pick out
+my next housekeeper myself."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A FRONT-DOOR CALLER
+
+
+Mrs. Beasley departed next morning, taking with her the extra month's
+wages, in spite of fervid avowals that she wouldn't touch a cent of
+it. On the way to the depot she favored Mr. Lumley with sundry hints
+concerning the reasons for her departure. She "couldn't stand it no
+longer"; if folks only knew what she'd had to put up with she cal'lated
+they'd be some surprised; she could "tell a few things" if she wanted
+to, and so on. Incidentally she was kind of glad she didn't like the
+place, because now she cal'lated she should go West and visit her niece;
+they'd been wanting her to come for so long.
+
+Gabe was much interested and repeated the monologue, with imaginative
+additions, to the depot master, who, in turn, repeated it to his wife
+when he went home to dinner. That lady attended sewing circle in the
+afternoon. Next day a large share of Bayport's conversation dealt with
+the housekeeper's leaving and her reasons therefor. The reasons
+differed widely, according to the portion of the town in which they were
+discussed, but it was the general opinion that the whole affair was not
+creditable to Captain Whittaker.
+
+Only at the perfect boarding house was the captain upheld. Miss Phinney
+declared that she knew he had made a mistake as soon as she heard the
+Beasley woman talk; nobody else, so Angeline declared, could "get a word
+in edgeways." Mrs. Tripp sighed and affirmed that going out of town for
+a woman to do housework was ridiculous on the face of it; there were
+plenty of Bayport ladies, women of capability and sound in their
+religious views, who might be hired if they were approached in the right
+way. Keturah gave, as her opinion, that if the captain knew when he was
+well off, he would "take his meals out." Asaph snorted and intimated
+that that Debby Beasley wasn't fit to "keep house in a pigsty, and
+anybody but a born gump would have known it." Bailey, the "born gump,"
+said nothing, but looked appealingly at his chum.
+
+As for Captain Cy, he did not take the trouble to affirm or deny the
+rumors. Peace and quiet dominated the Whittaker house for the first time
+in three weeks and its owner was happier. He cooked his own food and
+washed his own dishes. The runaway cat ventured to return, found other
+viands than beans in its saucer, and decided to remain, purring thankful
+contentment. The captain made his own bed, after a fashion, when he was
+ready to occupy it, but he was conscious that it might be better made.
+He refused, however, to spend his time in sweeping and dusting, and
+the dust continued to accumulate on the carpets and furniture. This
+condition of affairs troubled him, but he kept his own counsel. Asaph
+and Bailey called often, but they offered no more suggestions as to
+hiring a housekeeper. Mr. Tidditt might have done so, but the captain
+gave him no encouragement. Mr. Bangs, recent humiliation fresh in his
+mind, would as soon have suggested setting the house on fire.
+
+One evening Asaph happened in, on his way to Simmons's. He desired
+the captain to accompany him to that gathering place of the wise and
+talkative. Captain Cy was in the sitting room, a sheet of note paper in
+his hand. The town clerk entered without ceremony and tossed his hat on
+the sofa.
+
+"Evenin', Ase," observed the captain, folding the sheet of paper and
+putting it into his pocket. "Glad you come. Sit down. I wanted to ask
+you somethin'."
+
+"All right! Here I be. Heave ahead and ask."
+
+Captain Cy puffed at his pipe. He seemed about to speak and then to
+think better of it, for he crossed his legs and smoked on in silence,
+gazing at the nickel work of the "base-burner" stove. It was badly in
+need of polishing.
+
+"Well?" inquired Asaph, with impatient sarcasm. "Thinkin' of askin' me
+to build a fire for you, was you? Nobody else but you would have set up
+a stove in summer time, anyhow."
+
+"Hey? No, you needn't start a fire yet awhile. That necktie of yours 'll
+keep us warm till fall, I shouldn't wonder. New one, ain't it? Where'd
+you get it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt was wearing a crocheted scarf of a brilliant crimson hue,
+particularly becoming to his complexion. The complexion now brightened
+until it was almost a match for the tie.
+
+"Oh!" he said, with elaborate indifference. "That? Yes, it's new.
+Yesterday was my birthday, and Matildy Tripp she knew I needed a
+necktie, so she give me this one."
+
+"Oh! One she knit purpose for you, then? Dear me! Look out, Ase. Widow
+women are dangerous, they say; presents are one of the first baits they
+heave out."
+
+"Don't be foolish, now! I couldn't chuck it back at her, could I? That
+would be pretty manners. You needn't talk about widders--not after
+Debby! Ho! ho!"
+
+Captain Cy chuckled. Then he suddenly became serious.
+
+"Ase," he said, "you remember the time when the Howes folks had this
+house? Course you do. Yes; well, was there any of their relations here
+with 'em? A--a cousin, or somethin'?"
+
+"No, not as I recollect. Yes, there was, too, come to think. A third
+cousin, Mary Thayer her name was. I THINK she was a third cousin of
+Betsy Howes, Seth Howes's second wife. Betsy's name was Ginn afore
+she married, and the Ginns was related on their ma's side to a
+Richards--Emily Richards, I think 'twas--and Emily married a Thayer.
+Would that make this Mary a third cousin? Now let's see; Sarah Jane
+Ginn, she had an aunt who kept a boardin' house in Harniss. I remember
+that, 'count of her sellin' my Uncle Bije a pig. Seems to me 'twas a
+pig, but I ain't sure that it mightn't have been a settin' of Plymouth
+Rock hens' eggs. Anyhow, Uncle Bije KEPT hens, because I remember one
+time--"
+
+"There! there! we'll be out of sight of land in a minute. This Mary
+Thayer--old, was she?"
+
+"No, no! Just a young girl, eighteen or twenty or so. Pretty and nice
+and quiet as ever I see. By Godfrey, she WAS pretty! I wan't as old as I
+be now, and--"
+
+"Ase, don't tell your heart secrets, even to me. I might get
+absent-minded and mention 'em to Matildy. And then--whew!"
+
+"If you don't stop tryin' to play smarty I'll go home. What's Matildy
+Tripp to me, I'd like to know? And even when Mary Thayer was here I was
+old enough to be her dad. But I remember what a nice girl she was and
+how the boarders liked her. They used to say she done more than all the
+Howes tribe put together to make the Sea Sight House a good hotel. Young
+as she was she done most of the housekeepin' and done it well. If the
+rest of 'em had been like her you mightn't have had the place yet, Whit.
+But what set you to thinkin' about her?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know! Nothin' much; that is--well, I'll tell you some other
+time. What became of her?"
+
+"She went up to New Hampshire along with the Howes folks and I ain't
+seen her since. Seems to me I did hear she was married. See here, Whit,
+what is it about her? Tell a feller; come!"
+
+But Captain Cy refused to gratify his chum's lively curiosity. Also he
+refused to go to Simmons's that evening, saying that he was tired and
+guessed he'd stay at home and "turn in early." Mr. Tidditt departed
+grumbling. After he had gone the captain drew his chair nearer the
+center table, took from his pocket a sheet of notepaper, and proceeded
+to read what was written on its pages. It was a letter which he had
+received nearly a month before and had not yet answered. During the past
+week he had read it many times. The writing was cramped and blotted and
+the paper cheap and dingy. The envelope bore the postmark of a small
+town in Indiana, and the inclosure was worded as follows:
+
+
+CAPTAIN CYRUS WHITTAKER.
+
+DEAR SIR: I suppose you will be a good deal surprised to hear from me,
+especially from way out West here. When you bought the old house of
+Seth, he and I was living in Concord, N. H. He couldn't make a go of his
+business there, so we came West and he has been sick most of the time
+since. We ain't well off like you, and times are hard with us. What I
+wanted to write you about was this. My cousin Mary Thomas, Mary Thayer
+that was, is still living in Concord and she is poor and needs help,
+though I don't suppose she would ask for it, being too proud. False
+pride I call it. Me and Seth would like to do something for her, but we
+have a hard enough job to keep going ourselves. Mary married a man
+by the name of Henry Thomas, and he turned out to be a miserable
+good-for-nothing, as I always said he would. She wouldn't listen to
+me though. He run off and left her seven year ago last April, and I
+understand was killed or drowned somewheres up in Montana. Mary and
+[several words scratched out here] got along somehow since, but I don't
+know how. While we lived in Concord Seth sort of kept an eye on her, but
+now he can't of course. She's a good girl, or woman rather, being most
+forty, and would make a good housekeeper if you should need one as I
+suppose likely you will. If you could help her it would be an act of
+charity and you will be rewarded Above. Seth says why not write to her
+and tell her to come and see you? He feels bad about her, because he is
+so sick I suppose. And he knows you are rich and could do good if you
+felt like it. Her father's name was John Thayer. I wouldn't wonder if
+you used to know her mother. She was Emily Richards afore she married
+and they used to live in Orham.
+
+Yours truly,
+
+ELIZABETH HOWES.
+
+P.S.--Mary's address is Mrs. Mary Thomas, care Mrs. Oliver, 128 Blank
+Street, Concord, N. H.
+
+N.B.--Seth won't say so, but I will: we are very hard up ourselves and
+if you could help him and me with the loan of a little money it would be
+thankfully received.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter, folded it, and replaced it in his pocket.
+He knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation was that
+of general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money matters. Betsy's
+personal appeal did not, therefore, touch his heart to any great extent.
+He surmised also that for Seth Howes and his wife to ask help for some
+person other than themselves premised a darky in the woodpile somewhere.
+But for the daughter of Emily Richards to be suggested as a possible
+housekeeper at the Cy Whittaker place--that was interesting, certainly.
+
+When the captain was not a captain--when he was merely "young Cy," a
+boy, living with his parents, a dancing school was organized in Bayport.
+It was an innovation for our village, and frowned upon by many of the
+older and stricter inhabitants. However, most of the captain's
+boy friends were permitted to attend; young Cy was not. His father
+considered dancing a waste of time and, if not wicked, certainly
+frivolous and nonsensical. So the boy remained at home, but, in spite of
+the parental order, he practiced some of the figures of the quadrilles
+and the contra dances in his comrades' barns, learning them at second
+hand, so to speak.
+
+One winter there was to be a party in Orham, given by the Nickersons,
+wealthy people with a fifteen-year-old daughter. It was to be a grand
+affair, and most of the boys and girls in the neighboring towns were
+invited. Cy received an invitation, and, for a wonder, was permitted to
+attend. The Bayport contingent went over in a big hayrick on runners and
+the moonlight ride was jolly enough. The Nickerson mansion was crowded
+and there were music and dancing.
+
+Young Cy was miserable during the dancing. He didn't dare attempt it, in
+spite of his lessons in the barn. So, while the rest of his boy friends
+sought partners for the "Portland Fancy" and "Hull's Victory" he sat
+forlorn in a corner.
+
+As he sat there he was approached by a young lady, radiant in muslin
+and ribbons. She was three or four years older than he was, and he had
+worshipped her from afar as she whirled up and down the line in the
+Virginia Reel. She never lacked partners and seemed to be a great
+favorite with the young men, especially one good-looking chap with a
+sunburned face, who looked like a sailor.
+
+They were forming sets for "Money Musk"; it was "ladies' choice," and
+there was a demand for more couples. The young lady came ever to Cy's
+corner and laughingly dropped him a courtesy.
+
+"If you please," she said, "I want a partner. Will you do me the honor?"
+
+Cy blushingly avowed that he couldn't dance any to speak of.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can! I'm sure you can. You're the Whittaker boy, aren't
+you? I've heard about your barn lessons. And I want you to try this
+with me. Please do. No, John," she added, turning to the sunburned young
+fellow who had followed her across the room; "this is my choice and here
+is my partner. Susie Taylor is after you and you mustn't run away. Come,
+Mr. Whittaker."
+
+So Cy took her arm and they danced "Money Musk" together. He made but
+a few mistakes, and these she helped him to correct so easily that none
+noticed. His success gave him courage and he essayed other dances; in
+fact, he had a very good time at the party after all.
+
+On the way home he thought a great deal about the pretty young lady,
+whose name he discovered was Emily Richards. He decided that if she
+would only wait for him, he might like to marry her when he grew up.
+But he was thirteen and she was seventeen, and the very next year she
+married John Thayer, the sailor in the blue suit. And two years after
+that young Cy ran away to be a sailor himself.
+
+In spite of his age and his lifetime of battering about the world,
+Captain Cy had a sentimental streak in his makeup; his rejuvenation of
+the old home proved that. Betsy's letter interested him. He had made
+guarded inquiries concerning Mary Thayer, now Mary Thomas, of others
+besides Asaph, and the answers had been satisfactory so far as they
+went; those who remembered her had liked her very much. The captain
+had even begun a letter to Mrs. Thomas, but laid it aside unfinished,
+having, since Bailey's unfortunate experience with the widow Beasley, a
+prejudice against experiments.
+
+But this evening, before Mr. Tidditt called, he had been thinking that
+something would have to be done and done soon. The generally shiftless
+condition of his domestic surroundings was getting to be unbearable.
+Dust and dirt did not fit into his mental picture of the old home as
+it used to be and as he had tried to restore it. There had been neither
+dust nor dirt in his mother's day.
+
+He meditated and smoked for another hour. Then, his mind being made up,
+he pulled down the desk lid of the old-fashioned secretary, resurrected
+from a pile of papers the note he had begun to Mrs. Thomas, dipped a
+sputtering pen into the ink bottle and proceeded to write.
+
+His letter was a short one and rather noncommittal. As Mrs. Thomas no
+doubt knew he had come back to live in his father's house at Bayport. He
+might possibly need some one to keep house for him. He understood that
+she, Mary Thayer that was, was a good housekeeper and that she was open
+to an engagement if everything was mutually satisfactory. He had known
+her mother slightly when the latter lived in Orham. He thought an
+interview might be pleasant, for they could talk over old times if
+nothing more. Perhaps, on the whole, she might care to risk a trip
+to Bayport, therefore he inclosed money for her railroad fare. "You
+understand, of course," so he wrote in conclusion, "that nothing may
+come of our meeting at all. So please don't say a word to anybody when
+you strike town. You've lived here yourself, and you know that three
+words hove overboard in Bayport will dredge up gab enough to sink a
+dictionary. So just keep mum till the business is settled one way or the
+other."
+
+He put on his hat and went down to the post office, where he dropped
+his letter in the slot of the box fastened to the front door. Then he
+returned home and retired at exactly eleven o'clock. In spite of his
+remarks to Asaph, he had not "turned in" so early after all.
+
+If the captain expected a prompt reply to his note he was disappointed.
+A week passed and he heard nothing. Then three more days and still no
+word from the New Hampshire widow. Meanwhile fresh layers of dust spread
+themselves over the Whittaker furniture, and the gaudy patterns of the
+carpets blushed dimly beneath a grimy fog. The situation was desperate;
+even Matilda Tripp, Come-Outer sermons and all, began to be thinkable as
+a possibility.
+
+The eleventh day began with a pouring rain that changed, later on, to a
+dismal drizzle. The silver-leaf tree in the front yard dripped, and the
+overflowing gutters gurgled and splashed. The bay was gray and lonely,
+and the fish weirs along the outer bar were lost in the mist. The
+flowers in the Atkins urns were draggled and beaten down. Only the iron
+dogs glistened undaunted as the wet ran off their newly painted backs.
+The air was heavy, and the salty flavor of the flats might almost be
+tasted in it.
+
+Captain Cy was in the sitting room, as usual. His spirits were as gray
+as the weather. He was actually lonesome for the first time since his
+return home. He had kindled a wood fire in the stove, just for the
+sociability of it, and the crackle and glow behind the isinglass panes
+only served to remind him of other days and other fires. The sitting
+room had not been lonesome then.
+
+He heard the depot wagon rattle by and, peering from the window, saw
+that, except for Mr. Lumley, it was empty. Not even a summer boarder had
+come to brighten our ways and lawns with reckless raiment and the newest
+slang. Summer boarding season was almost over now. Bayport would soon be
+as dull as dish water. And the captain admitted to himself that it WAS
+dull. He had half a mind to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round
+of the wharves, and see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains
+whom he had once known were still alive and in harness.
+
+"JINGLE! Jingle! JINGLE! Jingle! Jingle! Jing! Jing! Jing!"
+
+Captain Cy bounced in his chair. That was the front-door bell. The
+FRONT-door bell! Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport, would come to
+the FRONT door?
+
+He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered the
+little dark front hall. The bell was still swinging at the end of its
+coil of wire. The dust shaken from it still hung in the air. The captain
+unbolted and unlocked the big front door.
+
+A girl was standing on the steps between the lines of box hedge--a
+little girl under a big "grown-up" umbrella. The wet dripped from the
+umbrella top and from the hem of the little girl's dress.
+
+Captain Cy stared hard at his visitor; he knew most of the children
+in Bayport, but he didn't know this one. Obviously she was a stranger.
+Portuguese children from "up Harniss way" sometimes called to peddle
+huckleberries, but this child was no "Portugee."
+
+"Hello!" exclaimed the captain wonderingly.
+
+"Did you ring the bell?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the girl.
+
+"Humph! Did, hey? Why?"
+
+"Why? Why, I thought--Isn't it a truly bell? Didn't it ought to ring? Is
+anybody sick or dead? There isn't any crape."
+
+"Dead? Crape?" Captain Cy gasped. "What in the world put that in your
+head?"
+
+"Well, I didn't know but maybe that was why you thought I hadn't ought
+to have rung it. When mamma was sick they didn't let people ring our
+bell. And when she died they tied it up with crape."
+
+"Did, hey? Hum!" The captain scratched his chin and gazed at the small
+figure before him. It was a self-poised, matter-of-fact figure for such
+a little one, and, out there in the rain under the tent roof of the
+umbrella, it was rather pitiful.
+
+"Please, sir," said the child, "are you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?"
+
+"Yup! That's me. You've guessed it the first time."
+
+"Yes, sir. I've got a letter for you. It's pinned inside my dress. If
+you could hold this umbrella maybe I could get it out."
+
+She extended the big umbrella at arm's length, holding it with both
+hands. Captain Cy woke up.
+
+"Good land!" he exclaimed, "what am I thinkin' of? You're soakin' wet
+through, ain't you?"
+
+"I guess I'm pretty wet. It's a long ways from the depot, and I tried to
+come across the fields, because a boy said it was nearer, and the bushes
+were--"
+
+"Across the FIELDS? Have you walked all the way from the depot?"
+
+"Yes, sir. The man said it was a quarter to ride, and auntie said I must
+be careful of my money because--"
+
+"By the big dipper! Come in! Come in out of that this minute!"
+
+He sprang down the steps, furled the umbrella, seized her by the arm and
+led her into the house, through the parlor and into the sitting room,
+where the fire crackled invitingly. He could feel that the dress sleeve
+under his hand was wet through, and the worn boots and darned stockings
+he could see were soaked likewise.
+
+"There!" he cried. "Set down in that chair. Put your feet up on that
+h'ath. Sakes alive! Your folks ought to know better than to let you stir
+out this weather, let alone walkin' a mile--and no rubbers! Them shoes
+ought to come off this minute, I s'pose. Take 'em off. You can dry your
+stockings better that way. Off with 'em!"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the child, stooping to unbutton the shoes. Her
+wet fingers were blue. It can be cold in our village, even in early
+September, when there is an easterly storm. Unbuttoning the shoes was
+slow work.
+
+"Here, let me help you!" commanded the captain, getting down on one knee
+and taking a foot in his lap. "Tut! tut! tut! you're wet! Been some
+time sence I fussed with button boots; lace or long-legged cowhides come
+handier. Never wore cowhides, did you?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I s'pose not. I used to when I was little. Remember the first pair I
+had. Copper toes on 'em--whew! The copper was blacked over when they
+come out of the store and that wouldn't do, so we used to kick a stone
+wall till they brightened up. There! there she comes. Humph! stockin's
+soaked, too. Wish I had some dry ones to lend you. Might give you a pair
+of mine, but they'd be too scant fore and aft and too broad in the beam,
+I cal'late. Humph! and your top-riggin's as wet as your hull. Been on
+your beam ends, have you?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. I fell down in the bushes coming across. There were
+vines and they tripped me up. And the umbrella was so heavy that--"
+
+"Yes, I could see right off you was carryin' too much canvas. Now take
+off your bunnit and I'll get a coat of mine to wrap you up in."
+
+He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy "reefer" jacket.
+Ordering his caller to stand up he slipped her arms into the sleeves
+and turned the collar up about her neck. Her braided "pigtail" of yellow
+hair stuck out over the collar and hung down her back in a funny
+way. The coat sleeves reached almost to her knees and the coat itself
+enveloped her like a bed quilt.
+
+"There!" said Captain Cy approvingly. "Now you look more as if you was
+under a storm rig. Set down and toast your toes. Where's that letter you
+said you had?"
+
+"It's inside here. I don't know's I can get at it; these sleeves are so
+long."
+
+"Reef 'em. Turn 'em up. Let me show you. That's better! Hum! So you come
+from the depot, hey? Live up that way?"
+
+"No, sir! I used to live in Concord, but--"
+
+"Concord? CONCORD? Concord where?"
+
+"Concord, New Hampshire. I came on the cars. Auntie knew a man who was
+going to Boston, and he said he'd take care of me as far as that and
+then put me on the train to come down here. I stopped at his folks'
+house in Charlestown last night, and this morning we got up early and he
+bought me a ticket and started me for here. I had a box with my things
+in it, but it was so heavy I couldn't carry it, so I left it up at the
+depot. The man there said it would be all right and you could send for
+it when--"
+
+"I could SEND for it? _I_ could? What in the world--Say, child, you've
+made a mistake in your bearin's. 'Taint me you want to see, it's some of
+your folks, relations, most likely. Tell me who they are; maybe I know
+'em."
+
+The girl sat upright in the big chair. Her dark eyes opened wide and her
+chin quivered.
+
+"Ain't you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?" she demanded. "You said you was."
+
+"Yes, yes, I am. I'm Cy Whittaker, but what--"
+
+"Well, auntie told me--"
+
+"Auntie! Auntie who?"
+
+"Auntie Oliver. She isn't really my auntie, but mamma and me lived in
+her house for ever so long and so--"
+
+"Wait! wait! wait! I'm hull down in the fog. This is gettin' too thick
+for ME. Your auntie's name's Oliver and you lived in Concord, New
+Hampshire. For--for thunder sakes, what's YOUR name?"
+
+"Emily Richards Thomas."
+
+"Em--Emily--Richards--Thomas"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Emily Richards Thomas! What was your ma's name?"
+
+"Mamma was Mrs. Thomas. Her front name was Mary. She's dead. Don't you
+want to see your letter? I've got it now."
+
+She lifted one of the flapping coat sleeves and extended a crumpled,
+damp envelope. Captain Cy took it in a dazed fashion and drew a long
+breath. Then he tore open the envelope and read the following:
+
+
+DEAR CAPTAIN WHITTAKER:
+
+The bearer of this is Emily Richards Thomas. She is seven, going on
+eight, but old for her years. Her mother was Mary Thomas that used to
+be Mary Thayer. It was her you wrote to about keeping house for you, but
+she had been dead a fortnight before your letter come. She had bronchial
+pneumonia and it carried her off, having always been delicate and
+with more troubles to bear than she could stand, poor thing. Since her
+husband, who I say was a scamp even if he is dead, left her and the
+baby, she has took rooms with me and done sewing and such. When she
+passed away I wrote to Seth Howes, a relation of hers out West, and, so
+far as I know, the only one she had. I told the Howes man that Mary had
+gone and Emmie was left. Would they take her? I wrote. And Seth's wife
+wrote they couldn't, being poorer than poverty themselves. I was afraid
+she would have to go to a Home, but when your letter came I wrote the
+Howeses again. And Mrs. Howes wrote back that you was rich, and a sort
+of far-off relation of Mary's, and probably you would be glad to take
+the child to bring up. Said that she had some correspondence with you
+about Mary before. So I send Emmie to you. Somebody's got to take care
+of her and I can't afford it, though I would if I could, for she's a
+real nice child and some like her mother. I do hope she can stay with
+you. It seems a shame to send her to the orphan asylum. I send along
+what clothes she's got, which ain't many.
+
+Respectfully yours,
+
+SARAH OLIVER.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter through. Then he wiped his forehead.
+
+"Well!" he muttered. "WELL! I never in my life! I--I never did! Of
+all--"
+
+Emily Richards Thomas looked up from the depths of the coat collar.
+
+"Don't you think," she said, "that you had better send to the depot for
+my box? I can get dry SOME this way, but mamma always made me change my
+clothes as soon as I could. She used to be afraid I'd get cold."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ICICLES AND DUST
+
+
+Captain Cy did not reply to the request for the box. It is doubtful if
+he even heard it. Mrs. Oliver's astonishing letter had, as he afterwards
+said, left him "high and dry with no tug in sight." Mary Thomas was
+dead, and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of whose very existence he had
+been ignorant, had suddenly appeared from nowhere and been dropped at
+his door, like an out-of-season May basket, accompanied by the modest
+suggestion that he assume responsibility for her thereafter. No wonder
+the captain wiped his forehead in utter bewilderment.
+
+"Don't you think you'd better send for the box?" repeated the child,
+shivering a little under the big coat.
+
+"Hey? What say? Never mind, though. Just keep quiet for a spell, won't
+you. I want to let this soak in. By the big dipper! Of all the solid
+brass cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole cargo! And
+Betsy Howes never hinted! 'Probably you would be glad to take--' Be
+GLAD! Why, blast their miserable, stingy--What do they take me for? I'LL
+show 'em! Indiana ain't so fur that I can't--Hey? Did you say anything,
+sis?"
+
+The girl had shivered again. "No, sir," she replied. "It was my teeth, I
+guess. They kind of rattled."
+
+"What? You ain't cold, are you? With all that round you and in front of
+that fire?"
+
+"No, sir, I guess not. Only my back feels sort of funny, as if somebody
+kept dropping icicles down it. Those bushes and vines were so wet that
+when I tumbled down 'twas most like being in a pond."
+
+"Sho! sho! That won't do. Can't have you laid up on my hands. That would
+be worse than--Humph! Tut, tut! Somethin' ought to be done, and I'm
+blessed if I know what. And not a woman round the place--not even that
+Debby. Say, look here, what's your name--er--Emmie, hadn't I better get
+the doctor?"
+
+The child looked frightened.
+
+"Why?" she cried, her big eyes opening. "I'm not sick, am I?"
+
+"Sick? No, no! Course not, course not. What would you want to be sick
+for? But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your
+duds are all up to the depot. Say, what does--what did your ma used to
+do when you felt--er--them icicles and things?"
+
+"She changed my clothes and rubbed me. And, if I was VERY wet she put me
+to bed sometimes."
+
+"Bed? Sure! why, yes, indeed. Bed's a good place to keep off icicles.
+There's my bedroom right in there. You could turn in just as well
+as not. Bunk ain't made yet, but I can shake it up in no time.
+Say--er--er--you can undress yourself, can't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir! Course I can! I'm most eight."
+
+"Sure you are! Don't act a mite babyish. All right, you set still till I
+shake up that bunk."
+
+He entered the chamber, his own, opening from the sitting room, and
+proceeded, literally, to "shake up" the bed. It was not a lengthy
+process and, when it was completed, he returned to find his visitor
+already divested of the coat and standing before the stove.
+
+"I guess perhaps you'll have to help undo me behind," observed the young
+lady. "This is my best dress and I can't reach the buttons in the middle
+of the back."
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head. Then he clumsily unbuttoned the wet
+waist, glancing rather sheepishly at the window to see if anyone was
+coming.
+
+"So this is your best dress, hey?" he asked, to cover his confusion.
+It was obviously not very new, for it was neatly mended in one or two
+places.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"So. Where'd you buy it--up to Concord?"
+
+"No, sir. Mamma made it, a year ago."
+
+There was a little choke in the child's voice. The captain was mightily
+taken back.
+
+"Hum! Yes, yes," he muttered hurriedly. "Well, there you are. Now you
+can get along, can't you?"
+
+"Yes, sir. Shall I go in that room?"
+
+"Trot right in. You might--er--maybe you might sing out when you're
+tucked up. I--I'll want to know if you're got bedclothes enough."
+
+Emily disappeared in the bedroom. The door closed. Captain Cy, his hands
+in his pockets, walked up and down the length of the sitting room. The
+expression on his face was a queer one.
+
+"I haven't got any nightgown," called a voice from the other room. The
+captain gasped.
+
+"Good land! so you ain't," he exclaimed. "What in the world--Humph! I
+wonder--"
+
+He went to the lower drawer of a tall "highboy" and, from the tumbled
+mass of apparel therein took one of his own night garments.
+
+"Here's one," he said, coming back with it in his hand. "I guess you'll
+have to make this do for now. It'll fit you enough for three times to
+once, but it's all I've got."
+
+A small hand reached 'round the edge of the door and the nightshirt
+disappeared. Captain Cy chuckled and resumed his pacing.
+
+"I'm tucked up," called Miss Thomas. The captain entered and found her
+in bed, the patchwork points and diamonds of the "Rising Sun" quilt
+covering her to the chin and her head denting the uppermost of the two
+big pillows. Captain Cy liked to "sleep high."
+
+"Got enough over you?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir, thank you."
+
+"That's good. I'll take your togs out and dry 'em in the kitchen. Don't
+be scared; I'll be right back."
+
+In the kitchen he sorted the wet garments and hung them about the
+cook stove. It was a strange occupation for him and he shook his head
+whimsically as he completed it. Then he took a flat iron, one of Mrs.
+Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the closet and put it in the oven
+to heat. Soon afterwards he returned to the bedroom, bearing the iron
+wrapped in a dish towel.
+
+"My ma always used to put a hot flat to my feet when I was a young one
+and got chilled," he explained. "I ain't used one for some time, but I
+guess it's a good receipt. How do you feel now? Any more icicles?"
+
+"No, sir. I'm ever so warm. Isn't this a nice bed?"
+
+"Think so, do you? Glad of it. Well, now, I'm goin' to leave you in it
+while I step down street and see about havin' your box sent for. I'll be
+back in a shake. If anybody comes to the door while I'm gone don't you
+worry; let 'em go away again."
+
+He put on his hat and left the house, walking rapidly, his head down and
+his hands in his pockets. At times he would pause in his walk, whistle,
+shake his head, and go on once more. Josiah Dimick met him, and his
+answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and irrelevant that Captain
+Dimick was puzzled, and later expressed the opinion that "Whit's cookin'
+must be pretty bad; acted to me as if he had dyspepsy of the brain."
+
+Captain Cy stopped at Mr. Lumley's residence to leave an order for the
+delivery of the box. Then he drifted into Simmons's and accosted Alpheus
+Smalley.
+
+"Al," he said, "what's good for a cold?"
+
+"Why?" asked Mr. Smalley, in true Yankee fashion. "You got one?"
+
+"Hey? Oh, yes! Yes, I've got one." By way of proof he coughed until the
+lamp chimneys rattled on the shelf.
+
+"Judas! I should think you had! Well, there's 'Pine Bark Oil' and
+'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla--that's good for most
+everything--and--Is your throat sore?"
+
+"Hey? Yes, I guess so."
+
+"Don't you KNOW? If you've got sore throat there ain't nothin' better'n
+'Arabian Balsam.' But what in time are you doin' out in this drizzle
+with a cold and no umbrella? Do you want to--"
+
+"Never mind my umbrella. I left it in the church entry t'other Sunday
+and somebody got out afore I did. This 'Arabian Balsam'--seems to me I
+remember my ma's usin' that on me. Wet a rag with it, don't you, and tie
+it round your neck?"
+
+"Yup. Be sure and use a flannel rag, and red flannel if you've got it;
+that acts quicker'n the other kinds. Fifteen cent bottle?"
+
+"I guess so. Might's well give me some sass'p'rilla, while you're about
+it; always handy to have in the house. And--er--say, is that canned soup
+you've got up on that shelf?"
+
+The astonished clerk admitted that it was.
+
+"Well, give me a can of the chicken kind."
+
+Mr. Smalley, standing on a chair to reach the shelf where the soup was
+kept, shook his head.
+
+"Now, that's too bad, Cap'n," he said, "but we're all out of chicken
+just now. Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and beef broth.
+Yes, and I declare if the termatter ain't all gone."
+
+"Humph! then I guess I'll take the beef. Needn't mind wrappin' it up. So
+long."
+
+He departed bearing his purchases. When Mr. Simmons, proprietor of
+the store, returned, Alpheus told him that he "cal'lated" Captain Cy
+Whittaker was preparing to "go into a decline, or somethin'."
+
+"Anyhow," said Alpheus, "he bought sass'p'rilla and 'Arabian Balsam,'
+and I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought three year ago last
+summer, when Alicia Atkins had the chicken pox."
+
+The captain entered the house quietly and tiptoed to the door of the
+bedroom. Emily was asleep, and the sight of the childish head upon the
+pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it. It looked so natural,
+almost as if it belonged there. It had been in a bed like that and in
+that very room that he had slept when a boy.
+
+Gabe, brimful of curiosity, brought the box a little later. His
+curiosity was ungratified, Captain Cyrus explaining that it was a
+package he had been expecting. The captain took the box to the bedroom,
+and, finding the child still asleep, deposited it on the floor and
+tiptoed out again. He went to the kitchen, poked up the fire, and set
+about getting dinner.
+
+He was warming the beef broth in a saucepan on the stove when Emily
+appeared. She was dressed in dry clothes from the box and seemed to be
+feeling as good as new.
+
+"Hello!" exclaimed Captain Cy. "You're on deck again, hey? How's
+icicles?"
+
+"All gone," was the reply. "Do you do your own work? Can't I help? I can
+set the table. I used to for Mrs. Oliver."
+
+The captain protested that he could do it himself just as well, but
+the girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept. From the
+corner of his eye he watched her as she unfolded the tablecloth.
+
+"Is this the only one you've got?" she inquired. "It's awful dirty."
+
+"Hum! Yes, I ain't tended up to my washin' and ironin' the way I'd ought
+to. I'll lose my job if I don't look out, hey?"
+
+Before they sat down to the meal Captain Cy insisted that his guest
+take a tablespoonful of the sarsaparilla and decorate her throat with
+a section of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.' The perfume of
+the latter was penetrating and might have interfered with a less healthy
+appetite than that of Miss Thomas.
+
+"Have some soup? Some I bought purpose for you. Best thing goin' for
+folks with icicles," remarked the captain, waving the iron spoon he had
+used to stir the contents of the saucepan.
+
+"Yes, sir, thank you. But don't you ask a blessing?"
+
+"Hey?"
+
+"A blessing, you know. Saying that you're thankful for the food now set
+before us."
+
+"Hum! Why, to tell you the truth I've kind of neglected that, I'm
+afraid. Bein' thankful for the grub I've had lately was most too much of
+a strain, I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"I know the one mamma used to say. Shall I ask it for you?"
+
+"Sho! I guess so, if you want to."
+
+The girl bent her head and repeated a short grace. Captain Cy watched
+her curiously.
+
+"Now, I'll have some soup, please," observed Emily. "I'm awful hungry.
+I had breakfast at five o'clock this morning and we didn't have a chance
+to eat much."
+
+A good many times that day the captain caught himself wondering if he
+wasn't dreaming. The whole affair seemed too ridiculous to be an actual
+experience. Dinner over, he and Emmie attended to the dishes, he washing
+and she wiping. And even at this early stage of their acquaintance her
+disposition to take charge of things was apparent. She found fault with
+the dish towels; they were almost as bad as the tablecloth, she said.
+Considering that the same set had been in use since Mrs. Beasley's
+departure, the criticism was not altogether baseless. But the young lady
+did not stop there--her companion's skill as a washer was questioned.
+
+"Excuse me," she said, "but don't you think that plate had better be
+done over? I guess you didn't see that place in the corner. Perhaps
+you've forgot your specs. Auntie Oliver couldn't see well without her
+specs."
+
+Captain Cy grinned and admitted that a second washing wouldn't hurt the
+plate.
+
+"I guess your auntie was one of the particular kind," he said.
+
+"No, sir, 'twas mamma. She couldn't bear dirty things. Auntie used to
+say that mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass. She didn't, though;
+she only liked to be neat. I guess dust doesn't worry men so much as it
+does women."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so? I'll help
+you clean up by and by, if you want to."
+
+"YOU will?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing. And once
+I swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any more. She
+said 'twas like trying to blow out a match with a tornado."
+
+Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically
+inspecting the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls. He
+stood watching her for a moment and then asked:
+
+"Well, what are you lookin' for--more dust? 'Twon't be hard to find it.
+'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every time I go outdoor
+and come in again I realize how true that is."
+
+Emily shook her head.
+
+"No, sir," she said; "I was only looking at things and thinking."
+
+"Thinkin', hey? What about? or is that a secret?"
+
+"No, sir. I was thinking that this room was different from any I've ever
+seen."
+
+"Humph! Yes, I presume likely 'tis. Don't like it very much, do you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I think I do. It's got a good many things in it that I never
+saw before, but I guess they're pretty--after you get used to 'em."
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud. "After you get used to 'em, hey?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes, sir. That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet that
+she made herself. I--I was thinking that you must be peculiar."
+
+"Peculiar?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I like peculiar people. I'm peculiar myself. Auntie used to
+say I was the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came
+to you. P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to live together. Don't you
+think maybe that was it?"
+
+And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.
+
+That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call, peeped
+in at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the Whittaker
+sitting room. Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair which had been
+his grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth
+top, sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine,
+a Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magazines was beside her on the
+floor. The captain was smiling and looking over her shoulder. The cat
+was curled up in another chair. The room looked more homelike than it
+had since its owner returned to it.
+
+The friends entered without knocking. Captain Cy looked up, saw them,
+and appeared embarrassed.
+
+"Hello, boys!" he said. "Glad to see you. Come right in. Clearin' off
+fine, ain't it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt replied absently that he wouldn't be surprised if it was.
+Bailey, his eyes fixed upon the occupant of the cricket, said nothing.
+
+"We--we didn't know you had company, Whit," said Asaph. "We been up to
+Simmons's and Alpheus said you was thin and peaked and looked sick. Said
+you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck. He was afraid you had
+fever and was out of your head, cruisin round in the rain with no
+umbrella. The gang weren't talkin' of nothin' else, so me and Bailey
+thought we'd come right down."
+
+"That's kind of you, I'm sure. Take your things off and set down. No,
+I'm sorry to disappoint Smalley and the rest, but I'm able to be up
+and--er--make my own bed, thank you. So Alpheus thought I looked thin,
+hey? Well, if I had to live on that soup he sold me, I'd be thinner'n I
+am now. You tell him that canned hot water is all right if you like it,
+but it seems a shame to put mud in it. It only changes the color and
+don't help the taste."
+
+Mr. Bangs, who was still staring at Emily, now ventured a remark.
+
+"Is that a relation of yours, Cy?" he asked.
+
+"That? Oh! Well, no, not exactly. And yet I don't know but she is.
+Fellers, this is Emmie Thomas. Can't you shake hands, Emmie?"
+
+The child rose, laid down the magazine, which was open at the colored
+picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chignons, and, going
+across the room, extended a hand to Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"How do you do, sir?" she said.
+
+"Why--er--how d'ye do? I'm pretty smart, thank you. How's yourself?"
+
+"I'm better now. I guess the sass'parilla was good for me."
+
+"'Twan't the sass'p'rilla," observed the captain, with conviction.
+"'Twas the 'Arabian Balsam.' Ma always cured me with it and there's
+nothin' finer."
+
+"But what in time--" began Bailey. Captain Cy glanced at the child and
+then at the clock.
+
+"Don't you think you'd better turn in now, Emmie?" he said hastily,
+cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query. "It's after eight, and
+when I was little I was abed afore that."
+
+Emily obediently turned, gathered up the Lady's Books and replaced them
+in the closet. Then she went to the dining room and came back with a
+hand lamp.
+
+"Good night," she said, addressing the visitors. Then, coming close to
+the captain, she put her face up for a kiss.
+
+"Good night," she said to him, adding, "I like it here ever so much. I'm
+awful glad you let me stay."
+
+As Bailey told Asaph afterwards, Captain Cy blushed until the ends of
+the red lapped over at the nape of his neck. However, he bent and kissed
+the rosy lips and then quickly brushed his own with his hand.
+
+"Yes, yes," he stammered. "Well--er--good night. Pleasant dreams to you.
+See you in the mornin'."
+
+The girl paused at the chamber door. "You won't have to unbutton my
+waist now," she said. "This is my other one and it ain't that kind."
+
+The door closed. The captain, without looking at his friends, led the
+way to the dining room.
+
+"Come on out here," he whispered. "We can talk better here."
+
+Naturally, they wanted to know all about the girl, who she was and where
+she came from. Captain Cy told as much of the history of the affair as
+he thought necessary.
+
+"Poor young one," he concluded, "she landed on to me in the rain,
+soppin' wet, and ha'f sick. I COULDN'T turn her out then--nobody could.
+Course it's an everlastin' outrage on me and the cheekiest thing ever I
+heard of, but what could I do? I was fixed a good deal like an English
+feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to know in South America. He
+woke up in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor curled on
+the foot of his bed. Next day, when a crowd of us happened in, there
+was Gatenby, white as a sheet, starin' down at the snake, and it sound
+asleep. 'I didn't invite him,' he says, 'but he looked so bloomin'
+comf'table I 'adn't the 'eart to disturb 'im.' Same way with me;
+the child seemed so comf'table here I ain't had the heart to disturb
+her--yet."
+
+"But she said she was goin' to stay," put in Bailey. "You ain't goin' to
+KEEP her, are you?"
+
+The captain's indignation was intense.
+
+"Who--me?" he snorted. "What do you think I am? I ain't runnin' an
+orphan asylum. No, sir! I'll keep the young one a day or so--or maybe a
+week--and then I'll pack her off to Betsy Howes. I ain't so soft as they
+think I am. I'LL show 'em!"
+
+Mr. Tidditt looked thoughtful.
+
+"She's a kind of cute little girl, ain't she?" he observed.
+
+Captain Cy's frown vanished and a smile took its place.
+
+"That's so," he chuckled. "She is, now that's a fact! I don't know's I
+ever saw a cuter."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+
+A week isn't a very long time even in Bayport. True, there was once a
+drummer for a Boston "notion" house who sprained his ankle on the icy
+sidewalk in front of Simmons's, and was therefore obliged to remain in
+the front bedroom of the perfect boarding house for seven whole days. He
+is quoted as saying that next time he hoped he might break his neck.
+
+"Brother," asked the shocked Rev. Mr. Daniels, who was calling upon the
+stranger, "are you prepared to face eternity?"
+
+"What?" was the energetic reply. "After a week in this town, and in this
+bedroom? Look here, Mister, if you want to scare me about the future you
+just hint that they'll put me on a straw tick in an ice chest. Anything
+hot and lively 'll only be tempting after this."
+
+But to us, who live here throughout the year, a week soon passes. And
+the end of the week following Emily Thomas's arrival at the Cy Whittaker
+place found the little girl still there and apparently no nearer being
+shipped to Indiana than when she came. Not so near, if Mr. Tidditt's
+opinion counts for anything.
+
+"Gone?" he repeated scoffingly in reply to Bailey Bangs's question.
+"Course she ain't gone! And, what's more, she ain't goin' to go. Whit's
+got so already that he wouldn't part with her no more'n he'd cut off his
+hand."
+
+"But he keeps SAYIN' she's got to go. Only yesterday he was tellin' how
+Betsy'd feel when the girl landed on her with his letter in her pocket."
+
+"Sayin' don't count for nothin'. Zoeth Cahoon keeps SAYIN' he's goin' to
+stop drinkin', but he only stops long enough to catch his breath. Cy's
+tellin' himself fairy yarns and he hopes he believes 'em. Man alive!
+can't you SEE? Ain't he gettin' more foolish over the young one every
+day? Don't she boss him round like the overseer on a cranberry swamp?
+Don't he look more contented than he has sence he got off the cars? I
+tell you, Bailey, that child fills a place in Whit's life that's been
+runnin' to seed and needed weedin'. Nothin' could fill it better--unless
+'twas a nice wife."
+
+"WIFE! Oh, DO be still! I believe you're woman-struck and at an age when
+it hadn't ought to be catchin' no more'n whoopin' cough."
+
+Mr. Bangs and the town clerk were the only ones, except Captain Cy, who
+knew the whole truth concerning the little girl. Not that the child's
+arrival wasn't noted and vigorously discussed by a large portion of the
+townspeople. Emily had not been in the Whittaker house two days before
+Angeline Phinney called, hot on the trail of gossip and sensation. But,
+persistent as Angeline was, she departed knowing not quite as much as
+when she came. The interview between Miss Phinney and the captain must
+have been interesting, judging by the lady's account of it.
+
+"I never see such a man in my born days," declared Angie disgustedly.
+"You couldn't get nothin' out of him. Not that he wan't pleasant and
+sociable; land sakes! he acted as glad to see me as if I was his rich
+aunt come on a visit. And he was willin' to talk, too. That's the
+trouble; he done ALL the talkin'. I happened to mention, just as a sort
+of starter, you know, somethin' about the cranb'ry crop this fall; and
+after that all he could say was 'cranb'ries, cranb'ries, cranb'ries!'
+'Hear you've got comp'ny,' says I. 'Did you?' says he. 'Now ain't it
+strange how things'll get spread around? Only yesterday I heard that Joe
+Dimick's swamp was just loaded down with "early blacks." And yet when
+I went over to look at it there didn't seem to be so many. There ain't
+much better cranb'ries anywhere than our early blacks,' he says. 'You
+take 'em--' And so on, and so on, and so on. _I_ didn't care nothin'
+about the dratted early blacks, but he didn't seem to care for nothin'
+else. He talked cranb'ries steady for an hour and a half and I left
+that house with my mouth all puckered up; it's tasted sour ever sence. I
+never see such a man!"
+
+When Captain Cy was questioned by Asaph concerning the acid
+conversation, he grinned.
+
+"I didn't know you was so interested in cranb'ries," observed Tidditt.
+
+"I ain't," was the reply; "but I'm more interested in 'em than I am in
+Angie. I see she was sufferin' from a rush of curiosity to the head
+and I cured her by homeopath doses. Every time she opened her mouth I
+dropped an 'early black' into it. It's a good receipt; you tell Bailey
+to try it on Ketury some time."
+
+To his chums the captain was emphatic in his orders that secrecy be
+preserved. No one was to be told who the child was or where she came
+from. "What they don't know won't hurt 'em any," declared Captain Cy.
+And Emily's answer to inquiring souls who would fain have delved into
+her past was to the effect that "Uncle Cyrus" didn't like to have her
+talk about herself.
+
+"I don't know's I'm ashamed of anything I've done so far," said the
+captain; "but I ain't braggin', either. Time enough to talk when I send
+her back to Betsy."
+
+That time, apparently, was not in the near future. The girl stayed on
+at the Whittaker place and grew to be more and more a part of it. At the
+end of the second week Captain Cy began calling her "Bos'n."
+
+"A bos'n's a mighty handy man aboard ship," he explained, "and you're
+so handy here that it fits in first rate. And, besides, it sounds so
+natural. My dad called me 'Bos'n' when I was little."
+
+Emily accepted the title complacently. She was quite contented to be
+called almost anything, so long as she was permitted to stay with her
+new friend. Already the bos'n had taken charge of the deck and the rest
+of the ship's company; Captain Cy and "Lonesome," the cat, obeyed her
+orders.
+
+On the second Sunday morning after her arrival "Bos'n" suggested that
+she and Captain Cy go to church.
+
+"Mother and I always went at home," she said. "And Auntie Oliver used to
+say meeting was a good thing for those that needed it."
+
+"Think I need it, do you?" asked the captain, who, in shirt sleeves and
+slippers, had prepared for a quiet forenoon with his pipe and the Boston
+Transcript.
+
+"I don't know, sir. I heard what you said when Lonesome ate up the
+steak, and I thought maybe you hadn't been for a long time. I guess
+churches are different in South America."
+
+So they went to church and sat in the old Whittaker pew. The captain had
+been there once before when he first returned to Bayport, but the sermon
+was more somnolent than edifying, and he hadn't repeated the experiment.
+The pair attracted much attention. Fragments of a conversation, heard
+by Captain Cy as they emerged into the vestibule, had momentous
+consequences.
+
+"Kind of a pretty child, ain't she?" commented Mrs. Eben Salters,
+patting her false front into place under the eaves of her Sunday bonnet.
+
+"Pretty enough in the face," sniffed Mrs. "Tad" Simpson, who was wearing
+her black silk for the first time since its third making-over. "Pretty
+enough that way, I s'pose. But, my land! look at the way she's
+rigged. Old dress, darned and patched up and all outgrown! If I had
+Cy Whittaker's money I'd be ashamed to have a relation of mine come to
+meetin' that way. Even if her folks was poorer'n Job's off ox I'd spend
+a little on my own account and trust to getting it back some time. I'd
+have more care for my own self-respect. Look at Alicia Atkins. See how
+nice she looks. Them feathers on her hat must have cost somethin', I bet
+you. Howdy do, 'Licia, dear? When's your pa comin' home?"
+
+The Honorable Heman had left town on a business trip to the South.
+Alicia was accompanied by the Atkins housekeeper and, as usual, was
+garbed regardless of expense.
+
+Mrs. Salters smiled sweetly upon the Atkins heir and then added, in a
+church whisper: "Don't she look sweet? I agree with you, Sarah; it is
+strange how Captain Whittaker lets his little niece go. And him rich!"
+
+"Niece?" repeated Mrs. Simpson eagerly. "Who said 'twas his niece? I
+heard 'twas a child he'd adopted out of a home. There's all sorts of
+queer yarns about. I--Oh, good mornin', Cap'n Cyrus! How DO you do?"
+
+The captain grunted an answer to the effect that he was bearing up
+pretty well, considering. There was a scowl on his face, and he spoke
+little as, holding Emily by the hand, he led the way home. That evening
+he dropped in at the perfect boarding house and begged to know if Mrs.
+Bangs had any "fashion books" around that she didn't want.
+
+"I mean--er--er--magazines with pictures of women's duds in 'em," he
+stammered, in explanation. "Bos'n likes to look at 'em. She's great on
+fashion books, Bos'n is."
+
+Keturah got together a half dozen numbers of the Home Dressmaker and
+other periodicals of a similar nature. The captain took them under his
+arm and departed, whispering to Mr. Tidditt, as he passed the latter in
+the hall:
+
+"Come up by and by, Ase. I want to talk to you. Bring Bailey along, if
+you can do it without startin' divorce proceedings."
+
+Later, when the trio gathered in the Whittaker sitting room, Captain Cy
+produced the "fashion books" and spoke concerning them.
+
+"You see," he said, "I--I've been thinkin' that Bos'n--Emily, that
+is--wan't rigged exactly the way she ought to be. Have you fellers
+noticed it?"
+
+His friends seemed surprised. Neither was ready with an immediate
+answer, so the captain went on.
+
+"Course I don't mean she ain't got canvas enough to cover her spars," he
+explained; "but what she has got has seen consider'ble weather, and it
+seemed to me 'twas pretty nigh time to haul her into dry dock and refit.
+That's why I borrowed these magazines of Ketury. I've been lookin' them
+over and there seems to be plenty of riggin' for small craft; the only
+thing is I don't know what's the right cut for her build. Bailey, you're
+a married man; you ought to know somethin' about women's clothes. What
+do you think of this, now?"
+
+He opened one of the magazines and pointed to the picture of a young
+girl, with a waspy waist and Lilliputian feet, who, arrayed in flounces
+and furbelows, was toddling gingerly down a flight of marble steps. She
+carried a parasol in one hand, and the other held the end of a chain to
+which a long-haired dog was attached.
+
+The town clerk and his companion inspected the young lady with
+deliberation and interest.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" demanded Captain Cy.
+
+"I don't care much for them kind of dogs," observed Asaph thoughtfully.
+
+"Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the clothes, for
+good measure, do you? Bailey, what's your opinion?"
+
+Mr. Bangs looked wise.
+
+"I should say--" he said, "yes, sir, I should say that was a real
+stylish rig-out. Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less
+fleshy than Emily. This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in two
+amidships. Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready made, so
+they could be let out some, to fit. What's the price of a suit like
+that, Whit?"
+
+The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate and
+then turned to the description in the text.
+
+"'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'" he read. "Humph! that settles
+that, first crack. Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen."
+
+"Anyway," put in Asaph, "you need somethin' she could wear forenoons, if
+she wanted to. What's this one? She looks young enough."
+
+The "one" referred to turned out to be a "coat for child of four."
+It was therefore scornfully rejected. One after another the different
+magazines were examined and the pictures discussed. At length a "costume
+for miss of eight years" was pronounced to be pretty nearly the thing.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt. "That's mighty
+swell, ain't it? What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?"
+
+"'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.' What in time is
+batiste?"
+
+"I don't know. Do you, Bailey?"
+
+"No; never heard of it. Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm sure.
+French, I shouldn't wonder. Well, Ketury's down on the French ever sence
+she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to take up with another
+woman. Does it say any more?"
+
+"Let's see. 'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.' Summer!
+Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again! Bos'n don't want summer
+clothes. It's comin' on winter."
+
+He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then burst
+into a laugh.
+
+"For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!" he
+said. "I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second childhood. But
+when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin' on about how pretty
+'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and shabby Bos'n looked, it made
+me bile. And, by the big dipper, I WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get
+through, too! Only, dressin' little girls is some off my usual course.
+Bailey, does Ketury make her own duds?"
+
+"Why, no! Course she helps and stands by for orders, but Effie Taylor
+comes and takes the wheel while the riggin's goin' on. Effie's a
+dressmaker and--"
+
+"There! See, Ase? It IS some good to have a married man aboard, after
+all. A dressmaker's what we want. I'll hunt up Effie to-morrow."
+
+And hunt her up he did, with the result that Miss Taylor came to the
+Whittaker place each day during the following week and Emily was, as
+the captain said, "rigged out fresh from main truck to keelson." In this
+"rigging" Captain Cy and his two partners--Josiah Dimick had already
+christened the pair "The Board of Strategy"--took a marked interest.
+They were on hand when each new garment was tried on, and they approved
+or criticised as seemed to them best.
+
+"Ain't that kind of sober lookin' for a young one like Bos'n?" asked the
+captain, referring to one of the new gowns. "I don't want her to look as
+if she was dressed cheap."
+
+"Land sakes!" mumbled Miss Taylor, her mouth full of pins. "There ain't
+anything cheap about it, and you'll find it out when you get the bill.
+That's a nice, rich, sensible suit."
+
+"I know, but it's so everlastin' quiet! Don't you think a little yellow
+and black or some red strung along the yards would sort of liven it
+up? Why! you ought to see them Greaser girls down in South America of a
+Sunday afternoon. Color! and go! Jerushy! they'd pretty nigh knock your
+eye out."
+
+The dressmaker sniffed disdain.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she retorted, "if you want this child to look like an
+Indian squaw or a barber's pole you'll have to get somebody else to do
+it. I'm used to dressing Christians, not yeller and black heathen women.
+Red strung along a skirt like that! I never did!"
+
+"There, there, Effie! Don't get the barometer fallin'. I was only
+suggestin', you know. What do you think, Bos'n?"
+
+"Why, Uncle Cyrus, I don't believe I should like red very much; nor the
+other colors, either. I like this just as it is."
+
+"So? Well, you're the doctor. Maybe you're right. I wouldn't want you
+to look like a barber's pole. Don't love Tad Simpson enough to want to
+advertise his business."
+
+Miss Taylor's coming had other results besides the refitting of "Bos'n."
+She found much fault with the captain's housekeeping. It developed that
+her sister Georgiana, who had been working in a Brockton shoe shop, was
+now at home and might be engaged to attend to the household duties
+at the Whittaker establishment, provided she was allowed to "go home
+nights." Georgiana was engaged, on trial, and did well. So that problem
+was solved.
+
+School in Bayport opens the first week in October. Of late there has
+been a movement, headed by some of the townspeople who think city ways
+are best, to have the term begin in September. But this idea has little
+chance of success as long as cranberry picking continues to be our
+leading industry. So many of the children help out the family means by
+picking cranberries in the fall that school, until the picking season
+was over, would be slimly attended.
+
+The last week in September found us all discussing the coming of the new
+downstairs teacher, Miss Phoebe Dawes. Since it was definitely settled
+that she was to come, the opposition had died down and was less
+openly expressed; but it was there, all the same, beneath the surface.
+Congressman Atkins had accepted the surprising defiance of his wish with
+calm dignity and the philosophy of the truly great who are not troubled
+by trifles. His lieutenant, Tad Simpson, quoted him as saying that, of
+course, the will of the school committee was paramount, and he, as all
+good citizens should, bowed to their verdict. "Far be it from me," so
+the great man proclaimed, "to desire that my opinion should carry more
+weight than that of the humblest of my friends and neighbors. Speaking
+as one whose knowledge of the world was, perhaps--er--more extensive
+than--er--others, I favored the Normal School candidate. But the persons
+chosen to select thought--or appeared to think--otherwise. I therefore
+say nothing and await developments."
+
+This attitude was considered by most of us to reflect credit upon Mr.
+Atkins. There were a few scoffers, however. When the proclamation was
+repeated to Captain Cy he smiled.
+
+"Alpheus," he said to Mr. Smalley, his informant, "you didn't use to
+know Deacon Zeb Clark, who lived up by the salt works in my granddad's
+time, hey? No, course you didn't! Well, the deacon was a great believer
+in his own judgment. One time, it bein' Saturday, his wife wanted him to
+pump the washtub full and take a bath. He said, no; said the cistern
+was awful low and 'twould use up all the water. She said no such thing;
+there was water a-plenty. To prove she was wrong he went and pried the
+cistern cover off to look, and fell in. Mrs. Clark peeked down and saw
+him there, standin' up to his neck.
+
+"'Tabby,' says he, 'you would have your way and I'm takin' the bath.
+But you can see for yourself that we'll have to cart water from now on.
+However, _I_ ain't responsible; throw me down the soap and towel.'"
+
+"Humph!" grunted Smalley, "I don't see what that's got to do with it.
+Heman ain't takin' no bath."
+
+"I don't know's it's got anything to do with it. But he kind of made me
+think of Zeb, all the same."
+
+The first day of school was, of course, a Monday. On Sunday afternoon
+Captain Cy and Bos'n went for a walk. These walks had become a regular
+part of the Sabbath programme, the weather, of course, permitting. After
+church the pair came home for dinner. The meal being eaten, the captain
+would light a cigar--a pipe was now hardly "dressed-up" enough for
+Sunday--and, taking his small partner by the hand, would lead the way
+across the fields, through the pines and down by the meadow "short
+cut" to the cemetery. The cemetery is a favorite Sabbath resort for the
+natives of Bayport, who usually speak of it as the graveyard. It is a
+pleasant, shady spot, and to visit it is considered quite respectable
+and in keeping with the day and a due regard for decorum. The ungodly,
+meaning the summer boarders and the village no-accounts, seem to
+prefer the beach and the fish houses, but the cemetery attracts the
+churchgoers. One may gossip concerning the probable cost of a new
+tombstone and still remain faithful to the most rigid creed.
+
+Captain Cy was not, strictly speaking, a religious man, according to
+Bayport standards. Between his attendance to churchly duties and that of
+the Honorable Heman Atkins there was a great gulf fixed. But he rather
+liked to visit the graveyard on Sunday afternoons. His mother had been
+used to stroll there with him, in his boyhood, and it pleased him to
+follow in her footsteps.
+
+So he and Bos'n walked along the grass-covered paths, between the
+iron-fenced "lots" of the well-to-do and the humble mounds and simple
+slabs where the poor were sleeping; past the sumptuous granite shaft of
+the Atkins lot and the tilted mossy stone which told how "Edwin Simpson,
+our only son," had been "accidentally shot in the West Indies"; out
+through the back gate and up the hill to the pine grove overlooking the
+bay. Here, on a scented carpet of pine needles, they sat them down to
+rest and chat.
+
+Emily, her small knees drawn up and encircled by her arms, looked out
+across the flats, now half covered with the rising tide. It was a mild
+day, more like August than October, and there was almost no wind. The
+sun was shining on the shallow water, and the sand beneath it showed
+yellow, checkered and marbled with dark green streaks and patches where
+the weed-bordered channels wound tortuously. On the horizon the sand
+hills of Wellmouth notched the blue sky. The girl drew a long breath.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Isn't this just lovely! I do like the sea an awful
+lot."
+
+"That's natural enough," replied her companion. "There's a big streak
+of salt water in your blood on your ma's side. It pulls, that kind of a
+streak does. There's days when I feel uneasy every minute and hanker for
+a deck underneath me. The settin' room floor stays altogether too quiet
+on a day like that; I'd like to feel it heavin' over a ground swell."
+
+"Say, Bos'n," he said a few minutes later; "I've been thinkin' about
+you. You've been to school, haven't you?"
+
+"Course I have," was the rather indignant answer. "I went two years in
+Concord. Mamma used to help me nights, too. I can read almost all the
+little words. Don't I help you read your paper 'most every night?"
+
+"Sartin you do! Yes, yes! Well, our school opens to-morrer and I've been
+thinkin' that maybe you'd better go. There's a new teacher comin', and I
+hear she's pretty good."
+
+"Don't you KNOW? Why, Mr. Tidditt said you was the one that got her to
+come here!"
+
+"Yes; well, Asaph says 'most everything but his prayers. Still, he ain't
+fur off this time; I cal'late I was some responsible for her bein' voted
+in. Yet I don't really know anything about her. You see, I--well, never
+mind. What do you think? Want to go?"
+
+Bos'n looked troubled.
+
+"I'd like to," she said. "Course I want to learn how to read the big
+words, too. But I like to stay at home with you more."
+
+"You do, hey? Sho, sho! Well, I guess I can get along between times.
+Georgiana's there to keep me straight and she'll see to the dust and the
+dishes. I guess you'd better go to-morrer mornin' and see how you like
+it, anyhow."
+
+The child thought for a moment.
+
+"I think you're awful good," she said. "I like you next to mamma; even
+better than Auntie Oliver. I printed a letter to her the other day. I
+told her you were better than we expected and I had decided to live with
+you always."
+
+Captain Cy was startled. Considering that, only the day before, he
+had repeated to Bailey the declaration that the arrangement was but
+temporary, and that Betsy Howes was escaping responsibility only for a
+month or so, he scarcely knew what to say.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted. "You've decided it, have you? Well, we'll see. Now
+you trot around and have a good time. I'm goin' to have another smoke.
+I'll be here when you get back."
+
+Bos'n wandered off in search of late golden rod. The captain smoked and
+meditated. By and by the puffs were less frequent and the cigar went
+out. It fell from his fingers. With his back against a pine tree Captain
+Cy dozed peacefully.
+
+He awoke with a jump. Something had awakened him, but he did not know
+what. He blinked and gazed about him. Then he heard a faint scream.
+
+"Uncle!" screamed Bos'n. "O--o--o--h! Uncle Cyrus, help me! Come quick!"
+
+The next moment the captain was plunging through the scrub of
+huckleberry and bayberry bushes, bumping into pines and smashing the
+branches aside as he ran in the direction of the call.
+
+Back of the pine grove was a big inclosed pasture nearly a quarter of
+a mile long. Its rear boundary was the iron fence of the cemetery. The
+other three sides were marked by rail fences and a stone wall. As the
+captain floundered from the grove and vaulted the rail fence he swore
+aloud.
+
+"By the big dipper," he groaned, "it's that cussed heifer! I forgot her.
+Keep dodgin', Bos'n girl! I'm comin'."
+
+The pasture was tenanted by a red and white cow belonging to Sylvanus
+Cahoon. Whether or not the animal had, during her calfhood days, been
+injured by a woman is not known; possibly her behavior was due merely
+to innate depravity. At any rate, she cherished a mortal hatred toward
+human beings of her own sex. With men and boys she was meek enough, but
+no person wearing skirts, and alone, might venture in that field without
+being chased by that cow. What would happen if the pursued one was
+caught could only be surmised, for, so far, no female had permitted
+herself to be caught. Few would come even so near as the other side of
+the pasture walls.
+
+Bos'n had forgotten the cow. She had gone from one golden-rod clump to
+another until she had traversed nearly the length of the field. Then the
+vicious creature had appeared from behind a knoll in the pasture and,
+head down and bellowing wickedly, had rushed upon her. When the captain
+reached the far-off fence, the little girl was dodging from one dwarf
+pine to the next, with the cow in pursuit. The pines were few and Bos'n
+was nearly at the end of her defenses.
+
+"Help!" she screamed. "Oh, uncle, where are you? What shall I do?"
+
+Captain Cy roared in answer.
+
+"Keep it up!" he yelled. "I'm a-comin'! Shoot you everlastin' critter!
+I'll break your back for you!"
+
+The cow didn't understand English it seemed, even such vigorous English
+as the captain was using. Emily dodged to the last pine. The animal was
+close upon her. Her rescuer was still far away.
+
+And then the cemetery gate opened and another person entered the
+pasture. A small person--a woman. She said nothing, but picking up her
+skirts, ran straight toward the cow, heedless of the latter's reputation
+and vicious appearance. One hand clutched the gathered skirts. In the
+other she held a book.
+
+"Don't be scared, dear," she called reassuringly. Then to the cow: "Stop
+it! Go away, you wicked thing!"
+
+The animal heard the voice and turned. Seeing that the newcomer was only
+a woman, she lowered her head and pawed the ground.
+
+"Run for the gate, little girl," commanded the rescuer. "Run quick!"
+Bos'n obeyed. She made a desperate dash from her pine across the open
+space, and in another moment was safe inside the cemetery fence.
+
+"Scat! Go home!" ordered the lady, advancing toward the cow and shaking
+the book at her, as if the volume was some sort of deadly weapon.
+"Aren't you ashamed of yourself! Go away! You needn't growl at me! I'm
+not a bit afraid of you."
+
+The "growling" was the muttered bellow with which the cow was wont
+to terrorize her feminine victims. But this victim refused to be
+terrorized. Instead of screaming and running she continued to advance,
+brandishing the book and repeating her orders that the creature "go
+home" at once. The cow did not know what to make of it. Before she could
+decide whether to charge or retreat, a good-sized stick descended
+upon her back with a "whack" that settled the question. Captain Cy had
+reached the scene of battle.
+
+Then the rescuer's courage seemed to desert her, for she ran back to
+the cemetery even faster than she had run from it. When the indignant
+captain, having pursued and chastised the cow until the stick was but
+a splintered remnant, reached the haven behind the iron fence, he found
+her soothing the frightened Bos'n who was sobbing and hysterical.
+
+Emily saw her "Uncle Cyrus" coming and rushed into his arms. He picked
+her up and, holding her with a grip which testified to the nerve strain
+he had been under, stepped forward to meet the stranger, whose coming
+had been so opportune.
+
+And she WAS a stranger. The captain knew most of Bayport's inhabitants
+by this time, or thought he did, but he did not know her. She was a
+small woman, quietly dressed, and her hair, under a neat black and white
+hat, was brown. The hat was now a trifle to one side and the hair was
+the least bit disarranged, an effect not at all unbecoming. She was
+tucking in the stray wisps as the captain, with Bos'n in his arms, came
+up.
+
+"Well, ma'am!" puffed Captain Cy. "WELL, ma'am! I must say that was
+the slickest, pluckiest thing ever I saw anywheres. I don't know what
+would--I--I declare I don't know how to thank you."
+
+The lady looked at him a moment before replying. Then she began to
+laugh, a jolly laugh that was pleasant to hear.
+
+"Don't try, please," she said chokingly. "It wasn't anything. Oh, mercy
+me! I'm all out of breath. You see, I had been warned about that cow
+when I started to walk this afternoon. So when I saw her chasing your
+poor little girl here I knew right away what was the matter. It must
+have been foolish enough to look at. I'm used to dogs and cats, but I
+haven't had many pet cows. I told her to 'go home' and to 'scat' and
+all sorts of things. Wonder I didn't tell her to lie down! And the way I
+shook that ridiculous book at her was--"
+
+She laughed again and the captain and Bos'n joined in the laugh, in
+spite of the fright they both had experienced.
+
+"That book was dry enough to frighten almost anything," continued the
+lady. "It was one I took from the table before I left the place where
+I'm staying, and a duller collection of sermons I never saw. Oh, dear!
+. . . there! Is my hat any more respectable now?"
+
+"Yes'm. It's about on an even keel, I should say. But I must tell you,
+ma'am, you done simply great and--"
+
+"Seems to me the people who own that cow must be a poor set to let her
+make such a nuisance of herself. Did your daughter run away from you?"
+
+"Well, you see, ma'am, she ain't really my daughter. Bos'n here--that's
+my nickname for her, ma'am--she and I was out walkin'. I set down in the
+pines and I guess I must have dozed off. Anyhow, when I woke up she was
+gone, and the first thing I knew of this scrape was hearin' her hail."
+
+The little woman's manner changed. Her gray eyes flashed indignantly.
+
+"You dozed off?" she repeated. "With a little girl in your charge, and
+in the very next lot to that cow? Didn't you know the creature chased
+women and girls?"
+
+"Why, yes; I'd heard of it, but--"
+
+"It wasn't Uncle Cyrus's fault," put in Bos'n eagerly. "It was mine. I
+went away by myself."
+
+Beyond shifting her gaze to the child the lady paid no attention to this
+remark.
+
+"What do you think her mother 'll say when she sees that dress?" she
+asked.
+
+It was Emily's best gown, the finest of the new "rig out" prepared by
+Miss Taylor. The girl and Captain Cy gazed ruefully at the rents and
+pitch stains made by the vines and pine trees.
+
+"Well, you see," replied the abashed captain, "the fact is, she ain't
+got any mother."
+
+"Oh! I beg your pardon. And hers, too, poor dear. Well, if I were you I
+shouldn't go to sleep next time I took her walking. Good afternoon."
+
+She turned and calmly walked down the path. At the bend she spoke again.
+
+"I should be gentle with her, if I were you," she said. "Her nerves are
+pretty well upset. Besides, if you'll excuse my saying so, I don't think
+she is the one that needs scolding."
+
+They thought she had gone, but she turned once more to add a final
+suggestion.
+
+"I think that dress could be fixed," she said, "if you took it to some
+one who knew about such things."
+
+She disappeared amidst the graveyard shrubbery. Captain Cy and Bos'n
+slowly followed her. From the pasture the red and white cow sent after
+them a broken-spirited "Moo!"
+
+Bos'n was highly indignant. During the homeward walk she sputtered like
+a damp firecracker.
+
+"The idea of her talking so to you, Uncle Cyrus!" she exclaimed. "It
+wasn't your fault at all."
+
+The captain smiled one-sidedly.
+
+"I don't know about that, shipmate," he said. "I wouldn't wonder if she
+was more than half right. But say! she was all business and no frills,
+wasn't she! Ha, ha! How she did spunk up to that heifer! Who in the
+dickens do you cal'late she is?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE "COW LADY"
+
+
+That question was answered the very next day. Bos'n, carefully dressed
+by Georgianna under the captain's supervision, and weighted down with
+advice and counsel from the latter, started for the schoolhouse at a
+quarter to nine. Only a sense of shame kept Captain Cy from walking
+to school with her. He spent a miserable forenoon. They were quite the
+longest three hours in his varied experience. The house was dreadfully
+lonely. He wandered from kitchen to sitting room, worried Georgianna,
+woke up the cat, and made a complete nuisance of himself. Twelve o'clock
+found him leaning over the gate and looking eagerly in the direction of
+the schoolhouse.
+
+Bos'n ran all the way home. She was in a high state of excitement.
+
+"What do you think, Uncle Cyrus?" she cried. "What DO you think? I've
+found out who the cow lady is!"
+
+"The cow lady? Oh, yes, yes! Have you? Who is she?"
+
+"She's teacher, that's who she is!"
+
+The captain was astonished.
+
+"No!" he exclaimed. "Phoebe Dawes? You don't say so! Well, well!"
+
+"Yes, sir. When I went into school and found her sitting there I was
+so surprised I didn't know what to do. She knew me, too, and said good
+morning, and was I all right again and was my dress really as bad as it
+looked to be? I told her that Georgianna thought she could fix it, and
+if she couldn't, her sister could. She said that was nice, and then
+'twas time for school to begin."
+
+"Did she say anything about me?" inquired Captain Cy when they were
+seated at the dinner table.
+
+"Oh, yes! I forgot. She must have found out who you are, 'cause she said
+she was surprised that a man who had made his money out of hides should
+have been so careless about the creatures that wore 'em."
+
+"Humph! How'd she get along with the young ones in school?"
+
+It appeared that she had gotten along very well with them. Some of the
+bigger boys in the back seats, cherishing pleasant memories of the "fun"
+they had under Miss Seabury's easy-going rule, attempted to repeat their
+performances of the previous term. But the very first "spitball" which
+spattered upon the blackboard proved a disastrous missile for its
+thrower.
+
+"She made him clean the board," proclaimed Bos'n, big-eyed and
+awestruck, "and then he had to stand in the corner. He was Bennie
+Edwards, and he's most thirteen. Miss Seabury, they said, couldn't do
+anything with him, but teacher said 'Go,' as quiet as could be and just
+looked at him, and he went. And he's most as tall as she is. He did look
+so silly!"
+
+The Edwards youth was not the only one who was made to "look silly"
+by little Miss Dawes during the first days of her stay in Bayport. She
+dealt with the unruly members of her classes as bravely as she had
+faced the Cahoon cow, and the results were just as satisfactory. She
+was strict, but she was impartial, and Alicia Atkins found, to her great
+surprise, that the daughter of a congressman was expected to study as
+faithfully and behave herself as well as freckled-faced Noah Hamlin,
+whose father peddled fish and whose everyday costume was a checkered
+"jumper" and patched overalls.
+
+The school committee, that is, the majority of it, was delighted with
+the new teacher. Lemuel Myrick boasted loudly of his good judgment
+in voting for her. But Tad Simpson and Darius Ellis and others of the
+Atkins following still scoffed and hinted at trouble in the future.
+
+"A new broom sweeps fine," quoted Mr. Simpson. "She's doin' all
+right now, maybe. Anyway, the young ones are behavin' themselves, but
+disCIPline ain't the whole thing. Heman told me that the teacher he
+wanted could talk French language and play music and all kinds
+of accomplishments. Phoebe--not findin' any fault with her, you
+understand--don't know no more about music than a hen; my wife says she
+don't even sing in church loud enough for anybody to hear her. And as
+for French! why everybody knows she uses the commonest sort of United
+States, just as easy to understand as what I'm sayin' now."
+
+Miss Dawes boarded at the perfect boarding house. There opinion was
+divided concerning her. Bailey and Mr. Tidditt liked her, but the
+feminine boarders were not so favorably impressed.
+
+"I think she's altogether too pert about what don't concern her,"
+commented Angeline Phinney. "Sarah Emma Simpson dropped in t'other
+day to dinner, and we church folks got to talkin' about the minister's
+preachin' such 'advanced' sermons. And Sarah Emma told how she'd heard
+he said he'd known some real moral Universalists in his time, or some
+such unreligious foolishness. And I said I wondered he didn't get a new
+tail coat; the one he preached in Sundays was old as the hills and so
+outgrown it wouldn't scurcely button acrost him. 'A man bein' paid
+nine hundred a year,' I says, 'ought to dress decent, anyhow.' And that
+Phoebe Dawes speaks up, without bein' asked, and says for her part she'd
+ruther hear a broad man in a narrer coat than t'other way about. 'Twas a
+regular slap in the face for me, and Sarah Emma and I ain't got over it
+yet."
+
+Captain Cy heard the gossip concerning the new teacher and it rather
+pleased him. She appeared to be independent, and he liked independence.
+He met her once or twice on the street, but she merely bowed and passed
+on. Once he tried to thank her again for her part in the cow episode,
+but she would not listen to him.
+
+Bos'n was making good progress with her studies. She was naturally a
+bright child--not the marvel the captain and the "Board of Strategy"
+considered her, but quick to learn. She was not a saint, however, and
+occasionally misbehaved in school and was punished for it. One afternoon
+she did not return at her usual hour. Captain Cy was waiting at the gate
+when Asaph Tidditt happened along. Bailey, too, was with him.
+
+"Waitin' for Bos'n, was you?" asked the town clerk. "Well, you'll have
+to wait quite a spell, I cal'late. She's been kept after school."
+
+"Yes; and she's got to write fifty lines of copy," added Bailey.
+
+Captain Cy was highly indignant.
+
+"Get out!" he cried. "She ain't neither."
+
+"Yes, she has, too. One of the Salters young ones told me. I knew you'd
+be mad, though I s'pose folks that didn't know her's well's we do would
+say she's no different from other children."
+
+This was close to heresy, according to the captain's opinion.
+
+"She ain't!" he cried. "I'd like to know why not! If she ain't twice as
+smart as the run of young ones 'round here then--Humph! And she's
+kept after school! Well, now; I won't have it! There's enough time for
+studyin' without wearin' out her brains after hours. Oh, I guess you're
+mistaken."
+
+"No, we ain't. I tell you, Whit, if I was you I'd make a fuss about
+this. She's a smart child, Bos'n is; I never see a smarter. And she
+ain't any too strong."
+
+"That's so, she ain't." The idea that Emily's health was "delicate" had
+become a fixed fact in the minds of the captain and the "Board." It made
+a good excuse for the systematic process of "spoiling" the girl, which
+the indulgent three were doing their best to carry on.
+
+"I wouldn't let her be kept, Cy," urged Bailey. "Why don't you go right
+off and see Phoebe and settle this thing? You've got a right to talk to
+her. She wouldn't be teacher if it wasn't for you."
+
+Asaph added his arguments to those of Mr. Bangs. Captain Cy, carried
+away by his firm belief that Bos'n was a paragon of all that was
+brilliant and good, finally yielded.
+
+"All right!" he exclaimed. "Come on! That poor little thing shan't be
+put upon by nobody."
+
+The trio marched majestically down the hill. As they neared the
+schoolhouse Bailey's courage began to fail. Miss Dawes was a boarder
+at his house, and he feared consequences should Keturah learn of his
+interference.
+
+"I--I guess you don't need me," he stammered. "The three of us 'll scare
+that teacher woman most to death. And she's so little and meek, you
+know. If I should lose my temper and rare up I might say somethin' that
+would hurt her feelin's. I'll set on the fence and wait for you and Ase,
+Whit."
+
+Mr. Tidditt's scornful comments concerning "white feathers" and
+"backsliders" had no effect. Mr. Bangs perched himself on the fence.
+
+"Give it to her, fellers!" he called after them.
+
+"Talk Dutch to her! Let her know that there's one child she can't
+abuse."
+
+At the foot of the steps Asaph paused.
+
+"Say, Cy," he whispered, "don't you think I better not go in? It ain't
+really my business, you know, and--and--Well, I'm on the s'lectmen and
+she might be frightened if she see me pouncin' down on her. 'Tain't as
+if I was just a common man. I'll go and set along of Bailey and you go
+in and talk quiet to her. She'd feel so sort of ashamed if there was
+anyone else to hear the rakin' over--hey?"
+
+"Now, see here, Ase," expostulated the captain, "I don't like to do this
+all by myself! Besides, 'twas you chaps put me up to it. You ain't goin'
+to pull out of the race and leave me to go over the course alone, are
+you? Come on! what are, you afraid of?"
+
+His companion hotly denied that he was "afraid" of anything. He had
+all sorts of arguments to back his decision. At last Captain Cy lost
+patience.
+
+"Well, BE a skulk, if you want to!" he declared. "I've set out to see
+this thing through, and I'm goin' to do it. Only," he muttered, as he
+entered the downstairs vestibule, "I wish I didn't feel quite so much as
+if I was stealin' hens' eggs."
+
+Miss Dawes herself opened the door in response to his knock.
+
+"Oh, it's you, Cap'n Whittaker," she said. "Come in, please."
+
+Captain Cy entered the schoolroom. It was empty, save for the teacher
+and himself and one little girl, who, seated at a desk, was writing
+busily. She looked up and blushed a vivid red. The little girl was
+Bos'n.
+
+"Sit down, Cap'n," said Miss Phoebe, indicating the visitor's chair.
+"What was it you wanted to see me about?"
+
+The captain accepted the invitation to be seated, but he did not
+immediately reply to Miss Dawes's question. He dropped his hat on the
+floor, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and then observed that it was
+pretty summery weather for so late in the fall. The teacher admitted the
+truth of his assertion and waited for him to continue.
+
+"I--I s'pose school's pretty full, now that cranb'ryin' 's over," said
+Captain Cy.
+
+"Yes, pretty full."
+
+"Gettin' along first rate with the scholars, I hear."
+
+"Yes."
+
+This was a most unpromising beginning, really no beginning at all. The
+captain cleared his throat, set his teeth, and, without looking at his
+companion, dove headlong into the business which had brought him there.
+
+"Miss Dawes," he said, "I--I s'pose you know that Bos'n--I mean Emily
+there--is livin' at my house and that I'm taking care of her for--for
+the present."
+
+The lady smiled.
+
+"Yes," she said. "I gathered as much from what you said when we first
+met."
+
+She herself had said one or two things on that occasion. Captain Cy
+remembered them distinctly.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said hastily. "Well, my doin's that time wasn't exactly
+the best sample of the care, I will say. Wan't even a fair sample,
+maybe. I try to do my best with the child, long as she stays with me,
+and--er--and--er--I'm pretty particular about her health."
+
+"I'm glad to hear it."
+
+"Yes. Now, Miss Phoebe, I appreciate what you did for Bos'n and me that
+Sunday, and I'm thankful for it. I've tried to thank--"
+
+"I know. Please don't say any more about it. I imagine there is
+something else you want to say, isn't there?"
+
+"Why, yes, there is. I--I heard that Emmie had been kept after school. I
+didn't believe it, of course, but I thought I'd run up and see what--"
+
+He hesitated. The teacher finished the sentence for him.
+
+"To see if it was true?" she said. "It is. I told her to stay and write
+fifty lines."
+
+"You did? Well, now that's what I wanted to speak to you about. Course
+I ain't interferin' in your affairs, you know, but I just wanted to
+explain about Bos'n--Emmie, I mean. She ain't a common child; she's got
+too much head for the rest of her. If you'd lived with her same as I
+have you'd appreciate it. Her health's delicate."
+
+"Is it? She seems strong enough to me. I haven't noticed any symptoms."
+
+"Course not, else you wouldn't have kept her in. But _I_ know, and I
+think it's my duty to tell you. Never mind if she can't do quite so
+much writin'. I'd rather she wouldn't; she might bust a blood vessel
+or somethin'. Such things HAVE happened, to extry smart young ones. You
+just let her trot along home with me now and--"
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," Miss Dawes had risen to her feet with a determined
+expression on her face.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said the captain, rising also.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," repeated the teacher, "I'm very glad that you called.
+I've been rather expecting you might, because of certain things I have
+heard."
+
+"You heard? What was it you heard--if you don't mind my askin'?"
+
+"No, I don't, because I think we must have an understanding about Emily.
+I have heard that you allow her to do as she pleases at home; in other
+words, that you are spoiling her, and--"
+
+"SPOILIN' her! _I_ spoilin' her? Who told you such an unlikely yarn as
+that? I ain't the kind to spoil anybody. Why, I'm so strict that I'm
+ashamed of myself sometimes."
+
+He honestly believed he was. Miss Phoebe calmly continued.
+
+"Of course, what you do at home is none of my business. I shouldn't
+mention it anyhow, if you hadn't called, because I pay very little
+attention to town talk, having lived in this county all my life and
+knowing what gossip amounts to. I like Emily; she's a pretty good little
+girl and well behaved, as children go. But this you must understand. She
+can't be spoiled here. She whispered this afternoon, twice. She has been
+warned often, and knows the rule. I kept her after school because she
+broke that rule, and if she breaks it again, she will be punished again.
+I kept the Edwards boy two hours yesterday and--"
+
+"Edwards boy! Do you mean to compare that--that young rip of a Ben
+Edwards with a girl like Bos'n? I never heard--"
+
+"I'm not comparing anybody. I'm trying to be fair to every scholar in
+this room. And, so long as Emily behaves herself, she shall be
+treated accordingly. When she doesn't, she shall be punished. You must
+understand that."
+
+"But Ben Edwards! Why, he's a wooden-head, same as his dad was a fore
+him! And Emmie's the smartest scholar in this town."
+
+"Oh, no, she isn't! She's a good scholar, but there are others just as
+good and even quicker to learn."
+
+This was piling one insult upon another. Other children as brilliant as
+Bos'n! Captain Cy was bursting with righteous indignation.
+
+"Well!" he exclaimed. "Well! for a teacher that we've called to--"
+
+"And that's another thing," broke in Miss Dawes quickly. "I've been told
+that you, Cap'n Whittaker, are the one directly responsible for my
+being chosen for this place. I don't say that you are presuming on that,
+but--"
+
+"I ain't! I never thought of such a thing!"
+
+"But if you are you mustn't, that's all. I didn't ask for the position
+and, now that I've got it, I shall try to fill it without regard to one
+person more than another. Emily stays here until her lines are written.
+I don't think we need to say any more. Good day."
+
+She opened the door. Captain Cy picked up his hat, swallowed hard, and
+stepped across the threshold. Then Miss Phoebe added one more remark.
+
+"Cap'n," she said, "when you were in command of a ship did you allow
+outsiders to tell you how to treat the sailors?"
+
+The captain opened his mouth to reply. He wanted to reply very much, but
+somehow he couldn't find a satisfying answer to that question.
+
+"Ma'am," he said, "all I can say is that if you'd been in South America,
+same as I have, and seen the way them half-breed young ones act,
+you'd--"
+
+The teacher smiled, in spite of an apparent effort not to.
+
+"Perhaps so," she said, "but this is Massachusetts. And--well, Emily
+isn't a half-breed."
+
+Captain Cy strode through the vestibule. Just before the door closed
+behind him he heard a stifled sob from poor Bos'n.
+
+The Board of Strategy was waiting at the end of the yard. Its members
+were filled with curiosity.
+
+"Did you give it to her good?" demanded Asaph. "Did you let her
+understand we wouldn't put up with such cruelizin'?"
+
+"Where's Bos'n?" asked Mr. Bangs.
+
+Their friend's answers were brief and tantalizingly incomplete. He
+walked homeward at a gait which caused plump little Bailey to puff
+in his efforts to keep up, and he would say almost nothing about the
+interview in the schoolroom.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Tidditt, when they reached the Whittaker gate, "I guess
+she knows her place now; hey, Cy? I cal'late she'll be careful who she
+keeps after school from now on."
+
+"Didn't use no profane language, did you, Cy?" asked Bailey. "I hope
+not, 'cause she might have you took up just out of spite. Did she ask
+your pardon for her actions?"
+
+"No!" roared the captain savagely. Then, banging the gate behind him, he
+strode up the yard and into the house.
+
+Bos'n came home a half hour later. Captain Cy was alone in the sitting
+room, seated in his favorite rocker and moodily staring at nothing in
+particular. The girl gazed at him for a moment and then climbed into his
+lap.
+
+"I wrote my fifty lines, Uncle Cyrus," she said. "Teacher said I'd done
+them very nicely, too."
+
+The captain grunted.
+
+"Uncle Cy," whispered Bos'n, putting her arms around his neck, "I'm
+awful sorry I was so bad."
+
+"Bad? Who--you? You couldn't be bad if you wanted to. Don't talk that
+way or I'll say somethin' I hadn't ought to."
+
+"Yes, I could be bad, too. I was bad. I whispered."
+
+"Whispered! What of it? That ain't nothin'. When I was a young one in
+school I used to whis-- . . . Hum! Well, anyhow, don't you think any
+more about it. 'Tain't worth while."
+
+They rocked quietly for a time. Then Bos'n said:
+
+"Uncle Cyrus, don't you like teacher?"
+
+"Hey? LIKE her? Well, if that ain't a question? Yes, I like her about as
+well as Lonesome likes Eben Salter's dog."
+
+"I'm sorry. I like her ever so much."
+
+"You DO? Go 'long! After the way she treated you, poor little thing!"
+
+"She didn't treat me any worse than she does the other girls and boys
+when they're naughty. And I did know the rule about whispering."
+
+"Well, that's different. Comparin' you with that Bennie Edwards--the
+idea! And then makin' you cry!"
+
+"She didn't make me cry."
+
+"Did, too. I heard you."
+
+The child looked up at him and then hid her face in his waistcoat.
+
+"I wasn't crying about her," she whispered. "It was you."
+
+"ME!" The captain gasped. "Good land!" he muttered. "It's just as I
+expected. She's studied too hard and it's touchin' her brain."
+
+"No, sir, it isn't. It isn't truly. I did cry about you because I didn't
+like to hear you talk so. And I was so sorry to have you come there."
+
+"You WAS!"
+
+"Yes, sir. Other children's folks don't come when they're bad. And I
+kept feeling so sort of ashamed of you."
+
+"Ashamed of ME?"
+
+Bos'n nodded vigorously.
+
+"Yes, sir. Everything teacher said sounded so right, and what you said
+didn't. And I like to have you always right."
+
+"Do, hey? Hum!" Captain Cy didn't speak again for some few minutes, but
+he held the little girl very tight in his arms. At length he drew a long
+breath.
+
+"By the big dipper, Bos'n!" he exclaimed. "You're a wonder, you are.
+I wouldn't be surprised if you grew up to be a mind reader, like that
+feller in the show we went to at the townhall a spell ago. To tell you
+the honest Lord's truth, I've been ashamed of myself ever since I come
+out of that schoolhouse door. When that teacher woman sprung that on me
+about my fo'mast hands aboard ship I was set back about forty fathom. I
+never wanted to answer anybody so bad in MY life, and I couldn't 'cause
+there wasn't anything to say. I cal'late I've made a fool of myself."
+
+Bos'n nodded again.
+
+"We won't do so any more, will we?" she said.
+
+"You bet we won't! _I_ won't, anyhow. You haven't done anything."
+
+"And you'll like teacher?"
+
+The captain stamped his foot.
+
+"No, SIR!" he declared. "She may be all right in her way--I s'pose she
+is; but it's too Massachusettsy a way for me. No, sir! I don't like her
+and I WON'T like her. No, sir-ee, never! She--she ain't my kind of a
+woman," he added stubbornly. "That's what's the matter! She ain't my
+kind of a woman."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+
+"Town meeting" was called for the twenty-first of November.
+
+With the summer boarders gone, the cranberry picking finished, state
+election over, school begun and under way, and real winter not yet upon
+us, Bayport, in the late fall, distinctly needs something to enliven
+it. The Shakespeare Reading Society and the sewing circle continue, of
+course, to interest the "women folks," there is the usual every evening
+gathering at Simmons's, and the young people are looking forward to the
+"Grand Ball" on Thanksgiving eve. But for the men, on week days,
+there is little to do except to "putter" about the house, banking
+its foundations with dry seaweed as a precaution against searching
+no'theasters, whitewashing the barns and outbuildings, or fixing things
+in the vegetable cellar where the sticks of smoked herring hang in rows
+above the barrels of cabbages, potatoes, and turnips. The fish weirs,
+most of them, are taken up, lest the ice, which will be driven into the
+bay later on, tear the nets to pieces. Even the hens grow lazy and
+lay less frequently. Therefore, away back in the "airly days," some
+far-sighted board of selectmen arranged that "town meeting" should be
+held during this lackadaisical season. A town meeting--and particularly
+a Bayport town meeting, where everything from personal affairs to
+religion is likely to be discussed--can stir up excitement when nothing
+else can.
+
+This year there were several questions to be talked over and settled at
+town meeting. Two selectmen, whose terms expired, were candidates for
+re-election. Lem Myrick had resigned from the school committee, not
+waiting until spring, as he had announced that he should do. Then
+there was the usual sentiment in favor of better roads and the usual
+opposition to it. Also there was the ever-present hope of the government
+appropriation for harbor improvement.
+
+Mr. Tidditt was one of the selectmen whose terms expired. In his dual
+capacity as selectman and town clerk Asaph felt himself to be a very
+important personage. To elect some one else in his place would be, he
+was certain, a calamity which would stagger the township. Therefore
+he was a busy man and made many calls upon his fellow citizens, not to
+influence their votes--he was careful to explain that--but just, as
+he said, "to see how they was gettin' along," and because he
+"thought consider'ble of 'em" and "took a real personal interest, you
+understand," in their affairs.
+
+To Captain Cy he came, naturally, for encouragement and help, being--as
+was his habit at such times--in a state of gloom and hopeless despair.
+
+"No use, Whit," he groaned. "'Tain't no use at all. I'm licked. I'm
+gettin' old and they don't want me no more. I guess I'd better get right
+up afore the votin' begins and tell 'em my health ain't strong enough to
+be town clerk no longer. It's better to do that than to be licked. Don't
+you think so?"
+
+"Sure thing!" replied his friend, with sarcasm. "If I was you I'd be
+toted in on a bed so they can see you're all ready for the funeral.
+Might have the doctor walkin' ahead, wipin' his eyes, and the joyful
+undertaker trottin' along astern. What's the particular disease that's
+got you by the collar just now--facial paralysis?"
+
+"No. What made you think of that?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'! Only I heard you stopped in at ten houses up to the west
+end of the town yesterday, and talked three quarters of an hour steady
+at everyone. That would fit me for the scrap heap inside of a week,
+and you've been goin' it ever since September nearly. What does ail
+you--anything?"
+
+"Why, no; nothin' special that way. Only there don't seem to be any
+enthusiasm for me, somehow. I just hint at my bein' a candidate and
+folks say, 'Yes, indeed. Looks like rain, don't it?' and that's about
+all."
+
+"Well, that hadn't ought to surprise you. If anybody came to me and
+says, 'The sun's goin' to rise to-morrer mornin',' I shouldn't dance
+on my hat and crow hallelujahs. Enthusiasm! Why, Ase, you've been a
+candidate every two years since Noah got the ark off the ways, or along
+there. And there ain't been any opposition to you yet, except that time
+when Uncle 'Bial Stickney woke up in the wrong place and hollered 'No,'
+out of principle, thinkin' he was to home with his wife. If I was you
+I'd go and take a nap. You'll read the minutes at selectmen's meetings
+for another fifty year, more or less; take my word for it. As for the
+school committee, that's different. I ain't made up my mind about that."
+
+There had been much discussion concerning the school committee. Who
+should be chosen to replace Mr. Myrick on the board was the gravest
+question to come before the meeting. Many names had been proposed at
+Simmons's and elsewhere, but some of those named had refused to run, and
+others had not, after further consideration, seemed the proper persons
+for the office. In the absence of Mr. Atkins, Tad Simpson was our leader
+in the political arena. But Tad so far had been mute.
+
+"Wait a while," he said. "There's some weeks afore town meetin' day.
+This is a serious business. We can't have no more--I mean no unsuitable
+man to fill such an important place as that. The welfare of our
+posterity," he added, and we all recognized the quotation, "depends upon
+the choice that's to be made."
+
+A choice was made, however, on the very next day but one after this
+declaration. A candidate announced himself. Asaph and Bailey hurried
+to the Cy Whittaker place with the news. Captain Cy was in the woodshed
+building a doll house for Bos'n. "Just for my own amusement," he hastily
+explained. "Somethin' for her to take along when she goes out West to
+Betsy."
+
+Mr. Tidditt was all smiles.
+
+"What do you think, Cy?" he cried. "The new school committee man's as
+good as elected. 'Lonzo Snow's goin' to take it."
+
+The captain laid down his plane.
+
+"'Lonzo Snow!" he repeated. "You don't say! Humph! Well, well!"
+
+"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Bailey. "He's come forward and says it's his duty
+to do so. He--"
+
+"Humph! His duty, hey? I wonder who pointed it out to him?"
+
+"Well, I don't know. But even Tad Simpson's glad; he says that he knows
+Heman will be pleased with THAT kind of a candidate and so he won't have
+to do any more huntin'. He thinks 'Lonzo's comin' out by himself this
+way is a kind of special Providence."
+
+"Yes, yes! I shouldn't wonder. Did you ever notice how dead sure Tad and
+his kind are that Providence is workin' with 'em? Seems to me 'twould
+be more satisfactory if we could get a sight of the other partner's
+signature to the deed."
+
+"What's the matter with you?" demanded Asaph. "You ain't findin' fault
+with 'Lonzo, are you? Ain't he a good man?"
+
+"Good! Sure thing he's good! Nobody can say he isn't and tell the
+truth."
+
+No one could truthfully speak ill of Alonzo Snow, that was a fact.
+He lived at the lower end of the village, was well to do, a leading
+cranberry grower, and very prominent in the church. A mild, easygoing
+person was Mr. Snow, with an almost too keen fear of doing the wrong
+thing and therefore prone to be guided by the opinion of others. He was
+distinctly not a politician.
+
+"Then what ails you?" asked Asaph hotly.
+
+"Why, nothin', maybe. Only I'm always suspicious when Tad pats
+Providence on the back. I generally figure that I can see through a
+doughnut, when there's a light behind the hole. Who is 'Lonzo's best
+friend in this town? Who does he chum with most of anybody?"
+
+"Why, Darius Ellis, I guess. You know it."
+
+"Um--hum. And Darius is on the committee--why?"
+
+"Well, I s'pose 'cause Heman Atkins thought he'd be a good feller to
+have there. But--"
+
+"Yes, and 'Lonzo's pew in church is right under the Atkins memorial
+window. The light from it makes a kind of halo round his bald head every
+Sunday."
+
+"Well, what of it? Heman, nor nobody else, could buy 'Lonzo Snow."
+
+"Buy him? Indeed they couldn't. But there are some things you get
+without buyin'--the measles, for instance. And the one that's catchin'
+'em don't know he's in danger till the speckles break out. Fellers, this
+committee voted in Phoebe Dawes by just two votes to one, and one of
+the two was Lem Myrick. Darius was against her. Now with Tad and his
+'Providence' puttin' in 'Lonzo Snow, and Heman Atkins settin' behind
+the screen workin' his Normal School music box so's they can hear the
+tune--well, Phoebe MAY stay this term out, but how about next?"
+
+"Hey? Why, I don't know. Anyhow, you're down on Phoebe as a thousand of
+brick. I don't see why you worry about HER. After the way she treated
+poor Bos'n and all."
+
+Captain Cy stirred uneasily and kicked a chip across the floor.
+
+"Well," he said, "well, I--I don't know's that's--That is, right's right
+and wrong's wrong. I've seen bullfights down yonder--" jerking his thumb
+over his shoulder in the vague direction of Buenos Ayres, "and every
+time my sympathy's been with the bull. Not that I loved the critter for
+his own sake, but because all Greaserdom was out to down him. From what
+I hear, this Phoebe Dawes--for all her pesky down-East stubbornness--is
+teachin' pretty well, and anyhow she's one little woman against Tad
+Simpson and Heman Atkins and--and Tad's special brand of Providence. She
+deserves a fair shake and, by the big dipper, she's goin' to have it!
+Look here, you two! how would I look on the school committee?"
+
+"You?" repeated the pair in concert. "YOU?"
+
+"Yes, me. I ain't a Solomon for wisdom, but I cal'late I'd be as near
+the top of the barrel as Darius Ellis, and only one or two layers under
+Eben Salters or 'Lonzo Snow. I'm a candidate--see?"
+
+"But--but, Whit," gasped the town clerk, "are you popular enough? Could
+you get elected?"
+
+"I don't know, but I can find out. You and Bailey 'll vote for me, won't
+you?"
+
+"Course we will, but--"
+
+"All right. There's two votes. A hundred and odd more'll put me in.
+Here goes for politics and popularity. I may be president yet; you can't
+tell. And say! this town meetin' won't be DULL, whichever way the cat
+jumps."
+
+This last was a safe prophecy. All dullness disappeared from Bayport the
+moment it became known that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was "out" for the
+school committee. The captain began his electioneering at once. That
+very afternoon he called upon three people--Eben Salters, Josiah Dimick,
+and Lemuel Myrick.
+
+Captain Salters was chairman of selectmen as well as chairman of the
+committee. He was a hard-headed old salt, who had made money in the
+Australian packet service. He had common sense, independence, and
+considerable influence in the town. Next to Congressman Atkins he was,
+perhaps, our leading citizen. And, more than all, he was not afraid,
+when he thought it necessary, to oppose the great Heman.
+
+"Well," he said reflectively, after listening to Captain Cy's brief
+statement of his candidacy, "I cal'late I'll stand in with you, Cy. I
+ain't got anything against 'Lonzo, but--but--well, consarn it! maybe
+that's the trouble. Maybe he's so darned good it makes me jealous.
+Anyhow, I'll do what I can for you."
+
+Joe Dimick laughed aloud. He was an iconoclast, seldom went to church,
+and was entirely lacking in reverence. Also he really liked the captain.
+
+"Ho, ho!" he crowed. "Whit, do you realize that you're underminin' this
+town's constitution? Oh, sartin, I'm with you, if it's only to see the
+fur fly! I do love a scrap."
+
+With Lem Myrick Captain Cy's policy was different. He gently reminded
+that gentleman of the painting contract, intimated that other favors
+might be forthcoming, and then, as a clincher, spoke of Tad Simpson's
+comment when Mr. Myrick voted for Phoebe Dawes.
+
+"Of course," he added, "if you think Tad's got a right to boss all hands
+and the cook, why, I ain't complainin'. Only, if _I_ was a painter doin'
+a good, high-class trade, and a one-hoss barber tried to dictate to me,
+I shouldn't bow down and tell him to kick easy as he could. Seems to me
+I'd kick first. But I'M no boss; I mustn't influence you."
+
+Lemuel was indignant.
+
+"No barber runs me," he declared. "You stand up for me when that
+townhall paintin's to be done and I'll work hard for you now, Cap'n
+Whittaker. 'Lonzo Snow's an elder and all that, but I can't help it.
+Anyway, his place was all fixed up a year ago and I didn't get the job.
+A feller has to look after himself these days."
+
+With these division commanders to lead their forces into the enemy's
+country and with Asaph and Bailey doing what they could to help, Captain
+Cy's campaign soon became worthy of respectful consideration. For a
+while Tad Simpson scoffed at the opposition; then he began to work
+openly for Mr. Snow. Later he marshaled his trusted officers around the
+pool table in the back room of the barber shop and confided to them that
+it was anybody's fight and that he was worried.
+
+"It's past bein' a joke," he said. "It's mighty serious. We've got to
+hustle, we have. Heman trusted me in this job, and if I fall down it 'll
+be bad for me and for you fellers, too. I wish he was home to run things
+himself, but he's got business down South there--some property he owns
+or somethin'--and says he can't leave. But we must win! By mighty! we've
+GOT to. So get every vote you can. Never mind how; just get 'em, that's
+all."
+
+Captain Cy was thoroughly enjoying himself. The struggle suited him to
+perfection. He was young, in spite of his fifty-five years, and this
+tussle against odds, reminding him of other tussles during his first
+seasons in business, aroused his energies and, as he expressed it,
+"stirred up his vitals and made him hop round like a dose of 'pain
+killer.'"
+
+He did not, however, forget Bos'n. He and she had their walks and their
+pleasant evenings together in spite of politics. He took the child into
+his confidence and told her of the daily gain, or loss, in votes, as
+if she were his own age. She understood a little of all this, and tried
+hard to understand the rest, preaching between times to Georgianna how
+"the bad men were trying to beat Uncle Cyrus because he was gooder than
+they, but they couldn't, 'cause everybody loved him so." Georgianna had
+some doubts, but she kept them to herself.
+
+Among the things in Bos'n's "box" was a long envelope, sealed with wax
+and with a lawyer's name printed in one corner. The captain opened it,
+at Emily's suggestion, and was astonished to find that the inclosure was
+a will, dated some years back, in which Mrs. Mary Thomas, the child's
+mother, left to her daughter all her personal property and also the land
+in Orham, Massachusetts, which had been willed to her by her own mother.
+There was a note with the will in which Mrs. Thomas stated that no one
+save herself had known of this land, not even her husband. She had not
+told him because she feared that, like everything else, it would be
+sold and the money wasted in dissipation. "He suspected something of the
+sort," she added, "but he did not find out the secret, although he--"
+She had evidently scratched out what followed, but Captain Cy mentally
+filled in the blank with details of abuse and cruelty. "If anything
+happens to me," concluded the widow, "I want the land sold and the money
+used for Emily's maintenance as long as it lasts."
+
+The captain went over to Orham and looked up the land. It was a strip
+along the shore, almost worthless, and unsalable at present. The taxes
+had been regularly paid each year by Mary Thomas, who had sent money
+orders from Concord. The self-denial represented by these orders was not
+a little.
+
+"Never mind, Bos'n," said Captain Cy, when he returned from the Orham
+trip. "Your ancestral estates ain't much now but a sand-flea menagerie.
+However, if this section ever does get to be the big summer resort folks
+are prophesying for it, you may sell out to some millionaire and you and
+me'll go to Europe. Meantime, we'll try to keep afloat, if the Harniss
+Bank don't spring a leak."
+
+On the day following this conversation he took a flying trip to Ostable,
+the county seat, returning the same evening, and saying nothing to
+anyone about his reasons for going nor what he had done while there.
+
+Bos'n's birthday was the eighteenth of November. The captain, in spite
+of the warmth of his struggle for committee honors, determined to have a
+small celebration on the afternoon and evening of that day. It was to be
+a surprise for Emily, and, after school was over, some of her particular
+friends among the scholars were to come in, there was to be a cake with
+eight candles on it, and a supper at which ice cream--lemon and vanilla,
+prepared by Mrs. Cahoon--was to be the principal feature. Also there
+would be games and all sorts of fun.
+
+Captain Cy was tremendously interested in the party. He spent hours with
+Georgianna and the Board of Strategy, preparing the list of guests.
+His cunning in ascertaining from the unsuspecting child who, among her
+schoolmates, she would like to invite, was deep and guileful.
+
+"Now, Bos'n," he would say, "suppose you was goin' to clear out and
+leave this town for a spell, who--"
+
+"But, Uncle Cyrus--" Bos'n's eyes grew frightened and moist in a moment,
+"I ain't going, am I? I don't want to go."
+
+"No, no! Course you ain't goin'--that is, not for a long while, anyhow,"
+with a sidelong look at the members of the "Board," then present. "But
+just suppose you and me was startin' on that Europe trip. Who'd you want
+to say good-by to most of all?"
+
+Each name given by the child was surreptitiously penciled by Bailey on
+a scrap of paper. The list was a long one and, when the great afternoon
+came, the Whittaker house was crowded.
+
+The supper was a brilliant success. So was the cake, brought in with
+candles ablaze, by the grinning Georgianna. Beside the children there
+were some older people present, Bailey and Asaph, of course, and the
+"regulars" from the perfect boarding house, who had been invited because
+it was fairly certain that Mr. Bangs wouldn't be allowed to attend
+if his wife did not. Miss Dawes had also been asked, at Bos'n's
+well-understood partiality, but she had declined.
+
+Toward the end of the meal, when the hilarity at the long table was at
+its height, an unexpected guest made his appearance. There was a knock
+at the dining-room door, and Georgianna, opening it, was petrified to
+behold, standing upon the step, no less a personage than the Honorable
+Heman Atkins, supposed by most of us to be then somewhere in that wide
+stretch of territory vaguely termed "the South."
+
+"Good evening, all," said the illustrious one, removing his silk hat
+and stepping into the room. "What a charming scene! I trust I do not
+intrude."
+
+Georgianna was still speechless, in which unwonted condition she was not
+alone, Messrs. Bangs and Tidditt being also stricken dumb. But Captain
+Cy rose to the occasion grandly.
+
+"Intrude?" he repeated. "Not a mite of it! Mighty glad to see you,
+Heman. Here, give us your hat. Pull up to the table. When did you get
+back? Thought you was in the orange groves somewheres."
+
+"Ahem! I was. Yes, I was in that neighborhood. But it is hard to stay
+away from dear old Bayport. Home ties, you know, home ties. I came down
+on the morning train, but I stopped over at Harniss on business and
+drove across. Ahem! Yes. The housekeeper informed me that my daughter
+was here, and, seeing the lights and hearing the laughter, I couldn't
+resist making this impromptu call. I'm sure as an old friend and
+neighbor, Cyrus, you will pardon me. Alicia, darling, come and kiss
+papa."
+
+Darling Alicia accepted the invitation with a rustle of silk and an
+ecstatic squeal of delight. During this affecting scene Asaph whispered
+to Bailey that he "cal'lated" Heman had had a hurry-up distress signal
+from Simpson; to which sage observation Mr. Bangs replied with a
+vigorous nod, showing that Captain Cy's example had had its effect,
+in that they no longer stood in such awe of their representative at
+Washington.
+
+However true Asaph's calculation might have been, Mr. Atkins made no
+mention of politics. He was urbanity itself. He drew up to the table,
+partook of the ice cream and cake, and greeted his friends and neighbors
+with charming benignity.
+
+"Wan't it sweet of him to come?" whispered Miss Phinney to Keturah.
+"And him so nice and everyday and sociable. And when Cap'n Whittaker's
+runnin' against his friend, as you might say."
+
+Keturah replied with a dubious shake of the head.
+
+"I think Captain Cyrus is goin' to get into trouble," she said. "I've
+preached to Bailey more 'n a little about keepin' clear, but he won't."
+
+"Games in t'other room now," ordered Captain Cy. But Mr. Atkins held up
+his hand.
+
+"Pardon me, just a moment, Cyrus, if you please," he said. "I feel that
+on this happy occasion, it is my duty and pleasure to propose a toast."
+He held his lemonade glass aloft. "Permit me," he proclaimed, "to wish
+many happy birthdays and long life to Miss--I beg pardon, Cyrus, but
+what is your little friend's name?"
+
+"Emily Richards Thayer," replied the captain, carried away by enthusiasm
+and off his guard for once.
+
+"To Em--" began Heman. Then he paused and for the first time in his
+public life seemed at a loss for words. "What?" he asked, and his hand
+shook. "I fear I didn't catch the name."
+
+"No wonder," laughed Mr. Tidditt. "Cy's so crazy to-night he'd forget
+his own name. Know what you said, Cy? You said she was Emily Richards
+THAYER! Haw! haw! She ain't a Thayer, Heman; her last name's Thomas.
+She's Emily Richards Thayer's granddaughter though. Her granddad was
+John Thayer, over to Orham. Good land! I forgot. Well, what of it, Cy?
+'Twould have to be known some time."
+
+Everyone looked at Captain Cy then. No one observed Mr. Atkins for the
+moment. When they did turn their gaze upon the great man he had sunk
+back in his chair, the glass of lemonade was upset upon the cloth before
+him, and he, with a very white face, was staring at Emily Richards
+Thomas.
+
+"What's the matter, Heman?" asked the captain anxiously. "Ain't sick,
+are you?"
+
+The congressman started.
+
+"Oh, no!" he said hurriedly. "Oh, no! but I'm afraid I've soiled your
+cloth. It was awkward of me. I--I really, I apologize--I--"
+
+He wiped his face with his handkerchief. Captain Cy laughed.
+
+"Oh, never mind the tablecloth," he said. "I cal'late it's too soiled
+already to be hurt by a bath, even a lemon one. Well, you've all heard
+the toast. Full glasses, now. Here's TO you, Bos'n! Drink hearty, all
+hands, and give the ship a good name."
+
+If the heartiness with which they drank is a criterion, the good name
+of the ship was established. Then the assembly adjourned to the sitting
+room and--yes, even the front parlor. Not since the days when that
+sacred apartment had been desecrated by the irreverent city boarders,
+during the Howes regime, had its walls echoed to such whoops and shouts
+of laughter. The children played "Post Office" and "Copenhagen" and
+"Clap in, Clap out," while the grown folks looked on.
+
+"Ain't they havin' a fine time, Cap?" gushed Miss Phinney. "Don't it
+make you wish you was young again?"
+
+"Angie," replied Captain Cy solemnly, "don't tempt me; don't! If they
+keep on playin' that Copenhagen and you stand right alongside of me,
+there's no tellin' what 'll happen."
+
+Angeline declared that he was "turrible," but she faced the threatened
+danger nevertheless, and bravely remained where she was.
+
+Mr. Atkins went home early in the evening, taking Alicia with him. He
+explained that his long railroad journey had--er--somewhat fatigued
+him and, though he hated to leave such a--er--delightful gathering,
+he really felt that, under the circumstances, his departure would be
+forgiven. Captain Cy opened the door for him and stood watching as,
+holding his daughter by the hand, he marched majestically down the path.
+
+"Hum!" mused the captain aloud. "I guess he has been travelin' nights.
+Thought he ought to be here quick, I shouldn't wonder. He does look
+tired, that's a fact, and kind of pale, seemed to me."
+
+"Well, there, now!" exclaimed Mrs. Tripp, who was looking over his
+shoulder. "Did you see that?"
+
+"No; what was it?"
+
+"Why, when he went to open his gate, one of them arbor vity bushes he
+set out this spring knocked his hat off. And he never seemed to notice,
+but went right on. If 'Licia hadn't picked it up, that nice new hat
+would have been layin' there yet. That's the most undignified thing ever
+I see Heman Atkins do. He MUST be tired out, poor man!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+
+"Whit," asked Asaph next day, "wan't you surprised to see Heman last
+night?"
+
+Captain Cy nodded. He was once more busy with the doll house, the
+construction of which had progressed slowly of late, owing to the
+demands which the party and politics made upon its builder's time.
+
+"Yup," he said, "I sartinly was. Pretty good sign, I shouldn't wonder.
+Looks as if friend Tad had found the tide settin' too strong against him
+and had whistled for a tug. All right; the more scared the other side
+get, the better for us."
+
+"But what in the world made Heman come over and have supper? He never
+so much as stepped foot in the house afore, did he? That's the biggest
+conundrum of all."
+
+"Well, I guess I've got the answer. Strikes me that Heman's sociableness
+is the best sign yet. Heman's a slick article, and when he sees there's
+danger of losin' the frostin' on the cake he takes care to scrape the
+burnt part off the bottom. I may be school committeeman after town
+meetin'. He'll move all creation to stop me, of course--in his quiet,
+round-the-corner way--but, if I do win out, he wants to be in a position
+to take me one side and tell me that he's glad of it; he felt all along
+I was the right feller for the job, and if there's anything he can do to
+make things easier for me just call on him. That's the way I size it up,
+anyhow."
+
+"Cy, I never see anybody like you. You're dead set against Heman, and
+have been right along. And he's never done anything to you, fur's I see.
+He's given a lot to the town, and he's always been the most looked-up-to
+man we've got. Joe Dimick and two or three more chronic growls have been
+the only ones to sling out hints against him, till you come. Course
+I'm working for you, tooth and nail, and I will say that you seem to be
+gettin' the votes some way or other. But if Heman SHOULD step right out
+and say: 'Feller citizens, I'm behind Tad Simpson in this fight, and as
+a favor to me and 'cause I think it's right and best, I want 'Lonzo Snow
+elected'--well, _I_ don't believe you'd have more'n one jack and a ten
+spot to count for game."
+
+"Probably not, Ase; I presume likely not. But you take a day off some
+time and see if you can remember that Heman EVER stepped right out and
+said things. Blame it! that's just it. As for WHY he riles me up and
+makes me stubborn as a balky mule, I don't know exactly. All I'm sure
+is that he does. Maybe it's 'cause I don't like the way he wears his
+whiskers. Maybe it's because he's so top-lofty and condescendin'. A
+feller can whistle to me and say: 'Come on, Bill,' and I'll trot at his
+heels all day. But when he pats me on the head and says: 'There there!
+nice doggie. Go under the bed and lay down,' my back bristles up and I
+commence to growl right off. There's consider'ble Whittaker in me, as
+I've told you before."
+
+The town clerk pondered over this rather unsatisfactory line of
+reasoning for some minutes. His companion fitted a wooden chimney on the
+doll house, found it a trifle out of plumb, and proceeded to whittle
+a shaving off the lower edge. Then Asaph sighed, as one who gives up a
+perplexing riddle, put his hand in his pocket, and produced a bundle of
+papers.
+
+"I made out a list of fellers down to the east'ard that I'm goin' to
+see this afternoon," he said. "Some of 'em I guess 'll vote for you,
+but most of 'em are pretty sartin' for 'Lonzo. However, I--Where is
+that list? I had it somewhere's. And--well, I swan! I come pretty near
+forgettin' it myself. I'm 'most as bad as Bailey."
+
+From the bundle of papers he produced a crumpled envelope.
+
+"That Bailey," he observed, "must be in love, I cal'late, though I don't
+know who with. Ketury, I s'pose, 'cordin' to law and order, but--Well,
+anyhow, he's gettin' more absent-minded all the time. Here's a letter
+for you, Cy, that he got at the post-office a week ago Monday. 'Twas the
+night of the church sociable, and he had on his Sunday cutaway, and
+he ain't worn it sence, till the party yesterday. When he took off the
+coat, goin' to bed, the letter fell out of it. I guess he was ashamed to
+fetch it round himself, so he asked me to do it. Better late than never,
+hey? Here's that list at last."
+
+He produced the list and handed it to the captain for inspection. The
+latter looked it over, made a few comments and suggestions, and told his
+friend to heave ahead and land as many of the listed as possible. This
+Mr. Tidditt promised to do, and, replacing the papers in his pocket,
+started for the gate.
+
+"Oh! Say, Ase!"
+
+The town clerk, his hand on the gate latch, turned.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked. "Don't keep me no longer'n you can help. I
+got work to do, I have."
+
+"All right, I won't stop you. Only fallin' in love is kind of epidemic
+down at the boardin' house, I guess. Who is it that's got you in
+tow--Matildy?"
+
+"What are you talkin' about? Didn't I tell you to quit namin' me with
+Matildy Tripp? I like a joke as well as most folks, but when it's wore
+into the ground I--"
+
+"Sho, sho! Don't get mad. It's your own fault. You said that
+absent-mindedness was a love symptom, so I just got to thinkin', that's
+all. That letter that Bailey forgot--you haven't given it to me yet."
+
+Asaph turned red and hastily snatched the papers from his pocket. He
+strode back to the door of the woodshed, handed his friend the crumpled
+envelope, and stalked off without another word. The captain chuckled,
+laid the letter on the bench beside him and went on with his work. It
+was perhaps ten minutes later when, happening to glance at the postmark
+on the envelope, he saw that it was "Concord, N. H."
+
+Asaph's vote-gathering trip "to the east'ard" made a full day for him.
+He returned to the perfect boarding house just at supper time. During
+the meal he realized that Mr. Bangs seemed to be trying to attract his
+attention. Whenever he glanced in that gentleman's direction his glance
+was met by winks and mystifying shakes of the head. Losing patience at
+last, he demanded to know what was the matter.
+
+"Want to say somethin' to me, do you?" he inquired briskly. "If you do,
+out with it! Don't set there workin' your face as if 'twas wound up,
+like a clockwork image."
+
+This remark had the effect of turning all the other faces toward
+Bailey's. He was very much upset.
+
+"No, no!" he stammered. "No, no! I don't want you for nothin'. Was I
+makin' my face go? I--I didn't know it. I've been washin' carriages and
+cleanin' up the barn all day and I cal'late I've overdone. I'm gettin'
+old, and hard work's likely to bring on shakin' palsy to old folks."
+
+His wife tartly observed that, if WORK was the cause of it, she guessed
+he was safe from palsy for quite a spell yet. At any rate, a marked
+recovery set in and he signaled no more during the meal. But when it was
+over, and his task as dish-wiper completed, he hurried out of doors and
+found Mr. Tidditt, shivering in the November wind, on the front porch.
+
+"Now what is it?" asked Asaph sharply. "I know there's somethin' and
+I've froze to death by sections waitin' to hear it."
+
+"Have you seen Cy?" whispered Bailey, glancing fearfully over his
+shoulder at the lighted windows of the house.
+
+"No, not sence mornin'. Why?"
+
+"Well, there's somethin' the matter with him. Somethin' serious. I was
+swabbin' decks in the barn about eleven o'clock, when he come postin'
+in, white and shaky, and so nervous he couldn't stand still. Looked as
+if he had had a stroke almost. I--"
+
+"Godfrey scissors! You don't s'pose Heman's comin' back has knocked out
+his chances for the committee, do you?"
+
+"No, sir-ee! 'twan't that. Cy's anxious to be elected and all, but you
+know his politics are more of a joke with him than anything else. And
+any rap Heman or Tad could give him would only make him fight harder.
+And he wouldn't talk politics at all; didn't seem to give a durn about
+'em, one way or t'other. No, 'twas somethin' about that letter, the one
+I forgot so long. He wanted to know why in time I hadn't given it to him
+when it fust come. He was real ugly about it, for him, and kept pacin'
+up and down the barn floor and layin' into me, till I begun to think he
+was crazy. I guess he see my feelin's were hurt, 'cause, just afore he
+left, he held out his hand and said I mustn't mind his talk; he'd been
+knocked on his beam ends, he said, and wan't really responsible."
+
+"Wouldn't he say what had knocked him?"
+
+"No, couldn't get nothin' out of him. And when he quit he went off
+toward home, slappin' his fists together and actin' as if he didn't see
+the road across his bows. Now, you know how cool and easy goin' Whit
+generally is. I swan to man, Ase! he made me so sorry for him I didn't
+know what to do."
+
+"Ain't you been up to see him sence?"
+
+"No, Ketury was sot on havin' the barn cleaned, and she stood over
+me with a rope's end, as you might say. I couldn't get away a minute,
+though I made up more'n a dozen errands at Simmons's and the like of
+that. You hold on till I sneak into the entry and get my cap and we'll
+put for there now. I won't be but a jiffy. I'm worried."
+
+They entered the yard of the Cy Whittaker place together and approached
+the side door. As they stood on the steps Asaph touched his chum on the
+arm and pointed to the window beside them. The shade was half drawn and
+beneath it they had a clear view of the interior of the sitting room.
+Captain Cy was in the rocker before the stove, holding Bos'n in his
+arms. The child was sound asleep, her yellow braid hanging over the
+captain's broad shoulder. He was gazing down into her face with a look
+which was so full of yearning and love that it brought a choke into the
+throats of the pair who saw it.
+
+They entered the dining room. The captain sprang from his chair and,
+still holding the little girl close against his breast, met them at
+the sitting-room door. When he saw who the visitors were, he caught his
+breath, almost with a sob, and seemed relieved.
+
+"S-s-h-h!" he whispered warningly. "She's asleep."
+
+The members of the Board of Strategy nodded understandingly and sat
+down upon the sofa. Captain Cy tiptoed to the bedroom, turned back the
+bedclothes with one hand and laid Bos'n down. They saw him tuck her
+carefully in and then stoop and kiss her. He returned to the sitting
+room and closed the door behind him.
+
+"We see she was asleep afore we come in," explained Asaph. "We see you
+and her through the window."
+
+The captain looked hurriedly at the window indicated. Then he stepped
+over and pulled the shade down to the sill, doing the same with the
+curtains of the other two windows.
+
+"What's the matter?" inquired Bailey, trying to be facetious. "'Fraid of
+'Lonzo's crowd spyin' on us?"
+
+Captain Cy did not reply. He did not even sit down, but remained
+standing, his back to the stove.
+
+"Well?" he asked shortly. "Did you fellers want to see me for anything
+'special?"
+
+"Wanted to see what had struck you all to once," replied Mr. Tidditt.
+"Bailey says you scared him half to death this forenoon. And you look
+now as if somebody's ghost had riz and hollered 'Boo!' at you. For the
+land sakes, Whit, what IS it?"
+
+The captain drew his hand across his forehead.
+
+"Ghost?" he repeated absently. "No, I haven't SEEN a ghost. There!
+there! don't mind me. I ain't real well to-day, I guess." He smiled
+crookedly.
+
+"Don't you want to hear about my vote-grabbin' cruise?" asked Tidditt.
+"I was flatterin' myself you'd be tickled to hear I'd done so well. Why,
+even Marcellus Parker says he may vote for you--if he makes up his mind
+that way."
+
+Marcellus was a next-door neighbor of Alonzo Snow's. But Captain Cy
+didn't seem to care.
+
+"Hey?" he murmured. "Yes. Well?"
+
+"WELL! Is that all you've got to say? Are you really sick, Cy? Or is
+Bos'n sick?"
+
+"No!" was the answer, almost fierce in its utterance. "She isn't sick.
+Don't be a fool."
+
+"What's foolish about that? I didn't know but she might be. There's
+mumps in town and--"
+
+"She's all right; so shut up, will you! There, Ase!" he added. "I'm the
+fool myself. Don't mind my barkin'; I don't mean it. I am about sick, I
+cal'late. Be better to-morrer, maybe."
+
+"What's got into you? Was that letter of Bailey's--"
+
+"Hush!" The captain held up his hand. "I thought I heard a team."
+
+"Depot wagon, most likely," said Bailey. "About time for it! Humph!
+seems to be stoppin', don't it? Was you expectin' anybody? Shall I go
+and--"
+
+"No! Set still."
+
+The pair on the sofa sat still. Captain Cy stood like a statue in the
+middle of the floor. He squared his shoulders and jammed his clenched
+fists into his pockets. Steps crunched the gravel of the walk. There
+came a knock at the door of the dining room.
+
+Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of his
+own ships, the captain went to answer the knock. They heard the door
+open, and then a man's voice asked:
+
+"Is this Cap'n Whittaker?"
+
+"Yes," was the short answer.
+
+"Well, Cap, I guess you don't know me, though maybe you know some of my
+family. Ha, ha! Don't understand that, hey? Well, you let me in and I'll
+explain the joke."
+
+The captain's reply was calm and deliberate.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if I understood it," he said. "Come in. Don't--" The
+remainder of the sentence was whispered and the listeners on the sofa
+could not hear it. A moment later Captain Cy entered the sitting room,
+followed by his caller.
+
+The latter was a stranger. He was a broad-shouldered man of medium
+height, with a yellowish mustache and brown hair. He was dressed in
+rather shabby clothes, without an overcoat, and he had a soft felt hat
+in his hand. The most noticeable thing about him was a slight hesitancy
+in his walk. He was not lame, he did not limp, yet his left foot seemed
+to halt for an instant as he brought it forward in the step. They
+learned afterwards that it had been hurt in a mine cave-in. He carried
+himself with a swagger, and, after his entrance, there was a perceptible
+aroma of alcohol in the room.
+
+He stared at the Board of Strategy and the stare was returned in
+full measure. Bailey and Asaph were wildly curious. They, of course,
+connected the stranger's arrival with the mysterious letter and the
+captain's perturbation of the day.
+
+But their curiosity was not to be satisfied, at least not then.
+
+"How are you, gents?" hailed the newcomer cheerfully. "Like the looks of
+me, do you?"
+
+Captain Cy cut off further conversation.
+
+"Ase," he said, "this--er--gentleman and I have got some business to
+talk over. I know you're good enough friends of mine not to mind if
+I ask you to clear out. You'll understand. You WILL understand, boys,
+won't you?" he added, almost entreatingly.
+
+"Sartin sure!" replied Mr. Tidditt, rising hurriedly. "Don't say another
+word, Whit." And the mystified Bangs concurred with a "Yes, yes! Why, of
+course! Didn't have nothin' that amounts to nothin' to stay for anyhow.
+See you to-morrer, Cy."
+
+Outside and at the gate they stopped and looked at each other.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Asaph. "If that ain't the strangest thing! Who was
+that feller? Where'd he come from? Did you notice how Cy acted? Seemed
+to be holdin' himself in by main strength."
+
+"Did you smell the rum on him?" returned Bailey. "On that t'other chap,
+I mean? Didn't he look like a reg'lar no-account to you? And say, Ase,
+didn't he remind you of somebody you'd seen somewheres--kind of, in a
+way?"
+
+They walked home in a dazed state, asking unanswerable questions and
+making profitless guesses. But Asaph's final remark seemed to sum up the
+situation.
+
+"There's trouble comin' of this, Bailey," he declared. "And it's trouble
+for Cy Whittaker, I'm afraid. Poor old Cy! Well, WE'LL stand by him,
+anyhow. I don't believe he'll sleep much to-night. Didn't look as though
+he would, did he? Who IS that feller?"
+
+If he had seen Captain Cy, at two o'clock the next morning, sitting
+by Bos'n's bedside and gazing hopelessly at the child, he would have
+realized that, if his former predictions were wiped off the slate and he
+could be judged by the one concerning the captain's sleepless night, he
+might thereafter pose as a true prophet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A BARGAIN OFF
+
+
+"Mornin', Georgianna," said Captain Cy to his housekeeper as the latter
+unlocked the back door of the Whittaker house next morning. "I'm a
+little ahead of you this time."
+
+Miss Taylor, being Bayport born and bred, was an early riser. She lodged
+with her sister, in Bassett's Hollow, a good half mile from the Cy
+Whittaker place, but she was always on hand at the latter establishment
+by six each morning, except Sundays. Now she glanced quickly at the
+clock. The time was ten minutes to six.
+
+"Land sakes!" she exclaimed. "I should say you was! What in the world
+got you up so early? Ain't sick, are you?"
+
+"No," replied the captain wearily. "I ain't sick. I didn't sleep very
+well last night, that's all."
+
+Georgianna looked sharply at him. His face was haggard and his eyes had
+dark circles under them.
+
+"Humph!" she grunted. "No, I guess you didn't. Looks to me as if you'd
+been up all night." Then she added an anxious query: "'Tain't Bos'n--she
+ain't sick, I hope?"
+
+"No. She's all right. I say, Georgianna, you put on an extry plate this
+mornin'. Got company for breakfast."
+
+The housekeeper was surprised.
+
+"For breakfast?" she repeated. "Land of goodness! who's comin' for
+breakfast? I never heard of company droppin' in for breakfast. That's
+one meal folks generally get to home. Who is it? Mr. Tidditt? Has Ketury
+turned him out door because he's too bad an example for her husband?"
+
+"No, 'tain't Ase. It's a--a friend of mine. Well, not exactly a friend,
+maybe, but an acquaintance from out of town. He came last evenin'. He's
+up in the spare bedroom."
+
+"Well, I never! Come unexpected, didn't he? I wish I'd known he was
+comin'. That spare room bed ain't been aired I don't know when."
+
+"I guess he can stand it. I cal'late he's slept in consider'ble
+worse--Hum! Yes, he did come kind of sudden."
+
+"What's his name?"
+
+"What difference does that make? I don't know's his name makes any odds
+about gettin' his breakfast for him."
+
+Georgianna was hurt. Her easy-going employer had never used this tone
+before when addressing her.
+
+"Oh!" she sniffed. "Is THAT the way you feel? All right! I can mind my
+own business, thank you. I only asked because it's convenient sometimes
+to know whether to call a person Bill Smith or Sol Jones. But I don't
+care if it's Nebuchadnezzar. I know when to keep my tongue still, I
+guess."
+
+She flounced over to the range. Captain Cy looked ashamed of himself.
+
+"I'm kind of out of sorts to-day," he said. "Got some headache. Why, his
+name is--is--yes, 'tis Smith, come to think of it--John Smith. Funny you
+should guess right, wan't it?"
+
+"Humph!" was the ungracious answer. "Names don't interest me, I tell
+you."
+
+The captain was in the dining room when Bos'n appeared.
+
+"Good morning, Uncle Cyrus," she said. "You've been waiting, haven't
+you? Am I late? I didn't mean to be."
+
+"No, no! you ain't late. Early, if anything. Breakfast ain't quite ready
+yet. Come here and set in my lap. I want to talk to you."
+
+He took her on his knee. She looked up into his face.
+
+"What's the matter, Uncle Cy?" she asked. "What makes you so sober?"
+
+"Sober? If you ain't the oldest young one for eight years I ever saw!
+Why, I ain't sober. No, no! Say, Bos'n, do you like your school as well
+as ever?"
+
+"Yes, sir. I like it better all the time."
+
+"Do, hey? And that teacher woman--go on likin' her?"
+
+The child nodded emphatically. "Yes, sir," she said. "And I haven't been
+kept after since that once."
+
+"Sho! sho! Course you ain't'! So you think Bayport's as nice as Concord,
+do you?"
+
+"Oh! lots nicer! If mamma was only here I'd never want to be anywhere
+else. And not then, maybe, unless you was there, too."
+
+"Hum! Want to know! Say, Bos'n, how would you feel if you had to go
+somewheres else?"
+
+"To live? Have we got to? I'd feel dreadful, of course. But if you've
+got to go, Uncle Cyrus, why--"
+
+"Me? No; I ain't got to go anywheres. But 'twas you I was thinkin' of.
+Wouldn't want to leave the old man, hey?"
+
+"To leave YOU! Oh, Uncle Cyrus!"
+
+She was staring at him now and her chin was trembling.
+
+"Uncle," she demanded, "you ain't going to send me away? Haven't I been
+a good girl?"
+
+The captain's lips shut tight. He waited a moment before replying.
+"'Deed you've been a good girl!" he said brusquely. "I never saw a
+better one. No, I ain't goin' to SEND you away. Don't you worry about
+that."
+
+"But Alicia Atkins said one time you told somebody you was going to send
+me out West, after a while. I didn't believe it, then, she's so mean,
+but she said you said--"
+
+"SAID!" Captain Cy groaned. "The Lord knows what I ain't said! I've been
+a fool, dearie, and it's a judgment on me, I guess."
+
+"But ain't you goin' to keep me? I--I--"
+
+She sobbed. The captain stroked her hair.
+
+"Keep you?" he muttered. "Yes, by the big dipper! I'm goin' to keep you,
+if I can--if I can."
+
+"Hello!" said a voice. The pair looked up. The man who had arrived on
+the previous night stood in the sitting-room doorway. How long he had
+been standing there the captain did not know. What he did know was that
+Mr. John Smith by daylight was not more prepossessing than the same
+individual viewed by the aid of a lamp.
+
+Emily saw the stranger and slid from Captain Cy's knees. The captain
+rose.
+
+"Bos'n," he said, "this is Mr.--er--Smith, who's goin' to make us a
+little visit. I want you to shake hands with him."
+
+The girl dutifully approached Mr. Smith and extended her hand. He took
+it and held it in his own.
+
+"Is this the--" he began.
+
+Captain Cy bowed assent.
+
+"Yes," he said, his eyes fixed on the visitor's face. "Yes. Don't forget
+what you said last night."
+
+Smith shook his head.
+
+"No," he replied. "I ain't the kind that forgets, unless it pays pretty
+well. There's some things I've remembered for quite a few years."
+
+He looked the child over from head to foot and his brows drew together
+in an ugly frown.
+
+"So this is her, hey?" he muttered musingly. "Humph! Well, I don't know
+as I'd have guessed it. Favors the other side of the house more--the
+respectable side, I should say. Still, there's a little brand of the
+lost sheep, hey? Enough to prove property, huh? Mark of the beast, I
+s'pose the psalm-singin' relations would call it. D--n em! I--"
+
+"Steady!" broke in the captain. Mr. Smith started, seemed to remember
+where he was, and his manner changed.
+
+"Come and see me, honey," he coaxed, drawing the girl toward him by
+the hand he was holding. "Ain't you got a nice kiss for me this fine
+mornin'? Don't be scared. I won't bite."
+
+Bos'n looked shrinkingly at Mr. Smith's unshaven cheeks and then at
+Captain Cy. The latter's face was absolutely devoid of expression. He
+merely nodded.
+
+So Emily kissed one of the bristling cheeks. The kiss was returned full
+upon the mouth. She wiped her lips and darted away to her chair by the
+table.
+
+"What's your hurry?" inquired the visitor. "Don't I do it right? Been
+some time since I kissed a girl--a little one, anyhow," he added,
+winking at his host. "Never mind, we'll know each other better by and
+by."
+
+He looked on in wondering disgust as Bos'n said her "grace."
+
+"What in blazes!" he burst out when the little blessing was finished.
+"Who put her up to that? A left-over from the psalm-singers, is it?"
+
+"I don't know," answered the captain, speaking with deliberation. "I do
+know that I like to have her do it and that she shall do it as long's
+she's at this table."
+
+"Oh! she shall, hey? Well, I reckon--"
+
+"She shall--AS LONG AS SHE'S AT THIS TABLE. Is that real plain and
+understandable, or shall I write it down?"
+
+There was an icy clearness in the captain's tone which seemed to freeze
+further conversation on the part of Mr. Smith. He merely grunted and ate
+his breakfast in silence. He ate a great deal and ate it rapidly.
+
+Bos'n departed for school when the meal was over. Captain Cy helped her
+on with her coat and hood. Then, as he always did of late, he kissed her
+good-by.
+
+"Hi!" called Mr. Smith from the sitting room. "Ain't I in on that? If
+there's any kisses goin' I want to take a hand before the deal's over."
+
+"Must I?" whispered Bos'n pleadingly. "Must I, Uncle Cy? I don't want
+to. I don't like him."
+
+"Come on!" called Mr. Smith. "I'm gettin' over my bashfulness fast.
+Hurry up!"
+
+"Must I kiss him, Uncle Cyrus?" whispered Bos'n. "MUST I?"
+
+"No!" snapped the captain sharply. "Trot right along now, dearie. Be a
+good girl. Good-by."
+
+He entered the sitting room. His guest had found the Sunday box and was
+lighting one of his host's cigars.
+
+"Well," he inquired easily, "what's next on the bill? Anything goin' on
+in this forsaken hole?"
+
+"There's a barber shop down the road. You might go there first, I should
+say. Not that you need it, but just as a novelty like."
+
+"Humph! I don't know. What's the matter with your razor?"
+
+"Nothin'. At least I ain't found anything wrong with it yet."
+
+"Oh! Say, look here! you're a queer guy, you are. I ain't got you right
+in my mind yet. One minute butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, and the
+next you're fresh as a new egg. What IS your little game, anyway? You've
+got one, so don't tell me you ain't."
+
+Captain Cy was plainly embarrassed. He gazed at the "Shore to Shore"
+picture on the wall as he answered.
+
+"No game about it," he said. "Last night you and I agreed that nothin'
+was to be said for a few days. You was to stay here and I'd try to make
+you comfort'ble, that's all. Then we'd see about that other matter,
+settle on a fair price, and--"
+
+"Yes, I know. That's all right. But you're too willin'. There's
+something else. Say!" The ugly scowl was in evidence again. "Say, look
+here, you! you ain't got somethin' up your sleeve, have you? There ain't
+somethin' more that I don't know about, is there? No more secrets than
+that--"
+
+"No! You hear me? No! You'll get your rights, and maybe a little more
+than your rights, if you're decent. And it'll pay you to be decent."
+
+"Humph!" Mr. Smith seemed to be thinking. Then he added, looking up
+keenly under his brows: "How about the--the incumbrance on the property?
+Of course, when I go I'll have to take that with me, and--"
+
+Captain Cy interrupted.
+
+"There! there!" he exclaimed, and there was a shake in his voice,
+"there! there! Don't let's talk about such things now. I--I--Let's wait
+a spell. We'll have some more plans to make, maybe. If you want to use
+my razor it's right in that drawer. Just help yourself."
+
+The visitor laughed aloud. He nodded as if satisfied. "Ho! ho!" he
+chuckled. "I see! Humph! yes--I see. The fools ain't all dead, and
+there's none to beat an old one. Well! well! All right, pard! I guess
+you and me'll get along fine. I've changed my mind; I WILL go to the
+barber shop, after all. Only I'm a little shy of dust just at present.
+So, to oblige a friend, maybe you'll hand over, huh?"
+
+The captain reached into his pocket, extracted a two-dollar bill, and
+passed it to the speaker. Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head.
+
+"You can't come in on that, pard," he said. "The limit's five."
+
+Captain Cy took back the bill and exchanged it for one with a V in each
+corner. The visitor took it and turned toward the door.
+
+"Ta! ta!" he said, taking his hat from the peg in the dining room.
+"I'm off for the clippers. When I come back I'll be the sweetest little
+Willie in the diggin's. So long."
+
+Bos'n and the captain sat down to the dinner at noon alone. Mr. Smith
+had not returned from his trip to the barber's. He came in, however,
+just before the meal was over, still in an unshorn condition, somewhat
+flushed and very loquacious.
+
+"Say!" he exclaimed genially. "That Simpson's the right sort, ain't he?
+Him and me took a shine to each other from the go-off. He's been West
+himself and he's got some width to him. He's no psalm singer."
+
+"Humph!" commented the captain, with delicate sarcasm. "He don't seem
+to be much of a barber, either. What's the matter? Gone out of business,
+has he? Or was you so wild or woolly he got discouraged before he
+begun?"
+
+"Great snakes!" exclaimed the visitor. "I forgot all about the clippers!
+Well, that's one on me, pard! I'll make a new try soon's grub's over.
+Don't be so tight-fisted with the steak; this is a plate I'm passin',
+not a contribution box."
+
+He winked at Bos'n and would have chucked her under the chin if she had
+not dodged. She seemed to have taken a great aversion to Mr. Smith and
+was plainly afraid of him.
+
+"Is he going to stay very long, Uncle Cyrus?" she whispered, when it was
+school time once more. "Do you think he's nice?"
+
+Captain Cy did not answer. When she had gone and the guest had risen
+from the table and put on his hat, the captain said warningly:
+
+"There's one little bit of advice I want to give you, Mister Man: A
+bargain's a bargain, but it takes two to keep it. Don't let your love
+for Tad Simpson lead you into talkin' too much. Talk's cheap, they say,
+but too much of it might be mighty dear for you. Understand?"
+
+Smith patted him on the back. "Lord love you, pard!" he chuckled, "I'm
+no spring chicken. I'm as hard to open as a safe, I am. It takes a can
+opener to get anything out of me."
+
+"Yes; well, you can get inside some folks easier with a corkscrew. I've
+been told that Tad's a kind of a medium sometimes. If he raises any
+spirits in that back room of his, I'd leave 'em alone, if I was you. So
+long as you're decent, I'll put up with--"
+
+But Mr. Smith was on his way to the gate, whistling as if he hadn't a
+care in the world. Captain Cy watched him go down the road, and then,
+with the drawn, weary look on his face which had been there since the
+day before, he entered the sitting room and threw himself into a chair.
+
+Miss Phoebe Dawes, the school teacher, worked late that evening. There
+were examination papers to be gone over, and experience had demonstrated
+that the only place where she could be free from interruptions was the
+schoolroom itself. At the perfect boarding house the shrill tones of
+Keturah's voice and those of Miss Phinney and Mrs. Tripp penetrated
+through shut doors. It is hard to figure percentages when the most
+intimate details of Bayport's family life are being recited and gloated
+over on the other side of a thin partition. And when Matilda undertook
+to defend the Come-Outer faith against the assaults of the majority, the
+verbal riot was, as Mr. Tidditt described it, "like feedin' time in a
+parrot shop."
+
+So Miss Phoebe came to the boarding house for supper and then returned
+to the schoolroom, where, with a lighted bracket lamp beside her on the
+desk, she labored until nine o'clock. Then she put on her coat and hat,
+extinguished the light, locked the door, and started on her lonely walk
+home.
+
+"The main road" in our village is dark after nine o clock. There is
+a street light--a kerosene lamp--on a post in front of the Methodist
+meeting house, but the sexton forgets it, generally speaking, or, at
+any rate, neglects to fill it except at rare intervals. Simmons's front
+windows are ablaze, of course, and so are the dingy panes of Simpson's
+barber shop. But these two centers of sociability are both at the depot
+road corner, and when they are passed the only sources of illumination
+are the scattered gleams from the back windows of dwellings. As most
+of us retire by half-past eight, the glow along the main road is not
+dazzling, to say the very least.
+
+Miss Dawes was not afraid of the dark. She had been her own escort for
+a good many years. She walked briskly on, heard the laughter and loud
+voices in the barber shop die away behind her, passed the schoolhouse
+pond, now bleak and chill with the raw November wind blowing across it,
+and began to climb the slope of Whittaker's Hill. And here the wind,
+rushing in unimpeded over the flooded salt meadows from the tumbled
+bay outside, wound her skirts about her and made climbing difficult and
+breath-taking.
+
+She was, perhaps, half way up the long slope, when she heard, in the
+intervals between the gusts, footsteps behind her. She knew most of
+the village people by this time and the thought of company was not
+unpleasant. So she paused and pantingly waited for whoever was coming.
+She could not see more than a few yards, but the footsteps sounded
+nearer and nearer, and, a moment later, a man's voice began singing
+"Annie Rooney," a melody then past its prime in the cities, but
+popularized in Bayport by some departed batch of summer boarders.
+
+She did not recognize the voice and she did not particularly approve of
+singing in the streets, especially such loud singing. So she decided not
+to wait longer, and was turning to continue her climb, when the person
+behind stopped his vocalizing and called.
+
+"Hi!" he shouted. "Hello, ahead there! Who is it? Hold on a minute,
+pard! I'm comin'."
+
+She disobeyed the order to "hold on," and began to hurry. The hurry was
+of no avail, however, for the follower broke into a run and soon was by
+her side. He was a stranger to her.
+
+"Whee! Wow!" he panted. "This is no race track, pard. Pull up, and let's
+take it easy. My off leg's got a kink in it, and I don't run so easy as
+I used to. Great snakes; what's your rush? Ain't you fond of company?
+Hello! I believe it's a woman!"
+
+She did not answer. His manner and the smell of liquor about him were
+decidedly unpleasant. The idea that he might be a tramp occurred to her.
+Tramps are our bugaboos here in Bayport.
+
+"A woman!" exclaimed the man hilariously. "Well, say! I didn't believe
+there was one loose in this tail-end of nowhere. Girlie, I'm glad to see
+you. Not that I can see you much, but never mind. All cats are gray in
+the dark, hey? You can't see me, neither, so we'll take each other on
+trust. 'She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau.' Say, Maud, may I see you
+home?"
+
+She was frightened now. The Whittaker place on the hilltop was the
+nearest house, and that was some distance off.
+
+"What's the matter, Carrie?" inquired the man. "Don't be scared. I
+wouldn't hurt you. I'm just lonesome, that's all, and I need society.
+Don't rush, you'll ruin your complexion. Here! come under my wing and
+let's toddle along together. How's mamma?"
+
+He seized her arm and pulled her back beside him. She tried to free
+herself, but could not. Her unwelcome escort held her fast and she was
+obliged to move as slowly as he did. It was very dark.
+
+"Say, what IS your name?" coaxed the man. "Is is Maud, hey? Or Julia? I
+always liked Julia. Don't be peevish. Tell us, that's a good girl."
+
+She gave a quick jerk and managed to pull her arm from his grasp,
+giving him a violent push as she did so. He, being unsteady on his feet,
+tumbled down the low bank which edged the sidewalk. Then she ran on up
+the hill as fast as she could. She heard him swear as he fell.
+
+She had nearly reached the end of the Whittaker fence when he caught
+her. He was laughing, and that alarmed her almost as much as if he had
+been angry.
+
+"Naughty! naughty!" he chuckled, holding her fast. "Tryin' to sneak, was
+you? Not much! Not this time! Did you ever play forfeits when you was
+little? Well, this is a forfeit game and you're It. You must bow to the
+prettiest, kneel to the wittiest, and kiss the one you love best. And
+I'll let you off on the first two. Come now! Pay up!"
+
+Then she screamed. And her scream was answered at once. A gate swung
+back with a bang and she heard some one running along the walk toward
+her.
+
+"O Cap'n Whittaker!" she called. "Come! Come quick, please!"
+
+How she knew that the person running toward her was Captain Cy has
+not been satisfactorily explained even yet. She cannot explain it
+and neither can the captain. And equally astonishing was the latter's
+answer. He certainly had not heard her voice often enough to recognize
+it under such circumstances.
+
+"All right, teacher!" he shouted. "I'm comin'! Let go of that woman,
+you--Oh, it's you, is it?"
+
+He had seized Mr. Smith by the coat collar and jerked him away from his
+victim. Miss Dawes took refuge behind the captain's bulky form. The two
+men looked at each other. Smith was recovering his breath.
+
+"It's you, is it?" repeated Captain Cy. Then, turning to Miss Phoebe, he
+asked: "Did he hurt you?"
+
+"No! Not yet. But he frightened me dreadfully. Who is he? Do you know
+him?"
+
+Her persecutor answered the question.
+
+"You bet your life he knows me!" he snarled. "He knows me mighty well!
+Pard, you keep your nose out of this, d'you see! You mind your own
+business. I wan't goin' to hurt her any."
+
+The captain paid no attention to him.
+
+"Yup, I know him," he said grimly. Then he added, pointing toward the
+lighted window of the house ahead: "You--Smith, you go in there and stay
+there! Trot! Don't make me speak twice."
+
+But Mr. Smith was too far gone with anger and the "spirits" raised by
+Tad Simpson to heed the menace in the words.
+
+"Smith, hey?" he sneered. "Oh, yes, SMITH! Well, Smith ain't goin',
+d'you see! He's goin' to do what he pleases. I reckon I'm on top of the
+roost here! I know what's what! You can't talk to me. I've got rights, I
+have, and--"
+
+"Blast your rights!"
+
+"What? WHAT? Blast my rights, hey? Oh, yes! Think because you've got
+money you can cheat me out of 'em, do you? Well, you can't! And how
+about the other part of those rights? S'pose I walk right into that
+house and--"
+
+"Stop it! Shut up! You'd better not--"
+
+"And into that bedroom and just say: 'Emmie, here's your--'"
+
+He didn't finish the sentence. Captain Cy's big fist struck him fairly
+between the eyes, and the back of his head struck the walk with a
+"smack!" Then, through the fireworks which were illuminating his muddled
+brain, he heard the captain's voice.
+
+"You low - down, good - for - nothin' scamp!" growled Captain Cy. "All
+this day I've been hatin' myself for the way I've acted to you. I've
+hated myself and been tryin' to spunk up courage to say 'It's all off!'
+But I was too much of a coward, I guess. And now the Lord A'mighty has
+MADE me say it. You want your rights, do you? So? Then get 'em if you
+can. It's you and me for it, and we'll see who's the best man. Teacher,
+if you're ready I'll walk home with you now."
+
+Mr. Smith was not entirely cowed.
+
+"You go!" he yelled. "Go ahead! And I'll go to a lawyer's to-morrow. But
+to-night, and inside of five minutes, I'll walk into that house of yours
+and get my--"
+
+The captain dropped Miss Dawes's arm and strode back to where his
+antagonist was sitting in the dust of the walk. Stooping down, he shook
+a big forefinger in the man's face.
+
+"You've been out West, they tell me," he whispered sternly. "Yes! Well,
+out West they take the law into their own hands, sometimes, I hear. I've
+been in South America, and they do it there, too. Just so sure as you
+go into my house to-night and touch--well, you know what I mean--just
+so sure I'll kill you like a dog, if I have to chase you to Jericho. Now
+you can believe that or not. If I was you I'd believe it."
+
+Taking the frightened schoolmistress by the arm once more he walked
+away. Mr. Smith said nothing till they had gone some distance. Then he
+called after them.
+
+"You wait till to-morrow!" he shouted. "You just wait and see what'll
+happen to-morrow!"
+
+Captain Cy was silent all the way to the gate of the perfect boarding
+house. Miss Dawes was silent likewise, but she thought a great deal. At
+the gate she said:
+
+"Captain Whittaker, I'm EVER so much obliged to you. I can't thank you
+enough."
+
+"Don't try, then. That's what you said to me about the cow."
+
+"But I'm almost sorry you were the one to come. I'm afraid that man will
+get you into trouble. Has he--can he--What did he mean about to-morrow?
+Who IS he?"
+
+The captain pushed his cap back from his forehead.
+
+"Teacher," he said, "there's a proverb, ain't there, about lettin'
+to-morrow take care of itself? As for trouble--well, I did think I'd had
+trouble enough in my life to last me through, but I cal'late I've got
+another guess. Anyhow, don't you fret. I did just the right thing,
+and I'm glad I did it. If it was only me I wouldn't fret, either. But
+there's--" He stopped, groaned, and pulled the cap forward again. "Good
+night," he added, and turned to go.
+
+Miss Dawes leaned forward and detained him.
+
+"Just a minute, Cap'n Whittaker," she said. "I was a little prejudiced
+against you when I came here. I was told that you got me the teacher's
+position, and there was more than a hint that you did it for selfish
+reasons of your own. When you called that afternoon at the school I
+was--"
+
+"Don't say a word! I was the biggest fool in town that time, and I've
+been ashamed to look in the glass ever since. I ain't always such an
+idiot."
+
+"But I've had to judge people for myself in my lifetime," continued the
+schoolmistress, "and I've made up my mind that I was mistaken about
+you. I should like to apologize. Will you shake hands?"
+
+She extended her hand. Captain Cy hesitated.
+
+"Hadn't you better wait a spell?" he asked. "You've heard that swab call
+me partner. Hadn't--"
+
+"No; I don't know what your trouble is, of course, and I certainly
+shan't mention it to anyone. But whatever it is I'm sure you are right
+and it's not your fault. Now will you shake hands?"
+
+The captain did not answer. He merely took the proffered hand, shook it
+heartily, and strode off into the dark.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"TOWN-MEETIN'"
+
+
+"This is goin' to be a meMOriable town meetin'!" declared Sylvanus
+Cahoon, with unction, rising from the settee to gaze about him over the
+heads of the voters in the townhall. "I bet you every able-bodied man
+in Bayport 'll be here this forenoon. Yes, sir! that's what I call it, a
+me-MO-riable meetin'!"
+
+"See anything of Cy?" inquired Josiah Dimick, who sat next to Sylvanus.
+
+"No, he ain't come yet. And Heman ain't here, neither. Hello! there's
+Tad. Looks happy, seems to me."
+
+Captain Dimick stood up to inspect Mr. Simpson.
+
+"Humph!" he muttered. "Well, unless my count's wrong, he ain't got much
+to be happy about. 'Lonzo Snow's with him. Tad does look sort of joyful,
+don't he? Them that laughs last laughs best. When the vote for school
+committee's all in we'll see who does the grinnin'. But I can't
+understand--Hello! there's Tidditt. Asaph! Ase! S-s-t-t! Come here a
+minute."
+
+Mr. Tidditt, trembling with excitement, and shaking hands effusively
+with everyone he met, pushed his way up the aisle and bent over his
+friend.
+
+"Say, Ase," whispered Josiah, "where's Whit? Why ain't he on hand?
+Nothin's happened, has it?"
+
+"No," replied the town clerk. "Everything seems to be all right. I
+stopped in on the way along and Cy said not to wait; he'd be here on
+time. He's been kind of off his feed for the last day or so, and I
+cal'late he didn't feel like hurryin'. Say, Joe, now honest, what do you
+think of my chances?"
+
+Such a confirmed joker as Dimick couldn't lose an opportunity like
+this. With the aid of one trying to be cheerful under discouragement he
+answered that, so far, Asaph's chances looked fair, pretty fair, but of
+course you couldn't always sometimes tell. Mr. Tidditt rushed away to
+begin the handshaking all over again.
+
+From this round of cordiality he was reluctantly torn and conducted to
+the platform. After thumping the desk with his fist he announced that
+the gathering would "come to order right off, as there was consider'ble
+business to be done and it ought to be goin' ahead." He then proceeded
+to read the call for the meeting. This ceremony was no sooner over than
+Abednego Small, "Uncle Bedny," was on his feet loudly demanding to
+be informed why the town "hadn't done nothin'" toward fixing up the
+Bassett's Hollow road. Uncle Bedny's speech had proceeded no further
+than "Feller citizens, in the name of an outrageous--I should say
+outraged portion of our community I--" when he was choked off by a
+self-appointed committee who knew Mr. Small of old and had seated
+themselves near him to be ready for just such emergencies. The next
+step, judged by meetings of other years, should have been to unanimously
+elect Eben Salters moderator; but as Captain Eben refused to serve,
+owing to his interest in the Whittaker campaign, Alvin Knowles was, by a
+small majority, chosen for that office. Mr. Knowles was a devout admirer
+of the great Atkins, and his election would have been considered a
+preliminary victory for the opposition had it not been that many of
+Captain Cy's adherents voted for Alvin from a love of mischief, knowing
+from experience his ignorance of parliamentary law and his easy-going
+rule. "Now there'll be fun!" declared one delighted individual.
+"Anything's in order when Alvin's chairman."
+
+The proceedings of the first half hour were disappointingly tame. Most
+of us had come there to witness a political wrestling match between
+Tad Simpson and Cyrus Whittaker. Some even dared hope that Congressman
+Atkins might direct his fight in person. But neither the Honorable
+nor Captain Cy was in the hall as yet. Solon Eldridge was re-elected
+selectman and so also was Asaph Tidditt. Nobody but Asaph seemed
+surprised at this result. His speech of acceptance would undoubtedly
+have been a triumph of oratory had it not been interrupted by Uncle
+Bedny, who rose to emphatically protest against "settin' round and
+wastin' time" when the Bassett's Hollow road "had ruts deep enough to
+drown a cat in whenever there was a more'n average heavy dew."
+
+The Bassett's Hollow delegate being again temporarily squelched,
+Moderator Knowles announced that nominations for the vacant place on
+the school committee were in order. There was a perceptible stir on the
+settees. This was what the meeting had been waiting for.
+
+"No sign of Cy or Heman yet," observed Mr. Cahoon, craning his neck in
+the direction of the door. "It's the queerest thing ever I see."
+
+"Queer enough about Cy, that's a fact," concurred Captain Dimick. "I
+ain't so surprised about Heman's not comin'. Looks as if Whit was right;
+he always said Atkins dodged a row where folks could watch it. Does most
+of his fightin' from round the corner. Hello! there's Tad. Now you'll
+see the crown of glory set on 'Lonzo Snow's head. Hope the crown's
+padded nice and soft. Anything with sharp edges would sink in."
+
+But Mr. Simpson, it seemed, was not yet ready to proceed with the
+coronation. He had risen to ask permission of the meeting to defer the
+school committee matter for a short time. Persons, important persons,
+who should be present while the nominating was going on, had not yet
+arrived. He was sure that the gathering would wish to hear from these
+persons. He asked for only a slight delay. Matters such as this,
+affecting the welfare of our posterity, ought not to be hurried, etc.,
+etc.
+
+Mr. Simpson's request was unexpected. The meeting, apparently, didn't
+know how to take it. Uncle Bedny was firmly held in his seat by those
+about him. Lemuel Myrick took the floor to protest.
+
+"I must say," he declared, "that I don't see any reason for waitin'. If
+folks ain't here, that's their own fault. Mr. Moderator, I demand that
+the nominatin' go ahead."
+
+Tad was on his feet instantly.
+
+"I'm goin' to appeal," he cried, "to the decency and gratitude of the
+citizens of the town of Bayport. One of the persons I'm--that is, we're
+waitin' for has done more for our beautiful village than all the rest
+of us put together. There ain't no need for me to name him. A right
+up-to-date town pump, a lovely memorial window, a--"
+
+"How about that harbor appropriation?" cried a voice from the settees.
+
+Mr. Simpson was taken aback. His face flushed and he angrily turned
+toward the interrupter.
+
+"That's you, Joe Dimick!" he shouted, pointing an agitated forefinger.
+"You needn't scooch down. I know your tongue. The idea of you findin'
+fault because a big man like Congressman Atkins don't jump when you
+holler 'Git up!' What do YOU know about doin's at Washington? That
+harbor appropriation 'll go through if anybody on earth can get it
+through. There's other places besides Bayport to be provided for and--"
+
+"And their congressmen provide for 'em," called another voice. Tad
+whirled to face his new tormentor.
+
+"Huh!" he grunted with sarcasm. "That's Lem Myrick, _I_ know. Lem, the
+great painter, who votes where he paints and gets paid accordin'."
+
+"Order!" cried several.
+
+"Oh, all right, Mr. Moderator! I'll keep order all right. But I say to
+you, Lem, and you, Joe Dimick, that I know who put these smart notions
+into your heads. We all know, unless we're born fools. Who is it that's
+been sayin' the Honorable Heman Atkins was shirkin' that appropriation?
+Who was it said if HE was representative the thing would have gone
+through afore this? Who's been makin' his brags that he could get it
+through if he had the chance? You know who! So do I! I wish he was here.
+I only wish he was here! I'd say it to his face."
+
+"Well, he is. Heave ahead and say it."
+
+Everyone turned toward the door. Captain Cy had entered the hall. He was
+standing in the aisle, and with him was Bailey Bangs. The captain looked
+very tired, almost worn out, but he nodded coolly to Mr. Simpson,
+who had retired to his seat with surprising quickness and apparent
+discomfiture.
+
+"Here I am, Tad," continued the captain. "Say your piece."
+
+But Tad, it appeared, was not anxious to "say his piece." He was
+whispering earnestly with a group of his followers. Captain Cy held up
+his hand.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he asked, "can I have the floor a minute? All I want to
+say is that I cal'late I'm the feller the last speaker had reference to.
+I HAVE said that I didn't see why that appropriation was so hard to get.
+I say it again. Other appropriations are got, and why not ours? I DID
+say if I was a congressman I'd get it. Yes, and I'll say more," he
+added, raising his voice, "I'll say that if I was sent to Washin'ton
+by this town, congressman or not, I'd move heaven and earth, and all
+creation from the President down till I did get it. That's all. So would
+any live man, I should think."
+
+He sat down. There was some applause. Before it had subsided Abel
+Leonard, one of the quickest-witted of Mr. Simpson's workers, was on his
+feet, gesticulating for attention.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he shouted, "I want to make a motion. We've all heard
+the big talk that's been made. All right, then! I move you, sir,
+that Captain Cyrus Whittaker be appointed a committee of one to GO to
+Washin'ton, if he wants to, or anywheres else, and see that we get the
+appropriation. And if we don't get it the blame's his! There, now!"
+
+There was a roar of laughter. This was exactly the sort of "tit-for-tat"
+humor that appeals to a Yankee crowd. The motion was seconded half a
+dozen times. Moderator Knowles grinned and shook his head.
+
+"A joke's a joke," he said, "and we all like a good one. However, this
+meetin' is supposed to be for business, not fun, so--"
+
+"Question! Question! It's been seconded! We've got to vote on it!"
+shouted a chorus.
+
+"Don't you think--seems to me that ain't in order," began the moderator,
+but Captain Cy rose to his feet. The grim smile had returned to his face
+and he looked at the joyous assemblage with almost his old expression of
+appreciative alertness.
+
+"Never mind the vote," he said. "I realize that Brother Leonard has
+rather got one on me, so to speak. All right, I won't dodge. I'll BE
+a committee of one on the harbor grab, and if nothin' comes of it I'll
+take my share of kicks. Gentlemen, I appreciate your trustfulness in my
+ability."
+
+This brief speech was a huge success. If, for a moment, the pendulum
+of public favor had swung toward Simpson, this trumping of the latter's
+leading card pushed it back again. The moderator had some difficulty in
+restoring order to the hilarious meeting.
+
+Then Mr. Myrick was accorded the privilege of the floor, in spite of
+Tad's protests, and proceeded to nominate Cyrus Whittaker for the school
+committee. Lem had devoted hours of toil and wearisome mental struggle
+to the preparation of his address, and it was lengthy and florid.
+Captain Cy was described as possessing all the virtues. Bailey,
+listening with a hand behind his ear, was moved to applause at frequent
+intervals, and even Asaph forgot the dignity of his exalted position on
+the platform and pounded the official desk in ecstasy. The only person
+to appear uninterested was the nominee himself. He sat listlessly in his
+seat, his eyes cast down, and his thoughts apparently far away.
+
+Josiah Dimick seconded the captain's nomination. Then Mr. Simpson
+stepped to the front and, after a wistful glance at the door, began to
+speak.
+
+"Feller citizens," he said, "it is my privilege to put in nomination for
+school committee a man whose name stands for all that's good and clean
+and progressive in this township. But afore I do it I'm goin' to ask
+you to let me say a word or two concernin' somethin' that bears right on
+this matter, and which, I believe, everyone of you ought to know. It's
+somethin' that most of you don't know, and it'll be a surprise, a big
+surprise. I'll be as quick as I can, and I cal'late you'll thank me when
+I'm done."
+
+He paused. The meeting looked at each other in astonishment. There was
+whispering along the settees. Moderator Knowles was plainly puzzled. He
+looked inquiringly at the town clerk, but Asaph was evidently quite as
+much in the dark as he concerning the threatened disclosure.
+
+"Feller Bayporters," went on Tad, "there's one thing we've all agreed
+on, no matter who we've meant to vote for. That is, that a member of our
+school committee should be an upright, honest man, one fit morally to
+look out for our dear children. Ain't that so? Well, then, I ask you
+this: Would you consider a man fit for that job who deliberately came
+between a father and his child, who pizened the mind of that child
+against his own parent, and when that parent come to claim that child,
+first tried to buy him off and then turned him out of the house? Yes,
+and offered violence to him. And done it--mark what I say--for reasons
+which--which--well, we can only guess 'em, but the guess may not be so
+awful bad. Is THAT the kind of man we want to honor or to look out for
+our own children's schoolin'?"
+
+Mr. Simpson undoubtedly meant to cause a sensation by his opening
+remarks. He certainly did so. The stir and whispering redoubled. Asaph,
+his mouth open, stared wildly down at Captain Cy. The captain rose to
+his feet, then sank back again. His listlessness was gone and, paying no
+attention to those about him, he gazed fixedly at Tad.
+
+"Gentlemen," continued the speaker, "last night I had an experience that
+I shan't forget as long as I live. I met a poor man, a poor, lame man
+who'd been away out West and got hurt bad. Folks thought he was dead.
+His wife thought so and died grievin' for him. She left a little baby
+girl, only seven or eight year old. When this man come back, well again
+but poor, to look up his family, he found his wife had passed away and
+the child had been sent off, just to get rid of her, to a stranger in
+another town. That stranger fully meant to send her off, too; he said so
+dozens of times. A good many of you folks right here heard him say it.
+But he never sent her--he kept her. Why? Well, that's the question. _I_
+shan't answer it. _I_ ain't accusin' nobody. All I say is, what's easy
+enough for any of you to prove, and that is that it come to light the
+child had property belongin' to her. Property! land, wuth money!"
+
+He paused once more and drew his sleeve across his forehead. Most of
+his hearers were silent now, on tiptoe of expectation. Dimick looked
+searchingly at Captain Cy. Then he sprang to his feet.
+
+"Order!" he shouted. "What's all this got to do with nominatin' for
+school committee? Ain't he out of order, Alvin?"
+
+The moderator hesitated. His habitual indecision was now complicated
+by the fact that he was as curious as the majority of those before him.
+There were shouts of, "Go ahead, Tad!" "Tell us the rest!" "Let him go
+on, Mr. Moderator!"
+
+Cy Whittaker slowly rose.
+
+"Alvin," he said earnestly, "don't stop him yet. As a favor to me, let
+him spin his yarn."
+
+Simpson was ready and evidently eager to spin it.
+
+"This man," he proclaimed, "this father, mournin' for his dead wife and
+longin' for his child, comes to the town where he was to find and take
+her. And when he meets the man that's got her, when he comes, poor and
+down on his luck, what does this man--this rich man--do? Why; fust of
+all, he's sweeter'n sirup to him, takes him in, keeps him overnight,
+and the next day he says to him: 'You just be quiet and say nothin' to
+nobody that she's your little girl. I'll make it wuth your while.
+Keep quiet till I'm ready for you to say it.' And he gives the father
+money--not much, but some. All right so fur, maybe; but wait! Then it
+turns out that the father knows about this land--this property. And
+THEN the kind, charitable man--this rich man with lots of money of his
+own--turns the poor father out, tellin' him to get the girl and the land
+if he can, knowin'--KNOWIN', mind you--that the father ain't got a cent
+to hire lawyers nor even to pay for his next meal. And when the father
+says he won't go, but wants his dear one that belongs to him, the rich
+feller abuses him, knocks him down with his fist! Knocks down a poor,
+weak, lame invalid, just off a sick bed! Is THAT the kind of a man we
+want on our school committee?"
+
+He asked the question with both hands outspread and the perspiration
+running down his cheeks. The meeting was in an uproar.
+
+"No need for me to tell you who I mean," shouted Tad, waving his arms.
+"You know who, as well as I do. You've just heard him praised as bein'
+all that's good and great. But _I_ say--"
+
+"You've said enough! Now let me say a word!"
+
+It was Captain Cy who interrupted. He had pushed his way through the
+crowd, down the aisle, and now stood before the gesticulating Mr.
+Simpson, who shrank back as if he feared that the treatment accorded the
+"poor weak invalid" might be continued with him.
+
+"Knowles," said Captain Cy, turning to the moderator, "let me speak,
+will you? I won't be but a minute. Friends," he continued, facing the
+excited gathering--"for some of you are my friends, or I've come to
+think you are--a part of what this man says is so. The girl at my house
+is Emily Thomas; her mother was Mary Thomas, who some of you know, and
+her father's name is Henry Thomas. She came to me unexpected, bein' sent
+by a Mrs. Oliver up to Concord, because 'twas either me or an orphan
+asylum. I took her in meanin' to keep her a little while, and then send
+her away. But as time went on I kept puttin' off and puttin' off, and at
+last I realized I couldn't do it; I'd come to think too much of her.
+
+"Fellers," he went on, slowly, "I--I hardly know how to tell you what
+that little girl's come to be to me. When I first struck Bayport, after
+forty years away from it, all I thought of was makin' over the old place
+and livin' in it. I cal'lated it would be a sort of Paradise, and HOW I
+was goin' to live or whether or not I'd be lonesome with everyone of my
+folks dead and gone, never crossed my mind. But the longer I lived there
+alone the less like Paradise it got to be; I realized more and more
+that it ain't furniture and fixin's that make a home; it's them you love
+that's in it. And just as I'd about reached the conclusion that 'twas a
+failure, the whole business, why, then, Bos'n--Emily, that is--dropped
+in, and inside of a week I knew I'd got what was missin' in my life.
+
+"I never married and children never meant much to me till I got her.
+She's the best little--little . . . There! I mustn't talk this way. I
+bluffed a lot about not keepin' her permanent, bein' kind of ashamed,
+I guess, but down inside me I'd made up my mind to bring her up like
+a daughter. She and me was to live together till she grew up and got
+married and I . . . Well, what's the use? A few days ago come a letter
+from the Oliver woman in Concord sayin' that this Henry Thomas, Bos'n's
+father, wan't dead at all, but had turned up there, havin' learned
+somehow or 'nother that his wife was gone and that his child had been
+willed a little bit of land which belonged to her mother. He had found
+out that Emmie was with me, and the letter said he would likely come
+after her--and the land.
+
+"That letter was like a flash of lightnin' to me. I was dismasted and
+on my beam ends. I didn't know what to do. I'd learned enough about this
+Henry Thomas to know that he was no use, a drunken, good-for-nothin'
+scamp who had cruelized his wife and then run off and left her and the
+baby. But when he come, the very night I got the letter, I gave him a
+chance. I took him in; I was willin' to give him a job on the place;
+I was willin' to pay for his keep, and more. I DID ask him to keep his
+mouth shut and even to use another name. 'Twas weak of me, maybe, but
+you want to remember this had come on me sudden. And last night--the
+very second night, mind you--he went out somewhere, perhaps we can guess
+where, bought liquor with the money I gave him, got drunk, and then
+insulted one of the best women in this town. Yes, sir! I say it right
+here, one of the best, pluckiest little women anywhere, although she and
+I ain't always agreed on certain matters. I DID tell him to clear out,
+and I DID knock him down. Yes, and by the big dipper, I'd do it again
+under the same circumstances!
+
+"As for the property," he added fiercely, "why, darn the property, I
+say! It ain't wuth much, anyhow, and, if 'twas anybody's else, he should
+have it and welcome. But it's Bos'n's, and, bein' what he is, he SHAN'T
+have it. And he shan't have HER to cruelize, neither! By the Almighty!
+he shan't, so long as I've got a dollar to fight him with. I say that to
+you, Tad Simpson, and to the man--to whoever put you up to this. There!
+I've said my say. Now, gentlemen, you can choose your side."
+
+He strode back to his seat. There was silence for a moment. Then Josiah
+Dimick sprang up and waved his hat.
+
+"That's the way to talk!" he shouted. "That's a MAN! Three cheers for
+Cap'n Whittaker! Come on, everybody!"
+
+But everybody did not "come on." The cheers were feeble. It was evident
+that the majority of those present did not know how to meet this
+unexpected contingency. It had taken them by surprise and they were
+undecided. The uproar of argument and question began again, louder than
+ever. The bewildered moderator thumped his desk and shouted feebly for
+order. Tad Simpson took the floor and, in a few words and at the top of
+his lungs, nominated Alonzo Snow. Abel Leonard seconded the nomination.
+There were yells of "Question! Question!" and "Vote! Vote!"
+
+Eben Salters was recognized by the chair. Captain Salters made few
+speeches, and when he did make one it was because he had something to
+say.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he said, "I, for one, hate to vote just now. It isn't
+that the school committee is so important of itself. But I do think that
+the rights of a father with his child IS pretty important, and our vote
+for Cap'n Whittaker--and most of you know I intended votin' for him
+and have been workin' for him--might seem like an indorsement of his
+position. This whole thing is a big surprise to me. I don't feel yet
+that we know enough of the inside facts to give such an indorsement. I'd
+like to see this Thomas man before I decide to give it--or not to give
+it, either. It's a queer thing to come up at town meetin', but it's up.
+Hadn't we better adjourn until next week?"
+
+He sat down. The meeting was demoralized. Some were shouting for
+adjournment, others to "Vote it out." A straw would turn the scale and
+the straw was forthcoming. While Captain Cy was speaking the door had
+silently opened and two men entered the hall and sought seclusion in a
+corner. Now one of these men came forward--the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+
+Mr. Atkins walked solemnly to the front, amidst a burst of recognition.
+Many of the voters rose to receive him. It was customary, when the great
+man condescended to attend such gatherings, to offer him a seat on the
+platform. This the obsequious Knowles proceeded to do. Asaph was
+too overcome by the disclosure of "John Smith's" identity and by Mr.
+Simpson's attack on his friend to remember even his manners. He did not
+rise, but sat stonily staring.
+
+The moderator's gavel descended "Order!" he roared. "Order, I say!
+Congressman Atkins is goin' to talk to us."
+
+The Honorable Heman faced the excited crowd. One hand was in the breast
+of his frock coat; the other was clenched upon his hip. He stood calm,
+benignant, dignified--the incarnation of wisdom and righteous worth. The
+attitude had its effect; the applause began and grew to an ovation.
+Men who had intended voting against his favored candidate forgot their
+intention, in the magnetism of his presence, and cheered. He bowed and
+bowed again.
+
+"Fellow townsmen," he began, "far be it from me to influence your choice
+in the matter of the school committee. Still further be it from me to
+influence you against an old boyhood friend, a neighbor, one whom I
+believe--er--had believed to be all that was sincere and true. But,
+fellow townsmen, my esteemed friend, Captain Salters, has expressed a
+wish to see Mr. Thomas, the father whose story you have heard to-day.
+I happen to be in a position to gratify that wish. Mr. Thomas, will you
+kindly come forward?"
+
+Then from the rear of the hall Mr. Thomas came. But the drunken rowdy
+of the night before had been transformed. Gone was the scrubby beard
+and the shabby suit. Shorn was the unkempt mop of hair and vanished the
+impudent swagger. He was dressed in clean linen and respectable black,
+and his manner was modest and subdued. Only a discoloration of one eye
+showed where Captain Cy's blow had left its mark.
+
+He stepped upon the platform beside the congressman. The latter laid a
+hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Gentlemen and friends," said Heman, "my name has been brought into
+this controversy, by Mr. Simpson directly, and in insinuation
+by--er--another. Therefore it is my right to make my position clear. Mr.
+Thomas came to me last evening in distress, both of mind and body. He
+told me his story--substantially the story which has just been told
+to you by Mr. Simpson--and, gentlemen, I believe it. But if I did not
+believe it, if I believed him to have been in the past all that his
+opponent has said; even if I believed that, only last evening, spurned,
+driven from his child, penniless and hopeless, he had yielded to the
+weakness which has been his curse all his life--even if I believed that,
+still I should demand that Henry Thomas, repentant and earnest as you
+see him now, should be given his rightful opportunity to become a
+man again. He is poor, but he is not--shall not be--friendless. No! a
+thousand times, no! You may say, some of you, that the affair is not
+my business. I affirm that it IS my business. It is my business as a
+Christian, and that business should come before all others. I have not
+allowed sympathy to influence me. If that were the case, my regard for
+my neighbor and friend of former days would have held me firm. But,
+gentlemen, I have a child of my own. I know what a father's love is, as
+only a father can know it. And, after a sleepless night, I stand here
+before you to-day determined that this man shall have his own, if
+my money--which you will, I'm sure, forgive my mentioning--and my
+unflinching support can give it to him. That is my position, and I state
+it regardless of consequences." He paused, and with raised right hand,
+like the picture of Jove in the old academy mythology, launched his
+final thunderbolt. "Whom God hath joined," he proclaimed, "let no one
+put asunder!"
+
+That settled it. The cheers shook the walls. Amidst the tumult Dimick
+and Bailey Bangs seized Captain Cy by the shoulders and endeavored to
+lift him from his seat.
+
+"For the love of goodness, Whit!" groaned Josiah, desperately, "stand up
+and answer him. If you don't, we'll founder sure."
+
+The captain smiled grimly and shook his head. He had not taken his eyes
+from the face of the great Atkins since the latter began speaking.
+
+"What?" he replied. "After that 'put asunder' sockdolager? Man alive! do
+you want me to add Sabbath breakin' to my other crimes?"
+
+The vote, by ballot, followed almost immediately. It was pitiful to see
+the erstwhile Whittaker majority melt away. Alonzo Snow was triumphantly
+elected. But a handful voted against him.
+
+Captain Cy, still grimly smiling, rose and left the hall. As he closed
+the door, he heard the shrill voice of Uncle Bedny demanding justice for
+the Bassett's Hollow road.
+
+It had, indeed, been a "memoriable" town meeting.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE REPULSE
+
+
+When Deacon Zeb Clark--the same Deacon Zeb who fell into the cistern,
+as narrated by Captain Cy--made his first visit to the city, years and
+years ago, he stayed but two days. As he had proudly boasted that he
+should remain in the metropolis at least a week, our people were much
+surprised at his premature return. To the driver of the butcher cart who
+found him sitting contentedly before his dwelling, amidst his desolate
+acres, the nearest neighbor a half mile away, did Deacon Zeb disclose
+his reason for leaving the crowded thoroughfares. "There was so many
+folks there," he said, "that I felt lonesome."
+
+And Captain Cy, returning from the town meeting to the Whittaker place,
+felt lonesome likewise. Not for the Deacon's reason--he met no one on
+the main road, save a group of school children and Miss Phinney, and,
+sighting the latter in the offing, he dodged behind the trees by the
+schoolhouse pond and waited until she passed. But the captain, his
+trouble now heavy upon him, did feel the need of sympathy and congenial
+companionship. He knew he might count upon Dimick and Asaph, and,
+whenever Keturah's supervision could be evaded, upon Mr. Bangs. But they
+were not the advisers and comforters for this hour of need. All the rest
+of Bayport, he felt sure, would be against him. Had not King Heman
+the Great from the steps of the throne, banned him with the royal
+displeasure! "If Heman ever SHOULD come right out and say--" began
+Asaph's warning. Well, strange as it might seem, Heman had "come right
+out."
+
+As to why he had come out there was no question in the mind of the
+captain. The latter had left Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, prostrate
+and blasphemous in the road the previous evening. His next view of
+him was when, transformed and sanctified, he had been summoned to the
+platform by Mr. Atkins. No doubt he had returned to the barber shop
+and, in his rage and under Mr. Simpson's cross examination, had revealed
+something of the truth. Tad, the politician, recognizing opportunity
+when it knocked at his door, had hurried him to the congressman's
+residence. The rest was plain enough, so Captain Cy thought.
+
+However, war was already declared, and the reasons for it mattered
+little. The first skirmish might occur at any moment. The situation was
+desperate. The captain squared his shoulders, thrust forward his chin,
+and walked briskly up the path to the door of the dining room. It was
+nearly one o'clock, but Bos'n had not yet gone. She was waiting, to the
+very last minute, for her "Uncle Cyrus."
+
+"Hello, shipmate," he hailed. "Not headed for school yet? Good! I
+cal'late you needn't go this afternoon. I'm thinkin' of hirin' a team
+and drivin' to Ostable, and I didn't know but you'd like to go with me.
+Think you could, without that teacher woman havin' you brought up aft
+for mutiny?"
+
+Bos'n thought it over.
+
+"Yes, sir," she said; "I guess so, if you wrote me an excuse. I don't
+like to be absent, 'cause I haven't been before, but there's only my
+reading lesson this afternoon and I know that ever so well. I'd love to
+go, Uncle Cy."
+
+The captain removed his coat and hat and pulled a chair forward to the
+table.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed. "What's this--the mail?"
+
+Bos'n smiled delightedly.
+
+"Yes, sir," she replied. "I knew you was at the meeting and so I brought
+it from the office. Ain't you glad?"
+
+"Sure! Yes, indeed! Much obliged. Tryin' to keep house without you would
+be like steerin' without a rudder."
+
+Even as he said it there came to him the realization that he might have
+to steer without that rudder in the near future. His smile vanished. He
+smothered a groan and picked up the mail.
+
+"Hum!" he mused, "the Breeze, a circular, and one letter. Hello! it
+isn't possible that--Well! well!"
+
+The letter was in a long envelope. He hastily tore it open. At the
+inclosure he glanced in evident excitement. Then his smile returned.
+
+"Bos'n," he said, after a moment's reflection, "I guess you and me
+won't have to go to Ostable after all." Noticing the child's look of
+disappointment, he added: "But you needn't go to school. Maybe you'd
+better not. You and me'll take a tramp alongshore. What do you say?"
+
+"Oh, yes, Uncle Cy! Let's--shall we?"
+
+"Why, I don't see why not. We'll cruise in company as long as we
+can, hey, little girl? The squall's likely to strike afore night," he
+muttered half aloud. "We'll enjoy the fine weather till it's time to
+shorten sail."
+
+They walked all that afternoon. Captain Cy was even more kind and gentle
+with his small companion than usual. He told her stories which made her
+laugh, pointed out spots in the pines where he had played Indian when a
+boy, carried her "pig back" when she grew tired, and kissed her tenderly
+when, at the back door of the Whittaker place, he set her on her feet
+again.
+
+"Had a good time, dearie?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, splendid! I think it's the best walk we ever had, don't you, Uncle
+Cy?"
+
+"I shouldn't wonder. You won't forget our cruises together when you are
+a big girl and off somewheres else, will you?"
+
+"I'll NEVER forget 'em. And I'm never going anywhere without you."
+
+It was after five as they entered the kitchen.
+
+"Anybody been here while I was out?" asked the captain of Georgianna.
+The housekeeper's eyes were red and swollen, and she hugged Bos'n as she
+helped her off with her jacket and hood.
+
+"Yes, there has," was the decided answer. "First Ase Tidditt, and then
+Bailey Bangs, and then that--that Angie Phinney."
+
+"Humph!" mused Captain Cy slowly. "So Angie was here, was she? Where the
+carcass is the vultures are on deck, or words similar. Humph! Did our
+Angelic friend have much to say?"
+
+"DID she? And _I_ had somethin' to say, too! I never in my life!"
+
+"Humph!" Her employer eyed her sharply. "So? And so soon? Talk about
+the telegraph spreadin' news! I'd back most any half dozen tongues in
+Bayport to spread more news, and add more trimmin' to it, in a day
+than the telegraph could do in a week. Especially if all the telegraph
+operators was like the one up at the depot. Well, Georgianna, when you
+goin' to leave?"
+
+"Leave? Leave where? What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Leave here. Of course you realize that this ship of ours," indicating
+the house by a comprehensive wave of his hand around the room, "is goin'
+to be a mighty unpopular craft from now on. We may be on a lee shore any
+minute. You've got your own well-bein' to think of."
+
+"My own well-bein'! What do you s'pose I care for my well-bein' when
+there's--Cap'n Whittaker, you tell me now! Is it so?"
+
+"Some of it is--yes. He's come back and he's who he says he is. You've
+seen him. He was here all day yesterday."
+
+"So Angie said, but I couldn't scarcely believe it. That toughy! Cap'n
+Whittaker, do you intend to hand over that poor little innocent thing
+to--to such a man as THAT?"
+
+"No. There'll be no handin' over about it. But the odds are against us,
+and there's no reason why you should be in the rumpus, Georgianna. You
+may not understand what we're facin'."
+
+The housekeeper drew herself up. Her face was very red and her small
+eyes snapped.
+
+"Cy Whittaker," she began, manners and deference to employer alike
+forgotten, "don't you say no more of that wicked foolishness to me. I'll
+leave the minute you're mean-spirited enough to let that child go and
+not afore. And when THAT happens I'll be GLAD to leave. Land sakes!
+there's somebody at the door; and I expect I'm a perfect sight."
+
+She rubbed her face with her apron, thereby making it redder than ever,
+and hurried into the dining room.
+
+"Bos'n," said Captain Cy quickly, "you stay here in the kitchen."
+
+Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed her
+curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had knocked, and
+obeyed. The captain pulled the kitchen door almost shut and listened at
+the crack.
+
+The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain Cy's
+anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
+
+"Why!" he exclaimed in a whisper. "Ain't that--It sounds like--"
+
+"It's teacher," whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening. "She's
+come to find out why I wasn't at school. You tell her, Uncle Cy."
+
+Georgianna returned to announce:
+
+"It's Miss Dawes. She says she wants to see you, Cap'n. She's in the
+settin' room."
+
+The captain drew a long breath. Then, repeating his command to Emmie to
+stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The
+latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
+
+"What made him do that?" she demanded. "I haven't been bad. He NEVER
+shut me up before!"
+
+The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting room
+when Captain Cy entered.
+
+"Good evenin'," he said politely. "Won't you sit down?"
+
+But Miss Dawes paid no attention to trivialities. She seemed much
+agitated.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she began, "I just heard something that--"
+
+The captain interrupted her.
+
+"Excuse me," he said, "but I think we'll pull down the curtains and have
+a little light on the subject. It gets dark early now, especially of a
+gray day like this one."
+
+He drew the shades at the windows and lit the lamp on the table. The red
+glow behind the panes of the stove door faded into insignificance as
+the yellow radiance brightened. The ugly portraits and the stiff old
+engravings on the wall retired into a becoming dusk. The old-fashioned
+room became more homelike.
+
+"Now won't you sit down?" repeated Captain Cy. "Take that rocker; it's
+the most comf'table one aboard--so Bos'n says, anyhow."
+
+Miss Phoebe took the rocker, under protest. Her host remained standing.
+
+"It's been a nice afternoon," he said. "Bos'n--Emmie, of course--and I
+have been for a walk. 'Twan't her fault, 'twas mine. I kept her out of
+school. I was--well, kind of lonesome."
+
+The teacher's gray eyes flashed in the lamplight.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she cried, "please don't waste time. I didn't come
+here to talk about the weather nor Emily's reason for not attending
+school. I don't care why she was absent. But I have just heard of what
+happened at that meeting. Is it true that--" She hesitated.
+
+"That Emmie's dad is alive and here? Yes, it's true."
+
+"But--but that man last night? Was he THAT man?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"That's the man," he said briefly.
+
+Miss Dawes shuddered.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she asked earnestly, "are you sure he is really her
+father? Absolutely sure?"
+
+"Sure and sartin."
+
+"Then she belongs to him, doesn't she? Legally, I mean?"
+
+"Maybe so."
+
+"Are--are you going to give her up to him?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what I heard was true. You did say at the meeting that you were
+going to do your best to keep him from getting her."
+
+"Um--hum! What I said amounts to just about that."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Captain Cy was surprised and a little disappointed apparently.
+
+"Why?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes. Why?"
+
+"Well, for reasons I've got."
+
+"Do you mind telling me the reasons?"
+
+"I cal'late you don't want to hear 'em. If you don't understand now,
+then I can't make it much plainer, I'm afraid."
+
+The little lady sprang to her feet.
+
+"Oh, you are provoking!" she cried indignantly. "Can't you see that I
+want to hear the reasons from you yourself? Cap'n Whittaker, I shook
+hands with you last night."
+
+"You remember I told you you'd better wait."
+
+"I didn't want to wait. I believed I knew something of human nature, and
+I believed I had learned to understand you. I made up my mind to pay
+no more attention to what people said against you. I thought they were
+envious and disliked you because you did things in your own way. I
+wouldn't believe the stories I heard this afternoon. I wanted to hear
+you speak in your own defense and you refuse to do it. Don't you
+know what people are saying? They say you are trying to keep Emily
+because--Oh, I'm ashamed to ask it, but you make me: HAS the child got
+valuable property of her own?"
+
+Captain Cy had been, throughout this scene, standing quietly by the
+table. Now he took a step forward.
+
+"Miss Dawes," he said sharply, "sit down."
+
+"But I--"
+
+"Sit down, please."
+
+The schoolmistress didn't mean to obey the order, but for some reason
+she did. The captain went on speaking.
+
+"It's pretty plain," he said, "that what you heard at the boardin'
+house--for I suppose that's where you did hear it--was what you might
+call a Phinneyized story of the doin's at the meetin'. Well, there's
+another yarn, and it's mine; I'm goin' to spin it and I want you to
+listen."
+
+He went on to spin his yarn. It was practically a repetition of his
+reply to Tad Simpson that morning. Its conclusion was also much the
+same.
+
+"The land ain't worth fifty dollars," he declared, "but if it was fifty
+million he shouldn't have it. Why? Because it belongs to that little
+girl. And he shan't have her until he and those back of him have
+hammered me through the courts till I'm down forty fathom under water.
+And when they do get her--and, to be honest, I cal'late they will in
+the end--I hope to God I won't be alive to see it! There! I've answered
+you."
+
+He was walking up and down the room, with the old quarter-deck stride,
+his hands jammed deep in his pockets and his face working with emotion.
+
+"It's pretty nigh a single-handed fight for me," he continued, "but I've
+fought single-handed before. The other side's got almost all the powder
+and the men. Heman and Tad and that Thomas have got seven eighths of
+Bayport behind 'em, not to mention the 'Providence' they're so sure of.
+My crowd is a mighty forlorn hope: Dimick and Ase Tidditt, and Bailey,
+as much as his wife 'll let him. Oh, yes!" and he smiled whimsically,
+"there's another one. A new recruit's just joined; Georgianna's
+enlisted. That's my army. Sort of rag-jacketed cadets, we are, small
+potatoes, and few in a hill."
+
+The teacher rose and laid a hand on his arm. He turned toward her. The
+lamplight shone upon her face, and he saw, to his astonishment, that
+there were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she said, "will you take an other recruit? I should
+like to enlist, please."
+
+"You? Oh, pshaw! I'm thick-headed to-night. I didn't see the joke of it
+at first."
+
+"There isn't any joke. I want you to know that I admire you for the
+fight you're making. Law or no law, to let that dear little girl go away
+with that dreadful father of hers is a sin and a crime. I came here to
+tell you so. I did want to hear your story, and you made me ask that
+question; but I was certain of your answer before you made it. I don't
+suppose I can do anything to help, but I'm going to try. So, you see,
+your army is bigger than you thought it was--though the new soldier
+isn't good for much, I'm afraid," she added, with a little smile.
+
+Captain Cy was greatly disturbed.
+
+"Miss Phoebe," he said, "I--I won't say that it don't please me to
+have you talk so, for it does, more'n you can imagine. Sympathy means
+somethin' to the under dog, and it gives him spunk to keep on kickin'.
+But you mustn't take any part in the row; you simply mustn't. It won't
+do."
+
+"Why not? Won't I be ANY help?"
+
+"Help? You'd be more help than all the rest of us put together. You and
+me haven't seen a great deal of each other, and my part in the few talks
+we have had has been a mean one, but I knew the first time I met
+you that you had more brains and common sense than any woman in this
+county--though I was too pig-headed to own it. But that ain't it. I got
+you the job of teacher. It's no credit to me; 'twas just bull luck and
+for the fun of jarrin' Heman. But I did it. And, because I did it, the
+Atkins crowd--and that means most everybody now--haven't any love for
+you. My tryin' for school committee was really just to give you a fair
+chance in your position. I was licked, so the committee's two to one
+against you. Don't you see that you mustn't have anything to do with me?
+Don't you SEE it?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I see that common gratitude alone should be reason enough for my trying
+to help you," she said. "But, beside that, I know you are right, and I
+SHALL help, no matter what you say. As for the teacher's position, let
+them discharge me. I--"
+
+"Don't talk that way. The youngsters need you, and know it, no matter
+what their fool fathers and mothers say. And you mustn't wreck your
+chances. You're young--"
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Oh, no! I'm not," she said. "Young! Cap'n Whittaker, you shouldn't joke
+about a woman's age."
+
+"I ain't jokin'. You ARE young." As she stood there before him he was
+realizing, with a curiously uncomfortable feeling, how much younger she
+was than he. He glanced up at the mirror, where his own gray hairs were
+reflected, and repeated his assertion. "You're young yet," he said, "and
+bein' discharged from a place might mean a whole lot to you. I'm
+glad you take such an interest in Bos'n, and your comin' here on her
+account--"
+
+He paused. Miss Dawes colored slightly and said:
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Your comin' here on her account was mighty good of you. But you've got
+to keep out of this trouble. And you mustn't come here again. That's
+owner's orders. Why, I'm expectin' a boardin' party any minute," he
+added. "I thought when you knocked it was 'papa' comin' for his child.
+You'd better go."
+
+But she stood still.
+
+"I shan't go," she declared. "Or, at least, not until you promise to
+let me try to help you. If they come, so much the better. They'll learn
+where my sympathies are."
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head.
+
+"See here, Miss Phoebe," he said. "I ain't sure that you fully
+understand that Scripture and everything else is against us. Did Angie
+turn loose on you the 'Whom the Lord has joined' avalanche?"
+
+The schoolmistress burst into a laugh. The captain laughed, too, but
+his gravity quickly returned. For steps sounded on the walk, there was a
+whispering outside, and some one knocked on the dining-room door.
+
+The situation was similar to that of the evening when the Board of
+Strategy called and "John Smith" made his first appearance. But now,
+oddly enough, Captain Cy seemed much less troubled. He looked at Miss
+Dawes and there was a dancing twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Is it--" began the lady, in an agitated whisper.
+
+"The boardin' party? I presume likely."
+
+"But what can you do?"
+
+"Stand by the repel, I guess," was the calm reply. "I told you that they
+had most of the ammunition, but ours ain't all blank cartridges. You
+stay below and listen to the broadsides."
+
+They heard Georgianna cross the dining room. There was a murmur of
+voices at the door. The captain nodded.
+
+"It's them," he said. "Well, here goes. Now don't you show yourself."
+
+"Do you think I am afraid? Indeed, I shan't stay 'below' as you call it!
+I shall let them see--"
+
+Captain Cy held up his hand.
+
+"I'm commodore of this fleet," he said; "and that bein' the case, I
+expect my crew to obey orders. There's nothin' you can do, and--Why,
+yes! there is, too. You can take care of Bos'n. Georgianna," to the
+housekeeper who, looking frightened and nervous, had appeared at the
+door, "send Bos'n in here quick."
+
+"They're there," whispered Georgianna. "Mr. Atkins and Tad and that
+Thomas critter, and lots more. And they've come after her. What shall we
+do?"
+
+"Jump when I speak to you, that's the first thing. Send Bos'n in here
+and you stay in your galley."
+
+Emily came running. Miss Dawes put an arm about her. Captain Cy, the
+battle lanterns still twinkling under his brows, stepped forth to meet
+the "boarding party."
+
+They were there, as Georgianna had said. Mr. Thomas on the top step,
+Heman and Simpson on the next lower, and behind them Abel Leonard and a
+group of interested volunteers, principally recruited from the back room
+of the barber shop.
+
+"Evenin', gentlemen," said the captain, opening the door so briskly that
+Mr. Thomas started backward and came down heavily upon the toes of the
+devoted Tad. Mr. Simpson swore, Mr. Thomas clawed about him to gain
+equilibrium, and the dignity of the group was seriously impaired.
+
+"Evenin'," repeated Captain Cy. "Quite a surprise party you're givin'
+me. Come in."
+
+"Cyrus," began the Honorable Atkins, "we are here to claim--"
+
+"Give me my daughter, you robber!" demanded Thomas, from his new
+position in the rear of the other two.
+
+"Mr. Thomas," said Heman, "please remember that I am conducting this
+affair. I respect the natural indignation of an outraged father,
+but--ahem! Cyrus, we are here to claim--"
+
+"Then do your claimin' inside. It's kind of chilly to-night, there's
+plenty of empty chairs, and we don't need to hold an overflow meetin'.
+Come ahead in."
+
+The trio looked at each other in hesitation. Then Mr. Atkins
+majestically entered the dining room. Thomas and Simpson followed him.
+
+"Abe," observed Captain Cy to Leonard, who was advancing toward the
+steps, "I'm sorry not to be hospitable, but there's too many of you to
+invite at once, and 'tain't polite to show partiality. You and the rest
+are welcome to sit on the terrace or stroll 'round the deer park. Good
+night."
+
+He closed the door in the face of the disappointed Abel and turned to
+the three in the room.
+
+"Well," he said, "out with it. You've come to claim somethin', I
+understand."
+
+"I come for my rights," shouted Mr. Thomas.
+
+"Yes? Well, this ain't State's prison or I'd give 'em to you with
+pleasure. Heman, you'd better do the talkin'. We'll probably get ahead
+faster."
+
+The Honorable cleared his throat and waved his hand.
+
+"Cyrus," he began, "you are my boyhood friend and my fellow townsman and
+neighbor. Under such circumstances it gives me pain--"
+
+"Then don't let us discuss painful subjects. Let's get down to business.
+You've come to rescue Bos'n--Emily, that is,--from the 'robber'--I'm
+quotin' Deacon Thomas here--that's got her, so's to turn her over to her
+sorrowin' father. Is that it? Yes. Well, you can't have her--not yet."
+
+"Cyrus," said Mr. Atkins, "I'm sorry to see that you take it this way.
+You haven't the shadow of a right. We have the law with us, and your
+conduct will lead us to invoke it. The constable is outside. Shall I
+call him in?"
+
+"Uncle Bedny" was the town constable and had been since before the war.
+The purely honorary office was given him each year as a joke. Captain Cy
+grinned broadly, and even Tad was obliged to smile.
+
+"Don't be inhuman, Heman," urged the captain. "You wouldn't turn me over
+to be man-handled by Uncle Bedny, would you?"
+
+"This is not a humorous affair--" began the congressman, with dignity.
+But the "bereaved father" had been prospecting on his own hook, and now
+he peeped into the sitting room.
+
+"Here she is!" he shouted. "I see her. Come on, Emmie! Your dad's come
+for you. Let go of her, you woman! What do you mean by holdin' on to
+her?"
+
+The situation which was "not humorous" immediately became much less so.
+The next minute was a lively one. It ended as Mr. Thomas was picked up
+by Tad from the floor, where he had fallen, having been pushed violently
+over a chair by Captain Cy. Bos'n, frightened and sobbing, was clinging
+wildly to Miss Dawes, who had clung just as firmly to her. The captain's
+voice rang through the room.
+
+"That's enough," he said. "That's enough and some over. Atkins, take
+that feller out of this house and off my premises. As for the girl,
+that's for us to fight out in the courts. I'm her guardian,
+lawfully appointed, and you nor nobody else can touch her while that
+appointment's good. Here it is--right here. Now look at it and clear
+out."
+
+He held, for the congressman's inspection, the document which, inclosed
+in the long envelope, had been received that morning. His visit to
+Ostable, made some weeks before, had been for the purpose of applying
+to the probate court for the appointment as Emily's guardian. He had
+applied before the news of her father's coming to life reached him. The
+appointment itself had arrived just in time.
+
+Mr. Atkins studied the document with care. When he spoke it was with
+considerable agitation and without his usual diplomacy.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted. "Humph! I see. Well, sir, I have some influence in
+this section and I shall see how long your--your TRICK will prevent the
+child's going where she belongs. I wish you to understand that I shall
+continue this fight to the very last. I--I am not one to be easily
+beaten. Simpson, you and Thomas come with me. This night's despicable
+chicanery is only the beginning. This is bad business for you, Cy
+Whittaker," he snarled, his self-control vanishing, "and"--with a
+vindictive glance at the schoolmistress--"for those who are with you in
+it. That appointment was obtained under false pretenses and I can prove
+it. Your tricks don't scare me. I've had experience with TRICKS before."
+
+"Yup. So I've heard. Well, Heman, I ain't as well up in tricks as you
+claim to be, nor my stockin' isn't as well padded as yours, maybe. But
+while there's a ten-cent piece left in the toe of it I'll fight you and
+the skunk whose 'rights' you seem to have taken such a shine to. And,
+after that, while there's a lawyer that 'll trust me. And, meantime,
+that little girl stays right here, and you touch her if you dare, any of
+you! Anything more to say?"
+
+But the Honorable's dignity had returned. Possibly he thought he
+had said too much already. A moment later the door banged behind the
+discomforted boarding party.
+
+Captain Cy pulled his beard and laughed.
+
+"Well, we repelled 'em, didn't we?" he observed. "But, as friend
+Heman says, the beginnin's only begun. I wish he hadn't seen you here,
+teacher."
+
+Miss Dawes looked up from the task of stroking poor Bos'n's hair.
+
+"I don't," she said, "I'm glad of it." Then she added, laughing
+nervously: "Cap'n Whittaker, how could you be so cool? It was like a
+play. I declare, you were just splendid!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A CLEW
+
+
+Josiah Dimick has a unique faculty of grasping a situation and summing
+it up in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
+
+"I think," observed Josiah to the excited group at Simmons's, "that this
+town owes Cy Whittaker a vote of thanks."
+
+"Thanks!" gasped Alpheus Smalley, so shocked and horrified that he put
+the one-pound weight on the scales instead of the half pound. "THANKS!
+After what we've found out? Well, I must say!"
+
+"Ya-as," drawled Captain Josiah, "thanks was what I said. If it wan't
+for him this gang and the sewin' circle wouldn't have nothin' to talk
+about but their neighbors. Our reputations would be as full of holes as
+a skimmer by this time. Now all hands are so busy jumpin' on Whit, that
+the rest of us can feel fairly safe. Ain't that so, Gabe?"
+
+Mr. Lumley, who had stopped in for a half pound of tea, grinned feebly,
+but said nothing. If he noticed the clerk's mistake in weights he didn't
+mention it, but took his package and hurried out. After his departure
+Mr. Smalley himself discovered the error and charged the Lumley account
+with "1 1/4 lbs. Mixed Green and Black." Meanwhile the assemblage
+about the stove had put Captain Cy on the anvil and was hammering him
+vigorously.
+
+Bayport was boiling over with rumor and surmise. Heman had appealed to
+the courts asking that Captain Cy's appointment as Bos'n's guardian be
+rescinded. Cy had hired Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable, to look out for his
+interests. Mr. Atkins and the captain had all but come to blows over
+the child. Thomas, the poor father, had broken down and wept, and had
+threatened to commit suicide. Mrs. Salters had refused to speak to
+Captain Cy when she met the latter after meeting on Sunday. The land in
+Orham had been sold and the captain was using the money. Phoebe Dawes
+had threatened to resign if Bos'n came to school any longer. No, she had
+threatened to resign if she didn't come to school. She hadn't threatened
+to resign at all, but wanted higher wages because of the effect the
+scandal might have on her reputation as a teacher. These were a few of
+the reports, contradicted and added to from day to day.
+
+To quote Josiah Dimick again: "Sortin' out the truth from the lies is
+like tryin' to find a quart of sardines in a schooner load of herrin'.
+And they dump in more herrin' every half hour."
+
+Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life. The perfect boarding
+house hummed like a fly trap. Keturah and Mrs. Tripp had deserted to
+the enemy, and the minority, meaning Asaph and Bailey, had little
+opportunity to defend their friend's cause, even if they had dared.
+Heman Atkins, his Christian charity and high-mindedness, his devotion to
+duty, regardless of political consequences, and the magnificent speech
+at town meeting were lauded and exalted. The Bayport Breeze contained
+a full account of the meeting, and it was read aloud by Keturah, amidst
+hymns of praise from the elect.
+
+"'Whom the Lord hath joined,'" read Mrs. Bangs, "'let no man put
+asunder.' Ain't that splendid? Ain't that FINE? The paper says: 'When
+Congressman Atkins delivered this noble sentiment a hush fell upon the
+excited throng.' I should think 'twould. I remember when I was married
+the minister said pretty nigh the same thing, and I COULDN'T speak. I
+couldn't have opened my mouth to save me. Don't you remember I couldn't,
+Bailey?"
+
+Mr. Bangs nodded gloomily. It is possible that he wished the effect of
+the minister's declaration might have been more lasting. Asaph stirred
+in his chair.
+
+"I don't care," he said. "This puttin' asunder business is all right,
+but there's always two sides to everything. I see this Thomas critter
+when he fust come, and he didn't look like no saint then--nor smell like
+one, neither, unless 'twas a specimen pickled in alcohol."
+
+Here was irreverence almost atheistic. Keturah's face showed her shocked
+disapproval. Matilda Tripp voiced the general sentiment.
+
+"Humph!" she sniffed. "Well, all I can say is that I've met Mr. Thomas
+two or three times, and _I_ didn't notice anything but politeness and
+good manners. Maybe my nose ain't so fine for smellin' liquor as some
+folks's--p'raps it ain't had the experience--but all _I_ saw was a poor
+lame man with a black eye. I pitied him, and I don't care who hears me
+say it."
+
+"Yes," concurred Miss Phinney, "and if he was a drinkin' man, do you
+suppose Mr. Atkins would have anything to do with him? Cyrus Whittaker
+made a whole lot of talk about his insultin' some woman or other, but
+nobody knows who the woman was. 'Bout time for her to speak up, I should
+think. Teacher," turning to Miss Dawes, "you was at the Whittaker place
+when Mr. Atkins and Emily's father come for her, I understand. I wish
+I'd have been there. It must have been wuth seein'."
+
+"It was," replied Miss Dawes. She had kept silent throughout the various
+discussions of the week following the town meeting, but now, thus
+appealed to, she answered promptly.
+
+Angeline's news created a sensation. The schoolmistress immediately
+became the center of interest.
+
+"Is that so? Was you there, teacher? Well, I declare!" The questions and
+exclamations flew round the table.
+
+"Tell us, teacher," pleaded Keturah. "Wasn't Heman grand? I should so
+like to have heard him. Didn't Cap'n Whittaker look ashamed of himself?"
+
+"No, he did not. If anyone looked ashamed it was Mr. Atkins and his
+friends. Perhaps I ought to tell you that my sympathies are entirely
+with Captain Whittaker in this affair. To give that little girl up to a
+drunken scoundrel like her father would, in my opinion, be a crime."
+
+The boarders and the landlady gasped. Asaph grinned and nudged Bailey
+under the table. Keturah was the first to recover.
+
+"Well!" she exclaimed. "Everybody's got a right to their opinion, of
+course. But I can't see the crime, myself. And as for the drunkenness,
+I'd like to know who's seen Mr. Thomas drunk. Cyrus Whittaker SAYS he
+has, but--"
+
+She waved her hand scornfully. Phoebe rose from her chair.
+
+"I have seen him in that condition," she said. "In fact, I am the person
+he insulted. I saw Captain Whittaker knock him down, and I honored
+the captain for it. I only wished I were a man and could have done it
+myself."
+
+She left the room, and, a few moments later, the house. Mr. Tidditt
+chuckled aloud. Even Bailey dared to look pleased.
+
+"There!" sneered the widow Tripp. "Ain't that--Perhaps you remember that
+Cap'n Whittaker got her the teacher's place?"
+
+"Yes," put in Miss Phinney, "and nobody knows WHY he got it for her.
+That is, nobody has known up to now. Maybe we can begin to guess a
+little after this."
+
+"She was at his house, was she?" observed Keturah. "Humph! I wonder why?
+Seems to me if _I_ was a young--that is, a single woman like her, I'd
+be kind of careful about callin' on bachelors. Humph! it looks funny to
+me."
+
+Asaph rose and pushed back his chair.
+
+"I cal'late she called to see Emily," he said sharply. "The child was
+her scholar, and I presume likely, knowin' the kind of father that has
+turned up for the poor young one, she felt sorry for her. Of course,
+nobody's hintin' anything against Phoebe Dawes's character. If you want
+a certificate of that, you've only got to go to Wellmouth. Folks over
+there are pretty keen on that subject. I guess the town would go to
+law about it rather'n hear a word against her. Libel suits are kind of
+uncomf'table things for them that ain't sure of their facts. I'D hate to
+get mixed up in one, myself. Bailey, I'm going up street. Come on, when
+you can, won't you?"
+
+As if frightened at his own display of spirit, he hurried out. There was
+silence for a time; then Miss Phinney spoke concerning the weather.
+
+Up at the Cy Whittaker place the days were full ones. There, also, legal
+questions were discussed, with Georgianna, the Board of Strategy,
+Josiah Dimick occasionally, and, more infrequently still, Miss Dawes, as
+participants with Captain Cy in the discussions. Rumors were true in
+so far as they related to Mr. Atkins's appeal to the courts, and the
+captain's retaining Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable. Mr. Peabody's opinion of
+the case was not encouraging.
+
+"You see, captain," he said, when his client visited him at his office,
+"the odds are very much against us. The court appointed you as guardian
+with the understanding that this man Thomas was dead. Now he is alive
+and claims his child. More than that, he has the most influential
+politician in this county back of him. We wouldn't stand a fighting
+chance except for one thing--Thomas himself. He left his wife and the
+baby; deserted them, so she said; went to get work, HE says. We can
+prove he was a drunken blackguard BEFORE he went, and that he has been
+drunk since he came back. But THEY'LL say--Atkins and his lawyer--that
+the man was desperate and despairing because of your refusal to give him
+his child. They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner, anxious to reform,
+and needing the little girl's influence to help keep him straight.
+That's their game, and they'll play it, be sure of that, It sounds
+reasonable enough, too, for sinners have repented before now. And the
+long-lost father coming back to his child is the one sure thing to win
+applause from the gallery, you know that."
+
+Captain Cy nodded.
+
+"Yup," he said, "I know it. The other night, when Miss Ph-- when a friend
+of mine was at the house, she said this business was like a play. I
+didn't say so to her, but all the same I realize it ain't like a play at
+all. In a play dad comes home, havin' been snaked bodily out of the
+jaws of the tomb by his coat collar, and the young one sings out 'Papa!
+Papa!' and he sobs, 'Me child! Me child!' and it's all lovely, and
+you put on your hat feelin' that the old man is goin' to be rich and
+righteous for the rest of his days. But here it's different; dad's a
+rascal, and anybody who's seen anything of the world knows he's bound to
+stay so; and as for the poor little girl, why--why--"
+
+He stopped, rose, and, striding over to the window, stood looking out.
+After an interval, during which the good-natured attorney read a dull
+business letter through for the second time, he spoke again.
+
+"I hope you understand, Peabody," he said. "It ain't just selfishness
+that makes me steer the course I'm runnin'. Course, Bos'n's got to be
+the world and all to me, and if she's taken away I don't know's I care a
+tinker's darn what happens afterwards. But, all the same, if her dad was
+a real man, sorry for what he's done and tryin' to make up for it--why,
+then, I cal'late I'm decent enough to take off my hat, hand her over,
+and say: 'God bless you and good luck.' But to think of him carryin' her
+off the Lord knows where, to neglect her and cruelize her, and to let
+her grow up among fellers like him, I--I--by the big dipper, I can't do
+it! That's all; I can't!"
+
+"How does she feel about it, herself?" asked Peabody.
+
+"Her? Bos'n? Why, that's the hardest of all. Some of the children at
+school pester her about her father. I don't know's you can blame 'em;
+young ones are made that way, I guess--but she comes home to me cryin',
+and it's 'O Uncle Cy, he AIN'T my truly father, is he?' and 'You won't
+let him take me away from you, will you?' till it seems as if I should
+fly out of the window. The poor little thing! And that puffed-up humbug
+Atkins blowin' about his Christianity and all! D--n such Christianity as
+that, I say! I've seen heathen Injuns, who never heard of Christ,
+with more of His spirit inside 'em. There! I've shocked you, I guess.
+Sometimes I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me. I've been
+around, you know, and my New England bringin' up has wore thin in spots.
+Seem's if I must get somewheres and spread out, or I'll bust."
+
+He threw himself into a chair. The lawyer clapped him on the shoulder.
+
+"There, there, captain," he said. "Don't 'bust' yet awhile. Don't give
+up the ship. If we lose in one court, we can appeal to another, and so
+on up the line. And meantime we'll do a little investigating of
+friend Thomas's career since he left Concord. I've written to a legal
+acquaintance of mine in Butte, giving him the facts as we know them, and
+a description of Thomas. He will try to find out what the fellow did in
+his years out West. It's our best chance, as I told you. Keep your pluck
+up and wait and see."
+
+The captain repeated this conversation to the Board of Strategy when he
+returned to Bayport. Miss Dawes had walked home from school with Bos'n,
+and had stopped at the house to hear the report. She listened, but it
+was evident that something else was on her mind.
+
+"Captain Whittaker," she asked, "has it ever struck you as queer that
+Mr. Atkins should take such an interest in this matter? He is giving
+time and counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a perfect
+stranger to him. Why does he do it?"
+
+Captain Cy smiled.
+
+"Why?" he repeated. "Why, to down me, of course. I was gettin' too
+everlastin' prominent in politics to suit him. I'd got you in as
+teacher, and I had 'Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school committee.
+Goodness knows what I might have run for next, 'cordin' to Heman's
+reasonin', and I simply had to be smashed. It worked all right. I'm so
+unhealthy now in the sight of most folks in this town, that I cal'late
+they go home and sulphur-smoke their clothes after they meet me, so's
+not to catch my wickedness."
+
+But the teacher shook her head.
+
+"That doesn't seem reason enough to me," she declared. "Just see what
+Mr. Atkins has done. He never openly advocated anything in town meeting
+before; you said so yourself. Even when he must have realized that you
+had the votes for committeeman he kept still. He might have taken many
+of them from you by simply coming out and declaring for Mr. Snow; but he
+didn't. And then, all at once, he takes this astonishing stand. Captain
+Whittaker, Mr. Tidditt says that, the night of Emily's birthday party,
+you and he told who she was, by accident, and that Mr. Atkins seemed
+very much surprised and upset. Is that so?"
+
+Captain Cy laughed.
+
+"His lemonade was upset; that's all I noticed special. Oh! yes, and he
+lost his hat off, goin' home. But what of it? What are you drivin' at?"
+
+"I was wondering if--if it could be that, for some reason, Mr. Atkins
+had a spite against Emily or her people. Or if he had any reason to fear
+her."
+
+"Fear? Fear Bos'n? Oh, my, that's funny! You've been readin' novels, I'm
+'fraid, teacher, 'though I didn't suspect it of you."
+
+He laughed heartily. Miss Dawes smiled, too, but she still persisted.
+
+"Well," she said, "I don't know. Perhaps it is because I'm a woman, and
+politics don't mean as much to me as to you men, but to me political
+reasons don't seem strong enough to account for such actions as those
+of Mr. Atkins. Emily's mother was a Thayer, wasn't she? and the Thayers
+once lived in Orham. I wish we could find out more about them while they
+lived there."
+
+Asaph Tidditt pulled his beard thoughtfully.
+
+"Well," he observed, "maybe we can, if we want to, though I don't think
+what we find out 'll amount to nothin'. I was kind of cal'latin' to go
+to Orham next week on a little visit. Seth Wingate over there--Barzilla
+Wingate's cousin, Whit--is a sort of relation of mine, and we visit back
+and forth every nine or ten year or so. The ten year's most up, and he's
+been pesterin' me to come over. Seth's been Orham town clerk about as
+long as I've been the Bayport one, and he's lived there all his life.
+What he don't know about Orham folks ain't wuth knowin'. If you say so,
+I'll pump him about the Thayers and the Richards. 'Twon't do no harm,
+and the old fool likes to talk, anyhow. I don't know's I ought to speak
+that way about my relations," he added doubtfully, "but Seth IS sort of
+stubborn and unlikely at odd times. We don't always agree as to which is
+the best town to live in, you understand."
+
+So it was settled that Mr. Wingate should be subjected to the "pumping"
+process when Asaph visited him. He departed for this visit the following
+week, and remained away for ten days. Meanwhile several things happened
+in Bayport.
+
+One of these things was the farewell of the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+Congress was to open at Washington, and the Honorable heeded the call
+of duty. Alicia and the housekeeper went with him, and the big house was
+closed for the winter. At the gate between the stone urns, and backed
+by the iron dogs, the great man bade a group of admiring constituents
+good-by. He thanked them for their trust in him, and promised that it
+should not be betrayed.
+
+"I leave you, my fellow townsmen, er--ladies and friends," he said,
+"with regret, tempered by pride--a not inexcusable pride, I believe. In
+the trying experience which my self-respect and sympathy has so recently
+forced upon me, you have stood firm and cheered me on. The task I have
+undertaken, the task of restoring to a worthy man his own, shall be
+carried on to the bitterest extremity. I have put my hand to the plow,
+and it shall not be withdrawn. And, furthermore, I go to my work at
+Washington determined to secure for my native town the appropriation
+which it so sorely needs. I shall secure it if I can, even though--" and
+the sarcasm was hugely enjoyed by his listeners--"I am, as I seem likely
+to be, deprived of the help of the 'committee,' self-appointed at our
+recent town meeting. If I fail--and I do not conceal the fact that I
+may fail--I am certain you will not blame me. Now I should like to shake
+each one of you by the hand."
+
+The hands were shaken, and the train bore the Atkins delegation away.
+And, on the day following, Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, also left
+town. A position in Boston had been offered him, he said, and he felt
+that he must accept it. He would come back some of these days, with the
+warrant from the court, and get his little girl.
+
+"Position offered him! Um--ya-as!" quoth Dimick the cynical, in
+conversation with Captain Cy. "Inspector of sidewalks, I shouldn't
+wonder. Well, please don't ask me if I think Heman sent him to Boston
+so's to have him out of the way, and 'cause he'd feel consider'ble safer
+than if he was loose down here. Don't ask me that, for, with my strict
+scruples against the truth I might say, No. As it is, I say nothin'--and
+wink my port eye."
+
+The ten-day visit ended, Mr. Tidditt returned to Bayport. On the
+afternoon of his return he and Bailey called at the Whittaker place,
+and there they were joined by Miss Dawes, who had been summoned to the
+conclave by a note intrusted to Bos'n.
+
+"Now, Ase," ordered Captain Cy, as the quartet gathered in the sitting
+room, "here we are, hangin' on your words, as the feller said. Don't
+keep us strung up too long. What did you find out?"
+
+The town clerk cleared his throat. When he spoke, there was a trace of
+disappointment in his tone. To have been able to electrify his audience
+with the news of some startling discovery would have been pure joy for
+Asaph.
+
+"Well," he began, "I don't know's I found out anything much. Yet I did
+find out somethin', too; but it don't really amount to nothin'. I hoped
+'twould be somethin' more'n 'twas, but when nothin' come of it except
+the little somethin' it begun with, I--"
+
+"For the land sakes!" snapped Bailey Bangs, who was a trifle envious of
+his friend's position in the center of the stage, "stop them 'nothin's'
+and 'somethin's,' won't you? You keep whirlin' 'em round and over and
+over till my head's FULL of 'nothin',' and--"
+
+"That's what it's full of most of the time," interrupted Asaph tartly.
+Captain Cy hastened to act as peacemaker.
+
+"Never mind, Bailey," he said; "you let Ase alone. Tell us what you did
+find out, Ase, and cut out the trimmin's."
+
+"Well," continued Mr. Tidditt, with a glare at Bangs, "I asked Seth
+about the Thayers and the Richards folks the very fust night I struck
+Orham. He remembered 'em, of course; he can remember Adam, if you let
+him tell it. He told me a whole mess about old man Thayer and old man
+Richards and their granddads and grandmarms, and what houses they lived
+in, and how many hens they kept, and what their dog's name was, and how
+they come to name him that, and enough more to fill a hogshead. 'Twas
+ten o'clock afore he got out of Genesis, and down so fur as John and
+Emily. He remembered their bein' married, and their baby--Mary Thayer,
+Bos'n's ma--bein' born.
+
+"Folks used to call John Thayer a smart young feller, so Seth said. They
+used to cal'late that he'd rise high in the seafarin' and ship-ownin'
+line. Maybe he would, only he died somewheres in Californy 'long in '54
+or thereabouts. 'Twas the time of the gold craziness out there, and he
+left his ship and went gold huntin'. And the next thing they knew he was
+dead and buried."
+
+"When was that?" inquired the schoolmistress.
+
+"In '54, I tell you. So Seth says."
+
+"What ship was he on?" asked Bailey.
+
+"Wan't on any ship. Why don't you listen, instead of settin' there
+moonin'? He was gold diggin', I tell you."
+
+"He'd BEEN on a ship, hadn't he? What was the name of her?"
+
+"I didn't ask. What diff'rence does that make?"
+
+"Wasn't Mr. Atkins at sea in those days?" put in the teacher. The
+captain answered her.
+
+"Yes, he was," he said. "That is, I think he was. He was away from here
+when I skipped out, and he didn't get back till '61 or thereabouts."
+
+"Well, anyhow," went on Asaph, "that's all I could find out. Seth and me
+went rummagin' through town records from way back to glory, him gassin'
+away and stringin' along about this old settler and that, till I 'most
+wished he'd choke himself with the dust he was raisin'. We found John's
+grandad's will, and Emily's dad's will, and John's own will, and that's
+all. John left everything he had and all he might become possessed of
+to his wife and baby and their heirs forever. He died poorer'n poverty.
+What's the use of a will when you ain't got nothin' to leave?"
+
+"Why!" exclaimed Captain Cy. "The answer to that's easy. John was goin'
+to sea, and, more'n likely, intended to have a shy at the diggin's afore
+he got back. So, if he did make any money, he wanted his wife and baby
+to have it."
+
+"Well, what they got wan't wuth havin'. Emily had to scrimp along and
+do dressmakin' till she died. She done fairly well at that, though,
+and saved somethin' and passed it over to Mary. And Mary married Henry
+Thomas, after she went with the Howes tribe to Concord, and he got rid
+of it for her in double quick time--all but the Orham land."
+
+"So that was all you could find out, hey, Ase?" asked the captain.
+"Well, it's at least as much as I expected. You see, teacher, these
+story-book notions don't work out when it comes to real life."
+
+Miss Dawes was plainly disappointed.
+
+"I wish we knew more," she said. "Who was on this ship with Mr. Thayer?
+And who sent the news of his death home?"
+
+"Oh, I can tell you that," said Asaph. "'Twas some one-hoss doctor out
+there, gold minin' himself, he was. John died of a quick fever. Got cold
+and went off in no time. Seth remembered that much, though he couldn't
+remember the doctor's name. He said, if I wanted to learn more about
+the Thayers, I might go see--Humph, well, never mind that. 'Twas just
+foolishness, anyhow."
+
+But Phoebe persisted.
+
+"To see whom?" she asked. "Some one you knew? A friend of yours?"
+
+Asaph turned red.
+
+"Friend of mine!" he snarled. "No, SIR! she ain't no friend of mine, I'm
+thankful to say. More a friend of Bailey's, here, if she's anybody's.
+One of his pets, she was, for a spell. A patient of his, you might say;
+anyhow, he prescribed for her. 'Twas that deef idiot, Debby Beasley, Cy;
+that's who 'twas. Her name was Briggs afore she married Beasley, and
+she was hired help for Emily Thayer, when Mary was born, and until John
+died."
+
+Captain Cy burst into a roar of laughter. Bailey sprang out of his
+chair.
+
+"De--Debby Beasley!" he stammered. "Debby Beasley!"
+
+"She was that deef housekeeper Bailey hired for me, teacher," explained
+the captain. "I've told you about her. Ho! ho! so that's the end of
+the mystery huntin'. We go gunnin' for Heman Atkins, and we bring down
+Debby! Well, Ase, goin' to see the old lady?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt's retort was emphatic.
+
+"Goin' to SEE her?" he repeated. "I guess not! Godfrey scissors! I told
+Seth, says I, 'I've had all the Debby Beasley _I_ want, and I cal'late
+Cy Whittaker feels the same way.' Go to see her! I wouldn't go to see
+her if she was up in Paradise a-hollerin' for me."
+
+"Nobody up there's goin' to holler for YOU, Ase Tidditt," remarked
+Bailey, with sarcasm; "so don't let that worry you none."
+
+"Are YOU going to see her, Captain Whittaker?" asked Phoebe.
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"Why, no, I guess not," he said. "I don't take much stock in what she'd
+be likely to know; besides, I'm a good deal like Ase--I've had about all
+the Debby Beasley I want."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+
+"Mrs. Bangs," said the schoolmistress, as if it was the most casual
+thing in the world, "I want to borrow your husband to-morrow."
+
+It was Friday evening, and supper at the perfect boarding house had
+advanced as far as the stewed prunes and fruit-cake stage. Keturah,
+who was carefully dealing out the prunes, exactly four to each saucer,
+stopped short, spoon in air, and gazed at Miss Dawes.
+
+"You--you want to WHAT?" she asked.
+
+"I want to borrow your husband. I want him all day, too, because I'm
+thinking of driving over to Trumet, and I need a coachman. You'll go,
+won't you, Mr. Bangs?"
+
+Bailey, who had been considering the advisability of asking for a second
+cup of tea, brightened up and looked pleased.
+
+"Why, yes," he answered, "I'll go. I can go just as well as not. Fact
+is, I'd like to. Ain't been to Trumet I don't know when."
+
+Miss Phinney and the widow Tripp looked at each other. Then they both
+looked at Keturah. That lady's mouth closed tightly, and she resumed her
+prune distribution.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said crisply, "but I'm 'fraid he can't go. It's
+Saturday, and I'll need him round the house. Do you care for cake
+to-night, Elviry? I'm 'fraid it's pretty dry; I ain't had time to do
+much bakin' this week."
+
+"Of course," continued the smiling Phoebe, "I shouldn't think of asking
+him to go for nothing. I didn't mean borrow him in just that way. I
+was thinking of hiring your horse and buggy, and, as I'm not used to
+driving, I thought perhaps I might engage Mr. Bangs to drive for me.
+I expected to pay for the privilege. But, as you need him, I suppose I
+must get my rig and driver somewhere else. I'm so sorry."
+
+The landlady's expression changed. This was the dull season, and
+opportunities to "let" the family steed and buggy--"horse and team," we
+call it in Bayport--were few.
+
+"Well," she observed, "I don't want to be unlikely and disobligin'.
+Far's he's concerned, he'd rather be traipsin' round the country than
+stay to home, any day; though it's been so long sence he took ME to ride
+that I don't know's I'd know how to act."
+
+"Why, Ketury!" protested her husband. "How you talk! Didn't I drive you
+down to the graveyard only last Sunday--or the Sunday afore?"
+
+"Graveyard! Yes, I notice our rides always fetch up at the graveyard.
+You're always willin' to take me THERE. Seems sometimes as if you
+enjoyed doin' it."
+
+"Now, Keturah! you know yourself that 'twas you proposed goin' there.
+You said you wanted to look at our lot, 'cause you was afraid 'twan't
+big enough, and you didn't know but we'd ought to add on another piece.
+You said that it kept you awake nights worryin' for fear when I passed
+away you wouldn't have room in that lot for me. Land sakes! don't I
+remember? Didn't you give me the blue creeps talkin' about it?"
+
+Mrs. Bangs ignored this outburst. Turning to the school teacher, she
+said with a sigh:
+
+"Well, I guess he can go. I'll get along somehow. I hope he'll be
+careful of the buggy; we had it painted only last January."
+
+Mrs. Tripp ventured a hinted question concerning the teacher's errand
+at Trumet. The reply being noncommittal, the widow cheerfully prophesied
+that she guessed 'twas going to rain or snow next day. "It's about time
+for the line storm," she added.
+
+But it did not storm, although a brisk, cold gale was blowing when,
+after breakfast next morning, the "horse and team," with Bailey in his
+Sunday suit and overcoat, and Miss Dawes on the buggy seat beside him,
+turned out of the boarding-house yard and started on the twelve-mile
+journey to Trumet.
+
+It was a bleak ride. Denboro, the village adjoining Bayport on the bay
+side, is a pretty place, with old elms and silverleafs shading the main
+street in summer, and with substantial houses set each in its trim yard.
+But beyond Denboro the Trumet road winds out over rolling, bare hills,
+with cranberry bogs, now flooded and skimmed with ice, in the hollows
+between them, clumps of bayberry and beach-plum bushes scattered over
+their rounded slopes, and white scars in their sides showing where the
+cranberry growers have cut away the thin layer of coarse grass and moss
+to reach the sand beneath, sand which they use in preparing their bogs
+for the new vines.
+
+And the wind! There is always a breeze along the Trumet road, even
+in summer--when the mosquitoes lie in wait to leeward like buccaneers
+until, sighting the luckless wayfarer in the offing, they drive down
+before the wind in clouds, literally to eat him alive. They are skilled
+navigators, those Trumet road mosquitoes, and they know the advantage
+of snug harbors under hat brims and behind spreading ears. And each
+individual smashed by a frantic palm leaves a thousand blood relatives
+to attend his funeral and exact revenge after the Corsican fashion.
+
+Now, in December, there were, of course, no mosquitoes, but the wind
+tore across those bare hilltops in gusts that rocked the buggy on its
+springs. The bayberry bushes huddled and crouched before it. The sky was
+covered with tumbling, flying clouds, which changed shape continually,
+and ripped into long, fleecy ravelings, that broke loose and pelted on
+until merged into the next billowy mass. The bay was gray and white, and
+in the spots where an occasional sunbeam broke through and struck it,
+flashed like a turned knife blade.
+
+Bailey drove with one hand and held his hat on his head with the other.
+The road had been deeply rutted during the November rains, and now the
+ruts were frozen. The buggy wheels twisted and scraped as they turned in
+the furrows.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the schoolmistress, shouting so as to be
+heard above the flapping of the buggy curtains. "Why do you watch that
+wheel?"
+
+"'Fraid of the axle," whooped Mr. Bangs in reply. "Nut's kind of loose,
+for one thing, and the way the wheel wobbles I'm scart she'll come off.
+Call this a road!" he snorted indignantly. "More like a plowed field a
+consider'ble sight. Jerushy, how she blows! No wonder they raise so many
+deef and dumb folks in Trumet. I'd talk sign language myself if I lived
+here. What's the use of wastin' strength pumpin' up words when they're
+blowed back down your throat fast enough to choke you? Git dap, Henry!
+Don't you see the meetin' house steeple? We're most there, thank the
+goodness."
+
+In Trumet Center, which is not much of a center, Miss Dawes alighted
+from the buggy and entered a building bearing a sign with the words
+"Metropolitan Variety Store, Joshua Atwood, Prop'r, Groceries, Coal, Dry
+Goods, Insurance, Boots and Shoes, Garden Seeds, etc." A smaller sign
+beneath this was lettered "Justice of the Peace," and one below that
+read "Post Office."
+
+She emerged a moment later, followed by an elderly person in a red
+cardigan jacket and overalls.
+
+"Take the fust turnin' to the left, marm," he said pointing. "It's
+pretty nigh to East Trumet townhall. Fust house this side of the
+blacksmith shop. About two mile, I'd say. Windy day for drivin', ain't
+it? That horse of yours belongs in Bayport, I cal'late. Looks to me
+like--Hello, Bailey!"
+
+"Hello, Josh!" grunted Mr. Bangs, adding an explanatory aside to
+the effect that he knew Josh Atwood, the latter having once lived in
+Bayport.
+
+"But say," he asked as they moved on once more, "have we got to go to
+EAST Trumet? Jerushy! that's the place where the wind COMES from. They
+raise it over there; anyhow, they don't raise much else. Whose house you
+goin' to?"
+
+He had asked the same question at least ten times since leaving home,
+and each time Miss Dawes had evaded it. She did so now, saying that she
+was sure she should know the house when they got to it.
+
+The two miles to East Trumet were worse than the twelve which they had
+come. The wind fairly shrieked here, for the road paralleled the edge of
+high sand bluffs close by the shore, and the ruts and "thank-you-marms"
+were trying to the temper. Bailey's was completely wrecked.
+
+"Teacher," he snapped as they reached the crest of a long hill, and
+a quick grab at his hat alone prevented its starting on a balloon
+ascension, "get out a spell, will you? I've got to swear or bust, and
+'long's you're aboard I can't swear. What you standin' still for,
+you?" he bellowed at poor Henry, the horse, who had stopped to rest. "I
+cal'late the critter thinks that last cyclone must have blowed me sky
+high, and he's waitin' to see where I light. Git dap!"
+
+"I guess I shall get out very soon now," panted Phoebe. "There's the
+blacksmith shop over there near the next hill, and this house in the
+hollow must be the one I'm looking for."
+
+They pulled up beside the house in the hollow. A little,
+story-and-a-half house it was, and, judging by the neglected appearance
+of the weeds and bushes in the yard, it had been unoccupied for some
+time. However, the blinds were now open, and a few fowls about the back
+door seemed to promise that some one was living there. The wooden letter
+box by the gate had a name stenciled upon it. Miss Dawes sprang from the
+buggy and looked at the box.
+
+"Yes," she said. "This is the place. Will you come in, Mr. Bangs? You
+can put your horse in that barn, I'm sure, if you want to."
+
+But Bailey declined to come in. He declared he was going on to the
+blacksmith's shop to have that wheel fixed. He would not feel safe to
+start for home with it as it was. He drove off, and Miss Dawes, knowing
+from lifelong experience that front doors are merely for show, passed
+around the main body of the house and rapped on the door in the ell.
+The rap was not answered, though she could hear some one moving about
+within, and a shrill voice singing "The Sweet By and By." So she rapped
+again and again, but still no one came to the door. At last she ventured
+to open it.
+
+A thin woman, with her head tied up in a colored cotton handkerchief,
+was in the room, vigorously wielding a broom. She was singing in a high
+cracked voice. The opening of the door let in a gust of cold wind which
+struck the singer in the back of the neck, and caused her to turn around
+hastily.
+
+"Hey?" she exclaimed. "Land sakes! you scare a body to death! Shut that
+door quick! I ain't hankering for influenzy. Who are you? What do you
+want? Why didn't you knock? Where's my specs?"
+
+She took a pair of spectacles from the mantel shelf, rubbed them
+with her apron, and set them on the bridge of her thin nose. Then she
+inspected the schoolmistress from head to foot.
+
+"I beg pardon for coming in," shouted Phoebe. "I knocked, but you didn't
+hear. You are Mrs. Beasley, aren't you?"
+
+"I don't want none," replied Debby, with emphasis. "So there's no use
+your wastin' your breath."
+
+"Don't want--" repeated the astonished teacher. "Don't want what?"
+
+"Hey? I say I don't want none."
+
+"Don't want WHAT?"
+
+"Whatever 'tis you're peddlin'. Books or soap or tea, or whatever 'tis.
+I don't want nothin'."
+
+After some strenuous minutes, the visitor managed to make it clear to
+Mrs. Beasley's mind that she was not a peddler. She tried to add a word
+of further explanation, but it was effort wasted.
+
+"'Tain't no use," snapped Debby, "I can't hear you, you speak so faint.
+Wait till I get my horn; it's in the settin' room."
+
+Phoebe's wonder as to what the "horn" might be was relieved by the
+widow's appearance, a moment later, with the biggest ear trumpet her
+caller had ever seen.
+
+"There, now!" she said, adjusting the instrument and thrusting the
+bell-shaped end under the teacher's nose. "Talk into that. If you ain't
+a peddler, what be you--sewin' machine agent?"
+
+Phoebe explained that she had come some distance on purpose to see Mrs.
+Beasley. She was interested in the Thayers, who used to live in Orham,
+particularly in Mr. John Thayer, who died in 1854. She had been told
+that Debby formerly lived with the Thayers, and could, no doubt,
+remember a great deal about them. Would she mind answering a few
+questions, and so on?
+
+Mrs. Beasley, her hearing now within forty-five degrees of the normal,
+grew interested. She ushered her visitor into the adjoining room, and
+proffered her a chair. That sitting room was a wonder of its kind, even
+to the teacher's accustomed eyes. A gilt-framed crayon enlargement of
+the late Mr. Beasley hung in the center of the broadest wall space, and
+was not the ugliest thing in the apartment. Having said this, further
+description is unnecessary--particularly to those who remember Mr.
+Beasley's personal appearance.
+
+"What you so interested in the Thayers for?" inquired Debby. "One of the
+heirs, be you? They didn't leave nothin'."
+
+No, the schoolmistress was not an heir. Was not even a relative of the
+family. But she was--was interested, just the same. A friend of hers was
+a relative, and--
+
+"What is your friend?" inquired the inquisitor. "A man?"
+
+There was no reason why Miss Dawes should have changed color, but,
+according to Debby's subsequent testimony, she did; she blushed, so the
+widow declares.
+
+"No," she protested. "Oh, no! it's a--she's a child, that's all--a
+little girl. But--"
+
+"Maybe you're gettin' up one of them geographical trees," suggested Mrs.
+Beasley. "I've seen 'em, fust settlers down in the trunk, and children
+and grandchildren spreadin' out in the branches. Is that it?"
+
+Here was an avenue of escape. Phoebe stretched the truth a trifle, and
+admitted that that, or something of the sort, was what she was engaged
+in. The explanation seemed to be satisfactory. Debby asked her
+visitor's name, and, misunderstanding it, addressed her as "Miss Dorcas"
+thereafter. Then she proceeded to give her reminiscences of the Thayers,
+and it did not take long for the disappointed teacher to discover that,
+for all practical purposes, these reminiscences were valueless. Mrs.
+Beasley remembered many things, but nothing at all concerning John
+Thayer's life in the West, nor the name of the ship he sailed in, nor
+who his shipmates were.
+
+"He never wrote home but once or twice afore he died," she said. "And
+when he did Emily, his wife, never told me what was in his letters. She
+always burnt 'em, I guess. I used to hunt around for 'em when she was
+out, but she burnt 'em to spite me, I cal'late. Her and me didn't get
+along any too well. She said I talked too much to other folks about what
+was none of their business. Now, anybody that knows me knows THAT ain't
+one of my failin's. I told her so; says I--"
+
+And so on for ten minutes. Then Phoebe ventured to repeat the words "out
+West," and her companion went off on a new tack. She had just been West
+herself. She had been on a visit to her husband's niece, who lived in
+Arizona. In Blazeton, Arizona. "It's the nicest town ever you see," she
+continued. "And the smartest, most up-to-date place. Talk about the West
+bein' oncivilized! My land! you ought to see that town! Electric
+lights, and telephones, and--and--I don't know what all! Why, Miss
+What's-your-name--Miss Dorcas, marm, you just ought to see the
+photygraphs I've got that was took out there. My niece, she took 'em
+with one of them little mites of cameras. You wouldn't believe such a
+little box of a thing could take such photygraphs. I'm goin' to get 'em
+and show 'em to you. No, sir! you ain't got to go, neither. Set right
+still and let me fetch them photygraphs. 'Twon't be a mite of trouble.
+I'd love to do it."
+
+Protests were unavailing. The photographs, at least fifty of them, were
+produced, and the suffering caller was shown the Blazeton City Hall, and
+the Blazeton "Palace Hotel," and the home of the Beasley niece, taken
+from the front, the rear, and both sides. With each specimen Debby
+delivered a descriptive lecture.
+
+"You see that house?" she asked. "Well, 'tain't much of a one to look
+at, but it's got the most interestin' story tagged on to it. I made Eva,
+that's my niece, take a picture of it just on that account. The woman
+that lives there's had the hardest time. Her fust name's Desire, and
+that kind of made me take an interest in her right off, 'cause I had an
+Aunt Desire once, and it's a name you don't hear very often. Afterwards
+I got to know her real well. She was a widder woman, like me, only she
+didn't have as much sense as I've got, and went and married a second
+time. 'Twas 'long in 1886 she done it. This man Higgins, he went to
+work for her on her place, and pretty soon he married her. They lived
+together, principally on her fust husband's insurance money, I cal'late,
+until a year or so ago. Then the insurance money give out, and Mr.
+Higgins he says: 'Old woman,' he says--I'D never let a husband of mine
+call me 'old woman,' but Desire didn't seem to mind--'Old woman,' he
+says, 'I'm goin' over to Phoenix'--that's another city in Arizona--'to
+look for a job.' And he went, and she ain't heard hide--I mean seen hide
+nor heard hair--What DOES ail me? She ain't seen nor heard of him since.
+And she advertised in the weekly paper, and I don't know what all. She
+thinks he was murdered, you know; that's what makes it so sort of creepy
+and interestin'. Everybody was awful kind to her, and we got to be real
+good friends. Why, I--"
+
+This was but the beginning. It was evident that Mrs. Beasley had
+thoroughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton, and that the sorrows of the
+bereaved Desire Higgins had been one of the principal sources of that
+enjoyment. The schoolmistress endeavored to turn the subject, but it was
+useless.
+
+"I fetched home a whole pile of them newspapers," continued Debby.
+"They was awful interestin'; full of pictures of Blazeton buildin's
+and leadin' folks and all. And in some of the back numbers was the
+advertisement about Mr. Higgins. I do wish I could show 'em to you, but
+I lent 'em to Mrs. Atwood up to the Center. If 'twan't such a ways I'd
+go and fetch 'em. Mrs. Atwood's been awful nice to me. She took care of
+my trunks and things when I went West--yes, and afore that when I went
+to Bayport to keep house for that miser'ble Cap'n Whittaker. I ain't
+told you about that, but I will by and by. Them trunks had lots of
+things in 'em that I didn't want to lose nor have anybody see. My
+diaries--I've kept a diary since 1850--and--"
+
+"Diaries?" interrupted Phoebe, grasping at straws. "Did you keep a diary
+while you were at the Thayers?"
+
+"Yes. Now, why didn't I think of that afore? More'n likely there'd be
+somethin' in that to help you with that geographical tree. I used to put
+down everything that happened, and--Where you goin'?"
+
+Miss Dawes had risen and was peering out of the window.
+
+"I was looking to see if my driver was anywhere about," she replied. "I
+thought perhaps he would drive over to Mrs. Atwood's and get the diary
+for you. But I don't see him."
+
+Just then, from around the corner of the house, peeped an agitated face;
+an agitated forefinger beckoned. Debby stepped to the window beside her
+visitor, and the face and finger went out of sight as if pulled by a
+string.
+
+Miss Phoebe smiled.
+
+"I think I'll go out and look for him," she said. "He must be near here.
+I'll be right back, Mrs. Beasley."
+
+Without stopping to put on her jacket, she hurried through the dining
+room, out of the door, and around the corner. There she found Mr. Bangs
+in a highly nervous state.
+
+"Why didn't you tell me 'twas Debby Beasley you was comin' to see?" he
+demanded. "If you'd mentioned that deef image's name you'd never got ME
+to drive you, I tell you that!"
+
+"Yes," answered the teacher sweetly. "I imagined that. That's why I
+didn't tell you, Mr. Bangs. Now I want you to do me a favor. Will you
+drive over to Trumet Center, and deliver a note and get a package for
+me? Then you can come back here, and I shall be ready to start for
+home."
+
+"Drive! Drive nothin'! The blacksmith's out, and won't be back for
+another hour. His boy's there, but he's a big enough lunkhead to try
+bailin' out a dory with a fork, and that buggy axle is bent so it's
+simply got to be fixed. I'd no more go home to Ketury with that buggy as
+'tis than I'd--Oh! my land of love!"
+
+The ejaculation was almost a groan. There at the corner, ear trumpet
+adjusted, and spectacles glistening, stood Debby Beasley. Bailey
+appeared to wilt under her gaze as if the spectacles were twin suns.
+Miss Dawes looked as if she very much wanted to laugh. The widow stared
+in silence.
+
+"How--how d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley?" faltered Mr. Bangs, not forgetting to
+raise his voice. "I hope you're lookin' as well as you feel. I mean, I
+hope you're smart."
+
+Mrs. Beasley nodded decisively.
+
+"Yes," she answered. "I'm pretty toler'ble, thank you. What was the
+matter, Mr. Bangs? Why didn't you come in? Do you usually make your
+calls round the corner?"
+
+The gentleman addressed seemed unable to reply. The schoolmistress came
+to the rescue.
+
+"You mustn't blame Mr. Bangs, Mrs. Beasley," she explained. "He
+wasn't responsible for what happened at Captain Whittaker's. He is
+the gentleman who drove me over here. I was going to send him to Mrs.
+Atwood's for the diary."
+
+"Who said I was blamin' him?" queried the widow. "If 'twas that little
+Tidditt thing I might feel different. But, considerin' that I got this
+horn from Mr. Bangs, I'm willin' to let bygones be past. It helps my
+hearin' a lot. Them ear-fixin's was good while they lasted, but they got
+out of kilter quick. _I_ shan't bother Mr. Bangs. If he can square his
+own conscience, I'm satisfied."
+
+Bailey's conscience was not troubling him greatly, and he seemed
+relieved. Phoebe told of the damaged buggy.
+
+"Humph!" grunted the widow. "The horse didn't get bent, too, did he?"
+
+Mr. Bangs indignantly declared that the horse was all right.
+
+"Um--hum. Well, then, I guess I can supply a carriage. My fust cousin
+Ezra that died used to be doctor here, and he give me his sulky when he
+got a new one. It's out in the barn. Go fetch your horse, and harness
+him in. I'll be ready time the harnessin's done."
+
+"You?" gasped the teacher. "You don't need to go, Mrs. Beasley. I
+wouldn't think of giving you that trouble."
+
+"No trouble at all. I wouldn't trust nobody else with them trunks. And
+besides, I always do enjoy ridin'. You could go, too, Miss Dorcas, but
+the sulky seat's too narrer for three. You can set in the settin' room
+till we get back. 'Twon't take us long. Don't say another word; I'm
+A-GOIN'."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+
+The number of reasons given by Mr. Bangs one after the other, to
+prove that it would be quite impossible for him to be Mrs. Beasley's
+charioteer was a credit to the resources of his invention. The
+blacksmith might be back any minute; it was dinner time, and he was
+hungry; Henry, the horse, was tired; it wasn't a nice day for riding,
+and he would come over some other time and take the widow out; he--But
+Debby had a conclusive answer for each protest.
+
+"You said yourself the blacksmith wouldn't be back for an hour," she
+observed. "And you can leave word with the boy what he's to do when he
+does come. As for dinner, I'll be real glad to give you and Miss Dorcas
+a snack soon's we get back. I don't mind if it ain't a pleasant day; a
+little fresh air 'll do me good. I been shut up here house-cleanin' ever
+since I got back from out West. Now, hurry right along, and fetch your
+horse. I'll unlock the barn."
+
+"But, Mrs. Beasley," put in the schoolmistress, "why couldn't you give
+us a note to Mrs. Atwood and let us stop for the diary on our way home?
+I could return it to you by mail. Or you might get it yourself some
+other day and mail it to me."
+
+"No, no! Never put off till to-morrer what you can do to-day. My husband
+was a great hand to put off and put off. For the last eight years of his
+life I was at him to buy a new go-to-meetin' suit of clothes. The one
+he had was blue to start with, but it faded to a brown, and, toward the
+last of it, I declare if it didn't commence to turn green. Nothin' I
+could say would make him heave it away even then. Seemed to think more
+of it than ever. Said he wanted to hang to it a spell and see what
+'twould turn next. But he died and was laid out in that same suit, and
+I was so mortified at the funeral I couldn't think of nothin' else. No,
+I'll go after them papers and the diary while they're fresh in my mind.
+And besides, do you s'pose I'd let Sarah Ann Atwood rummage through my
+trunks? I guess not!"
+
+Phoebe began to be sorry she had thought of sending for the diary,
+particularly as the chance of its containing valuable information was
+so remote. Mrs. Beasley went into the house to dress for the ride. The
+schoolmistress went with her as far as the sitting room. The perturbed
+Bailey stalked off, muttering, to the blacksmith's.
+
+In a little while he returned, leading Henry by the bridle. Debby,
+adorned with the beflowered bonnet she had worn when she arrived at the
+Cy Whittaker place, and with a black cloth cape over her lean shoulders,
+was waiting for him by the open door of the barn. The cape had a fur
+collar--"cat fur," so Mr. Bangs said afterwards in describing it.
+
+"Pull the sulky right out," commanded the widow.
+
+Bailey stared into the black interior of the barn.
+
+"Which is it?" he shouted.
+
+Mrs. Beasley pointed with her ear trumpet.
+
+"Why, that one there, of course. 'Tother's a truck cart. You wouldn't
+expect me to ride in that, would you?"
+
+Mr. Bangs entered the barn, seized the vehicle indicated by the shafts,
+and drew it out into the yard. He inspected it deliberately, and
+then sat weakly down on the chopping block near by. Apparently he was
+overcome by emotion.
+
+The "sulky" bequeathed by the late doctor had been built to order for
+its former owner. It was of the "carryall" variety, except that it had
+but a single narrow seat. Its top was square and was curtained, the
+curtains being tightly buttoned down. Altogether it was something of a
+curiosity. Miss Dawes, who had come out to see the start, looked at the
+"sulky," then at Mr. Bangs's face, and turned her back. Her shoulders
+shook:
+
+"It used to be a real nice carriage when Ezra had it," commented the
+widow admiringly. "It needs ilin' and sprucin' up now, but I guess
+'twill do. Come!" to Bailey, who had not risen from the chopping block.
+"Hurry up and harness or we'll never get started. Thought you wanted to
+get back for dinner?"
+
+Mr. Bangs stood up and heaved a sigh.
+
+"I did," he answered slowly, "but," with a glance at the sulky,
+"somethin' seems to have took away my appetite. Teacher, do you mean
+to--"
+
+But Miss Dawes had withdrawn to the corner of the house, from which
+viewpoint she seemed to be inspecting the surrounding landscape. Bailey
+seized Henry by the bridle and backed him into the shafts.
+
+"Back up!" he roared. "Back up, I tell you! You needn't look at me that
+way," he added, in a lower tone. "_I_ can't help it. You ain't any worse
+ashamed than I am. There! the ark's off the ways. All aboard!"
+
+Turning to the expectant widow, he "boosted" her, not too tenderly, up
+to the narrow seat. Then he climbed in himself. Two on that seat made
+a tight fit. Bailey took up the reins. Debby leaned forward and peered
+around the edge of the curtains.
+
+"You!" she shouted. "You, Miss What's-your-name--Dorcas! Come here a
+minute. I want to tell you somethin'."
+
+The schoolmistress, her face red and her eyes moist, approached.
+
+"I just wanted to say," explained Debby, "that I ain't real sure as that
+diary's there. I burnt up a lot of my old letters and things a spell
+ago, and seems to me I burnt some old diaries, too, but maybe that wan't
+one of 'em. Anyhow, I can get them Arizona papers, and I do want you to
+see 'em. They're the most INTERESTIN' things. Now," she added, turning
+to her companion on the seat, "you can git dap just as soon as you want
+to."
+
+Whether or not Mr. Bangs wanted to "git dap" is a doubtful question. But
+at all events he did. Before the astonished Miss Dawes could think of an
+answer to the observation concerning the diary, the carriage, its
+long unused axles shrieking protests, moved out of the yard. The
+schoolmistress watched it go. Then she returned to the sitting room and
+collapsed in a rocking chair.
+
+Once out from the shelter of the house and on the open road, the sulky
+received the full force of the wind. The first gust that howled in from
+the bay struck its curtained side with a sudden burst of power that
+caused Mrs. Beasley to clutch her driver's arm.
+
+"Good land of mercy!" she screamed. "It blows real hard, don't it?"
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was in the form of delicate sarcasm, bellowed into
+the ear trumpet.
+
+"Sho!" he exclaimed. "I want to know! You don't say! Now you mention it,
+seems as if I had noticed a little air stirrin'."
+
+Another gust tilted the carriage top. Debby clutched the arm still
+tighter.
+
+"Why, it blows awful hard!" she cried. "I'd no idee it blew like this."
+
+"Want to 'bout ship and go home again?" whooped Bailey, hopefully. But
+the widow didn't intend to give up the rare luxury of a "ride" which a
+kind Providence had cast in her way.
+
+"No, no!" she answered. "I guess if you folks come all the way from
+Bayport I can stand it as fur's the Center. But hurry all you can, won't
+you? I'm kind of 'fraid of the springs."
+
+"Springs? What springs? Let go my arm, will you? It's goin' to sleep."
+
+Mrs. Beasley let go of the arm momentarily.
+
+"I mean the springs on this carriage," she explained. "Last time I lent
+it to anybody--Solon Davis, 'twas--he said the bolts underneath was
+pretty nigh rusted out, and about all that held the wagon part on was
+its own weight. So we'll have to be kind of careful."
+
+"Well--I--swan--to--MAN!" was Mr. Bangs's sole comment on the amazing
+disclosure; however, as an expression of concentrated and profound
+disgust it was quite sufficient. He spoke but once during the remainder
+of the trip to the "Center." Then, when his passenger begged to know
+if "that Whittaker man" had been well since she left, he shouted:
+"Yes--EVER since," and relapsed into his former gloomy silence.
+
+The widow's stop at the Atwood house, which was in the immediate rear of
+the Atwood store, was of a half hour's duration. Bailey refused to
+leave the seat of the sulky and sat there, speaking to no one; not even
+replying to the questions of a group of loungers who gathered to inspect
+the ancient vehicle, and professed to be in doubt as to whether it had
+been washed in with the tide or been "left" to him in a will.
+
+At last Debby made her appearance, her arms filled with newspapers. The
+latter she piled under the carriage seat, and then climbed to her former
+place beside the driver. Henry, in response to a slap from the reins,
+got under way once more. The axles squeaked and screamed.
+
+"Gee!" cried one youngster, from the steps of the store. "It's the steam
+calliope. When's the rest of the show comin'?"
+
+"Hi!" yelled another. "See how close they're hugged up together. Ain't
+they lovin'! It's a weddin'!"
+
+"Shut up!" roared the tortured Bailey, whose hat had blown back into the
+body of the sulky, leaving his bald head exposed to the cutting wind.
+
+The audience begged him to give them a lock of his hair, and added other
+remarks of a personal nature concerning the youth and beauty of the
+bridal couple and their chariot. Mr. Bangs was in a state of dumb
+frenzy. Debby, who, without her trumpet, had heard nothing of all this,
+was smiling and garrulous.
+
+"I found all the papers," she said. "They're right under the seat. I'm
+goin' to look 'em over so's to have the interestin' parts all ready to
+show Miss Dorcas when we get home. Ain't it nice I found 'em?"
+
+In spite of her driver's remonstrances, unheard because of the
+nonadjustment of the trumpet, she reached under the seat and brought out
+the pile of Blazeton weeklies. With her feet upon the pile to keep
+it from blowing away, she proceeded to unfold one of the papers. It
+crackled and snapped in the wind like a loose mainsail.
+
+"Keep that dratted thing out of my face, won't you?" shrieked the
+agonized Bailey. "How'm I goin' to see to steer with that smackin' me
+between the eyes every other second?"
+
+"Hey? Did you speak to me?" asked the widow sweetly.
+
+"Did I SPEAK? No, I screeched! What in tunket--"
+
+"I want you to see this picture of the mayor's house in Blazeton. Eva,
+my husband's niece, lives right acrost the road from him. Many's the
+time I've set on their piazza and seen him come out and go to the City
+Hall."
+
+"Keep it out of my face, I tell you! Reef it! Furl it, you--you woman! I
+wish to thunder the piazza had caved in on you! I never see such an old
+fool in my born days. TAKE IT AWAY!"
+
+Mrs. Beasley removed the paper, but only to substitute another.
+
+"Here's Eva's brother-in-law," she screamed. "He's one of the prominent
+business men out there, so they put him in the paper. Ain't he nice
+lookin'?"
+
+Bailey's comments on the prominent business man's appearance were
+anything but flattering. Debby continued to reach for more papers,
+carefully replacing those she had inspected in the pile beneath her
+feet. The wind blew as hard as ever; even harder, for it was now almost
+dead ahead. Henry plodded along. They were in the hollow at the foot of
+the last long hill, that from which the blacksmith shop had first been
+sighted.
+
+"I know what I'll do," declared the passenger. "I'll hunt for that
+missin' husband advertisement of Desire Higgins's. Let's see now! 'Twill
+be down at the bottom of the pile, 'cause the paper it's in is a last
+year one."
+
+She bobbed down behind the high dashboard. Mr. Bangs stood up in order
+that her gymnastics might interfere, to a lesser degree, with his
+driving. The equipage began to move up the slope of the hill, bouncing
+and twisting in the frozen ruts.
+
+"Here 'tis!" exclaimed Debby. "I remember it's in this number, 'cause
+there's a picture of the Palace Hotel on the front page. Let's see--'Dog
+lost'--no, that ain't it. 'Corner lot for sale'--wish I had money enough
+to buy it; I'd like nothin' better than to live out there. 'Information
+wanted of my husband'--Here 'tis! Um--hum!"
+
+She straightened up and eagerly began reading the advertisement. The
+hill was very steep just at its top, and the sulky slanted backward at
+a sharp angle. A terrific burst of wind tore around the corner of
+the bluff. It eddied through the sulky between the dashboard and
+the curtained sides. The widow, in her excitement at finding the
+advertisement, had inadvertently removed her feet from the pile of
+papers. In an instant the air was filled with whirling copies of the
+Blazeton Weekly Courier.
+
+Henry, the horse, was a sober animal who had long ago reached the age of
+discretion. But to have his old ears and eyes suddenly blanketed with a
+flapping white thing swooping apparently from nowhere was too much even
+for his sedate nerves. He jumped sidewise. The reins were jerked from
+the driver's hands and fell in the road.
+
+"Mercy on us!" shrieked Debby, clutching her companion about the waist.
+"What--"
+
+"Let go of me!" howled Bailey, pushing her violently aside. "Whoa! Stand
+still!"
+
+But Henry refused to stand still. The flapping paper still clung to his
+agitated head. He reared and pranced, jerking the sulky back and forth,
+its wheels still wedged in the ruts. Bailey sprang to the ground to pick
+up the reins. He seized them, but fell as he did so. The tug at his bits
+turned Henry's head, literally and figuratively. He reared and whirled
+about. The sulky rose on two wheels. The screaming Mrs. Beasley
+collapsed against its downward side. Another moment, and the whole upper
+half of the sulky--body, seat, curtains, and Debby--tilted over the
+lower wheels, and, the rusted bolts failing to hold, slid with a thump
+to the frozen road. The wind, catching it underneath as it slid, tipped
+it backward. Then Henry ran away.
+
+
+
+Miss Dawes, left alone in the house at the foot of the hill, had amused
+herself for a time with the Beasley library, which partially filled a
+shelf in the sitting room. But "The Book of Martyrs" and "A Believer's
+Thoughts on Death" were not cheering literature, particularly as the
+author of the latter volume "thought" so dismally concerning the future
+of all who did not believe precisely as he did. So the teacher laid down
+the book, with a shudder, and wandered about the room, inspecting the
+late Mr. Beasley's portrait, the photographs in splintwork frames, the
+"alum basket" on the mantel, the blue castles, blue trees, and blue
+people pictured on the window shades, and other works of art in the
+apartment. She even peeped into the parlor, but the musty, shut-up
+smell of that dusky tomb was too much for her, and she sat down by the
+sitting-room window, under the empty bird cage, to look up the road and
+watch for the return of the sulky and its occupants.
+
+Sitting there, she was a witness of the alarming catastrophe on the
+hilltop, and reached the front gate just in time to see Henry go
+galloping by, dragging the four wheels and springs of the sulky, while,
+sprawled across the rear axle and still clinging to the reins, hung a
+familiar, howling, and most wickedly profane individual by the name of
+Bangs.
+
+The runaway dashed on toward the blacksmith shop. Phoebe, bareheaded and
+coatless, ran up the hill. Before she reached the crest, she was aware
+of muffled screams, which sounded as if the screamer was shut up in a
+trunk.
+
+"O-o-oh!" screamed Mrs. Beasley. "O-o-oh! Ow! Let me out! Help! I'm
+stuck! My back's broke! He-e-lp!"
+
+The upper part of the sulky, with its boxlike curtained top, lay on
+its side in the road. From somewhere within the box came the groans and
+screams. The gale swept the hilltop, and, for a quarter mile to leeward,
+the scenery was animated by soaring, fluttering copies of the Blazeton
+Courier, that swooped and ducked like mammoth white butterflies.
+
+The panting and alarmed teacher stooped and peered into the dark shadow
+between the dashboard and the back curtain. All she could make out
+at first were a pair of thin ankles and "Congress" shoes in agitated
+motion. These bobbed up and down behind the overturned seat and its
+displaced cushion.
+
+"O Mrs. Beasley!" screamed Phoebe. "Are you hurt?"
+
+Debby, of course, did not hear the question. She continued to groan
+and scream for help. Her lungs were not injured, at all events. The
+schoolmistress, dropping on her knees, reached into the sulky top and
+tugged at the seat. It was rather tightly wedged, but she managed to
+loosen it and pull it toward her.
+
+The widow raised herself on an elbow and looked out between the flowers
+of her smashed bonnet.
+
+"Who is it?" she demanded. "Oh, is that you, Miss Dorcas? Oh, my soul
+and body! Oh, my stars! Oh, my goodness me!"
+
+"Are you hurt?" shrieked Phoebe.
+
+"Hey? I don't know! I don't know WHAT I be! I don't know nothin'!"
+
+"Can you help yourself? Can you get up?"
+
+"Hey? I don't know. Maybe I can if you haul that everlastin' seat out of
+the way. Oh, my sakes alive!"
+
+Her rescuer pulled the seat forward, and, with an effort, tumbled it
+clear of the curtains. Debby raised herself still higher.
+
+"Oh!" she groaned. "Talk about--Land sakes! who's comin'? Men, ain't it?
+Let me out of here quick! QUICK!"
+
+She scrambled out of her prison on hands and knees, and jumped to her
+feet with reassuring alacrity. Her fur-collared cape was draped in a
+roll about her neck, and her bonnet hung jauntily over her left eye.
+
+"I'm a sight, ain't I?" she asked. "Haul this bunnet straight, quick's
+ever you can. Hurt? No, no! I ain't hurt none but my feelin's. Hurry
+UP! S'pose I want them men folks to see me with everything all hind side
+to?"
+
+Miss Dawes, relieved to find that the accident had had no serious
+consequences, and trying her hardest not to laugh, assisted the widow
+to rearrange her wearing apparel. The blacksmith and his helper came
+running up the hill.
+
+"Hello, Debby!" hailed the former. "What's the matter? Hurt, be you?"
+
+Mrs. Beasley, whether she heard or not, did not deign to reply.
+
+"Get my horn out of that carriage," she ordered. "Don't stand there
+gapin'. Get it."
+
+The ear trumpet was resurrected from the interior of the vehicle. The
+widow adjusted it with dignity.
+
+"Had a spill, didn't you, Debby?" inquired the blacksmith. "Upset,
+didn't you?"
+
+Debby glared at him.
+
+"No," she replied with sarcasm. "Course I didn't upset! Just thought
+I'd roll round in the road for the fun of it. Smart question, that is!
+Where's that Bailey Bangs gone to with the rest of my carriage?"
+
+The blacksmith pointed to his shop in the hollow. Before it stood Mr.
+Bangs, holding Henry by the bridle, and staring in their direction.
+
+"He's all right," volunteered the "helper." "The horse stopped runnin'
+soon's he got to the foot of the next hill."
+
+Mrs. Beasley was not, apparently, overjoyed at the news.
+
+"Humph!" she grunted. "I 'most wish he'd broke his neck! Pesky, careless
+thing! gettin' us run away with and upset. Who's goin' to pay for fixin'
+my sulky, I want to know?"
+
+"Mr. Bangs will pay for it, I'm sure," said Phoebe soothingly. "If he
+doesn't, I will. Oh, Mrs. Beasley! did you find the diary?"
+
+"Diary? No, no! I told you I was afraid I'd burnt it up. Well, I had,
+and a whole lot more of them old ones. But I did get all them Arizona
+papers, and took the trouble to tote 'em all the way here so's you could
+look at 'em. And now"--she shook with indignation and waved her hand
+toward a section of horizon where little white dots indicated the
+whereabouts of the Couriers--"now look where they be! Blowed from Dan to
+Beersheby! Come on to the house and let me set down. I been standin' on
+my head till I'm tired. Here, Jabez," to the blacksmith, "you tend to
+that carriage, will you?"
+
+She stalked off down the hill. The schoolmistress turning to follow her,
+caught a glimpse of the "helper" doubled up with silent laughter, and
+the blacksmith grinning broadly as he stooped toward the capsized sulky.
+
+Phoebe was downcast and disappointed. She was convinced, in her own
+mind, that the Honorable Atkins had some hidden motive for his espousal
+of the Thomas cause. Asaph's fruitless quest in Orham had not shaken
+her faith. Captain Cy had refused to seek Debby Beasley for information
+concerning the Thayers, and so she, on her own responsibility, had done
+so. And this was the ridiculous ending of her journey. The diary had
+been a forlorn hope; now that was burned. Poor Bos'n! and poor--some one
+else!
+
+Debby marching down the hill, continued to sputter about the lost
+weeklies.
+
+"It's an everlastin' shame!" she declared. "I'd just found the one with
+that advertisement in it and was readin' it. I remember the part I read,
+plain as could be. While we're eatin' dinner I'll tell you about it."
+
+But Miss Dawes did not care for dinner. Like Mr. Tidditt and the
+captain, she had had about all the Debby Beasley she wanted.
+
+"Yes, yes, you will stop, too," affirmed the widow. "I want to tell you
+more about Blazeton. I can see that advertisement this minute, right
+afore my eyes--'Information wanted of my husband, Edward Higgins. Five
+foot eight inches tall, sandy complected, brown hair, and yellowish
+mustache; not lame, but has a peculiar slight limp with his left
+foot--'"
+
+"What?" asked the schoolmistress, stopping short.
+
+"Hey? 'Has a peculiar limp with his left foot.' I remember how Desire
+used to talk about that limp. She said 'twas almost as if he stuttered
+with his leg. He hurt it when he was up in Montana, and--"
+
+"Oh!" cried Miss Dawes. The color had left her face.
+
+"Yes. You see he used to be a miner or somethin' up there. He'd never
+say much about his younger days, but one time he did tell that. I'd
+just got as far as that limp when the sulky upset. Talk about bein'
+surprised! I never was so surprised in my life as when that horse
+critter rared up and--"
+
+Phoebe interrupted. Her color had come back, and her eyes were shining.
+
+"Mrs. Beasley," she cried, "I think I shall change my mind. I believe I
+will stay to dinner after all. I'm EVER so much interested in Arizona."
+
+
+
+Bailey and the teacher began their long drive home about four o'clock.
+The buggy axle had been fixed, and the wind was less violent. Mr. Bangs
+was glum and moody. He seemed to be thinking.
+
+"Say, teacher," he said at length, "I'd like to ask a favor of you. If
+it ain't necessary, I wish you wouldn't say nothin' about that upsettin'
+business to the folks to home. It does sound so dum foolish! I'll never
+hear the last of it."
+
+Miss Dawes, who had been in high spirits, now took a moment for
+reflection.
+
+"All right!" she said, nodding vigorously. "We won't mention it, then.
+We won't tell a soul. You can say that I called at the Atwoods', if you
+want to; that will be true, because I did. And we'll have Mrs. Beasley
+for our secret--yours and mine--until we decide to tell. It's a bargain,
+Mr. Bangs. We must shake hands on it."
+
+They shook hands, and Bailey, looking in her face, thought he never
+saw her look so well or as young. She was pretty, he decided. Then he
+thought of his own choice of a wife, and--well, if he had any regrets,
+he hasn't mentioned them, not even to his fellow-member of the Board of
+Strategy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+
+December was nearly over. Christmas had come. Bos'n had hung up her
+stocking by the base-burner stove, and found it warty and dropsical
+the next morning, with a generous overflow of gifts piled on the floor
+beneath it. The Board of Strategy sent presents; so did Miss Dawes and
+Georgianna. As for Captain Cy he spent many evening hours, after the
+rest of his household was in bed, poring over catalogues of toys and
+books, and the orders he sent to the big shops in Boston were lengthy
+and costly. The little girl's eyes opened wide when she saw the stocking
+and the treasures heaped on the floor. She sat in her "nighty" amidst
+the wonders, books, and playthings in a circle about her, and the
+biggest doll of all hugged close in her arms. Captain Cy, who had arisen
+at half past five in order to be with her on the great occasion, was at
+least as happy as she.
+
+"Like 'em, do you?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"like 'em! O Uncle Cy! What makes everybody so good to me?"
+
+"I don't know. Strange thing, ain't it--considerin' what a hard little
+ticket you are."
+
+Bos'n laughed. She understood her "Uncle Cy," and didn't mind being
+called a "hard ticket" by him.
+
+"I--I--didn't believe anybody COULD have such a nice Christmas. I never
+saw so many nice things."
+
+"Humph! What do you like best?"
+
+The answer was a question, and was characteristic.
+
+"Which did you give me?" asked Bos'n.
+
+The captain would have dodged, but she wouldn't let him. So one by one
+the presents he had given were indicated and put by themselves. The
+remainder were but few, but she insisted that the givers of these should
+be named. When the sorting was over she sat silently hugging her doll
+and, apparently, thinking.
+
+"Well?" inquired the amused captain. "Made up your mind yet? Which do
+you like best?"
+
+The child nodded.
+
+"Why, these, of course," she declared with emphasis, pointing with her
+dollie's slippered foot at Captain Cy's pile.
+
+"So? Do, hey? Didn't know I could pick so well. All right; the first
+prize is mine. Who takes the second?"
+
+This time Bos'n deliberated before answering. At last, however, she bent
+forward and touched the teacher's gifts.
+
+"These," she said. "I like these next best."
+
+Captain Cy was surprised.
+
+"Sho!" he exclaimed. "You don't say!"
+
+"Yes. I think I like teacher next to you. I like Georgianna and Mr.
+Tidditt and Mr. Bangs, of course, but I like her a little better. Don't
+you, uncle Cyrus?"
+
+The captain changed the subject. He asked her what she should name her
+doll.
+
+The Board of Strategy came in during the forenoon, and the presents had
+to be shown to them. While the exhibition was in progress Miss Dawes
+called. And before she left Gabe Lumley drove up in the depot wagon
+bearing a big express package addressed to "Miss Emily Thomas, Bayport."
+
+"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Cy. "Somethin' more for Bos'n, hey! Who in
+the world sent it, do you s'pose?"
+
+Asaph and Bailey made various inane suggestions as to the sender. Phoebe
+said nothing. There was a frown on her face as she watched the captain
+get to work on the box with chisel and hammer. It contained a beautiful
+doll, fully and expensively dressed, and pinned to the dress was a
+card--"To dear little Emmie, from her lonesome Papa."
+
+The Board of Strategy looked at the doll in wonder and astonishment.
+Captain Cy strode away to the window.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Bangs. "I didn't believe he had that much heart
+inside of him. I bet you that cost four or five dollars; ain't that so,
+Cy?"
+
+The captain did not answer.
+
+"Don't you think so, teacher?" repeated Bailey, turning to Phoebe. "What
+ails you? You don't seem surprised."
+
+"I'm not," replied the lady. "I expected something of that sort."
+
+Captain Cy wheeled from the window.
+
+"You DID?" he asked.
+
+"Yes. Miss Phinney said the other day she had heard that that man
+was going to give his daughter a beautiful present. She was very
+enthusiastic about his generosity and self-sacrifice. I asked who told
+her and she said Mr. Simpson."
+
+"Oh! Tad? Is that so!" The captain looked at her.
+
+"Yes. And I think there is no doubt that Simpson had orders to make the
+'generosity' known to as many townspeople as possible."
+
+"Hum! I see. You figure that Thomas cal'lates 'twill help his popularity
+and make his case stronger; is that it?"
+
+"Not exactly. I doubt if he ever thought of such a thing himself. But
+some one thought for him--and some one must have supplied the money."
+
+"Well, they say he's to work up in Boston."
+
+"I know. But no one can tell where he works. Captain Whittaker, this is
+Mr. Atkins's doing--you know it. Now, WHY does he, a busy man, take such
+an interest in getting this child away from you?"
+
+Captain Cy shook his head and smiled.
+
+"Teacher," he said, "you're dead set on taggin' Heman with a mystery,
+ain't you?"
+
+"Miss Dawes," asked the forgetful Bailey, "when you and me went drivin'
+t'other day did you find out anything from--"
+
+Phoebe interrupted quickly.
+
+"Mr. Bangs," she said, "at what time do we distribute Christmas presents
+at your boarding house? I suppose you must have many Christmas secrets
+to keep. You keep a secret SO well."
+
+Mr. Bangs turned red. The hint concerning secret keeping was not wasted.
+He did not mention the drive again.
+
+A little later Captain Cy found Bos'n busily playing with the doll he
+had given her. The other, her father's gift, was nowhere in sight.
+
+"I put her back in the box," said the child in reply to his question.
+"She was awful pretty, but I think I'm goin' to love this one best."
+
+The remark seems a foolish thing to give comfort to a grown man, but
+Captain Cy found comfort in it, and comfort was what he needed.
+
+He needed it more as time went on. In January the court gave its
+decision. The captain's appointment as guardian was revoked. With
+the father alive, and professedly anxious to provide for the child's
+support, nothing else was to be expected, so Mr. Peabody said. The
+latter entered an appeal which would delay matters for a time, two or
+three months perhaps; meanwhile Captain Cy was to retain custody of
+Bos'n.
+
+But the court's action, expected though it was, made the captain very
+blue and downcast. He could see no hope. He felt certain that he should
+lose the little girl in the end, in spite of the long succession of
+appeals which his lawyer contemplated. And what would become of her
+then? What sort of training would she be likely to have? Who would her
+associates be, under the authority of a father such as hers? And what
+would he do, alone in the old house, when she had gone for good? He
+could not bear to think of it, and yet he thought of little else.
+
+The evenings, after Bos'n had gone to bed, were the worst. During the
+day he tried his best to be busy at something or other. The doll
+house was finished, and he had begun to fashion a full-rigged ship in
+miniature. In reality Emily, being a normal little girl, was not greatly
+interested in ships, but, because Uncle Cy was making it, she pretended
+to be vastly concerned about this one. On Saturdays and after school
+hours she sat on a box in the wood shed, where the captain had put up
+a small stove, and watched him work. The taboo which so many of our
+righteous and Atkins-worshiping townspeople had put upon the Whittaker
+place and its occupants included her, and a number of children had
+been forbidden to play with her. This, however, did not prevent their
+tormenting her about her father and her disreputable guardian.
+
+But the captain's evenings were miserable. He no longer went to
+Simmons's. He didn't care for the crowd there, and knew they were all
+"down" on him. Josiah Dimick called occasionally, and the Board of
+Strategy often, but their conversation was rather tiresome. There were
+times when Captain Cy hated Bayport, the house he had "fixed up" with
+such interest and pride, and the old sitting room in particular. The
+mental picture of comfort and contentment which had been his dream
+through so many years of struggle and wandering, looked farther off than
+ever. Sometimes he was tempted to run away, taking Bos'n with him. But
+the captain had never run away from a fight yet; he had never abandoned
+a ship while there was a chance of keeping her afloat. And, besides,
+there was another reason.
+
+Phoebe Dawes had come to be his chief reliance. He saw a great deal of
+her. Often when she walked home from school, she found him hanging over
+the front gate, and they talked of various things--of Bos'n's progress
+with her studies, of the school work, and similar topics. He called her
+by her first name now, although in this there was nothing unusual--after
+a few weeks' acquaintance we Bayporters almost invariably address people
+by their "front" names. Sometimes she came to the house with Emily. Then
+the three sat by the stove in the sitting room, and the apartment became
+really cheerful, in the captain's eyes.
+
+Phoebe was in good spirits. She was as hopeful as Captain Cy was
+despondent. She seemed to have little fear of the outcome of the
+legal proceedings, the appeals and the rest. In fact, she now appeared
+desirous of evading the subject, and there was about her an air of
+suppressed excitement. Her optimism was the best sort of bracer for the
+captain's failing courage. Her advice was always good, and a talk with
+her left him with shoulders squared, mentally, and almost happy.
+
+One cold, rainy afternoon, early in February, she came in with Bos'n,
+who had availed herself of the shelter of the teacher's umbrella.
+Georgianna was in the kitchen baking, and Emily had been promised a
+"saucer pie"--so the child went out to superintend the construction of
+that treat.
+
+"Set down, teacher," said Captain Cy, pushing forward a rocker. "My!
+but I'm glad to see you. 'Twas bluer'n a whetstone 'round here to-day.
+What's the news--anything?"
+
+"Why, no," replied Phoebe, accepting the rocker and throwing open her
+wet jacket; "there's no news in particular. But I wanted to ask if you
+had seen the Breeze?"
+
+"Um--hum," was the listless answer. "I presume likely you mean the news
+about the appropriation, and the editorial dig at yours truly? Yes, I've
+seen it. They don't bother me much. I've got more important things on my
+mind just now."
+
+Congressman Atkins's pledge in his farewell speech, concerning the
+mighty effort he was to make toward securing the appropriation for
+Bayport harbor, was in process of fulfillment--so he had written to
+the local paper. But, alas! the mighty effort was likely to prove
+unavailing. In spite of the Honorable Heman's battle for his
+constituents' rights it seemed certain that the bill would not provide
+the thirty thousand dollars for Bayport; at least, not this year's bill.
+Other and more powerful interests would win out and, instead, another
+section of the coast be improved at the public expense. The congressman
+was deeply sorry, almost broken-hearted. He had battled hard for his
+beloved town, he had worked night and day. But, to be perfectly frank,
+there was little or no hope.
+
+Few of us blamed Heman Atkins. The majority considered his letter
+"noble" and "so feeling." But some one must be blamed for a community
+disappointment like this, and the scapegoat was on the premises. How
+about that "committee of one" self-appointed at town meeting? How
+about the blatant person who had declared HE could have gotten the
+appropriation? What had the "committee" done? Nothing! nothing at all!
+He had not even written to the Capital--so far as anyone could find
+out--much less gone there.
+
+So, at Simmons's and the sewing circle, and after meeting on Sunday, Cy
+Whittaker was again discussed and derided. And this week's Breeze, out
+that morning, contained a sarcastic editorial which mentioned no names,
+but hinted at "a certain now notorious person" who had boasted loudly,
+but who had again "been weighed in the balance of public opinion and
+found wanting."
+
+Miss Dawes did not seem pleased with the captain's nonchalant attitude
+toward the Breeze and its editorial. She tapped the braided mat with her
+foot.
+
+"Captain Cyrus," she said, "if you intended doing nothing toward
+securing that appropriation why did you accept the responsibility for it
+at the meeting?"
+
+Captain Cy looked up. Her tone reminded him of their first meeting, when
+she had reproved him for going to sleep and leaving Bos'n to the mercy
+of the Cahoon cow.
+
+"Well," he said, "afore this Thomas business happened, to knock all
+my plans on their beam ends, I'd done consider'ble thinkin' about
+that appropriation. It seemed to me that there must be some reason
+for Heman's comin' about so sudden. He was sartin sure of the thirty
+thousand for a spell; then, all to once, he begun to take in sail and go
+on t'other tack. I don't know much about politics, but I know HE knows
+all the politics there is. And it seemed to me that if a live man, one
+with eyes in his head, went to Washington and looked around he might
+find the reason. And, if he did find it, maybe Heman could be coaxed
+into changin' his mind again. Anyhow, I was willin' to take the risk of
+tryin'; and, besides, Tad and Abe Leonard had me on the griddle at that
+meetin', and I spoke up sharp--too sharp, maybe."
+
+"But you still believe that you MIGHT help if you went to Washington?"
+
+"Yes. I guess I do. Anyhow, I'd ask some pretty p'inted questions. You
+see, I ain't lived here in Bayport all my life, and I don't swaller ALL
+the bait Heman heaves overboard."
+
+"Then why don't you go?"
+
+"Hey? Why don't I go? And leave Bos'n and--"
+
+"Emily would be all right and perfectly safe. Georgianna thinks the
+world of her. And, Captain Whittaker, I don't like to hear these people
+talk of you as they do. I don't like to read such things in the paper,
+that you were only bragging in order to be popular, and meant to shirk
+when the time came for action. I know they're not true. I KNOW it!"
+
+Captain Cy was gratified, and his gratification showed in his voice.
+
+"Thank you, Phoebe," he said. "I am much obliged to you. But, you see,
+I don't take any interest in such things any more. When I realize that
+pretty soon I've got to give up that little girl for good I can't bear
+to be away from her a minute hardly. I don't like to leave her here
+alone with Georgianna and--"
+
+"I will keep an eye on her. You trust me, don't you?"
+
+"Trust YOU? By the big dipper, you're about the only one I CAN trust
+these days. I don't know how I'd have pulled through this if you hadn't
+helped. You're diff'rent from Ase and Bailey and their kind--not meanin'
+anything against them, either. But you're broad-minded and cool-headed
+and--and--Do you know, if I'd had a woman like you to advise me all
+these years and keep me from goin' off the course, I might have been
+somebody by now."
+
+"I think you're somebody as it is."
+
+"Don't talk that way. I own up I like to hear you, but I'm 'fraid it
+ain't true. You say I amount to somethin'. Well, what? I come back home
+here, with some money in my pocket, thinkin' that was about all was
+necessary to make me a good deal of a feller. The old Cy Whittaker
+place, I said to myself, was goin' to be a real Cy Whittaker place
+again. And I'd be a real Whittaker, a man who should stand for
+somethin', as my dad and granddad did afore me. The town should respect
+me, and I'd do things to help it along. And what's it all come to? Why,
+every young one on the street is told to be good for fear he'll grow up
+like me. Ain't that so? Course it's so! I'm--"
+
+"You SHALL not speak so! Do you imagine that you're not respected by
+everyone whose respect counts for anything? Yes, and by others, too.
+Don't you suppose Mr. Atkins respects you, down in his heart--if he has
+one? Doesn't your housekeeper, who sees you every day, respect and like
+you? And little Emily--doesn't she love you more than she does all the
+rest of us together?"
+
+"Well, I guess Bos'n does care for the old man some, that's a fact. She
+says she likes you next best, though. Did you know that?"
+
+But Miss Dawes was indignant.
+
+"Captain Whittaker," she declared, "one would think you were a hundred
+years old to hear you. You are always calling yourself an old man. Does
+Mr. Atkins call himself old? And he is older than you."
+
+"Well, I'm over fifty, Phoebe." In spite of the habit for which he had
+just been reproached, the captain found this a difficult statement to
+make.
+
+"I know. But you're younger than most of us at thirty-five. You see, I'm
+confessing, too," she added with a laugh and a little blush.
+
+Captain Cy made a mental calculation.
+
+"Twenty years," he said musingly. "Twenty years is a long time. No, I'm
+old. And worse than that, I'm an old fool, I guess. If I hadn't been I'd
+have stayed in South America instead of comin' here to be hooted out of
+the town I was born in."
+
+The teacher stamped her foot.
+
+"Oh, what SHALL I do with you!" she exclaimed. "It is wicked for you to
+say such things. Do you suppose that Mr. Atkins would find it necessary
+to work as he is doing to beat a fool? And, besides, you're not
+complimentary to me. Should I, do you think, take such an interest in
+one who was an imbecile?"
+
+"Well, 'tis mighty good of you. Your comin' here so to help Bos'n's
+fight along is--"
+
+"How do you know it is Bos'n altogether? I--" She stopped suddenly, and
+the color rushed to her face. She rose from the rocker. "I--really, I
+don't see how we came to be discussing such nonsense," she said. "Our
+ages and that sort of thing! Captain Cyrus, I wish you would go to
+Washington. I think you ought to go."
+
+But the captain's thoughts were far from Washington at that moment. His
+own face was alight, and his eyes shone.
+
+"Phoebe," he faltered unbelievingly, "what was you goin' to say? Do you
+mean that--that--"
+
+The side door of the house opened. The next instant Mr. Tidditt, a
+dripping umbrella in his hand, entered the sitting room.
+
+"Hello, Whit!" he hailed. "Just run in for a minute to say howdy." Then
+he noticed the schoolmistress, and his expression changed. "Oh! how be
+you, Miss Dawes?" he said. "I didn't see you fust off. Don't run away on
+my account."
+
+"I was just going," said Phoebe, buttoning her jacket. Captain Cy
+accompanied her to the door.
+
+"Good-by," she said. "There was something else I meant to say, but I
+think it is best to wait. I hope to have some good news for you soon.
+Something that will send you to Washington with a light heart. Perhaps I
+shall hear to-morrow. If so, I will call after school and tell you."
+
+"Yes, do," urged the captain eagerly. "You'll find me here waitin'. Good
+news or not, do come. I--I ain't said all I wanted to, myself."
+
+He returned to the sitting room. The town clerk was standing by the
+stove. He looked troubled.
+
+"What's the row, Ase?" asked Cy cheerily. He was overflowing with good
+nature.
+
+"Oh, nothin' special," replied Mr. Tidditt. "You look joyful enough for
+two of us. Had good company, ain't you?"
+
+"Why, yes; 'bout as good as there is. What makes you look so glum?"
+
+Asaph hesitated.
+
+"Phoebe was here yesterday, too, wan't she?" he asked.
+
+"Yup. What of it?"
+
+"And the day afore that?"
+
+"No, not for three days afore that. But what OF it, I ask you?"
+
+"Well, now, Cy, you mustn't get mad. I'm a friend of yours, and friends
+ought to be able to say 'most anything to each other. If--if I was you,
+I wouldn't let Phoebe come so often--not here, you know, at your house.
+Course, I know she comes with Bos'n and all, but--"
+
+"Out with it!" The captain's tone was ominous. "What are you drivin'
+at?"
+
+The caller fidgeted.
+
+"Well, Whit," he stammered, "there's consider'ble talkin' goin' on,
+that's all."
+
+"Talkin'? What kind of talkin'?"
+
+"Well, you know the kind. This town does a good deal of it, 'specially
+after church and prayer meetin'. Seem's if they thought 'twas a sort of
+proper place. _I_ don't myself; I kind of like to keep my charity and
+brotherly love spread out through the week, but--"
+
+"Ase, are the folks in this town sayin' a word against Phoebe Dawes
+because she comes here to see--Bos'n?"
+
+"Don't--don't get mad, Whit. Don't look at me like that. _I_ ain't said
+nothin'. Why, a spell ago, at the boardin' house, I--"
+
+He told of the meal at the perfect boarding house where Miss Dawes
+championed his friend's cause. Also of the conversation which followed,
+and his own part in it. Captain Cy paced the floor.
+
+"I wouldn't have her come so often, Cy," pleaded Asaph. "Honest, I
+wouldn't. Course, you and me know they're mean, miser'ble liars, but
+it's her I'm thinkin' of. She's a young woman and single. And you're
+a good many years older'n she is. And so, of course, you and she ain't
+ever goin' to get married. And have you thought what effect it might
+have on her keepin' her teacher's place? The committee's a majority
+against her as 'tis. And--you know _I_ don't think so, but a good many
+folks do--you ain't got the best name just now. Darn it all! I ain't
+puttin' this the way I'd ought to, but YOU know what I mean, don't you,
+Cy?"
+
+Captain Cy was leaning against the window frame, his head upon his arm.
+He was not looking out, because the shade was drawn. Tidditt waited
+anxiously for him to answer. At last he turned.
+
+"Ase," he said, "I'm much obliged to you. You've pounded it in pretty
+hard, but I cal'late I'd ought to have had it done to me. I'm a fool--an
+OLD fool, just as I said a while back--and nothin' nor NOBODY ought to
+have made me forget it. For a minute or so I--but there! don't you fret.
+That young woman shan't risk her job nor her reputation on account of
+me--nor of Bos'n, either. I'll see to that. And see here," he added
+fiercely, "I can't stop women's tongues, even when they're as bad as
+some of the tongues in this town, BUT if you hear a MAN say one word
+against Phoebe Dawes, only one word, you tell me his name. You hear,
+Ase? You tell me his name. Now run along, will you? I ain't safe company
+just now."
+
+Asaph, frightened at the effect of his words, hurriedly departed.
+Captain Cy paced the room for the next fifteen minutes. Then he opened
+the kitchen door.
+
+"Bos'n," he called, "come in and set in my lap a while; don't you want
+to? I'm--I'm sort of lonesome, little girl."
+
+
+
+The next afternoon, when the schoolmistress, who had been delayed by the
+inevitable examination papers, stopped at the Cy Whittaker place, she
+was met by Georgianna; Emily, who stood behind the housekeeper in the
+doorway, was crying.
+
+"Cap'n Cy has gone away--to Washin'ton," declared Georgianna. "Though
+what he's gone there for's more'n I know. He said he'd send his hotel
+address soon's he got there. He went on the three o'clock train."
+
+Phoebe was astonished.
+
+"Gone?" she repeated. "So soon! Why, he told me he should certainly be
+here to hear some news I expected to-day. Didn't he leave any message
+for me?"
+
+The housekeeper turned red.
+
+"Miss Phoebe," she said, "he told me to tell you somethin', and it's so
+dreadful I don't hardly dast to say it. I think his troubles have driven
+him crazy. He said to tell you that you'd better not come to this house
+any more."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+
+In the old days, the great days of sailing ships and land merchant
+fleets, Bayport was a community of travelers. Every ambitious man went
+to sea, and eventually, if he lived, became a captain. Then he took his
+wife, and in most cases his children, with him on long voyages. To the
+stay-at-homes came letters with odd, foreign stamps and postmarks. Our
+what-nots and parlor mantels were filled with carved bits of ivory,
+gorgeous shells, alabaster candlesticks, and plaster miniatures of
+the Leaning Tower at Pisa or the Coliseum at Rome. We usually began
+a conversation with "When my husband and I were at Hong Kong the last
+time--" or "I remember at Mauritius they always--" New Orleans or
+'Frisco were the nearest domestic ports the mention of which was
+considered worth while.
+
+But this is so no longer. A trip to Boston is, of course, no novelty to
+the most of us; but when we visit New York we take care to advertise it
+beforehand. And the few who avail themselves of the spring "cut rates"
+and go on excursions to Washington, plan definite programmes for each
+day at the Capital, and discuss them with envious friends for weeks in
+advance. And if the prearranged programme is not scrupulously carried
+out, we feel that we have been defrauded. It was the regret of Aunt
+Sophronia Hallett's life that, on her Washington excursion, she had not
+seen the "Diplomatic Corpse." She saw the President and the Monument and
+Congress and "the relics in the Smithsonian Institute," but the "Corpse"
+was not on view; Aunt Sophronia never quite got over the disappointment.
+
+Probably no other Bayporter, in recent years, has started for Washington
+on such short notice or with so ill-defined a programme as Captain
+Cy. He went because he felt that he must go somewhere. After the
+conversation with Asaph, he simply could not remain at home. If Phoebe
+Dawes called, he knew that he must see her, and if he saw her, what
+should he say to her? He could not tell her that she must not visit the
+Cy Whittaker place again. If he did, she would insist upon the reason.
+If he told her of the "town talk," he felt sure, knowing her, that she
+would indignantly refuse to heed the malicious gossip. And he was firmly
+resolved not to permit her to compromise her life and her future by
+friendship with a social outcast like himself. As for anything deeper
+and more sacred than friendship, that was ridiculous. If, for a moment,
+a remark of hers had led him to dream of such a thing, it was because he
+was, as he had so often declared, an "old fool."
+
+So Captain Cy had resolved upon flight, and he fled to Washington
+because the business of the "committee of one" offered a legitimate
+excuse for going there. The blunt message he had intrusted to Georgianna
+would, he believed, arouse Phoebe's indignation. She would not call
+again. And when he returned to Bos'n, it would be to take up the child's
+fight alone. If he lost that fight, or WHEN he lost it, he would close
+the Cy Whittaker place, and leave Bayport for good.
+
+He had been in Washington once before, years ago, when he was first
+mate of a ship and had a few weeks' shore leave. Then he went there on
+a pleasure trip with some seagoing friends, and had a jolly time. But
+there was precious little jollity in the present visit. He had never
+felt so thoroughly miserable. In order to forget, he made up his mind to
+work his hardest to discover why the harbor appropriation was not to be
+given to Bayport.
+
+The city had changed greatly. He would scarcely have known it. He
+went to the hotel where he had stayed before, and found a big, modern
+building in its place. The clerk was inclined to be rather curt and
+perfunctory at first, but when he learned that the captain was not
+anxious concerning the price of accommodations, but merely wanted a
+"comf'table berth somewheres on the saloon deck," and appeared to have
+plenty of money, he grew polite. Captain Cy was shown to his room, where
+he left his valise. Then he went down to dinner.
+
+After the meal was over, he seated himself in one of the big leather
+chairs in the hotel lobby, smoked and thought. In the summer, before
+Bos'n came, and before her father had arisen to upset every calculation
+and wreck all his plans, the captain had given serious thought to what
+he should do if Congressman Atkins failed, as even then he seemed likely
+to do, in securing that appropriation. The obvious thing, of course,
+would have been to hunt up Mr. Atkins and question him. But this was
+altogether too obvious. In the first place, the strained relations
+between them would make the interview uncomfortable; and, in the
+second, if there was anything underhand in Heman's backsliding on the
+appropriation, Atkins was too wary a bird to be snared with questions.
+
+But Captain Cy had another acquaintance in the city, the son of a still
+older acquaintance, who had been a wealthy shipping merchant and mine
+owner in California. The son was also a congressman, from a coast State,
+and the captain had read of him in the papers. A sketch of his life had
+been printed, and this made his identity absolutely certain. Captain
+Cy's original idea had been to write to this congressman. Now he
+determined to find and interview him.
+
+He inquired concerning him of the hotel clerk, who, like all Washington
+clerks, was a walking edition of "Who's Who at the Capital."
+
+"Congressman Everdean?" repeated the all-knowing young gentleman. "Yes.
+He's in town. Has rooms at the Gloria; second hotel on the right as you
+go up the avenue. Only a short walk. What can I do for you, sir?"
+
+The Gloria was an even bigger hotel than the one where the captain had
+his "berth." An inquiry at the desk, of another important clerk, was
+answered with a brisk:
+
+"Mr. Everdean? Yes, he rooms here. Don't know whether he's in or not.
+Evening, judge. Nice Winter weather we're having."
+
+The judge, who was a ponderous person vaguely suggesting the great
+Heman, admitted that the weather was fine, patronizing it as he did so.
+The clerk continued the conversation. Captain Cy waited. At length he
+spoke.
+
+"Excuse me, commodore," he said; "I don't like to break in until you've
+settled whether you have it snow or not, but I'm here to see Congressman
+Everdean. Hadn't you better order one of your fo'mast hands to hunt him
+up?"
+
+The judge condescended to smile, as did several other men who stood
+near. The clerk reddened.
+
+"Do you want to see Mr. Everdean?" he snapped.
+
+"Why, yes, I did. But I can't see him from here without strainin' my
+eyesight."
+
+The clerk sharply demanded one of the captain's visiting cards.
+He didn't get one, for the very good reason that there was none in
+existence.
+
+"Tell him an old friend of his dad's is here on the main deck waitin'
+for him," said Captain Cy. "That'll do first rate. Thank you, admiral."
+
+Word came that the congressman would be down in a few moments. The
+captain beguiled the interval by leaning on the rail and regarding the
+clerk with an awed curiosity that annoyed its object exceedingly. The
+inspection was still on when a tall man, of an age somewhere in the
+early thirties, walked briskly up to the desk.
+
+"Who is it that wants to see me?" he asked.
+
+The clerk waved a deprecatory hand in Captain Cy's direction. The
+newcomer turned.
+
+"My name is Everdean," he said. "Are you--hey?--Great Scott! Is it
+possible this is Captain Whittaker?"
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+"Well, I declare, Ed!" he exclaimed. "I didn't believe you'd remember me
+after all these years. You was nothin' but a boy when I saw you out
+in 'Frisco. Well! well! No wonder you're in Congress. A man that can
+remember faces like that ought to be President."
+
+Everdean laughed as they shook hands.
+
+"Don't suppose I'd forget the chap who used to dine with us and tell me
+those sea stories, do you?" he said. "I'm mighty glad to see you. What
+are you doing here? The last father and I heard of you, you were in
+South America. Given up the sea, they said, and getting rich fast."
+
+Captain Cy chuckled.
+
+"It's a good thing I learned long ago not to believe all I hear," he
+answered, "else I'd have been so sure I was rich that I'd have spent all
+I had, and been permanent boarder at the poorhouse by now. No, thanks;
+I've had dinner. Why, yes, I'll smoke, if you'll help along. How's your
+father? Smart, is he?"
+
+The congressman insisted that they should adjourn to his rooms. An
+unmarried man, he kept bachelor's hall at the hotel during his stay in
+Washington. There, in comfortable chairs, they spoke of old times, when
+the captain was seafaring and the Everdean home had been his while his
+ship was in port at 'Frisco. He told of his return to Bayport, and the
+renovation of the old house. Of Bos'n he said nothing. At last Everdean
+asked what had brought him to Washington.
+
+"Well," said Captain Cy, "I'll tell you. I'm like the feller in court
+without a lawyer; he said he couldn't tell whether he was guilty or not
+'count of havin' no professional advice. That's what I've come to you
+for, Ed--professional advice."
+
+He told the harbor appropriation story. At the incident of the
+"committee of one" his friend laughed heartily.
+
+"Rather put your foot in it that time, Captain, didn't you?" he said.
+
+"Yup. Then I got t'other one stuck tryin' to get the first clear. How's
+it look to you? All straight, do you think? or is there a nigger in the
+wood pile?"
+
+Mr. Everdean seemed to reflect.
+
+"Well, Captain," he said, "I can't tell. You're asking delicate
+questions. Politicians are like doctors, they usually back up each
+other's opinions. Still, you're at least as good a friend of mine as
+Atkins is. Queer HE should bob up in this matter! Why, he--but never
+mind that now. I tell you, Captain Whittaker, you come around and have
+dinner with me to-morrow night. In the meantime I'll see the chairman
+of the committee on that bill--one of the so-called 'pork' bills it
+is. Possibly from him and some other acquaintances of mine I may learn
+something. At any rate, you come to dinner."
+
+So the invitation was accepted, and Captain Cy went back to his own
+hotel and his room. He slept but little, although it was not worry over
+the appropriation question which kept him awake. Next morning he wrote a
+note to Georgianna, giving his Washington address. With it he enclosed
+a long letter to Bos'n, telling her he should be home pretty soon, and
+that she must be a good girl and "boss the ship" during his absence.
+He sent his regards to Asaph and Bailey, but Phoebe's name he did not
+mention. Then he put in a miserable day wandering about the city. At
+eight that evening he and his Western friend sat down at a corner table
+in the big dining room of the Gloria.
+
+The captain began to ask questions as soon as the soup was served, but
+Everdean refused to answer.
+
+"No, no," he said, "pleasure first and business afterwards; that's a
+congressional motto. I can't talk Atkins with my dinner and enjoy it."
+
+"Can't, hey? You wouldn't be popular at our perfect boarding house back
+home. There they serve Heman hot for breakfast and dinner, and warm him
+over for supper. All right, I can wait."
+
+The conversation wandered from Buenos Ayres to 'Frisco and back again
+until the cigars and coffee were reached. Then the congressman blew a
+fragrant ring into the air and, from behind it, looked quizzically at
+his companion.
+
+"Well," he observed, "so far as that appropriation of yours is
+concerned--"
+
+He paused and blew a second ring. Captain Cy stroked his beard.
+
+"Um--yes," he drawled, "now that you mention it, seems to me there was
+some talk of an appropriation."
+
+Mr. Everdean laughed.
+
+"I've been making inquiries," he said. "I saw the chairman of the
+committee on the pork bill. I know him well. He's a good fellow, but--"
+
+"Yes, I know. I've seen lots of politicians like that; they're all good
+fellers, but--If I was in politics I'd make a law to cut 'But' out of
+the dictionary."
+
+"Well, this chap really is a good fellow. I asked about the thirty
+thousand dollars for your town. He asked me why I didn't go to the
+congressman from that district, and not bother him about it. I said
+perhaps I would go to the congressman later, but I came to him first."
+
+"Sartin. Same as the feller with a sick mother-in-law stopped in at the
+undertaker's on his way to call the doctor. All right; heave ahead."
+
+"Well, we had a rather long conversation. I discovered that the Bayport
+item was originally included in the bill, but recently had been stricken
+out."
+
+"Yes, I see. Uncle Sam had to economize, hey? Save somethin' for a rainy
+day."
+
+"Well, possibly. Still the bill is just as heavy. Now, Captain
+Whittaker, I don't KNOW anything about this affair, and it's not my
+business. But I've been about to-day, and I asked questions, and--I'm
+going to tell you a fairy tale. It isn't as interesting as your sea
+yarns, but--Do you like fairy stories?"
+
+"Land, yes! Tell a few myself when it's necessary. Sometimes I almost
+believe 'em. Well?"
+
+"Of course, you must remember this IS a fairy story. Let's suppose that
+once on a time--that's the way they always begin--once on a time there
+was a great man, great in his own country, who was sent abroad by his
+people to represent them among the rulers of the land. So, in order to
+typically represent them, he dressed in glad and expensive raiment, went
+about in dignity, and--"
+
+"And whiskers. Don't leave out the whiskers!"
+
+"All right--and whiskers. And it came to pass that the people whom he
+represented wished to--to--er--bring about a certain needed improvement
+in their--their beautiful and enterprising community."
+
+"Sho! sho! how natural that sounds! You must be a mind reader."
+
+"No. But I have to make speeches in my own community occasionally.
+Well, the people asked their great man to get the money needed for this
+improvement from the rulers of the land aforementioned. And he was
+at first all enthusiasm and upon the--the parchment scroll where
+such matters are inscribed was written the name of the beautiful and
+enterprising community, and the sum of money it asked for. And the deal
+was as good as made. Excuse the modern phraseology; my fairy lingo got
+mixed there."
+
+"Never mind. I can get the drift just as well--maybe better."
+
+"And the deal was as good as made. But before the vote was taken another
+chap came to the great man and said: 'Look here! I want to get an
+appropriation of, say, fifty thousand dollars, to deepen and improve a
+river down in my State'--a Southern State we'll say. 'I've been to the
+chairman of the pork bill committee, and he says it's impossible. The
+bill simply can't be loaded any further. But I find that you have an
+item in there for deepening and improving a harbor back in your own
+district. Why don't you cut that item out--shove it over until
+next year? You can easily find a satisfactory explanation for your
+constituents. AND you want to remember this: the improvement of this
+river means that the--the--well, a certain sugar-growing company--can
+get their stuff to market at a figure which will send its stock up and
+up. And you are said to own a considerable amount of that stock. So why
+not drop the harbor item and substitute my river slice? Then--' Well, I
+guess that's the end of the tale."
+
+He paused and relit his cigar. Captain Cy thoughtfully marked with his
+fork on the tablecloth.
+
+"Hum!" he grunted. "That's a very interestin' yarn. Yes, yes! don't
+know's I ever heard a more interestin' one. I presume likely there ain't
+a mite of proof that it's true?"
+
+"Not an atom. I told you it was a fairy tale. And I mustn't be quoted in
+the matter. Honestly, the most of it is guess work, at that. But perhaps
+a 'committee of one,' dropping a hint at home, might at least arouse
+some uncomfortable questioning of a certain great man. That's about all,
+though. Proof is quite another thing."
+
+The captain pondered. He was fully aware that the unpopularity of the
+"committee" would nullify whatever good its hinting might do.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted again. "It's one thing to smell a rat and another to
+nail its tail to the floor. But I'm mighty obliged to you, all the same.
+And I'll think it over hard. Say! I can see one thing--you don't take a
+very big shine to Heman yourself."
+
+"Not too big--no. Do you?"
+
+"Well, I don't wake up nights and cry for him."
+
+Everdean laughed.
+
+"That's characteristic," he said. "You have your own way of putting
+things, Captain, and it's hard to be improved on. Atkins has never done
+anything to me. I just--I just don't like him, that's all. Father never
+liked him, either, in the old days; and yet--and it's odd, too--he was
+the means of the old gentleman's making the most of his money."
+
+"He? Who? Not Heman?"
+
+"Yes, Heman Atkins. But, so far as that goes, father started him toward
+wealth, I suppose. At least, he was poor enough before the mine was
+sold."
+
+"What are you talkin' about? Heman got his start tradin' over in the
+South Seas. Sellin' the Kanakas glass beads and calico for pearls and
+copra--two cupfuls of pearls for every bead. Anyhow, that's the way the
+yarn goes."
+
+"I can't help that. He was just a common sailor who had run away from
+his ship and was gold mining in California. And when he and his partner
+struck it rich father borrowed money, headed a company, and bought them
+out. That mine was the Excelsior, and it's just as productive to-day
+as it ever was. I rather think Atkins must be very sorry he sold. I
+suppose, by right, I should be very grateful to your distinguished
+representative."
+
+"Well, I do declare! Sho, sho! Ain't that funny now? He's never said a
+word about it at home. I don't believe there's a soul in Bayport knows
+that. We all thought 'twas South Sea tradin' that boosted Heman. And
+your own dad! I declare, this is a small world!"
+
+"It's odd father never told you about it. It's one of the old
+gentleman's pet stories. He came West in 1850, and was running a little
+shipping store in 'Frisco. He met Atkins and the other young sailor,
+his partner, before they left their ship. They were in the store, buying
+various things, and father got to know them pretty well. Then they
+ran away to the diggings--you simply couldn't keep a crew in those
+times--and he didn't see them again for a good while. Then they came
+in one day and showed him specimens from a claim they had back in the
+mountains. They were mighty good specimens, and what they said about the
+claim convinced father that they had a valuable property. So he went to
+see a few well-to-do friends of his, and the outcome was that a party
+was made up to go and inspect. The young fellows were willing to sell
+out, for it was a quartz working and they hadn't the money to carry it
+on.
+
+"The inspection showed that the claim was likely to be even better than
+they thought, so, after some bargaining, the deal was completed. They
+sold out for seventy-five thousand dollars, and it was the best trade
+father ever made. He's so proud of his judgment and foresight in making
+it that I wonder he never told you the story."
+
+"He never did. When was this?"
+
+"In '54. What?"
+
+"I didn't speak. The date seemed kind of familiar to me, that's all.
+Seem's as if I heard it recent, but I can't remember when. Seventy-five
+thousand, hey? Well, that wan't so bad, was it? With that for a nest
+egg, no wonder Heman's managed to hatch a pretty respectable brood of
+dollars."
+
+"Oh, the whole seventy-five wasn't his, of course. Half belonged to his
+partner. But the poor devil didn't live to enjoy it. After the articles
+were signed and before the money was paid over, he was taken sick with a
+fever and died."
+
+"Hey? He died? With a FEVER?"
+
+"Yes. But he left a pretty good legacy to his heirs, didn't he. For
+a common sailor--or second mate; I believe that's what he
+was--thirty-seven thousand five hundred is doing well. It must have come
+as a big surprise to them. The whole sum was paid to Atkins, who--What's
+the matter with you?"
+
+Captain Cy was leaning back in his chair. He was as white as the
+tablecloth.
+
+"Are you ill?" asked the congressman anxiously. "Take some water. Shall
+I call--"
+
+The captain waved his hand.
+
+"No, no!" he stammered. "No! I'm all right. Do you--for the Lord's sake
+tell me this! What was the name of this partner that died?"
+
+Mr. Everdean looked curiously at his friend before he answered.
+
+"Sure you're not sick?" he asked. "Well, all right. The partner's name?
+Why, I've heard it often enough. It's on the deed of sale that father
+has framed in his room at home. The old gentleman is as proud of that as
+anything in the house. The name was--was--"
+
+"For God sakes," cried Captain Cy, "don't say 'twas John Thayer! 'Cause
+if you do I shan't believe it."
+
+"That's what it was--John Thayer. How did you guess? Did you know him? I
+remember now that he was another Down Easter, like Atkins."
+
+The captain did not answer. He clasped his forehead with both hands and
+leaned his elbows on the table. Everdean was plainly alarmed.
+
+"I'm going to call a doctor," he began, rising. But Captain Cy waved him
+back again.
+
+"Set still!" he ordered. "Set still, I tell you! You say the whole
+seventy-five thousand was paid to Heman, but that John Thayer signed
+the bill of sale afore he died, as half partner? And your dad's got the
+original deed and--and--he remembers the whole business?"
+
+"Yes, he's got the deed--framed. It's on record, too, of course.
+Remembers? I should say he did! He'll talk for a week on that subject,
+if you give him a chance."
+
+The captain sprang to his feet. His chair tipped backward and fell to
+the floor. An obsequious waiter ran to right it, but Captain Cy paid no
+attention to him.
+
+"Where's my coat?" he demanded. "Where's my coat and hat?"
+
+"What ails you?" asked Everdean. "Are you going crazy?"
+
+"Goin' CRAZY? No, no! I'm goin' to California. When's the next train?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+
+The Honorable Heman Atkins sat in the library of his Washington home,
+before a snapping log fire, reading a letter. Mr. Atkins had, as he
+would have expressed it, "served his people" in Congress for so many
+years that he had long since passed the hotel stage of living at the
+Capital. He rented a furnished house on an eminently respectable street,
+and the polished doorplate bore his name in uncompromising characters.
+
+The library furniture was solid and dignified. Its businesslike
+appearance impressed the stray excursionist from the Atkins district,
+when he or she visited the great man in whose affairs we felt such a
+personal interest. Particularly impressive and significant was a map of
+the district hanging over the congressman's desk, and an oil painting
+of the Atkins mansion at Bayport, which, with the iron dogs and urns
+conspicuous in its foreground, occupied the middle of the largest wall
+space.
+
+The cheery fire was very comforting on a night like this, for the sleet
+was driving against the windowpanes, the sidewalks were ankle deep in
+slush, and the wet, cold wind from the Potomac was whistling down the
+street. Somewhere about the house an unfastened shutter slammed in the
+gusts. Mr. Atkins should have been extremely comfortable as he sat there
+by the fire. He had spent many comfortable winters in that room. But now
+there was a frown on his face as he read the letter in his hand. It was
+from Simpson, and stated, among other things, that Cyrus Whittaker had
+been absent from Bayport for over two weeks, and that no one seemed
+to know where he had gone. "The idea seems to be that he started for
+Washington," wrote Tad; "but if that is so, it is queer you haven't
+seen him. I am suspicious that he is up to something about that harbor
+business. I should keep my eye peeled if I was you."
+
+Alicia, the Atkins hopeful, rustled into the room.
+
+"Papa," she said, "I've come to kiss you good night."
+
+Her father performed the ceremony in a perfunctory way.
+
+"All right, all right," he said. "Now run along to bed and don't bother
+me, there's a good girl. I wish," he added testily to the housekeeper
+who had followed Alicia into the room, "I wish you'd see to that loose
+blind. It makes me nervous. Such things as that should be attended to
+without specific orders from me."
+
+The housekeeper promised to attend to the blind. She and the girl left
+the library. Heman reread the Simpson letter. Then he dropped it in his
+lap and sat thinking and twirling his eyeglasses at the end of their
+black cord. His thoughts seemed to be not of the pleasantest. The lines
+about his mouth had deepened during the last few months. He looked
+older.
+
+The telephone bell rang sharply. Mr. Atkins came out of his reverie
+with a start, arose and walked across the room to the wall where the
+instrument hung. It was before the days of the convenient desk 'phone.
+He took the receiver from its hook and spoke into the transmitter.
+
+"Hello!" he said. "Hello! Yes, yes! stop ringing. What is it?"
+
+The wire buzzed and purred in the storm. "Hello!" said a voice. "Hello,
+there! Is this Mr. Atkins's house?"
+
+"Yes; it is. What do you want?"
+
+"Hey? Is this where the Honorable Heman Atkins lives?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I tell you! This is Mr. Atkins speaking. What do you want?"
+
+"Oh! is that you, Heman? This is Whittaker--Cy Whittaker. Understand?"
+
+Mr. Atkins understood. Yet for an instant he did not reply. He had been
+thinking, as he sat by the fire, of certain persons and certain ugly,
+though remote, possibilities. Now, from a mysterious somewhere, one of
+those persons was speaking to him. The hand holding the receiver shook
+momentarily.
+
+"Hello! I say, Heman, do you understand? This is Whittaker talkin'."
+
+"I--er--understand," said the congressman, slowly. "Well, sir?"
+
+"I'm here in Washin'ton."
+
+"I have been informed that you were in the city. Well, sir?"
+
+"Oh! knew I was here, did you? Is that so? Who told you? Tad wrote, I
+suppose, hey?"
+
+The congressman did not reply immediately. This man, whom he disliked
+more than anyone else in the world, had an irritating faculty of putting
+his finger on the truth. And the flippancy in the tone was maddening.
+Mr. Atkins was not used to flippancy.
+
+"I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of information,"
+he said with chilling dignity. "It appears to have been trustworthy. I
+presume you have 'phoned me concerning the appropriation matter. I do
+not recognize your right to intrude in that affair, and I shall decline
+to discuss it. Yes, sir. To my people, to those who have a right to
+question, I am and shall always be willing to explain my position. Good
+night."
+
+"Wait! Hello! Hold on a minute. Don't get mad, Heman. I only wanted to
+say just a word. You'll let me say a word, won't you?"
+
+This was more like it. This was more nearly the tone in which Mr. Atkins
+was wont to be addressed. It was possible that the man, recognizing the
+uselessness of further opposition, desired to surrender.
+
+"I cannot," declared the Honorable, "understand why you should wish to
+speak with me. We have very little in common, very little, I'm thankful
+to say. However, I will hear you briefly. Go on."
+
+"Much obliged. Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought maybe
+you'd better have a little talk with me. I'm here at the hotel, the
+Regent. You know where 'tis, I presume likely. I guess you'd better come
+right down and see me."
+
+Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
+
+"_I_ had better come and see YOU? I--! Well, sir! WELL! I am not
+accustomed--"
+
+"I know, but I think you'd better. It's dirty weather, and I've got cold
+somehow or other. I ain't feelin' quite up to the mark, so I cal'late
+I'll stay in port much as I can. You come right down. I'll be in my
+room, and the hotel folks 'll tell you where 'tis. I'll be waitin' for
+you."
+
+Mr. Atkins breathed hard. In his present frame of mind he would have
+liked to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would cause the
+person at the other end of the line to shrivel under its heat. But he
+was a politician of long training, and he knew that such blasts were
+sometimes expensive treats. It might be well to hear what his enemy had
+to say. But as to going to see him--that was out of the question.
+
+"I do not," he thundered, "I do not care to continue this conversation.
+If--if you wish to see me, after what has taken place between us, I
+am willing, in spite of personal repugnance, to grant you a brief
+interview. My servants will admit you here at nine o'clock to-morrow
+morning. But I tell you now, that your interference with this
+appropriation matter is as useless as it is ridiculous and impudent. It
+is of a piece with the rest of your conduct."
+
+"All right, Heman, all right," was the calm answer. "I don't say you've
+got to come. I only say I guess you'd better. I'm goin' back to Bayport
+tomorrer, early. And if I was you I'd come and see me to-night."
+
+"I have no wish to see you. Nor do I care to talk with you further. That
+appropriation--"
+
+"Maybe it ain't all appropriation."
+
+"Then I cannot understand--"
+
+"I know, but _I_ understand. I've come to understand consider'ble many
+things in the last fortni't. There! I can't holler into this machine any
+longer. I've been clear out to 'Frisco and back in eleven days, and I
+got cold in those blessed sleepin' cars. I--"
+
+The receiver fell from the congressman's hand. It was a difficult object
+to pick up again. Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely inadequate
+way. Yet he wished to recover it very much.
+
+"Wait! wait!" he shouted anxiously. "I--I--I dropped the--Are you there,
+Whittaker? Are you--Oh! yes! I didn't--Did you say--er--'Frisco?"
+
+"Yes, San Francisco, California. I've been West on a little cruise.
+Had an interestin' time. It's an interestin' place; don't you think so?
+Well, I'm sorry you can't come. Good night."
+
+"Wait!" faltered the great man. "I--I--let me think, Cyrus. I do not
+wish to seem--er--arrogant in this matter. It is not usual for me to
+visit my constituents, but--but--I have no engagement this evening,
+and you are not well, and--Hello! are you there? Hello! Why, under the
+circumstances, I think--Yes, I will come. I'll come--er--at once."
+
+The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time. Yet, to
+Heman Atkins, that cab was years in coming. He paced the library floor,
+his hand to his forehead and his brain whirling. It couldn't be! It
+must be a coincidence! He had been an idiot to display his agitation and
+surrender so weakly. And yet--and yet--
+
+The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity for
+more thought. But he gained little comfort from thinking. If it was a
+coincidence, well and good. If not--
+
+A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room "on the saloon deck." It
+was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain
+Cy, in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator. He
+looked far from well.
+
+"Evenin', Heman," he said as the congressman entered. "Pretty dirty
+night, ain't it? What we'd call a gray no'theaster back home. Sit down.
+Don't mind my not gettin' up. This heatin' arrangement feels mighty
+comf'table just now. If I get too far away from it I shiver my deck
+planks loose. Take off your things."
+
+Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat. His hat he tossed on the bed.
+He glanced fearfully at his companion. The latter's greeting had been
+so casual and everyday that he took courage. And the captain looked
+anything but formidable as he hugged the radiator. Perhaps things were
+not so bad as he had feared. He resolved not to seem alarmed, at all
+events.
+
+"Have a cigar, Heman?" said Captain Cy. "No? Well, all right; I will, if
+you don't mind."
+
+He lit the cigar. The congressman cleared his throat.
+
+"Cyrus," he said, "I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call of
+my--er--acquaintances, but, even though we have disagreed of late, even
+though to me your conduct seems quite unjustifiable, still, for the sake
+of our boyhood friendship, and, because you are not well, I--er--came."
+
+Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing him
+to pieces. He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on the top of
+the radiator.
+
+"Too bad," he observed. "Tobacco gen'rally iles up my talkin' machinery,
+but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship's dog shut up in the
+hold. Why, yes, Heman, I see you've come. Much obliged to you."
+
+This politeness was still more encouraging. Atkins leaned back in his
+chair and crossed his legs.
+
+"I presume," he said, "that you wish to ask concerning the
+appropriation. I regret--"
+
+"You needn't. I guess we'll get the appropriation."
+
+Heman's condescension vanished. He leaned forward and uncrossed his
+legs.
+
+"Indeed?" he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain's placid face.
+
+"Yes--indeed."
+
+"Whittaker, what are you talking about? Do you suppose that I have been
+the representative of my people in Congress all these years without
+knowing whereof I speak? They left the matter in my hands, and your
+interference--"
+
+"I ain't goin' to interfere. I'M goin' to leave it in your hands, too.
+And I cal'late you'll be able to find a way to get it. Um--hum, I guess
+likely you will."
+
+The visitor rose to his feet. The time had come for another blast from
+Olympus. He raised the mighty right arm. But Captain Cy spoke first.
+
+"Sit down, Heman," said the captain quietly. "Sit down. This ain't town
+meetin'. Never mind the appropriation now. There's other matters to be
+talked about first. Sit down, I tell you."
+
+Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down. The captain coughed
+again.
+
+"Heman," he began when the spasm was over, "I asked you to come here
+to-night for--well, blessed if I know exactly. It didn't make much
+difference to me whether you came or not."
+
+"Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! for the land sakes! Speechmakin' must be as bad as the rum
+habit, when a feller's got it chronic as you have. No, it didn't make
+much difference to me whether you came or not. But, honest, you've got
+to be a kind of Bunker Hill monument to the folks back home. They kneel
+down at your foundations and look up at you, and tell each other how
+many foot high you are, and what it cost to build you, and how you stand
+for patriotism and purity, till--well, _I_ couldn't see you tumble down
+without givin' you a chance. I couldn't; 'twould be like blowin' up a
+church."
+
+The purple had left the Atkins face, but the speechmaking habit is not
+likely to be broken.
+
+"Cyrus Whittaker," he stammered, "have you been drinking? Your language
+to me is abominable. Why I permit myself to remain here and listen to
+such--"
+
+"If you'll keep still I'll tell you why. And, if I was you, I wouldn't
+be too anxious to find out. This everlastin' cold don't make me over 'n'
+above good-tempered, and when I think of what you've done to that little
+girl, or what you tried to do, I have to hold myself down tight, TIGHT,
+and don't you forget it! Now, you keep quiet and listen. It'll be best
+for you, Heman. Your cards ain't under the table any longer. I've seen
+your hand, and I know why you've been playin' it. I know the whole game.
+I've been West, and Everdean and I have had a talk."
+
+Mr. Atkins had again risen from the chair. Now he fell heavily back
+into it. His lips moved as if he meant to speak, but he did not. At
+the mention of the Everdean name he made a queer, choking sound in his
+throat.
+
+"I know the whole business, Heman," went on the captain. "I know why
+you was so knocked over when you learned who Bos'n was, the night of
+the party. I know why you took up with that blackguard, Thomas, and why
+you've spent your good money hirin' lawyers for him. I know about the
+mine. I know the whole thing from first to last. Shall I tell you? Do
+you want to hear it?"
+
+The great man did not answer. A drop of perspiration shone on his high
+forehead, and the veins of his big, white hands stood out as he clutched
+the arms of his chair. The monument was tottering on its base.
+
+"It's a dirty mess, the whole of it," continued Captain Cy. "And yet, I
+can see--I suppose I can see some excuse for you at the beginnin'. When
+old man Everdean and his crowd bought you and John Thayer out, 'way
+back there in '54, after John died, and all the money was put into your
+hands, I cal'late you was honest then. I wouldn't wonder if you MEANT
+to hand over the thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars to your
+partner's widow. But 'twas harder and more risky to send money East in
+them days than 'tis now, and so you waited, thinkin' maybe that you'd
+fetch it to Emily when you come yourself. But you didn't come home for
+some years; you went tradin' down along the Feejees and around that way.
+That's how I reasoned it out these last few days on the train. I give
+you credit for bein' honest first along.
+
+"But never mind whether you was or not, you haven't been since. You
+never paid over a cent of that poor feller's money--honest money, that
+belonged to his heirs, and belongs to 'em now. You've hung onto it,
+stole it, used it for yours. And Emily worked and scratched for a livin'
+and died poor. And Mary, she died, after bein' abused and deserted by
+that cussed husband of hers. And you thought you was safe, I cal'late.
+And then Bos'n turns up right in your own town, right acrost the road
+from you! By the big dipper! it's enough to make a feller believe that
+the Almighty does take a hand in straightenin' out such things, when us
+humans bungle 'em--it is so!
+
+"Course I ain't sure, Heman, what you meant to do when you found that
+the child you'd stole that money from was goin' to be under your face
+and eyes till you or she died. I cal'late you was afraid I'd find
+somethin' out, wan't you? I presume likely you thought that I, not
+havin' quite the reverence for you that the rest of the Bayporters
+have, might be sharp enough or lucky enough to smell a rat. Perhaps you
+suspicioned that I knew the Everdeans. Anyhow, you wanted to get the
+child as fur out of your sight and out of my hands as you could--ain't
+that so? And when her dad turned up, you thought you saw your chance.
+Heman, you answer me this: Ain't it part of your bargain with Thomas
+that when he gets his little girl, he shall take her and clear out, away
+off somewheres, for good? Ain't it, now--what?"
+
+The monument was swaying, was swinging from side to side, but it did not
+quite fall--not then. The congressman's cheeks hung flabby, his forehead
+was wet, and he shook from head to foot; but he clenched his jaws and
+made one last attempt at defiance.
+
+"I--I don't know what you mean," he declared. "You--you seem to be
+accusing me of something. Of stealing, I believe. Do you understand who
+I am? I have some influence and reputation, and it is dangerous to--to
+try to frighten me. Proofs are required in law, and--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! You know I've got the proofs. They were easy enough to get,
+once I happened on the track of 'em. Lord sakes, Heman, I ain't a fool!
+What's the use of your pretendin' to be one? There's the deed out in
+'Frisco, with yours and John's name on it. There's the records to prove
+the sale. There's the receipt for the seventy-five thousand signed by
+you, on behalf of yourself and your partner's widow. There's old man
+Everdean alive and competent to testify. There's John Thayer's will on
+file over to Orham. Proofs! Why, you THIEF! if it's proofs you want,
+I've got enough to send you to state's prison for the rest of your life.
+Don't you dare say 'proofs' to me again! Heman Atkins, you owe me,
+as Bos'n's guardian, thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, with
+interest since 1854. What you goin' to do about it?"
+
+Here was one ray, a feeble ray, of light.
+
+"You're not her guardian," cried Atkins. "The courts have thrown you
+out. And your appeal won't stand, either. If any money is due, it
+belongs to her father. She isn't of age! No, sir! her father--"
+
+Captain Cy's patience had been giving way. Now he lost it altogether. He
+strode across the room and shook his forefinger in his victim's face.
+
+"So!" he cried. "That's your tack, is it? By the big dipper! You GO to
+her father--just you go to him and tell him! Just hint to him that you
+owe his daughter thirty-odd thousand dollars, and see what he'll
+do. Good heavens above! he was ready to sell her out to me for fifty
+dollars' wuth of sand bank in Orham. Almost ready, he was, till you
+offered a higher price to him to fight. Why, he'll have your hide nailed
+up on the barn door! If you don't pay him every red copper, down on
+the nail, he'll wring you dry. And then he'll blackmail you forever and
+ever, amen! Unless, of course, _I_ go home and stop the blackmail by
+printing my story in the Breeze. I've a precious good mind to do it. By
+the Almighty, I WILL do it! unless you come off that high horse of yours
+and talk like a man."
+
+And then the monument fell, fell prostrate, with a sickly, pitiful
+crash. If we of Bayport could have seen our congressman then! The great
+man, great no longer, broke down completely. He cried like a baby. It
+was all true--all true. He had not meant to steal, at first. He had been
+led into using the money in his business. Then he had meant to send it
+to the heirs, but he didn't know their whereabouts. Captain Cy smiled
+at this excuse. And now he couldn't pay--he COULDN'T. He had hardly that
+sum in the world. He had lost money in stocks, his property in the South
+had gone to the bad! He would be ruined. He would have to go to prison.
+He was getting to be an old man. And there was Alicia, his daughter!
+Think of her! Think of the disgrace! And so on, over and over, with
+the one recurring burden--what was the captain going to do? what was
+he going to do? It was a miserable, dreadful exhibition, and Captain Cy
+could feel no pride in his triumph.
+
+"There! there!" he said at last. "Stop it, man; stop it, for goodness
+sakes! Pull yourself together. I guess we can fix it up somehow. I ain't
+goin' to be too hard on you. If it wan't for your meanness in bein'
+willin' to let Bos'n suffer her life long with that drunken beast of a
+dad of hers, I'd feel almost like tellin' you to get up and forget it.
+But THAT'S got to be stopped. Now, you listen to me."
+
+Heman listened. He was on his knees beside the bed, his face buried in
+his arms, and his gray hair, the leonine Atkins hair, which he was wont
+to toss backward in the heated periods of his eloquence, tumbled and
+draggled. Captain Cy looked down at him.
+
+"This whole business about Bos'n must be stopped," he said, "and stopped
+right off. You tell your lawyers to drop the case. Her dad is only
+hangin' around because you pay him to. He don't want her; he don't care
+what becomes of her. If you pay him enough, he'll go, won't he? and not
+come back?"
+
+The congressman raised his head.
+
+"Why, yes," he faltered; "I think he will. Yes, I think I could arrange
+that. But, Cyrus--"
+
+The captain held up his hand.
+
+"I intend to look out for Bos'n," he said. "She cares for me more'n
+anyone else in the world. She's as much to me as my own child ever
+could be, and I'll see that she is happy and provided for. I'm religious
+enough to believe she was sent to me, and I intend to stick to my trust.
+As for the money--"
+
+"Yes, yes! The money?"
+
+"Well, I won't be too hard on you that way, either. We'll talk that over
+later on. Maybe we can arrange for you to pay it a little at a time. You
+can sign a paper showin' that you owe it, and we'll fix the payin' to
+suit all hands. 'Tain't as if the child was in want. I've got some money
+of my own, and what's mine's hers. I think we needn't worry about the
+money part."
+
+"God bless you, Cyrus! I--"
+
+"Yes, all right. I'm sure your askin' for the blessin' 'll be a great
+help. Now, you do your part, and I'll do mine. No one knows of this
+business but me. I didn't tell Everdean a word. He don't know why I
+hustled out there and back, nor why I asked so many questions. And he
+ain't the kind to pry into what don't concern him. So you're pretty
+safe, I cal'late. Now, if you don't mind, I wish you'd run along home.
+I'm--I'm used up, sort of."
+
+Mr. Atkins arose from his knees. Even then, broken as he was--he looked
+ten years older than when he entered the room--he could hardly believe
+what he had just heard.
+
+"You mean," he faltered, "Cyrus, do you mean that--that you're not going
+to reveal this--this--"
+
+"That I'm not goin' to tell on you? Yup; that's what I mean. You get rid
+of Thomas and squelch that law case, and I'll keep mum. You can trust me
+for that."
+
+"But--but, Cyrus, the people at home? Your story in the Breeze? You're
+not--"
+
+"No, they needn't know, either. It'll be between you and me."
+
+"God bless you! I'll never forget--"
+
+"That's right. You mustn't. Forgettin' is the one thing you mustn't do.
+And, see here, you're boss of the political fleet in Bayport; you steer
+the school committee now. Phoebe Dawes ain't too popular with that
+committee; I'd see that she was popularized."
+
+"Yes, yes; she shall be. She shall not be disturbed. Is there anything
+else I can do?"
+
+"Why, yes, I guess there is. Speakin' of popularity made me think of it.
+That harbor appropriation had better go through."
+
+A very faint tinge of color came into the congressman's chalky face. He
+hesitated in his reply.
+
+"I--I don't know about that, Cyrus," he said. "The bill will probably be
+voted on in a few days. It is made up and--"
+
+"Then I'd strain a p'int and make it over. I'd work real hard on it. I'm
+sorry about that sugar river, but I cal'late Bayport 'll have to come
+first. Yes, it'll have to, Heman; it sartin will."
+
+The reference to the "sugar river" was the final straw. Evidently this
+man knew everything.
+
+"I--I'll try my best," affirmed Heman. "Thank you, Cyrus. You have been
+more merciful than I had a right to expect."
+
+"Yes, I guess I have. Why do I do it?" He smiled and shook his head.
+"Well, I don't know. For two reasons, maybe. First, I'd hate to be
+responsible for tippin' over such a sky-towerin' idol as you've been to
+make ruins for Angie Phinney and the other blackbirds to peck at and caw
+over. And second--well, it does sound presumin', don't it, but I kind
+of pity you. Say, Heman," he added with a chuckle, "that's a kind of
+distinction, in a way, ain't it? A good many folks have hurrahed over
+you and worshipped you--some of 'em, I guess likely, have envied you;
+but, by the big dipper! I do believe I'm the only one in this round
+world that ever PITIED you. Good-by. The elevator's right down the
+hall."
+
+It required some resolution for the Honorable Atkins to walk down that
+corridor and press the elevator button. But he did it, somehow. A guest
+came out of one of the rooms and approached him as he stood there. It
+was a man he knew. Heman squared his shoulders and set every nerve and
+muscle.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Atkins," said the man. "A miserable night, isn't it?"
+
+"Miserable, indeed," replied the congressman. The strength in his voice
+surprised him. The man passed on. Heman descended in the elevator,
+walked steadily through the crowded lobby and out to the curb where
+his cab was waiting. The driver noticed nothing strange in his fare's
+appearance. He noticed nothing strange when the Atkins residence was
+reached and its tenant mounted the stone steps and opened the door
+with his latchkey. But, if he had seen the dignified form collapse in a
+library chair and moan and rock back and forth until the morning hours,
+he would have wondered very much indeed.
+
+
+Meanwhile Captain Cy, coughing and shivering by the radiator, had been
+summoned from that warm haven by a knock at his door. A bell boy stood
+at the threshold, holding a brown envelope in his hand.
+
+"The clerk sent this up to you, sir," he said. "It came a week ago. When
+you went away, you didn't leave any address, and whatever letters came
+for you were sent back to Bayport, Massachusetts. The clerk says you
+registered from there, sir. But he kept this telegram. It was in your
+box, and the day clerk forgot to give it to you this afternoon."
+
+The captain tore open the envelope. The telegram was from his lawyer,
+Mr. Peabody. It was dated a week before, and read as follows:
+
+
+    "Come home at once.  Important."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+DIVIDED HONORS
+
+
+The blizzard began that night. Bayport has a generous allowance of
+storms and gales during a winter, although, as a usual thing, there is
+more rain than snow and more wind than either. But we can count with
+certainty on at least one blizzard between November and April, and about
+the time when Captain Cy, feverish and ill, the delayed telegram in
+his pocket and a great fear in his heart, boarded the sleeper of the
+East-bound train at Washington, snow was beginning to fall in our
+village.
+
+Next morning, when Georgianna came downstairs to prepare Bos'n's
+breakfast--the housekeeper had ceased to "go home nights" since the
+captain's absence--the world outside was a tumbled, driving whirl of
+white. The woodshed and barn, dimly seen through the smother, were but
+gray shapes, emerging now and then only to be wiped from the vision as
+by a great flapping cloth wielded by the mighty hand of the wind. The
+old house shook in the blasts, the windowpanes rattled as if handfuls of
+small shot were being thrown against them, and the carpet on the floor
+of the dining room puffed up in miniature billows.
+
+School was out of the question, and Bos'n, her breakfast eaten, prepared
+to put in a cozy day with her dolls and Christmas playthings.
+
+"When DO you s'pose Uncle Cyrus will get home?" she asked of the
+housekeeper. She had asked the same thing at least three times a
+day during the fortnight, and Georgianna's answer was always just as
+unsatisfactory:
+
+"I don't know, dearie, I'm sure. He'll be here pretty soon, though,
+don't you fret."
+
+"Oh, I ain't going to fret. I know he'll come. He said he would, and
+Uncle Cy always does what he says he will."
+
+About twelve Asaph made his appearance, a white statue.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" he panted, shaking his snow-plastered cap over the
+coal hod. "Say, this is one of 'em, ain't it? Don't know's I ever see
+more of a one. Drift out by the front fence pretty nigh up to my waist.
+This 'll be a nasty night along the Orham beach. The lifesavers 'll have
+their hands full. Whew! I'm about tuckered out."
+
+"Been to the post office?" asked Georgianna in a low tone.
+
+"Yup. I been there. Mornin' mail just this minute sorted. Train's two
+hours late. Gabe says more'n likely the evenin' train won't be able to
+get through at all, if this keeps up."
+
+"Was there anything from--"
+
+Mr. Tidditt glanced at Bos'n and shook his head.
+
+"Not a word," he said. "Funny, ain't it? It don't seem a bit like him.
+And he can't be to Washin'ton, because all them letters came back. I--I
+swan to man, I'm beginnin' to get worried."
+
+"Worried? I'm pretty nigh crazy! What does Phoebe Dawes say?"
+
+"She don't say much. It's pretty tough, when everything else is workin'
+out so fine, thanks to her, to have this happen. No, she don't say much,
+but she acts pretty solemn."
+
+"Say, Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+"Yes, what is it?"
+
+"You don't s'pose anything that happened betwixt her and Cap'n Whittaker
+that afternoon is responsible for--for his stayin' away so, do you? You
+know what he told me to tell her--about her not comin' here?"
+
+Asaph fidgeted with the wet cap.
+
+"Aw, that ain't nothin'," he stammered. "That is, I hope it ain't. I did
+say somethin' to him that--but Phoebe understands. She's a smart woman."
+
+"You haven't told them boardin' house tattletales about the--Emmie, you
+go fetch me a card of matches from the kitchen, won't you--of what's
+been found out about that Thomas thing?"
+
+"Course I ain't. Didn't Peabody say not to tell a soul till we was sure?
+S'pose I'd tell Keturah and Angie? Might's well paint it on a sign and
+be done with it. No, no! I've kept mum and you do the same. Well, I
+must be goin'. Hope to goodness we hear some good news from Whit by
+to-morrer."
+
+But when to-morrow came news of any kind was unobtainable. No trains
+could get through, and the telephone and telegraph wires were out of
+commission, owing to the great storm. Bayport was buried under a white
+coverlet, three feet thick on a level, which shone in the winter sun
+as if powdered with diamond dust. The street-shoveling brigade, meaning
+most of the active male citizens, was busy with plows and shovels.
+Simmons's was deserted in the evenings, for most of the regular habitues
+went to bed after supper, tired out.
+
+Two days of this. Then Gabe Lumley, his depot wagon replaced by a
+sleigh, drove the panting Daniel into the yard of the Cy Whittaker
+place. Gabe was much excited. He had news of importance to communicate
+and was puffed up in consequence.
+
+"The wire's all right again, Georgianna," he said to the housekeeper,
+who had hurried to the door to meet him. "Fust message just come
+through. Guess who it's for?"
+
+"Stop your foolishness, Gabe Lumley!" ordered Miss Taylor. "Hand over
+that telegram this minute. Don't you stop to talk! Hand it over!"
+
+Gabe didn't intend to be "corked" thus peremptorily.
+
+"It's pretty important news, Georgianna," he declared. "Kind of bad
+news, too. I think I'd ought to prepare you for it, sort of. When Cap'n
+Obed Pepper died, I--"
+
+"DIED! For the land sakes! WHAT are you sayin'? Give me that, you
+foolhead! Give it to me!"
+
+She snatched the telegram from him and tore it open. It was not as bad
+as might have been, but it was bad enough. Lawyer Peabody wired that
+Captain Cyrus Whittaker was at his home in Ostable, sick in bed, and
+threatened with pneumonia.
+
+
+
+Captain Cy, hurrying homeward in response to the attorney's former
+telegram, had reached Boston the day of the blizzard. He had taken the
+train for Bayport that afternoon. The train had reached Ostable after
+nine o'clock that night, but could get no farther. The captain, burning
+with fever and torn by chills, had wallowed through the drifts to his
+lawyer's home and collapsed on his doorstep. Now he was very ill and, at
+times, delirious.
+
+For two weeks he lay, fighting off the threatened attack of pneumonia.
+But he won the fight, and, at last, word came to the anxious ones at
+Bayport that he was past the danger point and would pull through. There
+was rejoicing at the Cy Whittaker place. The Board of Strategy came and
+performed an impromptu war dance around the dining-room table.
+
+"Whe-e-e!" shouted Bailey Bangs, tossing Bos'n above his head. "Your
+Uncle Cy's weathered the Horn and is bound for clear water now. Three
+cheers for our side! Won't we give him a reception when we get him back
+here!"
+
+"Won't we?" crowed Asaph. "Well, I just guess we will! You ought to hear
+Angie and the rest of 'em chant hymns of glory about him. A body'd think
+they always knew he was the salt of the earth. Maybe I don't rub it in a
+little, hey? Oh, no, maybe not!"
+
+"And Heman!" chimed in Mr. Bangs. "And Heman! Would you ever believe
+HE'D change so all of a sudden? Bully old Whit! I can mention his name
+now without Ketury's landin' onto me like a snowslide. Whee! I say,
+wh-e-e-e!"
+
+He continued to say it; and Georgianna and Asaph said what amounted to
+the same thing. A change had come over our Bayport social atmosphere,
+a marvelous change. And at Simmons's and--more wonderful still--at
+Tad Simpson's barber' shop, plans were being made and perfected for
+proceedings in which Cyrus Whittaker was to play the most prominent
+part.
+
+Meanwhile the convalescence went on at a rapid rate. As soon as he was
+permitted to talk, Captain Cy began to question his lawyer. How
+about the appeal? Had Atkins done anything further? The answers were
+satisfactory. The case had been dropped: the Honorable Heman had
+announced its withdrawal. He had said that he had changed his mind and
+should not continue to espouse the Thomas cause. In fact, he seemed to
+have whirled completely about on his pedestal and, like a compass, now
+pointed only in one direction--toward his "boyhood friend" and present
+neighbor, Cyrus Whittaker.
+
+"It's perfectly astounding," commented Peabody. "What in the world,
+captain, did you do to him while you were in Washington?"
+
+"Oh! nothin' much," was the rather disinterested answer. "Him and me
+had a talk, and he saw the error of his ways, I cal'late. How's Bos'n
+to-day? Did you give her my love when you 'phoned?"
+
+"So far as the case is concerned," went on the lawyer, "I think
+we should have won that, anyway. It's a curious thing. Thomas has
+disappeared. How he got word, or who he got it from, _I_ don't know; but
+he must have, and he's gone somewhere, no one knows where. And yet I'm
+not certain that we were on the right trail. It seemed certain a week
+ago, but now--"
+
+The captain had not been listening. He was thinking. Thomas had gone,
+had he! Good! Heman was living up to his promises. And Bos'n, God bless
+her, was free from that danger.
+
+"Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?" he repeated.
+
+He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then
+or later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that
+everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked
+nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict
+orders, did not mention it.
+
+Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town
+who was not a member of his household.
+
+"How is--er--how's the teacher?" he inquired one morning.
+
+"How's who?"
+
+"Why--Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?"
+
+"Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most--"
+
+The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not
+resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a
+business trip, to be gone some time.
+
+And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken
+home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was
+very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times,
+but had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were
+unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness
+and forbade questioning.
+
+The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the
+train, but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful
+one that Mr. Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city,
+suggested driving over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody
+"span," was brought around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled
+up until, as he said, he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale,
+emerged from the house which had sheltered him for a weary month and
+climbed to the back seat. The attorney got in beside him.
+
+"All ashore that's goin' ashore," observed Captain Cy. Then to the
+driver, who stood by the horses' heads, he added: "Stand by to get ship
+under way, commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate
+of mine waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang
+around these waters no longer'n you can help."
+
+But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Just a minute, captain," he said. "We've got another passenger. She
+came to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an
+exciting day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we
+kept her in the background. It was something of a job but--Hurrah! here
+she is!"
+
+Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's wife, opened the front door. She was
+laughing. The next moment a small figure shot past her, down the steps,
+and into the carriage like a red-hooded bombshell.
+
+"Uncle Cyrus!" she screamed joyously. "Uncle Cyrus, it's me! Here I am!"
+
+And Captain Cy, springing up and shedding wraps and robes, received the
+bombshell with open arms and hugged it tight.
+
+"Bos'n!" he shouted. "By the big dipper! BOS'N! Why, you
+little--you--you--"
+
+That was a wonderful ride. Emily sat in the captain's lap--he positively
+refused to let her sit beside him on the seat, although Peabody urged
+it, fearing the child might tire him--and her tongue rattled like a
+sewing machine. She had a thousand things to tell, about her school,
+about Georgianna, about her dolls, about Lonesome, the cat, and how many
+mice he had caught, about the big snowstorm.
+
+"Georgianna wanted me to stay at home and wait for you, Uncle Cy," she
+said, "but I teased and teased and finally they said I could come over.
+I came yesterday on the train. Mr. Tidditt went with me to the depot.
+Mrs. Peabody let me peek into your room last night and I saw you eating
+supper. You didn't know I was there, did you?"
+
+"You bet I didn't! There'd have been a mutiny right then if I'd caught
+sight of you. You little sculpin! Playin' it on your Uncle Cy, was you?
+I didn't know you could keep a secret so well."
+
+"Oh, yes I can! Why, I know an ever so much bigger secret, too. It
+is--Why! I 'most forgot. You just wait."
+
+The captain laughingly begged her to divulge the big secret, but she
+shook her small head and refused. The horses trotted on at a lively
+pace, and the miles separating Ostable and Bayport were subtracted one
+by one. It was magnificent winter weather. The snow had disappeared from
+the road, except in widely separated spots, but the big drifts still
+heaped the fields and shone and sparkled in the sunshine. Against their
+whiteness the pitch pines and cedars stood darkly green and the skeleton
+scrub oaks and bushes cast delicate blue-penciled shadows. The bay,
+seen over the flooded, frozen salt meadows and distant dunes, was in its
+winter dress of the deepest sapphire, trimmed with whitecaps and fringed
+with stranded ice cakes. There was a snap and tang in the breeze which
+braced one like a tonic. The party in the carriage was a gay one.
+
+"Getting tired, captain?" asked Peabody.
+
+"Who? Me? Well, I guess not. 'Most home, Bos'n. There's the salt works
+ahead there."
+
+They passed the abandoned salt works, the crumbling ruins of a dead
+industry, and the boundary stone, now half hidden in a drift, marking
+the beginning of Bayport township. Then, from the pine grove at the
+curve farther on, appeared two capped and coated figures, performing a
+crazy fandango.
+
+"Who's them two lunatics," inquired Captain Cy, "whoopin' and carryin'
+on in the middle of the road? Has anybody up this way had a jug come by
+express or--Hey! WHAT? Why, you old idiots you! COME here and let me get
+a hold of you!"
+
+The Board of Strategy swooped down upon the carriage like Trumet
+mosquitoes on a summer boarder. They swarmed into the vehicle, Bailey on
+the front seat and Asaph in the rear, where, somehow or other, they made
+room for him. There were handshakings and thumps on the back.
+
+"What you doin' 'way up here in the west end of nowhere?" demanded
+Captain Cy. "By the big dipper, I'm glad to see you! How'd you get
+here?"
+
+"Walked," cackled Bailey. "Frogged it all the way. Soon's Mrs. Peabody
+wired you was goin' to ride, me and Ase started to meet you. Wan't you
+surprised?"
+
+"We wanted to be the fust to say howdy, old man," explained Asaph.
+"Wanted to welcome you back, you know."
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+"Well, I'm glad I've got so much popularity, anyhow," he said. "Guess
+'twill be different when I get down street, hey? Don't cal'late Tad and
+Angie 'll shed the joyous tear over me. Never mind; long's my friends
+are glad I don't care about the rest."
+
+The Board looked at each other.
+
+"Tad?" repeated Bailey. "And Angie? What you talkin' about? Why,
+they--Ugh!"
+
+The last exclamation was the result of a tremendous dig in the ribs from
+the Tidditt fist. Asaph, who had leaned forward to administer it,
+was frowning and shaking his head. Mr. Bangs relapsed into a grinning
+silence.
+
+West Bayport seemed to be deserted. At one or two houses, however,
+feminine heads appeared at the windows. One old lady shook a calico
+apron at the carriage. A child beside her cried: "Hurrah!"
+
+"Aunt Hepsy h'istin' colors by mistake," laughed the captain. "She
+ain't got her specs, I guess, and thinks I'm Heman. That comes of ridin'
+astern of a span, Peabody."
+
+But as they drew near the Center flags were flying from front-yard
+poles. Some of the houses were decorated.
+
+"What in the world--" began Captain Cy. "Land sakes! look at the
+schoolhouse. And Simmons's! And--and Simpson's!"
+
+The schoolhouse flag was flapping in the wind. The scarred wooden
+pillars of its portico were hidden with bunting. Simmons's front
+displayed a row of little banners, each bearing a letter--the letters
+spelled "Welcome Home." Tad's barber shop was more or less artistically
+wreathed in colored tissue paper. There, too, a flag was draped over the
+front door. Yet not a single person was in sight.
+
+"For goodness' sake!" cried the bewildered captain. "What's all this
+mean? And where is everybody. Have all hands--"
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence. They were at the foot of
+Whittaker's Hill. Its top, between the Atkins's gate and the Whittaker
+fence, was black with people. Children pranced about the outskirts of
+the crowd. A shout came down the wind. The horses, not in the least
+fatigued by their long canter, trotted up the slope. The shouting grew
+louder. A wave of youngsters came racing to meet the equipage.
+
+"What--what in time?" gasped Captain Cy. "What's up? I--"
+
+And then the town clerk seized him by the arm. Peabody shook his other
+hand. Bos'n threw her arms about his neck. Bailey stood up and waved his
+hat.
+
+"It's you, you old critter!" whooped Asaph. "It's YOU, d'you
+understand?"
+
+"The appropriation has gone through," explained the lawyer, "and this is
+the celebration in consequence. And you are the star attraction because,
+you see, everyone knows you are responsible for it."
+
+"That's what!" howled the excited Bangs. "And we're goin' to show you
+what we think of you for doin' it. We've been plannin' this for over a
+fortni't."
+
+"And I knew it all the time," squealed Bos'n, "and I didn't tell a word,
+did I?"
+
+"Three cheers for Captain Whittaker!" bellowed a person in the crowd.
+This person--wonder of wonders!--was Tad Simpson.
+
+The cheering was, considering the size of the crowd, tremendous.
+Bewildered and amazed, Captain Cy was assisted from the carriage and
+escorted to his front door. Amidst the handkerchief-waving, applauding
+people he saw Keturah Bangs and Alpheus Smalley and Angeline Phinney and
+Captain Salters--even Alonzo Snow, his recent opponent in town meeting.
+Josiah Dimick was there, too, apparently having a fit.
+
+On the doorstep stood Georgianna and--and--yes, it was true--beside her,
+grandly extending a welcoming hand, the majestic form of the Honorable
+Heman Atkins. Some one else was there also, some one who hurriedly
+slipped back into the crowd as the owner of the Cy Whittaker place came
+up the path between the hedges.
+
+Mr. Atkins shook the captain's hand and then, turning toward the people,
+held up his own for silence. To all outward appearance, he was still the
+great Heman, our district idol, philanthropist, and leader. His silk hat
+glistened as of old, his chest swelled in the old manner, his whiskers
+were just as dignified and awe-inspiring. For an instant, as he met
+the captain's eye, his own faltered and fell, and there was a pleading
+expression in his face, the lines of which had deepened just a little.
+But only for an instant; then he began to speak.
+
+"Cyrus," he said, "it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of your neighbors
+and friends here assembled, to welcome you to your--er--ancestral home
+after your trying illness. I do it heartily, sincerely, gladly. And
+it is the more pleasing to me to perform this duty, because, as I have
+explained publicly to my fellow-townspeople, all disagreement between us
+is ended. I was wrong--again I publicly admit it. A scheming blackleg,
+posing in the guise of a loving father, imposed upon me. I am sorry for
+the trouble I have caused you. Of you and of the little girl with you I
+ask pardon--I entreat forgiveness."
+
+He paused. Captain Cy, the shadow of a smile at the corner of his mouth,
+nodded, and said briefly:
+
+"All right, Heman. I forgive you." Few heard him: the majority were
+applauding the congressman. Sylvanus Cahoon, whispering in the ear
+of "Uncle Bedny," expressed as his opinion that "that was about
+as magnaminious a thing as ever I heard said. Yes, sir!
+mag-na-min-ious--that's what _I_ call it."
+
+"But," continued the great Atkins, "I have said all this to you before.
+What I have to say now--what I left my duties in Washington expressly to
+come here and say--is that Bayport thanks you, _I_ thank you, for your
+tremendous assistance in obtaining the appropriation which is to make
+our harbor a busy port where our gallant fishing fleet may ride at
+anchor and unload its catch, instead of transferring it in dories as
+heretofore. Friends, I have already told you how this man"--laying
+a hand on the captain's shoulder--"came to the Capital and used his
+influence among his acquaintances in high places, with the result that
+the thirty thousand dollars, which I had despaired of getting, was added
+to the bill. I had the pleasure of voting for that bill. It passed. I am
+proud of that vote."
+
+Tremendous applause. Then some one called for three cheers for Mr.
+Atkins. They were given. But the recipient merely bowed.
+
+"No, no," he said deprecatingly. "No, no! not for me, my friends, much
+as I appreciate your gratitude. My days of public service are nearly
+at an end. As I have intimated to some of you already, I am seriously
+considering retiring from political life in the near future. But that
+is irrelevant; it is not material at present. To-day we meet, not to say
+farewell to the setting, but to greet the rising sun. _I_ call for three
+cheers for our committee of one--Captain Cyrus Whittaker."
+
+When the uproar had at last subsided, there were demands for a speech
+from Captain Cy. But the captain, facing them, his arms about the
+delighted Bos'n, positively declined to orate.
+
+"I--I'm ever so much obliged to you, folks," he stammered. "I am so. But
+you'll have to excuse me from speechmaking. They--they didn't teach it
+afore the mast, where I went to college. Thank you, just the same. And
+do come and see me, everybody. Me and this little girl," drawing Emily
+nearer to him, "will be real glad to have you."
+
+After the handshaking and congratulating were over, the crowd dispersed.
+It was a great occasion; all agreed to that, but the majority considered
+it a divided triumph. The captain had done a lot for the town, of
+course, but the Honorable Atkins had made another splendid impression by
+his address of welcome. Most people thought it as fine as his memorable
+effort at town meeting. Unlike that one, however, in this instance it
+is safe to say that none, not even the adoring and praise-chanting Miss
+Phinney, derived quite the enjoyment from the congressman's speech that
+Captain Cy did. It tickled his sense of humor.
+
+"Ase," he observed irrelevantly when the five--Tidditt, Georgianna,
+Bailey, Bos'n, and himself were at last alone again in the sitting room,
+"it DON'T pay to tip over a monument, does it--not out in public, I
+mean. You wouldn't want to see me blow up Bunker Hill, would you?"
+
+"Blow up Bunker Hill!" repeated Asaph in alarmed amazement. "Godfrey
+scissors! I believe you're goin' loony. This day's been too much for
+you. What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'," with a quiet chuckle. "I was thinkin' out loud, that's
+all. Did you ever notice them imitation stone pillars on Heman's house?
+They're holler inside, but you'd never guess it. And, long as you do
+know they're holler, you can keep a watch on 'em. And there's one thing
+sure," he added, "they ARE ornamental."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CAPTAIN CY'S "PICTURE"
+
+
+"Wonder where Phoebe went to," remarked Mr. Tidditt, a little later. "I
+thought I saw her with Heman and Georgianna on the front steps when we
+drove up."
+
+"She was there," affirmed the housekeeper. "She'd been helpin' me trim
+up the rooms here. What do you think of 'em, Cap'n Cyrus? Ain't they
+pretty?"
+
+The sitting room and dining room were gay with evergreens and
+old-fashioned flowers. Our living room windows in the winter time are
+usually filled with carefully tended potted plants, and the neighbors
+had loaned their geraniums and fuchsias and heliotrope and begonias to
+brighten the Whittaker house for its owner's return. Captain Cy, who
+was sitting in the rocker, with Bos'n on his knee, looked about him.
+Now that the first burst of excitement was over, he seemed grave and
+preoccupied.
+
+"They look mighty pretty, Georgianna," he said. "Fine enough. But what
+was that you just said? Did--"
+
+"Yup," interrupted Miss Taylor, who had scarcely ceased talking since
+breakfast that morning. "Yes, 'twas teacher that helped fix 'em. Not
+that I wouldn't have got along without her, but I had more to do than a
+little, cleanin' and scrubbin' up. So Phoebe she come in, and--Oh! yes,
+as I was sayin', she was out front with me, but the minute your carriage
+drove up with that lovely span--AIN'T that a fine span! I cal'late
+they're--"
+
+"What become of teacher?" broke in Bailey.
+
+"Why, she run off somewheres. I didn't see where she went to; I was too
+busy hollerin' at Cap'n Whittaker and noticin' that span. I bet you they
+made Angie Phinney's eyes stick out. I guess she realizes that we in
+this house are some punkins now. If I don't lord it over her when I run
+acrost her these days, then I miss my guess. I--"
+
+"Belay!" ordered Captain Cy, his gravity more pronounced than ever. "How
+does it happen that you--See here, Georgianna, did you tell Ph--er--Miss
+Dawes what I told you to tell her when I went away?"
+
+"Why, yes, I told her. I hated to, dreadful, but I done it. She was
+awful set back at fust, but I guess she asked Mr. Tidditt--Where you
+goin', Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+The town clerk, his face red, was on his way to the door.
+
+"Asked Ase?" repeated the captain. "Ase, come here! Did you tell her
+anything?"
+
+Asaph was very much embarrassed.
+
+"Well," he stammered, "I didn't mean to, Cy, but she got to askin' me
+questions, and somehow or nother I did tell her about our confab, yours
+and mine. I told her that I knew folks was talkin', and I felt 'twas
+my duty to tell you so. That's why I done it, and I told her you
+said--well, you know what you said yourself, Cy."
+
+Captain Cy was evidently much disturbed. He put Bos'n down, and rose to
+his feet.
+
+"Well," he asked sharply, "what did she say?"
+
+"Oh! she was white and still for a minute or two. Then she kind of
+stamped her foot and went off and left me. But next time she met me she
+was nice as pie. She's been pretty frosty to Angie and the rest of
+'em, but she's been always nice to Bailey and me. Why, when I asked her
+pardon, she said not at all, she was very glad to know the truth; it
+helped her to understand things. And you could see she meant it, too.
+She--"
+
+"So she has been comin' here ever since. And the gossip has been goin'
+on, I s'pose. Well, by the big dipper, it'll stop now! I'll see to
+that."
+
+The Board of Strategy and the housekeeper were amazed.
+
+"Gossip!" repeated Bailey. "Well, I guess there ain't nothin' said
+against her now--not in THIS town, there ain't! Why, all hands can't
+praise her enough for her smartness in findin' out about that Thomas. If
+it wan't for her, he'd be botherin' you yet, Cy. You know it. What are
+you talkin' about?"
+
+Captain Cy passed his hand over his forehead.
+
+"Bos'n," he said slowly, "you run and help Georgianna in the kitchen
+a spell. She's got her dinner to look out for, I guess likely.
+Georgianna," to the housekeeper, who looked anything but eager, "you
+better see to your dinner right off, and take Emmie with you."
+
+Miss Taylor reluctantly departed, leading Bos'n by the hand. The child
+was loath to leave her uncle, but he told her he wouldn't give a cent
+for his first dinner at home if she didn't help in preparing it. So she
+went out happy.
+
+"Now, then," demanded the captain, "what's this about Phoebe and Thomas?
+I want to know. Stop! Don't ask another question. Answer me first."
+
+So the Board of Strategy, by turns and in concert, told of the drive
+to Trumet and the call on Debby Beasley. Asaph would have narrated the
+story of the upset sulky, but Bailey shut him up in short order.
+
+"Never mind that foolishness," he snapped. "You see, Cy, Debby had just
+been out to Arizona visitin' old Beasley's niece. And she'd fell in with
+a woman out there whose husband had run off and left her. And Debby, she
+read the advertisement about him in the Arizona paper, and it said he
+had the spring halt in his off hind leg, or somethin' similar. Now,
+Thomas, he had that, too, and there was other things that reminded
+Phoebe of him. So she don't say nothin' to nobody, but she writes to
+this woman askin' for more partic'lars and a photograph of the missin'
+one. The partic'lars come, but the photograph didn't; the wife didn't
+have none, I b'lieve. But there was enough to send Phoebe hotfoot to Mr.
+Peabody. And Peabody he writes to his lawyer friend in Butte, Montana.
+And the Butte man he--"
+
+"Well, the long and short of it is," cut in Tidditt, "that it looked
+safe and sartin that Thomas HAD married the Arizona woman while his real
+wife, Bos'n's ma, was livin', and had run off and left her same as he
+did Mary. And the funny part of it is--"
+
+"The funny part of it is," declared Bangs, drowning his friend's voice
+by raising his own, "that somebody out there, some scalawag friend of
+this Thomas, must have got wind of what was up, and sent word to him.
+'Cause, when they went to hunt for him in Boston, he'd gone, skipped,
+cut stick. And they ain't seen him since. He was afraid of bein' took up
+for bigamist, you see--for bein' a bigamy, I mean. Well, you know what
+I'm tryin' to say. Anyhow, if it hadn't been for me and Phoebe--"
+
+"YOU and Phoebe!" snorted Asaph. "You had a whole lot to do with it,
+didn't you? You and Aunt Debby 'll do to go together. I understand she's
+cruisin' round makin' proclamations that SHE was responsible for the
+whole thing. No, sir-ree! it's Phoebe Dawes that the credit belongs to,
+and this town ain't done nothin' but praise her since it come out. You
+never see such a quick come-about in your life--unless 'twas Heman's.
+But you knew all this afore, Whit. Peabody must have told you."
+
+Captain Cy had listened to his friends' story with a face expressive of
+the most blank astonishment. As he learned of the trip to Trumet and
+its results, his eyes and mouth opened, and he repeatedly rubbed his
+forehead and muttered exclamations. Now, at the mention of his lawyer's
+name, he seemed to awaken.
+
+"Hold on!" he interrupted, waving his hand. "Hold on! By the big dipper!
+this is--is--Where IS Peabody? I want to see him."
+
+"Here I am, captain," said the attorney. He had been out to the barn to
+superintend the stabling of the span, but for the past five minutes had
+been standing, unnoticed by his client, on the threshold of the dining
+room.
+
+"See here," demanded Captain Cy, "see here, Peabody; is this yarn true?
+IS it, now? this about--about Phoebe and all?"
+
+"Certainly it's true. I supposed you knew it. You didn't seem surprised
+when I told you the case was settled."
+
+"Surprised? Why, no! I thought Heman had--Never mind that. Land of love!
+SHE did it. She!"
+
+He sat weakly down. The lawyer looked anxious.
+
+"Mr. Tidditt," he whispered, "I think perhaps he had better be left
+alone for the present. He's just up from a sick bed, and this has been
+a trying forenoon. Come in again this afternoon. I shall try to persuade
+him to take a nap."
+
+The Board of Strategy, its curiosity unsatisfied, departed reluctantly.
+When Mr. Peabody returned to the sitting room he found that naps were
+far, indeed, from the captain's thoughts. The latter was pacing the
+sitting-room floor.
+
+"Where is she?" he demanded. "She was standin' on the steps with Heman.
+Have you seen her since?"
+
+His friend was troubled.
+
+"Why, yes, I've seen her," he said. "I have been talking with her. She
+has gone away."
+
+"Gone AWAY! Where? What do you mean? She ain't--ain't left Bayport?"
+
+"No, no. What in the world should she leave Bayport for? She has gone
+to her boarding house, I guess; at all events, she was headed in that
+direction."
+
+"Why didn't she shake hands with me? What made her go off and not say a
+word? Oh, well, I guess likely I know the why!" He sighed despondently.
+"I told her never to come here again."
+
+"You did? What in the world--"
+
+"Well, for what I thought was good reasons; all on her account they was.
+And yet she did come back, and kept comin', even after Ase blabbed the
+whole thing. However, I s'pose that was just to help Georgianna. Oh,
+hum! I AM an old fool."
+
+The lawyer inspected him seriously.
+
+"Well, captain," he said slowly, "if it is any comfort for you to know
+that your reason isn't the correct one for Miss Dawes's going away, I
+can assure you on that point. I think she went because she was greatly
+disappointed, and didn't wish to see you just now."
+
+"Disappointed? What do you mean?"
+
+"Humph! I didn't mean to tell you yet, but I judge that I'd better. No
+one knows it here but Miss Dawes and I, and probably no one but us three
+need ever know it. You see, the fact is that the Arizona woman, Desire
+Higgins, isn't Mrs. Thomas at all. He isn't her missing husband."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, it's so. Really, it was too much of a coincidence to be possible,
+and yet it certainly did seem that it would prove true. This Higgins
+woman was, apparently, so anxious to find her missing man that she was
+ready to recognize almost any description; and the slight lameness and
+the fact of his having been in Montana helped along. If we could have
+gotten a photograph sooner, the question would have been settled. Only
+last week, while I was in Boston, I got word from the detective agency
+that a photo had been received. I went to see it immediately. There was
+some resemblance, but not enough. Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins."
+
+"But--but--they say Thomas has skipped out."
+
+"Yes, he has. That's the queer part of it. At the place where he boarded
+we learned that he got a letter from Arizona--trust the average landlady
+to look at postmarks--that he seemed greatly agitated all that day, and
+left that night. No one has seen him since. Why he went is a puzzle.
+Where, we don't care. So long as he keeps out of our way, that's
+enough."
+
+Captain Cy did not care, either. He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
+probably explain the disappearance. And yet, oddly enough, this
+explanation was not the true one. The Honorable Heman solemnly assured
+the captain that he had not communicated with Emily's father. He
+intended to do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon at the hotel,
+but the man had fled. And the mystery is still unsolved. The supposition
+is that there really was a wife somewhere in the West. Who or where she
+was no Bayporter knows. Henry Thomas has never come back to explain.
+
+"I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved," went on
+Peabody. "She was dreadfully disappointed. She could hardly speak when
+she left me. I urged her to come in and see you, but she wouldn't.
+Evidently she had set her heart on helping you and the child. It is too
+bad, because, practically speaking, we owe everything to her. There
+is little doubt that the inquiry set on foot by her scared the Thomas
+fellow into flight. And she has worked night and day to aid us. She is
+a very clever woman, Captain Whittaker, and a good one. You can't thank
+her enough. Here! what are you about?"
+
+Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room. The hat rack hung on
+the wall by the side door. He snatched his cap from the peg, and was
+struggling into his overcoat.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded the lawyer. "You mustn't attempt to walk
+now. You need rest."
+
+"Rest! I'll rest by and by. Just now I've got business to attend to. Let
+go of that pea-jacket."
+
+"But--"
+
+"No buts about it. I'll see you later. So long."
+
+He threw open the door and hurried down the walk. The lawyer watched him
+in amazement. Then a slow smile overspread his face.
+
+"Captain," he called. "Captain Whittaker."
+
+Captain Cy looked back over his shoulder. "What do you want?" he asked.
+
+Mr. Peabody's face was now intensely solemn, but there was a twinkle in
+his eye.
+
+"I think she's at the boarding house," he said demurely. "I'm pretty
+certain you'll find her there."
+
+All the regulars at the perfect boarding house had, of course, attended
+the reception at the Cy Whittaker place. None of them, with the
+exception of the schoolmistress, had as yet returned. Dinner had been
+forgotten in the excitement of the great day, and Keturah and Angeline
+and Mrs. Tripp had stopped in at various dwellings along the main road,
+to compare notes on the captain's appearance and the Atkins address.
+Asaph and Bailey and Alpheus Smalley were at Simmons's.
+
+Captain Cy knew better than to attempt his hurried trip by way of the
+road. He had no desire to be held up and congratulated. He went across
+lots, in the rear of barns and orchards, wading through drifts and
+climbing fences as no sane convalescent should. But the captain at that
+moment was suffering from the form of insanity known as the fixed idea.
+She had done all this for him--for HIM. And his last message to her had
+been an insult.
+
+He approached the Bangs property by the stable lane. No one locks doors
+in our village, and those of the perfect boarding house were unfastened.
+He entered by way of the side porch, just as he had done when Gabe
+Lumley's depot wagon first deposited him in that yard. But now he
+entered on tiptoe. The dining room was empty. He peeped into the sitting
+room. There, by the center table, sat Phoebe Dawes, her elbow on the arm
+of her chair, and her head resting on her hand.
+
+"Ahem! Phoebe!" said Captain Cy.
+
+She started, turned, and saw him standing there. Her eyes were wet, and
+there was a handkerchief in her lap.
+
+"Phoebe," said the captain anxiously, "have you been cryin'?"
+
+She rose on the instant. A great wave of red swept over her face. The
+handkerchief fell to the floor, and she stooped and picked it up.
+
+"Crying?" she repeated confusedly. "Why, no, of course--of course not!
+I--How do you do, Captain Whittaker? I'm--we're all very glad to see you
+home again--and well."
+
+She extended her hand. Captain Cy reached forward to take it; then he
+hesitated.
+
+"I don't think I'd ought to let you shake hands with me, Phoebe," he
+said. "Not until I beg your pardon."
+
+"Beg my pardon? Why?"
+
+He absently took the hand and held it.
+
+"For the word I sent to you when I went away. 'Twas an awful thing to
+say, but I meant it for your sake, you know. Honest, I did."
+
+She laughed nervously.
+
+"Oh! that," she said. "Well, I did think you were rather particular as
+to your visitors. But Mr. Tidditt explained, and then--You needn't beg
+my pardon. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I knew you meant to be kind
+to me."
+
+"That's what I did. But you didn't obey orders. You kept comin'. Now,
+why--"
+
+"Why? Did you suppose that _I_ cared for the malicious gossip of--such
+people? I came because you were in trouble, and I hoped to help you.
+And--and I thought I had helped, until a few minutes ago."
+
+Her lip quivered. That quiver went to the captain's heart.
+
+"Helped?" he faltered. "Helped? Why, you've done so much that I can't
+ever thank you. You've been the only real helper I've had in all this
+miserable business. You've stood by me all through."
+
+"But it was all wrong. He isn't the man at all. Didn't Mr. Peabody tell
+you?"
+
+"Yes, yes, he told me. What difference does that make? Peabody be
+hanged! He ain't in this. It's you and me--don't you see? What made you
+do all this for me?"
+
+She looked at the floor and not at him as she answered.
+
+"Why, because I wanted to help you," she said. "I've been alone in the
+world ever since mother died, years ago. I've had few real friends. Your
+friendship had come to mean a great deal to me. The splendid fight you
+were making for that little girl proved what a man you were. And you
+fought so bravely when almost everyone was against you, I couldn't help
+wanting to do something for you. How could I? And now it has come to
+nothing--my part of it. I'm so sorry."
+
+"It ain't, neither. It's come to everything. Phoebe, I didn't mean to
+say very much more than to beg your pardon when I headed for here. But
+I've got to--I've simply got to. This can't go on. I can't have you
+keep comin' to see me--and Bos'n. I can't keep meetin' you every day. I
+CAN'T."
+
+She looked up, as if to speak, but something, possibly the expression in
+his face, caused her to look quickly down again. She did not answer.
+
+"I can't do it," continued the captain desperately. "'Tain't for what
+folks might say. They wouldn't say much when I was around, I tell you.
+It ain't that. It's because I can't bear to have you just a friend.
+Either you must be more'n that, or--or I'll have to go somewheres else.
+I realized that when I was in Washin'ton and cruisin' to California and
+back. I've either got to take Bos'n and go away for good, or--or--"
+
+She would not help him. She would not speak.
+
+"You see?" he groaned. "You see, Phoebe, what an old fool I am. I can't
+ask you to marry me, me fifty-five, and rough from knockin' round the
+world, and you, young and educated, and a lady. I ain't fool enough to
+ask such a thing as that. And yet, I couldn't stay here and meet you
+every day, and by and by see you marry somebody else. By the big dipper,
+I couldn't do it! So that's why I can't shake hands with you to-day--nor
+any more, except when I say good-by for keeps."
+
+Then she looked up. The color was still bright in her face, and her eyes
+were moist, but she was smiling.
+
+"Can't shake hands with me?" she said. "Please, what have you been doing
+for the last five minutes?"
+
+Captain Cy dropped her hand as if his own had been struck with
+paralysis.
+
+"Good land!" he stammered. "I didn't know I did it; honest truth, I
+didn't."
+
+Phoebe's smile was still there, faint, but very sweet.
+
+"Why did you stop?" she queried. "I didn't ask you to."
+
+"Why did I stop? Why, because I--I--I declare I'm ashamed--"
+
+She took his hand and clasped it with both her own.
+
+"I'm not," she said bravely, her eyes brightening as the wonder and
+incredulous joy grew in his. "I'm very proud. And very, very happy."
+
+
+
+There was to be a big supper at the Cy Whittaker place that night. It
+was an impromptu affair, arranged on the spur of the moment by Captain
+Cy, who, in spite of the lawyer's protests and anxiety concerning his
+health, went serenely up and down the main road, inviting everybody he
+met or could think of. The captain's face was as radiant as a spring
+sunrise. His smile, as Asaph said, "pretty nigh cut the upper half
+of his head off." People who had other engagements, and would, under
+ordinary circumstances, have refused the invitation, couldn't say no to
+his hearty, "Can't come? Course you'll come! Man alive! I WANT you."
+
+"Invalid, is he?" observed Josiah Dimick, after receiving and accepting
+his own invitation. "Well, I wish to thunder I could be took down with
+the same kind of disease. I'd be willin' to linger along with it quite
+a spell if it pumped me as full of joy as Whit seems to be. Don't give
+laughin' gas to keep off pneumonia, do they? No? Well, I'd like to know
+the name of his medicine, that's all."
+
+Supper was to be ready at six. Georgianna, assisted by Keturah Bangs,
+Mrs. Sylvanus Cahoon, and other volunteers, was gloriously busy in the
+kitchen. The table in the dining room reached from one end of the big
+apartment to the other. Guests would begin to arrive shortly. Wily Mr.
+Peabody, guessing that Captain Cy might prefer to be alone, had taken
+the Board of Strategy out riding behind the span.
+
+In the sitting room, around the baseburner stove, were three
+persons--Captain Cy, Bos'n, and Phoebe. Miss Dawes had "come early," at
+the captain's urgent appeal. Now she was sitting in the rocker, at
+one side of the stove, gazing dreamily at the ruddy light behind the
+isinglass panes. She looked quietly, blissfully contented and happy.
+At her feet, on the braided mat, sat Bos'n, playing with Lonesome, who
+purred lazily. The little girl was happy, too, for was not her beloved
+Uncle Cyrus at home again, with all danger of their separation ended
+forevermore?
+
+As for Captain Cy himself, the radiant expression was still on his face,
+brighter than ever. He looked across at Phoebe, who smiled back at him.
+Then he glanced down at Bos'n. And all at once he realized that this was
+the fulfillment of his dream. Here was his "picture"; the sitting room
+was now as he had always loved to think of it--as it used to be. He was
+in his father's chair, Phoebe in the one his mother used to occupy, and
+between them--just where he had sat so often when a boy--the child. The
+Cy Whittaker place had again, and at last, come into its own.
+
+He drew a long breath, and looked about the room; at the stove, the
+lamp, the old, familiar furniture, at his grandfather's portrait over
+the mantel. Then, in a flash of memory, his father's words came back to
+him, and he said, laughing aloud from pure happiness:
+
+"Bos'n, run down cellar and get me a pitcher of cider, won't
+you?--there's a good feller."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. 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: Cy Whittaker's Place
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #3281]
+Last Updated: March 5, 2018
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson
+
+
+
+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+
+By Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I.--     THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+II.--    THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+III.--   “FIXIN' OVER”
+
+IV.--    BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+V.--     A FRONT DOOR CALLER
+
+VI.--    ICICLES AND DUST
+
+VII.--   CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+VIII.--  THE “COW LADY”
+
+IX.--    POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+X.--     A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+XI.--    A BARGAIN OFF
+
+XII.--   “TOWN MEETIN'”
+
+XIII.--  THE REPULSE
+
+XIV.--   A CLEW
+
+XV.--    DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+XVI.--   A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+XVII.--  THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+XVIII.-- CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+XIX.--   THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+XX.--    DIVIDED HONORS
+
+XXI.--   CAPTAIN CY'S “PICTURE”
+
+
+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+
+It is queer, but Captain Cy himself doesn't remember whether the day was
+Tuesday or Wednesday. Asaph Tidditt's records ought to settle it, for
+there was a meeting of the board of selectmen that day, and Asaph has
+been town clerk in Bayport since the summer before the Baptist meeting
+house burned. But on the record the date, in Asaph's handwriting, stands
+“Tuesday, May 10, 189-” and, as it happens, May 10 of that year fell on
+Wednesday, not Tuesday at all.
+
+Keturah Bangs, who keeps “the perfect boarding house,” says it was
+Tuesday, because she remembers they had fried cod cheeks and cabbage
+that day--as they have every Tuesday--and neither Mr. Tidditt nor Bailey
+Bangs, Keturah's husband, was on hand when the dinner bell rang. Keturah
+says she is certain it was Tuesday, because she remembers smelling the
+boiled cabbage as she stood at the side door, looking up the road to
+see if either Asaph or Bailey was coming. As for Bailey, he says he
+remembers being late to dinner and his wife's “startin' to heave a
+broadsides into him” because of it, but he doesn't remember what day it
+was. This isn't surprising; Keturah's verbal cannonades are likely to
+make one forgetful of trifles.
+
+At any rate, whether Tuesday or Wednesday, it is certain that it was
+quarter past twelve, according to the clock presented to the Methodist
+Society by the Honorable Heman Atkins, when Asaph Tidditt came down the
+steps of the townhall, after the selectmen's meeting, and saw Bailey
+Bangs waiting for him on the opposite side of the road.
+
+“Hello, Ase!” hailed Mr. Bangs. “You'll be late to dinner, if you don't
+hurry. I was headin' for home, all sail sot, when I see you. What kept
+you?”
+
+“Town business, of course,” replied Mr. Tidditt, with the importance
+pertaining to his official position. “What kept YOU, for the land sakes?
+Won't Ketury be in your wool?”
+
+Bailey hasn't any “wool” worth mentioning now, and he had very little
+more then, but he mopped his forehead, or the extension above it, taking
+off his cap to do so.
+
+“I cal'late she will,” he said, uneasily. “Tell you the truth, Ase,
+I was up to the store, and Cap'n Josiah Dimick and some more of
+'em drifted in and we got talkin' about the chances of the harbor
+appropriation, and one thing or 'nother, and 'twas later'n I thought
+'twas 'fore I knew it.”
+
+The appropriation from the government, which was to deepen and widen our
+harbor here at Bayport, was a very vital topic among us just then. Heman
+Atkins, the congressman from our district, had promised to do his best
+for the appropriation, and had for a time been very sanguine of securing
+it. Recently, however, he had not been quite as hopeful.
+
+“What's Cap'n Josiah think about the chances?” asked Asaph eagerly.
+
+“Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'” replied
+Bailey. “He says, of course, if Heman is able to get it he will, but if
+he ain't able to, he--he--”
+
+“He won't, I s'pose. Well, _I_ can think that myself, and I don't set
+up to be no inspired know-it-all, like Joe Dimick. He ain't heard from
+Heman lately, has he?”
+
+“No, he ain't. Neither's anybody else, so fur as I can find out.”
+
+“Oh, yes, they have. _I_ have, for one.”
+
+Mr. Bangs stopped short in his double-quick march for home and dinner,
+and looked his companion in the face.
+
+“Ase Tidditt!” he cried. “Do you mean to tell me you've had a letter
+from Heman Atkins, from Washin'ton?”
+
+Asaph nodded portentously.
+
+“Yes, sir,” he declared. “A letter from the Honorable Heman G. Atkins,
+of Washin'ton, D. C., come to me last night. I read it afore I turned
+in.”
+
+“You did! And never said nothin' about it?”
+
+“Why should I say anything about it? 'Twas addressed to me as town
+clerk, and was concernin' a matter to be took up with the board of
+s'lectmen. I ain't in the habit of hollerin' town affairs through a
+speakin' trumpet. Folks that vote for me town-meetin' day know that, I
+guess. Angie Phinney says to me only yesterday, 'Mr. Tidditt,' says she,
+'there's one thing I'll say for you--you don't talk.'”
+
+Miss Phinney boarded with the Bangses, and Bailey was acquainted with
+her personal peculiarities; for that matter so were most of Bayport's
+permanent residents.
+
+“Humph!” he snorted indignantly. “She thought 'twas a good thing not
+to talk, hey? SHE did? Well, by mighty! you never get no CHANCE to talk
+when she's around. Angie Phinney! Why, when that poll parrot of hers
+died, Alph'us Smalley declared up and down that what killed it was
+jealousy and disapp'inted ambition; he said it broke its heart tryin' to
+keep up with Angie. Her ma was the same breed of cats. I remember--”
+
+The talking proclivities of females is the one topic upon which
+Keturah's husband is touchiest. Asaph knew this, but he delighted to
+stir up his chum occasionally. He chuckled as he interrupted the flow of
+reminiscence.
+
+“There, there, Bailey!” he exclaimed. “I know as much about Angie's
+tribe as you do, I cal'late. Ain't we a little mite off the course?
+Seems to me we was talkin' about Heman's letter.”
+
+“Is that so? I judged from what you said we wa'n't goin' to talk about
+it. Aw, don't be so mean, Ase! Showin' off your importance like a young
+one! What did Heman say about the appropriation? Is he goin' to get it?”
+
+Mr. Tidditt paused before replying. Then, bending over, he whispered in
+his chum's ear:
+
+“He never said one word about the appropriation, Bailey; not one word.
+He wanted to know if we'd got this year's taxes on the Whittaker place.
+And, if we hadn't, what was we goin' to do about it? Bailey, between you
+and me and the mizzenmast, Heman Atkins wants to get ahold of that place
+the worst way.”
+
+“He does? He DOES? For the land sakes, ain't he got property enough
+already? Ain't a--a palace like that enough for one man, without wantin'
+to buy a rattletrap like THAT?”
+
+The first “that” was emphasized by a brandished but reverent left hand;
+the second by a derisively pointing right. The two friends had reached
+the crest of the long slope leading up from the townhall. On one side
+of the road stretched the imposing frontage of the “Atkins estate,” with
+its iron fence and stone posts; on the other slouched the weed-grown,
+tumble-down desolation of the “Cy Whittaker place.” The contrast was
+that of opulent prosperity and poverty-stricken neglect.
+
+If our village boasted one of those horseless juggernauts, such as are
+used to carry sightseers in Boston from the old North Church to the
+Public Library and other points of interest--that is, if there was a
+“seeing Bayport” car, it is from this hill that its occupants would be
+given their finest view of the village and its surroundings. As Captain
+Josiah Dimick always says: “Bayport is all north and south, like a
+codfish line. It puts me in mind of Seth Higgins's oldest boy. He was so
+tall and thin that when they bought a suit of clothes for him, they used
+to take reefs in the sides of the jacket and use the cloth to piece onto
+the bottoms of the trousers' legs.” What Captain Joe means is that
+the houses in the village are all built beside three roads running
+longitudinally. There is the “main road” and the “upper road”--or
+“Woodchuck Lane,” just as you prefer--and the “lower road,” otherwise
+known as “Bassett's Holler.”
+
+The “upper road” is sometimes called the “depot road,” because the
+railroad station is conveniently located thereon--convenient for the
+railroad, that is--the station being a full mile from Simmons's “general
+store,” which is considered the center of the town. The upper road
+enters the main road at the corner by the store, and there also are
+the Methodist meetinghouse and the schoolhouse. The townhall is in the
+hollow farther on. Then comes the big hill--
+
+“Whittaker's Hill”--and from the top of this hill you can, on a clear
+day, see for miles across the salt marshes and over the bay to the
+eastward, and west as far as the church steeple in Orham. If there
+happens to be a fog, with a strong easterly wind, you cannot see the
+marshes or the bay, but you can smell them, wet and salty and sweet. It
+is a smell that the born Bayporter never forgets, but carries with him
+in memory wherever he goes; and that, in the palmy days of the merchant
+marine, was likely, to be far, for every male baby in the village was
+born with web feet, so people said, and was predestined to be a sailor.
+
+When Heman Atkins came back from the South Seas early in the '60's,
+“rich as dock mud,” though still a young man, he promptly tore down his
+father's old house, which stood on the crest of Whittaker's Hill, and
+built in its place a big imposing residence. It was by far the finest
+house in Bayport, and Heman made it finer as the years passed. There
+were imitation brownstone pillars supporting its front porch, iron dogs
+and scroll work iron benches bordering its front walk, and a pair of
+stone urns, in summer filled with flowers, beside its big iron front
+gate.
+
+Heman was our leading citizen, our representative in Washington, and the
+town's philanthropist. He gave the Atkins memorial window and the Atkins
+tower clock to the Methodist Church. The Atkins town pump, also his
+gift, stood before the townhall. The Atkins portrait in the Bayport
+Ladies' Library was much admired; and the size of the Atkins fortune was
+the principal subject of conversation at sewing circle, at the table of
+“the perfect boarding house,” around the stove in Simmons's store, or
+wherever Bayporters were used to gather. We never exactly worshipped
+Heman Atkins, perhaps, but we figuratively doffed our hats when his name
+was mentioned.
+
+The “Cy Whittaker place” faced the Atkins estate from the opposite side
+of the main road, but it was the general opinion that it ought to be
+ashamed to face it. Almost everybody called it “the Cy Whittaker place,”
+ although some of the younger set spoke of it as the “Sea Sight House.”
+ It was a big, old-fashioned dwelling, gambrel-roofed and brown and
+dilapidated. Originally it had enjoyed the dignified seclusion afforded
+by a white picket fence with square gateposts, and the path to its
+seldom-used front door had been guarded by rigid lines of box hedge.
+This, however, was years ago, before the second Captain Cy Whittaker
+died, and before the Howes family turned it into the “Sea Sight House,”
+ a hotel for summer boarders.
+
+The Howeses “improved” the house and grounds. They tore down the picket
+fence, uprooted the box hedges, hung a sign over the sacred front door,
+and built a wide veranda under the parlor windows.
+
+They took boarders for five consecutive summers; then they gave up the
+unprofitable undertaking, returned to Concord, New Hampshire, their
+native city, and left the Cy Whittaker place to bear the ravages of
+Bayport winters and Bayport small boys as best it might.
+
+For years it stood empty. The weeds grew high about its foundations; the
+sparrows built nests behind such of its shutters as had not been ripped
+from their hinges by February no'theasters; its roof grew bald in spots
+as the shingles loosened and were blown away; the swallows flew in and
+out of its stone-broken windowpanes. Year by year it became more of a
+disgrace in the eyes of Bayport's neat and thrifty inhabitants--for neat
+and thrifty we are, if we do say it. The selectmen would have liked
+to tear it down, but they could not, because it was private property,
+having been purchased from the Howes heirs by the third Cy Whittaker,
+Captain Cy's only son, who ran away to sea when he was sixteen years
+old, and was disinherited and cast off by the proud old skipper in
+consequence. Each March, Asaph Tidditt, in his official capacity as town
+clerk, had been accustomed to receive an envelope with a South American
+postmark, and in that envelope was a draft on a Boston banking house for
+the sum due as taxes on the “Cy Whittaker place.” The drafts were signed
+“Cyrus M. Whittaker.”
+
+But this particular year--the year in which this chronicle begins--no
+draft had been received. Asaph waited a few weeks and then wrote to the
+address indicated by the postmark. His letter was unanswered. The taxes
+were due in March and it was now May. Mr. Tidditt wrote again; then he
+laid the case before the board of selectmen, and Captain Eben Salters,
+chairman of that august body, also wrote. But even Captain Eben's
+authoritative demand was ignored. Next to the harbor appropriation, the
+question of what should be done about the “Cy Whittaker place” filled
+Bayport's thoughts that spring. No one, however, had supposed that
+the Honorable Heman might wish to buy it. Bailey Bangs's surprise was
+excusable.
+
+“What in the world,” repeated Bailey, “does Heman want of a shebang like
+that? Ain't he got enough already?”
+
+His friend shook his head.
+
+“'Pears not,” he said. “I judge it's this way, Bailey: Heman, he's a
+proud man--”
+
+“Well, ain't he got a right to be proud?” broke in Mr. Bangs, hastening
+to resent any criticism of the popular idol. “Cal'late you and me'd be
+proud if we was able to carry as much sail as he does, wouldn't we?”
+
+“Yes, I guess like we would. But you needn't get red in the face and
+strain your biler just because I said that. I ain't finding fault with
+Heman; I'm only tellin' you. He's proud, as I said, and his wife--”
+
+“She's dead this four year. What are you resurrectin' her for?”
+
+“Land! you're peppery as a West Injy omelet this mornin'. Let me alone
+till I've finished. His wife, when she was alive, she was proud, too.
+And his daughter, Alicia, she's eight year old now, and by and by she'll
+be grown up into a high-toned young woman. Well, Heman is fur-sighted,
+and I s'pose likely he's thinkin' of the days when there'll be young
+rich fellers--senators and--and--well, counts and lords, maybe--cruisin'
+down here courtin' her. By that time the Whittaker place'll be a worse
+disgrace than 'tis now. I presume he don't want those swells to sit on
+his front piazza and see the crows buildin' nests in the ruins acrost
+the road. So--”
+
+“Crows! Did you ever see a crow build a nest in a house? I never did!”
+
+“Oh, belay! Crows or canary birds, what difference does it make?
+SOMETHIN' 'll nest there, if it's only A'nt Sophrony Hallett's hens.
+So Heman he writes to the board, askin' if the taxes is paid, if we've
+heard any reason why they ain't paid, and what we're goin' to do about
+it. If there's a sale for taxes he wants to be fust bidder. Then, when
+the place is his, he can tear down or rebuild, just as he sees fit.
+See?”
+
+“Yes, I see. Well, I feel about that the way Joe Dimick felt when he
+heard the doctor had told Elviry Pepper she must stop singin' in
+the choir or lose her voice altogether. 'Whichever happens 'll be an
+improvement,' says Cap'n Joe; and whatever Heman does 'll help the
+Whittaker place. What did you decide at the meetin'?”
+
+“Nothin'. We can't decide yet. We ain't sure about the law and we want
+to wait a spell, anyhow. But I know how 'twill end: Atkins 'll get the
+place. He always gets what he wants, Heman does.”
+
+Bailey turned and looked back at the old house, forlorn amidst
+its huddle of blackberry briers and weeds, and with the ubiquitous
+“silver-leaf” saplings springing up in clusters everywhere about it and
+closing in on its defenseless walls like squads of victorious soldiery
+making the final charge upon a conquered fort.
+
+“Well,” sighed Mr. Bangs, “so that 'll be the end of the old Whittaker
+place, hey? Sho! things change in a feller's lifetime, don't they? You
+and me can remember, Ase, when Cap'n Cy Whittaker was one of the biggest
+men we had in this town. So was his dad afore him, the Cap'n Cy that
+built the house. I wonder the looks of things here now don't bring them
+two up out of their graves. Do you remember young Cy--'Whit' we used to
+call him--or 'Reddy Whit,' 'count of his red hair? I don't know's you
+do, though; guess you'd gone to sea when he run away from home.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt shook his head.
+
+“No, no!” he said. “I was to home that year. Remember 'Whit'? Well, I
+should say I did. He was a holy terror--yes, sir! Wan't no monkey shines
+or didos cut up in this town that young Cy wan't into. Fur's that goes,
+you and me was in 'em, too, Bailey. We was all holy terrors then. Young
+ones nowadays ain't got the spunk we used to have.”
+
+His friend chuckled.
+
+“That's so,” he declared. “That's so. Whit was a good-hearted boy, too,
+but full of the Old Scratch and as sot in his ways as his dad, and if
+Cap'n Cy wan't sot, then there ain't no sotness. 'You'll go to college
+and be a parson,' says the Cap'n. 'I'll go to sea and be a sailor, same
+as you done,' says Whit. And he did, too; run away one night, took the
+packet to Boston, and shipped aboard an Australian clipper. Cap'n Cy
+didn't go after him to fetch him home. No, sir--ee! not a fetch. Sent
+him a letter plumb to Melbourne and, says he: 'You've made your bed; now
+lay in it. Don't you never dast to come back to me or your ma,' he says.
+And Whit didn't, he wan't that kind.”
+
+“Pretty nigh killed the old lady--Whit's ma--that did,” mused Asaph.
+“She died a little spell afterwards. And the old man pined away, too,
+but he never give in or asked the boy to come back. Stubborn as all
+get-out to the end, he was, and willed the place, all he had left, to
+them Howes folks. And a nice mess THEY made of it. Young Cy, he--”
+
+“Young Cy!” interrupted Bailey. “We're always callin' him 'young Cy,'
+and yet, when you come to think of it, he must be pretty nigh fifty-five
+now; 'most as old as you and I be. Wonder if he'll ever come back here.”
+
+“You bet he won't!” was the oracular reply. “You bet he won't! From what
+I hear he got to be a sea cap'n himself and settled down there in Buenos
+Ayres. He's made all kinds of money, they say, out of hides and such.
+What he ever bought his dad's old place for, _I_ can't see. He'll never
+come back to these common, one-horse latitudes, now you mark my word on
+that!”
+
+It was a prophecy Mr. Tidditt was accustomed to make each year to the
+crowd at the post office, when the receipt for the draft for taxes
+caused him to wax reminiscent. The younger generation here in Bayport
+regard their town clerk as something of an oracle, and this regard has
+made Asaph a trifle vain and positive.
+
+Bailey chuckled again.
+
+“We WAS a spunky, dare-devil lot in the old days, wan't we, Ase?” he
+said. “Spunk was kind of born in us, as you might say. And even now
+we're--”
+
+The Atkins tower clock boomed once--a solemn, dignified stroke. Mr.
+Tidditt and his companion started and looked at each other.
+
+“Godfrey scissors!” gasped Asaph. “Is that half past twelve?”
+
+Mr. Bangs pulled a big worn silver watch from his pocket and glanced at
+the dial.
+
+“It is!” he moaned. “As sure's you're born, it is! We've kept Ketury's
+dinner waitin' twenty minutes. You and me are in for it now, Ase
+Tidditt! Twenty minutes late! She'll skin us alive.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt did not pause to answer, but plunged headlong down the
+hill at a race-horse gait, Bailey pounding at his heels. For “born
+dare-devils,” self-confessed, they were a nervous and apprehensive pair.
+
+The “perfect boarding house” is situated a quarter of a mile beyond
+“Whittaker's Hill,” nearly opposite the Salters homestead. The sign,
+hung on the pole by the front gate, reads, “Bayport Hotel. Bailey Bangs,
+Proprietor,” but no one except the stranger in Bayport accepts that sign
+seriously. When, owing to an unexpected change in the administration
+at Washington, Mr. Bangs was obliged to relinquish his position as our
+village postmaster, his wife came to the rescue with the proposal that
+they open a boarding house. “'Whatsoe'er you find to do,' quoted Keturah
+at sewing-circle meeting, 'do it then with all your might!' That's a
+good Sabbath-school hymn tune and it's good sense besides. I intend to
+make it my life work to run just as complete a--a eatin' and lodgin'
+establishment as I can. If, when I'm laid to rest, they can put onto my
+gravestone, 'She run the perfect boardin' house,' I'LL be satisfied.”
+
+This remark, and subsequent similar declarations, were widely quoted,
+and, therefore, though casual visitors may refer to the “Bayport Hotel,”
+ to us natives the Bangs residence is always “Keturah's perfect boarding
+house.” As for the sign's affirmation of Mr. Bangs proprietorship,
+that is considered the cream of the joke. The idea of meek, bald-headed
+little Bailey posing as proprietor of anything while his wife is on
+deck, tickles Bayport's sense of humor.
+
+The perspiring delinquents panted into the yard of the perfect boarding
+house and tremblingly opened the door leading to the dining room. Dinner
+was well under way, and Mrs. Bangs, enthroned at the end of the long
+table, behind the silver-plated teapot, was waiting to receive them. The
+silence was appalling.
+
+“Sorry to be a little behindhand, Ketury,” stammered Asaph hurriedly.
+“Town affairs are important, of course, and can't be neglected. I--”
+
+“Yes, yes; that's so, Ketury,” cut in Mr. Bangs.
+
+“You see--”
+
+“Hum! Yes, I see.” Keturah's tone was several degrees below freezing.
+“Hum! I s'pose 'twas town affairs kept you, too, hey?”
+
+“Well, well--er--not exactly, as you might say, but--” Bailey squeezed
+himself into the armchair at the end of the table opposite his wife, the
+end which, with sarcasm not the less keen for being unintentional, was
+called the “head.” “Not exactly town affairs, 'twan't that kept me,
+Ketury, but--My! don't them cod cheeks smell good? You always could cook
+cod cheeks, if I do say it.”
+
+The compliment was wasted. Mrs. Bangs had a sermon to deliver, and its
+text was not “cod cheeks.”
+
+“Bailey Bangs,” she began, “when I was brought to realize that my
+husband, although apparently an able-bodied man, couldn't support me as
+I'd been used to be supported, and when I was forced to support HIM
+by keepin' boarders, I says, 'If there's one thing that my house shall
+stand for it's punctual promptness at meal times. I say nothing,' I
+says, 'about the inconvenience of gettin' on with only one hired help
+when we ought to have three. If Providence, in its unscrutable wisdom,'
+I says, 'has seen fit to lay this burden onto me, the burden of a
+household of boarders and a husband whom--'”
+
+And just then the power referred to by Mrs. Bangs intervened to spare
+her husband the remainder of the preachment. From the driveway of the
+yard, beside the dining-room windows, came the rattle of wheels and
+the tramp of a horse's feet. Mrs. Matilda Tripp, who sat nearest the
+windows, on that side, rose and peered out.
+
+“It's the depot wagon, Ketury,” she said. “There's somebody inside it. I
+wonder if they're comin' here.”
+
+“Transients” were almost unknown quantities at the Bayport Hotel in May.
+Consequently, all the boarders and the landlady herself crowded to the
+windows. The “depot wagon” had drawn up by the steps, and Gabe Lumley,
+the driver, had descended from his seat and was doing his best to open
+the door of the ancient vehicle. It stuck, of course; the doors of all
+depot wagons stick.
+
+“Hold on a shake!” commanded some one inside the carriage. “Wait till
+I get a purchase on her. Now, then! All hands to the ropes! Heave--ho!
+THERE she comes!”
+
+The door flew back with a bang. A man sprang out upon the lower step of
+the porch. The eye of every inmate of the perfect boarding house was on
+him. Even the “hired help” peered from the kitchen door.
+
+“He's a stranger,” whispered Mrs. Tripp. “I never see him before, did
+you, Mr. Tidditt?”
+
+The town clerk did not answer. He was staring at the depot wagon's
+passenger, staring with a face the interested expression of which was
+changing to that of surprise and amazed incredulity. Mrs. Tripp turned
+to Mr. Bangs; he also was staring, open-mouthed.
+
+“Godfrey scissors!” gasped Asaph, under his breath. “Godfrey--SCISSORS!
+Bailey, I--I believe--I swan to man, I believe--”
+
+“Ase Tidditt!” exclaimed Mr. Bangs, “am I goin' looney, or is that--is
+that--”
+
+Neither finished his sentence. There are times when language seems so
+pitifully inadequate.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+
+Here in Bayport, nowadays, the collecting of “antiques” is a favorite
+amusement of our summer visitors. Those of us who were fortunate enough
+to possess a set of nicked blue dishes, a warming pan, or a tall clock
+with wooden wheels, have long ago parted with these treasures for
+considerable sums. Oddly enough Sylvanus Cahoon has profited most by
+this craze. Sylvanus used to be judged the unluckiest man in town; of
+late this judgment has been revised.
+
+It was Sylvanus who, confined to the house by an illness brought on by
+eating too much “sugar cake” at a free sociable given by the Methodist
+Society, arose in the night and drank copiously of what he supposed to
+be the medicine left by the doctor. It happened to be water-bug poison,
+and Sylvanus was nearly killed by the dose. He is reported as having
+admitted that he “didn't mind dyin' so much, but hated to die such a dum
+mean death.”
+
+While convalescent he took to smoking in bed and was burned out of
+house and home in consequence. Then it was that his kind-hearted fellow
+citizens donated, for the furnishing of his new residence, all the
+cast-off bits of furniture and odds and ends from their garrets.
+“Charity,” observed Captain Josiah Dimick at the time, “begins at home
+with us Bayporters, and it generally begins up attic, that bein' nighest
+to heaven.”
+
+Later Sylvanus sold most of the donations as “antiques” and made money
+enough therefrom to buy a new plush parlor set. Miss Angeline Phinney
+never called on the Cahoons after that without making her appearance at
+the front door. “I'll get some good out of that plush sofy I helped to
+pay for,” declared Angeline, “if it's only to wear it out by settin' on
+it.”
+
+There are two “antiques” in Bayport which have not yet been sold or even
+bid for. One is Gabe Lumley's “depot wagon,” and the other is “Dan'l
+Webster,” the horse which draws it. Both are very ancient, sadly in need
+of upholstery, and jerky of locomotion.
+
+Gabe was, as usual, waiting at the station when the down train arrived,
+on the Tuesday--or Wednesday--of the selectmen's meeting. The train was
+due, according to the time-table, at eleven forty-five. This time-table,
+and the signboard of the “Bayport Hotel” are the only bits of humorous
+literature peculiar to our village, unless we add the political
+editorials of the Bayport Breeze.
+
+So, at eleven forty-five, Mr. Lumley was serenely dozing on the baggage
+truck, which he had wheeled to the sunny side of the platform. At five
+minutes past twelve, he yawned, stretched, and looked at his watch.
+Then, rolling off the truck, he strolled to the edge of the platform and
+spoke authoritatively to “Dan'l Webster.”
+
+“Hi there! stand still!” commanded Mr. Lumley.
+
+Standing still being Dan'l's long suit, the order was obeyed. Gabe then
+loafed to the door of the station and accosted the depot master, who was
+nodding in his chair beside the telegraph instrument.
+
+“Where is she now, Ed?” asked Mr. Lumley, referring to the train.
+
+“Just left South Harniss. Be here pretty soon. What's your hurry?
+Expectin' anybody?”
+
+“Naw; nobody that I know of, special. Sophrony Hallett's gone to
+Ostable, but she won't be back till to-morrow I cal'late. Hello! there
+she whistles now.”
+
+Needless to say it was the train, not the widow Hallett, that had
+whistled. The depot master rose from his chair. A yellow dog, his
+property, scrambled from beneath it, and rushing out of the door and
+to the farther end of the platform, barked furiously. Cephas Baker, who
+lives across the road from the depot, slouched down to his front gate.
+His wife opened the door of her kitchen and stood there, her wet arms
+wrapped in her apron. The five Baker children tore round the corner of
+the house, over the back fence, and lined up, whooping joyously, on the
+platform. A cloud of white smoke billowed above the clump of cedars at
+the bend of the track. Then the locomotive rounded the curve and bore
+down upon the station.
+
+“Stand still, I tell you!” shouted Gabe, addressing the horse.
+
+Dan'l Webster opened one eye, closed it and relapsed into slumber.
+
+The train, a combination baggage car and smoker, two freight cars and
+a passenger coach, rolled ponderously alongside the platform. From the
+open door of the baggage car were tossed the mail sack and two express
+packages. The conductor stepped from the passenger coach. Following
+him came briskly a short, thickset man with a reddish-gray beard and
+grayish-red hair.
+
+“Goin' down to the village, Mister?” inquired Mr. Lumley. “Carriage
+right here.”
+
+The stranger inspected the driver of the depot wagon, inspected him
+deliberately from top to toe. Then he said:
+
+“Down to the village? Why, yes, I wouldn't wonder. Say! you're a Lumley,
+ain't you?”
+
+“Why! why--yes, I be! How'd you know that? Ain't ever seen you afore,
+have I?”
+
+“Guess not,” with a quiet chuckle. “I've never seen you, either, but
+I've seen your nose. I'd know a Lumley nose if I run across it in
+China.”
+
+The possessor of the “Lumley nose” rubbed that organ in a bewildered
+fashion. Recovering in a measure he laughed, rather half-heartedly, and
+begged to know if the trunk, then being unloaded from the baggage car,
+belonged to his prospective passenger. As the answer was an affirmative
+nod, he secured the trunk check and departed, still rubbing his nose.
+
+When he returned, with the trunk on the truck, he found the stranger,
+with his hands in his pockets, standing before Dan'l Webster and gazing
+at that animal with an expression of acute interest.
+
+“Is this your--horse?” demanded the newcomer, pausing before the final
+word of his question.
+
+“It's so cal'lated to be,” replied Gabe, with dignity.
+
+“Hum! Does he work nights?”
+
+“Work nights? No, course he don't!”
+
+“Oh, all right! Then you can wake him up with a clear conscience. I
+didn't know but he needed the sleep. What's his record?”
+
+“Record?”
+
+“Yup; his trottin' record. Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow
+in the beam and sharp fore and aft. Shall I get aboard the barouche?”
+
+The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned
+broadly. Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might get
+aboard if he wanted to. Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang into the
+depot wagon with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock on its springs.
+
+“Jerushy!” he exclaimed, “she rolls some, don't she? Never mind, MY
+ballast 'll keep her on an even keel. Trunk made fast astern? All
+right! Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's I can take
+an observation as we go along. Don't go so fast that the scenery gets
+blurred, will you? It's been some time since I made this cruise, and I'd
+rather like to keep a lookout.”
+
+The driver “furled the canvas”--that is, he rolled up the curtains at
+the sides of the carryall. Then he climbed to the front seat and took up
+the reins.
+
+“Git up!” he shouted savagely. Dan'l Webster did not move.
+
+The passenger offered a suggestion. “Why don't you try hangin' an alarm
+clock in his fore-riggin'?” he asked.
+
+“Haw! haw!” roared the depot master.
+
+“Git up, you--you lump!” bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley. Dan'l pricked
+up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way. As the equipage
+passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered about the
+gate, staring at the occupant of the wagon. The stare was returned.
+
+“Who lives in there?” demanded the stranger. “Who are those folks?”
+
+“Ceph Baker's tribe,” was the sullen answer.
+
+“Baker, hey? Humph! new folks, I presume likely. Used to be Seth Snow's
+house, that did. Where'd Seth go to?”
+
+Gabe grunted that he did not know. He believed Mr. Snow was dead, had
+died years before.
+
+“Humph! dead, hey? Then I know where he went. Do you ever smoke--or does
+drivin' this horse make you too nervous?”
+
+Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar. He admitted
+that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed “'twouldn't interfere
+with the drivin' none.”
+
+“Good enough! then we'll light up. I can talk better if I'm under a head
+of steam. There's a new house; who built that?”
+
+The “new” house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of its
+builder. Then, thinking that the catechising had been altogether too
+one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
+
+“This is a pretty good cigar, Mister,” he said. “Smokes like a
+Snowflake.”
+
+“Like a what?”
+
+“Like a Snowflake. That's about the best straight five center you can
+get around here. Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's cart ain't
+called lately and he's all out.”
+
+“That's a shame. I told the train boy that these smoked like somethin',
+but I didn't know what to call it. Much obliged to you. Here's another;
+put it in your pocket. Oh, no thanks; pleasure's all mine. Who's
+Simmons?”
+
+Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor. Then he
+added:
+
+“I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered over
+with labels, ain't it? Cal'late that trunk's done some travelin', hey?”
+
+“Think so, do you?”
+
+“Yup. Gee! I'd like to travel myself. But no! I got to stay all my life
+in this dead 'n' alive hole. I wanted to go to Boston and clerk in
+a store, but the old man put his foot down, and here I've stuck ever
+sence. Git up, Dan'l! What's the matter with you?”
+
+The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
+
+“Don't find fault, son,” he said. “There's worse places in the world
+than old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad. Don't forget
+that or you may be sorry for it some day.” He sniffed eagerly. “Ah!” he
+exclaimed, “just smell that, will you? Ain't that FINE?”
+
+“Humph! that's the flats. You can smell 'em any time when the tide's out
+and the wind's right. You see, the tide goes out pretty fur here and--”
+
+“Don't I know it? Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that smell
+and here 'tis at last. Drive slow and let me fill up on it. Just blow
+that--that Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell, won't you?
+Thanks.”
+
+The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley paid
+no attention to it. He puffed industriously at the Snowflake and watched
+his companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was gazing out at
+the town and the bay beyond it. The “depot hill” is not as high as
+Whittaker's Hill, but the view is almost as extensive.
+
+“Excuse me, Mister,” observed Gabe, after an interval, “but you ain't
+said where you're goin'.”
+
+The passenger came out of his day dream with a start.
+
+“Why, that's right!” he exclaimed. “So I haven't! Well, now, where would
+you go, if you was me? Is there a hotel or tavern or somethin'?”
+
+“Yup. There's the Bayport Hotel. 'Tain't exactly a hotel, neither. We
+call it the perfect boardin' house 'round here. You see--”
+
+He proceeded to tell the story of “the perfect boarding house.” His
+listener seemed greatly interested, and although he laughed, did not
+interrupt until the tale was ended.
+
+“So!” he said, chuckling. “Bailey Bangs, hey? Stub Bangs! Well, well!
+And he married Ketury Payson! How in time did he ever find spunk enough
+to propose? And Ketury runs the perfect boardin' house! Well, that ought
+to be job enough for one woman. She runs Bailey, too, on the side, I
+s'pose?”
+
+“You bet you! He don't dast to say 'boo' to a chicken when she's 'round.
+I say, Mister! I don't know's I know your name, do I? I judge you've
+been here afore so--”
+
+“Yes, I've been here before. Whose is that big place up there across our
+bows? The one with the cupola on the main truck?”
+
+“That, sir,” said Mr. Lumley, oratorically, “belongs to the Honorable
+Heman G. Atkins, and it's probably the finest in this county. Heman is
+our representative in Washin'ton, and--Did you say anything?”
+
+The passenger had said something, but he did not repeat it. He was
+leaning from the carriage and gazing steadily up the slope ahead.
+And his gaze, strange to say, was not directed at the imposing Atkins
+estate, but at its opposite neighbor, the old “Cy Whittaker place.”
+
+Slowly, laboriously, Dan'l Webster mounted the hill. At the crest he
+would have paused to take breath, but the driver would not let him.
+
+“Git along, you!” he commanded, flapping the reins.
+
+And then Mr. Lumley suffered the shock of a surprise. The hitherto cool
+and self-possessed occupant of the rear seat seemed very much excited.
+His big red hand clasped Mr. Lumley's over the reins, and Dan'l was
+brought to an abrupt standstill.
+
+“Heave to!” he ordered, sharply, and the tone was that of one who has
+given many orders and expects them to be obeyed. “Belay! Whoa, there!
+Great land of love! look at that! LOOK at it! Who did that?”
+
+The mate to the big red hand pointed to the front door of the Whittaker
+place. Gabe was alarmed.
+
+“Done what? Done which?” he gasped. “What you talkin' about? There ain't
+nobody lives in there. That house has been empty for--”
+
+“Where's the front fence?” demanded the excited passenger. “What's
+become of the hedge? And who put up that--that darned piazza?”
+
+The piazza had been where it now was almost since Mr. Lumley could
+remember. He hastened to reply that he didn't know; he wasn't sure;
+he presumed likely 'twas “them New Hampshire Howeses,” when they ran a
+summer boarding house.
+
+The stranger drew a long breath. “Well, of all the--” he began. Then
+he choked, hesitated, and ordered his driver to heave ahead and run
+alongside the hotel as quick as the Almighty would let him. Gabe
+hastened to obey. He was now absolutely certain that his companion was
+an escaped lunatic, and the sooner another keeper was appointed the
+better. The remainder of the trip was made in silence.
+
+Mrs. Bangs opened the door of the perfect boarding house and stood
+majestically waiting to receive the prospective guest. Over her
+shoulders peered the faces of the boarders.
+
+“Good afternoon,” began the landlady. “I presume likely you would like
+to--”
+
+She was interrupted. The newcomer turned toward her and extended his
+hand.
+
+“Hello, Ketury!” he said. “I ain't seen you sence you wore your hair
+up, but you're just as good-lookin' as ever. And ain't that Bailey? Yes,
+'tis, and Asaph, too! How are you, boys? Shake!”
+
+Mr. Bangs and his chum, the town clerk, had emerged from the doorway.
+Their mouths and eyes were wide open and they seemed to be suffering
+from a sort of paralysis.
+
+“Well? What's the matter with you?” demanded the arrival. “Ain't too
+stuck up to shake hands after all these years, are you?”
+
+Bailey's mouth closed in order that it's possessor might swallow. Then
+it slowly reopened.
+
+“I swan to man!” he ejaculated. “WELL! I swan to man! I--I b'lieve
+you're Cy Whittaker!”
+
+“Course I am. Have to dye my carrot top if I want to play anybody else.
+But look here, boys, you answer my question: who had the cheek to rig
+up that blasted piazza on my house? It starts to come down to-morrow
+mornin'!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+“FIXIN' OVER”
+
+
+Miss Angeline Phinney made no less than nine calls that afternoon.
+Before bedtime it was known, from the last house in Woodchuck Lane to
+the fish shanties at West Bayport, that “young Cy” Whittaker had come
+back; that he had come back “for good”; that he was staying temporarily
+at the perfect boarding house; that he was “awful well off”--having made
+lots of money down in South America; that he intended to “fix over”
+ the Whittaker place, and that it was to be fixed over, not in a modern
+manner, with plush parlor sets--a la Sylvanus Cahoon--nor with onyx
+tables and blue and gold chairs like those adorning the Atkins mansion.
+It was to be, as near as possible, a reproduction of what it had been in
+the time of the late “Cap'n Cy,” young Cy's father.
+
+“_I_ think he's out of his head,” declared Miss Phinney, in confidence,
+to each of the nine females whom she favored with her calls. “Not crazy,
+you understand, but sort of touched in the upper story. I says so to
+Matildy Tripp, said it right out, too: 'Matildy,' I says, 'he's got a
+screw loose up aloft just as sure as you're a born woman!' 'What makes
+you think so?' says she. 'Well,' says I, 'do you s'pose anybody that
+wan't foolish would be for spendin' good money on an old house to
+make it OLDER?' I says. Goin' to tear down the piazza the fust thing!
+Perfectly good piazza that cost ninety-eight dollars and sixty cents to
+build; I know, because I see the bill when the Howeses had it done. And
+he's goin' to set out box hedges, somethin' that ain't been the style
+in this town sence Congressman Atkins pulled up his. 'What in the world,
+Cap'n Whittaker,' says I to him, 'do you want of box hedges? Homely
+and stiff and funeral lookin'! I might have 'em around my grave in the
+buryin' ground,' I says, 'but nowheres else.' 'All right, Angie,' says
+he, 'you shall have 'em there; I'll cut some slips purpose for you.
+It'll be a pleasure,' he says. Now ain't that crazy talk for a grown
+man?”
+
+Miss Phinney was not the only one in our village to question Captain
+Cy Whittaker's sanity during the next few months. The majority of
+our people didn't understand him at all. He was generally liked, for
+although he had money, he did not put on airs, but he had his own way of
+doing things, and they were not Bayport ways.
+
+True to his promise, he had a squad of carpenters busy, on the
+day following his arrival, tearing down the loathed piazza. These
+carpenters, and more, were kept busy throughout that entire spring
+and well into the summer. Then came painters and gardeners. The piazza
+disappeared; a new picket fence, exactly like the old one torn down by
+the Howeses, was erected; new shutters were hung; new windowpanes were
+set; the roof was newly shingled. Captain Cy, Senior, had, in his day,
+cherished a New England fondness for white and green paint; therefore
+the new fence was white and the house was white and the blinds a
+brilliant green. Rows of box hedge, the plants brought from Boston, were
+set out on each side of the front walk. The Howes front-door bell--a
+clamorous gong--was removed, and a glass knob attached to a spring bell
+of the old-fashioned “jingle” variety took its place. An old-fashioned
+flower garden--Cap'n Cy's mother had loved posies--was laid out on
+the west lawn beyond the pear trees. All these changes the captain
+superintended; when they were complete he turned his attention to
+interior decoration.
+
+And now Captain Cy proceeded to, literally, astonish the natives. Among
+the Howes “improvements” were gilt wall papers and modern furniture for
+the lower floor of the house. The furniture they had taken with them;
+the wall paper had perforce been left behind. And the captain had every
+scrap of that paper stripped from the walls, and the latter re-covered
+with quaint, ugly, old-fashioned patterns, stripes and roses and
+flowered sprays with impossible birds flitting among them. The Bassett
+decorators has pasted the gilt improvement over the old Whittaker paper,
+and it was the Whittaker paper that the captain did his best to match,
+sending samples here, there, and everywhere in the effort. Then, upon
+the walls he hung old-fashioned pictures, such as Bayport dwellers had
+long ago relegated to their attics, pictures like “From Shore to Shore,”
+ “Christian Viewing the City Beautiful,” and “Signing the Declaration.”
+ To these he added, bringing them from the crowded garret of the
+homestead, oil paintings of ships commanded by his father and
+grandfather, and family portraits, executed--which is a peculiarly
+fitting word--by deceased local artists in oil and crayon.
+
+He boarded up the fireplace in the sitting room and installed a
+base-burner stove, resurrected from the tinsmith's barn. He purchased
+a full “haircloth set” of parlor furniture from old Mrs. Penniman, who
+never had been known to sell any of her hoarded belongings before, even
+to the “antiquers,” and wouldn't have done so now, had it not been that
+the captain's offer was too princely to be real, and the old lady feared
+she might be dreaming and would wake up before she received the money.
+And from Trumet to Ostable he journeyed, buying a chair here and a table
+there, braided rag mats from this one, and corded bedsteads and “rising
+sun” quilts from that. At least half of Bayport believed with Gabe
+Lumley and Miss Phinney that, if Captain Cy had not escaped from a home
+for the insane, he was a likely candidate for such an institution.
+
+At the table of the perfect boarding house the captain was not inclined
+to be communicative regarding his reasons and his intentions. He was a
+prime favorite there, praising Keturah's cooking, joking with Angeline
+concerning what he was pleased to call her “giddy” manner of dressing
+and wearing “side curls,” and telling yarns of South American dress
+and behavior, which would probably have shocked Mrs. Tripp--she having
+recently left the Methodist church to join the “Come-Outers,” because
+the Sunday services of the former were, with the organ and a paid choir,
+altogether “too play-actin'”--if they had not been so interesting, and
+if Captain Cy had not always concluded them with the observation: “But
+there! you can't expect nothin' more from ignorant critters denied
+the privileges of congregational singin' and experience meetin's; hey,
+Matilda?”
+
+Mrs. Tripp would sigh and admit that she supposed not.
+
+“Only I do wish Mr. Daniels, OUR minister, might have a chance to preach
+over 'em, poor things!”
+
+“So do I,” with a covert wink at Mrs. Bangs, who was a stanch adherent
+of the regular faith. “South America 'd be just the place for him; ain't
+that so, Keturah?”
+
+He evaded all personal questions put to him by the boarders, explaining
+that he was renovating the old place just for fun--he always had had a
+gang of men working for him, and it seemed natural somehow. But to the
+friends of his boyhood, Asaph Tidditt and Bailey Bangs, he told the real
+truth.
+
+“I swan to man!” exclaimed Bailey, almost tearfully, as the trio
+wandered through the rooms of the Cy Whittaker place, dodging paper
+hangers and plasterers; “I swan to man, Whit, if it don't almost seem as
+though I was a boy again. Why! it's your dad's house come back alive,
+it is so! Look at this settin' room! Seem's if I could see him now
+a-settin' by that ere stove, and Mrs. Whittaker, your ma, over there
+a-sewin', and old Cap'n Cy--your granddad--snoozin' in that big
+armchair--Why! why, whit! it's the very image of the chair he always set
+in!”
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud.
+
+“It's more n' that, Bailey,” he said; “it's THE chair. 'Twas up attic,
+all busted and crippled, but I had it made over like new. And there's
+granddad's picture, lookin' just as I remember him--only he wan't quite
+so much of a frozen wax image as he's painted there. I'm goin' to hang
+it where it always hung, over the mantelpiece, next to the lookin'
+glass.
+
+“Great land of love, boys!” he went on, “you fellers don't know what
+this means to me. Many and many's the time I've had this old house and
+this old room in my mind. I've seen 'em aboard ship in a howlin' gale
+off the Horn. I've seen 'em down in Surinam of a hot night, when
+there wan't a breath scurcely and the Caribs went around dressed in a
+handkerchief and a paper cigar, and it made you wish you could. I've
+seen 'em--but there! every time I've seen 'em I've swore that some day
+I'd come back and LIVE 'em, and now, by the big dipper! here I am. Oh, I
+tell you, chummies, you want to be fired OUT of a home and out of a town
+to appreciate 'em! Not that I blame the old man; he and I was too
+much alike to cruise in company. But Bayport I was born in, and in the
+Bayport graveyard they can plant me when I'm ready for the scrap heap.
+It's in the blood and--Why, see here! Don't I TALK like a Bayporter?”
+
+“You sartin do!” replied Asaph emphatically.
+
+“A body 'd think you'd been diggin' clams and pickin' cranberries in
+Bassett's Holler all your life long, to hear you.”
+
+“You bet! Well, that's pride; that's what that is. I prided myself
+on hangin' to the Bayport twang through thick and thin. Among all the
+Spanish 'Carambas' and 'Madre de Dioses' it did me good to come out with
+a good old Yankee 'darn' once in a while. Kept me feelin' like a white
+man. Oh, I'm a Whittaker! _I_ know it. And I've got all the Whittaker
+pig-headedness, I guess. And because the old man--bless his heart, I
+say now--told me I shouldn't BE a Whittaker no more, nor live like a
+Whittaker, I simply swore up and down I would be one and come back here,
+when I'd made my pile, to heave anchor and stay one till I die. Maybe
+that's foolishness, but it's me.”
+
+He puffed vigorously at the pipe which had taken the place of the
+Snowflake cigar, and added:
+
+“Take this old settin' room--why, here it is; see! Here's dad in his
+chair and ma in hers, and, if you go back far enough, granddad in his,
+just as you say, Bailey. And here's me, a little shaver, squattin' on
+the floor by the stove, lookin' at the pictures in a heap of Godey's
+Lady's Book. And says dad, 'Bos'n,' he says--he used to call me 'Bos'n'
+in those days--'Bos'n,' says dad, 'run down cellar and fetch me up a
+pitcher of cider, that's a good feller.' Yes, yes; that's this room as
+I've seen it in my mind ever since I tiptoed through it the night I
+run away, with my duds in a bundle under my arm. Do you wonder I was
+fightin' mad when I saw what that Howes tribe had done to it?”
+
+Superintending the making over of the old home occupied most of Captain
+Cy's daylight time that summer. His evenings were spent at Simmons's
+store. We have no clubs in Bayport, strictly speaking, for the sewing
+circle and the Shakespeare Reading Society are exclusively feminine in
+membership; therefore Simmons's store is the gathering place of those
+males who are bachelors or widowers or who are sufficiently free from
+petticoat government to risk an occasional evening out. Asaph Tidditt
+was a regular sojourner at the store. Bailey Bangs, happening in to
+purchase fifty cents' worth of sugar or to have the molasses jug filled,
+lingered occasionally, but not often. Captain Cy explained Bailey's
+absence in characteristic fashion.
+
+“Variety,” observed the captain, “is the spice of life. Bailey gets talk
+enough to home. What's the use of his comin' up here to get more?”
+
+“Oh, I don't know,” said Josiah Dimick, with a grin, “we let him do some
+of the talkin' himself up here. Down at the boardin' house Keturah and
+Angie Phinney do it all.”
+
+“Yes. Still, if a feller was condemned to live over a biler factory he
+wouldn't hanker to get a job IN it, would he? When Bailey was a delegate
+to the Methodist Conference up in Boston, him and a crowd visited the
+deef and dumb asylum. When 'twas time to go, he was missin', and they
+found him in the female ward lookin' at the inmates. Said that the sight
+of all them women, every one of 'em not able to say a word, was the
+most wonderful thing ever he laid eyes on. Said it made him feel kind of
+reverent and holy, almost as if he was in Paradise. So Ase Tidditt says,
+anyway; it's his yarn.”
+
+“'Tain't nuther, Cy Whittaker!” declared the indignant Asaph. “If you
+expect I'm goin' to father all your lies, you're mistaken.”
+
+The crowd at Simmons's discuss politics, as a general thing; state
+and national politics in their seasons, but county politics and local
+affairs always. The question in Bayport that summer, aside from that of
+the harbor appropriation, was who should be hired as downstairs teacher.
+Our schoolhouse is a two-story building, with a schoolroom on each
+floor. The lower room, where the little tots begin with their “C--A--T
+Cat,” and progress until they have mastered the Fourth Reader, is called
+“downstairs.” “Upstairs” is, of course, the second story, where the
+older children are taught. To handle some of the “big boys” upstairs
+is a task for a healthy man, and such a one usually fills the teacher's
+position there. Downstairs being, in theory, at least, less strenuous,
+is presided over by a woman.
+
+Miss Seabury, who had been downstairs teacher for one lively term, had
+resigned that spring in tears and humiliation. Her scholars had enjoyed
+themselves and would have liked her to continue, but the committee and
+the townspeople thought otherwise. There was a general feeling that
+enjoyment was not the whole aim of education.
+
+“Betty,” said Captain Dimick, referring to his small granddaughter, “has
+done fust rate so fur's marksmanship and lung trainin' goes. I cal'late
+she can hit a nail head ten foot off with a spitball three times out of
+four, and she can whisper loud enough to be understood in Jericho. But,
+not wishing to be unreasonable, still I should like to have her spell
+'door' without an 'e.' I've always been used to seein' it spelled that
+way and--well, I'm kind of old-fashioned, anyway.”
+
+There was a difference of opinion concerning Miss Seabury's successor.
+A portion of the townspeople were for hiring a graduate of the State
+Normal School, a young woman with modern training. Others, remembering
+that Miss Seabury had graduated from that school, were for proved
+ability and less up-to-date methods. These latter had selected a
+candidate in the person of a Miss Phoebe Dawes, a resident of Wellmouth,
+and teacher of the Wellmouth “downstairs” for some years. The arguments
+at Simmons's were hot ones.
+
+“What's the use of hirin' somebody from right next door to us, as you
+might say?” demanded Alpheus Smalley, clerk at the store. “Don't we want
+our teachin' to be abreast of the times, and is Wellmouth abreast of
+ANYthing?”
+
+“It's abreast of the bay, that's about all, I will give in,” replied Mr.
+Tidditt. “But, the way I look at it, we need disCIPline more 'n anything
+else, and Phoebe Dawes has had the best disCIPline in her school, that's
+been known in these latitudes. Order? Why, say! Eben Salters told me
+that when he visited her room over there 'twas so still that he didn't
+dast to rub one shoe against t'other, it sounded up so. He had to set
+still and bear his chilblains best he could. And POPULAR! Why, when she
+hinted that she might leave in May, her scholars more 'n ha'f of 'em,
+bust out cryin'. Now you hear me, I--”
+
+“It seems to me,” put in Thaddeus Simpson, who ran the barber shop
+and was something of a politician, “it seems to me, fellers, that we'd
+better wait and hear what Mr. Atkins has to say in this matter. I
+guess that's what the committee 'll do, anyhow. We wouldn't want to go
+contrary to Heman, none of us; hey?”
+
+“Tad” Simpson was known to be deep in Congressman Atkins's confidence.
+The mention of the great man's name was received with reverence and nods
+of approval.
+
+“That's right. We mustn't do nothin' to displease Heman,” was the
+general opinion.
+
+Captain Cy did not join the chorus. He refilled his pipe and crossed his
+legs.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted. “Heman Atkins seems to be--Give me a match, Ase,
+won't you? Thanks. I understand there's a special prayer meetin' at the
+church to-morrow night, Alpheus. What's it for?”
+
+“For?” Mr. Smalley seemed surprised. “It's to pray for rain, that's
+what. You know it, Cap'n, as well's I do. Ain't everybody's garden
+dryin' up and the ponds so low that we shan't be able to get water
+for the cranberry ditches pretty soon? There's need to pray, I should
+think!”
+
+“Humph! Seems a roundabout way of gettin' a thing, don't it? Why don't
+you telegraph to Heman and ask him to fix it for you? Save time.”
+
+This remark was received in horrified silence. Tad Simpson was the first
+to recover.
+
+“Cap'n,” he said, “you ain't met Mr. Atkins yet. When you do, you'll
+feel same as the rest of us. He's comin' home next week; then you'll
+see.”
+
+A part at least of Mr. Simpson's prophecy proved true. The Honorable
+Atkins did come to Bayport the following week, accompanied by his little
+daughter Alicia, the housekeeper, and the Atkins servants. The Honorable
+and his daughter had been, since the adjournment of Congress, on a
+pleasure trip to the Yosemite and Yellowstone Park, and now they were
+to remain in the mansion on the hill for some time. The big house was
+opened, the stone urns burst into refulgent bloom, the iron dogs were
+refreshed with a coat of black paint, and the big iron gate was swung
+wide. Bayport sat up and took notice. Angeline Phinney was in her glory.
+
+The meeting between Captain Cy and Mr. Atkins took place the morning
+after the latter's return. The captain and his two chums had been
+inspecting the progress made by the carpenters and were leaning over the
+new fence, then just erected, but not yet painted. Down the gravel walk
+of the mansion across the road came strolling its owner, silk-hatted,
+side-whiskered, benignant.
+
+“Godfrey!” exclaimed Asaph. “There's Heman. See him, Whit?”
+
+“Yup, I see him. Seems to be headin' this way.”
+
+“I--I do believe he's comin' across,” whispered Mr. Bangs. “Yes, he is.
+He's real everyday, Cy. HE won't mind if you ain't dressed up.”
+
+“Won't he? That's comfortin'. Well, I'll do the best I can without
+stimulants, as the doctor says. If you hear my knees rattle just nudge
+me, will you, Bailey?”
+
+Mr. Tidditt removed his hat. Bailey touched his. Captain Cy looked
+provokingly indifferent; he even whistled.
+
+“Good mornin', Mr. Atkins,” hailed the town clerk, raising his voice
+because of the whistle. “I'm proud to see you back among us, sir. Hope
+you and Alicia had a nice time out West. How is she--pretty smart?”
+
+Mr. Atkins smiled a bland, congressional smile. He approached the group
+by the fence and extended his hand.
+
+“Ah, Asaph!” he said; “it is you then? I thought so. And Bailey, too. It
+is certainly delightful to see you both again. Yes, my daughter is well,
+I thank you. She, like her father, is glad to be back in the old
+home nest after the round of hotel life and gayety which we
+have--er--recently undergone. Yes.”
+
+“Mr. Atkins,” said Bailey, glancing nervously at Captain Cy, who had
+stopped whistling and was regarding the Atkins hat and whiskers with an
+interested air, “I want to make you acquainted with your new neighbor.
+You used to know him when you was a boy, but--but--er--Mr. Atkins, this
+is Captain Cyrus Whittaker. Cy, this is Congressman Atkins. You've heard
+us speak of him.”
+
+The great man started.
+
+“Is it possible!” he exclaimed. “Is it possible that this is really my
+old playmate Cyrus Whittaker?”
+
+“Yup,” replied the captain calmly. “How are you, Heman? Fatter'n you
+used to be, ain't you? Washin'ton must agree with you.”
+
+Bailey and Asaph were scandalized. Mr. Atkins himself seemed a trifle
+taken aback. Comments on his personal appearance were not usual in
+Bayport. But he rallied bravely.
+
+“Well, well!” he cried. “Cyrus, I am delighted to welcome you back among
+us. I should scarcely have known you. You are older--yes, much older.”
+
+“Well, forty year more or less, added to what you started with, is apt
+to make a feller some older. Don't need any Normal School graduate to do
+that sum for us. I'm within seven or eight year of bein' as old as you
+are, Heman, and that's too antique to be sold for veal.”
+
+Mr. Atkins changed the subject.
+
+“I had heard of your return, Cyrus,” he said. “It gave me much pleasure
+to learn that you were rebuilding and--er--renovating the--er--the
+ancestral--er--”
+
+“The old home nest? Yup, I'm puttin' back a few feathers. Old birds like
+to roost comf'table. You've got a fairly roomy coop yourself.”
+
+“Hum! Isn't it--er--I should suppose you would find it rather expensive.
+Can you--do you--”
+
+“Yes, I can afford it, thank you. Maybe there'll be enough left in the
+stockin' to buy a few knickknacks for the yard. You can't tell.”
+
+The captain glanced at the iron dogs guarding the Atkins gate. His tone
+was rather sharp.
+
+“Yes, yes, certainly; certainly; of course. It gives me much pleasure to
+have you as a neighbor. I have always felt a fondness for the old place,
+even when you allowed it--even when it was most--er--run down, if you'll
+excuse the term. I always felt a liking for it and--”
+
+“Yes,” was the significant interruption. “I judged you must have, from
+what I heard.”
+
+This was steering dangerously close to the selectmen and the
+contemplated “sale for taxes.” The town clerk broke in nervously.
+
+“Mr. Atkins,” he said, “there's been consider'ble talk in town about
+who's to be teacher downstairs this comin' year. We've sort of chawed it
+over among us, but naturally we wanted your opinion. What do you think?
+I'm kind of leanin' toward the Dawes woman, myself.”
+
+The Congressman cleared his throat.
+
+“Far be it from me,” he said, “to speak except as a mere member of our
+little community, an ordinary member, but, AS such a member, with the
+welfare of my birthplace very near and dear to me, I confess that I
+am inclined to favor a modern teacher, one educated and trained in the
+institution provided for the purpose by our great commonwealth.
+The Dawes--er--person is undoubtedly worthy and capable in her way,
+but--well--er--we know that Wellmouth is not Bayport.”
+
+The reference to “our great commonwealth” had been given in the voice
+and the manner wont to thrill us at our Fourth-of-July celebrations and
+October “rallies.” Two of his hearers, at least, were visibly impressed.
+Asaph looked somewhat crestfallen, but he surrendered gracefully to
+superior wisdom.
+
+“That's so,” he said. “That's so, ain't it, Cy? I hadn't thought of
+that.”
+
+“What's so?” asked the captain.
+
+“Why--why, that Wellmouth ain't Bayport.”
+
+“No doubt of it. They're twenty miles apart.”
+
+“Yes. Well, I'm glad to hear you put it so conclusive, Mr. Atkins. I can
+see now that Phoebe wouldn't do. Hum! Yes.”
+
+Mr. Atkins buttoned the frock coat and turned to go.
+
+“Good day, gentlemen,” he said. “Cyrus, permit me once more to welcome
+you heartily to our village. We--my daughter and myself--will probably
+remain at home until the fall. I trust you will be a frequent caller.
+Run in on us at any time. Pray do not stand upon ceremony.”
+
+“No,” said Captain Cy shortly, “I won't.”
+
+“That's right. That's right. Good morning.”
+
+He walked briskly down the hill. The trio gazed after him.
+
+“Well,” sighed Mr. Tidditt. “That's settled. And it's a comfort to know
+'tis settled. Still I did kind of want Phoebe Dawes; but of course Heman
+knows best.”
+
+“Course he knows best!” snapped Bailey. “Ain't he the biggest gun in
+this county, pretty nigh? I'd like to know who is if he ain't. The
+committee 'll call the Normal School girl now, and a good thing, too.”
+
+Captain Cy was still gazing at the dignified form of the “biggest gun in
+the county.”
+
+“Let's see,” he asked. “Who's on the school committee? Eben Salters, of
+course, and--”
+
+“Yes. Eben's chairman and he'll vote Phoebe, anyhow; he's that
+pig-headed that nobody--not even a United States Representative--could
+change him. But Darius Ellis 'll be for Heman's way and so 'll Lemuel
+Myrick.
+
+“Lemuel Myrick? Lem Myrick, the painter?”
+
+“Sartin. There ain't but one Myrick in town.”
+
+“Hum!” murmured the captain and was silent for some minutes.
+
+The school committee met on the following Wednesday evening. On Thursday
+morning a startling rumor spread throughout Bayport. Phoebe Dawes had
+been called, by a vote of two to one, to teach the downstairs school.
+Asaph, aghast, rushed out of Simmons's store and up to the hill to the
+Cy Whittaker place. He found Captain Cy in the front yard. Mr. Myrick,
+school committeeman and house painter, was with him.
+
+“Hello, Ase!” hailed the captain. “What's the matter? Hasn't the tide
+come in this mornin'?”
+
+Asaph, somewhat embarrassed by the presence of Mr. Myrick, hesitated
+over his news. Lemuel came to his rescue.
+
+“Ase has just heard that we called Phoebe,” he said. “What of it? I
+voted for her, and I ain't ashamed of it.”
+
+“But--but Mr. Atkins, he--”
+
+“Well, Heman ain't on the committee, is he? I vote the way I think
+right, and no one in this town can change me. Anyway,” he added, “I'm
+going to resign next spring. Yes, Cap'n Whittaker, I think three coats
+of white 'll do on the sides here.”
+
+“Lem's goin' to do my paintin' jobs,” explained Captain Cy. “His price
+was a little higher than some of the other fellers, but I like his
+work.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt pondered deeply until dinner time. Then he cornered the
+captain behind the Bangs barn and spoke with conviction.
+
+“Whit,” he said, “you're the one responsible for the committee's hirin'
+Phoebe Dawes. You offered Lem the paintin' job if he'd vote for her.
+What did you do it for? You don't know her, do you?”
+
+“Never set eyes on her in my life.”
+
+“Then--then--You heard Heman say he wanted the other one. What made you
+do it?”
+
+Captain Cy grinned.
+
+“Ase,” he said, “I've always been a great hand for tryin' experiments.
+Had one of my cooks aboard put raisins in the flapjacks once, just to
+see what they tasted like. I judged Heman had had his own way in this
+town for thirty odd year. I kind of wanted to see what would happen if
+he didn't have it.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+
+Lemuel Myrick's painting jobs have the quality so prized by our village
+small boys in the species of candy called “jaw breakers,” namely, that
+of “lasting long.” But even Lem must finish sometime or other and, late
+in July, the Cy Whittaker place was ready for occupancy. The pictures
+were in their places on the walls, the old-fashioned furniture filled
+the rooms, there was even a pile of old magazines, back numbers of
+Godey's Lady's Book, on the shelf in the sitting room closet.
+
+Then, when Captain Cy had notified Mrs. Bangs that the perfect boarding
+house would shelter him no longer than the coming week, a new problem
+arose.
+
+“Whit,” said Asaph earnestly, “you've sartin made the place rise up out
+of its tomb; you have so. It's a miracle, pretty nigh, and I cal'late
+it must have cost a heap, but you've done it--all but the old folks
+themselves. You can't raise them up, Cy; money won't do that. And you
+can't live in this great house all alone. Who's goin' to cook for you,
+and sweep and dust, and swab decks, and one thing a'nother? You'll have
+to have a housekeeper, as I told you a spell ago. Have you done any
+thinkin' about that?”
+
+And the captain, taking his pipe from his lips, stared blankly at his
+friend, and answered:
+
+“By the big dipper, Ase, I ain't! I remember we did mention it, but I've
+been so busy gettin' this craft off the ways that I forgot all about
+it.”
+
+The discussion which followed Mr. Tidditt's reminder was long and
+serious. Asaph and Bailey Bangs racked their brains and offered numerous
+suggestions, but the majority of these were not favorably received.
+
+“There's Matildy Tripp,” said Bailey. “She'd like the job, I'm sartin.
+She's a widow, too, and she's had experience keepin' house along of
+Tobias, him that was her husband. But, if you do hire her, don't let
+Ketury know I hinted at it, 'cause we're goin' to lose one boarder
+when you quit, and that's too many, 'cordin' to the old lady's way of
+thinkin'.”
+
+“You can keep Matildy, for all me,” replied the captain decidedly.
+“Come-Outer religion's all right, for those that have that kind of
+appetite, but havin' it passed to me three times a day, same as I've
+had it at your house, is enough; I don't hanker to have it warmed over
+between meals. If I shipped Matildy aboard here she and the Reverend
+Daniels would stand over me, watch and watch, till I was converted or
+crazy, one or the other.”
+
+“Well, there's Angie. She--”
+
+“Angie!” sniffed Mr. Tidditt. “Stop your jokin', Bailey. This is a
+serious matter.”
+
+“I wan't jokin'. What--”
+
+“There! there! boys,” interrupted the captain; “don't fight. Bailey
+didn't mean to joke, Ase; he's full of what the papers call 'unconscious
+humor.' I'll give in that Angie is about as serious a matter as I can
+think of without settin' down to rest. Humph! so fur we haven't gained
+any knots to speak of. Any more candidates on your mind?”
+
+More possibilities were mentioned, but none of them seemed to fill the
+bill. The conference broke up without arriving at a decision. Mr. Bangs
+and the town clerk walked down the hill together.
+
+“Do you know, Bailey,” said Asaph, “the way I look at it, this pickin'
+out a housekeeper for Whit ain't any common job. It's somethin' to think
+over. Cy's a restless critter; been cruisin' hither and yon all his
+life. I'm sort of scared that he'll get tired of Bayport and quit if
+things here don't go to suit him. Now if a real good nice woman--a nice
+LOOKIN' woman, say--was to keep house for him it--it--”
+
+“Well?”
+
+“Well, I mean--that is, don't you s'pose if some such woman as that
+was to be found for the job he might in time come to like her
+and--and--er--”
+
+“Ase Tidditt, what are you drivin' at?”
+
+“Why, I mean he might come to marry her; there! Then he'd be contented
+to settle down to home and stay put. What do you think of the idea?”
+
+“Think of it? I think it's the dumdest foolishness ever I heard. I
+declare if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches
+don't make your heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun! Ain't Cy
+Whittaker got money? Ain't he got a nice home? Ain't he happy?”
+
+“Yes, he is now, I s'pose, but--”
+
+“WELL, then! And you want him to get married! What do you know about
+marryin'? Never tried it, have you?”
+
+“Course I ain't! You know I ain't.”
+
+“All right. Then I'd keep quiet about such things, if I was you.”
+
+“You needn't fly up like a settin' hen. Everybody's wife ain't--”
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence.
+
+“What's that?” demanded his companion, sharply.
+
+“Nothin'; nothin'. _I_ don't care; I was only tryin' to fix things
+comf'table for Whit. Has Heman said anything about the harbor
+appropriation sence he's been home? I haven't heard of it if he has.”
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was a grunt, signifying a negative. Congressman
+Atkins had been, since his return to Bayport, exceedingly noncommittal
+concerning the appropriation. To Tad Simpson and a very few chosen
+lieutenants and intimates he had said that he hoped to get it; that was
+all. This was a disquieting change of attitude, for, at the beginning
+of the term just passed, he had affirmed that he was GOING to get it.
+However, as Mr. Simpson reassuringly said: “The job's in as good hands
+as can be, so what's the use of OUR worryin'?”
+
+Bailey Bangs certainly was not troubled on that score; but the town
+clerk's proposal that Captain Cy be provided with a suitable wife did
+worry him. Bailey was so very much married himself and had such decided,
+though unspoken, views concerning matrimony that such a proposal seemed
+to him lunacy, pure and simple. He had liked and admired his friend
+“Whit” in the old days, when the latter led them into all sorts of
+boyish scrapes; now he regarded him with a liking that was close
+to worship. The captain was so jolly and outspoken; so brave and
+independent--witness his crossing of the great Atkins in the matter of
+the downstairs teacher. That was a reckless piece of folly which would,
+doubtless, be rewarded after its kind, but Bailey, though he professed
+to condemn it, secretly wished he had the pluck to dare such things. As
+it was, he didn't dare contradict Keturah.
+
+With the exception of one voyage as cabin boy to New Orleans, a voyage
+which convinced him that he was not meant for a seaman, Mr. Bangs had
+never been farther from his native village than Boston. Captain Cy had
+been almost everywhere and seen almost everything. He could spin yarns
+that beat the serial stories in the patent inside of the Bayport Breeze
+all hollow. Bailey had figured that, when the “fixin' over” was ended,
+the Cy Whittaker place would be for him a delightful haven of refuge,
+where he could put his boots on the furniture, smoke until dizzy without
+being pounced upon, be entertained and thrilled with tales of adventure
+afloat and ashore, and even express his own opinion, when he had any,
+with the voice and lung power of a free-born American citizen.
+
+And now Asaph Tidditt, who should know better, even though he was a
+bachelor, wanted to bring a wife into this paradise; not a paid domestic
+who could be silenced, or discharged, if she became a nuisance, but a
+WIFE! Bailey guessed not; not if he could prevent it.
+
+So he lay awake nights thinking of possible housekeepers for Captain Cy,
+and carefully rejecting all those possessing dangerous attractions of
+any kind. Each morning, after breakfast, he ran over the list with the
+captain, taking care that Asaph was not present. Captain Cy, who was
+very busy with the finishing touches at the new old house, wearied on
+the third morning.
+
+“There, there, Bailey!” he said. “Don't bother me now. I've got other
+things on my mind. How do I know who all these women folks are you're
+stringing off to me? Let me alone, do.”
+
+“But you must have a housekeeper, Cy. You'll move in Monday and you
+won't have nobody to--”
+
+“Oh, dry up! I want to think who I must see this morning. There's Lem
+and old lady Penniman, and--”
+
+“But the housekeeper, Cy! Don't you see--”
+
+“Hire one yourself, then. You know 'em; I don't.”
+
+“Hey? Hire one myself? Do you mean you'll leave it in my hands?”
+
+“Yes, yes! I guess so. Run along, that's a good feller.”
+
+He departed hurriedly. Mr. Bangs scratched his head. A weighty
+responsibility had been laid upon him.
+
+Monday morning after breakfast Captain Cy's trunk was put aboard
+the depot wagon, and Dan'l Webster drew it to its owner's home. The
+farewells at the perfect boarding house were affecting. Mrs. Tripp said
+that she had spoken to the Reverend Mr. Daniels, and he would be sure to
+call the very first thing. Keturah affirmed that the captain's stay had
+been a real pleasure.
+
+“You never find fault, Cap'n Whittaker,” she said. “You're such a manly
+man, if you'll excuse my sayin' so. I only wish there was more like
+you,” with a significant glance at her husband. As for Miss Phinney,
+she might have been saying good-by yet if the captain had not excused
+himself.
+
+Asaph accompanied his friend to the house on the hill. The trunk was
+unloaded from the wagon and carried into the bedroom on the first floor,
+the room which had been Captain Cy's so long ago. Gabe shrieked at Dan'l
+Webster, and the depot wagon crawled away toward the upper road.
+
+“Got to meet the up train,” grumbled the driver. “Not that anybody ever
+comes on it, but I cal'late I'm s'posed to be there. Be more talk than a
+little if I wan't. Git dap, Dan'l! you're slower'n the moral law.”
+
+“So you're goin' to do your own cookin' for a spell, Cy?” observed
+Asaph, a half hour later, “Well, I guess that's a good idea, till you
+can find the right housekeeper. I ain't been able to think of one that
+would suit you yet.”
+
+“Nor I, either. Neither's Bailey, I judge, though for a while he was as
+full of suggestions as a pine grove is of woodticks. He started to say
+somethin' about it to me last night, but Ketury hove in sight and yanked
+him off to prayer meetin'.”
+
+“Yes, I know. She cal'lates to get him into heaven somehow.”
+
+“I guess 'twouldn't BE heaven for her unless he was round to pick at.
+There he comes now. How'd he get out of wipin' dishes?”
+
+Mr. Bangs strolled into the yard.
+
+“Hello!” he hailed. “I was on my way to Simmons's on an errand and I
+thought I'd stop in a minute. Got somethin' to tell you, Whit.”
+
+“All right. Overboard with it! It won't keep long this hot weather.”
+
+Bailey smiled knowingly. “Didn't I hear the up train whistle as I was
+comin' along?” he asked. “Seems to me I did. Yes; well, if I ain't
+mistaken somebody's comin' on that train. Somebody for you, Cy
+Whittaker.”
+
+“Somebody for ME?”
+
+“Um--hum! I can gen'rally be depended on, I cal'late, and when you says
+to me: 'Bailey, you get me a housekeeper,' I didn't lose much time. I
+got her.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt gasped.
+
+“GOT her?” he repeated. “Got who? Got what? Bailey Bangs, what in the
+world have--”
+
+“Belay, Ase!” ordered Captain Cy. “Bailey, what are you givin' us?”
+
+“Givin' you a housekeeper, and a good one, too, I shouldn't wonder. She
+may not be one of them ten-thousand-dollar prize museum beauties,” with
+a scornful wink at Asaph, “but if what I hear's true she can keep house.
+Anyhow she's kept one for forty odd year. Her name's Deborah Beasley,
+she's a widow over to East Trumet, and if I don't miss my guess, she's
+in the depot wagon now headed in this direction.”
+
+Captain Cy whistled. Mr. Tidditt was too much surprised to do even that.
+
+“I was speakin' to the feller that drives the candy cart,” continued
+Bailey, “and I asked him if he'd run acrost anybody, durin' his trips
+'round the country, who'd be likely to hire out for a housekeeper. He
+thought a spell and then named over some. Among 'em was this Beasley
+one. I asked some more questions and, the answers bein' satisfactory to
+ME, though they might not be to some folks--” another derisive wink at
+Asaph--“I set down and wrote her, tellin' what you'd pay, Cy, what she'd
+have to do, and when she'd have to come. Saturday night I got a letter,
+sayin' terms was all right, and she'd be on hand by this mornin's train.
+Course she's only on trial for a month, but you had to have SOMEBODY,
+and the candy-cart feller said--”
+
+The town clerk slapped his knee.
+
+“Debby Beasley!” he cried. “I know who she is! I've got a cousin in
+Trumet. Debby Beasley! Aunt Debby, they call her. Why! she's old enough
+to be Methusalem's grandmarm, and--”
+
+“If I recollect right,” interrupted Bailey, with dignity, “Cy never said
+he wanted a YOUNG woman--a frivolous, giddy critter, always riggin' up
+and chasin' the fellers. He wanted a sot, sober housekeeper.”
+
+“Godfrey! Aunt Debby ain't frivolous! She couldn't chase a lame
+clam--and catch it. And DEEF! Godfrey--scissors! she's deefer 'n one of
+them cast-iron Newfoundlands in Heman's yard! Do you mean to say, Bailey
+Bangs, that you went ahead, on your own hook, and hired that old relic
+to--”
+
+“I did. And I had my authority, didn't I, Whit? You told me you'd leave
+it in my hands, now didn't you?”
+
+The captain smiled somewhat ruefully, and scratched his head. “Why,
+to be honest, Bailey, I believe I did,” he admitted. “Still, I hardly
+expected--Humph! is she deef, as Ase says?”
+
+“I understand she's a little mite hard of hearin',” replied Mr. Bangs,
+with dignity; “but that ain't any drawback, the way I look at it. Fact
+is, I'd call it an advantage, but you folks seem to be hard to please.
+I ruther imagined you'd thank me for gettin' her, but I s'pose that was
+too much to expect. All right, pitch her out! Don't mind MY feelin's!
+Poor homeless critter comin' to--”
+
+“Homeless!” repeated Asaph. “What's that got to do with it? Cy ain't
+runnin' the Old Woman's Home.”
+
+“Well, well!” observed the captain resignedly. “There's no use in rowin'
+about what can't be helped. Bailey says he shipped her for a month's
+trial, and here comes the depot wagon now. That's her on the aft thwart,
+I judge. She AIN'T what you'd call a spring pullet, is she!”
+
+She certainly was not. The occupant of the depot wagon's rear seat was a
+thin, not to say scraggy, female, wearing a black, beflowered bonnet and
+a black gown. A black knit shawl was draped about her shoulders and she
+wore spectacles.
+
+“Whoa!” commanded Mr. Lumley, piloting the depot wagon to the side door
+of the Whittaker house. Dan'l Webster came to anchor immediately. Gabe
+turned and addressed his passenger.
+
+“Here we be!” he shouted.
+
+“Hey?” observed the lady in black.
+
+“Here--we--be!” repeated Gabe, raising his voice.
+
+“See? See what?”
+
+“Oh, heavens to Betsey! I'm gettin' the croup from howlin'.
+I--say--HERE--WE--BE! GET OUT!”
+
+He accompanied the final bellow with an expressive pantomime indicating
+that the passenger was expected to alight. She seemed to understand,
+for she opened the door of the carriage and slowly descended. Mr. Bangs
+advanced to meet her.
+
+“How d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley!” he said. “Glad to see you all safe and
+sound.”
+
+Mrs. Beasley shook his hand; hers were covered, as far as the knuckles,
+by black mitts.
+
+“How d'ye do, Cap'n Whittaker?” she said, in a shrill voice. “You pretty
+smart?”
+
+Bailey hastened to explain.
+
+“I ain't Cap'n Whittaker,” he roared. “I'm Bailey Bangs, the one that
+wrote to you.”
+
+“Hey?”
+
+Mr. Lumley and Asaph chuckled. Bailey colored and tried again.
+
+“I ain't the cap'n,” he whooped. “Here he is--here!”
+
+He led her over to her prospective employer and tapped the latter on the
+chest.
+
+“How d'ye do, sir?” said the housekeeper. “I don't know's I just caught
+your name.”
+
+In five minutes or so the situation was made reasonably clear. Mrs.
+Beasley then demanded her trunk and carpet bag. The grinning Lumley bore
+them into the house. Then he drove away, still grinning. Bailey looked
+fearfully at Captain Cy.
+
+“She IS kind of hard of hearin', ain't she?” he said reluctantly. “You
+remember I said she was.”
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+“Yes,” he answered, “you're a truth-tellin' chap, Bailey, I'll say that
+for you. You don't exaggerate your statements.”
+
+“Hard of hearin'!” snapped Mr. Tidditt. “If the last trump ain't a steam
+whistle she'll miss Judgment Day. I'll stop into Simmons's on my way
+along and buy you a bottle of throat balsam, Cy; you're goin' to need
+it.”
+
+The captain needed more than throat balsam during the fortnight which
+followed. The widow Beasley's deafness was not her only failing. In fact
+she was altogether a failure, so far as her housekeeping was concerned.
+She could cook, after a fashion, but the fashion was so limited that
+even the bill of fare at the perfect boarding house looked tempting in
+retrospect.
+
+“Baked beans again, Cy!” exclaimed Asaph, dropping in one evening after
+supper. “'Tain't Saturday night so soon, is it?”
+
+“No,” was the dismal rejoinder. “It's Tuesday, if my almanac ain't out
+of joint. But we had beans Saturday and they ain't all gone yet, so I
+presume we'll have 'em till the last one's swallowed. Aunt Debby's got
+what the piece in the Reader used to call a 'frugal mind.' She don't
+intend to waste anything. Last Thursday I spunked up courage enough to
+yell for salt fish and potatoes--fixed up with pork scraps, you know,
+same's we used to have when I was a boy. We had 'em all right, and if
+beans of a Saturday hadn't been part of her religion we'd be warmin' 'em
+up yet. I took in a cat for company 'tother day, but the critter's
+run away. To see it look at the beans in its saucer and then at me was
+pitiful; I felt like handin' myself over to the Cruelty to Animals'
+folks.”
+
+“Is she neat?” inquired Mr. Tidditt.
+
+“I don't know. I guess so--on the installment plan. It takes her a week
+to scrub up the kitchen, and then one end of it is so dirty she has to
+begin again. Consequently the dust is so thick in the rest of the house
+that I can see my tracks. If 'twan't so late in the season I'd plant
+garden stuff in the parlor--nice soil and lots of shade, with the
+curtains down.”
+
+From the rooms in the rear came the words of a gospel hymn sung in a
+tremulous soprano and at concert pitch.
+
+“Music with my meals, just like a high-toned restaurant,” commented
+Captain Cy.
+
+“But what makes her sing so everlastin' LOUD?”
+
+“Can't hear herself if she don't. I could stand her deefness, because
+that's an affliction and we may all come to it; but--”
+
+The housekeeper, still singing, entered the room and planted herself in
+a chair.
+
+“Good evenin', Mr. Tidditt,” she said, smiling genially. “Nice weather
+we've been havin'.”
+
+Asaph nodded.
+
+“Sociable critter, ain't she!” observed the captain. “Always willin' to
+help entertain. Comes and sets up with me till bedtime. Tells about
+her family troubles. Preaches about her niece out West, and how set the
+niece and the rest of the Western relations are to have her make 'em a
+visit. I told her she better go--I thought 'twould do her good. I know
+'twould help ME consider'ble to see her start.
+
+“She's got so now she finds fault with my neckties,” he added, “says I
+must be careful and not get my feet wet. Picks out what I ought to wear
+so's I won't get cold. She'll adopt me pretty soon. Oh, it's all right!
+She can't hear what you say. Are your dishes done?” he shrieked, turning
+to the old lady.
+
+“One? One what?” inquired Mrs. Beasley.
+
+“They won't BE done till you go, Ase,” continued the master of the
+house. “She'll stay with us till the last gun fires. T'other day
+Angie Phinney called and I turned Debby loose on her. I didn't believe
+anything could wear out Angie's talkin' machinery, but she did it.
+Angeline stayed twenty minutes and then quit, hoarse as a crow.”
+
+Here the widow joined in the conversation, evidently under the
+impression that nothing had been said since she last spoke. Continuing
+her favorable comments on the weather she observed that she was glad
+there was so little fog, because fog was hard for folks with “neuralgy
+pains.” Her brother's wife's cousin had “neuralgy” for years, and
+she described his sufferings with enthusiasm and infinite detail. Mr.
+Tidditt answered her questions verbally at first; later by nods and
+shakes of the head. Captain Cy fidgeted in his chair.
+
+“Come on outdoor, Ase,” he said at last. “No use to wait till she runs
+down, 'cause she's a self-winder, guaranteed to keep goin' for a year.
+Good-night!” he shouted, addressing Mrs. Beasley, and heading for the
+door.
+
+“Where you goin'?” asked the old lady.
+
+“No. Yes. Who said so? Hooray! Three cheers for Gen'ral Scott! Come on,
+Ase!” And the captain, seizing his friend by the arm, dragged him into
+the open air, and slammed the door.
+
+“Are you crazy?” demanded the astonished town clerk. “What makes you
+talk like that?”
+
+“Might as well. She wouldn't understand it any better if 'twas
+Scripture, and it saves brain work. The only satisfaction I get is
+bein' able to give my opinion of her and the grub without hurtin' her
+feelin's. If I called her a wooden-headed jumpin' jack she'd only smile
+and say No, she didn't think 'twas goin' to rain, or somethin' just as
+brilliant.”
+
+“Well, why don't you give her her walkin' papers?”
+
+“I shall, when her month's up.”
+
+“I wouldn't wait no month. I'd heave her overboard to-night. You hear
+ME!”
+
+Captain Cy shook his head.
+
+“I can't, very well,” he replied. “I hate to make her feel TOO bad. When
+the month's over I'll have some excuse ready, maybe. The joke of it is
+that she don't really need to work out. She's got some money of her
+own, owns cranberry swamps and I don't know what all. Says she took up
+Bailey's offer 'cause she cal'lated I'd be company for her. I had to
+laugh, even in the face of those beans, when she said that.”
+
+“Humph! if I don't tell Bailey what I think of him, then--”
+
+“No, no! Don't you say a word to Bailey. It's principally on his account
+that I'm tryin' to stick it out for the month. Bailey did his best; he
+thought he was helpin'. And he feels dreadfully because she's so deef.
+Only yesterday he asked me if I believed there was anything made that
+would fix her up and make it more comfortable for me. I could have
+prescribed a shotgun, but I didn't. You see, he thinks her deefness
+is the only trouble; I haven't told him the rest, and don't you do it,
+either. Bailey's a good-hearted chap.”
+
+“Humph! his heart may be good, but his head's goin' to seed. I'll keep
+quiet if 'twill please you, though.”
+
+“Yes. And, see here, Ase! I don't care to be the laughin' stock of
+Bayport. If any of the folks ask you how I like my new housekeeper, you
+tell 'em there's nothin' like her anywhere. That's no lie.”
+
+So Mrs. Beasley stayed on at the Whittaker place and, thanks to Mr.
+Tidditt, the general opinion of inquisitive Bayport was that the new
+housekeeper was a grand success. Only Captain Cy and Asaph knew the
+whole truth, and Mr. Bangs a part. That part, Deborah's deafness,
+troubled him not a little and he thought much concerning it. As a result
+of this thinking he wrote a letter to a relative in Boston. The answer
+to this letter pleased him and he wrote again.
+
+One afternoon, during the third week of Mrs. Beasley's stay, Asaph
+called and found Captain Cy in the sitting room, reading the Breeze. The
+captain urged his friend to remain and have supper. “We've run out of
+beans, Ase,” he explained, “and are just startin' in on a course of
+boiled cod. Do stay and eat a lot; then there won't be so much to warm
+over.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt accepted the invitation, also a section of the Breeze. While
+they were reading they heard the back door slam.
+
+“It's the graven image,” explained the captain. “She's been on a
+cruise down town somewheres. Be a lot of sore throats in that direction
+to-morrow mornin'.”
+
+The town clerk looked up.
+
+“There now!” he exclaimed. “I believe 'twas her I saw walkin' with
+Bailey a spell ago. I thought so, but I didn't have my specs and I wan't
+sure.”
+
+“With Bailey, hey? Humph! this is serious. Hope Ketury didn't see 'em.
+We mustn't have any scandal.”
+
+The housekeeper entered the dining room. She was singing “Beulah Land,”
+ but her tone was more subdued than usual. They heard her setting the
+table.
+
+“How's she gettin' along?” asked Asaph.
+
+“Progressin' backwards, same as ever. She's no better, thank you, and
+the doctor's given up hopes.”
+
+“When you goin' to tell her she can clear out?”
+
+“What?” Captain Cy had returned to his paper and did not hear the
+question.
+
+“I say when is she goin' to be bounced? Deefness ain't catchin', is it?”
+
+“I wouldn't wonder if it might be. If 'tis, mine ought to be developin'
+fast. What makes her so still all at once?”
+
+“Gone to the kitchen, I guess. Wonder she hasn't sailed in and set down
+with us. Old chromo! You must be glad her month's most up?”
+
+Asaph proceeded to give his opinion of the housekeeper, raising his
+voice almost to a howl, as his indignation grew. If Mrs. Beasley's ears
+had been ordinary ones she might have heard the unflattering description
+in the kitchen; as it was Mr. Tidditt felt no fear.
+
+“Comin' here so's you could be company for her! The idea! Good to
+herself, ain't she! Godfrey scissors! And Bailey was fool enough to--”
+
+“There, there! Don't let it worry you, Ase. I've about decided what
+to say when I let her go. I'll tell her she is gettin' too old to be
+slavin' herself to death. You see, I don't want to make the old critter
+cry, nor I don't want her to get mad. Judgin' by the way she used to
+coax the cat outdoors with the broom handle she's got somethin' of a
+temper when she gets started. I'll give her an extry month's wages,
+and--”
+
+“You will, hey? You WILL?”
+
+The interruption came from behind the partially closed dining-room door.
+Mr. Tidditt sank back in his chair. Captain Cy sprang from his and threw
+the door wide open. Behind it crouched Mrs. Deborah Beasley. Her eyes
+snapped behind her spectacles, her lean form was trembling all over, and
+in her right hand she held a mammoth trumpet, the smaller end of which
+was connected with her ear.
+
+“You will, hey?” she screamed, brandishing her left fist, but still
+keeping the ear trumpet in place with her right. “You WILL? Well, I
+don't want none of your miser'ble money! Land knows how you made it,
+anyhow, and I wouldn't soil my hands with it. After all I've put up
+with, and the way I've done my work, and the things I've had to eat,
+and--and--”
+
+She paused for breath. Captain Cy scratched his chin. Asaph, gazing
+open-mouthed at the trumpet, stirred in his chair. Mrs. Beasley swooped
+down upon him like a gull on a minnow.
+
+“And you!” she shrieked. “You! a miserable little, good-for-nothin',
+lazy, ridiculous, dried-up-- . . . Oo--oo--OH! You call yourself a town
+clerk! YOU do! I--I wouldn't have you clerk for a hen house! I'm an old
+chromo, be I? Yes! that's nice talk, ain't it, to a woman old enough
+to be--that is--er--er--'most as old as you be! You sneakin',
+story-tellin', little, fat THING, you! You--oh, I can't lay my tongue to
+words to tell you WHAT you are.”
+
+“You're doin' pretty well, seems to me,” observed Captain Cy dryly. “I
+wouldn't be discouraged if I was you.”
+
+The only effect of this remark was to turn the wordy torrent in his
+direction. The captain bore it for a while; then he rose to his feet and
+commanded silence.
+
+“That's enough! Stop it!” he ordered, and, strange to say, Mrs. Beasley
+did stop. “I'm sorry, Debby,” he went on, “but you had no business to be
+listenin' even if--” and he smiled grimly, “you have got a new fog horn
+to hear with. You can go and pack your things as soon as you want to. I
+made up my mind the first day you come that you and me wouldn't cruise
+together long, and this only shortens the trip by a week or so. I'll pay
+you for this month and for the next, and I guess, when you come to think
+it over, you'll be willin' to risk soilin' your hands with the money.
+It's your own fault if anybody knows that you didn't leave of your own
+accord. _I_ shan't tell, and I'll see that Tidditt doesn't. Now trot!
+Ase and I'll get supper ourselves.”
+
+It was evident that the ex-housekeeper had much more which she would
+have liked to say. But there was that in her late employer's manner
+which caused her to forbear. She slammed out of the room, and they heard
+her banging things about on the floor above.
+
+“But where--WHERE,” repeated Mr. Tidditt, over and over, “did she get
+that trumpet?”
+
+The puzzle was solved soon after, when Bailey Bangs entered the house in
+a high state of excitement.
+
+“Well,” he demanded, expectantly. “Did they help her? Has anything
+happened?”
+
+“HAPPENED!” began Asaph, but Captain Cy silenced him by a wink.
+
+“Yes,” answered the captain; “something's happened. Why?”
+
+“Hurrah! I thought 'twould. She can hear better, can't she?”
+
+“Yes, I guess it's safe to say she can.”
+
+“Good! You can thank me for it. When I see how dreadful deef she was I
+wrote my cousin Eddie T, who's an optician up to Boston--you know him,
+Ase--and I says: 'Ed, you know what's good for folks who can't see?
+Ain't there nothin',' says I, 'that'll help them who can't hear? How
+about ear trumpets?' And Ed wrote that an ear trumpet would probably
+help some, but why didn't I try a pair of them patent fixin's that are
+made to put inside deef people's ears? He'd known of cases where they
+helped a lot. So I sent for a pair, and the biggest ear trumpet made,
+besides. And when I met Debby to-day I give 'em to her and told her to
+put the patent things IN her ears and couple on the trumpet outside
+'em. And not to say nothin' to you, but just surprise you. And it did
+surprise you, didn't it?”
+
+The wrathful Mr. Tidditt could wait no longer. He burst into a vivid
+description of the “surprise.” Bailey was aghast. Captain Cy laughed
+until his face was purple.
+
+“I declare, Cy!” exclaimed the dejected purchaser of the “ear fixin's”
+ and the trumpet. “I do declare I'm awful sorry! if you'd only told me
+she was no good I'd have let her alone; but I thought 'twas just the
+deefness. I--I--”
+
+“I know, Bailey; you meant well, like the layin'-on-of-hands doctor who
+rubbed the rheumatic man's wooden leg. All right; _I_ forgive you. 'Twas
+worth it all to see Asaph's face when Marm Beasley was complimentin'
+him. Ha! ha! Oh, dear me! I've laughed till I'm sore. But there's one
+thing I SHOULD like to do, if you don't mind: I should like to pick out
+my next housekeeper myself.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A FRONT-DOOR CALLER
+
+
+Mrs. Beasley departed next morning, taking with her the extra month's
+wages, in spite of fervid avowals that she wouldn't touch a cent of
+it. On the way to the depot she favored Mr. Lumley with sundry hints
+concerning the reasons for her departure. She “couldn't stand it no
+longer”; if folks only knew what she'd had to put up with she cal'lated
+they'd be some surprised; she could “tell a few things” if she wanted
+to, and so on. Incidentally she was kind of glad she didn't like the
+place, because now she cal'lated she should go West and visit her niece;
+they'd been wanting her to come for so long.
+
+Gabe was much interested and repeated the monologue, with imaginative
+additions, to the depot master, who, in turn, repeated it to his wife
+when he went home to dinner. That lady attended sewing circle in the
+afternoon. Next day a large share of Bayport's conversation dealt with
+the housekeeper's leaving and her reasons therefor. The reasons
+differed widely, according to the portion of the town in which they were
+discussed, but it was the general opinion that the whole affair was not
+creditable to Captain Whittaker.
+
+Only at the perfect boarding house was the captain upheld. Miss Phinney
+declared that she knew he had made a mistake as soon as she heard the
+Beasley woman talk; nobody else, so Angeline declared, could “get a word
+in edgeways.” Mrs. Tripp sighed and affirmed that going out of town for
+a woman to do housework was ridiculous on the face of it; there were
+plenty of Bayport ladies, women of capability and sound in their
+religious views, who might be hired if they were approached in the right
+way. Keturah gave, as her opinion, that if the captain knew when he was
+well off, he would “take his meals out.” Asaph snorted and intimated
+that that Debby Beasley wasn't fit to “keep house in a pigsty, and
+anybody but a born gump would have known it.” Bailey, the “born gump,”
+ said nothing, but looked appealingly at his chum.
+
+As for Captain Cy, he did not take the trouble to affirm or deny the
+rumors. Peace and quiet dominated the Whittaker house for the first time
+in three weeks and its owner was happier. He cooked his own food and
+washed his own dishes. The runaway cat ventured to return, found other
+viands than beans in its saucer, and decided to remain, purring thankful
+contentment. The captain made his own bed, after a fashion, when he was
+ready to occupy it, but he was conscious that it might be better made.
+He refused, however, to spend his time in sweeping and dusting, and
+the dust continued to accumulate on the carpets and furniture. This
+condition of affairs troubled him, but he kept his own counsel. Asaph
+and Bailey called often, but they offered no more suggestions as to
+hiring a housekeeper. Mr. Tidditt might have done so, but the captain
+gave him no encouragement. Mr. Bangs, recent humiliation fresh in his
+mind, would as soon have suggested setting the house on fire.
+
+One evening Asaph happened in, on his way to Simmons's. He desired
+the captain to accompany him to that gathering place of the wise and
+talkative. Captain Cy was in the sitting room, a sheet of note paper in
+his hand. The town clerk entered without ceremony and tossed his hat on
+the sofa.
+
+“Evenin', Ase,” observed the captain, folding the sheet of paper and
+putting it into his pocket. “Glad you come. Sit down. I wanted to ask
+you somethin'.”
+
+“All right! Here I be. Heave ahead and ask.”
+
+Captain Cy puffed at his pipe. He seemed about to speak and then to
+think better of it, for he crossed his legs and smoked on in silence,
+gazing at the nickel work of the “base-burner” stove. It was badly in
+need of polishing.
+
+“Well?” inquired Asaph, with impatient sarcasm. “Thinkin' of askin' me
+to build a fire for you, was you? Nobody else but you would have set up
+a stove in summer time, anyhow.”
+
+“Hey? No, you needn't start a fire yet awhile. That necktie of yours 'll
+keep us warm till fall, I shouldn't wonder. New one, ain't it? Where'd
+you get it?”
+
+Mr. Tidditt was wearing a crocheted scarf of a brilliant crimson hue,
+particularly becoming to his complexion. The complexion now brightened
+until it was almost a match for the tie.
+
+“Oh!” he said, with elaborate indifference. “That? Yes, it's new.
+Yesterday was my birthday, and Matildy Tripp she knew I needed a
+necktie, so she give me this one.”
+
+“Oh! One she knit purpose for you, then? Dear me! Look out, Ase. Widow
+women are dangerous, they say; presents are one of the first baits they
+heave out.”
+
+“Don't be foolish, now! I couldn't chuck it back at her, could I? That
+would be pretty manners. You needn't talk about widders--not after
+Debby! Ho! ho!”
+
+Captain Cy chuckled. Then he suddenly became serious.
+
+“Ase,” he said, “you remember the time when the Howes folks had this
+house? Course you do. Yes; well, was there any of their relations here
+with 'em? A--a cousin, or somethin'?”
+
+“No, not as I recollect. Yes, there was, too, come to think. A third
+cousin, Mary Thayer her name was. I THINK she was a third cousin of
+Betsy Howes, Seth Howes's second wife. Betsy's name was Ginn afore
+she married, and the Ginns was related on their ma's side to a
+Richards--Emily Richards, I think 'twas--and Emily married a Thayer.
+Would that make this Mary a third cousin? Now let's see; Sarah Jane
+Ginn, she had an aunt who kept a boardin' house in Harniss. I remember
+that, 'count of her sellin' my Uncle Bije a pig. Seems to me 'twas a
+pig, but I ain't sure that it mightn't have been a settin' of Plymouth
+Rock hens' eggs. Anyhow, Uncle Bije KEPT hens, because I remember one
+time--”
+
+“There! there! we'll be out of sight of land in a minute. This Mary
+Thayer--old, was she?”
+
+“No, no! Just a young girl, eighteen or twenty or so. Pretty and nice
+and quiet as ever I see. By Godfrey, she WAS pretty! I wan't as old as I
+be now, and--”
+
+“Ase, don't tell your heart secrets, even to me. I might get
+absent-minded and mention 'em to Matildy. And then--whew!”
+
+“If you don't stop tryin' to play smarty I'll go home. What's Matildy
+Tripp to me, I'd like to know? And even when Mary Thayer was here I was
+old enough to be her dad. But I remember what a nice girl she was and
+how the boarders liked her. They used to say she done more than all the
+Howes tribe put together to make the Sea Sight House a good hotel. Young
+as she was she done most of the housekeepin' and done it well. If the
+rest of 'em had been like her you mightn't have had the place yet, Whit.
+But what set you to thinkin' about her?”
+
+“Oh, I don't know! Nothin' much; that is--well, I'll tell you some other
+time. What became of her?”
+
+“She went up to New Hampshire along with the Howes folks and I ain't
+seen her since. Seems to me I did hear she was married. See here, Whit,
+what is it about her? Tell a feller; come!”
+
+But Captain Cy refused to gratify his chum's lively curiosity. Also he
+refused to go to Simmons's that evening, saying that he was tired and
+guessed he'd stay at home and “turn in early.” Mr. Tidditt departed
+grumbling. After he had gone the captain drew his chair nearer the
+center table, took from his pocket a sheet of notepaper, and proceeded
+to read what was written on its pages. It was a letter which he had
+received nearly a month before and had not yet answered. During the past
+week he had read it many times. The writing was cramped and blotted and
+the paper cheap and dingy. The envelope bore the postmark of a small
+town in Indiana, and the inclosure was worded as follows:
+
+
+CAPTAIN CYRUS WHITTAKER.
+
+DEAR SIR: I suppose you will be a good deal surprised to hear from me,
+especially from way out West here. When you bought the old house of
+Seth, he and I was living in Concord, N. H. He couldn't make a go of his
+business there, so we came West and he has been sick most of the time
+since. We ain't well off like you, and times are hard with us. What I
+wanted to write you about was this. My cousin Mary Thomas, Mary Thayer
+that was, is still living in Concord and she is poor and needs help,
+though I don't suppose she would ask for it, being too proud. False
+pride I call it. Me and Seth would like to do something for her, but we
+have a hard enough job to keep going ourselves. Mary married a man
+by the name of Henry Thomas, and he turned out to be a miserable
+good-for-nothing, as I always said he would. She wouldn't listen to
+me though. He run off and left her seven year ago last April, and I
+understand was killed or drowned somewheres up in Montana. Mary and
+[several words scratched out here] got along somehow since, but I don't
+know how. While we lived in Concord Seth sort of kept an eye on her, but
+now he can't of course. She's a good girl, or woman rather, being most
+forty, and would make a good housekeeper if you should need one as I
+suppose likely you will. If you could help her it would be an act of
+charity and you will be rewarded Above. Seth says why not write to her
+and tell her to come and see you? He feels bad about her, because he is
+so sick I suppose. And he knows you are rich and could do good if you
+felt like it. Her father's name was John Thayer. I wouldn't wonder if
+you used to know her mother. She was Emily Richards afore she married
+and they used to live in Orham.
+
+Yours truly,
+
+ELIZABETH HOWES.
+
+P.S.--Mary's address is Mrs. Mary Thomas, care Mrs. Oliver, 128 Blank
+Street, Concord, N. H.
+
+N.B.--Seth won't say so, but I will: we are very hard up ourselves and
+if you could help him and me with the loan of a little money it would be
+thankfully received.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter, folded it, and replaced it in his pocket.
+He knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation was that
+of general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money matters. Betsy's
+personal appeal did not, therefore, touch his heart to any great extent.
+He surmised also that for Seth Howes and his wife to ask help for some
+person other than themselves premised a darky in the woodpile somewhere.
+But for the daughter of Emily Richards to be suggested as a possible
+housekeeper at the Cy Whittaker place--that was interesting, certainly.
+
+When the captain was not a captain--when he was merely “young Cy,” a
+boy, living with his parents, a dancing school was organized in Bayport.
+It was an innovation for our village, and frowned upon by many of the
+older and stricter inhabitants. However, most of the captain's
+boy friends were permitted to attend; young Cy was not. His father
+considered dancing a waste of time and, if not wicked, certainly
+frivolous and nonsensical. So the boy remained at home, but, in spite of
+the parental order, he practiced some of the figures of the quadrilles
+and the contra dances in his comrades' barns, learning them at second
+hand, so to speak.
+
+One winter there was to be a party in Orham, given by the Nickersons,
+wealthy people with a fifteen-year-old daughter. It was to be a grand
+affair, and most of the boys and girls in the neighboring towns were
+invited. Cy received an invitation, and, for a wonder, was permitted to
+attend. The Bayport contingent went over in a big hayrick on runners and
+the moonlight ride was jolly enough. The Nickerson mansion was crowded
+and there were music and dancing.
+
+Young Cy was miserable during the dancing. He didn't dare attempt it, in
+spite of his lessons in the barn. So, while the rest of his boy friends
+sought partners for the “Portland Fancy” and “Hull's Victory” he sat
+forlorn in a corner.
+
+As he sat there he was approached by a young lady, radiant in muslin
+and ribbons. She was three or four years older than he was, and he had
+worshipped her from afar as she whirled up and down the line in the
+Virginia Reel. She never lacked partners and seemed to be a great
+favorite with the young men, especially one good-looking chap with a
+sunburned face, who looked like a sailor.
+
+They were forming sets for “Money Musk”; it was “ladies' choice,” and
+there was a demand for more couples. The young lady came ever to Cy's
+corner and laughingly dropped him a courtesy.
+
+“If you please,” she said, “I want a partner. Will you do me the honor?”
+
+Cy blushingly avowed that he couldn't dance any to speak of.
+
+“Oh, yes, you can! I'm sure you can. You're the Whittaker boy, aren't
+you? I've heard about your barn lessons. And I want you to try this
+with me. Please do. No, John,” she added, turning to the sunburned young
+fellow who had followed her across the room; “this is my choice and here
+is my partner. Susie Taylor is after you and you mustn't run away. Come,
+Mr. Whittaker.”
+
+So Cy took her arm and they danced “Money Musk” together. He made but
+a few mistakes, and these she helped him to correct so easily that none
+noticed. His success gave him courage and he essayed other dances; in
+fact, he had a very good time at the party after all.
+
+On the way home he thought a great deal about the pretty young lady,
+whose name he discovered was Emily Richards. He decided that if she
+would only wait for him, he might like to marry her when he grew up.
+But he was thirteen and she was seventeen, and the very next year she
+married John Thayer, the sailor in the blue suit. And two years after
+that young Cy ran away to be a sailor himself.
+
+In spite of his age and his lifetime of battering about the world,
+Captain Cy had a sentimental streak in his makeup; his rejuvenation of
+the old home proved that. Betsy's letter interested him. He had made
+guarded inquiries concerning Mary Thayer, now Mary Thomas, of others
+besides Asaph, and the answers had been satisfactory so far as they
+went; those who remembered her had liked her very much. The captain
+had even begun a letter to Mrs. Thomas, but laid it aside unfinished,
+having, since Bailey's unfortunate experience with the widow Beasley, a
+prejudice against experiments.
+
+But this evening, before Mr. Tidditt called, he had been thinking that
+something would have to be done and done soon. The generally shiftless
+condition of his domestic surroundings was getting to be unbearable.
+Dust and dirt did not fit into his mental picture of the old home as
+it used to be and as he had tried to restore it. There had been neither
+dust nor dirt in his mother's day.
+
+He meditated and smoked for another hour. Then, his mind being made up,
+he pulled down the desk lid of the old-fashioned secretary, resurrected
+from a pile of papers the note he had begun to Mrs. Thomas, dipped a
+sputtering pen into the ink bottle and proceeded to write.
+
+His letter was a short one and rather noncommittal. As Mrs. Thomas no
+doubt knew he had come back to live in his father's house at Bayport. He
+might possibly need some one to keep house for him. He understood that
+she, Mary Thayer that was, was a good housekeeper and that she was open
+to an engagement if everything was mutually satisfactory. He had known
+her mother slightly when the latter lived in Orham. He thought an
+interview might be pleasant, for they could talk over old times if
+nothing more. Perhaps, on the whole, she might care to risk a trip
+to Bayport, therefore he inclosed money for her railroad fare. “You
+understand, of course,” so he wrote in conclusion, “that nothing may
+come of our meeting at all. So please don't say a word to anybody when
+you strike town. You've lived here yourself, and you know that three
+words hove overboard in Bayport will dredge up gab enough to sink a
+dictionary. So just keep mum till the business is settled one way or the
+other.”
+
+He put on his hat and went down to the post office, where he dropped
+his letter in the slot of the box fastened to the front door. Then he
+returned home and retired at exactly eleven o'clock. In spite of his
+remarks to Asaph, he had not “turned in” so early after all.
+
+If the captain expected a prompt reply to his note he was disappointed.
+A week passed and he heard nothing. Then three more days and still no
+word from the New Hampshire widow. Meanwhile fresh layers of dust spread
+themselves over the Whittaker furniture, and the gaudy patterns of the
+carpets blushed dimly beneath a grimy fog. The situation was desperate;
+even Matilda Tripp, Come-Outer sermons and all, began to be thinkable as
+a possibility.
+
+The eleventh day began with a pouring rain that changed, later on, to a
+dismal drizzle. The silver-leaf tree in the front yard dripped, and the
+overflowing gutters gurgled and splashed. The bay was gray and lonely,
+and the fish weirs along the outer bar were lost in the mist. The
+flowers in the Atkins urns were draggled and beaten down. Only the iron
+dogs glistened undaunted as the wet ran off their newly painted backs.
+The air was heavy, and the salty flavor of the flats might almost be
+tasted in it.
+
+Captain Cy was in the sitting room, as usual. His spirits were as gray
+as the weather. He was actually lonesome for the first time since his
+return home. He had kindled a wood fire in the stove, just for the
+sociability of it, and the crackle and glow behind the isinglass panes
+only served to remind him of other days and other fires. The sitting
+room had not been lonesome then.
+
+He heard the depot wagon rattle by and, peering from the window, saw
+that, except for Mr. Lumley, it was empty. Not even a summer boarder had
+come to brighten our ways and lawns with reckless raiment and the newest
+slang. Summer boarding season was almost over now. Bayport would soon be
+as dull as dish water. And the captain admitted to himself that it WAS
+dull. He had half a mind to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round
+of the wharves, and see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains
+whom he had once known were still alive and in harness.
+
+“JINGLE! Jingle! JINGLE! Jingle! Jingle! Jing! Jing! Jing!”
+
+Captain Cy bounced in his chair. That was the front-door bell. The
+FRONT-door bell! Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport, would come to
+the FRONT door?
+
+He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered the
+little dark front hall. The bell was still swinging at the end of its
+coil of wire. The dust shaken from it still hung in the air. The captain
+unbolted and unlocked the big front door.
+
+A girl was standing on the steps between the lines of box hedge--a
+little girl under a big “grown-up” umbrella. The wet dripped from the
+umbrella top and from the hem of the little girl's dress.
+
+Captain Cy stared hard at his visitor; he knew most of the children
+in Bayport, but he didn't know this one. Obviously she was a stranger.
+Portuguese children from “up Harniss way” sometimes called to peddle
+huckleberries, but this child was no “Portugee.”
+
+“Hello!” exclaimed the captain wonderingly.
+
+“Did you ring the bell?”
+
+“Yes, sir,” replied the girl.
+
+“Humph! Did, hey? Why?”
+
+“Why? Why, I thought--Isn't it a truly bell? Didn't it ought to ring? Is
+anybody sick or dead? There isn't any crape.”
+
+“Dead? Crape?” Captain Cy gasped. “What in the world put that in your
+head?”
+
+“Well, I didn't know but maybe that was why you thought I hadn't ought
+to have rung it. When mamma was sick they didn't let people ring our
+bell. And when she died they tied it up with crape.”
+
+“Did, hey? Hum!” The captain scratched his chin and gazed at the small
+figure before him. It was a self-poised, matter-of-fact figure for such
+a little one, and, out there in the rain under the tent roof of the
+umbrella, it was rather pitiful.
+
+“Please, sir,” said the child, “are you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?”
+
+“Yup! That's me. You've guessed it the first time.”
+
+“Yes, sir. I've got a letter for you. It's pinned inside my dress. If
+you could hold this umbrella maybe I could get it out.”
+
+She extended the big umbrella at arm's length, holding it with both
+hands. Captain Cy woke up.
+
+“Good land!” he exclaimed, “what am I thinkin' of? You're soakin' wet
+through, ain't you?”
+
+“I guess I'm pretty wet. It's a long ways from the depot, and I tried to
+come across the fields, because a boy said it was nearer, and the bushes
+were--”
+
+“Across the FIELDS? Have you walked all the way from the depot?”
+
+“Yes, sir. The man said it was a quarter to ride, and auntie said I must
+be careful of my money because--”
+
+“By the big dipper! Come in! Come in out of that this minute!”
+
+He sprang down the steps, furled the umbrella, seized her by the arm and
+led her into the house, through the parlor and into the sitting room,
+where the fire crackled invitingly. He could feel that the dress sleeve
+under his hand was wet through, and the worn boots and darned stockings
+he could see were soaked likewise.
+
+“There!” he cried. “Set down in that chair. Put your feet up on that
+h'ath. Sakes alive! Your folks ought to know better than to let you stir
+out this weather, let alone walkin' a mile--and no rubbers! Them shoes
+ought to come off this minute, I s'pose. Take 'em off. You can dry your
+stockings better that way. Off with 'em!”
+
+“Yes, sir,” said the child, stooping to unbutton the shoes. Her
+wet fingers were blue. It can be cold in our village, even in early
+September, when there is an easterly storm. Unbuttoning the shoes was
+slow work.
+
+“Here, let me help you!” commanded the captain, getting down on one knee
+and taking a foot in his lap. “Tut! tut! tut! you're wet! Been some
+time sence I fussed with button boots; lace or long-legged cowhides come
+handier. Never wore cowhides, did you?”
+
+“No, sir.”
+
+“I s'pose not. I used to when I was little. Remember the first pair I
+had. Copper toes on 'em--whew! The copper was blacked over when they
+come out of the store and that wouldn't do, so we used to kick a stone
+wall till they brightened up. There! there she comes. Humph! stockin's
+soaked, too. Wish I had some dry ones to lend you. Might give you a pair
+of mine, but they'd be too scant fore and aft and too broad in the beam,
+I cal'late. Humph! and your top-riggin's as wet as your hull. Been on
+your beam ends, have you?”
+
+“I don't know, sir. I fell down in the bushes coming across. There were
+vines and they tripped me up. And the umbrella was so heavy that--”
+
+“Yes, I could see right off you was carryin' too much canvas. Now take
+off your bunnit and I'll get a coat of mine to wrap you up in.”
+
+He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy “reefer” jacket.
+Ordering his caller to stand up he slipped her arms into the sleeves
+and turned the collar up about her neck. Her braided “pigtail” of yellow
+hair stuck out over the collar and hung down her back in a funny
+way. The coat sleeves reached almost to her knees and the coat itself
+enveloped her like a bed quilt.
+
+“There!” said Captain Cy approvingly. “Now you look more as if you was
+under a storm rig. Set down and toast your toes. Where's that letter you
+said you had?”
+
+“It's inside here. I don't know's I can get at it; these sleeves are so
+long.”
+
+“Reef 'em. Turn 'em up. Let me show you. That's better! Hum! So you come
+from the depot, hey? Live up that way?”
+
+“No, sir! I used to live in Concord, but--”
+
+“Concord? CONCORD? Concord where?”
+
+“Concord, New Hampshire. I came on the cars. Auntie knew a man who was
+going to Boston, and he said he'd take care of me as far as that and
+then put me on the train to come down here. I stopped at his folks'
+house in Charlestown last night, and this morning we got up early and he
+bought me a ticket and started me for here. I had a box with my things
+in it, but it was so heavy I couldn't carry it, so I left it up at the
+depot. The man there said it would be all right and you could send for
+it when--”
+
+“I could SEND for it? _I_ could? What in the world--Say, child, you've
+made a mistake in your bearin's. 'Taint me you want to see, it's some of
+your folks, relations, most likely. Tell me who they are; maybe I know
+'em.”
+
+The girl sat upright in the big chair. Her dark eyes opened wide and her
+chin quivered.
+
+“Ain't you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?” she demanded. “You said you was.”
+
+“Yes, yes, I am. I'm Cy Whittaker, but what--”
+
+“Well, auntie told me--”
+
+“Auntie! Auntie who?”
+
+“Auntie Oliver. She isn't really my auntie, but mamma and me lived in
+her house for ever so long and so--”
+
+“Wait! wait! wait! I'm hull down in the fog. This is gettin' too thick
+for ME. Your auntie's name's Oliver and you lived in Concord, New
+Hampshire. For--for thunder sakes, what's YOUR name?”
+
+“Emily Richards Thomas.”
+
+“Em--Emily--Richards--Thomas”
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“Emily Richards Thomas! What was your ma's name?”
+
+“Mamma was Mrs. Thomas. Her front name was Mary. She's dead. Don't you
+want to see your letter? I've got it now.”
+
+She lifted one of the flapping coat sleeves and extended a crumpled,
+damp envelope. Captain Cy took it in a dazed fashion and drew a long
+breath. Then he tore open the envelope and read the following:
+
+
+DEAR CAPTAIN WHITTAKER:
+
+The bearer of this is Emily Richards Thomas. She is seven, going on
+eight, but old for her years. Her mother was Mary Thomas that used to
+be Mary Thayer. It was her you wrote to about keeping house for you, but
+she had been dead a fortnight before your letter come. She had bronchial
+pneumonia and it carried her off, having always been delicate and
+with more troubles to bear than she could stand, poor thing. Since her
+husband, who I say was a scamp even if he is dead, left her and the
+baby, she has took rooms with me and done sewing and such. When she
+passed away I wrote to Seth Howes, a relation of hers out West, and, so
+far as I know, the only one she had. I told the Howes man that Mary had
+gone and Emmie was left. Would they take her? I wrote. And Seth's wife
+wrote they couldn't, being poorer than poverty themselves. I was afraid
+she would have to go to a Home, but when your letter came I wrote the
+Howeses again. And Mrs. Howes wrote back that you was rich, and a sort
+of far-off relation of Mary's, and probably you would be glad to take
+the child to bring up. Said that she had some correspondence with you
+about Mary before. So I send Emmie to you. Somebody's got to take care
+of her and I can't afford it, though I would if I could, for she's a
+real nice child and some like her mother. I do hope she can stay with
+you. It seems a shame to send her to the orphan asylum. I send along
+what clothes she's got, which ain't many.
+
+Respectfully yours,
+
+SARAH OLIVER.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter through. Then he wiped his forehead.
+
+“Well!” he muttered. “WELL! I never in my life! I--I never did! Of
+all--”
+
+Emily Richards Thomas looked up from the depths of the coat collar.
+
+“Don't you think,” she said, “that you had better send to the depot for
+my box? I can get dry SOME this way, but mamma always made me change my
+clothes as soon as I could. She used to be afraid I'd get cold.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ICICLES AND DUST
+
+
+Captain Cy did not reply to the request for the box. It is doubtful if
+he even heard it. Mrs. Oliver's astonishing letter had, as he afterwards
+said, left him “high and dry with no tug in sight.” Mary Thomas was
+dead, and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of whose very existence he had
+been ignorant, had suddenly appeared from nowhere and been dropped at
+his door, like an out-of-season May basket, accompanied by the modest
+suggestion that he assume responsibility for her thereafter. No wonder
+the captain wiped his forehead in utter bewilderment.
+
+“Don't you think you'd better send for the box?” repeated the child,
+shivering a little under the big coat.
+
+“Hey? What say? Never mind, though. Just keep quiet for a spell, won't
+you. I want to let this soak in. By the big dipper! Of all the solid
+brass cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole cargo! And
+Betsy Howes never hinted! 'Probably you would be glad to take--' Be
+GLAD! Why, blast their miserable, stingy--What do they take me for? I'LL
+show 'em! Indiana ain't so fur that I can't--Hey? Did you say anything,
+sis?”
+
+The girl had shivered again. “No, sir,” she replied. “It was my teeth, I
+guess. They kind of rattled.”
+
+“What? You ain't cold, are you? With all that round you and in front of
+that fire?”
+
+“No, sir, I guess not. Only my back feels sort of funny, as if somebody
+kept dropping icicles down it. Those bushes and vines were so wet that
+when I tumbled down 'twas most like being in a pond.”
+
+“Sho! sho! That won't do. Can't have you laid up on my hands. That would
+be worse than--Humph! Tut, tut! Somethin' ought to be done, and I'm
+blessed if I know what. And not a woman round the place--not even that
+Debby. Say, look here, what's your name--er--Emmie, hadn't I better get
+the doctor?”
+
+The child looked frightened.
+
+“Why?” she cried, her big eyes opening. “I'm not sick, am I?”
+
+“Sick? No, no! Course not, course not. What would you want to be sick
+for? But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your
+duds are all up to the depot. Say, what does--what did your ma used to
+do when you felt--er--them icicles and things?”
+
+“She changed my clothes and rubbed me. And, if I was VERY wet she put me
+to bed sometimes.”
+
+“Bed? Sure! why, yes, indeed. Bed's a good place to keep off icicles.
+There's my bedroom right in there. You could turn in just as well
+as not. Bunk ain't made yet, but I can shake it up in no time.
+Say--er--er--you can undress yourself, can't you?”
+
+“Oh, yes, sir! Course I can! I'm most eight.”
+
+“Sure you are! Don't act a mite babyish. All right, you set still till I
+shake up that bunk.”
+
+He entered the chamber, his own, opening from the sitting room, and
+proceeded, literally, to “shake up” the bed. It was not a lengthy
+process and, when it was completed, he returned to find his visitor
+already divested of the coat and standing before the stove.
+
+“I guess perhaps you'll have to help undo me behind,” observed the young
+lady. “This is my best dress and I can't reach the buttons in the middle
+of the back.”
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head. Then he clumsily unbuttoned the wet
+waist, glancing rather sheepishly at the window to see if anyone was
+coming.
+
+“So this is your best dress, hey?” he asked, to cover his confusion.
+It was obviously not very new, for it was neatly mended in one or two
+places.
+
+“Yes, sir.”
+
+“So. Where'd you buy it--up to Concord?”
+
+“No, sir. Mamma made it, a year ago.”
+
+There was a little choke in the child's voice. The captain was mightily
+taken back.
+
+“Hum! Yes, yes,” he muttered hurriedly. “Well, there you are. Now you
+can get along, can't you?”
+
+“Yes, sir. Shall I go in that room?”
+
+“Trot right in. You might--er--maybe you might sing out when you're
+tucked up. I--I'll want to know if you're got bedclothes enough.”
+
+Emily disappeared in the bedroom. The door closed. Captain Cy, his hands
+in his pockets, walked up and down the length of the sitting room. The
+expression on his face was a queer one.
+
+“I haven't got any nightgown,” called a voice from the other room. The
+captain gasped.
+
+“Good land! so you ain't,” he exclaimed. “What in the world--Humph! I
+wonder--”
+
+He went to the lower drawer of a tall “highboy” and, from the tumbled
+mass of apparel therein took one of his own night garments.
+
+“Here's one,” he said, coming back with it in his hand. “I guess you'll
+have to make this do for now. It'll fit you enough for three times to
+once, but it's all I've got.”
+
+A small hand reached 'round the edge of the door and the nightshirt
+disappeared. Captain Cy chuckled and resumed his pacing.
+
+“I'm tucked up,” called Miss Thomas. The captain entered and found her
+in bed, the patchwork points and diamonds of the “Rising Sun” quilt
+covering her to the chin and her head denting the uppermost of the two
+big pillows. Captain Cy liked to “sleep high.”
+
+“Got enough over you?” he asked.
+
+“Yes, sir, thank you.”
+
+“That's good. I'll take your togs out and dry 'em in the kitchen. Don't
+be scared; I'll be right back.”
+
+In the kitchen he sorted the wet garments and hung them about the
+cook stove. It was a strange occupation for him and he shook his head
+whimsically as he completed it. Then he took a flat iron, one of Mrs.
+Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the closet and put it in the oven
+to heat. Soon afterwards he returned to the bedroom, bearing the iron
+wrapped in a dish towel.
+
+“My ma always used to put a hot flat to my feet when I was a young one
+and got chilled,” he explained. “I ain't used one for some time, but I
+guess it's a good receipt. How do you feel now? Any more icicles?”
+
+“No, sir. I'm ever so warm. Isn't this a nice bed?”
+
+“Think so, do you? Glad of it. Well, now, I'm goin' to leave you in it
+while I step down street and see about havin' your box sent for. I'll be
+back in a shake. If anybody comes to the door while I'm gone don't you
+worry; let 'em go away again.”
+
+He put on his hat and left the house, walking rapidly, his head down and
+his hands in his pockets. At times he would pause in his walk, whistle,
+shake his head, and go on once more. Josiah Dimick met him, and his
+answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and irrelevant that Captain
+Dimick was puzzled, and later expressed the opinion that “Whit's cookin'
+must be pretty bad; acted to me as if he had dyspepsy of the brain.”
+
+Captain Cy stopped at Mr. Lumley's residence to leave an order for the
+delivery of the box. Then he drifted into Simmons's and accosted Alpheus
+Smalley.
+
+“Al,” he said, “what's good for a cold?”
+
+“Why?” asked Mr. Smalley, in true Yankee fashion. “You got one?”
+
+“Hey? Oh, yes! Yes, I've got one.” By way of proof he coughed until the
+lamp chimneys rattled on the shelf.
+
+“Judas! I should think you had! Well, there's 'Pine Bark Oil' and
+'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla--that's good for most
+everything--and--Is your throat sore?”
+
+“Hey? Yes, I guess so.”
+
+“Don't you KNOW? If you've got sore throat there ain't nothin' better'n
+'Arabian Balsam.' But what in time are you doin' out in this drizzle
+with a cold and no umbrella? Do you want to--”
+
+“Never mind my umbrella. I left it in the church entry t'other Sunday
+and somebody got out afore I did. This 'Arabian Balsam'--seems to me I
+remember my ma's usin' that on me. Wet a rag with it, don't you, and tie
+it round your neck?”
+
+“Yup. Be sure and use a flannel rag, and red flannel if you've got it;
+that acts quicker'n the other kinds. Fifteen cent bottle?”
+
+“I guess so. Might's well give me some sass'p'rilla, while you're about
+it; always handy to have in the house. And--er--say, is that canned soup
+you've got up on that shelf?”
+
+The astonished clerk admitted that it was.
+
+“Well, give me a can of the chicken kind.”
+
+Mr. Smalley, standing on a chair to reach the shelf where the soup was
+kept, shook his head.
+
+“Now, that's too bad, Cap'n,” he said, “but we're all out of chicken
+just now. Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and beef broth.
+Yes, and I declare if the termatter ain't all gone.”
+
+“Humph! then I guess I'll take the beef. Needn't mind wrappin' it up. So
+long.”
+
+He departed bearing his purchases. When Mr. Simmons, proprietor of
+the store, returned, Alpheus told him that he “cal'lated” Captain Cy
+Whittaker was preparing to “go into a decline, or somethin'.”
+
+“Anyhow,” said Alpheus, “he bought sass'p'rilla and 'Arabian Balsam,'
+and I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought three year ago last
+summer, when Alicia Atkins had the chicken pox.”
+
+The captain entered the house quietly and tiptoed to the door of the
+bedroom. Emily was asleep, and the sight of the childish head upon the
+pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it. It looked so natural,
+almost as if it belonged there. It had been in a bed like that and in
+that very room that he had slept when a boy.
+
+Gabe, brimful of curiosity, brought the box a little later. His
+curiosity was ungratified, Captain Cyrus explaining that it was a
+package he had been expecting. The captain took the box to the bedroom,
+and, finding the child still asleep, deposited it on the floor and
+tiptoed out again. He went to the kitchen, poked up the fire, and set
+about getting dinner.
+
+He was warming the beef broth in a saucepan on the stove when Emily
+appeared. She was dressed in dry clothes from the box and seemed to be
+feeling as good as new.
+
+“Hello!” exclaimed Captain Cy. “You're on deck again, hey? How's
+icicles?”
+
+“All gone,” was the reply. “Do you do your own work? Can't I help? I can
+set the table. I used to for Mrs. Oliver.”
+
+The captain protested that he could do it himself just as well, but
+the girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept. From the
+corner of his eye he watched her as she unfolded the tablecloth.
+
+“Is this the only one you've got?” she inquired. “It's awful dirty.”
+
+“Hum! Yes, I ain't tended up to my washin' and ironin' the way I'd ought
+to. I'll lose my job if I don't look out, hey?”
+
+Before they sat down to the meal Captain Cy insisted that his guest
+take a tablespoonful of the sarsaparilla and decorate her throat with
+a section of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.' The perfume of
+the latter was penetrating and might have interfered with a less healthy
+appetite than that of Miss Thomas.
+
+“Have some soup? Some I bought purpose for you. Best thing goin' for
+folks with icicles,” remarked the captain, waving the iron spoon he had
+used to stir the contents of the saucepan.
+
+“Yes, sir, thank you. But don't you ask a blessing?”
+
+“Hey?”
+
+“A blessing, you know. Saying that you're thankful for the food now set
+before us.”
+
+“Hum! Why, to tell you the truth I've kind of neglected that, I'm
+afraid. Bein' thankful for the grub I've had lately was most too much of
+a strain, I shouldn't wonder.”
+
+“I know the one mamma used to say. Shall I ask it for you?”
+
+“Sho! I guess so, if you want to.”
+
+The girl bent her head and repeated a short grace. Captain Cy watched
+her curiously.
+
+“Now, I'll have some soup, please,” observed Emily. “I'm awful hungry.
+I had breakfast at five o'clock this morning and we didn't have a chance
+to eat much.”
+
+A good many times that day the captain caught himself wondering if he
+wasn't dreaming. The whole affair seemed too ridiculous to be an actual
+experience. Dinner over, he and Emmie attended to the dishes, he washing
+and she wiping. And even at this early stage of their acquaintance her
+disposition to take charge of things was apparent. She found fault with
+the dish towels; they were almost as bad as the tablecloth, she said.
+Considering that the same set had been in use since Mrs. Beasley's
+departure, the criticism was not altogether baseless. But the young lady
+did not stop there--her companion's skill as a washer was questioned.
+
+“Excuse me,” she said, “but don't you think that plate had better be
+done over? I guess you didn't see that place in the corner. Perhaps
+you've forgot your specs. Auntie Oliver couldn't see well without her
+specs.”
+
+Captain Cy grinned and admitted that a second washing wouldn't hurt the
+plate.
+
+“I guess your auntie was one of the particular kind,” he said.
+
+“No, sir, 'twas mamma. She couldn't bear dirty things. Auntie used to
+say that mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass. She didn't, though;
+she only liked to be neat. I guess dust doesn't worry men so much as it
+does women.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+“Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so? I'll help
+you clean up by and by, if you want to.”
+
+“YOU will?”
+
+“Yes, sir. I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing. And once
+I swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any more. She
+said 'twas like trying to blow out a match with a tornado.”
+
+Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically
+inspecting the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls. He
+stood watching her for a moment and then asked:
+
+“Well, what are you lookin' for--more dust? 'Twon't be hard to find it.
+'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every time I go outdoor
+and come in again I realize how true that is.”
+
+Emily shook her head.
+
+“No, sir,” she said; “I was only looking at things and thinking.”
+
+“Thinkin', hey? What about? or is that a secret?”
+
+“No, sir. I was thinking that this room was different from any I've ever
+seen.”
+
+“Humph! Yes, I presume likely 'tis. Don't like it very much, do you?”
+
+“Yes, sir, I think I do. It's got a good many things in it that I never
+saw before, but I guess they're pretty--after you get used to 'em.”
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud. “After you get used to 'em, hey?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes, sir. That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet that
+she made herself. I--I was thinking that you must be peculiar.”
+
+“Peculiar?”
+
+“Yes, sir. I like peculiar people. I'm peculiar myself. Auntie used to
+say I was the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came
+to you. P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to live together. Don't you
+think maybe that was it?”
+
+And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.
+
+That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call, peeped
+in at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the Whittaker
+sitting room. Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair which had been
+his grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth
+top, sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine,
+a Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magazines was beside her on the
+floor. The captain was smiling and looking over her shoulder. The cat
+was curled up in another chair. The room looked more homelike than it
+had since its owner returned to it.
+
+The friends entered without knocking. Captain Cy looked up, saw them,
+and appeared embarrassed.
+
+“Hello, boys!” he said. “Glad to see you. Come right in. Clearin' off
+fine, ain't it?”
+
+Mr. Tidditt replied absently that he wouldn't be surprised if it was.
+Bailey, his eyes fixed upon the occupant of the cricket, said nothing.
+
+“We--we didn't know you had company, Whit,” said Asaph. “We been up to
+Simmons's and Alpheus said you was thin and peaked and looked sick. Said
+you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck. He was afraid you had
+fever and was out of your head, cruisin round in the rain with no
+umbrella. The gang weren't talkin' of nothin' else, so me and Bailey
+thought we'd come right down.”
+
+“That's kind of you, I'm sure. Take your things off and set down. No,
+I'm sorry to disappoint Smalley and the rest, but I'm able to be up
+and--er--make my own bed, thank you. So Alpheus thought I looked thin,
+hey? Well, if I had to live on that soup he sold me, I'd be thinner'n I
+am now. You tell him that canned hot water is all right if you like it,
+but it seems a shame to put mud in it. It only changes the color and
+don't help the taste.”
+
+Mr. Bangs, who was still staring at Emily, now ventured a remark.
+
+“Is that a relation of yours, Cy?” he asked.
+
+“That? Oh! Well, no, not exactly. And yet I don't know but she is.
+Fellers, this is Emmie Thomas. Can't you shake hands, Emmie?”
+
+The child rose, laid down the magazine, which was open at the colored
+picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chignons, and, going
+across the room, extended a hand to Mr. Tidditt.
+
+“How do you do, sir?” she said.
+
+“Why--er--how d'ye do? I'm pretty smart, thank you. How's yourself?”
+
+“I'm better now. I guess the sass'parilla was good for me.”
+
+“'Twan't the sass'p'rilla,” observed the captain, with conviction.
+“'Twas the 'Arabian Balsam.' Ma always cured me with it and there's
+nothin' finer.”
+
+“But what in time--” began Bailey. Captain Cy glanced at the child and
+then at the clock.
+
+“Don't you think you'd better turn in now, Emmie?” he said hastily,
+cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query. “It's after eight, and
+when I was little I was abed afore that.”
+
+Emily obediently turned, gathered up the Lady's Books and replaced them
+in the closet. Then she went to the dining room and came back with a
+hand lamp.
+
+“Good night,” she said, addressing the visitors. Then, coming close to
+the captain, she put her face up for a kiss.
+
+“Good night,” she said to him, adding, “I like it here ever so much. I'm
+awful glad you let me stay.”
+
+As Bailey told Asaph afterwards, Captain Cy blushed until the ends of
+the red lapped over at the nape of his neck. However, he bent and kissed
+the rosy lips and then quickly brushed his own with his hand.
+
+“Yes, yes,” he stammered. “Well--er--good night. Pleasant dreams to you.
+See you in the mornin'.”
+
+The girl paused at the chamber door. “You won't have to unbutton my
+waist now,” she said. “This is my other one and it ain't that kind.”
+
+The door closed. The captain, without looking at his friends, led the
+way to the dining room.
+
+“Come on out here,” he whispered. “We can talk better here.”
+
+Naturally, they wanted to know all about the girl, who she was and where
+she came from. Captain Cy told as much of the history of the affair as
+he thought necessary.
+
+“Poor young one,” he concluded, “she landed on to me in the rain,
+soppin' wet, and ha'f sick. I COULDN'T turn her out then--nobody could.
+Course it's an everlastin' outrage on me and the cheekiest thing ever I
+heard of, but what could I do? I was fixed a good deal like an English
+feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to know in South America. He
+woke up in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor curled on
+the foot of his bed. Next day, when a crowd of us happened in, there
+was Gatenby, white as a sheet, starin' down at the snake, and it sound
+asleep. 'I didn't invite him,' he says, 'but he looked so bloomin'
+comf'table I 'adn't the 'eart to disturb 'im.' Same way with me;
+the child seemed so comf'table here I ain't had the heart to disturb
+her--yet.”
+
+“But she said she was goin' to stay,” put in Bailey. “You ain't goin' to
+KEEP her, are you?”
+
+The captain's indignation was intense.
+
+“Who--me?” he snorted. “What do you think I am? I ain't runnin' an
+orphan asylum. No, sir! I'll keep the young one a day or so--or maybe a
+week--and then I'll pack her off to Betsy Howes. I ain't so soft as they
+think I am. I'LL show 'em!”
+
+Mr. Tidditt looked thoughtful.
+
+“She's a kind of cute little girl, ain't she?” he observed.
+
+Captain Cy's frown vanished and a smile took its place.
+
+“That's so,” he chuckled. “She is, now that's a fact! I don't know's I
+ever saw a cuter.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+
+A week isn't a very long time even in Bayport. True, there was once a
+drummer for a Boston “notion” house who sprained his ankle on the icy
+sidewalk in front of Simmons's, and was therefore obliged to remain in
+the front bedroom of the perfect boarding house for seven whole days. He
+is quoted as saying that next time he hoped he might break his neck.
+
+“Brother,” asked the shocked Rev. Mr. Daniels, who was calling upon the
+stranger, “are you prepared to face eternity?”
+
+“What?” was the energetic reply. “After a week in this town, and in this
+bedroom? Look here, Mister, if you want to scare me about the future you
+just hint that they'll put me on a straw tick in an ice chest. Anything
+hot and lively 'll only be tempting after this.”
+
+But to us, who live here throughout the year, a week soon passes. And
+the end of the week following Emily Thomas's arrival at the Cy Whittaker
+place found the little girl still there and apparently no nearer being
+shipped to Indiana than when she came. Not so near, if Mr. Tidditt's
+opinion counts for anything.
+
+“Gone?” he repeated scoffingly in reply to Bailey Bangs's question.
+“Course she ain't gone! And, what's more, she ain't goin' to go. Whit's
+got so already that he wouldn't part with her no more'n he'd cut off his
+hand.”
+
+“But he keeps SAYIN' she's got to go. Only yesterday he was tellin' how
+Betsy'd feel when the girl landed on her with his letter in her pocket.”
+
+“Sayin' don't count for nothin'. Zoeth Cahoon keeps SAYIN' he's goin' to
+stop drinkin', but he only stops long enough to catch his breath. Cy's
+tellin' himself fairy yarns and he hopes he believes 'em. Man alive!
+can't you SEE? Ain't he gettin' more foolish over the young one every
+day? Don't she boss him round like the overseer on a cranberry swamp?
+Don't he look more contented than he has sence he got off the cars? I
+tell you, Bailey, that child fills a place in Whit's life that's been
+runnin' to seed and needed weedin'. Nothin' could fill it better--unless
+'twas a nice wife.”
+
+“WIFE! Oh, DO be still! I believe you're woman-struck and at an age when
+it hadn't ought to be catchin' no more'n whoopin' cough.”
+
+Mr. Bangs and the town clerk were the only ones, except Captain Cy, who
+knew the whole truth concerning the little girl. Not that the child's
+arrival wasn't noted and vigorously discussed by a large portion of the
+townspeople. Emily had not been in the Whittaker house two days before
+Angeline Phinney called, hot on the trail of gossip and sensation. But,
+persistent as Angeline was, she departed knowing not quite as much as
+when she came. The interview between Miss Phinney and the captain must
+have been interesting, judging by the lady's account of it.
+
+“I never see such a man in my born days,” declared Angie disgustedly.
+“You couldn't get nothin' out of him. Not that he wan't pleasant and
+sociable; land sakes! he acted as glad to see me as if I was his rich
+aunt come on a visit. And he was willin' to talk, too. That's the
+trouble; he done ALL the talkin'. I happened to mention, just as a sort
+of starter, you know, somethin' about the cranb'ry crop this fall; and
+after that all he could say was 'cranb'ries, cranb'ries, cranb'ries!'
+'Hear you've got comp'ny,' says I. 'Did you?' says he. 'Now ain't it
+strange how things'll get spread around? Only yesterday I heard that Joe
+Dimick's swamp was just loaded down with “early blacks.” And yet when
+I went over to look at it there didn't seem to be so many. There ain't
+much better cranb'ries anywhere than our early blacks,' he says. 'You
+take 'em--' And so on, and so on, and so on. _I_ didn't care nothin'
+about the dratted early blacks, but he didn't seem to care for nothin'
+else. He talked cranb'ries steady for an hour and a half and I left
+that house with my mouth all puckered up; it's tasted sour ever sence. I
+never see such a man!”
+
+When Captain Cy was questioned by Asaph concerning the acid
+conversation, he grinned.
+
+“I didn't know you was so interested in cranb'ries,” observed Tidditt.
+
+“I ain't,” was the reply; “but I'm more interested in 'em than I am in
+Angie. I see she was sufferin' from a rush of curiosity to the head
+and I cured her by homeopath doses. Every time she opened her mouth I
+dropped an 'early black' into it. It's a good receipt; you tell Bailey
+to try it on Ketury some time.”
+
+To his chums the captain was emphatic in his orders that secrecy be
+preserved. No one was to be told who the child was or where she came
+from. “What they don't know won't hurt 'em any,” declared Captain Cy.
+And Emily's answer to inquiring souls who would fain have delved into
+her past was to the effect that “Uncle Cyrus” didn't like to have her
+talk about herself.
+
+“I don't know's I'm ashamed of anything I've done so far,” said the
+captain; “but I ain't braggin', either. Time enough to talk when I send
+her back to Betsy.”
+
+That time, apparently, was not in the near future. The girl stayed on
+at the Whittaker place and grew to be more and more a part of it. At the
+end of the second week Captain Cy began calling her “Bos'n.”
+
+“A bos'n's a mighty handy man aboard ship,” he explained, “and you're
+so handy here that it fits in first rate. And, besides, it sounds so
+natural. My dad called me 'Bos'n' when I was little.”
+
+Emily accepted the title complacently. She was quite contented to be
+called almost anything, so long as she was permitted to stay with her
+new friend. Already the bos'n had taken charge of the deck and the rest
+of the ship's company; Captain Cy and “Lonesome,” the cat, obeyed her
+orders.
+
+On the second Sunday morning after her arrival “Bos'n” suggested that
+she and Captain Cy go to church.
+
+“Mother and I always went at home,” she said. “And Auntie Oliver used to
+say meeting was a good thing for those that needed it.”
+
+“Think I need it, do you?” asked the captain, who, in shirt sleeves and
+slippers, had prepared for a quiet forenoon with his pipe and the Boston
+Transcript.
+
+“I don't know, sir. I heard what you said when Lonesome ate up the
+steak, and I thought maybe you hadn't been for a long time. I guess
+churches are different in South America.”
+
+So they went to church and sat in the old Whittaker pew. The captain had
+been there once before when he first returned to Bayport, but the sermon
+was more somnolent than edifying, and he hadn't repeated the experiment.
+The pair attracted much attention. Fragments of a conversation, heard
+by Captain Cy as they emerged into the vestibule, had momentous
+consequences.
+
+“Kind of a pretty child, ain't she?” commented Mrs. Eben Salters,
+patting her false front into place under the eaves of her Sunday bonnet.
+
+“Pretty enough in the face,” sniffed Mrs. “Tad” Simpson, who was wearing
+her black silk for the first time since its third making-over. “Pretty
+enough that way, I s'pose. But, my land! look at the way she's
+rigged. Old dress, darned and patched up and all outgrown! If I had
+Cy Whittaker's money I'd be ashamed to have a relation of mine come to
+meetin' that way. Even if her folks was poorer'n Job's off ox I'd spend
+a little on my own account and trust to getting it back some time. I'd
+have more care for my own self-respect. Look at Alicia Atkins. See how
+nice she looks. Them feathers on her hat must have cost somethin', I bet
+you. Howdy do, 'Licia, dear? When's your pa comin' home?”
+
+The Honorable Heman had left town on a business trip to the South.
+Alicia was accompanied by the Atkins housekeeper and, as usual, was
+garbed regardless of expense.
+
+Mrs. Salters smiled sweetly upon the Atkins heir and then added, in a
+church whisper: “Don't she look sweet? I agree with you, Sarah; it is
+strange how Captain Whittaker lets his little niece go. And him rich!”
+
+“Niece?” repeated Mrs. Simpson eagerly. “Who said 'twas his niece? I
+heard 'twas a child he'd adopted out of a home. There's all sorts of
+queer yarns about. I--Oh, good mornin', Cap'n Cyrus! How DO you do?”
+
+The captain grunted an answer to the effect that he was bearing up
+pretty well, considering. There was a scowl on his face, and he spoke
+little as, holding Emily by the hand, he led the way home. That evening
+he dropped in at the perfect boarding house and begged to know if Mrs.
+Bangs had any “fashion books” around that she didn't want.
+
+“I mean--er--er--magazines with pictures of women's duds in 'em,” he
+stammered, in explanation. “Bos'n likes to look at 'em. She's great on
+fashion books, Bos'n is.”
+
+Keturah got together a half dozen numbers of the Home Dressmaker and
+other periodicals of a similar nature. The captain took them under his
+arm and departed, whispering to Mr. Tidditt, as he passed the latter in
+the hall:
+
+“Come up by and by, Ase. I want to talk to you. Bring Bailey along, if
+you can do it without startin' divorce proceedings.”
+
+Later, when the trio gathered in the Whittaker sitting room, Captain Cy
+produced the “fashion books” and spoke concerning them.
+
+“You see,” he said, “I--I've been thinkin' that Bos'n--Emily, that
+is--wan't rigged exactly the way she ought to be. Have you fellers
+noticed it?”
+
+His friends seemed surprised. Neither was ready with an immediate
+answer, so the captain went on.
+
+“Course I don't mean she ain't got canvas enough to cover her spars,” he
+explained; “but what she has got has seen consider'ble weather, and it
+seemed to me 'twas pretty nigh time to haul her into dry dock and refit.
+That's why I borrowed these magazines of Ketury. I've been lookin' them
+over and there seems to be plenty of riggin' for small craft; the only
+thing is I don't know what's the right cut for her build. Bailey, you're
+a married man; you ought to know somethin' about women's clothes. What
+do you think of this, now?”
+
+He opened one of the magazines and pointed to the picture of a young
+girl, with a waspy waist and Lilliputian feet, who, arrayed in flounces
+and furbelows, was toddling gingerly down a flight of marble steps. She
+carried a parasol in one hand, and the other held the end of a chain to
+which a long-haired dog was attached.
+
+The town clerk and his companion inspected the young lady with
+deliberation and interest.
+
+“Well, what do you say?” demanded Captain Cy.
+
+“I don't care much for them kind of dogs,” observed Asaph thoughtfully.
+
+“Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the clothes, for
+good measure, do you? Bailey, what's your opinion?”
+
+Mr. Bangs looked wise.
+
+“I should say--” he said, “yes, sir, I should say that was a real
+stylish rig-out. Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less
+fleshy than Emily. This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in two
+amidships. Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready made, so
+they could be let out some, to fit. What's the price of a suit like
+that, Whit?”
+
+The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate and
+then turned to the description in the text.
+
+“'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'” he read. “Humph! that settles
+that, first crack. Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen.”
+
+“Anyway,” put in Asaph, “you need somethin' she could wear forenoons, if
+she wanted to. What's this one? She looks young enough.”
+
+The “one” referred to turned out to be a “coat for child of four.”
+ It was therefore scornfully rejected. One after another the different
+magazines were examined and the pictures discussed. At length a “costume
+for miss of eight years” was pronounced to be pretty nearly the thing.
+
+“Godfrey scissors!” exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt. “That's mighty
+swell, ain't it? What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?”
+
+“'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.' What in time is
+batiste?”
+
+“I don't know. Do you, Bailey?”
+
+“No; never heard of it. Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm sure.
+French, I shouldn't wonder. Well, Ketury's down on the French ever sence
+she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to take up with another
+woman. Does it say any more?”
+
+“Let's see. 'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.' Summer!
+Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again! Bos'n don't want summer
+clothes. It's comin' on winter.”
+
+He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then burst
+into a laugh.
+
+“For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!” he
+said. “I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second childhood. But
+when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin' on about how pretty
+'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and shabby Bos'n looked, it made
+me bile. And, by the big dipper, I WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get
+through, too! Only, dressin' little girls is some off my usual course.
+Bailey, does Ketury make her own duds?”
+
+“Why, no! Course she helps and stands by for orders, but Effie Taylor
+comes and takes the wheel while the riggin's goin' on. Effie's a
+dressmaker and--”
+
+“There! See, Ase? It IS some good to have a married man aboard, after
+all. A dressmaker's what we want. I'll hunt up Effie to-morrow.”
+
+And hunt her up he did, with the result that Miss Taylor came to the
+Whittaker place each day during the following week and Emily was, as
+the captain said, “rigged out fresh from main truck to keelson.” In this
+“rigging” Captain Cy and his two partners--Josiah Dimick had already
+christened the pair “The Board of Strategy”--took a marked interest.
+They were on hand when each new garment was tried on, and they approved
+or criticised as seemed to them best.
+
+“Ain't that kind of sober lookin' for a young one like Bos'n?” asked the
+captain, referring to one of the new gowns. “I don't want her to look as
+if she was dressed cheap.”
+
+“Land sakes!” mumbled Miss Taylor, her mouth full of pins. “There ain't
+anything cheap about it, and you'll find it out when you get the bill.
+That's a nice, rich, sensible suit.”
+
+“I know, but it's so everlastin' quiet! Don't you think a little yellow
+and black or some red strung along the yards would sort of liven it
+up? Why! you ought to see them Greaser girls down in South America of a
+Sunday afternoon. Color! and go! Jerushy! they'd pretty nigh knock your
+eye out.”
+
+The dressmaker sniffed disdain.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” she retorted, “if you want this child to look like an
+Indian squaw or a barber's pole you'll have to get somebody else to do
+it. I'm used to dressing Christians, not yeller and black heathen women.
+Red strung along a skirt like that! I never did!”
+
+“There, there, Effie! Don't get the barometer fallin'. I was only
+suggestin', you know. What do you think, Bos'n?”
+
+“Why, Uncle Cyrus, I don't believe I should like red very much; nor the
+other colors, either. I like this just as it is.”
+
+“So? Well, you're the doctor. Maybe you're right. I wouldn't want you
+to look like a barber's pole. Don't love Tad Simpson enough to want to
+advertise his business.”
+
+Miss Taylor's coming had other results besides the refitting of “Bos'n.”
+ She found much fault with the captain's housekeeping. It developed that
+her sister Georgiana, who had been working in a Brockton shoe shop, was
+now at home and might be engaged to attend to the household duties
+at the Whittaker establishment, provided she was allowed to “go home
+nights.” Georgiana was engaged, on trial, and did well. So that problem
+was solved.
+
+School in Bayport opens the first week in October. Of late there has
+been a movement, headed by some of the townspeople who think city ways
+are best, to have the term begin in September. But this idea has little
+chance of success as long as cranberry picking continues to be our
+leading industry. So many of the children help out the family means by
+picking cranberries in the fall that school, until the picking season
+was over, would be slimly attended.
+
+The last week in September found us all discussing the coming of the new
+downstairs teacher, Miss Phoebe Dawes. Since it was definitely settled
+that she was to come, the opposition had died down and was less
+openly expressed; but it was there, all the same, beneath the surface.
+Congressman Atkins had accepted the surprising defiance of his wish with
+calm dignity and the philosophy of the truly great who are not troubled
+by trifles. His lieutenant, Tad Simpson, quoted him as saying that, of
+course, the will of the school committee was paramount, and he, as all
+good citizens should, bowed to their verdict. “Far be it from me,” so
+the great man proclaimed, “to desire that my opinion should carry more
+weight than that of the humblest of my friends and neighbors. Speaking
+as one whose knowledge of the world was, perhaps--er--more extensive
+than--er--others, I favored the Normal School candidate. But the persons
+chosen to select thought--or appeared to think--otherwise. I therefore
+say nothing and await developments.”
+
+This attitude was considered by most of us to reflect credit upon Mr.
+Atkins. There were a few scoffers, however. When the proclamation was
+repeated to Captain Cy he smiled.
+
+“Alpheus,” he said to Mr. Smalley, his informant, “you didn't use to
+know Deacon Zeb Clark, who lived up by the salt works in my granddad's
+time, hey? No, course you didn't! Well, the deacon was a great believer
+in his own judgment. One time, it bein' Saturday, his wife wanted him to
+pump the washtub full and take a bath. He said, no; said the cistern
+was awful low and 'twould use up all the water. She said no such thing;
+there was water a-plenty. To prove she was wrong he went and pried the
+cistern cover off to look, and fell in. Mrs. Clark peeked down and saw
+him there, standin' up to his neck.
+
+“'Tabby,' says he, 'you would have your way and I'm takin' the bath.
+But you can see for yourself that we'll have to cart water from now on.
+However, _I_ ain't responsible; throw me down the soap and towel.'”
+
+“Humph!” grunted Smalley, “I don't see what that's got to do with it.
+Heman ain't takin' no bath.”
+
+“I don't know's it's got anything to do with it. But he kind of made me
+think of Zeb, all the same.”
+
+The first day of school was, of course, a Monday. On Sunday afternoon
+Captain Cy and Bos'n went for a walk. These walks had become a regular
+part of the Sabbath programme, the weather, of course, permitting. After
+church the pair came home for dinner. The meal being eaten, the captain
+would light a cigar--a pipe was now hardly “dressed-up” enough for
+Sunday--and, taking his small partner by the hand, would lead the way
+across the fields, through the pines and down by the meadow “short
+cut” to the cemetery. The cemetery is a favorite Sabbath resort for the
+natives of Bayport, who usually speak of it as the graveyard. It is a
+pleasant, shady spot, and to visit it is considered quite respectable
+and in keeping with the day and a due regard for decorum. The ungodly,
+meaning the summer boarders and the village no-accounts, seem to
+prefer the beach and the fish houses, but the cemetery attracts the
+churchgoers. One may gossip concerning the probable cost of a new
+tombstone and still remain faithful to the most rigid creed.
+
+Captain Cy was not, strictly speaking, a religious man, according to
+Bayport standards. Between his attendance to churchly duties and that of
+the Honorable Heman Atkins there was a great gulf fixed. But he rather
+liked to visit the graveyard on Sunday afternoons. His mother had been
+used to stroll there with him, in his boyhood, and it pleased him to
+follow in her footsteps.
+
+So he and Bos'n walked along the grass-covered paths, between the
+iron-fenced “lots” of the well-to-do and the humble mounds and simple
+slabs where the poor were sleeping; past the sumptuous granite shaft of
+the Atkins lot and the tilted mossy stone which told how “Edwin Simpson,
+our only son,” had been “accidentally shot in the West Indies”; out
+through the back gate and up the hill to the pine grove overlooking the
+bay. Here, on a scented carpet of pine needles, they sat them down to
+rest and chat.
+
+Emily, her small knees drawn up and encircled by her arms, looked out
+across the flats, now half covered with the rising tide. It was a mild
+day, more like August than October, and there was almost no wind. The
+sun was shining on the shallow water, and the sand beneath it showed
+yellow, checkered and marbled with dark green streaks and patches where
+the weed-bordered channels wound tortuously. On the horizon the sand
+hills of Wellmouth notched the blue sky. The girl drew a long breath.
+
+“Oh!” she exclaimed. “Isn't this just lovely! I do like the sea an awful
+lot.”
+
+“That's natural enough,” replied her companion. “There's a big streak
+of salt water in your blood on your ma's side. It pulls, that kind of a
+streak does. There's days when I feel uneasy every minute and hanker for
+a deck underneath me. The settin' room floor stays altogether too quiet
+on a day like that; I'd like to feel it heavin' over a ground swell.”
+
+“Say, Bos'n,” he said a few minutes later; “I've been thinkin' about
+you. You've been to school, haven't you?”
+
+“Course I have,” was the rather indignant answer. “I went two years in
+Concord. Mamma used to help me nights, too. I can read almost all the
+little words. Don't I help you read your paper 'most every night?”
+
+“Sartin you do! Yes, yes! Well, our school opens to-morrer and I've been
+thinkin' that maybe you'd better go. There's a new teacher comin', and I
+hear she's pretty good.”
+
+“Don't you KNOW? Why, Mr. Tidditt said you was the one that got her to
+come here!”
+
+“Yes; well, Asaph says 'most everything but his prayers. Still, he ain't
+fur off this time; I cal'late I was some responsible for her bein' voted
+in. Yet I don't really know anything about her. You see, I--well, never
+mind. What do you think? Want to go?”
+
+Bos'n looked troubled.
+
+“I'd like to,” she said. “Course I want to learn how to read the big
+words, too. But I like to stay at home with you more.”
+
+“You do, hey? Sho, sho! Well, I guess I can get along between times.
+Georgiana's there to keep me straight and she'll see to the dust and the
+dishes. I guess you'd better go to-morrer mornin' and see how you like
+it, anyhow.”
+
+The child thought for a moment.
+
+“I think you're awful good,” she said. “I like you next to mamma; even
+better than Auntie Oliver. I printed a letter to her the other day. I
+told her you were better than we expected and I had decided to live with
+you always.”
+
+Captain Cy was startled. Considering that, only the day before, he
+had repeated to Bailey the declaration that the arrangement was but
+temporary, and that Betsy Howes was escaping responsibility only for a
+month or so, he scarcely knew what to say.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted. “You've decided it, have you? Well, we'll see. Now
+you trot around and have a good time. I'm goin' to have another smoke.
+I'll be here when you get back.”
+
+Bos'n wandered off in search of late golden rod. The captain smoked and
+meditated. By and by the puffs were less frequent and the cigar went
+out. It fell from his fingers. With his back against a pine tree Captain
+Cy dozed peacefully.
+
+He awoke with a jump. Something had awakened him, but he did not know
+what. He blinked and gazed about him. Then he heard a faint scream.
+
+“Uncle!” screamed Bos'n. “O--o--o--h! Uncle Cyrus, help me! Come quick!”
+
+The next moment the captain was plunging through the scrub of
+huckleberry and bayberry bushes, bumping into pines and smashing the
+branches aside as he ran in the direction of the call.
+
+Back of the pine grove was a big inclosed pasture nearly a quarter of
+a mile long. Its rear boundary was the iron fence of the cemetery. The
+other three sides were marked by rail fences and a stone wall. As the
+captain floundered from the grove and vaulted the rail fence he swore
+aloud.
+
+“By the big dipper,” he groaned, “it's that cussed heifer! I forgot her.
+Keep dodgin', Bos'n girl! I'm comin'.”
+
+The pasture was tenanted by a red and white cow belonging to Sylvanus
+Cahoon. Whether or not the animal had, during her calfhood days, been
+injured by a woman is not known; possibly her behavior was due merely
+to innate depravity. At any rate, she cherished a mortal hatred toward
+human beings of her own sex. With men and boys she was meek enough, but
+no person wearing skirts, and alone, might venture in that field without
+being chased by that cow. What would happen if the pursued one was
+caught could only be surmised, for, so far, no female had permitted
+herself to be caught. Few would come even so near as the other side of
+the pasture walls.
+
+Bos'n had forgotten the cow. She had gone from one golden-rod clump to
+another until she had traversed nearly the length of the field. Then the
+vicious creature had appeared from behind a knoll in the pasture and,
+head down and bellowing wickedly, had rushed upon her. When the captain
+reached the far-off fence, the little girl was dodging from one dwarf
+pine to the next, with the cow in pursuit. The pines were few and Bos'n
+was nearly at the end of her defenses.
+
+“Help!” she screamed. “Oh, uncle, where are you? What shall I do?”
+
+Captain Cy roared in answer.
+
+“Keep it up!” he yelled. “I'm a-comin'! Shoot you everlastin' critter!
+I'll break your back for you!”
+
+The cow didn't understand English it seemed, even such vigorous English
+as the captain was using. Emily dodged to the last pine. The animal was
+close upon her. Her rescuer was still far away.
+
+And then the cemetery gate opened and another person entered the
+pasture. A small person--a woman. She said nothing, but picking up her
+skirts, ran straight toward the cow, heedless of the latter's reputation
+and vicious appearance. One hand clutched the gathered skirts. In the
+other she held a book.
+
+“Don't be scared, dear,” she called reassuringly. Then to the cow: “Stop
+it! Go away, you wicked thing!”
+
+The animal heard the voice and turned. Seeing that the newcomer was only
+a woman, she lowered her head and pawed the ground.
+
+“Run for the gate, little girl,” commanded the rescuer. “Run quick!”
+ Bos'n obeyed. She made a desperate dash from her pine across the open
+space, and in another moment was safe inside the cemetery fence.
+
+“Scat! Go home!” ordered the lady, advancing toward the cow and shaking
+the book at her, as if the volume was some sort of deadly weapon.
+“Aren't you ashamed of yourself! Go away! You needn't growl at me! I'm
+not a bit afraid of you.”
+
+The “growling” was the muttered bellow with which the cow was wont
+to terrorize her feminine victims. But this victim refused to be
+terrorized. Instead of screaming and running she continued to advance,
+brandishing the book and repeating her orders that the creature “go
+home” at once. The cow did not know what to make of it. Before she could
+decide whether to charge or retreat, a good-sized stick descended
+upon her back with a “whack” that settled the question. Captain Cy had
+reached the scene of battle.
+
+Then the rescuer's courage seemed to desert her, for she ran back to
+the cemetery even faster than she had run from it. When the indignant
+captain, having pursued and chastised the cow until the stick was but
+a splintered remnant, reached the haven behind the iron fence, he found
+her soothing the frightened Bos'n who was sobbing and hysterical.
+
+Emily saw her “Uncle Cyrus” coming and rushed into his arms. He picked
+her up and, holding her with a grip which testified to the nerve strain
+he had been under, stepped forward to meet the stranger, whose coming
+had been so opportune.
+
+And she WAS a stranger. The captain knew most of Bayport's inhabitants
+by this time, or thought he did, but he did not know her. She was a
+small woman, quietly dressed, and her hair, under a neat black and white
+hat, was brown. The hat was now a trifle to one side and the hair was
+the least bit disarranged, an effect not at all unbecoming. She was
+tucking in the stray wisps as the captain, with Bos'n in his arms, came
+up.
+
+“Well, ma'am!” puffed Captain Cy. “WELL, ma'am! I must say that was
+the slickest, pluckiest thing ever I saw anywheres. I don't know what
+would--I--I declare I don't know how to thank you.”
+
+The lady looked at him a moment before replying. Then she began to
+laugh, a jolly laugh that was pleasant to hear.
+
+“Don't try, please,” she said chokingly. “It wasn't anything. Oh, mercy
+me! I'm all out of breath. You see, I had been warned about that cow
+when I started to walk this afternoon. So when I saw her chasing your
+poor little girl here I knew right away what was the matter. It must
+have been foolish enough to look at. I'm used to dogs and cats, but I
+haven't had many pet cows. I told her to 'go home' and to 'scat' and
+all sorts of things. Wonder I didn't tell her to lie down! And the way I
+shook that ridiculous book at her was--”
+
+She laughed again and the captain and Bos'n joined in the laugh, in
+spite of the fright they both had experienced.
+
+“That book was dry enough to frighten almost anything,” continued the
+lady. “It was one I took from the table before I left the place where
+I'm staying, and a duller collection of sermons I never saw. Oh, dear!
+. . . there! Is my hat any more respectable now?”
+
+“Yes'm. It's about on an even keel, I should say. But I must tell you,
+ma'am, you done simply great and--”
+
+“Seems to me the people who own that cow must be a poor set to let her
+make such a nuisance of herself. Did your daughter run away from you?”
+
+“Well, you see, ma'am, she ain't really my daughter. Bos'n here--that's
+my nickname for her, ma'am--she and I was out walkin'. I set down in the
+pines and I guess I must have dozed off. Anyhow, when I woke up she was
+gone, and the first thing I knew of this scrape was hearin' her hail.”
+
+The little woman's manner changed. Her gray eyes flashed indignantly.
+
+“You dozed off?” she repeated. “With a little girl in your charge, and
+in the very next lot to that cow? Didn't you know the creature chased
+women and girls?”
+
+“Why, yes; I'd heard of it, but--”
+
+“It wasn't Uncle Cyrus's fault,” put in Bos'n eagerly. “It was mine. I
+went away by myself.”
+
+Beyond shifting her gaze to the child the lady paid no attention to this
+remark.
+
+“What do you think her mother 'll say when she sees that dress?” she
+asked.
+
+It was Emily's best gown, the finest of the new “rig out” prepared by
+Miss Taylor. The girl and Captain Cy gazed ruefully at the rents and
+pitch stains made by the vines and pine trees.
+
+“Well, you see,” replied the abashed captain, “the fact is, she ain't
+got any mother.”
+
+“Oh! I beg your pardon. And hers, too, poor dear. Well, if I were you I
+shouldn't go to sleep next time I took her walking. Good afternoon.”
+
+She turned and calmly walked down the path. At the bend she spoke again.
+
+“I should be gentle with her, if I were you,” she said. “Her nerves are
+pretty well upset. Besides, if you'll excuse my saying so, I don't think
+she is the one that needs scolding.”
+
+They thought she had gone, but she turned once more to add a final
+suggestion.
+
+“I think that dress could be fixed,” she said, “if you took it to some
+one who knew about such things.”
+
+She disappeared amidst the graveyard shrubbery. Captain Cy and Bos'n
+slowly followed her. From the pasture the red and white cow sent after
+them a broken-spirited “Moo!”
+
+Bos'n was highly indignant. During the homeward walk she sputtered like
+a damp firecracker.
+
+“The idea of her talking so to you, Uncle Cyrus!” she exclaimed. “It
+wasn't your fault at all.”
+
+The captain smiled one-sidedly.
+
+“I don't know about that, shipmate,” he said. “I wouldn't wonder if she
+was more than half right. But say! she was all business and no frills,
+wasn't she! Ha, ha! How she did spunk up to that heifer! Who in the
+dickens do you cal'late she is?”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE “COW LADY”
+
+
+That question was answered the very next day. Bos'n, carefully dressed
+by Georgianna under the captain's supervision, and weighted down with
+advice and counsel from the latter, started for the schoolhouse at a
+quarter to nine. Only a sense of shame kept Captain Cy from walking
+to school with her. He spent a miserable forenoon. They were quite the
+longest three hours in his varied experience. The house was dreadfully
+lonely. He wandered from kitchen to sitting room, worried Georgianna,
+woke up the cat, and made a complete nuisance of himself. Twelve o'clock
+found him leaning over the gate and looking eagerly in the direction of
+the schoolhouse.
+
+Bos'n ran all the way home. She was in a high state of excitement.
+
+“What do you think, Uncle Cyrus?” she cried. “What DO you think? I've
+found out who the cow lady is!”
+
+“The cow lady? Oh, yes, yes! Have you? Who is she?”
+
+“She's teacher, that's who she is!”
+
+The captain was astonished.
+
+“No!” he exclaimed. “Phoebe Dawes? You don't say so! Well, well!”
+
+“Yes, sir. When I went into school and found her sitting there I was
+so surprised I didn't know what to do. She knew me, too, and said good
+morning, and was I all right again and was my dress really as bad as it
+looked to be? I told her that Georgianna thought she could fix it, and
+if she couldn't, her sister could. She said that was nice, and then
+'twas time for school to begin.”
+
+“Did she say anything about me?” inquired Captain Cy when they were
+seated at the dinner table.
+
+“Oh, yes! I forgot. She must have found out who you are, 'cause she said
+she was surprised that a man who had made his money out of hides should
+have been so careless about the creatures that wore 'em.”
+
+“Humph! How'd she get along with the young ones in school?”
+
+It appeared that she had gotten along very well with them. Some of the
+bigger boys in the back seats, cherishing pleasant memories of the “fun”
+ they had under Miss Seabury's easy-going rule, attempted to repeat their
+performances of the previous term. But the very first “spitball” which
+spattered upon the blackboard proved a disastrous missile for its
+thrower.
+
+“She made him clean the board,” proclaimed Bos'n, big-eyed and
+awestruck, “and then he had to stand in the corner. He was Bennie
+Edwards, and he's most thirteen. Miss Seabury, they said, couldn't do
+anything with him, but teacher said 'Go,' as quiet as could be and just
+looked at him, and he went. And he's most as tall as she is. He did look
+so silly!”
+
+The Edwards youth was not the only one who was made to “look silly”
+ by little Miss Dawes during the first days of her stay in Bayport. She
+dealt with the unruly members of her classes as bravely as she had
+faced the Cahoon cow, and the results were just as satisfactory. She
+was strict, but she was impartial, and Alicia Atkins found, to her great
+surprise, that the daughter of a congressman was expected to study as
+faithfully and behave herself as well as freckled-faced Noah Hamlin,
+whose father peddled fish and whose everyday costume was a checkered
+“jumper” and patched overalls.
+
+The school committee, that is, the majority of it, was delighted with
+the new teacher. Lemuel Myrick boasted loudly of his good judgment
+in voting for her. But Tad Simpson and Darius Ellis and others of the
+Atkins following still scoffed and hinted at trouble in the future.
+
+“A new broom sweeps fine,” quoted Mr. Simpson. “She's doin' all
+right now, maybe. Anyway, the young ones are behavin' themselves, but
+disCIPline ain't the whole thing. Heman told me that the teacher he
+wanted could talk French language and play music and all kinds
+of accomplishments. Phoebe--not findin' any fault with her, you
+understand--don't know no more about music than a hen; my wife says she
+don't even sing in church loud enough for anybody to hear her. And as
+for French! why everybody knows she uses the commonest sort of United
+States, just as easy to understand as what I'm sayin' now.”
+
+Miss Dawes boarded at the perfect boarding house. There opinion was
+divided concerning her. Bailey and Mr. Tidditt liked her, but the
+feminine boarders were not so favorably impressed.
+
+“I think she's altogether too pert about what don't concern her,”
+ commented Angeline Phinney. “Sarah Emma Simpson dropped in t'other
+day to dinner, and we church folks got to talkin' about the minister's
+preachin' such 'advanced' sermons. And Sarah Emma told how she'd heard
+he said he'd known some real moral Universalists in his time, or some
+such unreligious foolishness. And I said I wondered he didn't get a new
+tail coat; the one he preached in Sundays was old as the hills and so
+outgrown it wouldn't scurcely button acrost him. 'A man bein' paid
+nine hundred a year,' I says, 'ought to dress decent, anyhow.' And that
+Phoebe Dawes speaks up, without bein' asked, and says for her part she'd
+ruther hear a broad man in a narrer coat than t'other way about. 'Twas a
+regular slap in the face for me, and Sarah Emma and I ain't got over it
+yet.”
+
+Captain Cy heard the gossip concerning the new teacher and it rather
+pleased him. She appeared to be independent, and he liked independence.
+He met her once or twice on the street, but she merely bowed and passed
+on. Once he tried to thank her again for her part in the cow episode,
+but she would not listen to him.
+
+Bos'n was making good progress with her studies. She was naturally a
+bright child--not the marvel the captain and the “Board of Strategy”
+ considered her, but quick to learn. She was not a saint, however, and
+occasionally misbehaved in school and was punished for it. One afternoon
+she did not return at her usual hour. Captain Cy was waiting at the gate
+when Asaph Tidditt happened along. Bailey, too, was with him.
+
+“Waitin' for Bos'n, was you?” asked the town clerk. “Well, you'll have
+to wait quite a spell, I cal'late. She's been kept after school.”
+
+“Yes; and she's got to write fifty lines of copy,” added Bailey.
+
+Captain Cy was highly indignant.
+
+“Get out!” he cried. “She ain't neither.”
+
+“Yes, she has, too. One of the Salters young ones told me. I knew you'd
+be mad, though I s'pose folks that didn't know her's well's we do would
+say she's no different from other children.”
+
+This was close to heresy, according to the captain's opinion.
+
+“She ain't!” he cried. “I'd like to know why not! If she ain't twice as
+smart as the run of young ones 'round here then--Humph! And she's
+kept after school! Well, now; I won't have it! There's enough time for
+studyin' without wearin' out her brains after hours. Oh, I guess you're
+mistaken.”
+
+“No, we ain't. I tell you, Whit, if I was you I'd make a fuss about
+this. She's a smart child, Bos'n is; I never see a smarter. And she
+ain't any too strong.”
+
+“That's so, she ain't.” The idea that Emily's health was “delicate” had
+become a fixed fact in the minds of the captain and the “Board.” It made
+a good excuse for the systematic process of “spoiling” the girl, which
+the indulgent three were doing their best to carry on.
+
+“I wouldn't let her be kept, Cy,” urged Bailey. “Why don't you go right
+off and see Phoebe and settle this thing? You've got a right to talk to
+her. She wouldn't be teacher if it wasn't for you.”
+
+Asaph added his arguments to those of Mr. Bangs. Captain Cy, carried
+away by his firm belief that Bos'n was a paragon of all that was
+brilliant and good, finally yielded.
+
+“All right!” he exclaimed. “Come on! That poor little thing shan't be
+put upon by nobody.”
+
+The trio marched majestically down the hill. As they neared the
+schoolhouse Bailey's courage began to fail. Miss Dawes was a boarder
+at his house, and he feared consequences should Keturah learn of his
+interference.
+
+“I--I guess you don't need me,” he stammered. “The three of us 'll scare
+that teacher woman most to death. And she's so little and meek, you
+know. If I should lose my temper and rare up I might say somethin' that
+would hurt her feelin's. I'll set on the fence and wait for you and Ase,
+Whit.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt's scornful comments concerning “white feathers” and
+“backsliders” had no effect. Mr. Bangs perched himself on the fence.
+
+“Give it to her, fellers!” he called after them.
+
+“Talk Dutch to her! Let her know that there's one child she can't
+abuse.”
+
+At the foot of the steps Asaph paused.
+
+“Say, Cy,” he whispered, “don't you think I better not go in? It ain't
+really my business, you know, and--and--Well, I'm on the s'lectmen and
+she might be frightened if she see me pouncin' down on her. 'Tain't as
+if I was just a common man. I'll go and set along of Bailey and you go
+in and talk quiet to her. She'd feel so sort of ashamed if there was
+anyone else to hear the rakin' over--hey?”
+
+“Now, see here, Ase,” expostulated the captain, “I don't like to do this
+all by myself! Besides, 'twas you chaps put me up to it. You ain't goin'
+to pull out of the race and leave me to go over the course alone, are
+you? Come on! what are, you afraid of?”
+
+His companion hotly denied that he was “afraid” of anything. He had
+all sorts of arguments to back his decision. At last Captain Cy lost
+patience.
+
+“Well, BE a skulk, if you want to!” he declared. “I've set out to see
+this thing through, and I'm goin' to do it. Only,” he muttered, as he
+entered the downstairs vestibule, “I wish I didn't feel quite so much as
+if I was stealin' hens' eggs.”
+
+Miss Dawes herself opened the door in response to his knock.
+
+“Oh, it's you, Cap'n Whittaker,” she said. “Come in, please.”
+
+Captain Cy entered the schoolroom. It was empty, save for the teacher
+and himself and one little girl, who, seated at a desk, was writing
+busily. She looked up and blushed a vivid red. The little girl was
+Bos'n.
+
+“Sit down, Cap'n,” said Miss Phoebe, indicating the visitor's chair.
+“What was it you wanted to see me about?”
+
+The captain accepted the invitation to be seated, but he did not
+immediately reply to Miss Dawes's question. He dropped his hat on the
+floor, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and then observed that it was
+pretty summery weather for so late in the fall. The teacher admitted the
+truth of his assertion and waited for him to continue.
+
+“I--I s'pose school's pretty full, now that cranb'ryin' 's over,” said
+Captain Cy.
+
+“Yes, pretty full.”
+
+“Gettin' along first rate with the scholars, I hear.”
+
+“Yes.”
+
+This was a most unpromising beginning, really no beginning at all. The
+captain cleared his throat, set his teeth, and, without looking at his
+companion, dove headlong into the business which had brought him there.
+
+“Miss Dawes,” he said, “I--I s'pose you know that Bos'n--I mean Emily
+there--is livin' at my house and that I'm taking care of her for--for
+the present.”
+
+The lady smiled.
+
+“Yes,” she said. “I gathered as much from what you said when we first
+met.”
+
+She herself had said one or two things on that occasion. Captain Cy
+remembered them distinctly.
+
+“Yes, yes,” he said hastily. “Well, my doin's that time wasn't exactly
+the best sample of the care, I will say. Wan't even a fair sample,
+maybe. I try to do my best with the child, long as she stays with me,
+and--er--and--er--I'm pretty particular about her health.”
+
+“I'm glad to hear it.”
+
+“Yes. Now, Miss Phoebe, I appreciate what you did for Bos'n and me that
+Sunday, and I'm thankful for it. I've tried to thank--”
+
+“I know. Please don't say any more about it. I imagine there is
+something else you want to say, isn't there?”
+
+“Why, yes, there is. I--I heard that Emmie had been kept after school. I
+didn't believe it, of course, but I thought I'd run up and see what--”
+
+He hesitated. The teacher finished the sentence for him.
+
+“To see if it was true?” she said. “It is. I told her to stay and write
+fifty lines.”
+
+“You did? Well, now that's what I wanted to speak to you about. Course
+I ain't interferin' in your affairs, you know, but I just wanted to
+explain about Bos'n--Emmie, I mean. She ain't a common child; she's got
+too much head for the rest of her. If you'd lived with her same as I
+have you'd appreciate it. Her health's delicate.”
+
+“Is it? She seems strong enough to me. I haven't noticed any symptoms.”
+
+“Course not, else you wouldn't have kept her in. But _I_ know, and I
+think it's my duty to tell you. Never mind if she can't do quite so
+much writin'. I'd rather she wouldn't; she might bust a blood vessel
+or somethin'. Such things HAVE happened, to extry smart young ones. You
+just let her trot along home with me now and--”
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” Miss Dawes had risen to her feet with a determined
+expression on her face.
+
+“Yes, ma'am,” said the captain, rising also.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” repeated the teacher, “I'm very glad that you called.
+I've been rather expecting you might, because of certain things I have
+heard.”
+
+“You heard? What was it you heard--if you don't mind my askin'?”
+
+“No, I don't, because I think we must have an understanding about Emily.
+I have heard that you allow her to do as she pleases at home; in other
+words, that you are spoiling her, and--”
+
+“SPOILIN' her! _I_ spoilin' her? Who told you such an unlikely yarn as
+that? I ain't the kind to spoil anybody. Why, I'm so strict that I'm
+ashamed of myself sometimes.”
+
+He honestly believed he was. Miss Phoebe calmly continued.
+
+“Of course, what you do at home is none of my business. I shouldn't
+mention it anyhow, if you hadn't called, because I pay very little
+attention to town talk, having lived in this county all my life and
+knowing what gossip amounts to. I like Emily; she's a pretty good little
+girl and well behaved, as children go. But this you must understand. She
+can't be spoiled here. She whispered this afternoon, twice. She has been
+warned often, and knows the rule. I kept her after school because she
+broke that rule, and if she breaks it again, she will be punished again.
+I kept the Edwards boy two hours yesterday and--”
+
+“Edwards boy! Do you mean to compare that--that young rip of a Ben
+Edwards with a girl like Bos'n? I never heard--”
+
+“I'm not comparing anybody. I'm trying to be fair to every scholar in
+this room. And, so long as Emily behaves herself, she shall be
+treated accordingly. When she doesn't, she shall be punished. You must
+understand that.”
+
+“But Ben Edwards! Why, he's a wooden-head, same as his dad was a fore
+him! And Emmie's the smartest scholar in this town.”
+
+“Oh, no, she isn't! She's a good scholar, but there are others just as
+good and even quicker to learn.”
+
+This was piling one insult upon another. Other children as brilliant as
+Bos'n! Captain Cy was bursting with righteous indignation.
+
+“Well!” he exclaimed. “Well! for a teacher that we've called to--”
+
+“And that's another thing,” broke in Miss Dawes quickly. “I've been told
+that you, Cap'n Whittaker, are the one directly responsible for my
+being chosen for this place. I don't say that you are presuming on that,
+but--”
+
+“I ain't! I never thought of such a thing!”
+
+“But if you are you mustn't, that's all. I didn't ask for the position
+and, now that I've got it, I shall try to fill it without regard to one
+person more than another. Emily stays here until her lines are written.
+I don't think we need to say any more. Good day.”
+
+She opened the door. Captain Cy picked up his hat, swallowed hard, and
+stepped across the threshold. Then Miss Phoebe added one more remark.
+
+“Cap'n,” she said, “when you were in command of a ship did you allow
+outsiders to tell you how to treat the sailors?”
+
+The captain opened his mouth to reply. He wanted to reply very much, but
+somehow he couldn't find a satisfying answer to that question.
+
+“Ma'am,” he said, “all I can say is that if you'd been in South America,
+same as I have, and seen the way them half-breed young ones act,
+you'd--”
+
+The teacher smiled, in spite of an apparent effort not to.
+
+“Perhaps so,” she said, “but this is Massachusetts. And--well, Emily
+isn't a half-breed.”
+
+Captain Cy strode through the vestibule. Just before the door closed
+behind him he heard a stifled sob from poor Bos'n.
+
+The Board of Strategy was waiting at the end of the yard. Its members
+were filled with curiosity.
+
+“Did you give it to her good?” demanded Asaph. “Did you let her
+understand we wouldn't put up with such cruelizin'?”
+
+“Where's Bos'n?” asked Mr. Bangs.
+
+Their friend's answers were brief and tantalizingly incomplete. He
+walked homeward at a gait which caused plump little Bailey to puff
+in his efforts to keep up, and he would say almost nothing about the
+interview in the schoolroom.
+
+“Well,” said Mr. Tidditt, when they reached the Whittaker gate, “I guess
+she knows her place now; hey, Cy? I cal'late she'll be careful who she
+keeps after school from now on.”
+
+“Didn't use no profane language, did you, Cy?” asked Bailey. “I hope
+not, 'cause she might have you took up just out of spite. Did she ask
+your pardon for her actions?”
+
+“No!” roared the captain savagely. Then, banging the gate behind him, he
+strode up the yard and into the house.
+
+Bos'n came home a half hour later. Captain Cy was alone in the sitting
+room, seated in his favorite rocker and moodily staring at nothing in
+particular. The girl gazed at him for a moment and then climbed into his
+lap.
+
+“I wrote my fifty lines, Uncle Cyrus,” she said. “Teacher said I'd done
+them very nicely, too.”
+
+The captain grunted.
+
+“Uncle Cy,” whispered Bos'n, putting her arms around his neck, “I'm
+awful sorry I was so bad.”
+
+“Bad? Who--you? You couldn't be bad if you wanted to. Don't talk that
+way or I'll say somethin' I hadn't ought to.”
+
+“Yes, I could be bad, too. I was bad. I whispered.”
+
+“Whispered! What of it? That ain't nothin'. When I was a young one in
+school I used to whis-- . . . Hum! Well, anyhow, don't you think any
+more about it. 'Tain't worth while.”
+
+They rocked quietly for a time. Then Bos'n said:
+
+“Uncle Cyrus, don't you like teacher?”
+
+“Hey? LIKE her? Well, if that ain't a question? Yes, I like her about as
+well as Lonesome likes Eben Salter's dog.”
+
+“I'm sorry. I like her ever so much.”
+
+“You DO? Go 'long! After the way she treated you, poor little thing!”
+
+“She didn't treat me any worse than she does the other girls and boys
+when they're naughty. And I did know the rule about whispering.”
+
+“Well, that's different. Comparin' you with that Bennie Edwards--the
+idea! And then makin' you cry!”
+
+“She didn't make me cry.”
+
+“Did, too. I heard you.”
+
+The child looked up at him and then hid her face in his waistcoat.
+
+“I wasn't crying about her,” she whispered. “It was you.”
+
+“ME!” The captain gasped. “Good land!” he muttered. “It's just as I
+expected. She's studied too hard and it's touchin' her brain.”
+
+“No, sir, it isn't. It isn't truly. I did cry about you because I didn't
+like to hear you talk so. And I was so sorry to have you come there.”
+
+“You WAS!”
+
+“Yes, sir. Other children's folks don't come when they're bad. And I
+kept feeling so sort of ashamed of you.”
+
+“Ashamed of ME?”
+
+Bos'n nodded vigorously.
+
+“Yes, sir. Everything teacher said sounded so right, and what you said
+didn't. And I like to have you always right.”
+
+“Do, hey? Hum!” Captain Cy didn't speak again for some few minutes, but
+he held the little girl very tight in his arms. At length he drew a long
+breath.
+
+“By the big dipper, Bos'n!” he exclaimed. “You're a wonder, you are.
+I wouldn't be surprised if you grew up to be a mind reader, like that
+feller in the show we went to at the townhall a spell ago. To tell you
+the honest Lord's truth, I've been ashamed of myself ever since I come
+out of that schoolhouse door. When that teacher woman sprung that on me
+about my fo'mast hands aboard ship I was set back about forty fathom. I
+never wanted to answer anybody so bad in MY life, and I couldn't 'cause
+there wasn't anything to say. I cal'late I've made a fool of myself.”
+
+Bos'n nodded again.
+
+“We won't do so any more, will we?” she said.
+
+“You bet we won't! _I_ won't, anyhow. You haven't done anything.”
+
+“And you'll like teacher?”
+
+The captain stamped his foot.
+
+“No, SIR!” he declared. “She may be all right in her way--I s'pose she
+is; but it's too Massachusettsy a way for me. No, sir! I don't like her
+and I WON'T like her. No, sir-ee, never! She--she ain't my kind of a
+woman,” he added stubbornly. “That's what's the matter! She ain't my
+kind of a woman.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+
+“Town meeting” was called for the twenty-first of November.
+
+With the summer boarders gone, the cranberry picking finished, state
+election over, school begun and under way, and real winter not yet upon
+us, Bayport, in the late fall, distinctly needs something to enliven
+it. The Shakespeare Reading Society and the sewing circle continue, of
+course, to interest the “women folks,” there is the usual every evening
+gathering at Simmons's, and the young people are looking forward to the
+“Grand Ball” on Thanksgiving eve. But for the men, on week days,
+there is little to do except to “putter” about the house, banking
+its foundations with dry seaweed as a precaution against searching
+no'theasters, whitewashing the barns and outbuildings, or fixing things
+in the vegetable cellar where the sticks of smoked herring hang in rows
+above the barrels of cabbages, potatoes, and turnips. The fish weirs,
+most of them, are taken up, lest the ice, which will be driven into the
+bay later on, tear the nets to pieces. Even the hens grow lazy and
+lay less frequently. Therefore, away back in the “airly days,” some
+far-sighted board of selectmen arranged that “town meeting” should be
+held during this lackadaisical season. A town meeting--and particularly
+a Bayport town meeting, where everything from personal affairs to
+religion is likely to be discussed--can stir up excitement when nothing
+else can.
+
+This year there were several questions to be talked over and settled at
+town meeting. Two selectmen, whose terms expired, were candidates for
+re-election. Lem Myrick had resigned from the school committee, not
+waiting until spring, as he had announced that he should do. Then
+there was the usual sentiment in favor of better roads and the usual
+opposition to it. Also there was the ever-present hope of the government
+appropriation for harbor improvement.
+
+Mr. Tidditt was one of the selectmen whose terms expired. In his dual
+capacity as selectman and town clerk Asaph felt himself to be a very
+important personage. To elect some one else in his place would be, he
+was certain, a calamity which would stagger the township. Therefore
+he was a busy man and made many calls upon his fellow citizens, not to
+influence their votes--he was careful to explain that--but just, as
+he said, “to see how they was gettin' along,” and because he
+“thought consider'ble of 'em” and “took a real personal interest, you
+understand,” in their affairs.
+
+To Captain Cy he came, naturally, for encouragement and help, being--as
+was his habit at such times--in a state of gloom and hopeless despair.
+
+“No use, Whit,” he groaned. “'Tain't no use at all. I'm licked. I'm
+gettin' old and they don't want me no more. I guess I'd better get right
+up afore the votin' begins and tell 'em my health ain't strong enough to
+be town clerk no longer. It's better to do that than to be licked. Don't
+you think so?”
+
+“Sure thing!” replied his friend, with sarcasm. “If I was you I'd be
+toted in on a bed so they can see you're all ready for the funeral.
+Might have the doctor walkin' ahead, wipin' his eyes, and the joyful
+undertaker trottin' along astern. What's the particular disease that's
+got you by the collar just now--facial paralysis?”
+
+“No. What made you think of that?”
+
+“Oh, nothin'! Only I heard you stopped in at ten houses up to the west
+end of the town yesterday, and talked three quarters of an hour steady
+at everyone. That would fit me for the scrap heap inside of a week,
+and you've been goin' it ever since September nearly. What does ail
+you--anything?”
+
+“Why, no; nothin' special that way. Only there don't seem to be any
+enthusiasm for me, somehow. I just hint at my bein' a candidate and
+folks say, 'Yes, indeed. Looks like rain, don't it?' and that's about
+all.”
+
+“Well, that hadn't ought to surprise you. If anybody came to me and
+says, 'The sun's goin' to rise to-morrer mornin',' I shouldn't dance
+on my hat and crow hallelujahs. Enthusiasm! Why, Ase, you've been a
+candidate every two years since Noah got the ark off the ways, or along
+there. And there ain't been any opposition to you yet, except that time
+when Uncle 'Bial Stickney woke up in the wrong place and hollered 'No,'
+out of principle, thinkin' he was to home with his wife. If I was you
+I'd go and take a nap. You'll read the minutes at selectmen's meetings
+for another fifty year, more or less; take my word for it. As for the
+school committee, that's different. I ain't made up my mind about that.”
+
+There had been much discussion concerning the school committee. Who
+should be chosen to replace Mr. Myrick on the board was the gravest
+question to come before the meeting. Many names had been proposed at
+Simmons's and elsewhere, but some of those named had refused to run, and
+others had not, after further consideration, seemed the proper persons
+for the office. In the absence of Mr. Atkins, Tad Simpson was our leader
+in the political arena. But Tad so far had been mute.
+
+“Wait a while,” he said. “There's some weeks afore town meetin' day.
+This is a serious business. We can't have no more--I mean no unsuitable
+man to fill such an important place as that. The welfare of our
+posterity,” he added, and we all recognized the quotation, “depends upon
+the choice that's to be made.”
+
+A choice was made, however, on the very next day but one after this
+declaration. A candidate announced himself. Asaph and Bailey hurried
+to the Cy Whittaker place with the news. Captain Cy was in the woodshed
+building a doll house for Bos'n. “Just for my own amusement,” he hastily
+explained. “Somethin' for her to take along when she goes out West to
+Betsy.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt was all smiles.
+
+“What do you think, Cy?” he cried. “The new school committee man's as
+good as elected. 'Lonzo Snow's goin' to take it.”
+
+The captain laid down his plane.
+
+“'Lonzo Snow!” he repeated. “You don't say! Humph! Well, well!”
+
+“Yes, sir!” exclaimed Bailey. “He's come forward and says it's his duty
+to do so. He--”
+
+“Humph! His duty, hey? I wonder who pointed it out to him?”
+
+“Well, I don't know. But even Tad Simpson's glad; he says that he knows
+Heman will be pleased with THAT kind of a candidate and so he won't have
+to do any more huntin'. He thinks 'Lonzo's comin' out by himself this
+way is a kind of special Providence.”
+
+“Yes, yes! I shouldn't wonder. Did you ever notice how dead sure Tad and
+his kind are that Providence is workin' with 'em? Seems to me 'twould
+be more satisfactory if we could get a sight of the other partner's
+signature to the deed.”
+
+“What's the matter with you?” demanded Asaph. “You ain't findin' fault
+with 'Lonzo, are you? Ain't he a good man?”
+
+“Good! Sure thing he's good! Nobody can say he isn't and tell the
+truth.”
+
+No one could truthfully speak ill of Alonzo Snow, that was a fact.
+He lived at the lower end of the village, was well to do, a leading
+cranberry grower, and very prominent in the church. A mild, easygoing
+person was Mr. Snow, with an almost too keen fear of doing the wrong
+thing and therefore prone to be guided by the opinion of others. He was
+distinctly not a politician.
+
+“Then what ails you?” asked Asaph hotly.
+
+“Why, nothin', maybe. Only I'm always suspicious when Tad pats
+Providence on the back. I generally figure that I can see through a
+doughnut, when there's a light behind the hole. Who is 'Lonzo's best
+friend in this town? Who does he chum with most of anybody?”
+
+“Why, Darius Ellis, I guess. You know it.”
+
+“Um--hum. And Darius is on the committee--why?”
+
+“Well, I s'pose 'cause Heman Atkins thought he'd be a good feller to
+have there. But--”
+
+“Yes, and 'Lonzo's pew in church is right under the Atkins memorial
+window. The light from it makes a kind of halo round his bald head every
+Sunday.”
+
+“Well, what of it? Heman, nor nobody else, could buy 'Lonzo Snow.”
+
+“Buy him? Indeed they couldn't. But there are some things you get
+without buyin'--the measles, for instance. And the one that's catchin'
+'em don't know he's in danger till the speckles break out. Fellers, this
+committee voted in Phoebe Dawes by just two votes to one, and one of
+the two was Lem Myrick. Darius was against her. Now with Tad and his
+'Providence' puttin' in 'Lonzo Snow, and Heman Atkins settin' behind
+the screen workin' his Normal School music box so's they can hear the
+tune--well, Phoebe MAY stay this term out, but how about next?”
+
+“Hey? Why, I don't know. Anyhow, you're down on Phoebe as a thousand of
+brick. I don't see why you worry about HER. After the way she treated
+poor Bos'n and all.”
+
+Captain Cy stirred uneasily and kicked a chip across the floor.
+
+“Well,” he said, “well, I--I don't know's that's--That is, right's right
+and wrong's wrong. I've seen bullfights down yonder--” jerking his thumb
+over his shoulder in the vague direction of Buenos Ayres, “and every
+time my sympathy's been with the bull. Not that I loved the critter for
+his own sake, but because all Greaserdom was out to down him. From what
+I hear, this Phoebe Dawes--for all her pesky down-East stubbornness--is
+teachin' pretty well, and anyhow she's one little woman against Tad
+Simpson and Heman Atkins and--and Tad's special brand of Providence. She
+deserves a fair shake and, by the big dipper, she's goin' to have it!
+Look here, you two! how would I look on the school committee?”
+
+“You?” repeated the pair in concert. “YOU?”
+
+“Yes, me. I ain't a Solomon for wisdom, but I cal'late I'd be as near
+the top of the barrel as Darius Ellis, and only one or two layers under
+Eben Salters or 'Lonzo Snow. I'm a candidate--see?”
+
+“But--but, Whit,” gasped the town clerk, “are you popular enough? Could
+you get elected?”
+
+“I don't know, but I can find out. You and Bailey 'll vote for me, won't
+you?”
+
+“Course we will, but--”
+
+“All right. There's two votes. A hundred and odd more'll put me in.
+Here goes for politics and popularity. I may be president yet; you can't
+tell. And say! this town meetin' won't be DULL, whichever way the cat
+jumps.”
+
+This last was a safe prophecy. All dullness disappeared from Bayport the
+moment it became known that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was “out” for the
+school committee. The captain began his electioneering at once. That
+very afternoon he called upon three people--Eben Salters, Josiah Dimick,
+and Lemuel Myrick.
+
+Captain Salters was chairman of selectmen as well as chairman of the
+committee. He was a hard-headed old salt, who had made money in the
+Australian packet service. He had common sense, independence, and
+considerable influence in the town. Next to Congressman Atkins he was,
+perhaps, our leading citizen. And, more than all, he was not afraid,
+when he thought it necessary, to oppose the great Heman.
+
+“Well,” he said reflectively, after listening to Captain Cy's brief
+statement of his candidacy, “I cal'late I'll stand in with you, Cy. I
+ain't got anything against 'Lonzo, but--but--well, consarn it! maybe
+that's the trouble. Maybe he's so darned good it makes me jealous.
+Anyhow, I'll do what I can for you.”
+
+Joe Dimick laughed aloud. He was an iconoclast, seldom went to church,
+and was entirely lacking in reverence. Also he really liked the captain.
+
+“Ho, ho!” he crowed. “Whit, do you realize that you're underminin' this
+town's constitution? Oh, sartin, I'm with you, if it's only to see the
+fur fly! I do love a scrap.”
+
+With Lem Myrick Captain Cy's policy was different. He gently reminded
+that gentleman of the painting contract, intimated that other favors
+might be forthcoming, and then, as a clincher, spoke of Tad Simpson's
+comment when Mr. Myrick voted for Phoebe Dawes.
+
+“Of course,” he added, “if you think Tad's got a right to boss all hands
+and the cook, why, I ain't complainin'. Only, if _I_ was a painter doin'
+a good, high-class trade, and a one-hoss barber tried to dictate to me,
+I shouldn't bow down and tell him to kick easy as he could. Seems to me
+I'd kick first. But I'M no boss; I mustn't influence you.”
+
+Lemuel was indignant.
+
+“No barber runs me,” he declared. “You stand up for me when that
+townhall paintin's to be done and I'll work hard for you now, Cap'n
+Whittaker. 'Lonzo Snow's an elder and all that, but I can't help it.
+Anyway, his place was all fixed up a year ago and I didn't get the job.
+A feller has to look after himself these days.”
+
+With these division commanders to lead their forces into the enemy's
+country and with Asaph and Bailey doing what they could to help, Captain
+Cy's campaign soon became worthy of respectful consideration. For a
+while Tad Simpson scoffed at the opposition; then he began to work
+openly for Mr. Snow. Later he marshaled his trusted officers around the
+pool table in the back room of the barber shop and confided to them that
+it was anybody's fight and that he was worried.
+
+“It's past bein' a joke,” he said. “It's mighty serious. We've got to
+hustle, we have. Heman trusted me in this job, and if I fall down it 'll
+be bad for me and for you fellers, too. I wish he was home to run things
+himself, but he's got business down South there--some property he owns
+or somethin'--and says he can't leave. But we must win! By mighty! we've
+GOT to. So get every vote you can. Never mind how; just get 'em, that's
+all.”
+
+Captain Cy was thoroughly enjoying himself. The struggle suited him to
+perfection. He was young, in spite of his fifty-five years, and this
+tussle against odds, reminding him of other tussles during his first
+seasons in business, aroused his energies and, as he expressed it,
+“stirred up his vitals and made him hop round like a dose of 'pain
+killer.'”
+
+He did not, however, forget Bos'n. He and she had their walks and their
+pleasant evenings together in spite of politics. He took the child into
+his confidence and told her of the daily gain, or loss, in votes, as
+if she were his own age. She understood a little of all this, and tried
+hard to understand the rest, preaching between times to Georgianna how
+“the bad men were trying to beat Uncle Cyrus because he was gooder than
+they, but they couldn't, 'cause everybody loved him so.” Georgianna had
+some doubts, but she kept them to herself.
+
+Among the things in Bos'n's “box” was a long envelope, sealed with wax
+and with a lawyer's name printed in one corner. The captain opened it,
+at Emily's suggestion, and was astonished to find that the inclosure was
+a will, dated some years back, in which Mrs. Mary Thomas, the child's
+mother, left to her daughter all her personal property and also the land
+in Orham, Massachusetts, which had been willed to her by her own mother.
+There was a note with the will in which Mrs. Thomas stated that no one
+save herself had known of this land, not even her husband. She had not
+told him because she feared that, like everything else, it would be
+sold and the money wasted in dissipation. “He suspected something of the
+sort,” she added, “but he did not find out the secret, although he--”
+ She had evidently scratched out what followed, but Captain Cy mentally
+filled in the blank with details of abuse and cruelty. “If anything
+happens to me,” concluded the widow, “I want the land sold and the money
+used for Emily's maintenance as long as it lasts.”
+
+The captain went over to Orham and looked up the land. It was a strip
+along the shore, almost worthless, and unsalable at present. The taxes
+had been regularly paid each year by Mary Thomas, who had sent money
+orders from Concord. The self-denial represented by these orders was not
+a little.
+
+“Never mind, Bos'n,” said Captain Cy, when he returned from the Orham
+trip. “Your ancestral estates ain't much now but a sand-flea menagerie.
+However, if this section ever does get to be the big summer resort folks
+are prophesying for it, you may sell out to some millionaire and you and
+me'll go to Europe. Meantime, we'll try to keep afloat, if the Harniss
+Bank don't spring a leak.”
+
+On the day following this conversation he took a flying trip to Ostable,
+the county seat, returning the same evening, and saying nothing to
+anyone about his reasons for going nor what he had done while there.
+
+Bos'n's birthday was the eighteenth of November. The captain, in spite
+of the warmth of his struggle for committee honors, determined to have a
+small celebration on the afternoon and evening of that day. It was to be
+a surprise for Emily, and, after school was over, some of her particular
+friends among the scholars were to come in, there was to be a cake with
+eight candles on it, and a supper at which ice cream--lemon and vanilla,
+prepared by Mrs. Cahoon--was to be the principal feature. Also there
+would be games and all sorts of fun.
+
+Captain Cy was tremendously interested in the party. He spent hours with
+Georgianna and the Board of Strategy, preparing the list of guests.
+His cunning in ascertaining from the unsuspecting child who, among her
+schoolmates, she would like to invite, was deep and guileful.
+
+“Now, Bos'n,” he would say, “suppose you was goin' to clear out and
+leave this town for a spell, who--”
+
+“But, Uncle Cyrus--” Bos'n's eyes grew frightened and moist in a moment,
+“I ain't going, am I? I don't want to go.”
+
+“No, no! Course you ain't goin'--that is, not for a long while, anyhow,”
+ with a sidelong look at the members of the “Board,” then present. “But
+just suppose you and me was startin' on that Europe trip. Who'd you want
+to say good-by to most of all?”
+
+Each name given by the child was surreptitiously penciled by Bailey on
+a scrap of paper. The list was a long one and, when the great afternoon
+came, the Whittaker house was crowded.
+
+The supper was a brilliant success. So was the cake, brought in with
+candles ablaze, by the grinning Georgianna. Beside the children there
+were some older people present, Bailey and Asaph, of course, and the
+“regulars” from the perfect boarding house, who had been invited because
+it was fairly certain that Mr. Bangs wouldn't be allowed to attend
+if his wife did not. Miss Dawes had also been asked, at Bos'n's
+well-understood partiality, but she had declined.
+
+Toward the end of the meal, when the hilarity at the long table was at
+its height, an unexpected guest made his appearance. There was a knock
+at the dining-room door, and Georgianna, opening it, was petrified to
+behold, standing upon the step, no less a personage than the Honorable
+Heman Atkins, supposed by most of us to be then somewhere in that wide
+stretch of territory vaguely termed “the South.”
+
+“Good evening, all,” said the illustrious one, removing his silk hat
+and stepping into the room. “What a charming scene! I trust I do not
+intrude.”
+
+Georgianna was still speechless, in which unwonted condition she was not
+alone, Messrs. Bangs and Tidditt being also stricken dumb. But Captain
+Cy rose to the occasion grandly.
+
+“Intrude?” he repeated. “Not a mite of it! Mighty glad to see you,
+Heman. Here, give us your hat. Pull up to the table. When did you get
+back? Thought you was in the orange groves somewheres.”
+
+“Ahem! I was. Yes, I was in that neighborhood. But it is hard to stay
+away from dear old Bayport. Home ties, you know, home ties. I came down
+on the morning train, but I stopped over at Harniss on business and
+drove across. Ahem! Yes. The housekeeper informed me that my daughter
+was here, and, seeing the lights and hearing the laughter, I couldn't
+resist making this impromptu call. I'm sure as an old friend and
+neighbor, Cyrus, you will pardon me. Alicia, darling, come and kiss
+papa.”
+
+Darling Alicia accepted the invitation with a rustle of silk and an
+ecstatic squeal of delight. During this affecting scene Asaph whispered
+to Bailey that he “cal'lated” Heman had had a hurry-up distress signal
+from Simpson; to which sage observation Mr. Bangs replied with a
+vigorous nod, showing that Captain Cy's example had had its effect,
+in that they no longer stood in such awe of their representative at
+Washington.
+
+However true Asaph's calculation might have been, Mr. Atkins made no
+mention of politics. He was urbanity itself. He drew up to the table,
+partook of the ice cream and cake, and greeted his friends and neighbors
+with charming benignity.
+
+“Wan't it sweet of him to come?” whispered Miss Phinney to Keturah.
+“And him so nice and everyday and sociable. And when Cap'n Whittaker's
+runnin' against his friend, as you might say.”
+
+Keturah replied with a dubious shake of the head.
+
+“I think Captain Cyrus is goin' to get into trouble,” she said. “I've
+preached to Bailey more 'n a little about keepin' clear, but he won't.”
+
+“Games in t'other room now,” ordered Captain Cy. But Mr. Atkins held up
+his hand.
+
+“Pardon me, just a moment, Cyrus, if you please,” he said. “I feel that
+on this happy occasion, it is my duty and pleasure to propose a toast.”
+ He held his lemonade glass aloft. “Permit me,” he proclaimed, “to wish
+many happy birthdays and long life to Miss--I beg pardon, Cyrus, but
+what is your little friend's name?”
+
+“Emily Richards Thayer,” replied the captain, carried away by enthusiasm
+and off his guard for once.
+
+“To Em--” began Heman. Then he paused and for the first time in his
+public life seemed at a loss for words. “What?” he asked, and his hand
+shook. “I fear I didn't catch the name.”
+
+“No wonder,” laughed Mr. Tidditt. “Cy's so crazy to-night he'd forget
+his own name. Know what you said, Cy? You said she was Emily Richards
+THAYER! Haw! haw! She ain't a Thayer, Heman; her last name's Thomas.
+She's Emily Richards Thayer's granddaughter though. Her granddad was
+John Thayer, over to Orham. Good land! I forgot. Well, what of it, Cy?
+'Twould have to be known some time.”
+
+Everyone looked at Captain Cy then. No one observed Mr. Atkins for the
+moment. When they did turn their gaze upon the great man he had sunk
+back in his chair, the glass of lemonade was upset upon the cloth before
+him, and he, with a very white face, was staring at Emily Richards
+Thomas.
+
+“What's the matter, Heman?” asked the captain anxiously. “Ain't sick,
+are you?”
+
+The congressman started.
+
+“Oh, no!” he said hurriedly. “Oh, no! but I'm afraid I've soiled your
+cloth. It was awkward of me. I--I really, I apologize--I--”
+
+He wiped his face with his handkerchief. Captain Cy laughed.
+
+“Oh, never mind the tablecloth,” he said. “I cal'late it's too soiled
+already to be hurt by a bath, even a lemon one. Well, you've all heard
+the toast. Full glasses, now. Here's TO you, Bos'n! Drink hearty, all
+hands, and give the ship a good name.”
+
+If the heartiness with which they drank is a criterion, the good name
+of the ship was established. Then the assembly adjourned to the sitting
+room and--yes, even the front parlor. Not since the days when that
+sacred apartment had been desecrated by the irreverent city boarders,
+during the Howes regime, had its walls echoed to such whoops and shouts
+of laughter. The children played “Post Office” and “Copenhagen” and
+“Clap in, Clap out,” while the grown folks looked on.
+
+“Ain't they havin' a fine time, Cap?” gushed Miss Phinney. “Don't it
+make you wish you was young again?”
+
+“Angie,” replied Captain Cy solemnly, “don't tempt me; don't! If they
+keep on playin' that Copenhagen and you stand right alongside of me,
+there's no tellin' what 'll happen.”
+
+Angeline declared that he was “turrible,” but she faced the threatened
+danger nevertheless, and bravely remained where she was.
+
+Mr. Atkins went home early in the evening, taking Alicia with him. He
+explained that his long railroad journey had--er--somewhat fatigued
+him and, though he hated to leave such a--er--delightful gathering,
+he really felt that, under the circumstances, his departure would be
+forgiven. Captain Cy opened the door for him and stood watching as,
+holding his daughter by the hand, he marched majestically down the path.
+
+“Hum!” mused the captain aloud. “I guess he has been travelin' nights.
+Thought he ought to be here quick, I shouldn't wonder. He does look
+tired, that's a fact, and kind of pale, seemed to me.”
+
+“Well, there, now!” exclaimed Mrs. Tripp, who was looking over his
+shoulder. “Did you see that?”
+
+“No; what was it?”
+
+“Why, when he went to open his gate, one of them arbor vity bushes he
+set out this spring knocked his hat off. And he never seemed to notice,
+but went right on. If 'Licia hadn't picked it up, that nice new hat
+would have been layin' there yet. That's the most undignified thing ever
+I see Heman Atkins do. He MUST be tired out, poor man!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+
+“Whit,” asked Asaph next day, “wan't you surprised to see Heman last
+night?”
+
+Captain Cy nodded. He was once more busy with the doll house, the
+construction of which had progressed slowly of late, owing to the
+demands which the party and politics made upon its builder's time.
+
+“Yup,” he said, “I sartinly was. Pretty good sign, I shouldn't wonder.
+Looks as if friend Tad had found the tide settin' too strong against him
+and had whistled for a tug. All right; the more scared the other side
+get, the better for us.”
+
+“But what in the world made Heman come over and have supper? He never
+so much as stepped foot in the house afore, did he? That's the biggest
+conundrum of all.”
+
+“Well, I guess I've got the answer. Strikes me that Heman's sociableness
+is the best sign yet. Heman's a slick article, and when he sees there's
+danger of losin' the frostin' on the cake he takes care to scrape the
+burnt part off the bottom. I may be school committeeman after town
+meetin'. He'll move all creation to stop me, of course--in his quiet,
+round-the-corner way--but, if I do win out, he wants to be in a position
+to take me one side and tell me that he's glad of it; he felt all along
+I was the right feller for the job, and if there's anything he can do to
+make things easier for me just call on him. That's the way I size it up,
+anyhow.”
+
+“Cy, I never see anybody like you. You're dead set against Heman, and
+have been right along. And he's never done anything to you, fur's I see.
+He's given a lot to the town, and he's always been the most looked-up-to
+man we've got. Joe Dimick and two or three more chronic growls have been
+the only ones to sling out hints against him, till you come. Course
+I'm working for you, tooth and nail, and I will say that you seem to be
+gettin' the votes some way or other. But if Heman SHOULD step right out
+and say: 'Feller citizens, I'm behind Tad Simpson in this fight, and as
+a favor to me and 'cause I think it's right and best, I want 'Lonzo Snow
+elected'--well, _I_ don't believe you'd have more'n one jack and a ten
+spot to count for game.”
+
+“Probably not, Ase; I presume likely not. But you take a day off some
+time and see if you can remember that Heman EVER stepped right out and
+said things. Blame it! that's just it. As for WHY he riles me up and
+makes me stubborn as a balky mule, I don't know exactly. All I'm sure
+is that he does. Maybe it's 'cause I don't like the way he wears his
+whiskers. Maybe it's because he's so top-lofty and condescendin'. A
+feller can whistle to me and say: 'Come on, Bill,' and I'll trot at his
+heels all day. But when he pats me on the head and says: 'There there!
+nice doggie. Go under the bed and lay down,' my back bristles up and I
+commence to growl right off. There's consider'ble Whittaker in me, as
+I've told you before.”
+
+The town clerk pondered over this rather unsatisfactory line of
+reasoning for some minutes. His companion fitted a wooden chimney on the
+doll house, found it a trifle out of plumb, and proceeded to whittle
+a shaving off the lower edge. Then Asaph sighed, as one who gives up a
+perplexing riddle, put his hand in his pocket, and produced a bundle of
+papers.
+
+“I made out a list of fellers down to the east'ard that I'm goin' to
+see this afternoon,” he said. “Some of 'em I guess 'll vote for you,
+but most of 'em are pretty sartin' for 'Lonzo. However, I--Where is
+that list? I had it somewhere's. And--well, I swan! I come pretty near
+forgettin' it myself. I'm 'most as bad as Bailey.”
+
+From the bundle of papers he produced a crumpled envelope.
+
+“That Bailey,” he observed, “must be in love, I cal'late, though I don't
+know who with. Ketury, I s'pose, 'cordin' to law and order, but--Well,
+anyhow, he's gettin' more absent-minded all the time. Here's a letter
+for you, Cy, that he got at the post-office a week ago Monday. 'Twas the
+night of the church sociable, and he had on his Sunday cutaway, and
+he ain't worn it sence, till the party yesterday. When he took off the
+coat, goin' to bed, the letter fell out of it. I guess he was ashamed to
+fetch it round himself, so he asked me to do it. Better late than never,
+hey? Here's that list at last.”
+
+He produced the list and handed it to the captain for inspection. The
+latter looked it over, made a few comments and suggestions, and told his
+friend to heave ahead and land as many of the listed as possible. This
+Mr. Tidditt promised to do, and, replacing the papers in his pocket,
+started for the gate.
+
+“Oh! Say, Ase!”
+
+The town clerk, his hand on the gate latch, turned.
+
+“Well, what is it?” he asked. “Don't keep me no longer'n you can help. I
+got work to do, I have.”
+
+“All right, I won't stop you. Only fallin' in love is kind of epidemic
+down at the boardin' house, I guess. Who is it that's got you in
+tow--Matildy?”
+
+“What are you talkin' about? Didn't I tell you to quit namin' me with
+Matildy Tripp? I like a joke as well as most folks, but when it's wore
+into the ground I--”
+
+“Sho, sho! Don't get mad. It's your own fault. You said that
+absent-mindedness was a love symptom, so I just got to thinkin', that's
+all. That letter that Bailey forgot--you haven't given it to me yet.”
+
+Asaph turned red and hastily snatched the papers from his pocket. He
+strode back to the door of the woodshed, handed his friend the crumpled
+envelope, and stalked off without another word. The captain chuckled,
+laid the letter on the bench beside him and went on with his work. It
+was perhaps ten minutes later when, happening to glance at the postmark
+on the envelope, he saw that it was “Concord, N. H.”
+
+Asaph's vote-gathering trip “to the east'ard” made a full day for him.
+He returned to the perfect boarding house just at supper time. During
+the meal he realized that Mr. Bangs seemed to be trying to attract his
+attention. Whenever he glanced in that gentleman's direction his glance
+was met by winks and mystifying shakes of the head. Losing patience at
+last, he demanded to know what was the matter.
+
+“Want to say somethin' to me, do you?” he inquired briskly. “If you do,
+out with it! Don't set there workin' your face as if 'twas wound up,
+like a clockwork image.”
+
+This remark had the effect of turning all the other faces toward
+Bailey's. He was very much upset.
+
+“No, no!” he stammered. “No, no! I don't want you for nothin'. Was I
+makin' my face go? I--I didn't know it. I've been washin' carriages and
+cleanin' up the barn all day and I cal'late I've overdone. I'm gettin'
+old, and hard work's likely to bring on shakin' palsy to old folks.”
+
+His wife tartly observed that, if WORK was the cause of it, she guessed
+he was safe from palsy for quite a spell yet. At any rate, a marked
+recovery set in and he signaled no more during the meal. But when it was
+over, and his task as dish-wiper completed, he hurried out of doors and
+found Mr. Tidditt, shivering in the November wind, on the front porch.
+
+“Now what is it?” asked Asaph sharply. “I know there's somethin' and
+I've froze to death by sections waitin' to hear it.”
+
+“Have you seen Cy?” whispered Bailey, glancing fearfully over his
+shoulder at the lighted windows of the house.
+
+“No, not sence mornin'. Why?”
+
+“Well, there's somethin' the matter with him. Somethin' serious. I was
+swabbin' decks in the barn about eleven o'clock, when he come postin'
+in, white and shaky, and so nervous he couldn't stand still. Looked as
+if he had had a stroke almost. I--”
+
+“Godfrey scissors! You don't s'pose Heman's comin' back has knocked out
+his chances for the committee, do you?”
+
+“No, sir-ee! 'twan't that. Cy's anxious to be elected and all, but you
+know his politics are more of a joke with him than anything else. And
+any rap Heman or Tad could give him would only make him fight harder.
+And he wouldn't talk politics at all; didn't seem to give a durn about
+'em, one way or t'other. No, 'twas somethin' about that letter, the one
+I forgot so long. He wanted to know why in time I hadn't given it to him
+when it fust come. He was real ugly about it, for him, and kept pacin'
+up and down the barn floor and layin' into me, till I begun to think he
+was crazy. I guess he see my feelin's were hurt, 'cause, just afore he
+left, he held out his hand and said I mustn't mind his talk; he'd been
+knocked on his beam ends, he said, and wan't really responsible.”
+
+“Wouldn't he say what had knocked him?”
+
+“No, couldn't get nothin' out of him. And when he quit he went off
+toward home, slappin' his fists together and actin' as if he didn't see
+the road across his bows. Now, you know how cool and easy goin' Whit
+generally is. I swan to man, Ase! he made me so sorry for him I didn't
+know what to do.”
+
+“Ain't you been up to see him sence?”
+
+“No, Ketury was sot on havin' the barn cleaned, and she stood over
+me with a rope's end, as you might say. I couldn't get away a minute,
+though I made up more'n a dozen errands at Simmons's and the like of
+that. You hold on till I sneak into the entry and get my cap and we'll
+put for there now. I won't be but a jiffy. I'm worried.”
+
+They entered the yard of the Cy Whittaker place together and approached
+the side door. As they stood on the steps Asaph touched his chum on the
+arm and pointed to the window beside them. The shade was half drawn and
+beneath it they had a clear view of the interior of the sitting room.
+Captain Cy was in the rocker before the stove, holding Bos'n in his
+arms. The child was sound asleep, her yellow braid hanging over the
+captain's broad shoulder. He was gazing down into her face with a look
+which was so full of yearning and love that it brought a choke into the
+throats of the pair who saw it.
+
+They entered the dining room. The captain sprang from his chair and,
+still holding the little girl close against his breast, met them at
+the sitting-room door. When he saw who the visitors were, he caught his
+breath, almost with a sob, and seemed relieved.
+
+“S-s-h-h!” he whispered warningly. “She's asleep.”
+
+The members of the Board of Strategy nodded understandingly and sat
+down upon the sofa. Captain Cy tiptoed to the bedroom, turned back the
+bedclothes with one hand and laid Bos'n down. They saw him tuck her
+carefully in and then stoop and kiss her. He returned to the sitting
+room and closed the door behind him.
+
+“We see she was asleep afore we come in,” explained Asaph. “We see you
+and her through the window.”
+
+The captain looked hurriedly at the window indicated. Then he stepped
+over and pulled the shade down to the sill, doing the same with the
+curtains of the other two windows.
+
+“What's the matter?” inquired Bailey, trying to be facetious. “'Fraid of
+'Lonzo's crowd spyin' on us?”
+
+Captain Cy did not reply. He did not even sit down, but remained
+standing, his back to the stove.
+
+“Well?” he asked shortly. “Did you fellers want to see me for anything
+'special?”
+
+“Wanted to see what had struck you all to once,” replied Mr. Tidditt.
+“Bailey says you scared him half to death this forenoon. And you look
+now as if somebody's ghost had riz and hollered 'Boo!' at you. For the
+land sakes, Whit, what IS it?”
+
+The captain drew his hand across his forehead.
+
+“Ghost?” he repeated absently. “No, I haven't SEEN a ghost. There!
+there! don't mind me. I ain't real well to-day, I guess.” He smiled
+crookedly.
+
+“Don't you want to hear about my vote-grabbin' cruise?” asked Tidditt.
+“I was flatterin' myself you'd be tickled to hear I'd done so well. Why,
+even Marcellus Parker says he may vote for you--if he makes up his mind
+that way.”
+
+Marcellus was a next-door neighbor of Alonzo Snow's. But Captain Cy
+didn't seem to care.
+
+“Hey?” he murmured. “Yes. Well?”
+
+“WELL! Is that all you've got to say? Are you really sick, Cy? Or is
+Bos'n sick?”
+
+“No!” was the answer, almost fierce in its utterance. “She isn't sick.
+Don't be a fool.”
+
+“What's foolish about that? I didn't know but she might be. There's
+mumps in town and--”
+
+“She's all right; so shut up, will you! There, Ase!” he added. “I'm the
+fool myself. Don't mind my barkin'; I don't mean it. I am about sick, I
+cal'late. Be better to-morrer, maybe.”
+
+“What's got into you? Was that letter of Bailey's--”
+
+“Hush!” The captain held up his hand. “I thought I heard a team.”
+
+“Depot wagon, most likely,” said Bailey. “About time for it! Humph!
+seems to be stoppin', don't it? Was you expectin' anybody? Shall I go
+and--”
+
+“No! Set still.”
+
+The pair on the sofa sat still. Captain Cy stood like a statue in the
+middle of the floor. He squared his shoulders and jammed his clenched
+fists into his pockets. Steps crunched the gravel of the walk. There
+came a knock at the door of the dining room.
+
+Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of his
+own ships, the captain went to answer the knock. They heard the door
+open, and then a man's voice asked:
+
+“Is this Cap'n Whittaker?”
+
+“Yes,” was the short answer.
+
+“Well, Cap, I guess you don't know me, though maybe you know some of my
+family. Ha, ha! Don't understand that, hey? Well, you let me in and I'll
+explain the joke.”
+
+The captain's reply was calm and deliberate.
+
+“I shouldn't wonder if I understood it,” he said. “Come in. Don't--” The
+remainder of the sentence was whispered and the listeners on the sofa
+could not hear it. A moment later Captain Cy entered the sitting room,
+followed by his caller.
+
+The latter was a stranger. He was a broad-shouldered man of medium
+height, with a yellowish mustache and brown hair. He was dressed in
+rather shabby clothes, without an overcoat, and he had a soft felt hat
+in his hand. The most noticeable thing about him was a slight hesitancy
+in his walk. He was not lame, he did not limp, yet his left foot seemed
+to halt for an instant as he brought it forward in the step. They
+learned afterwards that it had been hurt in a mine cave-in. He carried
+himself with a swagger, and, after his entrance, there was a perceptible
+aroma of alcohol in the room.
+
+He stared at the Board of Strategy and the stare was returned in
+full measure. Bailey and Asaph were wildly curious. They, of course,
+connected the stranger's arrival with the mysterious letter and the
+captain's perturbation of the day.
+
+But their curiosity was not to be satisfied, at least not then.
+
+“How are you, gents?” hailed the newcomer cheerfully. “Like the looks of
+me, do you?”
+
+Captain Cy cut off further conversation.
+
+“Ase,” he said, “this--er--gentleman and I have got some business to
+talk over. I know you're good enough friends of mine not to mind if
+I ask you to clear out. You'll understand. You WILL understand, boys,
+won't you?” he added, almost entreatingly.
+
+“Sartin sure!” replied Mr. Tidditt, rising hurriedly. “Don't say another
+word, Whit.” And the mystified Bangs concurred with a “Yes, yes! Why, of
+course! Didn't have nothin' that amounts to nothin' to stay for anyhow.
+See you to-morrer, Cy.”
+
+Outside and at the gate they stopped and looked at each other.
+
+“Well!” exclaimed Asaph. “If that ain't the strangest thing! Who was
+that feller? Where'd he come from? Did you notice how Cy acted? Seemed
+to be holdin' himself in by main strength.”
+
+“Did you smell the rum on him?” returned Bailey. “On that t'other chap,
+I mean? Didn't he look like a reg'lar no-account to you? And say, Ase,
+didn't he remind you of somebody you'd seen somewheres--kind of, in a
+way?”
+
+They walked home in a dazed state, asking unanswerable questions and
+making profitless guesses. But Asaph's final remark seemed to sum up the
+situation.
+
+“There's trouble comin' of this, Bailey,” he declared. “And it's trouble
+for Cy Whittaker, I'm afraid. Poor old Cy! Well, WE'LL stand by him,
+anyhow. I don't believe he'll sleep much to-night. Didn't look as though
+he would, did he? Who IS that feller?”
+
+If he had seen Captain Cy, at two o'clock the next morning, sitting
+by Bos'n's bedside and gazing hopelessly at the child, he would have
+realized that, if his former predictions were wiped off the slate and he
+could be judged by the one concerning the captain's sleepless night, he
+might thereafter pose as a true prophet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A BARGAIN OFF
+
+
+“Mornin', Georgianna,” said Captain Cy to his housekeeper as the latter
+unlocked the back door of the Whittaker house next morning. “I'm a
+little ahead of you this time.”
+
+Miss Taylor, being Bayport born and bred, was an early riser. She lodged
+with her sister, in Bassett's Hollow, a good half mile from the Cy
+Whittaker place, but she was always on hand at the latter establishment
+by six each morning, except Sundays. Now she glanced quickly at the
+clock. The time was ten minutes to six.
+
+“Land sakes!” she exclaimed. “I should say you was! What in the world
+got you up so early? Ain't sick, are you?”
+
+“No,” replied the captain wearily. “I ain't sick. I didn't sleep very
+well last night, that's all.”
+
+Georgianna looked sharply at him. His face was haggard and his eyes had
+dark circles under them.
+
+“Humph!” she grunted. “No, I guess you didn't. Looks to me as if you'd
+been up all night.” Then she added an anxious query: “'Tain't Bos'n--she
+ain't sick, I hope?”
+
+“No. She's all right. I say, Georgianna, you put on an extry plate this
+mornin'. Got company for breakfast.”
+
+The housekeeper was surprised.
+
+“For breakfast?” she repeated. “Land of goodness! who's comin' for
+breakfast? I never heard of company droppin' in for breakfast. That's
+one meal folks generally get to home. Who is it? Mr. Tidditt? Has Ketury
+turned him out door because he's too bad an example for her husband?”
+
+“No, 'tain't Ase. It's a--a friend of mine. Well, not exactly a friend,
+maybe, but an acquaintance from out of town. He came last evenin'. He's
+up in the spare bedroom.”
+
+“Well, I never! Come unexpected, didn't he? I wish I'd known he was
+comin'. That spare room bed ain't been aired I don't know when.”
+
+“I guess he can stand it. I cal'late he's slept in consider'ble
+worse--Hum! Yes, he did come kind of sudden.”
+
+“What's his name?”
+
+“What difference does that make? I don't know's his name makes any odds
+about gettin' his breakfast for him.”
+
+Georgianna was hurt. Her easy-going employer had never used this tone
+before when addressing her.
+
+“Oh!” she sniffed. “Is THAT the way you feel? All right! I can mind my
+own business, thank you. I only asked because it's convenient sometimes
+to know whether to call a person Bill Smith or Sol Jones. But I don't
+care if it's Nebuchadnezzar. I know when to keep my tongue still, I
+guess.”
+
+She flounced over to the range. Captain Cy looked ashamed of himself.
+
+“I'm kind of out of sorts to-day,” he said. “Got some headache. Why, his
+name is--is--yes, 'tis Smith, come to think of it--John Smith. Funny you
+should guess right, wan't it?”
+
+“Humph!” was the ungracious answer. “Names don't interest me, I tell
+you.”
+
+The captain was in the dining room when Bos'n appeared.
+
+“Good morning, Uncle Cyrus,” she said. “You've been waiting, haven't
+you? Am I late? I didn't mean to be.”
+
+“No, no! you ain't late. Early, if anything. Breakfast ain't quite ready
+yet. Come here and set in my lap. I want to talk to you.”
+
+He took her on his knee. She looked up into his face.
+
+“What's the matter, Uncle Cy?” she asked. “What makes you so sober?”
+
+“Sober? If you ain't the oldest young one for eight years I ever saw!
+Why, I ain't sober. No, no! Say, Bos'n, do you like your school as well
+as ever?”
+
+“Yes, sir. I like it better all the time.”
+
+“Do, hey? And that teacher woman--go on likin' her?”
+
+The child nodded emphatically. “Yes, sir,” she said. “And I haven't been
+kept after since that once.”
+
+“Sho! sho! Course you ain't'! So you think Bayport's as nice as Concord,
+do you?”
+
+“Oh! lots nicer! If mamma was only here I'd never want to be anywhere
+else. And not then, maybe, unless you was there, too.”
+
+“Hum! Want to know! Say, Bos'n, how would you feel if you had to go
+somewheres else?”
+
+“To live? Have we got to? I'd feel dreadful, of course. But if you've
+got to go, Uncle Cyrus, why--”
+
+“Me? No; I ain't got to go anywheres. But 'twas you I was thinkin' of.
+Wouldn't want to leave the old man, hey?”
+
+“To leave YOU! Oh, Uncle Cyrus!”
+
+She was staring at him now and her chin was trembling.
+
+“Uncle,” she demanded, “you ain't going to send me away? Haven't I been
+a good girl?”
+
+The captain's lips shut tight. He waited a moment before replying.
+“'Deed you've been a good girl!” he said brusquely. “I never saw a
+better one. No, I ain't goin' to SEND you away. Don't you worry about
+that.”
+
+“But Alicia Atkins said one time you told somebody you was going to send
+me out West, after a while. I didn't believe it, then, she's so mean,
+but she said you said--”
+
+“SAID!” Captain Cy groaned. “The Lord knows what I ain't said! I've been
+a fool, dearie, and it's a judgment on me, I guess.”
+
+“But ain't you goin' to keep me? I--I--”
+
+She sobbed. The captain stroked her hair.
+
+“Keep you?” he muttered. “Yes, by the big dipper! I'm goin' to keep you,
+if I can--if I can.”
+
+“Hello!” said a voice. The pair looked up. The man who had arrived on
+the previous night stood in the sitting-room doorway. How long he had
+been standing there the captain did not know. What he did know was that
+Mr. John Smith by daylight was not more prepossessing than the same
+individual viewed by the aid of a lamp.
+
+Emily saw the stranger and slid from Captain Cy's knees. The captain
+rose.
+
+“Bos'n,” he said, “this is Mr.--er--Smith, who's goin' to make us a
+little visit. I want you to shake hands with him.”
+
+The girl dutifully approached Mr. Smith and extended her hand. He took
+it and held it in his own.
+
+“Is this the--” he began.
+
+Captain Cy bowed assent.
+
+“Yes,” he said, his eyes fixed on the visitor's face. “Yes. Don't forget
+what you said last night.”
+
+Smith shook his head.
+
+“No,” he replied. “I ain't the kind that forgets, unless it pays pretty
+well. There's some things I've remembered for quite a few years.”
+
+He looked the child over from head to foot and his brows drew together
+in an ugly frown.
+
+“So this is her, hey?” he muttered musingly. “Humph! Well, I don't know
+as I'd have guessed it. Favors the other side of the house more--the
+respectable side, I should say. Still, there's a little brand of the
+lost sheep, hey? Enough to prove property, huh? Mark of the beast, I
+s'pose the psalm-singin' relations would call it. D--n em! I--”
+
+“Steady!” broke in the captain. Mr. Smith started, seemed to remember
+where he was, and his manner changed.
+
+“Come and see me, honey,” he coaxed, drawing the girl toward him by
+the hand he was holding. “Ain't you got a nice kiss for me this fine
+mornin'? Don't be scared. I won't bite.”
+
+Bos'n looked shrinkingly at Mr. Smith's unshaven cheeks and then at
+Captain Cy. The latter's face was absolutely devoid of expression. He
+merely nodded.
+
+So Emily kissed one of the bristling cheeks. The kiss was returned full
+upon the mouth. She wiped her lips and darted away to her chair by the
+table.
+
+“What's your hurry?” inquired the visitor. “Don't I do it right? Been
+some time since I kissed a girl--a little one, anyhow,” he added,
+winking at his host. “Never mind, we'll know each other better by and
+by.”
+
+He looked on in wondering disgust as Bos'n said her “grace.”
+
+“What in blazes!” he burst out when the little blessing was finished.
+“Who put her up to that? A left-over from the psalm-singers, is it?”
+
+“I don't know,” answered the captain, speaking with deliberation. “I do
+know that I like to have her do it and that she shall do it as long's
+she's at this table.”
+
+“Oh! she shall, hey? Well, I reckon--”
+
+“She shall--AS LONG AS SHE'S AT THIS TABLE. Is that real plain and
+understandable, or shall I write it down?”
+
+There was an icy clearness in the captain's tone which seemed to freeze
+further conversation on the part of Mr. Smith. He merely grunted and ate
+his breakfast in silence. He ate a great deal and ate it rapidly.
+
+Bos'n departed for school when the meal was over. Captain Cy helped her
+on with her coat and hood. Then, as he always did of late, he kissed her
+good-by.
+
+“Hi!” called Mr. Smith from the sitting room. “Ain't I in on that? If
+there's any kisses goin' I want to take a hand before the deal's over.”
+
+“Must I?” whispered Bos'n pleadingly. “Must I, Uncle Cy? I don't want
+to. I don't like him.”
+
+“Come on!” called Mr. Smith. “I'm gettin' over my bashfulness fast.
+Hurry up!”
+
+“Must I kiss him, Uncle Cyrus?” whispered Bos'n. “MUST I?”
+
+“No!” snapped the captain sharply. “Trot right along now, dearie. Be a
+good girl. Good-by.”
+
+He entered the sitting room. His guest had found the Sunday box and was
+lighting one of his host's cigars.
+
+“Well,” he inquired easily, “what's next on the bill? Anything goin' on
+in this forsaken hole?”
+
+“There's a barber shop down the road. You might go there first, I should
+say. Not that you need it, but just as a novelty like.”
+
+“Humph! I don't know. What's the matter with your razor?”
+
+“Nothin'. At least I ain't found anything wrong with it yet.”
+
+“Oh! Say, look here! you're a queer guy, you are. I ain't got you right
+in my mind yet. One minute butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, and the
+next you're fresh as a new egg. What IS your little game, anyway? You've
+got one, so don't tell me you ain't.”
+
+Captain Cy was plainly embarrassed. He gazed at the “Shore to Shore”
+ picture on the wall as he answered.
+
+“No game about it,” he said. “Last night you and I agreed that nothin'
+was to be said for a few days. You was to stay here and I'd try to make
+you comfort'ble, that's all. Then we'd see about that other matter,
+settle on a fair price, and--”
+
+“Yes, I know. That's all right. But you're too willin'. There's
+something else. Say!” The ugly scowl was in evidence again. “Say, look
+here, you! you ain't got somethin' up your sleeve, have you? There ain't
+somethin' more that I don't know about, is there? No more secrets than
+that--”
+
+“No! You hear me? No! You'll get your rights, and maybe a little more
+than your rights, if you're decent. And it'll pay you to be decent.”
+
+“Humph!” Mr. Smith seemed to be thinking. Then he added, looking up
+keenly under his brows: “How about the--the incumbrance on the property?
+Of course, when I go I'll have to take that with me, and--”
+
+Captain Cy interrupted.
+
+“There! there!” he exclaimed, and there was a shake in his voice,
+“there! there! Don't let's talk about such things now. I--I--Let's wait
+a spell. We'll have some more plans to make, maybe. If you want to use
+my razor it's right in that drawer. Just help yourself.”
+
+The visitor laughed aloud. He nodded as if satisfied. “Ho! ho!” he
+chuckled. “I see! Humph! yes--I see. The fools ain't all dead, and
+there's none to beat an old one. Well! well! All right, pard! I guess
+you and me'll get along fine. I've changed my mind; I WILL go to the
+barber shop, after all. Only I'm a little shy of dust just at present.
+So, to oblige a friend, maybe you'll hand over, huh?”
+
+The captain reached into his pocket, extracted a two-dollar bill, and
+passed it to the speaker. Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head.
+
+“You can't come in on that, pard,” he said. “The limit's five.”
+
+Captain Cy took back the bill and exchanged it for one with a V in each
+corner. The visitor took it and turned toward the door.
+
+“Ta! ta!” he said, taking his hat from the peg in the dining room.
+“I'm off for the clippers. When I come back I'll be the sweetest little
+Willie in the diggin's. So long.”
+
+Bos'n and the captain sat down to the dinner at noon alone. Mr. Smith
+had not returned from his trip to the barber's. He came in, however,
+just before the meal was over, still in an unshorn condition, somewhat
+flushed and very loquacious.
+
+“Say!” he exclaimed genially. “That Simpson's the right sort, ain't he?
+Him and me took a shine to each other from the go-off. He's been West
+himself and he's got some width to him. He's no psalm singer.”
+
+“Humph!” commented the captain, with delicate sarcasm. “He don't seem
+to be much of a barber, either. What's the matter? Gone out of business,
+has he? Or was you so wild or woolly he got discouraged before he
+begun?”
+
+“Great snakes!” exclaimed the visitor. “I forgot all about the clippers!
+Well, that's one on me, pard! I'll make a new try soon's grub's over.
+Don't be so tight-fisted with the steak; this is a plate I'm passin',
+not a contribution box.”
+
+He winked at Bos'n and would have chucked her under the chin if she had
+not dodged. She seemed to have taken a great aversion to Mr. Smith and
+was plainly afraid of him.
+
+“Is he going to stay very long, Uncle Cyrus?” she whispered, when it was
+school time once more. “Do you think he's nice?”
+
+Captain Cy did not answer. When she had gone and the guest had risen
+from the table and put on his hat, the captain said warningly:
+
+“There's one little bit of advice I want to give you, Mister Man: A
+bargain's a bargain, but it takes two to keep it. Don't let your love
+for Tad Simpson lead you into talkin' too much. Talk's cheap, they say,
+but too much of it might be mighty dear for you. Understand?”
+
+Smith patted him on the back. “Lord love you, pard!” he chuckled, “I'm
+no spring chicken. I'm as hard to open as a safe, I am. It takes a can
+opener to get anything out of me.”
+
+“Yes; well, you can get inside some folks easier with a corkscrew. I've
+been told that Tad's a kind of a medium sometimes. If he raises any
+spirits in that back room of his, I'd leave 'em alone, if I was you. So
+long as you're decent, I'll put up with--”
+
+But Mr. Smith was on his way to the gate, whistling as if he hadn't a
+care in the world. Captain Cy watched him go down the road, and then,
+with the drawn, weary look on his face which had been there since the
+day before, he entered the sitting room and threw himself into a chair.
+
+Miss Phoebe Dawes, the school teacher, worked late that evening. There
+were examination papers to be gone over, and experience had demonstrated
+that the only place where she could be free from interruptions was the
+schoolroom itself. At the perfect boarding house the shrill tones of
+Keturah's voice and those of Miss Phinney and Mrs. Tripp penetrated
+through shut doors. It is hard to figure percentages when the most
+intimate details of Bayport's family life are being recited and gloated
+over on the other side of a thin partition. And when Matilda undertook
+to defend the Come-Outer faith against the assaults of the majority, the
+verbal riot was, as Mr. Tidditt described it, “like feedin' time in a
+parrot shop.”
+
+So Miss Phoebe came to the boarding house for supper and then returned
+to the schoolroom, where, with a lighted bracket lamp beside her on the
+desk, she labored until nine o'clock. Then she put on her coat and hat,
+extinguished the light, locked the door, and started on her lonely walk
+home.
+
+“The main road” in our village is dark after nine o clock. There is
+a street light--a kerosene lamp--on a post in front of the Methodist
+meeting house, but the sexton forgets it, generally speaking, or, at
+any rate, neglects to fill it except at rare intervals. Simmons's front
+windows are ablaze, of course, and so are the dingy panes of Simpson's
+barber shop. But these two centers of sociability are both at the depot
+road corner, and when they are passed the only sources of illumination
+are the scattered gleams from the back windows of dwellings. As most
+of us retire by half-past eight, the glow along the main road is not
+dazzling, to say the very least.
+
+Miss Dawes was not afraid of the dark. She had been her own escort for
+a good many years. She walked briskly on, heard the laughter and loud
+voices in the barber shop die away behind her, passed the schoolhouse
+pond, now bleak and chill with the raw November wind blowing across it,
+and began to climb the slope of Whittaker's Hill. And here the wind,
+rushing in unimpeded over the flooded salt meadows from the tumbled
+bay outside, wound her skirts about her and made climbing difficult and
+breath-taking.
+
+She was, perhaps, half way up the long slope, when she heard, in the
+intervals between the gusts, footsteps behind her. She knew most of
+the village people by this time and the thought of company was not
+unpleasant. So she paused and pantingly waited for whoever was coming.
+She could not see more than a few yards, but the footsteps sounded
+nearer and nearer, and, a moment later, a man's voice began singing
+“Annie Rooney,” a melody then past its prime in the cities, but
+popularized in Bayport by some departed batch of summer boarders.
+
+She did not recognize the voice and she did not particularly approve of
+singing in the streets, especially such loud singing. So she decided not
+to wait longer, and was turning to continue her climb, when the person
+behind stopped his vocalizing and called.
+
+“Hi!” he shouted. “Hello, ahead there! Who is it? Hold on a minute,
+pard! I'm comin'.”
+
+She disobeyed the order to “hold on,” and began to hurry. The hurry was
+of no avail, however, for the follower broke into a run and soon was by
+her side. He was a stranger to her.
+
+“Whee! Wow!” he panted. “This is no race track, pard. Pull up, and let's
+take it easy. My off leg's got a kink in it, and I don't run so easy as
+I used to. Great snakes; what's your rush? Ain't you fond of company?
+Hello! I believe it's a woman!”
+
+She did not answer. His manner and the smell of liquor about him were
+decidedly unpleasant. The idea that he might be a tramp occurred to her.
+Tramps are our bugaboos here in Bayport.
+
+“A woman!” exclaimed the man hilariously. “Well, say! I didn't believe
+there was one loose in this tail-end of nowhere. Girlie, I'm glad to see
+you. Not that I can see you much, but never mind. All cats are gray in
+the dark, hey? You can't see me, neither, so we'll take each other on
+trust. 'She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau.' Say, Maud, may I see you
+home?”
+
+She was frightened now. The Whittaker place on the hilltop was the
+nearest house, and that was some distance off.
+
+“What's the matter, Carrie?” inquired the man. “Don't be scared. I
+wouldn't hurt you. I'm just lonesome, that's all, and I need society.
+Don't rush, you'll ruin your complexion. Here! come under my wing and
+let's toddle along together. How's mamma?”
+
+He seized her arm and pulled her back beside him. She tried to free
+herself, but could not. Her unwelcome escort held her fast and she was
+obliged to move as slowly as he did. It was very dark.
+
+“Say, what IS your name?” coaxed the man. “Is is Maud, hey? Or Julia? I
+always liked Julia. Don't be peevish. Tell us, that's a good girl.”
+
+She gave a quick jerk and managed to pull her arm from his grasp,
+giving him a violent push as she did so. He, being unsteady on his feet,
+tumbled down the low bank which edged the sidewalk. Then she ran on up
+the hill as fast as she could. She heard him swear as he fell.
+
+She had nearly reached the end of the Whittaker fence when he caught
+her. He was laughing, and that alarmed her almost as much as if he had
+been angry.
+
+“Naughty! naughty!” he chuckled, holding her fast. “Tryin' to sneak, was
+you? Not much! Not this time! Did you ever play forfeits when you was
+little? Well, this is a forfeit game and you're It. You must bow to the
+prettiest, kneel to the wittiest, and kiss the one you love best. And
+I'll let you off on the first two. Come now! Pay up!”
+
+Then she screamed. And her scream was answered at once. A gate swung
+back with a bang and she heard some one running along the walk toward
+her.
+
+“O Cap'n Whittaker!” she called. “Come! Come quick, please!”
+
+How she knew that the person running toward her was Captain Cy has
+not been satisfactorily explained even yet. She cannot explain it
+and neither can the captain. And equally astonishing was the latter's
+answer. He certainly had not heard her voice often enough to recognize
+it under such circumstances.
+
+“All right, teacher!” he shouted. “I'm comin'! Let go of that woman,
+you--Oh, it's you, is it?”
+
+He had seized Mr. Smith by the coat collar and jerked him away from his
+victim. Miss Dawes took refuge behind the captain's bulky form. The two
+men looked at each other. Smith was recovering his breath.
+
+“It's you, is it?” repeated Captain Cy. Then, turning to Miss Phoebe, he
+asked: “Did he hurt you?”
+
+“No! Not yet. But he frightened me dreadfully. Who is he? Do you know
+him?”
+
+Her persecutor answered the question.
+
+“You bet your life he knows me!” he snarled. “He knows me mighty well!
+Pard, you keep your nose out of this, d'you see! You mind your own
+business. I wan't goin' to hurt her any.”
+
+The captain paid no attention to him.
+
+“Yup, I know him,” he said grimly. Then he added, pointing toward the
+lighted window of the house ahead: “You--Smith, you go in there and stay
+there! Trot! Don't make me speak twice.”
+
+But Mr. Smith was too far gone with anger and the “spirits” raised by
+Tad Simpson to heed the menace in the words.
+
+“Smith, hey?” he sneered. “Oh, yes, SMITH! Well, Smith ain't goin',
+d'you see! He's goin' to do what he pleases. I reckon I'm on top of the
+roost here! I know what's what! You can't talk to me. I've got rights, I
+have, and--”
+
+“Blast your rights!”
+
+“What? WHAT? Blast my rights, hey? Oh, yes! Think because you've got
+money you can cheat me out of 'em, do you? Well, you can't! And how
+about the other part of those rights? S'pose I walk right into that
+house and--”
+
+“Stop it! Shut up! You'd better not--”
+
+“And into that bedroom and just say: 'Emmie, here's your--'”
+
+He didn't finish the sentence. Captain Cy's big fist struck him fairly
+between the eyes, and the back of his head struck the walk with a
+“smack!” Then, through the fireworks which were illuminating his muddled
+brain, he heard the captain's voice.
+
+“You low - down, good - for - nothin' scamp!” growled Captain Cy. “All
+this day I've been hatin' myself for the way I've acted to you. I've
+hated myself and been tryin' to spunk up courage to say 'It's all off!'
+But I was too much of a coward, I guess. And now the Lord A'mighty has
+MADE me say it. You want your rights, do you? So? Then get 'em if you
+can. It's you and me for it, and we'll see who's the best man. Teacher,
+if you're ready I'll walk home with you now.”
+
+Mr. Smith was not entirely cowed.
+
+“You go!” he yelled. “Go ahead! And I'll go to a lawyer's to-morrow. But
+to-night, and inside of five minutes, I'll walk into that house of yours
+and get my--”
+
+The captain dropped Miss Dawes's arm and strode back to where his
+antagonist was sitting in the dust of the walk. Stooping down, he shook
+a big forefinger in the man's face.
+
+“You've been out West, they tell me,” he whispered sternly. “Yes! Well,
+out West they take the law into their own hands, sometimes, I hear. I've
+been in South America, and they do it there, too. Just so sure as you
+go into my house to-night and touch--well, you know what I mean--just
+so sure I'll kill you like a dog, if I have to chase you to Jericho. Now
+you can believe that or not. If I was you I'd believe it.”
+
+Taking the frightened schoolmistress by the arm once more he walked
+away. Mr. Smith said nothing till they had gone some distance. Then he
+called after them.
+
+“You wait till to-morrow!” he shouted. “You just wait and see what'll
+happen to-morrow!”
+
+Captain Cy was silent all the way to the gate of the perfect boarding
+house. Miss Dawes was silent likewise, but she thought a great deal. At
+the gate she said:
+
+“Captain Whittaker, I'm EVER so much obliged to you. I can't thank you
+enough.”
+
+“Don't try, then. That's what you said to me about the cow.”
+
+“But I'm almost sorry you were the one to come. I'm afraid that man will
+get you into trouble. Has he--can he--What did he mean about to-morrow?
+Who IS he?”
+
+The captain pushed his cap back from his forehead.
+
+“Teacher,” he said, “there's a proverb, ain't there, about lettin'
+to-morrow take care of itself? As for trouble--well, I did think I'd had
+trouble enough in my life to last me through, but I cal'late I've got
+another guess. Anyhow, don't you fret. I did just the right thing,
+and I'm glad I did it. If it was only me I wouldn't fret, either. But
+there's--” He stopped, groaned, and pulled the cap forward again. “Good
+night,” he added, and turned to go.
+
+Miss Dawes leaned forward and detained him.
+
+“Just a minute, Cap'n Whittaker,” she said. “I was a little prejudiced
+against you when I came here. I was told that you got me the teacher's
+position, and there was more than a hint that you did it for selfish
+reasons of your own. When you called that afternoon at the school I
+was--”
+
+“Don't say a word! I was the biggest fool in town that time, and I've
+been ashamed to look in the glass ever since. I ain't always such an
+idiot.”
+
+“But I've had to judge people for myself in my lifetime,” continued the
+schoolmistress, “and I've made up my mind that I was mistaken about
+you. I should like to apologize. Will you shake hands?”
+
+She extended her hand. Captain Cy hesitated.
+
+“Hadn't you better wait a spell?” he asked. “You've heard that swab call
+me partner. Hadn't--”
+
+“No; I don't know what your trouble is, of course, and I certainly
+shan't mention it to anyone. But whatever it is I'm sure you are right
+and it's not your fault. Now will you shake hands?”
+
+The captain did not answer. He merely took the proffered hand, shook it
+heartily, and strode off into the dark.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+“TOWN-MEETIN'”
+
+
+“This is goin' to be a meMOriable town meetin'!” declared Sylvanus
+Cahoon, with unction, rising from the settee to gaze about him over the
+heads of the voters in the townhall. “I bet you every able-bodied man
+in Bayport 'll be here this forenoon. Yes, sir! that's what I call it, a
+me-MO-riable meetin'!”
+
+“See anything of Cy?” inquired Josiah Dimick, who sat next to Sylvanus.
+
+“No, he ain't come yet. And Heman ain't here, neither. Hello! there's
+Tad. Looks happy, seems to me.”
+
+Captain Dimick stood up to inspect Mr. Simpson.
+
+“Humph!” he muttered. “Well, unless my count's wrong, he ain't got much
+to be happy about. 'Lonzo Snow's with him. Tad does look sort of joyful,
+don't he? Them that laughs last laughs best. When the vote for school
+committee's all in we'll see who does the grinnin'. But I can't
+understand--Hello! there's Tidditt. Asaph! Ase! S-s-t-t! Come here a
+minute.”
+
+Mr. Tidditt, trembling with excitement, and shaking hands effusively
+with everyone he met, pushed his way up the aisle and bent over his
+friend.
+
+“Say, Ase,” whispered Josiah, “where's Whit? Why ain't he on hand?
+Nothin's happened, has it?”
+
+“No,” replied the town clerk. “Everything seems to be all right. I
+stopped in on the way along and Cy said not to wait; he'd be here on
+time. He's been kind of off his feed for the last day or so, and I
+cal'late he didn't feel like hurryin'. Say, Joe, now honest, what do you
+think of my chances?”
+
+Such a confirmed joker as Dimick couldn't lose an opportunity like
+this. With the aid of one trying to be cheerful under discouragement he
+answered that, so far, Asaph's chances looked fair, pretty fair, but of
+course you couldn't always sometimes tell. Mr. Tidditt rushed away to
+begin the handshaking all over again.
+
+From this round of cordiality he was reluctantly torn and conducted to
+the platform. After thumping the desk with his fist he announced that
+the gathering would “come to order right off, as there was consider'ble
+business to be done and it ought to be goin' ahead.” He then proceeded
+to read the call for the meeting. This ceremony was no sooner over than
+Abednego Small, “Uncle Bedny,” was on his feet loudly demanding to
+be informed why the town “hadn't done nothin'” toward fixing up the
+Bassett's Hollow road. Uncle Bedny's speech had proceeded no further
+than “Feller citizens, in the name of an outrageous--I should say
+outraged portion of our community I--” when he was choked off by a
+self-appointed committee who knew Mr. Small of old and had seated
+themselves near him to be ready for just such emergencies. The next
+step, judged by meetings of other years, should have been to unanimously
+elect Eben Salters moderator; but as Captain Eben refused to serve,
+owing to his interest in the Whittaker campaign, Alvin Knowles was, by a
+small majority, chosen for that office. Mr. Knowles was a devout admirer
+of the great Atkins, and his election would have been considered a
+preliminary victory for the opposition had it not been that many of
+Captain Cy's adherents voted for Alvin from a love of mischief, knowing
+from experience his ignorance of parliamentary law and his easy-going
+rule. “Now there'll be fun!” declared one delighted individual.
+“Anything's in order when Alvin's chairman.”
+
+The proceedings of the first half hour were disappointingly tame. Most
+of us had come there to witness a political wrestling match between
+Tad Simpson and Cyrus Whittaker. Some even dared hope that Congressman
+Atkins might direct his fight in person. But neither the Honorable
+nor Captain Cy was in the hall as yet. Solon Eldridge was re-elected
+selectman and so also was Asaph Tidditt. Nobody but Asaph seemed
+surprised at this result. His speech of acceptance would undoubtedly
+have been a triumph of oratory had it not been interrupted by Uncle
+Bedny, who rose to emphatically protest against “settin' round and
+wastin' time” when the Bassett's Hollow road “had ruts deep enough to
+drown a cat in whenever there was a more'n average heavy dew.”
+
+The Bassett's Hollow delegate being again temporarily squelched,
+Moderator Knowles announced that nominations for the vacant place on
+the school committee were in order. There was a perceptible stir on the
+settees. This was what the meeting had been waiting for.
+
+“No sign of Cy or Heman yet,” observed Mr. Cahoon, craning his neck in
+the direction of the door. “It's the queerest thing ever I see.”
+
+“Queer enough about Cy, that's a fact,” concurred Captain Dimick. “I
+ain't so surprised about Heman's not comin'. Looks as if Whit was right;
+he always said Atkins dodged a row where folks could watch it. Does most
+of his fightin' from round the corner. Hello! there's Tad. Now you'll
+see the crown of glory set on 'Lonzo Snow's head. Hope the crown's
+padded nice and soft. Anything with sharp edges would sink in.”
+
+But Mr. Simpson, it seemed, was not yet ready to proceed with the
+coronation. He had risen to ask permission of the meeting to defer the
+school committee matter for a short time. Persons, important persons,
+who should be present while the nominating was going on, had not yet
+arrived. He was sure that the gathering would wish to hear from these
+persons. He asked for only a slight delay. Matters such as this,
+affecting the welfare of our posterity, ought not to be hurried, etc.,
+etc.
+
+Mr. Simpson's request was unexpected. The meeting, apparently, didn't
+know how to take it. Uncle Bedny was firmly held in his seat by those
+about him. Lemuel Myrick took the floor to protest.
+
+“I must say,” he declared, “that I don't see any reason for waitin'. If
+folks ain't here, that's their own fault. Mr. Moderator, I demand that
+the nominatin' go ahead.”
+
+Tad was on his feet instantly.
+
+“I'm goin' to appeal,” he cried, “to the decency and gratitude of the
+citizens of the town of Bayport. One of the persons I'm--that is, we're
+waitin' for has done more for our beautiful village than all the rest
+of us put together. There ain't no need for me to name him. A right
+up-to-date town pump, a lovely memorial window, a--”
+
+“How about that harbor appropriation?” cried a voice from the settees.
+
+Mr. Simpson was taken aback. His face flushed and he angrily turned
+toward the interrupter.
+
+“That's you, Joe Dimick!” he shouted, pointing an agitated forefinger.
+“You needn't scooch down. I know your tongue. The idea of you findin'
+fault because a big man like Congressman Atkins don't jump when you
+holler 'Git up!' What do YOU know about doin's at Washington? That
+harbor appropriation 'll go through if anybody on earth can get it
+through. There's other places besides Bayport to be provided for and--”
+
+“And their congressmen provide for 'em,” called another voice. Tad
+whirled to face his new tormentor.
+
+“Huh!” he grunted with sarcasm. “That's Lem Myrick, _I_ know. Lem, the
+great painter, who votes where he paints and gets paid accordin'.”
+
+“Order!” cried several.
+
+“Oh, all right, Mr. Moderator! I'll keep order all right. But I say to
+you, Lem, and you, Joe Dimick, that I know who put these smart notions
+into your heads. We all know, unless we're born fools. Who is it that's
+been sayin' the Honorable Heman Atkins was shirkin' that appropriation?
+Who was it said if HE was representative the thing would have gone
+through afore this? Who's been makin' his brags that he could get it
+through if he had the chance? You know who! So do I! I wish he was here.
+I only wish he was here! I'd say it to his face.”
+
+“Well, he is. Heave ahead and say it.”
+
+Everyone turned toward the door. Captain Cy had entered the hall. He was
+standing in the aisle, and with him was Bailey Bangs. The captain looked
+very tired, almost worn out, but he nodded coolly to Mr. Simpson,
+who had retired to his seat with surprising quickness and apparent
+discomfiture.
+
+“Here I am, Tad,” continued the captain. “Say your piece.”
+
+But Tad, it appeared, was not anxious to “say his piece.” He was
+whispering earnestly with a group of his followers. Captain Cy held up
+his hand.
+
+“Mr. Moderator,” he asked, “can I have the floor a minute? All I want to
+say is that I cal'late I'm the feller the last speaker had reference to.
+I HAVE said that I didn't see why that appropriation was so hard to get.
+I say it again. Other appropriations are got, and why not ours? I DID
+say if I was a congressman I'd get it. Yes, and I'll say more,” he
+added, raising his voice, “I'll say that if I was sent to Washin'ton
+by this town, congressman or not, I'd move heaven and earth, and all
+creation from the President down till I did get it. That's all. So would
+any live man, I should think.”
+
+He sat down. There was some applause. Before it had subsided Abel
+Leonard, one of the quickest-witted of Mr. Simpson's workers, was on his
+feet, gesticulating for attention.
+
+“Mr. Moderator,” he shouted, “I want to make a motion. We've all heard
+the big talk that's been made. All right, then! I move you, sir,
+that Captain Cyrus Whittaker be appointed a committee of one to GO to
+Washin'ton, if he wants to, or anywheres else, and see that we get the
+appropriation. And if we don't get it the blame's his! There, now!”
+
+There was a roar of laughter. This was exactly the sort of “tit-for-tat”
+ humor that appeals to a Yankee crowd. The motion was seconded half a
+dozen times. Moderator Knowles grinned and shook his head.
+
+“A joke's a joke,” he said, “and we all like a good one. However, this
+meetin' is supposed to be for business, not fun, so--”
+
+“Question! Question! It's been seconded! We've got to vote on it!”
+ shouted a chorus.
+
+“Don't you think--seems to me that ain't in order,” began the moderator,
+but Captain Cy rose to his feet. The grim smile had returned to his face
+and he looked at the joyous assemblage with almost his old expression of
+appreciative alertness.
+
+“Never mind the vote,” he said. “I realize that Brother Leonard has
+rather got one on me, so to speak. All right, I won't dodge. I'll BE
+a committee of one on the harbor grab, and if nothin' comes of it I'll
+take my share of kicks. Gentlemen, I appreciate your trustfulness in my
+ability.”
+
+This brief speech was a huge success. If, for a moment, the pendulum
+of public favor had swung toward Simpson, this trumping of the latter's
+leading card pushed it back again. The moderator had some difficulty in
+restoring order to the hilarious meeting.
+
+Then Mr. Myrick was accorded the privilege of the floor, in spite of
+Tad's protests, and proceeded to nominate Cyrus Whittaker for the school
+committee. Lem had devoted hours of toil and wearisome mental struggle
+to the preparation of his address, and it was lengthy and florid.
+Captain Cy was described as possessing all the virtues. Bailey,
+listening with a hand behind his ear, was moved to applause at frequent
+intervals, and even Asaph forgot the dignity of his exalted position on
+the platform and pounded the official desk in ecstasy. The only person
+to appear uninterested was the nominee himself. He sat listlessly in his
+seat, his eyes cast down, and his thoughts apparently far away.
+
+Josiah Dimick seconded the captain's nomination. Then Mr. Simpson
+stepped to the front and, after a wistful glance at the door, began to
+speak.
+
+“Feller citizens,” he said, “it is my privilege to put in nomination for
+school committee a man whose name stands for all that's good and clean
+and progressive in this township. But afore I do it I'm goin' to ask
+you to let me say a word or two concernin' somethin' that bears right on
+this matter, and which, I believe, everyone of you ought to know. It's
+somethin' that most of you don't know, and it'll be a surprise, a big
+surprise. I'll be as quick as I can, and I cal'late you'll thank me when
+I'm done.”
+
+He paused. The meeting looked at each other in astonishment. There was
+whispering along the settees. Moderator Knowles was plainly puzzled. He
+looked inquiringly at the town clerk, but Asaph was evidently quite as
+much in the dark as he concerning the threatened disclosure.
+
+“Feller Bayporters,” went on Tad, “there's one thing we've all agreed
+on, no matter who we've meant to vote for. That is, that a member of our
+school committee should be an upright, honest man, one fit morally to
+look out for our dear children. Ain't that so? Well, then, I ask you
+this: Would you consider a man fit for that job who deliberately came
+between a father and his child, who pizened the mind of that child
+against his own parent, and when that parent come to claim that child,
+first tried to buy him off and then turned him out of the house? Yes,
+and offered violence to him. And done it--mark what I say--for reasons
+which--which--well, we can only guess 'em, but the guess may not be so
+awful bad. Is THAT the kind of man we want to honor or to look out for
+our own children's schoolin'?”
+
+Mr. Simpson undoubtedly meant to cause a sensation by his opening
+remarks. He certainly did so. The stir and whispering redoubled. Asaph,
+his mouth open, stared wildly down at Captain Cy. The captain rose to
+his feet, then sank back again. His listlessness was gone and, paying no
+attention to those about him, he gazed fixedly at Tad.
+
+“Gentlemen,” continued the speaker, “last night I had an experience that
+I shan't forget as long as I live. I met a poor man, a poor, lame man
+who'd been away out West and got hurt bad. Folks thought he was dead.
+His wife thought so and died grievin' for him. She left a little baby
+girl, only seven or eight year old. When this man come back, well again
+but poor, to look up his family, he found his wife had passed away and
+the child had been sent off, just to get rid of her, to a stranger in
+another town. That stranger fully meant to send her off, too; he said so
+dozens of times. A good many of you folks right here heard him say it.
+But he never sent her--he kept her. Why? Well, that's the question. _I_
+shan't answer it. _I_ ain't accusin' nobody. All I say is, what's easy
+enough for any of you to prove, and that is that it come to light the
+child had property belongin' to her. Property! land, wuth money!”
+
+He paused once more and drew his sleeve across his forehead. Most of
+his hearers were silent now, on tiptoe of expectation. Dimick looked
+searchingly at Captain Cy. Then he sprang to his feet.
+
+“Order!” he shouted. “What's all this got to do with nominatin' for
+school committee? Ain't he out of order, Alvin?”
+
+The moderator hesitated. His habitual indecision was now complicated
+by the fact that he was as curious as the majority of those before him.
+There were shouts of, “Go ahead, Tad!” “Tell us the rest!” “Let him go
+on, Mr. Moderator!”
+
+Cy Whittaker slowly rose.
+
+“Alvin,” he said earnestly, “don't stop him yet. As a favor to me, let
+him spin his yarn.”
+
+Simpson was ready and evidently eager to spin it.
+
+“This man,” he proclaimed, “this father, mournin' for his dead wife and
+longin' for his child, comes to the town where he was to find and take
+her. And when he meets the man that's got her, when he comes, poor and
+down on his luck, what does this man--this rich man--do? Why; fust of
+all, he's sweeter'n sirup to him, takes him in, keeps him overnight,
+and the next day he says to him: 'You just be quiet and say nothin' to
+nobody that she's your little girl. I'll make it wuth your while.
+Keep quiet till I'm ready for you to say it.' And he gives the father
+money--not much, but some. All right so fur, maybe; but wait! Then it
+turns out that the father knows about this land--this property. And
+THEN the kind, charitable man--this rich man with lots of money of his
+own--turns the poor father out, tellin' him to get the girl and the land
+if he can, knowin'--KNOWIN', mind you--that the father ain't got a cent
+to hire lawyers nor even to pay for his next meal. And when the father
+says he won't go, but wants his dear one that belongs to him, the rich
+feller abuses him, knocks him down with his fist! Knocks down a poor,
+weak, lame invalid, just off a sick bed! Is THAT the kind of a man we
+want on our school committee?”
+
+He asked the question with both hands outspread and the perspiration
+running down his cheeks. The meeting was in an uproar.
+
+“No need for me to tell you who I mean,” shouted Tad, waving his arms.
+“You know who, as well as I do. You've just heard him praised as bein'
+all that's good and great. But _I_ say--”
+
+“You've said enough! Now let me say a word!”
+
+It was Captain Cy who interrupted. He had pushed his way through the
+crowd, down the aisle, and now stood before the gesticulating Mr.
+Simpson, who shrank back as if he feared that the treatment accorded the
+“poor weak invalid” might be continued with him.
+
+“Knowles,” said Captain Cy, turning to the moderator, “let me speak,
+will you? I won't be but a minute. Friends,” he continued, facing the
+excited gathering--“for some of you are my friends, or I've come to
+think you are--a part of what this man says is so. The girl at my house
+is Emily Thomas; her mother was Mary Thomas, who some of you know, and
+her father's name is Henry Thomas. She came to me unexpected, bein' sent
+by a Mrs. Oliver up to Concord, because 'twas either me or an orphan
+asylum. I took her in meanin' to keep her a little while, and then send
+her away. But as time went on I kept puttin' off and puttin' off, and at
+last I realized I couldn't do it; I'd come to think too much of her.
+
+“Fellers,” he went on, slowly, “I--I hardly know how to tell you what
+that little girl's come to be to me. When I first struck Bayport, after
+forty years away from it, all I thought of was makin' over the old place
+and livin' in it. I cal'lated it would be a sort of Paradise, and HOW I
+was goin' to live or whether or not I'd be lonesome with everyone of my
+folks dead and gone, never crossed my mind. But the longer I lived there
+alone the less like Paradise it got to be; I realized more and more
+that it ain't furniture and fixin's that make a home; it's them you love
+that's in it. And just as I'd about reached the conclusion that 'twas a
+failure, the whole business, why, then, Bos'n--Emily, that is--dropped
+in, and inside of a week I knew I'd got what was missin' in my life.
+
+“I never married and children never meant much to me till I got her.
+She's the best little--little . . . There! I mustn't talk this way. I
+bluffed a lot about not keepin' her permanent, bein' kind of ashamed,
+I guess, but down inside me I'd made up my mind to bring her up like
+a daughter. She and me was to live together till she grew up and got
+married and I . . . Well, what's the use? A few days ago come a letter
+from the Oliver woman in Concord sayin' that this Henry Thomas, Bos'n's
+father, wan't dead at all, but had turned up there, havin' learned
+somehow or 'nother that his wife was gone and that his child had been
+willed a little bit of land which belonged to her mother. He had found
+out that Emmie was with me, and the letter said he would likely come
+after her--and the land.
+
+“That letter was like a flash of lightnin' to me. I was dismasted and
+on my beam ends. I didn't know what to do. I'd learned enough about this
+Henry Thomas to know that he was no use, a drunken, good-for-nothin'
+scamp who had cruelized his wife and then run off and left her and the
+baby. But when he come, the very night I got the letter, I gave him a
+chance. I took him in; I was willin' to give him a job on the place;
+I was willin' to pay for his keep, and more. I DID ask him to keep his
+mouth shut and even to use another name. 'Twas weak of me, maybe, but
+you want to remember this had come on me sudden. And last night--the
+very second night, mind you--he went out somewhere, perhaps we can guess
+where, bought liquor with the money I gave him, got drunk, and then
+insulted one of the best women in this town. Yes, sir! I say it right
+here, one of the best, pluckiest little women anywhere, although she and
+I ain't always agreed on certain matters. I DID tell him to clear out,
+and I DID knock him down. Yes, and by the big dipper, I'd do it again
+under the same circumstances!
+
+“As for the property,” he added fiercely, “why, darn the property, I
+say! It ain't wuth much, anyhow, and, if 'twas anybody's else, he should
+have it and welcome. But it's Bos'n's, and, bein' what he is, he SHAN'T
+have it. And he shan't have HER to cruelize, neither! By the Almighty!
+he shan't, so long as I've got a dollar to fight him with. I say that to
+you, Tad Simpson, and to the man--to whoever put you up to this. There!
+I've said my say. Now, gentlemen, you can choose your side.”
+
+He strode back to his seat. There was silence for a moment. Then Josiah
+Dimick sprang up and waved his hat.
+
+“That's the way to talk!” he shouted. “That's a MAN! Three cheers for
+Cap'n Whittaker! Come on, everybody!”
+
+But everybody did not “come on.” The cheers were feeble. It was evident
+that the majority of those present did not know how to meet this
+unexpected contingency. It had taken them by surprise and they were
+undecided. The uproar of argument and question began again, louder than
+ever. The bewildered moderator thumped his desk and shouted feebly for
+order. Tad Simpson took the floor and, in a few words and at the top of
+his lungs, nominated Alonzo Snow. Abel Leonard seconded the nomination.
+There were yells of “Question! Question!” and “Vote! Vote!”
+
+Eben Salters was recognized by the chair. Captain Salters made few
+speeches, and when he did make one it was because he had something to
+say.
+
+“Mr. Moderator,” he said, “I, for one, hate to vote just now. It isn't
+that the school committee is so important of itself. But I do think that
+the rights of a father with his child IS pretty important, and our vote
+for Cap'n Whittaker--and most of you know I intended votin' for him
+and have been workin' for him--might seem like an indorsement of his
+position. This whole thing is a big surprise to me. I don't feel yet
+that we know enough of the inside facts to give such an indorsement. I'd
+like to see this Thomas man before I decide to give it--or not to give
+it, either. It's a queer thing to come up at town meetin', but it's up.
+Hadn't we better adjourn until next week?”
+
+He sat down. The meeting was demoralized. Some were shouting for
+adjournment, others to “Vote it out.” A straw would turn the scale and
+the straw was forthcoming. While Captain Cy was speaking the door had
+silently opened and two men entered the hall and sought seclusion in a
+corner. Now one of these men came forward--the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+
+Mr. Atkins walked solemnly to the front, amidst a burst of recognition.
+Many of the voters rose to receive him. It was customary, when the great
+man condescended to attend such gatherings, to offer him a seat on the
+platform. This the obsequious Knowles proceeded to do. Asaph was
+too overcome by the disclosure of “John Smith's” identity and by Mr.
+Simpson's attack on his friend to remember even his manners. He did not
+rise, but sat stonily staring.
+
+The moderator's gavel descended “Order!” he roared. “Order, I say!
+Congressman Atkins is goin' to talk to us.”
+
+The Honorable Heman faced the excited crowd. One hand was in the breast
+of his frock coat; the other was clenched upon his hip. He stood calm,
+benignant, dignified--the incarnation of wisdom and righteous worth. The
+attitude had its effect; the applause began and grew to an ovation.
+Men who had intended voting against his favored candidate forgot their
+intention, in the magnetism of his presence, and cheered. He bowed and
+bowed again.
+
+“Fellow townsmen,” he began, “far be it from me to influence your choice
+in the matter of the school committee. Still further be it from me to
+influence you against an old boyhood friend, a neighbor, one whom I
+believe--er--had believed to be all that was sincere and true. But,
+fellow townsmen, my esteemed friend, Captain Salters, has expressed a
+wish to see Mr. Thomas, the father whose story you have heard to-day.
+I happen to be in a position to gratify that wish. Mr. Thomas, will you
+kindly come forward?”
+
+Then from the rear of the hall Mr. Thomas came. But the drunken rowdy
+of the night before had been transformed. Gone was the scrubby beard
+and the shabby suit. Shorn was the unkempt mop of hair and vanished the
+impudent swagger. He was dressed in clean linen and respectable black,
+and his manner was modest and subdued. Only a discoloration of one eye
+showed where Captain Cy's blow had left its mark.
+
+He stepped upon the platform beside the congressman. The latter laid a
+hand upon his shoulder.
+
+“Gentlemen and friends,” said Heman, “my name has been brought into
+this controversy, by Mr. Simpson directly, and in insinuation
+by--er--another. Therefore it is my right to make my position clear. Mr.
+Thomas came to me last evening in distress, both of mind and body. He
+told me his story--substantially the story which has just been told
+to you by Mr. Simpson--and, gentlemen, I believe it. But if I did not
+believe it, if I believed him to have been in the past all that his
+opponent has said; even if I believed that, only last evening, spurned,
+driven from his child, penniless and hopeless, he had yielded to the
+weakness which has been his curse all his life--even if I believed that,
+still I should demand that Henry Thomas, repentant and earnest as you
+see him now, should be given his rightful opportunity to become a
+man again. He is poor, but he is not--shall not be--friendless. No! a
+thousand times, no! You may say, some of you, that the affair is not
+my business. I affirm that it IS my business. It is my business as a
+Christian, and that business should come before all others. I have not
+allowed sympathy to influence me. If that were the case, my regard for
+my neighbor and friend of former days would have held me firm. But,
+gentlemen, I have a child of my own. I know what a father's love is, as
+only a father can know it. And, after a sleepless night, I stand here
+before you to-day determined that this man shall have his own, if
+my money--which you will, I'm sure, forgive my mentioning--and my
+unflinching support can give it to him. That is my position, and I state
+it regardless of consequences.” He paused, and with raised right hand,
+like the picture of Jove in the old academy mythology, launched his
+final thunderbolt. “Whom God hath joined,” he proclaimed, “let no one
+put asunder!”
+
+That settled it. The cheers shook the walls. Amidst the tumult Dimick
+and Bailey Bangs seized Captain Cy by the shoulders and endeavored to
+lift him from his seat.
+
+“For the love of goodness, Whit!” groaned Josiah, desperately, “stand up
+and answer him. If you don't, we'll founder sure.”
+
+The captain smiled grimly and shook his head. He had not taken his eyes
+from the face of the great Atkins since the latter began speaking.
+
+“What?” he replied. “After that 'put asunder' sockdolager? Man alive! do
+you want me to add Sabbath breakin' to my other crimes?”
+
+The vote, by ballot, followed almost immediately. It was pitiful to see
+the erstwhile Whittaker majority melt away. Alonzo Snow was triumphantly
+elected. But a handful voted against him.
+
+Captain Cy, still grimly smiling, rose and left the hall. As he closed
+the door, he heard the shrill voice of Uncle Bedny demanding justice for
+the Bassett's Hollow road.
+
+It had, indeed, been a “memoriable” town meeting.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE REPULSE
+
+
+When Deacon Zeb Clark--the same Deacon Zeb who fell into the cistern,
+as narrated by Captain Cy--made his first visit to the city, years and
+years ago, he stayed but two days. As he had proudly boasted that he
+should remain in the metropolis at least a week, our people were much
+surprised at his premature return. To the driver of the butcher cart who
+found him sitting contentedly before his dwelling, amidst his desolate
+acres, the nearest neighbor a half mile away, did Deacon Zeb disclose
+his reason for leaving the crowded thoroughfares. “There was so many
+folks there,” he said, “that I felt lonesome.”
+
+And Captain Cy, returning from the town meeting to the Whittaker place,
+felt lonesome likewise. Not for the Deacon's reason--he met no one on
+the main road, save a group of school children and Miss Phinney, and,
+sighting the latter in the offing, he dodged behind the trees by the
+schoolhouse pond and waited until she passed. But the captain, his
+trouble now heavy upon him, did feel the need of sympathy and congenial
+companionship. He knew he might count upon Dimick and Asaph, and,
+whenever Keturah's supervision could be evaded, upon Mr. Bangs. But they
+were not the advisers and comforters for this hour of need. All the rest
+of Bayport, he felt sure, would be against him. Had not King Heman
+the Great from the steps of the throne, banned him with the royal
+displeasure! “If Heman ever SHOULD come right out and say--” began
+Asaph's warning. Well, strange as it might seem, Heman had “come right
+out.”
+
+As to why he had come out there was no question in the mind of the
+captain. The latter had left Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, prostrate
+and blasphemous in the road the previous evening. His next view of
+him was when, transformed and sanctified, he had been summoned to the
+platform by Mr. Atkins. No doubt he had returned to the barber shop
+and, in his rage and under Mr. Simpson's cross examination, had revealed
+something of the truth. Tad, the politician, recognizing opportunity
+when it knocked at his door, had hurried him to the congressman's
+residence. The rest was plain enough, so Captain Cy thought.
+
+However, war was already declared, and the reasons for it mattered
+little. The first skirmish might occur at any moment. The situation was
+desperate. The captain squared his shoulders, thrust forward his chin,
+and walked briskly up the path to the door of the dining room. It was
+nearly one o'clock, but Bos'n had not yet gone. She was waiting, to the
+very last minute, for her “Uncle Cyrus.”
+
+“Hello, shipmate,” he hailed. “Not headed for school yet? Good! I
+cal'late you needn't go this afternoon. I'm thinkin' of hirin' a team
+and drivin' to Ostable, and I didn't know but you'd like to go with me.
+Think you could, without that teacher woman havin' you brought up aft
+for mutiny?”
+
+Bos'n thought it over.
+
+“Yes, sir,” she said; “I guess so, if you wrote me an excuse. I don't
+like to be absent, 'cause I haven't been before, but there's only my
+reading lesson this afternoon and I know that ever so well. I'd love to
+go, Uncle Cy.”
+
+The captain removed his coat and hat and pulled a chair forward to the
+table.
+
+“Hello!” he exclaimed. “What's this--the mail?”
+
+Bos'n smiled delightedly.
+
+“Yes, sir,” she replied. “I knew you was at the meeting and so I brought
+it from the office. Ain't you glad?”
+
+“Sure! Yes, indeed! Much obliged. Tryin' to keep house without you would
+be like steerin' without a rudder.”
+
+Even as he said it there came to him the realization that he might have
+to steer without that rudder in the near future. His smile vanished. He
+smothered a groan and picked up the mail.
+
+“Hum!” he mused, “the Breeze, a circular, and one letter. Hello! it
+isn't possible that--Well! well!”
+
+The letter was in a long envelope. He hastily tore it open. At the
+inclosure he glanced in evident excitement. Then his smile returned.
+
+“Bos'n,” he said, after a moment's reflection, “I guess you and me
+won't have to go to Ostable after all.” Noticing the child's look of
+disappointment, he added: “But you needn't go to school. Maybe you'd
+better not. You and me'll take a tramp alongshore. What do you say?”
+
+“Oh, yes, Uncle Cy! Let's--shall we?”
+
+“Why, I don't see why not. We'll cruise in company as long as we
+can, hey, little girl? The squall's likely to strike afore night,” he
+muttered half aloud. “We'll enjoy the fine weather till it's time to
+shorten sail.”
+
+They walked all that afternoon. Captain Cy was even more kind and gentle
+with his small companion than usual. He told her stories which made her
+laugh, pointed out spots in the pines where he had played Indian when a
+boy, carried her “pig back” when she grew tired, and kissed her tenderly
+when, at the back door of the Whittaker place, he set her on her feet
+again.
+
+“Had a good time, dearie?” he asked.
+
+“Oh, splendid! I think it's the best walk we ever had, don't you, Uncle
+Cy?”
+
+“I shouldn't wonder. You won't forget our cruises together when you are
+a big girl and off somewheres else, will you?”
+
+“I'll NEVER forget 'em. And I'm never going anywhere without you.”
+
+It was after five as they entered the kitchen.
+
+“Anybody been here while I was out?” asked the captain of Georgianna.
+The housekeeper's eyes were red and swollen, and she hugged Bos'n as she
+helped her off with her jacket and hood.
+
+“Yes, there has,” was the decided answer. “First Ase Tidditt, and then
+Bailey Bangs, and then that--that Angie Phinney.”
+
+“Humph!” mused Captain Cy slowly. “So Angie was here, was she? Where the
+carcass is the vultures are on deck, or words similar. Humph! Did our
+Angelic friend have much to say?”
+
+“DID she? And _I_ had somethin' to say, too! I never in my life!”
+
+“Humph!” Her employer eyed her sharply. “So? And so soon? Talk about
+the telegraph spreadin' news! I'd back most any half dozen tongues in
+Bayport to spread more news, and add more trimmin' to it, in a day
+than the telegraph could do in a week. Especially if all the telegraph
+operators was like the one up at the depot. Well, Georgianna, when you
+goin' to leave?”
+
+“Leave? Leave where? What are you talkin' about?”
+
+“Leave here. Of course you realize that this ship of ours,” indicating
+the house by a comprehensive wave of his hand around the room, “is goin'
+to be a mighty unpopular craft from now on. We may be on a lee shore any
+minute. You've got your own well-bein' to think of.”
+
+“My own well-bein'! What do you s'pose I care for my well-bein' when
+there's--Cap'n Whittaker, you tell me now! Is it so?”
+
+“Some of it is--yes. He's come back and he's who he says he is. You've
+seen him. He was here all day yesterday.”
+
+“So Angie said, but I couldn't scarcely believe it. That toughy! Cap'n
+Whittaker, do you intend to hand over that poor little innocent thing
+to--to such a man as THAT?”
+
+“No. There'll be no handin' over about it. But the odds are against us,
+and there's no reason why you should be in the rumpus, Georgianna. You
+may not understand what we're facin'.”
+
+The housekeeper drew herself up. Her face was very red and her small
+eyes snapped.
+
+“Cy Whittaker,” she began, manners and deference to employer alike
+forgotten, “don't you say no more of that wicked foolishness to me. I'll
+leave the minute you're mean-spirited enough to let that child go and
+not afore. And when THAT happens I'll be GLAD to leave. Land sakes!
+there's somebody at the door; and I expect I'm a perfect sight.”
+
+She rubbed her face with her apron, thereby making it redder than ever,
+and hurried into the dining room.
+
+“Bos'n,” said Captain Cy quickly, “you stay here in the kitchen.”
+
+Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed her
+curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had knocked, and
+obeyed. The captain pulled the kitchen door almost shut and listened at
+the crack.
+
+The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain Cy's
+anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
+
+“Why!” he exclaimed in a whisper. “Ain't that--It sounds like--”
+
+“It's teacher,” whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening. “She's
+come to find out why I wasn't at school. You tell her, Uncle Cy.”
+
+Georgianna returned to announce:
+
+“It's Miss Dawes. She says she wants to see you, Cap'n. She's in the
+settin' room.”
+
+The captain drew a long breath. Then, repeating his command to Emmie to
+stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The
+latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
+
+“What made him do that?” she demanded. “I haven't been bad. He NEVER
+shut me up before!”
+
+The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting room
+when Captain Cy entered.
+
+“Good evenin',” he said politely. “Won't you sit down?”
+
+But Miss Dawes paid no attention to trivialities. She seemed much
+agitated.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” she began, “I just heard something that--”
+
+The captain interrupted her.
+
+“Excuse me,” he said, “but I think we'll pull down the curtains and have
+a little light on the subject. It gets dark early now, especially of a
+gray day like this one.”
+
+He drew the shades at the windows and lit the lamp on the table. The red
+glow behind the panes of the stove door faded into insignificance as
+the yellow radiance brightened. The ugly portraits and the stiff old
+engravings on the wall retired into a becoming dusk. The old-fashioned
+room became more homelike.
+
+“Now won't you sit down?” repeated Captain Cy. “Take that rocker; it's
+the most comf'table one aboard--so Bos'n says, anyhow.”
+
+Miss Phoebe took the rocker, under protest. Her host remained standing.
+
+“It's been a nice afternoon,” he said. “Bos'n--Emmie, of course--and I
+have been for a walk. 'Twan't her fault, 'twas mine. I kept her out of
+school. I was--well, kind of lonesome.”
+
+The teacher's gray eyes flashed in the lamplight.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” she cried, “please don't waste time. I didn't come
+here to talk about the weather nor Emily's reason for not attending
+school. I don't care why she was absent. But I have just heard of what
+happened at that meeting. Is it true that--” She hesitated.
+
+“That Emmie's dad is alive and here? Yes, it's true.”
+
+“But--but that man last night? Was he THAT man?”
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+“That's the man,” he said briefly.
+
+Miss Dawes shuddered.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” she asked earnestly, “are you sure he is really her
+father? Absolutely sure?”
+
+“Sure and sartin.”
+
+“Then she belongs to him, doesn't she? Legally, I mean?”
+
+“Maybe so.”
+
+“Are--are you going to give her up to him?”
+
+“No.”
+
+“Then what I heard was true. You did say at the meeting that you were
+going to do your best to keep him from getting her.”
+
+“Um--hum! What I said amounts to just about that.”
+
+“Why?”
+
+Captain Cy was surprised and a little disappointed apparently.
+
+“Why?” he repeated.
+
+“Yes. Why?”
+
+“Well, for reasons I've got.”
+
+“Do you mind telling me the reasons?”
+
+“I cal'late you don't want to hear 'em. If you don't understand now,
+then I can't make it much plainer, I'm afraid.”
+
+The little lady sprang to her feet.
+
+“Oh, you are provoking!” she cried indignantly. “Can't you see that I
+want to hear the reasons from you yourself? Cap'n Whittaker, I shook
+hands with you last night.”
+
+“You remember I told you you'd better wait.”
+
+“I didn't want to wait. I believed I knew something of human nature, and
+I believed I had learned to understand you. I made up my mind to pay
+no more attention to what people said against you. I thought they were
+envious and disliked you because you did things in your own way. I
+wouldn't believe the stories I heard this afternoon. I wanted to hear
+you speak in your own defense and you refuse to do it. Don't you
+know what people are saying? They say you are trying to keep Emily
+because--Oh, I'm ashamed to ask it, but you make me: HAS the child got
+valuable property of her own?”
+
+Captain Cy had been, throughout this scene, standing quietly by the
+table. Now he took a step forward.
+
+“Miss Dawes,” he said sharply, “sit down.”
+
+“But I--”
+
+“Sit down, please.”
+
+The schoolmistress didn't mean to obey the order, but for some reason
+she did. The captain went on speaking.
+
+“It's pretty plain,” he said, “that what you heard at the boardin'
+house--for I suppose that's where you did hear it--was what you might
+call a Phinneyized story of the doin's at the meetin'. Well, there's
+another yarn, and it's mine; I'm goin' to spin it and I want you to
+listen.”
+
+He went on to spin his yarn. It was practically a repetition of his
+reply to Tad Simpson that morning. Its conclusion was also much the
+same.
+
+“The land ain't worth fifty dollars,” he declared, “but if it was fifty
+million he shouldn't have it. Why? Because it belongs to that little
+girl. And he shan't have her until he and those back of him have
+hammered me through the courts till I'm down forty fathom under water.
+And when they do get her--and, to be honest, I cal'late they will in
+the end--I hope to God I won't be alive to see it! There! I've answered
+you.”
+
+He was walking up and down the room, with the old quarter-deck stride,
+his hands jammed deep in his pockets and his face working with emotion.
+
+“It's pretty nigh a single-handed fight for me,” he continued, “but I've
+fought single-handed before. The other side's got almost all the powder
+and the men. Heman and Tad and that Thomas have got seven eighths of
+Bayport behind 'em, not to mention the 'Providence' they're so sure of.
+My crowd is a mighty forlorn hope: Dimick and Ase Tidditt, and Bailey,
+as much as his wife 'll let him. Oh, yes!” and he smiled whimsically,
+“there's another one. A new recruit's just joined; Georgianna's
+enlisted. That's my army. Sort of rag-jacketed cadets, we are, small
+potatoes, and few in a hill.”
+
+The teacher rose and laid a hand on his arm. He turned toward her. The
+lamplight shone upon her face, and he saw, to his astonishment, that
+there were tears in her eyes.
+
+“Cap'n Whittaker,” she said, “will you take an other recruit? I should
+like to enlist, please.”
+
+“You? Oh, pshaw! I'm thick-headed to-night. I didn't see the joke of it
+at first.”
+
+“There isn't any joke. I want you to know that I admire you for the
+fight you're making. Law or no law, to let that dear little girl go away
+with that dreadful father of hers is a sin and a crime. I came here to
+tell you so. I did want to hear your story, and you made me ask that
+question; but I was certain of your answer before you made it. I don't
+suppose I can do anything to help, but I'm going to try. So, you see,
+your army is bigger than you thought it was--though the new soldier
+isn't good for much, I'm afraid,” she added, with a little smile.
+
+Captain Cy was greatly disturbed.
+
+“Miss Phoebe,” he said, “I--I won't say that it don't please me to
+have you talk so, for it does, more'n you can imagine. Sympathy means
+somethin' to the under dog, and it gives him spunk to keep on kickin'.
+But you mustn't take any part in the row; you simply mustn't. It won't
+do.”
+
+“Why not? Won't I be ANY help?”
+
+“Help? You'd be more help than all the rest of us put together. You and
+me haven't seen a great deal of each other, and my part in the few talks
+we have had has been a mean one, but I knew the first time I met
+you that you had more brains and common sense than any woman in this
+county--though I was too pig-headed to own it. But that ain't it. I got
+you the job of teacher. It's no credit to me; 'twas just bull luck and
+for the fun of jarrin' Heman. But I did it. And, because I did it, the
+Atkins crowd--and that means most everybody now--haven't any love for
+you. My tryin' for school committee was really just to give you a fair
+chance in your position. I was licked, so the committee's two to one
+against you. Don't you see that you mustn't have anything to do with me?
+Don't you SEE it?”
+
+She shook her head.
+
+“I see that common gratitude alone should be reason enough for my trying
+to help you,” she said. “But, beside that, I know you are right, and I
+SHALL help, no matter what you say. As for the teacher's position, let
+them discharge me. I--”
+
+“Don't talk that way. The youngsters need you, and know it, no matter
+what their fool fathers and mothers say. And you mustn't wreck your
+chances. You're young--”
+
+She laughed.
+
+“Oh, no! I'm not,” she said. “Young! Cap'n Whittaker, you shouldn't joke
+about a woman's age.”
+
+“I ain't jokin'. You ARE young.” As she stood there before him he was
+realizing, with a curiously uncomfortable feeling, how much younger she
+was than he. He glanced up at the mirror, where his own gray hairs were
+reflected, and repeated his assertion. “You're young yet,” he said, “and
+bein' discharged from a place might mean a whole lot to you. I'm
+glad you take such an interest in Bos'n, and your comin' here on her
+account--”
+
+He paused. Miss Dawes colored slightly and said:
+
+“Yes.”
+
+“Your comin' here on her account was mighty good of you. But you've got
+to keep out of this trouble. And you mustn't come here again. That's
+owner's orders. Why, I'm expectin' a boardin' party any minute,” he
+added. “I thought when you knocked it was 'papa' comin' for his child.
+You'd better go.”
+
+But she stood still.
+
+“I shan't go,” she declared. “Or, at least, not until you promise to
+let me try to help you. If they come, so much the better. They'll learn
+where my sympathies are.”
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head.
+
+“See here, Miss Phoebe,” he said. “I ain't sure that you fully
+understand that Scripture and everything else is against us. Did Angie
+turn loose on you the 'Whom the Lord has joined' avalanche?”
+
+The schoolmistress burst into a laugh. The captain laughed, too, but
+his gravity quickly returned. For steps sounded on the walk, there was a
+whispering outside, and some one knocked on the dining-room door.
+
+The situation was similar to that of the evening when the Board of
+Strategy called and “John Smith” made his first appearance. But now,
+oddly enough, Captain Cy seemed much less troubled. He looked at Miss
+Dawes and there was a dancing twinkle in his eye.
+
+“Is it--” began the lady, in an agitated whisper.
+
+“The boardin' party? I presume likely.”
+
+“But what can you do?”
+
+“Stand by the repel, I guess,” was the calm reply. “I told you that they
+had most of the ammunition, but ours ain't all blank cartridges. You
+stay below and listen to the broadsides.”
+
+They heard Georgianna cross the dining room. There was a murmur of
+voices at the door. The captain nodded.
+
+“It's them,” he said. “Well, here goes. Now don't you show yourself.”
+
+“Do you think I am afraid? Indeed, I shan't stay 'below' as you call it!
+I shall let them see--”
+
+Captain Cy held up his hand.
+
+“I'm commodore of this fleet,” he said; “and that bein' the case, I
+expect my crew to obey orders. There's nothin' you can do, and--Why,
+yes! there is, too. You can take care of Bos'n. Georgianna,” to the
+housekeeper who, looking frightened and nervous, had appeared at the
+door, “send Bos'n in here quick.”
+
+“They're there,” whispered Georgianna. “Mr. Atkins and Tad and that
+Thomas critter, and lots more. And they've come after her. What shall we
+do?”
+
+“Jump when I speak to you, that's the first thing. Send Bos'n in here
+and you stay in your galley.”
+
+Emily came running. Miss Dawes put an arm about her. Captain Cy, the
+battle lanterns still twinkling under his brows, stepped forth to meet
+the “boarding party.”
+
+They were there, as Georgianna had said. Mr. Thomas on the top step,
+Heman and Simpson on the next lower, and behind them Abel Leonard and a
+group of interested volunteers, principally recruited from the back room
+of the barber shop.
+
+“Evenin', gentlemen,” said the captain, opening the door so briskly that
+Mr. Thomas started backward and came down heavily upon the toes of the
+devoted Tad. Mr. Simpson swore, Mr. Thomas clawed about him to gain
+equilibrium, and the dignity of the group was seriously impaired.
+
+“Evenin',” repeated Captain Cy. “Quite a surprise party you're givin'
+me. Come in.”
+
+“Cyrus,” began the Honorable Atkins, “we are here to claim--”
+
+“Give me my daughter, you robber!” demanded Thomas, from his new
+position in the rear of the other two.
+
+“Mr. Thomas,” said Heman, “please remember that I am conducting this
+affair. I respect the natural indignation of an outraged father,
+but--ahem! Cyrus, we are here to claim--”
+
+“Then do your claimin' inside. It's kind of chilly to-night, there's
+plenty of empty chairs, and we don't need to hold an overflow meetin'.
+Come ahead in.”
+
+The trio looked at each other in hesitation. Then Mr. Atkins
+majestically entered the dining room. Thomas and Simpson followed him.
+
+“Abe,” observed Captain Cy to Leonard, who was advancing toward the
+steps, “I'm sorry not to be hospitable, but there's too many of you to
+invite at once, and 'tain't polite to show partiality. You and the rest
+are welcome to sit on the terrace or stroll 'round the deer park. Good
+night.”
+
+He closed the door in the face of the disappointed Abel and turned to
+the three in the room.
+
+“Well,” he said, “out with it. You've come to claim somethin', I
+understand.”
+
+“I come for my rights,” shouted Mr. Thomas.
+
+“Yes? Well, this ain't State's prison or I'd give 'em to you with
+pleasure. Heman, you'd better do the talkin'. We'll probably get ahead
+faster.”
+
+The Honorable cleared his throat and waved his hand.
+
+“Cyrus,” he began, “you are my boyhood friend and my fellow townsman and
+neighbor. Under such circumstances it gives me pain--”
+
+“Then don't let us discuss painful subjects. Let's get down to business.
+You've come to rescue Bos'n--Emily, that is,--from the 'robber'--I'm
+quotin' Deacon Thomas here--that's got her, so's to turn her over to her
+sorrowin' father. Is that it? Yes. Well, you can't have her--not yet.”
+
+“Cyrus,” said Mr. Atkins, “I'm sorry to see that you take it this way.
+You haven't the shadow of a right. We have the law with us, and your
+conduct will lead us to invoke it. The constable is outside. Shall I
+call him in?”
+
+“Uncle Bedny” was the town constable and had been since before the war.
+The purely honorary office was given him each year as a joke. Captain Cy
+grinned broadly, and even Tad was obliged to smile.
+
+“Don't be inhuman, Heman,” urged the captain. “You wouldn't turn me over
+to be man-handled by Uncle Bedny, would you?”
+
+“This is not a humorous affair--” began the congressman, with dignity.
+But the “bereaved father” had been prospecting on his own hook, and now
+he peeped into the sitting room.
+
+“Here she is!” he shouted. “I see her. Come on, Emmie! Your dad's come
+for you. Let go of her, you woman! What do you mean by holdin' on to
+her?”
+
+The situation which was “not humorous” immediately became much less so.
+The next minute was a lively one. It ended as Mr. Thomas was picked up
+by Tad from the floor, where he had fallen, having been pushed violently
+over a chair by Captain Cy. Bos'n, frightened and sobbing, was clinging
+wildly to Miss Dawes, who had clung just as firmly to her. The captain's
+voice rang through the room.
+
+“That's enough,” he said. “That's enough and some over. Atkins, take
+that feller out of this house and off my premises. As for the girl,
+that's for us to fight out in the courts. I'm her guardian,
+lawfully appointed, and you nor nobody else can touch her while that
+appointment's good. Here it is--right here. Now look at it and clear
+out.”
+
+He held, for the congressman's inspection, the document which, inclosed
+in the long envelope, had been received that morning. His visit to
+Ostable, made some weeks before, had been for the purpose of applying
+to the probate court for the appointment as Emily's guardian. He had
+applied before the news of her father's coming to life reached him. The
+appointment itself had arrived just in time.
+
+Mr. Atkins studied the document with care. When he spoke it was with
+considerable agitation and without his usual diplomacy.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted. “Humph! I see. Well, sir, I have some influence in
+this section and I shall see how long your--your TRICK will prevent the
+child's going where she belongs. I wish you to understand that I shall
+continue this fight to the very last. I--I am not one to be easily
+beaten. Simpson, you and Thomas come with me. This night's despicable
+chicanery is only the beginning. This is bad business for you, Cy
+Whittaker,” he snarled, his self-control vanishing, “and”--with a
+vindictive glance at the schoolmistress--“for those who are with you in
+it. That appointment was obtained under false pretenses and I can prove
+it. Your tricks don't scare me. I've had experience with TRICKS before.”
+
+“Yup. So I've heard. Well, Heman, I ain't as well up in tricks as you
+claim to be, nor my stockin' isn't as well padded as yours, maybe. But
+while there's a ten-cent piece left in the toe of it I'll fight you and
+the skunk whose 'rights' you seem to have taken such a shine to. And,
+after that, while there's a lawyer that 'll trust me. And, meantime,
+that little girl stays right here, and you touch her if you dare, any of
+you! Anything more to say?”
+
+But the Honorable's dignity had returned. Possibly he thought he
+had said too much already. A moment later the door banged behind the
+discomforted boarding party.
+
+Captain Cy pulled his beard and laughed.
+
+“Well, we repelled 'em, didn't we?” he observed. “But, as friend
+Heman says, the beginnin's only begun. I wish he hadn't seen you here,
+teacher.”
+
+Miss Dawes looked up from the task of stroking poor Bos'n's hair.
+
+“I don't,” she said, “I'm glad of it.” Then she added, laughing
+nervously: “Cap'n Whittaker, how could you be so cool? It was like a
+play. I declare, you were just splendid!”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A CLEW
+
+
+Josiah Dimick has a unique faculty of grasping a situation and summing
+it up in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
+
+“I think,” observed Josiah to the excited group at Simmons's, “that this
+town owes Cy Whittaker a vote of thanks.”
+
+“Thanks!” gasped Alpheus Smalley, so shocked and horrified that he put
+the one-pound weight on the scales instead of the half pound. “THANKS!
+After what we've found out? Well, I must say!”
+
+“Ya-as,” drawled Captain Josiah, “thanks was what I said. If it wan't
+for him this gang and the sewin' circle wouldn't have nothin' to talk
+about but their neighbors. Our reputations would be as full of holes as
+a skimmer by this time. Now all hands are so busy jumpin' on Whit, that
+the rest of us can feel fairly safe. Ain't that so, Gabe?”
+
+Mr. Lumley, who had stopped in for a half pound of tea, grinned feebly,
+but said nothing. If he noticed the clerk's mistake in weights he didn't
+mention it, but took his package and hurried out. After his departure
+Mr. Smalley himself discovered the error and charged the Lumley account
+with “1 1/4 lbs. Mixed Green and Black.” Meanwhile the assemblage
+about the stove had put Captain Cy on the anvil and was hammering him
+vigorously.
+
+Bayport was boiling over with rumor and surmise. Heman had appealed to
+the courts asking that Captain Cy's appointment as Bos'n's guardian be
+rescinded. Cy had hired Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable, to look out for his
+interests. Mr. Atkins and the captain had all but come to blows over
+the child. Thomas, the poor father, had broken down and wept, and had
+threatened to commit suicide. Mrs. Salters had refused to speak to
+Captain Cy when she met the latter after meeting on Sunday. The land in
+Orham had been sold and the captain was using the money. Phoebe Dawes
+had threatened to resign if Bos'n came to school any longer. No, she had
+threatened to resign if she didn't come to school. She hadn't threatened
+to resign at all, but wanted higher wages because of the effect the
+scandal might have on her reputation as a teacher. These were a few of
+the reports, contradicted and added to from day to day.
+
+To quote Josiah Dimick again: “Sortin' out the truth from the lies is
+like tryin' to find a quart of sardines in a schooner load of herrin'.
+And they dump in more herrin' every half hour.”
+
+Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life. The perfect boarding
+house hummed like a fly trap. Keturah and Mrs. Tripp had deserted to
+the enemy, and the minority, meaning Asaph and Bailey, had little
+opportunity to defend their friend's cause, even if they had dared.
+Heman Atkins, his Christian charity and high-mindedness, his devotion to
+duty, regardless of political consequences, and the magnificent speech
+at town meeting were lauded and exalted. The Bayport Breeze contained
+a full account of the meeting, and it was read aloud by Keturah, amidst
+hymns of praise from the elect.
+
+“'Whom the Lord hath joined,'” read Mrs. Bangs, “'let no man put
+asunder.' Ain't that splendid? Ain't that FINE? The paper says: 'When
+Congressman Atkins delivered this noble sentiment a hush fell upon the
+excited throng.' I should think 'twould. I remember when I was married
+the minister said pretty nigh the same thing, and I COULDN'T speak. I
+couldn't have opened my mouth to save me. Don't you remember I couldn't,
+Bailey?”
+
+Mr. Bangs nodded gloomily. It is possible that he wished the effect of
+the minister's declaration might have been more lasting. Asaph stirred
+in his chair.
+
+“I don't care,” he said. “This puttin' asunder business is all right,
+but there's always two sides to everything. I see this Thomas critter
+when he fust come, and he didn't look like no saint then--nor smell like
+one, neither, unless 'twas a specimen pickled in alcohol.”
+
+Here was irreverence almost atheistic. Keturah's face showed her shocked
+disapproval. Matilda Tripp voiced the general sentiment.
+
+“Humph!” she sniffed. “Well, all I can say is that I've met Mr. Thomas
+two or three times, and _I_ didn't notice anything but politeness and
+good manners. Maybe my nose ain't so fine for smellin' liquor as some
+folks's--p'raps it ain't had the experience--but all _I_ saw was a poor
+lame man with a black eye. I pitied him, and I don't care who hears me
+say it.”
+
+“Yes,” concurred Miss Phinney, “and if he was a drinkin' man, do you
+suppose Mr. Atkins would have anything to do with him? Cyrus Whittaker
+made a whole lot of talk about his insultin' some woman or other, but
+nobody knows who the woman was. 'Bout time for her to speak up, I should
+think. Teacher,” turning to Miss Dawes, “you was at the Whittaker place
+when Mr. Atkins and Emily's father come for her, I understand. I wish
+I'd have been there. It must have been wuth seein'.”
+
+“It was,” replied Miss Dawes. She had kept silent throughout the various
+discussions of the week following the town meeting, but now, thus
+appealed to, she answered promptly.
+
+Angeline's news created a sensation. The schoolmistress immediately
+became the center of interest.
+
+“Is that so? Was you there, teacher? Well, I declare!” The questions and
+exclamations flew round the table.
+
+“Tell us, teacher,” pleaded Keturah. “Wasn't Heman grand? I should so
+like to have heard him. Didn't Cap'n Whittaker look ashamed of himself?”
+
+“No, he did not. If anyone looked ashamed it was Mr. Atkins and his
+friends. Perhaps I ought to tell you that my sympathies are entirely
+with Captain Whittaker in this affair. To give that little girl up to a
+drunken scoundrel like her father would, in my opinion, be a crime.”
+
+The boarders and the landlady gasped. Asaph grinned and nudged Bailey
+under the table. Keturah was the first to recover.
+
+“Well!” she exclaimed. “Everybody's got a right to their opinion, of
+course. But I can't see the crime, myself. And as for the drunkenness,
+I'd like to know who's seen Mr. Thomas drunk. Cyrus Whittaker SAYS he
+has, but--”
+
+She waved her hand scornfully. Phoebe rose from her chair.
+
+“I have seen him in that condition,” she said. “In fact, I am the person
+he insulted. I saw Captain Whittaker knock him down, and I honored
+the captain for it. I only wished I were a man and could have done it
+myself.”
+
+She left the room, and, a few moments later, the house. Mr. Tidditt
+chuckled aloud. Even Bailey dared to look pleased.
+
+“There!” sneered the widow Tripp. “Ain't that--Perhaps you remember that
+Cap'n Whittaker got her the teacher's place?”
+
+“Yes,” put in Miss Phinney, “and nobody knows WHY he got it for her.
+That is, nobody has known up to now. Maybe we can begin to guess a
+little after this.”
+
+“She was at his house, was she?” observed Keturah. “Humph! I wonder why?
+Seems to me if _I_ was a young--that is, a single woman like her, I'd
+be kind of careful about callin' on bachelors. Humph! it looks funny to
+me.”
+
+Asaph rose and pushed back his chair.
+
+“I cal'late she called to see Emily,” he said sharply. “The child was
+her scholar, and I presume likely, knowin' the kind of father that has
+turned up for the poor young one, she felt sorry for her. Of course,
+nobody's hintin' anything against Phoebe Dawes's character. If you want
+a certificate of that, you've only got to go to Wellmouth. Folks over
+there are pretty keen on that subject. I guess the town would go to
+law about it rather'n hear a word against her. Libel suits are kind of
+uncomf'table things for them that ain't sure of their facts. I'D hate to
+get mixed up in one, myself. Bailey, I'm going up street. Come on, when
+you can, won't you?”
+
+As if frightened at his own display of spirit, he hurried out. There was
+silence for a time; then Miss Phinney spoke concerning the weather.
+
+Up at the Cy Whittaker place the days were full ones. There, also, legal
+questions were discussed, with Georgianna, the Board of Strategy,
+Josiah Dimick occasionally, and, more infrequently still, Miss Dawes, as
+participants with Captain Cy in the discussions. Rumors were true in
+so far as they related to Mr. Atkins's appeal to the courts, and the
+captain's retaining Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable. Mr. Peabody's opinion of
+the case was not encouraging.
+
+“You see, captain,” he said, when his client visited him at his office,
+“the odds are very much against us. The court appointed you as guardian
+with the understanding that this man Thomas was dead. Now he is alive
+and claims his child. More than that, he has the most influential
+politician in this county back of him. We wouldn't stand a fighting
+chance except for one thing--Thomas himself. He left his wife and the
+baby; deserted them, so she said; went to get work, HE says. We can
+prove he was a drunken blackguard BEFORE he went, and that he has been
+drunk since he came back. But THEY'LL say--Atkins and his lawyer--that
+the man was desperate and despairing because of your refusal to give him
+his child. They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner, anxious to reform,
+and needing the little girl's influence to help keep him straight.
+That's their game, and they'll play it, be sure of that, It sounds
+reasonable enough, too, for sinners have repented before now. And the
+long-lost father coming back to his child is the one sure thing to win
+applause from the gallery, you know that.”
+
+Captain Cy nodded.
+
+“Yup,” he said, “I know it. The other night, when Miss Ph-- when a friend
+of mine was at the house, she said this business was like a play. I
+didn't say so to her, but all the same I realize it ain't like a play at
+all. In a play dad comes home, havin' been snaked bodily out of the
+jaws of the tomb by his coat collar, and the young one sings out 'Papa!
+Papa!' and he sobs, 'Me child! Me child!' and it's all lovely, and
+you put on your hat feelin' that the old man is goin' to be rich and
+righteous for the rest of his days. But here it's different; dad's a
+rascal, and anybody who's seen anything of the world knows he's bound to
+stay so; and as for the poor little girl, why--why--”
+
+He stopped, rose, and, striding over to the window, stood looking out.
+After an interval, during which the good-natured attorney read a dull
+business letter through for the second time, he spoke again.
+
+“I hope you understand, Peabody,” he said. “It ain't just selfishness
+that makes me steer the course I'm runnin'. Course, Bos'n's got to be
+the world and all to me, and if she's taken away I don't know's I care a
+tinker's darn what happens afterwards. But, all the same, if her dad was
+a real man, sorry for what he's done and tryin' to make up for it--why,
+then, I cal'late I'm decent enough to take off my hat, hand her over,
+and say: 'God bless you and good luck.' But to think of him carryin' her
+off the Lord knows where, to neglect her and cruelize her, and to let
+her grow up among fellers like him, I--I--by the big dipper, I can't do
+it! That's all; I can't!”
+
+“How does she feel about it, herself?” asked Peabody.
+
+“Her? Bos'n? Why, that's the hardest of all. Some of the children at
+school pester her about her father. I don't know's you can blame 'em;
+young ones are made that way, I guess--but she comes home to me cryin',
+and it's 'O Uncle Cy, he AIN'T my truly father, is he?' and 'You won't
+let him take me away from you, will you?' till it seems as if I should
+fly out of the window. The poor little thing! And that puffed-up humbug
+Atkins blowin' about his Christianity and all! D--n such Christianity as
+that, I say! I've seen heathen Injuns, who never heard of Christ,
+with more of His spirit inside 'em. There! I've shocked you, I guess.
+Sometimes I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me. I've been
+around, you know, and my New England bringin' up has wore thin in spots.
+Seem's if I must get somewheres and spread out, or I'll bust.”
+
+He threw himself into a chair. The lawyer clapped him on the shoulder.
+
+“There, there, captain,” he said. “Don't 'bust' yet awhile. Don't give
+up the ship. If we lose in one court, we can appeal to another, and so
+on up the line. And meantime we'll do a little investigating of
+friend Thomas's career since he left Concord. I've written to a legal
+acquaintance of mine in Butte, giving him the facts as we know them, and
+a description of Thomas. He will try to find out what the fellow did in
+his years out West. It's our best chance, as I told you. Keep your pluck
+up and wait and see.”
+
+The captain repeated this conversation to the Board of Strategy when he
+returned to Bayport. Miss Dawes had walked home from school with Bos'n,
+and had stopped at the house to hear the report. She listened, but it
+was evident that something else was on her mind.
+
+“Captain Whittaker,” she asked, “has it ever struck you as queer that
+Mr. Atkins should take such an interest in this matter? He is giving
+time and counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a perfect
+stranger to him. Why does he do it?”
+
+Captain Cy smiled.
+
+“Why?” he repeated. “Why, to down me, of course. I was gettin' too
+everlastin' prominent in politics to suit him. I'd got you in as
+teacher, and I had 'Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school committee.
+Goodness knows what I might have run for next, 'cordin' to Heman's
+reasonin', and I simply had to be smashed. It worked all right. I'm so
+unhealthy now in the sight of most folks in this town, that I cal'late
+they go home and sulphur-smoke their clothes after they meet me, so's
+not to catch my wickedness.”
+
+But the teacher shook her head.
+
+“That doesn't seem reason enough to me,” she declared. “Just see what
+Mr. Atkins has done. He never openly advocated anything in town meeting
+before; you said so yourself. Even when he must have realized that you
+had the votes for committeeman he kept still. He might have taken many
+of them from you by simply coming out and declaring for Mr. Snow; but he
+didn't. And then, all at once, he takes this astonishing stand. Captain
+Whittaker, Mr. Tidditt says that, the night of Emily's birthday party,
+you and he told who she was, by accident, and that Mr. Atkins seemed
+very much surprised and upset. Is that so?”
+
+Captain Cy laughed.
+
+“His lemonade was upset; that's all I noticed special. Oh! yes, and he
+lost his hat off, goin' home. But what of it? What are you drivin' at?”
+
+“I was wondering if--if it could be that, for some reason, Mr. Atkins
+had a spite against Emily or her people. Or if he had any reason to fear
+her.”
+
+“Fear? Fear Bos'n? Oh, my, that's funny! You've been readin' novels, I'm
+'fraid, teacher, 'though I didn't suspect it of you.”
+
+He laughed heartily. Miss Dawes smiled, too, but she still persisted.
+
+“Well,” she said, “I don't know. Perhaps it is because I'm a woman, and
+politics don't mean as much to me as to you men, but to me political
+reasons don't seem strong enough to account for such actions as those
+of Mr. Atkins. Emily's mother was a Thayer, wasn't she? and the Thayers
+once lived in Orham. I wish we could find out more about them while they
+lived there.”
+
+Asaph Tidditt pulled his beard thoughtfully.
+
+“Well,” he observed, “maybe we can, if we want to, though I don't think
+what we find out 'll amount to nothin'. I was kind of cal'latin' to go
+to Orham next week on a little visit. Seth Wingate over there--Barzilla
+Wingate's cousin, Whit--is a sort of relation of mine, and we visit back
+and forth every nine or ten year or so. The ten year's most up, and he's
+been pesterin' me to come over. Seth's been Orham town clerk about as
+long as I've been the Bayport one, and he's lived there all his life.
+What he don't know about Orham folks ain't wuth knowin'. If you say so,
+I'll pump him about the Thayers and the Richards. 'Twon't do no harm,
+and the old fool likes to talk, anyhow. I don't know's I ought to speak
+that way about my relations,” he added doubtfully, “but Seth IS sort of
+stubborn and unlikely at odd times. We don't always agree as to which is
+the best town to live in, you understand.”
+
+So it was settled that Mr. Wingate should be subjected to the “pumping”
+ process when Asaph visited him. He departed for this visit the following
+week, and remained away for ten days. Meanwhile several things happened
+in Bayport.
+
+One of these things was the farewell of the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+Congress was to open at Washington, and the Honorable heeded the call
+of duty. Alicia and the housekeeper went with him, and the big house was
+closed for the winter. At the gate between the stone urns, and backed
+by the iron dogs, the great man bade a group of admiring constituents
+good-by. He thanked them for their trust in him, and promised that it
+should not be betrayed.
+
+“I leave you, my fellow townsmen, er--ladies and friends,” he said,
+“with regret, tempered by pride--a not inexcusable pride, I believe. In
+the trying experience which my self-respect and sympathy has so recently
+forced upon me, you have stood firm and cheered me on. The task I have
+undertaken, the task of restoring to a worthy man his own, shall be
+carried on to the bitterest extremity. I have put my hand to the plow,
+and it shall not be withdrawn. And, furthermore, I go to my work at
+Washington determined to secure for my native town the appropriation
+which it so sorely needs. I shall secure it if I can, even though--” and
+the sarcasm was hugely enjoyed by his listeners--“I am, as I seem likely
+to be, deprived of the help of the 'committee,' self-appointed at our
+recent town meeting. If I fail--and I do not conceal the fact that I
+may fail--I am certain you will not blame me. Now I should like to shake
+each one of you by the hand.”
+
+The hands were shaken, and the train bore the Atkins delegation away.
+And, on the day following, Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, also left
+town. A position in Boston had been offered him, he said, and he felt
+that he must accept it. He would come back some of these days, with the
+warrant from the court, and get his little girl.
+
+“Position offered him! Um--ya-as!” quoth Dimick the cynical, in
+conversation with Captain Cy. “Inspector of sidewalks, I shouldn't
+wonder. Well, please don't ask me if I think Heman sent him to Boston
+so's to have him out of the way, and 'cause he'd feel consider'ble safer
+than if he was loose down here. Don't ask me that, for, with my strict
+scruples against the truth I might say, No. As it is, I say nothin'--and
+wink my port eye.”
+
+The ten-day visit ended, Mr. Tidditt returned to Bayport. On the
+afternoon of his return he and Bailey called at the Whittaker place,
+and there they were joined by Miss Dawes, who had been summoned to the
+conclave by a note intrusted to Bos'n.
+
+“Now, Ase,” ordered Captain Cy, as the quartet gathered in the sitting
+room, “here we are, hangin' on your words, as the feller said. Don't
+keep us strung up too long. What did you find out?”
+
+The town clerk cleared his throat. When he spoke, there was a trace of
+disappointment in his tone. To have been able to electrify his audience
+with the news of some startling discovery would have been pure joy for
+Asaph.
+
+“Well,” he began, “I don't know's I found out anything much. Yet I did
+find out somethin', too; but it don't really amount to nothin'. I hoped
+'twould be somethin' more'n 'twas, but when nothin' come of it except
+the little somethin' it begun with, I--”
+
+“For the land sakes!” snapped Bailey Bangs, who was a trifle envious of
+his friend's position in the center of the stage, “stop them 'nothin's'
+and 'somethin's,' won't you? You keep whirlin' 'em round and over and
+over till my head's FULL of 'nothin',' and--”
+
+“That's what it's full of most of the time,” interrupted Asaph tartly.
+Captain Cy hastened to act as peacemaker.
+
+“Never mind, Bailey,” he said; “you let Ase alone. Tell us what you did
+find out, Ase, and cut out the trimmin's.”
+
+“Well,” continued Mr. Tidditt, with a glare at Bangs, “I asked Seth
+about the Thayers and the Richards folks the very fust night I struck
+Orham. He remembered 'em, of course; he can remember Adam, if you let
+him tell it. He told me a whole mess about old man Thayer and old man
+Richards and their granddads and grandmarms, and what houses they lived
+in, and how many hens they kept, and what their dog's name was, and how
+they come to name him that, and enough more to fill a hogshead. 'Twas
+ten o'clock afore he got out of Genesis, and down so fur as John and
+Emily. He remembered their bein' married, and their baby--Mary Thayer,
+Bos'n's ma--bein' born.
+
+“Folks used to call John Thayer a smart young feller, so Seth said. They
+used to cal'late that he'd rise high in the seafarin' and ship-ownin'
+line. Maybe he would, only he died somewheres in Californy 'long in '54
+or thereabouts. 'Twas the time of the gold craziness out there, and he
+left his ship and went gold huntin'. And the next thing they knew he was
+dead and buried.”
+
+“When was that?” inquired the schoolmistress.
+
+“In '54, I tell you. So Seth says.”
+
+“What ship was he on?” asked Bailey.
+
+“Wan't on any ship. Why don't you listen, instead of settin' there
+moonin'? He was gold diggin', I tell you.”
+
+“He'd BEEN on a ship, hadn't he? What was the name of her?”
+
+“I didn't ask. What diff'rence does that make?”
+
+“Wasn't Mr. Atkins at sea in those days?” put in the teacher. The
+captain answered her.
+
+“Yes, he was,” he said. “That is, I think he was. He was away from here
+when I skipped out, and he didn't get back till '61 or thereabouts.”
+
+“Well, anyhow,” went on Asaph, “that's all I could find out. Seth and me
+went rummagin' through town records from way back to glory, him gassin'
+away and stringin' along about this old settler and that, till I 'most
+wished he'd choke himself with the dust he was raisin'. We found John's
+grandad's will, and Emily's dad's will, and John's own will, and that's
+all. John left everything he had and all he might become possessed of
+to his wife and baby and their heirs forever. He died poorer'n poverty.
+What's the use of a will when you ain't got nothin' to leave?”
+
+“Why!” exclaimed Captain Cy. “The answer to that's easy. John was goin'
+to sea, and, more'n likely, intended to have a shy at the diggin's afore
+he got back. So, if he did make any money, he wanted his wife and baby
+to have it.”
+
+“Well, what they got wan't wuth havin'. Emily had to scrimp along and
+do dressmakin' till she died. She done fairly well at that, though,
+and saved somethin' and passed it over to Mary. And Mary married Henry
+Thomas, after she went with the Howes tribe to Concord, and he got rid
+of it for her in double quick time--all but the Orham land.”
+
+“So that was all you could find out, hey, Ase?” asked the captain.
+“Well, it's at least as much as I expected. You see, teacher, these
+story-book notions don't work out when it comes to real life.”
+
+Miss Dawes was plainly disappointed.
+
+“I wish we knew more,” she said. “Who was on this ship with Mr. Thayer?
+And who sent the news of his death home?”
+
+“Oh, I can tell you that,” said Asaph. “'Twas some one-hoss doctor out
+there, gold minin' himself, he was. John died of a quick fever. Got cold
+and went off in no time. Seth remembered that much, though he couldn't
+remember the doctor's name. He said, if I wanted to learn more about
+the Thayers, I might go see--Humph, well, never mind that. 'Twas just
+foolishness, anyhow.”
+
+But Phoebe persisted.
+
+“To see whom?” she asked. “Some one you knew? A friend of yours?”
+
+Asaph turned red.
+
+“Friend of mine!” he snarled. “No, SIR! she ain't no friend of mine, I'm
+thankful to say. More a friend of Bailey's, here, if she's anybody's.
+One of his pets, she was, for a spell. A patient of his, you might say;
+anyhow, he prescribed for her. 'Twas that deef idiot, Debby Beasley, Cy;
+that's who 'twas. Her name was Briggs afore she married Beasley, and
+she was hired help for Emily Thayer, when Mary was born, and until John
+died.”
+
+Captain Cy burst into a roar of laughter. Bailey sprang out of his
+chair.
+
+“De--Debby Beasley!” he stammered. “Debby Beasley!”
+
+“She was that deef housekeeper Bailey hired for me, teacher,” explained
+the captain. “I've told you about her. Ho! ho! so that's the end of
+the mystery huntin'. We go gunnin' for Heman Atkins, and we bring down
+Debby! Well, Ase, goin' to see the old lady?”
+
+Mr. Tidditt's retort was emphatic.
+
+“Goin' to SEE her?” he repeated. “I guess not! Godfrey scissors! I told
+Seth, says I, 'I've had all the Debby Beasley _I_ want, and I cal'late
+Cy Whittaker feels the same way.' Go to see her! I wouldn't go to see
+her if she was up in Paradise a-hollerin' for me.”
+
+“Nobody up there's goin' to holler for YOU, Ase Tidditt,” remarked
+Bailey, with sarcasm; “so don't let that worry you none.”
+
+“Are YOU going to see her, Captain Whittaker?” asked Phoebe.
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+“Why, no, I guess not,” he said. “I don't take much stock in what she'd
+be likely to know; besides, I'm a good deal like Ase--I've had about all
+the Debby Beasley I want.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+
+“Mrs. Bangs,” said the schoolmistress, as if it was the most casual
+thing in the world, “I want to borrow your husband to-morrow.”
+
+It was Friday evening, and supper at the perfect boarding house had
+advanced as far as the stewed prunes and fruit-cake stage. Keturah,
+who was carefully dealing out the prunes, exactly four to each saucer,
+stopped short, spoon in air, and gazed at Miss Dawes.
+
+“You--you want to WHAT?” she asked.
+
+“I want to borrow your husband. I want him all day, too, because I'm
+thinking of driving over to Trumet, and I need a coachman. You'll go,
+won't you, Mr. Bangs?”
+
+Bailey, who had been considering the advisability of asking for a second
+cup of tea, brightened up and looked pleased.
+
+“Why, yes,” he answered, “I'll go. I can go just as well as not. Fact
+is, I'd like to. Ain't been to Trumet I don't know when.”
+
+Miss Phinney and the widow Tripp looked at each other. Then they both
+looked at Keturah. That lady's mouth closed tightly, and she resumed her
+prune distribution.
+
+“I'm sorry,” she said crisply, “but I'm 'fraid he can't go. It's
+Saturday, and I'll need him round the house. Do you care for cake
+to-night, Elviry? I'm 'fraid it's pretty dry; I ain't had time to do
+much bakin' this week.”
+
+“Of course,” continued the smiling Phoebe, “I shouldn't think of asking
+him to go for nothing. I didn't mean borrow him in just that way. I
+was thinking of hiring your horse and buggy, and, as I'm not used to
+driving, I thought perhaps I might engage Mr. Bangs to drive for me.
+I expected to pay for the privilege. But, as you need him, I suppose I
+must get my rig and driver somewhere else. I'm so sorry.”
+
+The landlady's expression changed. This was the dull season, and
+opportunities to “let” the family steed and buggy--“horse and team,” we
+call it in Bayport--were few.
+
+“Well,” she observed, “I don't want to be unlikely and disobligin'.
+Far's he's concerned, he'd rather be traipsin' round the country than
+stay to home, any day; though it's been so long sence he took ME to ride
+that I don't know's I'd know how to act.”
+
+“Why, Ketury!” protested her husband. “How you talk! Didn't I drive you
+down to the graveyard only last Sunday--or the Sunday afore?”
+
+“Graveyard! Yes, I notice our rides always fetch up at the graveyard.
+You're always willin' to take me THERE. Seems sometimes as if you
+enjoyed doin' it.”
+
+“Now, Keturah! you know yourself that 'twas you proposed goin' there.
+You said you wanted to look at our lot, 'cause you was afraid 'twan't
+big enough, and you didn't know but we'd ought to add on another piece.
+You said that it kept you awake nights worryin' for fear when I passed
+away you wouldn't have room in that lot for me. Land sakes! don't I
+remember? Didn't you give me the blue creeps talkin' about it?”
+
+Mrs. Bangs ignored this outburst. Turning to the school teacher, she
+said with a sigh:
+
+“Well, I guess he can go. I'll get along somehow. I hope he'll be
+careful of the buggy; we had it painted only last January.”
+
+Mrs. Tripp ventured a hinted question concerning the teacher's errand
+at Trumet. The reply being noncommittal, the widow cheerfully prophesied
+that she guessed 'twas going to rain or snow next day. “It's about time
+for the line storm,” she added.
+
+But it did not storm, although a brisk, cold gale was blowing when,
+after breakfast next morning, the “horse and team,” with Bailey in his
+Sunday suit and overcoat, and Miss Dawes on the buggy seat beside him,
+turned out of the boarding-house yard and started on the twelve-mile
+journey to Trumet.
+
+It was a bleak ride. Denboro, the village adjoining Bayport on the bay
+side, is a pretty place, with old elms and silverleafs shading the main
+street in summer, and with substantial houses set each in its trim yard.
+But beyond Denboro the Trumet road winds out over rolling, bare hills,
+with cranberry bogs, now flooded and skimmed with ice, in the hollows
+between them, clumps of bayberry and beach-plum bushes scattered over
+their rounded slopes, and white scars in their sides showing where the
+cranberry growers have cut away the thin layer of coarse grass and moss
+to reach the sand beneath, sand which they use in preparing their bogs
+for the new vines.
+
+And the wind! There is always a breeze along the Trumet road, even
+in summer--when the mosquitoes lie in wait to leeward like buccaneers
+until, sighting the luckless wayfarer in the offing, they drive down
+before the wind in clouds, literally to eat him alive. They are skilled
+navigators, those Trumet road mosquitoes, and they know the advantage
+of snug harbors under hat brims and behind spreading ears. And each
+individual smashed by a frantic palm leaves a thousand blood relatives
+to attend his funeral and exact revenge after the Corsican fashion.
+
+Now, in December, there were, of course, no mosquitoes, but the wind
+tore across those bare hilltops in gusts that rocked the buggy on its
+springs. The bayberry bushes huddled and crouched before it. The sky was
+covered with tumbling, flying clouds, which changed shape continually,
+and ripped into long, fleecy ravelings, that broke loose and pelted on
+until merged into the next billowy mass. The bay was gray and white, and
+in the spots where an occasional sunbeam broke through and struck it,
+flashed like a turned knife blade.
+
+Bailey drove with one hand and held his hat on his head with the other.
+The road had been deeply rutted during the November rains, and now the
+ruts were frozen. The buggy wheels twisted and scraped as they turned in
+the furrows.
+
+“What's the matter?” asked the schoolmistress, shouting so as to be
+heard above the flapping of the buggy curtains. “Why do you watch that
+wheel?”
+
+“'Fraid of the axle,” whooped Mr. Bangs in reply. “Nut's kind of loose,
+for one thing, and the way the wheel wobbles I'm scart she'll come off.
+Call this a road!” he snorted indignantly. “More like a plowed field a
+consider'ble sight. Jerushy, how she blows! No wonder they raise so many
+deef and dumb folks in Trumet. I'd talk sign language myself if I lived
+here. What's the use of wastin' strength pumpin' up words when they're
+blowed back down your throat fast enough to choke you? Git dap, Henry!
+Don't you see the meetin' house steeple? We're most there, thank the
+goodness.”
+
+In Trumet Center, which is not much of a center, Miss Dawes alighted
+from the buggy and entered a building bearing a sign with the words
+“Metropolitan Variety Store, Joshua Atwood, Prop'r, Groceries, Coal, Dry
+Goods, Insurance, Boots and Shoes, Garden Seeds, etc.” A smaller sign
+beneath this was lettered “Justice of the Peace,” and one below that
+read “Post Office.”
+
+She emerged a moment later, followed by an elderly person in a red
+cardigan jacket and overalls.
+
+“Take the fust turnin' to the left, marm,” he said pointing. “It's
+pretty nigh to East Trumet townhall. Fust house this side of the
+blacksmith shop. About two mile, I'd say. Windy day for drivin', ain't
+it? That horse of yours belongs in Bayport, I cal'late. Looks to me
+like--Hello, Bailey!”
+
+“Hello, Josh!” grunted Mr. Bangs, adding an explanatory aside to
+the effect that he knew Josh Atwood, the latter having once lived in
+Bayport.
+
+“But say,” he asked as they moved on once more, “have we got to go to
+EAST Trumet? Jerushy! that's the place where the wind COMES from. They
+raise it over there; anyhow, they don't raise much else. Whose house you
+goin' to?”
+
+He had asked the same question at least ten times since leaving home,
+and each time Miss Dawes had evaded it. She did so now, saying that she
+was sure she should know the house when they got to it.
+
+The two miles to East Trumet were worse than the twelve which they had
+come. The wind fairly shrieked here, for the road paralleled the edge of
+high sand bluffs close by the shore, and the ruts and “thank-you-marms”
+ were trying to the temper. Bailey's was completely wrecked.
+
+“Teacher,” he snapped as they reached the crest of a long hill, and
+a quick grab at his hat alone prevented its starting on a balloon
+ascension, “get out a spell, will you? I've got to swear or bust, and
+'long's you're aboard I can't swear. What you standin' still for,
+you?” he bellowed at poor Henry, the horse, who had stopped to rest. “I
+cal'late the critter thinks that last cyclone must have blowed me sky
+high, and he's waitin' to see where I light. Git dap!”
+
+“I guess I shall get out very soon now,” panted Phoebe. “There's the
+blacksmith shop over there near the next hill, and this house in the
+hollow must be the one I'm looking for.”
+
+They pulled up beside the house in the hollow. A little,
+story-and-a-half house it was, and, judging by the neglected appearance
+of the weeds and bushes in the yard, it had been unoccupied for some
+time. However, the blinds were now open, and a few fowls about the back
+door seemed to promise that some one was living there. The wooden letter
+box by the gate had a name stenciled upon it. Miss Dawes sprang from the
+buggy and looked at the box.
+
+“Yes,” she said. “This is the place. Will you come in, Mr. Bangs? You
+can put your horse in that barn, I'm sure, if you want to.”
+
+But Bailey declined to come in. He declared he was going on to the
+blacksmith's shop to have that wheel fixed. He would not feel safe to
+start for home with it as it was. He drove off, and Miss Dawes, knowing
+from lifelong experience that front doors are merely for show, passed
+around the main body of the house and rapped on the door in the ell.
+The rap was not answered, though she could hear some one moving about
+within, and a shrill voice singing “The Sweet By and By.” So she rapped
+again and again, but still no one came to the door. At last she ventured
+to open it.
+
+A thin woman, with her head tied up in a colored cotton handkerchief,
+was in the room, vigorously wielding a broom. She was singing in a high
+cracked voice. The opening of the door let in a gust of cold wind which
+struck the singer in the back of the neck, and caused her to turn around
+hastily.
+
+“Hey?” she exclaimed. “Land sakes! you scare a body to death! Shut that
+door quick! I ain't hankering for influenzy. Who are you? What do you
+want? Why didn't you knock? Where's my specs?”
+
+She took a pair of spectacles from the mantel shelf, rubbed them
+with her apron, and set them on the bridge of her thin nose. Then she
+inspected the schoolmistress from head to foot.
+
+“I beg pardon for coming in,” shouted Phoebe. “I knocked, but you didn't
+hear. You are Mrs. Beasley, aren't you?”
+
+“I don't want none,” replied Debby, with emphasis. “So there's no use
+your wastin' your breath.”
+
+“Don't want--” repeated the astonished teacher. “Don't want what?”
+
+“Hey? I say I don't want none.”
+
+“Don't want WHAT?”
+
+“Whatever 'tis you're peddlin'. Books or soap or tea, or whatever 'tis.
+I don't want nothin'.”
+
+After some strenuous minutes, the visitor managed to make it clear to
+Mrs. Beasley's mind that she was not a peddler. She tried to add a word
+of further explanation, but it was effort wasted.
+
+“'Tain't no use,” snapped Debby, “I can't hear you, you speak so faint.
+Wait till I get my horn; it's in the settin' room.”
+
+Phoebe's wonder as to what the “horn” might be was relieved by the
+widow's appearance, a moment later, with the biggest ear trumpet her
+caller had ever seen.
+
+“There, now!” she said, adjusting the instrument and thrusting the
+bell-shaped end under the teacher's nose. “Talk into that. If you ain't
+a peddler, what be you--sewin' machine agent?”
+
+Phoebe explained that she had come some distance on purpose to see Mrs.
+Beasley. She was interested in the Thayers, who used to live in Orham,
+particularly in Mr. John Thayer, who died in 1854. She had been told
+that Debby formerly lived with the Thayers, and could, no doubt,
+remember a great deal about them. Would she mind answering a few
+questions, and so on?
+
+Mrs. Beasley, her hearing now within forty-five degrees of the normal,
+grew interested. She ushered her visitor into the adjoining room, and
+proffered her a chair. That sitting room was a wonder of its kind, even
+to the teacher's accustomed eyes. A gilt-framed crayon enlargement of
+the late Mr. Beasley hung in the center of the broadest wall space, and
+was not the ugliest thing in the apartment. Having said this, further
+description is unnecessary--particularly to those who remember Mr.
+Beasley's personal appearance.
+
+“What you so interested in the Thayers for?” inquired Debby. “One of the
+heirs, be you? They didn't leave nothin'.”
+
+No, the schoolmistress was not an heir. Was not even a relative of the
+family. But she was--was interested, just the same. A friend of hers was
+a relative, and--
+
+“What is your friend?” inquired the inquisitor. “A man?”
+
+There was no reason why Miss Dawes should have changed color, but,
+according to Debby's subsequent testimony, she did; she blushed, so the
+widow declares.
+
+“No,” she protested. “Oh, no! it's a--she's a child, that's all--a
+little girl. But--”
+
+“Maybe you're gettin' up one of them geographical trees,” suggested Mrs.
+Beasley. “I've seen 'em, fust settlers down in the trunk, and children
+and grandchildren spreadin' out in the branches. Is that it?”
+
+Here was an avenue of escape. Phoebe stretched the truth a trifle, and
+admitted that that, or something of the sort, was what she was engaged
+in. The explanation seemed to be satisfactory. Debby asked her
+visitor's name, and, misunderstanding it, addressed her as “Miss Dorcas”
+ thereafter. Then she proceeded to give her reminiscences of the Thayers,
+and it did not take long for the disappointed teacher to discover that,
+for all practical purposes, these reminiscences were valueless. Mrs.
+Beasley remembered many things, but nothing at all concerning John
+Thayer's life in the West, nor the name of the ship he sailed in, nor
+who his shipmates were.
+
+“He never wrote home but once or twice afore he died,” she said. “And
+when he did Emily, his wife, never told me what was in his letters. She
+always burnt 'em, I guess. I used to hunt around for 'em when she was
+out, but she burnt 'em to spite me, I cal'late. Her and me didn't get
+along any too well. She said I talked too much to other folks about what
+was none of their business. Now, anybody that knows me knows THAT ain't
+one of my failin's. I told her so; says I--”
+
+And so on for ten minutes. Then Phoebe ventured to repeat the words “out
+West,” and her companion went off on a new tack. She had just been West
+herself. She had been on a visit to her husband's niece, who lived in
+Arizona. In Blazeton, Arizona. “It's the nicest town ever you see,” she
+continued. “And the smartest, most up-to-date place. Talk about the West
+bein' oncivilized! My land! you ought to see that town! Electric
+lights, and telephones, and--and--I don't know what all! Why, Miss
+What's-your-name--Miss Dorcas, marm, you just ought to see the
+photygraphs I've got that was took out there. My niece, she took 'em
+with one of them little mites of cameras. You wouldn't believe such a
+little box of a thing could take such photygraphs. I'm goin' to get 'em
+and show 'em to you. No, sir! you ain't got to go, neither. Set right
+still and let me fetch them photygraphs. 'Twon't be a mite of trouble.
+I'd love to do it.”
+
+Protests were unavailing. The photographs, at least fifty of them, were
+produced, and the suffering caller was shown the Blazeton City Hall, and
+the Blazeton “Palace Hotel,” and the home of the Beasley niece, taken
+from the front, the rear, and both sides. With each specimen Debby
+delivered a descriptive lecture.
+
+“You see that house?” she asked. “Well, 'tain't much of a one to look
+at, but it's got the most interestin' story tagged on to it. I made Eva,
+that's my niece, take a picture of it just on that account. The woman
+that lives there's had the hardest time. Her fust name's Desire, and
+that kind of made me take an interest in her right off, 'cause I had an
+Aunt Desire once, and it's a name you don't hear very often. Afterwards
+I got to know her real well. She was a widder woman, like me, only she
+didn't have as much sense as I've got, and went and married a second
+time. 'Twas 'long in 1886 she done it. This man Higgins, he went to
+work for her on her place, and pretty soon he married her. They lived
+together, principally on her fust husband's insurance money, I cal'late,
+until a year or so ago. Then the insurance money give out, and Mr.
+Higgins he says: 'Old woman,' he says--I'D never let a husband of mine
+call me 'old woman,' but Desire didn't seem to mind--'Old woman,' he
+says, 'I'm goin' over to Phoenix'--that's another city in Arizona--'to
+look for a job.' And he went, and she ain't heard hide--I mean seen hide
+nor heard hair--What DOES ail me? She ain't seen nor heard of him since.
+And she advertised in the weekly paper, and I don't know what all. She
+thinks he was murdered, you know; that's what makes it so sort of creepy
+and interestin'. Everybody was awful kind to her, and we got to be real
+good friends. Why, I--”
+
+This was but the beginning. It was evident that Mrs. Beasley had
+thoroughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton, and that the sorrows of the
+bereaved Desire Higgins had been one of the principal sources of that
+enjoyment. The schoolmistress endeavored to turn the subject, but it was
+useless.
+
+“I fetched home a whole pile of them newspapers,” continued Debby.
+“They was awful interestin'; full of pictures of Blazeton buildin's
+and leadin' folks and all. And in some of the back numbers was the
+advertisement about Mr. Higgins. I do wish I could show 'em to you, but
+I lent 'em to Mrs. Atwood up to the Center. If 'twan't such a ways I'd
+go and fetch 'em. Mrs. Atwood's been awful nice to me. She took care of
+my trunks and things when I went West--yes, and afore that when I went
+to Bayport to keep house for that miser'ble Cap'n Whittaker. I ain't
+told you about that, but I will by and by. Them trunks had lots of
+things in 'em that I didn't want to lose nor have anybody see. My
+diaries--I've kept a diary since 1850--and--”
+
+“Diaries?” interrupted Phoebe, grasping at straws. “Did you keep a diary
+while you were at the Thayers?”
+
+“Yes. Now, why didn't I think of that afore? More'n likely there'd be
+somethin' in that to help you with that geographical tree. I used to put
+down everything that happened, and--Where you goin'?”
+
+Miss Dawes had risen and was peering out of the window.
+
+“I was looking to see if my driver was anywhere about,” she replied. “I
+thought perhaps he would drive over to Mrs. Atwood's and get the diary
+for you. But I don't see him.”
+
+Just then, from around the corner of the house, peeped an agitated face;
+an agitated forefinger beckoned. Debby stepped to the window beside her
+visitor, and the face and finger went out of sight as if pulled by a
+string.
+
+Miss Phoebe smiled.
+
+“I think I'll go out and look for him,” she said. “He must be near here.
+I'll be right back, Mrs. Beasley.”
+
+Without stopping to put on her jacket, she hurried through the dining
+room, out of the door, and around the corner. There she found Mr. Bangs
+in a highly nervous state.
+
+“Why didn't you tell me 'twas Debby Beasley you was comin' to see?” he
+demanded. “If you'd mentioned that deef image's name you'd never got ME
+to drive you, I tell you that!”
+
+“Yes,” answered the teacher sweetly. “I imagined that. That's why I
+didn't tell you, Mr. Bangs. Now I want you to do me a favor. Will you
+drive over to Trumet Center, and deliver a note and get a package for
+me? Then you can come back here, and I shall be ready to start for
+home.”
+
+“Drive! Drive nothin'! The blacksmith's out, and won't be back for
+another hour. His boy's there, but he's a big enough lunkhead to try
+bailin' out a dory with a fork, and that buggy axle is bent so it's
+simply got to be fixed. I'd no more go home to Ketury with that buggy as
+'tis than I'd--Oh! my land of love!”
+
+The ejaculation was almost a groan. There at the corner, ear trumpet
+adjusted, and spectacles glistening, stood Debby Beasley. Bailey
+appeared to wilt under her gaze as if the spectacles were twin suns.
+Miss Dawes looked as if she very much wanted to laugh. The widow stared
+in silence.
+
+“How--how d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley?” faltered Mr. Bangs, not forgetting to
+raise his voice. “I hope you're lookin' as well as you feel. I mean, I
+hope you're smart.”
+
+Mrs. Beasley nodded decisively.
+
+“Yes,” she answered. “I'm pretty toler'ble, thank you. What was the
+matter, Mr. Bangs? Why didn't you come in? Do you usually make your
+calls round the corner?”
+
+The gentleman addressed seemed unable to reply. The schoolmistress came
+to the rescue.
+
+“You mustn't blame Mr. Bangs, Mrs. Beasley,” she explained. “He
+wasn't responsible for what happened at Captain Whittaker's. He is
+the gentleman who drove me over here. I was going to send him to Mrs.
+Atwood's for the diary.”
+
+“Who said I was blamin' him?” queried the widow. “If 'twas that little
+Tidditt thing I might feel different. But, considerin' that I got this
+horn from Mr. Bangs, I'm willin' to let bygones be past. It helps my
+hearin' a lot. Them ear-fixin's was good while they lasted, but they got
+out of kilter quick. _I_ shan't bother Mr. Bangs. If he can square his
+own conscience, I'm satisfied.”
+
+Bailey's conscience was not troubling him greatly, and he seemed
+relieved. Phoebe told of the damaged buggy.
+
+“Humph!” grunted the widow. “The horse didn't get bent, too, did he?”
+
+Mr. Bangs indignantly declared that the horse was all right.
+
+“Um--hum. Well, then, I guess I can supply a carriage. My fust cousin
+Ezra that died used to be doctor here, and he give me his sulky when he
+got a new one. It's out in the barn. Go fetch your horse, and harness
+him in. I'll be ready time the harnessin's done.”
+
+“You?” gasped the teacher. “You don't need to go, Mrs. Beasley. I
+wouldn't think of giving you that trouble.”
+
+“No trouble at all. I wouldn't trust nobody else with them trunks. And
+besides, I always do enjoy ridin'. You could go, too, Miss Dorcas, but
+the sulky seat's too narrer for three. You can set in the settin' room
+till we get back. 'Twon't take us long. Don't say another word; I'm
+A-GOIN'.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+
+The number of reasons given by Mr. Bangs one after the other, to
+prove that it would be quite impossible for him to be Mrs. Beasley's
+charioteer was a credit to the resources of his invention. The
+blacksmith might be back any minute; it was dinner time, and he was
+hungry; Henry, the horse, was tired; it wasn't a nice day for riding,
+and he would come over some other time and take the widow out; he--But
+Debby had a conclusive answer for each protest.
+
+“You said yourself the blacksmith wouldn't be back for an hour,” she
+observed. “And you can leave word with the boy what he's to do when he
+does come. As for dinner, I'll be real glad to give you and Miss Dorcas
+a snack soon's we get back. I don't mind if it ain't a pleasant day; a
+little fresh air 'll do me good. I been shut up here house-cleanin' ever
+since I got back from out West. Now, hurry right along, and fetch your
+horse. I'll unlock the barn.”
+
+“But, Mrs. Beasley,” put in the schoolmistress, “why couldn't you give
+us a note to Mrs. Atwood and let us stop for the diary on our way home?
+I could return it to you by mail. Or you might get it yourself some
+other day and mail it to me.”
+
+“No, no! Never put off till to-morrer what you can do to-day. My husband
+was a great hand to put off and put off. For the last eight years of his
+life I was at him to buy a new go-to-meetin' suit of clothes. The one
+he had was blue to start with, but it faded to a brown, and, toward the
+last of it, I declare if it didn't commence to turn green. Nothin' I
+could say would make him heave it away even then. Seemed to think more
+of it than ever. Said he wanted to hang to it a spell and see what
+'twould turn next. But he died and was laid out in that same suit, and
+I was so mortified at the funeral I couldn't think of nothin' else. No,
+I'll go after them papers and the diary while they're fresh in my mind.
+And besides, do you s'pose I'd let Sarah Ann Atwood rummage through my
+trunks? I guess not!”
+
+Phoebe began to be sorry she had thought of sending for the diary,
+particularly as the chance of its containing valuable information was
+so remote. Mrs. Beasley went into the house to dress for the ride. The
+schoolmistress went with her as far as the sitting room. The perturbed
+Bailey stalked off, muttering, to the blacksmith's.
+
+In a little while he returned, leading Henry by the bridle. Debby,
+adorned with the beflowered bonnet she had worn when she arrived at the
+Cy Whittaker place, and with a black cloth cape over her lean shoulders,
+was waiting for him by the open door of the barn. The cape had a fur
+collar--“cat fur,” so Mr. Bangs said afterwards in describing it.
+
+“Pull the sulky right out,” commanded the widow.
+
+Bailey stared into the black interior of the barn.
+
+“Which is it?” he shouted.
+
+Mrs. Beasley pointed with her ear trumpet.
+
+“Why, that one there, of course. 'Tother's a truck cart. You wouldn't
+expect me to ride in that, would you?”
+
+Mr. Bangs entered the barn, seized the vehicle indicated by the shafts,
+and drew it out into the yard. He inspected it deliberately, and
+then sat weakly down on the chopping block near by. Apparently he was
+overcome by emotion.
+
+The “sulky” bequeathed by the late doctor had been built to order for
+its former owner. It was of the “carryall” variety, except that it had
+but a single narrow seat. Its top was square and was curtained, the
+curtains being tightly buttoned down. Altogether it was something of a
+curiosity. Miss Dawes, who had come out to see the start, looked at the
+“sulky,” then at Mr. Bangs's face, and turned her back. Her shoulders
+shook:
+
+“It used to be a real nice carriage when Ezra had it,” commented the
+widow admiringly. “It needs ilin' and sprucin' up now, but I guess
+'twill do. Come!” to Bailey, who had not risen from the chopping block.
+“Hurry up and harness or we'll never get started. Thought you wanted to
+get back for dinner?”
+
+Mr. Bangs stood up and heaved a sigh.
+
+“I did,” he answered slowly, “but,” with a glance at the sulky,
+“somethin' seems to have took away my appetite. Teacher, do you mean
+to--”
+
+But Miss Dawes had withdrawn to the corner of the house, from which
+viewpoint she seemed to be inspecting the surrounding landscape. Bailey
+seized Henry by the bridle and backed him into the shafts.
+
+“Back up!” he roared. “Back up, I tell you! You needn't look at me that
+way,” he added, in a lower tone. “_I_ can't help it. You ain't any worse
+ashamed than I am. There! the ark's off the ways. All aboard!”
+
+Turning to the expectant widow, he “boosted” her, not too tenderly, up
+to the narrow seat. Then he climbed in himself. Two on that seat made
+a tight fit. Bailey took up the reins. Debby leaned forward and peered
+around the edge of the curtains.
+
+“You!” she shouted. “You, Miss What's-your-name--Dorcas! Come here a
+minute. I want to tell you somethin'.”
+
+The schoolmistress, her face red and her eyes moist, approached.
+
+“I just wanted to say,” explained Debby, “that I ain't real sure as that
+diary's there. I burnt up a lot of my old letters and things a spell
+ago, and seems to me I burnt some old diaries, too, but maybe that wan't
+one of 'em. Anyhow, I can get them Arizona papers, and I do want you to
+see 'em. They're the most INTERESTIN' things. Now,” she added, turning
+to her companion on the seat, “you can git dap just as soon as you want
+to.”
+
+Whether or not Mr. Bangs wanted to “git dap” is a doubtful question. But
+at all events he did. Before the astonished Miss Dawes could think of an
+answer to the observation concerning the diary, the carriage, its
+long unused axles shrieking protests, moved out of the yard. The
+schoolmistress watched it go. Then she returned to the sitting room and
+collapsed in a rocking chair.
+
+Once out from the shelter of the house and on the open road, the sulky
+received the full force of the wind. The first gust that howled in from
+the bay struck its curtained side with a sudden burst of power that
+caused Mrs. Beasley to clutch her driver's arm.
+
+“Good land of mercy!” she screamed. “It blows real hard, don't it?”
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was in the form of delicate sarcasm, bellowed into
+the ear trumpet.
+
+“Sho!” he exclaimed. “I want to know! You don't say! Now you mention it,
+seems as if I had noticed a little air stirrin'.”
+
+Another gust tilted the carriage top. Debby clutched the arm still
+tighter.
+
+“Why, it blows awful hard!” she cried. “I'd no idee it blew like this.”
+
+“Want to 'bout ship and go home again?” whooped Bailey, hopefully. But
+the widow didn't intend to give up the rare luxury of a “ride” which a
+kind Providence had cast in her way.
+
+“No, no!” she answered. “I guess if you folks come all the way from
+Bayport I can stand it as fur's the Center. But hurry all you can, won't
+you? I'm kind of 'fraid of the springs.”
+
+“Springs? What springs? Let go my arm, will you? It's goin' to sleep.”
+
+Mrs. Beasley let go of the arm momentarily.
+
+“I mean the springs on this carriage,” she explained. “Last time I lent
+it to anybody--Solon Davis, 'twas--he said the bolts underneath was
+pretty nigh rusted out, and about all that held the wagon part on was
+its own weight. So we'll have to be kind of careful.”
+
+“Well--I--swan--to--MAN!” was Mr. Bangs's sole comment on the amazing
+disclosure; however, as an expression of concentrated and profound
+disgust it was quite sufficient. He spoke but once during the remainder
+of the trip to the “Center.” Then, when his passenger begged to know
+if “that Whittaker man” had been well since she left, he shouted:
+“Yes--EVER since,” and relapsed into his former gloomy silence.
+
+The widow's stop at the Atwood house, which was in the immediate rear of
+the Atwood store, was of a half hour's duration. Bailey refused to
+leave the seat of the sulky and sat there, speaking to no one; not even
+replying to the questions of a group of loungers who gathered to inspect
+the ancient vehicle, and professed to be in doubt as to whether it had
+been washed in with the tide or been “left” to him in a will.
+
+At last Debby made her appearance, her arms filled with newspapers. The
+latter she piled under the carriage seat, and then climbed to her former
+place beside the driver. Henry, in response to a slap from the reins,
+got under way once more. The axles squeaked and screamed.
+
+“Gee!” cried one youngster, from the steps of the store. “It's the steam
+calliope. When's the rest of the show comin'?”
+
+“Hi!” yelled another. “See how close they're hugged up together. Ain't
+they lovin'! It's a weddin'!”
+
+“Shut up!” roared the tortured Bailey, whose hat had blown back into the
+body of the sulky, leaving his bald head exposed to the cutting wind.
+
+The audience begged him to give them a lock of his hair, and added other
+remarks of a personal nature concerning the youth and beauty of the
+bridal couple and their chariot. Mr. Bangs was in a state of dumb
+frenzy. Debby, who, without her trumpet, had heard nothing of all this,
+was smiling and garrulous.
+
+“I found all the papers,” she said. “They're right under the seat. I'm
+goin' to look 'em over so's to have the interestin' parts all ready to
+show Miss Dorcas when we get home. Ain't it nice I found 'em?”
+
+In spite of her driver's remonstrances, unheard because of the
+nonadjustment of the trumpet, she reached under the seat and brought out
+the pile of Blazeton weeklies. With her feet upon the pile to keep
+it from blowing away, she proceeded to unfold one of the papers. It
+crackled and snapped in the wind like a loose mainsail.
+
+“Keep that dratted thing out of my face, won't you?” shrieked the
+agonized Bailey. “How'm I goin' to see to steer with that smackin' me
+between the eyes every other second?”
+
+“Hey? Did you speak to me?” asked the widow sweetly.
+
+“Did I SPEAK? No, I screeched! What in tunket--”
+
+“I want you to see this picture of the mayor's house in Blazeton. Eva,
+my husband's niece, lives right acrost the road from him. Many's the
+time I've set on their piazza and seen him come out and go to the City
+Hall.”
+
+“Keep it out of my face, I tell you! Reef it! Furl it, you--you woman! I
+wish to thunder the piazza had caved in on you! I never see such an old
+fool in my born days. TAKE IT AWAY!”
+
+Mrs. Beasley removed the paper, but only to substitute another.
+
+“Here's Eva's brother-in-law,” she screamed. “He's one of the prominent
+business men out there, so they put him in the paper. Ain't he nice
+lookin'?”
+
+Bailey's comments on the prominent business man's appearance were
+anything but flattering. Debby continued to reach for more papers,
+carefully replacing those she had inspected in the pile beneath her
+feet. The wind blew as hard as ever; even harder, for it was now almost
+dead ahead. Henry plodded along. They were in the hollow at the foot of
+the last long hill, that from which the blacksmith shop had first been
+sighted.
+
+“I know what I'll do,” declared the passenger. “I'll hunt for that
+missin' husband advertisement of Desire Higgins's. Let's see now! 'Twill
+be down at the bottom of the pile, 'cause the paper it's in is a last
+year one.”
+
+She bobbed down behind the high dashboard. Mr. Bangs stood up in order
+that her gymnastics might interfere, to a lesser degree, with his
+driving. The equipage began to move up the slope of the hill, bouncing
+and twisting in the frozen ruts.
+
+“Here 'tis!” exclaimed Debby. “I remember it's in this number, 'cause
+there's a picture of the Palace Hotel on the front page. Let's see--'Dog
+lost'--no, that ain't it. 'Corner lot for sale'--wish I had money enough
+to buy it; I'd like nothin' better than to live out there. 'Information
+wanted of my husband'--Here 'tis! Um--hum!”
+
+She straightened up and eagerly began reading the advertisement. The
+hill was very steep just at its top, and the sulky slanted backward at
+a sharp angle. A terrific burst of wind tore around the corner of
+the bluff. It eddied through the sulky between the dashboard and
+the curtained sides. The widow, in her excitement at finding the
+advertisement, had inadvertently removed her feet from the pile of
+papers. In an instant the air was filled with whirling copies of the
+Blazeton Weekly Courier.
+
+Henry, the horse, was a sober animal who had long ago reached the age of
+discretion. But to have his old ears and eyes suddenly blanketed with a
+flapping white thing swooping apparently from nowhere was too much even
+for his sedate nerves. He jumped sidewise. The reins were jerked from
+the driver's hands and fell in the road.
+
+“Mercy on us!” shrieked Debby, clutching her companion about the waist.
+“What--”
+
+“Let go of me!” howled Bailey, pushing her violently aside. “Whoa! Stand
+still!”
+
+But Henry refused to stand still. The flapping paper still clung to his
+agitated head. He reared and pranced, jerking the sulky back and forth,
+its wheels still wedged in the ruts. Bailey sprang to the ground to pick
+up the reins. He seized them, but fell as he did so. The tug at his bits
+turned Henry's head, literally and figuratively. He reared and whirled
+about. The sulky rose on two wheels. The screaming Mrs. Beasley
+collapsed against its downward side. Another moment, and the whole upper
+half of the sulky--body, seat, curtains, and Debby--tilted over the
+lower wheels, and, the rusted bolts failing to hold, slid with a thump
+to the frozen road. The wind, catching it underneath as it slid, tipped
+it backward. Then Henry ran away.
+
+
+
+Miss Dawes, left alone in the house at the foot of the hill, had amused
+herself for a time with the Beasley library, which partially filled a
+shelf in the sitting room. But “The Book of Martyrs” and “A Believer's
+Thoughts on Death” were not cheering literature, particularly as the
+author of the latter volume “thought” so dismally concerning the future
+of all who did not believe precisely as he did. So the teacher laid down
+the book, with a shudder, and wandered about the room, inspecting the
+late Mr. Beasley's portrait, the photographs in splintwork frames, the
+“alum basket” on the mantel, the blue castles, blue trees, and blue
+people pictured on the window shades, and other works of art in the
+apartment. She even peeped into the parlor, but the musty, shut-up
+smell of that dusky tomb was too much for her, and she sat down by the
+sitting-room window, under the empty bird cage, to look up the road and
+watch for the return of the sulky and its occupants.
+
+Sitting there, she was a witness of the alarming catastrophe on the
+hilltop, and reached the front gate just in time to see Henry go
+galloping by, dragging the four wheels and springs of the sulky, while,
+sprawled across the rear axle and still clinging to the reins, hung a
+familiar, howling, and most wickedly profane individual by the name of
+Bangs.
+
+The runaway dashed on toward the blacksmith shop. Phoebe, bareheaded and
+coatless, ran up the hill. Before she reached the crest, she was aware
+of muffled screams, which sounded as if the screamer was shut up in a
+trunk.
+
+“O-o-oh!” screamed Mrs. Beasley. “O-o-oh! Ow! Let me out! Help! I'm
+stuck! My back's broke! He-e-lp!”
+
+The upper part of the sulky, with its boxlike curtained top, lay on
+its side in the road. From somewhere within the box came the groans and
+screams. The gale swept the hilltop, and, for a quarter mile to leeward,
+the scenery was animated by soaring, fluttering copies of the Blazeton
+Courier, that swooped and ducked like mammoth white butterflies.
+
+The panting and alarmed teacher stooped and peered into the dark shadow
+between the dashboard and the back curtain. All she could make out
+at first were a pair of thin ankles and “Congress” shoes in agitated
+motion. These bobbed up and down behind the overturned seat and its
+displaced cushion.
+
+“O Mrs. Beasley!” screamed Phoebe. “Are you hurt?”
+
+Debby, of course, did not hear the question. She continued to groan
+and scream for help. Her lungs were not injured, at all events. The
+schoolmistress, dropping on her knees, reached into the sulky top and
+tugged at the seat. It was rather tightly wedged, but she managed to
+loosen it and pull it toward her.
+
+The widow raised herself on an elbow and looked out between the flowers
+of her smashed bonnet.
+
+“Who is it?” she demanded. “Oh, is that you, Miss Dorcas? Oh, my soul
+and body! Oh, my stars! Oh, my goodness me!”
+
+“Are you hurt?” shrieked Phoebe.
+
+“Hey? I don't know! I don't know WHAT I be! I don't know nothin'!”
+
+“Can you help yourself? Can you get up?”
+
+“Hey? I don't know. Maybe I can if you haul that everlastin' seat out of
+the way. Oh, my sakes alive!”
+
+Her rescuer pulled the seat forward, and, with an effort, tumbled it
+clear of the curtains. Debby raised herself still higher.
+
+“Oh!” she groaned. “Talk about--Land sakes! who's comin'? Men, ain't it?
+Let me out of here quick! QUICK!”
+
+She scrambled out of her prison on hands and knees, and jumped to her
+feet with reassuring alacrity. Her fur-collared cape was draped in a
+roll about her neck, and her bonnet hung jauntily over her left eye.
+
+“I'm a sight, ain't I?” she asked. “Haul this bunnet straight, quick's
+ever you can. Hurt? No, no! I ain't hurt none but my feelin's. Hurry
+UP! S'pose I want them men folks to see me with everything all hind side
+to?”
+
+Miss Dawes, relieved to find that the accident had had no serious
+consequences, and trying her hardest not to laugh, assisted the widow
+to rearrange her wearing apparel. The blacksmith and his helper came
+running up the hill.
+
+“Hello, Debby!” hailed the former. “What's the matter? Hurt, be you?”
+
+Mrs. Beasley, whether she heard or not, did not deign to reply.
+
+“Get my horn out of that carriage,” she ordered. “Don't stand there
+gapin'. Get it.”
+
+The ear trumpet was resurrected from the interior of the vehicle. The
+widow adjusted it with dignity.
+
+“Had a spill, didn't you, Debby?” inquired the blacksmith. “Upset,
+didn't you?”
+
+Debby glared at him.
+
+“No,” she replied with sarcasm. “Course I didn't upset! Just thought
+I'd roll round in the road for the fun of it. Smart question, that is!
+Where's that Bailey Bangs gone to with the rest of my carriage?”
+
+The blacksmith pointed to his shop in the hollow. Before it stood Mr.
+Bangs, holding Henry by the bridle, and staring in their direction.
+
+“He's all right,” volunteered the “helper.” “The horse stopped runnin'
+soon's he got to the foot of the next hill.”
+
+Mrs. Beasley was not, apparently, overjoyed at the news.
+
+“Humph!” she grunted. “I 'most wish he'd broke his neck! Pesky, careless
+thing! gettin' us run away with and upset. Who's goin' to pay for fixin'
+my sulky, I want to know?”
+
+“Mr. Bangs will pay for it, I'm sure,” said Phoebe soothingly. “If he
+doesn't, I will. Oh, Mrs. Beasley! did you find the diary?”
+
+“Diary? No, no! I told you I was afraid I'd burnt it up. Well, I had,
+and a whole lot more of them old ones. But I did get all them Arizona
+papers, and took the trouble to tote 'em all the way here so's you could
+look at 'em. And now”--she shook with indignation and waved her hand
+toward a section of horizon where little white dots indicated the
+whereabouts of the Couriers--“now look where they be! Blowed from Dan to
+Beersheby! Come on to the house and let me set down. I been standin' on
+my head till I'm tired. Here, Jabez,” to the blacksmith, “you tend to
+that carriage, will you?”
+
+She stalked off down the hill. The schoolmistress turning to follow her,
+caught a glimpse of the “helper” doubled up with silent laughter, and
+the blacksmith grinning broadly as he stooped toward the capsized sulky.
+
+Phoebe was downcast and disappointed. She was convinced, in her own
+mind, that the Honorable Atkins had some hidden motive for his espousal
+of the Thomas cause. Asaph's fruitless quest in Orham had not shaken
+her faith. Captain Cy had refused to seek Debby Beasley for information
+concerning the Thayers, and so she, on her own responsibility, had done
+so. And this was the ridiculous ending of her journey. The diary had
+been a forlorn hope; now that was burned. Poor Bos'n! and poor--some one
+else!
+
+Debby marching down the hill, continued to sputter about the lost
+weeklies.
+
+“It's an everlastin' shame!” she declared. “I'd just found the one with
+that advertisement in it and was readin' it. I remember the part I read,
+plain as could be. While we're eatin' dinner I'll tell you about it.”
+
+But Miss Dawes did not care for dinner. Like Mr. Tidditt and the
+captain, she had had about all the Debby Beasley she wanted.
+
+“Yes, yes, you will stop, too,” affirmed the widow. “I want to tell you
+more about Blazeton. I can see that advertisement this minute, right
+afore my eyes--'Information wanted of my husband, Edward Higgins. Five
+foot eight inches tall, sandy complected, brown hair, and yellowish
+mustache; not lame, but has a peculiar slight limp with his left
+foot--'”
+
+“What?” asked the schoolmistress, stopping short.
+
+“Hey? 'Has a peculiar limp with his left foot.' I remember how Desire
+used to talk about that limp. She said 'twas almost as if he stuttered
+with his leg. He hurt it when he was up in Montana, and--”
+
+“Oh!” cried Miss Dawes. The color had left her face.
+
+“Yes. You see he used to be a miner or somethin' up there. He'd never
+say much about his younger days, but one time he did tell that. I'd
+just got as far as that limp when the sulky upset. Talk about bein'
+surprised! I never was so surprised in my life as when that horse
+critter rared up and--”
+
+Phoebe interrupted. Her color had come back, and her eyes were shining.
+
+“Mrs. Beasley,” she cried, “I think I shall change my mind. I believe I
+will stay to dinner after all. I'm EVER so much interested in Arizona.”
+
+
+
+Bailey and the teacher began their long drive home about four o'clock.
+The buggy axle had been fixed, and the wind was less violent. Mr. Bangs
+was glum and moody. He seemed to be thinking.
+
+“Say, teacher,” he said at length, “I'd like to ask a favor of you. If
+it ain't necessary, I wish you wouldn't say nothin' about that upsettin'
+business to the folks to home. It does sound so dum foolish! I'll never
+hear the last of it.”
+
+Miss Dawes, who had been in high spirits, now took a moment for
+reflection.
+
+“All right!” she said, nodding vigorously. “We won't mention it, then.
+We won't tell a soul. You can say that I called at the Atwoods', if you
+want to; that will be true, because I did. And we'll have Mrs. Beasley
+for our secret--yours and mine--until we decide to tell. It's a bargain,
+Mr. Bangs. We must shake hands on it.”
+
+They shook hands, and Bailey, looking in her face, thought he never
+saw her look so well or as young. She was pretty, he decided. Then he
+thought of his own choice of a wife, and--well, if he had any regrets,
+he hasn't mentioned them, not even to his fellow-member of the Board of
+Strategy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+
+December was nearly over. Christmas had come. Bos'n had hung up her
+stocking by the base-burner stove, and found it warty and dropsical
+the next morning, with a generous overflow of gifts piled on the floor
+beneath it. The Board of Strategy sent presents; so did Miss Dawes and
+Georgianna. As for Captain Cy he spent many evening hours, after the
+rest of his household was in bed, poring over catalogues of toys and
+books, and the orders he sent to the big shops in Boston were lengthy
+and costly. The little girl's eyes opened wide when she saw the stocking
+and the treasures heaped on the floor. She sat in her “nighty” amidst
+the wonders, books, and playthings in a circle about her, and the
+biggest doll of all hugged close in her arms. Captain Cy, who had arisen
+at half past five in order to be with her on the great occasion, was at
+least as happy as she.
+
+“Like 'em, do you?” he asked, smiling.
+
+“like 'em! O Uncle Cy! What makes everybody so good to me?”
+
+“I don't know. Strange thing, ain't it--considerin' what a hard little
+ticket you are.”
+
+Bos'n laughed. She understood her “Uncle Cy,” and didn't mind being
+called a “hard ticket” by him.
+
+“I--I--didn't believe anybody COULD have such a nice Christmas. I never
+saw so many nice things.”
+
+“Humph! What do you like best?”
+
+The answer was a question, and was characteristic.
+
+“Which did you give me?” asked Bos'n.
+
+The captain would have dodged, but she wouldn't let him. So one by one
+the presents he had given were indicated and put by themselves. The
+remainder were but few, but she insisted that the givers of these should
+be named. When the sorting was over she sat silently hugging her doll
+and, apparently, thinking.
+
+“Well?” inquired the amused captain. “Made up your mind yet? Which do
+you like best?”
+
+The child nodded.
+
+“Why, these, of course,” she declared with emphasis, pointing with her
+dollie's slippered foot at Captain Cy's pile.
+
+“So? Do, hey? Didn't know I could pick so well. All right; the first
+prize is mine. Who takes the second?”
+
+This time Bos'n deliberated before answering. At last, however, she bent
+forward and touched the teacher's gifts.
+
+“These,” she said. “I like these next best.”
+
+Captain Cy was surprised.
+
+“Sho!” he exclaimed. “You don't say!”
+
+“Yes. I think I like teacher next to you. I like Georgianna and Mr.
+Tidditt and Mr. Bangs, of course, but I like her a little better. Don't
+you, uncle Cyrus?”
+
+The captain changed the subject. He asked her what she should name her
+doll.
+
+The Board of Strategy came in during the forenoon, and the presents had
+to be shown to them. While the exhibition was in progress Miss Dawes
+called. And before she left Gabe Lumley drove up in the depot wagon
+bearing a big express package addressed to “Miss Emily Thomas, Bayport.”
+
+“Humph!” exclaimed Captain Cy. “Somethin' more for Bos'n, hey! Who in
+the world sent it, do you s'pose?”
+
+Asaph and Bailey made various inane suggestions as to the sender. Phoebe
+said nothing. There was a frown on her face as she watched the captain
+get to work on the box with chisel and hammer. It contained a beautiful
+doll, fully and expensively dressed, and pinned to the dress was a
+card--“To dear little Emmie, from her lonesome Papa.”
+
+The Board of Strategy looked at the doll in wonder and astonishment.
+Captain Cy strode away to the window.
+
+“Well!” exclaimed Mr. Bangs. “I didn't believe he had that much heart
+inside of him. I bet you that cost four or five dollars; ain't that so,
+Cy?”
+
+The captain did not answer.
+
+“Don't you think so, teacher?” repeated Bailey, turning to Phoebe. “What
+ails you? You don't seem surprised.”
+
+“I'm not,” replied the lady. “I expected something of that sort.”
+
+Captain Cy wheeled from the window.
+
+“You DID?” he asked.
+
+“Yes. Miss Phinney said the other day she had heard that that man
+was going to give his daughter a beautiful present. She was very
+enthusiastic about his generosity and self-sacrifice. I asked who told
+her and she said Mr. Simpson.”
+
+“Oh! Tad? Is that so!” The captain looked at her.
+
+“Yes. And I think there is no doubt that Simpson had orders to make the
+'generosity' known to as many townspeople as possible.”
+
+“Hum! I see. You figure that Thomas cal'lates 'twill help his popularity
+and make his case stronger; is that it?”
+
+“Not exactly. I doubt if he ever thought of such a thing himself. But
+some one thought for him--and some one must have supplied the money.”
+
+“Well, they say he's to work up in Boston.”
+
+“I know. But no one can tell where he works. Captain Whittaker, this is
+Mr. Atkins's doing--you know it. Now, WHY does he, a busy man, take such
+an interest in getting this child away from you?”
+
+Captain Cy shook his head and smiled.
+
+“Teacher,” he said, “you're dead set on taggin' Heman with a mystery,
+ain't you?”
+
+“Miss Dawes,” asked the forgetful Bailey, “when you and me went drivin'
+t'other day did you find out anything from--”
+
+Phoebe interrupted quickly.
+
+“Mr. Bangs,” she said, “at what time do we distribute Christmas presents
+at your boarding house? I suppose you must have many Christmas secrets
+to keep. You keep a secret SO well.”
+
+Mr. Bangs turned red. The hint concerning secret keeping was not wasted.
+He did not mention the drive again.
+
+A little later Captain Cy found Bos'n busily playing with the doll he
+had given her. The other, her father's gift, was nowhere in sight.
+
+“I put her back in the box,” said the child in reply to his question.
+“She was awful pretty, but I think I'm goin' to love this one best.”
+
+The remark seems a foolish thing to give comfort to a grown man, but
+Captain Cy found comfort in it, and comfort was what he needed.
+
+He needed it more as time went on. In January the court gave its
+decision. The captain's appointment as guardian was revoked. With
+the father alive, and professedly anxious to provide for the child's
+support, nothing else was to be expected, so Mr. Peabody said. The
+latter entered an appeal which would delay matters for a time, two or
+three months perhaps; meanwhile Captain Cy was to retain custody of
+Bos'n.
+
+But the court's action, expected though it was, made the captain very
+blue and downcast. He could see no hope. He felt certain that he should
+lose the little girl in the end, in spite of the long succession of
+appeals which his lawyer contemplated. And what would become of her
+then? What sort of training would she be likely to have? Who would her
+associates be, under the authority of a father such as hers? And what
+would he do, alone in the old house, when she had gone for good? He
+could not bear to think of it, and yet he thought of little else.
+
+The evenings, after Bos'n had gone to bed, were the worst. During the
+day he tried his best to be busy at something or other. The doll
+house was finished, and he had begun to fashion a full-rigged ship in
+miniature. In reality Emily, being a normal little girl, was not greatly
+interested in ships, but, because Uncle Cy was making it, she pretended
+to be vastly concerned about this one. On Saturdays and after school
+hours she sat on a box in the wood shed, where the captain had put up
+a small stove, and watched him work. The taboo which so many of our
+righteous and Atkins-worshiping townspeople had put upon the Whittaker
+place and its occupants included her, and a number of children had
+been forbidden to play with her. This, however, did not prevent their
+tormenting her about her father and her disreputable guardian.
+
+But the captain's evenings were miserable. He no longer went to
+Simmons's. He didn't care for the crowd there, and knew they were all
+“down” on him. Josiah Dimick called occasionally, and the Board of
+Strategy often, but their conversation was rather tiresome. There were
+times when Captain Cy hated Bayport, the house he had “fixed up” with
+such interest and pride, and the old sitting room in particular. The
+mental picture of comfort and contentment which had been his dream
+through so many years of struggle and wandering, looked farther off than
+ever. Sometimes he was tempted to run away, taking Bos'n with him. But
+the captain had never run away from a fight yet; he had never abandoned
+a ship while there was a chance of keeping her afloat. And, besides,
+there was another reason.
+
+Phoebe Dawes had come to be his chief reliance. He saw a great deal of
+her. Often when she walked home from school, she found him hanging over
+the front gate, and they talked of various things--of Bos'n's progress
+with her studies, of the school work, and similar topics. He called her
+by her first name now, although in this there was nothing unusual--after
+a few weeks' acquaintance we Bayporters almost invariably address people
+by their “front” names. Sometimes she came to the house with Emily. Then
+the three sat by the stove in the sitting room, and the apartment became
+really cheerful, in the captain's eyes.
+
+Phoebe was in good spirits. She was as hopeful as Captain Cy was
+despondent. She seemed to have little fear of the outcome of the
+legal proceedings, the appeals and the rest. In fact, she now appeared
+desirous of evading the subject, and there was about her an air of
+suppressed excitement. Her optimism was the best sort of bracer for the
+captain's failing courage. Her advice was always good, and a talk with
+her left him with shoulders squared, mentally, and almost happy.
+
+One cold, rainy afternoon, early in February, she came in with Bos'n,
+who had availed herself of the shelter of the teacher's umbrella.
+Georgianna was in the kitchen baking, and Emily had been promised a
+“saucer pie”--so the child went out to superintend the construction of
+that treat.
+
+“Set down, teacher,” said Captain Cy, pushing forward a rocker. “My!
+but I'm glad to see you. 'Twas bluer'n a whetstone 'round here to-day.
+What's the news--anything?”
+
+“Why, no,” replied Phoebe, accepting the rocker and throwing open her
+wet jacket; “there's no news in particular. But I wanted to ask if you
+had seen the Breeze?”
+
+“Um--hum,” was the listless answer. “I presume likely you mean the news
+about the appropriation, and the editorial dig at yours truly? Yes, I've
+seen it. They don't bother me much. I've got more important things on my
+mind just now.”
+
+Congressman Atkins's pledge in his farewell speech, concerning the
+mighty effort he was to make toward securing the appropriation for
+Bayport harbor, was in process of fulfillment--so he had written to
+the local paper. But, alas! the mighty effort was likely to prove
+unavailing. In spite of the Honorable Heman's battle for his
+constituents' rights it seemed certain that the bill would not provide
+the thirty thousand dollars for Bayport; at least, not this year's bill.
+Other and more powerful interests would win out and, instead, another
+section of the coast be improved at the public expense. The congressman
+was deeply sorry, almost broken-hearted. He had battled hard for his
+beloved town, he had worked night and day. But, to be perfectly frank,
+there was little or no hope.
+
+Few of us blamed Heman Atkins. The majority considered his letter
+“noble” and “so feeling.” But some one must be blamed for a community
+disappointment like this, and the scapegoat was on the premises. How
+about that “committee of one” self-appointed at town meeting? How
+about the blatant person who had declared HE could have gotten the
+appropriation? What had the “committee” done? Nothing! nothing at all!
+He had not even written to the Capital--so far as anyone could find
+out--much less gone there.
+
+So, at Simmons's and the sewing circle, and after meeting on Sunday, Cy
+Whittaker was again discussed and derided. And this week's Breeze, out
+that morning, contained a sarcastic editorial which mentioned no names,
+but hinted at “a certain now notorious person” who had boasted loudly,
+but who had again “been weighed in the balance of public opinion and
+found wanting.”
+
+Miss Dawes did not seem pleased with the captain's nonchalant attitude
+toward the Breeze and its editorial. She tapped the braided mat with her
+foot.
+
+“Captain Cyrus,” she said, “if you intended doing nothing toward
+securing that appropriation why did you accept the responsibility for it
+at the meeting?”
+
+Captain Cy looked up. Her tone reminded him of their first meeting, when
+she had reproved him for going to sleep and leaving Bos'n to the mercy
+of the Cahoon cow.
+
+“Well,” he said, “afore this Thomas business happened, to knock all
+my plans on their beam ends, I'd done consider'ble thinkin' about
+that appropriation. It seemed to me that there must be some reason
+for Heman's comin' about so sudden. He was sartin sure of the thirty
+thousand for a spell; then, all to once, he begun to take in sail and go
+on t'other tack. I don't know much about politics, but I know HE knows
+all the politics there is. And it seemed to me that if a live man, one
+with eyes in his head, went to Washington and looked around he might
+find the reason. And, if he did find it, maybe Heman could be coaxed
+into changin' his mind again. Anyhow, I was willin' to take the risk of
+tryin'; and, besides, Tad and Abe Leonard had me on the griddle at that
+meetin', and I spoke up sharp--too sharp, maybe.”
+
+“But you still believe that you MIGHT help if you went to Washington?”
+
+“Yes. I guess I do. Anyhow, I'd ask some pretty p'inted questions. You
+see, I ain't lived here in Bayport all my life, and I don't swaller ALL
+the bait Heman heaves overboard.”
+
+“Then why don't you go?”
+
+“Hey? Why don't I go? And leave Bos'n and--”
+
+“Emily would be all right and perfectly safe. Georgianna thinks the
+world of her. And, Captain Whittaker, I don't like to hear these people
+talk of you as they do. I don't like to read such things in the paper,
+that you were only bragging in order to be popular, and meant to shirk
+when the time came for action. I know they're not true. I KNOW it!”
+
+Captain Cy was gratified, and his gratification showed in his voice.
+
+“Thank you, Phoebe,” he said. “I am much obliged to you. But, you see,
+I don't take any interest in such things any more. When I realize that
+pretty soon I've got to give up that little girl for good I can't bear
+to be away from her a minute hardly. I don't like to leave her here
+alone with Georgianna and--”
+
+“I will keep an eye on her. You trust me, don't you?”
+
+“Trust YOU? By the big dipper, you're about the only one I CAN trust
+these days. I don't know how I'd have pulled through this if you hadn't
+helped. You're diff'rent from Ase and Bailey and their kind--not meanin'
+anything against them, either. But you're broad-minded and cool-headed
+and--and--Do you know, if I'd had a woman like you to advise me all
+these years and keep me from goin' off the course, I might have been
+somebody by now.”
+
+“I think you're somebody as it is.”
+
+“Don't talk that way. I own up I like to hear you, but I'm 'fraid it
+ain't true. You say I amount to somethin'. Well, what? I come back home
+here, with some money in my pocket, thinkin' that was about all was
+necessary to make me a good deal of a feller. The old Cy Whittaker
+place, I said to myself, was goin' to be a real Cy Whittaker place
+again. And I'd be a real Whittaker, a man who should stand for
+somethin', as my dad and granddad did afore me. The town should respect
+me, and I'd do things to help it along. And what's it all come to? Why,
+every young one on the street is told to be good for fear he'll grow up
+like me. Ain't that so? Course it's so! I'm--”
+
+“You SHALL not speak so! Do you imagine that you're not respected by
+everyone whose respect counts for anything? Yes, and by others, too.
+Don't you suppose Mr. Atkins respects you, down in his heart--if he has
+one? Doesn't your housekeeper, who sees you every day, respect and like
+you? And little Emily--doesn't she love you more than she does all the
+rest of us together?”
+
+“Well, I guess Bos'n does care for the old man some, that's a fact. She
+says she likes you next best, though. Did you know that?”
+
+But Miss Dawes was indignant.
+
+“Captain Whittaker,” she declared, “one would think you were a hundred
+years old to hear you. You are always calling yourself an old man. Does
+Mr. Atkins call himself old? And he is older than you.”
+
+“Well, I'm over fifty, Phoebe.” In spite of the habit for which he had
+just been reproached, the captain found this a difficult statement to
+make.
+
+“I know. But you're younger than most of us at thirty-five. You see, I'm
+confessing, too,” she added with a laugh and a little blush.
+
+Captain Cy made a mental calculation.
+
+“Twenty years,” he said musingly. “Twenty years is a long time. No, I'm
+old. And worse than that, I'm an old fool, I guess. If I hadn't been I'd
+have stayed in South America instead of comin' here to be hooted out of
+the town I was born in.”
+
+The teacher stamped her foot.
+
+“Oh, what SHALL I do with you!” she exclaimed. “It is wicked for you to
+say such things. Do you suppose that Mr. Atkins would find it necessary
+to work as he is doing to beat a fool? And, besides, you're not
+complimentary to me. Should I, do you think, take such an interest in
+one who was an imbecile?”
+
+“Well, 'tis mighty good of you. Your comin' here so to help Bos'n's
+fight along is--”
+
+“How do you know it is Bos'n altogether? I--” She stopped suddenly, and
+the color rushed to her face. She rose from the rocker. “I--really, I
+don't see how we came to be discussing such nonsense,” she said. “Our
+ages and that sort of thing! Captain Cyrus, I wish you would go to
+Washington. I think you ought to go.”
+
+But the captain's thoughts were far from Washington at that moment. His
+own face was alight, and his eyes shone.
+
+“Phoebe,” he faltered unbelievingly, “what was you goin' to say? Do you
+mean that--that--”
+
+The side door of the house opened. The next instant Mr. Tidditt, a
+dripping umbrella in his hand, entered the sitting room.
+
+“Hello, Whit!” he hailed. “Just run in for a minute to say howdy.” Then
+he noticed the schoolmistress, and his expression changed. “Oh! how be
+you, Miss Dawes?” he said. “I didn't see you fust off. Don't run away on
+my account.”
+
+“I was just going,” said Phoebe, buttoning her jacket. Captain Cy
+accompanied her to the door.
+
+“Good-by,” she said. “There was something else I meant to say, but I
+think it is best to wait. I hope to have some good news for you soon.
+Something that will send you to Washington with a light heart. Perhaps I
+shall hear to-morrow. If so, I will call after school and tell you.”
+
+“Yes, do,” urged the captain eagerly. “You'll find me here waitin'. Good
+news or not, do come. I--I ain't said all I wanted to, myself.”
+
+He returned to the sitting room. The town clerk was standing by the
+stove. He looked troubled.
+
+“What's the row, Ase?” asked Cy cheerily. He was overflowing with good
+nature.
+
+“Oh, nothin' special,” replied Mr. Tidditt. “You look joyful enough for
+two of us. Had good company, ain't you?”
+
+“Why, yes; 'bout as good as there is. What makes you look so glum?”
+
+Asaph hesitated.
+
+“Phoebe was here yesterday, too, wan't she?” he asked.
+
+“Yup. What of it?”
+
+“And the day afore that?”
+
+“No, not for three days afore that. But what OF it, I ask you?”
+
+“Well, now, Cy, you mustn't get mad. I'm a friend of yours, and friends
+ought to be able to say 'most anything to each other. If--if I was you,
+I wouldn't let Phoebe come so often--not here, you know, at your house.
+Course, I know she comes with Bos'n and all, but--”
+
+“Out with it!” The captain's tone was ominous. “What are you drivin'
+at?”
+
+The caller fidgeted.
+
+“Well, Whit,” he stammered, “there's consider'ble talkin' goin' on,
+that's all.”
+
+“Talkin'? What kind of talkin'?”
+
+“Well, you know the kind. This town does a good deal of it, 'specially
+after church and prayer meetin'. Seem's if they thought 'twas a sort of
+proper place. _I_ don't myself; I kind of like to keep my charity and
+brotherly love spread out through the week, but--”
+
+“Ase, are the folks in this town sayin' a word against Phoebe Dawes
+because she comes here to see--Bos'n?”
+
+“Don't--don't get mad, Whit. Don't look at me like that. _I_ ain't said
+nothin'. Why, a spell ago, at the boardin' house, I--”
+
+He told of the meal at the perfect boarding house where Miss Dawes
+championed his friend's cause. Also of the conversation which followed,
+and his own part in it. Captain Cy paced the floor.
+
+“I wouldn't have her come so often, Cy,” pleaded Asaph. “Honest, I
+wouldn't. Course, you and me know they're mean, miser'ble liars, but
+it's her I'm thinkin' of. She's a young woman and single. And you're
+a good many years older'n she is. And so, of course, you and she ain't
+ever goin' to get married. And have you thought what effect it might
+have on her keepin' her teacher's place? The committee's a majority
+against her as 'tis. And--you know _I_ don't think so, but a good many
+folks do--you ain't got the best name just now. Darn it all! I ain't
+puttin' this the way I'd ought to, but YOU know what I mean, don't you,
+Cy?”
+
+Captain Cy was leaning against the window frame, his head upon his arm.
+He was not looking out, because the shade was drawn. Tidditt waited
+anxiously for him to answer. At last he turned.
+
+“Ase,” he said, “I'm much obliged to you. You've pounded it in pretty
+hard, but I cal'late I'd ought to have had it done to me. I'm a fool--an
+OLD fool, just as I said a while back--and nothin' nor NOBODY ought to
+have made me forget it. For a minute or so I--but there! don't you fret.
+That young woman shan't risk her job nor her reputation on account of
+me--nor of Bos'n, either. I'll see to that. And see here,” he added
+fiercely, “I can't stop women's tongues, even when they're as bad as
+some of the tongues in this town, BUT if you hear a MAN say one word
+against Phoebe Dawes, only one word, you tell me his name. You hear,
+Ase? You tell me his name. Now run along, will you? I ain't safe company
+just now.”
+
+Asaph, frightened at the effect of his words, hurriedly departed.
+Captain Cy paced the room for the next fifteen minutes. Then he opened
+the kitchen door.
+
+“Bos'n,” he called, “come in and set in my lap a while; don't you want
+to? I'm--I'm sort of lonesome, little girl.”
+
+
+
+The next afternoon, when the schoolmistress, who had been delayed by the
+inevitable examination papers, stopped at the Cy Whittaker place, she
+was met by Georgianna; Emily, who stood behind the housekeeper in the
+doorway, was crying.
+
+“Cap'n Cy has gone away--to Washin'ton,” declared Georgianna. “Though
+what he's gone there for's more'n I know. He said he'd send his hotel
+address soon's he got there. He went on the three o'clock train.”
+
+Phoebe was astonished.
+
+“Gone?” she repeated. “So soon! Why, he told me he should certainly be
+here to hear some news I expected to-day. Didn't he leave any message
+for me?”
+
+The housekeeper turned red.
+
+“Miss Phoebe,” she said, “he told me to tell you somethin', and it's so
+dreadful I don't hardly dast to say it. I think his troubles have driven
+him crazy. He said to tell you that you'd better not come to this house
+any more.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+
+In the old days, the great days of sailing ships and land merchant
+fleets, Bayport was a community of travelers. Every ambitious man went
+to sea, and eventually, if he lived, became a captain. Then he took his
+wife, and in most cases his children, with him on long voyages. To the
+stay-at-homes came letters with odd, foreign stamps and postmarks. Our
+what-nots and parlor mantels were filled with carved bits of ivory,
+gorgeous shells, alabaster candlesticks, and plaster miniatures of
+the Leaning Tower at Pisa or the Coliseum at Rome. We usually began
+a conversation with “When my husband and I were at Hong Kong the last
+time--” or “I remember at Mauritius they always--” New Orleans or
+'Frisco were the nearest domestic ports the mention of which was
+considered worth while.
+
+But this is so no longer. A trip to Boston is, of course, no novelty to
+the most of us; but when we visit New York we take care to advertise it
+beforehand. And the few who avail themselves of the spring “cut rates”
+ and go on excursions to Washington, plan definite programmes for each
+day at the Capital, and discuss them with envious friends for weeks in
+advance. And if the prearranged programme is not scrupulously carried
+out, we feel that we have been defrauded. It was the regret of Aunt
+Sophronia Hallett's life that, on her Washington excursion, she had not
+seen the “Diplomatic Corpse.” She saw the President and the Monument and
+Congress and “the relics in the Smithsonian Institute,” but the “Corpse”
+ was not on view; Aunt Sophronia never quite got over the disappointment.
+
+Probably no other Bayporter, in recent years, has started for Washington
+on such short notice or with so ill-defined a programme as Captain
+Cy. He went because he felt that he must go somewhere. After the
+conversation with Asaph, he simply could not remain at home. If Phoebe
+Dawes called, he knew that he must see her, and if he saw her, what
+should he say to her? He could not tell her that she must not visit the
+Cy Whittaker place again. If he did, she would insist upon the reason.
+If he told her of the “town talk,” he felt sure, knowing her, that she
+would indignantly refuse to heed the malicious gossip. And he was firmly
+resolved not to permit her to compromise her life and her future by
+friendship with a social outcast like himself. As for anything deeper
+and more sacred than friendship, that was ridiculous. If, for a moment,
+a remark of hers had led him to dream of such a thing, it was because he
+was, as he had so often declared, an “old fool.”
+
+So Captain Cy had resolved upon flight, and he fled to Washington
+because the business of the “committee of one” offered a legitimate
+excuse for going there. The blunt message he had intrusted to Georgianna
+would, he believed, arouse Phoebe's indignation. She would not call
+again. And when he returned to Bos'n, it would be to take up the child's
+fight alone. If he lost that fight, or WHEN he lost it, he would close
+the Cy Whittaker place, and leave Bayport for good.
+
+He had been in Washington once before, years ago, when he was first
+mate of a ship and had a few weeks' shore leave. Then he went there on
+a pleasure trip with some seagoing friends, and had a jolly time. But
+there was precious little jollity in the present visit. He had never
+felt so thoroughly miserable. In order to forget, he made up his mind to
+work his hardest to discover why the harbor appropriation was not to be
+given to Bayport.
+
+The city had changed greatly. He would scarcely have known it. He
+went to the hotel where he had stayed before, and found a big, modern
+building in its place. The clerk was inclined to be rather curt and
+perfunctory at first, but when he learned that the captain was not
+anxious concerning the price of accommodations, but merely wanted a
+“comf'table berth somewheres on the saloon deck,” and appeared to have
+plenty of money, he grew polite. Captain Cy was shown to his room, where
+he left his valise. Then he went down to dinner.
+
+After the meal was over, he seated himself in one of the big leather
+chairs in the hotel lobby, smoked and thought. In the summer, before
+Bos'n came, and before her father had arisen to upset every calculation
+and wreck all his plans, the captain had given serious thought to what
+he should do if Congressman Atkins failed, as even then he seemed likely
+to do, in securing that appropriation. The obvious thing, of course,
+would have been to hunt up Mr. Atkins and question him. But this was
+altogether too obvious. In the first place, the strained relations
+between them would make the interview uncomfortable; and, in the
+second, if there was anything underhand in Heman's backsliding on the
+appropriation, Atkins was too wary a bird to be snared with questions.
+
+But Captain Cy had another acquaintance in the city, the son of a still
+older acquaintance, who had been a wealthy shipping merchant and mine
+owner in California. The son was also a congressman, from a coast State,
+and the captain had read of him in the papers. A sketch of his life had
+been printed, and this made his identity absolutely certain. Captain
+Cy's original idea had been to write to this congressman. Now he
+determined to find and interview him.
+
+He inquired concerning him of the hotel clerk, who, like all Washington
+clerks, was a walking edition of “Who's Who at the Capital.”
+
+“Congressman Everdean?” repeated the all-knowing young gentleman. “Yes.
+He's in town. Has rooms at the Gloria; second hotel on the right as you
+go up the avenue. Only a short walk. What can I do for you, sir?”
+
+The Gloria was an even bigger hotel than the one where the captain had
+his “berth.” An inquiry at the desk, of another important clerk, was
+answered with a brisk:
+
+“Mr. Everdean? Yes, he rooms here. Don't know whether he's in or not.
+Evening, judge. Nice Winter weather we're having.”
+
+The judge, who was a ponderous person vaguely suggesting the great
+Heman, admitted that the weather was fine, patronizing it as he did so.
+The clerk continued the conversation. Captain Cy waited. At length he
+spoke.
+
+“Excuse me, commodore,” he said; “I don't like to break in until you've
+settled whether you have it snow or not, but I'm here to see Congressman
+Everdean. Hadn't you better order one of your fo'mast hands to hunt him
+up?”
+
+The judge condescended to smile, as did several other men who stood
+near. The clerk reddened.
+
+“Do you want to see Mr. Everdean?” he snapped.
+
+“Why, yes, I did. But I can't see him from here without strainin' my
+eyesight.”
+
+The clerk sharply demanded one of the captain's visiting cards.
+He didn't get one, for the very good reason that there was none in
+existence.
+
+“Tell him an old friend of his dad's is here on the main deck waitin'
+for him,” said Captain Cy. “That'll do first rate. Thank you, admiral.”
+
+Word came that the congressman would be down in a few moments. The
+captain beguiled the interval by leaning on the rail and regarding the
+clerk with an awed curiosity that annoyed its object exceedingly. The
+inspection was still on when a tall man, of an age somewhere in the
+early thirties, walked briskly up to the desk.
+
+“Who is it that wants to see me?” he asked.
+
+The clerk waved a deprecatory hand in Captain Cy's direction. The
+newcomer turned.
+
+“My name is Everdean,” he said. “Are you--hey?--Great Scott! Is it
+possible this is Captain Whittaker?”
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+“Well, I declare, Ed!” he exclaimed. “I didn't believe you'd remember me
+after all these years. You was nothin' but a boy when I saw you out
+in 'Frisco. Well! well! No wonder you're in Congress. A man that can
+remember faces like that ought to be President.”
+
+Everdean laughed as they shook hands.
+
+“Don't suppose I'd forget the chap who used to dine with us and tell me
+those sea stories, do you?” he said. “I'm mighty glad to see you. What
+are you doing here? The last father and I heard of you, you were in
+South America. Given up the sea, they said, and getting rich fast.”
+
+Captain Cy chuckled.
+
+“It's a good thing I learned long ago not to believe all I hear,” he
+answered, “else I'd have been so sure I was rich that I'd have spent all
+I had, and been permanent boarder at the poorhouse by now. No, thanks;
+I've had dinner. Why, yes, I'll smoke, if you'll help along. How's your
+father? Smart, is he?”
+
+The congressman insisted that they should adjourn to his rooms. An
+unmarried man, he kept bachelor's hall at the hotel during his stay in
+Washington. There, in comfortable chairs, they spoke of old times, when
+the captain was seafaring and the Everdean home had been his while his
+ship was in port at 'Frisco. He told of his return to Bayport, and the
+renovation of the old house. Of Bos'n he said nothing. At last Everdean
+asked what had brought him to Washington.
+
+“Well,” said Captain Cy, “I'll tell you. I'm like the feller in court
+without a lawyer; he said he couldn't tell whether he was guilty or not
+'count of havin' no professional advice. That's what I've come to you
+for, Ed--professional advice.”
+
+He told the harbor appropriation story. At the incident of the
+“committee of one” his friend laughed heartily.
+
+“Rather put your foot in it that time, Captain, didn't you?” he said.
+
+“Yup. Then I got t'other one stuck tryin' to get the first clear. How's
+it look to you? All straight, do you think? or is there a nigger in the
+wood pile?”
+
+Mr. Everdean seemed to reflect.
+
+“Well, Captain,” he said, “I can't tell. You're asking delicate
+questions. Politicians are like doctors, they usually back up each
+other's opinions. Still, you're at least as good a friend of mine as
+Atkins is. Queer HE should bob up in this matter! Why, he--but never
+mind that now. I tell you, Captain Whittaker, you come around and have
+dinner with me to-morrow night. In the meantime I'll see the chairman
+of the committee on that bill--one of the so-called 'pork' bills it
+is. Possibly from him and some other acquaintances of mine I may learn
+something. At any rate, you come to dinner.”
+
+So the invitation was accepted, and Captain Cy went back to his own
+hotel and his room. He slept but little, although it was not worry over
+the appropriation question which kept him awake. Next morning he wrote a
+note to Georgianna, giving his Washington address. With it he enclosed
+a long letter to Bos'n, telling her he should be home pretty soon, and
+that she must be a good girl and “boss the ship” during his absence.
+He sent his regards to Asaph and Bailey, but Phoebe's name he did not
+mention. Then he put in a miserable day wandering about the city. At
+eight that evening he and his Western friend sat down at a corner table
+in the big dining room of the Gloria.
+
+The captain began to ask questions as soon as the soup was served, but
+Everdean refused to answer.
+
+“No, no,” he said, “pleasure first and business afterwards; that's a
+congressional motto. I can't talk Atkins with my dinner and enjoy it.”
+
+“Can't, hey? You wouldn't be popular at our perfect boarding house back
+home. There they serve Heman hot for breakfast and dinner, and warm him
+over for supper. All right, I can wait.”
+
+The conversation wandered from Buenos Ayres to 'Frisco and back again
+until the cigars and coffee were reached. Then the congressman blew a
+fragrant ring into the air and, from behind it, looked quizzically at
+his companion.
+
+“Well,” he observed, “so far as that appropriation of yours is
+concerned--”
+
+He paused and blew a second ring. Captain Cy stroked his beard.
+
+“Um--yes,” he drawled, “now that you mention it, seems to me there was
+some talk of an appropriation.”
+
+Mr. Everdean laughed.
+
+“I've been making inquiries,” he said. “I saw the chairman of the
+committee on the pork bill. I know him well. He's a good fellow, but--”
+
+“Yes, I know. I've seen lots of politicians like that; they're all good
+fellers, but--If I was in politics I'd make a law to cut 'But' out of
+the dictionary.”
+
+“Well, this chap really is a good fellow. I asked about the thirty
+thousand dollars for your town. He asked me why I didn't go to the
+congressman from that district, and not bother him about it. I said
+perhaps I would go to the congressman later, but I came to him first.”
+
+“Sartin. Same as the feller with a sick mother-in-law stopped in at the
+undertaker's on his way to call the doctor. All right; heave ahead.”
+
+“Well, we had a rather long conversation. I discovered that the Bayport
+item was originally included in the bill, but recently had been stricken
+out.”
+
+“Yes, I see. Uncle Sam had to economize, hey? Save somethin' for a rainy
+day.”
+
+“Well, possibly. Still the bill is just as heavy. Now, Captain
+Whittaker, I don't KNOW anything about this affair, and it's not my
+business. But I've been about to-day, and I asked questions, and--I'm
+going to tell you a fairy tale. It isn't as interesting as your sea
+yarns, but--Do you like fairy stories?”
+
+“Land, yes! Tell a few myself when it's necessary. Sometimes I almost
+believe 'em. Well?”
+
+“Of course, you must remember this IS a fairy story. Let's suppose that
+once on a time--that's the way they always begin--once on a time there
+was a great man, great in his own country, who was sent abroad by his
+people to represent them among the rulers of the land. So, in order to
+typically represent them, he dressed in glad and expensive raiment, went
+about in dignity, and--”
+
+“And whiskers. Don't leave out the whiskers!”
+
+“All right--and whiskers. And it came to pass that the people whom he
+represented wished to--to--er--bring about a certain needed improvement
+in their--their beautiful and enterprising community.”
+
+“Sho! sho! how natural that sounds! You must be a mind reader.”
+
+“No. But I have to make speeches in my own community occasionally.
+Well, the people asked their great man to get the money needed for this
+improvement from the rulers of the land aforementioned. And he was
+at first all enthusiasm and upon the--the parchment scroll where
+such matters are inscribed was written the name of the beautiful and
+enterprising community, and the sum of money it asked for. And the deal
+was as good as made. Excuse the modern phraseology; my fairy lingo got
+mixed there.”
+
+“Never mind. I can get the drift just as well--maybe better.”
+
+“And the deal was as good as made. But before the vote was taken another
+chap came to the great man and said: 'Look here! I want to get an
+appropriation of, say, fifty thousand dollars, to deepen and improve a
+river down in my State'--a Southern State we'll say. 'I've been to the
+chairman of the pork bill committee, and he says it's impossible. The
+bill simply can't be loaded any further. But I find that you have an
+item in there for deepening and improving a harbor back in your own
+district. Why don't you cut that item out--shove it over until
+next year? You can easily find a satisfactory explanation for your
+constituents. AND you want to remember this: the improvement of this
+river means that the--the--well, a certain sugar-growing company--can
+get their stuff to market at a figure which will send its stock up and
+up. And you are said to own a considerable amount of that stock. So why
+not drop the harbor item and substitute my river slice? Then--' Well, I
+guess that's the end of the tale.”
+
+He paused and relit his cigar. Captain Cy thoughtfully marked with his
+fork on the tablecloth.
+
+“Hum!” he grunted. “That's a very interestin' yarn. Yes, yes! don't
+know's I ever heard a more interestin' one. I presume likely there ain't
+a mite of proof that it's true?”
+
+“Not an atom. I told you it was a fairy tale. And I mustn't be quoted in
+the matter. Honestly, the most of it is guess work, at that. But perhaps
+a 'committee of one,' dropping a hint at home, might at least arouse
+some uncomfortable questioning of a certain great man. That's about all,
+though. Proof is quite another thing.”
+
+The captain pondered. He was fully aware that the unpopularity of the
+“committee” would nullify whatever good its hinting might do.
+
+“Humph!” he grunted again. “It's one thing to smell a rat and another to
+nail its tail to the floor. But I'm mighty obliged to you, all the same.
+And I'll think it over hard. Say! I can see one thing--you don't take a
+very big shine to Heman yourself.”
+
+“Not too big--no. Do you?”
+
+“Well, I don't wake up nights and cry for him.”
+
+Everdean laughed.
+
+“That's characteristic,” he said. “You have your own way of putting
+things, Captain, and it's hard to be improved on. Atkins has never done
+anything to me. I just--I just don't like him, that's all. Father never
+liked him, either, in the old days; and yet--and it's odd, too--he was
+the means of the old gentleman's making the most of his money.”
+
+“He? Who? Not Heman?”
+
+“Yes, Heman Atkins. But, so far as that goes, father started him toward
+wealth, I suppose. At least, he was poor enough before the mine was
+sold.”
+
+“What are you talkin' about? Heman got his start tradin' over in the
+South Seas. Sellin' the Kanakas glass beads and calico for pearls and
+copra--two cupfuls of pearls for every bead. Anyhow, that's the way the
+yarn goes.”
+
+“I can't help that. He was just a common sailor who had run away from
+his ship and was gold mining in California. And when he and his partner
+struck it rich father borrowed money, headed a company, and bought them
+out. That mine was the Excelsior, and it's just as productive to-day
+as it ever was. I rather think Atkins must be very sorry he sold. I
+suppose, by right, I should be very grateful to your distinguished
+representative.”
+
+“Well, I do declare! Sho, sho! Ain't that funny now? He's never said a
+word about it at home. I don't believe there's a soul in Bayport knows
+that. We all thought 'twas South Sea tradin' that boosted Heman. And
+your own dad! I declare, this is a small world!”
+
+“It's odd father never told you about it. It's one of the old
+gentleman's pet stories. He came West in 1850, and was running a little
+shipping store in 'Frisco. He met Atkins and the other young sailor,
+his partner, before they left their ship. They were in the store, buying
+various things, and father got to know them pretty well. Then they
+ran away to the diggings--you simply couldn't keep a crew in those
+times--and he didn't see them again for a good while. Then they came
+in one day and showed him specimens from a claim they had back in the
+mountains. They were mighty good specimens, and what they said about the
+claim convinced father that they had a valuable property. So he went to
+see a few well-to-do friends of his, and the outcome was that a party
+was made up to go and inspect. The young fellows were willing to sell
+out, for it was a quartz working and they hadn't the money to carry it
+on.
+
+“The inspection showed that the claim was likely to be even better than
+they thought, so, after some bargaining, the deal was completed. They
+sold out for seventy-five thousand dollars, and it was the best trade
+father ever made. He's so proud of his judgment and foresight in making
+it that I wonder he never told you the story.”
+
+“He never did. When was this?”
+
+“In '54. What?”
+
+“I didn't speak. The date seemed kind of familiar to me, that's all.
+Seem's as if I heard it recent, but I can't remember when. Seventy-five
+thousand, hey? Well, that wan't so bad, was it? With that for a nest
+egg, no wonder Heman's managed to hatch a pretty respectable brood of
+dollars.”
+
+“Oh, the whole seventy-five wasn't his, of course. Half belonged to his
+partner. But the poor devil didn't live to enjoy it. After the articles
+were signed and before the money was paid over, he was taken sick with a
+fever and died.”
+
+“Hey? He died? With a FEVER?”
+
+“Yes. But he left a pretty good legacy to his heirs, didn't he. For
+a common sailor--or second mate; I believe that's what he
+was--thirty-seven thousand five hundred is doing well. It must have come
+as a big surprise to them. The whole sum was paid to Atkins, who--What's
+the matter with you?”
+
+Captain Cy was leaning back in his chair. He was as white as the
+tablecloth.
+
+“Are you ill?” asked the congressman anxiously. “Take some water. Shall
+I call--”
+
+The captain waved his hand.
+
+“No, no!” he stammered. “No! I'm all right. Do you--for the Lord's sake
+tell me this! What was the name of this partner that died?”
+
+Mr. Everdean looked curiously at his friend before he answered.
+
+“Sure you're not sick?” he asked. “Well, all right. The partner's name?
+Why, I've heard it often enough. It's on the deed of sale that father
+has framed in his room at home. The old gentleman is as proud of that as
+anything in the house. The name was--was--”
+
+“For God sakes,” cried Captain Cy, “don't say 'twas John Thayer! 'Cause
+if you do I shan't believe it.”
+
+“That's what it was--John Thayer. How did you guess? Did you know him? I
+remember now that he was another Down Easter, like Atkins.”
+
+The captain did not answer. He clasped his forehead with both hands and
+leaned his elbows on the table. Everdean was plainly alarmed.
+
+“I'm going to call a doctor,” he began, rising. But Captain Cy waved him
+back again.
+
+“Set still!” he ordered. “Set still, I tell you! You say the whole
+seventy-five thousand was paid to Heman, but that John Thayer signed
+the bill of sale afore he died, as half partner? And your dad's got the
+original deed and--and--he remembers the whole business?”
+
+“Yes, he's got the deed--framed. It's on record, too, of course.
+Remembers? I should say he did! He'll talk for a week on that subject,
+if you give him a chance.”
+
+The captain sprang to his feet. His chair tipped backward and fell to
+the floor. An obsequious waiter ran to right it, but Captain Cy paid no
+attention to him.
+
+“Where's my coat?” he demanded. “Where's my coat and hat?”
+
+“What ails you?” asked Everdean. “Are you going crazy?”
+
+“Goin' CRAZY? No, no! I'm goin' to California. When's the next train?”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+
+The Honorable Heman Atkins sat in the library of his Washington home,
+before a snapping log fire, reading a letter. Mr. Atkins had, as he
+would have expressed it, “served his people” in Congress for so many
+years that he had long since passed the hotel stage of living at the
+Capital. He rented a furnished house on an eminently respectable street,
+and the polished doorplate bore his name in uncompromising characters.
+
+The library furniture was solid and dignified. Its businesslike
+appearance impressed the stray excursionist from the Atkins district,
+when he or she visited the great man in whose affairs we felt such a
+personal interest. Particularly impressive and significant was a map of
+the district hanging over the congressman's desk, and an oil painting
+of the Atkins mansion at Bayport, which, with the iron dogs and urns
+conspicuous in its foreground, occupied the middle of the largest wall
+space.
+
+The cheery fire was very comforting on a night like this, for the sleet
+was driving against the windowpanes, the sidewalks were ankle deep in
+slush, and the wet, cold wind from the Potomac was whistling down the
+street. Somewhere about the house an unfastened shutter slammed in the
+gusts. Mr. Atkins should have been extremely comfortable as he sat there
+by the fire. He had spent many comfortable winters in that room. But now
+there was a frown on his face as he read the letter in his hand. It was
+from Simpson, and stated, among other things, that Cyrus Whittaker had
+been absent from Bayport for over two weeks, and that no one seemed
+to know where he had gone. “The idea seems to be that he started for
+Washington,” wrote Tad; “but if that is so, it is queer you haven't
+seen him. I am suspicious that he is up to something about that harbor
+business. I should keep my eye peeled if I was you.”
+
+Alicia, the Atkins hopeful, rustled into the room.
+
+“Papa,” she said, “I've come to kiss you good night.”
+
+Her father performed the ceremony in a perfunctory way.
+
+“All right, all right,” he said. “Now run along to bed and don't bother
+me, there's a good girl. I wish,” he added testily to the housekeeper
+who had followed Alicia into the room, “I wish you'd see to that loose
+blind. It makes me nervous. Such things as that should be attended to
+without specific orders from me.”
+
+The housekeeper promised to attend to the blind. She and the girl left
+the library. Heman reread the Simpson letter. Then he dropped it in his
+lap and sat thinking and twirling his eyeglasses at the end of their
+black cord. His thoughts seemed to be not of the pleasantest. The lines
+about his mouth had deepened during the last few months. He looked
+older.
+
+The telephone bell rang sharply. Mr. Atkins came out of his reverie
+with a start, arose and walked across the room to the wall where the
+instrument hung. It was before the days of the convenient desk 'phone.
+He took the receiver from its hook and spoke into the transmitter.
+
+“Hello!” he said. “Hello! Yes, yes! stop ringing. What is it?”
+
+The wire buzzed and purred in the storm. “Hello!” said a voice. “Hello,
+there! Is this Mr. Atkins's house?”
+
+“Yes; it is. What do you want?”
+
+“Hey? Is this where the Honorable Heman Atkins lives?”
+
+“Yes, yes, I tell you! This is Mr. Atkins speaking. What do you want?”
+
+“Oh! is that you, Heman? This is Whittaker--Cy Whittaker. Understand?”
+
+Mr. Atkins understood. Yet for an instant he did not reply. He had been
+thinking, as he sat by the fire, of certain persons and certain ugly,
+though remote, possibilities. Now, from a mysterious somewhere, one of
+those persons was speaking to him. The hand holding the receiver shook
+momentarily.
+
+“Hello! I say, Heman, do you understand? This is Whittaker talkin'.”
+
+“I--er--understand,” said the congressman, slowly. “Well, sir?”
+
+“I'm here in Washin'ton.”
+
+“I have been informed that you were in the city. Well, sir?”
+
+“Oh! knew I was here, did you? Is that so? Who told you? Tad wrote, I
+suppose, hey?”
+
+The congressman did not reply immediately. This man, whom he disliked
+more than anyone else in the world, had an irritating faculty of putting
+his finger on the truth. And the flippancy in the tone was maddening.
+Mr. Atkins was not used to flippancy.
+
+“I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of information,”
+ he said with chilling dignity. “It appears to have been trustworthy. I
+presume you have 'phoned me concerning the appropriation matter. I do
+not recognize your right to intrude in that affair, and I shall decline
+to discuss it. Yes, sir. To my people, to those who have a right to
+question, I am and shall always be willing to explain my position. Good
+night.”
+
+“Wait! Hello! Hold on a minute. Don't get mad, Heman. I only wanted to
+say just a word. You'll let me say a word, won't you?”
+
+This was more like it. This was more nearly the tone in which Mr. Atkins
+was wont to be addressed. It was possible that the man, recognizing the
+uselessness of further opposition, desired to surrender.
+
+“I cannot,” declared the Honorable, “understand why you should wish to
+speak with me. We have very little in common, very little, I'm thankful
+to say. However, I will hear you briefly. Go on.”
+
+“Much obliged. Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought maybe
+you'd better have a little talk with me. I'm here at the hotel, the
+Regent. You know where 'tis, I presume likely. I guess you'd better come
+right down and see me.”
+
+Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
+
+“_I_ had better come and see YOU? I--! Well, sir! WELL! I am not
+accustomed--”
+
+“I know, but I think you'd better. It's dirty weather, and I've got cold
+somehow or other. I ain't feelin' quite up to the mark, so I cal'late
+I'll stay in port much as I can. You come right down. I'll be in my
+room, and the hotel folks 'll tell you where 'tis. I'll be waitin' for
+you.”
+
+Mr. Atkins breathed hard. In his present frame of mind he would have
+liked to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would cause the
+person at the other end of the line to shrivel under its heat. But he
+was a politician of long training, and he knew that such blasts were
+sometimes expensive treats. It might be well to hear what his enemy had
+to say. But as to going to see him--that was out of the question.
+
+“I do not,” he thundered, “I do not care to continue this conversation.
+If--if you wish to see me, after what has taken place between us, I
+am willing, in spite of personal repugnance, to grant you a brief
+interview. My servants will admit you here at nine o'clock to-morrow
+morning. But I tell you now, that your interference with this
+appropriation matter is as useless as it is ridiculous and impudent. It
+is of a piece with the rest of your conduct.”
+
+“All right, Heman, all right,” was the calm answer. “I don't say you've
+got to come. I only say I guess you'd better. I'm goin' back to Bayport
+tomorrer, early. And if I was you I'd come and see me to-night.”
+
+“I have no wish to see you. Nor do I care to talk with you further. That
+appropriation--”
+
+“Maybe it ain't all appropriation.”
+
+“Then I cannot understand--”
+
+“I know, but _I_ understand. I've come to understand consider'ble many
+things in the last fortni't. There! I can't holler into this machine any
+longer. I've been clear out to 'Frisco and back in eleven days, and I
+got cold in those blessed sleepin' cars. I--”
+
+The receiver fell from the congressman's hand. It was a difficult object
+to pick up again. Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely inadequate
+way. Yet he wished to recover it very much.
+
+“Wait! wait!” he shouted anxiously. “I--I--I dropped the--Are you there,
+Whittaker? Are you--Oh! yes! I didn't--Did you say--er--'Frisco?”
+
+“Yes, San Francisco, California. I've been West on a little cruise.
+Had an interestin' time. It's an interestin' place; don't you think so?
+Well, I'm sorry you can't come. Good night.”
+
+“Wait!” faltered the great man. “I--I--let me think, Cyrus. I do not
+wish to seem--er--arrogant in this matter. It is not usual for me to
+visit my constituents, but--but--I have no engagement this evening,
+and you are not well, and--Hello! are you there? Hello! Why, under the
+circumstances, I think--Yes, I will come. I'll come--er--at once.”
+
+The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time. Yet, to
+Heman Atkins, that cab was years in coming. He paced the library floor,
+his hand to his forehead and his brain whirling. It couldn't be! It
+must be a coincidence! He had been an idiot to display his agitation and
+surrender so weakly. And yet--and yet--
+
+The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity for
+more thought. But he gained little comfort from thinking. If it was a
+coincidence, well and good. If not--
+
+A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room “on the saloon deck.” It
+was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain
+Cy, in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator. He
+looked far from well.
+
+“Evenin', Heman,” he said as the congressman entered. “Pretty dirty
+night, ain't it? What we'd call a gray no'theaster back home. Sit down.
+Don't mind my not gettin' up. This heatin' arrangement feels mighty
+comf'table just now. If I get too far away from it I shiver my deck
+planks loose. Take off your things.”
+
+Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat. His hat he tossed on the bed.
+He glanced fearfully at his companion. The latter's greeting had been
+so casual and everyday that he took courage. And the captain looked
+anything but formidable as he hugged the radiator. Perhaps things were
+not so bad as he had feared. He resolved not to seem alarmed, at all
+events.
+
+“Have a cigar, Heman?” said Captain Cy. “No? Well, all right; I will, if
+you don't mind.”
+
+He lit the cigar. The congressman cleared his throat.
+
+“Cyrus,” he said, “I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call of
+my--er--acquaintances, but, even though we have disagreed of late, even
+though to me your conduct seems quite unjustifiable, still, for the sake
+of our boyhood friendship, and, because you are not well, I--er--came.”
+
+Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing him
+to pieces. He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on the top of
+the radiator.
+
+“Too bad,” he observed. “Tobacco gen'rally iles up my talkin' machinery,
+but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship's dog shut up in the
+hold. Why, yes, Heman, I see you've come. Much obliged to you.”
+
+This politeness was still more encouraging. Atkins leaned back in his
+chair and crossed his legs.
+
+“I presume,” he said, “that you wish to ask concerning the
+appropriation. I regret--”
+
+“You needn't. I guess we'll get the appropriation.”
+
+Heman's condescension vanished. He leaned forward and uncrossed his
+legs.
+
+“Indeed?” he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain's placid face.
+
+“Yes--indeed.”
+
+“Whittaker, what are you talking about? Do you suppose that I have been
+the representative of my people in Congress all these years without
+knowing whereof I speak? They left the matter in my hands, and your
+interference--”
+
+“I ain't goin' to interfere. I'M goin' to leave it in your hands, too.
+And I cal'late you'll be able to find a way to get it. Um--hum, I guess
+likely you will.”
+
+The visitor rose to his feet. The time had come for another blast from
+Olympus. He raised the mighty right arm. But Captain Cy spoke first.
+
+“Sit down, Heman,” said the captain quietly. “Sit down. This ain't town
+meetin'. Never mind the appropriation now. There's other matters to be
+talked about first. Sit down, I tell you.”
+
+Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down. The captain coughed
+again.
+
+“Heman,” he began when the spasm was over, “I asked you to come here
+to-night for--well, blessed if I know exactly. It didn't make much
+difference to me whether you came or not.”
+
+“Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent--”
+
+“S-s-h-h! for the land sakes! Speechmakin' must be as bad as the rum
+habit, when a feller's got it chronic as you have. No, it didn't make
+much difference to me whether you came or not. But, honest, you've got
+to be a kind of Bunker Hill monument to the folks back home. They kneel
+down at your foundations and look up at you, and tell each other how
+many foot high you are, and what it cost to build you, and how you stand
+for patriotism and purity, till--well, _I_ couldn't see you tumble down
+without givin' you a chance. I couldn't; 'twould be like blowin' up a
+church.”
+
+The purple had left the Atkins face, but the speechmaking habit is not
+likely to be broken.
+
+“Cyrus Whittaker,” he stammered, “have you been drinking? Your language
+to me is abominable. Why I permit myself to remain here and listen to
+such--”
+
+“If you'll keep still I'll tell you why. And, if I was you, I wouldn't
+be too anxious to find out. This everlastin' cold don't make me over 'n'
+above good-tempered, and when I think of what you've done to that little
+girl, or what you tried to do, I have to hold myself down tight, TIGHT,
+and don't you forget it! Now, you keep quiet and listen. It'll be best
+for you, Heman. Your cards ain't under the table any longer. I've seen
+your hand, and I know why you've been playin' it. I know the whole game.
+I've been West, and Everdean and I have had a talk.”
+
+Mr. Atkins had again risen from the chair. Now he fell heavily back
+into it. His lips moved as if he meant to speak, but he did not. At
+the mention of the Everdean name he made a queer, choking sound in his
+throat.
+
+“I know the whole business, Heman,” went on the captain. “I know why
+you was so knocked over when you learned who Bos'n was, the night of
+the party. I know why you took up with that blackguard, Thomas, and why
+you've spent your good money hirin' lawyers for him. I know about the
+mine. I know the whole thing from first to last. Shall I tell you? Do
+you want to hear it?”
+
+The great man did not answer. A drop of perspiration shone on his high
+forehead, and the veins of his big, white hands stood out as he clutched
+the arms of his chair. The monument was tottering on its base.
+
+“It's a dirty mess, the whole of it,” continued Captain Cy. “And yet, I
+can see--I suppose I can see some excuse for you at the beginnin'. When
+old man Everdean and his crowd bought you and John Thayer out, 'way
+back there in '54, after John died, and all the money was put into your
+hands, I cal'late you was honest then. I wouldn't wonder if you MEANT
+to hand over the thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars to your
+partner's widow. But 'twas harder and more risky to send money East in
+them days than 'tis now, and so you waited, thinkin' maybe that you'd
+fetch it to Emily when you come yourself. But you didn't come home for
+some years; you went tradin' down along the Feejees and around that way.
+That's how I reasoned it out these last few days on the train. I give
+you credit for bein' honest first along.
+
+“But never mind whether you was or not, you haven't been since. You
+never paid over a cent of that poor feller's money--honest money, that
+belonged to his heirs, and belongs to 'em now. You've hung onto it,
+stole it, used it for yours. And Emily worked and scratched for a livin'
+and died poor. And Mary, she died, after bein' abused and deserted by
+that cussed husband of hers. And you thought you was safe, I cal'late.
+And then Bos'n turns up right in your own town, right acrost the road
+from you! By the big dipper! it's enough to make a feller believe that
+the Almighty does take a hand in straightenin' out such things, when us
+humans bungle 'em--it is so!
+
+“Course I ain't sure, Heman, what you meant to do when you found that
+the child you'd stole that money from was goin' to be under your face
+and eyes till you or she died. I cal'late you was afraid I'd find
+somethin' out, wan't you? I presume likely you thought that I, not
+havin' quite the reverence for you that the rest of the Bayporters
+have, might be sharp enough or lucky enough to smell a rat. Perhaps you
+suspicioned that I knew the Everdeans. Anyhow, you wanted to get the
+child as fur out of your sight and out of my hands as you could--ain't
+that so? And when her dad turned up, you thought you saw your chance.
+Heman, you answer me this: Ain't it part of your bargain with Thomas
+that when he gets his little girl, he shall take her and clear out, away
+off somewheres, for good? Ain't it, now--what?”
+
+The monument was swaying, was swinging from side to side, but it did not
+quite fall--not then. The congressman's cheeks hung flabby, his forehead
+was wet, and he shook from head to foot; but he clenched his jaws and
+made one last attempt at defiance.
+
+“I--I don't know what you mean,” he declared. “You--you seem to be
+accusing me of something. Of stealing, I believe. Do you understand who
+I am? I have some influence and reputation, and it is dangerous to--to
+try to frighten me. Proofs are required in law, and--”
+
+“S-s-h-h! You know I've got the proofs. They were easy enough to get,
+once I happened on the track of 'em. Lord sakes, Heman, I ain't a fool!
+What's the use of your pretendin' to be one? There's the deed out in
+'Frisco, with yours and John's name on it. There's the records to prove
+the sale. There's the receipt for the seventy-five thousand signed by
+you, on behalf of yourself and your partner's widow. There's old man
+Everdean alive and competent to testify. There's John Thayer's will on
+file over to Orham. Proofs! Why, you THIEF! if it's proofs you want,
+I've got enough to send you to state's prison for the rest of your life.
+Don't you dare say 'proofs' to me again! Heman Atkins, you owe me,
+as Bos'n's guardian, thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, with
+interest since 1854. What you goin' to do about it?”
+
+Here was one ray, a feeble ray, of light.
+
+“You're not her guardian,” cried Atkins. “The courts have thrown you
+out. And your appeal won't stand, either. If any money is due, it
+belongs to her father. She isn't of age! No, sir! her father--”
+
+Captain Cy's patience had been giving way. Now he lost it altogether. He
+strode across the room and shook his forefinger in his victim's face.
+
+“So!” he cried. “That's your tack, is it? By the big dipper! You GO to
+her father--just you go to him and tell him! Just hint to him that you
+owe his daughter thirty-odd thousand dollars, and see what he'll
+do. Good heavens above! he was ready to sell her out to me for fifty
+dollars' wuth of sand bank in Orham. Almost ready, he was, till you
+offered a higher price to him to fight. Why, he'll have your hide nailed
+up on the barn door! If you don't pay him every red copper, down on
+the nail, he'll wring you dry. And then he'll blackmail you forever and
+ever, amen! Unless, of course, _I_ go home and stop the blackmail by
+printing my story in the Breeze. I've a precious good mind to do it. By
+the Almighty, I WILL do it! unless you come off that high horse of yours
+and talk like a man.”
+
+And then the monument fell, fell prostrate, with a sickly, pitiful
+crash. If we of Bayport could have seen our congressman then! The great
+man, great no longer, broke down completely. He cried like a baby. It
+was all true--all true. He had not meant to steal, at first. He had been
+led into using the money in his business. Then he had meant to send it
+to the heirs, but he didn't know their whereabouts. Captain Cy smiled
+at this excuse. And now he couldn't pay--he COULDN'T. He had hardly that
+sum in the world. He had lost money in stocks, his property in the South
+had gone to the bad! He would be ruined. He would have to go to prison.
+He was getting to be an old man. And there was Alicia, his daughter!
+Think of her! Think of the disgrace! And so on, over and over, with
+the one recurring burden--what was the captain going to do? what was
+he going to do? It was a miserable, dreadful exhibition, and Captain Cy
+could feel no pride in his triumph.
+
+“There! there!” he said at last. “Stop it, man; stop it, for goodness
+sakes! Pull yourself together. I guess we can fix it up somehow. I ain't
+goin' to be too hard on you. If it wan't for your meanness in bein'
+willin' to let Bos'n suffer her life long with that drunken beast of a
+dad of hers, I'd feel almost like tellin' you to get up and forget it.
+But THAT'S got to be stopped. Now, you listen to me.”
+
+Heman listened. He was on his knees beside the bed, his face buried in
+his arms, and his gray hair, the leonine Atkins hair, which he was wont
+to toss backward in the heated periods of his eloquence, tumbled and
+draggled. Captain Cy looked down at him.
+
+“This whole business about Bos'n must be stopped,” he said, “and stopped
+right off. You tell your lawyers to drop the case. Her dad is only
+hangin' around because you pay him to. He don't want her; he don't care
+what becomes of her. If you pay him enough, he'll go, won't he? and not
+come back?”
+
+The congressman raised his head.
+
+“Why, yes,” he faltered; “I think he will. Yes, I think I could arrange
+that. But, Cyrus--”
+
+The captain held up his hand.
+
+“I intend to look out for Bos'n,” he said. “She cares for me more'n
+anyone else in the world. She's as much to me as my own child ever
+could be, and I'll see that she is happy and provided for. I'm religious
+enough to believe she was sent to me, and I intend to stick to my trust.
+As for the money--”
+
+“Yes, yes! The money?”
+
+“Well, I won't be too hard on you that way, either. We'll talk that over
+later on. Maybe we can arrange for you to pay it a little at a time. You
+can sign a paper showin' that you owe it, and we'll fix the payin' to
+suit all hands. 'Tain't as if the child was in want. I've got some money
+of my own, and what's mine's hers. I think we needn't worry about the
+money part.”
+
+“God bless you, Cyrus! I--”
+
+“Yes, all right. I'm sure your askin' for the blessin' 'll be a great
+help. Now, you do your part, and I'll do mine. No one knows of this
+business but me. I didn't tell Everdean a word. He don't know why I
+hustled out there and back, nor why I asked so many questions. And he
+ain't the kind to pry into what don't concern him. So you're pretty
+safe, I cal'late. Now, if you don't mind, I wish you'd run along home.
+I'm--I'm used up, sort of.”
+
+Mr. Atkins arose from his knees. Even then, broken as he was--he looked
+ten years older than when he entered the room--he could hardly believe
+what he had just heard.
+
+“You mean,” he faltered, “Cyrus, do you mean that--that you're not going
+to reveal this--this--”
+
+“That I'm not goin' to tell on you? Yup; that's what I mean. You get rid
+of Thomas and squelch that law case, and I'll keep mum. You can trust me
+for that.”
+
+“But--but, Cyrus, the people at home? Your story in the Breeze? You're
+not--”
+
+“No, they needn't know, either. It'll be between you and me.”
+
+“God bless you! I'll never forget--”
+
+“That's right. You mustn't. Forgettin' is the one thing you mustn't do.
+And, see here, you're boss of the political fleet in Bayport; you steer
+the school committee now. Phoebe Dawes ain't too popular with that
+committee; I'd see that she was popularized.”
+
+“Yes, yes; she shall be. She shall not be disturbed. Is there anything
+else I can do?”
+
+“Why, yes, I guess there is. Speakin' of popularity made me think of it.
+That harbor appropriation had better go through.”
+
+A very faint tinge of color came into the congressman's chalky face. He
+hesitated in his reply.
+
+“I--I don't know about that, Cyrus,” he said. “The bill will probably be
+voted on in a few days. It is made up and--”
+
+“Then I'd strain a p'int and make it over. I'd work real hard on it. I'm
+sorry about that sugar river, but I cal'late Bayport 'll have to come
+first. Yes, it'll have to, Heman; it sartin will.”
+
+The reference to the “sugar river” was the final straw. Evidently this
+man knew everything.
+
+“I--I'll try my best,” affirmed Heman. “Thank you, Cyrus. You have been
+more merciful than I had a right to expect.”
+
+“Yes, I guess I have. Why do I do it?” He smiled and shook his head.
+“Well, I don't know. For two reasons, maybe. First, I'd hate to be
+responsible for tippin' over such a sky-towerin' idol as you've been to
+make ruins for Angie Phinney and the other blackbirds to peck at and caw
+over. And second--well, it does sound presumin', don't it, but I kind
+of pity you. Say, Heman,” he added with a chuckle, “that's a kind of
+distinction, in a way, ain't it? A good many folks have hurrahed over
+you and worshipped you--some of 'em, I guess likely, have envied you;
+but, by the big dipper! I do believe I'm the only one in this round
+world that ever PITIED you. Good-by. The elevator's right down the
+hall.”
+
+It required some resolution for the Honorable Atkins to walk down that
+corridor and press the elevator button. But he did it, somehow. A guest
+came out of one of the rooms and approached him as he stood there. It
+was a man he knew. Heman squared his shoulders and set every nerve and
+muscle.
+
+“Good evening, Mr. Atkins,” said the man. “A miserable night, isn't it?”
+
+“Miserable, indeed,” replied the congressman. The strength in his voice
+surprised him. The man passed on. Heman descended in the elevator,
+walked steadily through the crowded lobby and out to the curb where
+his cab was waiting. The driver noticed nothing strange in his fare's
+appearance. He noticed nothing strange when the Atkins residence was
+reached and its tenant mounted the stone steps and opened the door
+with his latchkey. But, if he had seen the dignified form collapse in a
+library chair and moan and rock back and forth until the morning hours,
+he would have wondered very much indeed.
+
+
+Meanwhile Captain Cy, coughing and shivering by the radiator, had been
+summoned from that warm haven by a knock at his door. A bell boy stood
+at the threshold, holding a brown envelope in his hand.
+
+“The clerk sent this up to you, sir,” he said. “It came a week ago. When
+you went away, you didn't leave any address, and whatever letters came
+for you were sent back to Bayport, Massachusetts. The clerk says you
+registered from there, sir. But he kept this telegram. It was in your
+box, and the day clerk forgot to give it to you this afternoon.”
+
+The captain tore open the envelope. The telegram was from his lawyer,
+Mr. Peabody. It was dated a week before, and read as follows:
+
+
+    “Come home at once.  Important.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+DIVIDED HONORS
+
+
+The blizzard began that night. Bayport has a generous allowance of
+storms and gales during a winter, although, as a usual thing, there is
+more rain than snow and more wind than either. But we can count with
+certainty on at least one blizzard between November and April, and about
+the time when Captain Cy, feverish and ill, the delayed telegram in
+his pocket and a great fear in his heart, boarded the sleeper of the
+East-bound train at Washington, snow was beginning to fall in our
+village.
+
+Next morning, when Georgianna came downstairs to prepare Bos'n's
+breakfast--the housekeeper had ceased to “go home nights” since the
+captain's absence--the world outside was a tumbled, driving whirl of
+white. The woodshed and barn, dimly seen through the smother, were but
+gray shapes, emerging now and then only to be wiped from the vision as
+by a great flapping cloth wielded by the mighty hand of the wind. The
+old house shook in the blasts, the windowpanes rattled as if handfuls of
+small shot were being thrown against them, and the carpet on the floor
+of the dining room puffed up in miniature billows.
+
+School was out of the question, and Bos'n, her breakfast eaten, prepared
+to put in a cozy day with her dolls and Christmas playthings.
+
+“When DO you s'pose Uncle Cyrus will get home?” she asked of the
+housekeeper. She had asked the same thing at least three times a
+day during the fortnight, and Georgianna's answer was always just as
+unsatisfactory:
+
+“I don't know, dearie, I'm sure. He'll be here pretty soon, though,
+don't you fret.”
+
+“Oh, I ain't going to fret. I know he'll come. He said he would, and
+Uncle Cy always does what he says he will.”
+
+About twelve Asaph made his appearance, a white statue.
+
+“Godfrey scissors!” he panted, shaking his snow-plastered cap over the
+coal hod. “Say, this is one of 'em, ain't it? Don't know's I ever see
+more of a one. Drift out by the front fence pretty nigh up to my waist.
+This 'll be a nasty night along the Orham beach. The lifesavers 'll have
+their hands full. Whew! I'm about tuckered out.”
+
+“Been to the post office?” asked Georgianna in a low tone.
+
+“Yup. I been there. Mornin' mail just this minute sorted. Train's two
+hours late. Gabe says more'n likely the evenin' train won't be able to
+get through at all, if this keeps up.”
+
+“Was there anything from--”
+
+Mr. Tidditt glanced at Bos'n and shook his head.
+
+“Not a word,” he said. “Funny, ain't it? It don't seem a bit like him.
+And he can't be to Washin'ton, because all them letters came back. I--I
+swan to man, I'm beginnin' to get worried.”
+
+“Worried? I'm pretty nigh crazy! What does Phoebe Dawes say?”
+
+“She don't say much. It's pretty tough, when everything else is workin'
+out so fine, thanks to her, to have this happen. No, she don't say much,
+but she acts pretty solemn.”
+
+“Say, Mr. Tidditt?”
+
+“Yes, what is it?”
+
+“You don't s'pose anything that happened betwixt her and Cap'n Whittaker
+that afternoon is responsible for--for his stayin' away so, do you? You
+know what he told me to tell her--about her not comin' here?”
+
+Asaph fidgeted with the wet cap.
+
+“Aw, that ain't nothin',” he stammered. “That is, I hope it ain't. I did
+say somethin' to him that--but Phoebe understands. She's a smart woman.”
+
+“You haven't told them boardin' house tattletales about the--Emmie, you
+go fetch me a card of matches from the kitchen, won't you--of what's
+been found out about that Thomas thing?”
+
+“Course I ain't. Didn't Peabody say not to tell a soul till we was sure?
+S'pose I'd tell Keturah and Angie? Might's well paint it on a sign and
+be done with it. No, no! I've kept mum and you do the same. Well, I
+must be goin'. Hope to goodness we hear some good news from Whit by
+to-morrer.”
+
+But when to-morrow came news of any kind was unobtainable. No trains
+could get through, and the telephone and telegraph wires were out of
+commission, owing to the great storm. Bayport was buried under a white
+coverlet, three feet thick on a level, which shone in the winter sun
+as if powdered with diamond dust. The street-shoveling brigade, meaning
+most of the active male citizens, was busy with plows and shovels.
+Simmons's was deserted in the evenings, for most of the regular habitues
+went to bed after supper, tired out.
+
+Two days of this. Then Gabe Lumley, his depot wagon replaced by a
+sleigh, drove the panting Daniel into the yard of the Cy Whittaker
+place. Gabe was much excited. He had news of importance to communicate
+and was puffed up in consequence.
+
+“The wire's all right again, Georgianna,” he said to the housekeeper,
+who had hurried to the door to meet him. “Fust message just come
+through. Guess who it's for?”
+
+“Stop your foolishness, Gabe Lumley!” ordered Miss Taylor. “Hand over
+that telegram this minute. Don't you stop to talk! Hand it over!”
+
+Gabe didn't intend to be “corked” thus peremptorily.
+
+“It's pretty important news, Georgianna,” he declared. “Kind of bad
+news, too. I think I'd ought to prepare you for it, sort of. When Cap'n
+Obed Pepper died, I--”
+
+“DIED! For the land sakes! WHAT are you sayin'? Give me that, you
+foolhead! Give it to me!”
+
+She snatched the telegram from him and tore it open. It was not as bad
+as might have been, but it was bad enough. Lawyer Peabody wired that
+Captain Cyrus Whittaker was at his home in Ostable, sick in bed, and
+threatened with pneumonia.
+
+
+
+Captain Cy, hurrying homeward in response to the attorney's former
+telegram, had reached Boston the day of the blizzard. He had taken the
+train for Bayport that afternoon. The train had reached Ostable after
+nine o'clock that night, but could get no farther. The captain, burning
+with fever and torn by chills, had wallowed through the drifts to his
+lawyer's home and collapsed on his doorstep. Now he was very ill and, at
+times, delirious.
+
+For two weeks he lay, fighting off the threatened attack of pneumonia.
+But he won the fight, and, at last, word came to the anxious ones at
+Bayport that he was past the danger point and would pull through. There
+was rejoicing at the Cy Whittaker place. The Board of Strategy came and
+performed an impromptu war dance around the dining-room table.
+
+“Whe-e-e!” shouted Bailey Bangs, tossing Bos'n above his head. “Your
+Uncle Cy's weathered the Horn and is bound for clear water now. Three
+cheers for our side! Won't we give him a reception when we get him back
+here!”
+
+“Won't we?” crowed Asaph. “Well, I just guess we will! You ought to hear
+Angie and the rest of 'em chant hymns of glory about him. A body'd think
+they always knew he was the salt of the earth. Maybe I don't rub it in a
+little, hey? Oh, no, maybe not!”
+
+“And Heman!” chimed in Mr. Bangs. “And Heman! Would you ever believe
+HE'D change so all of a sudden? Bully old Whit! I can mention his name
+now without Ketury's landin' onto me like a snowslide. Whee! I say,
+wh-e-e-e!”
+
+He continued to say it; and Georgianna and Asaph said what amounted to
+the same thing. A change had come over our Bayport social atmosphere,
+a marvelous change. And at Simmons's and--more wonderful still--at
+Tad Simpson's barber' shop, plans were being made and perfected for
+proceedings in which Cyrus Whittaker was to play the most prominent
+part.
+
+Meanwhile the convalescence went on at a rapid rate. As soon as he was
+permitted to talk, Captain Cy began to question his lawyer. How
+about the appeal? Had Atkins done anything further? The answers were
+satisfactory. The case had been dropped: the Honorable Heman had
+announced its withdrawal. He had said that he had changed his mind and
+should not continue to espouse the Thomas cause. In fact, he seemed to
+have whirled completely about on his pedestal and, like a compass, now
+pointed only in one direction--toward his “boyhood friend” and present
+neighbor, Cyrus Whittaker.
+
+“It's perfectly astounding,” commented Peabody. “What in the world,
+captain, did you do to him while you were in Washington?”
+
+“Oh! nothin' much,” was the rather disinterested answer. “Him and me
+had a talk, and he saw the error of his ways, I cal'late. How's Bos'n
+to-day? Did you give her my love when you 'phoned?”
+
+“So far as the case is concerned,” went on the lawyer, “I think
+we should have won that, anyway. It's a curious thing. Thomas has
+disappeared. How he got word, or who he got it from, _I_ don't know; but
+he must have, and he's gone somewhere, no one knows where. And yet I'm
+not certain that we were on the right trail. It seemed certain a week
+ago, but now--”
+
+The captain had not been listening. He was thinking. Thomas had gone,
+had he! Good! Heman was living up to his promises. And Bos'n, God bless
+her, was free from that danger.
+
+“Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?” he repeated.
+
+He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then
+or later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that
+everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked
+nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict
+orders, did not mention it.
+
+Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town
+who was not a member of his household.
+
+“How is--er--how's the teacher?” he inquired one morning.
+
+“How's who?”
+
+“Why--Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?”
+
+“Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most--”
+
+The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not
+resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a
+business trip, to be gone some time.
+
+And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken
+home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was
+very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times,
+but had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were
+unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness
+and forbade questioning.
+
+The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the
+train, but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful
+one that Mr. Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city,
+suggested driving over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody
+“span,” was brought around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled
+up until, as he said, he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale,
+emerged from the house which had sheltered him for a weary month and
+climbed to the back seat. The attorney got in beside him.
+
+“All ashore that's goin' ashore,” observed Captain Cy. Then to the
+driver, who stood by the horses' heads, he added: “Stand by to get ship
+under way, commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate
+of mine waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang
+around these waters no longer'n you can help.”
+
+But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+“Just a minute, captain,” he said. “We've got another passenger. She
+came to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an
+exciting day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we
+kept her in the background. It was something of a job but--Hurrah! here
+she is!”
+
+Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's wife, opened the front door. She was
+laughing. The next moment a small figure shot past her, down the steps,
+and into the carriage like a red-hooded bombshell.
+
+“Uncle Cyrus!” she screamed joyously. “Uncle Cyrus, it's me! Here I am!”
+
+And Captain Cy, springing up and shedding wraps and robes, received the
+bombshell with open arms and hugged it tight.
+
+“Bos'n!” he shouted. “By the big dipper! BOS'N! Why, you
+little--you--you--”
+
+That was a wonderful ride. Emily sat in the captain's lap--he positively
+refused to let her sit beside him on the seat, although Peabody urged
+it, fearing the child might tire him--and her tongue rattled like a
+sewing machine. She had a thousand things to tell, about her school,
+about Georgianna, about her dolls, about Lonesome, the cat, and how many
+mice he had caught, about the big snowstorm.
+
+“Georgianna wanted me to stay at home and wait for you, Uncle Cy,” she
+said, “but I teased and teased and finally they said I could come over.
+I came yesterday on the train. Mr. Tidditt went with me to the depot.
+Mrs. Peabody let me peek into your room last night and I saw you eating
+supper. You didn't know I was there, did you?”
+
+“You bet I didn't! There'd have been a mutiny right then if I'd caught
+sight of you. You little sculpin! Playin' it on your Uncle Cy, was you?
+I didn't know you could keep a secret so well.”
+
+“Oh, yes I can! Why, I know an ever so much bigger secret, too. It
+is--Why! I 'most forgot. You just wait.”
+
+The captain laughingly begged her to divulge the big secret, but she
+shook her small head and refused. The horses trotted on at a lively
+pace, and the miles separating Ostable and Bayport were subtracted one
+by one. It was magnificent winter weather. The snow had disappeared from
+the road, except in widely separated spots, but the big drifts still
+heaped the fields and shone and sparkled in the sunshine. Against their
+whiteness the pitch pines and cedars stood darkly green and the skeleton
+scrub oaks and bushes cast delicate blue-penciled shadows. The bay,
+seen over the flooded, frozen salt meadows and distant dunes, was in its
+winter dress of the deepest sapphire, trimmed with whitecaps and fringed
+with stranded ice cakes. There was a snap and tang in the breeze which
+braced one like a tonic. The party in the carriage was a gay one.
+
+“Getting tired, captain?” asked Peabody.
+
+“Who? Me? Well, I guess not. 'Most home, Bos'n. There's the salt works
+ahead there.”
+
+They passed the abandoned salt works, the crumbling ruins of a dead
+industry, and the boundary stone, now half hidden in a drift, marking
+the beginning of Bayport township. Then, from the pine grove at the
+curve farther on, appeared two capped and coated figures, performing a
+crazy fandango.
+
+“Who's them two lunatics,” inquired Captain Cy, “whoopin' and carryin'
+on in the middle of the road? Has anybody up this way had a jug come by
+express or--Hey! WHAT? Why, you old idiots you! COME here and let me get
+a hold of you!”
+
+The Board of Strategy swooped down upon the carriage like Trumet
+mosquitoes on a summer boarder. They swarmed into the vehicle, Bailey on
+the front seat and Asaph in the rear, where, somehow or other, they made
+room for him. There were handshakings and thumps on the back.
+
+“What you doin' 'way up here in the west end of nowhere?” demanded
+Captain Cy. “By the big dipper, I'm glad to see you! How'd you get
+here?”
+
+“Walked,” cackled Bailey. “Frogged it all the way. Soon's Mrs. Peabody
+wired you was goin' to ride, me and Ase started to meet you. Wan't you
+surprised?”
+
+“We wanted to be the fust to say howdy, old man,” explained Asaph.
+“Wanted to welcome you back, you know.”
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+“Well, I'm glad I've got so much popularity, anyhow,” he said. “Guess
+'twill be different when I get down street, hey? Don't cal'late Tad and
+Angie 'll shed the joyous tear over me. Never mind; long's my friends
+are glad I don't care about the rest.”
+
+The Board looked at each other.
+
+“Tad?” repeated Bailey. “And Angie? What you talkin' about? Why,
+they--Ugh!”
+
+The last exclamation was the result of a tremendous dig in the ribs from
+the Tidditt fist. Asaph, who had leaned forward to administer it,
+was frowning and shaking his head. Mr. Bangs relapsed into a grinning
+silence.
+
+West Bayport seemed to be deserted. At one or two houses, however,
+feminine heads appeared at the windows. One old lady shook a calico
+apron at the carriage. A child beside her cried: “Hurrah!”
+
+“Aunt Hepsy h'istin' colors by mistake,” laughed the captain. “She
+ain't got her specs, I guess, and thinks I'm Heman. That comes of ridin'
+astern of a span, Peabody.”
+
+But as they drew near the Center flags were flying from front-yard
+poles. Some of the houses were decorated.
+
+“What in the world--” began Captain Cy. “Land sakes! look at the
+schoolhouse. And Simmons's! And--and Simpson's!”
+
+The schoolhouse flag was flapping in the wind. The scarred wooden
+pillars of its portico were hidden with bunting. Simmons's front
+displayed a row of little banners, each bearing a letter--the letters
+spelled “Welcome Home.” Tad's barber shop was more or less artistically
+wreathed in colored tissue paper. There, too, a flag was draped over the
+front door. Yet not a single person was in sight.
+
+“For goodness' sake!” cried the bewildered captain. “What's all this
+mean? And where is everybody. Have all hands--”
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence. They were at the foot of
+Whittaker's Hill. Its top, between the Atkins's gate and the Whittaker
+fence, was black with people. Children pranced about the outskirts of
+the crowd. A shout came down the wind. The horses, not in the least
+fatigued by their long canter, trotted up the slope. The shouting grew
+louder. A wave of youngsters came racing to meet the equipage.
+
+“What--what in time?” gasped Captain Cy. “What's up? I--”
+
+And then the town clerk seized him by the arm. Peabody shook his other
+hand. Bos'n threw her arms about his neck. Bailey stood up and waved his
+hat.
+
+“It's you, you old critter!” whooped Asaph. “It's YOU, d'you
+understand?”
+
+“The appropriation has gone through,” explained the lawyer, “and this is
+the celebration in consequence. And you are the star attraction because,
+you see, everyone knows you are responsible for it.”
+
+“That's what!” howled the excited Bangs. “And we're goin' to show you
+what we think of you for doin' it. We've been plannin' this for over a
+fortni't.”
+
+“And I knew it all the time,” squealed Bos'n, “and I didn't tell a word,
+did I?”
+
+“Three cheers for Captain Whittaker!” bellowed a person in the crowd.
+This person--wonder of wonders!--was Tad Simpson.
+
+The cheering was, considering the size of the crowd, tremendous.
+Bewildered and amazed, Captain Cy was assisted from the carriage and
+escorted to his front door. Amidst the handkerchief-waving, applauding
+people he saw Keturah Bangs and Alpheus Smalley and Angeline Phinney and
+Captain Salters--even Alonzo Snow, his recent opponent in town meeting.
+Josiah Dimick was there, too, apparently having a fit.
+
+On the doorstep stood Georgianna and--and--yes, it was true--beside her,
+grandly extending a welcoming hand, the majestic form of the Honorable
+Heman Atkins. Some one else was there also, some one who hurriedly
+slipped back into the crowd as the owner of the Cy Whittaker place came
+up the path between the hedges.
+
+Mr. Atkins shook the captain's hand and then, turning toward the people,
+held up his own for silence. To all outward appearance, he was still the
+great Heman, our district idol, philanthropist, and leader. His silk hat
+glistened as of old, his chest swelled in the old manner, his whiskers
+were just as dignified and awe-inspiring. For an instant, as he met
+the captain's eye, his own faltered and fell, and there was a pleading
+expression in his face, the lines of which had deepened just a little.
+But only for an instant; then he began to speak.
+
+“Cyrus,” he said, “it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of your neighbors
+and friends here assembled, to welcome you to your--er--ancestral home
+after your trying illness. I do it heartily, sincerely, gladly. And
+it is the more pleasing to me to perform this duty, because, as I have
+explained publicly to my fellow-townspeople, all disagreement between us
+is ended. I was wrong--again I publicly admit it. A scheming blackleg,
+posing in the guise of a loving father, imposed upon me. I am sorry for
+the trouble I have caused you. Of you and of the little girl with you I
+ask pardon--I entreat forgiveness.”
+
+He paused. Captain Cy, the shadow of a smile at the corner of his mouth,
+nodded, and said briefly:
+
+“All right, Heman. I forgive you.” Few heard him: the majority were
+applauding the congressman. Sylvanus Cahoon, whispering in the ear
+of “Uncle Bedny,” expressed as his opinion that “that was about
+as magnaminious a thing as ever I heard said. Yes, sir!
+mag-na-min-ious--that's what _I_ call it.”
+
+“But,” continued the great Atkins, “I have said all this to you before.
+What I have to say now--what I left my duties in Washington expressly to
+come here and say--is that Bayport thanks you, _I_ thank you, for your
+tremendous assistance in obtaining the appropriation which is to make
+our harbor a busy port where our gallant fishing fleet may ride at
+anchor and unload its catch, instead of transferring it in dories as
+heretofore. Friends, I have already told you how this man”--laying
+a hand on the captain's shoulder--“came to the Capital and used his
+influence among his acquaintances in high places, with the result that
+the thirty thousand dollars, which I had despaired of getting, was added
+to the bill. I had the pleasure of voting for that bill. It passed. I am
+proud of that vote.”
+
+Tremendous applause. Then some one called for three cheers for Mr.
+Atkins. They were given. But the recipient merely bowed.
+
+“No, no,” he said deprecatingly. “No, no! not for me, my friends, much
+as I appreciate your gratitude. My days of public service are nearly
+at an end. As I have intimated to some of you already, I am seriously
+considering retiring from political life in the near future. But that
+is irrelevant; it is not material at present. To-day we meet, not to say
+farewell to the setting, but to greet the rising sun. _I_ call for three
+cheers for our committee of one--Captain Cyrus Whittaker.”
+
+When the uproar had at last subsided, there were demands for a speech
+from Captain Cy. But the captain, facing them, his arms about the
+delighted Bos'n, positively declined to orate.
+
+“I--I'm ever so much obliged to you, folks,” he stammered. “I am so. But
+you'll have to excuse me from speechmaking. They--they didn't teach it
+afore the mast, where I went to college. Thank you, just the same. And
+do come and see me, everybody. Me and this little girl,” drawing Emily
+nearer to him, “will be real glad to have you.”
+
+After the handshaking and congratulating were over, the crowd dispersed.
+It was a great occasion; all agreed to that, but the majority considered
+it a divided triumph. The captain had done a lot for the town, of
+course, but the Honorable Atkins had made another splendid impression by
+his address of welcome. Most people thought it as fine as his memorable
+effort at town meeting. Unlike that one, however, in this instance it
+is safe to say that none, not even the adoring and praise-chanting Miss
+Phinney, derived quite the enjoyment from the congressman's speech that
+Captain Cy did. It tickled his sense of humor.
+
+“Ase,” he observed irrelevantly when the five--Tidditt, Georgianna,
+Bailey, Bos'n, and himself were at last alone again in the sitting room,
+“it DON'T pay to tip over a monument, does it--not out in public, I
+mean. You wouldn't want to see me blow up Bunker Hill, would you?”
+
+“Blow up Bunker Hill!” repeated Asaph in alarmed amazement. “Godfrey
+scissors! I believe you're goin' loony. This day's been too much for
+you. What are you talkin' about?”
+
+“Oh, nothin',” with a quiet chuckle. “I was thinkin' out loud, that's
+all. Did you ever notice them imitation stone pillars on Heman's house?
+They're holler inside, but you'd never guess it. And, long as you do
+know they're holler, you can keep a watch on 'em. And there's one thing
+sure,” he added, “they ARE ornamental.”
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CAPTAIN CY'S “PICTURE”
+
+
+“Wonder where Phoebe went to,” remarked Mr. Tidditt, a little later. “I
+thought I saw her with Heman and Georgianna on the front steps when we
+drove up.”
+
+“She was there,” affirmed the housekeeper. “She'd been helpin' me trim
+up the rooms here. What do you think of 'em, Cap'n Cyrus? Ain't they
+pretty?”
+
+The sitting room and dining room were gay with evergreens and
+old-fashioned flowers. Our living room windows in the winter time are
+usually filled with carefully tended potted plants, and the neighbors
+had loaned their geraniums and fuchsias and heliotrope and begonias to
+brighten the Whittaker house for its owner's return. Captain Cy, who
+was sitting in the rocker, with Bos'n on his knee, looked about him.
+Now that the first burst of excitement was over, he seemed grave and
+preoccupied.
+
+“They look mighty pretty, Georgianna,” he said. “Fine enough. But what
+was that you just said? Did--”
+
+“Yup,” interrupted Miss Taylor, who had scarcely ceased talking since
+breakfast that morning. “Yes, 'twas teacher that helped fix 'em. Not
+that I wouldn't have got along without her, but I had more to do than a
+little, cleanin' and scrubbin' up. So Phoebe she come in, and--Oh! yes,
+as I was sayin', she was out front with me, but the minute your carriage
+drove up with that lovely span--AIN'T that a fine span! I cal'late
+they're--”
+
+“What become of teacher?” broke in Bailey.
+
+“Why, she run off somewheres. I didn't see where she went to; I was too
+busy hollerin' at Cap'n Whittaker and noticin' that span. I bet you they
+made Angie Phinney's eyes stick out. I guess she realizes that we in
+this house are some punkins now. If I don't lord it over her when I run
+acrost her these days, then I miss my guess. I--”
+
+“Belay!” ordered Captain Cy, his gravity more pronounced than ever. “How
+does it happen that you--See here, Georgianna, did you tell Ph--er--Miss
+Dawes what I told you to tell her when I went away?”
+
+“Why, yes, I told her. I hated to, dreadful, but I done it. She was
+awful set back at fust, but I guess she asked Mr. Tidditt--Where you
+goin', Mr. Tidditt?”
+
+The town clerk, his face red, was on his way to the door.
+
+“Asked Ase?” repeated the captain. “Ase, come here! Did you tell her
+anything?”
+
+Asaph was very much embarrassed.
+
+“Well,” he stammered, “I didn't mean to, Cy, but she got to askin' me
+questions, and somehow or nother I did tell her about our confab, yours
+and mine. I told her that I knew folks was talkin', and I felt 'twas
+my duty to tell you so. That's why I done it, and I told her you
+said--well, you know what you said yourself, Cy.”
+
+Captain Cy was evidently much disturbed. He put Bos'n down, and rose to
+his feet.
+
+“Well,” he asked sharply, “what did she say?”
+
+“Oh! she was white and still for a minute or two. Then she kind of
+stamped her foot and went off and left me. But next time she met me she
+was nice as pie. She's been pretty frosty to Angie and the rest of
+'em, but she's been always nice to Bailey and me. Why, when I asked her
+pardon, she said not at all, she was very glad to know the truth; it
+helped her to understand things. And you could see she meant it, too.
+She--”
+
+“So she has been comin' here ever since. And the gossip has been goin'
+on, I s'pose. Well, by the big dipper, it'll stop now! I'll see to
+that.”
+
+The Board of Strategy and the housekeeper were amazed.
+
+“Gossip!” repeated Bailey. “Well, I guess there ain't nothin' said
+against her now--not in THIS town, there ain't! Why, all hands can't
+praise her enough for her smartness in findin' out about that Thomas. If
+it wan't for her, he'd be botherin' you yet, Cy. You know it. What are
+you talkin' about?”
+
+Captain Cy passed his hand over his forehead.
+
+“Bos'n,” he said slowly, “you run and help Georgianna in the kitchen
+a spell. She's got her dinner to look out for, I guess likely.
+Georgianna,” to the housekeeper, who looked anything but eager, “you
+better see to your dinner right off, and take Emmie with you.”
+
+Miss Taylor reluctantly departed, leading Bos'n by the hand. The child
+was loath to leave her uncle, but he told her he wouldn't give a cent
+for his first dinner at home if she didn't help in preparing it. So she
+went out happy.
+
+“Now, then,” demanded the captain, “what's this about Phoebe and Thomas?
+I want to know. Stop! Don't ask another question. Answer me first.”
+
+So the Board of Strategy, by turns and in concert, told of the drive
+to Trumet and the call on Debby Beasley. Asaph would have narrated the
+story of the upset sulky, but Bailey shut him up in short order.
+
+“Never mind that foolishness,” he snapped. “You see, Cy, Debby had just
+been out to Arizona visitin' old Beasley's niece. And she'd fell in with
+a woman out there whose husband had run off and left her. And Debby, she
+read the advertisement about him in the Arizona paper, and it said he
+had the spring halt in his off hind leg, or somethin' similar. Now,
+Thomas, he had that, too, and there was other things that reminded
+Phoebe of him. So she don't say nothin' to nobody, but she writes to
+this woman askin' for more partic'lars and a photograph of the missin'
+one. The partic'lars come, but the photograph didn't; the wife didn't
+have none, I b'lieve. But there was enough to send Phoebe hotfoot to Mr.
+Peabody. And Peabody he writes to his lawyer friend in Butte, Montana.
+And the Butte man he--”
+
+“Well, the long and short of it is,” cut in Tidditt, “that it looked
+safe and sartin that Thomas HAD married the Arizona woman while his real
+wife, Bos'n's ma, was livin', and had run off and left her same as he
+did Mary. And the funny part of it is--”
+
+“The funny part of it is,” declared Bangs, drowning his friend's voice
+by raising his own, “that somebody out there, some scalawag friend of
+this Thomas, must have got wind of what was up, and sent word to him.
+'Cause, when they went to hunt for him in Boston, he'd gone, skipped,
+cut stick. And they ain't seen him since. He was afraid of bein' took up
+for bigamist, you see--for bein' a bigamy, I mean. Well, you know what
+I'm tryin' to say. Anyhow, if it hadn't been for me and Phoebe--”
+
+“YOU and Phoebe!” snorted Asaph. “You had a whole lot to do with it,
+didn't you? You and Aunt Debby 'll do to go together. I understand she's
+cruisin' round makin' proclamations that SHE was responsible for the
+whole thing. No, sir-ree! it's Phoebe Dawes that the credit belongs to,
+and this town ain't done nothin' but praise her since it come out. You
+never see such a quick come-about in your life--unless 'twas Heman's.
+But you knew all this afore, Whit. Peabody must have told you.”
+
+Captain Cy had listened to his friends' story with a face expressive of
+the most blank astonishment. As he learned of the trip to Trumet and
+its results, his eyes and mouth opened, and he repeatedly rubbed his
+forehead and muttered exclamations. Now, at the mention of his lawyer's
+name, he seemed to awaken.
+
+“Hold on!” he interrupted, waving his hand. “Hold on! By the big dipper!
+this is--is--Where IS Peabody? I want to see him.”
+
+“Here I am, captain,” said the attorney. He had been out to the barn to
+superintend the stabling of the span, but for the past five minutes had
+been standing, unnoticed by his client, on the threshold of the dining
+room.
+
+“See here,” demanded Captain Cy, “see here, Peabody; is this yarn true?
+IS it, now? this about--about Phoebe and all?”
+
+“Certainly it's true. I supposed you knew it. You didn't seem surprised
+when I told you the case was settled.”
+
+“Surprised? Why, no! I thought Heman had--Never mind that. Land of love!
+SHE did it. She!”
+
+He sat weakly down. The lawyer looked anxious.
+
+“Mr. Tidditt,” he whispered, “I think perhaps he had better be left
+alone for the present. He's just up from a sick bed, and this has been
+a trying forenoon. Come in again this afternoon. I shall try to persuade
+him to take a nap.”
+
+The Board of Strategy, its curiosity unsatisfied, departed reluctantly.
+When Mr. Peabody returned to the sitting room he found that naps were
+far, indeed, from the captain's thoughts. The latter was pacing the
+sitting-room floor.
+
+“Where is she?” he demanded. “She was standin' on the steps with Heman.
+Have you seen her since?”
+
+His friend was troubled.
+
+“Why, yes, I've seen her,” he said. “I have been talking with her. She
+has gone away.”
+
+“Gone AWAY! Where? What do you mean? She ain't--ain't left Bayport?”
+
+“No, no. What in the world should she leave Bayport for? She has gone
+to her boarding house, I guess; at all events, she was headed in that
+direction.”
+
+“Why didn't she shake hands with me? What made her go off and not say a
+word? Oh, well, I guess likely I know the why!” He sighed despondently.
+“I told her never to come here again.”
+
+“You did? What in the world--”
+
+“Well, for what I thought was good reasons; all on her account they was.
+And yet she did come back, and kept comin', even after Ase blabbed the
+whole thing. However, I s'pose that was just to help Georgianna. Oh,
+hum! I AM an old fool.”
+
+The lawyer inspected him seriously.
+
+“Well, captain,” he said slowly, “if it is any comfort for you to know
+that your reason isn't the correct one for Miss Dawes's going away, I
+can assure you on that point. I think she went because she was greatly
+disappointed, and didn't wish to see you just now.”
+
+“Disappointed? What do you mean?”
+
+“Humph! I didn't mean to tell you yet, but I judge that I'd better. No
+one knows it here but Miss Dawes and I, and probably no one but us three
+need ever know it. You see, the fact is that the Arizona woman, Desire
+Higgins, isn't Mrs. Thomas at all. He isn't her missing husband.”
+
+“What?”
+
+“Yes, it's so. Really, it was too much of a coincidence to be possible,
+and yet it certainly did seem that it would prove true. This Higgins
+woman was, apparently, so anxious to find her missing man that she was
+ready to recognize almost any description; and the slight lameness and
+the fact of his having been in Montana helped along. If we could have
+gotten a photograph sooner, the question would have been settled. Only
+last week, while I was in Boston, I got word from the detective agency
+that a photo had been received. I went to see it immediately. There was
+some resemblance, but not enough. Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins.”
+
+“But--but--they say Thomas has skipped out.”
+
+“Yes, he has. That's the queer part of it. At the place where he boarded
+we learned that he got a letter from Arizona--trust the average landlady
+to look at postmarks--that he seemed greatly agitated all that day, and
+left that night. No one has seen him since. Why he went is a puzzle.
+Where, we don't care. So long as he keeps out of our way, that's
+enough.”
+
+Captain Cy did not care, either. He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
+probably explain the disappearance. And yet, oddly enough, this
+explanation was not the true one. The Honorable Heman solemnly assured
+the captain that he had not communicated with Emily's father. He
+intended to do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon at the hotel,
+but the man had fled. And the mystery is still unsolved. The supposition
+is that there really was a wife somewhere in the West. Who or where she
+was no Bayporter knows. Henry Thomas has never come back to explain.
+
+“I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved,” went on
+Peabody. “She was dreadfully disappointed. She could hardly speak when
+she left me. I urged her to come in and see you, but she wouldn't.
+Evidently she had set her heart on helping you and the child. It is too
+bad, because, practically speaking, we owe everything to her. There
+is little doubt that the inquiry set on foot by her scared the Thomas
+fellow into flight. And she has worked night and day to aid us. She is
+a very clever woman, Captain Whittaker, and a good one. You can't thank
+her enough. Here! what are you about?”
+
+Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room. The hat rack hung on
+the wall by the side door. He snatched his cap from the peg, and was
+struggling into his overcoat.
+
+“Where are you going?” demanded the lawyer. “You mustn't attempt to walk
+now. You need rest.”
+
+“Rest! I'll rest by and by. Just now I've got business to attend to. Let
+go of that pea-jacket.”
+
+“But--”
+
+“No buts about it. I'll see you later. So long.”
+
+He threw open the door and hurried down the walk. The lawyer watched him
+in amazement. Then a slow smile overspread his face.
+
+“Captain,” he called. “Captain Whittaker.”
+
+Captain Cy looked back over his shoulder. “What do you want?” he asked.
+
+Mr. Peabody's face was now intensely solemn, but there was a twinkle in
+his eye.
+
+“I think she's at the boarding house,” he said demurely. “I'm pretty
+certain you'll find her there.”
+
+All the regulars at the perfect boarding house had, of course, attended
+the reception at the Cy Whittaker place. None of them, with the
+exception of the schoolmistress, had as yet returned. Dinner had been
+forgotten in the excitement of the great day, and Keturah and Angeline
+and Mrs. Tripp had stopped in at various dwellings along the main road,
+to compare notes on the captain's appearance and the Atkins address.
+Asaph and Bailey and Alpheus Smalley were at Simmons's.
+
+Captain Cy knew better than to attempt his hurried trip by way of the
+road. He had no desire to be held up and congratulated. He went across
+lots, in the rear of barns and orchards, wading through drifts and
+climbing fences as no sane convalescent should. But the captain at that
+moment was suffering from the form of insanity known as the fixed idea.
+She had done all this for him--for HIM. And his last message to her had
+been an insult.
+
+He approached the Bangs property by the stable lane. No one locks doors
+in our village, and those of the perfect boarding house were unfastened.
+He entered by way of the side porch, just as he had done when Gabe
+Lumley's depot wagon first deposited him in that yard. But now he
+entered on tiptoe. The dining room was empty. He peeped into the sitting
+room. There, by the center table, sat Phoebe Dawes, her elbow on the arm
+of her chair, and her head resting on her hand.
+
+“Ahem! Phoebe!” said Captain Cy.
+
+She started, turned, and saw him standing there. Her eyes were wet, and
+there was a handkerchief in her lap.
+
+“Phoebe,” said the captain anxiously, “have you been cryin'?”
+
+She rose on the instant. A great wave of red swept over her face. The
+handkerchief fell to the floor, and she stooped and picked it up.
+
+“Crying?” she repeated confusedly. “Why, no, of course--of course not!
+I--How do you do, Captain Whittaker? I'm--we're all very glad to see you
+home again--and well.”
+
+She extended her hand. Captain Cy reached forward to take it; then he
+hesitated.
+
+“I don't think I'd ought to let you shake hands with me, Phoebe,” he
+said. “Not until I beg your pardon.”
+
+“Beg my pardon? Why?”
+
+He absently took the hand and held it.
+
+“For the word I sent to you when I went away. 'Twas an awful thing to
+say, but I meant it for your sake, you know. Honest, I did.”
+
+She laughed nervously.
+
+“Oh! that,” she said. “Well, I did think you were rather particular as
+to your visitors. But Mr. Tidditt explained, and then--You needn't beg
+my pardon. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I knew you meant to be kind
+to me.”
+
+“That's what I did. But you didn't obey orders. You kept comin'. Now,
+why--”
+
+“Why? Did you suppose that _I_ cared for the malicious gossip of--such
+people? I came because you were in trouble, and I hoped to help you.
+And--and I thought I had helped, until a few minutes ago.”
+
+Her lip quivered. That quiver went to the captain's heart.
+
+“Helped?” he faltered. “Helped? Why, you've done so much that I can't
+ever thank you. You've been the only real helper I've had in all this
+miserable business. You've stood by me all through.”
+
+“But it was all wrong. He isn't the man at all. Didn't Mr. Peabody tell
+you?”
+
+“Yes, yes, he told me. What difference does that make? Peabody be
+hanged! He ain't in this. It's you and me--don't you see? What made you
+do all this for me?”
+
+She looked at the floor and not at him as she answered.
+
+“Why, because I wanted to help you,” she said. “I've been alone in the
+world ever since mother died, years ago. I've had few real friends. Your
+friendship had come to mean a great deal to me. The splendid fight you
+were making for that little girl proved what a man you were. And you
+fought so bravely when almost everyone was against you, I couldn't help
+wanting to do something for you. How could I? And now it has come to
+nothing--my part of it. I'm so sorry.”
+
+“It ain't, neither. It's come to everything. Phoebe, I didn't mean to
+say very much more than to beg your pardon when I headed for here. But
+I've got to--I've simply got to. This can't go on. I can't have you
+keep comin' to see me--and Bos'n. I can't keep meetin' you every day. I
+CAN'T.”
+
+She looked up, as if to speak, but something, possibly the expression in
+his face, caused her to look quickly down again. She did not answer.
+
+“I can't do it,” continued the captain desperately. “'Tain't for what
+folks might say. They wouldn't say much when I was around, I tell you.
+It ain't that. It's because I can't bear to have you just a friend.
+Either you must be more'n that, or--or I'll have to go somewheres else.
+I realized that when I was in Washin'ton and cruisin' to California and
+back. I've either got to take Bos'n and go away for good, or--or--”
+
+She would not help him. She would not speak.
+
+“You see?” he groaned. “You see, Phoebe, what an old fool I am. I can't
+ask you to marry me, me fifty-five, and rough from knockin' round the
+world, and you, young and educated, and a lady. I ain't fool enough to
+ask such a thing as that. And yet, I couldn't stay here and meet you
+every day, and by and by see you marry somebody else. By the big dipper,
+I couldn't do it! So that's why I can't shake hands with you to-day--nor
+any more, except when I say good-by for keeps.”
+
+Then she looked up. The color was still bright in her face, and her eyes
+were moist, but she was smiling.
+
+“Can't shake hands with me?” she said. “Please, what have you been doing
+for the last five minutes?”
+
+Captain Cy dropped her hand as if his own had been struck with
+paralysis.
+
+“Good land!” he stammered. “I didn't know I did it; honest truth, I
+didn't.”
+
+Phoebe's smile was still there, faint, but very sweet.
+
+“Why did you stop?” she queried. “I didn't ask you to.”
+
+“Why did I stop? Why, because I--I--I declare I'm ashamed--”
+
+She took his hand and clasped it with both her own.
+
+“I'm not,” she said bravely, her eyes brightening as the wonder and
+incredulous joy grew in his. “I'm very proud. And very, very happy.”
+
+
+
+There was to be a big supper at the Cy Whittaker place that night. It
+was an impromptu affair, arranged on the spur of the moment by Captain
+Cy, who, in spite of the lawyer's protests and anxiety concerning his
+health, went serenely up and down the main road, inviting everybody he
+met or could think of. The captain's face was as radiant as a spring
+sunrise. His smile, as Asaph said, “pretty nigh cut the upper half
+of his head off.” People who had other engagements, and would, under
+ordinary circumstances, have refused the invitation, couldn't say no to
+his hearty, “Can't come? Course you'll come! Man alive! I WANT you.”
+
+“Invalid, is he?” observed Josiah Dimick, after receiving and accepting
+his own invitation. “Well, I wish to thunder I could be took down with
+the same kind of disease. I'd be willin' to linger along with it quite
+a spell if it pumped me as full of joy as Whit seems to be. Don't give
+laughin' gas to keep off pneumonia, do they? No? Well, I'd like to know
+the name of his medicine, that's all.”
+
+Supper was to be ready at six. Georgianna, assisted by Keturah Bangs,
+Mrs. Sylvanus Cahoon, and other volunteers, was gloriously busy in the
+kitchen. The table in the dining room reached from one end of the big
+apartment to the other. Guests would begin to arrive shortly. Wily Mr.
+Peabody, guessing that Captain Cy might prefer to be alone, had taken
+the Board of Strategy out riding behind the span.
+
+In the sitting room, around the baseburner stove, were three
+persons--Captain Cy, Bos'n, and Phoebe. Miss Dawes had “come early,” at
+the captain's urgent appeal. Now she was sitting in the rocker, at
+one side of the stove, gazing dreamily at the ruddy light behind the
+isinglass panes. She looked quietly, blissfully contented and happy.
+At her feet, on the braided mat, sat Bos'n, playing with Lonesome, who
+purred lazily. The little girl was happy, too, for was not her beloved
+Uncle Cyrus at home again, with all danger of their separation ended
+forevermore?
+
+As for Captain Cy himself, the radiant expression was still on his face,
+brighter than ever. He looked across at Phoebe, who smiled back at him.
+Then he glanced down at Bos'n. And all at once he realized that this was
+the fulfillment of his dream. Here was his “picture”; the sitting room
+was now as he had always loved to think of it--as it used to be. He was
+in his father's chair, Phoebe in the one his mother used to occupy, and
+between them--just where he had sat so often when a boy--the child. The
+Cy Whittaker place had again, and at last, come into its own.
+
+He drew a long breath, and looked about the room; at the stove, the
+lamp, the old, familiar furniture, at his grandfather's portrait over
+the mantel. Then, in a flash of memory, his father's words came back to
+him, and he said, laughing aloud from pure happiness:
+
+“Bos'n, run down cellar and get me a pitcher of cider, won't
+you?--there's a good feller.”
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
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+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>
+      Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. 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: Cy Whittaker's Place
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #3281]
+Last Updated: March 4, 2019
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Joseph C. Lincoln
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE</b></big>
+        </a><br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> -- THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> -- THE WANDERER'S RETURN<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> -- “FIXIN' OVER”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004">
+        CHAPTER IV </a> -- BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> -- A FRONT-DOOR CALLER<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> -- ICICLES AND DUST<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> -- CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008">
+        CHAPTER VIII </a> -- THE “COW LADY”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> -- POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> -- A LETTER AND A VISITOR<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011">
+        CHAPTER XI </a> -- A BARGAIN OFF<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> -- “TOWN-MEETIN'”
+<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> -- THE REPULSE<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> -- A CLEW<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015">
+        CHAPTER XV </a> -- DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> -- A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> -- THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a> -- CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> -- THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020">
+        CHAPTER XX </a> -- DIVIDED HONORS<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> -- CAPTAIN CY'S “PICTURE”
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      It is queer, but Captain Cy himself doesn't remember whether the day was
+      Tuesday or Wednesday. Asaph Tidditt's records ought to settle it, for
+      there was a meeting of the board of selectmen that day, and Asaph has been
+      town clerk in Bayport since the summer before the Baptist meeting house
+      burned. But on the record the date, in Asaph's handwriting, stands
+      &ldquo;Tuesday, May 10, 189-&rdquo; and, as it happens, May 10 of that year fell on
+      Wednesday, not Tuesday at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah Bangs, who keeps &ldquo;the perfect boarding house,&rdquo; says it was
+      Tuesday, because she remembers they had fried cod cheeks and cabbage that
+      day&mdash;as they have every Tuesday&mdash;and neither Mr. Tidditt nor
+      Bailey Bangs, Keturah's husband, was on hand when the dinner bell rang.
+      Keturah says she is certain it was Tuesday, because she remembers smelling
+      the boiled cabbage as she stood at the side door, looking up the road to
+      see if either Asaph or Bailey was coming. As for Bailey, he says he
+      remembers being late to dinner and his wife's &ldquo;startin' to heave a
+      broadsides into him&rdquo; because of it, but he doesn't remember what day it
+      was. This isn't surprising; Keturah's verbal cannonades are likely to make
+      one forgetful of trifles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At any rate, whether Tuesday or Wednesday, it is certain that it was
+      quarter past twelve, according to the clock presented to the Methodist
+      Society by the Honorable Heman Atkins, when Asaph Tidditt came down the
+      steps of the townhall, after the selectmen's meeting, and saw Bailey Bangs
+      waiting for him on the opposite side of the road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ase!&rdquo; hailed Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;You'll be late to dinner, if you don't
+      hurry. I was headin' for home, all sail sot, when I see you. What kept
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Town business, of course,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt, with the importance
+      pertaining to his official position. &ldquo;What kept YOU, for the land sakes?
+      Won't Ketury be in your wool?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey hasn't any &ldquo;wool&rdquo; worth mentioning now, and he had very little more
+      then, but he mopped his forehead, or the extension above it, taking off
+      his cap to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late she will,&rdquo; he said, uneasily. &ldquo;Tell you the truth, Ase, I was
+      up to the store, and Cap'n Josiah Dimick and some more of 'em drifted in
+      and we got talkin' about the chances of the harbor appropriation, and one
+      thing or 'nother, and 'twas later'n I thought 'twas 'fore I knew it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The appropriation from the government, which was to deepen and widen our
+      harbor here at Bayport, was a very vital topic among us just then. Heman
+      Atkins, the congressman from our district, had promised to do his best for
+      the appropriation, and had for a time been very sanguine of securing it.
+      Recently, however, he had not been quite as hopeful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's Cap'n Josiah think about the chances?&rdquo; asked Asaph eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'&rdquo; replied
+      Bailey. &ldquo;He says, of course, if Heman is able to get it he will, but if he
+      ain't able to, he&mdash;he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He won't, I s'pose. Well, <i>I</i> can think that myself, and I don't set
+      up to be no inspired know-it-all, like Joe Dimick. He ain't heard from
+      Heman lately, has he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he ain't. Neither's anybody else, so fur as I can find out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, they have. <i>I</i> have, for one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs stopped short in his double-quick march for home and dinner, and
+      looked his companion in the face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Do you mean to tell me you've had a letter from
+      Heman Atkins, from Washin'ton?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph nodded portentously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;A letter from the Honorable Heman G. Atkins, of
+      Washin'ton, D. C., come to me last night. I read it afore I turned in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did! And never said nothin' about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why should I say anything about it? 'Twas addressed to me as town clerk,
+      and was concernin' a matter to be took up with the board of s'lectmen. I
+      ain't in the habit of hollerin' town affairs through a speakin' trumpet.
+      Folks that vote for me town-meetin' day know that, I guess. Angie Phinney
+      says to me only yesterday, 'Mr. Tidditt,' says she, 'there's one thing
+      I'll say for you&mdash;you don't talk.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney boarded with the Bangses, and Bailey was acquainted with her
+      personal peculiarities; for that matter so were most of Bayport's
+      permanent residents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he snorted indignantly. &ldquo;She thought 'twas a good thing not to
+      talk, hey? SHE did? Well, by mighty! you never get no CHANCE to talk when
+      she's around. Angie Phinney! Why, when that poll parrot of hers died,
+      Alph'us Smalley declared up and down that what killed it was jealousy and
+      disapp'inted ambition; he said it broke its heart tryin' to keep up with
+      Angie. Her ma was the same breed of cats. I remember&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The talking proclivities of females is the one topic upon which Keturah's
+      husband is touchiest. Asaph knew this, but he delighted to stir up his
+      chum occasionally. He chuckled as he interrupted the flow of reminiscence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Bailey!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I know as much about Angie's tribe
+      as you do, I cal'late. Ain't we a little mite off the course? Seems to me
+      we was talkin' about Heman's letter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that so? I judged from what you said we wa'n't goin' to talk about it.
+      Aw, don't be so mean, Ase! Showin' off your importance like a young one!
+      What did Heman say about the appropriation? Is he goin' to get it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt paused before replying. Then, bending over, he whispered in
+      his chum's ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never said one word about the appropriation, Bailey; not one word. He
+      wanted to know if we'd got this year's taxes on the Whittaker place. And,
+      if we hadn't, what was we goin' to do about it? Bailey, between you and me
+      and the mizzenmast, Heman Atkins wants to get ahold of that place the
+      worst way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He does? He DOES? For the land sakes, ain't he got property enough
+      already? Ain't a&mdash;a palace like that enough for one man, without
+      wantin' to buy a rattletrap like THAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The first &ldquo;that&rdquo; was emphasized by a brandished but reverent left hand;
+      the second by a derisively pointing right. The two friends had reached the
+      crest of the long slope leading up from the townhall. On one side of the
+      road stretched the imposing frontage of the &ldquo;Atkins estate,&rdquo; with its iron
+      fence and stone posts; on the other slouched the weed-grown, tumble-down
+      desolation of the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo; The contrast was that of opulent
+      prosperity and poverty-stricken neglect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If our village boasted one of those horseless juggernauts, such as are
+      used to carry sightseers in Boston from the old North Church to the Public
+      Library and other points of interest&mdash;that is, if there was a &ldquo;seeing
+      Bayport&rdquo; car, it is from this hill that its occupants would be given their
+      finest view of the village and its surroundings. As Captain Josiah Dimick
+      always says: &ldquo;Bayport is all north and south, like a codfish line. It puts
+      me in mind of Seth Higgins's oldest boy. He was so tall and thin that when
+      they bought a suit of clothes for him, they used to take reefs in the
+      sides of the jacket and use the cloth to piece onto the bottoms of the
+      trousers' legs.&rdquo; What Captain Joe means is that the houses in the village
+      are all built beside three roads running longitudinally. There is the
+      &ldquo;main road&rdquo; and the &ldquo;upper road&rdquo;&mdash;or &ldquo;Woodchuck Lane,&rdquo; just as you
+      prefer&mdash;and the &ldquo;lower road,&rdquo; otherwise known as &ldquo;Bassett's Holler.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;upper road&rdquo; is sometimes called the &ldquo;depot road,&rdquo; because the
+      railroad station is conveniently located thereon&mdash;convenient for the
+      railroad, that is&mdash;the station being a full mile from Simmons's
+      &ldquo;general store,&rdquo; which is considered the center of the town. The upper
+      road enters the main road at the corner by the store, and there also are
+      the Methodist meetinghouse and the schoolhouse. The townhall is in the
+      hollow farther on. Then comes the big hill&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whittaker's Hill&rdquo;&mdash;and from the top of this hill you can, on a clear
+      day, see for miles across the salt marshes and over the bay to the
+      eastward, and west as far as the church steeple in Orham. If there happens
+      to be a fog, with a strong easterly wind, you cannot see the marshes or
+      the bay, but you can smell them, wet and salty and sweet. It is a smell
+      that the born Bayporter never forgets, but carries with him in memory
+      wherever he goes; and that, in the palmy days of the merchant marine, was
+      likely, to be far, for every male baby in the village was born with web
+      feet, so people said, and was predestined to be a sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Heman Atkins came back from the South Seas early in the '60's, &ldquo;rich
+      as dock mud,&rdquo; though still a young man, he promptly tore down his father's
+      old house, which stood on the crest of Whittaker's Hill, and built in its
+      place a big imposing residence. It was by far the finest house in Bayport,
+      and Heman made it finer as the years passed. There were imitation
+      brownstone pillars supporting its front porch, iron dogs and scroll work
+      iron benches bordering its front walk, and a pair of stone urns, in summer
+      filled with flowers, beside its big iron front gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman was our leading citizen, our representative in Washington, and the
+      town's philanthropist. He gave the Atkins memorial window and the Atkins
+      tower clock to the Methodist Church. The Atkins town pump, also his gift,
+      stood before the townhall. The Atkins portrait in the Bayport Ladies'
+      Library was much admired; and the size of the Atkins fortune was the
+      principal subject of conversation at sewing circle, at the table of &ldquo;the
+      perfect boarding house,&rdquo; around the stove in Simmons's store, or wherever
+      Bayporters were used to gather. We never exactly worshipped Heman Atkins,
+      perhaps, but we figuratively doffed our hats when his name was mentioned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place&rdquo; faced the Atkins estate from the opposite side of
+      the main road, but it was the general opinion that it ought to be ashamed
+      to face it. Almost everybody called it &ldquo;the Cy Whittaker place,&rdquo; although
+      some of the younger set spoke of it as the &ldquo;Sea Sight House.&rdquo; It was a
+      big, old-fashioned dwelling, gambrel-roofed and brown and dilapidated.
+      Originally it had enjoyed the dignified seclusion afforded by a white
+      picket fence with square gateposts, and the path to its seldom-used front
+      door had been guarded by rigid lines of box hedge. This, however, was
+      years ago, before the second Captain Cy Whittaker died, and before the
+      Howes family turned it into the &ldquo;Sea Sight House,&rdquo; a hotel for summer
+      boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Howeses &ldquo;improved&rdquo; the house and grounds. They tore down the picket
+      fence, uprooted the box hedges, hung a sign over the sacred front door,
+      and built a wide veranda under the parlor windows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They took boarders for five consecutive summers; then they gave up the
+      unprofitable undertaking, returned to Concord, New Hampshire, their native
+      city, and left the Cy Whittaker place to bear the ravages of Bayport
+      winters and Bayport small boys as best it might.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For years it stood empty. The weeds grew high about its foundations; the
+      sparrows built nests behind such of its shutters as had not been ripped
+      from their hinges by February no'theasters; its roof grew bald in spots as
+      the shingles loosened and were blown away; the swallows flew in and out of
+      its stone-broken windowpanes. Year by year it became more of a disgrace in
+      the eyes of Bayport's neat and thrifty inhabitants&mdash;for neat and
+      thrifty we are, if we do say it. The selectmen would have liked to tear it
+      down, but they could not, because it was private property, having been
+      purchased from the Howes heirs by the third Cy Whittaker, Captain Cy's
+      only son, who ran away to sea when he was sixteen years old, and was
+      disinherited and cast off by the proud old skipper in consequence. Each
+      March, Asaph Tidditt, in his official capacity as town clerk, had been
+      accustomed to receive an envelope with a South American postmark, and in
+      that envelope was a draft on a Boston banking house for the sum due as
+      taxes on the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo; The drafts were signed &ldquo;Cyrus M.
+      Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But this particular year&mdash;the year in which this chronicle begins&mdash;no
+      draft had been received. Asaph waited a few weeks and then wrote to the
+      address indicated by the postmark. His letter was unanswered. The taxes
+      were due in March and it was now May. Mr. Tidditt wrote again; then he
+      laid the case before the board of selectmen, and Captain Eben Salters,
+      chairman of that august body, also wrote. But even Captain Eben's
+      authoritative demand was ignored. Next to the harbor appropriation, the
+      question of what should be done about the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place&rdquo; filled
+      Bayport's thoughts that spring. No one, however, had supposed that the
+      Honorable Heman might wish to buy it. Bailey Bangs's surprise was
+      excusable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in the world,&rdquo; repeated Bailey, &ldquo;does Heman want of a shebang like
+      that? Ain't he got enough already?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Pears not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I judge it's this way, Bailey: Heman, he's a proud
+      man&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, ain't he got a right to be proud?&rdquo; broke in Mr. Bangs, hastening to
+      resent any criticism of the popular idol. &ldquo;Cal'late you and me'd be proud
+      if we was able to carry as much sail as he does, wouldn't we?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess like we would. But you needn't get red in the face and
+      strain your biler just because I said that. I ain't finding fault with
+      Heman; I'm only tellin' you. He's proud, as I said, and his wife&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's dead this four year. What are you resurrectin' her for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land! you're peppery as a West Injy omelet this mornin'. Let me alone
+      till I've finished. His wife, when she was alive, she was proud, too. And
+      his daughter, Alicia, she's eight year old now, and by and by she'll be
+      grown up into a high-toned young woman. Well, Heman is fur-sighted, and I
+      s'pose likely he's thinkin' of the days when there'll be young rich
+      fellers&mdash;senators and&mdash;and&mdash;well, counts and lords, maybe&mdash;cruisin'
+      down here courtin' her. By that time the Whittaker place'll be a worse
+      disgrace than 'tis now. I presume he don't want those swells to sit on his
+      front piazza and see the crows buildin' nests in the ruins acrost the
+      road. So&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crows! Did you ever see a crow build a nest in a house? I never did!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, belay! Crows or canary birds, what difference does it make? SOMETHIN'
+      'll nest there, if it's only A'nt Sophrony Hallett's hens. So Heman he
+      writes to the board, askin' if the taxes is paid, if we've heard any
+      reason why they ain't paid, and what we're goin' to do about it. If
+      there's a sale for taxes he wants to be fust bidder. Then, when the place
+      is his, he can tear down or rebuild, just as he sees fit. See?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I see. Well, I feel about that the way Joe Dimick felt when he heard
+      the doctor had told Elviry Pepper she must stop singin' in the choir or
+      lose her voice altogether. 'Whichever happens 'll be an improvement,' says
+      Cap'n Joe; and whatever Heman does 'll help the Whittaker place. What did
+      you decide at the meetin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'. We can't decide yet. We ain't sure about the law and we want to
+      wait a spell, anyhow. But I know how 'twill end: Atkins 'll get the place.
+      He always gets what he wants, Heman does.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey turned and looked back at the old house, forlorn amidst its huddle
+      of blackberry briers and weeds, and with the ubiquitous &ldquo;silver-leaf&rdquo;
+       saplings springing up in clusters everywhere about it and closing in on
+      its defenseless walls like squads of victorious soldiery making the final
+      charge upon a conquered fort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; sighed Mr. Bangs, &ldquo;so that 'll be the end of the old Whittaker
+      place, hey? Sho! things change in a feller's lifetime, don't they? You and
+      me can remember, Ase, when Cap'n Cy Whittaker was one of the biggest men
+      we had in this town. So was his dad afore him, the Cap'n Cy that built the
+      house. I wonder the looks of things here now don't bring them two up out
+      of their graves. Do you remember young Cy&mdash;'Whit' we used to call him&mdash;or
+      'Reddy Whit,' 'count of his red hair? I don't know's you do, though; guess
+      you'd gone to sea when he run away from home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was to home that year. Remember 'Whit'? Well, I
+      should say I did. He was a holy terror&mdash;yes, sir! Wan't no monkey
+      shines or didos cut up in this town that young Cy wan't into. Fur's that
+      goes, you and me was in 'em, too, Bailey. We was all holy terrors then.
+      Young ones nowadays ain't got the spunk we used to have.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend chuckled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;That's so. Whit was a good-hearted boy, too,
+      but full of the Old Scratch and as sot in his ways as his dad, and if
+      Cap'n Cy wan't sot, then there ain't no sotness. 'You'll go to college and
+      be a parson,' says the Cap'n. 'I'll go to sea and be a sailor, same as you
+      done,' says Whit. And he did, too; run away one night, took the packet to
+      Boston, and shipped aboard an Australian clipper. Cap'n Cy didn't go after
+      him to fetch him home. No, sir&mdash;ee! not a fetch. Sent him a letter
+      plumb to Melbourne and, says he: 'You've made your bed; now lay in it.
+      Don't you never dast to come back to me or your ma,' he says. And Whit
+      didn't, he wan't that kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pretty nigh killed the old lady&mdash;Whit's ma&mdash;that did,&rdquo; mused
+      Asaph. &ldquo;She died a little spell afterwards. And the old man pined away,
+      too, but he never give in or asked the boy to come back. Stubborn as all
+      get-out to the end, he was, and willed the place, all he had left, to them
+      Howes folks. And a nice mess THEY made of it. Young Cy, he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Young Cy!&rdquo; interrupted Bailey. &ldquo;We're always callin' him 'young Cy,' and
+      yet, when you come to think of it, he must be pretty nigh fifty-five now;
+      'most as old as you and I be. Wonder if he'll ever come back here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet he won't!&rdquo; was the oracular reply. &ldquo;You bet he won't! From what I
+      hear he got to be a sea cap'n himself and settled down there in Buenos
+      Ayres. He's made all kinds of money, they say, out of hides and such. What
+      he ever bought his dad's old place for, <i>I</i> can't see. He'll never
+      come back to these common, one-horse latitudes, now you mark my word on
+      that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a prophecy Mr. Tidditt was accustomed to make each year to the
+      crowd at the post office, when the receipt for the draft for taxes caused
+      him to wax reminiscent. The younger generation here in Bayport regard
+      their town clerk as something of an oracle, and this regard has made Asaph
+      a trifle vain and positive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey chuckled again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We WAS a spunky, dare-devil lot in the old days, wan't we, Ase?&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Spunk was kind of born in us, as you might say. And even now we're&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Atkins tower clock boomed once&mdash;a solemn, dignified stroke. Mr.
+      Tidditt and his companion started and looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; gasped Asaph. &ldquo;Is that half past twelve?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs pulled a big worn silver watch from his pocket and glanced at
+      the dial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is!&rdquo; he moaned. &ldquo;As sure's you're born, it is! We've kept Ketury's
+      dinner waitin' twenty minutes. You and me are in for it now, Ase Tidditt!
+      Twenty minutes late! She'll skin us alive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt did not pause to answer, but plunged headlong down the hill at
+      a race-horse gait, Bailey pounding at his heels. For &ldquo;born dare-devils,&rdquo;
+       self-confessed, they were a nervous and apprehensive pair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;perfect boarding house&rdquo; is situated a quarter of a mile beyond
+      &ldquo;Whittaker's Hill,&rdquo; nearly opposite the Salters homestead. The sign, hung
+      on the pole by the front gate, reads, &ldquo;Bayport Hotel. Bailey Bangs,
+      Proprietor,&rdquo; but no one except the stranger in Bayport accepts that sign
+      seriously. When, owing to an unexpected change in the administration at
+      Washington, Mr. Bangs was obliged to relinquish his position as our
+      village postmaster, his wife came to the rescue with the proposal that
+      they open a boarding house. &ldquo;'Whatsoe'er you find to do,' quoted Keturah
+      at sewing-circle meeting, 'do it then with all your might!' That's a good
+      Sabbath-school hymn tune and it's good sense besides. I intend to make it
+      my life work to run just as complete a&mdash;a eatin' and lodgin'
+      establishment as I can. If, when I'm laid to rest, they can put onto my
+      gravestone, 'She run the perfect boardin' house,' I'LL be satisfied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark, and subsequent similar declarations, were widely quoted, and,
+      therefore, though casual visitors may refer to the &ldquo;Bayport Hotel,&rdquo; to us
+      natives the Bangs residence is always &ldquo;Keturah's perfect boarding house.&rdquo;
+       As for the sign's affirmation of Mr. Bangs proprietorship, that is
+      considered the cream of the joke. The idea of meek, bald-headed little
+      Bailey posing as proprietor of anything while his wife is on deck, tickles
+      Bayport's sense of humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The perspiring delinquents panted into the yard of the perfect boarding
+      house and tremblingly opened the door leading to the dining room. Dinner
+      was well under way, and Mrs. Bangs, enthroned at the end of the long
+      table, behind the silver-plated teapot, was waiting to receive them. The
+      silence was appalling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sorry to be a little behindhand, Ketury,&rdquo; stammered Asaph hurriedly.
+      &ldquo;Town affairs are important, of course, and can't be neglected. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes; that's so, Ketury,&rdquo; cut in Mr. Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, I see.&rdquo; Keturah's tone was several degrees below freezing.
+      &ldquo;Hum! I s'pose 'twas town affairs kept you, too, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well&mdash;er&mdash;not exactly, as you might say, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+       Bailey squeezed himself into the armchair at the end of the table opposite
+      his wife, the end which, with sarcasm not the less keen for being
+      unintentional, was called the &ldquo;head.&rdquo; &ldquo;Not exactly town affairs, 'twan't
+      that kept me, Ketury, but&mdash;My! don't them cod cheeks smell good? You
+      always could cook cod cheeks, if I do say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The compliment was wasted. Mrs. Bangs had a sermon to deliver, and its
+      text was not &ldquo;cod cheeks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bailey Bangs,&rdquo; she began, &ldquo;when I was brought to realize that my husband,
+      although apparently an able-bodied man, couldn't support me as I'd been
+      used to be supported, and when I was forced to support HIM by keepin'
+      boarders, I says, 'If there's one thing that my house shall stand for it's
+      punctual promptness at meal times. I say nothing,' I says, 'about the
+      inconvenience of gettin' on with only one hired help when we ought to have
+      three. If Providence, in its unscrutable wisdom,' I says, 'has seen fit to
+      lay this burden onto me, the burden of a household of boarders and a
+      husband whom&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And just then the power referred to by Mrs. Bangs intervened to spare her
+      husband the remainder of the preachment. From the driveway of the yard,
+      beside the dining-room windows, came the rattle of wheels and the tramp of
+      a horse's feet. Mrs. Matilda Tripp, who sat nearest the windows, on that
+      side, rose and peered out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's the depot wagon, Ketury,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There's somebody inside it. I
+      wonder if they're comin' here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Transients&rdquo; were almost unknown quantities at the Bayport Hotel in May.
+      Consequently, all the boarders and the landlady herself crowded to the
+      windows. The &ldquo;depot wagon&rdquo; had drawn up by the steps, and Gabe Lumley, the
+      driver, had descended from his seat and was doing his best to open the
+      door of the ancient vehicle. It stuck, of course; the doors of all depot
+      wagons stick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold on a shake!&rdquo; commanded some one inside the carriage. &ldquo;Wait till I
+      get a purchase on her. Now, then! All hands to the ropes! Heave&mdash;ho!
+      THERE she comes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door flew back with a bang. A man sprang out upon the lower step of
+      the porch. The eye of every inmate of the perfect boarding house was on
+      him. Even the &ldquo;hired help&rdquo; peered from the kitchen door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's a stranger,&rdquo; whispered Mrs. Tripp. &ldquo;I never see him before, did you,
+      Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk did not answer. He was staring at the depot wagon's
+      passenger, staring with a face the interested expression of which was
+      changing to that of surprise and amazed incredulity. Mrs. Tripp turned to
+      Mr. Bangs; he also was staring, open-mouthed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; gasped Asaph, under his breath. &ldquo;Godfrey&mdash;SCISSORS!
+      Bailey, I&mdash;I believe&mdash;I swan to man, I believe&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt!&rdquo; exclaimed Mr. Bangs, &ldquo;am I goin' looney, or is that&mdash;is
+      that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither finished his sentence. There are times when language seems so
+      pitifully inadequate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Here in Bayport, nowadays, the collecting of &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; is a favorite
+      amusement of our summer visitors. Those of us who were fortunate enough to
+      possess a set of nicked blue dishes, a warming pan, or a tall clock with
+      wooden wheels, have long ago parted with these treasures for considerable
+      sums. Oddly enough Sylvanus Cahoon has profited most by this craze.
+      Sylvanus used to be judged the unluckiest man in town; of late this
+      judgment has been revised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Sylvanus who, confined to the house by an illness brought on by
+      eating too much &ldquo;sugar cake&rdquo; at a free sociable given by the Methodist
+      Society, arose in the night and drank copiously of what he supposed to be
+      the medicine left by the doctor. It happened to be water-bug poison, and
+      Sylvanus was nearly killed by the dose. He is reported as having admitted
+      that he &ldquo;didn't mind dyin' so much, but hated to die such a dum mean
+      death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While convalescent he took to smoking in bed and was burned out of house
+      and home in consequence. Then it was that his kind-hearted fellow citizens
+      donated, for the furnishing of his new residence, all the cast-off bits of
+      furniture and odds and ends from their garrets. &ldquo;Charity,&rdquo; observed
+      Captain Josiah Dimick at the time, &ldquo;begins at home with us Bayporters, and
+      it generally begins up attic, that bein' nighest to heaven.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later Sylvanus sold most of the donations as &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; and made money
+      enough therefrom to buy a new plush parlor set. Miss Angeline Phinney
+      never called on the Cahoons after that without making her appearance at
+      the front door. &ldquo;I'll get some good out of that plush sofy I helped to pay
+      for,&rdquo; declared Angeline, &ldquo;if it's only to wear it out by settin' on it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There are two &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; in Bayport which have not yet been sold or even
+      bid for. One is Gabe Lumley's &ldquo;depot wagon,&rdquo; and the other is &ldquo;Dan'l
+      Webster,&rdquo; the horse which draws it. Both are very ancient, sadly in need
+      of upholstery, and jerky of locomotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe was, as usual, waiting at the station when the down train arrived, on
+      the Tuesday&mdash;or Wednesday&mdash;of the selectmen's meeting. The train
+      was due, according to the time-table, at eleven forty-five. This
+      time-table, and the signboard of the &ldquo;Bayport Hotel&rdquo; are the only bits of
+      humorous literature peculiar to our village, unless we add the political
+      editorials of the Bayport Breeze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, at eleven forty-five, Mr. Lumley was serenely dozing on the baggage
+      truck, which he had wheeled to the sunny side of the platform. At five
+      minutes past twelve, he yawned, stretched, and looked at his watch. Then,
+      rolling off the truck, he strolled to the edge of the platform and spoke
+      authoritatively to &ldquo;Dan'l Webster.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi there! stand still!&rdquo; commanded Mr. Lumley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Standing still being Dan'l's long suit, the order was obeyed. Gabe then
+      loafed to the door of the station and accosted the depot master, who was
+      nodding in his chair beside the telegraph instrument.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is she now, Ed?&rdquo; asked Mr. Lumley, referring to the train.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just left South Harniss. Be here pretty soon. What's your hurry?
+      Expectin' anybody?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naw; nobody that I know of, special. Sophrony Hallett's gone to Ostable,
+      but she won't be back till to-morrow I cal'late. Hello! there she whistles
+      now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Needless to say it was the train, not the widow Hallett, that had
+      whistled. The depot master rose from his chair. A yellow dog, his
+      property, scrambled from beneath it, and rushing out of the door and to
+      the farther end of the platform, barked furiously. Cephas Baker, who lives
+      across the road from the depot, slouched down to his front gate. His wife
+      opened the door of her kitchen and stood there, her wet arms wrapped in
+      her apron. The five Baker children tore round the corner of the house,
+      over the back fence, and lined up, whooping joyously, on the platform. A
+      cloud of white smoke billowed above the clump of cedars at the bend of the
+      track. Then the locomotive rounded the curve and bore down upon the
+      station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand still, I tell you!&rdquo; shouted Gabe, addressing the horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dan'l Webster opened one eye, closed it and relapsed into slumber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The train, a combination baggage car and smoker, two freight cars and a
+      passenger coach, rolled ponderously alongside the platform. From the open
+      door of the baggage car were tossed the mail sack and two express
+      packages. The conductor stepped from the passenger coach. Following him
+      came briskly a short, thickset man with a reddish-gray beard and
+      grayish-red hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' down to the village, Mister?&rdquo; inquired Mr. Lumley. &ldquo;Carriage right
+      here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger inspected the driver of the depot wagon, inspected him
+      deliberately from top to toe. Then he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Down to the village? Why, yes, I wouldn't wonder. Say! you're a Lumley,
+      ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why! why&mdash;yes, I be! How'd you know that? Ain't ever seen you afore,
+      have I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Guess not,&rdquo; with a quiet chuckle. &ldquo;I've never seen you, either, but I've
+      seen your nose. I'd know a Lumley nose if I run across it in China.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The possessor of the &ldquo;Lumley nose&rdquo; rubbed that organ in a bewildered
+      fashion. Recovering in a measure he laughed, rather half-heartedly, and
+      begged to know if the trunk, then being unloaded from the baggage car,
+      belonged to his prospective passenger. As the answer was an affirmative
+      nod, he secured the trunk check and departed, still rubbing his nose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he returned, with the trunk on the truck, he found the stranger, with
+      his hands in his pockets, standing before Dan'l Webster and gazing at that
+      animal with an expression of acute interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this your&mdash;horse?&rdquo; demanded the newcomer, pausing before the
+      final word of his question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's so cal'lated to be,&rdquo; replied Gabe, with dignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Does he work nights?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Work nights? No, course he don't!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, all right! Then you can wake him up with a clear conscience. I didn't
+      know but he needed the sleep. What's his record?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Record?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup; his trottin' record. Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow in
+      the beam and sharp fore and aft. Shall I get aboard the barouche?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned broadly.
+      Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might get aboard if he
+      wanted to. Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang into the depot wagon
+      with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock on its springs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jerushy!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;she rolls some, don't she? Never mind, MY
+      ballast 'll keep her on an even keel. Trunk made fast astern? All right!
+      Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's I can take an
+      observation as we go along. Don't go so fast that the scenery gets
+      blurred, will you? It's been some time since I made this cruise, and I'd
+      rather like to keep a lookout.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The driver &ldquo;furled the canvas&rdquo;&mdash;that is, he rolled up the curtains at
+      the sides of the carryall. Then he climbed to the front seat and took up
+      the reins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git up!&rdquo; he shouted savagely. Dan'l Webster did not move.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger offered a suggestion. &ldquo;Why don't you try hangin' an alarm
+      clock in his fore-riggin'?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Haw! haw!&rdquo; roared the depot master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git up, you&mdash;you lump!&rdquo; bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley. Dan'l
+      pricked up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way. As the equipage
+      passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered about the gate,
+      staring at the occupant of the wagon. The stare was returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who lives in there?&rdquo; demanded the stranger. &ldquo;Who are those folks?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ceph Baker's tribe,&rdquo; was the sullen answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baker, hey? Humph! new folks, I presume likely. Used to be Seth Snow's
+      house, that did. Where'd Seth go to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe grunted that he did not know. He believed Mr. Snow was dead, had died
+      years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! dead, hey? Then I know where he went. Do you ever smoke&mdash;or
+      does drivin' this horse make you too nervous?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar. He admitted
+      that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed &ldquo;'twouldn't interfere with
+      the drivin' none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good enough! then we'll light up. I can talk better if I'm under a head
+      of steam. There's a new house; who built that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;new&rdquo; house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of its
+      builder. Then, thinking that the catechising had been altogether too
+      one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is a pretty good cigar, Mister,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Smokes like a Snowflake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like a what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like a Snowflake. That's about the best straight five center you can get
+      around here. Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's cart ain't called
+      lately and he's all out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's a shame. I told the train boy that these smoked like somethin',
+      but I didn't know what to call it. Much obliged to you. Here's another;
+      put it in your pocket. Oh, no thanks; pleasure's all mine. Who's Simmons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor. Then he
+      added:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered over with
+      labels, ain't it? Cal'late that trunk's done some travelin', hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think so, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Gee! I'd like to travel myself. But no! I got to stay all my life in
+      this dead 'n' alive hole. I wanted to go to Boston and clerk in a store,
+      but the old man put his foot down, and here I've stuck ever sence. Git up,
+      Dan'l! What's the matter with you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't find fault, son,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There's worse places in the world than
+      old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad. Don't forget that
+      or you may be sorry for it some day.&rdquo; He sniffed eagerly. &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; he
+      exclaimed, &ldquo;just smell that, will you? Ain't that FINE?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! that's the flats. You can smell 'em any time when the tide's out
+      and the wind's right. You see, the tide goes out pretty fur here and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't I know it? Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that smell
+      and here 'tis at last. Drive slow and let me fill up on it. Just blow that&mdash;that
+      Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell, won't you? Thanks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley paid no
+      attention to it. He puffed industriously at the Snowflake and watched his
+      companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was gazing out at the town
+      and the bay beyond it. The &ldquo;depot hill&rdquo; is not as high as Whittaker's
+      Hill, but the view is almost as extensive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me, Mister,&rdquo; observed Gabe, after an interval, &ldquo;but you ain't said
+      where you're goin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger came out of his day dream with a start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, that's right!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;So I haven't! Well, now, where would
+      you go, if you was me? Is there a hotel or tavern or somethin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. There's the Bayport Hotel. 'Tain't exactly a hotel, neither. We call
+      it the perfect boardin' house 'round here. You see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He proceeded to tell the story of &ldquo;the perfect boarding house.&rdquo; His
+      listener seemed greatly interested, and although he laughed, did not
+      interrupt until the tale was ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he said, chuckling. &ldquo;Bailey Bangs, hey? Stub Bangs! Well, well! And
+      he married Ketury Payson! How in time did he ever find spunk enough to
+      propose? And Ketury runs the perfect boardin' house! Well, that ought to
+      be job enough for one woman. She runs Bailey, too, on the side, I s'pose?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet you! He don't dast to say 'boo' to a chicken when she's 'round. I
+      say, Mister! I don't know's I know your name, do I? I judge you've been
+      here afore so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I've been here before. Whose is that big place up there across our
+      bows? The one with the cupola on the main truck?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That, sir,&rdquo; said Mr. Lumley, oratorically, &ldquo;belongs to the Honorable
+      Heman G. Atkins, and it's probably the finest in this county. Heman is our
+      representative in Washin'ton, and&mdash;Did you say anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger had said something, but he did not repeat it. He was leaning
+      from the carriage and gazing steadily up the slope ahead. And his gaze,
+      strange to say, was not directed at the imposing Atkins estate, but at its
+      opposite neighbor, the old &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Slowly, laboriously, Dan'l Webster mounted the hill. At the crest he would
+      have paused to take breath, but the driver would not let him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git along, you!&rdquo; he commanded, flapping the reins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And then Mr. Lumley suffered the shock of a surprise. The hitherto cool
+      and self-possessed occupant of the rear seat seemed very much excited. His
+      big red hand clasped Mr. Lumley's over the reins, and Dan'l was brought to
+      an abrupt standstill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heave to!&rdquo; he ordered, sharply, and the tone was that of one who has
+      given many orders and expects them to be obeyed. &ldquo;Belay! Whoa, there!
+      Great land of love! look at that! LOOK at it! Who did that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The mate to the big red hand pointed to the front door of the Whittaker
+      place. Gabe was alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Done what? Done which?&rdquo; he gasped. &ldquo;What you talkin' about? There ain't
+      nobody lives in there. That house has been empty for&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's the front fence?&rdquo; demanded the excited passenger. &ldquo;What's become
+      of the hedge? And who put up that&mdash;that darned piazza?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The piazza had been where it now was almost since Mr. Lumley could
+      remember. He hastened to reply that he didn't know; he wasn't sure; he
+      presumed likely 'twas &ldquo;them New Hampshire Howeses,&rdquo; when they ran a summer
+      boarding house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger drew a long breath. &ldquo;Well, of all the&mdash;&rdquo; he began. Then
+      he choked, hesitated, and ordered his driver to heave ahead and run
+      alongside the hotel as quick as the Almighty would let him. Gabe hastened
+      to obey. He was now absolutely certain that his companion was an escaped
+      lunatic, and the sooner another keeper was appointed the better. The
+      remainder of the trip was made in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Bangs opened the door of the perfect boarding house and stood
+      majestically waiting to receive the prospective guest. Over her shoulders
+      peered the faces of the boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good afternoon,&rdquo; began the landlady. &ldquo;I presume likely you would like to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was interrupted. The newcomer turned toward her and extended his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ketury!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain't seen you sence you wore your hair up,
+      but you're just as good-lookin' as ever. And ain't that Bailey? Yes, 'tis,
+      and Asaph, too! How are you, boys? Shake!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs and his chum, the town clerk, had emerged from the doorway.
+      Their mouths and eyes were wide open and they seemed to be suffering from
+      a sort of paralysis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well? What's the matter with you?&rdquo; demanded the arrival. &ldquo;Ain't too stuck
+      up to shake hands after all these years, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's mouth closed in order that it's possessor might swallow. Then it
+      slowly reopened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swan to man!&rdquo; he ejaculated. &ldquo;WELL! I swan to man! I&mdash;I b'lieve
+      you're Cy Whittaker!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I am. Have to dye my carrot top if I want to play anybody else.
+      But look here, boys, you answer my question: who had the cheek to rig up
+      that blasted piazza on my house? It starts to come down to-morrow
+      mornin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      &ldquo;FIXIN' OVER&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      Miss Angeline Phinney made no less than nine calls that afternoon. Before
+      bedtime it was known, from the last house in Woodchuck Lane to the fish
+      shanties at West Bayport, that &ldquo;young Cy&rdquo; Whittaker had come back; that he
+      had come back &ldquo;for good&rdquo;; that he was staying temporarily at the perfect
+      boarding house; that he was &ldquo;awful well off&rdquo;&mdash;having made lots of
+      money down in South America; that he intended to &ldquo;fix over&rdquo; the Whittaker
+      place, and that it was to be fixed over, not in a modern manner, with
+      plush parlor sets&mdash;a la Sylvanus Cahoon&mdash;nor with onyx tables
+      and blue and gold chairs like those adorning the Atkins mansion. It was to
+      be, as near as possible, a reproduction of what it had been in the time of
+      the late &ldquo;Cap'n Cy,&rdquo; young Cy's father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I</i> think he's out of his head,&rdquo; declared Miss Phinney, in
+      confidence, to each of the nine females whom she favored with her calls.
+      &ldquo;Not crazy, you understand, but sort of touched in the upper story. I says
+      so to Matildy Tripp, said it right out, too: 'Matildy,' I says, 'he's got
+      a screw loose up aloft just as sure as you're a born woman!' 'What makes
+      you think so?' says she. 'Well,' says I, 'do you s'pose anybody that wan't
+      foolish would be for spendin' good money on an old house to make it
+      OLDER?' I says. Goin' to tear down the piazza the fust thing! Perfectly
+      good piazza that cost ninety-eight dollars and sixty cents to build; I
+      know, because I see the bill when the Howeses had it done. And he's goin'
+      to set out box hedges, somethin' that ain't been the style in this town
+      sence Congressman Atkins pulled up his. 'What in the world, Cap'n
+      Whittaker,' says I to him, 'do you want of box hedges? Homely and stiff
+      and funeral lookin'! I might have 'em around my grave in the buryin'
+      ground,' I says, 'but nowheres else.' 'All right, Angie,' says he, 'you
+      shall have 'em there; I'll cut some slips purpose for you. It'll be a
+      pleasure,' he says. Now ain't that crazy talk for a grown man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney was not the only one in our village to question Captain Cy
+      Whittaker's sanity during the next few months. The majority of our people
+      didn't understand him at all. He was generally liked, for although he had
+      money, he did not put on airs, but he had his own way of doing things, and
+      they were not Bayport ways.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      True to his promise, he had a squad of carpenters busy, on the day
+      following his arrival, tearing down the loathed piazza. These carpenters,
+      and more, were kept busy throughout that entire spring and well into the
+      summer. Then came painters and gardeners. The piazza disappeared; a new
+      picket fence, exactly like the old one torn down by the Howeses, was
+      erected; new shutters were hung; new windowpanes were set; the roof was
+      newly shingled. Captain Cy, Senior, had, in his day, cherished a New
+      England fondness for white and green paint; therefore the new fence was
+      white and the house was white and the blinds a brilliant green. Rows of
+      box hedge, the plants brought from Boston, were set out on each side of
+      the front walk. The Howes front-door bell&mdash;a clamorous gong&mdash;was
+      removed, and a glass knob attached to a spring bell of the old-fashioned
+      &ldquo;jingle&rdquo; variety took its place. An old-fashioned flower garden&mdash;Cap'n
+      Cy's mother had loved posies&mdash;was laid out on the west lawn beyond
+      the pear trees. All these changes the captain superintended; when they
+      were complete he turned his attention to interior decoration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Captain Cy proceeded to, literally, astonish the natives. Among
+      the Howes &ldquo;improvements&rdquo; were gilt wall papers and modern furniture for
+      the lower floor of the house. The furniture they had taken with them; the
+      wall paper had perforce been left behind. And the captain had every scrap
+      of that paper stripped from the walls, and the latter re-covered with
+      quaint, ugly, old-fashioned patterns, stripes and roses and flowered
+      sprays with impossible birds flitting among them. The Bassett decorators
+      has pasted the gilt improvement over the old Whittaker paper, and it was
+      the Whittaker paper that the captain did his best to match, sending
+      samples here, there, and everywhere in the effort. Then, upon the walls he
+      hung old-fashioned pictures, such as Bayport dwellers had long ago
+      relegated to their attics, pictures like &ldquo;From Shore to Shore,&rdquo; &ldquo;Christian
+      Viewing the City Beautiful,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Signing the Declaration.&rdquo; To these he
+      added, bringing them from the crowded garret of the homestead, oil
+      paintings of ships commanded by his father and grandfather, and family
+      portraits, executed&mdash;which is a peculiarly fitting word&mdash;by
+      deceased local artists in oil and crayon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He boarded up the fireplace in the sitting room and installed a
+      base-burner stove, resurrected from the tinsmith's barn. He purchased a
+      full &ldquo;haircloth set&rdquo; of parlor furniture from old Mrs. Penniman, who never
+      had been known to sell any of her hoarded belongings before, even to the
+      &ldquo;antiquers,&rdquo; and wouldn't have done so now, had it not been that the
+      captain's offer was too princely to be real, and the old lady feared she
+      might be dreaming and would wake up before she received the money. And
+      from Trumet to Ostable he journeyed, buying a chair here and a table
+      there, braided rag mats from this one, and corded bedsteads and &ldquo;rising
+      sun&rdquo; quilts from that. At least half of Bayport believed with Gabe Lumley
+      and Miss Phinney that, if Captain Cy had not escaped from a home for the
+      insane, he was a likely candidate for such an institution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the table of the perfect boarding house the captain was not inclined to
+      be communicative regarding his reasons and his intentions. He was a prime
+      favorite there, praising Keturah's cooking, joking with Angeline
+      concerning what he was pleased to call her &ldquo;giddy&rdquo; manner of dressing and
+      wearing &ldquo;side curls,&rdquo; and telling yarns of South American dress and
+      behavior, which would probably have shocked Mrs. Tripp&mdash;she having
+      recently left the Methodist church to join the &ldquo;Come-Outers,&rdquo; because the
+      Sunday services of the former were, with the organ and a paid choir,
+      altogether &ldquo;too play-actin'&rdquo;&mdash;if they had not been so interesting,
+      and if Captain Cy had not always concluded them with the observation: &ldquo;But
+      there! you can't expect nothin' more from ignorant critters denied the
+      privileges of congregational singin' and experience meetin's; hey,
+      Matilda?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Tripp would sigh and admit that she supposed not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only I do wish Mr. Daniels, OUR minister, might have a chance to preach
+      over 'em, poor things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So do I,&rdquo; with a covert wink at Mrs. Bangs, who was a stanch adherent of
+      the regular faith. &ldquo;South America 'd be just the place for him; ain't that
+      so, Keturah?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He evaded all personal questions put to him by the boarders, explaining
+      that he was renovating the old place just for fun&mdash;he always had had
+      a gang of men working for him, and it seemed natural somehow. But to the
+      friends of his boyhood, Asaph Tidditt and Bailey Bangs, he told the real
+      truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swan to man!&rdquo; exclaimed Bailey, almost tearfully, as the trio wandered
+      through the rooms of the Cy Whittaker place, dodging paper hangers and
+      plasterers; &ldquo;I swan to man, Whit, if it don't almost seem as though I was
+      a boy again. Why! it's your dad's house come back alive, it is so! Look at
+      this settin' room! Seem's if I could see him now a-settin' by that ere
+      stove, and Mrs. Whittaker, your ma, over there a-sewin', and old Cap'n Cy&mdash;your
+      granddad&mdash;snoozin' in that big armchair&mdash;Why! why, whit! it's
+      the very image of the chair he always set in!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's more n' that, Bailey,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;it's THE chair. 'Twas up attic, all
+      busted and crippled, but I had it made over like new. And there's
+      granddad's picture, lookin' just as I remember him&mdash;only he wan't
+      quite so much of a frozen wax image as he's painted there. I'm goin' to
+      hang it where it always hung, over the mantelpiece, next to the lookin'
+      glass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great land of love, boys!&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;you fellers don't know what this
+      means to me. Many and many's the time I've had this old house and this old
+      room in my mind. I've seen 'em aboard ship in a howlin' gale off the Horn.
+      I've seen 'em down in Surinam of a hot night, when there wan't a breath
+      scurcely and the Caribs went around dressed in a handkerchief and a paper
+      cigar, and it made you wish you could. I've seen 'em&mdash;but there!
+      every time I've seen 'em I've swore that some day I'd come back and LIVE
+      'em, and now, by the big dipper! here I am. Oh, I tell you, chummies, you
+      want to be fired OUT of a home and out of a town to appreciate 'em! Not
+      that I blame the old man; he and I was too much alike to cruise in
+      company. But Bayport I was born in, and in the Bayport graveyard they can
+      plant me when I'm ready for the scrap heap. It's in the blood and&mdash;Why,
+      see here! Don't I TALK like a Bayporter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You sartin do!&rdquo; replied Asaph emphatically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A body 'd think you'd been diggin' clams and pickin' cranberries in
+      Bassett's Holler all your life long, to hear you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet! Well, that's pride; that's what that is. I prided myself on
+      hangin' to the Bayport twang through thick and thin. Among all the Spanish
+      'Carambas' and 'Madre de Dioses' it did me good to come out with a good
+      old Yankee 'darn' once in a while. Kept me feelin' like a white man. Oh,
+      I'm a Whittaker! <i>I</i> know it. And I've got all the Whittaker
+      pig-headedness, I guess. And because the old man&mdash;bless his heart, I
+      say now&mdash;told me I shouldn't BE a Whittaker no more, nor live like a
+      Whittaker, I simply swore up and down I would be one and come back here,
+      when I'd made my pile, to heave anchor and stay one till I die. Maybe
+      that's foolishness, but it's me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He puffed vigorously at the pipe which had taken the place of the
+      Snowflake cigar, and added:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take this old settin' room&mdash;why, here it is; see! Here's dad in his
+      chair and ma in hers, and, if you go back far enough, granddad in his,
+      just as you say, Bailey. And here's me, a little shaver, squattin' on the
+      floor by the stove, lookin' at the pictures in a heap of Godey's Lady's
+      Book. And says dad, 'Bos'n,' he says&mdash;he used to call me 'Bos'n' in
+      those days&mdash;'Bos'n,' says dad, 'run down cellar and fetch me up a
+      pitcher of cider, that's a good feller.' Yes, yes; that's this room as
+      I've seen it in my mind ever since I tiptoed through it the night I run
+      away, with my duds in a bundle under my arm. Do you wonder I was fightin'
+      mad when I saw what that Howes tribe had done to it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Superintending the making over of the old home occupied most of Captain
+      Cy's daylight time that summer. His evenings were spent at Simmons's
+      store. We have no clubs in Bayport, strictly speaking, for the sewing
+      circle and the Shakespeare Reading Society are exclusively feminine in
+      membership; therefore Simmons's store is the gathering place of those
+      males who are bachelors or widowers or who are sufficiently free from
+      petticoat government to risk an occasional evening out. Asaph Tidditt was
+      a regular sojourner at the store. Bailey Bangs, happening in to purchase
+      fifty cents' worth of sugar or to have the molasses jug filled, lingered
+      occasionally, but not often. Captain Cy explained Bailey's absence in
+      characteristic fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Variety,&rdquo; observed the captain, &ldquo;is the spice of life. Bailey gets talk
+      enough to home. What's the use of his comin' up here to get more?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I don't know,&rdquo; said Josiah Dimick, with a grin, &ldquo;we let him do some
+      of the talkin' himself up here. Down at the boardin' house Keturah and
+      Angie Phinney do it all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Still, if a feller was condemned to live over a biler factory he
+      wouldn't hanker to get a job IN it, would he? When Bailey was a delegate
+      to the Methodist Conference up in Boston, him and a crowd visited the deef
+      and dumb asylum. When 'twas time to go, he was missin', and they found him
+      in the female ward lookin' at the inmates. Said that the sight of all them
+      women, every one of 'em not able to say a word, was the most wonderful
+      thing ever he laid eyes on. Said it made him feel kind of reverent and
+      holy, almost as if he was in Paradise. So Ase Tidditt says, anyway; it's
+      his yarn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tain't nuther, Cy Whittaker!&rdquo; declared the indignant Asaph. &ldquo;If you
+      expect I'm goin' to father all your lies, you're mistaken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The crowd at Simmons's discuss politics, as a general thing; state and
+      national politics in their seasons, but county politics and local affairs
+      always. The question in Bayport that summer, aside from that of the harbor
+      appropriation, was who should be hired as downstairs teacher. Our
+      schoolhouse is a two-story building, with a schoolroom on each floor. The
+      lower room, where the little tots begin with their &ldquo;C&mdash;A&mdash;T
+      Cat,&rdquo; and progress until they have mastered the Fourth Reader, is called
+      &ldquo;downstairs.&rdquo; &ldquo;Upstairs&rdquo; is, of course, the second story, where the older
+      children are taught. To handle some of the &ldquo;big boys&rdquo; upstairs is a task
+      for a healthy man, and such a one usually fills the teacher's position
+      there. Downstairs being, in theory, at least, less strenuous, is presided
+      over by a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Seabury, who had been downstairs teacher for one lively term, had
+      resigned that spring in tears and humiliation. Her scholars had enjoyed
+      themselves and would have liked her to continue, but the committee and the
+      townspeople thought otherwise. There was a general feeling that enjoyment
+      was not the whole aim of education.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Betty,&rdquo; said Captain Dimick, referring to his small granddaughter, &ldquo;has
+      done fust rate so fur's marksmanship and lung trainin' goes. I cal'late
+      she can hit a nail head ten foot off with a spitball three times out of
+      four, and she can whisper loud enough to be understood in Jericho. But,
+      not wishing to be unreasonable, still I should like to have her spell
+      'door' without an 'e.' I've always been used to seein' it spelled that way
+      and&mdash;well, I'm kind of old-fashioned, anyway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a difference of opinion concerning Miss Seabury's successor. A
+      portion of the townspeople were for hiring a graduate of the State Normal
+      School, a young woman with modern training. Others, remembering that Miss
+      Seabury had graduated from that school, were for proved ability and less
+      up-to-date methods. These latter had selected a candidate in the person of
+      a Miss Phoebe Dawes, a resident of Wellmouth, and teacher of the Wellmouth
+      &ldquo;downstairs&rdquo; for some years. The arguments at Simmons's were hot ones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the use of hirin' somebody from right next door to us, as you
+      might say?&rdquo; demanded Alpheus Smalley, clerk at the store. &ldquo;Don't we want
+      our teachin' to be abreast of the times, and is Wellmouth abreast of
+      ANYthing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's abreast of the bay, that's about all, I will give in,&rdquo; replied Mr.
+      Tidditt. &ldquo;But, the way I look at it, we need disCIPline more 'n anything
+      else, and Phoebe Dawes has had the best disCIPline in her school, that's
+      been known in these latitudes. Order? Why, say! Eben Salters told me that
+      when he visited her room over there 'twas so still that he didn't dast to
+      rub one shoe against t'other, it sounded up so. He had to set still and
+      bear his chilblains best he could. And POPULAR! Why, when she hinted that
+      she might leave in May, her scholars more 'n ha'f of 'em, bust out cryin'.
+      Now you hear me, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; put in Thaddeus Simpson, who ran the barber shop and was
+      something of a politician, &ldquo;it seems to me, fellers, that we'd better wait
+      and hear what Mr. Atkins has to say in this matter. I guess that's what
+      the committee 'll do, anyhow. We wouldn't want to go contrary to Heman,
+      none of us; hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; Simpson was known to be deep in Congressman Atkins's confidence. The
+      mention of the great man's name was received with reverence and nods of
+      approval.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. We mustn't do nothin' to displease Heman,&rdquo; was the general
+      opinion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not join the chorus. He refilled his pipe and crossed his
+      legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;Heman Atkins seems to be&mdash;Give me a match, Ase,
+      won't you? Thanks. I understand there's a special prayer meetin' at the
+      church to-morrow night, Alpheus. What's it for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For?&rdquo; Mr. Smalley seemed surprised. &ldquo;It's to pray for rain, that's what.
+      You know it, Cap'n, as well's I do. Ain't everybody's garden dryin' up and
+      the ponds so low that we shan't be able to get water for the cranberry
+      ditches pretty soon? There's need to pray, I should think!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Seems a roundabout way of gettin' a thing, don't it? Why don't you
+      telegraph to Heman and ask him to fix it for you? Save time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark was received in horrified silence. Tad Simpson was the first
+      to recover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you ain't met Mr. Atkins yet. When you do, you'll feel
+      same as the rest of us. He's comin' home next week; then you'll see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A part at least of Mr. Simpson's prophecy proved true. The Honorable
+      Atkins did come to Bayport the following week, accompanied by his little
+      daughter Alicia, the housekeeper, and the Atkins servants. The Honorable
+      and his daughter had been, since the adjournment of Congress, on a
+      pleasure trip to the Yosemite and Yellowstone Park, and now they were to
+      remain in the mansion on the hill for some time. The big house was opened,
+      the stone urns burst into refulgent bloom, the iron dogs were refreshed
+      with a coat of black paint, and the big iron gate was swung wide. Bayport
+      sat up and took notice. Angeline Phinney was in her glory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The meeting between Captain Cy and Mr. Atkins took place the morning after
+      the latter's return. The captain and his two chums had been inspecting the
+      progress made by the carpenters and were leaning over the new fence, then
+      just erected, but not yet painted. Down the gravel walk of the mansion
+      across the road came strolling its owner, silk-hatted, side-whiskered,
+      benignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph. &ldquo;There's Heman. See him, Whit?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup, I see him. Seems to be headin' this way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I do believe he's comin' across,&rdquo; whispered Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;Yes, he
+      is. He's real everyday, Cy. HE won't mind if you ain't dressed up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Won't he? That's comfortin'. Well, I'll do the best I can without
+      stimulants, as the doctor says. If you hear my knees rattle just nudge me,
+      will you, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt removed his hat. Bailey touched his. Captain Cy looked
+      provokingly indifferent; he even whistled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good mornin', Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; hailed the town clerk, raising his voice
+      because of the whistle. &ldquo;I'm proud to see you back among us, sir. Hope you
+      and Alicia had a nice time out West. How is she&mdash;pretty smart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins smiled a bland, congressional smile. He approached the group by
+      the fence and extended his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, Asaph!&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;it is you then? I thought so. And Bailey, too. It
+      is certainly delightful to see you both again. Yes, my daughter is well, I
+      thank you. She, like her father, is glad to be back in the old home nest
+      after the round of hotel life and gayety which we have&mdash;er&mdash;recently
+      undergone. Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; said Bailey, glancing nervously at Captain Cy, who had
+      stopped whistling and was regarding the Atkins hat and whiskers with an
+      interested air, &ldquo;I want to make you acquainted with your new neighbor. You
+      used to know him when you was a boy, but&mdash;but&mdash;er&mdash;Mr.
+      Atkins, this is Captain Cyrus Whittaker. Cy, this is Congressman Atkins.
+      You've heard us speak of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The great man started.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it possible!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Is it possible that this is really my old
+      playmate Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; replied the captain calmly. &ldquo;How are you, Heman? Fatter'n you used
+      to be, ain't you? Washin'ton must agree with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey and Asaph were scandalized. Mr. Atkins himself seemed a trifle
+      taken aback. Comments on his personal appearance were not usual in
+      Bayport. But he rallied bravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Cyrus, I am delighted to welcome you back among
+      us. I should scarcely have known you. You are older&mdash;yes, much
+      older.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, forty year more or less, added to what you started with, is apt to
+      make a feller some older. Don't need any Normal School graduate to do that
+      sum for us. I'm within seven or eight year of bein' as old as you are,
+      Heman, and that's too antique to be sold for veal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins changed the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had heard of your return, Cyrus,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It gave me much pleasure to
+      learn that you were rebuilding and&mdash;er&mdash;renovating the&mdash;er&mdash;the
+      ancestral&mdash;er&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The old home nest? Yup, I'm puttin' back a few feathers. Old birds like
+      to roost comf'table. You've got a fairly roomy coop yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Isn't it&mdash;er&mdash;I should suppose you would find it rather
+      expensive. Can you&mdash;do you&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I can afford it, thank you. Maybe there'll be enough left in the
+      stockin' to buy a few knickknacks for the yard. You can't tell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain glanced at the iron dogs guarding the Atkins gate. His tone
+      was rather sharp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, certainly; certainly; of course. It gives me much pleasure to
+      have you as a neighbor. I have always felt a fondness for the old place,
+      even when you allowed it&mdash;even when it was most&mdash;er&mdash;run
+      down, if you'll excuse the term. I always felt a liking for it and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; was the significant interruption. &ldquo;I judged you must have, from
+      what I heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was steering dangerously close to the selectmen and the contemplated
+      &ldquo;sale for taxes.&rdquo; The town clerk broke in nervously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there's been consider'ble talk in town about who's
+      to be teacher downstairs this comin' year. We've sort of chawed it over
+      among us, but naturally we wanted your opinion. What do you think? I'm
+      kind of leanin' toward the Dawes woman, myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Congressman cleared his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Far be it from me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to speak except as a mere member of our
+      little community, an ordinary member, but, AS such a member, with the
+      welfare of my birthplace very near and dear to me, I confess that I am
+      inclined to favor a modern teacher, one educated and trained in the
+      institution provided for the purpose by our great commonwealth. The Dawes&mdash;er&mdash;person
+      is undoubtedly worthy and capable in her way, but&mdash;well&mdash;er&mdash;we
+      know that Wellmouth is not Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The reference to &ldquo;our great commonwealth&rdquo; had been given in the voice and
+      the manner wont to thrill us at our Fourth-of-July celebrations and
+      October &ldquo;rallies.&rdquo; Two of his hearers, at least, were visibly impressed.
+      Asaph looked somewhat crestfallen, but he surrendered gracefully to
+      superior wisdom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That's so, ain't it, Cy? I hadn't thought of that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's so?&rdquo; asked the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;why, that Wellmouth ain't Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No doubt of it. They're twenty miles apart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Well, I'm glad to hear you put it so conclusive, Mr. Atkins. I can
+      see now that Phoebe wouldn't do. Hum! Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins buttoned the frock coat and turned to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, gentlemen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Cyrus, permit me once more to welcome you
+      heartily to our village. We&mdash;my daughter and myself&mdash;will
+      probably remain at home until the fall. I trust you will be a frequent
+      caller. Run in on us at any time. Pray do not stand upon ceremony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Captain Cy shortly, &ldquo;I won't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. That's right. Good morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He walked briskly down the hill. The trio gazed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; sighed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;That's settled. And it's a comfort to know
+      'tis settled. Still I did kind of want Phoebe Dawes; but of course Heman
+      knows best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course he knows best!&rdquo; snapped Bailey. &ldquo;Ain't he the biggest gun in this
+      county, pretty nigh? I'd like to know who is if he ain't. The committee
+      'll call the Normal School girl now, and a good thing, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was still gazing at the dignified form of the &ldquo;biggest gun in
+      the county.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let's see,&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Who's on the school committee? Eben Salters, of
+      course, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Eben's chairman and he'll vote Phoebe, anyhow; he's that pig-headed
+      that nobody&mdash;not even a United States Representative&mdash;could
+      change him. But Darius Ellis 'll be for Heman's way and so 'll Lemuel
+      Myrick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lemuel Myrick? Lem Myrick, the painter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin. There ain't but one Myrick in town.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; murmured the captain and was silent for some minutes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The school committee met on the following Wednesday evening. On Thursday
+      morning a startling rumor spread throughout Bayport. Phoebe Dawes had been
+      called, by a vote of two to one, to teach the downstairs school. Asaph,
+      aghast, rushed out of Simmons's store and up to the hill to the Cy
+      Whittaker place. He found Captain Cy in the front yard. Mr. Myrick, school
+      committeeman and house painter, was with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ase!&rdquo; hailed the captain. &ldquo;What's the matter? Hasn't the tide come
+      in this mornin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph, somewhat embarrassed by the presence of Mr. Myrick, hesitated over
+      his news. Lemuel came to his rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase has just heard that we called Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What of it? I voted
+      for her, and I ain't ashamed of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but Mr. Atkins, he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Heman ain't on the committee, is he? I vote the way I think right,
+      and no one in this town can change me. Anyway,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;I'm going to
+      resign next spring. Yes, Cap'n Whittaker, I think three coats of white 'll
+      do on the sides here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lem's goin' to do my paintin' jobs,&rdquo; explained Captain Cy. &ldquo;His price was
+      a little higher than some of the other fellers, but I like his work.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt pondered deeply until dinner time. Then he cornered the
+      captain behind the Bangs barn and spoke with conviction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you're the one responsible for the committee's hirin'
+      Phoebe Dawes. You offered Lem the paintin' job if he'd vote for her. What
+      did you do it for? You don't know her, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never set eyes on her in my life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then&mdash;then&mdash;You heard Heman say he wanted the other one. What
+      made you do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I've always been a great hand for tryin' experiments. Had
+      one of my cooks aboard put raisins in the flapjacks once, just to see what
+      they tasted like. I judged Heman had had his own way in this town for
+      thirty odd year. I kind of wanted to see what would happen if he didn't
+      have it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Lemuel Myrick's painting jobs have the quality so prized by our village
+      small boys in the species of candy called &ldquo;jaw breakers,&rdquo; namely, that of
+      &ldquo;lasting long.&rdquo; But even Lem must finish sometime or other and, late in
+      July, the Cy Whittaker place was ready for occupancy. The pictures were in
+      their places on the walls, the old-fashioned furniture filled the rooms,
+      there was even a pile of old magazines, back numbers of Godey's Lady's
+      Book, on the shelf in the sitting room closet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, when Captain Cy had notified Mrs. Bangs that the perfect boarding
+      house would shelter him no longer than the coming week, a new problem
+      arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; said Asaph earnestly, &ldquo;you've sartin made the place rise up out of
+      its tomb; you have so. It's a miracle, pretty nigh, and I cal'late it must
+      have cost a heap, but you've done it&mdash;all but the old folks
+      themselves. You can't raise them up, Cy; money won't do that. And you
+      can't live in this great house all alone. Who's goin' to cook for you, and
+      sweep and dust, and swab decks, and one thing a'nother? You'll have to
+      have a housekeeper, as I told you a spell ago. Have you done any thinkin'
+      about that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And the captain, taking his pipe from his lips, stared blankly at his
+      friend, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper, Ase, I ain't! I remember we did mention it, but I've
+      been so busy gettin' this craft off the ways that I forgot all about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The discussion which followed Mr. Tidditt's reminder was long and serious.
+      Asaph and Bailey Bangs racked their brains and offered numerous
+      suggestions, but the majority of these were not favorably received.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's Matildy Tripp,&rdquo; said Bailey. &ldquo;She'd like the job, I'm sartin.
+      She's a widow, too, and she's had experience keepin' house along of
+      Tobias, him that was her husband. But, if you do hire her, don't let
+      Ketury know I hinted at it, 'cause we're goin' to lose one boarder when
+      you quit, and that's too many, 'cordin' to the old lady's way of
+      thinkin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can keep Matildy, for all me,&rdquo; replied the captain decidedly.
+      &ldquo;Come-Outer religion's all right, for those that have that kind of
+      appetite, but havin' it passed to me three times a day, same as I've had
+      it at your house, is enough; I don't hanker to have it warmed over between
+      meals. If I shipped Matildy aboard here she and the Reverend Daniels would
+      stand over me, watch and watch, till I was converted or crazy, one or the
+      other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there's Angie. She&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Angie!&rdquo; sniffed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;Stop your jokin', Bailey. This is a serious
+      matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wan't jokin'. What&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there! boys,&rdquo; interrupted the captain; &ldquo;don't fight. Bailey didn't
+      mean to joke, Ase; he's full of what the papers call 'unconscious humor.'
+      I'll give in that Angie is about as serious a matter as I can think of
+      without settin' down to rest. Humph! so fur we haven't gained any knots to
+      speak of. Any more candidates on your mind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      More possibilities were mentioned, but none of them seemed to fill the
+      bill. The conference broke up without arriving at a decision. Mr. Bangs
+      and the town clerk walked down the hill together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you know, Bailey,&rdquo; said Asaph, &ldquo;the way I look at it, this pickin' out
+      a housekeeper for Whit ain't any common job. It's somethin' to think over.
+      Cy's a restless critter; been cruisin' hither and yon all his life. I'm
+      sort of scared that he'll get tired of Bayport and quit if things here
+      don't go to suit him. Now if a real good nice woman&mdash;a nice LOOKIN'
+      woman, say&mdash;was to keep house for him it&mdash;it&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I mean&mdash;that is, don't you s'pose if some such woman as that
+      was to be found for the job he might in time come to like her and&mdash;and&mdash;er&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt, what are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I mean he might come to marry her; there! Then he'd be contented to
+      settle down to home and stay put. What do you think of the idea?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think of it? I think it's the dumdest foolishness ever I heard. I declare
+      if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches don't make your
+      heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun! Ain't Cy Whittaker got money?
+      Ain't he got a nice home? Ain't he happy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he is now, I s'pose, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WELL, then! And you want him to get married! What do you know about
+      marryin'? Never tried it, have you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't! You know I ain't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. Then I'd keep quiet about such things, if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You needn't fly up like a settin' hen. Everybody's wife ain't&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped in the middle of the sentence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's that?&rdquo; demanded his companion, sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'; nothin'. <i>I</i> don't care; I was only tryin' to fix things
+      comf'table for Whit. Has Heman said anything about the harbor
+      appropriation sence he's been home? I haven't heard of it if he has.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs's answer was a grunt, signifying a negative. Congressman Atkins
+      had been, since his return to Bayport, exceedingly noncommittal concerning
+      the appropriation. To Tad Simpson and a very few chosen lieutenants and
+      intimates he had said that he hoped to get it; that was all. This was a
+      disquieting change of attitude, for, at the beginning of the term just
+      passed, he had affirmed that he was GOING to get it. However, as Mr.
+      Simpson reassuringly said: &ldquo;The job's in as good hands as can be, so
+      what's the use of OUR worryin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey Bangs certainly was not troubled on that score; but the town
+      clerk's proposal that Captain Cy be provided with a suitable wife did
+      worry him. Bailey was so very much married himself and had such decided,
+      though unspoken, views concerning matrimony that such a proposal seemed to
+      him lunacy, pure and simple. He had liked and admired his friend &ldquo;Whit&rdquo; in
+      the old days, when the latter led them into all sorts of boyish scrapes;
+      now he regarded him with a liking that was close to worship. The captain
+      was so jolly and outspoken; so brave and independent&mdash;witness his
+      crossing of the great Atkins in the matter of the downstairs teacher. That
+      was a reckless piece of folly which would, doubtless, be rewarded after
+      its kind, but Bailey, though he professed to condemn it, secretly wished
+      he had the pluck to dare such things. As it was, he didn't dare contradict
+      Keturah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With the exception of one voyage as cabin boy to New Orleans, a voyage
+      which convinced him that he was not meant for a seaman, Mr. Bangs had
+      never been farther from his native village than Boston. Captain Cy had
+      been almost everywhere and seen almost everything. He could spin yarns
+      that beat the serial stories in the patent inside of the Bayport Breeze
+      all hollow. Bailey had figured that, when the &ldquo;fixin' over&rdquo; was ended, the
+      Cy Whittaker place would be for him a delightful haven of refuge, where he
+      could put his boots on the furniture, smoke until dizzy without being
+      pounced upon, be entertained and thrilled with tales of adventure afloat
+      and ashore, and even express his own opinion, when he had any, with the
+      voice and lung power of a free-born American citizen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Asaph Tidditt, who should know better, even though he was a
+      bachelor, wanted to bring a wife into this paradise; not a paid domestic
+      who could be silenced, or discharged, if she became a nuisance, but a
+      WIFE! Bailey guessed not; not if he could prevent it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So he lay awake nights thinking of possible housekeepers for Captain Cy,
+      and carefully rejecting all those possessing dangerous attractions of any
+      kind. Each morning, after breakfast, he ran over the list with the
+      captain, taking care that Asaph was not present. Captain Cy, who was very
+      busy with the finishing touches at the new old house, wearied on the third
+      morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Bailey!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Don't bother me now. I've got other
+      things on my mind. How do I know who all these women folks are you're
+      stringing off to me? Let me alone, do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you must have a housekeeper, Cy. You'll move in Monday and you won't
+      have nobody to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, dry up! I want to think who I must see this morning. There's Lem and
+      old lady Penniman, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the housekeeper, Cy! Don't you see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hire one yourself, then. You know 'em; I don't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Hire one myself? Do you mean you'll leave it in my hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! I guess so. Run along, that's a good feller.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed hurriedly. Mr. Bangs scratched his head. A weighty
+      responsibility had been laid upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Monday morning after breakfast Captain Cy's trunk was put aboard the depot
+      wagon, and Dan'l Webster drew it to its owner's home. The farewells at the
+      perfect boarding house were affecting. Mrs. Tripp said that she had spoken
+      to the Reverend Mr. Daniels, and he would be sure to call the very first
+      thing. Keturah affirmed that the captain's stay had been a real pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You never find fault, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You're such a manly
+      man, if you'll excuse my sayin' so. I only wish there was more like you,&rdquo;
+       with a significant glance at her husband. As for Miss Phinney, she might
+      have been saying good-by yet if the captain had not excused himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph accompanied his friend to the house on the hill. The trunk was
+      unloaded from the wagon and carried into the bedroom on the first floor,
+      the room which had been Captain Cy's so long ago. Gabe shrieked at Dan'l
+      Webster, and the depot wagon crawled away toward the upper road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Got to meet the up train,&rdquo; grumbled the driver. &ldquo;Not that anybody ever
+      comes on it, but I cal'late I'm s'posed to be there. Be more talk than a
+      little if I wan't. Git dap, Dan'l! you're slower'n the moral law.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you're goin' to do your own cookin' for a spell, Cy?&rdquo; observed Asaph,
+      a half hour later, &ldquo;Well, I guess that's a good idea, till you can find
+      the right housekeeper. I ain't been able to think of one that would suit
+      you yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor I, either. Neither's Bailey, I judge, though for a while he was as
+      full of suggestions as a pine grove is of woodticks. He started to say
+      somethin' about it to me last night, but Ketury hove in sight and yanked
+      him off to prayer meetin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. She cal'lates to get him into heaven somehow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess 'twouldn't BE heaven for her unless he was round to pick at.
+      There he comes now. How'd he get out of wipin' dishes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs strolled into the yard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;I was on my way to Simmons's on an errand and I
+      thought I'd stop in a minute. Got somethin' to tell you, Whit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. Overboard with it! It won't keep long this hot weather.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey smiled knowingly. &ldquo;Didn't I hear the up train whistle as I was
+      comin' along?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Seems to me I did. Yes; well, if I ain't
+      mistaken somebody's comin' on that train. Somebody for you, Cy Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Somebody for ME?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum! I can gen'rally be depended on, I cal'late, and when you
+      says to me: 'Bailey, you get me a housekeeper,' I didn't lose much time. I
+      got her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;GOT her?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Got who? Got what? Bailey Bangs, what in the
+      world have&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Belay, Ase!&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy. &ldquo;Bailey, what are you givin' us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Givin' you a housekeeper, and a good one, too, I shouldn't wonder. She
+      may not be one of them ten-thousand-dollar prize museum beauties,&rdquo; with a
+      scornful wink at Asaph, &ldquo;but if what I hear's true she can keep house.
+      Anyhow she's kept one for forty odd year. Her name's Deborah Beasley,
+      she's a widow over to East Trumet, and if I don't miss my guess, she's in
+      the depot wagon now headed in this direction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy whistled. Mr. Tidditt was too much surprised to do even that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was speakin' to the feller that drives the candy cart,&rdquo; continued
+      Bailey, &ldquo;and I asked him if he'd run acrost anybody, durin' his trips
+      'round the country, who'd be likely to hire out for a housekeeper. He
+      thought a spell and then named over some. Among 'em was this Beasley one.
+      I asked some more questions and, the answers bein' satisfactory to ME,
+      though they might not be to some folks&mdash;&rdquo; another derisive wink at
+      Asaph&mdash;&ldquo;I set down and wrote her, tellin' what you'd pay, Cy, what
+      she'd have to do, and when she'd have to come. Saturday night I got a
+      letter, sayin' terms was all right, and she'd be on hand by this mornin's
+      train. Course she's only on trial for a month, but you had to have
+      SOMEBODY, and the candy-cart feller said&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk slapped his knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Debby Beasley!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;I know who she is! I've got a cousin in
+      Trumet. Debby Beasley! Aunt Debby, they call her. Why! she's old enough to
+      be Methusalem's grandmarm, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I recollect right,&rdquo; interrupted Bailey, with dignity, &ldquo;Cy never said
+      he wanted a YOUNG woman&mdash;a frivolous, giddy critter, always riggin'
+      up and chasin' the fellers. He wanted a sot, sober housekeeper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey! Aunt Debby ain't frivolous! She couldn't chase a lame clam&mdash;and
+      catch it. And DEEF! Godfrey&mdash;scissors! she's deefer 'n one of them
+      cast-iron Newfoundlands in Heman's yard! Do you mean to say, Bailey Bangs,
+      that you went ahead, on your own hook, and hired that old relic to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did. And I had my authority, didn't I, Whit? You told me you'd leave it
+      in my hands, now didn't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled somewhat ruefully, and scratched his head. &ldquo;Why, to be
+      honest, Bailey, I believe I did,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;Still, I hardly expected&mdash;Humph!
+      is she deef, as Ase says?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand she's a little mite hard of hearin',&rdquo; replied Mr. Bangs,
+      with dignity; &ldquo;but that ain't any drawback, the way I look at it. Fact is,
+      I'd call it an advantage, but you folks seem to be hard to please. I
+      ruther imagined you'd thank me for gettin' her, but I s'pose that was too
+      much to expect. All right, pitch her out! Don't mind MY feelin's! Poor
+      homeless critter comin' to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Homeless!&rdquo; repeated Asaph. &ldquo;What's that got to do with it? Cy ain't
+      runnin' the Old Woman's Home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; observed the captain resignedly. &ldquo;There's no use in rowin'
+      about what can't be helped. Bailey says he shipped her for a month's
+      trial, and here comes the depot wagon now. That's her on the aft thwart, I
+      judge. She AIN'T what you'd call a spring pullet, is she!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She certainly was not. The occupant of the depot wagon's rear seat was a
+      thin, not to say scraggy, female, wearing a black, beflowered bonnet and a
+      black gown. A black knit shawl was draped about her shoulders and she wore
+      spectacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whoa!&rdquo; commanded Mr. Lumley, piloting the depot wagon to the side door of
+      the Whittaker house. Dan'l Webster came to anchor immediately. Gabe turned
+      and addressed his passenger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here we be!&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; observed the lady in black.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here&mdash;we&mdash;be!&rdquo; repeated Gabe, raising his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See? See what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, heavens to Betsey! I'm gettin' the croup from howlin'. I&mdash;say&mdash;HERE&mdash;WE&mdash;BE!
+      GET OUT!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He accompanied the final bellow with an expressive pantomime indicating
+      that the passenger was expected to alight. She seemed to understand, for
+      she opened the door of the carriage and slowly descended. Mr. Bangs
+      advanced to meet her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Glad to see you all safe and
+      sound.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley shook his hand; hers were covered, as far as the knuckles, by
+      black mitts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, Cap'n Whittaker?&rdquo; she said, in a shrill voice. &ldquo;You pretty
+      smart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey hastened to explain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;I'm Bailey Bangs, the one that
+      wrote to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley and Asaph chuckled. Bailey colored and tried again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't the cap'n,&rdquo; he whooped. &ldquo;Here he is&mdash;here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He led her over to her prospective employer and tapped the latter on the
+      chest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, sir?&rdquo; said the housekeeper. &ldquo;I don't know's I just caught
+      your name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In five minutes or so the situation was made reasonably clear. Mrs.
+      Beasley then demanded her trunk and carpet bag. The grinning Lumley bore
+      them into the house. Then he drove away, still grinning. Bailey looked
+      fearfully at Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She IS kind of hard of hearin', ain't she?&rdquo; he said reluctantly. &ldquo;You
+      remember I said she was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;you're a truth-tellin' chap, Bailey, I'll say that
+      for you. You don't exaggerate your statements.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hard of hearin'!&rdquo; snapped Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;If the last trump ain't a steam
+      whistle she'll miss Judgment Day. I'll stop into Simmons's on my way along
+      and buy you a bottle of throat balsam, Cy; you're goin' to need it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain needed more than throat balsam during the fortnight which
+      followed. The widow Beasley's deafness was not her only failing. In fact
+      she was altogether a failure, so far as her housekeeping was concerned.
+      She could cook, after a fashion, but the fashion was so limited that even
+      the bill of fare at the perfect boarding house looked tempting in
+      retrospect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baked beans again, Cy!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph, dropping in one evening after
+      supper. &ldquo;'Tain't Saturday night so soon, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; was the dismal rejoinder. &ldquo;It's Tuesday, if my almanac ain't out of
+      joint. But we had beans Saturday and they ain't all gone yet, so I presume
+      we'll have 'em till the last one's swallowed. Aunt Debby's got what the
+      piece in the Reader used to call a 'frugal mind.' She don't intend to
+      waste anything. Last Thursday I spunked up courage enough to yell for salt
+      fish and potatoes&mdash;fixed up with pork scraps, you know, same's we
+      used to have when I was a boy. We had 'em all right, and if beans of a
+      Saturday hadn't been part of her religion we'd be warmin' 'em up yet. I
+      took in a cat for company 'tother day, but the critter's run away. To see
+      it look at the beans in its saucer and then at me was pitiful; I felt like
+      handin' myself over to the Cruelty to Animals' folks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is she neat?&rdquo; inquired Mr. Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. I guess so&mdash;on the installment plan. It takes her a
+      week to scrub up the kitchen, and then one end of it is so dirty she has
+      to begin again. Consequently the dust is so thick in the rest of the house
+      that I can see my tracks. If 'twan't so late in the season I'd plant
+      garden stuff in the parlor&mdash;nice soil and lots of shade, with the
+      curtains down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      From the rooms in the rear came the words of a gospel hymn sung in a
+      tremulous soprano and at concert pitch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Music with my meals, just like a high-toned restaurant,&rdquo; commented
+      Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what makes her sing so everlastin' LOUD?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't hear herself if she don't. I could stand her deefness, because
+      that's an affliction and we may all come to it; but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper, still singing, entered the room and planted herself in a
+      chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evenin', Mr. Tidditt,&rdquo; she said, smiling genially. &ldquo;Nice weather
+      we've been havin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sociable critter, ain't she!&rdquo; observed the captain. &ldquo;Always willin' to
+      help entertain. Comes and sets up with me till bedtime. Tells about her
+      family troubles. Preaches about her niece out West, and how set the niece
+      and the rest of the Western relations are to have her make 'em a visit. I
+      told her she better go&mdash;I thought 'twould do her good. I know 'twould
+      help ME consider'ble to see her start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's got so now she finds fault with my neckties,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;says I
+      must be careful and not get my feet wet. Picks out what I ought to wear
+      so's I won't get cold. She'll adopt me pretty soon. Oh, it's all right!
+      She can't hear what you say. Are your dishes done?&rdquo; he shrieked, turning
+      to the old lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One? One what?&rdquo; inquired Mrs. Beasley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They won't BE done till you go, Ase,&rdquo; continued the master of the house.
+      &ldquo;She'll stay with us till the last gun fires. T'other day Angie Phinney
+      called and I turned Debby loose on her. I didn't believe anything could
+      wear out Angie's talkin' machinery, but she did it. Angeline stayed twenty
+      minutes and then quit, hoarse as a crow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here the widow joined in the conversation, evidently under the impression
+      that nothing had been said since she last spoke. Continuing her favorable
+      comments on the weather she observed that she was glad there was so little
+      fog, because fog was hard for folks with &ldquo;neuralgy pains.&rdquo; Her brother's
+      wife's cousin had &ldquo;neuralgy&rdquo; for years, and she described his sufferings
+      with enthusiasm and infinite detail. Mr. Tidditt answered her questions
+      verbally at first; later by nods and shakes of the head. Captain Cy
+      fidgeted in his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on outdoor, Ase,&rdquo; he said at last. &ldquo;No use to wait till she runs
+      down, 'cause she's a self-winder, guaranteed to keep goin' for a year.
+      Good-night!&rdquo; he shouted, addressing Mrs. Beasley, and heading for the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where you goin'?&rdquo; asked the old lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. Yes. Who said so? Hooray! Three cheers for Gen'ral Scott! Come on,
+      Ase!&rdquo; And the captain, seizing his friend by the arm, dragged him into the
+      open air, and slammed the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you crazy?&rdquo; demanded the astonished town clerk. &ldquo;What makes you talk
+      like that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Might as well. She wouldn't understand it any better if 'twas Scripture,
+      and it saves brain work. The only satisfaction I get is bein' able to give
+      my opinion of her and the grub without hurtin' her feelin's. If I called
+      her a wooden-headed jumpin' jack she'd only smile and say No, she didn't
+      think 'twas goin' to rain, or somethin' just as brilliant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, why don't you give her her walkin' papers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall, when her month's up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't wait no month. I'd heave her overboard to-night. You hear ME!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't, very well,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I hate to make her feel TOO bad. When
+      the month's over I'll have some excuse ready, maybe. The joke of it is
+      that she don't really need to work out. She's got some money of her own,
+      owns cranberry swamps and I don't know what all. Says she took up Bailey's
+      offer 'cause she cal'lated I'd be company for her. I had to laugh, even in
+      the face of those beans, when she said that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! if I don't tell Bailey what I think of him, then&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Don't you say a word to Bailey. It's principally on his account
+      that I'm tryin' to stick it out for the month. Bailey did his best; he
+      thought he was helpin'. And he feels dreadfully because she's so deef.
+      Only yesterday he asked me if I believed there was anything made that
+      would fix her up and make it more comfortable for me. I could have
+      prescribed a shotgun, but I didn't. You see, he thinks her deefness is the
+      only trouble; I haven't told him the rest, and don't you do it, either.
+      Bailey's a good-hearted chap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! his heart may be good, but his head's goin' to seed. I'll keep
+      quiet if 'twill please you, though.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. And, see here, Ase! I don't care to be the laughin' stock of
+      Bayport. If any of the folks ask you how I like my new housekeeper, you
+      tell 'em there's nothin' like her anywhere. That's no lie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Mrs. Beasley stayed on at the Whittaker place and, thanks to Mr.
+      Tidditt, the general opinion of inquisitive Bayport was that the new
+      housekeeper was a grand success. Only Captain Cy and Asaph knew the whole
+      truth, and Mr. Bangs a part. That part, Deborah's deafness, troubled him
+      not a little and he thought much concerning it. As a result of this
+      thinking he wrote a letter to a relative in Boston. The answer to this
+      letter pleased him and he wrote again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One afternoon, during the third week of Mrs. Beasley's stay, Asaph called
+      and found Captain Cy in the sitting room, reading the Breeze. The captain
+      urged his friend to remain and have supper. &ldquo;We've run out of beans, Ase,&rdquo;
+       he explained, &ldquo;and are just startin' in on a course of boiled cod. Do stay
+      and eat a lot; then there won't be so much to warm over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt accepted the invitation, also a section of the Breeze. While
+      they were reading they heard the back door slam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's the graven image,&rdquo; explained the captain. &ldquo;She's been on a cruise
+      down town somewheres. Be a lot of sore throats in that direction to-morrow
+      mornin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk looked up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There now!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I believe 'twas her I saw walkin' with Bailey
+      a spell ago. I thought so, but I didn't have my specs and I wan't sure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With Bailey, hey? Humph! this is serious. Hope Ketury didn't see 'em. We
+      mustn't have any scandal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper entered the dining room. She was singing &ldquo;Beulah Land,&rdquo;
+       but her tone was more subdued than usual. They heard her setting the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How's she gettin' along?&rdquo; asked Asaph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Progressin' backwards, same as ever. She's no better, thank you, and the
+      doctor's given up hopes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you goin' to tell her she can clear out?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; Captain Cy had returned to his paper and did not hear the
+      question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I say when is she goin' to be bounced? Deefness ain't catchin', is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't wonder if it might be. If 'tis, mine ought to be developin'
+      fast. What makes her so still all at once?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone to the kitchen, I guess. Wonder she hasn't sailed in and set down
+      with us. Old chromo! You must be glad her month's most up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph proceeded to give his opinion of the housekeeper, raising his voice
+      almost to a howl, as his indignation grew. If Mrs. Beasley's ears had been
+      ordinary ones she might have heard the unflattering description in the
+      kitchen; as it was Mr. Tidditt felt no fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Comin' here so's you could be company for her! The idea! Good to herself,
+      ain't she! Godfrey scissors! And Bailey was fool enough to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there! Don't let it worry you, Ase. I've about decided what to say
+      when I let her go. I'll tell her she is gettin' too old to be slavin'
+      herself to death. You see, I don't want to make the old critter cry, nor I
+      don't want her to get mad. Judgin' by the way she used to coax the cat
+      outdoors with the broom handle she's got somethin' of a temper when she
+      gets started. I'll give her an extry month's wages, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, hey? You WILL?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The interruption came from behind the partially closed dining-room door.
+      Mr. Tidditt sank back in his chair. Captain Cy sprang from his and threw
+      the door wide open. Behind it crouched Mrs. Deborah Beasley. Her eyes
+      snapped behind her spectacles, her lean form was trembling all over, and
+      in her right hand she held a mammoth trumpet, the smaller end of which was
+      connected with her ear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, hey?&rdquo; she screamed, brandishing her left fist, but still
+      keeping the ear trumpet in place with her right. &ldquo;You WILL? Well, I don't
+      want none of your miser'ble money! Land knows how you made it, anyhow, and
+      I wouldn't soil my hands with it. After all I've put up with, and the way
+      I've done my work, and the things I've had to eat, and&mdash;and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused for breath. Captain Cy scratched his chin. Asaph, gazing
+      open-mouthed at the trumpet, stirred in his chair. Mrs. Beasley swooped
+      down upon him like a gull on a minnow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you!&rdquo; she shrieked. &ldquo;You! a miserable little, good-for-nothin', lazy,
+      ridiculous, dried-up&mdash; . . . Oo&mdash;oo&mdash;OH! You call yourself
+      a town clerk! YOU do! I&mdash;I wouldn't have you clerk for a hen house!
+      I'm an old chromo, be I? Yes! that's nice talk, ain't it, to a woman old
+      enough to be&mdash;that is&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;'most as old as you be!
+      You sneakin', story-tellin', little, fat THING, you! You&mdash;oh, I can't
+      lay my tongue to words to tell you WHAT you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're doin' pretty well, seems to me,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy dryly. &ldquo;I
+      wouldn't be discouraged if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The only effect of this remark was to turn the wordy torrent in his
+      direction. The captain bore it for a while; then he rose to his feet and
+      commanded silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's enough! Stop it!&rdquo; he ordered, and, strange to say, Mrs. Beasley
+      did stop. &ldquo;I'm sorry, Debby,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;but you had no business to be
+      listenin' even if&mdash;&rdquo; and he smiled grimly, &ldquo;you have got a new fog
+      horn to hear with. You can go and pack your things as soon as you want to.
+      I made up my mind the first day you come that you and me wouldn't cruise
+      together long, and this only shortens the trip by a week or so. I'll pay
+      you for this month and for the next, and I guess, when you come to think
+      it over, you'll be willin' to risk soilin' your hands with the money. It's
+      your own fault if anybody knows that you didn't leave of your own accord.
+      <i>I</i> shan't tell, and I'll see that Tidditt doesn't. Now trot! Ase and
+      I'll get supper ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was evident that the ex-housekeeper had much more which she would have
+      liked to say. But there was that in her late employer's manner which
+      caused her to forbear. She slammed out of the room, and they heard her
+      banging things about on the floor above.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where&mdash;WHERE,&rdquo; repeated Mr. Tidditt, over and over, &ldquo;did she get
+      that trumpet?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The puzzle was solved soon after, when Bailey Bangs entered the house in a
+      high state of excitement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he demanded, expectantly. &ldquo;Did they help her? Has anything
+      happened?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;HAPPENED!&rdquo; began Asaph, but Captain Cy silenced him by a wink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered the captain; &ldquo;something's happened. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hurrah! I thought 'twould. She can hear better, can't she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess it's safe to say she can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good! You can thank me for it. When I see how dreadful deef she was I
+      wrote my cousin Eddie T, who's an optician up to Boston&mdash;you know
+      him, Ase&mdash;and I says: 'Ed, you know what's good for folks who can't
+      see? Ain't there nothin',' says I, 'that'll help them who can't hear? How
+      about ear trumpets?' And Ed wrote that an ear trumpet would probably help
+      some, but why didn't I try a pair of them patent fixin's that are made to
+      put inside deef people's ears? He'd known of cases where they helped a
+      lot. So I sent for a pair, and the biggest ear trumpet made, besides. And
+      when I met Debby to-day I give 'em to her and told her to put the patent
+      things IN her ears and couple on the trumpet outside 'em. And not to say
+      nothin' to you, but just surprise you. And it did surprise you, didn't
+      it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wrathful Mr. Tidditt could wait no longer. He burst into a vivid
+      description of the &ldquo;surprise.&rdquo; Bailey was aghast. Captain Cy laughed until
+      his face was purple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I declare, Cy!&rdquo; exclaimed the dejected purchaser of the &ldquo;ear fixin's&rdquo; and
+      the trumpet. &ldquo;I do declare I'm awful sorry! if you'd only told me she was
+      no good I'd have let her alone; but I thought 'twas just the deefness. I&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, Bailey; you meant well, like the layin'-on-of-hands doctor who
+      rubbed the rheumatic man's wooden leg. All right; <i>I</i> forgive you.
+      'Twas worth it all to see Asaph's face when Marm Beasley was complimentin'
+      him. Ha! ha! Oh, dear me! I've laughed till I'm sore. But there's one
+      thing I SHOULD like to do, if you don't mind: I should like to pick out my
+      next housekeeper myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A FRONT-DOOR CALLER
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley departed next morning, taking with her the extra month's
+      wages, in spite of fervid avowals that she wouldn't touch a cent of it. On
+      the way to the depot she favored Mr. Lumley with sundry hints concerning
+      the reasons for her departure. She &ldquo;couldn't stand it no longer&rdquo;; if folks
+      only knew what she'd had to put up with she cal'lated they'd be some
+      surprised; she could &ldquo;tell a few things&rdquo; if she wanted to, and so on.
+      Incidentally she was kind of glad she didn't like the place, because now
+      she cal'lated she should go West and visit her niece; they'd been wanting
+      her to come for so long.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe was much interested and repeated the monologue, with imaginative
+      additions, to the depot master, who, in turn, repeated it to his wife when
+      he went home to dinner. That lady attended sewing circle in the afternoon.
+      Next day a large share of Bayport's conversation dealt with the
+      housekeeper's leaving and her reasons therefor. The reasons differed
+      widely, according to the portion of the town in which they were discussed,
+      but it was the general opinion that the whole affair was not creditable to
+      Captain Whittaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only at the perfect boarding house was the captain upheld. Miss Phinney
+      declared that she knew he had made a mistake as soon as she heard the
+      Beasley woman talk; nobody else, so Angeline declared, could &ldquo;get a word
+      in edgeways.&rdquo; Mrs. Tripp sighed and affirmed that going out of town for a
+      woman to do housework was ridiculous on the face of it; there were plenty
+      of Bayport ladies, women of capability and sound in their religious views,
+      who might be hired if they were approached in the right way. Keturah gave,
+      as her opinion, that if the captain knew when he was well off, he would
+      &ldquo;take his meals out.&rdquo; Asaph snorted and intimated that that Debby Beasley
+      wasn't fit to &ldquo;keep house in a pigsty, and anybody but a born gump would
+      have known it.&rdquo; Bailey, the &ldquo;born gump,&rdquo; said nothing, but looked
+      appealingly at his chum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As for Captain Cy, he did not take the trouble to affirm or deny the
+      rumors. Peace and quiet dominated the Whittaker house for the first time
+      in three weeks and its owner was happier. He cooked his own food and
+      washed his own dishes. The runaway cat ventured to return, found other
+      viands than beans in its saucer, and decided to remain, purring thankful
+      contentment. The captain made his own bed, after a fashion, when he was
+      ready to occupy it, but he was conscious that it might be better made. He
+      refused, however, to spend his time in sweeping and dusting, and the dust
+      continued to accumulate on the carpets and furniture. This condition of
+      affairs troubled him, but he kept his own counsel. Asaph and Bailey called
+      often, but they offered no more suggestions as to hiring a housekeeper.
+      Mr. Tidditt might have done so, but the captain gave him no encouragement.
+      Mr. Bangs, recent humiliation fresh in his mind, would as soon have
+      suggested setting the house on fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening Asaph happened in, on his way to Simmons's. He desired the
+      captain to accompany him to that gathering place of the wise and
+      talkative. Captain Cy was in the sitting room, a sheet of note paper in
+      his hand. The town clerk entered without ceremony and tossed his hat on
+      the sofa.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', Ase,&rdquo; observed the captain, folding the sheet of paper and
+      putting it into his pocket. &ldquo;Glad you come. Sit down. I wanted to ask you
+      somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right! Here I be. Heave ahead and ask.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy puffed at his pipe. He seemed about to speak and then to think
+      better of it, for he crossed his legs and smoked on in silence, gazing at
+      the nickel work of the &ldquo;base-burner&rdquo; stove. It was badly in need of
+      polishing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; inquired Asaph, with impatient sarcasm. &ldquo;Thinkin' of askin' me to
+      build a fire for you, was you? Nobody else but you would have set up a
+      stove in summer time, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? No, you needn't start a fire yet awhile. That necktie of yours 'll
+      keep us warm till fall, I shouldn't wonder. New one, ain't it? Where'd you
+      get it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was wearing a crocheted scarf of a brilliant crimson hue,
+      particularly becoming to his complexion. The complexion now brightened
+      until it was almost a match for the tie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; he said, with elaborate indifference. &ldquo;That? Yes, it's new.
+      Yesterday was my birthday, and Matildy Tripp she knew I needed a necktie,
+      so she give me this one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! One she knit purpose for you, then? Dear me! Look out, Ase. Widow
+      women are dangerous, they say; presents are one of the first baits they
+      heave out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be foolish, now! I couldn't chuck it back at her, could I? That
+      would be pretty manners. You needn't talk about widders&mdash;not after
+      Debby! Ho! ho!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy chuckled. Then he suddenly became serious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you remember the time when the Howes folks had this
+      house? Course you do. Yes; well, was there any of their relations here
+      with 'em? A&mdash;a cousin, or somethin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not as I recollect. Yes, there was, too, come to think. A third
+      cousin, Mary Thayer her name was. I THINK she was a third cousin of Betsy
+      Howes, Seth Howes's second wife. Betsy's name was Ginn afore she married,
+      and the Ginns was related on their ma's side to a Richards&mdash;Emily
+      Richards, I think 'twas&mdash;and Emily married a Thayer. Would that make
+      this Mary a third cousin? Now let's see; Sarah Jane Ginn, she had an aunt
+      who kept a boardin' house in Harniss. I remember that, 'count of her
+      sellin' my Uncle Bije a pig. Seems to me 'twas a pig, but I ain't sure
+      that it mightn't have been a settin' of Plymouth Rock hens' eggs. Anyhow,
+      Uncle Bije KEPT hens, because I remember one time&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there! we'll be out of sight of land in a minute. This Mary Thayer&mdash;old,
+      was she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Just a young girl, eighteen or twenty or so. Pretty and nice and
+      quiet as ever I see. By Godfrey, she WAS pretty! I wan't as old as I be
+      now, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase, don't tell your heart secrets, even to me. I might get absent-minded
+      and mention 'em to Matildy. And then&mdash;whew!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you don't stop tryin' to play smarty I'll go home. What's Matildy
+      Tripp to me, I'd like to know? And even when Mary Thayer was here I was
+      old enough to be her dad. But I remember what a nice girl she was and how
+      the boarders liked her. They used to say she done more than all the Howes
+      tribe put together to make the Sea Sight House a good hotel. Young as she
+      was she done most of the housekeepin' and done it well. If the rest of 'em
+      had been like her you mightn't have had the place yet, Whit. But what set
+      you to thinkin' about her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I don't know! Nothin' much; that is&mdash;well, I'll tell you some
+      other time. What became of her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She went up to New Hampshire along with the Howes folks and I ain't seen
+      her since. Seems to me I did hear she was married. See here, Whit, what is
+      it about her? Tell a feller; come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Cy refused to gratify his chum's lively curiosity. Also he
+      refused to go to Simmons's that evening, saying that he was tired and
+      guessed he'd stay at home and &ldquo;turn in early.&rdquo; Mr. Tidditt departed
+      grumbling. After he had gone the captain drew his chair nearer the center
+      table, took from his pocket a sheet of notepaper, and proceeded to read
+      what was written on its pages. It was a letter which he had received
+      nearly a month before and had not yet answered. During the past week he
+      had read it many times. The writing was cramped and blotted and the paper
+      cheap and dingy. The envelope bore the postmark of a small town in
+      Indiana, and the inclosure was worded as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      CAPTAIN CYRUS WHITTAKER.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DEAR SIR: I suppose you will be a good deal surprised to hear from me,
+      especially from way out West here. When you bought the old house of Seth,
+      he and I was living in Concord, N. H. He couldn't make a go of his
+      business there, so we came West and he has been sick most of the time
+      since. We ain't well off like you, and times are hard with us. What I
+      wanted to write you about was this. My cousin Mary Thomas, Mary Thayer
+      that was, is still living in Concord and she is poor and needs help,
+      though I don't suppose she would ask for it, being too proud. False pride
+      I call it. Me and Seth would like to do something for her, but we have a
+      hard enough job to keep going ourselves. Mary married a man by the name of
+      Henry Thomas, and he turned out to be a miserable good-for-nothing, as I
+      always said he would. She wouldn't listen to me though. He run off and
+      left her seven year ago last April, and I understand was killed or drowned
+      somewheres up in Montana. Mary and [several words scratched out here] got
+      along somehow since, but I don't know how. While we lived in Concord Seth
+      sort of kept an eye on her, but now he can't of course. She's a good girl,
+      or woman rather, being most forty, and would make a good housekeeper if
+      you should need one as I suppose likely you will. If you could help her it
+      would be an act of charity and you will be rewarded Above. Seth says why
+      not write to her and tell her to come and see you? He feels bad about her,
+      because he is so sick I suppose. And he knows you are rich and could do
+      good if you felt like it. Her father's name was John Thayer. I wouldn't
+      wonder if you used to know her mother. She was Emily Richards afore she
+      married and they used to live in Orham.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yours truly,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ELIZABETH HOWES.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      P.S.&mdash;Mary's address is Mrs. Mary Thomas, care Mrs. Oliver, 128 Blank
+      Street, Concord, N. H.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      N.B.&mdash;Seth won't say so, but I will: we are very hard up ourselves
+      and if you could help him and me with the loan of a little money it would
+      be thankfully received.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy read the letter, folded it, and replaced it in his pocket. He
+      knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation was that of
+      general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money matters. Betsy's
+      personal appeal did not, therefore, touch his heart to any great extent.
+      He surmised also that for Seth Howes and his wife to ask help for some
+      person other than themselves premised a darky in the woodpile somewhere.
+      But for the daughter of Emily Richards to be suggested as a possible
+      housekeeper at the Cy Whittaker place&mdash;that was interesting,
+      certainly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the captain was not a captain&mdash;when he was merely &ldquo;young Cy,&rdquo; a
+      boy, living with his parents, a dancing school was organized in Bayport.
+      It was an innovation for our village, and frowned upon by many of the
+      older and stricter inhabitants. However, most of the captain's boy friends
+      were permitted to attend; young Cy was not. His father considered dancing
+      a waste of time and, if not wicked, certainly frivolous and nonsensical.
+      So the boy remained at home, but, in spite of the parental order, he
+      practiced some of the figures of the quadrilles and the contra dances in
+      his comrades' barns, learning them at second hand, so to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One winter there was to be a party in Orham, given by the Nickersons,
+      wealthy people with a fifteen-year-old daughter. It was to be a grand
+      affair, and most of the boys and girls in the neighboring towns were
+      invited. Cy received an invitation, and, for a wonder, was permitted to
+      attend. The Bayport contingent went over in a big hayrick on runners and
+      the moonlight ride was jolly enough. The Nickerson mansion was crowded and
+      there were music and dancing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Young Cy was miserable during the dancing. He didn't dare attempt it, in
+      spite of his lessons in the barn. So, while the rest of his boy friends
+      sought partners for the &ldquo;Portland Fancy&rdquo; and &ldquo;Hull's Victory&rdquo; he sat
+      forlorn in a corner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he sat there he was approached by a young lady, radiant in muslin and
+      ribbons. She was three or four years older than he was, and he had
+      worshipped her from afar as she whirled up and down the line in the
+      Virginia Reel. She never lacked partners and seemed to be a great favorite
+      with the young men, especially one good-looking chap with a sunburned
+      face, who looked like a sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were forming sets for &ldquo;Money Musk&rdquo;; it was &ldquo;ladies' choice,&rdquo; and
+      there was a demand for more couples. The young lady came ever to Cy's
+      corner and laughingly dropped him a courtesy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you please,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I want a partner. Will you do me the honor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cy blushingly avowed that he couldn't dance any to speak of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, you can! I'm sure you can. You're the Whittaker boy, aren't you?
+      I've heard about your barn lessons. And I want you to try this with me.
+      Please do. No, John,&rdquo; she added, turning to the sunburned young fellow who
+      had followed her across the room; &ldquo;this is my choice and here is my
+      partner. Susie Taylor is after you and you mustn't run away. Come, Mr.
+      Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Cy took her arm and they danced &ldquo;Money Musk&rdquo; together. He made but a
+      few mistakes, and these she helped him to correct so easily that none
+      noticed. His success gave him courage and he essayed other dances; in
+      fact, he had a very good time at the party after all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the way home he thought a great deal about the pretty young lady, whose
+      name he discovered was Emily Richards. He decided that if she would only
+      wait for him, he might like to marry her when he grew up. But he was
+      thirteen and she was seventeen, and the very next year she married John
+      Thayer, the sailor in the blue suit. And two years after that young Cy ran
+      away to be a sailor himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In spite of his age and his lifetime of battering about the world, Captain
+      Cy had a sentimental streak in his makeup; his rejuvenation of the old
+      home proved that. Betsy's letter interested him. He had made guarded
+      inquiries concerning Mary Thayer, now Mary Thomas, of others besides
+      Asaph, and the answers had been satisfactory so far as they went; those
+      who remembered her had liked her very much. The captain had even begun a
+      letter to Mrs. Thomas, but laid it aside unfinished, having, since
+      Bailey's unfortunate experience with the widow Beasley, a prejudice
+      against experiments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But this evening, before Mr. Tidditt called, he had been thinking that
+      something would have to be done and done soon. The generally shiftless
+      condition of his domestic surroundings was getting to be unbearable. Dust
+      and dirt did not fit into his mental picture of the old home as it used to
+      be and as he had tried to restore it. There had been neither dust nor dirt
+      in his mother's day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He meditated and smoked for another hour. Then, his mind being made up, he
+      pulled down the desk lid of the old-fashioned secretary, resurrected from
+      a pile of papers the note he had begun to Mrs. Thomas, dipped a sputtering
+      pen into the ink bottle and proceeded to write.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His letter was a short one and rather noncommittal. As Mrs. Thomas no
+      doubt knew he had come back to live in his father's house at Bayport. He
+      might possibly need some one to keep house for him. He understood that
+      she, Mary Thayer that was, was a good housekeeper and that she was open to
+      an engagement if everything was mutually satisfactory. He had known her
+      mother slightly when the latter lived in Orham. He thought an interview
+      might be pleasant, for they could talk over old times if nothing more.
+      Perhaps, on the whole, she might care to risk a trip to Bayport, therefore
+      he inclosed money for her railroad fare. &ldquo;You understand, of course,&rdquo; so
+      he wrote in conclusion, &ldquo;that nothing may come of our meeting at all. So
+      please don't say a word to anybody when you strike town. You've lived here
+      yourself, and you know that three words hove overboard in Bayport will
+      dredge up gab enough to sink a dictionary. So just keep mum till the
+      business is settled one way or the other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He put on his hat and went down to the post office, where he dropped his
+      letter in the slot of the box fastened to the front door. Then he returned
+      home and retired at exactly eleven o'clock. In spite of his remarks to
+      Asaph, he had not &ldquo;turned in&rdquo; so early after all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the captain expected a prompt reply to his note he was disappointed. A
+      week passed and he heard nothing. Then three more days and still no word
+      from the New Hampshire widow. Meanwhile fresh layers of dust spread
+      themselves over the Whittaker furniture, and the gaudy patterns of the
+      carpets blushed dimly beneath a grimy fog. The situation was desperate;
+      even Matilda Tripp, Come-Outer sermons and all, began to be thinkable as a
+      possibility.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The eleventh day began with a pouring rain that changed, later on, to a
+      dismal drizzle. The silver-leaf tree in the front yard dripped, and the
+      overflowing gutters gurgled and splashed. The bay was gray and lonely, and
+      the fish weirs along the outer bar were lost in the mist. The flowers in
+      the Atkins urns were draggled and beaten down. Only the iron dogs
+      glistened undaunted as the wet ran off their newly painted backs. The air
+      was heavy, and the salty flavor of the flats might almost be tasted in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was in the sitting room, as usual. His spirits were as gray as
+      the weather. He was actually lonesome for the first time since his return
+      home. He had kindled a wood fire in the stove, just for the sociability of
+      it, and the crackle and glow behind the isinglass panes only served to
+      remind him of other days and other fires. The sitting room had not been
+      lonesome then.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He heard the depot wagon rattle by and, peering from the window, saw that,
+      except for Mr. Lumley, it was empty. Not even a summer boarder had come to
+      brighten our ways and lawns with reckless raiment and the newest slang.
+      Summer boarding season was almost over now. Bayport would soon be as dull
+      as dish water. And the captain admitted to himself that it WAS dull. He
+      had half a mind to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round of the
+      wharves, and see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains whom he
+      had once known were still alive and in harness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;JINGLE! Jingle! JINGLE! Jingle! Jingle! Jing! Jing! Jing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy bounced in his chair. That was the front-door bell. The
+      FRONT-door bell! Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport, would come to
+      the FRONT door?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered the
+      little dark front hall. The bell was still swinging at the end of its coil
+      of wire. The dust shaken from it still hung in the air. The captain
+      unbolted and unlocked the big front door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A girl was standing on the steps between the lines of box hedge&mdash;a
+      little girl under a big &ldquo;grown-up&rdquo; umbrella. The wet dripped from the
+      umbrella top and from the hem of the little girl's dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stared hard at his visitor; he knew most of the children in
+      Bayport, but he didn't know this one. Obviously she was a stranger.
+      Portuguese children from &ldquo;up Harniss way&rdquo; sometimes called to peddle
+      huckleberries, but this child was no &ldquo;Portugee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; exclaimed the captain wonderingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you ring the bell?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied the girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Did, hey? Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why? Why, I thought&mdash;Isn't it a truly bell? Didn't it ought to ring?
+      Is anybody sick or dead? There isn't any crape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dead? Crape?&rdquo; Captain Cy gasped. &ldquo;What in the world put that in your
+      head?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I didn't know but maybe that was why you thought I hadn't ought to
+      have rung it. When mamma was sick they didn't let people ring our bell.
+      And when she died they tied it up with crape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did, hey? Hum!&rdquo; The captain scratched his chin and gazed at the small
+      figure before him. It was a self-poised, matter-of-fact figure for such a
+      little one, and, out there in the rain under the tent roof of the
+      umbrella, it was rather pitiful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Please, sir,&rdquo; said the child, &ldquo;are you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup! That's me. You've guessed it the first time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I've got a letter for you. It's pinned inside my dress. If you
+      could hold this umbrella maybe I could get it out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended the big umbrella at arm's length, holding it with both hands.
+      Captain Cy woke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;what am I thinkin' of? You're soakin' wet
+      through, ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess I'm pretty wet. It's a long ways from the depot, and I tried to
+      come across the fields, because a boy said it was nearer, and the bushes
+      were&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Across the FIELDS? Have you walked all the way from the depot?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. The man said it was a quarter to ride, and auntie said I must
+      be careful of my money because&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper! Come in! Come in out of that this minute!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sprang down the steps, furled the umbrella, seized her by the arm and
+      led her into the house, through the parlor and into the sitting room,
+      where the fire crackled invitingly. He could feel that the dress sleeve
+      under his hand was wet through, and the worn boots and darned stockings he
+      could see were soaked likewise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Set down in that chair. Put your feet up on that
+      h'ath. Sakes alive! Your folks ought to know better than to let you stir
+      out this weather, let alone walkin' a mile&mdash;and no rubbers! Them
+      shoes ought to come off this minute, I s'pose. Take 'em off. You can dry
+      your stockings better that way. Off with 'em!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; said the child, stooping to unbutton the shoes. Her wet
+      fingers were blue. It can be cold in our village, even in early September,
+      when there is an easterly storm. Unbuttoning the shoes was slow work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here, let me help you!&rdquo; commanded the captain, getting down on one knee
+      and taking a foot in his lap. &ldquo;Tut! tut! tut! you're wet! Been some time
+      sence I fussed with button boots; lace or long-legged cowhides come
+      handier. Never wore cowhides, did you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I s'pose not. I used to when I was little. Remember the first pair I had.
+      Copper toes on 'em&mdash;whew! The copper was blacked over when they come
+      out of the store and that wouldn't do, so we used to kick a stone wall
+      till they brightened up. There! there she comes. Humph! stockin's soaked,
+      too. Wish I had some dry ones to lend you. Might give you a pair of mine,
+      but they'd be too scant fore and aft and too broad in the beam, I
+      cal'late. Humph! and your top-riggin's as wet as your hull. Been on your
+      beam ends, have you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, sir. I fell down in the bushes coming across. There were
+      vines and they tripped me up. And the umbrella was so heavy that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I could see right off you was carryin' too much canvas. Now take off
+      your bunnit and I'll get a coat of mine to wrap you up in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy &ldquo;reefer&rdquo; jacket.
+      Ordering his caller to stand up he slipped her arms into the sleeves and
+      turned the collar up about her neck. Her braided &ldquo;pigtail&rdquo; of yellow hair
+      stuck out over the collar and hung down her back in a funny way. The coat
+      sleeves reached almost to her knees and the coat itself enveloped her like
+      a bed quilt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; said Captain Cy approvingly. &ldquo;Now you look more as if you was
+      under a storm rig. Set down and toast your toes. Where's that letter you
+      said you had?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's inside here. I don't know's I can get at it; these sleeves are so
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reef 'em. Turn 'em up. Let me show you. That's better! Hum! So you come
+      from the depot, hey? Live up that way?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir! I used to live in Concord, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Concord? CONCORD? Concord where?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Concord, New Hampshire. I came on the cars. Auntie knew a man who was
+      going to Boston, and he said he'd take care of me as far as that and then
+      put me on the train to come down here. I stopped at his folks' house in
+      Charlestown last night, and this morning we got up early and he bought me
+      a ticket and started me for here. I had a box with my things in it, but it
+      was so heavy I couldn't carry it, so I left it up at the depot. The man
+      there said it would be all right and you could send for it when&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could SEND for it? <i>I</i> could? What in the world&mdash;Say, child,
+      you've made a mistake in your bearin's. 'Taint me you want to see, it's
+      some of your folks, relations, most likely. Tell me who they are; maybe I
+      know 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl sat upright in the big chair. Her dark eyes opened wide and her
+      chin quivered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;You said you was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, I am. I'm Cy Whittaker, but what&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, auntie told me&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Auntie! Auntie who?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Auntie Oliver. She isn't really my auntie, but mamma and me lived in her
+      house for ever so long and so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! wait! wait! I'm hull down in the fog. This is gettin' too thick for
+      ME. Your auntie's name's Oliver and you lived in Concord, New Hampshire.
+      For&mdash;for thunder sakes, what's YOUR name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thomas.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Em&mdash;Emily&mdash;Richards&mdash;Thomas&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thomas! What was your ma's name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mamma was Mrs. Thomas. Her front name was Mary. She's dead. Don't you
+      want to see your letter? I've got it now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She lifted one of the flapping coat sleeves and extended a crumpled, damp
+      envelope. Captain Cy took it in a dazed fashion and drew a long breath.
+      Then he tore open the envelope and read the following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DEAR CAPTAIN WHITTAKER:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bearer of this is Emily Richards Thomas. She is seven, going on eight,
+      but old for her years. Her mother was Mary Thomas that used to be Mary
+      Thayer. It was her you wrote to about keeping house for you, but she had
+      been dead a fortnight before your letter come. She had bronchial pneumonia
+      and it carried her off, having always been delicate and with more troubles
+      to bear than she could stand, poor thing. Since her husband, who I say was
+      a scamp even if he is dead, left her and the baby, she has took rooms with
+      me and done sewing and such. When she passed away I wrote to Seth Howes, a
+      relation of hers out West, and, so far as I know, the only one she had. I
+      told the Howes man that Mary had gone and Emmie was left. Would they take
+      her? I wrote. And Seth's wife wrote they couldn't, being poorer than
+      poverty themselves. I was afraid she would have to go to a Home, but when
+      your letter came I wrote the Howeses again. And Mrs. Howes wrote back that
+      you was rich, and a sort of far-off relation of Mary's, and probably you
+      would be glad to take the child to bring up. Said that she had some
+      correspondence with you about Mary before. So I send Emmie to you.
+      Somebody's got to take care of her and I can't afford it, though I would
+      if I could, for she's a real nice child and some like her mother. I do
+      hope she can stay with you. It seems a shame to send her to the orphan
+      asylum. I send along what clothes she's got, which ain't many.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Respectfully yours,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SARAH OLIVER.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy read the letter through. Then he wiped his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;WELL! I never in my life! I&mdash;I never did! Of
+      all&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily Richards Thomas looked up from the depths of the coat collar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that you had better send to the depot for my
+      box? I can get dry SOME this way, but mamma always made me change my
+      clothes as soon as I could. She used to be afraid I'd get cold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      ICICLES AND DUST
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not reply to the request for the box. It is doubtful if he
+      even heard it. Mrs. Oliver's astonishing letter had, as he afterwards
+      said, left him &ldquo;high and dry with no tug in sight.&rdquo; Mary Thomas was dead,
+      and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of whose very existence he had been
+      ignorant, had suddenly appeared from nowhere and been dropped at his door,
+      like an out-of-season May basket, accompanied by the modest suggestion
+      that he assume responsibility for her thereafter. No wonder the captain
+      wiped his forehead in utter bewilderment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think you'd better send for the box?&rdquo; repeated the child,
+      shivering a little under the big coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? What say? Never mind, though. Just keep quiet for a spell, won't
+      you. I want to let this soak in. By the big dipper! Of all the solid brass
+      cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole cargo! And Betsy Howes
+      never hinted! 'Probably you would be glad to take&mdash;' Be GLAD! Why,
+      blast their miserable, stingy&mdash;What do they take me for? I'LL show
+      'em! Indiana ain't so fur that I can't&mdash;Hey? Did you say anything,
+      sis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl had shivered again. &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;It was my teeth, I
+      guess. They kind of rattled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What? You ain't cold, are you? With all that round you and in front of
+      that fire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, I guess not. Only my back feels sort of funny, as if somebody
+      kept dropping icicles down it. Those bushes and vines were so wet that
+      when I tumbled down 'twas most like being in a pond.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! That won't do. Can't have you laid up on my hands. That would
+      be worse than&mdash;Humph! Tut, tut! Somethin' ought to be done, and I'm
+      blessed if I know what. And not a woman round the place&mdash;not even
+      that Debby. Say, look here, what's your name&mdash;er&mdash;Emmie, hadn't
+      I better get the doctor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child looked frightened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; she cried, her big eyes opening. &ldquo;I'm not sick, am I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sick? No, no! Course not, course not. What would you want to be sick for?
+      But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your duds are
+      all up to the depot. Say, what does&mdash;what did your ma used to do when
+      you felt&mdash;er&mdash;them icicles and things?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She changed my clothes and rubbed me. And, if I was VERY wet she put me
+      to bed sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bed? Sure! why, yes, indeed. Bed's a good place to keep off icicles.
+      There's my bedroom right in there. You could turn in just as well as not.
+      Bunk ain't made yet, but I can shake it up in no time. Say&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;you
+      can undress yourself, can't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, sir! Course I can! I'm most eight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure you are! Don't act a mite babyish. All right, you set still till I
+      shake up that bunk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the chamber, his own, opening from the sitting room, and
+      proceeded, literally, to &ldquo;shake up&rdquo; the bed. It was not a lengthy process
+      and, when it was completed, he returned to find his visitor already
+      divested of the coat and standing before the stove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess perhaps you'll have to help undo me behind,&rdquo; observed the young
+      lady. &ldquo;This is my best dress and I can't reach the buttons in the middle
+      of the back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy scratched his head. Then he clumsily unbuttoned the wet waist,
+      glancing rather sheepishly at the window to see if anyone was coming.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So this is your best dress, hey?&rdquo; he asked, to cover his confusion. It
+      was obviously not very new, for it was neatly mended in one or two places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So. Where'd you buy it&mdash;up to Concord?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. Mamma made it, a year ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a little choke in the child's voice. The captain was mightily
+      taken back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, yes,&rdquo; he muttered hurriedly. &ldquo;Well, there you are. Now you can
+      get along, can't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Shall I go in that room?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Trot right in. You might&mdash;er&mdash;maybe you might sing out when
+      you're tucked up. I&mdash;I'll want to know if you're got bedclothes
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily disappeared in the bedroom. The door closed. Captain Cy, his hands
+      in his pockets, walked up and down the length of the sitting room. The
+      expression on his face was a queer one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I haven't got any nightgown,&rdquo; called a voice from the other room. The
+      captain gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land! so you ain't,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What in the world&mdash;Humph! I
+      wonder&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went to the lower drawer of a tall &ldquo;highboy&rdquo; and, from the tumbled mass
+      of apparel therein took one of his own night garments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here's one,&rdquo; he said, coming back with it in his hand. &ldquo;I guess you'll
+      have to make this do for now. It'll fit you enough for three times to
+      once, but it's all I've got.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A small hand reached 'round the edge of the door and the nightshirt
+      disappeared. Captain Cy chuckled and resumed his pacing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm tucked up,&rdquo; called Miss Thomas. The captain entered and found her in
+      bed, the patchwork points and diamonds of the &ldquo;Rising Sun&rdquo; quilt covering
+      her to the chin and her head denting the uppermost of the two big pillows.
+      Captain Cy liked to &ldquo;sleep high.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Got enough over you?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, thank you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's good. I'll take your togs out and dry 'em in the kitchen. Don't be
+      scared; I'll be right back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the kitchen he sorted the wet garments and hung them about the cook
+      stove. It was a strange occupation for him and he shook his head
+      whimsically as he completed it. Then he took a flat iron, one of Mrs.
+      Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the closet and put it in the oven
+      to heat. Soon afterwards he returned to the bedroom, bearing the iron
+      wrapped in a dish towel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My ma always used to put a hot flat to my feet when I was a young one and
+      got chilled,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I ain't used one for some time, but I guess
+      it's a good receipt. How do you feel now? Any more icicles?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. I'm ever so warm. Isn't this a nice bed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think so, do you? Glad of it. Well, now, I'm goin' to leave you in it
+      while I step down street and see about havin' your box sent for. I'll be
+      back in a shake. If anybody comes to the door while I'm gone don't you
+      worry; let 'em go away again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He put on his hat and left the house, walking rapidly, his head down and
+      his hands in his pockets. At times he would pause in his walk, whistle,
+      shake his head, and go on once more. Josiah Dimick met him, and his
+      answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and irrelevant that Captain
+      Dimick was puzzled, and later expressed the opinion that &ldquo;Whit's cookin'
+      must be pretty bad; acted to me as if he had dyspepsy of the brain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stopped at Mr. Lumley's residence to leave an order for the
+      delivery of the box. Then he drifted into Simmons's and accosted Alpheus
+      Smalley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Al,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;what's good for a cold?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; asked Mr. Smalley, in true Yankee fashion. &ldquo;You got one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Oh, yes! Yes, I've got one.&rdquo; By way of proof he coughed until the
+      lamp chimneys rattled on the shelf.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judas! I should think you had! Well, there's 'Pine Bark Oil' and
+      'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla&mdash;that's good for
+      most everything&mdash;and&mdash;Is your throat sore?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Yes, I guess so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you KNOW? If you've got sore throat there ain't nothin' better'n
+      'Arabian Balsam.' But what in time are you doin' out in this drizzle with
+      a cold and no umbrella? Do you want to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind my umbrella. I left it in the church entry t'other Sunday and
+      somebody got out afore I did. This 'Arabian Balsam'&mdash;seems to me I
+      remember my ma's usin' that on me. Wet a rag with it, don't you, and tie
+      it round your neck?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Be sure and use a flannel rag, and red flannel if you've got it;
+      that acts quicker'n the other kinds. Fifteen cent bottle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess so. Might's well give me some sass'p'rilla, while you're about
+      it; always handy to have in the house. And&mdash;er&mdash;say, is that
+      canned soup you've got up on that shelf?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The astonished clerk admitted that it was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, give me a can of the chicken kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Smalley, standing on a chair to reach the shelf where the soup was
+      kept, shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, that's too bad, Cap'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we're all out of chicken just
+      now. Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and beef broth. Yes, and
+      I declare if the termatter ain't all gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! then I guess I'll take the beef. Needn't mind wrappin' it up. So
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed bearing his purchases. When Mr. Simmons, proprietor of the
+      store, returned, Alpheus told him that he &ldquo;cal'lated&rdquo; Captain Cy Whittaker
+      was preparing to &ldquo;go into a decline, or somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anyhow,&rdquo; said Alpheus, &ldquo;he bought sass'p'rilla and 'Arabian Balsam,' and
+      I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought three year ago last summer,
+      when Alicia Atkins had the chicken pox.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain entered the house quietly and tiptoed to the door of the
+      bedroom. Emily was asleep, and the sight of the childish head upon the
+      pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it. It looked so natural,
+      almost as if it belonged there. It had been in a bed like that and in that
+      very room that he had slept when a boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe, brimful of curiosity, brought the box a little later. His curiosity
+      was ungratified, Captain Cyrus explaining that it was a package he had
+      been expecting. The captain took the box to the bedroom, and, finding the
+      child still asleep, deposited it on the floor and tiptoed out again. He
+      went to the kitchen, poked up the fire, and set about getting dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was warming the beef broth in a saucepan on the stove when Emily
+      appeared. She was dressed in dry clothes from the box and seemed to be
+      feeling as good as new.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;You're on deck again, hey? How's icicles?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All gone,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;Do you do your own work? Can't I help? I can
+      set the table. I used to for Mrs. Oliver.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain protested that he could do it himself just as well, but the
+      girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept. From the corner
+      of his eye he watched her as she unfolded the tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this the only one you've got?&rdquo; she inquired. &ldquo;It's awful dirty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, I ain't tended up to my washin' and ironin' the way I'd ought
+      to. I'll lose my job if I don't look out, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before they sat down to the meal Captain Cy insisted that his guest take a
+      tablespoonful of the sarsaparilla and decorate her throat with a section
+      of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.' The perfume of the latter
+      was penetrating and might have interfered with a less healthy appetite
+      than that of Miss Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have some soup? Some I bought purpose for you. Best thing goin' for folks
+      with icicles,&rdquo; remarked the captain, waving the iron spoon he had used to
+      stir the contents of the saucepan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, thank you. But don't you ask a blessing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A blessing, you know. Saying that you're thankful for the food now set
+      before us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Why, to tell you the truth I've kind of neglected that, I'm afraid.
+      Bein' thankful for the grub I've had lately was most too much of a strain,
+      I shouldn't wonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know the one mamma used to say. Shall I ask it for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! I guess so, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl bent her head and repeated a short grace. Captain Cy watched her
+      curiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, I'll have some soup, please,&rdquo; observed Emily. &ldquo;I'm awful hungry. I
+      had breakfast at five o'clock this morning and we didn't have a chance to
+      eat much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A good many times that day the captain caught himself wondering if he
+      wasn't dreaming. The whole affair seemed too ridiculous to be an actual
+      experience. Dinner over, he and Emmie attended to the dishes, he washing
+      and she wiping. And even at this early stage of their acquaintance her
+      disposition to take charge of things was apparent. She found fault with
+      the dish towels; they were almost as bad as the tablecloth, she said.
+      Considering that the same set had been in use since Mrs. Beasley's
+      departure, the criticism was not altogether baseless. But the young lady
+      did not stop there&mdash;her companion's skill as a washer was questioned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but don't you think that plate had better be done
+      over? I guess you didn't see that place in the corner. Perhaps you've
+      forgot your specs. Auntie Oliver couldn't see well without her specs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy grinned and admitted that a second washing wouldn't hurt the
+      plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess your auntie was one of the particular kind,&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, 'twas mamma. She couldn't bear dirty things. Auntie used to say
+      that mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass. She didn't, though; she
+      only liked to be neat. I guess dust doesn't worry men so much as it does
+      women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so? I'll help you
+      clean up by and by, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;YOU will?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing. And once I
+      swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any more. She said
+      'twas like trying to blow out a match with a tornado.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically inspecting
+      the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls. He stood watching
+      her for a moment and then asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what are you lookin' for&mdash;more dust? 'Twon't be hard to find
+      it. 'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every time I go
+      outdoor and come in again I realize how true that is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I was only looking at things and thinking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thinkin', hey? What about? or is that a secret?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. I was thinking that this room was different from any I've ever
+      seen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Yes, I presume likely 'tis. Don't like it very much, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, I think I do. It's got a good many things in it that I never
+      saw before, but I guess they're pretty&mdash;after you get used to 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed aloud. &ldquo;After you get used to 'em, hey?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet that
+      she made herself. I&mdash;I was thinking that you must be peculiar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peculiar?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I like peculiar people. I'm peculiar myself. Auntie used to say
+      I was the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came to
+      you. P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to live together. Don't you think
+      maybe that was it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call, peeped in
+      at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the Whittaker sitting
+      room. Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair which had been his
+      grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth top,
+      sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine, a
+      Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magazines was beside her on the
+      floor. The captain was smiling and looking over her shoulder. The cat was
+      curled up in another chair. The room looked more homelike than it had
+      since its owner returned to it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends entered without knocking. Captain Cy looked up, saw them, and
+      appeared embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, boys!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Glad to see you. Come right in. Clearin' off
+      fine, ain't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt replied absently that he wouldn't be surprised if it was.
+      Bailey, his eyes fixed upon the occupant of the cricket, said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We&mdash;we didn't know you had company, Whit,&rdquo; said Asaph. &ldquo;We been up
+      to Simmons's and Alpheus said you was thin and peaked and looked sick.
+      Said you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck. He was afraid you had
+      fever and was out of your head, cruisin round in the rain with no
+      umbrella. The gang weren't talkin' of nothin' else, so me and Bailey
+      thought we'd come right down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's kind of you, I'm sure. Take your things off and set down. No, I'm
+      sorry to disappoint Smalley and the rest, but I'm able to be up and&mdash;er&mdash;make
+      my own bed, thank you. So Alpheus thought I looked thin, hey? Well, if I
+      had to live on that soup he sold me, I'd be thinner'n I am now. You tell
+      him that canned hot water is all right if you like it, but it seems a
+      shame to put mud in it. It only changes the color and don't help the
+      taste.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs, who was still staring at Emily, now ventured a remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that a relation of yours, Cy?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That? Oh! Well, no, not exactly. And yet I don't know but she is.
+      Fellers, this is Emmie Thomas. Can't you shake hands, Emmie?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child rose, laid down the magazine, which was open at the colored
+      picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chignons, and, going across
+      the room, extended a hand to Mr. Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you do, sir?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;er&mdash;how d'ye do? I'm pretty smart, thank you. How's
+      yourself?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm better now. I guess the sass'parilla was good for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Twan't the sass'p'rilla,&rdquo; observed the captain, with conviction. &ldquo;'Twas
+      the 'Arabian Balsam.' Ma always cured me with it and there's nothin'
+      finer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what in time&mdash;&rdquo; began Bailey. Captain Cy glanced at the child
+      and then at the clock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think you'd better turn in now, Emmie?&rdquo; he said hastily,
+      cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query. &ldquo;It's after eight, and when
+      I was little I was abed afore that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily obediently turned, gathered up the Lady's Books and replaced them in
+      the closet. Then she went to the dining room and came back with a hand
+      lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; she said, addressing the visitors. Then, coming close to the
+      captain, she put her face up for a kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; she said to him, adding, &ldquo;I like it here ever so much. I'm
+      awful glad you let me stay.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As Bailey told Asaph afterwards, Captain Cy blushed until the ends of the
+      red lapped over at the nape of his neck. However, he bent and kissed the
+      rosy lips and then quickly brushed his own with his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;Well&mdash;er&mdash;good night. Pleasant dreams
+      to you. See you in the mornin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl paused at the chamber door. &ldquo;You won't have to unbutton my waist
+      now,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is my other one and it ain't that kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door closed. The captain, without looking at his friends, led the way
+      to the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on out here,&rdquo; he whispered. &ldquo;We can talk better here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Naturally, they wanted to know all about the girl, who she was and where
+      she came from. Captain Cy told as much of the history of the affair as he
+      thought necessary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor young one,&rdquo; he concluded, &ldquo;she landed on to me in the rain, soppin'
+      wet, and ha'f sick. I COULDN'T turn her out then&mdash;nobody could.
+      Course it's an everlastin' outrage on me and the cheekiest thing ever I
+      heard of, but what could I do? I was fixed a good deal like an English
+      feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to know in South America. He
+      woke up in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor curled on
+      the foot of his bed. Next day, when a crowd of us happened in, there was
+      Gatenby, white as a sheet, starin' down at the snake, and it sound asleep.
+      'I didn't invite him,' he says, 'but he looked so bloomin' comf'table I
+      'adn't the 'eart to disturb 'im.' Same way with me; the child seemed so
+      comf'table here I ain't had the heart to disturb her&mdash;yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But she said she was goin' to stay,&rdquo; put in Bailey. &ldquo;You ain't goin' to
+      KEEP her, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's indignation was intense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who&mdash;me?&rdquo; he snorted. &ldquo;What do you think I am? I ain't runnin' an
+      orphan asylum. No, sir! I'll keep the young one a day or so&mdash;or maybe
+      a week&mdash;and then I'll pack her off to Betsy Howes. I ain't so soft as
+      they think I am. I'LL show 'em!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt looked thoughtful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's a kind of cute little girl, ain't she?&rdquo; he observed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy's frown vanished and a smile took its place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he chuckled. &ldquo;She is, now that's a fact! I don't know's I
+      ever saw a cuter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      A week isn't a very long time even in Bayport. True, there was once a
+      drummer for a Boston &ldquo;notion&rdquo; house who sprained his ankle on the icy
+      sidewalk in front of Simmons's, and was therefore obliged to remain in the
+      front bedroom of the perfect boarding house for seven whole days. He is
+      quoted as saying that next time he hoped he might break his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Brother,&rdquo; asked the shocked Rev. Mr. Daniels, who was calling upon the
+      stranger, &ldquo;are you prepared to face eternity?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; was the energetic reply. &ldquo;After a week in this town, and in this
+      bedroom? Look here, Mister, if you want to scare me about the future you
+      just hint that they'll put me on a straw tick in an ice chest. Anything
+      hot and lively 'll only be tempting after this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But to us, who live here throughout the year, a week soon passes. And the
+      end of the week following Emily Thomas's arrival at the Cy Whittaker place
+      found the little girl still there and apparently no nearer being shipped
+      to Indiana than when she came. Not so near, if Mr. Tidditt's opinion
+      counts for anything.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone?&rdquo; he repeated scoffingly in reply to Bailey Bangs's question.
+      &ldquo;Course she ain't gone! And, what's more, she ain't goin' to go. Whit's
+      got so already that he wouldn't part with her no more'n he'd cut off his
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But he keeps SAYIN' she's got to go. Only yesterday he was tellin' how
+      Betsy'd feel when the girl landed on her with his letter in her pocket.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sayin' don't count for nothin'. Zoeth Cahoon keeps SAYIN' he's goin' to
+      stop drinkin', but he only stops long enough to catch his breath. Cy's
+      tellin' himself fairy yarns and he hopes he believes 'em. Man alive! can't
+      you SEE? Ain't he gettin' more foolish over the young one every day? Don't
+      she boss him round like the overseer on a cranberry swamp? Don't he look
+      more contented than he has sence he got off the cars? I tell you, Bailey,
+      that child fills a place in Whit's life that's been runnin' to seed and
+      needed weedin'. Nothin' could fill it better&mdash;unless 'twas a nice
+      wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WIFE! Oh, DO be still! I believe you're woman-struck and at an age when
+      it hadn't ought to be catchin' no more'n whoopin' cough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs and the town clerk were the only ones, except Captain Cy, who
+      knew the whole truth concerning the little girl. Not that the child's
+      arrival wasn't noted and vigorously discussed by a large portion of the
+      townspeople. Emily had not been in the Whittaker house two days before
+      Angeline Phinney called, hot on the trail of gossip and sensation. But,
+      persistent as Angeline was, she departed knowing not quite as much as when
+      she came. The interview between Miss Phinney and the captain must have
+      been interesting, judging by the lady's account of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never see such a man in my born days,&rdquo; declared Angie disgustedly. &ldquo;You
+      couldn't get nothin' out of him. Not that he wan't pleasant and sociable;
+      land sakes! he acted as glad to see me as if I was his rich aunt come on a
+      visit. And he was willin' to talk, too. That's the trouble; he done ALL
+      the talkin'. I happened to mention, just as a sort of starter, you know,
+      somethin' about the cranb'ry crop this fall; and after that all he could
+      say was 'cranb'ries, cranb'ries, cranb'ries!' 'Hear you've got comp'ny,'
+      says I. 'Did you?' says he. 'Now ain't it strange how things'll get spread
+      around? Only yesterday I heard that Joe Dimick's swamp was just loaded
+      down with &ldquo;early blacks.&rdquo; And yet when I went over to look at it there
+      didn't seem to be so many. There ain't much better cranb'ries anywhere
+      than our early blacks,' he says. 'You take 'em&mdash;' And so on, and so
+      on, and so on. <i>I</i> didn't care nothin' about the dratted early
+      blacks, but he didn't seem to care for nothin' else. He talked cranb'ries
+      steady for an hour and a half and I left that house with my mouth all
+      puckered up; it's tasted sour ever sence. I never see such a man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When Captain Cy was questioned by Asaph concerning the acid conversation,
+      he grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't know you was so interested in cranb'ries,&rdquo; observed Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't,&rdquo; was the reply; &ldquo;but I'm more interested in 'em than I am in
+      Angie. I see she was sufferin' from a rush of curiosity to the head and I
+      cured her by homeopath doses. Every time she opened her mouth I dropped an
+      'early black' into it. It's a good receipt; you tell Bailey to try it on
+      Ketury some time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To his chums the captain was emphatic in his orders that secrecy be
+      preserved. No one was to be told who the child was or where she came from.
+      &ldquo;What they don't know won't hurt 'em any,&rdquo; declared Captain Cy. And
+      Emily's answer to inquiring souls who would fain have delved into her past
+      was to the effect that &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus&rdquo; didn't like to have her talk about
+      herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know's I'm ashamed of anything I've done so far,&rdquo; said the
+      captain; &ldquo;but I ain't braggin', either. Time enough to talk when I send
+      her back to Betsy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That time, apparently, was not in the near future. The girl stayed on at
+      the Whittaker place and grew to be more and more a part of it. At the end
+      of the second week Captain Cy began calling her &ldquo;Bos'n.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A bos'n's a mighty handy man aboard ship,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;and you're so
+      handy here that it fits in first rate. And, besides, it sounds so natural.
+      My dad called me 'Bos'n' when I was little.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily accepted the title complacently. She was quite contented to be
+      called almost anything, so long as she was permitted to stay with her new
+      friend. Already the bos'n had taken charge of the deck and the rest of the
+      ship's company; Captain Cy and &ldquo;Lonesome,&rdquo; the cat, obeyed her orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the second Sunday morning after her arrival &ldquo;Bos'n&rdquo; suggested that she
+      and Captain Cy go to church.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mother and I always went at home,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And Auntie Oliver used to
+      say meeting was a good thing for those that needed it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think I need it, do you?&rdquo; asked the captain, who, in shirt sleeves and
+      slippers, had prepared for a quiet forenoon with his pipe and the Boston
+      Transcript.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, sir. I heard what you said when Lonesome ate up the steak,
+      and I thought maybe you hadn't been for a long time. I guess churches are
+      different in South America.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So they went to church and sat in the old Whittaker pew. The captain had
+      been there once before when he first returned to Bayport, but the sermon
+      was more somnolent than edifying, and he hadn't repeated the experiment.
+      The pair attracted much attention. Fragments of a conversation, heard by
+      Captain Cy as they emerged into the vestibule, had momentous consequences.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kind of a pretty child, ain't she?&rdquo; commented Mrs. Eben Salters, patting
+      her false front into place under the eaves of her Sunday bonnet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pretty enough in the face,&rdquo; sniffed Mrs. &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; Simpson, who was wearing
+      her black silk for the first time since its third making-over. &ldquo;Pretty
+      enough that way, I s'pose. But, my land! look at the way she's rigged. Old
+      dress, darned and patched up and all outgrown! If I had Cy Whittaker's
+      money I'd be ashamed to have a relation of mine come to meetin' that way.
+      Even if her folks was poorer'n Job's off ox I'd spend a little on my own
+      account and trust to getting it back some time. I'd have more care for my
+      own self-respect. Look at Alicia Atkins. See how nice she looks. Them
+      feathers on her hat must have cost somethin', I bet you. Howdy do, 'Licia,
+      dear? When's your pa comin' home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman had left town on a business trip to the South. Alicia
+      was accompanied by the Atkins housekeeper and, as usual, was garbed
+      regardless of expense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Salters smiled sweetly upon the Atkins heir and then added, in a
+      church whisper: &ldquo;Don't she look sweet? I agree with you, Sarah; it is
+      strange how Captain Whittaker lets his little niece go. And him rich!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Niece?&rdquo; repeated Mrs. Simpson eagerly. &ldquo;Who said 'twas his niece? I heard
+      'twas a child he'd adopted out of a home. There's all sorts of queer yarns
+      about. I&mdash;Oh, good mornin', Cap'n Cyrus! How DO you do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain grunted an answer to the effect that he was bearing up pretty
+      well, considering. There was a scowl on his face, and he spoke little as,
+      holding Emily by the hand, he led the way home. That evening he dropped in
+      at the perfect boarding house and begged to know if Mrs. Bangs had any
+      &ldquo;fashion books&rdquo; around that she didn't want.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;magazines with pictures of women's duds in
+      'em,&rdquo; he stammered, in explanation. &ldquo;Bos'n likes to look at 'em. She's
+      great on fashion books, Bos'n is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah got together a half dozen numbers of the Home Dressmaker and other
+      periodicals of a similar nature. The captain took them under his arm and
+      departed, whispering to Mr. Tidditt, as he passed the latter in the hall:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come up by and by, Ase. I want to talk to you. Bring Bailey along, if you
+      can do it without startin' divorce proceedings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later, when the trio gathered in the Whittaker sitting room, Captain Cy
+      produced the &ldquo;fashion books&rdquo; and spoke concerning them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I've been thinkin' that Bos'n&mdash;Emily,
+      that is&mdash;wan't rigged exactly the way she ought to be. Have you
+      fellers noticed it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friends seemed surprised. Neither was ready with an immediate answer,
+      so the captain went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I don't mean she ain't got canvas enough to cover her spars,&rdquo; he
+      explained; &ldquo;but what she has got has seen consider'ble weather, and it
+      seemed to me 'twas pretty nigh time to haul her into dry dock and refit.
+      That's why I borrowed these magazines of Ketury. I've been lookin' them
+      over and there seems to be plenty of riggin' for small craft; the only
+      thing is I don't know what's the right cut for her build. Bailey, you're a
+      married man; you ought to know somethin' about women's clothes. What do
+      you think of this, now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He opened one of the magazines and pointed to the picture of a young girl,
+      with a waspy waist and Lilliputian feet, who, arrayed in flounces and
+      furbelows, was toddling gingerly down a flight of marble steps. She
+      carried a parasol in one hand, and the other held the end of a chain to
+      which a long-haired dog was attached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk and his companion inspected the young lady with
+      deliberation and interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what do you say?&rdquo; demanded Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't care much for them kind of dogs,&rdquo; observed Asaph thoughtfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the clothes, for
+      good measure, do you? Bailey, what's your opinion?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs looked wise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should say&mdash;&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;yes, sir, I should say that was a real
+      stylish rig-out. Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less fleshy than
+      Emily. This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in two amidships.
+      Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready made, so they could be
+      let out some, to fit. What's the price of a suit like that, Whit?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate and
+      then turned to the description in the text.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'&rdquo; he read. &ldquo;Humph! that settles
+      that, first crack. Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anyway,&rdquo; put in Asaph, &ldquo;you need somethin' she could wear forenoons, if
+      she wanted to. What's this one? She looks young enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;one&rdquo; referred to turned out to be a &ldquo;coat for child of four.&rdquo; It was
+      therefore scornfully rejected. One after another the different magazines
+      were examined and the pictures discussed. At length a &ldquo;costume for miss of
+      eight years&rdquo; was pronounced to be pretty nearly the thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;That's mighty
+      swell, ain't it? What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.' What in time is
+      batiste?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. Do you, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; never heard of it. Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm sure.
+      French, I shouldn't wonder. Well, Ketury's down on the French ever sence
+      she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to take up with another
+      woman. Does it say any more?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let's see. 'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.' Summer!
+      Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again! Bos'n don't want summer
+      clothes. It's comin' on winter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then burst
+      into a laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!&rdquo; he
+      said. &ldquo;I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second childhood. But
+      when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin' on about how pretty
+      'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and shabby Bos'n looked, it made me
+      bile. And, by the big dipper, I WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get
+      through, too! Only, dressin' little girls is some off my usual course.
+      Bailey, does Ketury make her own duds?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no! Course she helps and stands by for orders, but Effie Taylor
+      comes and takes the wheel while the riggin's goin' on. Effie's a
+      dressmaker and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! See, Ase? It IS some good to have a married man aboard, after all.
+      A dressmaker's what we want. I'll hunt up Effie to-morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And hunt her up he did, with the result that Miss Taylor came to the
+      Whittaker place each day during the following week and Emily was, as the
+      captain said, &ldquo;rigged out fresh from main truck to keelson.&rdquo; In this
+      &ldquo;rigging&rdquo; Captain Cy and his two partners&mdash;Josiah Dimick had already
+      christened the pair &ldquo;The Board of Strategy&rdquo;&mdash;took a marked interest.
+      They were on hand when each new garment was tried on, and they approved or
+      criticised as seemed to them best.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't that kind of sober lookin' for a young one like Bos'n?&rdquo; asked the
+      captain, referring to one of the new gowns. &ldquo;I don't want her to look as
+      if she was dressed cheap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land sakes!&rdquo; mumbled Miss Taylor, her mouth full of pins. &ldquo;There ain't
+      anything cheap about it, and you'll find it out when you get the bill.
+      That's a nice, rich, sensible suit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but it's so everlastin' quiet! Don't you think a little yellow
+      and black or some red strung along the yards would sort of liven it up?
+      Why! you ought to see them Greaser girls down in South America of a Sunday
+      afternoon. Color! and go! Jerushy! they'd pretty nigh knock your eye out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The dressmaker sniffed disdain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she retorted, &ldquo;if you want this child to look like an
+      Indian squaw or a barber's pole you'll have to get somebody else to do it.
+      I'm used to dressing Christians, not yeller and black heathen women. Red
+      strung along a skirt like that! I never did!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Effie! Don't get the barometer fallin'. I was only
+      suggestin', you know. What do you think, Bos'n?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Uncle Cyrus, I don't believe I should like red very much; nor the
+      other colors, either. I like this just as it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So? Well, you're the doctor. Maybe you're right. I wouldn't want you to
+      look like a barber's pole. Don't love Tad Simpson enough to want to
+      advertise his business.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor's coming had other results besides the refitting of &ldquo;Bos'n.&rdquo;
+       She found much fault with the captain's housekeeping. It developed that
+      her sister Georgiana, who had been working in a Brockton shoe shop, was
+      now at home and might be engaged to attend to the household duties at the
+      Whittaker establishment, provided she was allowed to &ldquo;go home nights.&rdquo;
+       Georgiana was engaged, on trial, and did well. So that problem was solved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      School in Bayport opens the first week in October. Of late there has been
+      a movement, headed by some of the townspeople who think city ways are
+      best, to have the term begin in September. But this idea has little chance
+      of success as long as cranberry picking continues to be our leading
+      industry. So many of the children help out the family means by picking
+      cranberries in the fall that school, until the picking season was over,
+      would be slimly attended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last week in September found us all discussing the coming of the new
+      downstairs teacher, Miss Phoebe Dawes. Since it was definitely settled
+      that she was to come, the opposition had died down and was less openly
+      expressed; but it was there, all the same, beneath the surface.
+      Congressman Atkins had accepted the surprising defiance of his wish with
+      calm dignity and the philosophy of the truly great who are not troubled by
+      trifles. His lieutenant, Tad Simpson, quoted him as saying that, of
+      course, the will of the school committee was paramount, and he, as all
+      good citizens should, bowed to their verdict. &ldquo;Far be it from me,&rdquo; so the
+      great man proclaimed, &ldquo;to desire that my opinion should carry more weight
+      than that of the humblest of my friends and neighbors. Speaking as one
+      whose knowledge of the world was, perhaps&mdash;er&mdash;more extensive
+      than&mdash;er&mdash;others, I favored the Normal School candidate. But the
+      persons chosen to select thought&mdash;or appeared to think&mdash;otherwise.
+      I therefore say nothing and await developments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This attitude was considered by most of us to reflect credit upon Mr.
+      Atkins. There were a few scoffers, however. When the proclamation was
+      repeated to Captain Cy he smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alpheus,&rdquo; he said to Mr. Smalley, his informant, &ldquo;you didn't use to know
+      Deacon Zeb Clark, who lived up by the salt works in my granddad's time,
+      hey? No, course you didn't! Well, the deacon was a great believer in his
+      own judgment. One time, it bein' Saturday, his wife wanted him to pump the
+      washtub full and take a bath. He said, no; said the cistern was awful low
+      and 'twould use up all the water. She said no such thing; there was water
+      a-plenty. To prove she was wrong he went and pried the cistern cover off
+      to look, and fell in. Mrs. Clark peeked down and saw him there, standin'
+      up to his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tabby,' says he, 'you would have your way and I'm takin' the bath. But
+      you can see for yourself that we'll have to cart water from now on.
+      However, <i>I</i> ain't responsible; throw me down the soap and towel.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; grunted Smalley, &ldquo;I don't see what that's got to do with it.
+      Heman ain't takin' no bath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know's it's got anything to do with it. But he kind of made me
+      think of Zeb, all the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The first day of school was, of course, a Monday. On Sunday afternoon
+      Captain Cy and Bos'n went for a walk. These walks had become a regular
+      part of the Sabbath programme, the weather, of course, permitting. After
+      church the pair came home for dinner. The meal being eaten, the captain
+      would light a cigar&mdash;a pipe was now hardly &ldquo;dressed-up&rdquo; enough for
+      Sunday&mdash;and, taking his small partner by the hand, would lead the way
+      across the fields, through the pines and down by the meadow &ldquo;short cut&rdquo; to
+      the cemetery. The cemetery is a favorite Sabbath resort for the natives of
+      Bayport, who usually speak of it as the graveyard. It is a pleasant, shady
+      spot, and to visit it is considered quite respectable and in keeping with
+      the day and a due regard for decorum. The ungodly, meaning the summer
+      boarders and the village no-accounts, seem to prefer the beach and the
+      fish houses, but the cemetery attracts the churchgoers. One may gossip
+      concerning the probable cost of a new tombstone and still remain faithful
+      to the most rigid creed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was not, strictly speaking, a religious man, according to
+      Bayport standards. Between his attendance to churchly duties and that of
+      the Honorable Heman Atkins there was a great gulf fixed. But he rather
+      liked to visit the graveyard on Sunday afternoons. His mother had been
+      used to stroll there with him, in his boyhood, and it pleased him to
+      follow in her footsteps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So he and Bos'n walked along the grass-covered paths, between the
+      iron-fenced &ldquo;lots&rdquo; of the well-to-do and the humble mounds and simple
+      slabs where the poor were sleeping; past the sumptuous granite shaft of
+      the Atkins lot and the tilted mossy stone which told how &ldquo;Edwin Simpson,
+      our only son,&rdquo; had been &ldquo;accidentally shot in the West Indies&rdquo;; out
+      through the back gate and up the hill to the pine grove overlooking the
+      bay. Here, on a scented carpet of pine needles, they sat them down to rest
+      and chat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily, her small knees drawn up and encircled by her arms, looked out
+      across the flats, now half covered with the rising tide. It was a mild
+      day, more like August than October, and there was almost no wind. The sun
+      was shining on the shallow water, and the sand beneath it showed yellow,
+      checkered and marbled with dark green streaks and patches where the
+      weed-bordered channels wound tortuously. On the horizon the sand hills of
+      Wellmouth notched the blue sky. The girl drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Isn't this just lovely! I do like the sea an awful
+      lot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's natural enough,&rdquo; replied her companion. &ldquo;There's a big streak of
+      salt water in your blood on your ma's side. It pulls, that kind of a
+      streak does. There's days when I feel uneasy every minute and hanker for a
+      deck underneath me. The settin' room floor stays altogether too quiet on a
+      day like that; I'd like to feel it heavin' over a ground swell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Bos'n,&rdquo; he said a few minutes later; &ldquo;I've been thinkin' about you.
+      You've been to school, haven't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I have,&rdquo; was the rather indignant answer. &ldquo;I went two years in
+      Concord. Mamma used to help me nights, too. I can read almost all the
+      little words. Don't I help you read your paper 'most every night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin you do! Yes, yes! Well, our school opens to-morrer and I've been
+      thinkin' that maybe you'd better go. There's a new teacher comin', and I
+      hear she's pretty good.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you KNOW? Why, Mr. Tidditt said you was the one that got her to
+      come here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; well, Asaph says 'most everything but his prayers. Still, he ain't
+      fur off this time; I cal'late I was some responsible for her bein' voted
+      in. Yet I don't really know anything about her. You see, I&mdash;well,
+      never mind. What do you think? Want to go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n looked troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'd like to,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Course I want to learn how to read the big
+      words, too. But I like to stay at home with you more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You do, hey? Sho, sho! Well, I guess I can get along between times.
+      Georgiana's there to keep me straight and she'll see to the dust and the
+      dishes. I guess you'd better go to-morrer mornin' and see how you like it,
+      anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child thought for a moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you're awful good,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I like you next to mamma; even
+      better than Auntie Oliver. I printed a letter to her the other day. I told
+      her you were better than we expected and I had decided to live with you
+      always.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was startled. Considering that, only the day before, he had
+      repeated to Bailey the declaration that the arrangement was but temporary,
+      and that Betsy Howes was escaping responsibility only for a month or so,
+      he scarcely knew what to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;You've decided it, have you? Well, we'll see. Now
+      you trot around and have a good time. I'm goin' to have another smoke.
+      I'll be here when you get back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n wandered off in search of late golden rod. The captain smoked and
+      meditated. By and by the puffs were less frequent and the cigar went out.
+      It fell from his fingers. With his back against a pine tree Captain Cy
+      dozed peacefully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He awoke with a jump. Something had awakened him, but he did not know
+      what. He blinked and gazed about him. Then he heard a faint scream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle!&rdquo; screamed Bos'n. &ldquo;O&mdash;o&mdash;o&mdash;h! Uncle Cyrus, help me!
+      Come quick!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The next moment the captain was plunging through the scrub of huckleberry
+      and bayberry bushes, bumping into pines and smashing the branches aside as
+      he ran in the direction of the call.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Back of the pine grove was a big inclosed pasture nearly a quarter of a
+      mile long. Its rear boundary was the iron fence of the cemetery. The other
+      three sides were marked by rail fences and a stone wall. As the captain
+      floundered from the grove and vaulted the rail fence he swore aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper,&rdquo; he groaned, &ldquo;it's that cussed heifer! I forgot her.
+      Keep dodgin', Bos'n girl! I'm comin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pasture was tenanted by a red and white cow belonging to Sylvanus
+      Cahoon. Whether or not the animal had, during her calfhood days, been
+      injured by a woman is not known; possibly her behavior was due merely to
+      innate depravity. At any rate, she cherished a mortal hatred toward human
+      beings of her own sex. With men and boys she was meek enough, but no
+      person wearing skirts, and alone, might venture in that field without
+      being chased by that cow. What would happen if the pursued one was caught
+      could only be surmised, for, so far, no female had permitted herself to be
+      caught. Few would come even so near as the other side of the pasture
+      walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n had forgotten the cow. She had gone from one golden-rod clump to
+      another until she had traversed nearly the length of the field. Then the
+      vicious creature had appeared from behind a knoll in the pasture and, head
+      down and bellowing wickedly, had rushed upon her. When the captain reached
+      the far-off fence, the little girl was dodging from one dwarf pine to the
+      next, with the cow in pursuit. The pines were few and Bos'n was nearly at
+      the end of her defenses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Help!&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;Oh, uncle, where are you? What shall I do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy roared in answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep it up!&rdquo; he yelled. &ldquo;I'm a-comin'! Shoot you everlastin' critter!
+      I'll break your back for you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The cow didn't understand English it seemed, even such vigorous English as
+      the captain was using. Emily dodged to the last pine. The animal was close
+      upon her. Her rescuer was still far away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the cemetery gate opened and another person entered the pasture.
+      A small person&mdash;a woman. She said nothing, but picking up her skirts,
+      ran straight toward the cow, heedless of the latter's reputation and
+      vicious appearance. One hand clutched the gathered skirts. In the other
+      she held a book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be scared, dear,&rdquo; she called reassuringly. Then to the cow: &ldquo;Stop
+      it! Go away, you wicked thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The animal heard the voice and turned. Seeing that the newcomer was only a
+      woman, she lowered her head and pawed the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Run for the gate, little girl,&rdquo; commanded the rescuer. &ldquo;Run quick!&rdquo; Bos'n
+      obeyed. She made a desperate dash from her pine across the open space, and
+      in another moment was safe inside the cemetery fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scat! Go home!&rdquo; ordered the lady, advancing toward the cow and shaking
+      the book at her, as if the volume was some sort of deadly weapon. &ldquo;Aren't
+      you ashamed of yourself! Go away! You needn't growl at me! I'm not a bit
+      afraid of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;growling&rdquo; was the muttered bellow with which the cow was wont to
+      terrorize her feminine victims. But this victim refused to be terrorized.
+      Instead of screaming and running she continued to advance, brandishing the
+      book and repeating her orders that the creature &ldquo;go home&rdquo; at once. The cow
+      did not know what to make of it. Before she could decide whether to charge
+      or retreat, a good-sized stick descended upon her back with a &ldquo;whack&rdquo; that
+      settled the question. Captain Cy had reached the scene of battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the rescuer's courage seemed to desert her, for she ran back to the
+      cemetery even faster than she had run from it. When the indignant captain,
+      having pursued and chastised the cow until the stick was but a splintered
+      remnant, reached the haven behind the iron fence, he found her soothing
+      the frightened Bos'n who was sobbing and hysterical.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily saw her &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus&rdquo; coming and rushed into his arms. He picked her
+      up and, holding her with a grip which testified to the nerve strain he had
+      been under, stepped forward to meet the stranger, whose coming had been so
+      opportune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And she WAS a stranger. The captain knew most of Bayport's inhabitants by
+      this time, or thought he did, but he did not know her. She was a small
+      woman, quietly dressed, and her hair, under a neat black and white hat,
+      was brown. The hat was now a trifle to one side and the hair was the least
+      bit disarranged, an effect not at all unbecoming. She was tucking in the
+      stray wisps as the captain, with Bos'n in his arms, came up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, ma'am!&rdquo; puffed Captain Cy. &ldquo;WELL, ma'am! I must say that was the
+      slickest, pluckiest thing ever I saw anywheres. I don't know what would&mdash;I&mdash;I
+      declare I don't know how to thank you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady looked at him a moment before replying. Then she began to laugh,
+      a jolly laugh that was pleasant to hear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't try, please,&rdquo; she said chokingly. &ldquo;It wasn't anything. Oh, mercy
+      me! I'm all out of breath. You see, I had been warned about that cow when
+      I started to walk this afternoon. So when I saw her chasing your poor
+      little girl here I knew right away what was the matter. It must have been
+      foolish enough to look at. I'm used to dogs and cats, but I haven't had
+      many pet cows. I told her to 'go home' and to 'scat' and all sorts of
+      things. Wonder I didn't tell her to lie down! And the way I shook that
+      ridiculous book at her was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed again and the captain and Bos'n joined in the laugh, in spite
+      of the fright they both had experienced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That book was dry enough to frighten almost anything,&rdquo; continued the
+      lady. &ldquo;It was one I took from the table before I left the place where I'm
+      staying, and a duller collection of sermons I never saw. Oh, dear! . . .
+      there! Is my hat any more respectable now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes'm. It's about on an even keel, I should say. But I must tell you,
+      ma'am, you done simply great and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seems to me the people who own that cow must be a poor set to let her
+      make such a nuisance of herself. Did your daughter run away from you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you see, ma'am, she ain't really my daughter. Bos'n here&mdash;that's
+      my nickname for her, ma'am&mdash;she and I was out walkin'. I set down in
+      the pines and I guess I must have dozed off. Anyhow, when I woke up she
+      was gone, and the first thing I knew of this scrape was hearin' her hail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little woman's manner changed. Her gray eyes flashed indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You dozed off?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;With a little girl in your charge, and in
+      the very next lot to that cow? Didn't you know the creature chased women
+      and girls?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes; I'd heard of it, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It wasn't Uncle Cyrus's fault,&rdquo; put in Bos'n eagerly. &ldquo;It was mine. I
+      went away by myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Beyond shifting her gaze to the child the lady paid no attention to this
+      remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think her mother 'll say when she sees that dress?&rdquo; she
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Emily's best gown, the finest of the new &ldquo;rig out&rdquo; prepared by Miss
+      Taylor. The girl and Captain Cy gazed ruefully at the rents and pitch
+      stains made by the vines and pine trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you see,&rdquo; replied the abashed captain, &ldquo;the fact is, she ain't got
+      any mother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! I beg your pardon. And hers, too, poor dear. Well, if I were you I
+      shouldn't go to sleep next time I took her walking. Good afternoon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned and calmly walked down the path. At the bend she spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should be gentle with her, if I were you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Her nerves are
+      pretty well upset. Besides, if you'll excuse my saying so, I don't think
+      she is the one that needs scolding.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They thought she had gone, but she turned once more to add a final
+      suggestion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that dress could be fixed,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;if you took it to some one
+      who knew about such things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She disappeared amidst the graveyard shrubbery. Captain Cy and Bos'n
+      slowly followed her. From the pasture the red and white cow sent after
+      them a broken-spirited &ldquo;Moo!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n was highly indignant. During the homeward walk she sputtered like a
+      damp firecracker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The idea of her talking so to you, Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It
+      wasn't your fault at all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled one-sidedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know about that, shipmate,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wouldn't wonder if she
+      was more than half right. But say! she was all business and no frills,
+      wasn't she! Ha, ha! How she did spunk up to that heifer! Who in the
+      dickens do you cal'late she is?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE &ldquo;COW LADY&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      That question was answered the very next day. Bos'n, carefully dressed by
+      Georgianna under the captain's supervision, and weighted down with advice
+      and counsel from the latter, started for the schoolhouse at a quarter to
+      nine. Only a sense of shame kept Captain Cy from walking to school with
+      her. He spent a miserable forenoon. They were quite the longest three
+      hours in his varied experience. The house was dreadfully lonely. He
+      wandered from kitchen to sitting room, worried Georgianna, woke up the
+      cat, and made a complete nuisance of himself. Twelve o'clock found him
+      leaning over the gate and looking eagerly in the direction of the
+      schoolhouse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n ran all the way home. She was in a high state of excitement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;What DO you think? I've
+      found out who the cow lady is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cow lady? Oh, yes, yes! Have you? Who is she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's teacher, that's who she is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Phoebe Dawes? You don't say so! Well, well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. When I went into school and found her sitting there I was so
+      surprised I didn't know what to do. She knew me, too, and said good
+      morning, and was I all right again and was my dress really as bad as it
+      looked to be? I told her that Georgianna thought she could fix it, and if
+      she couldn't, her sister could. She said that was nice, and then 'twas
+      time for school to begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did she say anything about me?&rdquo; inquired Captain Cy when they were seated
+      at the dinner table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes! I forgot. She must have found out who you are, 'cause she said
+      she was surprised that a man who had made his money out of hides should
+      have been so careless about the creatures that wore 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! How'd she get along with the young ones in school?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It appeared that she had gotten along very well with them. Some of the
+      bigger boys in the back seats, cherishing pleasant memories of the &ldquo;fun&rdquo;
+       they had under Miss Seabury's easy-going rule, attempted to repeat their
+      performances of the previous term. But the very first &ldquo;spitball&rdquo; which
+      spattered upon the blackboard proved a disastrous missile for its thrower.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She made him clean the board,&rdquo; proclaimed Bos'n, big-eyed and awestruck,
+      &ldquo;and then he had to stand in the corner. He was Bennie Edwards, and he's
+      most thirteen. Miss Seabury, they said, couldn't do anything with him, but
+      teacher said 'Go,' as quiet as could be and just looked at him, and he
+      went. And he's most as tall as she is. He did look so silly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Edwards youth was not the only one who was made to &ldquo;look silly&rdquo; by
+      little Miss Dawes during the first days of her stay in Bayport. She dealt
+      with the unruly members of her classes as bravely as she had faced the
+      Cahoon cow, and the results were just as satisfactory. She was strict, but
+      she was impartial, and Alicia Atkins found, to her great surprise, that
+      the daughter of a congressman was expected to study as faithfully and
+      behave herself as well as freckled-faced Noah Hamlin, whose father peddled
+      fish and whose everyday costume was a checkered &ldquo;jumper&rdquo; and patched
+      overalls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The school committee, that is, the majority of it, was delighted with the
+      new teacher. Lemuel Myrick boasted loudly of his good judgment in voting
+      for her. But Tad Simpson and Darius Ellis and others of the Atkins
+      following still scoffed and hinted at trouble in the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A new broom sweeps fine,&rdquo; quoted Mr. Simpson. &ldquo;She's doin' all right now,
+      maybe. Anyway, the young ones are behavin' themselves, but disCIPline
+      ain't the whole thing. Heman told me that the teacher he wanted could talk
+      French language and play music and all kinds of accomplishments. Phoebe&mdash;not
+      findin' any fault with her, you understand&mdash;don't know no more about
+      music than a hen; my wife says she don't even sing in church loud enough
+      for anybody to hear her. And as for French! why everybody knows she uses
+      the commonest sort of United States, just as easy to understand as what
+      I'm sayin' now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes boarded at the perfect boarding house. There opinion was
+      divided concerning her. Bailey and Mr. Tidditt liked her, but the feminine
+      boarders were not so favorably impressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think she's altogether too pert about what don't concern her,&rdquo;
+       commented Angeline Phinney. &ldquo;Sarah Emma Simpson dropped in t'other day to
+      dinner, and we church folks got to talkin' about the minister's preachin'
+      such 'advanced' sermons. And Sarah Emma told how she'd heard he said he'd
+      known some real moral Universalists in his time, or some such unreligious
+      foolishness. And I said I wondered he didn't get a new tail coat; the one
+      he preached in Sundays was old as the hills and so outgrown it wouldn't
+      scurcely button acrost him. 'A man bein' paid nine hundred a year,' I
+      says, 'ought to dress decent, anyhow.' And that Phoebe Dawes speaks up,
+      without bein' asked, and says for her part she'd ruther hear a broad man
+      in a narrer coat than t'other way about. 'Twas a regular slap in the face
+      for me, and Sarah Emma and I ain't got over it yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy heard the gossip concerning the new teacher and it rather
+      pleased him. She appeared to be independent, and he liked independence. He
+      met her once or twice on the street, but she merely bowed and passed on.
+      Once he tried to thank her again for her part in the cow episode, but she
+      would not listen to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n was making good progress with her studies. She was naturally a
+      bright child&mdash;not the marvel the captain and the &ldquo;Board of Strategy&rdquo;
+       considered her, but quick to learn. She was not a saint, however, and
+      occasionally misbehaved in school and was punished for it. One afternoon
+      she did not return at her usual hour. Captain Cy was waiting at the gate
+      when Asaph Tidditt happened along. Bailey, too, was with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Waitin' for Bos'n, was you?&rdquo; asked the town clerk. &ldquo;Well, you'll have to
+      wait quite a spell, I cal'late. She's been kept after school.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; and she's got to write fifty lines of copy,&rdquo; added Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was highly indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Get out!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;She ain't neither.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she has, too. One of the Salters young ones told me. I knew you'd be
+      mad, though I s'pose folks that didn't know her's well's we do would say
+      she's no different from other children.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was close to heresy, according to the captain's opinion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She ain't!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;I'd like to know why not! If she ain't twice as
+      smart as the run of young ones 'round here then&mdash;Humph! And she's
+      kept after school! Well, now; I won't have it! There's enough time for
+      studyin' without wearin' out her brains after hours. Oh, I guess you're
+      mistaken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, we ain't. I tell you, Whit, if I was you I'd make a fuss about this.
+      She's a smart child, Bos'n is; I never see a smarter. And she ain't any
+      too strong.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so, she ain't.&rdquo; The idea that Emily's health was &ldquo;delicate&rdquo; had
+      become a fixed fact in the minds of the captain and the &ldquo;Board.&rdquo; It made a
+      good excuse for the systematic process of &ldquo;spoiling&rdquo; the girl, which the
+      indulgent three were doing their best to carry on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't let her be kept, Cy,&rdquo; urged Bailey. &ldquo;Why don't you go right
+      off and see Phoebe and settle this thing? You've got a right to talk to
+      her. She wouldn't be teacher if it wasn't for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph added his arguments to those of Mr. Bangs. Captain Cy, carried away
+      by his firm belief that Bos'n was a paragon of all that was brilliant and
+      good, finally yielded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Come on! That poor little thing shan't be put
+      upon by nobody.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trio marched majestically down the hill. As they neared the
+      schoolhouse Bailey's courage began to fail. Miss Dawes was a boarder at
+      his house, and he feared consequences should Keturah learn of his
+      interference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I guess you don't need me,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;The three of us 'll
+      scare that teacher woman most to death. And she's so little and meek, you
+      know. If I should lose my temper and rare up I might say somethin' that
+      would hurt her feelin's. I'll set on the fence and wait for you and Ase,
+      Whit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt's scornful comments concerning &ldquo;white feathers&rdquo; and
+      &ldquo;backsliders&rdquo; had no effect. Mr. Bangs perched himself on the fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give it to her, fellers!&rdquo; he called after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk Dutch to her! Let her know that there's one child she can't abuse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At the foot of the steps Asaph paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Cy,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;don't you think I better not go in? It ain't
+      really my business, you know, and&mdash;and&mdash;Well, I'm on the
+      s'lectmen and she might be frightened if she see me pouncin' down on her.
+      'Tain't as if I was just a common man. I'll go and set along of Bailey and
+      you go in and talk quiet to her. She'd feel so sort of ashamed if there
+      was anyone else to hear the rakin' over&mdash;hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, see here, Ase,&rdquo; expostulated the captain, &ldquo;I don't like to do this
+      all by myself! Besides, 'twas you chaps put me up to it. You ain't goin'
+      to pull out of the race and leave me to go over the course alone, are you?
+      Come on! what are, you afraid of?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His companion hotly denied that he was &ldquo;afraid&rdquo; of anything. He had all
+      sorts of arguments to back his decision. At last Captain Cy lost patience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, BE a skulk, if you want to!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;I've set out to see this
+      thing through, and I'm goin' to do it. Only,&rdquo; he muttered, as he entered
+      the downstairs vestibule, &ldquo;I wish I didn't feel quite so much as if I was
+      stealin' hens' eggs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes herself opened the door in response to his knock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it's you, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Come in, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy entered the schoolroom. It was empty, save for the teacher and
+      himself and one little girl, who, seated at a desk, was writing busily.
+      She looked up and blushed a vivid red. The little girl was Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, Cap'n,&rdquo; said Miss Phoebe, indicating the visitor's chair. &ldquo;What
+      was it you wanted to see me about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain accepted the invitation to be seated, but he did not
+      immediately reply to Miss Dawes's question. He dropped his hat on the
+      floor, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and then observed that it was
+      pretty summery weather for so late in the fall. The teacher admitted the
+      truth of his assertion and waited for him to continue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I s'pose school's pretty full, now that cranb'ryin' 's over,&rdquo;
+       said Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, pretty full.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gettin' along first rate with the scholars, I hear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a most unpromising beginning, really no beginning at all. The
+      captain cleared his throat, set his teeth, and, without looking at his
+      companion, dove headlong into the business which had brought him there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I s'pose you know that Bos'n&mdash;I mean
+      Emily there&mdash;is livin' at my house and that I'm taking care of her
+      for&mdash;for the present.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I gathered as much from what you said when we first
+      met.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She herself had said one or two things on that occasion. Captain Cy
+      remembered them distinctly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; he said hastily. &ldquo;Well, my doin's that time wasn't exactly the
+      best sample of the care, I will say. Wan't even a fair sample, maybe. I
+      try to do my best with the child, long as she stays with me, and&mdash;er&mdash;and&mdash;er&mdash;I'm
+      pretty particular about her health.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm glad to hear it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Now, Miss Phoebe, I appreciate what you did for Bos'n and me that
+      Sunday, and I'm thankful for it. I've tried to thank&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. Please don't say any more about it. I imagine there is something
+      else you want to say, isn't there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, there is. I&mdash;I heard that Emmie had been kept after
+      school. I didn't believe it, of course, but I thought I'd run up and see
+      what&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated. The teacher finished the sentence for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see if it was true?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is. I told her to stay and write
+      fifty lines.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did? Well, now that's what I wanted to speak to you about. Course I
+      ain't interferin' in your affairs, you know, but I just wanted to explain
+      about Bos'n&mdash;Emmie, I mean. She ain't a common child; she's got too
+      much head for the rest of her. If you'd lived with her same as I have
+      you'd appreciate it. Her health's delicate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it? She seems strong enough to me. I haven't noticed any symptoms.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course not, else you wouldn't have kept her in. But <i>I</i> know, and I
+      think it's my duty to tell you. Never mind if she can't do quite so much
+      writin'. I'd rather she wouldn't; she might bust a blood vessel or
+      somethin'. Such things HAVE happened, to extry smart young ones. You just
+      let her trot along home with me now and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; Miss Dawes had risen to her feet with a determined
+      expression on her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, ma'am,&rdquo; said the captain, rising also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; repeated the teacher, &ldquo;I'm very glad that you called.
+      I've been rather expecting you might, because of certain things I have
+      heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You heard? What was it you heard&mdash;if you don't mind my askin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I don't, because I think we must have an understanding about Emily. I
+      have heard that you allow her to do as she pleases at home; in other
+      words, that you are spoiling her, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;SPOILIN' her! <i>I</i> spoilin' her? Who told you such an unlikely yarn
+      as that? I ain't the kind to spoil anybody. Why, I'm so strict that I'm
+      ashamed of myself sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He honestly believed he was. Miss Phoebe calmly continued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course, what you do at home is none of my business. I shouldn't
+      mention it anyhow, if you hadn't called, because I pay very little
+      attention to town talk, having lived in this county all my life and
+      knowing what gossip amounts to. I like Emily; she's a pretty good little
+      girl and well behaved, as children go. But this you must understand. She
+      can't be spoiled here. She whispered this afternoon, twice. She has been
+      warned often, and knows the rule. I kept her after school because she
+      broke that rule, and if she breaks it again, she will be punished again. I
+      kept the Edwards boy two hours yesterday and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Edwards boy! Do you mean to compare that&mdash;that young rip of a Ben
+      Edwards with a girl like Bos'n? I never heard&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not comparing anybody. I'm trying to be fair to every scholar in this
+      room. And, so long as Emily behaves herself, she shall be treated
+      accordingly. When she doesn't, she shall be punished. You must understand
+      that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Ben Edwards! Why, he's a wooden-head, same as his dad was a fore him!
+      And Emmie's the smartest scholar in this town.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no, she isn't! She's a good scholar, but there are others just as
+      good and even quicker to learn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was piling one insult upon another. Other children as brilliant as
+      Bos'n! Captain Cy was bursting with righteous indignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Well! for a teacher that we've called to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And that's another thing,&rdquo; broke in Miss Dawes quickly. &ldquo;I've been told
+      that you, Cap'n Whittaker, are the one directly responsible for my being
+      chosen for this place. I don't say that you are presuming on that, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't! I never thought of such a thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But if you are you mustn't, that's all. I didn't ask for the position
+      and, now that I've got it, I shall try to fill it without regard to one
+      person more than another. Emily stays here until her lines are written. I
+      don't think we need to say any more. Good day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She opened the door. Captain Cy picked up his hat, swallowed hard, and
+      stepped across the threshold. Then Miss Phoebe added one more remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;when you were in command of a ship did you allow
+      outsiders to tell you how to treat the sailors?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain opened his mouth to reply. He wanted to reply very much, but
+      somehow he couldn't find a satisfying answer to that question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ma'am,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;all I can say is that if you'd been in South America,
+      same as I have, and seen the way them half-breed young ones act, you'd&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher smiled, in spite of an apparent effort not to.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps so,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but this is Massachusetts. And&mdash;well, Emily
+      isn't a half-breed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy strode through the vestibule. Just before the door closed
+      behind him he heard a stifled sob from poor Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy was waiting at the end of the yard. Its members were
+      filled with curiosity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you give it to her good?&rdquo; demanded Asaph. &ldquo;Did you let her understand
+      we wouldn't put up with such cruelizin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's Bos'n?&rdquo; asked Mr. Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Their friend's answers were brief and tantalizingly incomplete. He walked
+      homeward at a gait which caused plump little Bailey to puff in his efforts
+      to keep up, and he would say almost nothing about the interview in the
+      schoolroom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Mr. Tidditt, when they reached the Whittaker gate, &ldquo;I guess
+      she knows her place now; hey, Cy? I cal'late she'll be careful who she
+      keeps after school from now on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Didn't use no profane language, did you, Cy?&rdquo; asked Bailey. &ldquo;I hope not,
+      'cause she might have you took up just out of spite. Did she ask your
+      pardon for her actions?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; roared the captain savagely. Then, banging the gate behind him, he
+      strode up the yard and into the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n came home a half hour later. Captain Cy was alone in the sitting
+      room, seated in his favorite rocker and moodily staring at nothing in
+      particular. The girl gazed at him for a moment and then climbed into his
+      lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wrote my fifty lines, Uncle Cyrus,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Teacher said I'd done
+      them very nicely, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain grunted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cy,&rdquo; whispered Bos'n, putting her arms around his neck, &ldquo;I'm awful
+      sorry I was so bad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bad? Who&mdash;you? You couldn't be bad if you wanted to. Don't talk that
+      way or I'll say somethin' I hadn't ought to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I could be bad, too. I was bad. I whispered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whispered! What of it? That ain't nothin'. When I was a young one in
+      school I used to whis&mdash; . . . Hum! Well, anyhow, don't you think any
+      more about it. 'Tain't worth while.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They rocked quietly for a time. Then Bos'n said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus, don't you like teacher?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? LIKE her? Well, if that ain't a question? Yes, I like her about as
+      well as Lonesome likes Eben Salter's dog.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry. I like her ever so much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You DO? Go 'long! After the way she treated you, poor little thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She didn't treat me any worse than she does the other girls and boys when
+      they're naughty. And I did know the rule about whispering.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, that's different. Comparin' you with that Bennie Edwards&mdash;the
+      idea! And then makin' you cry!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She didn't make me cry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did, too. I heard you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child looked up at him and then hid her face in his waistcoat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wasn't crying about her,&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;It was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;ME!&rdquo; The captain gasped. &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;It's just as I
+      expected. She's studied too hard and it's touchin' her brain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, it isn't. It isn't truly. I did cry about you because I didn't
+      like to hear you talk so. And I was so sorry to have you come there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You WAS!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Other children's folks don't come when they're bad. And I kept
+      feeling so sort of ashamed of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ashamed of ME?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n nodded vigorously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Everything teacher said sounded so right, and what you said
+      didn't. And I like to have you always right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do, hey? Hum!&rdquo; Captain Cy didn't speak again for some few minutes, but he
+      held the little girl very tight in his arms. At length he drew a long
+      breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper, Bos'n!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You're a wonder, you are. I
+      wouldn't be surprised if you grew up to be a mind reader, like that feller
+      in the show we went to at the townhall a spell ago. To tell you the honest
+      Lord's truth, I've been ashamed of myself ever since I come out of that
+      schoolhouse door. When that teacher woman sprung that on me about my
+      fo'mast hands aboard ship I was set back about forty fathom. I never
+      wanted to answer anybody so bad in MY life, and I couldn't 'cause there
+      wasn't anything to say. I cal'late I've made a fool of myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n nodded again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We won't do so any more, will we?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet we won't! <i>I</i> won't, anyhow. You haven't done anything.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you'll like teacher?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain stamped his foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, SIR!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;She may be all right in her way&mdash;I s'pose
+      she is; but it's too Massachusettsy a way for me. No, sir! I don't like
+      her and I WON'T like her. No, sir-ee, never! She&mdash;she ain't my kind
+      of a woman,&rdquo; he added stubbornly. &ldquo;That's what's the matter! She ain't my
+      kind of a woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Town meeting&rdquo; was called for the twenty-first of November.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With the summer boarders gone, the cranberry picking finished, state
+      election over, school begun and under way, and real winter not yet upon
+      us, Bayport, in the late fall, distinctly needs something to enliven it.
+      The Shakespeare Reading Society and the sewing circle continue, of course,
+      to interest the &ldquo;women folks,&rdquo; there is the usual every evening gathering
+      at Simmons's, and the young people are looking forward to the &ldquo;Grand Ball&rdquo;
+       on Thanksgiving eve. But for the men, on week days, there is little to do
+      except to &ldquo;putter&rdquo; about the house, banking its foundations with dry
+      seaweed as a precaution against searching no'theasters, whitewashing the
+      barns and outbuildings, or fixing things in the vegetable cellar where the
+      sticks of smoked herring hang in rows above the barrels of cabbages,
+      potatoes, and turnips. The fish weirs, most of them, are taken up, lest
+      the ice, which will be driven into the bay later on, tear the nets to
+      pieces. Even the hens grow lazy and lay less frequently. Therefore, away
+      back in the &ldquo;airly days,&rdquo; some far-sighted board of selectmen arranged
+      that &ldquo;town meeting&rdquo; should be held during this lackadaisical season. A
+      town meeting&mdash;and particularly a Bayport town meeting, where
+      everything from personal affairs to religion is likely to be discussed&mdash;can
+      stir up excitement when nothing else can.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This year there were several questions to be talked over and settled at
+      town meeting. Two selectmen, whose terms expired, were candidates for
+      re-election. Lem Myrick had resigned from the school committee, not
+      waiting until spring, as he had announced that he should do. Then there
+      was the usual sentiment in favor of better roads and the usual opposition
+      to it. Also there was the ever-present hope of the government
+      appropriation for harbor improvement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was one of the selectmen whose terms expired. In his dual
+      capacity as selectman and town clerk Asaph felt himself to be a very
+      important personage. To elect some one else in his place would be, he was
+      certain, a calamity which would stagger the township. Therefore he was a
+      busy man and made many calls upon his fellow citizens, not to influence
+      their votes&mdash;he was careful to explain that&mdash;but just, as he
+      said, &ldquo;to see how they was gettin' along,&rdquo; and because he &ldquo;thought
+      consider'ble of 'em&rdquo; and &ldquo;took a real personal interest, you understand,&rdquo;
+       in their affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To Captain Cy he came, naturally, for encouragement and help, being&mdash;as
+      was his habit at such times&mdash;in a state of gloom and hopeless
+      despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No use, Whit,&rdquo; he groaned. &ldquo;'Tain't no use at all. I'm licked. I'm
+      gettin' old and they don't want me no more. I guess I'd better get right
+      up afore the votin' begins and tell 'em my health ain't strong enough to
+      be town clerk no longer. It's better to do that than to be licked. Don't
+      you think so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure thing!&rdquo; replied his friend, with sarcasm. &ldquo;If I was you I'd be toted
+      in on a bed so they can see you're all ready for the funeral. Might have
+      the doctor walkin' ahead, wipin' his eyes, and the joyful undertaker
+      trottin' along astern. What's the particular disease that's got you by the
+      collar just now&mdash;facial paralysis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. What made you think of that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin'! Only I heard you stopped in at ten houses up to the west end
+      of the town yesterday, and talked three quarters of an hour steady at
+      everyone. That would fit me for the scrap heap inside of a week, and
+      you've been goin' it ever since September nearly. What does ail you&mdash;anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no; nothin' special that way. Only there don't seem to be any
+      enthusiasm for me, somehow. I just hint at my bein' a candidate and folks
+      say, 'Yes, indeed. Looks like rain, don't it?' and that's about all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, that hadn't ought to surprise you. If anybody came to me and says,
+      'The sun's goin' to rise to-morrer mornin',' I shouldn't dance on my hat
+      and crow hallelujahs. Enthusiasm! Why, Ase, you've been a candidate every
+      two years since Noah got the ark off the ways, or along there. And there
+      ain't been any opposition to you yet, except that time when Uncle 'Bial
+      Stickney woke up in the wrong place and hollered 'No,' out of principle,
+      thinkin' he was to home with his wife. If I was you I'd go and take a nap.
+      You'll read the minutes at selectmen's meetings for another fifty year,
+      more or less; take my word for it. As for the school committee, that's
+      different. I ain't made up my mind about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There had been much discussion concerning the school committee. Who should
+      be chosen to replace Mr. Myrick on the board was the gravest question to
+      come before the meeting. Many names had been proposed at Simmons's and
+      elsewhere, but some of those named had refused to run, and others had not,
+      after further consideration, seemed the proper persons for the office. In
+      the absence of Mr. Atkins, Tad Simpson was our leader in the political
+      arena. But Tad so far had been mute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait a while,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There's some weeks afore town meetin' day. This
+      is a serious business. We can't have no more&mdash;I mean no unsuitable
+      man to fill such an important place as that. The welfare of our
+      posterity,&rdquo; he added, and we all recognized the quotation, &ldquo;depends upon
+      the choice that's to be made.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A choice was made, however, on the very next day but one after this
+      declaration. A candidate announced himself. Asaph and Bailey hurried to
+      the Cy Whittaker place with the news. Captain Cy was in the woodshed
+      building a doll house for Bos'n. &ldquo;Just for my own amusement,&rdquo; he hastily
+      explained. &ldquo;Somethin' for her to take along when she goes out West to
+      Betsy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was all smiles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think, Cy?&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;The new school committee man's as good
+      as elected. 'Lonzo Snow's goin' to take it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laid down his plane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Lonzo Snow!&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;You don't say! Humph! Well, well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir!&rdquo; exclaimed Bailey. &ldquo;He's come forward and says it's his duty to
+      do so. He&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! His duty, hey? I wonder who pointed it out to him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't know. But even Tad Simpson's glad; he says that he knows
+      Heman will be pleased with THAT kind of a candidate and so he won't have
+      to do any more huntin'. He thinks 'Lonzo's comin' out by himself this way
+      is a kind of special Providence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! I shouldn't wonder. Did you ever notice how dead sure Tad and
+      his kind are that Providence is workin' with 'em? Seems to me 'twould be
+      more satisfactory if we could get a sight of the other partner's signature
+      to the deed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter with you?&rdquo; demanded Asaph. &ldquo;You ain't findin' fault
+      with 'Lonzo, are you? Ain't he a good man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good! Sure thing he's good! Nobody can say he isn't and tell the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      No one could truthfully speak ill of Alonzo Snow, that was a fact. He
+      lived at the lower end of the village, was well to do, a leading cranberry
+      grower, and very prominent in the church. A mild, easygoing person was Mr.
+      Snow, with an almost too keen fear of doing the wrong thing and therefore
+      prone to be guided by the opinion of others. He was distinctly not a
+      politician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what ails you?&rdquo; asked Asaph hotly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, nothin', maybe. Only I'm always suspicious when Tad pats Providence
+      on the back. I generally figure that I can see through a doughnut, when
+      there's a light behind the hole. Who is 'Lonzo's best friend in this town?
+      Who does he chum with most of anybody?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Darius Ellis, I guess. You know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum. And Darius is on the committee&mdash;why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I s'pose 'cause Heman Atkins thought he'd be a good feller to have
+      there. But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and 'Lonzo's pew in church is right under the Atkins memorial
+      window. The light from it makes a kind of halo round his bald head every
+      Sunday.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what of it? Heman, nor nobody else, could buy 'Lonzo Snow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Buy him? Indeed they couldn't. But there are some things you get without
+      buyin'&mdash;the measles, for instance. And the one that's catchin' 'em
+      don't know he's in danger till the speckles break out. Fellers, this
+      committee voted in Phoebe Dawes by just two votes to one, and one of the
+      two was Lem Myrick. Darius was against her. Now with Tad and his
+      'Providence' puttin' in 'Lonzo Snow, and Heman Atkins settin' behind the
+      screen workin' his Normal School music box so's they can hear the tune&mdash;well,
+      Phoebe MAY stay this term out, but how about next?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Why, I don't know. Anyhow, you're down on Phoebe as a thousand of
+      brick. I don't see why you worry about HER. After the way she treated poor
+      Bos'n and all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stirred uneasily and kicked a chip across the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;well, I&mdash;I don't know's that's&mdash;That is,
+      right's right and wrong's wrong. I've seen bullfights down yonder&mdash;&rdquo;
+       jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of Buenos
+      Ayres, &ldquo;and every time my sympathy's been with the bull. Not that I loved
+      the critter for his own sake, but because all Greaserdom was out to down
+      him. From what I hear, this Phoebe Dawes&mdash;for all her pesky down-East
+      stubbornness&mdash;is teachin' pretty well, and anyhow she's one little
+      woman against Tad Simpson and Heman Atkins and&mdash;and Tad's special
+      brand of Providence. She deserves a fair shake and, by the big dipper,
+      she's goin' to have it! Look here, you two! how would I look on the school
+      committee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You?&rdquo; repeated the pair in concert. &ldquo;YOU?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, me. I ain't a Solomon for wisdom, but I cal'late I'd be as near the
+      top of the barrel as Darius Ellis, and only one or two layers under Eben
+      Salters or 'Lonzo Snow. I'm a candidate&mdash;see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but, Whit,&rdquo; gasped the town clerk, &ldquo;are you popular enough?
+      Could you get elected?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, but I can find out. You and Bailey 'll vote for me, won't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course we will, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. There's two votes. A hundred and odd more'll put me in. Here
+      goes for politics and popularity. I may be president yet; you can't tell.
+      And say! this town meetin' won't be DULL, whichever way the cat jumps.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This last was a safe prophecy. All dullness disappeared from Bayport the
+      moment it became known that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was &ldquo;out&rdquo; for the
+      school committee. The captain began his electioneering at once. That very
+      afternoon he called upon three people&mdash;Eben Salters, Josiah Dimick,
+      and Lemuel Myrick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Salters was chairman of selectmen as well as chairman of the
+      committee. He was a hard-headed old salt, who had made money in the
+      Australian packet service. He had common sense, independence, and
+      considerable influence in the town. Next to Congressman Atkins he was,
+      perhaps, our leading citizen. And, more than all, he was not afraid, when
+      he thought it necessary, to oppose the great Heman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said reflectively, after listening to Captain Cy's brief
+      statement of his candidacy, &ldquo;I cal'late I'll stand in with you, Cy. I
+      ain't got anything against 'Lonzo, but&mdash;but&mdash;well, consarn it!
+      maybe that's the trouble. Maybe he's so darned good it makes me jealous.
+      Anyhow, I'll do what I can for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Joe Dimick laughed aloud. He was an iconoclast, seldom went to church, and
+      was entirely lacking in reverence. Also he really liked the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; he crowed. &ldquo;Whit, do you realize that you're underminin' this
+      town's constitution? Oh, sartin, I'm with you, if it's only to see the fur
+      fly! I do love a scrap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With Lem Myrick Captain Cy's policy was different. He gently reminded that
+      gentleman of the painting contract, intimated that other favors might be
+      forthcoming, and then, as a clincher, spoke of Tad Simpson's comment when
+      Mr. Myrick voted for Phoebe Dawes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;if you think Tad's got a right to boss all hands
+      and the cook, why, I ain't complainin'. Only, if <i>I</i> was a painter
+      doin' a good, high-class trade, and a one-hoss barber tried to dictate to
+      me, I shouldn't bow down and tell him to kick easy as he could. Seems to
+      me I'd kick first. But I'M no boss; I mustn't influence you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lemuel was indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No barber runs me,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You stand up for me when that townhall
+      paintin's to be done and I'll work hard for you now, Cap'n Whittaker.
+      'Lonzo Snow's an elder and all that, but I can't help it. Anyway, his
+      place was all fixed up a year ago and I didn't get the job. A feller has
+      to look after himself these days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these division commanders to lead their forces into the enemy's
+      country and with Asaph and Bailey doing what they could to help, Captain
+      Cy's campaign soon became worthy of respectful consideration. For a while
+      Tad Simpson scoffed at the opposition; then he began to work openly for
+      Mr. Snow. Later he marshaled his trusted officers around the pool table in
+      the back room of the barber shop and confided to them that it was
+      anybody's fight and that he was worried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's past bein' a joke,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's mighty serious. We've got to
+      hustle, we have. Heman trusted me in this job, and if I fall down it 'll
+      be bad for me and for you fellers, too. I wish he was home to run things
+      himself, but he's got business down South there&mdash;some property he
+      owns or somethin'&mdash;and says he can't leave. But we must win! By
+      mighty! we've GOT to. So get every vote you can. Never mind how; just get
+      'em, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was thoroughly enjoying himself. The struggle suited him to
+      perfection. He was young, in spite of his fifty-five years, and this
+      tussle against odds, reminding him of other tussles during his first
+      seasons in business, aroused his energies and, as he expressed it,
+      &ldquo;stirred up his vitals and made him hop round like a dose of 'pain
+      killer.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He did not, however, forget Bos'n. He and she had their walks and their
+      pleasant evenings together in spite of politics. He took the child into
+      his confidence and told her of the daily gain, or loss, in votes, as if
+      she were his own age. She understood a little of all this, and tried hard
+      to understand the rest, preaching between times to Georgianna how &ldquo;the bad
+      men were trying to beat Uncle Cyrus because he was gooder than they, but
+      they couldn't, 'cause everybody loved him so.&rdquo; Georgianna had some doubts,
+      but she kept them to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the things in Bos'n's &ldquo;box&rdquo; was a long envelope, sealed with wax and
+      with a lawyer's name printed in one corner. The captain opened it, at
+      Emily's suggestion, and was astonished to find that the inclosure was a
+      will, dated some years back, in which Mrs. Mary Thomas, the child's
+      mother, left to her daughter all her personal property and also the land
+      in Orham, Massachusetts, which had been willed to her by her own mother.
+      There was a note with the will in which Mrs. Thomas stated that no one
+      save herself had known of this land, not even her husband. She had not
+      told him because she feared that, like everything else, it would be sold
+      and the money wasted in dissipation. &ldquo;He suspected something of the sort,&rdquo;
+       she added, &ldquo;but he did not find out the secret, although he&mdash;&rdquo; She
+      had evidently scratched out what followed, but Captain Cy mentally filled
+      in the blank with details of abuse and cruelty. &ldquo;If anything happens to
+      me,&rdquo; concluded the widow, &ldquo;I want the land sold and the money used for
+      Emily's maintenance as long as it lasts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain went over to Orham and looked up the land. It was a strip
+      along the shore, almost worthless, and unsalable at present. The taxes had
+      been regularly paid each year by Mary Thomas, who had sent money orders
+      from Concord. The self-denial represented by these orders was not a
+      little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, Bos'n,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, when he returned from the Orham
+      trip. &ldquo;Your ancestral estates ain't much now but a sand-flea menagerie.
+      However, if this section ever does get to be the big summer resort folks
+      are prophesying for it, you may sell out to some millionaire and you and
+      me'll go to Europe. Meantime, we'll try to keep afloat, if the Harniss
+      Bank don't spring a leak.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the day following this conversation he took a flying trip to Ostable,
+      the county seat, returning the same evening, and saying nothing to anyone
+      about his reasons for going nor what he had done while there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n's birthday was the eighteenth of November. The captain, in spite of
+      the warmth of his struggle for committee honors, determined to have a
+      small celebration on the afternoon and evening of that day. It was to be a
+      surprise for Emily, and, after school was over, some of her particular
+      friends among the scholars were to come in, there was to be a cake with
+      eight candles on it, and a supper at which ice cream&mdash;lemon and
+      vanilla, prepared by Mrs. Cahoon&mdash;was to be the principal feature.
+      Also there would be games and all sorts of fun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was tremendously interested in the party. He spent hours with
+      Georgianna and the Board of Strategy, preparing the list of guests. His
+      cunning in ascertaining from the unsuspecting child who, among her
+      schoolmates, she would like to invite, was deep and guileful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Bos'n,&rdquo; he would say, &ldquo;suppose you was goin' to clear out and leave
+      this town for a spell, who&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Uncle Cyrus&mdash;&rdquo; Bos'n's eyes grew frightened and moist in a
+      moment, &ldquo;I ain't going, am I? I don't want to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Course you ain't goin'&mdash;that is, not for a long while,
+      anyhow,&rdquo; with a sidelong look at the members of the &ldquo;Board,&rdquo; then present.
+      &ldquo;But just suppose you and me was startin' on that Europe trip. Who'd you
+      want to say good-by to most of all?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Each name given by the child was surreptitiously penciled by Bailey on a
+      scrap of paper. The list was a long one and, when the great afternoon
+      came, the Whittaker house was crowded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The supper was a brilliant success. So was the cake, brought in with
+      candles ablaze, by the grinning Georgianna. Beside the children there were
+      some older people present, Bailey and Asaph, of course, and the &ldquo;regulars&rdquo;
+       from the perfect boarding house, who had been invited because it was
+      fairly certain that Mr. Bangs wouldn't be allowed to attend if his wife
+      did not. Miss Dawes had also been asked, at Bos'n's well-understood
+      partiality, but she had declined.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward the end of the meal, when the hilarity at the long table was at its
+      height, an unexpected guest made his appearance. There was a knock at the
+      dining-room door, and Georgianna, opening it, was petrified to behold,
+      standing upon the step, no less a personage than the Honorable Heman
+      Atkins, supposed by most of us to be then somewhere in that wide stretch
+      of territory vaguely termed &ldquo;the South.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, all,&rdquo; said the illustrious one, removing his silk hat and
+      stepping into the room. &ldquo;What a charming scene! I trust I do not intrude.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna was still speechless, in which unwonted condition she was not
+      alone, Messrs. Bangs and Tidditt being also stricken dumb. But Captain Cy
+      rose to the occasion grandly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Intrude?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Not a mite of it! Mighty glad to see you, Heman.
+      Here, give us your hat. Pull up to the table. When did you get back?
+      Thought you was in the orange groves somewheres.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ahem! I was. Yes, I was in that neighborhood. But it is hard to stay away
+      from dear old Bayport. Home ties, you know, home ties. I came down on the
+      morning train, but I stopped over at Harniss on business and drove across.
+      Ahem! Yes. The housekeeper informed me that my daughter was here, and,
+      seeing the lights and hearing the laughter, I couldn't resist making this
+      impromptu call. I'm sure as an old friend and neighbor, Cyrus, you will
+      pardon me. Alicia, darling, come and kiss papa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Darling Alicia accepted the invitation with a rustle of silk and an
+      ecstatic squeal of delight. During this affecting scene Asaph whispered to
+      Bailey that he &ldquo;cal'lated&rdquo; Heman had had a hurry-up distress signal from
+      Simpson; to which sage observation Mr. Bangs replied with a vigorous nod,
+      showing that Captain Cy's example had had its effect, in that they no
+      longer stood in such awe of their representative at Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However true Asaph's calculation might have been, Mr. Atkins made no
+      mention of politics. He was urbanity itself. He drew up to the table,
+      partook of the ice cream and cake, and greeted his friends and neighbors
+      with charming benignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wan't it sweet of him to come?&rdquo; whispered Miss Phinney to Keturah. &ldquo;And
+      him so nice and everyday and sociable. And when Cap'n Whittaker's runnin'
+      against his friend, as you might say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah replied with a dubious shake of the head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think Captain Cyrus is goin' to get into trouble,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I've
+      preached to Bailey more 'n a little about keepin' clear, but he won't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Games in t'other room now,&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy. But Mr. Atkins held up
+      his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me, just a moment, Cyrus, if you please,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel that on
+      this happy occasion, it is my duty and pleasure to propose a toast.&rdquo; He
+      held his lemonade glass aloft. &ldquo;Permit me,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;to wish many
+      happy birthdays and long life to Miss&mdash;I beg pardon, Cyrus, but what
+      is your little friend's name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thayer,&rdquo; replied the captain, carried away by enthusiasm
+      and off his guard for once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Em&mdash;&rdquo; began Heman. Then he paused and for the first time in his
+      public life seemed at a loss for words. &ldquo;What?&rdquo; he asked, and his hand
+      shook. &ldquo;I fear I didn't catch the name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No wonder,&rdquo; laughed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;Cy's so crazy to-night he'd forget his
+      own name. Know what you said, Cy? You said she was Emily Richards THAYER!
+      Haw! haw! She ain't a Thayer, Heman; her last name's Thomas. She's Emily
+      Richards Thayer's granddaughter though. Her granddad was John Thayer, over
+      to Orham. Good land! I forgot. Well, what of it, Cy? 'Twould have to be
+      known some time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone looked at Captain Cy then. No one observed Mr. Atkins for the
+      moment. When they did turn their gaze upon the great man he had sunk back
+      in his chair, the glass of lemonade was upset upon the cloth before him,
+      and he, with a very white face, was staring at Emily Richards Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Heman?&rdquo; asked the captain anxiously. &ldquo;Ain't sick, are
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman started.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no!&rdquo; he said hurriedly. &ldquo;Oh, no! but I'm afraid I've soiled your
+      cloth. It was awkward of me. I&mdash;I really, I apologize&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He wiped his face with his handkerchief. Captain Cy laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, never mind the tablecloth,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I cal'late it's too soiled
+      already to be hurt by a bath, even a lemon one. Well, you've all heard the
+      toast. Full glasses, now. Here's TO you, Bos'n! Drink hearty, all hands,
+      and give the ship a good name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If the heartiness with which they drank is a criterion, the good name of
+      the ship was established. Then the assembly adjourned to the sitting room
+      and&mdash;yes, even the front parlor. Not since the days when that sacred
+      apartment had been desecrated by the irreverent city boarders, during the
+      Howes regime, had its walls echoed to such whoops and shouts of laughter.
+      The children played &ldquo;Post Office&rdquo; and &ldquo;Copenhagen&rdquo; and &ldquo;Clap in, Clap
+      out,&rdquo; while the grown folks looked on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't they havin' a fine time, Cap?&rdquo; gushed Miss Phinney. &ldquo;Don't it make
+      you wish you was young again?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Angie,&rdquo; replied Captain Cy solemnly, &ldquo;don't tempt me; don't! If they keep
+      on playin' that Copenhagen and you stand right alongside of me, there's no
+      tellin' what 'll happen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline declared that he was &ldquo;turrible,&rdquo; but she faced the threatened
+      danger nevertheless, and bravely remained where she was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins went home early in the evening, taking Alicia with him. He
+      explained that his long railroad journey had&mdash;er&mdash;somewhat
+      fatigued him and, though he hated to leave such a&mdash;er&mdash;delightful
+      gathering, he really felt that, under the circumstances, his departure
+      would be forgiven. Captain Cy opened the door for him and stood watching
+      as, holding his daughter by the hand, he marched majestically down the
+      path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; mused the captain aloud. &ldquo;I guess he has been travelin' nights.
+      Thought he ought to be here quick, I shouldn't wonder. He does look tired,
+      that's a fact, and kind of pale, seemed to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there, now!&rdquo; exclaimed Mrs. Tripp, who was looking over his
+      shoulder. &ldquo;Did you see that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; what was it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, when he went to open his gate, one of them arbor vity bushes he set
+      out this spring knocked his hat off. And he never seemed to notice, but
+      went right on. If 'Licia hadn't picked it up, that nice new hat would have
+      been layin' there yet. That's the most undignified thing ever I see Heman
+      Atkins do. He MUST be tired out, poor man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; asked Asaph next day, &ldquo;wan't you surprised to see Heman last
+      night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy nodded. He was once more busy with the doll house, the
+      construction of which had progressed slowly of late, owing to the demands
+      which the party and politics made upon its builder's time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I sartinly was. Pretty good sign, I shouldn't wonder.
+      Looks as if friend Tad had found the tide settin' too strong against him
+      and had whistled for a tug. All right; the more scared the other side get,
+      the better for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what in the world made Heman come over and have supper? He never so
+      much as stepped foot in the house afore, did he? That's the biggest
+      conundrum of all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess I've got the answer. Strikes me that Heman's sociableness
+      is the best sign yet. Heman's a slick article, and when he sees there's
+      danger of losin' the frostin' on the cake he takes care to scrape the
+      burnt part off the bottom. I may be school committeeman after town
+      meetin'. He'll move all creation to stop me, of course&mdash;in his quiet,
+      round-the-corner way&mdash;but, if I do win out, he wants to be in a
+      position to take me one side and tell me that he's glad of it; he felt all
+      along I was the right feller for the job, and if there's anything he can
+      do to make things easier for me just call on him. That's the way I size it
+      up, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cy, I never see anybody like you. You're dead set against Heman, and have
+      been right along. And he's never done anything to you, fur's I see. He's
+      given a lot to the town, and he's always been the most looked-up-to man
+      we've got. Joe Dimick and two or three more chronic growls have been the
+      only ones to sling out hints against him, till you come. Course I'm
+      working for you, tooth and nail, and I will say that you seem to be
+      gettin' the votes some way or other. But if Heman SHOULD step right out
+      and say: 'Feller citizens, I'm behind Tad Simpson in this fight, and as a
+      favor to me and 'cause I think it's right and best, I want 'Lonzo Snow
+      elected'&mdash;well, <i>I</i> don't believe you'd have more'n one jack and
+      a ten spot to count for game.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Probably not, Ase; I presume likely not. But you take a day off some time
+      and see if you can remember that Heman EVER stepped right out and said
+      things. Blame it! that's just it. As for WHY he riles me up and makes me
+      stubborn as a balky mule, I don't know exactly. All I'm sure is that he
+      does. Maybe it's 'cause I don't like the way he wears his whiskers. Maybe
+      it's because he's so top-lofty and condescendin'. A feller can whistle to
+      me and say: 'Come on, Bill,' and I'll trot at his heels all day. But when
+      he pats me on the head and says: 'There there! nice doggie. Go under the
+      bed and lay down,' my back bristles up and I commence to growl right off.
+      There's consider'ble Whittaker in me, as I've told you before.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk pondered over this rather unsatisfactory line of reasoning
+      for some minutes. His companion fitted a wooden chimney on the doll house,
+      found it a trifle out of plumb, and proceeded to whittle a shaving off the
+      lower edge. Then Asaph sighed, as one who gives up a perplexing riddle,
+      put his hand in his pocket, and produced a bundle of papers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I made out a list of fellers down to the east'ard that I'm goin' to see
+      this afternoon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some of 'em I guess 'll vote for you, but most
+      of 'em are pretty sartin' for 'Lonzo. However, I&mdash;Where is that list?
+      I had it somewhere's. And&mdash;well, I swan! I come pretty near
+      forgettin' it myself. I'm 'most as bad as Bailey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      From the bundle of papers he produced a crumpled envelope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Bailey,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;must be in love, I cal'late, though I don't
+      know who with. Ketury, I s'pose, 'cordin' to law and order, but&mdash;Well,
+      anyhow, he's gettin' more absent-minded all the time. Here's a letter for
+      you, Cy, that he got at the post-office a week ago Monday. 'Twas the night
+      of the church sociable, and he had on his Sunday cutaway, and he ain't
+      worn it sence, till the party yesterday. When he took off the coat, goin'
+      to bed, the letter fell out of it. I guess he was ashamed to fetch it
+      round himself, so he asked me to do it. Better late than never, hey?
+      Here's that list at last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He produced the list and handed it to the captain for inspection. The
+      latter looked it over, made a few comments and suggestions, and told his
+      friend to heave ahead and land as many of the listed as possible. This Mr.
+      Tidditt promised to do, and, replacing the papers in his pocket, started
+      for the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Say, Ase!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk, his hand on the gate latch, turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what is it?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Don't keep me no longer'n you can help. I
+      got work to do, I have.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, I won't stop you. Only fallin' in love is kind of epidemic
+      down at the boardin' house, I guess. Who is it that's got you in tow&mdash;Matildy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you talkin' about? Didn't I tell you to quit namin' me with
+      Matildy Tripp? I like a joke as well as most folks, but when it's wore
+      into the ground I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho, sho! Don't get mad. It's your own fault. You said that
+      absent-mindedness was a love symptom, so I just got to thinkin', that's
+      all. That letter that Bailey forgot&mdash;you haven't given it to me yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph turned red and hastily snatched the papers from his pocket. He
+      strode back to the door of the woodshed, handed his friend the crumpled
+      envelope, and stalked off without another word. The captain chuckled, laid
+      the letter on the bench beside him and went on with his work. It was
+      perhaps ten minutes later when, happening to glance at the postmark on the
+      envelope, he saw that it was &ldquo;Concord, N. H.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph's vote-gathering trip &ldquo;to the east'ard&rdquo; made a full day for him. He
+      returned to the perfect boarding house just at supper time. During the
+      meal he realized that Mr. Bangs seemed to be trying to attract his
+      attention. Whenever he glanced in that gentleman's direction his glance
+      was met by winks and mystifying shakes of the head. Losing patience at
+      last, he demanded to know what was the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Want to say somethin' to me, do you?&rdquo; he inquired briskly. &ldquo;If you do,
+      out with it! Don't set there workin' your face as if 'twas wound up, like
+      a clockwork image.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark had the effect of turning all the other faces toward Bailey's.
+      He was very much upset.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;No, no! I don't want you for nothin'. Was I
+      makin' my face go? I&mdash;I didn't know it. I've been washin' carriages
+      and cleanin' up the barn all day and I cal'late I've overdone. I'm gettin'
+      old, and hard work's likely to bring on shakin' palsy to old folks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His wife tartly observed that, if WORK was the cause of it, she guessed he
+      was safe from palsy for quite a spell yet. At any rate, a marked recovery
+      set in and he signaled no more during the meal. But when it was over, and
+      his task as dish-wiper completed, he hurried out of doors and found Mr.
+      Tidditt, shivering in the November wind, on the front porch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now what is it?&rdquo; asked Asaph sharply. &ldquo;I know there's somethin' and I've
+      froze to death by sections waitin' to hear it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen Cy?&rdquo; whispered Bailey, glancing fearfully over his shoulder
+      at the lighted windows of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not sence mornin'. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there's somethin' the matter with him. Somethin' serious. I was
+      swabbin' decks in the barn about eleven o'clock, when he come postin' in,
+      white and shaky, and so nervous he couldn't stand still. Looked as if he
+      had had a stroke almost. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors! You don't s'pose Heman's comin' back has knocked out
+      his chances for the committee, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir-ee! 'twan't that. Cy's anxious to be elected and all, but you
+      know his politics are more of a joke with him than anything else. And any
+      rap Heman or Tad could give him would only make him fight harder. And he
+      wouldn't talk politics at all; didn't seem to give a durn about 'em, one
+      way or t'other. No, 'twas somethin' about that letter, the one I forgot so
+      long. He wanted to know why in time I hadn't given it to him when it fust
+      come. He was real ugly about it, for him, and kept pacin' up and down the
+      barn floor and layin' into me, till I begun to think he was crazy. I guess
+      he see my feelin's were hurt, 'cause, just afore he left, he held out his
+      hand and said I mustn't mind his talk; he'd been knocked on his beam ends,
+      he said, and wan't really responsible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldn't he say what had knocked him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, couldn't get nothin' out of him. And when he quit he went off toward
+      home, slappin' his fists together and actin' as if he didn't see the road
+      across his bows. Now, you know how cool and easy goin' Whit generally is.
+      I swan to man, Ase! he made me so sorry for him I didn't know what to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't you been up to see him sence?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Ketury was sot on havin' the barn cleaned, and she stood over me with
+      a rope's end, as you might say. I couldn't get away a minute, though I
+      made up more'n a dozen errands at Simmons's and the like of that. You hold
+      on till I sneak into the entry and get my cap and we'll put for there now.
+      I won't be but a jiffy. I'm worried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They entered the yard of the Cy Whittaker place together and approached
+      the side door. As they stood on the steps Asaph touched his chum on the
+      arm and pointed to the window beside them. The shade was half drawn and
+      beneath it they had a clear view of the interior of the sitting room.
+      Captain Cy was in the rocker before the stove, holding Bos'n in his arms.
+      The child was sound asleep, her yellow braid hanging over the captain's
+      broad shoulder. He was gazing down into her face with a look which was so
+      full of yearning and love that it brought a choke into the throats of the
+      pair who saw it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They entered the dining room. The captain sprang from his chair and, still
+      holding the little girl close against his breast, met them at the
+      sitting-room door. When he saw who the visitors were, he caught his
+      breath, almost with a sob, and seemed relieved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h!&rdquo; he whispered warningly. &ldquo;She's asleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The members of the Board of Strategy nodded understandingly and sat down
+      upon the sofa. Captain Cy tiptoed to the bedroom, turned back the
+      bedclothes with one hand and laid Bos'n down. They saw him tuck her
+      carefully in and then stoop and kiss her. He returned to the sitting room
+      and closed the door behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We see she was asleep afore we come in,&rdquo; explained Asaph. &ldquo;We see you and
+      her through the window.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked hurriedly at the window indicated. Then he stepped over
+      and pulled the shade down to the sill, doing the same with the curtains of
+      the other two windows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter?&rdquo; inquired Bailey, trying to be facetious. &ldquo;'Fraid of
+      'Lonzo's crowd spyin' on us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not reply. He did not even sit down, but remained standing,
+      his back to the stove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; he asked shortly. &ldquo;Did you fellers want to see me for anything
+      'special?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wanted to see what had struck you all to once,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt.
+      &ldquo;Bailey says you scared him half to death this forenoon. And you look now
+      as if somebody's ghost had riz and hollered 'Boo!' at you. For the land
+      sakes, Whit, what IS it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain drew his hand across his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ghost?&rdquo; he repeated absently. &ldquo;No, I haven't SEEN a ghost. There! there!
+      don't mind me. I ain't real well to-day, I guess.&rdquo; He smiled crookedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you want to hear about my vote-grabbin' cruise?&rdquo; asked Tidditt. &ldquo;I
+      was flatterin' myself you'd be tickled to hear I'd done so well. Why, even
+      Marcellus Parker says he may vote for you&mdash;if he makes up his mind
+      that way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Marcellus was a next-door neighbor of Alonzo Snow's. But Captain Cy didn't
+      seem to care.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; he murmured. &ldquo;Yes. Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WELL! Is that all you've got to say? Are you really sick, Cy? Or is Bos'n
+      sick?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; was the answer, almost fierce in its utterance. &ldquo;She isn't sick.
+      Don't be a fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's foolish about that? I didn't know but she might be. There's mumps
+      in town and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's all right; so shut up, will you! There, Ase!&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I'm the
+      fool myself. Don't mind my barkin'; I don't mean it. I am about sick, I
+      cal'late. Be better to-morrer, maybe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's got into you? Was that letter of Bailey's&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; The captain held up his hand. &ldquo;I thought I heard a team.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depot wagon, most likely,&rdquo; said Bailey. &ldquo;About time for it! Humph! seems
+      to be stoppin', don't it? Was you expectin' anybody? Shall I go and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! Set still.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pair on the sofa sat still. Captain Cy stood like a statue in the
+      middle of the floor. He squared his shoulders and jammed his clenched
+      fists into his pockets. Steps crunched the gravel of the walk. There came
+      a knock at the door of the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of his own
+      ships, the captain went to answer the knock. They heard the door open, and
+      then a man's voice asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this Cap'n Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; was the short answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Cap, I guess you don't know me, though maybe you know some of my
+      family. Ha, ha! Don't understand that, hey? Well, you let me in and I'll
+      explain the joke.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's reply was calm and deliberate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shouldn't wonder if I understood it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Come in. Don't&mdash;&rdquo;
+       The remainder of the sentence was whispered and the listeners on the sofa
+      could not hear it. A moment later Captain Cy entered the sitting room,
+      followed by his caller.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter was a stranger. He was a broad-shouldered man of medium height,
+      with a yellowish mustache and brown hair. He was dressed in rather shabby
+      clothes, without an overcoat, and he had a soft felt hat in his hand. The
+      most noticeable thing about him was a slight hesitancy in his walk. He was
+      not lame, he did not limp, yet his left foot seemed to halt for an instant
+      as he brought it forward in the step. They learned afterwards that it had
+      been hurt in a mine cave-in. He carried himself with a swagger, and, after
+      his entrance, there was a perceptible aroma of alcohol in the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stared at the Board of Strategy and the stare was returned in full
+      measure. Bailey and Asaph were wildly curious. They, of course, connected
+      the stranger's arrival with the mysterious letter and the captain's
+      perturbation of the day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But their curiosity was not to be satisfied, at least not then.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How are you, gents?&rdquo; hailed the newcomer cheerfully. &ldquo;Like the looks of
+      me, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy cut off further conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this&mdash;er&mdash;gentleman and I have got some
+      business to talk over. I know you're good enough friends of mine not to
+      mind if I ask you to clear out. You'll understand. You WILL understand,
+      boys, won't you?&rdquo; he added, almost entreatingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin sure!&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt, rising hurriedly. &ldquo;Don't say another
+      word, Whit.&rdquo; And the mystified Bangs concurred with a &ldquo;Yes, yes! Why, of
+      course! Didn't have nothin' that amounts to nothin' to stay for anyhow.
+      See you to-morrer, Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Outside and at the gate they stopped and looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph. &ldquo;If that ain't the strangest thing! Who was that
+      feller? Where'd he come from? Did you notice how Cy acted? Seemed to be
+      holdin' himself in by main strength.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you smell the rum on him?&rdquo; returned Bailey. &ldquo;On that t'other chap, I
+      mean? Didn't he look like a reg'lar no-account to you? And say, Ase,
+      didn't he remind you of somebody you'd seen somewheres&mdash;kind of, in a
+      way?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked home in a dazed state, asking unanswerable questions and
+      making profitless guesses. But Asaph's final remark seemed to sum up the
+      situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's trouble comin' of this, Bailey,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;And it's trouble
+      for Cy Whittaker, I'm afraid. Poor old Cy! Well, WE'LL stand by him,
+      anyhow. I don't believe he'll sleep much to-night. Didn't look as though
+      he would, did he? Who IS that feller?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If he had seen Captain Cy, at two o'clock the next morning, sitting by
+      Bos'n's bedside and gazing hopelessly at the child, he would have realized
+      that, if his former predictions were wiped off the slate and he could be
+      judged by the one concerning the captain's sleepless night, he might
+      thereafter pose as a true prophet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A BARGAIN OFF
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mornin', Georgianna,&rdquo; said Captain Cy to his housekeeper as the latter
+      unlocked the back door of the Whittaker house next morning. &ldquo;I'm a little
+      ahead of you this time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor, being Bayport born and bred, was an early riser. She lodged
+      with her sister, in Bassett's Hollow, a good half mile from the Cy
+      Whittaker place, but she was always on hand at the latter establishment by
+      six each morning, except Sundays. Now she glanced quickly at the clock.
+      The time was ten minutes to six.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land sakes!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I should say you was! What in the world got
+      you up so early? Ain't sick, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the captain wearily. &ldquo;I ain't sick. I didn't sleep very well
+      last night, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna looked sharply at him. His face was haggard and his eyes had
+      dark circles under them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she grunted. &ldquo;No, I guess you didn't. Looks to me as if you'd
+      been up all night.&rdquo; Then she added an anxious query: &ldquo;'Tain't Bos'n&mdash;she
+      ain't sick, I hope?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. She's all right. I say, Georgianna, you put on an extry plate this
+      mornin'. Got company for breakfast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper was surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For breakfast?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;Land of goodness! who's comin' for
+      breakfast? I never heard of company droppin' in for breakfast. That's one
+      meal folks generally get to home. Who is it? Mr. Tidditt? Has Ketury
+      turned him out door because he's too bad an example for her husband?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, 'tain't Ase. It's a&mdash;a friend of mine. Well, not exactly a
+      friend, maybe, but an acquaintance from out of town. He came last evenin'.
+      He's up in the spare bedroom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I never! Come unexpected, didn't he? I wish I'd known he was
+      comin'. That spare room bed ain't been aired I don't know when.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess he can stand it. I cal'late he's slept in consider'ble worse&mdash;Hum!
+      Yes, he did come kind of sudden.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's his name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What difference does that make? I don't know's his name makes any odds
+      about gettin' his breakfast for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna was hurt. Her easy-going employer had never used this tone
+      before when addressing her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she sniffed. &ldquo;Is THAT the way you feel? All right! I can mind my own
+      business, thank you. I only asked because it's convenient sometimes to
+      know whether to call a person Bill Smith or Sol Jones. But I don't care if
+      it's Nebuchadnezzar. I know when to keep my tongue still, I guess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She flounced over to the range. Captain Cy looked ashamed of himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm kind of out of sorts to-day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Got some headache. Why, his
+      name is&mdash;is&mdash;yes, 'tis Smith, come to think of it&mdash;John
+      Smith. Funny you should guess right, wan't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; was the ungracious answer. &ldquo;Names don't interest me, I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was in the dining room when Bos'n appeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good morning, Uncle Cyrus,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You've been waiting, haven't you?
+      Am I late? I didn't mean to be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! you ain't late. Early, if anything. Breakfast ain't quite ready
+      yet. Come here and set in my lap. I want to talk to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He took her on his knee. She looked up into his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Uncle Cy?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;What makes you so sober?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sober? If you ain't the oldest young one for eight years I ever saw! Why,
+      I ain't sober. No, no! Say, Bos'n, do you like your school as well as
+      ever?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I like it better all the time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do, hey? And that teacher woman&mdash;go on likin' her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child nodded emphatically. &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And I haven't been
+      kept after since that once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! Course you ain't'! So you think Bayport's as nice as Concord,
+      do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! lots nicer! If mamma was only here I'd never want to be anywhere
+      else. And not then, maybe, unless you was there, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Want to know! Say, Bos'n, how would you feel if you had to go
+      somewheres else?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To live? Have we got to? I'd feel dreadful, of course. But if you've got
+      to go, Uncle Cyrus, why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Me? No; I ain't got to go anywheres. But 'twas you I was thinkin' of.
+      Wouldn't want to leave the old man, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To leave YOU! Oh, Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was staring at him now and her chin was trembling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle,&rdquo; she demanded, &ldquo;you ain't going to send me away? Haven't I been a
+      good girl?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's lips shut tight. He waited a moment before replying. &ldquo;'Deed
+      you've been a good girl!&rdquo; he said brusquely. &ldquo;I never saw a better one.
+      No, I ain't goin' to SEND you away. Don't you worry about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Alicia Atkins said one time you told somebody you was going to send
+      me out West, after a while. I didn't believe it, then, she's so mean, but
+      she said you said&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;SAID!&rdquo; Captain Cy groaned. &ldquo;The Lord knows what I ain't said! I've been a
+      fool, dearie, and it's a judgment on me, I guess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But ain't you goin' to keep me? I&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sobbed. The captain stroked her hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep you?&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Yes, by the big dipper! I'm goin' to keep you,
+      if I can&mdash;if I can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; said a voice. The pair looked up. The man who had arrived on the
+      previous night stood in the sitting-room doorway. How long he had been
+      standing there the captain did not know. What he did know was that Mr.
+      John Smith by daylight was not more prepossessing than the same individual
+      viewed by the aid of a lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily saw the stranger and slid from Captain Cy's knees. The captain rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this is Mr.&mdash;er&mdash;Smith, who's goin' to make
+      us a little visit. I want you to shake hands with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl dutifully approached Mr. Smith and extended her hand. He took it
+      and held it in his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this the&mdash;&rdquo; he began.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy bowed assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he said, his eyes fixed on the visitor's face. &ldquo;Yes. Don't forget
+      what you said last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smith shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I ain't the kind that forgets, unless it pays pretty
+      well. There's some things I've remembered for quite a few years.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked the child over from head to foot and his brows drew together in
+      an ugly frown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So this is her, hey?&rdquo; he muttered musingly. &ldquo;Humph! Well, I don't know as
+      I'd have guessed it. Favors the other side of the house more&mdash;the
+      respectable side, I should say. Still, there's a little brand of the lost
+      sheep, hey? Enough to prove property, huh? Mark of the beast, I s'pose the
+      psalm-singin' relations would call it. D&mdash;n em! I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Steady!&rdquo; broke in the captain. Mr. Smith started, seemed to remember
+      where he was, and his manner changed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see me, honey,&rdquo; he coaxed, drawing the girl toward him by the
+      hand he was holding. &ldquo;Ain't you got a nice kiss for me this fine mornin'?
+      Don't be scared. I won't bite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n looked shrinkingly at Mr. Smith's unshaven cheeks and then at
+      Captain Cy. The latter's face was absolutely devoid of expression. He
+      merely nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Emily kissed one of the bristling cheeks. The kiss was returned full
+      upon the mouth. She wiped her lips and darted away to her chair by the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's your hurry?&rdquo; inquired the visitor. &ldquo;Don't I do it right? Been some
+      time since I kissed a girl&mdash;a little one, anyhow,&rdquo; he added, winking
+      at his host. &ldquo;Never mind, we'll know each other better by and by.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked on in wondering disgust as Bos'n said her &ldquo;grace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in blazes!&rdquo; he burst out when the little blessing was finished. &ldquo;Who
+      put her up to that? A left-over from the psalm-singers, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know,&rdquo; answered the captain, speaking with deliberation. &ldquo;I do
+      know that I like to have her do it and that she shall do it as long's
+      she's at this table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! she shall, hey? Well, I reckon&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She shall&mdash;AS LONG AS SHE'S AT THIS TABLE. Is that real plain and
+      understandable, or shall I write it down?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was an icy clearness in the captain's tone which seemed to freeze
+      further conversation on the part of Mr. Smith. He merely grunted and ate
+      his breakfast in silence. He ate a great deal and ate it rapidly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n departed for school when the meal was over. Captain Cy helped her on
+      with her coat and hood. Then, as he always did of late, he kissed her
+      good-by.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; called Mr. Smith from the sitting room. &ldquo;Ain't I in on that? If
+      there's any kisses goin' I want to take a hand before the deal's over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must I?&rdquo; whispered Bos'n pleadingly. &ldquo;Must I, Uncle Cy? I don't want to.
+      I don't like him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on!&rdquo; called Mr. Smith. &ldquo;I'm gettin' over my bashfulness fast. Hurry
+      up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must I kiss him, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; whispered Bos'n. &ldquo;MUST I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; snapped the captain sharply. &ldquo;Trot right along now, dearie. Be a
+      good girl. Good-by.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the sitting room. His guest had found the Sunday box and was
+      lighting one of his host's cigars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he inquired easily, &ldquo;what's next on the bill? Anything goin' on in
+      this forsaken hole?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's a barber shop down the road. You might go there first, I should
+      say. Not that you need it, but just as a novelty like.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! I don't know. What's the matter with your razor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'. At least I ain't found anything wrong with it yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Say, look here! you're a queer guy, you are. I ain't got you right in
+      my mind yet. One minute butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, and the next
+      you're fresh as a new egg. What IS your little game, anyway? You've got
+      one, so don't tell me you ain't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was plainly embarrassed. He gazed at the &ldquo;Shore to Shore&rdquo;
+       picture on the wall as he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No game about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last night you and I agreed that nothin' was
+      to be said for a few days. You was to stay here and I'd try to make you
+      comfort'ble, that's all. Then we'd see about that other matter, settle on
+      a fair price, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. That's all right. But you're too willin'. There's something
+      else. Say!&rdquo; The ugly scowl was in evidence again. &ldquo;Say, look here, you!
+      you ain't got somethin' up your sleeve, have you? There ain't somethin'
+      more that I don't know about, is there? No more secrets than that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! You hear me? No! You'll get your rights, and maybe a little more than
+      your rights, if you're decent. And it'll pay you to be decent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; Mr. Smith seemed to be thinking. Then he added, looking up keenly
+      under his brows: &ldquo;How about the&mdash;the incumbrance on the property? Of
+      course, when I go I'll have to take that with me, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy interrupted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there!&rdquo; he exclaimed, and there was a shake in his voice, &ldquo;there!
+      there! Don't let's talk about such things now. I&mdash;I&mdash;Let's wait
+      a spell. We'll have some more plans to make, maybe. If you want to use my
+      razor it's right in that drawer. Just help yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The visitor laughed aloud. He nodded as if satisfied. &ldquo;Ho! ho!&rdquo; he
+      chuckled. &ldquo;I see! Humph! yes&mdash;I see. The fools ain't all dead, and
+      there's none to beat an old one. Well! well! All right, pard! I guess you
+      and me'll get along fine. I've changed my mind; I WILL go to the barber
+      shop, after all. Only I'm a little shy of dust just at present. So, to
+      oblige a friend, maybe you'll hand over, huh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain reached into his pocket, extracted a two-dollar bill, and
+      passed it to the speaker. Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can't come in on that, pard,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The limit's five.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy took back the bill and exchanged it for one with a V in each
+      corner. The visitor took it and turned toward the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ta! ta!&rdquo; he said, taking his hat from the peg in the dining room. &ldquo;I'm
+      off for the clippers. When I come back I'll be the sweetest little Willie
+      in the diggin's. So long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n and the captain sat down to the dinner at noon alone. Mr. Smith had
+      not returned from his trip to the barber's. He came in, however, just
+      before the meal was over, still in an unshorn condition, somewhat flushed
+      and very loquacious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say!&rdquo; he exclaimed genially. &ldquo;That Simpson's the right sort, ain't he?
+      Him and me took a shine to each other from the go-off. He's been West
+      himself and he's got some width to him. He's no psalm singer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; commented the captain, with delicate sarcasm. &ldquo;He don't seem to
+      be much of a barber, either. What's the matter? Gone out of business, has
+      he? Or was you so wild or woolly he got discouraged before he begun?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great snakes!&rdquo; exclaimed the visitor. &ldquo;I forgot all about the clippers!
+      Well, that's one on me, pard! I'll make a new try soon's grub's over.
+      Don't be so tight-fisted with the steak; this is a plate I'm passin', not
+      a contribution box.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He winked at Bos'n and would have chucked her under the chin if she had
+      not dodged. She seemed to have taken a great aversion to Mr. Smith and was
+      plainly afraid of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he going to stay very long, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; she whispered, when it was
+      school time once more. &ldquo;Do you think he's nice?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not answer. When she had gone and the guest had risen from
+      the table and put on his hat, the captain said warningly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's one little bit of advice I want to give you, Mister Man: A
+      bargain's a bargain, but it takes two to keep it. Don't let your love for
+      Tad Simpson lead you into talkin' too much. Talk's cheap, they say, but
+      too much of it might be mighty dear for you. Understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smith patted him on the back. &ldquo;Lord love you, pard!&rdquo; he chuckled, &ldquo;I'm no
+      spring chicken. I'm as hard to open as a safe, I am. It takes a can opener
+      to get anything out of me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; well, you can get inside some folks easier with a corkscrew. I've
+      been told that Tad's a kind of a medium sometimes. If he raises any
+      spirits in that back room of his, I'd leave 'em alone, if I was you. So
+      long as you're decent, I'll put up with&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Smith was on his way to the gate, whistling as if he hadn't a care
+      in the world. Captain Cy watched him go down the road, and then, with the
+      drawn, weary look on his face which had been there since the day before,
+      he entered the sitting room and threw himself into a chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe Dawes, the school teacher, worked late that evening. There
+      were examination papers to be gone over, and experience had demonstrated
+      that the only place where she could be free from interruptions was the
+      schoolroom itself. At the perfect boarding house the shrill tones of
+      Keturah's voice and those of Miss Phinney and Mrs. Tripp penetrated
+      through shut doors. It is hard to figure percentages when the most
+      intimate details of Bayport's family life are being recited and gloated
+      over on the other side of a thin partition. And when Matilda undertook to
+      defend the Come-Outer faith against the assaults of the majority, the
+      verbal riot was, as Mr. Tidditt described it, &ldquo;like feedin' time in a
+      parrot shop.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Miss Phoebe came to the boarding house for supper and then returned to
+      the schoolroom, where, with a lighted bracket lamp beside her on the desk,
+      she labored until nine o'clock. Then she put on her coat and hat,
+      extinguished the light, locked the door, and started on her lonely walk
+      home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The main road&rdquo; in our village is dark after nine o clock. There is a
+      street light&mdash;a kerosene lamp&mdash;on a post in front of the
+      Methodist meeting house, but the sexton forgets it, generally speaking,
+      or, at any rate, neglects to fill it except at rare intervals. Simmons's
+      front windows are ablaze, of course, and so are the dingy panes of
+      Simpson's barber shop. But these two centers of sociability are both at
+      the depot road corner, and when they are passed the only sources of
+      illumination are the scattered gleams from the back windows of dwellings.
+      As most of us retire by half-past eight, the glow along the main road is
+      not dazzling, to say the very least.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes was not afraid of the dark. She had been her own escort for a
+      good many years. She walked briskly on, heard the laughter and loud voices
+      in the barber shop die away behind her, passed the schoolhouse pond, now
+      bleak and chill with the raw November wind blowing across it, and began to
+      climb the slope of Whittaker's Hill. And here the wind, rushing in
+      unimpeded over the flooded salt meadows from the tumbled bay outside,
+      wound her skirts about her and made climbing difficult and breath-taking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was, perhaps, half way up the long slope, when she heard, in the
+      intervals between the gusts, footsteps behind her. She knew most of the
+      village people by this time and the thought of company was not unpleasant.
+      So she paused and pantingly waited for whoever was coming. She could not
+      see more than a few yards, but the footsteps sounded nearer and nearer,
+      and, a moment later, a man's voice began singing &ldquo;Annie Rooney,&rdquo; a melody
+      then past its prime in the cities, but popularized in Bayport by some
+      departed batch of summer boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not recognize the voice and she did not particularly approve of
+      singing in the streets, especially such loud singing. So she decided not
+      to wait longer, and was turning to continue her climb, when the person
+      behind stopped his vocalizing and called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;Hello, ahead there! Who is it? Hold on a minute, pard!
+      I'm comin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She disobeyed the order to &ldquo;hold on,&rdquo; and began to hurry. The hurry was of
+      no avail, however, for the follower broke into a run and soon was by her
+      side. He was a stranger to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whee! Wow!&rdquo; he panted. &ldquo;This is no race track, pard. Pull up, and let's
+      take it easy. My off leg's got a kink in it, and I don't run so easy as I
+      used to. Great snakes; what's your rush? Ain't you fond of company? Hello!
+      I believe it's a woman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer. His manner and the smell of liquor about him were
+      decidedly unpleasant. The idea that he might be a tramp occurred to her.
+      Tramps are our bugaboos here in Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A woman!&rdquo; exclaimed the man hilariously. &ldquo;Well, say! I didn't believe
+      there was one loose in this tail-end of nowhere. Girlie, I'm glad to see
+      you. Not that I can see you much, but never mind. All cats are gray in the
+      dark, hey? You can't see me, neither, so we'll take each other on trust.
+      'She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau.' Say, Maud, may I see you home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was frightened now. The Whittaker place on the hilltop was the nearest
+      house, and that was some distance off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Carrie?&rdquo; inquired the man. &ldquo;Don't be scared. I
+      wouldn't hurt you. I'm just lonesome, that's all, and I need society.
+      Don't rush, you'll ruin your complexion. Here! come under my wing and
+      let's toddle along together. How's mamma?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He seized her arm and pulled her back beside him. She tried to free
+      herself, but could not. Her unwelcome escort held her fast and she was
+      obliged to move as slowly as he did. It was very dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, what IS your name?&rdquo; coaxed the man. &ldquo;Is is Maud, hey? Or Julia? I
+      always liked Julia. Don't be peevish. Tell us, that's a good girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave a quick jerk and managed to pull her arm from his grasp, giving
+      him a violent push as she did so. He, being unsteady on his feet, tumbled
+      down the low bank which edged the sidewalk. Then she ran on up the hill as
+      fast as she could. She heard him swear as he fell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had nearly reached the end of the Whittaker fence when he caught her.
+      He was laughing, and that alarmed her almost as much as if he had been
+      angry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naughty! naughty!&rdquo; he chuckled, holding her fast. &ldquo;Tryin' to sneak, was
+      you? Not much! Not this time! Did you ever play forfeits when you was
+      little? Well, this is a forfeit game and you're It. You must bow to the
+      prettiest, kneel to the wittiest, and kiss the one you love best. And I'll
+      let you off on the first two. Come now! Pay up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she screamed. And her scream was answered at once. A gate swung back
+      with a bang and she heard some one running along the walk toward her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Cap'n Whittaker!&rdquo; she called. &ldquo;Come! Come quick, please!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      How she knew that the person running toward her was Captain Cy has not
+      been satisfactorily explained even yet. She cannot explain it and neither
+      can the captain. And equally astonishing was the latter's answer. He
+      certainly had not heard her voice often enough to recognize it under such
+      circumstances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, teacher!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;I'm comin'! Let go of that woman, you&mdash;Oh,
+      it's you, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had seized Mr. Smith by the coat collar and jerked him away from his
+      victim. Miss Dawes took refuge behind the captain's bulky form. The two
+      men looked at each other. Smith was recovering his breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's you, is it?&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. Then, turning to Miss Phoebe, he
+      asked: &ldquo;Did he hurt you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! Not yet. But he frightened me dreadfully. Who is he? Do you know
+      him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her persecutor answered the question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet your life he knows me!&rdquo; he snarled. &ldquo;He knows me mighty well!
+      Pard, you keep your nose out of this, d'you see! You mind your own
+      business. I wan't goin' to hurt her any.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain paid no attention to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup, I know him,&rdquo; he said grimly. Then he added, pointing toward the
+      lighted window of the house ahead: &ldquo;You&mdash;Smith, you go in there and
+      stay there! Trot! Don't make me speak twice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Smith was too far gone with anger and the &ldquo;spirits&rdquo; raised by Tad
+      Simpson to heed the menace in the words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Smith, hey?&rdquo; he sneered. &ldquo;Oh, yes, SMITH! Well, Smith ain't goin', d'you
+      see! He's goin' to do what he pleases. I reckon I'm on top of the roost
+      here! I know what's what! You can't talk to me. I've got rights, I have,
+      and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blast your rights!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What? WHAT? Blast my rights, hey? Oh, yes! Think because you've got money
+      you can cheat me out of 'em, do you? Well, you can't! And how about the
+      other part of those rights? S'pose I walk right into that house and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop it! Shut up! You'd better not&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And into that bedroom and just say: 'Emmie, here's your&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He didn't finish the sentence. Captain Cy's big fist struck him fairly
+      between the eyes, and the back of his head struck the walk with a &ldquo;smack!&rdquo;
+       Then, through the fireworks which were illuminating his muddled brain, he
+      heard the captain's voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You low - down, good - for - nothin' scamp!&rdquo; growled Captain Cy. &ldquo;All
+      this day I've been hatin' myself for the way I've acted to you. I've hated
+      myself and been tryin' to spunk up courage to say 'It's all off!' But I
+      was too much of a coward, I guess. And now the Lord A'mighty has MADE me
+      say it. You want your rights, do you? So? Then get 'em if you can. It's
+      you and me for it, and we'll see who's the best man. Teacher, if you're
+      ready I'll walk home with you now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Smith was not entirely cowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You go!&rdquo; he yelled. &ldquo;Go ahead! And I'll go to a lawyer's to-morrow. But
+      to-night, and inside of five minutes, I'll walk into that house of yours
+      and get my&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain dropped Miss Dawes's arm and strode back to where his
+      antagonist was sitting in the dust of the walk. Stooping down, he shook a
+      big forefinger in the man's face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've been out West, they tell me,&rdquo; he whispered sternly. &ldquo;Yes! Well,
+      out West they take the law into their own hands, sometimes, I hear. I've
+      been in South America, and they do it there, too. Just so sure as you go
+      into my house to-night and touch&mdash;well, you know what I mean&mdash;just
+      so sure I'll kill you like a dog, if I have to chase you to Jericho. Now
+      you can believe that or not. If I was you I'd believe it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking the frightened schoolmistress by the arm once more he walked away.
+      Mr. Smith said nothing till they had gone some distance. Then he called
+      after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You wait till to-morrow!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;You just wait and see what'll
+      happen to-morrow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was silent all the way to the gate of the perfect boarding
+      house. Miss Dawes was silent likewise, but she thought a great deal. At
+      the gate she said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker, I'm EVER so much obliged to you. I can't thank you
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't try, then. That's what you said to me about the cow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I'm almost sorry you were the one to come. I'm afraid that man will
+      get you into trouble. Has he&mdash;can he&mdash;What did he mean about
+      to-morrow? Who IS he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain pushed his cap back from his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there's a proverb, ain't there, about lettin'
+      to-morrow take care of itself? As for trouble&mdash;well, I did think I'd
+      had trouble enough in my life to last me through, but I cal'late I've got
+      another guess. Anyhow, don't you fret. I did just the right thing, and I'm
+      glad I did it. If it was only me I wouldn't fret, either. But there's&mdash;&rdquo;
+       He stopped, groaned, and pulled the cap forward again. &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; he
+      added, and turned to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes leaned forward and detained him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just a minute, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was a little prejudiced
+      against you when I came here. I was told that you got me the teacher's
+      position, and there was more than a hint that you did it for selfish
+      reasons of your own. When you called that afternoon at the school I was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't say a word! I was the biggest fool in town that time, and I've been
+      ashamed to look in the glass ever since. I ain't always such an idiot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I've had to judge people for myself in my lifetime,&rdquo; continued the
+      schoolmistress, &ldquo;and I've made up my mind that I was mistaken about you. I
+      should like to apologize. Will you shake hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended her hand. Captain Cy hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hadn't you better wait a spell?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;You've heard that swab call
+      me partner. Hadn't&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; I don't know what your trouble is, of course, and I certainly shan't
+      mention it to anyone. But whatever it is I'm sure you are right and it's
+      not your fault. Now will you shake hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer. He merely took the proffered hand, shook it
+      heartily, and strode off into the dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      &ldquo;TOWN-MEETIN'&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is goin' to be a meMOriable town meetin'!&rdquo; declared Sylvanus Cahoon,
+      with unction, rising from the settee to gaze about him over the heads of
+      the voters in the townhall. &ldquo;I bet you every able-bodied man in Bayport
+      'll be here this forenoon. Yes, sir! that's what I call it, a me-MO-riable
+      meetin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See anything of Cy?&rdquo; inquired Josiah Dimick, who sat next to Sylvanus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he ain't come yet. And Heman ain't here, neither. Hello! there's Tad.
+      Looks happy, seems to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dimick stood up to inspect Mr. Simpson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Well, unless my count's wrong, he ain't got much to
+      be happy about. 'Lonzo Snow's with him. Tad does look sort of joyful,
+      don't he? Them that laughs last laughs best. When the vote for school
+      committee's all in we'll see who does the grinnin'. But I can't understand&mdash;Hello!
+      there's Tidditt. Asaph! Ase! S-s-t-t! Come here a minute.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt, trembling with excitement, and shaking hands effusively with
+      everyone he met, pushed his way up the aisle and bent over his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Ase,&rdquo; whispered Josiah, &ldquo;where's Whit? Why ain't he on hand?
+      Nothin's happened, has it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the town clerk. &ldquo;Everything seems to be all right. I stopped
+      in on the way along and Cy said not to wait; he'd be here on time. He's
+      been kind of off his feed for the last day or so, and I cal'late he didn't
+      feel like hurryin'. Say, Joe, now honest, what do you think of my
+      chances?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Such a confirmed joker as Dimick couldn't lose an opportunity like this.
+      With the aid of one trying to be cheerful under discouragement he answered
+      that, so far, Asaph's chances looked fair, pretty fair, but of course you
+      couldn't always sometimes tell. Mr. Tidditt rushed away to begin the
+      handshaking all over again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From this round of cordiality he was reluctantly torn and conducted to the
+      platform. After thumping the desk with his fist he announced that the
+      gathering would &ldquo;come to order right off, as there was consider'ble
+      business to be done and it ought to be goin' ahead.&rdquo; He then proceeded to
+      read the call for the meeting. This ceremony was no sooner over than
+      Abednego Small, &ldquo;Uncle Bedny,&rdquo; was on his feet loudly demanding to be
+      informed why the town &ldquo;hadn't done nothin'&rdquo; toward fixing up the Bassett's
+      Hollow road. Uncle Bedny's speech had proceeded no further than &ldquo;Feller
+      citizens, in the name of an outrageous&mdash;I should say outraged portion
+      of our community I&mdash;&rdquo; when he was choked off by a self-appointed
+      committee who knew Mr. Small of old and had seated themselves near him to
+      be ready for just such emergencies. The next step, judged by meetings of
+      other years, should have been to unanimously elect Eben Salters moderator;
+      but as Captain Eben refused to serve, owing to his interest in the
+      Whittaker campaign, Alvin Knowles was, by a small majority, chosen for
+      that office. Mr. Knowles was a devout admirer of the great Atkins, and his
+      election would have been considered a preliminary victory for the
+      opposition had it not been that many of Captain Cy's adherents voted for
+      Alvin from a love of mischief, knowing from experience his ignorance of
+      parliamentary law and his easy-going rule. &ldquo;Now there'll be fun!&rdquo; declared
+      one delighted individual. &ldquo;Anything's in order when Alvin's chairman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The proceedings of the first half hour were disappointingly tame. Most of
+      us had come there to witness a political wrestling match between Tad
+      Simpson and Cyrus Whittaker. Some even dared hope that Congressman Atkins
+      might direct his fight in person. But neither the Honorable nor Captain Cy
+      was in the hall as yet. Solon Eldridge was re-elected selectman and so
+      also was Asaph Tidditt. Nobody but Asaph seemed surprised at this result.
+      His speech of acceptance would undoubtedly have been a triumph of oratory
+      had it not been interrupted by Uncle Bedny, who rose to emphatically
+      protest against &ldquo;settin' round and wastin' time&rdquo; when the Bassett's Hollow
+      road &ldquo;had ruts deep enough to drown a cat in whenever there was a more'n
+      average heavy dew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Bassett's Hollow delegate being again temporarily squelched, Moderator
+      Knowles announced that nominations for the vacant place on the school
+      committee were in order. There was a perceptible stir on the settees. This
+      was what the meeting had been waiting for.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No sign of Cy or Heman yet,&rdquo; observed Mr. Cahoon, craning his neck in the
+      direction of the door. &ldquo;It's the queerest thing ever I see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Queer enough about Cy, that's a fact,&rdquo; concurred Captain Dimick. &ldquo;I ain't
+      so surprised about Heman's not comin'. Looks as if Whit was right; he
+      always said Atkins dodged a row where folks could watch it. Does most of
+      his fightin' from round the corner. Hello! there's Tad. Now you'll see the
+      crown of glory set on 'Lonzo Snow's head. Hope the crown's padded nice and
+      soft. Anything with sharp edges would sink in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Simpson, it seemed, was not yet ready to proceed with the
+      coronation. He had risen to ask permission of the meeting to defer the
+      school committee matter for a short time. Persons, important persons, who
+      should be present while the nominating was going on, had not yet arrived.
+      He was sure that the gathering would wish to hear from these persons. He
+      asked for only a slight delay. Matters such as this, affecting the welfare
+      of our posterity, ought not to be hurried, etc., etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson's request was unexpected. The meeting, apparently, didn't know
+      how to take it. Uncle Bedny was firmly held in his seat by those about
+      him. Lemuel Myrick took the floor to protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must say,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;that I don't see any reason for waitin'. If
+      folks ain't here, that's their own fault. Mr. Moderator, I demand that the
+      nominatin' go ahead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tad was on his feet instantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm goin' to appeal,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;to the decency and gratitude of the
+      citizens of the town of Bayport. One of the persons I'm&mdash;that is,
+      we're waitin' for has done more for our beautiful village than all the
+      rest of us put together. There ain't no need for me to name him. A right
+      up-to-date town pump, a lovely memorial window, a&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How about that harbor appropriation?&rdquo; cried a voice from the settees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson was taken aback. His face flushed and he angrily turned toward
+      the interrupter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's you, Joe Dimick!&rdquo; he shouted, pointing an agitated forefinger.
+      &ldquo;You needn't scooch down. I know your tongue. The idea of you findin'
+      fault because a big man like Congressman Atkins don't jump when you holler
+      'Git up!' What do YOU know about doin's at Washington? That harbor
+      appropriation 'll go through if anybody on earth can get it through.
+      There's other places besides Bayport to be provided for and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And their congressmen provide for 'em,&rdquo; called another voice. Tad whirled
+      to face his new tormentor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Huh!&rdquo; he grunted with sarcasm. &ldquo;That's Lem Myrick, <i>I</i> know. Lem,
+      the great painter, who votes where he paints and gets paid accordin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; cried several.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, all right, Mr. Moderator! I'll keep order all right. But I say to
+      you, Lem, and you, Joe Dimick, that I know who put these smart notions
+      into your heads. We all know, unless we're born fools. Who is it that's
+      been sayin' the Honorable Heman Atkins was shirkin' that appropriation?
+      Who was it said if HE was representative the thing would have gone through
+      afore this? Who's been makin' his brags that he could get it through if he
+      had the chance? You know who! So do I! I wish he was here. I only wish he
+      was here! I'd say it to his face.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, he is. Heave ahead and say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone turned toward the door. Captain Cy had entered the hall. He was
+      standing in the aisle, and with him was Bailey Bangs. The captain looked
+      very tired, almost worn out, but he nodded coolly to Mr. Simpson, who had
+      retired to his seat with surprising quickness and apparent discomfiture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here I am, Tad,&rdquo; continued the captain. &ldquo;Say your piece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Tad, it appeared, was not anxious to &ldquo;say his piece.&rdquo; He was
+      whispering earnestly with a group of his followers. Captain Cy held up his
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;can I have the floor a minute? All I want to
+      say is that I cal'late I'm the feller the last speaker had reference to. I
+      HAVE said that I didn't see why that appropriation was so hard to get. I
+      say it again. Other appropriations are got, and why not ours? I DID say if
+      I was a congressman I'd get it. Yes, and I'll say more,&rdquo; he added, raising
+      his voice, &ldquo;I'll say that if I was sent to Washin'ton by this town,
+      congressman or not, I'd move heaven and earth, and all creation from the
+      President down till I did get it. That's all. So would any live man, I
+      should think.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down. There was some applause. Before it had subsided Abel Leonard,
+      one of the quickest-witted of Mr. Simpson's workers, was on his feet,
+      gesticulating for attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he shouted, &ldquo;I want to make a motion. We've all heard the
+      big talk that's been made. All right, then! I move you, sir, that Captain
+      Cyrus Whittaker be appointed a committee of one to GO to Washin'ton, if he
+      wants to, or anywheres else, and see that we get the appropriation. And if
+      we don't get it the blame's his! There, now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a roar of laughter. This was exactly the sort of &ldquo;tit-for-tat&rdquo;
+       humor that appeals to a Yankee crowd. The motion was seconded half a dozen
+      times. Moderator Knowles grinned and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A joke's a joke,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and we all like a good one. However, this
+      meetin' is supposed to be for business, not fun, so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Question! Question! It's been seconded! We've got to vote on it!&rdquo; shouted
+      a chorus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think&mdash;seems to me that ain't in order,&rdquo; began the
+      moderator, but Captain Cy rose to his feet. The grim smile had returned to
+      his face and he looked at the joyous assemblage with almost his old
+      expression of appreciative alertness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind the vote,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I realize that Brother Leonard has rather
+      got one on me, so to speak. All right, I won't dodge. I'll BE a committee
+      of one on the harbor grab, and if nothin' comes of it I'll take my share
+      of kicks. Gentlemen, I appreciate your trustfulness in my ability.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This brief speech was a huge success. If, for a moment, the pendulum of
+      public favor had swung toward Simpson, this trumping of the latter's
+      leading card pushed it back again. The moderator had some difficulty in
+      restoring order to the hilarious meeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Mr. Myrick was accorded the privilege of the floor, in spite of Tad's
+      protests, and proceeded to nominate Cyrus Whittaker for the school
+      committee. Lem had devoted hours of toil and wearisome mental struggle to
+      the preparation of his address, and it was lengthy and florid. Captain Cy
+      was described as possessing all the virtues. Bailey, listening with a hand
+      behind his ear, was moved to applause at frequent intervals, and even
+      Asaph forgot the dignity of his exalted position on the platform and
+      pounded the official desk in ecstasy. The only person to appear
+      uninterested was the nominee himself. He sat listlessly in his seat, his
+      eyes cast down, and his thoughts apparently far away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Josiah Dimick seconded the captain's nomination. Then Mr. Simpson stepped
+      to the front and, after a wistful glance at the door, began to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Feller citizens,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is my privilege to put in nomination for
+      school committee a man whose name stands for all that's good and clean and
+      progressive in this township. But afore I do it I'm goin' to ask you to
+      let me say a word or two concernin' somethin' that bears right on this
+      matter, and which, I believe, everyone of you ought to know. It's
+      somethin' that most of you don't know, and it'll be a surprise, a big
+      surprise. I'll be as quick as I can, and I cal'late you'll thank me when
+      I'm done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. The meeting looked at each other in astonishment. There was
+      whispering along the settees. Moderator Knowles was plainly puzzled. He
+      looked inquiringly at the town clerk, but Asaph was evidently quite as
+      much in the dark as he concerning the threatened disclosure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Feller Bayporters,&rdquo; went on Tad, &ldquo;there's one thing we've all agreed on,
+      no matter who we've meant to vote for. That is, that a member of our
+      school committee should be an upright, honest man, one fit morally to look
+      out for our dear children. Ain't that so? Well, then, I ask you this:
+      Would you consider a man fit for that job who deliberately came between a
+      father and his child, who pizened the mind of that child against his own
+      parent, and when that parent come to claim that child, first tried to buy
+      him off and then turned him out of the house? Yes, and offered violence to
+      him. And done it&mdash;mark what I say&mdash;for reasons which&mdash;which&mdash;well,
+      we can only guess 'em, but the guess may not be so awful bad. Is THAT the
+      kind of man we want to honor or to look out for our own children's
+      schoolin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson undoubtedly meant to cause a sensation by his opening remarks.
+      He certainly did so. The stir and whispering redoubled. Asaph, his mouth
+      open, stared wildly down at Captain Cy. The captain rose to his feet, then
+      sank back again. His listlessness was gone and, paying no attention to
+      those about him, he gazed fixedly at Tad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; continued the speaker, &ldquo;last night I had an experience that I
+      shan't forget as long as I live. I met a poor man, a poor, lame man who'd
+      been away out West and got hurt bad. Folks thought he was dead. His wife
+      thought so and died grievin' for him. She left a little baby girl, only
+      seven or eight year old. When this man come back, well again but poor, to
+      look up his family, he found his wife had passed away and the child had
+      been sent off, just to get rid of her, to a stranger in another town. That
+      stranger fully meant to send her off, too; he said so dozens of times. A
+      good many of you folks right here heard him say it. But he never sent her&mdash;he
+      kept her. Why? Well, that's the question. <i>I</i> shan't answer it. <i>I</i>
+      ain't accusin' nobody. All I say is, what's easy enough for any of you to
+      prove, and that is that it come to light the child had property belongin'
+      to her. Property! land, wuth money!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused once more and drew his sleeve across his forehead. Most of his
+      hearers were silent now, on tiptoe of expectation. Dimick looked
+      searchingly at Captain Cy. Then he sprang to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;What's all this got to do with nominatin' for school
+      committee? Ain't he out of order, Alvin?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The moderator hesitated. His habitual indecision was now complicated by
+      the fact that he was as curious as the majority of those before him. There
+      were shouts of, &ldquo;Go ahead, Tad!&rdquo; &ldquo;Tell us the rest!&rdquo; &ldquo;Let him go on, Mr.
+      Moderator!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cy Whittaker slowly rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alvin,&rdquo; he said earnestly, &ldquo;don't stop him yet. As a favor to me, let him
+      spin his yarn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Simpson was ready and evidently eager to spin it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This man,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;this father, mournin' for his dead wife and
+      longin' for his child, comes to the town where he was to find and take
+      her. And when he meets the man that's got her, when he comes, poor and
+      down on his luck, what does this man&mdash;this rich man&mdash;do? Why;
+      fust of all, he's sweeter'n sirup to him, takes him in, keeps him
+      overnight, and the next day he says to him: 'You just be quiet and say
+      nothin' to nobody that she's your little girl. I'll make it wuth your
+      while. Keep quiet till I'm ready for you to say it.' And he gives the
+      father money&mdash;not much, but some. All right so fur, maybe; but wait!
+      Then it turns out that the father knows about this land&mdash;this
+      property. And THEN the kind, charitable man&mdash;this rich man with lots
+      of money of his own&mdash;turns the poor father out, tellin' him to get
+      the girl and the land if he can, knowin'&mdash;KNOWIN', mind you&mdash;that
+      the father ain't got a cent to hire lawyers nor even to pay for his next
+      meal. And when the father says he won't go, but wants his dear one that
+      belongs to him, the rich feller abuses him, knocks him down with his fist!
+      Knocks down a poor, weak, lame invalid, just off a sick bed! Is THAT the
+      kind of a man we want on our school committee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He asked the question with both hands outspread and the perspiration
+      running down his cheeks. The meeting was in an uproar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No need for me to tell you who I mean,&rdquo; shouted Tad, waving his arms.
+      &ldquo;You know who, as well as I do. You've just heard him praised as bein' all
+      that's good and great. But <i>I</i> say&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've said enough! Now let me say a word!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Captain Cy who interrupted. He had pushed his way through the
+      crowd, down the aisle, and now stood before the gesticulating Mr. Simpson,
+      who shrank back as if he feared that the treatment accorded the &ldquo;poor weak
+      invalid&rdquo; might be continued with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Knowles,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, turning to the moderator, &ldquo;let me speak, will
+      you? I won't be but a minute. Friends,&rdquo; he continued, facing the excited
+      gathering&mdash;&ldquo;for some of you are my friends, or I've come to think you
+      are&mdash;a part of what this man says is so. The girl at my house is
+      Emily Thomas; her mother was Mary Thomas, who some of you know, and her
+      father's name is Henry Thomas. She came to me unexpected, bein' sent by a
+      Mrs. Oliver up to Concord, because 'twas either me or an orphan asylum. I
+      took her in meanin' to keep her a little while, and then send her away.
+      But as time went on I kept puttin' off and puttin' off, and at last I
+      realized I couldn't do it; I'd come to think too much of her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellers,&rdquo; he went on, slowly, &ldquo;I&mdash;I hardly know how to tell you what
+      that little girl's come to be to me. When I first struck Bayport, after
+      forty years away from it, all I thought of was makin' over the old place
+      and livin' in it. I cal'lated it would be a sort of Paradise, and HOW I
+      was goin' to live or whether or not I'd be lonesome with everyone of my
+      folks dead and gone, never crossed my mind. But the longer I lived there
+      alone the less like Paradise it got to be; I realized more and more that
+      it ain't furniture and fixin's that make a home; it's them you love that's
+      in it. And just as I'd about reached the conclusion that 'twas a failure,
+      the whole business, why, then, Bos'n&mdash;Emily, that is&mdash;dropped
+      in, and inside of a week I knew I'd got what was missin' in my life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never married and children never meant much to me till I got her. She's
+      the best little&mdash;little . . . There! I mustn't talk this way. I
+      bluffed a lot about not keepin' her permanent, bein' kind of ashamed, I
+      guess, but down inside me I'd made up my mind to bring her up like a
+      daughter. She and me was to live together till she grew up and got married
+      and I . . . Well, what's the use? A few days ago come a letter from the
+      Oliver woman in Concord sayin' that this Henry Thomas, Bos'n's father,
+      wan't dead at all, but had turned up there, havin' learned somehow or
+      'nother that his wife was gone and that his child had been willed a little
+      bit of land which belonged to her mother. He had found out that Emmie was
+      with me, and the letter said he would likely come after her&mdash;and the
+      land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That letter was like a flash of lightnin' to me. I was dismasted and on
+      my beam ends. I didn't know what to do. I'd learned enough about this
+      Henry Thomas to know that he was no use, a drunken, good-for-nothin' scamp
+      who had cruelized his wife and then run off and left her and the baby. But
+      when he come, the very night I got the letter, I gave him a chance. I took
+      him in; I was willin' to give him a job on the place; I was willin' to pay
+      for his keep, and more. I DID ask him to keep his mouth shut and even to
+      use another name. 'Twas weak of me, maybe, but you want to remember this
+      had come on me sudden. And last night&mdash;the very second night, mind
+      you&mdash;he went out somewhere, perhaps we can guess where, bought liquor
+      with the money I gave him, got drunk, and then insulted one of the best
+      women in this town. Yes, sir! I say it right here, one of the best,
+      pluckiest little women anywhere, although she and I ain't always agreed on
+      certain matters. I DID tell him to clear out, and I DID knock him down.
+      Yes, and by the big dipper, I'd do it again under the same circumstances!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As for the property,&rdquo; he added fiercely, &ldquo;why, darn the property, I say!
+      It ain't wuth much, anyhow, and, if 'twas anybody's else, he should have
+      it and welcome. But it's Bos'n's, and, bein' what he is, he SHAN'T have
+      it. And he shan't have HER to cruelize, neither! By the Almighty! he
+      shan't, so long as I've got a dollar to fight him with. I say that to you,
+      Tad Simpson, and to the man&mdash;to whoever put you up to this. There!
+      I've said my say. Now, gentlemen, you can choose your side.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He strode back to his seat. There was silence for a moment. Then Josiah
+      Dimick sprang up and waved his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's the way to talk!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;That's a MAN! Three cheers for
+      Cap'n Whittaker! Come on, everybody!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But everybody did not &ldquo;come on.&rdquo; The cheers were feeble. It was evident
+      that the majority of those present did not know how to meet this
+      unexpected contingency. It had taken them by surprise and they were
+      undecided. The uproar of argument and question began again, louder than
+      ever. The bewildered moderator thumped his desk and shouted feebly for
+      order. Tad Simpson took the floor and, in a few words and at the top of
+      his lungs, nominated Alonzo Snow. Abel Leonard seconded the nomination.
+      There were yells of &ldquo;Question! Question!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Vote! Vote!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eben Salters was recognized by the chair. Captain Salters made few
+      speeches, and when he did make one it was because he had something to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I, for one, hate to vote just now. It isn't
+      that the school committee is so important of itself. But I do think that
+      the rights of a father with his child IS pretty important, and our vote
+      for Cap'n Whittaker&mdash;and most of you know I intended votin' for him
+      and have been workin' for him&mdash;might seem like an indorsement of his
+      position. This whole thing is a big surprise to me. I don't feel yet that
+      we know enough of the inside facts to give such an indorsement. I'd like
+      to see this Thomas man before I decide to give it&mdash;or not to give it,
+      either. It's a queer thing to come up at town meetin', but it's up. Hadn't
+      we better adjourn until next week?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down. The meeting was demoralized. Some were shouting for
+      adjournment, others to &ldquo;Vote it out.&rdquo; A straw would turn the scale and the
+      straw was forthcoming. While Captain Cy was speaking the door had silently
+      opened and two men entered the hall and sought seclusion in a corner. Now
+      one of these men came forward&mdash;the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins walked solemnly to the front, amidst a burst of recognition.
+      Many of the voters rose to receive him. It was customary, when the great
+      man condescended to attend such gatherings, to offer him a seat on the
+      platform. This the obsequious Knowles proceeded to do. Asaph was too
+      overcome by the disclosure of &ldquo;John Smith's" identity and by Mr. Simpson's
+      attack on his friend to remember even his manners. He did not rise, but
+      sat stonily staring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moderator's gavel descended &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;Order, I say!
+      Congressman Atkins is goin' to talk to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman faced the excited crowd. One hand was in the breast of
+      his frock coat; the other was clenched upon his hip. He stood calm,
+      benignant, dignified&mdash;the incarnation of wisdom and righteous worth.
+      The attitude had its effect; the applause began and grew to an ovation.
+      Men who had intended voting against his favored candidate forgot their
+      intention, in the magnetism of his presence, and cheered. He bowed and
+      bowed again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellow townsmen,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;far be it from me to influence your choice
+      in the matter of the school committee. Still further be it from me to
+      influence you against an old boyhood friend, a neighbor, one whom I
+      believe&mdash;er&mdash;had believed to be all that was sincere and true.
+      But, fellow townsmen, my esteemed friend, Captain Salters, has expressed a
+      wish to see Mr. Thomas, the father whose story you have heard to-day. I
+      happen to be in a position to gratify that wish. Mr. Thomas, will you
+      kindly come forward?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then from the rear of the hall Mr. Thomas came. But the drunken rowdy of
+      the night before had been transformed. Gone was the scrubby beard and the
+      shabby suit. Shorn was the unkempt mop of hair and vanished the impudent
+      swagger. He was dressed in clean linen and respectable black, and his
+      manner was modest and subdued. Only a discoloration of one eye showed
+      where Captain Cy's blow had left its mark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stepped upon the platform beside the congressman. The latter laid a
+      hand upon his shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen and friends,&rdquo; said Heman, &ldquo;my name has been brought into this
+      controversy, by Mr. Simpson directly, and in insinuation by&mdash;er&mdash;another.
+      Therefore it is my right to make my position clear. Mr. Thomas came to me
+      last evening in distress, both of mind and body. He told me his story&mdash;substantially
+      the story which has just been told to you by Mr. Simpson&mdash;and,
+      gentlemen, I believe it. But if I did not believe it, if I believed him to
+      have been in the past all that his opponent has said; even if I believed
+      that, only last evening, spurned, driven from his child, penniless and
+      hopeless, he had yielded to the weakness which has been his curse all his
+      life&mdash;even if I believed that, still I should demand that Henry
+      Thomas, repentant and earnest as you see him now, should be given his
+      rightful opportunity to become a man again. He is poor, but he is not&mdash;shall
+      not be&mdash;friendless. No! a thousand times, no! You may say, some of
+      you, that the affair is not my business. I affirm that it IS my business.
+      It is my business as a Christian, and that business should come before all
+      others. I have not allowed sympathy to influence me. If that were the
+      case, my regard for my neighbor and friend of former days would have held
+      me firm. But, gentlemen, I have a child of my own. I know what a father's
+      love is, as only a father can know it. And, after a sleepless night, I
+      stand here before you to-day determined that this man shall have his own,
+      if my money&mdash;which you will, I'm sure, forgive my mentioning&mdash;and
+      my unflinching support can give it to him. That is my position, and I
+      state it regardless of consequences.&rdquo; He paused, and with raised right
+      hand, like the picture of Jove in the old academy mythology, launched his
+      final thunderbolt. &ldquo;Whom God hath joined,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;let no one put
+      asunder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That settled it. The cheers shook the walls. Amidst the tumult Dimick and
+      Bailey Bangs seized Captain Cy by the shoulders and endeavored to lift him
+      from his seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the love of goodness, Whit!&rdquo; groaned Josiah, desperately, &ldquo;stand up
+      and answer him. If you don't, we'll founder sure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled grimly and shook his head. He had not taken his eyes
+      from the face of the great Atkins since the latter began speaking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;After that 'put asunder' sockdolager? Man alive! do
+      you want me to add Sabbath breakin' to my other crimes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The vote, by ballot, followed almost immediately. It was pitiful to see
+      the erstwhile Whittaker majority melt away. Alonzo Snow was triumphantly
+      elected. But a handful voted against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy, still grimly smiling, rose and left the hall. As he closed the
+      door, he heard the shrill voice of Uncle Bedny demanding justice for the
+      Bassett's Hollow road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had, indeed, been a &ldquo;memoriable&rdquo; town meeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE REPULSE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      When Deacon Zeb Clark&mdash;the same Deacon Zeb who fell into the cistern,
+      as narrated by Captain Cy&mdash;made his first visit to the city, years
+      and years ago, he stayed but two days. As he had proudly boasted that he
+      should remain in the metropolis at least a week, our people were much
+      surprised at his premature return. To the driver of the butcher cart who
+      found him sitting contentedly before his dwelling, amidst his desolate
+      acres, the nearest neighbor a half mile away, did Deacon Zeb disclose his
+      reason for leaving the crowded thoroughfares. &ldquo;There was so many folks
+      there,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I felt lonesome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Captain Cy, returning from the town meeting to the Whittaker place,
+      felt lonesome likewise. Not for the Deacon's reason&mdash;he met no one on
+      the main road, save a group of school children and Miss Phinney, and,
+      sighting the latter in the offing, he dodged behind the trees by the
+      schoolhouse pond and waited until she passed. But the captain, his trouble
+      now heavy upon him, did feel the need of sympathy and congenial
+      companionship. He knew he might count upon Dimick and Asaph, and, whenever
+      Keturah's supervision could be evaded, upon Mr. Bangs. But they were not
+      the advisers and comforters for this hour of need. All the rest of
+      Bayport, he felt sure, would be against him. Had not King Heman the Great
+      from the steps of the throne, banned him with the royal displeasure! &ldquo;If
+      Heman ever SHOULD come right out and say&mdash;&rdquo; began Asaph's warning.
+      Well, strange as it might seem, Heman had &ldquo;come right out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As to why he had come out there was no question in the mind of the
+      captain. The latter had left Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, prostrate
+      and blasphemous in the road the previous evening. His next view of him was
+      when, transformed and sanctified, he had been summoned to the platform by
+      Mr. Atkins. No doubt he had returned to the barber shop and, in his rage
+      and under Mr. Simpson's cross examination, had revealed something of the
+      truth. Tad, the politician, recognizing opportunity when it knocked at his
+      door, had hurried him to the congressman's residence. The rest was plain
+      enough, so Captain Cy thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, war was already declared, and the reasons for it mattered little.
+      The first skirmish might occur at any moment. The situation was desperate.
+      The captain squared his shoulders, thrust forward his chin, and walked
+      briskly up the path to the door of the dining room. It was nearly one
+      o'clock, but Bos'n had not yet gone. She was waiting, to the very last
+      minute, for her &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, shipmate,&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;Not headed for school yet? Good! I cal'late
+      you needn't go this afternoon. I'm thinkin' of hirin' a team and drivin'
+      to Ostable, and I didn't know but you'd like to go with me. Think you
+      could, without that teacher woman havin' you brought up aft for mutiny?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n thought it over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I guess so, if you wrote me an excuse. I don't like
+      to be absent, 'cause I haven't been before, but there's only my reading
+      lesson this afternoon and I know that ever so well. I'd love to go, Uncle
+      Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain removed his coat and hat and pulled a chair forward to the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What's this&mdash;the mail?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n smiled delightedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I knew you was at the meeting and so I brought
+      it from the office. Ain't you glad?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure! Yes, indeed! Much obliged. Tryin' to keep house without you would
+      be like steerin' without a rudder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even as he said it there came to him the realization that he might have to
+      steer without that rudder in the near future. His smile vanished. He
+      smothered a groan and picked up the mail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; he mused, &ldquo;the Breeze, a circular, and one letter. Hello! it isn't
+      possible that&mdash;Well! well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The letter was in a long envelope. He hastily tore it open. At the
+      inclosure he glanced in evident excitement. Then his smile returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said, after a moment's reflection, &ldquo;I guess you and me won't
+      have to go to Ostable after all.&rdquo; Noticing the child's look of
+      disappointment, he added: &ldquo;But you needn't go to school. Maybe you'd
+      better not. You and me'll take a tramp alongshore. What do you say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, Uncle Cy! Let's&mdash;shall we?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I don't see why not. We'll cruise in company as long as we can, hey,
+      little girl? The squall's likely to strike afore night,&rdquo; he muttered half
+      aloud. &ldquo;We'll enjoy the fine weather till it's time to shorten sail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked all that afternoon. Captain Cy was even more kind and gentle
+      with his small companion than usual. He told her stories which made her
+      laugh, pointed out spots in the pines where he had played Indian when a
+      boy, carried her &ldquo;pig back&rdquo; when she grew tired, and kissed her tenderly
+      when, at the back door of the Whittaker place, he set her on her feet
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had a good time, dearie?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, splendid! I think it's the best walk we ever had, don't you, Uncle
+      Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shouldn't wonder. You won't forget our cruises together when you are a
+      big girl and off somewheres else, will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'll NEVER forget 'em. And I'm never going anywhere without you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after five as they entered the kitchen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anybody been here while I was out?&rdquo; asked the captain of Georgianna. The
+      housekeeper's eyes were red and swollen, and she hugged Bos'n as she
+      helped her off with her jacket and hood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there has,&rdquo; was the decided answer. &ldquo;First Ase Tidditt, and then
+      Bailey Bangs, and then that&mdash;that Angie Phinney.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; mused Captain Cy slowly. &ldquo;So Angie was here, was she? Where the
+      carcass is the vultures are on deck, or words similar. Humph! Did our
+      Angelic friend have much to say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;DID she? And <i>I</i> had somethin' to say, too! I never in my life!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; Her employer eyed her sharply. &ldquo;So? And so soon? Talk about the
+      telegraph spreadin' news! I'd back most any half dozen tongues in Bayport
+      to spread more news, and add more trimmin' to it, in a day than the
+      telegraph could do in a week. Especially if all the telegraph operators
+      was like the one up at the depot. Well, Georgianna, when you goin' to
+      leave?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave? Leave where? What are you talkin' about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave here. Of course you realize that this ship of ours,&rdquo; indicating the
+      house by a comprehensive wave of his hand around the room, &ldquo;is goin' to be
+      a mighty unpopular craft from now on. We may be on a lee shore any minute.
+      You've got your own well-bein' to think of.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My own well-bein'! What do you s'pose I care for my well-bein' when
+      there's&mdash;Cap'n Whittaker, you tell me now! Is it so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of it is&mdash;yes. He's come back and he's who he says he is.
+      You've seen him. He was here all day yesterday.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So Angie said, but I couldn't scarcely believe it. That toughy! Cap'n
+      Whittaker, do you intend to hand over that poor little innocent thing to&mdash;to
+      such a man as THAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. There'll be no handin' over about it. But the odds are against us,
+      and there's no reason why you should be in the rumpus, Georgianna. You may
+      not understand what we're facin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper drew herself up. Her face was very red and her small eyes
+      snapped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cy Whittaker,&rdquo; she began, manners and deference to employer alike
+      forgotten, &ldquo;don't you say no more of that wicked foolishness to me. I'll
+      leave the minute you're mean-spirited enough to let that child go and not
+      afore. And when THAT happens I'll be GLAD to leave. Land sakes! there's
+      somebody at the door; and I expect I'm a perfect sight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rubbed her face with her apron, thereby making it redder than ever,
+      and hurried into the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; said Captain Cy quickly, &ldquo;you stay here in the kitchen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed her
+      curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had knocked, and
+      obeyed. The captain pulled the kitchen door almost shut and listened at
+      the crack.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain Cy's
+      anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why!&rdquo; he exclaimed in a whisper. &ldquo;Ain't that&mdash;It sounds like&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's teacher,&rdquo; whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening. &ldquo;She's come
+      to find out why I wasn't at school. You tell her, Uncle Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna returned to announce:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's Miss Dawes. She says she wants to see you, Cap'n. She's in the
+      settin' room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain drew a long breath. Then, repeating his command to Emmie to
+      stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The
+      latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What made him do that?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;I haven't been bad. He NEVER shut
+      me up before!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting room
+      when Captain Cy entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evenin',&rdquo; he said politely. &ldquo;Won't you sit down?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes paid no attention to trivialities. She seemed much
+      agitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she began, &ldquo;I just heard something that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain interrupted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I think we'll pull down the curtains and have a
+      little light on the subject. It gets dark early now, especially of a gray
+      day like this one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew the shades at the windows and lit the lamp on the table. The red
+      glow behind the panes of the stove door faded into insignificance as the
+      yellow radiance brightened. The ugly portraits and the stiff old
+      engravings on the wall retired into a becoming dusk. The old-fashioned
+      room became more homelike.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now won't you sit down?&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. &ldquo;Take that rocker; it's the
+      most comf'table one aboard&mdash;so Bos'n says, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe took the rocker, under protest. Her host remained standing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's been a nice afternoon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Bos'n&mdash;Emmie, of course&mdash;and
+      I have been for a walk. 'Twan't her fault, 'twas mine. I kept her out of
+      school. I was&mdash;well, kind of lonesome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher's gray eyes flashed in the lamplight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;please don't waste time. I didn't come here
+      to talk about the weather nor Emily's reason for not attending school. I
+      don't care why she was absent. But I have just heard of what happened at
+      that meeting. Is it true that&mdash;&rdquo; She hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Emmie's dad is alive and here? Yes, it's true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but that man last night? Was he THAT man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's the man,&rdquo; he said briefly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes shuddered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she asked earnestly, &ldquo;are you sure he is really her
+      father? Absolutely sure?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure and sartin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then she belongs to him, doesn't she? Legally, I mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are&mdash;are you going to give her up to him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what I heard was true. You did say at the meeting that you were
+      going to do your best to keep him from getting her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum! What I said amounts to just about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was surprised and a little disappointed apparently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, for reasons I've got.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mind telling me the reasons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late you don't want to hear 'em. If you don't understand now, then
+      I can't make it much plainer, I'm afraid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little lady sprang to her feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, you are provoking!&rdquo; she cried indignantly. &ldquo;Can't you see that I want
+      to hear the reasons from you yourself? Cap'n Whittaker, I shook hands with
+      you last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remember I told you you'd better wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't want to wait. I believed I knew something of human nature, and I
+      believed I had learned to understand you. I made up my mind to pay no more
+      attention to what people said against you. I thought they were envious and
+      disliked you because you did things in your own way. I wouldn't believe
+      the stories I heard this afternoon. I wanted to hear you speak in your own
+      defense and you refuse to do it. Don't you know what people are saying?
+      They say you are trying to keep Emily because&mdash;Oh, I'm ashamed to ask
+      it, but you make me: HAS the child got valuable property of her own?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy had been, throughout this scene, standing quietly by the table.
+      Now he took a step forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; he said sharply, &ldquo;sit down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress didn't mean to obey the order, but for some reason she
+      did. The captain went on speaking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty plain,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that what you heard at the boardin' house&mdash;for
+      I suppose that's where you did hear it&mdash;was what you might call a
+      Phinneyized story of the doin's at the meetin'. Well, there's another
+      yarn, and it's mine; I'm goin' to spin it and I want you to listen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went on to spin his yarn. It was practically a repetition of his reply
+      to Tad Simpson that morning. Its conclusion was also much the same.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The land ain't worth fifty dollars,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;but if it was fifty
+      million he shouldn't have it. Why? Because it belongs to that little girl.
+      And he shan't have her until he and those back of him have hammered me
+      through the courts till I'm down forty fathom under water. And when they
+      do get her&mdash;and, to be honest, I cal'late they will in the end&mdash;I
+      hope to God I won't be alive to see it! There! I've answered you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He was walking up and down the room, with the old quarter-deck stride, his
+      hands jammed deep in his pockets and his face working with emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty nigh a single-handed fight for me,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;but I've
+      fought single-handed before. The other side's got almost all the powder
+      and the men. Heman and Tad and that Thomas have got seven eighths of
+      Bayport behind 'em, not to mention the 'Providence' they're so sure of. My
+      crowd is a mighty forlorn hope: Dimick and Ase Tidditt, and Bailey, as
+      much as his wife 'll let him. Oh, yes!&rdquo; and he smiled whimsically,
+      &ldquo;there's another one. A new recruit's just joined; Georgianna's enlisted.
+      That's my army. Sort of rag-jacketed cadets, we are, small potatoes, and
+      few in a hill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher rose and laid a hand on his arm. He turned toward her. The
+      lamplight shone upon her face, and he saw, to his astonishment, that there
+      were tears in her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;will you take an other recruit? I should
+      like to enlist, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You? Oh, pshaw! I'm thick-headed to-night. I didn't see the joke of it at
+      first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There isn't any joke. I want you to know that I admire you for the fight
+      you're making. Law or no law, to let that dear little girl go away with
+      that dreadful father of hers is a sin and a crime. I came here to tell you
+      so. I did want to hear your story, and you made me ask that question; but
+      I was certain of your answer before you made it. I don't suppose I can do
+      anything to help, but I'm going to try. So, you see, your army is bigger
+      than you thought it was&mdash;though the new soldier isn't good for much,
+      I'm afraid,&rdquo; she added, with a little smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was greatly disturbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I won't say that it don't please me to
+      have you talk so, for it does, more'n you can imagine. Sympathy means
+      somethin' to the under dog, and it gives him spunk to keep on kickin'. But
+      you mustn't take any part in the row; you simply mustn't. It won't do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not? Won't I be ANY help?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Help? You'd be more help than all the rest of us put together. You and me
+      haven't seen a great deal of each other, and my part in the few talks we
+      have had has been a mean one, but I knew the first time I met you that you
+      had more brains and common sense than any woman in this county&mdash;though
+      I was too pig-headed to own it. But that ain't it. I got you the job of
+      teacher. It's no credit to me; 'twas just bull luck and for the fun of
+      jarrin' Heman. But I did it. And, because I did it, the Atkins crowd&mdash;and
+      that means most everybody now&mdash;haven't any love for you. My tryin'
+      for school committee was really just to give you a fair chance in your
+      position. I was licked, so the committee's two to one against you. Don't
+      you see that you mustn't have anything to do with me? Don't you SEE it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I see that common gratitude alone should be reason enough for my trying
+      to help you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But, beside that, I know you are right, and I
+      SHALL help, no matter what you say. As for the teacher's position, let
+      them discharge me. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't talk that way. The youngsters need you, and know it, no matter what
+      their fool fathers and mothers say. And you mustn't wreck your chances.
+      You're young&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no! I'm not,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Young! Cap'n Whittaker, you shouldn't joke
+      about a woman's age.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't jokin'. You ARE young.&rdquo; As she stood there before him he was
+      realizing, with a curiously uncomfortable feeling, how much younger she
+      was than he. He glanced up at the mirror, where his own gray hairs were
+      reflected, and repeated his assertion. &ldquo;You're young yet,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and
+      bein' discharged from a place might mean a whole lot to you. I'm glad you
+      take such an interest in Bos'n, and your comin' here on her account&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Miss Dawes colored slightly and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your comin' here on her account was mighty good of you. But you've got to
+      keep out of this trouble. And you mustn't come here again. That's owner's
+      orders. Why, I'm expectin' a boardin' party any minute,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I
+      thought when you knocked it was 'papa' comin' for his child. You'd better
+      go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But she stood still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shan't go,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Or, at least, not until you promise to let
+      me try to help you. If they come, so much the better. They'll learn where
+      my sympathies are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy scratched his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See here, Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain't sure that you fully understand
+      that Scripture and everything else is against us. Did Angie turn loose on
+      you the 'Whom the Lord has joined' avalanche?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress burst into a laugh. The captain laughed, too, but his
+      gravity quickly returned. For steps sounded on the walk, there was a
+      whispering outside, and some one knocked on the dining-room door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The situation was similar to that of the evening when the Board of
+      Strategy called and &ldquo;John Smith&rdquo; made his first appearance. But now, oddly
+      enough, Captain Cy seemed much less troubled. He looked at Miss Dawes and
+      there was a dancing twinkle in his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it&mdash;&rdquo; began the lady, in an agitated whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boardin' party? I presume likely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what can you do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand by the repel, I guess,&rdquo; was the calm reply. &ldquo;I told you that they
+      had most of the ammunition, but ours ain't all blank cartridges. You stay
+      below and listen to the broadsides.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They heard Georgianna cross the dining room. There was a murmur of voices
+      at the door. The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well, here goes. Now don't you show yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think I am afraid? Indeed, I shan't stay 'below' as you call it! I
+      shall let them see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy held up his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm commodore of this fleet,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;and that bein' the case, I expect
+      my crew to obey orders. There's nothin' you can do, and&mdash;Why, yes!
+      there is, too. You can take care of Bos'n. Georgianna,&rdquo; to the housekeeper
+      who, looking frightened and nervous, had appeared at the door, &ldquo;send Bos'n
+      in here quick.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They're there,&rdquo; whispered Georgianna. &ldquo;Mr. Atkins and Tad and that Thomas
+      critter, and lots more. And they've come after her. What shall we do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jump when I speak to you, that's the first thing. Send Bos'n in here and
+      you stay in your galley.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily came running. Miss Dawes put an arm about her. Captain Cy, the
+      battle lanterns still twinkling under his brows, stepped forth to meet the
+      &ldquo;boarding party.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were there, as Georgianna had said. Mr. Thomas on the top step, Heman
+      and Simpson on the next lower, and behind them Abel Leonard and a group of
+      interested volunteers, principally recruited from the back room of the
+      barber shop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', gentlemen,&rdquo; said the captain, opening the door so briskly that
+      Mr. Thomas started backward and came down heavily upon the toes of the
+      devoted Tad. Mr. Simpson swore, Mr. Thomas clawed about him to gain
+      equilibrium, and the dignity of the group was seriously impaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin',&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. &ldquo;Quite a surprise party you're givin' me.
+      Come in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; began the Honorable Atkins, &ldquo;we are here to claim&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give me my daughter, you robber!&rdquo; demanded Thomas, from his new position
+      in the rear of the other two.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thomas,&rdquo; said Heman, &ldquo;please remember that I am conducting this
+      affair. I respect the natural indignation of an outraged father, but&mdash;ahem!
+      Cyrus, we are here to claim&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then do your claimin' inside. It's kind of chilly to-night, there's
+      plenty of empty chairs, and we don't need to hold an overflow meetin'.
+      Come ahead in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trio looked at each other in hesitation. Then Mr. Atkins majestically
+      entered the dining room. Thomas and Simpson followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy to Leonard, who was advancing toward the steps,
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry not to be hospitable, but there's too many of you to invite at
+      once, and 'tain't polite to show partiality. You and the rest are welcome
+      to sit on the terrace or stroll 'round the deer park. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He closed the door in the face of the disappointed Abel and turned to the
+      three in the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;out with it. You've come to claim somethin', I
+      understand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come for my rights,&rdquo; shouted Mr. Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes? Well, this ain't State's prison or I'd give 'em to you with
+      pleasure. Heman, you'd better do the talkin'. We'll probably get ahead
+      faster.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable cleared his throat and waved his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;you are my boyhood friend and my fellow townsman and
+      neighbor. Under such circumstances it gives me pain&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then don't let us discuss painful subjects. Let's get down to business.
+      You've come to rescue Bos'n&mdash;Emily, that is,&mdash;from the 'robber'&mdash;I'm
+      quotin' Deacon Thomas here&mdash;that's got her, so's to turn her over to
+      her sorrowin' father. Is that it? Yes. Well, you can't have her&mdash;not
+      yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; said Mr. Atkins, &ldquo;I'm sorry to see that you take it this way. You
+      haven't the shadow of a right. We have the law with us, and your conduct
+      will lead us to invoke it. The constable is outside. Shall I call him in?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Bedny&rdquo; was the town constable and had been since before the war.
+      The purely honorary office was given him each year as a joke. Captain Cy
+      grinned broadly, and even Tad was obliged to smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be inhuman, Heman,&rdquo; urged the captain. &ldquo;You wouldn't turn me over
+      to be man-handled by Uncle Bedny, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is not a humorous affair&mdash;&rdquo; began the congressman, with
+      dignity. But the &ldquo;bereaved father&rdquo; had been prospecting on his own hook,
+      and now he peeped into the sitting room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here she is!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;I see her. Come on, Emmie! Your dad's come for
+      you. Let go of her, you woman! What do you mean by holdin' on to her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The situation which was &ldquo;not humorous&rdquo; immediately became much less so.
+      The next minute was a lively one. It ended as Mr. Thomas was picked up by
+      Tad from the floor, where he had fallen, having been pushed violently over
+      a chair by Captain Cy. Bos'n, frightened and sobbing, was clinging wildly
+      to Miss Dawes, who had clung just as firmly to her. The captain's voice
+      rang through the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's enough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That's enough and some over. Atkins, take that
+      feller out of this house and off my premises. As for the girl, that's for
+      us to fight out in the courts. I'm her guardian, lawfully appointed, and
+      you nor nobody else can touch her while that appointment's good. Here it
+      is&mdash;right here. Now look at it and clear out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He held, for the congressman's inspection, the document which, inclosed in
+      the long envelope, had been received that morning. His visit to Ostable,
+      made some weeks before, had been for the purpose of applying to the
+      probate court for the appointment as Emily's guardian. He had applied
+      before the news of her father's coming to life reached him. The
+      appointment itself had arrived just in time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins studied the document with care. When he spoke it was with
+      considerable agitation and without his usual diplomacy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;Humph! I see. Well, sir, I have some influence in
+      this section and I shall see how long your&mdash;your TRICK will prevent
+      the child's going where she belongs. I wish you to understand that I shall
+      continue this fight to the very last. I&mdash;I am not one to be easily
+      beaten. Simpson, you and Thomas come with me. This night's despicable
+      chicanery is only the beginning. This is bad business for you, Cy
+      Whittaker,&rdquo; he snarled, his self-control vanishing, &ldquo;and&rdquo;&mdash;with a
+      vindictive glance at the schoolmistress&mdash;&ldquo;for those who are with you
+      in it. That appointment was obtained under false pretenses and I can prove
+      it. Your tricks don't scare me. I've had experience with TRICKS before.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. So I've heard. Well, Heman, I ain't as well up in tricks as you
+      claim to be, nor my stockin' isn't as well padded as yours, maybe. But
+      while there's a ten-cent piece left in the toe of it I'll fight you and
+      the skunk whose 'rights' you seem to have taken such a shine to. And,
+      after that, while there's a lawyer that 'll trust me. And, meantime, that
+      little girl stays right here, and you touch her if you dare, any of you!
+      Anything more to say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Honorable's dignity had returned. Possibly he thought he had said
+      too much already. A moment later the door banged behind the discomforted
+      boarding party.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy pulled his beard and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we repelled 'em, didn't we?&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;But, as friend Heman
+      says, the beginnin's only begun. I wish he hadn't seen you here, teacher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes looked up from the task of stroking poor Bos'n's hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I'm glad of it.&rdquo; Then she added, laughing nervously:
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker, how could you be so cool? It was like a play. I declare,
+      you were just splendid!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A CLEW
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Josiah Dimick has a unique faculty of grasping a situation and summing it
+      up in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; observed Josiah to the excited group at Simmons's, &ldquo;that this
+      town owes Cy Whittaker a vote of thanks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thanks!&rdquo; gasped Alpheus Smalley, so shocked and horrified that he put the
+      one-pound weight on the scales instead of the half pound. &ldquo;THANKS! After
+      what we've found out? Well, I must say!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ya-as,&rdquo; drawled Captain Josiah, &ldquo;thanks was what I said. If it wan't for
+      him this gang and the sewin' circle wouldn't have nothin' to talk about
+      but their neighbors. Our reputations would be as full of holes as a
+      skimmer by this time. Now all hands are so busy jumpin' on Whit, that the
+      rest of us can feel fairly safe. Ain't that so, Gabe?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley, who had stopped in for a half pound of tea, grinned feebly,
+      but said nothing. If he noticed the clerk's mistake in weights he didn't
+      mention it, but took his package and hurried out. After his departure Mr.
+      Smalley himself discovered the error and charged the Lumley account with
+      &ldquo;1 1/4 lbs. Mixed Green and Black.&rdquo; Meanwhile the assemblage about the
+      stove had put Captain Cy on the anvil and was hammering him vigorously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bayport was boiling over with rumor and surmise. Heman had appealed to the
+      courts asking that Captain Cy's appointment as Bos'n's guardian be
+      rescinded. Cy had hired Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable, to look out for his
+      interests. Mr. Atkins and the captain had all but come to blows over the
+      child. Thomas, the poor father, had broken down and wept, and had
+      threatened to commit suicide. Mrs. Salters had refused to speak to Captain
+      Cy when she met the latter after meeting on Sunday. The land in Orham had
+      been sold and the captain was using the money. Phoebe Dawes had threatened
+      to resign if Bos'n came to school any longer. No, she had threatened to
+      resign if she didn't come to school. She hadn't threatened to resign at
+      all, but wanted higher wages because of the effect the scandal might have
+      on her reputation as a teacher. These were a few of the reports,
+      contradicted and added to from day to day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To quote Josiah Dimick again: &ldquo;Sortin' out the truth from the lies is like
+      tryin' to find a quart of sardines in a schooner load of herrin'. And they
+      dump in more herrin' every half hour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life. The perfect boarding
+      house hummed like a fly trap. Keturah and Mrs. Tripp had deserted to the
+      enemy, and the minority, meaning Asaph and Bailey, had little opportunity
+      to defend their friend's cause, even if they had dared. Heman Atkins, his
+      Christian charity and high-mindedness, his devotion to duty, regardless of
+      political consequences, and the magnificent speech at town meeting were
+      lauded and exalted. The Bayport Breeze contained a full account of the
+      meeting, and it was read aloud by Keturah, amidst hymns of praise from the
+      elect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Whom the Lord hath joined,'&rdquo; read Mrs. Bangs, &ldquo;'let no man put asunder.'
+      Ain't that splendid? Ain't that FINE? The paper says: 'When Congressman
+      Atkins delivered this noble sentiment a hush fell upon the excited
+      throng.' I should think 'twould. I remember when I was married the
+      minister said pretty nigh the same thing, and I COULDN'T speak. I couldn't
+      have opened my mouth to save me. Don't you remember I couldn't, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs nodded gloomily. It is possible that he wished the effect of the
+      minister's declaration might have been more lasting. Asaph stirred in his
+      chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't care,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This puttin' asunder business is all right, but
+      there's always two sides to everything. I see this Thomas critter when he
+      fust come, and he didn't look like no saint then&mdash;nor smell like one,
+      neither, unless 'twas a specimen pickled in alcohol.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was irreverence almost atheistic. Keturah's face showed her shocked
+      disapproval. Matilda Tripp voiced the general sentiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she sniffed. &ldquo;Well, all I can say is that I've met Mr. Thomas two
+      or three times, and <i>I</i> didn't notice anything but politeness and
+      good manners. Maybe my nose ain't so fine for smellin' liquor as some
+      folks's&mdash;p'raps it ain't had the experience&mdash;but all <i>I</i>
+      saw was a poor lame man with a black eye. I pitied him, and I don't care
+      who hears me say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; concurred Miss Phinney, &ldquo;and if he was a drinkin' man, do you
+      suppose Mr. Atkins would have anything to do with him? Cyrus Whittaker
+      made a whole lot of talk about his insultin' some woman or other, but
+      nobody knows who the woman was. 'Bout time for her to speak up, I should
+      think. Teacher,&rdquo; turning to Miss Dawes, &ldquo;you was at the Whittaker place
+      when Mr. Atkins and Emily's father come for her, I understand. I wish I'd
+      have been there. It must have been wuth seein'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was,&rdquo; replied Miss Dawes. She had kept silent throughout the various
+      discussions of the week following the town meeting, but now, thus appealed
+      to, she answered promptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline's news created a sensation. The schoolmistress immediately became
+      the center of interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that so? Was you there, teacher? Well, I declare!&rdquo; The questions and
+      exclamations flew round the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us, teacher,&rdquo; pleaded Keturah. &ldquo;Wasn't Heman grand? I should so like
+      to have heard him. Didn't Cap'n Whittaker look ashamed of himself?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he did not. If anyone looked ashamed it was Mr. Atkins and his
+      friends. Perhaps I ought to tell you that my sympathies are entirely with
+      Captain Whittaker in this affair. To give that little girl up to a drunken
+      scoundrel like her father would, in my opinion, be a crime.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boarders and the landlady gasped. Asaph grinned and nudged Bailey
+      under the table. Keturah was the first to recover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Everybody's got a right to their opinion, of
+      course. But I can't see the crime, myself. And as for the drunkenness, I'd
+      like to know who's seen Mr. Thomas drunk. Cyrus Whittaker SAYS he has, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She waved her hand scornfully. Phoebe rose from her chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have seen him in that condition,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;In fact, I am the person
+      he insulted. I saw Captain Whittaker knock him down, and I honored the
+      captain for it. I only wished I were a man and could have done it myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She left the room, and, a few moments later, the house. Mr. Tidditt
+      chuckled aloud. Even Bailey dared to look pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; sneered the widow Tripp. &ldquo;Ain't that&mdash;Perhaps you remember
+      that Cap'n Whittaker got her the teacher's place?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; put in Miss Phinney, &ldquo;and nobody knows WHY he got it for her. That
+      is, nobody has known up to now. Maybe we can begin to guess a little after
+      this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was at his house, was she?&rdquo; observed Keturah. &ldquo;Humph! I wonder why?
+      Seems to me if <i>I</i> was a young&mdash;that is, a single woman like
+      her, I'd be kind of careful about callin' on bachelors. Humph! it looks
+      funny to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph rose and pushed back his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late she called to see Emily,&rdquo; he said sharply. &ldquo;The child was her
+      scholar, and I presume likely, knowin' the kind of father that has turned
+      up for the poor young one, she felt sorry for her. Of course, nobody's
+      hintin' anything against Phoebe Dawes's character. If you want a
+      certificate of that, you've only got to go to Wellmouth. Folks over there
+      are pretty keen on that subject. I guess the town would go to law about it
+      rather'n hear a word against her. Libel suits are kind of uncomf'table
+      things for them that ain't sure of their facts. I'D hate to get mixed up
+      in one, myself. Bailey, I'm going up street. Come on, when you can, won't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As if frightened at his own display of spirit, he hurried out. There was
+      silence for a time; then Miss Phinney spoke concerning the weather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Up at the Cy Whittaker place the days were full ones. There, also, legal
+      questions were discussed, with Georgianna, the Board of Strategy, Josiah
+      Dimick occasionally, and, more infrequently still, Miss Dawes, as
+      participants with Captain Cy in the discussions. Rumors were true in so
+      far as they related to Mr. Atkins's appeal to the courts, and the
+      captain's retaining Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable. Mr. Peabody's opinion of
+      the case was not encouraging.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, captain,&rdquo; he said, when his client visited him at his office,
+      &ldquo;the odds are very much against us. The court appointed you as guardian
+      with the understanding that this man Thomas was dead. Now he is alive and
+      claims his child. More than that, he has the most influential politician
+      in this county back of him. We wouldn't stand a fighting chance except for
+      one thing&mdash;Thomas himself. He left his wife and the baby; deserted
+      them, so she said; went to get work, HE says. We can prove he was a
+      drunken blackguard BEFORE he went, and that he has been drunk since he
+      came back. But THEY'LL say&mdash;Atkins and his lawyer&mdash;that the man
+      was desperate and despairing because of your refusal to give him his
+      child. They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner, anxious to reform, and
+      needing the little girl's influence to help keep him straight. That's
+      their game, and they'll play it, be sure of that, It sounds reasonable
+      enough, too, for sinners have repented before now. And the long-lost
+      father coming back to his child is the one sure thing to win applause from
+      the gallery, you know that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I know it. The other night, when Miss Ph&mdash; when a
+      friend of mine was at the house, she said this business was like a play. I
+      didn't say so to her, but all the same I realize it ain't like a play at
+      all. In a play dad comes home, havin' been snaked bodily out of the jaws
+      of the tomb by his coat collar, and the young one sings out 'Papa! Papa!'
+      and he sobs, 'Me child! Me child!' and it's all lovely, and you put on
+      your hat feelin' that the old man is goin' to be rich and righteous for
+      the rest of his days. But here it's different; dad's a rascal, and anybody
+      who's seen anything of the world knows he's bound to stay so; and as for
+      the poor little girl, why&mdash;why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped, rose, and, striding over to the window, stood looking out.
+      After an interval, during which the good-natured attorney read a dull
+      business letter through for the second time, he spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope you understand, Peabody,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It ain't just selfishness that
+      makes me steer the course I'm runnin'. Course, Bos'n's got to be the world
+      and all to me, and if she's taken away I don't know's I care a tinker's
+      darn what happens afterwards. But, all the same, if her dad was a real
+      man, sorry for what he's done and tryin' to make up for it&mdash;why,
+      then, I cal'late I'm decent enough to take off my hat, hand her over, and
+      say: 'God bless you and good luck.' But to think of him carryin' her off
+      the Lord knows where, to neglect her and cruelize her, and to let her grow
+      up among fellers like him, I&mdash;I&mdash;by the big dipper, I can't do
+      it! That's all; I can't!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How does she feel about it, herself?&rdquo; asked Peabody.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her? Bos'n? Why, that's the hardest of all. Some of the children at
+      school pester her about her father. I don't know's you can blame 'em;
+      young ones are made that way, I guess&mdash;but she comes home to me
+      cryin', and it's 'O Uncle Cy, he AIN'T my truly father, is he?' and 'You
+      won't let him take me away from you, will you?' till it seems as if I
+      should fly out of the window. The poor little thing! And that puffed-up
+      humbug Atkins blowin' about his Christianity and all! D&mdash;n such
+      Christianity as that, I say! I've seen heathen Injuns, who never heard of
+      Christ, with more of His spirit inside 'em. There! I've shocked you, I
+      guess. Sometimes I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me. I've
+      been around, you know, and my New England bringin' up has wore thin in
+      spots. Seem's if I must get somewheres and spread out, or I'll bust.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw himself into a chair. The lawyer clapped him on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, captain,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Don't 'bust' yet awhile. Don't give up
+      the ship. If we lose in one court, we can appeal to another, and so on up
+      the line. And meantime we'll do a little investigating of friend Thomas's
+      career since he left Concord. I've written to a legal acquaintance of mine
+      in Butte, giving him the facts as we know them, and a description of
+      Thomas. He will try to find out what the fellow did in his years out West.
+      It's our best chance, as I told you. Keep your pluck up and wait and see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain repeated this conversation to the Board of Strategy when he
+      returned to Bayport. Miss Dawes had walked home from school with Bos'n,
+      and had stopped at the house to hear the report. She listened, but it was
+      evident that something else was on her mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;has it ever struck you as queer that Mr.
+      Atkins should take such an interest in this matter? He is giving time and
+      counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a perfect stranger to
+      him. Why does he do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Why, to down me, of course. I was gettin' too
+      everlastin' prominent in politics to suit him. I'd got you in as teacher,
+      and I had 'Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school committee. Goodness
+      knows what I might have run for next, 'cordin' to Heman's reasonin', and I
+      simply had to be smashed. It worked all right. I'm so unhealthy now in the
+      sight of most folks in this town, that I cal'late they go home and
+      sulphur-smoke their clothes after they meet me, so's not to catch my
+      wickedness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the teacher shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That doesn't seem reason enough to me,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Just see what Mr.
+      Atkins has done. He never openly advocated anything in town meeting
+      before; you said so yourself. Even when he must have realized that you had
+      the votes for committeeman he kept still. He might have taken many of them
+      from you by simply coming out and declaring for Mr. Snow; but he didn't.
+      And then, all at once, he takes this astonishing stand. Captain Whittaker,
+      Mr. Tidditt says that, the night of Emily's birthday party, you and he
+      told who she was, by accident, and that Mr. Atkins seemed very much
+      surprised and upset. Is that so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His lemonade was upset; that's all I noticed special. Oh! yes, and he
+      lost his hat off, goin' home. But what of it? What are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was wondering if&mdash;if it could be that, for some reason, Mr. Atkins
+      had a spite against Emily or her people. Or if he had any reason to fear
+      her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear? Fear Bos'n? Oh, my, that's funny! You've been readin' novels, I'm
+      'fraid, teacher, 'though I didn't suspect it of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed heartily. Miss Dawes smiled, too, but she still persisted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I don't know. Perhaps it is because I'm a woman, and
+      politics don't mean as much to me as to you men, but to me political
+      reasons don't seem strong enough to account for such actions as those of
+      Mr. Atkins. Emily's mother was a Thayer, wasn't she? and the Thayers once
+      lived in Orham. I wish we could find out more about them while they lived
+      there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph Tidditt pulled his beard thoughtfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;maybe we can, if we want to, though I don't think
+      what we find out 'll amount to nothin'. I was kind of cal'latin' to go to
+      Orham next week on a little visit. Seth Wingate over there&mdash;Barzilla
+      Wingate's cousin, Whit&mdash;is a sort of relation of mine, and we visit
+      back and forth every nine or ten year or so. The ten year's most up, and
+      he's been pesterin' me to come over. Seth's been Orham town clerk about as
+      long as I've been the Bayport one, and he's lived there all his life. What
+      he don't know about Orham folks ain't wuth knowin'. If you say so, I'll
+      pump him about the Thayers and the Richards. 'Twon't do no harm, and the
+      old fool likes to talk, anyhow. I don't know's I ought to speak that way
+      about my relations,&rdquo; he added doubtfully, &ldquo;but Seth IS sort of stubborn
+      and unlikely at odd times. We don't always agree as to which is the best
+      town to live in, you understand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was settled that Mr. Wingate should be subjected to the &ldquo;pumping&rdquo;
+       process when Asaph visited him. He departed for this visit the following
+      week, and remained away for ten days. Meanwhile several things happened in
+      Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of these things was the farewell of the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+      Congress was to open at Washington, and the Honorable heeded the call of
+      duty. Alicia and the housekeeper went with him, and the big house was
+      closed for the winter. At the gate between the stone urns, and backed by
+      the iron dogs, the great man bade a group of admiring constituents
+      good-by. He thanked them for their trust in him, and promised that it
+      should not be betrayed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I leave you, my fellow townsmen, er&mdash;ladies and friends,&rdquo; he said,
+      &ldquo;with regret, tempered by pride&mdash;a not inexcusable pride, I believe.
+      In the trying experience which my self-respect and sympathy has so
+      recently forced upon me, you have stood firm and cheered me on. The task I
+      have undertaken, the task of restoring to a worthy man his own, shall be
+      carried on to the bitterest extremity. I have put my hand to the plow, and
+      it shall not be withdrawn. And, furthermore, I go to my work at Washington
+      determined to secure for my native town the appropriation which it so
+      sorely needs. I shall secure it if I can, even though&mdash;&rdquo; and the
+      sarcasm was hugely enjoyed by his listeners&mdash;&ldquo;I am, as I seem likely
+      to be, deprived of the help of the 'committee,' self-appointed at our
+      recent town meeting. If I fail&mdash;and I do not conceal the fact that I
+      may fail&mdash;I am certain you will not blame me. Now I should like to
+      shake each one of you by the hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The hands were shaken, and the train bore the Atkins delegation away. And,
+      on the day following, Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, also left town. A
+      position in Boston had been offered him, he said, and he felt that he must
+      accept it. He would come back some of these days, with the warrant from
+      the court, and get his little girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Position offered him! Um&mdash;ya-as!&rdquo; quoth Dimick the cynical, in
+      conversation with Captain Cy. &ldquo;Inspector of sidewalks, I shouldn't wonder.
+      Well, please don't ask me if I think Heman sent him to Boston so's to have
+      him out of the way, and 'cause he'd feel consider'ble safer than if he was
+      loose down here. Don't ask me that, for, with my strict scruples against
+      the truth I might say, No. As it is, I say nothin'&mdash;and wink my port
+      eye.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ten-day visit ended, Mr. Tidditt returned to Bayport. On the afternoon
+      of his return he and Bailey called at the Whittaker place, and there they
+      were joined by Miss Dawes, who had been summoned to the conclave by a note
+      intrusted to Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Ase,&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy, as the quartet gathered in the sitting
+      room, &ldquo;here we are, hangin' on your words, as the feller said. Don't keep
+      us strung up too long. What did you find out?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk cleared his throat. When he spoke, there was a trace of
+      disappointment in his tone. To have been able to electrify his audience
+      with the news of some startling discovery would have been pure joy for
+      Asaph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;I don't know's I found out anything much. Yet I did
+      find out somethin', too; but it don't really amount to nothin'. I hoped
+      'twould be somethin' more'n 'twas, but when nothin' come of it except the
+      little somethin' it begun with, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the land sakes!&rdquo; snapped Bailey Bangs, who was a trifle envious of
+      his friend's position in the center of the stage, &ldquo;stop them 'nothin's'
+      and 'somethin's,' won't you? You keep whirlin' 'em round and over and over
+      till my head's FULL of 'nothin',' and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what it's full of most of the time,&rdquo; interrupted Asaph tartly.
+      Captain Cy hastened to act as peacemaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, Bailey,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;you let Ase alone. Tell us what you did
+      find out, Ase, and cut out the trimmin's.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; continued Mr. Tidditt, with a glare at Bangs, &ldquo;I asked Seth about
+      the Thayers and the Richards folks the very fust night I struck Orham. He
+      remembered 'em, of course; he can remember Adam, if you let him tell it.
+      He told me a whole mess about old man Thayer and old man Richards and
+      their granddads and grandmarms, and what houses they lived in, and how
+      many hens they kept, and what their dog's name was, and how they come to
+      name him that, and enough more to fill a hogshead. 'Twas ten o'clock afore
+      he got out of Genesis, and down so fur as John and Emily. He remembered
+      their bein' married, and their baby&mdash;Mary Thayer, Bos'n's ma&mdash;bein'
+      born.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Folks used to call John Thayer a smart young feller, so Seth said. They
+      used to cal'late that he'd rise high in the seafarin' and ship-ownin'
+      line. Maybe he would, only he died somewheres in Californy 'long in '54 or
+      thereabouts. 'Twas the time of the gold craziness out there, and he left
+      his ship and went gold huntin'. And the next thing they knew he was dead
+      and buried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When was that?&rdquo; inquired the schoolmistress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In '54, I tell you. So Seth says.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ship was he on?&rdquo; asked Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wan't on any ship. Why don't you listen, instead of settin' there
+      moonin'? He was gold diggin', I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He'd BEEN on a ship, hadn't he? What was the name of her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't ask. What diff'rence does that make?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wasn't Mr. Atkins at sea in those days?&rdquo; put in the teacher. The captain
+      answered her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he was,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That is, I think he was. He was away from here
+      when I skipped out, and he didn't get back till '61 or thereabouts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, anyhow,&rdquo; went on Asaph, &ldquo;that's all I could find out. Seth and me
+      went rummagin' through town records from way back to glory, him gassin'
+      away and stringin' along about this old settler and that, till I 'most
+      wished he'd choke himself with the dust he was raisin'. We found John's
+      grandad's will, and Emily's dad's will, and John's own will, and that's
+      all. John left everything he had and all he might become possessed of to
+      his wife and baby and their heirs forever. He died poorer'n poverty.
+      What's the use of a will when you ain't got nothin' to leave?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;The answer to that's easy. John was goin' to
+      sea, and, more'n likely, intended to have a shy at the diggin's afore he
+      got back. So, if he did make any money, he wanted his wife and baby to
+      have it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what they got wan't wuth havin'. Emily had to scrimp along and do
+      dressmakin' till she died. She done fairly well at that, though, and saved
+      somethin' and passed it over to Mary. And Mary married Henry Thomas, after
+      she went with the Howes tribe to Concord, and he got rid of it for her in
+      double quick time&mdash;all but the Orham land.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So that was all you could find out, hey, Ase?&rdquo; asked the captain. &ldquo;Well,
+      it's at least as much as I expected. You see, teacher, these story-book
+      notions don't work out when it comes to real life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes was plainly disappointed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish we knew more,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Who was on this ship with Mr. Thayer?
+      And who sent the news of his death home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I can tell you that,&rdquo; said Asaph. &ldquo;'Twas some one-hoss doctor out
+      there, gold minin' himself, he was. John died of a quick fever. Got cold
+      and went off in no time. Seth remembered that much, though he couldn't
+      remember the doctor's name. He said, if I wanted to learn more about the
+      Thayers, I might go see&mdash;Humph, well, never mind that. 'Twas just
+      foolishness, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Phoebe persisted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see whom?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Some one you knew? A friend of yours?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph turned red.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friend of mine!&rdquo; he snarled. &ldquo;No, SIR! she ain't no friend of mine, I'm
+      thankful to say. More a friend of Bailey's, here, if she's anybody's. One
+      of his pets, she was, for a spell. A patient of his, you might say;
+      anyhow, he prescribed for her. 'Twas that deef idiot, Debby Beasley, Cy;
+      that's who 'twas. Her name was Briggs afore she married Beasley, and she
+      was hired help for Emily Thayer, when Mary was born, and until John died.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy burst into a roar of laughter. Bailey sprang out of his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;De&mdash;Debby Beasley!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;Debby Beasley!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was that deef housekeeper Bailey hired for me, teacher,&rdquo; explained
+      the captain. &ldquo;I've told you about her. Ho! ho! so that's the end of the
+      mystery huntin'. We go gunnin' for Heman Atkins, and we bring down Debby!
+      Well, Ase, goin' to see the old lady?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt's retort was emphatic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' to SEE her?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;I guess not! Godfrey scissors! I told
+      Seth, says I, 'I've had all the Debby Beasley <i>I</i> want, and I
+      cal'late Cy Whittaker feels the same way.' Go to see her! I wouldn't go to
+      see her if she was up in Paradise a-hollerin' for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nobody up there's goin' to holler for YOU, Ase Tidditt,&rdquo; remarked Bailey,
+      with sarcasm; &ldquo;so don't let that worry you none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are YOU going to see her, Captain Whittaker?&rdquo; asked Phoebe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no, I guess not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don't take much stock in what she'd be
+      likely to know; besides, I'm a good deal like Ase&mdash;I've had about all
+      the Debby Beasley I want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Bangs,&rdquo; said the schoolmistress, as if it was the most casual thing
+      in the world, &ldquo;I want to borrow your husband to-morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Friday evening, and supper at the perfect boarding house had
+      advanced as far as the stewed prunes and fruit-cake stage. Keturah, who
+      was carefully dealing out the prunes, exactly four to each saucer, stopped
+      short, spoon in air, and gazed at Miss Dawes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You&mdash;you want to WHAT?&rdquo; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want to borrow your husband. I want him all day, too, because I'm
+      thinking of driving over to Trumet, and I need a coachman. You'll go,
+      won't you, Mr. Bangs?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey, who had been considering the advisability of asking for a second
+      cup of tea, brightened up and looked pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I'll go. I can go just as well as not. Fact is,
+      I'd like to. Ain't been to Trumet I don't know when.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney and the widow Tripp looked at each other. Then they both
+      looked at Keturah. That lady's mouth closed tightly, and she resumed her
+      prune distribution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry,&rdquo; she said crisply, &ldquo;but I'm 'fraid he can't go. It's Saturday,
+      and I'll need him round the house. Do you care for cake to-night, Elviry?
+      I'm 'fraid it's pretty dry; I ain't had time to do much bakin' this week.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; continued the smiling Phoebe, &ldquo;I shouldn't think of asking
+      him to go for nothing. I didn't mean borrow him in just that way. I was
+      thinking of hiring your horse and buggy, and, as I'm not used to driving,
+      I thought perhaps I might engage Mr. Bangs to drive for me. I expected to
+      pay for the privilege. But, as you need him, I suppose I must get my rig
+      and driver somewhere else. I'm so sorry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady's expression changed. This was the dull season, and
+      opportunities to &ldquo;let&rdquo; the family steed and buggy&mdash;&ldquo;horse and team,&rdquo;
+       we call it in Bayport&mdash;were few.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she observed, &ldquo;I don't want to be unlikely and disobligin'. Far's
+      he's concerned, he'd rather be traipsin' round the country than stay to
+      home, any day; though it's been so long sence he took ME to ride that I
+      don't know's I'd know how to act.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Ketury!&rdquo; protested her husband. &ldquo;How you talk! Didn't I drive you
+      down to the graveyard only last Sunday&mdash;or the Sunday afore?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Graveyard! Yes, I notice our rides always fetch up at the graveyard.
+      You're always willin' to take me THERE. Seems sometimes as if you enjoyed
+      doin' it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Keturah! you know yourself that 'twas you proposed goin' there. You
+      said you wanted to look at our lot, 'cause you was afraid 'twan't big
+      enough, and you didn't know but we'd ought to add on another piece. You
+      said that it kept you awake nights worryin' for fear when I passed away
+      you wouldn't have room in that lot for me. Land sakes! don't I remember?
+      Didn't you give me the blue creeps talkin' about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Bangs ignored this outburst. Turning to the school teacher, she said
+      with a sigh:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess he can go. I'll get along somehow. I hope he'll be careful
+      of the buggy; we had it painted only last January.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Tripp ventured a hinted question concerning the teacher's errand at
+      Trumet. The reply being noncommittal, the widow cheerfully prophesied that
+      she guessed 'twas going to rain or snow next day. &ldquo;It's about time for the
+      line storm,&rdquo; she added.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But it did not storm, although a brisk, cold gale was blowing when, after
+      breakfast next morning, the &ldquo;horse and team,&rdquo; with Bailey in his Sunday
+      suit and overcoat, and Miss Dawes on the buggy seat beside him, turned out
+      of the boarding-house yard and started on the twelve-mile journey to
+      Trumet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a bleak ride. Denboro, the village adjoining Bayport on the bay
+      side, is a pretty place, with old elms and silverleafs shading the main
+      street in summer, and with substantial houses set each in its trim yard.
+      But beyond Denboro the Trumet road winds out over rolling, bare hills,
+      with cranberry bogs, now flooded and skimmed with ice, in the hollows
+      between them, clumps of bayberry and beach-plum bushes scattered over
+      their rounded slopes, and white scars in their sides showing where the
+      cranberry growers have cut away the thin layer of coarse grass and moss to
+      reach the sand beneath, sand which they use in preparing their bogs for
+      the new vines.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the wind! There is always a breeze along the Trumet road, even in
+      summer&mdash;when the mosquitoes lie in wait to leeward like buccaneers
+      until, sighting the luckless wayfarer in the offing, they drive down
+      before the wind in clouds, literally to eat him alive. They are skilled
+      navigators, those Trumet road mosquitoes, and they know the advantage of
+      snug harbors under hat brims and behind spreading ears. And each
+      individual smashed by a frantic palm leaves a thousand blood relatives to
+      attend his funeral and exact revenge after the Corsican fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, in December, there were, of course, no mosquitoes, but the wind tore
+      across those bare hilltops in gusts that rocked the buggy on its springs.
+      The bayberry bushes huddled and crouched before it. The sky was covered
+      with tumbling, flying clouds, which changed shape continually, and ripped
+      into long, fleecy ravelings, that broke loose and pelted on until merged
+      into the next billowy mass. The bay was gray and white, and in the spots
+      where an occasional sunbeam broke through and struck it, flashed like a
+      turned knife blade.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey drove with one hand and held his hat on his head with the other.
+      The road had been deeply rutted during the November rains, and now the
+      ruts were frozen. The buggy wheels twisted and scraped as they turned in
+      the furrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter?&rdquo; asked the schoolmistress, shouting so as to be heard
+      above the flapping of the buggy curtains. &ldquo;Why do you watch that wheel?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Fraid of the axle,&rdquo; whooped Mr. Bangs in reply. &ldquo;Nut's kind of loose,
+      for one thing, and the way the wheel wobbles I'm scart she'll come off.
+      Call this a road!&rdquo; he snorted indignantly. &ldquo;More like a plowed field a
+      consider'ble sight. Jerushy, how she blows! No wonder they raise so many
+      deef and dumb folks in Trumet. I'd talk sign language myself if I lived
+      here. What's the use of wastin' strength pumpin' up words when they're
+      blowed back down your throat fast enough to choke you? Git dap, Henry!
+      Don't you see the meetin' house steeple? We're most there, thank the
+      goodness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In Trumet Center, which is not much of a center, Miss Dawes alighted from
+      the buggy and entered a building bearing a sign with the words
+      &ldquo;Metropolitan Variety Store, Joshua Atwood, Prop'r, Groceries, Coal, Dry
+      Goods, Insurance, Boots and Shoes, Garden Seeds, etc.&rdquo; A smaller sign
+      beneath this was lettered &ldquo;Justice of the Peace,&rdquo; and one below that read
+      &ldquo;Post Office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She emerged a moment later, followed by an elderly person in a red
+      cardigan jacket and overalls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take the fust turnin' to the left, marm,&rdquo; he said pointing. &ldquo;It's pretty
+      nigh to East Trumet townhall. Fust house this side of the blacksmith shop.
+      About two mile, I'd say. Windy day for drivin', ain't it? That horse of
+      yours belongs in Bayport, I cal'late. Looks to me like&mdash;Hello,
+      Bailey!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Josh!&rdquo; grunted Mr. Bangs, adding an explanatory aside to the
+      effect that he knew Josh Atwood, the latter having once lived in Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But say,&rdquo; he asked as they moved on once more, &ldquo;have we got to go to EAST
+      Trumet? Jerushy! that's the place where the wind COMES from. They raise it
+      over there; anyhow, they don't raise much else. Whose house you goin' to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had asked the same question at least ten times since leaving home, and
+      each time Miss Dawes had evaded it. She did so now, saying that she was
+      sure she should know the house when they got to it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two miles to East Trumet were worse than the twelve which they had
+      come. The wind fairly shrieked here, for the road paralleled the edge of
+      high sand bluffs close by the shore, and the ruts and &ldquo;thank-you-marms&rdquo;
+       were trying to the temper. Bailey's was completely wrecked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he snapped as they reached the crest of a long hill, and a
+      quick grab at his hat alone prevented its starting on a balloon ascension,
+      &ldquo;get out a spell, will you? I've got to swear or bust, and 'long's you're
+      aboard I can't swear. What you standin' still for, you?&rdquo; he bellowed at
+      poor Henry, the horse, who had stopped to rest. &ldquo;I cal'late the critter
+      thinks that last cyclone must have blowed me sky high, and he's waitin' to
+      see where I light. Git dap!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess I shall get out very soon now,&rdquo; panted Phoebe. &ldquo;There's the
+      blacksmith shop over there near the next hill, and this house in the
+      hollow must be the one I'm looking for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They pulled up beside the house in the hollow. A little, story-and-a-half
+      house it was, and, judging by the neglected appearance of the weeds and
+      bushes in the yard, it had been unoccupied for some time. However, the
+      blinds were now open, and a few fowls about the back door seemed to
+      promise that some one was living there. The wooden letter box by the gate
+      had a name stenciled upon it. Miss Dawes sprang from the buggy and looked
+      at the box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is the place. Will you come in, Mr. Bangs? You can
+      put your horse in that barn, I'm sure, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Bailey declined to come in. He declared he was going on to the
+      blacksmith's shop to have that wheel fixed. He would not feel safe to
+      start for home with it as it was. He drove off, and Miss Dawes, knowing
+      from lifelong experience that front doors are merely for show, passed
+      around the main body of the house and rapped on the door in the ell. The
+      rap was not answered, though she could hear some one moving about within,
+      and a shrill voice singing &ldquo;The Sweet By and By.&rdquo; So she rapped again and
+      again, but still no one came to the door. At last she ventured to open it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A thin woman, with her head tied up in a colored cotton handkerchief, was
+      in the room, vigorously wielding a broom. She was singing in a high
+      cracked voice. The opening of the door let in a gust of cold wind which
+      struck the singer in the back of the neck, and caused her to turn around
+      hastily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Land sakes! you scare a body to death! Shut that
+      door quick! I ain't hankering for influenzy. Who are you? What do you
+      want? Why didn't you knock? Where's my specs?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She took a pair of spectacles from the mantel shelf, rubbed them with her
+      apron, and set them on the bridge of her thin nose. Then she inspected the
+      schoolmistress from head to foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I beg pardon for coming in,&rdquo; shouted Phoebe. &ldquo;I knocked, but you didn't
+      hear. You are Mrs. Beasley, aren't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't want none,&rdquo; replied Debby, with emphasis. &ldquo;So there's no use your
+      wastin' your breath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't want&mdash;&rdquo; repeated the astonished teacher. &ldquo;Don't want what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I say I don't want none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't want WHAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whatever 'tis you're peddlin'. Books or soap or tea, or whatever 'tis. I
+      don't want nothin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After some strenuous minutes, the visitor managed to make it clear to Mrs.
+      Beasley's mind that she was not a peddler. She tried to add a word of
+      further explanation, but it was effort wasted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tain't no use,&rdquo; snapped Debby, &ldquo;I can't hear you, you speak so faint.
+      Wait till I get my horn; it's in the settin' room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe's wonder as to what the &ldquo;horn&rdquo; might be was relieved by the widow's
+      appearance, a moment later, with the biggest ear trumpet her caller had
+      ever seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, now!&rdquo; she said, adjusting the instrument and thrusting the
+      bell-shaped end under the teacher's nose. &ldquo;Talk into that. If you ain't a
+      peddler, what be you&mdash;sewin' machine agent?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe explained that she had come some distance on purpose to see Mrs.
+      Beasley. She was interested in the Thayers, who used to live in Orham,
+      particularly in Mr. John Thayer, who died in 1854. She had been told that
+      Debby formerly lived with the Thayers, and could, no doubt, remember a
+      great deal about them. Would she mind answering a few questions, and so
+      on?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley, her hearing now within forty-five degrees of the normal,
+      grew interested. She ushered her visitor into the adjoining room, and
+      proffered her a chair. That sitting room was a wonder of its kind, even to
+      the teacher's accustomed eyes. A gilt-framed crayon enlargement of the
+      late Mr. Beasley hung in the center of the broadest wall space, and was
+      not the ugliest thing in the apartment. Having said this, further
+      description is unnecessary&mdash;particularly to those who remember Mr.
+      Beasley's personal appearance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What you so interested in the Thayers for?&rdquo; inquired Debby. &ldquo;One of the
+      heirs, be you? They didn't leave nothin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      No, the schoolmistress was not an heir. Was not even a relative of the
+      family. But she was&mdash;was interested, just the same. A friend of hers
+      was a relative, and&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is your friend?&rdquo; inquired the inquisitor. &ldquo;A man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no reason why Miss Dawes should have changed color, but,
+      according to Debby's subsequent testimony, she did; she blushed, so the
+      widow declares.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she protested. &ldquo;Oh, no! it's a&mdash;she's a child, that's all&mdash;a
+      little girl. But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe you're gettin' up one of them geographical trees,&rdquo; suggested Mrs.
+      Beasley. &ldquo;I've seen 'em, fust settlers down in the trunk, and children and
+      grandchildren spreadin' out in the branches. Is that it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was an avenue of escape. Phoebe stretched the truth a trifle, and
+      admitted that that, or something of the sort, was what she was engaged in.
+      The explanation seemed to be satisfactory. Debby asked her visitor's name,
+      and, misunderstanding it, addressed her as &ldquo;Miss Dorcas&rdquo; thereafter. Then
+      she proceeded to give her reminiscences of the Thayers, and it did not
+      take long for the disappointed teacher to discover that, for all practical
+      purposes, these reminiscences were valueless. Mrs. Beasley remembered many
+      things, but nothing at all concerning John Thayer's life in the West, nor
+      the name of the ship he sailed in, nor who his shipmates were.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never wrote home but once or twice afore he died,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And when
+      he did Emily, his wife, never told me what was in his letters. She always
+      burnt 'em, I guess. I used to hunt around for 'em when she was out, but
+      she burnt 'em to spite me, I cal'late. Her and me didn't get along any too
+      well. She said I talked too much to other folks about what was none of
+      their business. Now, anybody that knows me knows THAT ain't one of my
+      failin's. I told her so; says I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so on for ten minutes. Then Phoebe ventured to repeat the words &ldquo;out
+      West,&rdquo; and her companion went off on a new tack. She had just been West
+      herself. She had been on a visit to her husband's niece, who lived in
+      Arizona. In Blazeton, Arizona. &ldquo;It's the nicest town ever you see,&rdquo; she
+      continued. &ldquo;And the smartest, most up-to-date place. Talk about the West
+      bein' oncivilized! My land! you ought to see that town! Electric lights,
+      and telephones, and&mdash;and&mdash;I don't know what all! Why, Miss
+      What's-your-name&mdash;Miss Dorcas, marm, you just ought to see the
+      photygraphs I've got that was took out there. My niece, she took 'em with
+      one of them little mites of cameras. You wouldn't believe such a little
+      box of a thing could take such photygraphs. I'm goin' to get 'em and show
+      'em to you. No, sir! you ain't got to go, neither. Set right still and let
+      me fetch them photygraphs. 'Twon't be a mite of trouble. I'd love to do
+      it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Protests were unavailing. The photographs, at least fifty of them, were
+      produced, and the suffering caller was shown the Blazeton City Hall, and
+      the Blazeton &ldquo;Palace Hotel,&rdquo; and the home of the Beasley niece, taken from
+      the front, the rear, and both sides. With each specimen Debby delivered a
+      descriptive lecture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see that house?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Well, 'tain't much of a one to look at,
+      but it's got the most interestin' story tagged on to it. I made Eva,
+      that's my niece, take a picture of it just on that account. The woman that
+      lives there's had the hardest time. Her fust name's Desire, and that kind
+      of made me take an interest in her right off, 'cause I had an Aunt Desire
+      once, and it's a name you don't hear very often. Afterwards I got to know
+      her real well. She was a widder woman, like me, only she didn't have as
+      much sense as I've got, and went and married a second time. 'Twas 'long in
+      1886 she done it. This man Higgins, he went to work for her on her place,
+      and pretty soon he married her. They lived together, principally on her
+      fust husband's insurance money, I cal'late, until a year or so ago. Then
+      the insurance money give out, and Mr. Higgins he says: 'Old woman,' he
+      says&mdash;I'D never let a husband of mine call me 'old woman,' but Desire
+      didn't seem to mind&mdash;'Old woman,' he says, 'I'm goin' over to
+      Phoenix'&mdash;that's another city in Arizona&mdash;'to look for a job.'
+      And he went, and she ain't heard hide&mdash;I mean seen hide nor heard
+      hair&mdash;What DOES ail me? She ain't seen nor heard of him since. And
+      she advertised in the weekly paper, and I don't know what all. She thinks
+      he was murdered, you know; that's what makes it so sort of creepy and
+      interestin'. Everybody was awful kind to her, and we got to be real good
+      friends. Why, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was but the beginning. It was evident that Mrs. Beasley had
+      thoroughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton, and that the sorrows of the
+      bereaved Desire Higgins had been one of the principal sources of that
+      enjoyment. The schoolmistress endeavored to turn the subject, but it was
+      useless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fetched home a whole pile of them newspapers,&rdquo; continued Debby. &ldquo;They
+      was awful interestin'; full of pictures of Blazeton buildin's and leadin'
+      folks and all. And in some of the back numbers was the advertisement about
+      Mr. Higgins. I do wish I could show 'em to you, but I lent 'em to Mrs.
+      Atwood up to the Center. If 'twan't such a ways I'd go and fetch 'em. Mrs.
+      Atwood's been awful nice to me. She took care of my trunks and things when
+      I went West&mdash;yes, and afore that when I went to Bayport to keep house
+      for that miser'ble Cap'n Whittaker. I ain't told you about that, but I
+      will by and by. Them trunks had lots of things in 'em that I didn't want
+      to lose nor have anybody see. My diaries&mdash;I've kept a diary since
+      1850&mdash;and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Diaries?&rdquo; interrupted Phoebe, grasping at straws. &ldquo;Did you keep a diary
+      while you were at the Thayers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Now, why didn't I think of that afore? More'n likely there'd be
+      somethin' in that to help you with that geographical tree. I used to put
+      down everything that happened, and&mdash;Where you goin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes had risen and was peering out of the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was looking to see if my driver was anywhere about,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I
+      thought perhaps he would drive over to Mrs. Atwood's and get the diary for
+      you. But I don't see him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Just then, from around the corner of the house, peeped an agitated face;
+      an agitated forefinger beckoned. Debby stepped to the window beside her
+      visitor, and the face and finger went out of sight as if pulled by a
+      string.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I'll go out and look for him,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He must be near here.
+      I'll be right back, Mrs. Beasley.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Without stopping to put on her jacket, she hurried through the dining
+      room, out of the door, and around the corner. There she found Mr. Bangs in
+      a highly nervous state.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why didn't you tell me 'twas Debby Beasley you was comin' to see?&rdquo; he
+      demanded. &ldquo;If you'd mentioned that deef image's name you'd never got ME to
+      drive you, I tell you that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered the teacher sweetly. &ldquo;I imagined that. That's why I didn't
+      tell you, Mr. Bangs. Now I want you to do me a favor. Will you drive over
+      to Trumet Center, and deliver a note and get a package for me? Then you
+      can come back here, and I shall be ready to start for home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drive! Drive nothin'! The blacksmith's out, and won't be back for another
+      hour. His boy's there, but he's a big enough lunkhead to try bailin' out a
+      dory with a fork, and that buggy axle is bent so it's simply got to be
+      fixed. I'd no more go home to Ketury with that buggy as 'tis than I'd&mdash;Oh!
+      my land of love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ejaculation was almost a groan. There at the corner, ear trumpet
+      adjusted, and spectacles glistening, stood Debby Beasley. Bailey appeared
+      to wilt under her gaze as if the spectacles were twin suns. Miss Dawes
+      looked as if she very much wanted to laugh. The widow stared in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How&mdash;how d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley?&rdquo; faltered Mr. Bangs, not forgetting
+      to raise his voice. &ldquo;I hope you're lookin' as well as you feel. I mean, I
+      hope you're smart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley nodded decisively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I'm pretty toler'ble, thank you. What was the
+      matter, Mr. Bangs? Why didn't you come in? Do you usually make your calls
+      round the corner?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman addressed seemed unable to reply. The schoolmistress came to
+      the rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mustn't blame Mr. Bangs, Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;He wasn't
+      responsible for what happened at Captain Whittaker's. He is the gentleman
+      who drove me over here. I was going to send him to Mrs. Atwood's for the
+      diary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who said I was blamin' him?&rdquo; queried the widow. &ldquo;If 'twas that little
+      Tidditt thing I might feel different. But, considerin' that I got this
+      horn from Mr. Bangs, I'm willin' to let bygones be past. It helps my
+      hearin' a lot. Them ear-fixin's was good while they lasted, but they got
+      out of kilter quick. <i>I</i> shan't bother Mr. Bangs. If he can square
+      his own conscience, I'm satisfied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's conscience was not troubling him greatly, and he seemed relieved.
+      Phoebe told of the damaged buggy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; grunted the widow. &ldquo;The horse didn't get bent, too, did he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs indignantly declared that the horse was all right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum. Well, then, I guess I can supply a carriage. My fust cousin
+      Ezra that died used to be doctor here, and he give me his sulky when he
+      got a new one. It's out in the barn. Go fetch your horse, and harness him
+      in. I'll be ready time the harnessin's done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You?&rdquo; gasped the teacher. &ldquo;You don't need to go, Mrs. Beasley. I wouldn't
+      think of giving you that trouble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No trouble at all. I wouldn't trust nobody else with them trunks. And
+      besides, I always do enjoy ridin'. You could go, too, Miss Dorcas, but the
+      sulky seat's too narrer for three. You can set in the settin' room till we
+      get back. 'Twon't take us long. Don't say another word; I'm A-GOIN'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The number of reasons given by Mr. Bangs one after the other, to prove
+      that it would be quite impossible for him to be Mrs. Beasley's charioteer
+      was a credit to the resources of his invention. The blacksmith might be
+      back any minute; it was dinner time, and he was hungry; Henry, the horse,
+      was tired; it wasn't a nice day for riding, and he would come over some
+      other time and take the widow out; he&mdash;But Debby had a conclusive
+      answer for each protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said yourself the blacksmith wouldn't be back for an hour,&rdquo; she
+      observed. &ldquo;And you can leave word with the boy what he's to do when he
+      does come. As for dinner, I'll be real glad to give you and Miss Dorcas a
+      snack soon's we get back. I don't mind if it ain't a pleasant day; a
+      little fresh air 'll do me good. I been shut up here house-cleanin' ever
+      since I got back from out West. Now, hurry right along, and fetch your
+      horse. I'll unlock the barn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; put in the schoolmistress, &ldquo;why couldn't you give us
+      a note to Mrs. Atwood and let us stop for the diary on our way home? I
+      could return it to you by mail. Or you might get it yourself some other
+      day and mail it to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Never put off till to-morrer what you can do to-day. My husband
+      was a great hand to put off and put off. For the last eight years of his
+      life I was at him to buy a new go-to-meetin' suit of clothes. The one he
+      had was blue to start with, but it faded to a brown, and, toward the last
+      of it, I declare if it didn't commence to turn green. Nothin' I could say
+      would make him heave it away even then. Seemed to think more of it than
+      ever. Said he wanted to hang to it a spell and see what 'twould turn next.
+      But he died and was laid out in that same suit, and I was so mortified at
+      the funeral I couldn't think of nothin' else. No, I'll go after them
+      papers and the diary while they're fresh in my mind. And besides, do you
+      s'pose I'd let Sarah Ann Atwood rummage through my trunks? I guess not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe began to be sorry she had thought of sending for the diary,
+      particularly as the chance of its containing valuable information was so
+      remote. Mrs. Beasley went into the house to dress for the ride. The
+      schoolmistress went with her as far as the sitting room. The perturbed
+      Bailey stalked off, muttering, to the blacksmith's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a little while he returned, leading Henry by the bridle. Debby, adorned
+      with the beflowered bonnet she had worn when she arrived at the Cy
+      Whittaker place, and with a black cloth cape over her lean shoulders, was
+      waiting for him by the open door of the barn. The cape had a fur collar&mdash;&ldquo;cat
+      fur,&rdquo; so Mr. Bangs said afterwards in describing it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pull the sulky right out,&rdquo; commanded the widow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey stared into the black interior of the barn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which is it?&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley pointed with her ear trumpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, that one there, of course. 'Tother's a truck cart. You wouldn't
+      expect me to ride in that, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs entered the barn, seized the vehicle indicated by the shafts,
+      and drew it out into the yard. He inspected it deliberately, and then sat
+      weakly down on the chopping block near by. Apparently he was overcome by
+      emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;sulky&rdquo; bequeathed by the late doctor had been built to order for its
+      former owner. It was of the &ldquo;carryall&rdquo; variety, except that it had but a
+      single narrow seat. Its top was square and was curtained, the curtains
+      being tightly buttoned down. Altogether it was something of a curiosity.
+      Miss Dawes, who had come out to see the start, looked at the &ldquo;sulky,&rdquo; then
+      at Mr. Bangs's face, and turned her back. Her shoulders shook:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It used to be a real nice carriage when Ezra had it,&rdquo; commented the widow
+      admiringly. &ldquo;It needs ilin' and sprucin' up now, but I guess 'twill do.
+      Come!&rdquo; to Bailey, who had not risen from the chopping block. &ldquo;Hurry up and
+      harness or we'll never get started. Thought you wanted to get back for
+      dinner?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs stood up and heaved a sigh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did,&rdquo; he answered slowly, &ldquo;but,&rdquo; with a glance at the sulky, &ldquo;somethin'
+      seems to have took away my appetite. Teacher, do you mean to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes had withdrawn to the corner of the house, from which
+      viewpoint she seemed to be inspecting the surrounding landscape. Bailey
+      seized Henry by the bridle and backed him into the shafts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Back up!&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;Back up, I tell you! You needn't look at me that
+      way,&rdquo; he added, in a lower tone. &ldquo;<i>I</i> can't help it. You ain't any
+      worse ashamed than I am. There! the ark's off the ways. All aboard!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning to the expectant widow, he &ldquo;boosted&rdquo; her, not too tenderly, up to
+      the narrow seat. Then he climbed in himself. Two on that seat made a tight
+      fit. Bailey took up the reins. Debby leaned forward and peered around the
+      edge of the curtains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You!&rdquo; she shouted. &ldquo;You, Miss What's-your-name&mdash;Dorcas! Come here a
+      minute. I want to tell you somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress, her face red and her eyes moist, approached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I just wanted to say,&rdquo; explained Debby, &ldquo;that I ain't real sure as that
+      diary's there. I burnt up a lot of my old letters and things a spell ago,
+      and seems to me I burnt some old diaries, too, but maybe that wan't one of
+      'em. Anyhow, I can get them Arizona papers, and I do want you to see 'em.
+      They're the most INTERESTIN' things. Now,&rdquo; she added, turning to her
+      companion on the seat, &ldquo;you can git dap just as soon as you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Whether or not Mr. Bangs wanted to &ldquo;git dap&rdquo; is a doubtful question. But
+      at all events he did. Before the astonished Miss Dawes could think of an
+      answer to the observation concerning the diary, the carriage, its long
+      unused axles shrieking protests, moved out of the yard. The schoolmistress
+      watched it go. Then she returned to the sitting room and collapsed in a
+      rocking chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once out from the shelter of the house and on the open road, the sulky
+      received the full force of the wind. The first gust that howled in from
+      the bay struck its curtained side with a sudden burst of power that caused
+      Mrs. Beasley to clutch her driver's arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land of mercy!&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;It blows real hard, don't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs's answer was in the form of delicate sarcasm, bellowed into the
+      ear trumpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I want to know! You don't say! Now you mention it,
+      seems as if I had noticed a little air stirrin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Another gust tilted the carriage top. Debby clutched the arm still
+      tighter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, it blows awful hard!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;I'd no idee it blew like this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Want to 'bout ship and go home again?&rdquo; whooped Bailey, hopefully. But the
+      widow didn't intend to give up the rare luxury of a &ldquo;ride&rdquo; which a kind
+      Providence had cast in her way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I guess if you folks come all the way from
+      Bayport I can stand it as fur's the Center. But hurry all you can, won't
+      you? I'm kind of 'fraid of the springs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Springs? What springs? Let go my arm, will you? It's goin' to sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley let go of the arm momentarily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean the springs on this carriage,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;Last time I lent it
+      to anybody&mdash;Solon Davis, 'twas&mdash;he said the bolts underneath was
+      pretty nigh rusted out, and about all that held the wagon part on was its
+      own weight. So we'll have to be kind of careful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well&mdash;I&mdash;swan&mdash;to&mdash;MAN!&rdquo; was Mr. Bangs's sole comment
+      on the amazing disclosure; however, as an expression of concentrated and
+      profound disgust it was quite sufficient. He spoke but once during the
+      remainder of the trip to the &ldquo;Center.&rdquo; Then, when his passenger begged to
+      know if &ldquo;that Whittaker man&rdquo; had been well since she left, he shouted:
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;EVER since,&rdquo; and relapsed into his former gloomy silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow's stop at the Atwood house, which was in the immediate rear of
+      the Atwood store, was of a half hour's duration. Bailey refused to leave
+      the seat of the sulky and sat there, speaking to no one; not even replying
+      to the questions of a group of loungers who gathered to inspect the
+      ancient vehicle, and professed to be in doubt as to whether it had been
+      washed in with the tide or been &ldquo;left&rdquo; to him in a will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last Debby made her appearance, her arms filled with newspapers. The
+      latter she piled under the carriage seat, and then climbed to her former
+      place beside the driver. Henry, in response to a slap from the reins, got
+      under way once more. The axles squeaked and screamed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gee!&rdquo; cried one youngster, from the steps of the store. &ldquo;It's the steam
+      calliope. When's the rest of the show comin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; yelled another. &ldquo;See how close they're hugged up together. Ain't
+      they lovin'! It's a weddin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shut up!&rdquo; roared the tortured Bailey, whose hat had blown back into the
+      body of the sulky, leaving his bald head exposed to the cutting wind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The audience begged him to give them a lock of his hair, and added other
+      remarks of a personal nature concerning the youth and beauty of the bridal
+      couple and their chariot. Mr. Bangs was in a state of dumb frenzy. Debby,
+      who, without her trumpet, had heard nothing of all this, was smiling and
+      garrulous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I found all the papers,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;They're right under the seat. I'm
+      goin' to look 'em over so's to have the interestin' parts all ready to
+      show Miss Dorcas when we get home. Ain't it nice I found 'em?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In spite of her driver's remonstrances, unheard because of the
+      nonadjustment of the trumpet, she reached under the seat and brought out
+      the pile of Blazeton weeklies. With her feet upon the pile to keep it from
+      blowing away, she proceeded to unfold one of the papers. It crackled and
+      snapped in the wind like a loose mainsail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep that dratted thing out of my face, won't you?&rdquo; shrieked the agonized
+      Bailey. &ldquo;How'm I goin' to see to steer with that smackin' me between the
+      eyes every other second?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Did you speak to me?&rdquo; asked the widow sweetly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I SPEAK? No, I screeched! What in tunket&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want you to see this picture of the mayor's house in Blazeton. Eva, my
+      husband's niece, lives right acrost the road from him. Many's the time
+      I've set on their piazza and seen him come out and go to the City Hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep it out of my face, I tell you! Reef it! Furl it, you&mdash;you
+      woman! I wish to thunder the piazza had caved in on you! I never see such
+      an old fool in my born days. TAKE IT AWAY!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley removed the paper, but only to substitute another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here's Eva's brother-in-law,&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;He's one of the prominent
+      business men out there, so they put him in the paper. Ain't he nice
+      lookin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's comments on the prominent business man's appearance were anything
+      but flattering. Debby continued to reach for more papers, carefully
+      replacing those she had inspected in the pile beneath her feet. The wind
+      blew as hard as ever; even harder, for it was now almost dead ahead. Henry
+      plodded along. They were in the hollow at the foot of the last long hill,
+      that from which the blacksmith shop had first been sighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know what I'll do,&rdquo; declared the passenger. &ldquo;I'll hunt for that missin'
+      husband advertisement of Desire Higgins's. Let's see now! 'Twill be down
+      at the bottom of the pile, 'cause the paper it's in is a last year one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bobbed down behind the high dashboard. Mr. Bangs stood up in order
+      that her gymnastics might interfere, to a lesser degree, with his driving.
+      The equipage began to move up the slope of the hill, bouncing and twisting
+      in the frozen ruts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here 'tis!&rdquo; exclaimed Debby. &ldquo;I remember it's in this number, 'cause
+      there's a picture of the Palace Hotel on the front page. Let's see&mdash;'Dog
+      lost'&mdash;no, that ain't it. 'Corner lot for sale'&mdash;wish I had
+      money enough to buy it; I'd like nothin' better than to live out there.
+      'Information wanted of my husband'&mdash;Here 'tis! Um&mdash;hum!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She straightened up and eagerly began reading the advertisement. The hill
+      was very steep just at its top, and the sulky slanted backward at a sharp
+      angle. A terrific burst of wind tore around the corner of the bluff. It
+      eddied through the sulky between the dashboard and the curtained sides.
+      The widow, in her excitement at finding the advertisement, had
+      inadvertently removed her feet from the pile of papers. In an instant the
+      air was filled with whirling copies of the Blazeton Weekly Courier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Henry, the horse, was a sober animal who had long ago reached the age of
+      discretion. But to have his old ears and eyes suddenly blanketed with a
+      flapping white thing swooping apparently from nowhere was too much even
+      for his sedate nerves. He jumped sidewise. The reins were jerked from the
+      driver's hands and fell in the road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mercy on us!&rdquo; shrieked Debby, clutching her companion about the waist.
+      &ldquo;What&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let go of me!&rdquo; howled Bailey, pushing her violently aside. &ldquo;Whoa! Stand
+      still!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Henry refused to stand still. The flapping paper still clung to his
+      agitated head. He reared and pranced, jerking the sulky back and forth,
+      its wheels still wedged in the ruts. Bailey sprang to the ground to pick
+      up the reins. He seized them, but fell as he did so. The tug at his bits
+      turned Henry's head, literally and figuratively. He reared and whirled
+      about. The sulky rose on two wheels. The screaming Mrs. Beasley collapsed
+      against its downward side. Another moment, and the whole upper half of the
+      sulky&mdash;body, seat, curtains, and Debby&mdash;tilted over the lower
+      wheels, and, the rusted bolts failing to hold, slid with a thump to the
+      frozen road. The wind, catching it underneath as it slid, tipped it
+      backward. Then Henry ran away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, left alone in the house at the foot of the hill, had amused
+      herself for a time with the Beasley library, which partially filled a
+      shelf in the sitting room. But &ldquo;The Book of Martyrs&rdquo; and &ldquo;A Believer's
+      Thoughts on Death&rdquo; were not cheering literature, particularly as the
+      author of the latter volume &ldquo;thought&rdquo; so dismally concerning the future of
+      all who did not believe precisely as he did. So the teacher laid down the
+      book, with a shudder, and wandered about the room, inspecting the late Mr.
+      Beasley's portrait, the photographs in splintwork frames, the &ldquo;alum
+      basket&rdquo; on the mantel, the blue castles, blue trees, and blue people
+      pictured on the window shades, and other works of art in the apartment.
+      She even peeped into the parlor, but the musty, shut-up smell of that
+      dusky tomb was too much for her, and she sat down by the sitting-room
+      window, under the empty bird cage, to look up the road and watch for the
+      return of the sulky and its occupants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sitting there, she was a witness of the alarming catastrophe on the
+      hilltop, and reached the front gate just in time to see Henry go galloping
+      by, dragging the four wheels and springs of the sulky, while, sprawled
+      across the rear axle and still clinging to the reins, hung a familiar,
+      howling, and most wickedly profane individual by the name of Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The runaway dashed on toward the blacksmith shop. Phoebe, bareheaded and
+      coatless, ran up the hill. Before she reached the crest, she was aware of
+      muffled screams, which sounded as if the screamer was shut up in a trunk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O-o-oh!&rdquo; screamed Mrs. Beasley. &ldquo;O-o-oh! Ow! Let me out! Help! I'm stuck!
+      My back's broke! He-e-lp!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The upper part of the sulky, with its boxlike curtained top, lay on its
+      side in the road. From somewhere within the box came the groans and
+      screams. The gale swept the hilltop, and, for a quarter mile to leeward,
+      the scenery was animated by soaring, fluttering copies of the Blazeton
+      Courier, that swooped and ducked like mammoth white butterflies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The panting and alarmed teacher stooped and peered into the dark shadow
+      between the dashboard and the back curtain. All she could make out at
+      first were a pair of thin ankles and &ldquo;Congress&rdquo; shoes in agitated motion.
+      These bobbed up and down behind the overturned seat and its displaced
+      cushion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Mrs. Beasley!&rdquo; screamed Phoebe. &ldquo;Are you hurt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby, of course, did not hear the question. She continued to groan and
+      scream for help. Her lungs were not injured, at all events. The
+      schoolmistress, dropping on her knees, reached into the sulky top and
+      tugged at the seat. It was rather tightly wedged, but she managed to
+      loosen it and pull it toward her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow raised herself on an elbow and looked out between the flowers of
+      her smashed bonnet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;Oh, is that you, Miss Dorcas? Oh, my soul and
+      body! Oh, my stars! Oh, my goodness me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you hurt?&rdquo; shrieked Phoebe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I don't know! I don't know WHAT I be! I don't know nothin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can you help yourself? Can you get up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I don't know. Maybe I can if you haul that everlastin' seat out of
+      the way. Oh, my sakes alive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her rescuer pulled the seat forward, and, with an effort, tumbled it clear
+      of the curtains. Debby raised herself still higher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she groaned. &ldquo;Talk about&mdash;Land sakes! who's comin'? Men, ain't
+      it? Let me out of here quick! QUICK!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She scrambled out of her prison on hands and knees, and jumped to her feet
+      with reassuring alacrity. Her fur-collared cape was draped in a roll about
+      her neck, and her bonnet hung jauntily over her left eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm a sight, ain't I?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Haul this bunnet straight, quick's
+      ever you can. Hurt? No, no! I ain't hurt none but my feelin's. Hurry UP!
+      S'pose I want them men folks to see me with everything all hind side to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, relieved to find that the accident had had no serious
+      consequences, and trying her hardest not to laugh, assisted the widow to
+      rearrange her wearing apparel. The blacksmith and his helper came running
+      up the hill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Debby!&rdquo; hailed the former. &ldquo;What's the matter? Hurt, be you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley, whether she heard or not, did not deign to reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Get my horn out of that carriage,&rdquo; she ordered. &ldquo;Don't stand there
+      gapin'. Get it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ear trumpet was resurrected from the interior of the vehicle. The
+      widow adjusted it with dignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had a spill, didn't you, Debby?&rdquo; inquired the blacksmith. &ldquo;Upset, didn't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby glared at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she replied with sarcasm. &ldquo;Course I didn't upset! Just thought I'd
+      roll round in the road for the fun of it. Smart question, that is! Where's
+      that Bailey Bangs gone to with the rest of my carriage?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The blacksmith pointed to his shop in the hollow. Before it stood Mr.
+      Bangs, holding Henry by the bridle, and staring in their direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's all right,&rdquo; volunteered the &ldquo;helper.&rdquo; &ldquo;The horse stopped runnin'
+      soon's he got to the foot of the next hill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley was not, apparently, overjoyed at the news.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she grunted. &ldquo;I 'most wish he'd broke his neck! Pesky, careless
+      thing! gettin' us run away with and upset. Who's goin' to pay for fixin'
+      my sulky, I want to know?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Bangs will pay for it, I'm sure,&rdquo; said Phoebe soothingly. &ldquo;If he
+      doesn't, I will. Oh, Mrs. Beasley! did you find the diary?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Diary? No, no! I told you I was afraid I'd burnt it up. Well, I had, and
+      a whole lot more of them old ones. But I did get all them Arizona papers,
+      and took the trouble to tote 'em all the way here so's you could look at
+      'em. And now&rdquo;&mdash;she shook with indignation and waved her hand toward a
+      section of horizon where little white dots indicated the whereabouts of
+      the Couriers&mdash;&ldquo;now look where they be! Blowed from Dan to Beersheby!
+      Come on to the house and let me set down. I been standin' on my head till
+      I'm tired. Here, Jabez,&rdquo; to the blacksmith, &ldquo;you tend to that carriage,
+      will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stalked off down the hill. The schoolmistress turning to follow her,
+      caught a glimpse of the &ldquo;helper&rdquo; doubled up with silent laughter, and the
+      blacksmith grinning broadly as he stooped toward the capsized sulky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was downcast and disappointed. She was convinced, in her own mind,
+      that the Honorable Atkins had some hidden motive for his espousal of the
+      Thomas cause. Asaph's fruitless quest in Orham had not shaken her faith.
+      Captain Cy had refused to seek Debby Beasley for information concerning
+      the Thayers, and so she, on her own responsibility, had done so. And this
+      was the ridiculous ending of her journey. The diary had been a forlorn
+      hope; now that was burned. Poor Bos'n! and poor&mdash;some one else!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby marching down the hill, continued to sputter about the lost
+      weeklies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's an everlastin' shame!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I'd just found the one with
+      that advertisement in it and was readin' it. I remember the part I read,
+      plain as could be. While we're eatin' dinner I'll tell you about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes did not care for dinner. Like Mr. Tidditt and the captain,
+      she had had about all the Debby Beasley she wanted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, you will stop, too,&rdquo; affirmed the widow. &ldquo;I want to tell you
+      more about Blazeton. I can see that advertisement this minute, right afore
+      my eyes&mdash;'Information wanted of my husband, Edward Higgins. Five foot
+      eight inches tall, sandy complected, brown hair, and yellowish mustache;
+      not lame, but has a peculiar slight limp with his left foot&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; asked the schoolmistress, stopping short.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? 'Has a peculiar limp with his left foot.' I remember how Desire used
+      to talk about that limp. She said 'twas almost as if he stuttered with his
+      leg. He hurt it when he was up in Montana, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; cried Miss Dawes. The color had left her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. You see he used to be a miner or somethin' up there. He'd never say
+      much about his younger days, but one time he did tell that. I'd just got
+      as far as that limp when the sulky upset. Talk about bein' surprised! I
+      never was so surprised in my life as when that horse critter rared up and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe interrupted. Her color had come back, and her eyes were shining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;I think I shall change my mind. I believe I
+      will stay to dinner after all. I'm EVER so much interested in Arizona.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey and the teacher began their long drive home about four o'clock. The
+      buggy axle had been fixed, and the wind was less violent. Mr. Bangs was
+      glum and moody. He seemed to be thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, teacher,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;I'd like to ask a favor of you. If it
+      ain't necessary, I wish you wouldn't say nothin' about that upsettin'
+      business to the folks to home. It does sound so dum foolish! I'll never
+      hear the last of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, who had been in high spirits, now took a moment for
+      reflection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right!&rdquo; she said, nodding vigorously. &ldquo;We won't mention it, then. We
+      won't tell a soul. You can say that I called at the Atwoods', if you want
+      to; that will be true, because I did. And we'll have Mrs. Beasley for our
+      secret&mdash;yours and mine&mdash;until we decide to tell. It's a bargain,
+      Mr. Bangs. We must shake hands on it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They shook hands, and Bailey, looking in her face, thought he never saw
+      her look so well or as young. She was pretty, he decided. Then he thought
+      of his own choice of a wife, and&mdash;well, if he had any regrets, he
+      hasn't mentioned them, not even to his fellow-member of the Board of
+      Strategy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      December was nearly over. Christmas had come. Bos'n had hung up her
+      stocking by the base-burner stove, and found it warty and dropsical the
+      next morning, with a generous overflow of gifts piled on the floor beneath
+      it. The Board of Strategy sent presents; so did Miss Dawes and Georgianna.
+      As for Captain Cy he spent many evening hours, after the rest of his
+      household was in bed, poring over catalogues of toys and books, and the
+      orders he sent to the big shops in Boston were lengthy and costly. The
+      little girl's eyes opened wide when she saw the stocking and the treasures
+      heaped on the floor. She sat in her &ldquo;nighty&rdquo; amidst the wonders, books,
+      and playthings in a circle about her, and the biggest doll of all hugged
+      close in her arms. Captain Cy, who had arisen at half past five in order
+      to be with her on the great occasion, was at least as happy as she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like 'em, do you?&rdquo; he asked, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;like 'em! O Uncle Cy! What makes everybody so good to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. Strange thing, ain't it&mdash;considerin' what a hard
+      little ticket you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n laughed. She understood her &ldquo;Uncle Cy,&rdquo; and didn't mind being called
+      a &ldquo;hard ticket&rdquo; by him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;didn't believe anybody COULD have such a nice Christmas.
+      I never saw so many nice things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! What do you like best?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The answer was a question, and was characteristic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which did you give me?&rdquo; asked Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain would have dodged, but she wouldn't let him. So one by one the
+      presents he had given were indicated and put by themselves. The remainder
+      were but few, but she insisted that the givers of these should be named.
+      When the sorting was over she sat silently hugging her doll and,
+      apparently, thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; inquired the amused captain. &ldquo;Made up your mind yet? Which do you
+      like best?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, these, of course,&rdquo; she declared with emphasis, pointing with her
+      dollie's slippered foot at Captain Cy's pile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So? Do, hey? Didn't know I could pick so well. All right; the first prize
+      is mine. Who takes the second?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This time Bos'n deliberated before answering. At last, however, she bent
+      forward and touched the teacher's gifts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I like these next best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You don't say!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. I think I like teacher next to you. I like Georgianna and Mr.
+      Tidditt and Mr. Bangs, of course, but I like her a little better. Don't
+      you, uncle Cyrus?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain changed the subject. He asked her what she should name her
+      doll.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy came in during the forenoon, and the presents had to
+      be shown to them. While the exhibition was in progress Miss Dawes called.
+      And before she left Gabe Lumley drove up in the depot wagon bearing a big
+      express package addressed to &ldquo;Miss Emily Thomas, Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;Somethin' more for Bos'n, hey! Who in the
+      world sent it, do you s'pose?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph and Bailey made various inane suggestions as to the sender. Phoebe
+      said nothing. There was a frown on her face as she watched the captain get
+      to work on the box with chisel and hammer. It contained a beautiful doll,
+      fully and expensively dressed, and pinned to the dress was a card&mdash;&ldquo;To
+      dear little Emmie, from her lonesome Papa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy looked at the doll in wonder and astonishment.
+      Captain Cy strode away to the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; exclaimed Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;I didn't believe he had that much heart
+      inside of him. I bet you that cost four or five dollars; ain't that so,
+      Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think so, teacher?&rdquo; repeated Bailey, turning to Phoebe. &ldquo;What
+      ails you? You don't seem surprised.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not,&rdquo; replied the lady. &ldquo;I expected something of that sort.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy wheeled from the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You DID?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Miss Phinney said the other day she had heard that that man was
+      going to give his daughter a beautiful present. She was very enthusiastic
+      about his generosity and self-sacrifice. I asked who told her and she said
+      Mr. Simpson.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Tad? Is that so!&rdquo; The captain looked at her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. And I think there is no doubt that Simpson had orders to make the
+      'generosity' known to as many townspeople as possible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! I see. You figure that Thomas cal'lates 'twill help his popularity
+      and make his case stronger; is that it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not exactly. I doubt if he ever thought of such a thing himself. But some
+      one thought for him&mdash;and some one must have supplied the money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, they say he's to work up in Boston.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. But no one can tell where he works. Captain Whittaker, this is
+      Mr. Atkins's doing&mdash;you know it. Now, WHY does he, a busy man, take
+      such an interest in getting this child away from you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy shook his head and smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you're dead set on taggin' Heman with a mystery,
+      ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; asked the forgetful Bailey, &ldquo;when you and me went drivin'
+      t'other day did you find out anything from&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe interrupted quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Bangs,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;at what time do we distribute Christmas presents
+      at your boarding house? I suppose you must have many Christmas secrets to
+      keep. You keep a secret SO well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs turned red. The hint concerning secret keeping was not wasted.
+      He did not mention the drive again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little later Captain Cy found Bos'n busily playing with the doll he had
+      given her. The other, her father's gift, was nowhere in sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I put her back in the box,&rdquo; said the child in reply to his question. &ldquo;She
+      was awful pretty, but I think I'm goin' to love this one best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The remark seems a foolish thing to give comfort to a grown man, but
+      Captain Cy found comfort in it, and comfort was what he needed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He needed it more as time went on. In January the court gave its decision.
+      The captain's appointment as guardian was revoked. With the father alive,
+      and professedly anxious to provide for the child's support, nothing else
+      was to be expected, so Mr. Peabody said. The latter entered an appeal
+      which would delay matters for a time, two or three months perhaps;
+      meanwhile Captain Cy was to retain custody of Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the court's action, expected though it was, made the captain very blue
+      and downcast. He could see no hope. He felt certain that he should lose
+      the little girl in the end, in spite of the long succession of appeals
+      which his lawyer contemplated. And what would become of her then? What
+      sort of training would she be likely to have? Who would her associates be,
+      under the authority of a father such as hers? And what would he do, alone
+      in the old house, when she had gone for good? He could not bear to think
+      of it, and yet he thought of little else.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evenings, after Bos'n had gone to bed, were the worst. During the day
+      he tried his best to be busy at something or other. The doll house was
+      finished, and he had begun to fashion a full-rigged ship in miniature. In
+      reality Emily, being a normal little girl, was not greatly interested in
+      ships, but, because Uncle Cy was making it, she pretended to be vastly
+      concerned about this one. On Saturdays and after school hours she sat on a
+      box in the wood shed, where the captain had put up a small stove, and
+      watched him work. The taboo which so many of our righteous and
+      Atkins-worshiping townspeople had put upon the Whittaker place and its
+      occupants included her, and a number of children had been forbidden to
+      play with her. This, however, did not prevent their tormenting her about
+      her father and her disreputable guardian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the captain's evenings were miserable. He no longer went to Simmons's.
+      He didn't care for the crowd there, and knew they were all &ldquo;down&rdquo; on him.
+      Josiah Dimick called occasionally, and the Board of Strategy often, but
+      their conversation was rather tiresome. There were times when Captain Cy
+      hated Bayport, the house he had &ldquo;fixed up&rdquo; with such interest and pride,
+      and the old sitting room in particular. The mental picture of comfort and
+      contentment which had been his dream through so many years of struggle and
+      wandering, looked farther off than ever. Sometimes he was tempted to run
+      away, taking Bos'n with him. But the captain had never run away from a
+      fight yet; he had never abandoned a ship while there was a chance of
+      keeping her afloat. And, besides, there was another reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe Dawes had come to be his chief reliance. He saw a great deal of
+      her. Often when she walked home from school, she found him hanging over
+      the front gate, and they talked of various things&mdash;of Bos'n's
+      progress with her studies, of the school work, and similar topics. He
+      called her by her first name now, although in this there was nothing
+      unusual&mdash;after a few weeks' acquaintance we Bayporters almost
+      invariably address people by their &ldquo;front&rdquo; names. Sometimes she came to
+      the house with Emily. Then the three sat by the stove in the sitting room,
+      and the apartment became really cheerful, in the captain's eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was in good spirits. She was as hopeful as Captain Cy was
+      despondent. She seemed to have little fear of the outcome of the legal
+      proceedings, the appeals and the rest. In fact, she now appeared desirous
+      of evading the subject, and there was about her an air of suppressed
+      excitement. Her optimism was the best sort of bracer for the captain's
+      failing courage. Her advice was always good, and a talk with her left him
+      with shoulders squared, mentally, and almost happy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One cold, rainy afternoon, early in February, she came in with Bos'n, who
+      had availed herself of the shelter of the teacher's umbrella. Georgianna
+      was in the kitchen baking, and Emily had been promised a &ldquo;saucer pie&rdquo;&mdash;so
+      the child went out to superintend the construction of that treat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Set down, teacher,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, pushing forward a rocker. &ldquo;My! but
+      I'm glad to see you. 'Twas bluer'n a whetstone 'round here to-day. What's
+      the news&mdash;anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no,&rdquo; replied Phoebe, accepting the rocker and throwing open her wet
+      jacket; &ldquo;there's no news in particular. But I wanted to ask if you had
+      seen the Breeze?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum,&rdquo; was the listless answer. &ldquo;I presume likely you mean the
+      news about the appropriation, and the editorial dig at yours truly? Yes,
+      I've seen it. They don't bother me much. I've got more important things on
+      my mind just now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Congressman Atkins's pledge in his farewell speech, concerning the mighty
+      effort he was to make toward securing the appropriation for Bayport
+      harbor, was in process of fulfillment&mdash;so he had written to the local
+      paper. But, alas! the mighty effort was likely to prove unavailing. In
+      spite of the Honorable Heman's battle for his constituents' rights it
+      seemed certain that the bill would not provide the thirty thousand dollars
+      for Bayport; at least, not this year's bill. Other and more powerful
+      interests would win out and, instead, another section of the coast be
+      improved at the public expense. The congressman was deeply sorry, almost
+      broken-hearted. He had battled hard for his beloved town, he had worked
+      night and day. But, to be perfectly frank, there was little or no hope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Few of us blamed Heman Atkins. The majority considered his letter &ldquo;noble&rdquo;
+       and &ldquo;so feeling.&rdquo; But some one must be blamed for a community
+      disappointment like this, and the scapegoat was on the premises. How about
+      that &ldquo;committee of one&rdquo; self-appointed at town meeting? How about the
+      blatant person who had declared HE could have gotten the appropriation?
+      What had the &ldquo;committee&rdquo; done? Nothing! nothing at all! He had not even
+      written to the Capital&mdash;so far as anyone could find out&mdash;much
+      less gone there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, at Simmons's and the sewing circle, and after meeting on Sunday, Cy
+      Whittaker was again discussed and derided. And this week's Breeze, out
+      that morning, contained a sarcastic editorial which mentioned no names,
+      but hinted at &ldquo;a certain now notorious person&rdquo; who had boasted loudly, but
+      who had again &ldquo;been weighed in the balance of public opinion and found
+      wanting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes did not seem pleased with the captain's nonchalant attitude
+      toward the Breeze and its editorial. She tapped the braided mat with her
+      foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Cyrus,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;if you intended doing nothing toward securing
+      that appropriation why did you accept the responsibility for it at the
+      meeting?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy looked up. Her tone reminded him of their first meeting, when
+      she had reproved him for going to sleep and leaving Bos'n to the mercy of
+      the Cahoon cow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;afore this Thomas business happened, to knock all my
+      plans on their beam ends, I'd done consider'ble thinkin' about that
+      appropriation. It seemed to me that there must be some reason for Heman's
+      comin' about so sudden. He was sartin sure of the thirty thousand for a
+      spell; then, all to once, he begun to take in sail and go on t'other tack.
+      I don't know much about politics, but I know HE knows all the politics
+      there is. And it seemed to me that if a live man, one with eyes in his
+      head, went to Washington and looked around he might find the reason. And,
+      if he did find it, maybe Heman could be coaxed into changin' his mind
+      again. Anyhow, I was willin' to take the risk of tryin'; and, besides, Tad
+      and Abe Leonard had me on the griddle at that meetin', and I spoke up
+      sharp&mdash;too sharp, maybe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you still believe that you MIGHT help if you went to Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. I guess I do. Anyhow, I'd ask some pretty p'inted questions. You
+      see, I ain't lived here in Bayport all my life, and I don't swaller ALL
+      the bait Heman heaves overboard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then why don't you go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Why don't I go? And leave Bos'n and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily would be all right and perfectly safe. Georgianna thinks the world
+      of her. And, Captain Whittaker, I don't like to hear these people talk of
+      you as they do. I don't like to read such things in the paper, that you
+      were only bragging in order to be popular, and meant to shirk when the
+      time came for action. I know they're not true. I KNOW it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was gratified, and his gratification showed in his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you, Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am much obliged to you. But, you see, I
+      don't take any interest in such things any more. When I realize that
+      pretty soon I've got to give up that little girl for good I can't bear to
+      be away from her a minute hardly. I don't like to leave her here alone
+      with Georgianna and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will keep an eye on her. You trust me, don't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Trust YOU? By the big dipper, you're about the only one I CAN trust these
+      days. I don't know how I'd have pulled through this if you hadn't helped.
+      You're diff'rent from Ase and Bailey and their kind&mdash;not meanin'
+      anything against them, either. But you're broad-minded and cool-headed and&mdash;and&mdash;Do
+      you know, if I'd had a woman like you to advise me all these years and
+      keep me from goin' off the course, I might have been somebody by now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you're somebody as it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't talk that way. I own up I like to hear you, but I'm 'fraid it ain't
+      true. You say I amount to somethin'. Well, what? I come back home here,
+      with some money in my pocket, thinkin' that was about all was necessary to
+      make me a good deal of a feller. The old Cy Whittaker place, I said to
+      myself, was goin' to be a real Cy Whittaker place again. And I'd be a real
+      Whittaker, a man who should stand for somethin', as my dad and granddad
+      did afore me. The town should respect me, and I'd do things to help it
+      along. And what's it all come to? Why, every young one on the street is
+      told to be good for fear he'll grow up like me. Ain't that so? Course it's
+      so! I'm&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You SHALL not speak so! Do you imagine that you're not respected by
+      everyone whose respect counts for anything? Yes, and by others, too. Don't
+      you suppose Mr. Atkins respects you, down in his heart&mdash;if he has
+      one? Doesn't your housekeeper, who sees you every day, respect and like
+      you? And little Emily&mdash;doesn't she love you more than she does all
+      the rest of us together?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess Bos'n does care for the old man some, that's a fact. She
+      says she likes you next best, though. Did you know that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes was indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;one would think you were a hundred
+      years old to hear you. You are always calling yourself an old man. Does
+      Mr. Atkins call himself old? And he is older than you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I'm over fifty, Phoebe.&rdquo; In spite of the habit for which he had
+      just been reproached, the captain found this a difficult statement to
+      make.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. But you're younger than most of us at thirty-five. You see, I'm
+      confessing, too,&rdquo; she added with a laugh and a little blush.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy made a mental calculation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Twenty years,&rdquo; he said musingly. &ldquo;Twenty years is a long time. No, I'm
+      old. And worse than that, I'm an old fool, I guess. If I hadn't been I'd
+      have stayed in South America instead of comin' here to be hooted out of
+      the town I was born in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher stamped her foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, what SHALL I do with you!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It is wicked for you to
+      say such things. Do you suppose that Mr. Atkins would find it necessary to
+      work as he is doing to beat a fool? And, besides, you're not complimentary
+      to me. Should I, do you think, take such an interest in one who was an
+      imbecile?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, 'tis mighty good of you. Your comin' here so to help Bos'n's fight
+      along is&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know it is Bos'n altogether? I&mdash;&rdquo; She stopped suddenly,
+      and the color rushed to her face. She rose from the rocker. &ldquo;I&mdash;really,
+      I don't see how we came to be discussing such nonsense,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Our
+      ages and that sort of thing! Captain Cyrus, I wish you would go to
+      Washington. I think you ought to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the captain's thoughts were far from Washington at that moment. His
+      own face was alight, and his eyes shone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe,&rdquo; he faltered unbelievingly, &ldquo;what was you goin' to say? Do you
+      mean that&mdash;that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The side door of the house opened. The next instant Mr. Tidditt, a
+      dripping umbrella in his hand, entered the sitting room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Whit!&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;Just run in for a minute to say howdy.&rdquo; Then he
+      noticed the schoolmistress, and his expression changed. &ldquo;Oh! how be you,
+      Miss Dawes?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn't see you fust off. Don't run away on my
+      account.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was just going,&rdquo; said Phoebe, buttoning her jacket. Captain Cy
+      accompanied her to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good-by,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There was something else I meant to say, but I think
+      it is best to wait. I hope to have some good news for you soon. Something
+      that will send you to Washington with a light heart. Perhaps I shall hear
+      to-morrow. If so, I will call after school and tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, do,&rdquo; urged the captain eagerly. &ldquo;You'll find me here waitin'. Good
+      news or not, do come. I&mdash;I ain't said all I wanted to, myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned to the sitting room. The town clerk was standing by the stove.
+      He looked troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the row, Ase?&rdquo; asked Cy cheerily. He was overflowing with good
+      nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin' special,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;You look joyful enough for
+      two of us. Had good company, ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes; 'bout as good as there is. What makes you look so glum?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe was here yesterday, too, wan't she?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. What of it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the day afore that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not for three days afore that. But what OF it, I ask you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, now, Cy, you mustn't get mad. I'm a friend of yours, and friends
+      ought to be able to say 'most anything to each other. If&mdash;if I was
+      you, I wouldn't let Phoebe come so often&mdash;not here, you know, at your
+      house. Course, I know she comes with Bos'n and all, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out with it!&rdquo; The captain's tone was ominous. &ldquo;What are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The caller fidgeted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Whit,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;there's consider'ble talkin' goin' on, that's
+      all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talkin'? What kind of talkin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you know the kind. This town does a good deal of it, 'specially
+      after church and prayer meetin'. Seem's if they thought 'twas a sort of
+      proper place. <i>I</i> don't myself; I kind of like to keep my charity and
+      brotherly love spread out through the week, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase, are the folks in this town sayin' a word against Phoebe Dawes
+      because she comes here to see&mdash;Bos'n?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't&mdash;don't get mad, Whit. Don't look at me like that. <i>I</i>
+      ain't said nothin'. Why, a spell ago, at the boardin' house, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He told of the meal at the perfect boarding house where Miss Dawes
+      championed his friend's cause. Also of the conversation which followed,
+      and his own part in it. Captain Cy paced the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't have her come so often, Cy,&rdquo; pleaded Asaph. &ldquo;Honest, I
+      wouldn't. Course, you and me know they're mean, miser'ble liars, but it's
+      her I'm thinkin' of. She's a young woman and single. And you're a good
+      many years older'n she is. And so, of course, you and she ain't ever goin'
+      to get married. And have you thought what effect it might have on her
+      keepin' her teacher's place? The committee's a majority against her as
+      'tis. And&mdash;you know <i>I</i> don't think so, but a good many folks do&mdash;you
+      ain't got the best name just now. Darn it all! I ain't puttin' this the
+      way I'd ought to, but YOU know what I mean, don't you, Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was leaning against the window frame, his head upon his arm. He
+      was not looking out, because the shade was drawn. Tidditt waited anxiously
+      for him to answer. At last he turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I'm much obliged to you. You've pounded it in pretty
+      hard, but I cal'late I'd ought to have had it done to me. I'm a fool&mdash;an
+      OLD fool, just as I said a while back&mdash;and nothin' nor NOBODY ought
+      to have made me forget it. For a minute or so I&mdash;but there! don't you
+      fret. That young woman shan't risk her job nor her reputation on account
+      of me&mdash;nor of Bos'n, either. I'll see to that. And see here,&rdquo; he
+      added fiercely, &ldquo;I can't stop women's tongues, even when they're as bad as
+      some of the tongues in this town, BUT if you hear a MAN say one word
+      against Phoebe Dawes, only one word, you tell me his name. You hear, Ase?
+      You tell me his name. Now run along, will you? I ain't safe company just
+      now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph, frightened at the effect of his words, hurriedly departed. Captain
+      Cy paced the room for the next fifteen minutes. Then he opened the kitchen
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he called, &ldquo;come in and set in my lap a while; don't you want to?
+      I'm&mdash;I'm sort of lonesome, little girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The next afternoon, when the schoolmistress, who had been delayed by the
+      inevitable examination papers, stopped at the Cy Whittaker place, she was
+      met by Georgianna; Emily, who stood behind the housekeeper in the doorway,
+      was crying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Cy has gone away&mdash;to Washin'ton,&rdquo; declared Georgianna. &ldquo;Though
+      what he's gone there for's more'n I know. He said he'd send his hotel
+      address soon's he got there. He went on the three o'clock train.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;So soon! Why, he told me he should certainly be
+      here to hear some news I expected to-day. Didn't he leave any message for
+      me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper turned red.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;he told me to tell you somethin', and it's so
+      dreadful I don't hardly dast to say it. I think his troubles have driven
+      him crazy. He said to tell you that you'd better not come to this house
+      any more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      In the old days, the great days of sailing ships and land merchant fleets,
+      Bayport was a community of travelers. Every ambitious man went to sea, and
+      eventually, if he lived, became a captain. Then he took his wife, and in
+      most cases his children, with him on long voyages. To the stay-at-homes
+      came letters with odd, foreign stamps and postmarks. Our what-nots and
+      parlor mantels were filled with carved bits of ivory, gorgeous shells,
+      alabaster candlesticks, and plaster miniatures of the Leaning Tower at
+      Pisa or the Coliseum at Rome. We usually began a conversation with &ldquo;When
+      my husband and I were at Hong Kong the last time&mdash;&rdquo; or &ldquo;I remember at
+      Mauritius they always&mdash;&rdquo; New Orleans or 'Frisco were the nearest
+      domestic ports the mention of which was considered worth while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But this is so no longer. A trip to Boston is, of course, no novelty to
+      the most of us; but when we visit New York we take care to advertise it
+      beforehand. And the few who avail themselves of the spring &ldquo;cut rates&rdquo; and
+      go on excursions to Washington, plan definite programmes for each day at
+      the Capital, and discuss them with envious friends for weeks in advance.
+      And if the prearranged programme is not scrupulously carried out, we feel
+      that we have been defrauded. It was the regret of Aunt Sophronia Hallett's
+      life that, on her Washington excursion, she had not seen the &ldquo;Diplomatic
+      Corpse.&rdquo; She saw the President and the Monument and Congress and &ldquo;the
+      relics in the Smithsonian Institute,&rdquo; but the &ldquo;Corpse&rdquo; was not on view;
+      Aunt Sophronia never quite got over the disappointment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Probably no other Bayporter, in recent years, has started for Washington
+      on such short notice or with so ill-defined a programme as Captain Cy. He
+      went because he felt that he must go somewhere. After the conversation
+      with Asaph, he simply could not remain at home. If Phoebe Dawes called, he
+      knew that he must see her, and if he saw her, what should he say to her?
+      He could not tell her that she must not visit the Cy Whittaker place
+      again. If he did, she would insist upon the reason. If he told her of the
+      &ldquo;town talk,&rdquo; he felt sure, knowing her, that she would indignantly refuse
+      to heed the malicious gossip. And he was firmly resolved not to permit her
+      to compromise her life and her future by friendship with a social outcast
+      like himself. As for anything deeper and more sacred than friendship, that
+      was ridiculous. If, for a moment, a remark of hers had led him to dream of
+      such a thing, it was because he was, as he had so often declared, an &ldquo;old
+      fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Captain Cy had resolved upon flight, and he fled to Washington because
+      the business of the &ldquo;committee of one&rdquo; offered a legitimate excuse for
+      going there. The blunt message he had intrusted to Georgianna would, he
+      believed, arouse Phoebe's indignation. She would not call again. And when
+      he returned to Bos'n, it would be to take up the child's fight alone. If
+      he lost that fight, or WHEN he lost it, he would close the Cy Whittaker
+      place, and leave Bayport for good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been in Washington once before, years ago, when he was first mate
+      of a ship and had a few weeks' shore leave. Then he went there on a
+      pleasure trip with some seagoing friends, and had a jolly time. But there
+      was precious little jollity in the present visit. He had never felt so
+      thoroughly miserable. In order to forget, he made up his mind to work his
+      hardest to discover why the harbor appropriation was not to be given to
+      Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The city had changed greatly. He would scarcely have known it. He went to
+      the hotel where he had stayed before, and found a big, modern building in
+      its place. The clerk was inclined to be rather curt and perfunctory at
+      first, but when he learned that the captain was not anxious concerning the
+      price of accommodations, but merely wanted a &ldquo;comf'table berth somewheres
+      on the saloon deck,&rdquo; and appeared to have plenty of money, he grew polite.
+      Captain Cy was shown to his room, where he left his valise. Then he went
+      down to dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the meal was over, he seated himself in one of the big leather
+      chairs in the hotel lobby, smoked and thought. In the summer, before Bos'n
+      came, and before her father had arisen to upset every calculation and
+      wreck all his plans, the captain had given serious thought to what he
+      should do if Congressman Atkins failed, as even then he seemed likely to
+      do, in securing that appropriation. The obvious thing, of course, would
+      have been to hunt up Mr. Atkins and question him. But this was altogether
+      too obvious. In the first place, the strained relations between them would
+      make the interview uncomfortable; and, in the second, if there was
+      anything underhand in Heman's backsliding on the appropriation, Atkins was
+      too wary a bird to be snared with questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Cy had another acquaintance in the city, the son of a still
+      older acquaintance, who had been a wealthy shipping merchant and mine
+      owner in California. The son was also a congressman, from a coast State,
+      and the captain had read of him in the papers. A sketch of his life had
+      been printed, and this made his identity absolutely certain. Captain Cy's
+      original idea had been to write to this congressman. Now he determined to
+      find and interview him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He inquired concerning him of the hotel clerk, who, like all Washington
+      clerks, was a walking edition of &ldquo;Who's Who at the Capital.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Congressman Everdean?&rdquo; repeated the all-knowing young gentleman. &ldquo;Yes.
+      He's in town. Has rooms at the Gloria; second hotel on the right as you go
+      up the avenue. Only a short walk. What can I do for you, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Gloria was an even bigger hotel than the one where the captain had his
+      &ldquo;berth.&rdquo; An inquiry at the desk, of another important clerk, was answered
+      with a brisk:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Everdean? Yes, he rooms here. Don't know whether he's in or not.
+      Evening, judge. Nice Winter weather we're having.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The judge, who was a ponderous person vaguely suggesting the great Heman,
+      admitted that the weather was fine, patronizing it as he did so. The clerk
+      continued the conversation. Captain Cy waited. At length he spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me, commodore,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;I don't like to break in until you've
+      settled whether you have it snow or not, but I'm here to see Congressman
+      Everdean. Hadn't you better order one of your fo'mast hands to hunt him
+      up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The judge condescended to smile, as did several other men who stood near.
+      The clerk reddened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you want to see Mr. Everdean?&rdquo; he snapped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I did. But I can't see him from here without strainin' my
+      eyesight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk sharply demanded one of the captain's visiting cards. He didn't
+      get one, for the very good reason that there was none in existence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell him an old friend of his dad's is here on the main deck waitin' for
+      him,&rdquo; said Captain Cy. &ldquo;That'll do first rate. Thank you, admiral.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Word came that the congressman would be down in a few moments. The captain
+      beguiled the interval by leaning on the rail and regarding the clerk with
+      an awed curiosity that annoyed its object exceedingly. The inspection was
+      still on when a tall man, of an age somewhere in the early thirties,
+      walked briskly up to the desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is it that wants to see me?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk waved a deprecatory hand in Captain Cy's direction. The newcomer
+      turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My name is Everdean,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Are you&mdash;hey?&mdash;Great Scott! Is
+      it possible this is Captain Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was immensely pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I declare, Ed!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I didn't believe you'd remember me
+      after all these years. You was nothin' but a boy when I saw you out in
+      'Frisco. Well! well! No wonder you're in Congress. A man that can remember
+      faces like that ought to be President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everdean laughed as they shook hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't suppose I'd forget the chap who used to dine with us and tell me
+      those sea stories, do you?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I'm mighty glad to see you. What are
+      you doing here? The last father and I heard of you, you were in South
+      America. Given up the sea, they said, and getting rich fast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy chuckled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's a good thing I learned long ago not to believe all I hear,&rdquo; he
+      answered, &ldquo;else I'd have been so sure I was rich that I'd have spent all I
+      had, and been permanent boarder at the poorhouse by now. No, thanks; I've
+      had dinner. Why, yes, I'll smoke, if you'll help along. How's your father?
+      Smart, is he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman insisted that they should adjourn to his rooms. An
+      unmarried man, he kept bachelor's hall at the hotel during his stay in
+      Washington. There, in comfortable chairs, they spoke of old times, when
+      the captain was seafaring and the Everdean home had been his while his
+      ship was in port at 'Frisco. He told of his return to Bayport, and the
+      renovation of the old house. Of Bos'n he said nothing. At last Everdean
+      asked what had brought him to Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, &ldquo;I'll tell you. I'm like the feller in court
+      without a lawyer; he said he couldn't tell whether he was guilty or not
+      'count of havin' no professional advice. That's what I've come to you for,
+      Ed&mdash;professional advice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He told the harbor appropriation story. At the incident of the &ldquo;committee
+      of one&rdquo; his friend laughed heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rather put your foot in it that time, Captain, didn't you?&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Then I got t'other one stuck tryin' to get the first clear. How's it
+      look to you? All straight, do you think? or is there a nigger in the wood
+      pile?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean seemed to reflect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Captain,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I can't tell. You're asking delicate questions.
+      Politicians are like doctors, they usually back up each other's opinions.
+      Still, you're at least as good a friend of mine as Atkins is. Queer HE
+      should bob up in this matter! Why, he&mdash;but never mind that now. I
+      tell you, Captain Whittaker, you come around and have dinner with me
+      to-morrow night. In the meantime I'll see the chairman of the committee on
+      that bill&mdash;one of the so-called 'pork' bills it is. Possibly from him
+      and some other acquaintances of mine I may learn something. At any rate,
+      you come to dinner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the invitation was accepted, and Captain Cy went back to his own hotel
+      and his room. He slept but little, although it was not worry over the
+      appropriation question which kept him awake. Next morning he wrote a note
+      to Georgianna, giving his Washington address. With it he enclosed a long
+      letter to Bos'n, telling her he should be home pretty soon, and that she
+      must be a good girl and &ldquo;boss the ship&rdquo; during his absence. He sent his
+      regards to Asaph and Bailey, but Phoebe's name he did not mention. Then he
+      put in a miserable day wandering about the city. At eight that evening he
+      and his Western friend sat down at a corner table in the big dining room
+      of the Gloria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain began to ask questions as soon as the soup was served, but
+      Everdean refused to answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;pleasure first and business afterwards; that's a
+      congressional motto. I can't talk Atkins with my dinner and enjoy it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't, hey? You wouldn't be popular at our perfect boarding house back
+      home. There they serve Heman hot for breakfast and dinner, and warm him
+      over for supper. All right, I can wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation wandered from Buenos Ayres to 'Frisco and back again
+      until the cigars and coffee were reached. Then the congressman blew a
+      fragrant ring into the air and, from behind it, looked quizzically at his
+      companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;so far as that appropriation of yours is concerned&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and blew a second ring. Captain Cy stroked his beard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;yes,&rdquo; he drawled, &ldquo;now that you mention it, seems to me there
+      was some talk of an appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I've been making inquiries,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I saw the chairman of the
+      committee on the pork bill. I know him well. He's a good fellow, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. I've seen lots of politicians like that; they're all good
+      fellers, but&mdash;If I was in politics I'd make a law to cut 'But' out of
+      the dictionary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, this chap really is a good fellow. I asked about the thirty
+      thousand dollars for your town. He asked me why I didn't go to the
+      congressman from that district, and not bother him about it. I said
+      perhaps I would go to the congressman later, but I came to him first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin. Same as the feller with a sick mother-in-law stopped in at the
+      undertaker's on his way to call the doctor. All right; heave ahead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we had a rather long conversation. I discovered that the Bayport
+      item was originally included in the bill, but recently had been stricken
+      out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I see. Uncle Sam had to economize, hey? Save somethin' for a rainy
+      day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, possibly. Still the bill is just as heavy. Now, Captain Whittaker,
+      I don't KNOW anything about this affair, and it's not my business. But
+      I've been about to-day, and I asked questions, and&mdash;I'm going to tell
+      you a fairy tale. It isn't as interesting as your sea yarns, but&mdash;Do
+      you like fairy stories?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land, yes! Tell a few myself when it's necessary. Sometimes I almost
+      believe 'em. Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course, you must remember this IS a fairy story. Let's suppose that
+      once on a time&mdash;that's the way they always begin&mdash;once on a time
+      there was a great man, great in his own country, who was sent abroad by
+      his people to represent them among the rulers of the land. So, in order to
+      typically represent them, he dressed in glad and expensive raiment, went
+      about in dignity, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whiskers. Don't leave out the whiskers!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right&mdash;and whiskers. And it came to pass that the people whom he
+      represented wished to&mdash;to&mdash;er&mdash;bring about a certain needed
+      improvement in their&mdash;their beautiful and enterprising community.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! how natural that sounds! You must be a mind reader.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. But I have to make speeches in my own community occasionally. Well,
+      the people asked their great man to get the money needed for this
+      improvement from the rulers of the land aforementioned. And he was at
+      first all enthusiasm and upon the&mdash;the parchment scroll where such
+      matters are inscribed was written the name of the beautiful and
+      enterprising community, and the sum of money it asked for. And the deal
+      was as good as made. Excuse the modern phraseology; my fairy lingo got
+      mixed there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind. I can get the drift just as well&mdash;maybe better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the deal was as good as made. But before the vote was taken another
+      chap came to the great man and said: 'Look here! I want to get an
+      appropriation of, say, fifty thousand dollars, to deepen and improve a
+      river down in my State'&mdash;a Southern State we'll say. 'I've been to
+      the chairman of the pork bill committee, and he says it's impossible. The
+      bill simply can't be loaded any further. But I find that you have an item
+      in there for deepening and improving a harbor back in your own district.
+      Why don't you cut that item out&mdash;shove it over until next year? You
+      can easily find a satisfactory explanation for your constituents. AND you
+      want to remember this: the improvement of this river means that the&mdash;the&mdash;well,
+      a certain sugar-growing company&mdash;can get their stuff to market at a
+      figure which will send its stock up and up. And you are said to own a
+      considerable amount of that stock. So why not drop the harbor item and
+      substitute my river slice? Then&mdash;' Well, I guess that's the end of
+      the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and relit his cigar. Captain Cy thoughtfully marked with his
+      fork on the tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;That's a very interestin' yarn. Yes, yes! don't know's
+      I ever heard a more interestin' one. I presume likely there ain't a mite
+      of proof that it's true?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not an atom. I told you it was a fairy tale. And I mustn't be quoted in
+      the matter. Honestly, the most of it is guess work, at that. But perhaps a
+      'committee of one,' dropping a hint at home, might at least arouse some
+      uncomfortable questioning of a certain great man. That's about all,
+      though. Proof is quite another thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain pondered. He was fully aware that the unpopularity of the
+      &ldquo;committee&rdquo; would nullify whatever good its hinting might do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted again. &ldquo;It's one thing to smell a rat and another to
+      nail its tail to the floor. But I'm mighty obliged to you, all the same.
+      And I'll think it over hard. Say! I can see one thing&mdash;you don't take
+      a very big shine to Heman yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not too big&mdash;no. Do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't wake up nights and cry for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everdean laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's characteristic,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have your own way of putting
+      things, Captain, and it's hard to be improved on. Atkins has never done
+      anything to me. I just&mdash;I just don't like him, that's all. Father
+      never liked him, either, in the old days; and yet&mdash;and it's odd, too&mdash;he
+      was the means of the old gentleman's making the most of his money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He? Who? Not Heman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Heman Atkins. But, so far as that goes, father started him toward
+      wealth, I suppose. At least, he was poor enough before the mine was sold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you talkin' about? Heman got his start tradin' over in the South
+      Seas. Sellin' the Kanakas glass beads and calico for pearls and copra&mdash;two
+      cupfuls of pearls for every bead. Anyhow, that's the way the yarn goes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't help that. He was just a common sailor who had run away from his
+      ship and was gold mining in California. And when he and his partner struck
+      it rich father borrowed money, headed a company, and bought them out. That
+      mine was the Excelsior, and it's just as productive to-day as it ever was.
+      I rather think Atkins must be very sorry he sold. I suppose, by right, I
+      should be very grateful to your distinguished representative.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I do declare! Sho, sho! Ain't that funny now? He's never said a
+      word about it at home. I don't believe there's a soul in Bayport knows
+      that. We all thought 'twas South Sea tradin' that boosted Heman. And your
+      own dad! I declare, this is a small world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's odd father never told you about it. It's one of the old gentleman's
+      pet stories. He came West in 1850, and was running a little shipping store
+      in 'Frisco. He met Atkins and the other young sailor, his partner, before
+      they left their ship. They were in the store, buying various things, and
+      father got to know them pretty well. Then they ran away to the diggings&mdash;you
+      simply couldn't keep a crew in those times&mdash;and he didn't see them
+      again for a good while. Then they came in one day and showed him specimens
+      from a claim they had back in the mountains. They were mighty good
+      specimens, and what they said about the claim convinced father that they
+      had a valuable property. So he went to see a few well-to-do friends of
+      his, and the outcome was that a party was made up to go and inspect. The
+      young fellows were willing to sell out, for it was a quartz working and
+      they hadn't the money to carry it on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The inspection showed that the claim was likely to be even better than
+      they thought, so, after some bargaining, the deal was completed. They sold
+      out for seventy-five thousand dollars, and it was the best trade father
+      ever made. He's so proud of his judgment and foresight in making it that I
+      wonder he never told you the story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never did. When was this?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In '54. What?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't speak. The date seemed kind of familiar to me, that's all.
+      Seem's as if I heard it recent, but I can't remember when. Seventy-five
+      thousand, hey? Well, that wan't so bad, was it? With that for a nest egg,
+      no wonder Heman's managed to hatch a pretty respectable brood of dollars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, the whole seventy-five wasn't his, of course. Half belonged to his
+      partner. But the poor devil didn't live to enjoy it. After the articles
+      were signed and before the money was paid over, he was taken sick with a
+      fever and died.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? He died? With a FEVER?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. But he left a pretty good legacy to his heirs, didn't he. For a
+      common sailor&mdash;or second mate; I believe that's what he was&mdash;thirty-seven
+      thousand five hundred is doing well. It must have come as a big surprise
+      to them. The whole sum was paid to Atkins, who&mdash;What's the matter
+      with you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was leaning back in his chair. He was as white as the
+      tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you ill?&rdquo; asked the congressman anxiously. &ldquo;Take some water. Shall I
+      call&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain waved his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;No! I'm all right. Do you&mdash;for the Lord's
+      sake tell me this! What was the name of this partner that died?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean looked curiously at his friend before he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure you're not sick?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Well, all right. The partner's name?
+      Why, I've heard it often enough. It's on the deed of sale that father has
+      framed in his room at home. The old gentleman is as proud of that as
+      anything in the house. The name was&mdash;was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God sakes,&rdquo; cried Captain Cy, &ldquo;don't say 'twas John Thayer! 'Cause if
+      you do I shan't believe it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what it was&mdash;John Thayer. How did you guess? Did you know
+      him? I remember now that he was another Down Easter, like Atkins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer. He clasped his forehead with both hands and
+      leaned his elbows on the table. Everdean was plainly alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm going to call a doctor,&rdquo; he began, rising. But Captain Cy waved him
+      back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Set still!&rdquo; he ordered. &ldquo;Set still, I tell you! You say the whole
+      seventy-five thousand was paid to Heman, but that John Thayer signed the
+      bill of sale afore he died, as half partner? And your dad's got the
+      original deed and&mdash;and&mdash;he remembers the whole business?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he's got the deed&mdash;framed. It's on record, too, of course.
+      Remembers? I should say he did! He'll talk for a week on that subject, if
+      you give him a chance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain sprang to his feet. His chair tipped backward and fell to the
+      floor. An obsequious waiter ran to right it, but Captain Cy paid no
+      attention to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's my coat?&rdquo; he demanded. &ldquo;Where's my coat and hat?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ails you?&rdquo; asked Everdean. &ldquo;Are you going crazy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' CRAZY? No, no! I'm goin' to California. When's the next train?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman Atkins sat in the library of his Washington home,
+      before a snapping log fire, reading a letter. Mr. Atkins had, as he would
+      have expressed it, &ldquo;served his people&rdquo; in Congress for so many years that
+      he had long since passed the hotel stage of living at the Capital. He
+      rented a furnished house on an eminently respectable street, and the
+      polished doorplate bore his name in uncompromising characters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The library furniture was solid and dignified. Its businesslike appearance
+      impressed the stray excursionist from the Atkins district, when he or she
+      visited the great man in whose affairs we felt such a personal interest.
+      Particularly impressive and significant was a map of the district hanging
+      over the congressman's desk, and an oil painting of the Atkins mansion at
+      Bayport, which, with the iron dogs and urns conspicuous in its foreground,
+      occupied the middle of the largest wall space.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cheery fire was very comforting on a night like this, for the sleet
+      was driving against the windowpanes, the sidewalks were ankle deep in
+      slush, and the wet, cold wind from the Potomac was whistling down the
+      street. Somewhere about the house an unfastened shutter slammed in the
+      gusts. Mr. Atkins should have been extremely comfortable as he sat there
+      by the fire. He had spent many comfortable winters in that room. But now
+      there was a frown on his face as he read the letter in his hand. It was
+      from Simpson, and stated, among other things, that Cyrus Whittaker had
+      been absent from Bayport for over two weeks, and that no one seemed to
+      know where he had gone. &ldquo;The idea seems to be that he started for
+      Washington,&rdquo; wrote Tad; &ldquo;but if that is so, it is queer you haven't seen
+      him. I am suspicious that he is up to something about that harbor
+      business. I should keep my eye peeled if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Alicia, the Atkins hopeful, rustled into the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Papa,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I've come to kiss you good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her father performed the ceremony in a perfunctory way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, all right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now run along to bed and don't bother
+      me, there's a good girl. I wish,&rdquo; he added testily to the housekeeper who
+      had followed Alicia into the room, &ldquo;I wish you'd see to that loose blind.
+      It makes me nervous. Such things as that should be attended to without
+      specific orders from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper promised to attend to the blind. She and the girl left the
+      library. Heman reread the Simpson letter. Then he dropped it in his lap
+      and sat thinking and twirling his eyeglasses at the end of their black
+      cord. His thoughts seemed to be not of the pleasantest. The lines about
+      his mouth had deepened during the last few months. He looked older.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The telephone bell rang sharply. Mr. Atkins came out of his reverie with a
+      start, arose and walked across the room to the wall where the instrument
+      hung. It was before the days of the convenient desk 'phone. He took the
+      receiver from its hook and spoke into the transmitter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hello! Yes, yes! stop ringing. What is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wire buzzed and purred in the storm. &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; said a voice. &ldquo;Hello,
+      there! Is this Mr. Atkins's house?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; it is. What do you want?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Is this where the Honorable Heman Atkins lives?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, I tell you! This is Mr. Atkins speaking. What do you want?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! is that you, Heman? This is Whittaker&mdash;Cy Whittaker.
+      Understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins understood. Yet for an instant he did not reply. He had been
+      thinking, as he sat by the fire, of certain persons and certain ugly,
+      though remote, possibilities. Now, from a mysterious somewhere, one of
+      those persons was speaking to him. The hand holding the receiver shook
+      momentarily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello! I say, Heman, do you understand? This is Whittaker talkin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;er&mdash;understand,&rdquo; said the congressman, slowly. &ldquo;Well, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm here in Washin'ton.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have been informed that you were in the city. Well, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! knew I was here, did you? Is that so? Who told you? Tad wrote, I
+      suppose, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman did not reply immediately. This man, whom he disliked more
+      than anyone else in the world, had an irritating faculty of putting his
+      finger on the truth. And the flippancy in the tone was maddening. Mr.
+      Atkins was not used to flippancy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of information,&rdquo; he
+      said with chilling dignity. &ldquo;It appears to have been trustworthy. I
+      presume you have 'phoned me concerning the appropriation matter. I do not
+      recognize your right to intrude in that affair, and I shall decline to
+      discuss it. Yes, sir. To my people, to those who have a right to question,
+      I am and shall always be willing to explain my position. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! Hello! Hold on a minute. Don't get mad, Heman. I only wanted to say
+      just a word. You'll let me say a word, won't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was more like it. This was more nearly the tone in which Mr. Atkins
+      was wont to be addressed. It was possible that the man, recognizing the
+      uselessness of further opposition, desired to surrender.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot,&rdquo; declared the Honorable, &ldquo;understand why you should wish to
+      speak with me. We have very little in common, very little, I'm thankful to
+      say. However, I will hear you briefly. Go on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Much obliged. Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought maybe
+      you'd better have a little talk with me. I'm here at the hotel, the
+      Regent. You know where 'tis, I presume likely. I guess you'd better come
+      right down and see me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I</i> had better come and see YOU? I&mdash;! Well, sir! WELL! I am not
+      accustomed&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but I think you'd better. It's dirty weather, and I've got cold
+      somehow or other. I ain't feelin' quite up to the mark, so I cal'late I'll
+      stay in port much as I can. You come right down. I'll be in my room, and
+      the hotel folks 'll tell you where 'tis. I'll be waitin' for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins breathed hard. In his present frame of mind he would have liked
+      to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would cause the person at
+      the other end of the line to shrivel under its heat. But he was a
+      politician of long training, and he knew that such blasts were sometimes
+      expensive treats. It might be well to hear what his enemy had to say. But
+      as to going to see him&mdash;that was out of the question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not,&rdquo; he thundered, &ldquo;I do not care to continue this conversation. If&mdash;if
+      you wish to see me, after what has taken place between us, I am willing,
+      in spite of personal repugnance, to grant you a brief interview. My
+      servants will admit you here at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. But I tell
+      you now, that your interference with this appropriation matter is as
+      useless as it is ridiculous and impudent. It is of a piece with the rest
+      of your conduct.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, Heman, all right,&rdquo; was the calm answer. &ldquo;I don't say you've
+      got to come. I only say I guess you'd better. I'm goin' back to Bayport
+      tomorrer, early. And if I was you I'd come and see me to-night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no wish to see you. Nor do I care to talk with you further. That
+      appropriation&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe it ain't all appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I cannot understand&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but <i>I</i> understand. I've come to understand consider'ble
+      many things in the last fortni't. There! I can't holler into this machine
+      any longer. I've been clear out to 'Frisco and back in eleven days, and I
+      got cold in those blessed sleepin' cars. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The receiver fell from the congressman's hand. It was a difficult object
+      to pick up again. Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely inadequate
+      way. Yet he wished to recover it very much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! wait!&rdquo; he shouted anxiously. &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;I dropped the&mdash;Are
+      you there, Whittaker? Are you&mdash;Oh! yes! I didn't&mdash;Did you say&mdash;er&mdash;'Frisco?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, San Francisco, California. I've been West on a little cruise. Had an
+      interestin' time. It's an interestin' place; don't you think so? Well, I'm
+      sorry you can't come. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait!&rdquo; faltered the great man. &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;let me think, Cyrus. I do
+      not wish to seem&mdash;er&mdash;arrogant in this matter. It is not usual
+      for me to visit my constituents, but&mdash;but&mdash;I have no engagement
+      this evening, and you are not well, and&mdash;Hello! are you there? Hello!
+      Why, under the circumstances, I think&mdash;Yes, I will come. I'll come&mdash;er&mdash;at
+      once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time. Yet, to Heman
+      Atkins, that cab was years in coming. He paced the library floor, his hand
+      to his forehead and his brain whirling. It couldn't be! It must be a
+      coincidence! He had been an idiot to display his agitation and surrender
+      so weakly. And yet&mdash;and yet&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity for
+      more thought. But he gained little comfort from thinking. If it was a
+      coincidence, well and good. If not&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room &ldquo;on the saloon deck.&rdquo; It
+      was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain Cy,
+      in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator. He looked
+      far from well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', Heman,&rdquo; he said as the congressman entered. &ldquo;Pretty dirty night,
+      ain't it? What we'd call a gray no'theaster back home. Sit down. Don't
+      mind my not gettin' up. This heatin' arrangement feels mighty comf'table
+      just now. If I get too far away from it I shiver my deck planks loose.
+      Take off your things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat. His hat he tossed on the bed. He
+      glanced fearfully at his companion. The latter's greeting had been so
+      casual and everyday that he took courage. And the captain looked anything
+      but formidable as he hugged the radiator. Perhaps things were not so bad
+      as he had feared. He resolved not to seem alarmed, at all events.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have a cigar, Heman?&rdquo; said Captain Cy. &ldquo;No? Well, all right; I will, if
+      you don't mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lit the cigar. The congressman cleared his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call of my&mdash;er&mdash;acquaintances,
+      but, even though we have disagreed of late, even though to me your conduct
+      seems quite unjustifiable, still, for the sake of our boyhood friendship,
+      and, because you are not well, I&mdash;er&mdash;came.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing him to
+      pieces. He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on the top of the
+      radiator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too bad,&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;Tobacco gen'rally iles up my talkin' machinery,
+      but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship's dog shut up in the
+      hold. Why, yes, Heman, I see you've come. Much obliged to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This politeness was still more encouraging. Atkins leaned back in his
+      chair and crossed his legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I presume,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that you wish to ask concerning the appropriation.
+      I regret&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You needn't. I guess we'll get the appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman's condescension vanished. He leaned forward and uncrossed his legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed?&rdquo; he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain's placid face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;indeed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whittaker, what are you talking about? Do you suppose that I have been
+      the representative of my people in Congress all these years without
+      knowing whereof I speak? They left the matter in my hands, and your
+      interference&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't goin' to interfere. I'M goin' to leave it in your hands, too. And
+      I cal'late you'll be able to find a way to get it. Um&mdash;hum, I guess
+      likely you will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The visitor rose to his feet. The time had come for another blast from
+      Olympus. He raised the mighty right arm. But Captain Cy spoke first.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, Heman,&rdquo; said the captain quietly. &ldquo;Sit down. This ain't town
+      meetin'. Never mind the appropriation now. There's other matters to be
+      talked about first. Sit down, I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down. The captain coughed
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heman,&rdquo; he began when the spasm was over, &ldquo;I asked you to come here
+      to-night for&mdash;well, blessed if I know exactly. It didn't make much
+      difference to me whether you came or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h! for the land sakes! Speechmakin' must be as bad as the rum
+      habit, when a feller's got it chronic as you have. No, it didn't make much
+      difference to me whether you came or not. But, honest, you've got to be a
+      kind of Bunker Hill monument to the folks back home. They kneel down at
+      your foundations and look up at you, and tell each other how many foot
+      high you are, and what it cost to build you, and how you stand for
+      patriotism and purity, till&mdash;well, <i>I</i> couldn't see you tumble
+      down without givin' you a chance. I couldn't; 'twould be like blowin' up a
+      church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The purple had left the Atkins face, but the speechmaking habit is not
+      likely to be broken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus Whittaker,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;have you been drinking? Your language to
+      me is abominable. Why I permit myself to remain here and listen to such&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you'll keep still I'll tell you why. And, if I was you, I wouldn't be
+      too anxious to find out. This everlastin' cold don't make me over 'n'
+      above good-tempered, and when I think of what you've done to that little
+      girl, or what you tried to do, I have to hold myself down tight, TIGHT,
+      and don't you forget it! Now, you keep quiet and listen. It'll be best for
+      you, Heman. Your cards ain't under the table any longer. I've seen your
+      hand, and I know why you've been playin' it. I know the whole game. I've
+      been West, and Everdean and I have had a talk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins had again risen from the chair. Now he fell heavily back into
+      it. His lips moved as if he meant to speak, but he did not. At the mention
+      of the Everdean name he made a queer, choking sound in his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know the whole business, Heman,&rdquo; went on the captain. &ldquo;I know why you
+      was so knocked over when you learned who Bos'n was, the night of the
+      party. I know why you took up with that blackguard, Thomas, and why you've
+      spent your good money hirin' lawyers for him. I know about the mine. I
+      know the whole thing from first to last. Shall I tell you? Do you want to
+      hear it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The great man did not answer. A drop of perspiration shone on his high
+      forehead, and the veins of his big, white hands stood out as he clutched
+      the arms of his chair. The monument was tottering on its base.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's a dirty mess, the whole of it,&rdquo; continued Captain Cy. &ldquo;And yet, I
+      can see&mdash;I suppose I can see some excuse for you at the beginnin'.
+      When old man Everdean and his crowd bought you and John Thayer out, 'way
+      back there in '54, after John died, and all the money was put into your
+      hands, I cal'late you was honest then. I wouldn't wonder if you MEANT to
+      hand over the thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars to your partner's
+      widow. But 'twas harder and more risky to send money East in them days
+      than 'tis now, and so you waited, thinkin' maybe that you'd fetch it to
+      Emily when you come yourself. But you didn't come home for some years; you
+      went tradin' down along the Feejees and around that way. That's how I
+      reasoned it out these last few days on the train. I give you credit for
+      bein' honest first along.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But never mind whether you was or not, you haven't been since. You never
+      paid over a cent of that poor feller's money&mdash;honest money, that
+      belonged to his heirs, and belongs to 'em now. You've hung onto it, stole
+      it, used it for yours. And Emily worked and scratched for a livin' and
+      died poor. And Mary, she died, after bein' abused and deserted by that
+      cussed husband of hers. And you thought you was safe, I cal'late. And then
+      Bos'n turns up right in your own town, right acrost the road from you! By
+      the big dipper! it's enough to make a feller believe that the Almighty
+      does take a hand in straightenin' out such things, when us humans bungle
+      'em&mdash;it is so!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't sure, Heman, what you meant to do when you found that the
+      child you'd stole that money from was goin' to be under your face and eyes
+      till you or she died. I cal'late you was afraid I'd find somethin' out,
+      wan't you? I presume likely you thought that I, not havin' quite the
+      reverence for you that the rest of the Bayporters have, might be sharp
+      enough or lucky enough to smell a rat. Perhaps you suspicioned that I knew
+      the Everdeans. Anyhow, you wanted to get the child as fur out of your
+      sight and out of my hands as you could&mdash;ain't that so? And when her
+      dad turned up, you thought you saw your chance. Heman, you answer me this:
+      Ain't it part of your bargain with Thomas that when he gets his little
+      girl, he shall take her and clear out, away off somewheres, for good?
+      Ain't it, now&mdash;what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The monument was swaying, was swinging from side to side, but it did not
+      quite fall&mdash;not then. The congressman's cheeks hung flabby, his
+      forehead was wet, and he shook from head to foot; but he clenched his jaws
+      and made one last attempt at defiance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I don't know what you mean,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You&mdash;you seem to
+      be accusing me of something. Of stealing, I believe. Do you understand who
+      I am? I have some influence and reputation, and it is dangerous to&mdash;to
+      try to frighten me. Proofs are required in law, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h! You know I've got the proofs. They were easy enough to get, once
+      I happened on the track of 'em. Lord sakes, Heman, I ain't a fool! What's
+      the use of your pretendin' to be one? There's the deed out in 'Frisco,
+      with yours and John's name on it. There's the records to prove the sale.
+      There's the receipt for the seventy-five thousand signed by you, on behalf
+      of yourself and your partner's widow. There's old man Everdean alive and
+      competent to testify. There's John Thayer's will on file over to Orham.
+      Proofs! Why, you THIEF! if it's proofs you want, I've got enough to send
+      you to state's prison for the rest of your life. Don't you dare say
+      'proofs' to me again! Heman Atkins, you owe me, as Bos'n's guardian,
+      thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, with interest since 1854. What
+      you goin' to do about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was one ray, a feeble ray, of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're not her guardian,&rdquo; cried Atkins. &ldquo;The courts have thrown you out.
+      And your appeal won't stand, either. If any money is due, it belongs to
+      her father. She isn't of age! No, sir! her father&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy's patience had been giving way. Now he lost it altogether. He
+      strode across the room and shook his forefinger in his victim's face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;That's your tack, is it? By the big dipper! You GO to her
+      father&mdash;just you go to him and tell him! Just hint to him that you
+      owe his daughter thirty-odd thousand dollars, and see what he'll do. Good
+      heavens above! he was ready to sell her out to me for fifty dollars' wuth
+      of sand bank in Orham. Almost ready, he was, till you offered a higher
+      price to him to fight. Why, he'll have your hide nailed up on the barn
+      door! If you don't pay him every red copper, down on the nail, he'll wring
+      you dry. And then he'll blackmail you forever and ever, amen! Unless, of
+      course, <i>I</i> go home and stop the blackmail by printing my story in
+      the Breeze. I've a precious good mind to do it. By the Almighty, I WILL do
+      it! unless you come off that high horse of yours and talk like a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the monument fell, fell prostrate, with a sickly, pitiful crash.
+      If we of Bayport could have seen our congressman then! The great man,
+      great no longer, broke down completely. He cried like a baby. It was all
+      true&mdash;all true. He had not meant to steal, at first. He had been led
+      into using the money in his business. Then he had meant to send it to the
+      heirs, but he didn't know their whereabouts. Captain Cy smiled at this
+      excuse. And now he couldn't pay&mdash;he COULDN'T. He had hardly that sum
+      in the world. He had lost money in stocks, his property in the South had
+      gone to the bad! He would be ruined. He would have to go to prison. He was
+      getting to be an old man. And there was Alicia, his daughter! Think of
+      her! Think of the disgrace! And so on, over and over, with the one
+      recurring burden&mdash;what was the captain going to do? what was he going
+      to do? It was a miserable, dreadful exhibition, and Captain Cy could feel
+      no pride in his triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there!&rdquo; he said at last. &ldquo;Stop it, man; stop it, for goodness
+      sakes! Pull yourself together. I guess we can fix it up somehow. I ain't
+      goin' to be too hard on you. If it wan't for your meanness in bein'
+      willin' to let Bos'n suffer her life long with that drunken beast of a dad
+      of hers, I'd feel almost like tellin' you to get up and forget it. But
+      THAT'S got to be stopped. Now, you listen to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman listened. He was on his knees beside the bed, his face buried in his
+      arms, and his gray hair, the leonine Atkins hair, which he was wont to
+      toss backward in the heated periods of his eloquence, tumbled and
+      draggled. Captain Cy looked down at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This whole business about Bos'n must be stopped,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and stopped
+      right off. You tell your lawyers to drop the case. Her dad is only hangin'
+      around because you pay him to. He don't want her; he don't care what
+      becomes of her. If you pay him enough, he'll go, won't he? and not come
+      back?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman raised his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; he faltered; &ldquo;I think he will. Yes, I think I could arrange
+      that. But, Cyrus&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain held up his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I intend to look out for Bos'n,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She cares for me more'n anyone
+      else in the world. She's as much to me as my own child ever could be, and
+      I'll see that she is happy and provided for. I'm religious enough to
+      believe she was sent to me, and I intend to stick to my trust. As for the
+      money&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! The money?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I won't be too hard on you that way, either. We'll talk that over
+      later on. Maybe we can arrange for you to pay it a little at a time. You
+      can sign a paper showin' that you owe it, and we'll fix the payin' to suit
+      all hands. 'Tain't as if the child was in want. I've got some money of my
+      own, and what's mine's hers. I think we needn't worry about the money
+      part.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God bless you, Cyrus! I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, all right. I'm sure your askin' for the blessin' 'll be a great
+      help. Now, you do your part, and I'll do mine. No one knows of this
+      business but me. I didn't tell Everdean a word. He don't know why I
+      hustled out there and back, nor why I asked so many questions. And he
+      ain't the kind to pry into what don't concern him. So you're pretty safe,
+      I cal'late. Now, if you don't mind, I wish you'd run along home. I'm&mdash;I'm
+      used up, sort of.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins arose from his knees. Even then, broken as he was&mdash;he
+      looked ten years older than when he entered the room&mdash;he could hardly
+      believe what he had just heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mean,&rdquo; he faltered, &ldquo;Cyrus, do you mean that&mdash;that you're not
+      going to reveal this&mdash;this&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I'm not goin' to tell on you? Yup; that's what I mean. You get rid
+      of Thomas and squelch that law case, and I'll keep mum. You can trust me
+      for that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but, Cyrus, the people at home? Your story in the Breeze?
+      You're not&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, they needn't know, either. It'll be between you and me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God bless you! I'll never forget&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. You mustn't. Forgettin' is the one thing you mustn't do.
+      And, see here, you're boss of the political fleet in Bayport; you steer
+      the school committee now. Phoebe Dawes ain't too popular with that
+      committee; I'd see that she was popularized.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes; she shall be. She shall not be disturbed. Is there anything
+      else I can do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I guess there is. Speakin' of popularity made me think of it.
+      That harbor appropriation had better go through.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A very faint tinge of color came into the congressman's chalky face. He
+      hesitated in his reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I don't know about that, Cyrus,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The bill will probably
+      be voted on in a few days. It is made up and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I'd strain a p'int and make it over. I'd work real hard on it. I'm
+      sorry about that sugar river, but I cal'late Bayport 'll have to come
+      first. Yes, it'll have to, Heman; it sartin will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The reference to the &ldquo;sugar river&rdquo; was the final straw. Evidently this man
+      knew everything.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I'll try my best,&rdquo; affirmed Heman. &ldquo;Thank you, Cyrus. You have
+      been more merciful than I had a right to expect.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess I have. Why do I do it?&rdquo; He smiled and shook his head.
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't know. For two reasons, maybe. First, I'd hate to be
+      responsible for tippin' over such a sky-towerin' idol as you've been to
+      make ruins for Angie Phinney and the other blackbirds to peck at and caw
+      over. And second&mdash;well, it does sound presumin', don't it, but I kind
+      of pity you. Say, Heman,&rdquo; he added with a chuckle, &ldquo;that's a kind of
+      distinction, in a way, ain't it? A good many folks have hurrahed over you
+      and worshipped you&mdash;some of 'em, I guess likely, have envied you;
+      but, by the big dipper! I do believe I'm the only one in this round world
+      that ever PITIED you. Good-by. The elevator's right down the hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It required some resolution for the Honorable Atkins to walk down that
+      corridor and press the elevator button. But he did it, somehow. A guest
+      came out of one of the rooms and approached him as he stood there. It was
+      a man he knew. Heman squared his shoulders and set every nerve and muscle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; said the man. &ldquo;A miserable night, isn't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miserable, indeed,&rdquo; replied the congressman. The strength in his voice
+      surprised him. The man passed on. Heman descended in the elevator, walked
+      steadily through the crowded lobby and out to the curb where his cab was
+      waiting. The driver noticed nothing strange in his fare's appearance. He
+      noticed nothing strange when the Atkins residence was reached and its
+      tenant mounted the stone steps and opened the door with his latchkey. But,
+      if he had seen the dignified form collapse in a library chair and moan and
+      rock back and forth until the morning hours, he would have wondered very
+      much indeed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile Captain Cy, coughing and shivering by the radiator, had been
+      summoned from that warm haven by a knock at his door. A bell boy stood at
+      the threshold, holding a brown envelope in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The clerk sent this up to you, sir,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It came a week ago. When
+      you went away, you didn't leave any address, and whatever letters came for
+      you were sent back to Bayport, Massachusetts. The clerk says you
+      registered from there, sir. But he kept this telegram. It was in your box,
+      and the day clerk forgot to give it to you this afternoon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain tore open the envelope. The telegram was from his lawyer, Mr.
+      Peabody. It was dated a week before, and read as follows:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    &ldquo;Come home at once.  Important.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      DIVIDED HONORS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The blizzard began that night. Bayport has a generous allowance of storms
+      and gales during a winter, although, as a usual thing, there is more rain
+      than snow and more wind than either. But we can count with certainty on at
+      least one blizzard between November and April, and about the time when
+      Captain Cy, feverish and ill, the delayed telegram in his pocket and a
+      great fear in his heart, boarded the sleeper of the East-bound train at
+      Washington, snow was beginning to fall in our village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Next morning, when Georgianna came downstairs to prepare Bos'n's breakfast&mdash;the
+      housekeeper had ceased to &ldquo;go home nights&rdquo; since the captain's absence&mdash;the
+      world outside was a tumbled, driving whirl of white. The woodshed and
+      barn, dimly seen through the smother, were but gray shapes, emerging now
+      and then only to be wiped from the vision as by a great flapping cloth
+      wielded by the mighty hand of the wind. The old house shook in the blasts,
+      the windowpanes rattled as if handfuls of small shot were being thrown
+      against them, and the carpet on the floor of the dining room puffed up in
+      miniature billows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      School was out of the question, and Bos'n, her breakfast eaten, prepared
+      to put in a cozy day with her dolls and Christmas playthings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When DO you s'pose Uncle Cyrus will get home?&rdquo; she asked of the
+      housekeeper. She had asked the same thing at least three times a day
+      during the fortnight, and Georgianna's answer was always just as
+      unsatisfactory:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, dearie, I'm sure. He'll be here pretty soon, though, don't
+      you fret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I ain't going to fret. I know he'll come. He said he would, and Uncle
+      Cy always does what he says he will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      About twelve Asaph made his appearance, a white statue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; he panted, shaking his snow-plastered cap over the
+      coal hod. &ldquo;Say, this is one of 'em, ain't it? Don't know's I ever see more
+      of a one. Drift out by the front fence pretty nigh up to my waist. This
+      'll be a nasty night along the Orham beach. The lifesavers 'll have their
+      hands full. Whew! I'm about tuckered out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Been to the post office?&rdquo; asked Georgianna in a low tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. I been there. Mornin' mail just this minute sorted. Train's two
+      hours late. Gabe says more'n likely the evenin' train won't be able to get
+      through at all, if this keeps up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was there anything from&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt glanced at Bos'n and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not a word,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Funny, ain't it? It don't seem a bit like him. And
+      he can't be to Washin'ton, because all them letters came back. I&mdash;I
+      swan to man, I'm beginnin' to get worried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Worried? I'm pretty nigh crazy! What does Phoebe Dawes say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She don't say much. It's pretty tough, when everything else is workin'
+      out so fine, thanks to her, to have this happen. No, she don't say much,
+      but she acts pretty solemn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, what is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You don't s'pose anything that happened betwixt her and Cap'n Whittaker
+      that afternoon is responsible for&mdash;for his stayin' away so, do you?
+      You know what he told me to tell her&mdash;about her not comin' here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph fidgeted with the wet cap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, that ain't nothin',&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;That is, I hope it ain't. I did
+      say somethin' to him that&mdash;but Phoebe understands. She's a smart
+      woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You haven't told them boardin' house tattletales about the&mdash;Emmie,
+      you go fetch me a card of matches from the kitchen, won't you&mdash;of
+      what's been found out about that Thomas thing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't. Didn't Peabody say not to tell a soul till we was sure?
+      S'pose I'd tell Keturah and Angie? Might's well paint it on a sign and be
+      done with it. No, no! I've kept mum and you do the same. Well, I must be
+      goin'. Hope to goodness we hear some good news from Whit by to-morrer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But when to-morrow came news of any kind was unobtainable. No trains could
+      get through, and the telephone and telegraph wires were out of commission,
+      owing to the great storm. Bayport was buried under a white coverlet, three
+      feet thick on a level, which shone in the winter sun as if powdered with
+      diamond dust. The street-shoveling brigade, meaning most of the active
+      male citizens, was busy with plows and shovels. Simmons's was deserted in
+      the evenings, for most of the regular habitues went to bed after supper,
+      tired out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two days of this. Then Gabe Lumley, his depot wagon replaced by a sleigh,
+      drove the panting Daniel into the yard of the Cy Whittaker place. Gabe was
+      much excited. He had news of importance to communicate and was puffed up
+      in consequence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wire's all right again, Georgianna,&rdquo; he said to the housekeeper, who
+      had hurried to the door to meet him. &ldquo;Fust message just come through.
+      Guess who it's for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop your foolishness, Gabe Lumley!&rdquo; ordered Miss Taylor. &ldquo;Hand over that
+      telegram this minute. Don't you stop to talk! Hand it over!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe didn't intend to be &ldquo;corked&rdquo; thus peremptorily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty important news, Georgianna,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;Kind of bad news,
+      too. I think I'd ought to prepare you for it, sort of. When Cap'n Obed
+      Pepper died, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;DIED! For the land sakes! WHAT are you sayin'? Give me that, you
+      foolhead! Give it to me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She snatched the telegram from him and tore it open. It was not as bad as
+      might have been, but it was bad enough. Lawyer Peabody wired that Captain
+      Cyrus Whittaker was at his home in Ostable, sick in bed, and threatened
+      with pneumonia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy, hurrying homeward in response to the attorney's former
+      telegram, had reached Boston the day of the blizzard. He had taken the
+      train for Bayport that afternoon. The train had reached Ostable after nine
+      o'clock that night, but could get no farther. The captain, burning with
+      fever and torn by chills, had wallowed through the drifts to his lawyer's
+      home and collapsed on his doorstep. Now he was very ill and, at times,
+      delirious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For two weeks he lay, fighting off the threatened attack of pneumonia. But
+      he won the fight, and, at last, word came to the anxious ones at Bayport
+      that he was past the danger point and would pull through. There was
+      rejoicing at the Cy Whittaker place. The Board of Strategy came and
+      performed an impromptu war dance around the dining-room table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whe-e-e!&rdquo; shouted Bailey Bangs, tossing Bos'n above his head. &ldquo;Your Uncle
+      Cy's weathered the Horn and is bound for clear water now. Three cheers for
+      our side! Won't we give him a reception when we get him back here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Won't we?&rdquo; crowed Asaph. &ldquo;Well, I just guess we will! You ought to hear
+      Angie and the rest of 'em chant hymns of glory about him. A body'd think
+      they always knew he was the salt of the earth. Maybe I don't rub it in a
+      little, hey? Oh, no, maybe not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Heman!&rdquo; chimed in Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;And Heman! Would you ever believe HE'D
+      change so all of a sudden? Bully old Whit! I can mention his name now
+      without Ketury's landin' onto me like a snowslide. Whee! I say, wh-e-e-e!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He continued to say it; and Georgianna and Asaph said what amounted to the
+      same thing. A change had come over our Bayport social atmosphere, a
+      marvelous change. And at Simmons's and&mdash;more wonderful still&mdash;at
+      Tad Simpson's barber' shop, plans were being made and perfected for
+      proceedings in which Cyrus Whittaker was to play the most prominent part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile the convalescence went on at a rapid rate. As soon as he was
+      permitted to talk, Captain Cy began to question his lawyer. How about the
+      appeal? Had Atkins done anything further? The answers were satisfactory.
+      The case had been dropped: the Honorable Heman had announced its
+      withdrawal. He had said that he had changed his mind and should not
+      continue to espouse the Thomas cause. In fact, he seemed to have whirled
+      completely about on his pedestal and, like a compass, now pointed only in
+      one direction&mdash;toward his &ldquo;boyhood friend&rdquo; and present neighbor,
+      Cyrus Whittaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's perfectly astounding,&rdquo; commented Peabody. &ldquo;What in the world,
+      captain, did you do to him while you were in Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! nothin' much,&rdquo; was the rather disinterested answer. &ldquo;Him and me had a
+      talk, and he saw the error of his ways, I cal'late. How's Bos'n to-day?
+      Did you give her my love when you 'phoned?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So far as the case is concerned,&rdquo; went on the lawyer, &ldquo;I think we should
+      have won that, anyway. It's a curious thing. Thomas has disappeared. How
+      he got word, or who he got it from, <i>I</i> don't know; but he must have,
+      and he's gone somewhere, no one knows where. And yet I'm not certain that
+      we were on the right trail. It seemed certain a week ago, but now&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain had not been listening. He was thinking. Thomas had gone, had
+      he! Good! Heman was living up to his promises. And Bos'n, God bless her,
+      was free from that danger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then or
+      later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that
+      everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked
+      nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict
+      orders, did not mention it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town who
+      was not a member of his household.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How is&mdash;er&mdash;how's the teacher?&rdquo; he inquired one morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How's who?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not
+      resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a
+      business trip, to be gone some time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken
+      home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was
+      very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times, but
+      had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were
+      unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness and
+      forbade questioning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the train,
+      but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful one that Mr.
+      Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city, suggested driving
+      over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody &ldquo;span,&rdquo; was brought
+      around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled up until, as he said,
+      he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale, emerged from the house
+      which had sheltered him for a weary month and climbed to the back seat.
+      The attorney got in beside him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All ashore that's goin' ashore,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy. Then to the driver,
+      who stood by the horses' heads, he added: &ldquo;Stand by to get ship under way,
+      commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate of mine
+      waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang around these
+      waters no longer'n you can help.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just a minute, captain,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We've got another passenger. She came
+      to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an exciting
+      day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we kept her in
+      the background. It was something of a job but&mdash;Hurrah! here she is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's wife, opened the front door. She was laughing.
+      The next moment a small figure shot past her, down the steps, and into the
+      carriage like a red-hooded bombshell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo; she screamed joyously. &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus, it's me! Here I am!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Captain Cy, springing up and shedding wraps and robes, received the
+      bombshell with open arms and hugged it tight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;By the big dipper! BOS'N! Why, you little&mdash;you&mdash;you&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was a wonderful ride. Emily sat in the captain's lap&mdash;he
+      positively refused to let her sit beside him on the seat, although Peabody
+      urged it, fearing the child might tire him&mdash;and her tongue rattled
+      like a sewing machine. She had a thousand things to tell, about her
+      school, about Georgianna, about her dolls, about Lonesome, the cat, and
+      how many mice he had caught, about the big snowstorm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Georgianna wanted me to stay at home and wait for you, Uncle Cy,&rdquo; she
+      said, &ldquo;but I teased and teased and finally they said I could come over. I
+      came yesterday on the train. Mr. Tidditt went with me to the depot. Mrs.
+      Peabody let me peek into your room last night and I saw you eating supper.
+      You didn't know I was there, did you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet I didn't! There'd have been a mutiny right then if I'd caught
+      sight of you. You little sculpin! Playin' it on your Uncle Cy, was you? I
+      didn't know you could keep a secret so well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes I can! Why, I know an ever so much bigger secret, too. It is&mdash;Why!
+      I 'most forgot. You just wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laughingly begged her to divulge the big secret, but she shook
+      her small head and refused. The horses trotted on at a lively pace, and
+      the miles separating Ostable and Bayport were subtracted one by one. It
+      was magnificent winter weather. The snow had disappeared from the road,
+      except in widely separated spots, but the big drifts still heaped the
+      fields and shone and sparkled in the sunshine. Against their whiteness the
+      pitch pines and cedars stood darkly green and the skeleton scrub oaks and
+      bushes cast delicate blue-penciled shadows. The bay, seen over the
+      flooded, frozen salt meadows and distant dunes, was in its winter dress of
+      the deepest sapphire, trimmed with whitecaps and fringed with stranded ice
+      cakes. There was a snap and tang in the breeze which braced one like a
+      tonic. The party in the carriage was a gay one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Getting tired, captain?&rdquo; asked Peabody.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who? Me? Well, I guess not. 'Most home, Bos'n. There's the salt works
+      ahead there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They passed the abandoned salt works, the crumbling ruins of a dead
+      industry, and the boundary stone, now half hidden in a drift, marking the
+      beginning of Bayport township. Then, from the pine grove at the curve
+      farther on, appeared two capped and coated figures, performing a crazy
+      fandango.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who's them two lunatics,&rdquo; inquired Captain Cy, &ldquo;whoopin' and carryin' on
+      in the middle of the road? Has anybody up this way had a jug come by
+      express or&mdash;Hey! WHAT? Why, you old idiots you! COME here and let me
+      get a hold of you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy swooped down upon the carriage like Trumet
+      mosquitoes on a summer boarder. They swarmed into the vehicle, Bailey on
+      the front seat and Asaph in the rear, where, somehow or other, they made
+      room for him. There were handshakings and thumps on the back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What you doin' 'way up here in the west end of nowhere?&rdquo; demanded Captain
+      Cy. &ldquo;By the big dipper, I'm glad to see you! How'd you get here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Walked,&rdquo; cackled Bailey. &ldquo;Frogged it all the way. Soon's Mrs. Peabody
+      wired you was goin' to ride, me and Ase started to meet you. Wan't you
+      surprised?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We wanted to be the fust to say howdy, old man,&rdquo; explained Asaph. &ldquo;Wanted
+      to welcome you back, you know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was immensely pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I'm glad I've got so much popularity, anyhow,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Guess
+      'twill be different when I get down street, hey? Don't cal'late Tad and
+      Angie 'll shed the joyous tear over me. Never mind; long's my friends are
+      glad I don't care about the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tad?&rdquo; repeated Bailey. &ldquo;And Angie? What you talkin' about? Why, they&mdash;Ugh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The last exclamation was the result of a tremendous dig in the ribs from
+      the Tidditt fist. Asaph, who had leaned forward to administer it, was
+      frowning and shaking his head. Mr. Bangs relapsed into a grinning silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      West Bayport seemed to be deserted. At one or two houses, however,
+      feminine heads appeared at the windows. One old lady shook a calico apron
+      at the carriage. A child beside her cried: &ldquo;Hurrah!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aunt Hepsy h'istin' colors by mistake,&rdquo; laughed the captain. &ldquo;She ain't
+      got her specs, I guess, and thinks I'm Heman. That comes of ridin' astern
+      of a span, Peabody.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But as they drew near the Center flags were flying from front-yard poles.
+      Some of the houses were decorated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in the world&mdash;&rdquo; began Captain Cy. &ldquo;Land sakes! look at the
+      schoolhouse. And Simmons's! And&mdash;and Simpson's!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolhouse flag was flapping in the wind. The scarred wooden pillars
+      of its portico were hidden with bunting. Simmons's front displayed a row
+      of little banners, each bearing a letter&mdash;the letters spelled
+      &ldquo;Welcome Home.&rdquo; Tad's barber shop was more or less artistically wreathed
+      in colored tissue paper. There, too, a flag was draped over the front
+      door. Yet not a single person was in sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For goodness' sake!&rdquo; cried the bewildered captain. &ldquo;What's all this mean?
+      And where is everybody. Have all hands&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped in the middle of the sentence. They were at the foot of
+      Whittaker's Hill. Its top, between the Atkins's gate and the Whittaker
+      fence, was black with people. Children pranced about the outskirts of the
+      crowd. A shout came down the wind. The horses, not in the least fatigued
+      by their long canter, trotted up the slope. The shouting grew louder. A
+      wave of youngsters came racing to meet the equipage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What&mdash;what in time?&rdquo; gasped Captain Cy. &ldquo;What's up? I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the town clerk seized him by the arm. Peabody shook his other
+      hand. Bos'n threw her arms about his neck. Bailey stood up and waved his
+      hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's you, you old critter!&rdquo; whooped Asaph. &ldquo;It's YOU, d'you understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The appropriation has gone through,&rdquo; explained the lawyer, &ldquo;and this is
+      the celebration in consequence. And you are the star attraction because,
+      you see, everyone knows you are responsible for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what!&rdquo; howled the excited Bangs. &ldquo;And we're goin' to show you what
+      we think of you for doin' it. We've been plannin' this for over a
+      fortni't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I knew it all the time,&rdquo; squealed Bos'n, &ldquo;and I didn't tell a word,
+      did I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Three cheers for Captain Whittaker!&rdquo; bellowed a person in the crowd. This
+      person&mdash;wonder of wonders!&mdash;was Tad Simpson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cheering was, considering the size of the crowd, tremendous.
+      Bewildered and amazed, Captain Cy was assisted from the carriage and
+      escorted to his front door. Amidst the handkerchief-waving, applauding
+      people he saw Keturah Bangs and Alpheus Smalley and Angeline Phinney and
+      Captain Salters&mdash;even Alonzo Snow, his recent opponent in town
+      meeting. Josiah Dimick was there, too, apparently having a fit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the doorstep stood Georgianna and&mdash;and&mdash;yes, it was true&mdash;beside
+      her, grandly extending a welcoming hand, the majestic form of the
+      Honorable Heman Atkins. Some one else was there also, some one who
+      hurriedly slipped back into the crowd as the owner of the Cy Whittaker
+      place came up the path between the hedges.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins shook the captain's hand and then, turning toward the people,
+      held up his own for silence. To all outward appearance, he was still the
+      great Heman, our district idol, philanthropist, and leader. His silk hat
+      glistened as of old, his chest swelled in the old manner, his whiskers
+      were just as dignified and awe-inspiring. For an instant, as he met the
+      captain's eye, his own faltered and fell, and there was a pleading
+      expression in his face, the lines of which had deepened just a little. But
+      only for an instant; then he began to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of your neighbors and
+      friends here assembled, to welcome you to your&mdash;er&mdash;ancestral
+      home after your trying illness. I do it heartily, sincerely, gladly. And
+      it is the more pleasing to me to perform this duty, because, as I have
+      explained publicly to my fellow-townspeople, all disagreement between us
+      is ended. I was wrong&mdash;again I publicly admit it. A scheming
+      blackleg, posing in the guise of a loving father, imposed upon me. I am
+      sorry for the trouble I have caused you. Of you and of the little girl
+      with you I ask pardon&mdash;I entreat forgiveness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Captain Cy, the shadow of a smile at the corner of his mouth,
+      nodded, and said briefly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, Heman. I forgive you.&rdquo; Few heard him: the majority were
+      applauding the congressman. Sylvanus Cahoon, whispering in the ear of
+      &ldquo;Uncle Bedny,&rdquo; expressed as his opinion that &ldquo;that was about as
+      magnaminious a thing as ever I heard said. Yes, sir! mag-na-min-ious&mdash;that's
+      what <i>I</i> call it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; continued the great Atkins, &ldquo;I have said all this to you before.
+      What I have to say now&mdash;what I left my duties in Washington expressly
+      to come here and say&mdash;is that Bayport thanks you, <i>I</i> thank you,
+      for your tremendous assistance in obtaining the appropriation which is to
+      make our harbor a busy port where our gallant fishing fleet may ride at
+      anchor and unload its catch, instead of transferring it in dories as
+      heretofore. Friends, I have already told you how this man&rdquo;&mdash;laying a
+      hand on the captain's shoulder&mdash;&ldquo;came to the Capital and used his
+      influence among his acquaintances in high places, with the result that the
+      thirty thousand dollars, which I had despaired of getting, was added to
+      the bill. I had the pleasure of voting for that bill. It passed. I am
+      proud of that vote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tremendous applause. Then some one called for three cheers for Mr. Atkins.
+      They were given. But the recipient merely bowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; he said deprecatingly. &ldquo;No, no! not for me, my friends, much as
+      I appreciate your gratitude. My days of public service are nearly at an
+      end. As I have intimated to some of you already, I am seriously
+      considering retiring from political life in the near future. But that is
+      irrelevant; it is not material at present. To-day we meet, not to say
+      farewell to the setting, but to greet the rising sun. <i>I</i> call for
+      three cheers for our committee of one&mdash;Captain Cyrus Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the uproar had at last subsided, there were demands for a speech from
+      Captain Cy. But the captain, facing them, his arms about the delighted
+      Bos'n, positively declined to orate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I'm ever so much obliged to you, folks,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;I am so.
+      But you'll have to excuse me from speechmaking. They&mdash;they didn't
+      teach it afore the mast, where I went to college. Thank you, just the
+      same. And do come and see me, everybody. Me and this little girl,&rdquo; drawing
+      Emily nearer to him, &ldquo;will be real glad to have you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After the handshaking and congratulating were over, the crowd dispersed.
+      It was a great occasion; all agreed to that, but the majority considered
+      it a divided triumph. The captain had done a lot for the town, of course,
+      but the Honorable Atkins had made another splendid impression by his
+      address of welcome. Most people thought it as fine as his memorable effort
+      at town meeting. Unlike that one, however, in this instance it is safe to
+      say that none, not even the adoring and praise-chanting Miss Phinney,
+      derived quite the enjoyment from the congressman's speech that Captain Cy
+      did. It tickled his sense of humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he observed irrelevantly when the five&mdash;Tidditt, Georgianna,
+      Bailey, Bos'n, and himself were at last alone again in the sitting room,
+      &ldquo;it DON'T pay to tip over a monument, does it&mdash;not out in public, I
+      mean. You wouldn't want to see me blow up Bunker Hill, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blow up Bunker Hill!&rdquo; repeated Asaph in alarmed amazement. &ldquo;Godfrey
+      scissors! I believe you're goin' loony. This day's been too much for you.
+      What are you talkin' about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin',&rdquo; with a quiet chuckle. &ldquo;I was thinkin' out loud, that's all.
+      Did you ever notice them imitation stone pillars on Heman's house? They're
+      holler inside, but you'd never guess it. And, long as you do know they're
+      holler, you can keep a watch on 'em. And there's one thing sure,&rdquo; he
+      added, &ldquo;they ARE ornamental.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CAPTAIN CY'S &ldquo;PICTURE&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wonder where Phoebe went to,&rdquo; remarked Mr. Tidditt, a little later. &ldquo;I
+      thought I saw her with Heman and Georgianna on the front steps when we
+      drove up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was there,&rdquo; affirmed the housekeeper. &ldquo;She'd been helpin' me trim up
+      the rooms here. What do you think of 'em, Cap'n Cyrus? Ain't they pretty?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sitting room and dining room were gay with evergreens and
+      old-fashioned flowers. Our living room windows in the winter time are
+      usually filled with carefully tended potted plants, and the neighbors had
+      loaned their geraniums and fuchsias and heliotrope and begonias to
+      brighten the Whittaker house for its owner's return. Captain Cy, who was
+      sitting in the rocker, with Bos'n on his knee, looked about him. Now that
+      the first burst of excitement was over, he seemed grave and preoccupied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They look mighty pretty, Georgianna,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Fine enough. But what was
+      that you just said? Did&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; interrupted Miss Taylor, who had scarcely ceased talking since
+      breakfast that morning. &ldquo;Yes, 'twas teacher that helped fix 'em. Not that
+      I wouldn't have got along without her, but I had more to do than a little,
+      cleanin' and scrubbin' up. So Phoebe she come in, and&mdash;Oh! yes, as I
+      was sayin', she was out front with me, but the minute your carriage drove
+      up with that lovely span&mdash;AIN'T that a fine span! I cal'late they're&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What become of teacher?&rdquo; broke in Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, she run off somewheres. I didn't see where she went to; I was too
+      busy hollerin' at Cap'n Whittaker and noticin' that span. I bet you they
+      made Angie Phinney's eyes stick out. I guess she realizes that we in this
+      house are some punkins now. If I don't lord it over her when I run acrost
+      her these days, then I miss my guess. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Belay!&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy, his gravity more pronounced than ever. &ldquo;How
+      does it happen that you&mdash;See here, Georgianna, did you tell Ph&mdash;er&mdash;Miss
+      Dawes what I told you to tell her when I went away?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I told her. I hated to, dreadful, but I done it. She was awful
+      set back at fust, but I guess she asked Mr. Tidditt&mdash;Where you goin',
+      Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk, his face red, was on his way to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Asked Ase?&rdquo; repeated the captain. &ldquo;Ase, come here! Did you tell her
+      anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph was very much embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;I didn't mean to, Cy, but she got to askin' me
+      questions, and somehow or nother I did tell her about our confab, yours
+      and mine. I told her that I knew folks was talkin', and I felt 'twas my
+      duty to tell you so. That's why I done it, and I told her you said&mdash;well,
+      you know what you said yourself, Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was evidently much disturbed. He put Bos'n down, and rose to
+      his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he asked sharply, &ldquo;what did she say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! she was white and still for a minute or two. Then she kind of stamped
+      her foot and went off and left me. But next time she met me she was nice
+      as pie. She's been pretty frosty to Angie and the rest of 'em, but she's
+      been always nice to Bailey and me. Why, when I asked her pardon, she said
+      not at all, she was very glad to know the truth; it helped her to
+      understand things. And you could see she meant it, too. She&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So she has been comin' here ever since. And the gossip has been goin' on,
+      I s'pose. Well, by the big dipper, it'll stop now! I'll see to that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy and the housekeeper were amazed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gossip!&rdquo; repeated Bailey. &ldquo;Well, I guess there ain't nothin' said against
+      her now&mdash;not in THIS town, there ain't! Why, all hands can't praise
+      her enough for her smartness in findin' out about that Thomas. If it wan't
+      for her, he'd be botherin' you yet, Cy. You know it. What are you talkin'
+      about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy passed his hand over his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said slowly, &ldquo;you run and help Georgianna in the kitchen a
+      spell. She's got her dinner to look out for, I guess likely. Georgianna,&rdquo;
+       to the housekeeper, who looked anything but eager, &ldquo;you better see to your
+      dinner right off, and take Emmie with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor reluctantly departed, leading Bos'n by the hand. The child was
+      loath to leave her uncle, but he told her he wouldn't give a cent for his
+      first dinner at home if she didn't help in preparing it. So she went out
+      happy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, then,&rdquo; demanded the captain, &ldquo;what's this about Phoebe and Thomas? I
+      want to know. Stop! Don't ask another question. Answer me first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the Board of Strategy, by turns and in concert, told of the drive to
+      Trumet and the call on Debby Beasley. Asaph would have narrated the story
+      of the upset sulky, but Bailey shut him up in short order.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind that foolishness,&rdquo; he snapped. &ldquo;You see, Cy, Debby had just
+      been out to Arizona visitin' old Beasley's niece. And she'd fell in with a
+      woman out there whose husband had run off and left her. And Debby, she
+      read the advertisement about him in the Arizona paper, and it said he had
+      the spring halt in his off hind leg, or somethin' similar. Now, Thomas, he
+      had that, too, and there was other things that reminded Phoebe of him. So
+      she don't say nothin' to nobody, but she writes to this woman askin' for
+      more partic'lars and a photograph of the missin' one. The partic'lars
+      come, but the photograph didn't; the wife didn't have none, I b'lieve. But
+      there was enough to send Phoebe hotfoot to Mr. Peabody. And Peabody he
+      writes to his lawyer friend in Butte, Montana. And the Butte man he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, the long and short of it is,&rdquo; cut in Tidditt, &ldquo;that it looked safe
+      and sartin that Thomas HAD married the Arizona woman while his real wife,
+      Bos'n's ma, was livin', and had run off and left her same as he did Mary.
+      And the funny part of it is&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The funny part of it is,&rdquo; declared Bangs, drowning his friend's voice by
+      raising his own, &ldquo;that somebody out there, some scalawag friend of this
+      Thomas, must have got wind of what was up, and sent word to him. 'Cause,
+      when they went to hunt for him in Boston, he'd gone, skipped, cut stick.
+      And they ain't seen him since. He was afraid of bein' took up for
+      bigamist, you see&mdash;for bein' a bigamy, I mean. Well, you know what
+      I'm tryin' to say. Anyhow, if it hadn't been for me and Phoebe&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;YOU and Phoebe!&rdquo; snorted Asaph. &ldquo;You had a whole lot to do with it,
+      didn't you? You and Aunt Debby 'll do to go together. I understand she's
+      cruisin' round makin' proclamations that SHE was responsible for the whole
+      thing. No, sir-ree! it's Phoebe Dawes that the credit belongs to, and this
+      town ain't done nothin' but praise her since it come out. You never see
+      such a quick come-about in your life&mdash;unless 'twas Heman's. But you
+      knew all this afore, Whit. Peabody must have told you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy had listened to his friends' story with a face expressive of
+      the most blank astonishment. As he learned of the trip to Trumet and its
+      results, his eyes and mouth opened, and he repeatedly rubbed his forehead
+      and muttered exclamations. Now, at the mention of his lawyer's name, he
+      seemed to awaken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold on!&rdquo; he interrupted, waving his hand. &ldquo;Hold on! By the big dipper!
+      this is&mdash;is&mdash;Where IS Peabody? I want to see him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here I am, captain,&rdquo; said the attorney. He had been out to the barn to
+      superintend the stabling of the span, but for the past five minutes had
+      been standing, unnoticed by his client, on the threshold of the dining
+      room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See here,&rdquo; demanded Captain Cy, &ldquo;see here, Peabody; is this yarn true? IS
+      it, now? this about&mdash;about Phoebe and all?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly it's true. I supposed you knew it. You didn't seem surprised
+      when I told you the case was settled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surprised? Why, no! I thought Heman had&mdash;Never mind that. Land of
+      love! SHE did it. She!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat weakly down. The lawyer looked anxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Tidditt,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;I think perhaps he had better be left alone
+      for the present. He's just up from a sick bed, and this has been a trying
+      forenoon. Come in again this afternoon. I shall try to persuade him to
+      take a nap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy, its curiosity unsatisfied, departed reluctantly.
+      When Mr. Peabody returned to the sitting room he found that naps were far,
+      indeed, from the captain's thoughts. The latter was pacing the
+      sitting-room floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is she?&rdquo; he demanded. &ldquo;She was standin' on the steps with Heman.
+      Have you seen her since?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend was troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I've seen her,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have been talking with her. She has
+      gone away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone AWAY! Where? What do you mean? She ain't&mdash;ain't left Bayport?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no. What in the world should she leave Bayport for? She has gone to
+      her boarding house, I guess; at all events, she was headed in that
+      direction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why didn't she shake hands with me? What made her go off and not say a
+      word? Oh, well, I guess likely I know the why!&rdquo; He sighed despondently. &ldquo;I
+      told her never to come here again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did? What in the world&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, for what I thought was good reasons; all on her account they was.
+      And yet she did come back, and kept comin', even after Ase blabbed the
+      whole thing. However, I s'pose that was just to help Georgianna. Oh, hum!
+      I AM an old fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer inspected him seriously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, captain,&rdquo; he said slowly, &ldquo;if it is any comfort for you to know
+      that your reason isn't the correct one for Miss Dawes's going away, I can
+      assure you on that point. I think she went because she was greatly
+      disappointed, and didn't wish to see you just now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Disappointed? What do you mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! I didn't mean to tell you yet, but I judge that I'd better. No one
+      knows it here but Miss Dawes and I, and probably no one but us three need
+      ever know it. You see, the fact is that the Arizona woman, Desire Higgins,
+      isn't Mrs. Thomas at all. He isn't her missing husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it's so. Really, it was too much of a coincidence to be possible,
+      and yet it certainly did seem that it would prove true. This Higgins woman
+      was, apparently, so anxious to find her missing man that she was ready to
+      recognize almost any description; and the slight lameness and the fact of
+      his having been in Montana helped along. If we could have gotten a
+      photograph sooner, the question would have been settled. Only last week,
+      while I was in Boston, I got word from the detective agency that a photo
+      had been received. I went to see it immediately. There was some
+      resemblance, but not enough. Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but&mdash;they say Thomas has skipped out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he has. That's the queer part of it. At the place where he boarded
+      we learned that he got a letter from Arizona&mdash;trust the average
+      landlady to look at postmarks&mdash;that he seemed greatly agitated all
+      that day, and left that night. No one has seen him since. Why he went is a
+      puzzle. Where, we don't care. So long as he keeps out of our way, that's
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not care, either. He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
+      probably explain the disappearance. And yet, oddly enough, this
+      explanation was not the true one. The Honorable Heman solemnly assured the
+      captain that he had not communicated with Emily's father. He intended to
+      do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon at the hotel, but the man had
+      fled. And the mystery is still unsolved. The supposition is that there
+      really was a wife somewhere in the West. Who or where she was no Bayporter
+      knows. Henry Thomas has never come back to explain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved,&rdquo; went on Peabody.
+      &ldquo;She was dreadfully disappointed. She could hardly speak when she left me.
+      I urged her to come in and see you, but she wouldn't. Evidently she had
+      set her heart on helping you and the child. It is too bad, because,
+      practically speaking, we owe everything to her. There is little doubt that
+      the inquiry set on foot by her scared the Thomas fellow into flight. And
+      she has worked night and day to aid us. She is a very clever woman,
+      Captain Whittaker, and a good one. You can't thank her enough. Here! what
+      are you about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room. The hat rack hung on the
+      wall by the side door. He snatched his cap from the peg, and was
+      struggling into his overcoat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; demanded the lawyer. &ldquo;You mustn't attempt to walk
+      now. You need rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest! I'll rest by and by. Just now I've got business to attend to. Let
+      go of that pea-jacket.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No buts about it. I'll see you later. So long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw open the door and hurried down the walk. The lawyer watched him
+      in amazement. Then a slow smile overspread his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain,&rdquo; he called. &ldquo;Captain Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy looked back over his shoulder. &ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Peabody's face was now intensely solemn, but there was a twinkle in
+      his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think she's at the boarding house,&rdquo; he said demurely. &ldquo;I'm pretty
+      certain you'll find her there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All the regulars at the perfect boarding house had, of course, attended
+      the reception at the Cy Whittaker place. None of them, with the exception
+      of the schoolmistress, had as yet returned. Dinner had been forgotten in
+      the excitement of the great day, and Keturah and Angeline and Mrs. Tripp
+      had stopped in at various dwellings along the main road, to compare notes
+      on the captain's appearance and the Atkins address. Asaph and Bailey and
+      Alpheus Smalley were at Simmons's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy knew better than to attempt his hurried trip by way of the
+      road. He had no desire to be held up and congratulated. He went across
+      lots, in the rear of barns and orchards, wading through drifts and
+      climbing fences as no sane convalescent should. But the captain at that
+      moment was suffering from the form of insanity known as the fixed idea.
+      She had done all this for him&mdash;for HIM. And his last message to her
+      had been an insult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He approached the Bangs property by the stable lane. No one locks doors in
+      our village, and those of the perfect boarding house were unfastened. He
+      entered by way of the side porch, just as he had done when Gabe Lumley's
+      depot wagon first deposited him in that yard. But now he entered on
+      tiptoe. The dining room was empty. He peeped into the sitting room. There,
+      by the center table, sat Phoebe Dawes, her elbow on the arm of her chair,
+      and her head resting on her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ahem! Phoebe!&rdquo; said Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She started, turned, and saw him standing there. Her eyes were wet, and
+      there was a handkerchief in her lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe,&rdquo; said the captain anxiously, &ldquo;have you been cryin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose on the instant. A great wave of red swept over her face. The
+      handkerchief fell to the floor, and she stooped and picked it up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crying?&rdquo; she repeated confusedly. &ldquo;Why, no, of course&mdash;of course
+      not! I&mdash;How do you do, Captain Whittaker? I'm&mdash;we're all very
+      glad to see you home again&mdash;and well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended her hand. Captain Cy reached forward to take it; then he
+      hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't think I'd ought to let you shake hands with me, Phoebe,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Not until I beg your pardon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Beg my pardon? Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He absently took the hand and held it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the word I sent to you when I went away. 'Twas an awful thing to say,
+      but I meant it for your sake, you know. Honest, I did.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed nervously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! that,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Well, I did think you were rather particular as to
+      your visitors. But Mr. Tidditt explained, and then&mdash;You needn't beg
+      my pardon. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I knew you meant to be kind
+      to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what I did. But you didn't obey orders. You kept comin'. Now, why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why? Did you suppose that <i>I</i> cared for the malicious gossip of&mdash;such
+      people? I came because you were in trouble, and I hoped to help you. And&mdash;and
+      I thought I had helped, until a few minutes ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her lip quivered. That quiver went to the captain's heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Helped?&rdquo; he faltered. &ldquo;Helped? Why, you've done so much that I can't ever
+      thank you. You've been the only real helper I've had in all this miserable
+      business. You've stood by me all through.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But it was all wrong. He isn't the man at all. Didn't Mr. Peabody tell
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, he told me. What difference does that make? Peabody be hanged!
+      He ain't in this. It's you and me&mdash;don't you see? What made you do
+      all this for me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at the floor and not at him as she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, because I wanted to help you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I've been alone in the
+      world ever since mother died, years ago. I've had few real friends. Your
+      friendship had come to mean a great deal to me. The splendid fight you
+      were making for that little girl proved what a man you were. And you
+      fought so bravely when almost everyone was against you, I couldn't help
+      wanting to do something for you. How could I? And now it has come to
+      nothing&mdash;my part of it. I'm so sorry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It ain't, neither. It's come to everything. Phoebe, I didn't mean to say
+      very much more than to beg your pardon when I headed for here. But I've
+      got to&mdash;I've simply got to. This can't go on. I can't have you keep
+      comin' to see me&mdash;and Bos'n. I can't keep meetin' you every day. I
+      CAN'T.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up, as if to speak, but something, possibly the expression in
+      his face, caused her to look quickly down again. She did not answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't do it,&rdquo; continued the captain desperately. &ldquo;'Tain't for what
+      folks might say. They wouldn't say much when I was around, I tell you. It
+      ain't that. It's because I can't bear to have you just a friend. Either
+      you must be more'n that, or&mdash;or I'll have to go somewheres else. I
+      realized that when I was in Washin'ton and cruisin' to California and
+      back. I've either got to take Bos'n and go away for good, or&mdash;or&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She would not help him. She would not speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see?&rdquo; he groaned. &ldquo;You see, Phoebe, what an old fool I am. I can't
+      ask you to marry me, me fifty-five, and rough from knockin' round the
+      world, and you, young and educated, and a lady. I ain't fool enough to ask
+      such a thing as that. And yet, I couldn't stay here and meet you every
+      day, and by and by see you marry somebody else. By the big dipper, I
+      couldn't do it! So that's why I can't shake hands with you to-day&mdash;nor
+      any more, except when I say good-by for keeps.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she looked up. The color was still bright in her face, and her eyes
+      were moist, but she was smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't shake hands with me?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Please, what have you been doing
+      for the last five minutes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy dropped her hand as if his own had been struck with paralysis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;I didn't know I did it; honest truth, I
+      didn't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe's smile was still there, faint, but very sweet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did you stop?&rdquo; she queried. &ldquo;I didn't ask you to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did I stop? Why, because I&mdash;I&mdash;I declare I'm ashamed&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She took his hand and clasped it with both her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not,&rdquo; she said bravely, her eyes brightening as the wonder and
+      incredulous joy grew in his. &ldquo;I'm very proud. And very, very happy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was to be a big supper at the Cy Whittaker place that night. It was
+      an impromptu affair, arranged on the spur of the moment by Captain Cy,
+      who, in spite of the lawyer's protests and anxiety concerning his health,
+      went serenely up and down the main road, inviting everybody he met or
+      could think of. The captain's face was as radiant as a spring sunrise. His
+      smile, as Asaph said, &ldquo;pretty nigh cut the upper half of his head off.&rdquo;
+       People who had other engagements, and would, under ordinary circumstances,
+      have refused the invitation, couldn't say no to his hearty, &ldquo;Can't come?
+      Course you'll come! Man alive! I WANT you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Invalid, is he?&rdquo; observed Josiah Dimick, after receiving and accepting
+      his own invitation. &ldquo;Well, I wish to thunder I could be took down with the
+      same kind of disease. I'd be willin' to linger along with it quite a spell
+      if it pumped me as full of joy as Whit seems to be. Don't give laughin'
+      gas to keep off pneumonia, do they? No? Well, I'd like to know the name of
+      his medicine, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Supper was to be ready at six. Georgianna, assisted by Keturah Bangs, Mrs.
+      Sylvanus Cahoon, and other volunteers, was gloriously busy in the kitchen.
+      The table in the dining room reached from one end of the big apartment to
+      the other. Guests would begin to arrive shortly. Wily Mr. Peabody,
+      guessing that Captain Cy might prefer to be alone, had taken the Board of
+      Strategy out riding behind the span.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the sitting room, around the baseburner stove, were three persons&mdash;Captain
+      Cy, Bos'n, and Phoebe. Miss Dawes had &ldquo;come early,&rdquo; at the captain's
+      urgent appeal. Now she was sitting in the rocker, at one side of the
+      stove, gazing dreamily at the ruddy light behind the isinglass panes. She
+      looked quietly, blissfully contented and happy. At her feet, on the
+      braided mat, sat Bos'n, playing with Lonesome, who purred lazily. The
+      little girl was happy, too, for was not her beloved Uncle Cyrus at home
+      again, with all danger of their separation ended forevermore?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As for Captain Cy himself, the radiant expression was still on his face,
+      brighter than ever. He looked across at Phoebe, who smiled back at him.
+      Then he glanced down at Bos'n. And all at once he realized that this was
+      the fulfillment of his dream. Here was his &ldquo;picture&rdquo;; the sitting room was
+      now as he had always loved to think of it&mdash;as it used to be. He was
+      in his father's chair, Phoebe in the one his mother used to occupy, and
+      between them&mdash;just where he had sat so often when a boy&mdash;the
+      child. The Cy Whittaker place had again, and at last, come into its own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew a long breath, and looked about the room; at the stove, the lamp,
+      the old, familiar furniture, at his grandfather's portrait over the
+      mantel. Then, in a flash of memory, his father's words came back to him,
+      and he said, laughing aloud from pure happiness:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n, run down cellar and get me a pitcher of cider, won't you?&mdash;there's
+      a good feller.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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+</pre>
+  </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/old/3281-h.htm.2021-01-27 b/old/3281-h.htm.2021-01-27
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+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE html
+   PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
+   "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" >
+
+<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
+  <head>
+    <title>
+      Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. Lincoln
+    </title>
+    <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve">
+
+    body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify}
+    P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; }
+    H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; }
+    hr  { width: 50%; text-align: center;}
+    .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; }
+    blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;}
+    .mynote    {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;}
+    .toc       { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;}
+    .toc2      { margin-left: 20%;}
+    div.fig    { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; }
+    div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; }
+    .figleft   {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;}
+    .figright  {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;}
+    .pagenum   {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal;
+               margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%;
+               text-align: right;}
+    pre        { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;}
+
+</style>
+  </head>
+  <body>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cy Whittaker's Place, by Joseph C. 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: Cy Whittaker's Place
+
+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #3281]
+Last Updated: March 4, 2019
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <br />
+    </p>
+    <h2>
+      By Joseph C. Lincoln
+    </h2>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <blockquote>
+      <p class="toc">
+        <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big>
+      </p>
+      <p>
+        <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <big><b>CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE</b></big>
+        </a><br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I </a> -- THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II </a> -- THE WANDERER'S RETURN<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III </a> -- “FIXIN' OVER”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0004">
+        CHAPTER IV </a> -- BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V </a> -- A FRONT-DOOR CALLER<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI </a> -- ICICLES AND DUST<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII </a> -- CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0008">
+        CHAPTER VIII </a> -- THE “COW LADY”<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX </a> -- POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X </a> -- A LETTER AND A VISITOR<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0011">
+        CHAPTER XI </a> -- A BARGAIN OFF<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII </a> -- “TOWN-MEETIN'”
+<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII </a> -- THE REPULSE<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV </a> -- A CLEW<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0015">
+        CHAPTER XV </a> -- DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI </a> -- A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED<br /><br />
+        <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII </a> -- THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII </a> -- CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN<br /><br /> <a
+        href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX </a> -- THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0020">
+        CHAPTER XX </a> -- DIVIDED HONORS<br /><br /> <a href="#link2HCH0021"> CHAPTER XXI </a> -- CAPTAIN CY'S “PICTURE”
+      </p>
+    </blockquote>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <hr />
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a> <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+    <h1>
+      CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+    </h1>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER I
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      It is queer, but Captain Cy himself doesn't remember whether the day was
+      Tuesday or Wednesday. Asaph Tidditt's records ought to settle it, for
+      there was a meeting of the board of selectmen that day, and Asaph has been
+      town clerk in Bayport since the summer before the Baptist meeting house
+      burned. But on the record the date, in Asaph's handwriting, stands
+      &ldquo;Tuesday, May 10, 189-&rdquo; and, as it happens, May 10 of that year fell on
+      Wednesday, not Tuesday at all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah Bangs, who keeps &ldquo;the perfect boarding house,&rdquo; says it was
+      Tuesday, because she remembers they had fried cod cheeks and cabbage that
+      day&mdash;as they have every Tuesday&mdash;and neither Mr. Tidditt nor
+      Bailey Bangs, Keturah's husband, was on hand when the dinner bell rang.
+      Keturah says she is certain it was Tuesday, because she remembers smelling
+      the boiled cabbage as she stood at the side door, looking up the road to
+      see if either Asaph or Bailey was coming. As for Bailey, he says he
+      remembers being late to dinner and his wife's &ldquo;startin' to heave a
+      broadsides into him&rdquo; because of it, but he doesn't remember what day it
+      was. This isn't surprising; Keturah's verbal cannonades are likely to make
+      one forgetful of trifles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At any rate, whether Tuesday or Wednesday, it is certain that it was
+      quarter past twelve, according to the clock presented to the Methodist
+      Society by the Honorable Heman Atkins, when Asaph Tidditt came down the
+      steps of the townhall, after the selectmen's meeting, and saw Bailey Bangs
+      waiting for him on the opposite side of the road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ase!&rdquo; hailed Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;You'll be late to dinner, if you don't
+      hurry. I was headin' for home, all sail sot, when I see you. What kept
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Town business, of course,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt, with the importance
+      pertaining to his official position. &ldquo;What kept YOU, for the land sakes?
+      Won't Ketury be in your wool?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey hasn't any &ldquo;wool&rdquo; worth mentioning now, and he had very little more
+      then, but he mopped his forehead, or the extension above it, taking off
+      his cap to do so.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late she will,&rdquo; he said, uneasily. &ldquo;Tell you the truth, Ase, I was
+      up to the store, and Cap'n Josiah Dimick and some more of 'em drifted in
+      and we got talkin' about the chances of the harbor appropriation, and one
+      thing or 'nother, and 'twas later'n I thought 'twas 'fore I knew it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The appropriation from the government, which was to deepen and widen our
+      harbor here at Bayport, was a very vital topic among us just then. Heman
+      Atkins, the congressman from our district, had promised to do his best for
+      the appropriation, and had for a time been very sanguine of securing it.
+      Recently, however, he had not been quite as hopeful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's Cap'n Josiah think about the chances?&rdquo; asked Asaph eagerly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'&rdquo; replied
+      Bailey. &ldquo;He says, of course, if Heman is able to get it he will, but if he
+      ain't able to, he&mdash;he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He won't, I s'pose. Well, <i>I</i> can think that myself, and I don't set
+      up to be no inspired know-it-all, like Joe Dimick. He ain't heard from
+      Heman lately, has he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he ain't. Neither's anybody else, so fur as I can find out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, they have. <i>I</i> have, for one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs stopped short in his double-quick march for home and dinner, and
+      looked his companion in the face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Do you mean to tell me you've had a letter from
+      Heman Atkins, from Washin'ton?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph nodded portentously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;A letter from the Honorable Heman G. Atkins, of
+      Washin'ton, D. C., come to me last night. I read it afore I turned in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did! And never said nothin' about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why should I say anything about it? 'Twas addressed to me as town clerk,
+      and was concernin' a matter to be took up with the board of s'lectmen. I
+      ain't in the habit of hollerin' town affairs through a speakin' trumpet.
+      Folks that vote for me town-meetin' day know that, I guess. Angie Phinney
+      says to me only yesterday, 'Mr. Tidditt,' says she, 'there's one thing
+      I'll say for you&mdash;you don't talk.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney boarded with the Bangses, and Bailey was acquainted with her
+      personal peculiarities; for that matter so were most of Bayport's
+      permanent residents.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he snorted indignantly. &ldquo;She thought 'twas a good thing not to
+      talk, hey? SHE did? Well, by mighty! you never get no CHANCE to talk when
+      she's around. Angie Phinney! Why, when that poll parrot of hers died,
+      Alph'us Smalley declared up and down that what killed it was jealousy and
+      disapp'inted ambition; he said it broke its heart tryin' to keep up with
+      Angie. Her ma was the same breed of cats. I remember&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The talking proclivities of females is the one topic upon which Keturah's
+      husband is touchiest. Asaph knew this, but he delighted to stir up his
+      chum occasionally. He chuckled as he interrupted the flow of reminiscence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Bailey!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I know as much about Angie's tribe
+      as you do, I cal'late. Ain't we a little mite off the course? Seems to me
+      we was talkin' about Heman's letter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that so? I judged from what you said we wa'n't goin' to talk about it.
+      Aw, don't be so mean, Ase! Showin' off your importance like a young one!
+      What did Heman say about the appropriation? Is he goin' to get it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt paused before replying. Then, bending over, he whispered in
+      his chum's ear:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never said one word about the appropriation, Bailey; not one word. He
+      wanted to know if we'd got this year's taxes on the Whittaker place. And,
+      if we hadn't, what was we goin' to do about it? Bailey, between you and me
+      and the mizzenmast, Heman Atkins wants to get ahold of that place the
+      worst way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He does? He DOES? For the land sakes, ain't he got property enough
+      already? Ain't a&mdash;a palace like that enough for one man, without
+      wantin' to buy a rattletrap like THAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The first &ldquo;that&rdquo; was emphasized by a brandished but reverent left hand;
+      the second by a derisively pointing right. The two friends had reached the
+      crest of the long slope leading up from the townhall. On one side of the
+      road stretched the imposing frontage of the &ldquo;Atkins estate,&rdquo; with its iron
+      fence and stone posts; on the other slouched the weed-grown, tumble-down
+      desolation of the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo; The contrast was that of opulent
+      prosperity and poverty-stricken neglect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If our village boasted one of those horseless juggernauts, such as are
+      used to carry sightseers in Boston from the old North Church to the Public
+      Library and other points of interest&mdash;that is, if there was a &ldquo;seeing
+      Bayport&rdquo; car, it is from this hill that its occupants would be given their
+      finest view of the village and its surroundings. As Captain Josiah Dimick
+      always says: &ldquo;Bayport is all north and south, like a codfish line. It puts
+      me in mind of Seth Higgins's oldest boy. He was so tall and thin that when
+      they bought a suit of clothes for him, they used to take reefs in the
+      sides of the jacket and use the cloth to piece onto the bottoms of the
+      trousers' legs.&rdquo; What Captain Joe means is that the houses in the village
+      are all built beside three roads running longitudinally. There is the
+      &ldquo;main road&rdquo; and the &ldquo;upper road&rdquo;&mdash;or &ldquo;Woodchuck Lane,&rdquo; just as you
+      prefer&mdash;and the &ldquo;lower road,&rdquo; otherwise known as &ldquo;Bassett's Holler.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;upper road&rdquo; is sometimes called the &ldquo;depot road,&rdquo; because the
+      railroad station is conveniently located thereon&mdash;convenient for the
+      railroad, that is&mdash;the station being a full mile from Simmons's
+      &ldquo;general store,&rdquo; which is considered the center of the town. The upper
+      road enters the main road at the corner by the store, and there also are
+      the Methodist meetinghouse and the schoolhouse. The townhall is in the
+      hollow farther on. Then comes the big hill&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whittaker's Hill&rdquo;&mdash;and from the top of this hill you can, on a clear
+      day, see for miles across the salt marshes and over the bay to the
+      eastward, and west as far as the church steeple in Orham. If there happens
+      to be a fog, with a strong easterly wind, you cannot see the marshes or
+      the bay, but you can smell them, wet and salty and sweet. It is a smell
+      that the born Bayporter never forgets, but carries with him in memory
+      wherever he goes; and that, in the palmy days of the merchant marine, was
+      likely, to be far, for every male baby in the village was born with web
+      feet, so people said, and was predestined to be a sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When Heman Atkins came back from the South Seas early in the '60's, &ldquo;rich
+      as dock mud,&rdquo; though still a young man, he promptly tore down his father's
+      old house, which stood on the crest of Whittaker's Hill, and built in its
+      place a big imposing residence. It was by far the finest house in Bayport,
+      and Heman made it finer as the years passed. There were imitation
+      brownstone pillars supporting its front porch, iron dogs and scroll work
+      iron benches bordering its front walk, and a pair of stone urns, in summer
+      filled with flowers, beside its big iron front gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman was our leading citizen, our representative in Washington, and the
+      town's philanthropist. He gave the Atkins memorial window and the Atkins
+      tower clock to the Methodist Church. The Atkins town pump, also his gift,
+      stood before the townhall. The Atkins portrait in the Bayport Ladies'
+      Library was much admired; and the size of the Atkins fortune was the
+      principal subject of conversation at sewing circle, at the table of &ldquo;the
+      perfect boarding house,&rdquo; around the stove in Simmons's store, or wherever
+      Bayporters were used to gather. We never exactly worshipped Heman Atkins,
+      perhaps, but we figuratively doffed our hats when his name was mentioned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place&rdquo; faced the Atkins estate from the opposite side of
+      the main road, but it was the general opinion that it ought to be ashamed
+      to face it. Almost everybody called it &ldquo;the Cy Whittaker place,&rdquo; although
+      some of the younger set spoke of it as the &ldquo;Sea Sight House.&rdquo; It was a
+      big, old-fashioned dwelling, gambrel-roofed and brown and dilapidated.
+      Originally it had enjoyed the dignified seclusion afforded by a white
+      picket fence with square gateposts, and the path to its seldom-used front
+      door had been guarded by rigid lines of box hedge. This, however, was
+      years ago, before the second Captain Cy Whittaker died, and before the
+      Howes family turned it into the &ldquo;Sea Sight House,&rdquo; a hotel for summer
+      boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Howeses &ldquo;improved&rdquo; the house and grounds. They tore down the picket
+      fence, uprooted the box hedges, hung a sign over the sacred front door,
+      and built a wide veranda under the parlor windows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They took boarders for five consecutive summers; then they gave up the
+      unprofitable undertaking, returned to Concord, New Hampshire, their native
+      city, and left the Cy Whittaker place to bear the ravages of Bayport
+      winters and Bayport small boys as best it might.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For years it stood empty. The weeds grew high about its foundations; the
+      sparrows built nests behind such of its shutters as had not been ripped
+      from their hinges by February no'theasters; its roof grew bald in spots as
+      the shingles loosened and were blown away; the swallows flew in and out of
+      its stone-broken windowpanes. Year by year it became more of a disgrace in
+      the eyes of Bayport's neat and thrifty inhabitants&mdash;for neat and
+      thrifty we are, if we do say it. The selectmen would have liked to tear it
+      down, but they could not, because it was private property, having been
+      purchased from the Howes heirs by the third Cy Whittaker, Captain Cy's
+      only son, who ran away to sea when he was sixteen years old, and was
+      disinherited and cast off by the proud old skipper in consequence. Each
+      March, Asaph Tidditt, in his official capacity as town clerk, had been
+      accustomed to receive an envelope with a South American postmark, and in
+      that envelope was a draft on a Boston banking house for the sum due as
+      taxes on the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo; The drafts were signed &ldquo;Cyrus M.
+      Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But this particular year&mdash;the year in which this chronicle begins&mdash;no
+      draft had been received. Asaph waited a few weeks and then wrote to the
+      address indicated by the postmark. His letter was unanswered. The taxes
+      were due in March and it was now May. Mr. Tidditt wrote again; then he
+      laid the case before the board of selectmen, and Captain Eben Salters,
+      chairman of that august body, also wrote. But even Captain Eben's
+      authoritative demand was ignored. Next to the harbor appropriation, the
+      question of what should be done about the &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place&rdquo; filled
+      Bayport's thoughts that spring. No one, however, had supposed that the
+      Honorable Heman might wish to buy it. Bailey Bangs's surprise was
+      excusable.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in the world,&rdquo; repeated Bailey, &ldquo;does Heman want of a shebang like
+      that? Ain't he got enough already?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Pears not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I judge it's this way, Bailey: Heman, he's a proud
+      man&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, ain't he got a right to be proud?&rdquo; broke in Mr. Bangs, hastening to
+      resent any criticism of the popular idol. &ldquo;Cal'late you and me'd be proud
+      if we was able to carry as much sail as he does, wouldn't we?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess like we would. But you needn't get red in the face and
+      strain your biler just because I said that. I ain't finding fault with
+      Heman; I'm only tellin' you. He's proud, as I said, and his wife&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's dead this four year. What are you resurrectin' her for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land! you're peppery as a West Injy omelet this mornin'. Let me alone
+      till I've finished. His wife, when she was alive, she was proud, too. And
+      his daughter, Alicia, she's eight year old now, and by and by she'll be
+      grown up into a high-toned young woman. Well, Heman is fur-sighted, and I
+      s'pose likely he's thinkin' of the days when there'll be young rich
+      fellers&mdash;senators and&mdash;and&mdash;well, counts and lords, maybe&mdash;cruisin'
+      down here courtin' her. By that time the Whittaker place'll be a worse
+      disgrace than 'tis now. I presume he don't want those swells to sit on his
+      front piazza and see the crows buildin' nests in the ruins acrost the
+      road. So&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crows! Did you ever see a crow build a nest in a house? I never did!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, belay! Crows or canary birds, what difference does it make? SOMETHIN'
+      'll nest there, if it's only A'nt Sophrony Hallett's hens. So Heman he
+      writes to the board, askin' if the taxes is paid, if we've heard any
+      reason why they ain't paid, and what we're goin' to do about it. If
+      there's a sale for taxes he wants to be fust bidder. Then, when the place
+      is his, he can tear down or rebuild, just as he sees fit. See?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I see. Well, I feel about that the way Joe Dimick felt when he heard
+      the doctor had told Elviry Pepper she must stop singin' in the choir or
+      lose her voice altogether. 'Whichever happens 'll be an improvement,' says
+      Cap'n Joe; and whatever Heman does 'll help the Whittaker place. What did
+      you decide at the meetin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'. We can't decide yet. We ain't sure about the law and we want to
+      wait a spell, anyhow. But I know how 'twill end: Atkins 'll get the place.
+      He always gets what he wants, Heman does.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey turned and looked back at the old house, forlorn amidst its huddle
+      of blackberry briers and weeds, and with the ubiquitous &ldquo;silver-leaf&rdquo;
+       saplings springing up in clusters everywhere about it and closing in on
+      its defenseless walls like squads of victorious soldiery making the final
+      charge upon a conquered fort.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; sighed Mr. Bangs, &ldquo;so that 'll be the end of the old Whittaker
+      place, hey? Sho! things change in a feller's lifetime, don't they? You and
+      me can remember, Ase, when Cap'n Cy Whittaker was one of the biggest men
+      we had in this town. So was his dad afore him, the Cap'n Cy that built the
+      house. I wonder the looks of things here now don't bring them two up out
+      of their graves. Do you remember young Cy&mdash;'Whit' we used to call him&mdash;or
+      'Reddy Whit,' 'count of his red hair? I don't know's you do, though; guess
+      you'd gone to sea when he run away from home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I was to home that year. Remember 'Whit'? Well, I
+      should say I did. He was a holy terror&mdash;yes, sir! Wan't no monkey
+      shines or didos cut up in this town that young Cy wan't into. Fur's that
+      goes, you and me was in 'em, too, Bailey. We was all holy terrors then.
+      Young ones nowadays ain't got the spunk we used to have.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend chuckled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;That's so. Whit was a good-hearted boy, too,
+      but full of the Old Scratch and as sot in his ways as his dad, and if
+      Cap'n Cy wan't sot, then there ain't no sotness. 'You'll go to college and
+      be a parson,' says the Cap'n. 'I'll go to sea and be a sailor, same as you
+      done,' says Whit. And he did, too; run away one night, took the packet to
+      Boston, and shipped aboard an Australian clipper. Cap'n Cy didn't go after
+      him to fetch him home. No, sir&mdash;ee! not a fetch. Sent him a letter
+      plumb to Melbourne and, says he: 'You've made your bed; now lay in it.
+      Don't you never dast to come back to me or your ma,' he says. And Whit
+      didn't, he wan't that kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pretty nigh killed the old lady&mdash;Whit's ma&mdash;that did,&rdquo; mused
+      Asaph. &ldquo;She died a little spell afterwards. And the old man pined away,
+      too, but he never give in or asked the boy to come back. Stubborn as all
+      get-out to the end, he was, and willed the place, all he had left, to them
+      Howes folks. And a nice mess THEY made of it. Young Cy, he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Young Cy!&rdquo; interrupted Bailey. &ldquo;We're always callin' him 'young Cy,' and
+      yet, when you come to think of it, he must be pretty nigh fifty-five now;
+      'most as old as you and I be. Wonder if he'll ever come back here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet he won't!&rdquo; was the oracular reply. &ldquo;You bet he won't! From what I
+      hear he got to be a sea cap'n himself and settled down there in Buenos
+      Ayres. He's made all kinds of money, they say, out of hides and such. What
+      he ever bought his dad's old place for, <i>I</i> can't see. He'll never
+      come back to these common, one-horse latitudes, now you mark my word on
+      that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a prophecy Mr. Tidditt was accustomed to make each year to the
+      crowd at the post office, when the receipt for the draft for taxes caused
+      him to wax reminiscent. The younger generation here in Bayport regard
+      their town clerk as something of an oracle, and this regard has made Asaph
+      a trifle vain and positive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey chuckled again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We WAS a spunky, dare-devil lot in the old days, wan't we, Ase?&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Spunk was kind of born in us, as you might say. And even now we're&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Atkins tower clock boomed once&mdash;a solemn, dignified stroke. Mr.
+      Tidditt and his companion started and looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; gasped Asaph. &ldquo;Is that half past twelve?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs pulled a big worn silver watch from his pocket and glanced at
+      the dial.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It is!&rdquo; he moaned. &ldquo;As sure's you're born, it is! We've kept Ketury's
+      dinner waitin' twenty minutes. You and me are in for it now, Ase Tidditt!
+      Twenty minutes late! She'll skin us alive.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt did not pause to answer, but plunged headlong down the hill at
+      a race-horse gait, Bailey pounding at his heels. For &ldquo;born dare-devils,&rdquo;
+       self-confessed, they were a nervous and apprehensive pair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;perfect boarding house&rdquo; is situated a quarter of a mile beyond
+      &ldquo;Whittaker's Hill,&rdquo; nearly opposite the Salters homestead. The sign, hung
+      on the pole by the front gate, reads, &ldquo;Bayport Hotel. Bailey Bangs,
+      Proprietor,&rdquo; but no one except the stranger in Bayport accepts that sign
+      seriously. When, owing to an unexpected change in the administration at
+      Washington, Mr. Bangs was obliged to relinquish his position as our
+      village postmaster, his wife came to the rescue with the proposal that
+      they open a boarding house. &ldquo;'Whatsoe'er you find to do,' quoted Keturah
+      at sewing-circle meeting, 'do it then with all your might!' That's a good
+      Sabbath-school hymn tune and it's good sense besides. I intend to make it
+      my life work to run just as complete a&mdash;a eatin' and lodgin'
+      establishment as I can. If, when I'm laid to rest, they can put onto my
+      gravestone, 'She run the perfect boardin' house,' I'LL be satisfied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark, and subsequent similar declarations, were widely quoted, and,
+      therefore, though casual visitors may refer to the &ldquo;Bayport Hotel,&rdquo; to us
+      natives the Bangs residence is always &ldquo;Keturah's perfect boarding house.&rdquo;
+       As for the sign's affirmation of Mr. Bangs proprietorship, that is
+      considered the cream of the joke. The idea of meek, bald-headed little
+      Bailey posing as proprietor of anything while his wife is on deck, tickles
+      Bayport's sense of humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The perspiring delinquents panted into the yard of the perfect boarding
+      house and tremblingly opened the door leading to the dining room. Dinner
+      was well under way, and Mrs. Bangs, enthroned at the end of the long
+      table, behind the silver-plated teapot, was waiting to receive them. The
+      silence was appalling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sorry to be a little behindhand, Ketury,&rdquo; stammered Asaph hurriedly.
+      &ldquo;Town affairs are important, of course, and can't be neglected. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes; that's so, Ketury,&rdquo; cut in Mr. Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, I see.&rdquo; Keturah's tone was several degrees below freezing.
+      &ldquo;Hum! I s'pose 'twas town affairs kept you, too, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well&mdash;er&mdash;not exactly, as you might say, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+       Bailey squeezed himself into the armchair at the end of the table opposite
+      his wife, the end which, with sarcasm not the less keen for being
+      unintentional, was called the &ldquo;head.&rdquo; &ldquo;Not exactly town affairs, 'twan't
+      that kept me, Ketury, but&mdash;My! don't them cod cheeks smell good? You
+      always could cook cod cheeks, if I do say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The compliment was wasted. Mrs. Bangs had a sermon to deliver, and its
+      text was not &ldquo;cod cheeks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bailey Bangs,&rdquo; she began, &ldquo;when I was brought to realize that my husband,
+      although apparently an able-bodied man, couldn't support me as I'd been
+      used to be supported, and when I was forced to support HIM by keepin'
+      boarders, I says, 'If there's one thing that my house shall stand for it's
+      punctual promptness at meal times. I say nothing,' I says, 'about the
+      inconvenience of gettin' on with only one hired help when we ought to have
+      three. If Providence, in its unscrutable wisdom,' I says, 'has seen fit to
+      lay this burden onto me, the burden of a household of boarders and a
+      husband whom&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And just then the power referred to by Mrs. Bangs intervened to spare her
+      husband the remainder of the preachment. From the driveway of the yard,
+      beside the dining-room windows, came the rattle of wheels and the tramp of
+      a horse's feet. Mrs. Matilda Tripp, who sat nearest the windows, on that
+      side, rose and peered out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's the depot wagon, Ketury,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There's somebody inside it. I
+      wonder if they're comin' here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Transients&rdquo; were almost unknown quantities at the Bayport Hotel in May.
+      Consequently, all the boarders and the landlady herself crowded to the
+      windows. The &ldquo;depot wagon&rdquo; had drawn up by the steps, and Gabe Lumley, the
+      driver, had descended from his seat and was doing his best to open the
+      door of the ancient vehicle. It stuck, of course; the doors of all depot
+      wagons stick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold on a shake!&rdquo; commanded some one inside the carriage. &ldquo;Wait till I
+      get a purchase on her. Now, then! All hands to the ropes! Heave&mdash;ho!
+      THERE she comes!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door flew back with a bang. A man sprang out upon the lower step of
+      the porch. The eye of every inmate of the perfect boarding house was on
+      him. Even the &ldquo;hired help&rdquo; peered from the kitchen door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's a stranger,&rdquo; whispered Mrs. Tripp. &ldquo;I never see him before, did you,
+      Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk did not answer. He was staring at the depot wagon's
+      passenger, staring with a face the interested expression of which was
+      changing to that of surprise and amazed incredulity. Mrs. Tripp turned to
+      Mr. Bangs; he also was staring, open-mouthed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; gasped Asaph, under his breath. &ldquo;Godfrey&mdash;SCISSORS!
+      Bailey, I&mdash;I believe&mdash;I swan to man, I believe&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt!&rdquo; exclaimed Mr. Bangs, &ldquo;am I goin' looney, or is that&mdash;is
+      that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Neither finished his sentence. There are times when language seems so
+      pitifully inadequate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER II
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Here in Bayport, nowadays, the collecting of &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; is a favorite
+      amusement of our summer visitors. Those of us who were fortunate enough to
+      possess a set of nicked blue dishes, a warming pan, or a tall clock with
+      wooden wheels, have long ago parted with these treasures for considerable
+      sums. Oddly enough Sylvanus Cahoon has profited most by this craze.
+      Sylvanus used to be judged the unluckiest man in town; of late this
+      judgment has been revised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Sylvanus who, confined to the house by an illness brought on by
+      eating too much &ldquo;sugar cake&rdquo; at a free sociable given by the Methodist
+      Society, arose in the night and drank copiously of what he supposed to be
+      the medicine left by the doctor. It happened to be water-bug poison, and
+      Sylvanus was nearly killed by the dose. He is reported as having admitted
+      that he &ldquo;didn't mind dyin' so much, but hated to die such a dum mean
+      death.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      While convalescent he took to smoking in bed and was burned out of house
+      and home in consequence. Then it was that his kind-hearted fellow citizens
+      donated, for the furnishing of his new residence, all the cast-off bits of
+      furniture and odds and ends from their garrets. &ldquo;Charity,&rdquo; observed
+      Captain Josiah Dimick at the time, &ldquo;begins at home with us Bayporters, and
+      it generally begins up attic, that bein' nighest to heaven.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later Sylvanus sold most of the donations as &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; and made money
+      enough therefrom to buy a new plush parlor set. Miss Angeline Phinney
+      never called on the Cahoons after that without making her appearance at
+      the front door. &ldquo;I'll get some good out of that plush sofy I helped to pay
+      for,&rdquo; declared Angeline, &ldquo;if it's only to wear it out by settin' on it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There are two &ldquo;antiques&rdquo; in Bayport which have not yet been sold or even
+      bid for. One is Gabe Lumley's &ldquo;depot wagon,&rdquo; and the other is &ldquo;Dan'l
+      Webster,&rdquo; the horse which draws it. Both are very ancient, sadly in need
+      of upholstery, and jerky of locomotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe was, as usual, waiting at the station when the down train arrived, on
+      the Tuesday&mdash;or Wednesday&mdash;of the selectmen's meeting. The train
+      was due, according to the time-table, at eleven forty-five. This
+      time-table, and the signboard of the &ldquo;Bayport Hotel&rdquo; are the only bits of
+      humorous literature peculiar to our village, unless we add the political
+      editorials of the Bayport Breeze.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, at eleven forty-five, Mr. Lumley was serenely dozing on the baggage
+      truck, which he had wheeled to the sunny side of the platform. At five
+      minutes past twelve, he yawned, stretched, and looked at his watch. Then,
+      rolling off the truck, he strolled to the edge of the platform and spoke
+      authoritatively to &ldquo;Dan'l Webster.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi there! stand still!&rdquo; commanded Mr. Lumley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Standing still being Dan'l's long suit, the order was obeyed. Gabe then
+      loafed to the door of the station and accosted the depot master, who was
+      nodding in his chair beside the telegraph instrument.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is she now, Ed?&rdquo; asked Mr. Lumley, referring to the train.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just left South Harniss. Be here pretty soon. What's your hurry?
+      Expectin' anybody?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naw; nobody that I know of, special. Sophrony Hallett's gone to Ostable,
+      but she won't be back till to-morrow I cal'late. Hello! there she whistles
+      now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Needless to say it was the train, not the widow Hallett, that had
+      whistled. The depot master rose from his chair. A yellow dog, his
+      property, scrambled from beneath it, and rushing out of the door and to
+      the farther end of the platform, barked furiously. Cephas Baker, who lives
+      across the road from the depot, slouched down to his front gate. His wife
+      opened the door of her kitchen and stood there, her wet arms wrapped in
+      her apron. The five Baker children tore round the corner of the house,
+      over the back fence, and lined up, whooping joyously, on the platform. A
+      cloud of white smoke billowed above the clump of cedars at the bend of the
+      track. Then the locomotive rounded the curve and bore down upon the
+      station.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand still, I tell you!&rdquo; shouted Gabe, addressing the horse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Dan'l Webster opened one eye, closed it and relapsed into slumber.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The train, a combination baggage car and smoker, two freight cars and a
+      passenger coach, rolled ponderously alongside the platform. From the open
+      door of the baggage car were tossed the mail sack and two express
+      packages. The conductor stepped from the passenger coach. Following him
+      came briskly a short, thickset man with a reddish-gray beard and
+      grayish-red hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' down to the village, Mister?&rdquo; inquired Mr. Lumley. &ldquo;Carriage right
+      here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger inspected the driver of the depot wagon, inspected him
+      deliberately from top to toe. Then he said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Down to the village? Why, yes, I wouldn't wonder. Say! you're a Lumley,
+      ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why! why&mdash;yes, I be! How'd you know that? Ain't ever seen you afore,
+      have I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Guess not,&rdquo; with a quiet chuckle. &ldquo;I've never seen you, either, but I've
+      seen your nose. I'd know a Lumley nose if I run across it in China.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The possessor of the &ldquo;Lumley nose&rdquo; rubbed that organ in a bewildered
+      fashion. Recovering in a measure he laughed, rather half-heartedly, and
+      begged to know if the trunk, then being unloaded from the baggage car,
+      belonged to his prospective passenger. As the answer was an affirmative
+      nod, he secured the trunk check and departed, still rubbing his nose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When he returned, with the trunk on the truck, he found the stranger, with
+      his hands in his pockets, standing before Dan'l Webster and gazing at that
+      animal with an expression of acute interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this your&mdash;horse?&rdquo; demanded the newcomer, pausing before the
+      final word of his question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's so cal'lated to be,&rdquo; replied Gabe, with dignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Does he work nights?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Work nights? No, course he don't!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, all right! Then you can wake him up with a clear conscience. I didn't
+      know but he needed the sleep. What's his record?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Record?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup; his trottin' record. Anybody can see he's built for speed, narrow in
+      the beam and sharp fore and aft. Shall I get aboard the barouche?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned broadly.
+      Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might get aboard if he
+      wanted to. Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang into the depot wagon
+      with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock on its springs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jerushy!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;she rolls some, don't she? Never mind, MY
+      ballast 'll keep her on an even keel. Trunk made fast astern? All right!
+      Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's I can take an
+      observation as we go along. Don't go so fast that the scenery gets
+      blurred, will you? It's been some time since I made this cruise, and I'd
+      rather like to keep a lookout.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The driver &ldquo;furled the canvas&rdquo;&mdash;that is, he rolled up the curtains at
+      the sides of the carryall. Then he climbed to the front seat and took up
+      the reins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git up!&rdquo; he shouted savagely. Dan'l Webster did not move.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger offered a suggestion. &ldquo;Why don't you try hangin' an alarm
+      clock in his fore-riggin'?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Haw! haw!&rdquo; roared the depot master.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git up, you&mdash;you lump!&rdquo; bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley. Dan'l
+      pricked up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way. As the equipage
+      passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered about the gate,
+      staring at the occupant of the wagon. The stare was returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who lives in there?&rdquo; demanded the stranger. &ldquo;Who are those folks?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ceph Baker's tribe,&rdquo; was the sullen answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baker, hey? Humph! new folks, I presume likely. Used to be Seth Snow's
+      house, that did. Where'd Seth go to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe grunted that he did not know. He believed Mr. Snow was dead, had died
+      years before.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! dead, hey? Then I know where he went. Do you ever smoke&mdash;or
+      does drivin' this horse make you too nervous?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar. He admitted
+      that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed &ldquo;'twouldn't interfere with
+      the drivin' none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good enough! then we'll light up. I can talk better if I'm under a head
+      of steam. There's a new house; who built that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;new&rdquo; house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of its
+      builder. Then, thinking that the catechising had been altogether too
+      one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is a pretty good cigar, Mister,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Smokes like a Snowflake.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like a what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like a Snowflake. That's about the best straight five center you can get
+      around here. Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's cart ain't called
+      lately and he's all out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's a shame. I told the train boy that these smoked like somethin',
+      but I didn't know what to call it. Much obliged to you. Here's another;
+      put it in your pocket. Oh, no thanks; pleasure's all mine. Who's Simmons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor. Then he
+      added:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered over with
+      labels, ain't it? Cal'late that trunk's done some travelin', hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think so, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Gee! I'd like to travel myself. But no! I got to stay all my life in
+      this dead 'n' alive hole. I wanted to go to Boston and clerk in a store,
+      but the old man put his foot down, and here I've stuck ever sence. Git up,
+      Dan'l! What's the matter with you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't find fault, son,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There's worse places in the world than
+      old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad. Don't forget that
+      or you may be sorry for it some day.&rdquo; He sniffed eagerly. &ldquo;Ah!&rdquo; he
+      exclaimed, &ldquo;just smell that, will you? Ain't that FINE?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! that's the flats. You can smell 'em any time when the tide's out
+      and the wind's right. You see, the tide goes out pretty fur here and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't I know it? Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that smell
+      and here 'tis at last. Drive slow and let me fill up on it. Just blow that&mdash;that
+      Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell, won't you? Thanks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley paid no
+      attention to it. He puffed industriously at the Snowflake and watched his
+      companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was gazing out at the town
+      and the bay beyond it. The &ldquo;depot hill&rdquo; is not as high as Whittaker's
+      Hill, but the view is almost as extensive.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me, Mister,&rdquo; observed Gabe, after an interval, &ldquo;but you ain't said
+      where you're goin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger came out of his day dream with a start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, that's right!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;So I haven't! Well, now, where would
+      you go, if you was me? Is there a hotel or tavern or somethin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. There's the Bayport Hotel. 'Tain't exactly a hotel, neither. We call
+      it the perfect boardin' house 'round here. You see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He proceeded to tell the story of &ldquo;the perfect boarding house.&rdquo; His
+      listener seemed greatly interested, and although he laughed, did not
+      interrupt until the tale was ended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he said, chuckling. &ldquo;Bailey Bangs, hey? Stub Bangs! Well, well! And
+      he married Ketury Payson! How in time did he ever find spunk enough to
+      propose? And Ketury runs the perfect boardin' house! Well, that ought to
+      be job enough for one woman. She runs Bailey, too, on the side, I s'pose?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet you! He don't dast to say 'boo' to a chicken when she's 'round. I
+      say, Mister! I don't know's I know your name, do I? I judge you've been
+      here afore so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I've been here before. Whose is that big place up there across our
+      bows? The one with the cupola on the main truck?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That, sir,&rdquo; said Mr. Lumley, oratorically, &ldquo;belongs to the Honorable
+      Heman G. Atkins, and it's probably the finest in this county. Heman is our
+      representative in Washin'ton, and&mdash;Did you say anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The passenger had said something, but he did not repeat it. He was leaning
+      from the carriage and gazing steadily up the slope ahead. And his gaze,
+      strange to say, was not directed at the imposing Atkins estate, but at its
+      opposite neighbor, the old &ldquo;Cy Whittaker place.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Slowly, laboriously, Dan'l Webster mounted the hill. At the crest he would
+      have paused to take breath, but the driver would not let him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Git along, you!&rdquo; he commanded, flapping the reins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And then Mr. Lumley suffered the shock of a surprise. The hitherto cool
+      and self-possessed occupant of the rear seat seemed very much excited. His
+      big red hand clasped Mr. Lumley's over the reins, and Dan'l was brought to
+      an abrupt standstill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heave to!&rdquo; he ordered, sharply, and the tone was that of one who has
+      given many orders and expects them to be obeyed. &ldquo;Belay! Whoa, there!
+      Great land of love! look at that! LOOK at it! Who did that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The mate to the big red hand pointed to the front door of the Whittaker
+      place. Gabe was alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Done what? Done which?&rdquo; he gasped. &ldquo;What you talkin' about? There ain't
+      nobody lives in there. That house has been empty for&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's the front fence?&rdquo; demanded the excited passenger. &ldquo;What's become
+      of the hedge? And who put up that&mdash;that darned piazza?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The piazza had been where it now was almost since Mr. Lumley could
+      remember. He hastened to reply that he didn't know; he wasn't sure; he
+      presumed likely 'twas &ldquo;them New Hampshire Howeses,&rdquo; when they ran a summer
+      boarding house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The stranger drew a long breath. &ldquo;Well, of all the&mdash;&rdquo; he began. Then
+      he choked, hesitated, and ordered his driver to heave ahead and run
+      alongside the hotel as quick as the Almighty would let him. Gabe hastened
+      to obey. He was now absolutely certain that his companion was an escaped
+      lunatic, and the sooner another keeper was appointed the better. The
+      remainder of the trip was made in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Bangs opened the door of the perfect boarding house and stood
+      majestically waiting to receive the prospective guest. Over her shoulders
+      peered the faces of the boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good afternoon,&rdquo; began the landlady. &ldquo;I presume likely you would like to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was interrupted. The newcomer turned toward her and extended his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ketury!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain't seen you sence you wore your hair up,
+      but you're just as good-lookin' as ever. And ain't that Bailey? Yes, 'tis,
+      and Asaph, too! How are you, boys? Shake!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs and his chum, the town clerk, had emerged from the doorway.
+      Their mouths and eyes were wide open and they seemed to be suffering from
+      a sort of paralysis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well? What's the matter with you?&rdquo; demanded the arrival. &ldquo;Ain't too stuck
+      up to shake hands after all these years, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's mouth closed in order that it's possessor might swallow. Then it
+      slowly reopened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swan to man!&rdquo; he ejaculated. &ldquo;WELL! I swan to man! I&mdash;I b'lieve
+      you're Cy Whittaker!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I am. Have to dye my carrot top if I want to play anybody else.
+      But look here, boys, you answer my question: who had the cheek to rig up
+      that blasted piazza on my house? It starts to come down to-morrow
+      mornin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER III
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      &ldquo;FIXIN' OVER&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      Miss Angeline Phinney made no less than nine calls that afternoon. Before
+      bedtime it was known, from the last house in Woodchuck Lane to the fish
+      shanties at West Bayport, that &ldquo;young Cy&rdquo; Whittaker had come back; that he
+      had come back &ldquo;for good&rdquo;; that he was staying temporarily at the perfect
+      boarding house; that he was &ldquo;awful well off&rdquo;&mdash;having made lots of
+      money down in South America; that he intended to &ldquo;fix over&rdquo; the Whittaker
+      place, and that it was to be fixed over, not in a modern manner, with
+      plush parlor sets&mdash;a la Sylvanus Cahoon&mdash;nor with onyx tables
+      and blue and gold chairs like those adorning the Atkins mansion. It was to
+      be, as near as possible, a reproduction of what it had been in the time of
+      the late &ldquo;Cap'n Cy,&rdquo; young Cy's father.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I</i> think he's out of his head,&rdquo; declared Miss Phinney, in
+      confidence, to each of the nine females whom she favored with her calls.
+      &ldquo;Not crazy, you understand, but sort of touched in the upper story. I says
+      so to Matildy Tripp, said it right out, too: 'Matildy,' I says, 'he's got
+      a screw loose up aloft just as sure as you're a born woman!' 'What makes
+      you think so?' says she. 'Well,' says I, 'do you s'pose anybody that wan't
+      foolish would be for spendin' good money on an old house to make it
+      OLDER?' I says. Goin' to tear down the piazza the fust thing! Perfectly
+      good piazza that cost ninety-eight dollars and sixty cents to build; I
+      know, because I see the bill when the Howeses had it done. And he's goin'
+      to set out box hedges, somethin' that ain't been the style in this town
+      sence Congressman Atkins pulled up his. 'What in the world, Cap'n
+      Whittaker,' says I to him, 'do you want of box hedges? Homely and stiff
+      and funeral lookin'! I might have 'em around my grave in the buryin'
+      ground,' I says, 'but nowheres else.' 'All right, Angie,' says he, 'you
+      shall have 'em there; I'll cut some slips purpose for you. It'll be a
+      pleasure,' he says. Now ain't that crazy talk for a grown man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney was not the only one in our village to question Captain Cy
+      Whittaker's sanity during the next few months. The majority of our people
+      didn't understand him at all. He was generally liked, for although he had
+      money, he did not put on airs, but he had his own way of doing things, and
+      they were not Bayport ways.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      True to his promise, he had a squad of carpenters busy, on the day
+      following his arrival, tearing down the loathed piazza. These carpenters,
+      and more, were kept busy throughout that entire spring and well into the
+      summer. Then came painters and gardeners. The piazza disappeared; a new
+      picket fence, exactly like the old one torn down by the Howeses, was
+      erected; new shutters were hung; new windowpanes were set; the roof was
+      newly shingled. Captain Cy, Senior, had, in his day, cherished a New
+      England fondness for white and green paint; therefore the new fence was
+      white and the house was white and the blinds a brilliant green. Rows of
+      box hedge, the plants brought from Boston, were set out on each side of
+      the front walk. The Howes front-door bell&mdash;a clamorous gong&mdash;was
+      removed, and a glass knob attached to a spring bell of the old-fashioned
+      &ldquo;jingle&rdquo; variety took its place. An old-fashioned flower garden&mdash;Cap'n
+      Cy's mother had loved posies&mdash;was laid out on the west lawn beyond
+      the pear trees. All these changes the captain superintended; when they
+      were complete he turned his attention to interior decoration.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Captain Cy proceeded to, literally, astonish the natives. Among
+      the Howes &ldquo;improvements&rdquo; were gilt wall papers and modern furniture for
+      the lower floor of the house. The furniture they had taken with them; the
+      wall paper had perforce been left behind. And the captain had every scrap
+      of that paper stripped from the walls, and the latter re-covered with
+      quaint, ugly, old-fashioned patterns, stripes and roses and flowered
+      sprays with impossible birds flitting among them. The Bassett decorators
+      has pasted the gilt improvement over the old Whittaker paper, and it was
+      the Whittaker paper that the captain did his best to match, sending
+      samples here, there, and everywhere in the effort. Then, upon the walls he
+      hung old-fashioned pictures, such as Bayport dwellers had long ago
+      relegated to their attics, pictures like &ldquo;From Shore to Shore,&rdquo; &ldquo;Christian
+      Viewing the City Beautiful,&rdquo; and &ldquo;Signing the Declaration.&rdquo; To these he
+      added, bringing them from the crowded garret of the homestead, oil
+      paintings of ships commanded by his father and grandfather, and family
+      portraits, executed&mdash;which is a peculiarly fitting word&mdash;by
+      deceased local artists in oil and crayon.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He boarded up the fireplace in the sitting room and installed a
+      base-burner stove, resurrected from the tinsmith's barn. He purchased a
+      full &ldquo;haircloth set&rdquo; of parlor furniture from old Mrs. Penniman, who never
+      had been known to sell any of her hoarded belongings before, even to the
+      &ldquo;antiquers,&rdquo; and wouldn't have done so now, had it not been that the
+      captain's offer was too princely to be real, and the old lady feared she
+      might be dreaming and would wake up before she received the money. And
+      from Trumet to Ostable he journeyed, buying a chair here and a table
+      there, braided rag mats from this one, and corded bedsteads and &ldquo;rising
+      sun&rdquo; quilts from that. At least half of Bayport believed with Gabe Lumley
+      and Miss Phinney that, if Captain Cy had not escaped from a home for the
+      insane, he was a likely candidate for such an institution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At the table of the perfect boarding house the captain was not inclined to
+      be communicative regarding his reasons and his intentions. He was a prime
+      favorite there, praising Keturah's cooking, joking with Angeline
+      concerning what he was pleased to call her &ldquo;giddy&rdquo; manner of dressing and
+      wearing &ldquo;side curls,&rdquo; and telling yarns of South American dress and
+      behavior, which would probably have shocked Mrs. Tripp&mdash;she having
+      recently left the Methodist church to join the &ldquo;Come-Outers,&rdquo; because the
+      Sunday services of the former were, with the organ and a paid choir,
+      altogether &ldquo;too play-actin'&rdquo;&mdash;if they had not been so interesting,
+      and if Captain Cy had not always concluded them with the observation: &ldquo;But
+      there! you can't expect nothin' more from ignorant critters denied the
+      privileges of congregational singin' and experience meetin's; hey,
+      Matilda?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Tripp would sigh and admit that she supposed not.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Only I do wish Mr. Daniels, OUR minister, might have a chance to preach
+      over 'em, poor things!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So do I,&rdquo; with a covert wink at Mrs. Bangs, who was a stanch adherent of
+      the regular faith. &ldquo;South America 'd be just the place for him; ain't that
+      so, Keturah?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He evaded all personal questions put to him by the boarders, explaining
+      that he was renovating the old place just for fun&mdash;he always had had
+      a gang of men working for him, and it seemed natural somehow. But to the
+      friends of his boyhood, Asaph Tidditt and Bailey Bangs, he told the real
+      truth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I swan to man!&rdquo; exclaimed Bailey, almost tearfully, as the trio wandered
+      through the rooms of the Cy Whittaker place, dodging paper hangers and
+      plasterers; &ldquo;I swan to man, Whit, if it don't almost seem as though I was
+      a boy again. Why! it's your dad's house come back alive, it is so! Look at
+      this settin' room! Seem's if I could see him now a-settin' by that ere
+      stove, and Mrs. Whittaker, your ma, over there a-sewin', and old Cap'n Cy&mdash;your
+      granddad&mdash;snoozin' in that big armchair&mdash;Why! why, whit! it's
+      the very image of the chair he always set in!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's more n' that, Bailey,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;it's THE chair. 'Twas up attic, all
+      busted and crippled, but I had it made over like new. And there's
+      granddad's picture, lookin' just as I remember him&mdash;only he wan't
+      quite so much of a frozen wax image as he's painted there. I'm goin' to
+      hang it where it always hung, over the mantelpiece, next to the lookin'
+      glass.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great land of love, boys!&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;you fellers don't know what this
+      means to me. Many and many's the time I've had this old house and this old
+      room in my mind. I've seen 'em aboard ship in a howlin' gale off the Horn.
+      I've seen 'em down in Surinam of a hot night, when there wan't a breath
+      scurcely and the Caribs went around dressed in a handkerchief and a paper
+      cigar, and it made you wish you could. I've seen 'em&mdash;but there!
+      every time I've seen 'em I've swore that some day I'd come back and LIVE
+      'em, and now, by the big dipper! here I am. Oh, I tell you, chummies, you
+      want to be fired OUT of a home and out of a town to appreciate 'em! Not
+      that I blame the old man; he and I was too much alike to cruise in
+      company. But Bayport I was born in, and in the Bayport graveyard they can
+      plant me when I'm ready for the scrap heap. It's in the blood and&mdash;Why,
+      see here! Don't I TALK like a Bayporter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You sartin do!&rdquo; replied Asaph emphatically.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A body 'd think you'd been diggin' clams and pickin' cranberries in
+      Bassett's Holler all your life long, to hear you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet! Well, that's pride; that's what that is. I prided myself on
+      hangin' to the Bayport twang through thick and thin. Among all the Spanish
+      'Carambas' and 'Madre de Dioses' it did me good to come out with a good
+      old Yankee 'darn' once in a while. Kept me feelin' like a white man. Oh,
+      I'm a Whittaker! <i>I</i> know it. And I've got all the Whittaker
+      pig-headedness, I guess. And because the old man&mdash;bless his heart, I
+      say now&mdash;told me I shouldn't BE a Whittaker no more, nor live like a
+      Whittaker, I simply swore up and down I would be one and come back here,
+      when I'd made my pile, to heave anchor and stay one till I die. Maybe
+      that's foolishness, but it's me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He puffed vigorously at the pipe which had taken the place of the
+      Snowflake cigar, and added:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take this old settin' room&mdash;why, here it is; see! Here's dad in his
+      chair and ma in hers, and, if you go back far enough, granddad in his,
+      just as you say, Bailey. And here's me, a little shaver, squattin' on the
+      floor by the stove, lookin' at the pictures in a heap of Godey's Lady's
+      Book. And says dad, 'Bos'n,' he says&mdash;he used to call me 'Bos'n' in
+      those days&mdash;'Bos'n,' says dad, 'run down cellar and fetch me up a
+      pitcher of cider, that's a good feller.' Yes, yes; that's this room as
+      I've seen it in my mind ever since I tiptoed through it the night I run
+      away, with my duds in a bundle under my arm. Do you wonder I was fightin'
+      mad when I saw what that Howes tribe had done to it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Superintending the making over of the old home occupied most of Captain
+      Cy's daylight time that summer. His evenings were spent at Simmons's
+      store. We have no clubs in Bayport, strictly speaking, for the sewing
+      circle and the Shakespeare Reading Society are exclusively feminine in
+      membership; therefore Simmons's store is the gathering place of those
+      males who are bachelors or widowers or who are sufficiently free from
+      petticoat government to risk an occasional evening out. Asaph Tidditt was
+      a regular sojourner at the store. Bailey Bangs, happening in to purchase
+      fifty cents' worth of sugar or to have the molasses jug filled, lingered
+      occasionally, but not often. Captain Cy explained Bailey's absence in
+      characteristic fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Variety,&rdquo; observed the captain, &ldquo;is the spice of life. Bailey gets talk
+      enough to home. What's the use of his comin' up here to get more?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I don't know,&rdquo; said Josiah Dimick, with a grin, &ldquo;we let him do some
+      of the talkin' himself up here. Down at the boardin' house Keturah and
+      Angie Phinney do it all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Still, if a feller was condemned to live over a biler factory he
+      wouldn't hanker to get a job IN it, would he? When Bailey was a delegate
+      to the Methodist Conference up in Boston, him and a crowd visited the deef
+      and dumb asylum. When 'twas time to go, he was missin', and they found him
+      in the female ward lookin' at the inmates. Said that the sight of all them
+      women, every one of 'em not able to say a word, was the most wonderful
+      thing ever he laid eyes on. Said it made him feel kind of reverent and
+      holy, almost as if he was in Paradise. So Ase Tidditt says, anyway; it's
+      his yarn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tain't nuther, Cy Whittaker!&rdquo; declared the indignant Asaph. &ldquo;If you
+      expect I'm goin' to father all your lies, you're mistaken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The crowd at Simmons's discuss politics, as a general thing; state and
+      national politics in their seasons, but county politics and local affairs
+      always. The question in Bayport that summer, aside from that of the harbor
+      appropriation, was who should be hired as downstairs teacher. Our
+      schoolhouse is a two-story building, with a schoolroom on each floor. The
+      lower room, where the little tots begin with their &ldquo;C&mdash;A&mdash;T
+      Cat,&rdquo; and progress until they have mastered the Fourth Reader, is called
+      &ldquo;downstairs.&rdquo; &ldquo;Upstairs&rdquo; is, of course, the second story, where the older
+      children are taught. To handle some of the &ldquo;big boys&rdquo; upstairs is a task
+      for a healthy man, and such a one usually fills the teacher's position
+      there. Downstairs being, in theory, at least, less strenuous, is presided
+      over by a woman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Seabury, who had been downstairs teacher for one lively term, had
+      resigned that spring in tears and humiliation. Her scholars had enjoyed
+      themselves and would have liked her to continue, but the committee and the
+      townspeople thought otherwise. There was a general feeling that enjoyment
+      was not the whole aim of education.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Betty,&rdquo; said Captain Dimick, referring to his small granddaughter, &ldquo;has
+      done fust rate so fur's marksmanship and lung trainin' goes. I cal'late
+      she can hit a nail head ten foot off with a spitball three times out of
+      four, and she can whisper loud enough to be understood in Jericho. But,
+      not wishing to be unreasonable, still I should like to have her spell
+      'door' without an 'e.' I've always been used to seein' it spelled that way
+      and&mdash;well, I'm kind of old-fashioned, anyway.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a difference of opinion concerning Miss Seabury's successor. A
+      portion of the townspeople were for hiring a graduate of the State Normal
+      School, a young woman with modern training. Others, remembering that Miss
+      Seabury had graduated from that school, were for proved ability and less
+      up-to-date methods. These latter had selected a candidate in the person of
+      a Miss Phoebe Dawes, a resident of Wellmouth, and teacher of the Wellmouth
+      &ldquo;downstairs&rdquo; for some years. The arguments at Simmons's were hot ones.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the use of hirin' somebody from right next door to us, as you
+      might say?&rdquo; demanded Alpheus Smalley, clerk at the store. &ldquo;Don't we want
+      our teachin' to be abreast of the times, and is Wellmouth abreast of
+      ANYthing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's abreast of the bay, that's about all, I will give in,&rdquo; replied Mr.
+      Tidditt. &ldquo;But, the way I look at it, we need disCIPline more 'n anything
+      else, and Phoebe Dawes has had the best disCIPline in her school, that's
+      been known in these latitudes. Order? Why, say! Eben Salters told me that
+      when he visited her room over there 'twas so still that he didn't dast to
+      rub one shoe against t'other, it sounded up so. He had to set still and
+      bear his chilblains best he could. And POPULAR! Why, when she hinted that
+      she might leave in May, her scholars more 'n ha'f of 'em, bust out cryin'.
+      Now you hear me, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It seems to me,&rdquo; put in Thaddeus Simpson, who ran the barber shop and was
+      something of a politician, &ldquo;it seems to me, fellers, that we'd better wait
+      and hear what Mr. Atkins has to say in this matter. I guess that's what
+      the committee 'll do, anyhow. We wouldn't want to go contrary to Heman,
+      none of us; hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; Simpson was known to be deep in Congressman Atkins's confidence. The
+      mention of the great man's name was received with reverence and nods of
+      approval.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. We mustn't do nothin' to displease Heman,&rdquo; was the general
+      opinion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not join the chorus. He refilled his pipe and crossed his
+      legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;Heman Atkins seems to be&mdash;Give me a match, Ase,
+      won't you? Thanks. I understand there's a special prayer meetin' at the
+      church to-morrow night, Alpheus. What's it for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For?&rdquo; Mr. Smalley seemed surprised. &ldquo;It's to pray for rain, that's what.
+      You know it, Cap'n, as well's I do. Ain't everybody's garden dryin' up and
+      the ponds so low that we shan't be able to get water for the cranberry
+      ditches pretty soon? There's need to pray, I should think!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Seems a roundabout way of gettin' a thing, don't it? Why don't you
+      telegraph to Heman and ask him to fix it for you? Save time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark was received in horrified silence. Tad Simpson was the first
+      to recover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you ain't met Mr. Atkins yet. When you do, you'll feel
+      same as the rest of us. He's comin' home next week; then you'll see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A part at least of Mr. Simpson's prophecy proved true. The Honorable
+      Atkins did come to Bayport the following week, accompanied by his little
+      daughter Alicia, the housekeeper, and the Atkins servants. The Honorable
+      and his daughter had been, since the adjournment of Congress, on a
+      pleasure trip to the Yosemite and Yellowstone Park, and now they were to
+      remain in the mansion on the hill for some time. The big house was opened,
+      the stone urns burst into refulgent bloom, the iron dogs were refreshed
+      with a coat of black paint, and the big iron gate was swung wide. Bayport
+      sat up and took notice. Angeline Phinney was in her glory.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The meeting between Captain Cy and Mr. Atkins took place the morning after
+      the latter's return. The captain and his two chums had been inspecting the
+      progress made by the carpenters and were leaning over the new fence, then
+      just erected, but not yet painted. Down the gravel walk of the mansion
+      across the road came strolling its owner, silk-hatted, side-whiskered,
+      benignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph. &ldquo;There's Heman. See him, Whit?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup, I see him. Seems to be headin' this way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I do believe he's comin' across,&rdquo; whispered Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;Yes, he
+      is. He's real everyday, Cy. HE won't mind if you ain't dressed up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Won't he? That's comfortin'. Well, I'll do the best I can without
+      stimulants, as the doctor says. If you hear my knees rattle just nudge me,
+      will you, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt removed his hat. Bailey touched his. Captain Cy looked
+      provokingly indifferent; he even whistled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good mornin', Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; hailed the town clerk, raising his voice
+      because of the whistle. &ldquo;I'm proud to see you back among us, sir. Hope you
+      and Alicia had a nice time out West. How is she&mdash;pretty smart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins smiled a bland, congressional smile. He approached the group by
+      the fence and extended his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ah, Asaph!&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;it is you then? I thought so. And Bailey, too. It
+      is certainly delightful to see you both again. Yes, my daughter is well, I
+      thank you. She, like her father, is glad to be back in the old home nest
+      after the round of hotel life and gayety which we have&mdash;er&mdash;recently
+      undergone. Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; said Bailey, glancing nervously at Captain Cy, who had
+      stopped whistling and was regarding the Atkins hat and whiskers with an
+      interested air, &ldquo;I want to make you acquainted with your new neighbor. You
+      used to know him when you was a boy, but&mdash;but&mdash;er&mdash;Mr.
+      Atkins, this is Captain Cyrus Whittaker. Cy, this is Congressman Atkins.
+      You've heard us speak of him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The great man started.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it possible!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Is it possible that this is really my old
+      playmate Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; replied the captain calmly. &ldquo;How are you, Heman? Fatter'n you used
+      to be, ain't you? Washin'ton must agree with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey and Asaph were scandalized. Mr. Atkins himself seemed a trifle
+      taken aback. Comments on his personal appearance were not usual in
+      Bayport. But he rallied bravely.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Cyrus, I am delighted to welcome you back among
+      us. I should scarcely have known you. You are older&mdash;yes, much
+      older.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, forty year more or less, added to what you started with, is apt to
+      make a feller some older. Don't need any Normal School graduate to do that
+      sum for us. I'm within seven or eight year of bein' as old as you are,
+      Heman, and that's too antique to be sold for veal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins changed the subject.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I had heard of your return, Cyrus,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It gave me much pleasure to
+      learn that you were rebuilding and&mdash;er&mdash;renovating the&mdash;er&mdash;the
+      ancestral&mdash;er&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The old home nest? Yup, I'm puttin' back a few feathers. Old birds like
+      to roost comf'table. You've got a fairly roomy coop yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Isn't it&mdash;er&mdash;I should suppose you would find it rather
+      expensive. Can you&mdash;do you&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I can afford it, thank you. Maybe there'll be enough left in the
+      stockin' to buy a few knickknacks for the yard. You can't tell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain glanced at the iron dogs guarding the Atkins gate. His tone
+      was rather sharp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, certainly; certainly; of course. It gives me much pleasure to
+      have you as a neighbor. I have always felt a fondness for the old place,
+      even when you allowed it&mdash;even when it was most&mdash;er&mdash;run
+      down, if you'll excuse the term. I always felt a liking for it and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; was the significant interruption. &ldquo;I judged you must have, from
+      what I heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was steering dangerously close to the selectmen and the contemplated
+      &ldquo;sale for taxes.&rdquo; The town clerk broke in nervously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there's been consider'ble talk in town about who's
+      to be teacher downstairs this comin' year. We've sort of chawed it over
+      among us, but naturally we wanted your opinion. What do you think? I'm
+      kind of leanin' toward the Dawes woman, myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Congressman cleared his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Far be it from me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;to speak except as a mere member of our
+      little community, an ordinary member, but, AS such a member, with the
+      welfare of my birthplace very near and dear to me, I confess that I am
+      inclined to favor a modern teacher, one educated and trained in the
+      institution provided for the purpose by our great commonwealth. The Dawes&mdash;er&mdash;person
+      is undoubtedly worthy and capable in her way, but&mdash;well&mdash;er&mdash;we
+      know that Wellmouth is not Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The reference to &ldquo;our great commonwealth&rdquo; had been given in the voice and
+      the manner wont to thrill us at our Fourth-of-July celebrations and
+      October &ldquo;rallies.&rdquo; Two of his hearers, at least, were visibly impressed.
+      Asaph looked somewhat crestfallen, but he surrendered gracefully to
+      superior wisdom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That's so, ain't it, Cy? I hadn't thought of that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's so?&rdquo; asked the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;why, that Wellmouth ain't Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No doubt of it. They're twenty miles apart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Well, I'm glad to hear you put it so conclusive, Mr. Atkins. I can
+      see now that Phoebe wouldn't do. Hum! Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins buttoned the frock coat and turned to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good day, gentlemen,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Cyrus, permit me once more to welcome you
+      heartily to our village. We&mdash;my daughter and myself&mdash;will
+      probably remain at home until the fall. I trust you will be a frequent
+      caller. Run in on us at any time. Pray do not stand upon ceremony.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Captain Cy shortly, &ldquo;I won't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. That's right. Good morning.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He walked briskly down the hill. The trio gazed after him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; sighed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;That's settled. And it's a comfort to know
+      'tis settled. Still I did kind of want Phoebe Dawes; but of course Heman
+      knows best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course he knows best!&rdquo; snapped Bailey. &ldquo;Ain't he the biggest gun in this
+      county, pretty nigh? I'd like to know who is if he ain't. The committee
+      'll call the Normal School girl now, and a good thing, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was still gazing at the dignified form of the &ldquo;biggest gun in
+      the county.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let's see,&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Who's on the school committee? Eben Salters, of
+      course, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Eben's chairman and he'll vote Phoebe, anyhow; he's that pig-headed
+      that nobody&mdash;not even a United States Representative&mdash;could
+      change him. But Darius Ellis 'll be for Heman's way and so 'll Lemuel
+      Myrick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lemuel Myrick? Lem Myrick, the painter?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin. There ain't but one Myrick in town.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; murmured the captain and was silent for some minutes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The school committee met on the following Wednesday evening. On Thursday
+      morning a startling rumor spread throughout Bayport. Phoebe Dawes had been
+      called, by a vote of two to one, to teach the downstairs school. Asaph,
+      aghast, rushed out of Simmons's store and up to the hill to the Cy
+      Whittaker place. He found Captain Cy in the front yard. Mr. Myrick, school
+      committeeman and house painter, was with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Ase!&rdquo; hailed the captain. &ldquo;What's the matter? Hasn't the tide come
+      in this mornin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph, somewhat embarrassed by the presence of Mr. Myrick, hesitated over
+      his news. Lemuel came to his rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase has just heard that we called Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;What of it? I voted
+      for her, and I ain't ashamed of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but Mr. Atkins, he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Heman ain't on the committee, is he? I vote the way I think right,
+      and no one in this town can change me. Anyway,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;I'm going to
+      resign next spring. Yes, Cap'n Whittaker, I think three coats of white 'll
+      do on the sides here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Lem's goin' to do my paintin' jobs,&rdquo; explained Captain Cy. &ldquo;His price was
+      a little higher than some of the other fellers, but I like his work.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt pondered deeply until dinner time. Then he cornered the
+      captain behind the Bangs barn and spoke with conviction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you're the one responsible for the committee's hirin'
+      Phoebe Dawes. You offered Lem the paintin' job if he'd vote for her. What
+      did you do it for? You don't know her, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never set eyes on her in my life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then&mdash;then&mdash;You heard Heman say he wanted the other one. What
+      made you do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I've always been a great hand for tryin' experiments. Had
+      one of my cooks aboard put raisins in the flapjacks once, just to see what
+      they tasted like. I judged Heman had had his own way in this town for
+      thirty odd year. I kind of wanted to see what would happen if he didn't
+      have it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Lemuel Myrick's painting jobs have the quality so prized by our village
+      small boys in the species of candy called &ldquo;jaw breakers,&rdquo; namely, that of
+      &ldquo;lasting long.&rdquo; But even Lem must finish sometime or other and, late in
+      July, the Cy Whittaker place was ready for occupancy. The pictures were in
+      their places on the walls, the old-fashioned furniture filled the rooms,
+      there was even a pile of old magazines, back numbers of Godey's Lady's
+      Book, on the shelf in the sitting room closet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then, when Captain Cy had notified Mrs. Bangs that the perfect boarding
+      house would shelter him no longer than the coming week, a new problem
+      arose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; said Asaph earnestly, &ldquo;you've sartin made the place rise up out of
+      its tomb; you have so. It's a miracle, pretty nigh, and I cal'late it must
+      have cost a heap, but you've done it&mdash;all but the old folks
+      themselves. You can't raise them up, Cy; money won't do that. And you
+      can't live in this great house all alone. Who's goin' to cook for you, and
+      sweep and dust, and swab decks, and one thing a'nother? You'll have to
+      have a housekeeper, as I told you a spell ago. Have you done any thinkin'
+      about that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And the captain, taking his pipe from his lips, stared blankly at his
+      friend, and answered:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper, Ase, I ain't! I remember we did mention it, but I've
+      been so busy gettin' this craft off the ways that I forgot all about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The discussion which followed Mr. Tidditt's reminder was long and serious.
+      Asaph and Bailey Bangs racked their brains and offered numerous
+      suggestions, but the majority of these were not favorably received.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's Matildy Tripp,&rdquo; said Bailey. &ldquo;She'd like the job, I'm sartin.
+      She's a widow, too, and she's had experience keepin' house along of
+      Tobias, him that was her husband. But, if you do hire her, don't let
+      Ketury know I hinted at it, 'cause we're goin' to lose one boarder when
+      you quit, and that's too many, 'cordin' to the old lady's way of
+      thinkin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can keep Matildy, for all me,&rdquo; replied the captain decidedly.
+      &ldquo;Come-Outer religion's all right, for those that have that kind of
+      appetite, but havin' it passed to me three times a day, same as I've had
+      it at your house, is enough; I don't hanker to have it warmed over between
+      meals. If I shipped Matildy aboard here she and the Reverend Daniels would
+      stand over me, watch and watch, till I was converted or crazy, one or the
+      other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there's Angie. She&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Angie!&rdquo; sniffed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;Stop your jokin', Bailey. This is a serious
+      matter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wan't jokin'. What&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there! boys,&rdquo; interrupted the captain; &ldquo;don't fight. Bailey didn't
+      mean to joke, Ase; he's full of what the papers call 'unconscious humor.'
+      I'll give in that Angie is about as serious a matter as I can think of
+      without settin' down to rest. Humph! so fur we haven't gained any knots to
+      speak of. Any more candidates on your mind?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      More possibilities were mentioned, but none of them seemed to fill the
+      bill. The conference broke up without arriving at a decision. Mr. Bangs
+      and the town clerk walked down the hill together.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you know, Bailey,&rdquo; said Asaph, &ldquo;the way I look at it, this pickin' out
+      a housekeeper for Whit ain't any common job. It's somethin' to think over.
+      Cy's a restless critter; been cruisin' hither and yon all his life. I'm
+      sort of scared that he'll get tired of Bayport and quit if things here
+      don't go to suit him. Now if a real good nice woman&mdash;a nice LOOKIN'
+      woman, say&mdash;was to keep house for him it&mdash;it&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I mean&mdash;that is, don't you s'pose if some such woman as that
+      was to be found for the job he might in time come to like her and&mdash;and&mdash;er&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase Tidditt, what are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I mean he might come to marry her; there! Then he'd be contented to
+      settle down to home and stay put. What do you think of the idea?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think of it? I think it's the dumdest foolishness ever I heard. I declare
+      if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches don't make your
+      heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun! Ain't Cy Whittaker got money?
+      Ain't he got a nice home? Ain't he happy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he is now, I s'pose, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WELL, then! And you want him to get married! What do you know about
+      marryin'? Never tried it, have you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't! You know I ain't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. Then I'd keep quiet about such things, if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You needn't fly up like a settin' hen. Everybody's wife ain't&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped in the middle of the sentence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's that?&rdquo; demanded his companion, sharply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'; nothin'. <i>I</i> don't care; I was only tryin' to fix things
+      comf'table for Whit. Has Heman said anything about the harbor
+      appropriation sence he's been home? I haven't heard of it if he has.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs's answer was a grunt, signifying a negative. Congressman Atkins
+      had been, since his return to Bayport, exceedingly noncommittal concerning
+      the appropriation. To Tad Simpson and a very few chosen lieutenants and
+      intimates he had said that he hoped to get it; that was all. This was a
+      disquieting change of attitude, for, at the beginning of the term just
+      passed, he had affirmed that he was GOING to get it. However, as Mr.
+      Simpson reassuringly said: &ldquo;The job's in as good hands as can be, so
+      what's the use of OUR worryin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey Bangs certainly was not troubled on that score; but the town
+      clerk's proposal that Captain Cy be provided with a suitable wife did
+      worry him. Bailey was so very much married himself and had such decided,
+      though unspoken, views concerning matrimony that such a proposal seemed to
+      him lunacy, pure and simple. He had liked and admired his friend &ldquo;Whit&rdquo; in
+      the old days, when the latter led them into all sorts of boyish scrapes;
+      now he regarded him with a liking that was close to worship. The captain
+      was so jolly and outspoken; so brave and independent&mdash;witness his
+      crossing of the great Atkins in the matter of the downstairs teacher. That
+      was a reckless piece of folly which would, doubtless, be rewarded after
+      its kind, but Bailey, though he professed to condemn it, secretly wished
+      he had the pluck to dare such things. As it was, he didn't dare contradict
+      Keturah.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With the exception of one voyage as cabin boy to New Orleans, a voyage
+      which convinced him that he was not meant for a seaman, Mr. Bangs had
+      never been farther from his native village than Boston. Captain Cy had
+      been almost everywhere and seen almost everything. He could spin yarns
+      that beat the serial stories in the patent inside of the Bayport Breeze
+      all hollow. Bailey had figured that, when the &ldquo;fixin' over&rdquo; was ended, the
+      Cy Whittaker place would be for him a delightful haven of refuge, where he
+      could put his boots on the furniture, smoke until dizzy without being
+      pounced upon, be entertained and thrilled with tales of adventure afloat
+      and ashore, and even express his own opinion, when he had any, with the
+      voice and lung power of a free-born American citizen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And now Asaph Tidditt, who should know better, even though he was a
+      bachelor, wanted to bring a wife into this paradise; not a paid domestic
+      who could be silenced, or discharged, if she became a nuisance, but a
+      WIFE! Bailey guessed not; not if he could prevent it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So he lay awake nights thinking of possible housekeepers for Captain Cy,
+      and carefully rejecting all those possessing dangerous attractions of any
+      kind. Each morning, after breakfast, he ran over the list with the
+      captain, taking care that Asaph was not present. Captain Cy, who was very
+      busy with the finishing touches at the new old house, wearied on the third
+      morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Bailey!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Don't bother me now. I've got other
+      things on my mind. How do I know who all these women folks are you're
+      stringing off to me? Let me alone, do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you must have a housekeeper, Cy. You'll move in Monday and you won't
+      have nobody to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, dry up! I want to think who I must see this morning. There's Lem and
+      old lady Penniman, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But the housekeeper, Cy! Don't you see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hire one yourself, then. You know 'em; I don't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Hire one myself? Do you mean you'll leave it in my hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! I guess so. Run along, that's a good feller.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed hurriedly. Mr. Bangs scratched his head. A weighty
+      responsibility had been laid upon him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Monday morning after breakfast Captain Cy's trunk was put aboard the depot
+      wagon, and Dan'l Webster drew it to its owner's home. The farewells at the
+      perfect boarding house were affecting. Mrs. Tripp said that she had spoken
+      to the Reverend Mr. Daniels, and he would be sure to call the very first
+      thing. Keturah affirmed that the captain's stay had been a real pleasure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You never find fault, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You're such a manly
+      man, if you'll excuse my sayin' so. I only wish there was more like you,&rdquo;
+       with a significant glance at her husband. As for Miss Phinney, she might
+      have been saying good-by yet if the captain had not excused himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph accompanied his friend to the house on the hill. The trunk was
+      unloaded from the wagon and carried into the bedroom on the first floor,
+      the room which had been Captain Cy's so long ago. Gabe shrieked at Dan'l
+      Webster, and the depot wagon crawled away toward the upper road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Got to meet the up train,&rdquo; grumbled the driver. &ldquo;Not that anybody ever
+      comes on it, but I cal'late I'm s'posed to be there. Be more talk than a
+      little if I wan't. Git dap, Dan'l! you're slower'n the moral law.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So you're goin' to do your own cookin' for a spell, Cy?&rdquo; observed Asaph,
+      a half hour later, &ldquo;Well, I guess that's a good idea, till you can find
+      the right housekeeper. I ain't been able to think of one that would suit
+      you yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nor I, either. Neither's Bailey, I judge, though for a while he was as
+      full of suggestions as a pine grove is of woodticks. He started to say
+      somethin' about it to me last night, but Ketury hove in sight and yanked
+      him off to prayer meetin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. She cal'lates to get him into heaven somehow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess 'twouldn't BE heaven for her unless he was round to pick at.
+      There he comes now. How'd he get out of wipin' dishes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs strolled into the yard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;I was on my way to Simmons's on an errand and I
+      thought I'd stop in a minute. Got somethin' to tell you, Whit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. Overboard with it! It won't keep long this hot weather.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey smiled knowingly. &ldquo;Didn't I hear the up train whistle as I was
+      comin' along?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Seems to me I did. Yes; well, if I ain't
+      mistaken somebody's comin' on that train. Somebody for you, Cy Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Somebody for ME?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum! I can gen'rally be depended on, I cal'late, and when you
+      says to me: 'Bailey, you get me a housekeeper,' I didn't lose much time. I
+      got her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;GOT her?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Got who? Got what? Bailey Bangs, what in the
+      world have&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Belay, Ase!&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy. &ldquo;Bailey, what are you givin' us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Givin' you a housekeeper, and a good one, too, I shouldn't wonder. She
+      may not be one of them ten-thousand-dollar prize museum beauties,&rdquo; with a
+      scornful wink at Asaph, &ldquo;but if what I hear's true she can keep house.
+      Anyhow she's kept one for forty odd year. Her name's Deborah Beasley,
+      she's a widow over to East Trumet, and if I don't miss my guess, she's in
+      the depot wagon now headed in this direction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy whistled. Mr. Tidditt was too much surprised to do even that.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was speakin' to the feller that drives the candy cart,&rdquo; continued
+      Bailey, &ldquo;and I asked him if he'd run acrost anybody, durin' his trips
+      'round the country, who'd be likely to hire out for a housekeeper. He
+      thought a spell and then named over some. Among 'em was this Beasley one.
+      I asked some more questions and, the answers bein' satisfactory to ME,
+      though they might not be to some folks&mdash;&rdquo; another derisive wink at
+      Asaph&mdash;&ldquo;I set down and wrote her, tellin' what you'd pay, Cy, what
+      she'd have to do, and when she'd have to come. Saturday night I got a
+      letter, sayin' terms was all right, and she'd be on hand by this mornin's
+      train. Course she's only on trial for a month, but you had to have
+      SOMEBODY, and the candy-cart feller said&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk slapped his knee.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Debby Beasley!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;I know who she is! I've got a cousin in
+      Trumet. Debby Beasley! Aunt Debby, they call her. Why! she's old enough to
+      be Methusalem's grandmarm, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If I recollect right,&rdquo; interrupted Bailey, with dignity, &ldquo;Cy never said
+      he wanted a YOUNG woman&mdash;a frivolous, giddy critter, always riggin'
+      up and chasin' the fellers. He wanted a sot, sober housekeeper.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey! Aunt Debby ain't frivolous! She couldn't chase a lame clam&mdash;and
+      catch it. And DEEF! Godfrey&mdash;scissors! she's deefer 'n one of them
+      cast-iron Newfoundlands in Heman's yard! Do you mean to say, Bailey Bangs,
+      that you went ahead, on your own hook, and hired that old relic to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did. And I had my authority, didn't I, Whit? You told me you'd leave it
+      in my hands, now didn't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled somewhat ruefully, and scratched his head. &ldquo;Why, to be
+      honest, Bailey, I believe I did,&rdquo; he admitted. &ldquo;Still, I hardly expected&mdash;Humph!
+      is she deef, as Ase says?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I understand she's a little mite hard of hearin',&rdquo; replied Mr. Bangs,
+      with dignity; &ldquo;but that ain't any drawback, the way I look at it. Fact is,
+      I'd call it an advantage, but you folks seem to be hard to please. I
+      ruther imagined you'd thank me for gettin' her, but I s'pose that was too
+      much to expect. All right, pitch her out! Don't mind MY feelin's! Poor
+      homeless critter comin' to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Homeless!&rdquo; repeated Asaph. &ldquo;What's that got to do with it? Cy ain't
+      runnin' the Old Woman's Home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, well!&rdquo; observed the captain resignedly. &ldquo;There's no use in rowin'
+      about what can't be helped. Bailey says he shipped her for a month's
+      trial, and here comes the depot wagon now. That's her on the aft thwart, I
+      judge. She AIN'T what you'd call a spring pullet, is she!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She certainly was not. The occupant of the depot wagon's rear seat was a
+      thin, not to say scraggy, female, wearing a black, beflowered bonnet and a
+      black gown. A black knit shawl was draped about her shoulders and she wore
+      spectacles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whoa!&rdquo; commanded Mr. Lumley, piloting the depot wagon to the side door of
+      the Whittaker house. Dan'l Webster came to anchor immediately. Gabe turned
+      and addressed his passenger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here we be!&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; observed the lady in black.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here&mdash;we&mdash;be!&rdquo; repeated Gabe, raising his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See? See what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, heavens to Betsey! I'm gettin' the croup from howlin'. I&mdash;say&mdash;HERE&mdash;WE&mdash;BE!
+      GET OUT!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He accompanied the final bellow with an expressive pantomime indicating
+      that the passenger was expected to alight. She seemed to understand, for
+      she opened the door of the carriage and slowly descended. Mr. Bangs
+      advanced to meet her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Glad to see you all safe and
+      sound.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley shook his hand; hers were covered, as far as the knuckles, by
+      black mitts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, Cap'n Whittaker?&rdquo; she said, in a shrill voice. &ldquo;You pretty
+      smart?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey hastened to explain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;I'm Bailey Bangs, the one that
+      wrote to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley and Asaph chuckled. Bailey colored and tried again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't the cap'n,&rdquo; he whooped. &ldquo;Here he is&mdash;here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He led her over to her prospective employer and tapped the latter on the
+      chest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How d'ye do, sir?&rdquo; said the housekeeper. &ldquo;I don't know's I just caught
+      your name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In five minutes or so the situation was made reasonably clear. Mrs.
+      Beasley then demanded her trunk and carpet bag. The grinning Lumley bore
+      them into the house. Then he drove away, still grinning. Bailey looked
+      fearfully at Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She IS kind of hard of hearin', ain't she?&rdquo; he said reluctantly. &ldquo;You
+      remember I said she was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;you're a truth-tellin' chap, Bailey, I'll say that
+      for you. You don't exaggerate your statements.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hard of hearin'!&rdquo; snapped Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;If the last trump ain't a steam
+      whistle she'll miss Judgment Day. I'll stop into Simmons's on my way along
+      and buy you a bottle of throat balsam, Cy; you're goin' to need it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain needed more than throat balsam during the fortnight which
+      followed. The widow Beasley's deafness was not her only failing. In fact
+      she was altogether a failure, so far as her housekeeping was concerned.
+      She could cook, after a fashion, but the fashion was so limited that even
+      the bill of fare at the perfect boarding house looked tempting in
+      retrospect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Baked beans again, Cy!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph, dropping in one evening after
+      supper. &ldquo;'Tain't Saturday night so soon, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; was the dismal rejoinder. &ldquo;It's Tuesday, if my almanac ain't out of
+      joint. But we had beans Saturday and they ain't all gone yet, so I presume
+      we'll have 'em till the last one's swallowed. Aunt Debby's got what the
+      piece in the Reader used to call a 'frugal mind.' She don't intend to
+      waste anything. Last Thursday I spunked up courage enough to yell for salt
+      fish and potatoes&mdash;fixed up with pork scraps, you know, same's we
+      used to have when I was a boy. We had 'em all right, and if beans of a
+      Saturday hadn't been part of her religion we'd be warmin' 'em up yet. I
+      took in a cat for company 'tother day, but the critter's run away. To see
+      it look at the beans in its saucer and then at me was pitiful; I felt like
+      handin' myself over to the Cruelty to Animals' folks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is she neat?&rdquo; inquired Mr. Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. I guess so&mdash;on the installment plan. It takes her a
+      week to scrub up the kitchen, and then one end of it is so dirty she has
+      to begin again. Consequently the dust is so thick in the rest of the house
+      that I can see my tracks. If 'twan't so late in the season I'd plant
+      garden stuff in the parlor&mdash;nice soil and lots of shade, with the
+      curtains down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      From the rooms in the rear came the words of a gospel hymn sung in a
+      tremulous soprano and at concert pitch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Music with my meals, just like a high-toned restaurant,&rdquo; commented
+      Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what makes her sing so everlastin' LOUD?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't hear herself if she don't. I could stand her deefness, because
+      that's an affliction and we may all come to it; but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper, still singing, entered the room and planted herself in a
+      chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evenin', Mr. Tidditt,&rdquo; she said, smiling genially. &ldquo;Nice weather
+      we've been havin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sociable critter, ain't she!&rdquo; observed the captain. &ldquo;Always willin' to
+      help entertain. Comes and sets up with me till bedtime. Tells about her
+      family troubles. Preaches about her niece out West, and how set the niece
+      and the rest of the Western relations are to have her make 'em a visit. I
+      told her she better go&mdash;I thought 'twould do her good. I know 'twould
+      help ME consider'ble to see her start.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's got so now she finds fault with my neckties,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;says I
+      must be careful and not get my feet wet. Picks out what I ought to wear
+      so's I won't get cold. She'll adopt me pretty soon. Oh, it's all right!
+      She can't hear what you say. Are your dishes done?&rdquo; he shrieked, turning
+      to the old lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;One? One what?&rdquo; inquired Mrs. Beasley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They won't BE done till you go, Ase,&rdquo; continued the master of the house.
+      &ldquo;She'll stay with us till the last gun fires. T'other day Angie Phinney
+      called and I turned Debby loose on her. I didn't believe anything could
+      wear out Angie's talkin' machinery, but she did it. Angeline stayed twenty
+      minutes and then quit, hoarse as a crow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here the widow joined in the conversation, evidently under the impression
+      that nothing had been said since she last spoke. Continuing her favorable
+      comments on the weather she observed that she was glad there was so little
+      fog, because fog was hard for folks with &ldquo;neuralgy pains.&rdquo; Her brother's
+      wife's cousin had &ldquo;neuralgy&rdquo; for years, and she described his sufferings
+      with enthusiasm and infinite detail. Mr. Tidditt answered her questions
+      verbally at first; later by nods and shakes of the head. Captain Cy
+      fidgeted in his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on outdoor, Ase,&rdquo; he said at last. &ldquo;No use to wait till she runs
+      down, 'cause she's a self-winder, guaranteed to keep goin' for a year.
+      Good-night!&rdquo; he shouted, addressing Mrs. Beasley, and heading for the
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where you goin'?&rdquo; asked the old lady.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. Yes. Who said so? Hooray! Three cheers for Gen'ral Scott! Come on,
+      Ase!&rdquo; And the captain, seizing his friend by the arm, dragged him into the
+      open air, and slammed the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you crazy?&rdquo; demanded the astonished town clerk. &ldquo;What makes you talk
+      like that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Might as well. She wouldn't understand it any better if 'twas Scripture,
+      and it saves brain work. The only satisfaction I get is bein' able to give
+      my opinion of her and the grub without hurtin' her feelin's. If I called
+      her a wooden-headed jumpin' jack she'd only smile and say No, she didn't
+      think 'twas goin' to rain, or somethin' just as brilliant.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, why don't you give her her walkin' papers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shall, when her month's up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't wait no month. I'd heave her overboard to-night. You hear ME!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't, very well,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I hate to make her feel TOO bad. When
+      the month's over I'll have some excuse ready, maybe. The joke of it is
+      that she don't really need to work out. She's got some money of her own,
+      owns cranberry swamps and I don't know what all. Says she took up Bailey's
+      offer 'cause she cal'lated I'd be company for her. I had to laugh, even in
+      the face of those beans, when she said that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! if I don't tell Bailey what I think of him, then&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Don't you say a word to Bailey. It's principally on his account
+      that I'm tryin' to stick it out for the month. Bailey did his best; he
+      thought he was helpin'. And he feels dreadfully because she's so deef.
+      Only yesterday he asked me if I believed there was anything made that
+      would fix her up and make it more comfortable for me. I could have
+      prescribed a shotgun, but I didn't. You see, he thinks her deefness is the
+      only trouble; I haven't told him the rest, and don't you do it, either.
+      Bailey's a good-hearted chap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! his heart may be good, but his head's goin' to seed. I'll keep
+      quiet if 'twill please you, though.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. And, see here, Ase! I don't care to be the laughin' stock of
+      Bayport. If any of the folks ask you how I like my new housekeeper, you
+      tell 'em there's nothin' like her anywhere. That's no lie.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Mrs. Beasley stayed on at the Whittaker place and, thanks to Mr.
+      Tidditt, the general opinion of inquisitive Bayport was that the new
+      housekeeper was a grand success. Only Captain Cy and Asaph knew the whole
+      truth, and Mr. Bangs a part. That part, Deborah's deafness, troubled him
+      not a little and he thought much concerning it. As a result of this
+      thinking he wrote a letter to a relative in Boston. The answer to this
+      letter pleased him and he wrote again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One afternoon, during the third week of Mrs. Beasley's stay, Asaph called
+      and found Captain Cy in the sitting room, reading the Breeze. The captain
+      urged his friend to remain and have supper. &ldquo;We've run out of beans, Ase,&rdquo;
+       he explained, &ldquo;and are just startin' in on a course of boiled cod. Do stay
+      and eat a lot; then there won't be so much to warm over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt accepted the invitation, also a section of the Breeze. While
+      they were reading they heard the back door slam.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's the graven image,&rdquo; explained the captain. &ldquo;She's been on a cruise
+      down town somewheres. Be a lot of sore throats in that direction to-morrow
+      mornin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk looked up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There now!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I believe 'twas her I saw walkin' with Bailey
+      a spell ago. I thought so, but I didn't have my specs and I wan't sure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;With Bailey, hey? Humph! this is serious. Hope Ketury didn't see 'em. We
+      mustn't have any scandal.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper entered the dining room. She was singing &ldquo;Beulah Land,&rdquo;
+       but her tone was more subdued than usual. They heard her setting the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How's she gettin' along?&rdquo; asked Asaph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Progressin' backwards, same as ever. She's no better, thank you, and the
+      doctor's given up hopes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When you goin' to tell her she can clear out?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; Captain Cy had returned to his paper and did not hear the
+      question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I say when is she goin' to be bounced? Deefness ain't catchin', is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't wonder if it might be. If 'tis, mine ought to be developin'
+      fast. What makes her so still all at once?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone to the kitchen, I guess. Wonder she hasn't sailed in and set down
+      with us. Old chromo! You must be glad her month's most up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph proceeded to give his opinion of the housekeeper, raising his voice
+      almost to a howl, as his indignation grew. If Mrs. Beasley's ears had been
+      ordinary ones she might have heard the unflattering description in the
+      kitchen; as it was Mr. Tidditt felt no fear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Comin' here so's you could be company for her! The idea! Good to herself,
+      ain't she! Godfrey scissors! And Bailey was fool enough to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there! Don't let it worry you, Ase. I've about decided what to say
+      when I let her go. I'll tell her she is gettin' too old to be slavin'
+      herself to death. You see, I don't want to make the old critter cry, nor I
+      don't want her to get mad. Judgin' by the way she used to coax the cat
+      outdoors with the broom handle she's got somethin' of a temper when she
+      gets started. I'll give her an extry month's wages, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, hey? You WILL?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The interruption came from behind the partially closed dining-room door.
+      Mr. Tidditt sank back in his chair. Captain Cy sprang from his and threw
+      the door wide open. Behind it crouched Mrs. Deborah Beasley. Her eyes
+      snapped behind her spectacles, her lean form was trembling all over, and
+      in her right hand she held a mammoth trumpet, the smaller end of which was
+      connected with her ear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You will, hey?&rdquo; she screamed, brandishing her left fist, but still
+      keeping the ear trumpet in place with her right. &ldquo;You WILL? Well, I don't
+      want none of your miser'ble money! Land knows how you made it, anyhow, and
+      I wouldn't soil my hands with it. After all I've put up with, and the way
+      I've done my work, and the things I've had to eat, and&mdash;and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She paused for breath. Captain Cy scratched his chin. Asaph, gazing
+      open-mouthed at the trumpet, stirred in his chair. Mrs. Beasley swooped
+      down upon him like a gull on a minnow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you!&rdquo; she shrieked. &ldquo;You! a miserable little, good-for-nothin', lazy,
+      ridiculous, dried-up&mdash; . . . Oo&mdash;oo&mdash;OH! You call yourself
+      a town clerk! YOU do! I&mdash;I wouldn't have you clerk for a hen house!
+      I'm an old chromo, be I? Yes! that's nice talk, ain't it, to a woman old
+      enough to be&mdash;that is&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;'most as old as you be!
+      You sneakin', story-tellin', little, fat THING, you! You&mdash;oh, I can't
+      lay my tongue to words to tell you WHAT you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're doin' pretty well, seems to me,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy dryly. &ldquo;I
+      wouldn't be discouraged if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The only effect of this remark was to turn the wordy torrent in his
+      direction. The captain bore it for a while; then he rose to his feet and
+      commanded silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's enough! Stop it!&rdquo; he ordered, and, strange to say, Mrs. Beasley
+      did stop. &ldquo;I'm sorry, Debby,&rdquo; he went on, &ldquo;but you had no business to be
+      listenin' even if&mdash;&rdquo; and he smiled grimly, &ldquo;you have got a new fog
+      horn to hear with. You can go and pack your things as soon as you want to.
+      I made up my mind the first day you come that you and me wouldn't cruise
+      together long, and this only shortens the trip by a week or so. I'll pay
+      you for this month and for the next, and I guess, when you come to think
+      it over, you'll be willin' to risk soilin' your hands with the money. It's
+      your own fault if anybody knows that you didn't leave of your own accord.
+      <i>I</i> shan't tell, and I'll see that Tidditt doesn't. Now trot! Ase and
+      I'll get supper ourselves.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was evident that the ex-housekeeper had much more which she would have
+      liked to say. But there was that in her late employer's manner which
+      caused her to forbear. She slammed out of the room, and they heard her
+      banging things about on the floor above.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But where&mdash;WHERE,&rdquo; repeated Mr. Tidditt, over and over, &ldquo;did she get
+      that trumpet?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The puzzle was solved soon after, when Bailey Bangs entered the house in a
+      high state of excitement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he demanded, expectantly. &ldquo;Did they help her? Has anything
+      happened?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;HAPPENED!&rdquo; began Asaph, but Captain Cy silenced him by a wink.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered the captain; &ldquo;something's happened. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hurrah! I thought 'twould. She can hear better, can't she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess it's safe to say she can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good! You can thank me for it. When I see how dreadful deef she was I
+      wrote my cousin Eddie T, who's an optician up to Boston&mdash;you know
+      him, Ase&mdash;and I says: 'Ed, you know what's good for folks who can't
+      see? Ain't there nothin',' says I, 'that'll help them who can't hear? How
+      about ear trumpets?' And Ed wrote that an ear trumpet would probably help
+      some, but why didn't I try a pair of them patent fixin's that are made to
+      put inside deef people's ears? He'd known of cases where they helped a
+      lot. So I sent for a pair, and the biggest ear trumpet made, besides. And
+      when I met Debby to-day I give 'em to her and told her to put the patent
+      things IN her ears and couple on the trumpet outside 'em. And not to say
+      nothin' to you, but just surprise you. And it did surprise you, didn't
+      it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wrathful Mr. Tidditt could wait no longer. He burst into a vivid
+      description of the &ldquo;surprise.&rdquo; Bailey was aghast. Captain Cy laughed until
+      his face was purple.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I declare, Cy!&rdquo; exclaimed the dejected purchaser of the &ldquo;ear fixin's&rdquo; and
+      the trumpet. &ldquo;I do declare I'm awful sorry! if you'd only told me she was
+      no good I'd have let her alone; but I thought 'twas just the deefness. I&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, Bailey; you meant well, like the layin'-on-of-hands doctor who
+      rubbed the rheumatic man's wooden leg. All right; <i>I</i> forgive you.
+      'Twas worth it all to see Asaph's face when Marm Beasley was complimentin'
+      him. Ha! ha! Oh, dear me! I've laughed till I'm sore. But there's one
+      thing I SHOULD like to do, if you don't mind: I should like to pick out my
+      next housekeeper myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER V
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A FRONT-DOOR CALLER
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley departed next morning, taking with her the extra month's
+      wages, in spite of fervid avowals that she wouldn't touch a cent of it. On
+      the way to the depot she favored Mr. Lumley with sundry hints concerning
+      the reasons for her departure. She &ldquo;couldn't stand it no longer&rdquo;; if folks
+      only knew what she'd had to put up with she cal'lated they'd be some
+      surprised; she could &ldquo;tell a few things&rdquo; if she wanted to, and so on.
+      Incidentally she was kind of glad she didn't like the place, because now
+      she cal'lated she should go West and visit her niece; they'd been wanting
+      her to come for so long.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe was much interested and repeated the monologue, with imaginative
+      additions, to the depot master, who, in turn, repeated it to his wife when
+      he went home to dinner. That lady attended sewing circle in the afternoon.
+      Next day a large share of Bayport's conversation dealt with the
+      housekeeper's leaving and her reasons therefor. The reasons differed
+      widely, according to the portion of the town in which they were discussed,
+      but it was the general opinion that the whole affair was not creditable to
+      Captain Whittaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only at the perfect boarding house was the captain upheld. Miss Phinney
+      declared that she knew he had made a mistake as soon as she heard the
+      Beasley woman talk; nobody else, so Angeline declared, could &ldquo;get a word
+      in edgeways.&rdquo; Mrs. Tripp sighed and affirmed that going out of town for a
+      woman to do housework was ridiculous on the face of it; there were plenty
+      of Bayport ladies, women of capability and sound in their religious views,
+      who might be hired if they were approached in the right way. Keturah gave,
+      as her opinion, that if the captain knew when he was well off, he would
+      &ldquo;take his meals out.&rdquo; Asaph snorted and intimated that that Debby Beasley
+      wasn't fit to &ldquo;keep house in a pigsty, and anybody but a born gump would
+      have known it.&rdquo; Bailey, the &ldquo;born gump,&rdquo; said nothing, but looked
+      appealingly at his chum.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As for Captain Cy, he did not take the trouble to affirm or deny the
+      rumors. Peace and quiet dominated the Whittaker house for the first time
+      in three weeks and its owner was happier. He cooked his own food and
+      washed his own dishes. The runaway cat ventured to return, found other
+      viands than beans in its saucer, and decided to remain, purring thankful
+      contentment. The captain made his own bed, after a fashion, when he was
+      ready to occupy it, but he was conscious that it might be better made. He
+      refused, however, to spend his time in sweeping and dusting, and the dust
+      continued to accumulate on the carpets and furniture. This condition of
+      affairs troubled him, but he kept his own counsel. Asaph and Bailey called
+      often, but they offered no more suggestions as to hiring a housekeeper.
+      Mr. Tidditt might have done so, but the captain gave him no encouragement.
+      Mr. Bangs, recent humiliation fresh in his mind, would as soon have
+      suggested setting the house on fire.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One evening Asaph happened in, on his way to Simmons's. He desired the
+      captain to accompany him to that gathering place of the wise and
+      talkative. Captain Cy was in the sitting room, a sheet of note paper in
+      his hand. The town clerk entered without ceremony and tossed his hat on
+      the sofa.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', Ase,&rdquo; observed the captain, folding the sheet of paper and
+      putting it into his pocket. &ldquo;Glad you come. Sit down. I wanted to ask you
+      somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right! Here I be. Heave ahead and ask.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy puffed at his pipe. He seemed about to speak and then to think
+      better of it, for he crossed his legs and smoked on in silence, gazing at
+      the nickel work of the &ldquo;base-burner&rdquo; stove. It was badly in need of
+      polishing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; inquired Asaph, with impatient sarcasm. &ldquo;Thinkin' of askin' me to
+      build a fire for you, was you? Nobody else but you would have set up a
+      stove in summer time, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? No, you needn't start a fire yet awhile. That necktie of yours 'll
+      keep us warm till fall, I shouldn't wonder. New one, ain't it? Where'd you
+      get it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was wearing a crocheted scarf of a brilliant crimson hue,
+      particularly becoming to his complexion. The complexion now brightened
+      until it was almost a match for the tie.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; he said, with elaborate indifference. &ldquo;That? Yes, it's new.
+      Yesterday was my birthday, and Matildy Tripp she knew I needed a necktie,
+      so she give me this one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! One she knit purpose for you, then? Dear me! Look out, Ase. Widow
+      women are dangerous, they say; presents are one of the first baits they
+      heave out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be foolish, now! I couldn't chuck it back at her, could I? That
+      would be pretty manners. You needn't talk about widders&mdash;not after
+      Debby! Ho! ho!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy chuckled. Then he suddenly became serious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you remember the time when the Howes folks had this
+      house? Course you do. Yes; well, was there any of their relations here
+      with 'em? A&mdash;a cousin, or somethin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not as I recollect. Yes, there was, too, come to think. A third
+      cousin, Mary Thayer her name was. I THINK she was a third cousin of Betsy
+      Howes, Seth Howes's second wife. Betsy's name was Ginn afore she married,
+      and the Ginns was related on their ma's side to a Richards&mdash;Emily
+      Richards, I think 'twas&mdash;and Emily married a Thayer. Would that make
+      this Mary a third cousin? Now let's see; Sarah Jane Ginn, she had an aunt
+      who kept a boardin' house in Harniss. I remember that, 'count of her
+      sellin' my Uncle Bije a pig. Seems to me 'twas a pig, but I ain't sure
+      that it mightn't have been a settin' of Plymouth Rock hens' eggs. Anyhow,
+      Uncle Bije KEPT hens, because I remember one time&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there! we'll be out of sight of land in a minute. This Mary Thayer&mdash;old,
+      was she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Just a young girl, eighteen or twenty or so. Pretty and nice and
+      quiet as ever I see. By Godfrey, she WAS pretty! I wan't as old as I be
+      now, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase, don't tell your heart secrets, even to me. I might get absent-minded
+      and mention 'em to Matildy. And then&mdash;whew!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you don't stop tryin' to play smarty I'll go home. What's Matildy
+      Tripp to me, I'd like to know? And even when Mary Thayer was here I was
+      old enough to be her dad. But I remember what a nice girl she was and how
+      the boarders liked her. They used to say she done more than all the Howes
+      tribe put together to make the Sea Sight House a good hotel. Young as she
+      was she done most of the housekeepin' and done it well. If the rest of 'em
+      had been like her you mightn't have had the place yet, Whit. But what set
+      you to thinkin' about her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I don't know! Nothin' much; that is&mdash;well, I'll tell you some
+      other time. What became of her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She went up to New Hampshire along with the Howes folks and I ain't seen
+      her since. Seems to me I did hear she was married. See here, Whit, what is
+      it about her? Tell a feller; come!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Cy refused to gratify his chum's lively curiosity. Also he
+      refused to go to Simmons's that evening, saying that he was tired and
+      guessed he'd stay at home and &ldquo;turn in early.&rdquo; Mr. Tidditt departed
+      grumbling. After he had gone the captain drew his chair nearer the center
+      table, took from his pocket a sheet of notepaper, and proceeded to read
+      what was written on its pages. It was a letter which he had received
+      nearly a month before and had not yet answered. During the past week he
+      had read it many times. The writing was cramped and blotted and the paper
+      cheap and dingy. The envelope bore the postmark of a small town in
+      Indiana, and the inclosure was worded as follows:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      CAPTAIN CYRUS WHITTAKER.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DEAR SIR: I suppose you will be a good deal surprised to hear from me,
+      especially from way out West here. When you bought the old house of Seth,
+      he and I was living in Concord, N. H. He couldn't make a go of his
+      business there, so we came West and he has been sick most of the time
+      since. We ain't well off like you, and times are hard with us. What I
+      wanted to write you about was this. My cousin Mary Thomas, Mary Thayer
+      that was, is still living in Concord and she is poor and needs help,
+      though I don't suppose she would ask for it, being too proud. False pride
+      I call it. Me and Seth would like to do something for her, but we have a
+      hard enough job to keep going ourselves. Mary married a man by the name of
+      Henry Thomas, and he turned out to be a miserable good-for-nothing, as I
+      always said he would. She wouldn't listen to me though. He run off and
+      left her seven year ago last April, and I understand was killed or drowned
+      somewheres up in Montana. Mary and [several words scratched out here] got
+      along somehow since, but I don't know how. While we lived in Concord Seth
+      sort of kept an eye on her, but now he can't of course. She's a good girl,
+      or woman rather, being most forty, and would make a good housekeeper if
+      you should need one as I suppose likely you will. If you could help her it
+      would be an act of charity and you will be rewarded Above. Seth says why
+      not write to her and tell her to come and see you? He feels bad about her,
+      because he is so sick I suppose. And he knows you are rich and could do
+      good if you felt like it. Her father's name was John Thayer. I wouldn't
+      wonder if you used to know her mother. She was Emily Richards afore she
+      married and they used to live in Orham.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Yours truly,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      ELIZABETH HOWES.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      P.S.&mdash;Mary's address is Mrs. Mary Thomas, care Mrs. Oliver, 128 Blank
+      Street, Concord, N. H.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      N.B.&mdash;Seth won't say so, but I will: we are very hard up ourselves
+      and if you could help him and me with the loan of a little money it would
+      be thankfully received.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy read the letter, folded it, and replaced it in his pocket. He
+      knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation was that of
+      general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money matters. Betsy's
+      personal appeal did not, therefore, touch his heart to any great extent.
+      He surmised also that for Seth Howes and his wife to ask help for some
+      person other than themselves premised a darky in the woodpile somewhere.
+      But for the daughter of Emily Richards to be suggested as a possible
+      housekeeper at the Cy Whittaker place&mdash;that was interesting,
+      certainly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      When the captain was not a captain&mdash;when he was merely &ldquo;young Cy,&rdquo; a
+      boy, living with his parents, a dancing school was organized in Bayport.
+      It was an innovation for our village, and frowned upon by many of the
+      older and stricter inhabitants. However, most of the captain's boy friends
+      were permitted to attend; young Cy was not. His father considered dancing
+      a waste of time and, if not wicked, certainly frivolous and nonsensical.
+      So the boy remained at home, but, in spite of the parental order, he
+      practiced some of the figures of the quadrilles and the contra dances in
+      his comrades' barns, learning them at second hand, so to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One winter there was to be a party in Orham, given by the Nickersons,
+      wealthy people with a fifteen-year-old daughter. It was to be a grand
+      affair, and most of the boys and girls in the neighboring towns were
+      invited. Cy received an invitation, and, for a wonder, was permitted to
+      attend. The Bayport contingent went over in a big hayrick on runners and
+      the moonlight ride was jolly enough. The Nickerson mansion was crowded and
+      there were music and dancing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Young Cy was miserable during the dancing. He didn't dare attempt it, in
+      spite of his lessons in the barn. So, while the rest of his boy friends
+      sought partners for the &ldquo;Portland Fancy&rdquo; and &ldquo;Hull's Victory&rdquo; he sat
+      forlorn in a corner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As he sat there he was approached by a young lady, radiant in muslin and
+      ribbons. She was three or four years older than he was, and he had
+      worshipped her from afar as she whirled up and down the line in the
+      Virginia Reel. She never lacked partners and seemed to be a great favorite
+      with the young men, especially one good-looking chap with a sunburned
+      face, who looked like a sailor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They were forming sets for &ldquo;Money Musk&rdquo;; it was &ldquo;ladies' choice,&rdquo; and
+      there was a demand for more couples. The young lady came ever to Cy's
+      corner and laughingly dropped him a courtesy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you please,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I want a partner. Will you do me the honor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cy blushingly avowed that he couldn't dance any to speak of.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, you can! I'm sure you can. You're the Whittaker boy, aren't you?
+      I've heard about your barn lessons. And I want you to try this with me.
+      Please do. No, John,&rdquo; she added, turning to the sunburned young fellow who
+      had followed her across the room; &ldquo;this is my choice and here is my
+      partner. Susie Taylor is after you and you mustn't run away. Come, Mr.
+      Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Cy took her arm and they danced &ldquo;Money Musk&rdquo; together. He made but a
+      few mistakes, and these she helped him to correct so easily that none
+      noticed. His success gave him courage and he essayed other dances; in
+      fact, he had a very good time at the party after all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the way home he thought a great deal about the pretty young lady, whose
+      name he discovered was Emily Richards. He decided that if she would only
+      wait for him, he might like to marry her when he grew up. But he was
+      thirteen and she was seventeen, and the very next year she married John
+      Thayer, the sailor in the blue suit. And two years after that young Cy ran
+      away to be a sailor himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In spite of his age and his lifetime of battering about the world, Captain
+      Cy had a sentimental streak in his makeup; his rejuvenation of the old
+      home proved that. Betsy's letter interested him. He had made guarded
+      inquiries concerning Mary Thayer, now Mary Thomas, of others besides
+      Asaph, and the answers had been satisfactory so far as they went; those
+      who remembered her had liked her very much. The captain had even begun a
+      letter to Mrs. Thomas, but laid it aside unfinished, having, since
+      Bailey's unfortunate experience with the widow Beasley, a prejudice
+      against experiments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But this evening, before Mr. Tidditt called, he had been thinking that
+      something would have to be done and done soon. The generally shiftless
+      condition of his domestic surroundings was getting to be unbearable. Dust
+      and dirt did not fit into his mental picture of the old home as it used to
+      be and as he had tried to restore it. There had been neither dust nor dirt
+      in his mother's day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He meditated and smoked for another hour. Then, his mind being made up, he
+      pulled down the desk lid of the old-fashioned secretary, resurrected from
+      a pile of papers the note he had begun to Mrs. Thomas, dipped a sputtering
+      pen into the ink bottle and proceeded to write.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      His letter was a short one and rather noncommittal. As Mrs. Thomas no
+      doubt knew he had come back to live in his father's house at Bayport. He
+      might possibly need some one to keep house for him. He understood that
+      she, Mary Thayer that was, was a good housekeeper and that she was open to
+      an engagement if everything was mutually satisfactory. He had known her
+      mother slightly when the latter lived in Orham. He thought an interview
+      might be pleasant, for they could talk over old times if nothing more.
+      Perhaps, on the whole, she might care to risk a trip to Bayport, therefore
+      he inclosed money for her railroad fare. &ldquo;You understand, of course,&rdquo; so
+      he wrote in conclusion, &ldquo;that nothing may come of our meeting at all. So
+      please don't say a word to anybody when you strike town. You've lived here
+      yourself, and you know that three words hove overboard in Bayport will
+      dredge up gab enough to sink a dictionary. So just keep mum till the
+      business is settled one way or the other.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He put on his hat and went down to the post office, where he dropped his
+      letter in the slot of the box fastened to the front door. Then he returned
+      home and retired at exactly eleven o'clock. In spite of his remarks to
+      Asaph, he had not &ldquo;turned in&rdquo; so early after all.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      If the captain expected a prompt reply to his note he was disappointed. A
+      week passed and he heard nothing. Then three more days and still no word
+      from the New Hampshire widow. Meanwhile fresh layers of dust spread
+      themselves over the Whittaker furniture, and the gaudy patterns of the
+      carpets blushed dimly beneath a grimy fog. The situation was desperate;
+      even Matilda Tripp, Come-Outer sermons and all, began to be thinkable as a
+      possibility.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The eleventh day began with a pouring rain that changed, later on, to a
+      dismal drizzle. The silver-leaf tree in the front yard dripped, and the
+      overflowing gutters gurgled and splashed. The bay was gray and lonely, and
+      the fish weirs along the outer bar were lost in the mist. The flowers in
+      the Atkins urns were draggled and beaten down. Only the iron dogs
+      glistened undaunted as the wet ran off their newly painted backs. The air
+      was heavy, and the salty flavor of the flats might almost be tasted in it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was in the sitting room, as usual. His spirits were as gray as
+      the weather. He was actually lonesome for the first time since his return
+      home. He had kindled a wood fire in the stove, just for the sociability of
+      it, and the crackle and glow behind the isinglass panes only served to
+      remind him of other days and other fires. The sitting room had not been
+      lonesome then.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He heard the depot wagon rattle by and, peering from the window, saw that,
+      except for Mr. Lumley, it was empty. Not even a summer boarder had come to
+      brighten our ways and lawns with reckless raiment and the newest slang.
+      Summer boarding season was almost over now. Bayport would soon be as dull
+      as dish water. And the captain admitted to himself that it WAS dull. He
+      had half a mind to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round of the
+      wharves, and see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains whom he
+      had once known were still alive and in harness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;JINGLE! Jingle! JINGLE! Jingle! Jingle! Jing! Jing! Jing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy bounced in his chair. That was the front-door bell. The
+      FRONT-door bell! Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport, would come to
+      the FRONT door?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered the
+      little dark front hall. The bell was still swinging at the end of its coil
+      of wire. The dust shaken from it still hung in the air. The captain
+      unbolted and unlocked the big front door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A girl was standing on the steps between the lines of box hedge&mdash;a
+      little girl under a big &ldquo;grown-up&rdquo; umbrella. The wet dripped from the
+      umbrella top and from the hem of the little girl's dress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stared hard at his visitor; he knew most of the children in
+      Bayport, but he didn't know this one. Obviously she was a stranger.
+      Portuguese children from &ldquo;up Harniss way&rdquo; sometimes called to peddle
+      huckleberries, but this child was no &ldquo;Portugee.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; exclaimed the captain wonderingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you ring the bell?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; replied the girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Did, hey? Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why? Why, I thought&mdash;Isn't it a truly bell? Didn't it ought to ring?
+      Is anybody sick or dead? There isn't any crape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Dead? Crape?&rdquo; Captain Cy gasped. &ldquo;What in the world put that in your
+      head?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I didn't know but maybe that was why you thought I hadn't ought to
+      have rung it. When mamma was sick they didn't let people ring our bell.
+      And when she died they tied it up with crape.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did, hey? Hum!&rdquo; The captain scratched his chin and gazed at the small
+      figure before him. It was a self-poised, matter-of-fact figure for such a
+      little one, and, out there in the rain under the tent roof of the
+      umbrella, it was rather pitiful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Please, sir,&rdquo; said the child, &ldquo;are you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup! That's me. You've guessed it the first time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I've got a letter for you. It's pinned inside my dress. If you
+      could hold this umbrella maybe I could get it out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended the big umbrella at arm's length, holding it with both hands.
+      Captain Cy woke up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he exclaimed, &ldquo;what am I thinkin' of? You're soakin' wet
+      through, ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess I'm pretty wet. It's a long ways from the depot, and I tried to
+      come across the fields, because a boy said it was nearer, and the bushes
+      were&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Across the FIELDS? Have you walked all the way from the depot?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. The man said it was a quarter to ride, and auntie said I must
+      be careful of my money because&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper! Come in! Come in out of that this minute!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sprang down the steps, furled the umbrella, seized her by the arm and
+      led her into the house, through the parlor and into the sitting room,
+      where the fire crackled invitingly. He could feel that the dress sleeve
+      under his hand was wet through, and the worn boots and darned stockings he
+      could see were soaked likewise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;Set down in that chair. Put your feet up on that
+      h'ath. Sakes alive! Your folks ought to know better than to let you stir
+      out this weather, let alone walkin' a mile&mdash;and no rubbers! Them
+      shoes ought to come off this minute, I s'pose. Take 'em off. You can dry
+      your stockings better that way. Off with 'em!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; said the child, stooping to unbutton the shoes. Her wet
+      fingers were blue. It can be cold in our village, even in early September,
+      when there is an easterly storm. Unbuttoning the shoes was slow work.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here, let me help you!&rdquo; commanded the captain, getting down on one knee
+      and taking a foot in his lap. &ldquo;Tut! tut! tut! you're wet! Been some time
+      sence I fussed with button boots; lace or long-legged cowhides come
+      handier. Never wore cowhides, did you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I s'pose not. I used to when I was little. Remember the first pair I had.
+      Copper toes on 'em&mdash;whew! The copper was blacked over when they come
+      out of the store and that wouldn't do, so we used to kick a stone wall
+      till they brightened up. There! there she comes. Humph! stockin's soaked,
+      too. Wish I had some dry ones to lend you. Might give you a pair of mine,
+      but they'd be too scant fore and aft and too broad in the beam, I
+      cal'late. Humph! and your top-riggin's as wet as your hull. Been on your
+      beam ends, have you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, sir. I fell down in the bushes coming across. There were
+      vines and they tripped me up. And the umbrella was so heavy that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I could see right off you was carryin' too much canvas. Now take off
+      your bunnit and I'll get a coat of mine to wrap you up in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy &ldquo;reefer&rdquo; jacket.
+      Ordering his caller to stand up he slipped her arms into the sleeves and
+      turned the collar up about her neck. Her braided &ldquo;pigtail&rdquo; of yellow hair
+      stuck out over the collar and hung down her back in a funny way. The coat
+      sleeves reached almost to her knees and the coat itself enveloped her like
+      a bed quilt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; said Captain Cy approvingly. &ldquo;Now you look more as if you was
+      under a storm rig. Set down and toast your toes. Where's that letter you
+      said you had?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's inside here. I don't know's I can get at it; these sleeves are so
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Reef 'em. Turn 'em up. Let me show you. That's better! Hum! So you come
+      from the depot, hey? Live up that way?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir! I used to live in Concord, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Concord? CONCORD? Concord where?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Concord, New Hampshire. I came on the cars. Auntie knew a man who was
+      going to Boston, and he said he'd take care of me as far as that and then
+      put me on the train to come down here. I stopped at his folks' house in
+      Charlestown last night, and this morning we got up early and he bought me
+      a ticket and started me for here. I had a box with my things in it, but it
+      was so heavy I couldn't carry it, so I left it up at the depot. The man
+      there said it would be all right and you could send for it when&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I could SEND for it? <i>I</i> could? What in the world&mdash;Say, child,
+      you've made a mistake in your bearin's. 'Taint me you want to see, it's
+      some of your folks, relations, most likely. Tell me who they are; maybe I
+      know 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl sat upright in the big chair. Her dark eyes opened wide and her
+      chin quivered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;You said you was.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, I am. I'm Cy Whittaker, but what&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, auntie told me&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Auntie! Auntie who?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Auntie Oliver. She isn't really my auntie, but mamma and me lived in her
+      house for ever so long and so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! wait! wait! I'm hull down in the fog. This is gettin' too thick for
+      ME. Your auntie's name's Oliver and you lived in Concord, New Hampshire.
+      For&mdash;for thunder sakes, what's YOUR name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thomas.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Em&mdash;Emily&mdash;Richards&mdash;Thomas&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thomas! What was your ma's name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mamma was Mrs. Thomas. Her front name was Mary. She's dead. Don't you
+      want to see your letter? I've got it now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She lifted one of the flapping coat sleeves and extended a crumpled, damp
+      envelope. Captain Cy took it in a dazed fashion and drew a long breath.
+      Then he tore open the envelope and read the following:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      DEAR CAPTAIN WHITTAKER:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The bearer of this is Emily Richards Thomas. She is seven, going on eight,
+      but old for her years. Her mother was Mary Thomas that used to be Mary
+      Thayer. It was her you wrote to about keeping house for you, but she had
+      been dead a fortnight before your letter come. She had bronchial pneumonia
+      and it carried her off, having always been delicate and with more troubles
+      to bear than she could stand, poor thing. Since her husband, who I say was
+      a scamp even if he is dead, left her and the baby, she has took rooms with
+      me and done sewing and such. When she passed away I wrote to Seth Howes, a
+      relation of hers out West, and, so far as I know, the only one she had. I
+      told the Howes man that Mary had gone and Emmie was left. Would they take
+      her? I wrote. And Seth's wife wrote they couldn't, being poorer than
+      poverty themselves. I was afraid she would have to go to a Home, but when
+      your letter came I wrote the Howeses again. And Mrs. Howes wrote back that
+      you was rich, and a sort of far-off relation of Mary's, and probably you
+      would be glad to take the child to bring up. Said that she had some
+      correspondence with you about Mary before. So I send Emmie to you.
+      Somebody's got to take care of her and I can't afford it, though I would
+      if I could, for she's a real nice child and some like her mother. I do
+      hope she can stay with you. It seems a shame to send her to the orphan
+      asylum. I send along what clothes she's got, which ain't many.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Respectfully yours,
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      SARAH OLIVER.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy read the letter through. Then he wiped his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;WELL! I never in my life! I&mdash;I never did! Of
+      all&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily Richards Thomas looked up from the depths of the coat collar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;that you had better send to the depot for my
+      box? I can get dry SOME this way, but mamma always made me change my
+      clothes as soon as I could. She used to be afraid I'd get cold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      ICICLES AND DUST
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not reply to the request for the box. It is doubtful if he
+      even heard it. Mrs. Oliver's astonishing letter had, as he afterwards
+      said, left him &ldquo;high and dry with no tug in sight.&rdquo; Mary Thomas was dead,
+      and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of whose very existence he had been
+      ignorant, had suddenly appeared from nowhere and been dropped at his door,
+      like an out-of-season May basket, accompanied by the modest suggestion
+      that he assume responsibility for her thereafter. No wonder the captain
+      wiped his forehead in utter bewilderment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think you'd better send for the box?&rdquo; repeated the child,
+      shivering a little under the big coat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? What say? Never mind, though. Just keep quiet for a spell, won't
+      you. I want to let this soak in. By the big dipper! Of all the solid brass
+      cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole cargo! And Betsy Howes
+      never hinted! 'Probably you would be glad to take&mdash;' Be GLAD! Why,
+      blast their miserable, stingy&mdash;What do they take me for? I'LL show
+      'em! Indiana ain't so fur that I can't&mdash;Hey? Did you say anything,
+      sis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl had shivered again. &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;It was my teeth, I
+      guess. They kind of rattled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What? You ain't cold, are you? With all that round you and in front of
+      that fire?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, I guess not. Only my back feels sort of funny, as if somebody
+      kept dropping icicles down it. Those bushes and vines were so wet that
+      when I tumbled down 'twas most like being in a pond.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! That won't do. Can't have you laid up on my hands. That would
+      be worse than&mdash;Humph! Tut, tut! Somethin' ought to be done, and I'm
+      blessed if I know what. And not a woman round the place&mdash;not even
+      that Debby. Say, look here, what's your name&mdash;er&mdash;Emmie, hadn't
+      I better get the doctor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child looked frightened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; she cried, her big eyes opening. &ldquo;I'm not sick, am I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sick? No, no! Course not, course not. What would you want to be sick for?
+      But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose, and your duds are
+      all up to the depot. Say, what does&mdash;what did your ma used to do when
+      you felt&mdash;er&mdash;them icicles and things?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She changed my clothes and rubbed me. And, if I was VERY wet she put me
+      to bed sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bed? Sure! why, yes, indeed. Bed's a good place to keep off icicles.
+      There's my bedroom right in there. You could turn in just as well as not.
+      Bunk ain't made yet, but I can shake it up in no time. Say&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;you
+      can undress yourself, can't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, sir! Course I can! I'm most eight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure you are! Don't act a mite babyish. All right, you set still till I
+      shake up that bunk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the chamber, his own, opening from the sitting room, and
+      proceeded, literally, to &ldquo;shake up&rdquo; the bed. It was not a lengthy process
+      and, when it was completed, he returned to find his visitor already
+      divested of the coat and standing before the stove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess perhaps you'll have to help undo me behind,&rdquo; observed the young
+      lady. &ldquo;This is my best dress and I can't reach the buttons in the middle
+      of the back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy scratched his head. Then he clumsily unbuttoned the wet waist,
+      glancing rather sheepishly at the window to see if anyone was coming.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So this is your best dress, hey?&rdquo; he asked, to cover his confusion. It
+      was obviously not very new, for it was neatly mended in one or two places.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So. Where'd you buy it&mdash;up to Concord?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. Mamma made it, a year ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a little choke in the child's voice. The captain was mightily
+      taken back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, yes,&rdquo; he muttered hurriedly. &ldquo;Well, there you are. Now you can
+      get along, can't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Shall I go in that room?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Trot right in. You might&mdash;er&mdash;maybe you might sing out when
+      you're tucked up. I&mdash;I'll want to know if you're got bedclothes
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily disappeared in the bedroom. The door closed. Captain Cy, his hands
+      in his pockets, walked up and down the length of the sitting room. The
+      expression on his face was a queer one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I haven't got any nightgown,&rdquo; called a voice from the other room. The
+      captain gasped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land! so you ain't,&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What in the world&mdash;Humph! I
+      wonder&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went to the lower drawer of a tall &ldquo;highboy&rdquo; and, from the tumbled mass
+      of apparel therein took one of his own night garments.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here's one,&rdquo; he said, coming back with it in his hand. &ldquo;I guess you'll
+      have to make this do for now. It'll fit you enough for three times to
+      once, but it's all I've got.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A small hand reached 'round the edge of the door and the nightshirt
+      disappeared. Captain Cy chuckled and resumed his pacing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm tucked up,&rdquo; called Miss Thomas. The captain entered and found her in
+      bed, the patchwork points and diamonds of the &ldquo;Rising Sun&rdquo; quilt covering
+      her to the chin and her head denting the uppermost of the two big pillows.
+      Captain Cy liked to &ldquo;sleep high.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Got enough over you?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, thank you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's good. I'll take your togs out and dry 'em in the kitchen. Don't be
+      scared; I'll be right back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In the kitchen he sorted the wet garments and hung them about the cook
+      stove. It was a strange occupation for him and he shook his head
+      whimsically as he completed it. Then he took a flat iron, one of Mrs.
+      Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the closet and put it in the oven
+      to heat. Soon afterwards he returned to the bedroom, bearing the iron
+      wrapped in a dish towel.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My ma always used to put a hot flat to my feet when I was a young one and
+      got chilled,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;I ain't used one for some time, but I guess
+      it's a good receipt. How do you feel now? Any more icicles?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. I'm ever so warm. Isn't this a nice bed?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think so, do you? Glad of it. Well, now, I'm goin' to leave you in it
+      while I step down street and see about havin' your box sent for. I'll be
+      back in a shake. If anybody comes to the door while I'm gone don't you
+      worry; let 'em go away again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He put on his hat and left the house, walking rapidly, his head down and
+      his hands in his pockets. At times he would pause in his walk, whistle,
+      shake his head, and go on once more. Josiah Dimick met him, and his
+      answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and irrelevant that Captain
+      Dimick was puzzled, and later expressed the opinion that &ldquo;Whit's cookin'
+      must be pretty bad; acted to me as if he had dyspepsy of the brain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stopped at Mr. Lumley's residence to leave an order for the
+      delivery of the box. Then he drifted into Simmons's and accosted Alpheus
+      Smalley.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Al,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;what's good for a cold?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; asked Mr. Smalley, in true Yankee fashion. &ldquo;You got one?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Oh, yes! Yes, I've got one.&rdquo; By way of proof he coughed until the
+      lamp chimneys rattled on the shelf.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Judas! I should think you had! Well, there's 'Pine Bark Oil' and
+      'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla&mdash;that's good for
+      most everything&mdash;and&mdash;Is your throat sore?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Yes, I guess so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you KNOW? If you've got sore throat there ain't nothin' better'n
+      'Arabian Balsam.' But what in time are you doin' out in this drizzle with
+      a cold and no umbrella? Do you want to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind my umbrella. I left it in the church entry t'other Sunday and
+      somebody got out afore I did. This 'Arabian Balsam'&mdash;seems to me I
+      remember my ma's usin' that on me. Wet a rag with it, don't you, and tie
+      it round your neck?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Be sure and use a flannel rag, and red flannel if you've got it;
+      that acts quicker'n the other kinds. Fifteen cent bottle?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess so. Might's well give me some sass'p'rilla, while you're about
+      it; always handy to have in the house. And&mdash;er&mdash;say, is that
+      canned soup you've got up on that shelf?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The astonished clerk admitted that it was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, give me a can of the chicken kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Smalley, standing on a chair to reach the shelf where the soup was
+      kept, shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, that's too bad, Cap'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but we're all out of chicken just
+      now. Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and beef broth. Yes, and
+      I declare if the termatter ain't all gone.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! then I guess I'll take the beef. Needn't mind wrappin' it up. So
+      long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He departed bearing his purchases. When Mr. Simmons, proprietor of the
+      store, returned, Alpheus told him that he &ldquo;cal'lated&rdquo; Captain Cy Whittaker
+      was preparing to &ldquo;go into a decline, or somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anyhow,&rdquo; said Alpheus, &ldquo;he bought sass'p'rilla and 'Arabian Balsam,' and
+      I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought three year ago last summer,
+      when Alicia Atkins had the chicken pox.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain entered the house quietly and tiptoed to the door of the
+      bedroom. Emily was asleep, and the sight of the childish head upon the
+      pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it. It looked so natural,
+      almost as if it belonged there. It had been in a bed like that and in that
+      very room that he had slept when a boy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe, brimful of curiosity, brought the box a little later. His curiosity
+      was ungratified, Captain Cyrus explaining that it was a package he had
+      been expecting. The captain took the box to the bedroom, and, finding the
+      child still asleep, deposited it on the floor and tiptoed out again. He
+      went to the kitchen, poked up the fire, and set about getting dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He was warming the beef broth in a saucepan on the stove when Emily
+      appeared. She was dressed in dry clothes from the box and seemed to be
+      feeling as good as new.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;You're on deck again, hey? How's icicles?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All gone,&rdquo; was the reply. &ldquo;Do you do your own work? Can't I help? I can
+      set the table. I used to for Mrs. Oliver.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain protested that he could do it himself just as well, but the
+      girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept. From the corner
+      of his eye he watched her as she unfolded the tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this the only one you've got?&rdquo; she inquired. &ldquo;It's awful dirty.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Yes, I ain't tended up to my washin' and ironin' the way I'd ought
+      to. I'll lose my job if I don't look out, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Before they sat down to the meal Captain Cy insisted that his guest take a
+      tablespoonful of the sarsaparilla and decorate her throat with a section
+      of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.' The perfume of the latter
+      was penetrating and might have interfered with a less healthy appetite
+      than that of Miss Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have some soup? Some I bought purpose for you. Best thing goin' for folks
+      with icicles,&rdquo; remarked the captain, waving the iron spoon he had used to
+      stir the contents of the saucepan.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, thank you. But don't you ask a blessing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A blessing, you know. Saying that you're thankful for the food now set
+      before us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Why, to tell you the truth I've kind of neglected that, I'm afraid.
+      Bein' thankful for the grub I've had lately was most too much of a strain,
+      I shouldn't wonder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know the one mamma used to say. Shall I ask it for you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! I guess so, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl bent her head and repeated a short grace. Captain Cy watched her
+      curiously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, I'll have some soup, please,&rdquo; observed Emily. &ldquo;I'm awful hungry. I
+      had breakfast at five o'clock this morning and we didn't have a chance to
+      eat much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A good many times that day the captain caught himself wondering if he
+      wasn't dreaming. The whole affair seemed too ridiculous to be an actual
+      experience. Dinner over, he and Emmie attended to the dishes, he washing
+      and she wiping. And even at this early stage of their acquaintance her
+      disposition to take charge of things was apparent. She found fault with
+      the dish towels; they were almost as bad as the tablecloth, she said.
+      Considering that the same set had been in use since Mrs. Beasley's
+      departure, the criticism was not altogether baseless. But the young lady
+      did not stop there&mdash;her companion's skill as a washer was questioned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but don't you think that plate had better be done
+      over? I guess you didn't see that place in the corner. Perhaps you've
+      forgot your specs. Auntie Oliver couldn't see well without her specs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy grinned and admitted that a second washing wouldn't hurt the
+      plate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess your auntie was one of the particular kind,&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, 'twas mamma. She couldn't bear dirty things. Auntie used to say
+      that mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass. She didn't, though; she
+      only liked to be neat. I guess dust doesn't worry men so much as it does
+      women.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so? I'll help you
+      clean up by and by, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;YOU will?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing. And once I
+      swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me any more. She said
+      'twas like trying to blow out a match with a tornado.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically inspecting
+      the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls. He stood watching
+      her for a moment and then asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what are you lookin' for&mdash;more dust? 'Twon't be hard to find
+      it. 'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.' Every time I go
+      outdoor and come in again I realize how true that is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I was only looking at things and thinking.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thinkin', hey? What about? or is that a secret?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir. I was thinking that this room was different from any I've ever
+      seen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! Yes, I presume likely 'tis. Don't like it very much, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir, I think I do. It's got a good many things in it that I never
+      saw before, but I guess they're pretty&mdash;after you get used to 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed aloud. &ldquo;After you get used to 'em, hey?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet that
+      she made herself. I&mdash;I was thinking that you must be peculiar.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Peculiar?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I like peculiar people. I'm peculiar myself. Auntie used to say
+      I was the most peculiar child she ever saw. P'raps that's why I came to
+      you. P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to live together. Don't you think
+      maybe that was it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call, peeped in
+      at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the Whittaker sitting
+      room. Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair which had been his
+      grandfather's. At his feet, on the walnut cricket with a haircloth top,
+      sat a little girl turning over the leaves of a tattered magazine, a
+      Godey's Lady's Book. A pile of these magazines was beside her on the
+      floor. The captain was smiling and looking over her shoulder. The cat was
+      curled up in another chair. The room looked more homelike than it had
+      since its owner returned to it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The friends entered without knocking. Captain Cy looked up, saw them, and
+      appeared embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, boys!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Glad to see you. Come right in. Clearin' off
+      fine, ain't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt replied absently that he wouldn't be surprised if it was.
+      Bailey, his eyes fixed upon the occupant of the cricket, said nothing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We&mdash;we didn't know you had company, Whit,&rdquo; said Asaph. &ldquo;We been up
+      to Simmons's and Alpheus said you was thin and peaked and looked sick.
+      Said you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck. He was afraid you had
+      fever and was out of your head, cruisin round in the rain with no
+      umbrella. The gang weren't talkin' of nothin' else, so me and Bailey
+      thought we'd come right down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's kind of you, I'm sure. Take your things off and set down. No, I'm
+      sorry to disappoint Smalley and the rest, but I'm able to be up and&mdash;er&mdash;make
+      my own bed, thank you. So Alpheus thought I looked thin, hey? Well, if I
+      had to live on that soup he sold me, I'd be thinner'n I am now. You tell
+      him that canned hot water is all right if you like it, but it seems a
+      shame to put mud in it. It only changes the color and don't help the
+      taste.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs, who was still staring at Emily, now ventured a remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that a relation of yours, Cy?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That? Oh! Well, no, not exactly. And yet I don't know but she is.
+      Fellers, this is Emmie Thomas. Can't you shake hands, Emmie?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child rose, laid down the magazine, which was open at the colored
+      picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chignons, and, going across
+      the room, extended a hand to Mr. Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you do, sir?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;er&mdash;how d'ye do? I'm pretty smart, thank you. How's
+      yourself?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm better now. I guess the sass'parilla was good for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Twan't the sass'p'rilla,&rdquo; observed the captain, with conviction. &ldquo;'Twas
+      the 'Arabian Balsam.' Ma always cured me with it and there's nothin'
+      finer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what in time&mdash;&rdquo; began Bailey. Captain Cy glanced at the child
+      and then at the clock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think you'd better turn in now, Emmie?&rdquo; he said hastily,
+      cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query. &ldquo;It's after eight, and when
+      I was little I was abed afore that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily obediently turned, gathered up the Lady's Books and replaced them in
+      the closet. Then she went to the dining room and came back with a hand
+      lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; she said, addressing the visitors. Then, coming close to the
+      captain, she put her face up for a kiss.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; she said to him, adding, &ldquo;I like it here ever so much. I'm
+      awful glad you let me stay.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As Bailey told Asaph afterwards, Captain Cy blushed until the ends of the
+      red lapped over at the nape of his neck. However, he bent and kissed the
+      rosy lips and then quickly brushed his own with his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;Well&mdash;er&mdash;good night. Pleasant dreams
+      to you. See you in the mornin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl paused at the chamber door. &ldquo;You won't have to unbutton my waist
+      now,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is my other one and it ain't that kind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The door closed. The captain, without looking at his friends, led the way
+      to the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on out here,&rdquo; he whispered. &ldquo;We can talk better here.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Naturally, they wanted to know all about the girl, who she was and where
+      she came from. Captain Cy told as much of the history of the affair as he
+      thought necessary.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Poor young one,&rdquo; he concluded, &ldquo;she landed on to me in the rain, soppin'
+      wet, and ha'f sick. I COULDN'T turn her out then&mdash;nobody could.
+      Course it's an everlastin' outrage on me and the cheekiest thing ever I
+      heard of, but what could I do? I was fixed a good deal like an English
+      feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to know in South America. He
+      woke up in the middle of the night and found a boa constrictor curled on
+      the foot of his bed. Next day, when a crowd of us happened in, there was
+      Gatenby, white as a sheet, starin' down at the snake, and it sound asleep.
+      'I didn't invite him,' he says, 'but he looked so bloomin' comf'table I
+      'adn't the 'eart to disturb 'im.' Same way with me; the child seemed so
+      comf'table here I ain't had the heart to disturb her&mdash;yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But she said she was goin' to stay,&rdquo; put in Bailey. &ldquo;You ain't goin' to
+      KEEP her, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's indignation was intense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who&mdash;me?&rdquo; he snorted. &ldquo;What do you think I am? I ain't runnin' an
+      orphan asylum. No, sir! I'll keep the young one a day or so&mdash;or maybe
+      a week&mdash;and then I'll pack her off to Betsy Howes. I ain't so soft as
+      they think I am. I'LL show 'em!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt looked thoughtful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's a kind of cute little girl, ain't she?&rdquo; he observed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy's frown vanished and a smile took its place.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so,&rdquo; he chuckled. &ldquo;She is, now that's a fact! I don't know's I
+      ever saw a cuter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      A week isn't a very long time even in Bayport. True, there was once a
+      drummer for a Boston &ldquo;notion&rdquo; house who sprained his ankle on the icy
+      sidewalk in front of Simmons's, and was therefore obliged to remain in the
+      front bedroom of the perfect boarding house for seven whole days. He is
+      quoted as saying that next time he hoped he might break his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Brother,&rdquo; asked the shocked Rev. Mr. Daniels, who was calling upon the
+      stranger, &ldquo;are you prepared to face eternity?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; was the energetic reply. &ldquo;After a week in this town, and in this
+      bedroom? Look here, Mister, if you want to scare me about the future you
+      just hint that they'll put me on a straw tick in an ice chest. Anything
+      hot and lively 'll only be tempting after this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But to us, who live here throughout the year, a week soon passes. And the
+      end of the week following Emily Thomas's arrival at the Cy Whittaker place
+      found the little girl still there and apparently no nearer being shipped
+      to Indiana than when she came. Not so near, if Mr. Tidditt's opinion
+      counts for anything.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone?&rdquo; he repeated scoffingly in reply to Bailey Bangs's question.
+      &ldquo;Course she ain't gone! And, what's more, she ain't goin' to go. Whit's
+      got so already that he wouldn't part with her no more'n he'd cut off his
+      hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But he keeps SAYIN' she's got to go. Only yesterday he was tellin' how
+      Betsy'd feel when the girl landed on her with his letter in her pocket.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sayin' don't count for nothin'. Zoeth Cahoon keeps SAYIN' he's goin' to
+      stop drinkin', but he only stops long enough to catch his breath. Cy's
+      tellin' himself fairy yarns and he hopes he believes 'em. Man alive! can't
+      you SEE? Ain't he gettin' more foolish over the young one every day? Don't
+      she boss him round like the overseer on a cranberry swamp? Don't he look
+      more contented than he has sence he got off the cars? I tell you, Bailey,
+      that child fills a place in Whit's life that's been runnin' to seed and
+      needed weedin'. Nothin' could fill it better&mdash;unless 'twas a nice
+      wife.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WIFE! Oh, DO be still! I believe you're woman-struck and at an age when
+      it hadn't ought to be catchin' no more'n whoopin' cough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs and the town clerk were the only ones, except Captain Cy, who
+      knew the whole truth concerning the little girl. Not that the child's
+      arrival wasn't noted and vigorously discussed by a large portion of the
+      townspeople. Emily had not been in the Whittaker house two days before
+      Angeline Phinney called, hot on the trail of gossip and sensation. But,
+      persistent as Angeline was, she departed knowing not quite as much as when
+      she came. The interview between Miss Phinney and the captain must have
+      been interesting, judging by the lady's account of it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never see such a man in my born days,&rdquo; declared Angie disgustedly. &ldquo;You
+      couldn't get nothin' out of him. Not that he wan't pleasant and sociable;
+      land sakes! he acted as glad to see me as if I was his rich aunt come on a
+      visit. And he was willin' to talk, too. That's the trouble; he done ALL
+      the talkin'. I happened to mention, just as a sort of starter, you know,
+      somethin' about the cranb'ry crop this fall; and after that all he could
+      say was 'cranb'ries, cranb'ries, cranb'ries!' 'Hear you've got comp'ny,'
+      says I. 'Did you?' says he. 'Now ain't it strange how things'll get spread
+      around? Only yesterday I heard that Joe Dimick's swamp was just loaded
+      down with &ldquo;early blacks.&rdquo; And yet when I went over to look at it there
+      didn't seem to be so many. There ain't much better cranb'ries anywhere
+      than our early blacks,' he says. 'You take 'em&mdash;' And so on, and so
+      on, and so on. <i>I</i> didn't care nothin' about the dratted early
+      blacks, but he didn't seem to care for nothin' else. He talked cranb'ries
+      steady for an hour and a half and I left that house with my mouth all
+      puckered up; it's tasted sour ever sence. I never see such a man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When Captain Cy was questioned by Asaph concerning the acid conversation,
+      he grinned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't know you was so interested in cranb'ries,&rdquo; observed Tidditt.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't,&rdquo; was the reply; &ldquo;but I'm more interested in 'em than I am in
+      Angie. I see she was sufferin' from a rush of curiosity to the head and I
+      cured her by homeopath doses. Every time she opened her mouth I dropped an
+      'early black' into it. It's a good receipt; you tell Bailey to try it on
+      Ketury some time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      To his chums the captain was emphatic in his orders that secrecy be
+      preserved. No one was to be told who the child was or where she came from.
+      &ldquo;What they don't know won't hurt 'em any,&rdquo; declared Captain Cy. And
+      Emily's answer to inquiring souls who would fain have delved into her past
+      was to the effect that &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus&rdquo; didn't like to have her talk about
+      herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know's I'm ashamed of anything I've done so far,&rdquo; said the
+      captain; &ldquo;but I ain't braggin', either. Time enough to talk when I send
+      her back to Betsy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That time, apparently, was not in the near future. The girl stayed on at
+      the Whittaker place and grew to be more and more a part of it. At the end
+      of the second week Captain Cy began calling her &ldquo;Bos'n.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A bos'n's a mighty handy man aboard ship,&rdquo; he explained, &ldquo;and you're so
+      handy here that it fits in first rate. And, besides, it sounds so natural.
+      My dad called me 'Bos'n' when I was little.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily accepted the title complacently. She was quite contented to be
+      called almost anything, so long as she was permitted to stay with her new
+      friend. Already the bos'n had taken charge of the deck and the rest of the
+      ship's company; Captain Cy and &ldquo;Lonesome,&rdquo; the cat, obeyed her orders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the second Sunday morning after her arrival &ldquo;Bos'n&rdquo; suggested that she
+      and Captain Cy go to church.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mother and I always went at home,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And Auntie Oliver used to
+      say meeting was a good thing for those that needed it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Think I need it, do you?&rdquo; asked the captain, who, in shirt sleeves and
+      slippers, had prepared for a quiet forenoon with his pipe and the Boston
+      Transcript.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, sir. I heard what you said when Lonesome ate up the steak,
+      and I thought maybe you hadn't been for a long time. I guess churches are
+      different in South America.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So they went to church and sat in the old Whittaker pew. The captain had
+      been there once before when he first returned to Bayport, but the sermon
+      was more somnolent than edifying, and he hadn't repeated the experiment.
+      The pair attracted much attention. Fragments of a conversation, heard by
+      Captain Cy as they emerged into the vestibule, had momentous consequences.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Kind of a pretty child, ain't she?&rdquo; commented Mrs. Eben Salters, patting
+      her false front into place under the eaves of her Sunday bonnet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pretty enough in the face,&rdquo; sniffed Mrs. &ldquo;Tad&rdquo; Simpson, who was wearing
+      her black silk for the first time since its third making-over. &ldquo;Pretty
+      enough that way, I s'pose. But, my land! look at the way she's rigged. Old
+      dress, darned and patched up and all outgrown! If I had Cy Whittaker's
+      money I'd be ashamed to have a relation of mine come to meetin' that way.
+      Even if her folks was poorer'n Job's off ox I'd spend a little on my own
+      account and trust to getting it back some time. I'd have more care for my
+      own self-respect. Look at Alicia Atkins. See how nice she looks. Them
+      feathers on her hat must have cost somethin', I bet you. Howdy do, 'Licia,
+      dear? When's your pa comin' home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman had left town on a business trip to the South. Alicia
+      was accompanied by the Atkins housekeeper and, as usual, was garbed
+      regardless of expense.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Salters smiled sweetly upon the Atkins heir and then added, in a
+      church whisper: &ldquo;Don't she look sweet? I agree with you, Sarah; it is
+      strange how Captain Whittaker lets his little niece go. And him rich!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Niece?&rdquo; repeated Mrs. Simpson eagerly. &ldquo;Who said 'twas his niece? I heard
+      'twas a child he'd adopted out of a home. There's all sorts of queer yarns
+      about. I&mdash;Oh, good mornin', Cap'n Cyrus! How DO you do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain grunted an answer to the effect that he was bearing up pretty
+      well, considering. There was a scowl on his face, and he spoke little as,
+      holding Emily by the hand, he led the way home. That evening he dropped in
+      at the perfect boarding house and begged to know if Mrs. Bangs had any
+      &ldquo;fashion books&rdquo; around that she didn't want.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean&mdash;er&mdash;er&mdash;magazines with pictures of women's duds in
+      'em,&rdquo; he stammered, in explanation. &ldquo;Bos'n likes to look at 'em. She's
+      great on fashion books, Bos'n is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah got together a half dozen numbers of the Home Dressmaker and other
+      periodicals of a similar nature. The captain took them under his arm and
+      departed, whispering to Mr. Tidditt, as he passed the latter in the hall:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come up by and by, Ase. I want to talk to you. Bring Bailey along, if you
+      can do it without startin' divorce proceedings.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Later, when the trio gathered in the Whittaker sitting room, Captain Cy
+      produced the &ldquo;fashion books&rdquo; and spoke concerning them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I've been thinkin' that Bos'n&mdash;Emily,
+      that is&mdash;wan't rigged exactly the way she ought to be. Have you
+      fellers noticed it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friends seemed surprised. Neither was ready with an immediate answer,
+      so the captain went on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I don't mean she ain't got canvas enough to cover her spars,&rdquo; he
+      explained; &ldquo;but what she has got has seen consider'ble weather, and it
+      seemed to me 'twas pretty nigh time to haul her into dry dock and refit.
+      That's why I borrowed these magazines of Ketury. I've been lookin' them
+      over and there seems to be plenty of riggin' for small craft; the only
+      thing is I don't know what's the right cut for her build. Bailey, you're a
+      married man; you ought to know somethin' about women's clothes. What do
+      you think of this, now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He opened one of the magazines and pointed to the picture of a young girl,
+      with a waspy waist and Lilliputian feet, who, arrayed in flounces and
+      furbelows, was toddling gingerly down a flight of marble steps. She
+      carried a parasol in one hand, and the other held the end of a chain to
+      which a long-haired dog was attached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk and his companion inspected the young lady with
+      deliberation and interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what do you say?&rdquo; demanded Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't care much for them kind of dogs,&rdquo; observed Asaph thoughtfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the clothes, for
+      good measure, do you? Bailey, what's your opinion?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs looked wise.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should say&mdash;&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;yes, sir, I should say that was a real
+      stylish rig-out. Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less fleshy than
+      Emily. This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in two amidships.
+      Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready made, so they could be
+      let out some, to fit. What's the price of a suit like that, Whit?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate and
+      then turned to the description in the text.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'&rdquo; he read. &ldquo;Humph! that settles
+      that, first crack. Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anyway,&rdquo; put in Asaph, &ldquo;you need somethin' she could wear forenoons, if
+      she wanted to. What's this one? She looks young enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;one&rdquo; referred to turned out to be a &ldquo;coat for child of four.&rdquo; It was
+      therefore scornfully rejected. One after another the different magazines
+      were examined and the pictures discussed. At length a &ldquo;costume for miss of
+      eight years&rdquo; was pronounced to be pretty nearly the thing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;That's mighty
+      swell, ain't it? What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.' What in time is
+      batiste?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. Do you, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; never heard of it. Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm sure.
+      French, I shouldn't wonder. Well, Ketury's down on the French ever sence
+      she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to take up with another
+      woman. Does it say any more?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let's see. 'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.' Summer!
+      Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again! Bos'n don't want summer
+      clothes. It's comin' on winter.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then burst
+      into a laugh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!&rdquo; he
+      said. &ldquo;I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second childhood. But
+      when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin' on about how pretty
+      'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and shabby Bos'n looked, it made me
+      bile. And, by the big dipper, I WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get
+      through, too! Only, dressin' little girls is some off my usual course.
+      Bailey, does Ketury make her own duds?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no! Course she helps and stands by for orders, but Effie Taylor
+      comes and takes the wheel while the riggin's goin' on. Effie's a
+      dressmaker and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! See, Ase? It IS some good to have a married man aboard, after all.
+      A dressmaker's what we want. I'll hunt up Effie to-morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And hunt her up he did, with the result that Miss Taylor came to the
+      Whittaker place each day during the following week and Emily was, as the
+      captain said, &ldquo;rigged out fresh from main truck to keelson.&rdquo; In this
+      &ldquo;rigging&rdquo; Captain Cy and his two partners&mdash;Josiah Dimick had already
+      christened the pair &ldquo;The Board of Strategy&rdquo;&mdash;took a marked interest.
+      They were on hand when each new garment was tried on, and they approved or
+      criticised as seemed to them best.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't that kind of sober lookin' for a young one like Bos'n?&rdquo; asked the
+      captain, referring to one of the new gowns. &ldquo;I don't want her to look as
+      if she was dressed cheap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land sakes!&rdquo; mumbled Miss Taylor, her mouth full of pins. &ldquo;There ain't
+      anything cheap about it, and you'll find it out when you get the bill.
+      That's a nice, rich, sensible suit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but it's so everlastin' quiet! Don't you think a little yellow
+      and black or some red strung along the yards would sort of liven it up?
+      Why! you ought to see them Greaser girls down in South America of a Sunday
+      afternoon. Color! and go! Jerushy! they'd pretty nigh knock your eye out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The dressmaker sniffed disdain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she retorted, &ldquo;if you want this child to look like an
+      Indian squaw or a barber's pole you'll have to get somebody else to do it.
+      I'm used to dressing Christians, not yeller and black heathen women. Red
+      strung along a skirt like that! I never did!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, Effie! Don't get the barometer fallin'. I was only
+      suggestin', you know. What do you think, Bos'n?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Uncle Cyrus, I don't believe I should like red very much; nor the
+      other colors, either. I like this just as it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So? Well, you're the doctor. Maybe you're right. I wouldn't want you to
+      look like a barber's pole. Don't love Tad Simpson enough to want to
+      advertise his business.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor's coming had other results besides the refitting of &ldquo;Bos'n.&rdquo;
+       She found much fault with the captain's housekeeping. It developed that
+      her sister Georgiana, who had been working in a Brockton shoe shop, was
+      now at home and might be engaged to attend to the household duties at the
+      Whittaker establishment, provided she was allowed to &ldquo;go home nights.&rdquo;
+       Georgiana was engaged, on trial, and did well. So that problem was solved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      School in Bayport opens the first week in October. Of late there has been
+      a movement, headed by some of the townspeople who think city ways are
+      best, to have the term begin in September. But this idea has little chance
+      of success as long as cranberry picking continues to be our leading
+      industry. So many of the children help out the family means by picking
+      cranberries in the fall that school, until the picking season was over,
+      would be slimly attended.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The last week in September found us all discussing the coming of the new
+      downstairs teacher, Miss Phoebe Dawes. Since it was definitely settled
+      that she was to come, the opposition had died down and was less openly
+      expressed; but it was there, all the same, beneath the surface.
+      Congressman Atkins had accepted the surprising defiance of his wish with
+      calm dignity and the philosophy of the truly great who are not troubled by
+      trifles. His lieutenant, Tad Simpson, quoted him as saying that, of
+      course, the will of the school committee was paramount, and he, as all
+      good citizens should, bowed to their verdict. &ldquo;Far be it from me,&rdquo; so the
+      great man proclaimed, &ldquo;to desire that my opinion should carry more weight
+      than that of the humblest of my friends and neighbors. Speaking as one
+      whose knowledge of the world was, perhaps&mdash;er&mdash;more extensive
+      than&mdash;er&mdash;others, I favored the Normal School candidate. But the
+      persons chosen to select thought&mdash;or appeared to think&mdash;otherwise.
+      I therefore say nothing and await developments.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This attitude was considered by most of us to reflect credit upon Mr.
+      Atkins. There were a few scoffers, however. When the proclamation was
+      repeated to Captain Cy he smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alpheus,&rdquo; he said to Mr. Smalley, his informant, &ldquo;you didn't use to know
+      Deacon Zeb Clark, who lived up by the salt works in my granddad's time,
+      hey? No, course you didn't! Well, the deacon was a great believer in his
+      own judgment. One time, it bein' Saturday, his wife wanted him to pump the
+      washtub full and take a bath. He said, no; said the cistern was awful low
+      and 'twould use up all the water. She said no such thing; there was water
+      a-plenty. To prove she was wrong he went and pried the cistern cover off
+      to look, and fell in. Mrs. Clark peeked down and saw him there, standin'
+      up to his neck.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tabby,' says he, 'you would have your way and I'm takin' the bath. But
+      you can see for yourself that we'll have to cart water from now on.
+      However, <i>I</i> ain't responsible; throw me down the soap and towel.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; grunted Smalley, &ldquo;I don't see what that's got to do with it.
+      Heman ain't takin' no bath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know's it's got anything to do with it. But he kind of made me
+      think of Zeb, all the same.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The first day of school was, of course, a Monday. On Sunday afternoon
+      Captain Cy and Bos'n went for a walk. These walks had become a regular
+      part of the Sabbath programme, the weather, of course, permitting. After
+      church the pair came home for dinner. The meal being eaten, the captain
+      would light a cigar&mdash;a pipe was now hardly &ldquo;dressed-up&rdquo; enough for
+      Sunday&mdash;and, taking his small partner by the hand, would lead the way
+      across the fields, through the pines and down by the meadow &ldquo;short cut&rdquo; to
+      the cemetery. The cemetery is a favorite Sabbath resort for the natives of
+      Bayport, who usually speak of it as the graveyard. It is a pleasant, shady
+      spot, and to visit it is considered quite respectable and in keeping with
+      the day and a due regard for decorum. The ungodly, meaning the summer
+      boarders and the village no-accounts, seem to prefer the beach and the
+      fish houses, but the cemetery attracts the churchgoers. One may gossip
+      concerning the probable cost of a new tombstone and still remain faithful
+      to the most rigid creed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was not, strictly speaking, a religious man, according to
+      Bayport standards. Between his attendance to churchly duties and that of
+      the Honorable Heman Atkins there was a great gulf fixed. But he rather
+      liked to visit the graveyard on Sunday afternoons. His mother had been
+      used to stroll there with him, in his boyhood, and it pleased him to
+      follow in her footsteps.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So he and Bos'n walked along the grass-covered paths, between the
+      iron-fenced &ldquo;lots&rdquo; of the well-to-do and the humble mounds and simple
+      slabs where the poor were sleeping; past the sumptuous granite shaft of
+      the Atkins lot and the tilted mossy stone which told how &ldquo;Edwin Simpson,
+      our only son,&rdquo; had been &ldquo;accidentally shot in the West Indies&rdquo;; out
+      through the back gate and up the hill to the pine grove overlooking the
+      bay. Here, on a scented carpet of pine needles, they sat them down to rest
+      and chat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily, her small knees drawn up and encircled by her arms, looked out
+      across the flats, now half covered with the rising tide. It was a mild
+      day, more like August than October, and there was almost no wind. The sun
+      was shining on the shallow water, and the sand beneath it showed yellow,
+      checkered and marbled with dark green streaks and patches where the
+      weed-bordered channels wound tortuously. On the horizon the sand hills of
+      Wellmouth notched the blue sky. The girl drew a long breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Isn't this just lovely! I do like the sea an awful
+      lot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's natural enough,&rdquo; replied her companion. &ldquo;There's a big streak of
+      salt water in your blood on your ma's side. It pulls, that kind of a
+      streak does. There's days when I feel uneasy every minute and hanker for a
+      deck underneath me. The settin' room floor stays altogether too quiet on a
+      day like that; I'd like to feel it heavin' over a ground swell.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Bos'n,&rdquo; he said a few minutes later; &ldquo;I've been thinkin' about you.
+      You've been to school, haven't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I have,&rdquo; was the rather indignant answer. &ldquo;I went two years in
+      Concord. Mamma used to help me nights, too. I can read almost all the
+      little words. Don't I help you read your paper 'most every night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin you do! Yes, yes! Well, our school opens to-morrer and I've been
+      thinkin' that maybe you'd better go. There's a new teacher comin', and I
+      hear she's pretty good.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you KNOW? Why, Mr. Tidditt said you was the one that got her to
+      come here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; well, Asaph says 'most everything but his prayers. Still, he ain't
+      fur off this time; I cal'late I was some responsible for her bein' voted
+      in. Yet I don't really know anything about her. You see, I&mdash;well,
+      never mind. What do you think? Want to go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n looked troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'd like to,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Course I want to learn how to read the big
+      words, too. But I like to stay at home with you more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You do, hey? Sho, sho! Well, I guess I can get along between times.
+      Georgiana's there to keep me straight and she'll see to the dust and the
+      dishes. I guess you'd better go to-morrer mornin' and see how you like it,
+      anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child thought for a moment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you're awful good,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I like you next to mamma; even
+      better than Auntie Oliver. I printed a letter to her the other day. I told
+      her you were better than we expected and I had decided to live with you
+      always.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was startled. Considering that, only the day before, he had
+      repeated to Bailey the declaration that the arrangement was but temporary,
+      and that Betsy Howes was escaping responsibility only for a month or so,
+      he scarcely knew what to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;You've decided it, have you? Well, we'll see. Now
+      you trot around and have a good time. I'm goin' to have another smoke.
+      I'll be here when you get back.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n wandered off in search of late golden rod. The captain smoked and
+      meditated. By and by the puffs were less frequent and the cigar went out.
+      It fell from his fingers. With his back against a pine tree Captain Cy
+      dozed peacefully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He awoke with a jump. Something had awakened him, but he did not know
+      what. He blinked and gazed about him. Then he heard a faint scream.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle!&rdquo; screamed Bos'n. &ldquo;O&mdash;o&mdash;o&mdash;h! Uncle Cyrus, help me!
+      Come quick!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The next moment the captain was plunging through the scrub of huckleberry
+      and bayberry bushes, bumping into pines and smashing the branches aside as
+      he ran in the direction of the call.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Back of the pine grove was a big inclosed pasture nearly a quarter of a
+      mile long. Its rear boundary was the iron fence of the cemetery. The other
+      three sides were marked by rail fences and a stone wall. As the captain
+      floundered from the grove and vaulted the rail fence he swore aloud.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper,&rdquo; he groaned, &ldquo;it's that cussed heifer! I forgot her.
+      Keep dodgin', Bos'n girl! I'm comin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pasture was tenanted by a red and white cow belonging to Sylvanus
+      Cahoon. Whether or not the animal had, during her calfhood days, been
+      injured by a woman is not known; possibly her behavior was due merely to
+      innate depravity. At any rate, she cherished a mortal hatred toward human
+      beings of her own sex. With men and boys she was meek enough, but no
+      person wearing skirts, and alone, might venture in that field without
+      being chased by that cow. What would happen if the pursued one was caught
+      could only be surmised, for, so far, no female had permitted herself to be
+      caught. Few would come even so near as the other side of the pasture
+      walls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n had forgotten the cow. She had gone from one golden-rod clump to
+      another until she had traversed nearly the length of the field. Then the
+      vicious creature had appeared from behind a knoll in the pasture and, head
+      down and bellowing wickedly, had rushed upon her. When the captain reached
+      the far-off fence, the little girl was dodging from one dwarf pine to the
+      next, with the cow in pursuit. The pines were few and Bos'n was nearly at
+      the end of her defenses.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Help!&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;Oh, uncle, where are you? What shall I do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy roared in answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep it up!&rdquo; he yelled. &ldquo;I'm a-comin'! Shoot you everlastin' critter!
+      I'll break your back for you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The cow didn't understand English it seemed, even such vigorous English as
+      the captain was using. Emily dodged to the last pine. The animal was close
+      upon her. Her rescuer was still far away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the cemetery gate opened and another person entered the pasture.
+      A small person&mdash;a woman. She said nothing, but picking up her skirts,
+      ran straight toward the cow, heedless of the latter's reputation and
+      vicious appearance. One hand clutched the gathered skirts. In the other
+      she held a book.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be scared, dear,&rdquo; she called reassuringly. Then to the cow: &ldquo;Stop
+      it! Go away, you wicked thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The animal heard the voice and turned. Seeing that the newcomer was only a
+      woman, she lowered her head and pawed the ground.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Run for the gate, little girl,&rdquo; commanded the rescuer. &ldquo;Run quick!&rdquo; Bos'n
+      obeyed. She made a desperate dash from her pine across the open space, and
+      in another moment was safe inside the cemetery fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Scat! Go home!&rdquo; ordered the lady, advancing toward the cow and shaking
+      the book at her, as if the volume was some sort of deadly weapon. &ldquo;Aren't
+      you ashamed of yourself! Go away! You needn't growl at me! I'm not a bit
+      afraid of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;growling&rdquo; was the muttered bellow with which the cow was wont to
+      terrorize her feminine victims. But this victim refused to be terrorized.
+      Instead of screaming and running she continued to advance, brandishing the
+      book and repeating her orders that the creature &ldquo;go home&rdquo; at once. The cow
+      did not know what to make of it. Before she could decide whether to charge
+      or retreat, a good-sized stick descended upon her back with a &ldquo;whack&rdquo; that
+      settled the question. Captain Cy had reached the scene of battle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then the rescuer's courage seemed to desert her, for she ran back to the
+      cemetery even faster than she had run from it. When the indignant captain,
+      having pursued and chastised the cow until the stick was but a splintered
+      remnant, reached the haven behind the iron fence, he found her soothing
+      the frightened Bos'n who was sobbing and hysterical.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily saw her &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus&rdquo; coming and rushed into his arms. He picked her
+      up and, holding her with a grip which testified to the nerve strain he had
+      been under, stepped forward to meet the stranger, whose coming had been so
+      opportune.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And she WAS a stranger. The captain knew most of Bayport's inhabitants by
+      this time, or thought he did, but he did not know her. She was a small
+      woman, quietly dressed, and her hair, under a neat black and white hat,
+      was brown. The hat was now a trifle to one side and the hair was the least
+      bit disarranged, an effect not at all unbecoming. She was tucking in the
+      stray wisps as the captain, with Bos'n in his arms, came up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, ma'am!&rdquo; puffed Captain Cy. &ldquo;WELL, ma'am! I must say that was the
+      slickest, pluckiest thing ever I saw anywheres. I don't know what would&mdash;I&mdash;I
+      declare I don't know how to thank you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady looked at him a moment before replying. Then she began to laugh,
+      a jolly laugh that was pleasant to hear.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't try, please,&rdquo; she said chokingly. &ldquo;It wasn't anything. Oh, mercy
+      me! I'm all out of breath. You see, I had been warned about that cow when
+      I started to walk this afternoon. So when I saw her chasing your poor
+      little girl here I knew right away what was the matter. It must have been
+      foolish enough to look at. I'm used to dogs and cats, but I haven't had
+      many pet cows. I told her to 'go home' and to 'scat' and all sorts of
+      things. Wonder I didn't tell her to lie down! And the way I shook that
+      ridiculous book at her was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed again and the captain and Bos'n joined in the laugh, in spite
+      of the fright they both had experienced.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That book was dry enough to frighten almost anything,&rdquo; continued the
+      lady. &ldquo;It was one I took from the table before I left the place where I'm
+      staying, and a duller collection of sermons I never saw. Oh, dear! . . .
+      there! Is my hat any more respectable now?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes'm. It's about on an even keel, I should say. But I must tell you,
+      ma'am, you done simply great and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Seems to me the people who own that cow must be a poor set to let her
+      make such a nuisance of herself. Did your daughter run away from you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you see, ma'am, she ain't really my daughter. Bos'n here&mdash;that's
+      my nickname for her, ma'am&mdash;she and I was out walkin'. I set down in
+      the pines and I guess I must have dozed off. Anyhow, when I woke up she
+      was gone, and the first thing I knew of this scrape was hearin' her hail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little woman's manner changed. Her gray eyes flashed indignantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You dozed off?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;With a little girl in your charge, and in
+      the very next lot to that cow? Didn't you know the creature chased women
+      and girls?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes; I'd heard of it, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It wasn't Uncle Cyrus's fault,&rdquo; put in Bos'n eagerly. &ldquo;It was mine. I
+      went away by myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Beyond shifting her gaze to the child the lady paid no attention to this
+      remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think her mother 'll say when she sees that dress?&rdquo; she
+      asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Emily's best gown, the finest of the new &ldquo;rig out&rdquo; prepared by Miss
+      Taylor. The girl and Captain Cy gazed ruefully at the rents and pitch
+      stains made by the vines and pine trees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you see,&rdquo; replied the abashed captain, &ldquo;the fact is, she ain't got
+      any mother.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! I beg your pardon. And hers, too, poor dear. Well, if I were you I
+      shouldn't go to sleep next time I took her walking. Good afternoon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She turned and calmly walked down the path. At the bend she spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I should be gentle with her, if I were you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Her nerves are
+      pretty well upset. Besides, if you'll excuse my saying so, I don't think
+      she is the one that needs scolding.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They thought she had gone, but she turned once more to add a final
+      suggestion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think that dress could be fixed,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;if you took it to some one
+      who knew about such things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She disappeared amidst the graveyard shrubbery. Captain Cy and Bos'n
+      slowly followed her. From the pasture the red and white cow sent after
+      them a broken-spirited &ldquo;Moo!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n was highly indignant. During the homeward walk she sputtered like a
+      damp firecracker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The idea of her talking so to you, Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It
+      wasn't your fault at all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled one-sidedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know about that, shipmate,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I wouldn't wonder if she
+      was more than half right. But say! she was all business and no frills,
+      wasn't she! Ha, ha! How she did spunk up to that heifer! Who in the
+      dickens do you cal'late she is?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER VIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE &ldquo;COW LADY&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      That question was answered the very next day. Bos'n, carefully dressed by
+      Georgianna under the captain's supervision, and weighted down with advice
+      and counsel from the latter, started for the schoolhouse at a quarter to
+      nine. Only a sense of shame kept Captain Cy from walking to school with
+      her. He spent a miserable forenoon. They were quite the longest three
+      hours in his varied experience. The house was dreadfully lonely. He
+      wandered from kitchen to sitting room, worried Georgianna, woke up the
+      cat, and made a complete nuisance of himself. Twelve o'clock found him
+      leaning over the gate and looking eagerly in the direction of the
+      schoolhouse.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n ran all the way home. She was in a high state of excitement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;What DO you think? I've
+      found out who the cow lady is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The cow lady? Oh, yes, yes! Have you? Who is she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's teacher, that's who she is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Phoebe Dawes? You don't say so! Well, well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. When I went into school and found her sitting there I was so
+      surprised I didn't know what to do. She knew me, too, and said good
+      morning, and was I all right again and was my dress really as bad as it
+      looked to be? I told her that Georgianna thought she could fix it, and if
+      she couldn't, her sister could. She said that was nice, and then 'twas
+      time for school to begin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did she say anything about me?&rdquo; inquired Captain Cy when they were seated
+      at the dinner table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes! I forgot. She must have found out who you are, 'cause she said
+      she was surprised that a man who had made his money out of hides should
+      have been so careless about the creatures that wore 'em.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! How'd she get along with the young ones in school?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It appeared that she had gotten along very well with them. Some of the
+      bigger boys in the back seats, cherishing pleasant memories of the &ldquo;fun&rdquo;
+       they had under Miss Seabury's easy-going rule, attempted to repeat their
+      performances of the previous term. But the very first &ldquo;spitball&rdquo; which
+      spattered upon the blackboard proved a disastrous missile for its thrower.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She made him clean the board,&rdquo; proclaimed Bos'n, big-eyed and awestruck,
+      &ldquo;and then he had to stand in the corner. He was Bennie Edwards, and he's
+      most thirteen. Miss Seabury, they said, couldn't do anything with him, but
+      teacher said 'Go,' as quiet as could be and just looked at him, and he
+      went. And he's most as tall as she is. He did look so silly!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Edwards youth was not the only one who was made to &ldquo;look silly&rdquo; by
+      little Miss Dawes during the first days of her stay in Bayport. She dealt
+      with the unruly members of her classes as bravely as she had faced the
+      Cahoon cow, and the results were just as satisfactory. She was strict, but
+      she was impartial, and Alicia Atkins found, to her great surprise, that
+      the daughter of a congressman was expected to study as faithfully and
+      behave herself as well as freckled-faced Noah Hamlin, whose father peddled
+      fish and whose everyday costume was a checkered &ldquo;jumper&rdquo; and patched
+      overalls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The school committee, that is, the majority of it, was delighted with the
+      new teacher. Lemuel Myrick boasted loudly of his good judgment in voting
+      for her. But Tad Simpson and Darius Ellis and others of the Atkins
+      following still scoffed and hinted at trouble in the future.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A new broom sweeps fine,&rdquo; quoted Mr. Simpson. &ldquo;She's doin' all right now,
+      maybe. Anyway, the young ones are behavin' themselves, but disCIPline
+      ain't the whole thing. Heman told me that the teacher he wanted could talk
+      French language and play music and all kinds of accomplishments. Phoebe&mdash;not
+      findin' any fault with her, you understand&mdash;don't know no more about
+      music than a hen; my wife says she don't even sing in church loud enough
+      for anybody to hear her. And as for French! why everybody knows she uses
+      the commonest sort of United States, just as easy to understand as what
+      I'm sayin' now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes boarded at the perfect boarding house. There opinion was
+      divided concerning her. Bailey and Mr. Tidditt liked her, but the feminine
+      boarders were not so favorably impressed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think she's altogether too pert about what don't concern her,&rdquo;
+       commented Angeline Phinney. &ldquo;Sarah Emma Simpson dropped in t'other day to
+      dinner, and we church folks got to talkin' about the minister's preachin'
+      such 'advanced' sermons. And Sarah Emma told how she'd heard he said he'd
+      known some real moral Universalists in his time, or some such unreligious
+      foolishness. And I said I wondered he didn't get a new tail coat; the one
+      he preached in Sundays was old as the hills and so outgrown it wouldn't
+      scurcely button acrost him. 'A man bein' paid nine hundred a year,' I
+      says, 'ought to dress decent, anyhow.' And that Phoebe Dawes speaks up,
+      without bein' asked, and says for her part she'd ruther hear a broad man
+      in a narrer coat than t'other way about. 'Twas a regular slap in the face
+      for me, and Sarah Emma and I ain't got over it yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy heard the gossip concerning the new teacher and it rather
+      pleased him. She appeared to be independent, and he liked independence. He
+      met her once or twice on the street, but she merely bowed and passed on.
+      Once he tried to thank her again for her part in the cow episode, but she
+      would not listen to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n was making good progress with her studies. She was naturally a
+      bright child&mdash;not the marvel the captain and the &ldquo;Board of Strategy&rdquo;
+       considered her, but quick to learn. She was not a saint, however, and
+      occasionally misbehaved in school and was punished for it. One afternoon
+      she did not return at her usual hour. Captain Cy was waiting at the gate
+      when Asaph Tidditt happened along. Bailey, too, was with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Waitin' for Bos'n, was you?&rdquo; asked the town clerk. &ldquo;Well, you'll have to
+      wait quite a spell, I cal'late. She's been kept after school.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; and she's got to write fifty lines of copy,&rdquo; added Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was highly indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Get out!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;She ain't neither.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, she has, too. One of the Salters young ones told me. I knew you'd be
+      mad, though I s'pose folks that didn't know her's well's we do would say
+      she's no different from other children.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was close to heresy, according to the captain's opinion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She ain't!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;I'd like to know why not! If she ain't twice as
+      smart as the run of young ones 'round here then&mdash;Humph! And she's
+      kept after school! Well, now; I won't have it! There's enough time for
+      studyin' without wearin' out her brains after hours. Oh, I guess you're
+      mistaken.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, we ain't. I tell you, Whit, if I was you I'd make a fuss about this.
+      She's a smart child, Bos'n is; I never see a smarter. And she ain't any
+      too strong.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's so, she ain't.&rdquo; The idea that Emily's health was &ldquo;delicate&rdquo; had
+      become a fixed fact in the minds of the captain and the &ldquo;Board.&rdquo; It made a
+      good excuse for the systematic process of &ldquo;spoiling&rdquo; the girl, which the
+      indulgent three were doing their best to carry on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't let her be kept, Cy,&rdquo; urged Bailey. &ldquo;Why don't you go right
+      off and see Phoebe and settle this thing? You've got a right to talk to
+      her. She wouldn't be teacher if it wasn't for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph added his arguments to those of Mr. Bangs. Captain Cy, carried away
+      by his firm belief that Bos'n was a paragon of all that was brilliant and
+      good, finally yielded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Come on! That poor little thing shan't be put
+      upon by nobody.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trio marched majestically down the hill. As they neared the
+      schoolhouse Bailey's courage began to fail. Miss Dawes was a boarder at
+      his house, and he feared consequences should Keturah learn of his
+      interference.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I guess you don't need me,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;The three of us 'll
+      scare that teacher woman most to death. And she's so little and meek, you
+      know. If I should lose my temper and rare up I might say somethin' that
+      would hurt her feelin's. I'll set on the fence and wait for you and Ase,
+      Whit.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt's scornful comments concerning &ldquo;white feathers&rdquo; and
+      &ldquo;backsliders&rdquo; had no effect. Mr. Bangs perched himself on the fence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give it to her, fellers!&rdquo; he called after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talk Dutch to her! Let her know that there's one child she can't abuse.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      At the foot of the steps Asaph paused.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Cy,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;don't you think I better not go in? It ain't
+      really my business, you know, and&mdash;and&mdash;Well, I'm on the
+      s'lectmen and she might be frightened if she see me pouncin' down on her.
+      'Tain't as if I was just a common man. I'll go and set along of Bailey and
+      you go in and talk quiet to her. She'd feel so sort of ashamed if there
+      was anyone else to hear the rakin' over&mdash;hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, see here, Ase,&rdquo; expostulated the captain, &ldquo;I don't like to do this
+      all by myself! Besides, 'twas you chaps put me up to it. You ain't goin'
+      to pull out of the race and leave me to go over the course alone, are you?
+      Come on! what are, you afraid of?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His companion hotly denied that he was &ldquo;afraid&rdquo; of anything. He had all
+      sorts of arguments to back his decision. At last Captain Cy lost patience.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, BE a skulk, if you want to!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;I've set out to see this
+      thing through, and I'm goin' to do it. Only,&rdquo; he muttered, as he entered
+      the downstairs vestibule, &ldquo;I wish I didn't feel quite so much as if I was
+      stealin' hens' eggs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes herself opened the door in response to his knock.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, it's you, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Come in, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy entered the schoolroom. It was empty, save for the teacher and
+      himself and one little girl, who, seated at a desk, was writing busily.
+      She looked up and blushed a vivid red. The little girl was Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, Cap'n,&rdquo; said Miss Phoebe, indicating the visitor's chair. &ldquo;What
+      was it you wanted to see me about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain accepted the invitation to be seated, but he did not
+      immediately reply to Miss Dawes's question. He dropped his hat on the
+      floor, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and then observed that it was
+      pretty summery weather for so late in the fall. The teacher admitted the
+      truth of his assertion and waited for him to continue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I s'pose school's pretty full, now that cranb'ryin' 's over,&rdquo;
+       said Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, pretty full.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gettin' along first rate with the scholars, I hear.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was a most unpromising beginning, really no beginning at all. The
+      captain cleared his throat, set his teeth, and, without looking at his
+      companion, dove headlong into the business which had brought him there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I s'pose you know that Bos'n&mdash;I mean
+      Emily there&mdash;is livin' at my house and that I'm taking care of her
+      for&mdash;for the present.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lady smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I gathered as much from what you said when we first
+      met.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She herself had said one or two things on that occasion. Captain Cy
+      remembered them distinctly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes,&rdquo; he said hastily. &ldquo;Well, my doin's that time wasn't exactly the
+      best sample of the care, I will say. Wan't even a fair sample, maybe. I
+      try to do my best with the child, long as she stays with me, and&mdash;er&mdash;and&mdash;er&mdash;I'm
+      pretty particular about her health.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm glad to hear it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Now, Miss Phoebe, I appreciate what you did for Bos'n and me that
+      Sunday, and I'm thankful for it. I've tried to thank&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. Please don't say any more about it. I imagine there is something
+      else you want to say, isn't there?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, there is. I&mdash;I heard that Emmie had been kept after
+      school. I didn't believe it, of course, but I thought I'd run up and see
+      what&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He hesitated. The teacher finished the sentence for him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see if it was true?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It is. I told her to stay and write
+      fifty lines.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did? Well, now that's what I wanted to speak to you about. Course I
+      ain't interferin' in your affairs, you know, but I just wanted to explain
+      about Bos'n&mdash;Emmie, I mean. She ain't a common child; she's got too
+      much head for the rest of her. If you'd lived with her same as I have
+      you'd appreciate it. Her health's delicate.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it? She seems strong enough to me. I haven't noticed any symptoms.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course not, else you wouldn't have kept her in. But <i>I</i> know, and I
+      think it's my duty to tell you. Never mind if she can't do quite so much
+      writin'. I'd rather she wouldn't; she might bust a blood vessel or
+      somethin'. Such things HAVE happened, to extry smart young ones. You just
+      let her trot along home with me now and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; Miss Dawes had risen to her feet with a determined
+      expression on her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, ma'am,&rdquo; said the captain, rising also.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; repeated the teacher, &ldquo;I'm very glad that you called.
+      I've been rather expecting you might, because of certain things I have
+      heard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You heard? What was it you heard&mdash;if you don't mind my askin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, I don't, because I think we must have an understanding about Emily. I
+      have heard that you allow her to do as she pleases at home; in other
+      words, that you are spoiling her, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;SPOILIN' her! <i>I</i> spoilin' her? Who told you such an unlikely yarn
+      as that? I ain't the kind to spoil anybody. Why, I'm so strict that I'm
+      ashamed of myself sometimes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He honestly believed he was. Miss Phoebe calmly continued.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course, what you do at home is none of my business. I shouldn't
+      mention it anyhow, if you hadn't called, because I pay very little
+      attention to town talk, having lived in this county all my life and
+      knowing what gossip amounts to. I like Emily; she's a pretty good little
+      girl and well behaved, as children go. But this you must understand. She
+      can't be spoiled here. She whispered this afternoon, twice. She has been
+      warned often, and knows the rule. I kept her after school because she
+      broke that rule, and if she breaks it again, she will be punished again. I
+      kept the Edwards boy two hours yesterday and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Edwards boy! Do you mean to compare that&mdash;that young rip of a Ben
+      Edwards with a girl like Bos'n? I never heard&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not comparing anybody. I'm trying to be fair to every scholar in this
+      room. And, so long as Emily behaves herself, she shall be treated
+      accordingly. When she doesn't, she shall be punished. You must understand
+      that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Ben Edwards! Why, he's a wooden-head, same as his dad was a fore him!
+      And Emmie's the smartest scholar in this town.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no, she isn't! She's a good scholar, but there are others just as
+      good and even quicker to learn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was piling one insult upon another. Other children as brilliant as
+      Bos'n! Captain Cy was bursting with righteous indignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;Well! for a teacher that we've called to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And that's another thing,&rdquo; broke in Miss Dawes quickly. &ldquo;I've been told
+      that you, Cap'n Whittaker, are the one directly responsible for my being
+      chosen for this place. I don't say that you are presuming on that, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't! I never thought of such a thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But if you are you mustn't, that's all. I didn't ask for the position
+      and, now that I've got it, I shall try to fill it without regard to one
+      person more than another. Emily stays here until her lines are written. I
+      don't think we need to say any more. Good day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She opened the door. Captain Cy picked up his hat, swallowed hard, and
+      stepped across the threshold. Then Miss Phoebe added one more remark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;when you were in command of a ship did you allow
+      outsiders to tell you how to treat the sailors?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain opened his mouth to reply. He wanted to reply very much, but
+      somehow he couldn't find a satisfying answer to that question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ma'am,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;all I can say is that if you'd been in South America,
+      same as I have, and seen the way them half-breed young ones act, you'd&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher smiled, in spite of an apparent effort not to.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Perhaps so,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;but this is Massachusetts. And&mdash;well, Emily
+      isn't a half-breed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy strode through the vestibule. Just before the door closed
+      behind him he heard a stifled sob from poor Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy was waiting at the end of the yard. Its members were
+      filled with curiosity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you give it to her good?&rdquo; demanded Asaph. &ldquo;Did you let her understand
+      we wouldn't put up with such cruelizin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's Bos'n?&rdquo; asked Mr. Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Their friend's answers were brief and tantalizingly incomplete. He walked
+      homeward at a gait which caused plump little Bailey to puff in his efforts
+      to keep up, and he would say almost nothing about the interview in the
+      schoolroom.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Mr. Tidditt, when they reached the Whittaker gate, &ldquo;I guess
+      she knows her place now; hey, Cy? I cal'late she'll be careful who she
+      keeps after school from now on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Didn't use no profane language, did you, Cy?&rdquo; asked Bailey. &ldquo;I hope not,
+      'cause she might have you took up just out of spite. Did she ask your
+      pardon for her actions?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; roared the captain savagely. Then, banging the gate behind him, he
+      strode up the yard and into the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n came home a half hour later. Captain Cy was alone in the sitting
+      room, seated in his favorite rocker and moodily staring at nothing in
+      particular. The girl gazed at him for a moment and then climbed into his
+      lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wrote my fifty lines, Uncle Cyrus,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Teacher said I'd done
+      them very nicely, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain grunted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cy,&rdquo; whispered Bos'n, putting her arms around his neck, &ldquo;I'm awful
+      sorry I was so bad.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bad? Who&mdash;you? You couldn't be bad if you wanted to. Don't talk that
+      way or I'll say somethin' I hadn't ought to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I could be bad, too. I was bad. I whispered.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whispered! What of it? That ain't nothin'. When I was a young one in
+      school I used to whis&mdash; . . . Hum! Well, anyhow, don't you think any
+      more about it. 'Tain't worth while.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They rocked quietly for a time. Then Bos'n said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus, don't you like teacher?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? LIKE her? Well, if that ain't a question? Yes, I like her about as
+      well as Lonesome likes Eben Salter's dog.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry. I like her ever so much.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You DO? Go 'long! After the way she treated you, poor little thing!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She didn't treat me any worse than she does the other girls and boys when
+      they're naughty. And I did know the rule about whispering.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, that's different. Comparin' you with that Bennie Edwards&mdash;the
+      idea! And then makin' you cry!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She didn't make me cry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did, too. I heard you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child looked up at him and then hid her face in his waistcoat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wasn't crying about her,&rdquo; she whispered. &ldquo;It was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;ME!&rdquo; The captain gasped. &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;It's just as I
+      expected. She's studied too hard and it's touchin' her brain.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir, it isn't. It isn't truly. I did cry about you because I didn't
+      like to hear you talk so. And I was so sorry to have you come there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You WAS!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Other children's folks don't come when they're bad. And I kept
+      feeling so sort of ashamed of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ashamed of ME?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n nodded vigorously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. Everything teacher said sounded so right, and what you said
+      didn't. And I like to have you always right.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do, hey? Hum!&rdquo; Captain Cy didn't speak again for some few minutes, but he
+      held the little girl very tight in his arms. At length he drew a long
+      breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;By the big dipper, Bos'n!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You're a wonder, you are. I
+      wouldn't be surprised if you grew up to be a mind reader, like that feller
+      in the show we went to at the townhall a spell ago. To tell you the honest
+      Lord's truth, I've been ashamed of myself ever since I come out of that
+      schoolhouse door. When that teacher woman sprung that on me about my
+      fo'mast hands aboard ship I was set back about forty fathom. I never
+      wanted to answer anybody so bad in MY life, and I couldn't 'cause there
+      wasn't anything to say. I cal'late I've made a fool of myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n nodded again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We won't do so any more, will we?&rdquo; she said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet we won't! <i>I</i> won't, anyhow. You haven't done anything.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And you'll like teacher?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain stamped his foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, SIR!&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;She may be all right in her way&mdash;I s'pose
+      she is; but it's too Massachusettsy a way for me. No, sir! I don't like
+      her and I WON'T like her. No, sir-ee, never! She&mdash;she ain't my kind
+      of a woman,&rdquo; he added stubbornly. &ldquo;That's what's the matter! She ain't my
+      kind of a woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER IX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Town meeting&rdquo; was called for the twenty-first of November.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      With the summer boarders gone, the cranberry picking finished, state
+      election over, school begun and under way, and real winter not yet upon
+      us, Bayport, in the late fall, distinctly needs something to enliven it.
+      The Shakespeare Reading Society and the sewing circle continue, of course,
+      to interest the &ldquo;women folks,&rdquo; there is the usual every evening gathering
+      at Simmons's, and the young people are looking forward to the &ldquo;Grand Ball&rdquo;
+       on Thanksgiving eve. But for the men, on week days, there is little to do
+      except to &ldquo;putter&rdquo; about the house, banking its foundations with dry
+      seaweed as a precaution against searching no'theasters, whitewashing the
+      barns and outbuildings, or fixing things in the vegetable cellar where the
+      sticks of smoked herring hang in rows above the barrels of cabbages,
+      potatoes, and turnips. The fish weirs, most of them, are taken up, lest
+      the ice, which will be driven into the bay later on, tear the nets to
+      pieces. Even the hens grow lazy and lay less frequently. Therefore, away
+      back in the &ldquo;airly days,&rdquo; some far-sighted board of selectmen arranged
+      that &ldquo;town meeting&rdquo; should be held during this lackadaisical season. A
+      town meeting&mdash;and particularly a Bayport town meeting, where
+      everything from personal affairs to religion is likely to be discussed&mdash;can
+      stir up excitement when nothing else can.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      This year there were several questions to be talked over and settled at
+      town meeting. Two selectmen, whose terms expired, were candidates for
+      re-election. Lem Myrick had resigned from the school committee, not
+      waiting until spring, as he had announced that he should do. Then there
+      was the usual sentiment in favor of better roads and the usual opposition
+      to it. Also there was the ever-present hope of the government
+      appropriation for harbor improvement.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was one of the selectmen whose terms expired. In his dual
+      capacity as selectman and town clerk Asaph felt himself to be a very
+      important personage. To elect some one else in his place would be, he was
+      certain, a calamity which would stagger the township. Therefore he was a
+      busy man and made many calls upon his fellow citizens, not to influence
+      their votes&mdash;he was careful to explain that&mdash;but just, as he
+      said, &ldquo;to see how they was gettin' along,&rdquo; and because he &ldquo;thought
+      consider'ble of 'em&rdquo; and &ldquo;took a real personal interest, you understand,&rdquo;
+       in their affairs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To Captain Cy he came, naturally, for encouragement and help, being&mdash;as
+      was his habit at such times&mdash;in a state of gloom and hopeless
+      despair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No use, Whit,&rdquo; he groaned. &ldquo;'Tain't no use at all. I'm licked. I'm
+      gettin' old and they don't want me no more. I guess I'd better get right
+      up afore the votin' begins and tell 'em my health ain't strong enough to
+      be town clerk no longer. It's better to do that than to be licked. Don't
+      you think so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure thing!&rdquo; replied his friend, with sarcasm. &ldquo;If I was you I'd be toted
+      in on a bed so they can see you're all ready for the funeral. Might have
+      the doctor walkin' ahead, wipin' his eyes, and the joyful undertaker
+      trottin' along astern. What's the particular disease that's got you by the
+      collar just now&mdash;facial paralysis?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. What made you think of that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin'! Only I heard you stopped in at ten houses up to the west end
+      of the town yesterday, and talked three quarters of an hour steady at
+      everyone. That would fit me for the scrap heap inside of a week, and
+      you've been goin' it ever since September nearly. What does ail you&mdash;anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no; nothin' special that way. Only there don't seem to be any
+      enthusiasm for me, somehow. I just hint at my bein' a candidate and folks
+      say, 'Yes, indeed. Looks like rain, don't it?' and that's about all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, that hadn't ought to surprise you. If anybody came to me and says,
+      'The sun's goin' to rise to-morrer mornin',' I shouldn't dance on my hat
+      and crow hallelujahs. Enthusiasm! Why, Ase, you've been a candidate every
+      two years since Noah got the ark off the ways, or along there. And there
+      ain't been any opposition to you yet, except that time when Uncle 'Bial
+      Stickney woke up in the wrong place and hollered 'No,' out of principle,
+      thinkin' he was to home with his wife. If I was you I'd go and take a nap.
+      You'll read the minutes at selectmen's meetings for another fifty year,
+      more or less; take my word for it. As for the school committee, that's
+      different. I ain't made up my mind about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There had been much discussion concerning the school committee. Who should
+      be chosen to replace Mr. Myrick on the board was the gravest question to
+      come before the meeting. Many names had been proposed at Simmons's and
+      elsewhere, but some of those named had refused to run, and others had not,
+      after further consideration, seemed the proper persons for the office. In
+      the absence of Mr. Atkins, Tad Simpson was our leader in the political
+      arena. But Tad so far had been mute.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait a while,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;There's some weeks afore town meetin' day. This
+      is a serious business. We can't have no more&mdash;I mean no unsuitable
+      man to fill such an important place as that. The welfare of our
+      posterity,&rdquo; he added, and we all recognized the quotation, &ldquo;depends upon
+      the choice that's to be made.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A choice was made, however, on the very next day but one after this
+      declaration. A candidate announced himself. Asaph and Bailey hurried to
+      the Cy Whittaker place with the news. Captain Cy was in the woodshed
+      building a doll house for Bos'n. &ldquo;Just for my own amusement,&rdquo; he hastily
+      explained. &ldquo;Somethin' for her to take along when she goes out West to
+      Betsy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt was all smiles.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What do you think, Cy?&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;The new school committee man's as good
+      as elected. 'Lonzo Snow's goin' to take it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laid down his plane.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Lonzo Snow!&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;You don't say! Humph! Well, well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir!&rdquo; exclaimed Bailey. &ldquo;He's come forward and says it's his duty to
+      do so. He&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! His duty, hey? I wonder who pointed it out to him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't know. But even Tad Simpson's glad; he says that he knows
+      Heman will be pleased with THAT kind of a candidate and so he won't have
+      to do any more huntin'. He thinks 'Lonzo's comin' out by himself this way
+      is a kind of special Providence.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! I shouldn't wonder. Did you ever notice how dead sure Tad and
+      his kind are that Providence is workin' with 'em? Seems to me 'twould be
+      more satisfactory if we could get a sight of the other partner's signature
+      to the deed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter with you?&rdquo; demanded Asaph. &ldquo;You ain't findin' fault
+      with 'Lonzo, are you? Ain't he a good man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good! Sure thing he's good! Nobody can say he isn't and tell the truth.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      No one could truthfully speak ill of Alonzo Snow, that was a fact. He
+      lived at the lower end of the village, was well to do, a leading cranberry
+      grower, and very prominent in the church. A mild, easygoing person was Mr.
+      Snow, with an almost too keen fear of doing the wrong thing and therefore
+      prone to be guided by the opinion of others. He was distinctly not a
+      politician.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what ails you?&rdquo; asked Asaph hotly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, nothin', maybe. Only I'm always suspicious when Tad pats Providence
+      on the back. I generally figure that I can see through a doughnut, when
+      there's a light behind the hole. Who is 'Lonzo's best friend in this town?
+      Who does he chum with most of anybody?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Darius Ellis, I guess. You know it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum. And Darius is on the committee&mdash;why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I s'pose 'cause Heman Atkins thought he'd be a good feller to have
+      there. But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, and 'Lonzo's pew in church is right under the Atkins memorial
+      window. The light from it makes a kind of halo round his bald head every
+      Sunday.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what of it? Heman, nor nobody else, could buy 'Lonzo Snow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Buy him? Indeed they couldn't. But there are some things you get without
+      buyin'&mdash;the measles, for instance. And the one that's catchin' 'em
+      don't know he's in danger till the speckles break out. Fellers, this
+      committee voted in Phoebe Dawes by just two votes to one, and one of the
+      two was Lem Myrick. Darius was against her. Now with Tad and his
+      'Providence' puttin' in 'Lonzo Snow, and Heman Atkins settin' behind the
+      screen workin' his Normal School music box so's they can hear the tune&mdash;well,
+      Phoebe MAY stay this term out, but how about next?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Why, I don't know. Anyhow, you're down on Phoebe as a thousand of
+      brick. I don't see why you worry about HER. After the way she treated poor
+      Bos'n and all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy stirred uneasily and kicked a chip across the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;well, I&mdash;I don't know's that's&mdash;That is,
+      right's right and wrong's wrong. I've seen bullfights down yonder&mdash;&rdquo;
+       jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of Buenos
+      Ayres, &ldquo;and every time my sympathy's been with the bull. Not that I loved
+      the critter for his own sake, but because all Greaserdom was out to down
+      him. From what I hear, this Phoebe Dawes&mdash;for all her pesky down-East
+      stubbornness&mdash;is teachin' pretty well, and anyhow she's one little
+      woman against Tad Simpson and Heman Atkins and&mdash;and Tad's special
+      brand of Providence. She deserves a fair shake and, by the big dipper,
+      she's goin' to have it! Look here, you two! how would I look on the school
+      committee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You?&rdquo; repeated the pair in concert. &ldquo;YOU?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, me. I ain't a Solomon for wisdom, but I cal'late I'd be as near the
+      top of the barrel as Darius Ellis, and only one or two layers under Eben
+      Salters or 'Lonzo Snow. I'm a candidate&mdash;see?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but, Whit,&rdquo; gasped the town clerk, &ldquo;are you popular enough?
+      Could you get elected?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, but I can find out. You and Bailey 'll vote for me, won't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course we will, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right. There's two votes. A hundred and odd more'll put me in. Here
+      goes for politics and popularity. I may be president yet; you can't tell.
+      And say! this town meetin' won't be DULL, whichever way the cat jumps.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This last was a safe prophecy. All dullness disappeared from Bayport the
+      moment it became known that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was &ldquo;out&rdquo; for the
+      school committee. The captain began his electioneering at once. That very
+      afternoon he called upon three people&mdash;Eben Salters, Josiah Dimick,
+      and Lemuel Myrick.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Salters was chairman of selectmen as well as chairman of the
+      committee. He was a hard-headed old salt, who had made money in the
+      Australian packet service. He had common sense, independence, and
+      considerable influence in the town. Next to Congressman Atkins he was,
+      perhaps, our leading citizen. And, more than all, he was not afraid, when
+      he thought it necessary, to oppose the great Heman.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said reflectively, after listening to Captain Cy's brief
+      statement of his candidacy, &ldquo;I cal'late I'll stand in with you, Cy. I
+      ain't got anything against 'Lonzo, but&mdash;but&mdash;well, consarn it!
+      maybe that's the trouble. Maybe he's so darned good it makes me jealous.
+      Anyhow, I'll do what I can for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Joe Dimick laughed aloud. He was an iconoclast, seldom went to church, and
+      was entirely lacking in reverence. Also he really liked the captain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ho, ho!&rdquo; he crowed. &ldquo;Whit, do you realize that you're underminin' this
+      town's constitution? Oh, sartin, I'm with you, if it's only to see the fur
+      fly! I do love a scrap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With Lem Myrick Captain Cy's policy was different. He gently reminded that
+      gentleman of the painting contract, intimated that other favors might be
+      forthcoming, and then, as a clincher, spoke of Tad Simpson's comment when
+      Mr. Myrick voted for Phoebe Dawes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; he added, &ldquo;if you think Tad's got a right to boss all hands
+      and the cook, why, I ain't complainin'. Only, if <i>I</i> was a painter
+      doin' a good, high-class trade, and a one-hoss barber tried to dictate to
+      me, I shouldn't bow down and tell him to kick easy as he could. Seems to
+      me I'd kick first. But I'M no boss; I mustn't influence you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Lemuel was indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No barber runs me,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You stand up for me when that townhall
+      paintin's to be done and I'll work hard for you now, Cap'n Whittaker.
+      'Lonzo Snow's an elder and all that, but I can't help it. Anyway, his
+      place was all fixed up a year ago and I didn't get the job. A feller has
+      to look after himself these days.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      With these division commanders to lead their forces into the enemy's
+      country and with Asaph and Bailey doing what they could to help, Captain
+      Cy's campaign soon became worthy of respectful consideration. For a while
+      Tad Simpson scoffed at the opposition; then he began to work openly for
+      Mr. Snow. Later he marshaled his trusted officers around the pool table in
+      the back room of the barber shop and confided to them that it was
+      anybody's fight and that he was worried.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's past bein' a joke,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's mighty serious. We've got to
+      hustle, we have. Heman trusted me in this job, and if I fall down it 'll
+      be bad for me and for you fellers, too. I wish he was home to run things
+      himself, but he's got business down South there&mdash;some property he
+      owns or somethin'&mdash;and says he can't leave. But we must win! By
+      mighty! we've GOT to. So get every vote you can. Never mind how; just get
+      'em, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was thoroughly enjoying himself. The struggle suited him to
+      perfection. He was young, in spite of his fifty-five years, and this
+      tussle against odds, reminding him of other tussles during his first
+      seasons in business, aroused his energies and, as he expressed it,
+      &ldquo;stirred up his vitals and made him hop round like a dose of 'pain
+      killer.'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He did not, however, forget Bos'n. He and she had their walks and their
+      pleasant evenings together in spite of politics. He took the child into
+      his confidence and told her of the daily gain, or loss, in votes, as if
+      she were his own age. She understood a little of all this, and tried hard
+      to understand the rest, preaching between times to Georgianna how &ldquo;the bad
+      men were trying to beat Uncle Cyrus because he was gooder than they, but
+      they couldn't, 'cause everybody loved him so.&rdquo; Georgianna had some doubts,
+      but she kept them to herself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Among the things in Bos'n's &ldquo;box&rdquo; was a long envelope, sealed with wax and
+      with a lawyer's name printed in one corner. The captain opened it, at
+      Emily's suggestion, and was astonished to find that the inclosure was a
+      will, dated some years back, in which Mrs. Mary Thomas, the child's
+      mother, left to her daughter all her personal property and also the land
+      in Orham, Massachusetts, which had been willed to her by her own mother.
+      There was a note with the will in which Mrs. Thomas stated that no one
+      save herself had known of this land, not even her husband. She had not
+      told him because she feared that, like everything else, it would be sold
+      and the money wasted in dissipation. &ldquo;He suspected something of the sort,&rdquo;
+       she added, &ldquo;but he did not find out the secret, although he&mdash;&rdquo; She
+      had evidently scratched out what followed, but Captain Cy mentally filled
+      in the blank with details of abuse and cruelty. &ldquo;If anything happens to
+      me,&rdquo; concluded the widow, &ldquo;I want the land sold and the money used for
+      Emily's maintenance as long as it lasts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain went over to Orham and looked up the land. It was a strip
+      along the shore, almost worthless, and unsalable at present. The taxes had
+      been regularly paid each year by Mary Thomas, who had sent money orders
+      from Concord. The self-denial represented by these orders was not a
+      little.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, Bos'n,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, when he returned from the Orham
+      trip. &ldquo;Your ancestral estates ain't much now but a sand-flea menagerie.
+      However, if this section ever does get to be the big summer resort folks
+      are prophesying for it, you may sell out to some millionaire and you and
+      me'll go to Europe. Meantime, we'll try to keep afloat, if the Harniss
+      Bank don't spring a leak.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      On the day following this conversation he took a flying trip to Ostable,
+      the county seat, returning the same evening, and saying nothing to anyone
+      about his reasons for going nor what he had done while there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n's birthday was the eighteenth of November. The captain, in spite of
+      the warmth of his struggle for committee honors, determined to have a
+      small celebration on the afternoon and evening of that day. It was to be a
+      surprise for Emily, and, after school was over, some of her particular
+      friends among the scholars were to come in, there was to be a cake with
+      eight candles on it, and a supper at which ice cream&mdash;lemon and
+      vanilla, prepared by Mrs. Cahoon&mdash;was to be the principal feature.
+      Also there would be games and all sorts of fun.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was tremendously interested in the party. He spent hours with
+      Georgianna and the Board of Strategy, preparing the list of guests. His
+      cunning in ascertaining from the unsuspecting child who, among her
+      schoolmates, she would like to invite, was deep and guileful.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Bos'n,&rdquo; he would say, &ldquo;suppose you was goin' to clear out and leave
+      this town for a spell, who&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Uncle Cyrus&mdash;&rdquo; Bos'n's eyes grew frightened and moist in a
+      moment, &ldquo;I ain't going, am I? I don't want to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Course you ain't goin'&mdash;that is, not for a long while,
+      anyhow,&rdquo; with a sidelong look at the members of the &ldquo;Board,&rdquo; then present.
+      &ldquo;But just suppose you and me was startin' on that Europe trip. Who'd you
+      want to say good-by to most of all?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Each name given by the child was surreptitiously penciled by Bailey on a
+      scrap of paper. The list was a long one and, when the great afternoon
+      came, the Whittaker house was crowded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The supper was a brilliant success. So was the cake, brought in with
+      candles ablaze, by the grinning Georgianna. Beside the children there were
+      some older people present, Bailey and Asaph, of course, and the &ldquo;regulars&rdquo;
+       from the perfect boarding house, who had been invited because it was
+      fairly certain that Mr. Bangs wouldn't be allowed to attend if his wife
+      did not. Miss Dawes had also been asked, at Bos'n's well-understood
+      partiality, but she had declined.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Toward the end of the meal, when the hilarity at the long table was at its
+      height, an unexpected guest made his appearance. There was a knock at the
+      dining-room door, and Georgianna, opening it, was petrified to behold,
+      standing upon the step, no less a personage than the Honorable Heman
+      Atkins, supposed by most of us to be then somewhere in that wide stretch
+      of territory vaguely termed &ldquo;the South.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, all,&rdquo; said the illustrious one, removing his silk hat and
+      stepping into the room. &ldquo;What a charming scene! I trust I do not intrude.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna was still speechless, in which unwonted condition she was not
+      alone, Messrs. Bangs and Tidditt being also stricken dumb. But Captain Cy
+      rose to the occasion grandly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Intrude?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Not a mite of it! Mighty glad to see you, Heman.
+      Here, give us your hat. Pull up to the table. When did you get back?
+      Thought you was in the orange groves somewheres.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ahem! I was. Yes, I was in that neighborhood. But it is hard to stay away
+      from dear old Bayport. Home ties, you know, home ties. I came down on the
+      morning train, but I stopped over at Harniss on business and drove across.
+      Ahem! Yes. The housekeeper informed me that my daughter was here, and,
+      seeing the lights and hearing the laughter, I couldn't resist making this
+      impromptu call. I'm sure as an old friend and neighbor, Cyrus, you will
+      pardon me. Alicia, darling, come and kiss papa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Darling Alicia accepted the invitation with a rustle of silk and an
+      ecstatic squeal of delight. During this affecting scene Asaph whispered to
+      Bailey that he &ldquo;cal'lated&rdquo; Heman had had a hurry-up distress signal from
+      Simpson; to which sage observation Mr. Bangs replied with a vigorous nod,
+      showing that Captain Cy's example had had its effect, in that they no
+      longer stood in such awe of their representative at Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However true Asaph's calculation might have been, Mr. Atkins made no
+      mention of politics. He was urbanity itself. He drew up to the table,
+      partook of the ice cream and cake, and greeted his friends and neighbors
+      with charming benignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wan't it sweet of him to come?&rdquo; whispered Miss Phinney to Keturah. &ldquo;And
+      him so nice and everyday and sociable. And when Cap'n Whittaker's runnin'
+      against his friend, as you might say.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Keturah replied with a dubious shake of the head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think Captain Cyrus is goin' to get into trouble,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I've
+      preached to Bailey more 'n a little about keepin' clear, but he won't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Games in t'other room now,&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy. But Mr. Atkins held up
+      his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pardon me, just a moment, Cyrus, if you please,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I feel that on
+      this happy occasion, it is my duty and pleasure to propose a toast.&rdquo; He
+      held his lemonade glass aloft. &ldquo;Permit me,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;to wish many
+      happy birthdays and long life to Miss&mdash;I beg pardon, Cyrus, but what
+      is your little friend's name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily Richards Thayer,&rdquo; replied the captain, carried away by enthusiasm
+      and off his guard for once.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To Em&mdash;&rdquo; began Heman. Then he paused and for the first time in his
+      public life seemed at a loss for words. &ldquo;What?&rdquo; he asked, and his hand
+      shook. &ldquo;I fear I didn't catch the name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No wonder,&rdquo; laughed Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;Cy's so crazy to-night he'd forget his
+      own name. Know what you said, Cy? You said she was Emily Richards THAYER!
+      Haw! haw! She ain't a Thayer, Heman; her last name's Thomas. She's Emily
+      Richards Thayer's granddaughter though. Her granddad was John Thayer, over
+      to Orham. Good land! I forgot. Well, what of it, Cy? 'Twould have to be
+      known some time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone looked at Captain Cy then. No one observed Mr. Atkins for the
+      moment. When they did turn their gaze upon the great man he had sunk back
+      in his chair, the glass of lemonade was upset upon the cloth before him,
+      and he, with a very white face, was staring at Emily Richards Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Heman?&rdquo; asked the captain anxiously. &ldquo;Ain't sick, are
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman started.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no!&rdquo; he said hurriedly. &ldquo;Oh, no! but I'm afraid I've soiled your
+      cloth. It was awkward of me. I&mdash;I really, I apologize&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He wiped his face with his handkerchief. Captain Cy laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, never mind the tablecloth,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I cal'late it's too soiled
+      already to be hurt by a bath, even a lemon one. Well, you've all heard the
+      toast. Full glasses, now. Here's TO you, Bos'n! Drink hearty, all hands,
+      and give the ship a good name.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If the heartiness with which they drank is a criterion, the good name of
+      the ship was established. Then the assembly adjourned to the sitting room
+      and&mdash;yes, even the front parlor. Not since the days when that sacred
+      apartment had been desecrated by the irreverent city boarders, during the
+      Howes regime, had its walls echoed to such whoops and shouts of laughter.
+      The children played &ldquo;Post Office&rdquo; and &ldquo;Copenhagen&rdquo; and &ldquo;Clap in, Clap
+      out,&rdquo; while the grown folks looked on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't they havin' a fine time, Cap?&rdquo; gushed Miss Phinney. &ldquo;Don't it make
+      you wish you was young again?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Angie,&rdquo; replied Captain Cy solemnly, &ldquo;don't tempt me; don't! If they keep
+      on playin' that Copenhagen and you stand right alongside of me, there's no
+      tellin' what 'll happen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline declared that he was &ldquo;turrible,&rdquo; but she faced the threatened
+      danger nevertheless, and bravely remained where she was.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins went home early in the evening, taking Alicia with him. He
+      explained that his long railroad journey had&mdash;er&mdash;somewhat
+      fatigued him and, though he hated to leave such a&mdash;er&mdash;delightful
+      gathering, he really felt that, under the circumstances, his departure
+      would be forgiven. Captain Cy opened the door for him and stood watching
+      as, holding his daughter by the hand, he marched majestically down the
+      path.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; mused the captain aloud. &ldquo;I guess he has been travelin' nights.
+      Thought he ought to be here quick, I shouldn't wonder. He does look tired,
+      that's a fact, and kind of pale, seemed to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there, now!&rdquo; exclaimed Mrs. Tripp, who was looking over his
+      shoulder. &ldquo;Did you see that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; what was it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, when he went to open his gate, one of them arbor vity bushes he set
+      out this spring knocked his hat off. And he never seemed to notice, but
+      went right on. If 'Licia hadn't picked it up, that nice new hat would have
+      been layin' there yet. That's the most undignified thing ever I see Heman
+      Atkins do. He MUST be tired out, poor man!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER X
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whit,&rdquo; asked Asaph next day, &ldquo;wan't you surprised to see Heman last
+      night?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy nodded. He was once more busy with the doll house, the
+      construction of which had progressed slowly of late, owing to the demands
+      which the party and politics made upon its builder's time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I sartinly was. Pretty good sign, I shouldn't wonder.
+      Looks as if friend Tad had found the tide settin' too strong against him
+      and had whistled for a tug. All right; the more scared the other side get,
+      the better for us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what in the world made Heman come over and have supper? He never so
+      much as stepped foot in the house afore, did he? That's the biggest
+      conundrum of all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess I've got the answer. Strikes me that Heman's sociableness
+      is the best sign yet. Heman's a slick article, and when he sees there's
+      danger of losin' the frostin' on the cake he takes care to scrape the
+      burnt part off the bottom. I may be school committeeman after town
+      meetin'. He'll move all creation to stop me, of course&mdash;in his quiet,
+      round-the-corner way&mdash;but, if I do win out, he wants to be in a
+      position to take me one side and tell me that he's glad of it; he felt all
+      along I was the right feller for the job, and if there's anything he can
+      do to make things easier for me just call on him. That's the way I size it
+      up, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cy, I never see anybody like you. You're dead set against Heman, and have
+      been right along. And he's never done anything to you, fur's I see. He's
+      given a lot to the town, and he's always been the most looked-up-to man
+      we've got. Joe Dimick and two or three more chronic growls have been the
+      only ones to sling out hints against him, till you come. Course I'm
+      working for you, tooth and nail, and I will say that you seem to be
+      gettin' the votes some way or other. But if Heman SHOULD step right out
+      and say: 'Feller citizens, I'm behind Tad Simpson in this fight, and as a
+      favor to me and 'cause I think it's right and best, I want 'Lonzo Snow
+      elected'&mdash;well, <i>I</i> don't believe you'd have more'n one jack and
+      a ten spot to count for game.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Probably not, Ase; I presume likely not. But you take a day off some time
+      and see if you can remember that Heman EVER stepped right out and said
+      things. Blame it! that's just it. As for WHY he riles me up and makes me
+      stubborn as a balky mule, I don't know exactly. All I'm sure is that he
+      does. Maybe it's 'cause I don't like the way he wears his whiskers. Maybe
+      it's because he's so top-lofty and condescendin'. A feller can whistle to
+      me and say: 'Come on, Bill,' and I'll trot at his heels all day. But when
+      he pats me on the head and says: 'There there! nice doggie. Go under the
+      bed and lay down,' my back bristles up and I commence to growl right off.
+      There's consider'ble Whittaker in me, as I've told you before.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk pondered over this rather unsatisfactory line of reasoning
+      for some minutes. His companion fitted a wooden chimney on the doll house,
+      found it a trifle out of plumb, and proceeded to whittle a shaving off the
+      lower edge. Then Asaph sighed, as one who gives up a perplexing riddle,
+      put his hand in his pocket, and produced a bundle of papers.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I made out a list of fellers down to the east'ard that I'm goin' to see
+      this afternoon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Some of 'em I guess 'll vote for you, but most
+      of 'em are pretty sartin' for 'Lonzo. However, I&mdash;Where is that list?
+      I had it somewhere's. And&mdash;well, I swan! I come pretty near
+      forgettin' it myself. I'm 'most as bad as Bailey.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      From the bundle of papers he produced a crumpled envelope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Bailey,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;must be in love, I cal'late, though I don't
+      know who with. Ketury, I s'pose, 'cordin' to law and order, but&mdash;Well,
+      anyhow, he's gettin' more absent-minded all the time. Here's a letter for
+      you, Cy, that he got at the post-office a week ago Monday. 'Twas the night
+      of the church sociable, and he had on his Sunday cutaway, and he ain't
+      worn it sence, till the party yesterday. When he took off the coat, goin'
+      to bed, the letter fell out of it. I guess he was ashamed to fetch it
+      round himself, so he asked me to do it. Better late than never, hey?
+      Here's that list at last.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He produced the list and handed it to the captain for inspection. The
+      latter looked it over, made a few comments and suggestions, and told his
+      friend to heave ahead and land as many of the listed as possible. This Mr.
+      Tidditt promised to do, and, replacing the papers in his pocket, started
+      for the gate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Say, Ase!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk, his hand on the gate latch, turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what is it?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Don't keep me no longer'n you can help. I
+      got work to do, I have.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, I won't stop you. Only fallin' in love is kind of epidemic
+      down at the boardin' house, I guess. Who is it that's got you in tow&mdash;Matildy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you talkin' about? Didn't I tell you to quit namin' me with
+      Matildy Tripp? I like a joke as well as most folks, but when it's wore
+      into the ground I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho, sho! Don't get mad. It's your own fault. You said that
+      absent-mindedness was a love symptom, so I just got to thinkin', that's
+      all. That letter that Bailey forgot&mdash;you haven't given it to me yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph turned red and hastily snatched the papers from his pocket. He
+      strode back to the door of the woodshed, handed his friend the crumpled
+      envelope, and stalked off without another word. The captain chuckled, laid
+      the letter on the bench beside him and went on with his work. It was
+      perhaps ten minutes later when, happening to glance at the postmark on the
+      envelope, he saw that it was &ldquo;Concord, N. H.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph's vote-gathering trip &ldquo;to the east'ard&rdquo; made a full day for him. He
+      returned to the perfect boarding house just at supper time. During the
+      meal he realized that Mr. Bangs seemed to be trying to attract his
+      attention. Whenever he glanced in that gentleman's direction his glance
+      was met by winks and mystifying shakes of the head. Losing patience at
+      last, he demanded to know what was the matter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Want to say somethin' to me, do you?&rdquo; he inquired briskly. &ldquo;If you do,
+      out with it! Don't set there workin' your face as if 'twas wound up, like
+      a clockwork image.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This remark had the effect of turning all the other faces toward Bailey's.
+      He was very much upset.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;No, no! I don't want you for nothin'. Was I
+      makin' my face go? I&mdash;I didn't know it. I've been washin' carriages
+      and cleanin' up the barn all day and I cal'late I've overdone. I'm gettin'
+      old, and hard work's likely to bring on shakin' palsy to old folks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His wife tartly observed that, if WORK was the cause of it, she guessed he
+      was safe from palsy for quite a spell yet. At any rate, a marked recovery
+      set in and he signaled no more during the meal. But when it was over, and
+      his task as dish-wiper completed, he hurried out of doors and found Mr.
+      Tidditt, shivering in the November wind, on the front porch.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now what is it?&rdquo; asked Asaph sharply. &ldquo;I know there's somethin' and I've
+      froze to death by sections waitin' to hear it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you seen Cy?&rdquo; whispered Bailey, glancing fearfully over his shoulder
+      at the lighted windows of the house.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not sence mornin'. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, there's somethin' the matter with him. Somethin' serious. I was
+      swabbin' decks in the barn about eleven o'clock, when he come postin' in,
+      white and shaky, and so nervous he couldn't stand still. Looked as if he
+      had had a stroke almost. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors! You don't s'pose Heman's comin' back has knocked out
+      his chances for the committee, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, sir-ee! 'twan't that. Cy's anxious to be elected and all, but you
+      know his politics are more of a joke with him than anything else. And any
+      rap Heman or Tad could give him would only make him fight harder. And he
+      wouldn't talk politics at all; didn't seem to give a durn about 'em, one
+      way or t'other. No, 'twas somethin' about that letter, the one I forgot so
+      long. He wanted to know why in time I hadn't given it to him when it fust
+      come. He was real ugly about it, for him, and kept pacin' up and down the
+      barn floor and layin' into me, till I begun to think he was crazy. I guess
+      he see my feelin's were hurt, 'cause, just afore he left, he held out his
+      hand and said I mustn't mind his talk; he'd been knocked on his beam ends,
+      he said, and wan't really responsible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wouldn't he say what had knocked him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, couldn't get nothin' out of him. And when he quit he went off toward
+      home, slappin' his fists together and actin' as if he didn't see the road
+      across his bows. Now, you know how cool and easy goin' Whit generally is.
+      I swan to man, Ase! he made me so sorry for him I didn't know what to do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ain't you been up to see him sence?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, Ketury was sot on havin' the barn cleaned, and she stood over me with
+      a rope's end, as you might say. I couldn't get away a minute, though I
+      made up more'n a dozen errands at Simmons's and the like of that. You hold
+      on till I sneak into the entry and get my cap and we'll put for there now.
+      I won't be but a jiffy. I'm worried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They entered the yard of the Cy Whittaker place together and approached
+      the side door. As they stood on the steps Asaph touched his chum on the
+      arm and pointed to the window beside them. The shade was half drawn and
+      beneath it they had a clear view of the interior of the sitting room.
+      Captain Cy was in the rocker before the stove, holding Bos'n in his arms.
+      The child was sound asleep, her yellow braid hanging over the captain's
+      broad shoulder. He was gazing down into her face with a look which was so
+      full of yearning and love that it brought a choke into the throats of the
+      pair who saw it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      They entered the dining room. The captain sprang from his chair and, still
+      holding the little girl close against his breast, met them at the
+      sitting-room door. When he saw who the visitors were, he caught his
+      breath, almost with a sob, and seemed relieved.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h!&rdquo; he whispered warningly. &ldquo;She's asleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The members of the Board of Strategy nodded understandingly and sat down
+      upon the sofa. Captain Cy tiptoed to the bedroom, turned back the
+      bedclothes with one hand and laid Bos'n down. They saw him tuck her
+      carefully in and then stoop and kiss her. He returned to the sitting room
+      and closed the door behind him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We see she was asleep afore we come in,&rdquo; explained Asaph. &ldquo;We see you and
+      her through the window.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain looked hurriedly at the window indicated. Then he stepped over
+      and pulled the shade down to the sill, doing the same with the curtains of
+      the other two windows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter?&rdquo; inquired Bailey, trying to be facetious. &ldquo;'Fraid of
+      'Lonzo's crowd spyin' on us?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not reply. He did not even sit down, but remained standing,
+      his back to the stove.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; he asked shortly. &ldquo;Did you fellers want to see me for anything
+      'special?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wanted to see what had struck you all to once,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt.
+      &ldquo;Bailey says you scared him half to death this forenoon. And you look now
+      as if somebody's ghost had riz and hollered 'Boo!' at you. For the land
+      sakes, Whit, what IS it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain drew his hand across his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ghost?&rdquo; he repeated absently. &ldquo;No, I haven't SEEN a ghost. There! there!
+      don't mind me. I ain't real well to-day, I guess.&rdquo; He smiled crookedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you want to hear about my vote-grabbin' cruise?&rdquo; asked Tidditt. &ldquo;I
+      was flatterin' myself you'd be tickled to hear I'd done so well. Why, even
+      Marcellus Parker says he may vote for you&mdash;if he makes up his mind
+      that way.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Marcellus was a next-door neighbor of Alonzo Snow's. But Captain Cy didn't
+      seem to care.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; he murmured. &ldquo;Yes. Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;WELL! Is that all you've got to say? Are you really sick, Cy? Or is Bos'n
+      sick?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; was the answer, almost fierce in its utterance. &ldquo;She isn't sick.
+      Don't be a fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's foolish about that? I didn't know but she might be. There's mumps
+      in town and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She's all right; so shut up, will you! There, Ase!&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I'm the
+      fool myself. Don't mind my barkin'; I don't mean it. I am about sick, I
+      cal'late. Be better to-morrer, maybe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's got into you? Was that letter of Bailey's&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hush!&rdquo; The captain held up his hand. &ldquo;I thought I heard a team.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Depot wagon, most likely,&rdquo; said Bailey. &ldquo;About time for it! Humph! seems
+      to be stoppin', don't it? Was you expectin' anybody? Shall I go and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! Set still.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The pair on the sofa sat still. Captain Cy stood like a statue in the
+      middle of the floor. He squared his shoulders and jammed his clenched
+      fists into his pockets. Steps crunched the gravel of the walk. There came
+      a knock at the door of the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of his own
+      ships, the captain went to answer the knock. They heard the door open, and
+      then a man's voice asked:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this Cap'n Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; was the short answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Cap, I guess you don't know me, though maybe you know some of my
+      family. Ha, ha! Don't understand that, hey? Well, you let me in and I'll
+      explain the joke.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's reply was calm and deliberate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shouldn't wonder if I understood it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Come in. Don't&mdash;&rdquo;
+       The remainder of the sentence was whispered and the listeners on the sofa
+      could not hear it. A moment later Captain Cy entered the sitting room,
+      followed by his caller.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The latter was a stranger. He was a broad-shouldered man of medium height,
+      with a yellowish mustache and brown hair. He was dressed in rather shabby
+      clothes, without an overcoat, and he had a soft felt hat in his hand. The
+      most noticeable thing about him was a slight hesitancy in his walk. He was
+      not lame, he did not limp, yet his left foot seemed to halt for an instant
+      as he brought it forward in the step. They learned afterwards that it had
+      been hurt in a mine cave-in. He carried himself with a swagger, and, after
+      his entrance, there was a perceptible aroma of alcohol in the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stared at the Board of Strategy and the stare was returned in full
+      measure. Bailey and Asaph were wildly curious. They, of course, connected
+      the stranger's arrival with the mysterious letter and the captain's
+      perturbation of the day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But their curiosity was not to be satisfied, at least not then.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How are you, gents?&rdquo; hailed the newcomer cheerfully. &ldquo;Like the looks of
+      me, do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy cut off further conversation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this&mdash;er&mdash;gentleman and I have got some
+      business to talk over. I know you're good enough friends of mine not to
+      mind if I ask you to clear out. You'll understand. You WILL understand,
+      boys, won't you?&rdquo; he added, almost entreatingly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin sure!&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt, rising hurriedly. &ldquo;Don't say another
+      word, Whit.&rdquo; And the mystified Bangs concurred with a &ldquo;Yes, yes! Why, of
+      course! Didn't have nothin' that amounts to nothin' to stay for anyhow.
+      See you to-morrer, Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Outside and at the gate they stopped and looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; exclaimed Asaph. &ldquo;If that ain't the strangest thing! Who was that
+      feller? Where'd he come from? Did you notice how Cy acted? Seemed to be
+      holdin' himself in by main strength.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did you smell the rum on him?&rdquo; returned Bailey. &ldquo;On that t'other chap, I
+      mean? Didn't he look like a reg'lar no-account to you? And say, Ase,
+      didn't he remind you of somebody you'd seen somewheres&mdash;kind of, in a
+      way?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked home in a dazed state, asking unanswerable questions and
+      making profitless guesses. But Asaph's final remark seemed to sum up the
+      situation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's trouble comin' of this, Bailey,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;And it's trouble
+      for Cy Whittaker, I'm afraid. Poor old Cy! Well, WE'LL stand by him,
+      anyhow. I don't believe he'll sleep much to-night. Didn't look as though
+      he would, did he? Who IS that feller?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      If he had seen Captain Cy, at two o'clock the next morning, sitting by
+      Bos'n's bedside and gazing hopelessly at the child, he would have realized
+      that, if his former predictions were wiped off the slate and he could be
+      judged by the one concerning the captain's sleepless night, he might
+      thereafter pose as a true prophet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A BARGAIN OFF
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mornin', Georgianna,&rdquo; said Captain Cy to his housekeeper as the latter
+      unlocked the back door of the Whittaker house next morning. &ldquo;I'm a little
+      ahead of you this time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor, being Bayport born and bred, was an early riser. She lodged
+      with her sister, in Bassett's Hollow, a good half mile from the Cy
+      Whittaker place, but she was always on hand at the latter establishment by
+      six each morning, except Sundays. Now she glanced quickly at the clock.
+      The time was ten minutes to six.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land sakes!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;I should say you was! What in the world got
+      you up so early? Ain't sick, are you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the captain wearily. &ldquo;I ain't sick. I didn't sleep very well
+      last night, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna looked sharply at him. His face was haggard and his eyes had
+      dark circles under them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she grunted. &ldquo;No, I guess you didn't. Looks to me as if you'd
+      been up all night.&rdquo; Then she added an anxious query: &ldquo;'Tain't Bos'n&mdash;she
+      ain't sick, I hope?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. She's all right. I say, Georgianna, you put on an extry plate this
+      mornin'. Got company for breakfast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper was surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For breakfast?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;Land of goodness! who's comin' for
+      breakfast? I never heard of company droppin' in for breakfast. That's one
+      meal folks generally get to home. Who is it? Mr. Tidditt? Has Ketury
+      turned him out door because he's too bad an example for her husband?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, 'tain't Ase. It's a&mdash;a friend of mine. Well, not exactly a
+      friend, maybe, but an acquaintance from out of town. He came last evenin'.
+      He's up in the spare bedroom.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I never! Come unexpected, didn't he? I wish I'd known he was
+      comin'. That spare room bed ain't been aired I don't know when.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess he can stand it. I cal'late he's slept in consider'ble worse&mdash;Hum!
+      Yes, he did come kind of sudden.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's his name?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What difference does that make? I don't know's his name makes any odds
+      about gettin' his breakfast for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna was hurt. Her easy-going employer had never used this tone
+      before when addressing her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she sniffed. &ldquo;Is THAT the way you feel? All right! I can mind my own
+      business, thank you. I only asked because it's convenient sometimes to
+      know whether to call a person Bill Smith or Sol Jones. But I don't care if
+      it's Nebuchadnezzar. I know when to keep my tongue still, I guess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She flounced over to the range. Captain Cy looked ashamed of himself.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm kind of out of sorts to-day,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Got some headache. Why, his
+      name is&mdash;is&mdash;yes, 'tis Smith, come to think of it&mdash;John
+      Smith. Funny you should guess right, wan't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; was the ungracious answer. &ldquo;Names don't interest me, I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was in the dining room when Bos'n appeared.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good morning, Uncle Cyrus,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;You've been waiting, haven't you?
+      Am I late? I didn't mean to be.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! you ain't late. Early, if anything. Breakfast ain't quite ready
+      yet. Come here and set in my lap. I want to talk to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He took her on his knee. She looked up into his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Uncle Cy?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;What makes you so sober?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sober? If you ain't the oldest young one for eight years I ever saw! Why,
+      I ain't sober. No, no! Say, Bos'n, do you like your school as well as
+      ever?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir. I like it better all the time.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do, hey? And that teacher woman&mdash;go on likin' her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child nodded emphatically. &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And I haven't been
+      kept after since that once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! Course you ain't'! So you think Bayport's as nice as Concord,
+      do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! lots nicer! If mamma was only here I'd never want to be anywhere
+      else. And not then, maybe, unless you was there, too.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! Want to know! Say, Bos'n, how would you feel if you had to go
+      somewheres else?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To live? Have we got to? I'd feel dreadful, of course. But if you've got
+      to go, Uncle Cyrus, why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Me? No; I ain't got to go anywheres. But 'twas you I was thinkin' of.
+      Wouldn't want to leave the old man, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To leave YOU! Oh, Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was staring at him now and her chin was trembling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle,&rdquo; she demanded, &ldquo;you ain't going to send me away? Haven't I been a
+      good girl?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain's lips shut tight. He waited a moment before replying. &ldquo;'Deed
+      you've been a good girl!&rdquo; he said brusquely. &ldquo;I never saw a better one.
+      No, I ain't goin' to SEND you away. Don't you worry about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But Alicia Atkins said one time you told somebody you was going to send
+      me out West, after a while. I didn't believe it, then, she's so mean, but
+      she said you said&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;SAID!&rdquo; Captain Cy groaned. &ldquo;The Lord knows what I ain't said! I've been a
+      fool, dearie, and it's a judgment on me, I guess.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But ain't you goin' to keep me? I&mdash;I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She sobbed. The captain stroked her hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep you?&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Yes, by the big dipper! I'm goin' to keep you,
+      if I can&mdash;if I can.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; said a voice. The pair looked up. The man who had arrived on the
+      previous night stood in the sitting-room doorway. How long he had been
+      standing there the captain did not know. What he did know was that Mr.
+      John Smith by daylight was not more prepossessing than the same individual
+      viewed by the aid of a lamp.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily saw the stranger and slid from Captain Cy's knees. The captain rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;this is Mr.&mdash;er&mdash;Smith, who's goin' to make
+      us a little visit. I want you to shake hands with him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The girl dutifully approached Mr. Smith and extended her hand. He took it
+      and held it in his own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is this the&mdash;&rdquo; he began.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy bowed assent.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; he said, his eyes fixed on the visitor's face. &ldquo;Yes. Don't forget
+      what you said last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smith shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;I ain't the kind that forgets, unless it pays pretty
+      well. There's some things I've remembered for quite a few years.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked the child over from head to foot and his brows drew together in
+      an ugly frown.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So this is her, hey?&rdquo; he muttered musingly. &ldquo;Humph! Well, I don't know as
+      I'd have guessed it. Favors the other side of the house more&mdash;the
+      respectable side, I should say. Still, there's a little brand of the lost
+      sheep, hey? Enough to prove property, huh? Mark of the beast, I s'pose the
+      psalm-singin' relations would call it. D&mdash;n em! I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Steady!&rdquo; broke in the captain. Mr. Smith started, seemed to remember
+      where he was, and his manner changed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come and see me, honey,&rdquo; he coaxed, drawing the girl toward him by the
+      hand he was holding. &ldquo;Ain't you got a nice kiss for me this fine mornin'?
+      Don't be scared. I won't bite.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n looked shrinkingly at Mr. Smith's unshaven cheeks and then at
+      Captain Cy. The latter's face was absolutely devoid of expression. He
+      merely nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So Emily kissed one of the bristling cheeks. The kiss was returned full
+      upon the mouth. She wiped her lips and darted away to her chair by the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's your hurry?&rdquo; inquired the visitor. &ldquo;Don't I do it right? Been some
+      time since I kissed a girl&mdash;a little one, anyhow,&rdquo; he added, winking
+      at his host. &ldquo;Never mind, we'll know each other better by and by.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He looked on in wondering disgust as Bos'n said her &ldquo;grace.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in blazes!&rdquo; he burst out when the little blessing was finished. &ldquo;Who
+      put her up to that? A left-over from the psalm-singers, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know,&rdquo; answered the captain, speaking with deliberation. &ldquo;I do
+      know that I like to have her do it and that she shall do it as long's
+      she's at this table.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! she shall, hey? Well, I reckon&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She shall&mdash;AS LONG AS SHE'S AT THIS TABLE. Is that real plain and
+      understandable, or shall I write it down?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was an icy clearness in the captain's tone which seemed to freeze
+      further conversation on the part of Mr. Smith. He merely grunted and ate
+      his breakfast in silence. He ate a great deal and ate it rapidly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n departed for school when the meal was over. Captain Cy helped her on
+      with her coat and hood. Then, as he always did of late, he kissed her
+      good-by.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; called Mr. Smith from the sitting room. &ldquo;Ain't I in on that? If
+      there's any kisses goin' I want to take a hand before the deal's over.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must I?&rdquo; whispered Bos'n pleadingly. &ldquo;Must I, Uncle Cy? I don't want to.
+      I don't like him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Come on!&rdquo; called Mr. Smith. &ldquo;I'm gettin' over my bashfulness fast. Hurry
+      up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Must I kiss him, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; whispered Bos'n. &ldquo;MUST I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No!&rdquo; snapped the captain sharply. &ldquo;Trot right along now, dearie. Be a
+      good girl. Good-by.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He entered the sitting room. His guest had found the Sunday box and was
+      lighting one of his host's cigars.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he inquired easily, &ldquo;what's next on the bill? Anything goin' on in
+      this forsaken hole?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's a barber shop down the road. You might go there first, I should
+      say. Not that you need it, but just as a novelty like.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! I don't know. What's the matter with your razor?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nothin'. At least I ain't found anything wrong with it yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Say, look here! you're a queer guy, you are. I ain't got you right in
+      my mind yet. One minute butter wouldn't melt in your mouth, and the next
+      you're fresh as a new egg. What IS your little game, anyway? You've got
+      one, so don't tell me you ain't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was plainly embarrassed. He gazed at the &ldquo;Shore to Shore&rdquo;
+       picture on the wall as he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No game about it,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Last night you and I agreed that nothin' was
+      to be said for a few days. You was to stay here and I'd try to make you
+      comfort'ble, that's all. Then we'd see about that other matter, settle on
+      a fair price, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. That's all right. But you're too willin'. There's something
+      else. Say!&rdquo; The ugly scowl was in evidence again. &ldquo;Say, look here, you!
+      you ain't got somethin' up your sleeve, have you? There ain't somethin'
+      more that I don't know about, is there? No more secrets than that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! You hear me? No! You'll get your rights, and maybe a little more than
+      your rights, if you're decent. And it'll pay you to be decent.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; Mr. Smith seemed to be thinking. Then he added, looking up keenly
+      under his brows: &ldquo;How about the&mdash;the incumbrance on the property? Of
+      course, when I go I'll have to take that with me, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy interrupted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there!&rdquo; he exclaimed, and there was a shake in his voice, &ldquo;there!
+      there! Don't let's talk about such things now. I&mdash;I&mdash;Let's wait
+      a spell. We'll have some more plans to make, maybe. If you want to use my
+      razor it's right in that drawer. Just help yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The visitor laughed aloud. He nodded as if satisfied. &ldquo;Ho! ho!&rdquo; he
+      chuckled. &ldquo;I see! Humph! yes&mdash;I see. The fools ain't all dead, and
+      there's none to beat an old one. Well! well! All right, pard! I guess you
+      and me'll get along fine. I've changed my mind; I WILL go to the barber
+      shop, after all. Only I'm a little shy of dust just at present. So, to
+      oblige a friend, maybe you'll hand over, huh?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain reached into his pocket, extracted a two-dollar bill, and
+      passed it to the speaker. Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You can't come in on that, pard,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The limit's five.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy took back the bill and exchanged it for one with a V in each
+      corner. The visitor took it and turned toward the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ta! ta!&rdquo; he said, taking his hat from the peg in the dining room. &ldquo;I'm
+      off for the clippers. When I come back I'll be the sweetest little Willie
+      in the diggin's. So long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n and the captain sat down to the dinner at noon alone. Mr. Smith had
+      not returned from his trip to the barber's. He came in, however, just
+      before the meal was over, still in an unshorn condition, somewhat flushed
+      and very loquacious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say!&rdquo; he exclaimed genially. &ldquo;That Simpson's the right sort, ain't he?
+      Him and me took a shine to each other from the go-off. He's been West
+      himself and he's got some width to him. He's no psalm singer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; commented the captain, with delicate sarcasm. &ldquo;He don't seem to
+      be much of a barber, either. What's the matter? Gone out of business, has
+      he? Or was you so wild or woolly he got discouraged before he begun?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Great snakes!&rdquo; exclaimed the visitor. &ldquo;I forgot all about the clippers!
+      Well, that's one on me, pard! I'll make a new try soon's grub's over.
+      Don't be so tight-fisted with the steak; this is a plate I'm passin', not
+      a contribution box.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He winked at Bos'n and would have chucked her under the chin if she had
+      not dodged. She seemed to have taken a great aversion to Mr. Smith and was
+      plainly afraid of him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is he going to stay very long, Uncle Cyrus?&rdquo; she whispered, when it was
+      school time once more. &ldquo;Do you think he's nice?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not answer. When she had gone and the guest had risen from
+      the table and put on his hat, the captain said warningly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There's one little bit of advice I want to give you, Mister Man: A
+      bargain's a bargain, but it takes two to keep it. Don't let your love for
+      Tad Simpson lead you into talkin' too much. Talk's cheap, they say, but
+      too much of it might be mighty dear for you. Understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Smith patted him on the back. &ldquo;Lord love you, pard!&rdquo; he chuckled, &ldquo;I'm no
+      spring chicken. I'm as hard to open as a safe, I am. It takes a can opener
+      to get anything out of me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; well, you can get inside some folks easier with a corkscrew. I've
+      been told that Tad's a kind of a medium sometimes. If he raises any
+      spirits in that back room of his, I'd leave 'em alone, if I was you. So
+      long as you're decent, I'll put up with&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Smith was on his way to the gate, whistling as if he hadn't a care
+      in the world. Captain Cy watched him go down the road, and then, with the
+      drawn, weary look on his face which had been there since the day before,
+      he entered the sitting room and threw himself into a chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe Dawes, the school teacher, worked late that evening. There
+      were examination papers to be gone over, and experience had demonstrated
+      that the only place where she could be free from interruptions was the
+      schoolroom itself. At the perfect boarding house the shrill tones of
+      Keturah's voice and those of Miss Phinney and Mrs. Tripp penetrated
+      through shut doors. It is hard to figure percentages when the most
+      intimate details of Bayport's family life are being recited and gloated
+      over on the other side of a thin partition. And when Matilda undertook to
+      defend the Come-Outer faith against the assaults of the majority, the
+      verbal riot was, as Mr. Tidditt described it, &ldquo;like feedin' time in a
+      parrot shop.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Miss Phoebe came to the boarding house for supper and then returned to
+      the schoolroom, where, with a lighted bracket lamp beside her on the desk,
+      she labored until nine o'clock. Then she put on her coat and hat,
+      extinguished the light, locked the door, and started on her lonely walk
+      home.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The main road&rdquo; in our village is dark after nine o clock. There is a
+      street light&mdash;a kerosene lamp&mdash;on a post in front of the
+      Methodist meeting house, but the sexton forgets it, generally speaking,
+      or, at any rate, neglects to fill it except at rare intervals. Simmons's
+      front windows are ablaze, of course, and so are the dingy panes of
+      Simpson's barber shop. But these two centers of sociability are both at
+      the depot road corner, and when they are passed the only sources of
+      illumination are the scattered gleams from the back windows of dwellings.
+      As most of us retire by half-past eight, the glow along the main road is
+      not dazzling, to say the very least.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes was not afraid of the dark. She had been her own escort for a
+      good many years. She walked briskly on, heard the laughter and loud voices
+      in the barber shop die away behind her, passed the schoolhouse pond, now
+      bleak and chill with the raw November wind blowing across it, and began to
+      climb the slope of Whittaker's Hill. And here the wind, rushing in
+      unimpeded over the flooded salt meadows from the tumbled bay outside,
+      wound her skirts about her and made climbing difficult and breath-taking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She was, perhaps, half way up the long slope, when she heard, in the
+      intervals between the gusts, footsteps behind her. She knew most of the
+      village people by this time and the thought of company was not unpleasant.
+      So she paused and pantingly waited for whoever was coming. She could not
+      see more than a few yards, but the footsteps sounded nearer and nearer,
+      and, a moment later, a man's voice began singing &ldquo;Annie Rooney,&rdquo; a melody
+      then past its prime in the cities, but popularized in Bayport by some
+      departed batch of summer boarders.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not recognize the voice and she did not particularly approve of
+      singing in the streets, especially such loud singing. So she decided not
+      to wait longer, and was turning to continue her climb, when the person
+      behind stopped his vocalizing and called.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;Hello, ahead there! Who is it? Hold on a minute, pard!
+      I'm comin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She disobeyed the order to &ldquo;hold on,&rdquo; and began to hurry. The hurry was of
+      no avail, however, for the follower broke into a run and soon was by her
+      side. He was a stranger to her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whee! Wow!&rdquo; he panted. &ldquo;This is no race track, pard. Pull up, and let's
+      take it easy. My off leg's got a kink in it, and I don't run so easy as I
+      used to. Great snakes; what's your rush? Ain't you fond of company? Hello!
+      I believe it's a woman!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She did not answer. His manner and the smell of liquor about him were
+      decidedly unpleasant. The idea that he might be a tramp occurred to her.
+      Tramps are our bugaboos here in Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A woman!&rdquo; exclaimed the man hilariously. &ldquo;Well, say! I didn't believe
+      there was one loose in this tail-end of nowhere. Girlie, I'm glad to see
+      you. Not that I can see you much, but never mind. All cats are gray in the
+      dark, hey? You can't see me, neither, so we'll take each other on trust.
+      'She's my sweetheart, I'm her beau.' Say, Maud, may I see you home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She was frightened now. The Whittaker place on the hilltop was the nearest
+      house, and that was some distance off.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter, Carrie?&rdquo; inquired the man. &ldquo;Don't be scared. I
+      wouldn't hurt you. I'm just lonesome, that's all, and I need society.
+      Don't rush, you'll ruin your complexion. Here! come under my wing and
+      let's toddle along together. How's mamma?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He seized her arm and pulled her back beside him. She tried to free
+      herself, but could not. Her unwelcome escort held her fast and she was
+      obliged to move as slowly as he did. It was very dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, what IS your name?&rdquo; coaxed the man. &ldquo;Is is Maud, hey? Or Julia? I
+      always liked Julia. Don't be peevish. Tell us, that's a good girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She gave a quick jerk and managed to pull her arm from his grasp, giving
+      him a violent push as she did so. He, being unsteady on his feet, tumbled
+      down the low bank which edged the sidewalk. Then she ran on up the hill as
+      fast as she could. She heard him swear as he fell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She had nearly reached the end of the Whittaker fence when he caught her.
+      He was laughing, and that alarmed her almost as much as if he had been
+      angry.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Naughty! naughty!&rdquo; he chuckled, holding her fast. &ldquo;Tryin' to sneak, was
+      you? Not much! Not this time! Did you ever play forfeits when you was
+      little? Well, this is a forfeit game and you're It. You must bow to the
+      prettiest, kneel to the wittiest, and kiss the one you love best. And I'll
+      let you off on the first two. Come now! Pay up!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she screamed. And her scream was answered at once. A gate swung back
+      with a bang and she heard some one running along the walk toward her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Cap'n Whittaker!&rdquo; she called. &ldquo;Come! Come quick, please!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      How she knew that the person running toward her was Captain Cy has not
+      been satisfactorily explained even yet. She cannot explain it and neither
+      can the captain. And equally astonishing was the latter's answer. He
+      certainly had not heard her voice often enough to recognize it under such
+      circumstances.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, teacher!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;I'm comin'! Let go of that woman, you&mdash;Oh,
+      it's you, is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had seized Mr. Smith by the coat collar and jerked him away from his
+      victim. Miss Dawes took refuge behind the captain's bulky form. The two
+      men looked at each other. Smith was recovering his breath.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's you, is it?&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. Then, turning to Miss Phoebe, he
+      asked: &ldquo;Did he hurt you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No! Not yet. But he frightened me dreadfully. Who is he? Do you know
+      him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her persecutor answered the question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet your life he knows me!&rdquo; he snarled. &ldquo;He knows me mighty well!
+      Pard, you keep your nose out of this, d'you see! You mind your own
+      business. I wan't goin' to hurt her any.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain paid no attention to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup, I know him,&rdquo; he said grimly. Then he added, pointing toward the
+      lighted window of the house ahead: &ldquo;You&mdash;Smith, you go in there and
+      stay there! Trot! Don't make me speak twice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Smith was too far gone with anger and the &ldquo;spirits&rdquo; raised by Tad
+      Simpson to heed the menace in the words.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Smith, hey?&rdquo; he sneered. &ldquo;Oh, yes, SMITH! Well, Smith ain't goin', d'you
+      see! He's goin' to do what he pleases. I reckon I'm on top of the roost
+      here! I know what's what! You can't talk to me. I've got rights, I have,
+      and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blast your rights!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What? WHAT? Blast my rights, hey? Oh, yes! Think because you've got money
+      you can cheat me out of 'em, do you? Well, you can't! And how about the
+      other part of those rights? S'pose I walk right into that house and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop it! Shut up! You'd better not&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And into that bedroom and just say: 'Emmie, here's your&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He didn't finish the sentence. Captain Cy's big fist struck him fairly
+      between the eyes, and the back of his head struck the walk with a &ldquo;smack!&rdquo;
+       Then, through the fireworks which were illuminating his muddled brain, he
+      heard the captain's voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You low - down, good - for - nothin' scamp!&rdquo; growled Captain Cy. &ldquo;All
+      this day I've been hatin' myself for the way I've acted to you. I've hated
+      myself and been tryin' to spunk up courage to say 'It's all off!' But I
+      was too much of a coward, I guess. And now the Lord A'mighty has MADE me
+      say it. You want your rights, do you? So? Then get 'em if you can. It's
+      you and me for it, and we'll see who's the best man. Teacher, if you're
+      ready I'll walk home with you now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Smith was not entirely cowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You go!&rdquo; he yelled. &ldquo;Go ahead! And I'll go to a lawyer's to-morrow. But
+      to-night, and inside of five minutes, I'll walk into that house of yours
+      and get my&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain dropped Miss Dawes's arm and strode back to where his
+      antagonist was sitting in the dust of the walk. Stooping down, he shook a
+      big forefinger in the man's face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've been out West, they tell me,&rdquo; he whispered sternly. &ldquo;Yes! Well,
+      out West they take the law into their own hands, sometimes, I hear. I've
+      been in South America, and they do it there, too. Just so sure as you go
+      into my house to-night and touch&mdash;well, you know what I mean&mdash;just
+      so sure I'll kill you like a dog, if I have to chase you to Jericho. Now
+      you can believe that or not. If I was you I'd believe it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Taking the frightened schoolmistress by the arm once more he walked away.
+      Mr. Smith said nothing till they had gone some distance. Then he called
+      after them.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You wait till to-morrow!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;You just wait and see what'll
+      happen to-morrow!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was silent all the way to the gate of the perfect boarding
+      house. Miss Dawes was silent likewise, but she thought a great deal. At
+      the gate she said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker, I'm EVER so much obliged to you. I can't thank you
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't try, then. That's what you said to me about the cow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I'm almost sorry you were the one to come. I'm afraid that man will
+      get you into trouble. Has he&mdash;can he&mdash;What did he mean about
+      to-morrow? Who IS he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain pushed his cap back from his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there's a proverb, ain't there, about lettin'
+      to-morrow take care of itself? As for trouble&mdash;well, I did think I'd
+      had trouble enough in my life to last me through, but I cal'late I've got
+      another guess. Anyhow, don't you fret. I did just the right thing, and I'm
+      glad I did it. If it was only me I wouldn't fret, either. But there's&mdash;&rdquo;
+       He stopped, groaned, and pulled the cap forward again. &ldquo;Good night,&rdquo; he
+      added, and turned to go.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes leaned forward and detained him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just a minute, Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was a little prejudiced
+      against you when I came here. I was told that you got me the teacher's
+      position, and there was more than a hint that you did it for selfish
+      reasons of your own. When you called that afternoon at the school I was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't say a word! I was the biggest fool in town that time, and I've been
+      ashamed to look in the glass ever since. I ain't always such an idiot.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I've had to judge people for myself in my lifetime,&rdquo; continued the
+      schoolmistress, &ldquo;and I've made up my mind that I was mistaken about you. I
+      should like to apologize. Will you shake hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended her hand. Captain Cy hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hadn't you better wait a spell?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;You've heard that swab call
+      me partner. Hadn't&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No; I don't know what your trouble is, of course, and I certainly shan't
+      mention it to anyone. But whatever it is I'm sure you are right and it's
+      not your fault. Now will you shake hands?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer. He merely took the proffered hand, shook it
+      heartily, and strode off into the dark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      &ldquo;TOWN-MEETIN'&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is goin' to be a meMOriable town meetin'!&rdquo; declared Sylvanus Cahoon,
+      with unction, rising from the settee to gaze about him over the heads of
+      the voters in the townhall. &ldquo;I bet you every able-bodied man in Bayport
+      'll be here this forenoon. Yes, sir! that's what I call it, a me-MO-riable
+      meetin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See anything of Cy?&rdquo; inquired Josiah Dimick, who sat next to Sylvanus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he ain't come yet. And Heman ain't here, neither. Hello! there's Tad.
+      Looks happy, seems to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Dimick stood up to inspect Mr. Simpson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he muttered. &ldquo;Well, unless my count's wrong, he ain't got much to
+      be happy about. 'Lonzo Snow's with him. Tad does look sort of joyful,
+      don't he? Them that laughs last laughs best. When the vote for school
+      committee's all in we'll see who does the grinnin'. But I can't understand&mdash;Hello!
+      there's Tidditt. Asaph! Ase! S-s-t-t! Come here a minute.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt, trembling with excitement, and shaking hands effusively with
+      everyone he met, pushed his way up the aisle and bent over his friend.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Ase,&rdquo; whispered Josiah, &ldquo;where's Whit? Why ain't he on hand?
+      Nothin's happened, has it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; replied the town clerk. &ldquo;Everything seems to be all right. I stopped
+      in on the way along and Cy said not to wait; he'd be here on time. He's
+      been kind of off his feed for the last day or so, and I cal'late he didn't
+      feel like hurryin'. Say, Joe, now honest, what do you think of my
+      chances?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Such a confirmed joker as Dimick couldn't lose an opportunity like this.
+      With the aid of one trying to be cheerful under discouragement he answered
+      that, so far, Asaph's chances looked fair, pretty fair, but of course you
+      couldn't always sometimes tell. Mr. Tidditt rushed away to begin the
+      handshaking all over again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      From this round of cordiality he was reluctantly torn and conducted to the
+      platform. After thumping the desk with his fist he announced that the
+      gathering would &ldquo;come to order right off, as there was consider'ble
+      business to be done and it ought to be goin' ahead.&rdquo; He then proceeded to
+      read the call for the meeting. This ceremony was no sooner over than
+      Abednego Small, &ldquo;Uncle Bedny,&rdquo; was on his feet loudly demanding to be
+      informed why the town &ldquo;hadn't done nothin'&rdquo; toward fixing up the Bassett's
+      Hollow road. Uncle Bedny's speech had proceeded no further than &ldquo;Feller
+      citizens, in the name of an outrageous&mdash;I should say outraged portion
+      of our community I&mdash;&rdquo; when he was choked off by a self-appointed
+      committee who knew Mr. Small of old and had seated themselves near him to
+      be ready for just such emergencies. The next step, judged by meetings of
+      other years, should have been to unanimously elect Eben Salters moderator;
+      but as Captain Eben refused to serve, owing to his interest in the
+      Whittaker campaign, Alvin Knowles was, by a small majority, chosen for
+      that office. Mr. Knowles was a devout admirer of the great Atkins, and his
+      election would have been considered a preliminary victory for the
+      opposition had it not been that many of Captain Cy's adherents voted for
+      Alvin from a love of mischief, knowing from experience his ignorance of
+      parliamentary law and his easy-going rule. &ldquo;Now there'll be fun!&rdquo; declared
+      one delighted individual. &ldquo;Anything's in order when Alvin's chairman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The proceedings of the first half hour were disappointingly tame. Most of
+      us had come there to witness a political wrestling match between Tad
+      Simpson and Cyrus Whittaker. Some even dared hope that Congressman Atkins
+      might direct his fight in person. But neither the Honorable nor Captain Cy
+      was in the hall as yet. Solon Eldridge was re-elected selectman and so
+      also was Asaph Tidditt. Nobody but Asaph seemed surprised at this result.
+      His speech of acceptance would undoubtedly have been a triumph of oratory
+      had it not been interrupted by Uncle Bedny, who rose to emphatically
+      protest against &ldquo;settin' round and wastin' time&rdquo; when the Bassett's Hollow
+      road &ldquo;had ruts deep enough to drown a cat in whenever there was a more'n
+      average heavy dew.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Bassett's Hollow delegate being again temporarily squelched, Moderator
+      Knowles announced that nominations for the vacant place on the school
+      committee were in order. There was a perceptible stir on the settees. This
+      was what the meeting had been waiting for.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No sign of Cy or Heman yet,&rdquo; observed Mr. Cahoon, craning his neck in the
+      direction of the door. &ldquo;It's the queerest thing ever I see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Queer enough about Cy, that's a fact,&rdquo; concurred Captain Dimick. &ldquo;I ain't
+      so surprised about Heman's not comin'. Looks as if Whit was right; he
+      always said Atkins dodged a row where folks could watch it. Does most of
+      his fightin' from round the corner. Hello! there's Tad. Now you'll see the
+      crown of glory set on 'Lonzo Snow's head. Hope the crown's padded nice and
+      soft. Anything with sharp edges would sink in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Simpson, it seemed, was not yet ready to proceed with the
+      coronation. He had risen to ask permission of the meeting to defer the
+      school committee matter for a short time. Persons, important persons, who
+      should be present while the nominating was going on, had not yet arrived.
+      He was sure that the gathering would wish to hear from these persons. He
+      asked for only a slight delay. Matters such as this, affecting the welfare
+      of our posterity, ought not to be hurried, etc., etc.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson's request was unexpected. The meeting, apparently, didn't know
+      how to take it. Uncle Bedny was firmly held in his seat by those about
+      him. Lemuel Myrick took the floor to protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I must say,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;that I don't see any reason for waitin'. If
+      folks ain't here, that's their own fault. Mr. Moderator, I demand that the
+      nominatin' go ahead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tad was on his feet instantly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm goin' to appeal,&rdquo; he cried, &ldquo;to the decency and gratitude of the
+      citizens of the town of Bayport. One of the persons I'm&mdash;that is,
+      we're waitin' for has done more for our beautiful village than all the
+      rest of us put together. There ain't no need for me to name him. A right
+      up-to-date town pump, a lovely memorial window, a&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How about that harbor appropriation?&rdquo; cried a voice from the settees.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson was taken aback. His face flushed and he angrily turned toward
+      the interrupter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's you, Joe Dimick!&rdquo; he shouted, pointing an agitated forefinger.
+      &ldquo;You needn't scooch down. I know your tongue. The idea of you findin'
+      fault because a big man like Congressman Atkins don't jump when you holler
+      'Git up!' What do YOU know about doin's at Washington? That harbor
+      appropriation 'll go through if anybody on earth can get it through.
+      There's other places besides Bayport to be provided for and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And their congressmen provide for 'em,&rdquo; called another voice. Tad whirled
+      to face his new tormentor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Huh!&rdquo; he grunted with sarcasm. &ldquo;That's Lem Myrick, <i>I</i> know. Lem,
+      the great painter, who votes where he paints and gets paid accordin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; cried several.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, all right, Mr. Moderator! I'll keep order all right. But I say to
+      you, Lem, and you, Joe Dimick, that I know who put these smart notions
+      into your heads. We all know, unless we're born fools. Who is it that's
+      been sayin' the Honorable Heman Atkins was shirkin' that appropriation?
+      Who was it said if HE was representative the thing would have gone through
+      afore this? Who's been makin' his brags that he could get it through if he
+      had the chance? You know who! So do I! I wish he was here. I only wish he
+      was here! I'd say it to his face.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, he is. Heave ahead and say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everyone turned toward the door. Captain Cy had entered the hall. He was
+      standing in the aisle, and with him was Bailey Bangs. The captain looked
+      very tired, almost worn out, but he nodded coolly to Mr. Simpson, who had
+      retired to his seat with surprising quickness and apparent discomfiture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here I am, Tad,&rdquo; continued the captain. &ldquo;Say your piece.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Tad, it appeared, was not anxious to &ldquo;say his piece.&rdquo; He was
+      whispering earnestly with a group of his followers. Captain Cy held up his
+      hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he asked, &ldquo;can I have the floor a minute? All I want to
+      say is that I cal'late I'm the feller the last speaker had reference to. I
+      HAVE said that I didn't see why that appropriation was so hard to get. I
+      say it again. Other appropriations are got, and why not ours? I DID say if
+      I was a congressman I'd get it. Yes, and I'll say more,&rdquo; he added, raising
+      his voice, &ldquo;I'll say that if I was sent to Washin'ton by this town,
+      congressman or not, I'd move heaven and earth, and all creation from the
+      President down till I did get it. That's all. So would any live man, I
+      should think.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down. There was some applause. Before it had subsided Abel Leonard,
+      one of the quickest-witted of Mr. Simpson's workers, was on his feet,
+      gesticulating for attention.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he shouted, &ldquo;I want to make a motion. We've all heard the
+      big talk that's been made. All right, then! I move you, sir, that Captain
+      Cyrus Whittaker be appointed a committee of one to GO to Washin'ton, if he
+      wants to, or anywheres else, and see that we get the appropriation. And if
+      we don't get it the blame's his! There, now!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was a roar of laughter. This was exactly the sort of &ldquo;tit-for-tat&rdquo;
+       humor that appeals to a Yankee crowd. The motion was seconded half a dozen
+      times. Moderator Knowles grinned and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;A joke's a joke,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and we all like a good one. However, this
+      meetin' is supposed to be for business, not fun, so&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Question! Question! It's been seconded! We've got to vote on it!&rdquo; shouted
+      a chorus.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think&mdash;seems to me that ain't in order,&rdquo; began the
+      moderator, but Captain Cy rose to his feet. The grim smile had returned to
+      his face and he looked at the joyous assemblage with almost his old
+      expression of appreciative alertness.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind the vote,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I realize that Brother Leonard has rather
+      got one on me, so to speak. All right, I won't dodge. I'll BE a committee
+      of one on the harbor grab, and if nothin' comes of it I'll take my share
+      of kicks. Gentlemen, I appreciate your trustfulness in my ability.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This brief speech was a huge success. If, for a moment, the pendulum of
+      public favor had swung toward Simpson, this trumping of the latter's
+      leading card pushed it back again. The moderator had some difficulty in
+      restoring order to the hilarious meeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Then Mr. Myrick was accorded the privilege of the floor, in spite of Tad's
+      protests, and proceeded to nominate Cyrus Whittaker for the school
+      committee. Lem had devoted hours of toil and wearisome mental struggle to
+      the preparation of his address, and it was lengthy and florid. Captain Cy
+      was described as possessing all the virtues. Bailey, listening with a hand
+      behind his ear, was moved to applause at frequent intervals, and even
+      Asaph forgot the dignity of his exalted position on the platform and
+      pounded the official desk in ecstasy. The only person to appear
+      uninterested was the nominee himself. He sat listlessly in his seat, his
+      eyes cast down, and his thoughts apparently far away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Josiah Dimick seconded the captain's nomination. Then Mr. Simpson stepped
+      to the front and, after a wistful glance at the door, began to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Feller citizens,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is my privilege to put in nomination for
+      school committee a man whose name stands for all that's good and clean and
+      progressive in this township. But afore I do it I'm goin' to ask you to
+      let me say a word or two concernin' somethin' that bears right on this
+      matter, and which, I believe, everyone of you ought to know. It's
+      somethin' that most of you don't know, and it'll be a surprise, a big
+      surprise. I'll be as quick as I can, and I cal'late you'll thank me when
+      I'm done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. The meeting looked at each other in astonishment. There was
+      whispering along the settees. Moderator Knowles was plainly puzzled. He
+      looked inquiringly at the town clerk, but Asaph was evidently quite as
+      much in the dark as he concerning the threatened disclosure.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Feller Bayporters,&rdquo; went on Tad, &ldquo;there's one thing we've all agreed on,
+      no matter who we've meant to vote for. That is, that a member of our
+      school committee should be an upright, honest man, one fit morally to look
+      out for our dear children. Ain't that so? Well, then, I ask you this:
+      Would you consider a man fit for that job who deliberately came between a
+      father and his child, who pizened the mind of that child against his own
+      parent, and when that parent come to claim that child, first tried to buy
+      him off and then turned him out of the house? Yes, and offered violence to
+      him. And done it&mdash;mark what I say&mdash;for reasons which&mdash;which&mdash;well,
+      we can only guess 'em, but the guess may not be so awful bad. Is THAT the
+      kind of man we want to honor or to look out for our own children's
+      schoolin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Simpson undoubtedly meant to cause a sensation by his opening remarks.
+      He certainly did so. The stir and whispering redoubled. Asaph, his mouth
+      open, stared wildly down at Captain Cy. The captain rose to his feet, then
+      sank back again. His listlessness was gone and, paying no attention to
+      those about him, he gazed fixedly at Tad.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen,&rdquo; continued the speaker, &ldquo;last night I had an experience that I
+      shan't forget as long as I live. I met a poor man, a poor, lame man who'd
+      been away out West and got hurt bad. Folks thought he was dead. His wife
+      thought so and died grievin' for him. She left a little baby girl, only
+      seven or eight year old. When this man come back, well again but poor, to
+      look up his family, he found his wife had passed away and the child had
+      been sent off, just to get rid of her, to a stranger in another town. That
+      stranger fully meant to send her off, too; he said so dozens of times. A
+      good many of you folks right here heard him say it. But he never sent her&mdash;he
+      kept her. Why? Well, that's the question. <i>I</i> shan't answer it. <i>I</i>
+      ain't accusin' nobody. All I say is, what's easy enough for any of you to
+      prove, and that is that it come to light the child had property belongin'
+      to her. Property! land, wuth money!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused once more and drew his sleeve across his forehead. Most of his
+      hearers were silent now, on tiptoe of expectation. Dimick looked
+      searchingly at Captain Cy. Then he sprang to his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;What's all this got to do with nominatin' for school
+      committee? Ain't he out of order, Alvin?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The moderator hesitated. His habitual indecision was now complicated by
+      the fact that he was as curious as the majority of those before him. There
+      were shouts of, &ldquo;Go ahead, Tad!&rdquo; &ldquo;Tell us the rest!&rdquo; &ldquo;Let him go on, Mr.
+      Moderator!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Cy Whittaker slowly rose.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Alvin,&rdquo; he said earnestly, &ldquo;don't stop him yet. As a favor to me, let him
+      spin his yarn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Simpson was ready and evidently eager to spin it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This man,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;this father, mournin' for his dead wife and
+      longin' for his child, comes to the town where he was to find and take
+      her. And when he meets the man that's got her, when he comes, poor and
+      down on his luck, what does this man&mdash;this rich man&mdash;do? Why;
+      fust of all, he's sweeter'n sirup to him, takes him in, keeps him
+      overnight, and the next day he says to him: 'You just be quiet and say
+      nothin' to nobody that she's your little girl. I'll make it wuth your
+      while. Keep quiet till I'm ready for you to say it.' And he gives the
+      father money&mdash;not much, but some. All right so fur, maybe; but wait!
+      Then it turns out that the father knows about this land&mdash;this
+      property. And THEN the kind, charitable man&mdash;this rich man with lots
+      of money of his own&mdash;turns the poor father out, tellin' him to get
+      the girl and the land if he can, knowin'&mdash;KNOWIN', mind you&mdash;that
+      the father ain't got a cent to hire lawyers nor even to pay for his next
+      meal. And when the father says he won't go, but wants his dear one that
+      belongs to him, the rich feller abuses him, knocks him down with his fist!
+      Knocks down a poor, weak, lame invalid, just off a sick bed! Is THAT the
+      kind of a man we want on our school committee?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He asked the question with both hands outspread and the perspiration
+      running down his cheeks. The meeting was in an uproar.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No need for me to tell you who I mean,&rdquo; shouted Tad, waving his arms.
+      &ldquo;You know who, as well as I do. You've just heard him praised as bein' all
+      that's good and great. But <i>I</i> say&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You've said enough! Now let me say a word!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Captain Cy who interrupted. He had pushed his way through the
+      crowd, down the aisle, and now stood before the gesticulating Mr. Simpson,
+      who shrank back as if he feared that the treatment accorded the &ldquo;poor weak
+      invalid&rdquo; might be continued with him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Knowles,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, turning to the moderator, &ldquo;let me speak, will
+      you? I won't be but a minute. Friends,&rdquo; he continued, facing the excited
+      gathering&mdash;&ldquo;for some of you are my friends, or I've come to think you
+      are&mdash;a part of what this man says is so. The girl at my house is
+      Emily Thomas; her mother was Mary Thomas, who some of you know, and her
+      father's name is Henry Thomas. She came to me unexpected, bein' sent by a
+      Mrs. Oliver up to Concord, because 'twas either me or an orphan asylum. I
+      took her in meanin' to keep her a little while, and then send her away.
+      But as time went on I kept puttin' off and puttin' off, and at last I
+      realized I couldn't do it; I'd come to think too much of her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellers,&rdquo; he went on, slowly, &ldquo;I&mdash;I hardly know how to tell you what
+      that little girl's come to be to me. When I first struck Bayport, after
+      forty years away from it, all I thought of was makin' over the old place
+      and livin' in it. I cal'lated it would be a sort of Paradise, and HOW I
+      was goin' to live or whether or not I'd be lonesome with everyone of my
+      folks dead and gone, never crossed my mind. But the longer I lived there
+      alone the less like Paradise it got to be; I realized more and more that
+      it ain't furniture and fixin's that make a home; it's them you love that's
+      in it. And just as I'd about reached the conclusion that 'twas a failure,
+      the whole business, why, then, Bos'n&mdash;Emily, that is&mdash;dropped
+      in, and inside of a week I knew I'd got what was missin' in my life.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I never married and children never meant much to me till I got her. She's
+      the best little&mdash;little . . . There! I mustn't talk this way. I
+      bluffed a lot about not keepin' her permanent, bein' kind of ashamed, I
+      guess, but down inside me I'd made up my mind to bring her up like a
+      daughter. She and me was to live together till she grew up and got married
+      and I . . . Well, what's the use? A few days ago come a letter from the
+      Oliver woman in Concord sayin' that this Henry Thomas, Bos'n's father,
+      wan't dead at all, but had turned up there, havin' learned somehow or
+      'nother that his wife was gone and that his child had been willed a little
+      bit of land which belonged to her mother. He had found out that Emmie was
+      with me, and the letter said he would likely come after her&mdash;and the
+      land.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That letter was like a flash of lightnin' to me. I was dismasted and on
+      my beam ends. I didn't know what to do. I'd learned enough about this
+      Henry Thomas to know that he was no use, a drunken, good-for-nothin' scamp
+      who had cruelized his wife and then run off and left her and the baby. But
+      when he come, the very night I got the letter, I gave him a chance. I took
+      him in; I was willin' to give him a job on the place; I was willin' to pay
+      for his keep, and more. I DID ask him to keep his mouth shut and even to
+      use another name. 'Twas weak of me, maybe, but you want to remember this
+      had come on me sudden. And last night&mdash;the very second night, mind
+      you&mdash;he went out somewhere, perhaps we can guess where, bought liquor
+      with the money I gave him, got drunk, and then insulted one of the best
+      women in this town. Yes, sir! I say it right here, one of the best,
+      pluckiest little women anywhere, although she and I ain't always agreed on
+      certain matters. I DID tell him to clear out, and I DID knock him down.
+      Yes, and by the big dipper, I'd do it again under the same circumstances!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;As for the property,&rdquo; he added fiercely, &ldquo;why, darn the property, I say!
+      It ain't wuth much, anyhow, and, if 'twas anybody's else, he should have
+      it and welcome. But it's Bos'n's, and, bein' what he is, he SHAN'T have
+      it. And he shan't have HER to cruelize, neither! By the Almighty! he
+      shan't, so long as I've got a dollar to fight him with. I say that to you,
+      Tad Simpson, and to the man&mdash;to whoever put you up to this. There!
+      I've said my say. Now, gentlemen, you can choose your side.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He strode back to his seat. There was silence for a moment. Then Josiah
+      Dimick sprang up and waved his hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's the way to talk!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;That's a MAN! Three cheers for
+      Cap'n Whittaker! Come on, everybody!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But everybody did not &ldquo;come on.&rdquo; The cheers were feeble. It was evident
+      that the majority of those present did not know how to meet this
+      unexpected contingency. It had taken them by surprise and they were
+      undecided. The uproar of argument and question began again, louder than
+      ever. The bewildered moderator thumped his desk and shouted feebly for
+      order. Tad Simpson took the floor and, in a few words and at the top of
+      his lungs, nominated Alonzo Snow. Abel Leonard seconded the nomination.
+      There were yells of &ldquo;Question! Question!&rdquo; and &ldquo;Vote! Vote!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Eben Salters was recognized by the chair. Captain Salters made few
+      speeches, and when he did make one it was because he had something to say.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Moderator,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I, for one, hate to vote just now. It isn't
+      that the school committee is so important of itself. But I do think that
+      the rights of a father with his child IS pretty important, and our vote
+      for Cap'n Whittaker&mdash;and most of you know I intended votin' for him
+      and have been workin' for him&mdash;might seem like an indorsement of his
+      position. This whole thing is a big surprise to me. I don't feel yet that
+      we know enough of the inside facts to give such an indorsement. I'd like
+      to see this Thomas man before I decide to give it&mdash;or not to give it,
+      either. It's a queer thing to come up at town meetin', but it's up. Hadn't
+      we better adjourn until next week?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat down. The meeting was demoralized. Some were shouting for
+      adjournment, others to &ldquo;Vote it out.&rdquo; A straw would turn the scale and the
+      straw was forthcoming. While Captain Cy was speaking the door had silently
+      opened and two men entered the hall and sought seclusion in a corner. Now
+      one of these men came forward&mdash;the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins walked solemnly to the front, amidst a burst of recognition.
+      Many of the voters rose to receive him. It was customary, when the great
+      man condescended to attend such gatherings, to offer him a seat on the
+      platform. This the obsequious Knowles proceeded to do. Asaph was too
+      overcome by the disclosure of &ldquo;John Smith's" identity and by Mr. Simpson's
+      attack on his friend to remember even his manners. He did not rise, but
+      sat stonily staring.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The moderator's gavel descended &ldquo;Order!&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;Order, I say!
+      Congressman Atkins is goin' to talk to us.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman faced the excited crowd. One hand was in the breast of
+      his frock coat; the other was clenched upon his hip. He stood calm,
+      benignant, dignified&mdash;the incarnation of wisdom and righteous worth.
+      The attitude had its effect; the applause began and grew to an ovation.
+      Men who had intended voting against his favored candidate forgot their
+      intention, in the magnetism of his presence, and cheered. He bowed and
+      bowed again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fellow townsmen,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;far be it from me to influence your choice
+      in the matter of the school committee. Still further be it from me to
+      influence you against an old boyhood friend, a neighbor, one whom I
+      believe&mdash;er&mdash;had believed to be all that was sincere and true.
+      But, fellow townsmen, my esteemed friend, Captain Salters, has expressed a
+      wish to see Mr. Thomas, the father whose story you have heard to-day. I
+      happen to be in a position to gratify that wish. Mr. Thomas, will you
+      kindly come forward?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then from the rear of the hall Mr. Thomas came. But the drunken rowdy of
+      the night before had been transformed. Gone was the scrubby beard and the
+      shabby suit. Shorn was the unkempt mop of hair and vanished the impudent
+      swagger. He was dressed in clean linen and respectable black, and his
+      manner was modest and subdued. Only a discoloration of one eye showed
+      where Captain Cy's blow had left its mark.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He stepped upon the platform beside the congressman. The latter laid a
+      hand upon his shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gentlemen and friends,&rdquo; said Heman, &ldquo;my name has been brought into this
+      controversy, by Mr. Simpson directly, and in insinuation by&mdash;er&mdash;another.
+      Therefore it is my right to make my position clear. Mr. Thomas came to me
+      last evening in distress, both of mind and body. He told me his story&mdash;substantially
+      the story which has just been told to you by Mr. Simpson&mdash;and,
+      gentlemen, I believe it. But if I did not believe it, if I believed him to
+      have been in the past all that his opponent has said; even if I believed
+      that, only last evening, spurned, driven from his child, penniless and
+      hopeless, he had yielded to the weakness which has been his curse all his
+      life&mdash;even if I believed that, still I should demand that Henry
+      Thomas, repentant and earnest as you see him now, should be given his
+      rightful opportunity to become a man again. He is poor, but he is not&mdash;shall
+      not be&mdash;friendless. No! a thousand times, no! You may say, some of
+      you, that the affair is not my business. I affirm that it IS my business.
+      It is my business as a Christian, and that business should come before all
+      others. I have not allowed sympathy to influence me. If that were the
+      case, my regard for my neighbor and friend of former days would have held
+      me firm. But, gentlemen, I have a child of my own. I know what a father's
+      love is, as only a father can know it. And, after a sleepless night, I
+      stand here before you to-day determined that this man shall have his own,
+      if my money&mdash;which you will, I'm sure, forgive my mentioning&mdash;and
+      my unflinching support can give it to him. That is my position, and I
+      state it regardless of consequences.&rdquo; He paused, and with raised right
+      hand, like the picture of Jove in the old academy mythology, launched his
+      final thunderbolt. &ldquo;Whom God hath joined,&rdquo; he proclaimed, &ldquo;let no one put
+      asunder!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That settled it. The cheers shook the walls. Amidst the tumult Dimick and
+      Bailey Bangs seized Captain Cy by the shoulders and endeavored to lift him
+      from his seat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the love of goodness, Whit!&rdquo; groaned Josiah, desperately, &ldquo;stand up
+      and answer him. If you don't, we'll founder sure.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain smiled grimly and shook his head. He had not taken his eyes
+      from the face of the great Atkins since the latter began speaking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; he replied. &ldquo;After that 'put asunder' sockdolager? Man alive! do
+      you want me to add Sabbath breakin' to my other crimes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The vote, by ballot, followed almost immediately. It was pitiful to see
+      the erstwhile Whittaker majority melt away. Alonzo Snow was triumphantly
+      elected. But a handful voted against him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy, still grimly smiling, rose and left the hall. As he closed the
+      door, he heard the shrill voice of Uncle Bedny demanding justice for the
+      Bassett's Hollow road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It had, indeed, been a &ldquo;memoriable&rdquo; town meeting.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE REPULSE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      When Deacon Zeb Clark&mdash;the same Deacon Zeb who fell into the cistern,
+      as narrated by Captain Cy&mdash;made his first visit to the city, years
+      and years ago, he stayed but two days. As he had proudly boasted that he
+      should remain in the metropolis at least a week, our people were much
+      surprised at his premature return. To the driver of the butcher cart who
+      found him sitting contentedly before his dwelling, amidst his desolate
+      acres, the nearest neighbor a half mile away, did Deacon Zeb disclose his
+      reason for leaving the crowded thoroughfares. &ldquo;There was so many folks
+      there,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that I felt lonesome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Captain Cy, returning from the town meeting to the Whittaker place,
+      felt lonesome likewise. Not for the Deacon's reason&mdash;he met no one on
+      the main road, save a group of school children and Miss Phinney, and,
+      sighting the latter in the offing, he dodged behind the trees by the
+      schoolhouse pond and waited until she passed. But the captain, his trouble
+      now heavy upon him, did feel the need of sympathy and congenial
+      companionship. He knew he might count upon Dimick and Asaph, and, whenever
+      Keturah's supervision could be evaded, upon Mr. Bangs. But they were not
+      the advisers and comforters for this hour of need. All the rest of
+      Bayport, he felt sure, would be against him. Had not King Heman the Great
+      from the steps of the throne, banned him with the royal displeasure! &ldquo;If
+      Heman ever SHOULD come right out and say&mdash;&rdquo; began Asaph's warning.
+      Well, strange as it might seem, Heman had &ldquo;come right out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As to why he had come out there was no question in the mind of the
+      captain. The latter had left Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, prostrate
+      and blasphemous in the road the previous evening. His next view of him was
+      when, transformed and sanctified, he had been summoned to the platform by
+      Mr. Atkins. No doubt he had returned to the barber shop and, in his rage
+      and under Mr. Simpson's cross examination, had revealed something of the
+      truth. Tad, the politician, recognizing opportunity when it knocked at his
+      door, had hurried him to the congressman's residence. The rest was plain
+      enough, so Captain Cy thought.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      However, war was already declared, and the reasons for it mattered little.
+      The first skirmish might occur at any moment. The situation was desperate.
+      The captain squared his shoulders, thrust forward his chin, and walked
+      briskly up the path to the door of the dining room. It was nearly one
+      o'clock, but Bos'n had not yet gone. She was waiting, to the very last
+      minute, for her &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, shipmate,&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;Not headed for school yet? Good! I cal'late
+      you needn't go this afternoon. I'm thinkin' of hirin' a team and drivin'
+      to Ostable, and I didn't know but you'd like to go with me. Think you
+      could, without that teacher woman havin' you brought up aft for mutiny?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n thought it over.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she said; &ldquo;I guess so, if you wrote me an excuse. I don't like
+      to be absent, 'cause I haven't been before, but there's only my reading
+      lesson this afternoon and I know that ever so well. I'd love to go, Uncle
+      Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain removed his coat and hat and pulled a chair forward to the
+      table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;What's this&mdash;the mail?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n smiled delightedly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, sir,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I knew you was at the meeting and so I brought
+      it from the office. Ain't you glad?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure! Yes, indeed! Much obliged. Tryin' to keep house without you would
+      be like steerin' without a rudder.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Even as he said it there came to him the realization that he might have to
+      steer without that rudder in the near future. His smile vanished. He
+      smothered a groan and picked up the mail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; he mused, &ldquo;the Breeze, a circular, and one letter. Hello! it isn't
+      possible that&mdash;Well! well!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The letter was in a long envelope. He hastily tore it open. At the
+      inclosure he glanced in evident excitement. Then his smile returned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said, after a moment's reflection, &ldquo;I guess you and me won't
+      have to go to Ostable after all.&rdquo; Noticing the child's look of
+      disappointment, he added: &ldquo;But you needn't go to school. Maybe you'd
+      better not. You and me'll take a tramp alongshore. What do you say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes, Uncle Cy! Let's&mdash;shall we?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, I don't see why not. We'll cruise in company as long as we can, hey,
+      little girl? The squall's likely to strike afore night,&rdquo; he muttered half
+      aloud. &ldquo;We'll enjoy the fine weather till it's time to shorten sail.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They walked all that afternoon. Captain Cy was even more kind and gentle
+      with his small companion than usual. He told her stories which made her
+      laugh, pointed out spots in the pines where he had played Indian when a
+      boy, carried her &ldquo;pig back&rdquo; when she grew tired, and kissed her tenderly
+      when, at the back door of the Whittaker place, he set her on her feet
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had a good time, dearie?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, splendid! I think it's the best walk we ever had, don't you, Uncle
+      Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shouldn't wonder. You won't forget our cruises together when you are a
+      big girl and off somewheres else, will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'll NEVER forget 'em. And I'm never going anywhere without you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was after five as they entered the kitchen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Anybody been here while I was out?&rdquo; asked the captain of Georgianna. The
+      housekeeper's eyes were red and swollen, and she hugged Bos'n as she
+      helped her off with her jacket and hood.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, there has,&rdquo; was the decided answer. &ldquo;First Ase Tidditt, and then
+      Bailey Bangs, and then that&mdash;that Angie Phinney.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; mused Captain Cy slowly. &ldquo;So Angie was here, was she? Where the
+      carcass is the vultures are on deck, or words similar. Humph! Did our
+      Angelic friend have much to say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;DID she? And <i>I</i> had somethin' to say, too! I never in my life!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; Her employer eyed her sharply. &ldquo;So? And so soon? Talk about the
+      telegraph spreadin' news! I'd back most any half dozen tongues in Bayport
+      to spread more news, and add more trimmin' to it, in a day than the
+      telegraph could do in a week. Especially if all the telegraph operators
+      was like the one up at the depot. Well, Georgianna, when you goin' to
+      leave?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave? Leave where? What are you talkin' about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Leave here. Of course you realize that this ship of ours,&rdquo; indicating the
+      house by a comprehensive wave of his hand around the room, &ldquo;is goin' to be
+      a mighty unpopular craft from now on. We may be on a lee shore any minute.
+      You've got your own well-bein' to think of.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My own well-bein'! What do you s'pose I care for my well-bein' when
+      there's&mdash;Cap'n Whittaker, you tell me now! Is it so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Some of it is&mdash;yes. He's come back and he's who he says he is.
+      You've seen him. He was here all day yesterday.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So Angie said, but I couldn't scarcely believe it. That toughy! Cap'n
+      Whittaker, do you intend to hand over that poor little innocent thing to&mdash;to
+      such a man as THAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. There'll be no handin' over about it. But the odds are against us,
+      and there's no reason why you should be in the rumpus, Georgianna. You may
+      not understand what we're facin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper drew herself up. Her face was very red and her small eyes
+      snapped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cy Whittaker,&rdquo; she began, manners and deference to employer alike
+      forgotten, &ldquo;don't you say no more of that wicked foolishness to me. I'll
+      leave the minute you're mean-spirited enough to let that child go and not
+      afore. And when THAT happens I'll be GLAD to leave. Land sakes! there's
+      somebody at the door; and I expect I'm a perfect sight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rubbed her face with her apron, thereby making it redder than ever,
+      and hurried into the dining room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; said Captain Cy quickly, &ldquo;you stay here in the kitchen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed her
+      curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had knocked, and
+      obeyed. The captain pulled the kitchen door almost shut and listened at
+      the crack.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain Cy's
+      anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why!&rdquo; he exclaimed in a whisper. &ldquo;Ain't that&mdash;It sounds like&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's teacher,&rdquo; whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening. &ldquo;She's come
+      to find out why I wasn't at school. You tell her, Uncle Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Georgianna returned to announce:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's Miss Dawes. She says she wants to see you, Cap'n. She's in the
+      settin' room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain drew a long breath. Then, repeating his command to Emmie to
+      stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door behind him. The
+      latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What made him do that?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;I haven't been bad. He NEVER shut
+      me up before!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting room
+      when Captain Cy entered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evenin',&rdquo; he said politely. &ldquo;Won't you sit down?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes paid no attention to trivialities. She seemed much
+      agitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she began, &ldquo;I just heard something that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain interrupted her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;but I think we'll pull down the curtains and have a
+      little light on the subject. It gets dark early now, especially of a gray
+      day like this one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew the shades at the windows and lit the lamp on the table. The red
+      glow behind the panes of the stove door faded into insignificance as the
+      yellow radiance brightened. The ugly portraits and the stiff old
+      engravings on the wall retired into a becoming dusk. The old-fashioned
+      room became more homelike.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now won't you sit down?&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. &ldquo;Take that rocker; it's the
+      most comf'table one aboard&mdash;so Bos'n says, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe took the rocker, under protest. Her host remained standing.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's been a nice afternoon,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Bos'n&mdash;Emmie, of course&mdash;and
+      I have been for a walk. 'Twan't her fault, 'twas mine. I kept her out of
+      school. I was&mdash;well, kind of lonesome.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher's gray eyes flashed in the lamplight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;please don't waste time. I didn't come here
+      to talk about the weather nor Emily's reason for not attending school. I
+      don't care why she was absent. But I have just heard of what happened at
+      that meeting. Is it true that&mdash;&rdquo; She hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That Emmie's dad is alive and here? Yes, it's true.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but that man last night? Was he THAT man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's the man,&rdquo; he said briefly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes shuddered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she asked earnestly, &ldquo;are you sure he is really her
+      father? Absolutely sure?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure and sartin.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then she belongs to him, doesn't she? Legally, I mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe so.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are&mdash;are you going to give her up to him?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then what I heard was true. You did say at the meeting that you were
+      going to do your best to keep him from getting her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum! What I said amounts to just about that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was surprised and a little disappointed apparently.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, for reasons I've got.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you mind telling me the reasons?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late you don't want to hear 'em. If you don't understand now, then
+      I can't make it much plainer, I'm afraid.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The little lady sprang to her feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, you are provoking!&rdquo; she cried indignantly. &ldquo;Can't you see that I want
+      to hear the reasons from you yourself? Cap'n Whittaker, I shook hands with
+      you last night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You remember I told you you'd better wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't want to wait. I believed I knew something of human nature, and I
+      believed I had learned to understand you. I made up my mind to pay no more
+      attention to what people said against you. I thought they were envious and
+      disliked you because you did things in your own way. I wouldn't believe
+      the stories I heard this afternoon. I wanted to hear you speak in your own
+      defense and you refuse to do it. Don't you know what people are saying?
+      They say you are trying to keep Emily because&mdash;Oh, I'm ashamed to ask
+      it, but you make me: HAS the child got valuable property of her own?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy had been, throughout this scene, standing quietly by the table.
+      Now he took a step forward.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; he said sharply, &ldquo;sit down.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress didn't mean to obey the order, but for some reason she
+      did. The captain went on speaking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty plain,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that what you heard at the boardin' house&mdash;for
+      I suppose that's where you did hear it&mdash;was what you might call a
+      Phinneyized story of the doin's at the meetin'. Well, there's another
+      yarn, and it's mine; I'm goin' to spin it and I want you to listen.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He went on to spin his yarn. It was practically a repetition of his reply
+      to Tad Simpson that morning. Its conclusion was also much the same.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The land ain't worth fifty dollars,&rdquo; he declared, &ldquo;but if it was fifty
+      million he shouldn't have it. Why? Because it belongs to that little girl.
+      And he shan't have her until he and those back of him have hammered me
+      through the courts till I'm down forty fathom under water. And when they
+      do get her&mdash;and, to be honest, I cal'late they will in the end&mdash;I
+      hope to God I won't be alive to see it! There! I've answered you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He was walking up and down the room, with the old quarter-deck stride, his
+      hands jammed deep in his pockets and his face working with emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty nigh a single-handed fight for me,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;but I've
+      fought single-handed before. The other side's got almost all the powder
+      and the men. Heman and Tad and that Thomas have got seven eighths of
+      Bayport behind 'em, not to mention the 'Providence' they're so sure of. My
+      crowd is a mighty forlorn hope: Dimick and Ase Tidditt, and Bailey, as
+      much as his wife 'll let him. Oh, yes!&rdquo; and he smiled whimsically,
+      &ldquo;there's another one. A new recruit's just joined; Georgianna's enlisted.
+      That's my army. Sort of rag-jacketed cadets, we are, small potatoes, and
+      few in a hill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher rose and laid a hand on his arm. He turned toward her. The
+      lamplight shone upon her face, and he saw, to his astonishment, that there
+      were tears in her eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;will you take an other recruit? I should
+      like to enlist, please.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You? Oh, pshaw! I'm thick-headed to-night. I didn't see the joke of it at
+      first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There isn't any joke. I want you to know that I admire you for the fight
+      you're making. Law or no law, to let that dear little girl go away with
+      that dreadful father of hers is a sin and a crime. I came here to tell you
+      so. I did want to hear your story, and you made me ask that question; but
+      I was certain of your answer before you made it. I don't suppose I can do
+      anything to help, but I'm going to try. So, you see, your army is bigger
+      than you thought it was&mdash;though the new soldier isn't good for much,
+      I'm afraid,&rdquo; she added, with a little smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was greatly disturbed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I&mdash;I won't say that it don't please me to
+      have you talk so, for it does, more'n you can imagine. Sympathy means
+      somethin' to the under dog, and it gives him spunk to keep on kickin'. But
+      you mustn't take any part in the row; you simply mustn't. It won't do.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why not? Won't I be ANY help?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Help? You'd be more help than all the rest of us put together. You and me
+      haven't seen a great deal of each other, and my part in the few talks we
+      have had has been a mean one, but I knew the first time I met you that you
+      had more brains and common sense than any woman in this county&mdash;though
+      I was too pig-headed to own it. But that ain't it. I got you the job of
+      teacher. It's no credit to me; 'twas just bull luck and for the fun of
+      jarrin' Heman. But I did it. And, because I did it, the Atkins crowd&mdash;and
+      that means most everybody now&mdash;haven't any love for you. My tryin'
+      for school committee was really just to give you a fair chance in your
+      position. I was licked, so the committee's two to one against you. Don't
+      you see that you mustn't have anything to do with me? Don't you SEE it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I see that common gratitude alone should be reason enough for my trying
+      to help you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But, beside that, I know you are right, and I
+      SHALL help, no matter what you say. As for the teacher's position, let
+      them discharge me. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't talk that way. The youngsters need you, and know it, no matter what
+      their fool fathers and mothers say. And you mustn't wreck your chances.
+      You're young&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, no! I'm not,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Young! Cap'n Whittaker, you shouldn't joke
+      about a woman's age.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't jokin'. You ARE young.&rdquo; As she stood there before him he was
+      realizing, with a curiously uncomfortable feeling, how much younger she
+      was than he. He glanced up at the mirror, where his own gray hairs were
+      reflected, and repeated his assertion. &ldquo;You're young yet,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and
+      bein' discharged from a place might mean a whole lot to you. I'm glad you
+      take such an interest in Bos'n, and your comin' here on her account&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Miss Dawes colored slightly and said:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Your comin' here on her account was mighty good of you. But you've got to
+      keep out of this trouble. And you mustn't come here again. That's owner's
+      orders. Why, I'm expectin' a boardin' party any minute,&rdquo; he added. &ldquo;I
+      thought when you knocked it was 'papa' comin' for his child. You'd better
+      go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But she stood still.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I shan't go,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Or, at least, not until you promise to let
+      me try to help you. If they come, so much the better. They'll learn where
+      my sympathies are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy scratched his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See here, Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I ain't sure that you fully understand
+      that Scripture and everything else is against us. Did Angie turn loose on
+      you the 'Whom the Lord has joined' avalanche?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress burst into a laugh. The captain laughed, too, but his
+      gravity quickly returned. For steps sounded on the walk, there was a
+      whispering outside, and some one knocked on the dining-room door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The situation was similar to that of the evening when the Board of
+      Strategy called and &ldquo;John Smith&rdquo; made his first appearance. But now, oddly
+      enough, Captain Cy seemed much less troubled. He looked at Miss Dawes and
+      there was a dancing twinkle in his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is it&mdash;&rdquo; began the lady, in an agitated whisper.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The boardin' party? I presume likely.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But what can you do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stand by the repel, I guess,&rdquo; was the calm reply. &ldquo;I told you that they
+      had most of the ammunition, but ours ain't all blank cartridges. You stay
+      below and listen to the broadsides.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They heard Georgianna cross the dining room. There was a murmur of voices
+      at the door. The captain nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's them,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Well, here goes. Now don't you show yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you think I am afraid? Indeed, I shan't stay 'below' as you call it! I
+      shall let them see&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy held up his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm commodore of this fleet,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;and that bein' the case, I expect
+      my crew to obey orders. There's nothin' you can do, and&mdash;Why, yes!
+      there is, too. You can take care of Bos'n. Georgianna,&rdquo; to the housekeeper
+      who, looking frightened and nervous, had appeared at the door, &ldquo;send Bos'n
+      in here quick.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They're there,&rdquo; whispered Georgianna. &ldquo;Mr. Atkins and Tad and that Thomas
+      critter, and lots more. And they've come after her. What shall we do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Jump when I speak to you, that's the first thing. Send Bos'n in here and
+      you stay in your galley.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Emily came running. Miss Dawes put an arm about her. Captain Cy, the
+      battle lanterns still twinkling under his brows, stepped forth to meet the
+      &ldquo;boarding party.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They were there, as Georgianna had said. Mr. Thomas on the top step, Heman
+      and Simpson on the next lower, and behind them Abel Leonard and a group of
+      interested volunteers, principally recruited from the back room of the
+      barber shop.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', gentlemen,&rdquo; said the captain, opening the door so briskly that
+      Mr. Thomas started backward and came down heavily upon the toes of the
+      devoted Tad. Mr. Simpson swore, Mr. Thomas clawed about him to gain
+      equilibrium, and the dignity of the group was seriously impaired.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin',&rdquo; repeated Captain Cy. &ldquo;Quite a surprise party you're givin' me.
+      Come in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; began the Honorable Atkins, &ldquo;we are here to claim&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Give me my daughter, you robber!&rdquo; demanded Thomas, from his new position
+      in the rear of the other two.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Thomas,&rdquo; said Heman, &ldquo;please remember that I am conducting this
+      affair. I respect the natural indignation of an outraged father, but&mdash;ahem!
+      Cyrus, we are here to claim&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then do your claimin' inside. It's kind of chilly to-night, there's
+      plenty of empty chairs, and we don't need to hold an overflow meetin'.
+      Come ahead in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The trio looked at each other in hesitation. Then Mr. Atkins majestically
+      entered the dining room. Thomas and Simpson followed him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Abe,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy to Leonard, who was advancing toward the steps,
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry not to be hospitable, but there's too many of you to invite at
+      once, and 'tain't polite to show partiality. You and the rest are welcome
+      to sit on the terrace or stroll 'round the deer park. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He closed the door in the face of the disappointed Abel and turned to the
+      three in the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;out with it. You've come to claim somethin', I
+      understand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I come for my rights,&rdquo; shouted Mr. Thomas.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes? Well, this ain't State's prison or I'd give 'em to you with
+      pleasure. Heman, you'd better do the talkin'. We'll probably get ahead
+      faster.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable cleared his throat and waved his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;you are my boyhood friend and my fellow townsman and
+      neighbor. Under such circumstances it gives me pain&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then don't let us discuss painful subjects. Let's get down to business.
+      You've come to rescue Bos'n&mdash;Emily, that is,&mdash;from the 'robber'&mdash;I'm
+      quotin' Deacon Thomas here&mdash;that's got her, so's to turn her over to
+      her sorrowin' father. Is that it? Yes. Well, you can't have her&mdash;not
+      yet.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; said Mr. Atkins, &ldquo;I'm sorry to see that you take it this way. You
+      haven't the shadow of a right. We have the law with us, and your conduct
+      will lead us to invoke it. The constable is outside. Shall I call him in?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Bedny&rdquo; was the town constable and had been since before the war.
+      The purely honorary office was given him each year as a joke. Captain Cy
+      grinned broadly, and even Tad was obliged to smile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't be inhuman, Heman,&rdquo; urged the captain. &ldquo;You wouldn't turn me over
+      to be man-handled by Uncle Bedny, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This is not a humorous affair&mdash;&rdquo; began the congressman, with
+      dignity. But the &ldquo;bereaved father&rdquo; had been prospecting on his own hook,
+      and now he peeped into the sitting room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here she is!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;I see her. Come on, Emmie! Your dad's come for
+      you. Let go of her, you woman! What do you mean by holdin' on to her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The situation which was &ldquo;not humorous&rdquo; immediately became much less so.
+      The next minute was a lively one. It ended as Mr. Thomas was picked up by
+      Tad from the floor, where he had fallen, having been pushed violently over
+      a chair by Captain Cy. Bos'n, frightened and sobbing, was clinging wildly
+      to Miss Dawes, who had clung just as firmly to her. The captain's voice
+      rang through the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's enough,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That's enough and some over. Atkins, take that
+      feller out of this house and off my premises. As for the girl, that's for
+      us to fight out in the courts. I'm her guardian, lawfully appointed, and
+      you nor nobody else can touch her while that appointment's good. Here it
+      is&mdash;right here. Now look at it and clear out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He held, for the congressman's inspection, the document which, inclosed in
+      the long envelope, had been received that morning. His visit to Ostable,
+      made some weeks before, had been for the purpose of applying to the
+      probate court for the appointment as Emily's guardian. He had applied
+      before the news of her father's coming to life reached him. The
+      appointment itself had arrived just in time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins studied the document with care. When he spoke it was with
+      considerable agitation and without his usual diplomacy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;Humph! I see. Well, sir, I have some influence in
+      this section and I shall see how long your&mdash;your TRICK will prevent
+      the child's going where she belongs. I wish you to understand that I shall
+      continue this fight to the very last. I&mdash;I am not one to be easily
+      beaten. Simpson, you and Thomas come with me. This night's despicable
+      chicanery is only the beginning. This is bad business for you, Cy
+      Whittaker,&rdquo; he snarled, his self-control vanishing, &ldquo;and&rdquo;&mdash;with a
+      vindictive glance at the schoolmistress&mdash;&ldquo;for those who are with you
+      in it. That appointment was obtained under false pretenses and I can prove
+      it. Your tricks don't scare me. I've had experience with TRICKS before.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. So I've heard. Well, Heman, I ain't as well up in tricks as you
+      claim to be, nor my stockin' isn't as well padded as yours, maybe. But
+      while there's a ten-cent piece left in the toe of it I'll fight you and
+      the skunk whose 'rights' you seem to have taken such a shine to. And,
+      after that, while there's a lawyer that 'll trust me. And, meantime, that
+      little girl stays right here, and you touch her if you dare, any of you!
+      Anything more to say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the Honorable's dignity had returned. Possibly he thought he had said
+      too much already. A moment later the door banged behind the discomforted
+      boarding party.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy pulled his beard and laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we repelled 'em, didn't we?&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;But, as friend Heman
+      says, the beginnin's only begun. I wish he hadn't seen you here, teacher.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes looked up from the task of stroking poor Bos'n's hair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I'm glad of it.&rdquo; Then she added, laughing nervously:
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Whittaker, how could you be so cool? It was like a play. I declare,
+      you were just splendid!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A CLEW
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      Josiah Dimick has a unique faculty of grasping a situation and summing it
+      up in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think,&rdquo; observed Josiah to the excited group at Simmons's, &ldquo;that this
+      town owes Cy Whittaker a vote of thanks.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thanks!&rdquo; gasped Alpheus Smalley, so shocked and horrified that he put the
+      one-pound weight on the scales instead of the half pound. &ldquo;THANKS! After
+      what we've found out? Well, I must say!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ya-as,&rdquo; drawled Captain Josiah, &ldquo;thanks was what I said. If it wan't for
+      him this gang and the sewin' circle wouldn't have nothin' to talk about
+      but their neighbors. Our reputations would be as full of holes as a
+      skimmer by this time. Now all hands are so busy jumpin' on Whit, that the
+      rest of us can feel fairly safe. Ain't that so, Gabe?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Lumley, who had stopped in for a half pound of tea, grinned feebly,
+      but said nothing. If he noticed the clerk's mistake in weights he didn't
+      mention it, but took his package and hurried out. After his departure Mr.
+      Smalley himself discovered the error and charged the Lumley account with
+      &ldquo;1 1/4 lbs. Mixed Green and Black.&rdquo; Meanwhile the assemblage about the
+      stove had put Captain Cy on the anvil and was hammering him vigorously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bayport was boiling over with rumor and surmise. Heman had appealed to the
+      courts asking that Captain Cy's appointment as Bos'n's guardian be
+      rescinded. Cy had hired Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable, to look out for his
+      interests. Mr. Atkins and the captain had all but come to blows over the
+      child. Thomas, the poor father, had broken down and wept, and had
+      threatened to commit suicide. Mrs. Salters had refused to speak to Captain
+      Cy when she met the latter after meeting on Sunday. The land in Orham had
+      been sold and the captain was using the money. Phoebe Dawes had threatened
+      to resign if Bos'n came to school any longer. No, she had threatened to
+      resign if she didn't come to school. She hadn't threatened to resign at
+      all, but wanted higher wages because of the effect the scandal might have
+      on her reputation as a teacher. These were a few of the reports,
+      contradicted and added to from day to day.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      To quote Josiah Dimick again: &ldquo;Sortin' out the truth from the lies is like
+      tryin' to find a quart of sardines in a schooner load of herrin'. And they
+      dump in more herrin' every half hour.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life. The perfect boarding
+      house hummed like a fly trap. Keturah and Mrs. Tripp had deserted to the
+      enemy, and the minority, meaning Asaph and Bailey, had little opportunity
+      to defend their friend's cause, even if they had dared. Heman Atkins, his
+      Christian charity and high-mindedness, his devotion to duty, regardless of
+      political consequences, and the magnificent speech at town meeting were
+      lauded and exalted. The Bayport Breeze contained a full account of the
+      meeting, and it was read aloud by Keturah, amidst hymns of praise from the
+      elect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Whom the Lord hath joined,'&rdquo; read Mrs. Bangs, &ldquo;'let no man put asunder.'
+      Ain't that splendid? Ain't that FINE? The paper says: 'When Congressman
+      Atkins delivered this noble sentiment a hush fell upon the excited
+      throng.' I should think 'twould. I remember when I was married the
+      minister said pretty nigh the same thing, and I COULDN'T speak. I couldn't
+      have opened my mouth to save me. Don't you remember I couldn't, Bailey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs nodded gloomily. It is possible that he wished the effect of the
+      minister's declaration might have been more lasting. Asaph stirred in his
+      chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't care,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;This puttin' asunder business is all right, but
+      there's always two sides to everything. I see this Thomas critter when he
+      fust come, and he didn't look like no saint then&mdash;nor smell like one,
+      neither, unless 'twas a specimen pickled in alcohol.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was irreverence almost atheistic. Keturah's face showed her shocked
+      disapproval. Matilda Tripp voiced the general sentiment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she sniffed. &ldquo;Well, all I can say is that I've met Mr. Thomas two
+      or three times, and <i>I</i> didn't notice anything but politeness and
+      good manners. Maybe my nose ain't so fine for smellin' liquor as some
+      folks's&mdash;p'raps it ain't had the experience&mdash;but all <i>I</i>
+      saw was a poor lame man with a black eye. I pitied him, and I don't care
+      who hears me say it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; concurred Miss Phinney, &ldquo;and if he was a drinkin' man, do you
+      suppose Mr. Atkins would have anything to do with him? Cyrus Whittaker
+      made a whole lot of talk about his insultin' some woman or other, but
+      nobody knows who the woman was. 'Bout time for her to speak up, I should
+      think. Teacher,&rdquo; turning to Miss Dawes, &ldquo;you was at the Whittaker place
+      when Mr. Atkins and Emily's father come for her, I understand. I wish I'd
+      have been there. It must have been wuth seein'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It was,&rdquo; replied Miss Dawes. She had kept silent throughout the various
+      discussions of the week following the town meeting, but now, thus appealed
+      to, she answered promptly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Angeline's news created a sensation. The schoolmistress immediately became
+      the center of interest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Is that so? Was you there, teacher? Well, I declare!&rdquo; The questions and
+      exclamations flew round the table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell us, teacher,&rdquo; pleaded Keturah. &ldquo;Wasn't Heman grand? I should so like
+      to have heard him. Didn't Cap'n Whittaker look ashamed of himself?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, he did not. If anyone looked ashamed it was Mr. Atkins and his
+      friends. Perhaps I ought to tell you that my sympathies are entirely with
+      Captain Whittaker in this affair. To give that little girl up to a drunken
+      scoundrel like her father would, in my opinion, be a crime.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The boarders and the landlady gasped. Asaph grinned and nudged Bailey
+      under the table. Keturah was the first to recover.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Everybody's got a right to their opinion, of
+      course. But I can't see the crime, myself. And as for the drunkenness, I'd
+      like to know who's seen Mr. Thomas drunk. Cyrus Whittaker SAYS he has, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She waved her hand scornfully. Phoebe rose from her chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have seen him in that condition,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;In fact, I am the person
+      he insulted. I saw Captain Whittaker knock him down, and I honored the
+      captain for it. I only wished I were a man and could have done it myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She left the room, and, a few moments later, the house. Mr. Tidditt
+      chuckled aloud. Even Bailey dared to look pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There!&rdquo; sneered the widow Tripp. &ldquo;Ain't that&mdash;Perhaps you remember
+      that Cap'n Whittaker got her the teacher's place?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; put in Miss Phinney, &ldquo;and nobody knows WHY he got it for her. That
+      is, nobody has known up to now. Maybe we can begin to guess a little after
+      this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was at his house, was she?&rdquo; observed Keturah. &ldquo;Humph! I wonder why?
+      Seems to me if <i>I</i> was a young&mdash;that is, a single woman like
+      her, I'd be kind of careful about callin' on bachelors. Humph! it looks
+      funny to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph rose and pushed back his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cal'late she called to see Emily,&rdquo; he said sharply. &ldquo;The child was her
+      scholar, and I presume likely, knowin' the kind of father that has turned
+      up for the poor young one, she felt sorry for her. Of course, nobody's
+      hintin' anything against Phoebe Dawes's character. If you want a
+      certificate of that, you've only got to go to Wellmouth. Folks over there
+      are pretty keen on that subject. I guess the town would go to law about it
+      rather'n hear a word against her. Libel suits are kind of uncomf'table
+      things for them that ain't sure of their facts. I'D hate to get mixed up
+      in one, myself. Bailey, I'm going up street. Come on, when you can, won't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      As if frightened at his own display of spirit, he hurried out. There was
+      silence for a time; then Miss Phinney spoke concerning the weather.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Up at the Cy Whittaker place the days were full ones. There, also, legal
+      questions were discussed, with Georgianna, the Board of Strategy, Josiah
+      Dimick occasionally, and, more infrequently still, Miss Dawes, as
+      participants with Captain Cy in the discussions. Rumors were true in so
+      far as they related to Mr. Atkins's appeal to the courts, and the
+      captain's retaining Lawyer Peabody, of Ostable. Mr. Peabody's opinion of
+      the case was not encouraging.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see, captain,&rdquo; he said, when his client visited him at his office,
+      &ldquo;the odds are very much against us. The court appointed you as guardian
+      with the understanding that this man Thomas was dead. Now he is alive and
+      claims his child. More than that, he has the most influential politician
+      in this county back of him. We wouldn't stand a fighting chance except for
+      one thing&mdash;Thomas himself. He left his wife and the baby; deserted
+      them, so she said; went to get work, HE says. We can prove he was a
+      drunken blackguard BEFORE he went, and that he has been drunk since he
+      came back. But THEY'LL say&mdash;Atkins and his lawyer&mdash;that the man
+      was desperate and despairing because of your refusal to give him his
+      child. They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner, anxious to reform, and
+      needing the little girl's influence to help keep him straight. That's
+      their game, and they'll play it, be sure of that, It sounds reasonable
+      enough, too, for sinners have repented before now. And the long-lost
+      father coming back to his child is the one sure thing to win applause from
+      the gallery, you know that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I know it. The other night, when Miss Ph&mdash; when a
+      friend of mine was at the house, she said this business was like a play. I
+      didn't say so to her, but all the same I realize it ain't like a play at
+      all. In a play dad comes home, havin' been snaked bodily out of the jaws
+      of the tomb by his coat collar, and the young one sings out 'Papa! Papa!'
+      and he sobs, 'Me child! Me child!' and it's all lovely, and you put on
+      your hat feelin' that the old man is goin' to be rich and righteous for
+      the rest of his days. But here it's different; dad's a rascal, and anybody
+      who's seen anything of the world knows he's bound to stay so; and as for
+      the poor little girl, why&mdash;why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped, rose, and, striding over to the window, stood looking out.
+      After an interval, during which the good-natured attorney read a dull
+      business letter through for the second time, he spoke again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I hope you understand, Peabody,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It ain't just selfishness that
+      makes me steer the course I'm runnin'. Course, Bos'n's got to be the world
+      and all to me, and if she's taken away I don't know's I care a tinker's
+      darn what happens afterwards. But, all the same, if her dad was a real
+      man, sorry for what he's done and tryin' to make up for it&mdash;why,
+      then, I cal'late I'm decent enough to take off my hat, hand her over, and
+      say: 'God bless you and good luck.' But to think of him carryin' her off
+      the Lord knows where, to neglect her and cruelize her, and to let her grow
+      up among fellers like him, I&mdash;I&mdash;by the big dipper, I can't do
+      it! That's all; I can't!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How does she feel about it, herself?&rdquo; asked Peabody.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Her? Bos'n? Why, that's the hardest of all. Some of the children at
+      school pester her about her father. I don't know's you can blame 'em;
+      young ones are made that way, I guess&mdash;but she comes home to me
+      cryin', and it's 'O Uncle Cy, he AIN'T my truly father, is he?' and 'You
+      won't let him take me away from you, will you?' till it seems as if I
+      should fly out of the window. The poor little thing! And that puffed-up
+      humbug Atkins blowin' about his Christianity and all! D&mdash;n such
+      Christianity as that, I say! I've seen heathen Injuns, who never heard of
+      Christ, with more of His spirit inside 'em. There! I've shocked you, I
+      guess. Sometimes I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me. I've
+      been around, you know, and my New England bringin' up has wore thin in
+      spots. Seem's if I must get somewheres and spread out, or I'll bust.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw himself into a chair. The lawyer clapped him on the shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, there, captain,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Don't 'bust' yet awhile. Don't give up
+      the ship. If we lose in one court, we can appeal to another, and so on up
+      the line. And meantime we'll do a little investigating of friend Thomas's
+      career since he left Concord. I've written to a legal acquaintance of mine
+      in Butte, giving him the facts as we know them, and a description of
+      Thomas. He will try to find out what the fellow did in his years out West.
+      It's our best chance, as I told you. Keep your pluck up and wait and see.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain repeated this conversation to the Board of Strategy when he
+      returned to Bayport. Miss Dawes had walked home from school with Bos'n,
+      and had stopped at the house to hear the report. She listened, but it was
+      evident that something else was on her mind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker,&rdquo; she asked, &ldquo;has it ever struck you as queer that Mr.
+      Atkins should take such an interest in this matter? He is giving time and
+      counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a perfect stranger to
+      him. Why does he do it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;Why, to down me, of course. I was gettin' too
+      everlastin' prominent in politics to suit him. I'd got you in as teacher,
+      and I had 'Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school committee. Goodness
+      knows what I might have run for next, 'cordin' to Heman's reasonin', and I
+      simply had to be smashed. It worked all right. I'm so unhealthy now in the
+      sight of most folks in this town, that I cal'late they go home and
+      sulphur-smoke their clothes after they meet me, so's not to catch my
+      wickedness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the teacher shook her head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That doesn't seem reason enough to me,&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;Just see what Mr.
+      Atkins has done. He never openly advocated anything in town meeting
+      before; you said so yourself. Even when he must have realized that you had
+      the votes for committeeman he kept still. He might have taken many of them
+      from you by simply coming out and declaring for Mr. Snow; but he didn't.
+      And then, all at once, he takes this astonishing stand. Captain Whittaker,
+      Mr. Tidditt says that, the night of Emily's birthday party, you and he
+      told who she was, by accident, and that Mr. Atkins seemed very much
+      surprised and upset. Is that so?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;His lemonade was upset; that's all I noticed special. Oh! yes, and he
+      lost his hat off, goin' home. But what of it? What are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was wondering if&mdash;if it could be that, for some reason, Mr. Atkins
+      had a spite against Emily or her people. Or if he had any reason to fear
+      her.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Fear? Fear Bos'n? Oh, my, that's funny! You've been readin' novels, I'm
+      'fraid, teacher, 'though I didn't suspect it of you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He laughed heartily. Miss Dawes smiled, too, but she still persisted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I don't know. Perhaps it is because I'm a woman, and
+      politics don't mean as much to me as to you men, but to me political
+      reasons don't seem strong enough to account for such actions as those of
+      Mr. Atkins. Emily's mother was a Thayer, wasn't she? and the Thayers once
+      lived in Orham. I wish we could find out more about them while they lived
+      there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph Tidditt pulled his beard thoughtfully.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;maybe we can, if we want to, though I don't think
+      what we find out 'll amount to nothin'. I was kind of cal'latin' to go to
+      Orham next week on a little visit. Seth Wingate over there&mdash;Barzilla
+      Wingate's cousin, Whit&mdash;is a sort of relation of mine, and we visit
+      back and forth every nine or ten year or so. The ten year's most up, and
+      he's been pesterin' me to come over. Seth's been Orham town clerk about as
+      long as I've been the Bayport one, and he's lived there all his life. What
+      he don't know about Orham folks ain't wuth knowin'. If you say so, I'll
+      pump him about the Thayers and the Richards. 'Twon't do no harm, and the
+      old fool likes to talk, anyhow. I don't know's I ought to speak that way
+      about my relations,&rdquo; he added doubtfully, &ldquo;but Seth IS sort of stubborn
+      and unlikely at odd times. We don't always agree as to which is the best
+      town to live in, you understand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So it was settled that Mr. Wingate should be subjected to the &ldquo;pumping&rdquo;
+       process when Asaph visited him. He departed for this visit the following
+      week, and remained away for ten days. Meanwhile several things happened in
+      Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One of these things was the farewell of the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+      Congress was to open at Washington, and the Honorable heeded the call of
+      duty. Alicia and the housekeeper went with him, and the big house was
+      closed for the winter. At the gate between the stone urns, and backed by
+      the iron dogs, the great man bade a group of admiring constituents
+      good-by. He thanked them for their trust in him, and promised that it
+      should not be betrayed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I leave you, my fellow townsmen, er&mdash;ladies and friends,&rdquo; he said,
+      &ldquo;with regret, tempered by pride&mdash;a not inexcusable pride, I believe.
+      In the trying experience which my self-respect and sympathy has so
+      recently forced upon me, you have stood firm and cheered me on. The task I
+      have undertaken, the task of restoring to a worthy man his own, shall be
+      carried on to the bitterest extremity. I have put my hand to the plow, and
+      it shall not be withdrawn. And, furthermore, I go to my work at Washington
+      determined to secure for my native town the appropriation which it so
+      sorely needs. I shall secure it if I can, even though&mdash;&rdquo; and the
+      sarcasm was hugely enjoyed by his listeners&mdash;&ldquo;I am, as I seem likely
+      to be, deprived of the help of the 'committee,' self-appointed at our
+      recent town meeting. If I fail&mdash;and I do not conceal the fact that I
+      may fail&mdash;I am certain you will not blame me. Now I should like to
+      shake each one of you by the hand.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The hands were shaken, and the train bore the Atkins delegation away. And,
+      on the day following, Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father, also left town. A
+      position in Boston had been offered him, he said, and he felt that he must
+      accept it. He would come back some of these days, with the warrant from
+      the court, and get his little girl.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Position offered him! Um&mdash;ya-as!&rdquo; quoth Dimick the cynical, in
+      conversation with Captain Cy. &ldquo;Inspector of sidewalks, I shouldn't wonder.
+      Well, please don't ask me if I think Heman sent him to Boston so's to have
+      him out of the way, and 'cause he'd feel consider'ble safer than if he was
+      loose down here. Don't ask me that, for, with my strict scruples against
+      the truth I might say, No. As it is, I say nothin'&mdash;and wink my port
+      eye.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ten-day visit ended, Mr. Tidditt returned to Bayport. On the afternoon
+      of his return he and Bailey called at the Whittaker place, and there they
+      were joined by Miss Dawes, who had been summoned to the conclave by a note
+      intrusted to Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Ase,&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy, as the quartet gathered in the sitting
+      room, &ldquo;here we are, hangin' on your words, as the feller said. Don't keep
+      us strung up too long. What did you find out?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk cleared his throat. When he spoke, there was a trace of
+      disappointment in his tone. To have been able to electrify his audience
+      with the news of some startling discovery would have been pure joy for
+      Asaph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he began, &ldquo;I don't know's I found out anything much. Yet I did
+      find out somethin', too; but it don't really amount to nothin'. I hoped
+      'twould be somethin' more'n 'twas, but when nothin' come of it except the
+      little somethin' it begun with, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the land sakes!&rdquo; snapped Bailey Bangs, who was a trifle envious of
+      his friend's position in the center of the stage, &ldquo;stop them 'nothin's'
+      and 'somethin's,' won't you? You keep whirlin' 'em round and over and over
+      till my head's FULL of 'nothin',' and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what it's full of most of the time,&rdquo; interrupted Asaph tartly.
+      Captain Cy hastened to act as peacemaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind, Bailey,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;you let Ase alone. Tell us what you did
+      find out, Ase, and cut out the trimmin's.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; continued Mr. Tidditt, with a glare at Bangs, &ldquo;I asked Seth about
+      the Thayers and the Richards folks the very fust night I struck Orham. He
+      remembered 'em, of course; he can remember Adam, if you let him tell it.
+      He told me a whole mess about old man Thayer and old man Richards and
+      their granddads and grandmarms, and what houses they lived in, and how
+      many hens they kept, and what their dog's name was, and how they come to
+      name him that, and enough more to fill a hogshead. 'Twas ten o'clock afore
+      he got out of Genesis, and down so fur as John and Emily. He remembered
+      their bein' married, and their baby&mdash;Mary Thayer, Bos'n's ma&mdash;bein'
+      born.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Folks used to call John Thayer a smart young feller, so Seth said. They
+      used to cal'late that he'd rise high in the seafarin' and ship-ownin'
+      line. Maybe he would, only he died somewheres in Californy 'long in '54 or
+      thereabouts. 'Twas the time of the gold craziness out there, and he left
+      his ship and went gold huntin'. And the next thing they knew he was dead
+      and buried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When was that?&rdquo; inquired the schoolmistress.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In '54, I tell you. So Seth says.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ship was he on?&rdquo; asked Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wan't on any ship. Why don't you listen, instead of settin' there
+      moonin'? He was gold diggin', I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He'd BEEN on a ship, hadn't he? What was the name of her?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't ask. What diff'rence does that make?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wasn't Mr. Atkins at sea in those days?&rdquo; put in the teacher. The captain
+      answered her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he was,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;That is, I think he was. He was away from here
+      when I skipped out, and he didn't get back till '61 or thereabouts.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, anyhow,&rdquo; went on Asaph, &ldquo;that's all I could find out. Seth and me
+      went rummagin' through town records from way back to glory, him gassin'
+      away and stringin' along about this old settler and that, till I 'most
+      wished he'd choke himself with the dust he was raisin'. We found John's
+      grandad's will, and Emily's dad's will, and John's own will, and that's
+      all. John left everything he had and all he might become possessed of to
+      his wife and baby and their heirs forever. He died poorer'n poverty.
+      What's the use of a will when you ain't got nothin' to leave?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;The answer to that's easy. John was goin' to
+      sea, and, more'n likely, intended to have a shy at the diggin's afore he
+      got back. So, if he did make any money, he wanted his wife and baby to
+      have it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, what they got wan't wuth havin'. Emily had to scrimp along and do
+      dressmakin' till she died. She done fairly well at that, though, and saved
+      somethin' and passed it over to Mary. And Mary married Henry Thomas, after
+      she went with the Howes tribe to Concord, and he got rid of it for her in
+      double quick time&mdash;all but the Orham land.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So that was all you could find out, hey, Ase?&rdquo; asked the captain. &ldquo;Well,
+      it's at least as much as I expected. You see, teacher, these story-book
+      notions don't work out when it comes to real life.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes was plainly disappointed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wish we knew more,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Who was on this ship with Mr. Thayer?
+      And who sent the news of his death home?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I can tell you that,&rdquo; said Asaph. &ldquo;'Twas some one-hoss doctor out
+      there, gold minin' himself, he was. John died of a quick fever. Got cold
+      and went off in no time. Seth remembered that much, though he couldn't
+      remember the doctor's name. He said, if I wanted to learn more about the
+      Thayers, I might go see&mdash;Humph, well, never mind that. 'Twas just
+      foolishness, anyhow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Phoebe persisted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;To see whom?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Some one you knew? A friend of yours?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph turned red.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Friend of mine!&rdquo; he snarled. &ldquo;No, SIR! she ain't no friend of mine, I'm
+      thankful to say. More a friend of Bailey's, here, if she's anybody's. One
+      of his pets, she was, for a spell. A patient of his, you might say;
+      anyhow, he prescribed for her. 'Twas that deef idiot, Debby Beasley, Cy;
+      that's who 'twas. Her name was Briggs afore she married Beasley, and she
+      was hired help for Emily Thayer, when Mary was born, and until John died.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy burst into a roar of laughter. Bailey sprang out of his chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;De&mdash;Debby Beasley!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;Debby Beasley!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was that deef housekeeper Bailey hired for me, teacher,&rdquo; explained
+      the captain. &ldquo;I've told you about her. Ho! ho! so that's the end of the
+      mystery huntin'. We go gunnin' for Heman Atkins, and we bring down Debby!
+      Well, Ase, goin' to see the old lady?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt's retort was emphatic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' to SEE her?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;I guess not! Godfrey scissors! I told
+      Seth, says I, 'I've had all the Debby Beasley <i>I</i> want, and I
+      cal'late Cy Whittaker feels the same way.' Go to see her! I wouldn't go to
+      see her if she was up in Paradise a-hollerin' for me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Nobody up there's goin' to holler for YOU, Ase Tidditt,&rdquo; remarked Bailey,
+      with sarcasm; &ldquo;so don't let that worry you none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are YOU going to see her, Captain Whittaker?&rdquo; asked Phoebe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no, I guess not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I don't take much stock in what she'd be
+      likely to know; besides, I'm a good deal like Ase&mdash;I've had about all
+      the Debby Beasley I want.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XV
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Bangs,&rdquo; said the schoolmistress, as if it was the most casual thing
+      in the world, &ldquo;I want to borrow your husband to-morrow.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It was Friday evening, and supper at the perfect boarding house had
+      advanced as far as the stewed prunes and fruit-cake stage. Keturah, who
+      was carefully dealing out the prunes, exactly four to each saucer, stopped
+      short, spoon in air, and gazed at Miss Dawes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You&mdash;you want to WHAT?&rdquo; she asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want to borrow your husband. I want him all day, too, because I'm
+      thinking of driving over to Trumet, and I need a coachman. You'll go,
+      won't you, Mr. Bangs?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey, who had been considering the advisability of asking for a second
+      cup of tea, brightened up and looked pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; he answered, &ldquo;I'll go. I can go just as well as not. Fact is,
+      I'd like to. Ain't been to Trumet I don't know when.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phinney and the widow Tripp looked at each other. Then they both
+      looked at Keturah. That lady's mouth closed tightly, and she resumed her
+      prune distribution.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm sorry,&rdquo; she said crisply, &ldquo;but I'm 'fraid he can't go. It's Saturday,
+      and I'll need him round the house. Do you care for cake to-night, Elviry?
+      I'm 'fraid it's pretty dry; I ain't had time to do much bakin' this week.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course,&rdquo; continued the smiling Phoebe, &ldquo;I shouldn't think of asking
+      him to go for nothing. I didn't mean borrow him in just that way. I was
+      thinking of hiring your horse and buggy, and, as I'm not used to driving,
+      I thought perhaps I might engage Mr. Bangs to drive for me. I expected to
+      pay for the privilege. But, as you need him, I suppose I must get my rig
+      and driver somewhere else. I'm so sorry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The landlady's expression changed. This was the dull season, and
+      opportunities to &ldquo;let&rdquo; the family steed and buggy&mdash;&ldquo;horse and team,&rdquo;
+       we call it in Bayport&mdash;were few.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; she observed, &ldquo;I don't want to be unlikely and disobligin'. Far's
+      he's concerned, he'd rather be traipsin' round the country than stay to
+      home, any day; though it's been so long sence he took ME to ride that I
+      don't know's I'd know how to act.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, Ketury!&rdquo; protested her husband. &ldquo;How you talk! Didn't I drive you
+      down to the graveyard only last Sunday&mdash;or the Sunday afore?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Graveyard! Yes, I notice our rides always fetch up at the graveyard.
+      You're always willin' to take me THERE. Seems sometimes as if you enjoyed
+      doin' it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, Keturah! you know yourself that 'twas you proposed goin' there. You
+      said you wanted to look at our lot, 'cause you was afraid 'twan't big
+      enough, and you didn't know but we'd ought to add on another piece. You
+      said that it kept you awake nights worryin' for fear when I passed away
+      you wouldn't have room in that lot for me. Land sakes! don't I remember?
+      Didn't you give me the blue creeps talkin' about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Bangs ignored this outburst. Turning to the school teacher, she said
+      with a sigh:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess he can go. I'll get along somehow. I hope he'll be careful
+      of the buggy; we had it painted only last January.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Tripp ventured a hinted question concerning the teacher's errand at
+      Trumet. The reply being noncommittal, the widow cheerfully prophesied that
+      she guessed 'twas going to rain or snow next day. &ldquo;It's about time for the
+      line storm,&rdquo; she added.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But it did not storm, although a brisk, cold gale was blowing when, after
+      breakfast next morning, the &ldquo;horse and team,&rdquo; with Bailey in his Sunday
+      suit and overcoat, and Miss Dawes on the buggy seat beside him, turned out
+      of the boarding-house yard and started on the twelve-mile journey to
+      Trumet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      It was a bleak ride. Denboro, the village adjoining Bayport on the bay
+      side, is a pretty place, with old elms and silverleafs shading the main
+      street in summer, and with substantial houses set each in its trim yard.
+      But beyond Denboro the Trumet road winds out over rolling, bare hills,
+      with cranberry bogs, now flooded and skimmed with ice, in the hollows
+      between them, clumps of bayberry and beach-plum bushes scattered over
+      their rounded slopes, and white scars in their sides showing where the
+      cranberry growers have cut away the thin layer of coarse grass and moss to
+      reach the sand beneath, sand which they use in preparing their bogs for
+      the new vines.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And the wind! There is always a breeze along the Trumet road, even in
+      summer&mdash;when the mosquitoes lie in wait to leeward like buccaneers
+      until, sighting the luckless wayfarer in the offing, they drive down
+      before the wind in clouds, literally to eat him alive. They are skilled
+      navigators, those Trumet road mosquitoes, and they know the advantage of
+      snug harbors under hat brims and behind spreading ears. And each
+      individual smashed by a frantic palm leaves a thousand blood relatives to
+      attend his funeral and exact revenge after the Corsican fashion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Now, in December, there were, of course, no mosquitoes, but the wind tore
+      across those bare hilltops in gusts that rocked the buggy on its springs.
+      The bayberry bushes huddled and crouched before it. The sky was covered
+      with tumbling, flying clouds, which changed shape continually, and ripped
+      into long, fleecy ravelings, that broke loose and pelted on until merged
+      into the next billowy mass. The bay was gray and white, and in the spots
+      where an occasional sunbeam broke through and struck it, flashed like a
+      turned knife blade.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey drove with one hand and held his hat on his head with the other.
+      The road had been deeply rutted during the November rains, and now the
+      ruts were frozen. The buggy wheels twisted and scraped as they turned in
+      the furrows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the matter?&rdquo; asked the schoolmistress, shouting so as to be heard
+      above the flapping of the buggy curtains. &ldquo;Why do you watch that wheel?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Fraid of the axle,&rdquo; whooped Mr. Bangs in reply. &ldquo;Nut's kind of loose,
+      for one thing, and the way the wheel wobbles I'm scart she'll come off.
+      Call this a road!&rdquo; he snorted indignantly. &ldquo;More like a plowed field a
+      consider'ble sight. Jerushy, how she blows! No wonder they raise so many
+      deef and dumb folks in Trumet. I'd talk sign language myself if I lived
+      here. What's the use of wastin' strength pumpin' up words when they're
+      blowed back down your throat fast enough to choke you? Git dap, Henry!
+      Don't you see the meetin' house steeple? We're most there, thank the
+      goodness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In Trumet Center, which is not much of a center, Miss Dawes alighted from
+      the buggy and entered a building bearing a sign with the words
+      &ldquo;Metropolitan Variety Store, Joshua Atwood, Prop'r, Groceries, Coal, Dry
+      Goods, Insurance, Boots and Shoes, Garden Seeds, etc.&rdquo; A smaller sign
+      beneath this was lettered &ldquo;Justice of the Peace,&rdquo; and one below that read
+      &ldquo;Post Office.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She emerged a moment later, followed by an elderly person in a red
+      cardigan jacket and overalls.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Take the fust turnin' to the left, marm,&rdquo; he said pointing. &ldquo;It's pretty
+      nigh to East Trumet townhall. Fust house this side of the blacksmith shop.
+      About two mile, I'd say. Windy day for drivin', ain't it? That horse of
+      yours belongs in Bayport, I cal'late. Looks to me like&mdash;Hello,
+      Bailey!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Josh!&rdquo; grunted Mr. Bangs, adding an explanatory aside to the
+      effect that he knew Josh Atwood, the latter having once lived in Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But say,&rdquo; he asked as they moved on once more, &ldquo;have we got to go to EAST
+      Trumet? Jerushy! that's the place where the wind COMES from. They raise it
+      over there; anyhow, they don't raise much else. Whose house you goin' to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He had asked the same question at least ten times since leaving home, and
+      each time Miss Dawes had evaded it. She did so now, saying that she was
+      sure she should know the house when they got to it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The two miles to East Trumet were worse than the twelve which they had
+      come. The wind fairly shrieked here, for the road paralleled the edge of
+      high sand bluffs close by the shore, and the ruts and &ldquo;thank-you-marms&rdquo;
+       were trying to the temper. Bailey's was completely wrecked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he snapped as they reached the crest of a long hill, and a
+      quick grab at his hat alone prevented its starting on a balloon ascension,
+      &ldquo;get out a spell, will you? I've got to swear or bust, and 'long's you're
+      aboard I can't swear. What you standin' still for, you?&rdquo; he bellowed at
+      poor Henry, the horse, who had stopped to rest. &ldquo;I cal'late the critter
+      thinks that last cyclone must have blowed me sky high, and he's waitin' to
+      see where I light. Git dap!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I guess I shall get out very soon now,&rdquo; panted Phoebe. &ldquo;There's the
+      blacksmith shop over there near the next hill, and this house in the
+      hollow must be the one I'm looking for.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They pulled up beside the house in the hollow. A little, story-and-a-half
+      house it was, and, judging by the neglected appearance of the weeds and
+      bushes in the yard, it had been unoccupied for some time. However, the
+      blinds were now open, and a few fowls about the back door seemed to
+      promise that some one was living there. The wooden letter box by the gate
+      had a name stenciled upon it. Miss Dawes sprang from the buggy and looked
+      at the box.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is the place. Will you come in, Mr. Bangs? You can
+      put your horse in that barn, I'm sure, if you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Bailey declined to come in. He declared he was going on to the
+      blacksmith's shop to have that wheel fixed. He would not feel safe to
+      start for home with it as it was. He drove off, and Miss Dawes, knowing
+      from lifelong experience that front doors are merely for show, passed
+      around the main body of the house and rapped on the door in the ell. The
+      rap was not answered, though she could hear some one moving about within,
+      and a shrill voice singing &ldquo;The Sweet By and By.&rdquo; So she rapped again and
+      again, but still no one came to the door. At last she ventured to open it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A thin woman, with her head tied up in a colored cotton handkerchief, was
+      in the room, vigorously wielding a broom. She was singing in a high
+      cracked voice. The opening of the door let in a gust of cold wind which
+      struck the singer in the back of the neck, and caused her to turn around
+      hastily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey?&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;Land sakes! you scare a body to death! Shut that
+      door quick! I ain't hankering for influenzy. Who are you? What do you
+      want? Why didn't you knock? Where's my specs?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She took a pair of spectacles from the mantel shelf, rubbed them with her
+      apron, and set them on the bridge of her thin nose. Then she inspected the
+      schoolmistress from head to foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I beg pardon for coming in,&rdquo; shouted Phoebe. &ldquo;I knocked, but you didn't
+      hear. You are Mrs. Beasley, aren't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't want none,&rdquo; replied Debby, with emphasis. &ldquo;So there's no use your
+      wastin' your breath.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't want&mdash;&rdquo; repeated the astonished teacher. &ldquo;Don't want what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I say I don't want none.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't want WHAT?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whatever 'tis you're peddlin'. Books or soap or tea, or whatever 'tis. I
+      don't want nothin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After some strenuous minutes, the visitor managed to make it clear to Mrs.
+      Beasley's mind that she was not a peddler. She tried to add a word of
+      further explanation, but it was effort wasted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;'Tain't no use,&rdquo; snapped Debby, &ldquo;I can't hear you, you speak so faint.
+      Wait till I get my horn; it's in the settin' room.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe's wonder as to what the &ldquo;horn&rdquo; might be was relieved by the widow's
+      appearance, a moment later, with the biggest ear trumpet her caller had
+      ever seen.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There, now!&rdquo; she said, adjusting the instrument and thrusting the
+      bell-shaped end under the teacher's nose. &ldquo;Talk into that. If you ain't a
+      peddler, what be you&mdash;sewin' machine agent?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe explained that she had come some distance on purpose to see Mrs.
+      Beasley. She was interested in the Thayers, who used to live in Orham,
+      particularly in Mr. John Thayer, who died in 1854. She had been told that
+      Debby formerly lived with the Thayers, and could, no doubt, remember a
+      great deal about them. Would she mind answering a few questions, and so
+      on?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley, her hearing now within forty-five degrees of the normal,
+      grew interested. She ushered her visitor into the adjoining room, and
+      proffered her a chair. That sitting room was a wonder of its kind, even to
+      the teacher's accustomed eyes. A gilt-framed crayon enlargement of the
+      late Mr. Beasley hung in the center of the broadest wall space, and was
+      not the ugliest thing in the apartment. Having said this, further
+      description is unnecessary&mdash;particularly to those who remember Mr.
+      Beasley's personal appearance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What you so interested in the Thayers for?&rdquo; inquired Debby. &ldquo;One of the
+      heirs, be you? They didn't leave nothin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      No, the schoolmistress was not an heir. Was not even a relative of the
+      family. But she was&mdash;was interested, just the same. A friend of hers
+      was a relative, and&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What is your friend?&rdquo; inquired the inquisitor. &ldquo;A man?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was no reason why Miss Dawes should have changed color, but,
+      according to Debby's subsequent testimony, she did; she blushed, so the
+      widow declares.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she protested. &ldquo;Oh, no! it's a&mdash;she's a child, that's all&mdash;a
+      little girl. But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe you're gettin' up one of them geographical trees,&rdquo; suggested Mrs.
+      Beasley. &ldquo;I've seen 'em, fust settlers down in the trunk, and children and
+      grandchildren spreadin' out in the branches. Is that it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was an avenue of escape. Phoebe stretched the truth a trifle, and
+      admitted that that, or something of the sort, was what she was engaged in.
+      The explanation seemed to be satisfactory. Debby asked her visitor's name,
+      and, misunderstanding it, addressed her as &ldquo;Miss Dorcas&rdquo; thereafter. Then
+      she proceeded to give her reminiscences of the Thayers, and it did not
+      take long for the disappointed teacher to discover that, for all practical
+      purposes, these reminiscences were valueless. Mrs. Beasley remembered many
+      things, but nothing at all concerning John Thayer's life in the West, nor
+      the name of the ship he sailed in, nor who his shipmates were.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never wrote home but once or twice afore he died,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;And when
+      he did Emily, his wife, never told me what was in his letters. She always
+      burnt 'em, I guess. I used to hunt around for 'em when she was out, but
+      she burnt 'em to spite me, I cal'late. Her and me didn't get along any too
+      well. She said I talked too much to other folks about what was none of
+      their business. Now, anybody that knows me knows THAT ain't one of my
+      failin's. I told her so; says I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And so on for ten minutes. Then Phoebe ventured to repeat the words &ldquo;out
+      West,&rdquo; and her companion went off on a new tack. She had just been West
+      herself. She had been on a visit to her husband's niece, who lived in
+      Arizona. In Blazeton, Arizona. &ldquo;It's the nicest town ever you see,&rdquo; she
+      continued. &ldquo;And the smartest, most up-to-date place. Talk about the West
+      bein' oncivilized! My land! you ought to see that town! Electric lights,
+      and telephones, and&mdash;and&mdash;I don't know what all! Why, Miss
+      What's-your-name&mdash;Miss Dorcas, marm, you just ought to see the
+      photygraphs I've got that was took out there. My niece, she took 'em with
+      one of them little mites of cameras. You wouldn't believe such a little
+      box of a thing could take such photygraphs. I'm goin' to get 'em and show
+      'em to you. No, sir! you ain't got to go, neither. Set right still and let
+      me fetch them photygraphs. 'Twon't be a mite of trouble. I'd love to do
+      it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Protests were unavailing. The photographs, at least fifty of them, were
+      produced, and the suffering caller was shown the Blazeton City Hall, and
+      the Blazeton &ldquo;Palace Hotel,&rdquo; and the home of the Beasley niece, taken from
+      the front, the rear, and both sides. With each specimen Debby delivered a
+      descriptive lecture.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see that house?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Well, 'tain't much of a one to look at,
+      but it's got the most interestin' story tagged on to it. I made Eva,
+      that's my niece, take a picture of it just on that account. The woman that
+      lives there's had the hardest time. Her fust name's Desire, and that kind
+      of made me take an interest in her right off, 'cause I had an Aunt Desire
+      once, and it's a name you don't hear very often. Afterwards I got to know
+      her real well. She was a widder woman, like me, only she didn't have as
+      much sense as I've got, and went and married a second time. 'Twas 'long in
+      1886 she done it. This man Higgins, he went to work for her on her place,
+      and pretty soon he married her. They lived together, principally on her
+      fust husband's insurance money, I cal'late, until a year or so ago. Then
+      the insurance money give out, and Mr. Higgins he says: 'Old woman,' he
+      says&mdash;I'D never let a husband of mine call me 'old woman,' but Desire
+      didn't seem to mind&mdash;'Old woman,' he says, 'I'm goin' over to
+      Phoenix'&mdash;that's another city in Arizona&mdash;'to look for a job.'
+      And he went, and she ain't heard hide&mdash;I mean seen hide nor heard
+      hair&mdash;What DOES ail me? She ain't seen nor heard of him since. And
+      she advertised in the weekly paper, and I don't know what all. She thinks
+      he was murdered, you know; that's what makes it so sort of creepy and
+      interestin'. Everybody was awful kind to her, and we got to be real good
+      friends. Why, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was but the beginning. It was evident that Mrs. Beasley had
+      thoroughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton, and that the sorrows of the
+      bereaved Desire Higgins had been one of the principal sources of that
+      enjoyment. The schoolmistress endeavored to turn the subject, but it was
+      useless.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I fetched home a whole pile of them newspapers,&rdquo; continued Debby. &ldquo;They
+      was awful interestin'; full of pictures of Blazeton buildin's and leadin'
+      folks and all. And in some of the back numbers was the advertisement about
+      Mr. Higgins. I do wish I could show 'em to you, but I lent 'em to Mrs.
+      Atwood up to the Center. If 'twan't such a ways I'd go and fetch 'em. Mrs.
+      Atwood's been awful nice to me. She took care of my trunks and things when
+      I went West&mdash;yes, and afore that when I went to Bayport to keep house
+      for that miser'ble Cap'n Whittaker. I ain't told you about that, but I
+      will by and by. Them trunks had lots of things in 'em that I didn't want
+      to lose nor have anybody see. My diaries&mdash;I've kept a diary since
+      1850&mdash;and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Diaries?&rdquo; interrupted Phoebe, grasping at straws. &ldquo;Did you keep a diary
+      while you were at the Thayers?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Now, why didn't I think of that afore? More'n likely there'd be
+      somethin' in that to help you with that geographical tree. I used to put
+      down everything that happened, and&mdash;Where you goin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes had risen and was peering out of the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was looking to see if my driver was anywhere about,&rdquo; she replied. &ldquo;I
+      thought perhaps he would drive over to Mrs. Atwood's and get the diary for
+      you. But I don't see him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Just then, from around the corner of the house, peeped an agitated face;
+      an agitated forefinger beckoned. Debby stepped to the window beside her
+      visitor, and the face and finger went out of sight as if pulled by a
+      string.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Phoebe smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think I'll go out and look for him,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;He must be near here.
+      I'll be right back, Mrs. Beasley.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Without stopping to put on her jacket, she hurried through the dining
+      room, out of the door, and around the corner. There she found Mr. Bangs in
+      a highly nervous state.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why didn't you tell me 'twas Debby Beasley you was comin' to see?&rdquo; he
+      demanded. &ldquo;If you'd mentioned that deef image's name you'd never got ME to
+      drive you, I tell you that!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; answered the teacher sweetly. &ldquo;I imagined that. That's why I didn't
+      tell you, Mr. Bangs. Now I want you to do me a favor. Will you drive over
+      to Trumet Center, and deliver a note and get a package for me? Then you
+      can come back here, and I shall be ready to start for home.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Drive! Drive nothin'! The blacksmith's out, and won't be back for another
+      hour. His boy's there, but he's a big enough lunkhead to try bailin' out a
+      dory with a fork, and that buggy axle is bent so it's simply got to be
+      fixed. I'd no more go home to Ketury with that buggy as 'tis than I'd&mdash;Oh!
+      my land of love!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ejaculation was almost a groan. There at the corner, ear trumpet
+      adjusted, and spectacles glistening, stood Debby Beasley. Bailey appeared
+      to wilt under her gaze as if the spectacles were twin suns. Miss Dawes
+      looked as if she very much wanted to laugh. The widow stared in silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How&mdash;how d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley?&rdquo; faltered Mr. Bangs, not forgetting
+      to raise his voice. &ldquo;I hope you're lookin' as well as you feel. I mean, I
+      hope you're smart.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley nodded decisively.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes,&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I'm pretty toler'ble, thank you. What was the
+      matter, Mr. Bangs? Why didn't you come in? Do you usually make your calls
+      round the corner?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The gentleman addressed seemed unable to reply. The schoolmistress came to
+      the rescue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mustn't blame Mr. Bangs, Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;He wasn't
+      responsible for what happened at Captain Whittaker's. He is the gentleman
+      who drove me over here. I was going to send him to Mrs. Atwood's for the
+      diary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who said I was blamin' him?&rdquo; queried the widow. &ldquo;If 'twas that little
+      Tidditt thing I might feel different. But, considerin' that I got this
+      horn from Mr. Bangs, I'm willin' to let bygones be past. It helps my
+      hearin' a lot. Them ear-fixin's was good while they lasted, but they got
+      out of kilter quick. <i>I</i> shan't bother Mr. Bangs. If he can square
+      his own conscience, I'm satisfied.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's conscience was not troubling him greatly, and he seemed relieved.
+      Phoebe told of the damaged buggy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; grunted the widow. &ldquo;The horse didn't get bent, too, did he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs indignantly declared that the horse was all right.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum. Well, then, I guess I can supply a carriage. My fust cousin
+      Ezra that died used to be doctor here, and he give me his sulky when he
+      got a new one. It's out in the barn. Go fetch your horse, and harness him
+      in. I'll be ready time the harnessin's done.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You?&rdquo; gasped the teacher. &ldquo;You don't need to go, Mrs. Beasley. I wouldn't
+      think of giving you that trouble.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No trouble at all. I wouldn't trust nobody else with them trunks. And
+      besides, I always do enjoy ridin'. You could go, too, Miss Dorcas, but the
+      sulky seat's too narrer for three. You can set in the settin' room till we
+      get back. 'Twon't take us long. Don't say another word; I'm A-GOIN'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The number of reasons given by Mr. Bangs one after the other, to prove
+      that it would be quite impossible for him to be Mrs. Beasley's charioteer
+      was a credit to the resources of his invention. The blacksmith might be
+      back any minute; it was dinner time, and he was hungry; Henry, the horse,
+      was tired; it wasn't a nice day for riding, and he would come over some
+      other time and take the widow out; he&mdash;But Debby had a conclusive
+      answer for each protest.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You said yourself the blacksmith wouldn't be back for an hour,&rdquo; she
+      observed. &ldquo;And you can leave word with the boy what he's to do when he
+      does come. As for dinner, I'll be real glad to give you and Miss Dorcas a
+      snack soon's we get back. I don't mind if it ain't a pleasant day; a
+      little fresh air 'll do me good. I been shut up here house-cleanin' ever
+      since I got back from out West. Now, hurry right along, and fetch your
+      horse. I'll unlock the barn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But, Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; put in the schoolmistress, &ldquo;why couldn't you give us
+      a note to Mrs. Atwood and let us stop for the diary on our way home? I
+      could return it to you by mail. Or you might get it yourself some other
+      day and mail it to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no! Never put off till to-morrer what you can do to-day. My husband
+      was a great hand to put off and put off. For the last eight years of his
+      life I was at him to buy a new go-to-meetin' suit of clothes. The one he
+      had was blue to start with, but it faded to a brown, and, toward the last
+      of it, I declare if it didn't commence to turn green. Nothin' I could say
+      would make him heave it away even then. Seemed to think more of it than
+      ever. Said he wanted to hang to it a spell and see what 'twould turn next.
+      But he died and was laid out in that same suit, and I was so mortified at
+      the funeral I couldn't think of nothin' else. No, I'll go after them
+      papers and the diary while they're fresh in my mind. And besides, do you
+      s'pose I'd let Sarah Ann Atwood rummage through my trunks? I guess not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe began to be sorry she had thought of sending for the diary,
+      particularly as the chance of its containing valuable information was so
+      remote. Mrs. Beasley went into the house to dress for the ride. The
+      schoolmistress went with her as far as the sitting room. The perturbed
+      Bailey stalked off, muttering, to the blacksmith's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In a little while he returned, leading Henry by the bridle. Debby, adorned
+      with the beflowered bonnet she had worn when she arrived at the Cy
+      Whittaker place, and with a black cloth cape over her lean shoulders, was
+      waiting for him by the open door of the barn. The cape had a fur collar&mdash;&ldquo;cat
+      fur,&rdquo; so Mr. Bangs said afterwards in describing it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Pull the sulky right out,&rdquo; commanded the widow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey stared into the black interior of the barn.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which is it?&rdquo; he shouted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley pointed with her ear trumpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, that one there, of course. 'Tother's a truck cart. You wouldn't
+      expect me to ride in that, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs entered the barn, seized the vehicle indicated by the shafts,
+      and drew it out into the yard. He inspected it deliberately, and then sat
+      weakly down on the chopping block near by. Apparently he was overcome by
+      emotion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The &ldquo;sulky&rdquo; bequeathed by the late doctor had been built to order for its
+      former owner. It was of the &ldquo;carryall&rdquo; variety, except that it had but a
+      single narrow seat. Its top was square and was curtained, the curtains
+      being tightly buttoned down. Altogether it was something of a curiosity.
+      Miss Dawes, who had come out to see the start, looked at the &ldquo;sulky,&rdquo; then
+      at Mr. Bangs's face, and turned her back. Her shoulders shook:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It used to be a real nice carriage when Ezra had it,&rdquo; commented the widow
+      admiringly. &ldquo;It needs ilin' and sprucin' up now, but I guess 'twill do.
+      Come!&rdquo; to Bailey, who had not risen from the chopping block. &ldquo;Hurry up and
+      harness or we'll never get started. Thought you wanted to get back for
+      dinner?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs stood up and heaved a sigh.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I did,&rdquo; he answered slowly, &ldquo;but,&rdquo; with a glance at the sulky, &ldquo;somethin'
+      seems to have took away my appetite. Teacher, do you mean to&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes had withdrawn to the corner of the house, from which
+      viewpoint she seemed to be inspecting the surrounding landscape. Bailey
+      seized Henry by the bridle and backed him into the shafts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Back up!&rdquo; he roared. &ldquo;Back up, I tell you! You needn't look at me that
+      way,&rdquo; he added, in a lower tone. &ldquo;<i>I</i> can't help it. You ain't any
+      worse ashamed than I am. There! the ark's off the ways. All aboard!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Turning to the expectant widow, he &ldquo;boosted&rdquo; her, not too tenderly, up to
+      the narrow seat. Then he climbed in himself. Two on that seat made a tight
+      fit. Bailey took up the reins. Debby leaned forward and peered around the
+      edge of the curtains.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You!&rdquo; she shouted. &ldquo;You, Miss What's-your-name&mdash;Dorcas! Come here a
+      minute. I want to tell you somethin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolmistress, her face red and her eyes moist, approached.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I just wanted to say,&rdquo; explained Debby, &ldquo;that I ain't real sure as that
+      diary's there. I burnt up a lot of my old letters and things a spell ago,
+      and seems to me I burnt some old diaries, too, but maybe that wan't one of
+      'em. Anyhow, I can get them Arizona papers, and I do want you to see 'em.
+      They're the most INTERESTIN' things. Now,&rdquo; she added, turning to her
+      companion on the seat, &ldquo;you can git dap just as soon as you want to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Whether or not Mr. Bangs wanted to &ldquo;git dap&rdquo; is a doubtful question. But
+      at all events he did. Before the astonished Miss Dawes could think of an
+      answer to the observation concerning the diary, the carriage, its long
+      unused axles shrieking protests, moved out of the yard. The schoolmistress
+      watched it go. Then she returned to the sitting room and collapsed in a
+      rocking chair.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Once out from the shelter of the house and on the open road, the sulky
+      received the full force of the wind. The first gust that howled in from
+      the bay struck its curtained side with a sudden burst of power that caused
+      Mrs. Beasley to clutch her driver's arm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land of mercy!&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;It blows real hard, don't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs's answer was in the form of delicate sarcasm, bellowed into the
+      ear trumpet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I want to know! You don't say! Now you mention it,
+      seems as if I had noticed a little air stirrin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Another gust tilted the carriage top. Debby clutched the arm still
+      tighter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, it blows awful hard!&rdquo; she cried. &ldquo;I'd no idee it blew like this.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Want to 'bout ship and go home again?&rdquo; whooped Bailey, hopefully. But the
+      widow didn't intend to give up the rare luxury of a &ldquo;ride&rdquo; which a kind
+      Providence had cast in her way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; she answered. &ldquo;I guess if you folks come all the way from
+      Bayport I can stand it as fur's the Center. But hurry all you can, won't
+      you? I'm kind of 'fraid of the springs.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Springs? What springs? Let go my arm, will you? It's goin' to sleep.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley let go of the arm momentarily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I mean the springs on this carriage,&rdquo; she explained. &ldquo;Last time I lent it
+      to anybody&mdash;Solon Davis, 'twas&mdash;he said the bolts underneath was
+      pretty nigh rusted out, and about all that held the wagon part on was its
+      own weight. So we'll have to be kind of careful.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well&mdash;I&mdash;swan&mdash;to&mdash;MAN!&rdquo; was Mr. Bangs's sole comment
+      on the amazing disclosure; however, as an expression of concentrated and
+      profound disgust it was quite sufficient. He spoke but once during the
+      remainder of the trip to the &ldquo;Center.&rdquo; Then, when his passenger begged to
+      know if &ldquo;that Whittaker man&rdquo; had been well since she left, he shouted:
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;EVER since,&rdquo; and relapsed into his former gloomy silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow's stop at the Atwood house, which was in the immediate rear of
+      the Atwood store, was of a half hour's duration. Bailey refused to leave
+      the seat of the sulky and sat there, speaking to no one; not even replying
+      to the questions of a group of loungers who gathered to inspect the
+      ancient vehicle, and professed to be in doubt as to whether it had been
+      washed in with the tide or been &ldquo;left&rdquo; to him in a will.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      At last Debby made her appearance, her arms filled with newspapers. The
+      latter she piled under the carriage seat, and then climbed to her former
+      place beside the driver. Henry, in response to a slap from the reins, got
+      under way once more. The axles squeaked and screamed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gee!&rdquo; cried one youngster, from the steps of the store. &ldquo;It's the steam
+      calliope. When's the rest of the show comin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hi!&rdquo; yelled another. &ldquo;See how close they're hugged up together. Ain't
+      they lovin'! It's a weddin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Shut up!&rdquo; roared the tortured Bailey, whose hat had blown back into the
+      body of the sulky, leaving his bald head exposed to the cutting wind.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The audience begged him to give them a lock of his hair, and added other
+      remarks of a personal nature concerning the youth and beauty of the bridal
+      couple and their chariot. Mr. Bangs was in a state of dumb frenzy. Debby,
+      who, without her trumpet, had heard nothing of all this, was smiling and
+      garrulous.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I found all the papers,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;They're right under the seat. I'm
+      goin' to look 'em over so's to have the interestin' parts all ready to
+      show Miss Dorcas when we get home. Ain't it nice I found 'em?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      In spite of her driver's remonstrances, unheard because of the
+      nonadjustment of the trumpet, she reached under the seat and brought out
+      the pile of Blazeton weeklies. With her feet upon the pile to keep it from
+      blowing away, she proceeded to unfold one of the papers. It crackled and
+      snapped in the wind like a loose mainsail.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep that dratted thing out of my face, won't you?&rdquo; shrieked the agonized
+      Bailey. &ldquo;How'm I goin' to see to steer with that smackin' me between the
+      eyes every other second?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Did you speak to me?&rdquo; asked the widow sweetly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Did I SPEAK? No, I screeched! What in tunket&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I want you to see this picture of the mayor's house in Blazeton. Eva, my
+      husband's niece, lives right acrost the road from him. Many's the time
+      I've set on their piazza and seen him come out and go to the City Hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Keep it out of my face, I tell you! Reef it! Furl it, you&mdash;you
+      woman! I wish to thunder the piazza had caved in on you! I never see such
+      an old fool in my born days. TAKE IT AWAY!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley removed the paper, but only to substitute another.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here's Eva's brother-in-law,&rdquo; she screamed. &ldquo;He's one of the prominent
+      business men out there, so they put him in the paper. Ain't he nice
+      lookin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey's comments on the prominent business man's appearance were anything
+      but flattering. Debby continued to reach for more papers, carefully
+      replacing those she had inspected in the pile beneath her feet. The wind
+      blew as hard as ever; even harder, for it was now almost dead ahead. Henry
+      plodded along. They were in the hollow at the foot of the last long hill,
+      that from which the blacksmith shop had first been sighted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know what I'll do,&rdquo; declared the passenger. &ldquo;I'll hunt for that missin'
+      husband advertisement of Desire Higgins's. Let's see now! 'Twill be down
+      at the bottom of the pile, 'cause the paper it's in is a last year one.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She bobbed down behind the high dashboard. Mr. Bangs stood up in order
+      that her gymnastics might interfere, to a lesser degree, with his driving.
+      The equipage began to move up the slope of the hill, bouncing and twisting
+      in the frozen ruts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here 'tis!&rdquo; exclaimed Debby. &ldquo;I remember it's in this number, 'cause
+      there's a picture of the Palace Hotel on the front page. Let's see&mdash;'Dog
+      lost'&mdash;no, that ain't it. 'Corner lot for sale'&mdash;wish I had
+      money enough to buy it; I'd like nothin' better than to live out there.
+      'Information wanted of my husband'&mdash;Here 'tis! Um&mdash;hum!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She straightened up and eagerly began reading the advertisement. The hill
+      was very steep just at its top, and the sulky slanted backward at a sharp
+      angle. A terrific burst of wind tore around the corner of the bluff. It
+      eddied through the sulky between the dashboard and the curtained sides.
+      The widow, in her excitement at finding the advertisement, had
+      inadvertently removed her feet from the pile of papers. In an instant the
+      air was filled with whirling copies of the Blazeton Weekly Courier.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Henry, the horse, was a sober animal who had long ago reached the age of
+      discretion. But to have his old ears and eyes suddenly blanketed with a
+      flapping white thing swooping apparently from nowhere was too much even
+      for his sedate nerves. He jumped sidewise. The reins were jerked from the
+      driver's hands and fell in the road.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mercy on us!&rdquo; shrieked Debby, clutching her companion about the waist.
+      &ldquo;What&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Let go of me!&rdquo; howled Bailey, pushing her violently aside. &ldquo;Whoa! Stand
+      still!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Henry refused to stand still. The flapping paper still clung to his
+      agitated head. He reared and pranced, jerking the sulky back and forth,
+      its wheels still wedged in the ruts. Bailey sprang to the ground to pick
+      up the reins. He seized them, but fell as he did so. The tug at his bits
+      turned Henry's head, literally and figuratively. He reared and whirled
+      about. The sulky rose on two wheels. The screaming Mrs. Beasley collapsed
+      against its downward side. Another moment, and the whole upper half of the
+      sulky&mdash;body, seat, curtains, and Debby&mdash;tilted over the lower
+      wheels, and, the rusted bolts failing to hold, slid with a thump to the
+      frozen road. The wind, catching it underneath as it slid, tipped it
+      backward. Then Henry ran away.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, left alone in the house at the foot of the hill, had amused
+      herself for a time with the Beasley library, which partially filled a
+      shelf in the sitting room. But &ldquo;The Book of Martyrs&rdquo; and &ldquo;A Believer's
+      Thoughts on Death&rdquo; were not cheering literature, particularly as the
+      author of the latter volume &ldquo;thought&rdquo; so dismally concerning the future of
+      all who did not believe precisely as he did. So the teacher laid down the
+      book, with a shudder, and wandered about the room, inspecting the late Mr.
+      Beasley's portrait, the photographs in splintwork frames, the &ldquo;alum
+      basket&rdquo; on the mantel, the blue castles, blue trees, and blue people
+      pictured on the window shades, and other works of art in the apartment.
+      She even peeped into the parlor, but the musty, shut-up smell of that
+      dusky tomb was too much for her, and she sat down by the sitting-room
+      window, under the empty bird cage, to look up the road and watch for the
+      return of the sulky and its occupants.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Sitting there, she was a witness of the alarming catastrophe on the
+      hilltop, and reached the front gate just in time to see Henry go galloping
+      by, dragging the four wheels and springs of the sulky, while, sprawled
+      across the rear axle and still clinging to the reins, hung a familiar,
+      howling, and most wickedly profane individual by the name of Bangs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The runaway dashed on toward the blacksmith shop. Phoebe, bareheaded and
+      coatless, ran up the hill. Before she reached the crest, she was aware of
+      muffled screams, which sounded as if the screamer was shut up in a trunk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O-o-oh!&rdquo; screamed Mrs. Beasley. &ldquo;O-o-oh! Ow! Let me out! Help! I'm stuck!
+      My back's broke! He-e-lp!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The upper part of the sulky, with its boxlike curtained top, lay on its
+      side in the road. From somewhere within the box came the groans and
+      screams. The gale swept the hilltop, and, for a quarter mile to leeward,
+      the scenery was animated by soaring, fluttering copies of the Blazeton
+      Courier, that swooped and ducked like mammoth white butterflies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The panting and alarmed teacher stooped and peered into the dark shadow
+      between the dashboard and the back curtain. All she could make out at
+      first were a pair of thin ankles and &ldquo;Congress&rdquo; shoes in agitated motion.
+      These bobbed up and down behind the overturned seat and its displaced
+      cushion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;O Mrs. Beasley!&rdquo; screamed Phoebe. &ldquo;Are you hurt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby, of course, did not hear the question. She continued to groan and
+      scream for help. Her lungs were not injured, at all events. The
+      schoolmistress, dropping on her knees, reached into the sulky top and
+      tugged at the seat. It was rather tightly wedged, but she managed to
+      loosen it and pull it toward her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The widow raised herself on an elbow and looked out between the flowers of
+      her smashed bonnet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is it?&rdquo; she demanded. &ldquo;Oh, is that you, Miss Dorcas? Oh, my soul and
+      body! Oh, my stars! Oh, my goodness me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you hurt?&rdquo; shrieked Phoebe.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I don't know! I don't know WHAT I be! I don't know nothin'!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can you help yourself? Can you get up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? I don't know. Maybe I can if you haul that everlastin' seat out of
+      the way. Oh, my sakes alive!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her rescuer pulled the seat forward, and, with an effort, tumbled it clear
+      of the curtains. Debby raised herself still higher.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; she groaned. &ldquo;Talk about&mdash;Land sakes! who's comin'? Men, ain't
+      it? Let me out of here quick! QUICK!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She scrambled out of her prison on hands and knees, and jumped to her feet
+      with reassuring alacrity. Her fur-collared cape was draped in a roll about
+      her neck, and her bonnet hung jauntily over her left eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm a sight, ain't I?&rdquo; she asked. &ldquo;Haul this bunnet straight, quick's
+      ever you can. Hurt? No, no! I ain't hurt none but my feelin's. Hurry UP!
+      S'pose I want them men folks to see me with everything all hind side to?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, relieved to find that the accident had had no serious
+      consequences, and trying her hardest not to laugh, assisted the widow to
+      rearrange her wearing apparel. The blacksmith and his helper came running
+      up the hill.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Debby!&rdquo; hailed the former. &ldquo;What's the matter? Hurt, be you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley, whether she heard or not, did not deign to reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Get my horn out of that carriage,&rdquo; she ordered. &ldquo;Don't stand there
+      gapin'. Get it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The ear trumpet was resurrected from the interior of the vehicle. The
+      widow adjusted it with dignity.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Had a spill, didn't you, Debby?&rdquo; inquired the blacksmith. &ldquo;Upset, didn't
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby glared at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No,&rdquo; she replied with sarcasm. &ldquo;Course I didn't upset! Just thought I'd
+      roll round in the road for the fun of it. Smart question, that is! Where's
+      that Bailey Bangs gone to with the rest of my carriage?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The blacksmith pointed to his shop in the hollow. Before it stood Mr.
+      Bangs, holding Henry by the bridle, and staring in their direction.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He's all right,&rdquo; volunteered the &ldquo;helper.&rdquo; &ldquo;The horse stopped runnin'
+      soon's he got to the foot of the next hill.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Beasley was not, apparently, overjoyed at the news.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; she grunted. &ldquo;I 'most wish he'd broke his neck! Pesky, careless
+      thing! gettin' us run away with and upset. Who's goin' to pay for fixin'
+      my sulky, I want to know?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Bangs will pay for it, I'm sure,&rdquo; said Phoebe soothingly. &ldquo;If he
+      doesn't, I will. Oh, Mrs. Beasley! did you find the diary?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Diary? No, no! I told you I was afraid I'd burnt it up. Well, I had, and
+      a whole lot more of them old ones. But I did get all them Arizona papers,
+      and took the trouble to tote 'em all the way here so's you could look at
+      'em. And now&rdquo;&mdash;she shook with indignation and waved her hand toward a
+      section of horizon where little white dots indicated the whereabouts of
+      the Couriers&mdash;&ldquo;now look where they be! Blowed from Dan to Beersheby!
+      Come on to the house and let me set down. I been standin' on my head till
+      I'm tired. Here, Jabez,&rdquo; to the blacksmith, &ldquo;you tend to that carriage,
+      will you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She stalked off down the hill. The schoolmistress turning to follow her,
+      caught a glimpse of the &ldquo;helper&rdquo; doubled up with silent laughter, and the
+      blacksmith grinning broadly as he stooped toward the capsized sulky.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was downcast and disappointed. She was convinced, in her own mind,
+      that the Honorable Atkins had some hidden motive for his espousal of the
+      Thomas cause. Asaph's fruitless quest in Orham had not shaken her faith.
+      Captain Cy had refused to seek Debby Beasley for information concerning
+      the Thayers, and so she, on her own responsibility, had done so. And this
+      was the ridiculous ending of her journey. The diary had been a forlorn
+      hope; now that was burned. Poor Bos'n! and poor&mdash;some one else!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Debby marching down the hill, continued to sputter about the lost
+      weeklies.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's an everlastin' shame!&rdquo; she declared. &ldquo;I'd just found the one with
+      that advertisement in it and was readin' it. I remember the part I read,
+      plain as could be. While we're eatin' dinner I'll tell you about it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes did not care for dinner. Like Mr. Tidditt and the captain,
+      she had had about all the Debby Beasley she wanted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, you will stop, too,&rdquo; affirmed the widow. &ldquo;I want to tell you
+      more about Blazeton. I can see that advertisement this minute, right afore
+      my eyes&mdash;'Information wanted of my husband, Edward Higgins. Five foot
+      eight inches tall, sandy complected, brown hair, and yellowish mustache;
+      not lame, but has a peculiar slight limp with his left foot&mdash;'&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo; asked the schoolmistress, stopping short.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? 'Has a peculiar limp with his left foot.' I remember how Desire used
+      to talk about that limp. She said 'twas almost as if he stuttered with his
+      leg. He hurt it when he was up in Montana, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh!&rdquo; cried Miss Dawes. The color had left her face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. You see he used to be a miner or somethin' up there. He'd never say
+      much about his younger days, but one time he did tell that. I'd just got
+      as far as that limp when the sulky upset. Talk about bein' surprised! I
+      never was so surprised in my life as when that horse critter rared up and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe interrupted. Her color had come back, and her eyes were shining.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mrs. Beasley,&rdquo; she cried, &ldquo;I think I shall change my mind. I believe I
+      will stay to dinner after all. I'm EVER so much interested in Arizona.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bailey and the teacher began their long drive home about four o'clock. The
+      buggy axle had been fixed, and the wind was less violent. Mr. Bangs was
+      glum and moody. He seemed to be thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, teacher,&rdquo; he said at length, &ldquo;I'd like to ask a favor of you. If it
+      ain't necessary, I wish you wouldn't say nothin' about that upsettin'
+      business to the folks to home. It does sound so dum foolish! I'll never
+      hear the last of it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes, who had been in high spirits, now took a moment for
+      reflection.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right!&rdquo; she said, nodding vigorously. &ldquo;We won't mention it, then. We
+      won't tell a soul. You can say that I called at the Atwoods', if you want
+      to; that will be true, because I did. And we'll have Mrs. Beasley for our
+      secret&mdash;yours and mine&mdash;until we decide to tell. It's a bargain,
+      Mr. Bangs. We must shake hands on it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They shook hands, and Bailey, looking in her face, thought he never saw
+      her look so well or as young. She was pretty, he decided. Then he thought
+      of his own choice of a wife, and&mdash;well, if he had any regrets, he
+      hasn't mentioned them, not even to his fellow-member of the Board of
+      Strategy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      December was nearly over. Christmas had come. Bos'n had hung up her
+      stocking by the base-burner stove, and found it warty and dropsical the
+      next morning, with a generous overflow of gifts piled on the floor beneath
+      it. The Board of Strategy sent presents; so did Miss Dawes and Georgianna.
+      As for Captain Cy he spent many evening hours, after the rest of his
+      household was in bed, poring over catalogues of toys and books, and the
+      orders he sent to the big shops in Boston were lengthy and costly. The
+      little girl's eyes opened wide when she saw the stocking and the treasures
+      heaped on the floor. She sat in her &ldquo;nighty&rdquo; amidst the wonders, books,
+      and playthings in a circle about her, and the biggest doll of all hugged
+      close in her arms. Captain Cy, who had arisen at half past five in order
+      to be with her on the great occasion, was at least as happy as she.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Like 'em, do you?&rdquo; he asked, smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;like 'em! O Uncle Cy! What makes everybody so good to me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know. Strange thing, ain't it&mdash;considerin' what a hard
+      little ticket you are.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Bos'n laughed. She understood her &ldquo;Uncle Cy,&rdquo; and didn't mind being called
+      a &ldquo;hard ticket&rdquo; by him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;didn't believe anybody COULD have such a nice Christmas.
+      I never saw so many nice things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! What do you like best?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The answer was a question, and was characteristic.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Which did you give me?&rdquo; asked Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain would have dodged, but she wouldn't let him. So one by one the
+      presents he had given were indicated and put by themselves. The remainder
+      were but few, but she insisted that the givers of these should be named.
+      When the sorting was over she sat silently hugging her doll and,
+      apparently, thinking.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well?&rdquo; inquired the amused captain. &ldquo;Made up your mind yet? Which do you
+      like best?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The child nodded.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, these, of course,&rdquo; she declared with emphasis, pointing with her
+      dollie's slippered foot at Captain Cy's pile.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So? Do, hey? Didn't know I could pick so well. All right; the first prize
+      is mine. Who takes the second?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This time Bos'n deliberated before answering. At last, however, she bent
+      forward and touched the teacher's gifts.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;These,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I like these next best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was surprised.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;You don't say!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. I think I like teacher next to you. I like Georgianna and Mr.
+      Tidditt and Mr. Bangs, of course, but I like her a little better. Don't
+      you, uncle Cyrus?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain changed the subject. He asked her what she should name her
+      doll.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy came in during the forenoon, and the presents had to
+      be shown to them. While the exhibition was in progress Miss Dawes called.
+      And before she left Gabe Lumley drove up in the depot wagon bearing a big
+      express package addressed to &ldquo;Miss Emily Thomas, Bayport.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; exclaimed Captain Cy. &ldquo;Somethin' more for Bos'n, hey! Who in the
+      world sent it, do you s'pose?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph and Bailey made various inane suggestions as to the sender. Phoebe
+      said nothing. There was a frown on her face as she watched the captain get
+      to work on the box with chisel and hammer. It contained a beautiful doll,
+      fully and expensively dressed, and pinned to the dress was a card&mdash;&ldquo;To
+      dear little Emmie, from her lonesome Papa.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy looked at the doll in wonder and astonishment.
+      Captain Cy strode away to the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well!&rdquo; exclaimed Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;I didn't believe he had that much heart
+      inside of him. I bet you that cost four or five dollars; ain't that so,
+      Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't you think so, teacher?&rdquo; repeated Bailey, turning to Phoebe. &ldquo;What
+      ails you? You don't seem surprised.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not,&rdquo; replied the lady. &ldquo;I expected something of that sort.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy wheeled from the window.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You DID?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. Miss Phinney said the other day she had heard that that man was
+      going to give his daughter a beautiful present. She was very enthusiastic
+      about his generosity and self-sacrifice. I asked who told her and she said
+      Mr. Simpson.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! Tad? Is that so!&rdquo; The captain looked at her.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. And I think there is no doubt that Simpson had orders to make the
+      'generosity' known to as many townspeople as possible.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum! I see. You figure that Thomas cal'lates 'twill help his popularity
+      and make his case stronger; is that it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not exactly. I doubt if he ever thought of such a thing himself. But some
+      one thought for him&mdash;and some one must have supplied the money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, they say he's to work up in Boston.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. But no one can tell where he works. Captain Whittaker, this is
+      Mr. Atkins's doing&mdash;you know it. Now, WHY does he, a busy man, take
+      such an interest in getting this child away from you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy shook his head and smiled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Teacher,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;you're dead set on taggin' Heman with a mystery,
+      ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Dawes,&rdquo; asked the forgetful Bailey, &ldquo;when you and me went drivin'
+      t'other day did you find out anything from&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe interrupted quickly.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Bangs,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;at what time do we distribute Christmas presents
+      at your boarding house? I suppose you must have many Christmas secrets to
+      keep. You keep a secret SO well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Bangs turned red. The hint concerning secret keeping was not wasted.
+      He did not mention the drive again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A little later Captain Cy found Bos'n busily playing with the doll he had
+      given her. The other, her father's gift, was nowhere in sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I put her back in the box,&rdquo; said the child in reply to his question. &ldquo;She
+      was awful pretty, but I think I'm goin' to love this one best.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The remark seems a foolish thing to give comfort to a grown man, but
+      Captain Cy found comfort in it, and comfort was what he needed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He needed it more as time went on. In January the court gave its decision.
+      The captain's appointment as guardian was revoked. With the father alive,
+      and professedly anxious to provide for the child's support, nothing else
+      was to be expected, so Mr. Peabody said. The latter entered an appeal
+      which would delay matters for a time, two or three months perhaps;
+      meanwhile Captain Cy was to retain custody of Bos'n.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the court's action, expected though it was, made the captain very blue
+      and downcast. He could see no hope. He felt certain that he should lose
+      the little girl in the end, in spite of the long succession of appeals
+      which his lawyer contemplated. And what would become of her then? What
+      sort of training would she be likely to have? Who would her associates be,
+      under the authority of a father such as hers? And what would he do, alone
+      in the old house, when she had gone for good? He could not bear to think
+      of it, and yet he thought of little else.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The evenings, after Bos'n had gone to bed, were the worst. During the day
+      he tried his best to be busy at something or other. The doll house was
+      finished, and he had begun to fashion a full-rigged ship in miniature. In
+      reality Emily, being a normal little girl, was not greatly interested in
+      ships, but, because Uncle Cy was making it, she pretended to be vastly
+      concerned about this one. On Saturdays and after school hours she sat on a
+      box in the wood shed, where the captain had put up a small stove, and
+      watched him work. The taboo which so many of our righteous and
+      Atkins-worshiping townspeople had put upon the Whittaker place and its
+      occupants included her, and a number of children had been forbidden to
+      play with her. This, however, did not prevent their tormenting her about
+      her father and her disreputable guardian.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But the captain's evenings were miserable. He no longer went to Simmons's.
+      He didn't care for the crowd there, and knew they were all &ldquo;down&rdquo; on him.
+      Josiah Dimick called occasionally, and the Board of Strategy often, but
+      their conversation was rather tiresome. There were times when Captain Cy
+      hated Bayport, the house he had &ldquo;fixed up&rdquo; with such interest and pride,
+      and the old sitting room in particular. The mental picture of comfort and
+      contentment which had been his dream through so many years of struggle and
+      wandering, looked farther off than ever. Sometimes he was tempted to run
+      away, taking Bos'n with him. But the captain had never run away from a
+      fight yet; he had never abandoned a ship while there was a chance of
+      keeping her afloat. And, besides, there was another reason.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe Dawes had come to be his chief reliance. He saw a great deal of
+      her. Often when she walked home from school, she found him hanging over
+      the front gate, and they talked of various things&mdash;of Bos'n's
+      progress with her studies, of the school work, and similar topics. He
+      called her by her first name now, although in this there was nothing
+      unusual&mdash;after a few weeks' acquaintance we Bayporters almost
+      invariably address people by their &ldquo;front&rdquo; names. Sometimes she came to
+      the house with Emily. Then the three sat by the stove in the sitting room,
+      and the apartment became really cheerful, in the captain's eyes.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was in good spirits. She was as hopeful as Captain Cy was
+      despondent. She seemed to have little fear of the outcome of the legal
+      proceedings, the appeals and the rest. In fact, she now appeared desirous
+      of evading the subject, and there was about her an air of suppressed
+      excitement. Her optimism was the best sort of bracer for the captain's
+      failing courage. Her advice was always good, and a talk with her left him
+      with shoulders squared, mentally, and almost happy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      One cold, rainy afternoon, early in February, she came in with Bos'n, who
+      had availed herself of the shelter of the teacher's umbrella. Georgianna
+      was in the kitchen baking, and Emily had been promised a &ldquo;saucer pie&rdquo;&mdash;so
+      the child went out to superintend the construction of that treat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Set down, teacher,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, pushing forward a rocker. &ldquo;My! but
+      I'm glad to see you. 'Twas bluer'n a whetstone 'round here to-day. What's
+      the news&mdash;anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, no,&rdquo; replied Phoebe, accepting the rocker and throwing open her wet
+      jacket; &ldquo;there's no news in particular. But I wanted to ask if you had
+      seen the Breeze?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;hum,&rdquo; was the listless answer. &ldquo;I presume likely you mean the
+      news about the appropriation, and the editorial dig at yours truly? Yes,
+      I've seen it. They don't bother me much. I've got more important things on
+      my mind just now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Congressman Atkins's pledge in his farewell speech, concerning the mighty
+      effort he was to make toward securing the appropriation for Bayport
+      harbor, was in process of fulfillment&mdash;so he had written to the local
+      paper. But, alas! the mighty effort was likely to prove unavailing. In
+      spite of the Honorable Heman's battle for his constituents' rights it
+      seemed certain that the bill would not provide the thirty thousand dollars
+      for Bayport; at least, not this year's bill. Other and more powerful
+      interests would win out and, instead, another section of the coast be
+      improved at the public expense. The congressman was deeply sorry, almost
+      broken-hearted. He had battled hard for his beloved town, he had worked
+      night and day. But, to be perfectly frank, there was little or no hope.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Few of us blamed Heman Atkins. The majority considered his letter &ldquo;noble&rdquo;
+       and &ldquo;so feeling.&rdquo; But some one must be blamed for a community
+      disappointment like this, and the scapegoat was on the premises. How about
+      that &ldquo;committee of one&rdquo; self-appointed at town meeting? How about the
+      blatant person who had declared HE could have gotten the appropriation?
+      What had the &ldquo;committee&rdquo; done? Nothing! nothing at all! He had not even
+      written to the Capital&mdash;so far as anyone could find out&mdash;much
+      less gone there.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      So, at Simmons's and the sewing circle, and after meeting on Sunday, Cy
+      Whittaker was again discussed and derided. And this week's Breeze, out
+      that morning, contained a sarcastic editorial which mentioned no names,
+      but hinted at &ldquo;a certain now notorious person&rdquo; who had boasted loudly, but
+      who had again &ldquo;been weighed in the balance of public opinion and found
+      wanting.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Dawes did not seem pleased with the captain's nonchalant attitude
+      toward the Breeze and its editorial. She tapped the braided mat with her
+      foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Cyrus,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;if you intended doing nothing toward securing
+      that appropriation why did you accept the responsibility for it at the
+      meeting?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy looked up. Her tone reminded him of their first meeting, when
+      she had reproved him for going to sleep and leaving Bos'n to the mercy of
+      the Cahoon cow.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;afore this Thomas business happened, to knock all my
+      plans on their beam ends, I'd done consider'ble thinkin' about that
+      appropriation. It seemed to me that there must be some reason for Heman's
+      comin' about so sudden. He was sartin sure of the thirty thousand for a
+      spell; then, all to once, he begun to take in sail and go on t'other tack.
+      I don't know much about politics, but I know HE knows all the politics
+      there is. And it seemed to me that if a live man, one with eyes in his
+      head, went to Washington and looked around he might find the reason. And,
+      if he did find it, maybe Heman could be coaxed into changin' his mind
+      again. Anyhow, I was willin' to take the risk of tryin'; and, besides, Tad
+      and Abe Leonard had me on the griddle at that meetin', and I spoke up
+      sharp&mdash;too sharp, maybe.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But you still believe that you MIGHT help if you went to Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. I guess I do. Anyhow, I'd ask some pretty p'inted questions. You
+      see, I ain't lived here in Bayport all my life, and I don't swaller ALL
+      the bait Heman heaves overboard.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then why don't you go?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Why don't I go? And leave Bos'n and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Emily would be all right and perfectly safe. Georgianna thinks the world
+      of her. And, Captain Whittaker, I don't like to hear these people talk of
+      you as they do. I don't like to read such things in the paper, that you
+      were only bragging in order to be popular, and meant to shirk when the
+      time came for action. I know they're not true. I KNOW it!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was gratified, and his gratification showed in his voice.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Thank you, Phoebe,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I am much obliged to you. But, you see, I
+      don't take any interest in such things any more. When I realize that
+      pretty soon I've got to give up that little girl for good I can't bear to
+      be away from her a minute hardly. I don't like to leave her here alone
+      with Georgianna and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I will keep an eye on her. You trust me, don't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Trust YOU? By the big dipper, you're about the only one I CAN trust these
+      days. I don't know how I'd have pulled through this if you hadn't helped.
+      You're diff'rent from Ase and Bailey and their kind&mdash;not meanin'
+      anything against them, either. But you're broad-minded and cool-headed and&mdash;and&mdash;Do
+      you know, if I'd had a woman like you to advise me all these years and
+      keep me from goin' off the course, I might have been somebody by now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think you're somebody as it is.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't talk that way. I own up I like to hear you, but I'm 'fraid it ain't
+      true. You say I amount to somethin'. Well, what? I come back home here,
+      with some money in my pocket, thinkin' that was about all was necessary to
+      make me a good deal of a feller. The old Cy Whittaker place, I said to
+      myself, was goin' to be a real Cy Whittaker place again. And I'd be a real
+      Whittaker, a man who should stand for somethin', as my dad and granddad
+      did afore me. The town should respect me, and I'd do things to help it
+      along. And what's it all come to? Why, every young one on the street is
+      told to be good for fear he'll grow up like me. Ain't that so? Course it's
+      so! I'm&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You SHALL not speak so! Do you imagine that you're not respected by
+      everyone whose respect counts for anything? Yes, and by others, too. Don't
+      you suppose Mr. Atkins respects you, down in his heart&mdash;if he has
+      one? Doesn't your housekeeper, who sees you every day, respect and like
+      you? And little Emily&mdash;doesn't she love you more than she does all
+      the rest of us together?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I guess Bos'n does care for the old man some, that's a fact. She
+      says she likes you next best, though. Did you know that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Miss Dawes was indignant.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain Whittaker,&rdquo; she declared, &ldquo;one would think you were a hundred
+      years old to hear you. You are always calling yourself an old man. Does
+      Mr. Atkins call himself old? And he is older than you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I'm over fifty, Phoebe.&rdquo; In spite of the habit for which he had
+      just been reproached, the captain found this a difficult statement to
+      make.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know. But you're younger than most of us at thirty-five. You see, I'm
+      confessing, too,&rdquo; she added with a laugh and a little blush.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy made a mental calculation.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Twenty years,&rdquo; he said musingly. &ldquo;Twenty years is a long time. No, I'm
+      old. And worse than that, I'm an old fool, I guess. If I hadn't been I'd
+      have stayed in South America instead of comin' here to be hooted out of
+      the town I was born in.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The teacher stamped her foot.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, what SHALL I do with you!&rdquo; she exclaimed. &ldquo;It is wicked for you to
+      say such things. Do you suppose that Mr. Atkins would find it necessary to
+      work as he is doing to beat a fool? And, besides, you're not complimentary
+      to me. Should I, do you think, take such an interest in one who was an
+      imbecile?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, 'tis mighty good of you. Your comin' here so to help Bos'n's fight
+      along is&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How do you know it is Bos'n altogether? I&mdash;&rdquo; She stopped suddenly,
+      and the color rushed to her face. She rose from the rocker. &ldquo;I&mdash;really,
+      I don't see how we came to be discussing such nonsense,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Our
+      ages and that sort of thing! Captain Cyrus, I wish you would go to
+      Washington. I think you ought to go.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But the captain's thoughts were far from Washington at that moment. His
+      own face was alight, and his eyes shone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe,&rdquo; he faltered unbelievingly, &ldquo;what was you goin' to say? Do you
+      mean that&mdash;that&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The side door of the house opened. The next instant Mr. Tidditt, a
+      dripping umbrella in his hand, entered the sitting room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello, Whit!&rdquo; he hailed. &ldquo;Just run in for a minute to say howdy.&rdquo; Then he
+      noticed the schoolmistress, and his expression changed. &ldquo;Oh! how be you,
+      Miss Dawes?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I didn't see you fust off. Don't run away on my
+      account.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I was just going,&rdquo; said Phoebe, buttoning her jacket. Captain Cy
+      accompanied her to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good-by,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;There was something else I meant to say, but I think
+      it is best to wait. I hope to have some good news for you soon. Something
+      that will send you to Washington with a light heart. Perhaps I shall hear
+      to-morrow. If so, I will call after school and tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, do,&rdquo; urged the captain eagerly. &ldquo;You'll find me here waitin'. Good
+      news or not, do come. I&mdash;I ain't said all I wanted to, myself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He returned to the sitting room. The town clerk was standing by the stove.
+      He looked troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What's the row, Ase?&rdquo; asked Cy cheerily. He was overflowing with good
+      nature.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin' special,&rdquo; replied Mr. Tidditt. &ldquo;You look joyful enough for
+      two of us. Had good company, ain't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes; 'bout as good as there is. What makes you look so glum?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe was here yesterday, too, wan't she?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. What of it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the day afore that?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, not for three days afore that. But what OF it, I ask you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, now, Cy, you mustn't get mad. I'm a friend of yours, and friends
+      ought to be able to say 'most anything to each other. If&mdash;if I was
+      you, I wouldn't let Phoebe come so often&mdash;not here, you know, at your
+      house. Course, I know she comes with Bos'n and all, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Out with it!&rdquo; The captain's tone was ominous. &ldquo;What are you drivin' at?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The caller fidgeted.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Whit,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;there's consider'ble talkin' goin' on, that's
+      all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Talkin'? What kind of talkin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, you know the kind. This town does a good deal of it, 'specially
+      after church and prayer meetin'. Seem's if they thought 'twas a sort of
+      proper place. <i>I</i> don't myself; I kind of like to keep my charity and
+      brotherly love spread out through the week, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase, are the folks in this town sayin' a word against Phoebe Dawes
+      because she comes here to see&mdash;Bos'n?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't&mdash;don't get mad, Whit. Don't look at me like that. <i>I</i>
+      ain't said nothin'. Why, a spell ago, at the boardin' house, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He told of the meal at the perfect boarding house where Miss Dawes
+      championed his friend's cause. Also of the conversation which followed,
+      and his own part in it. Captain Cy paced the floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I wouldn't have her come so often, Cy,&rdquo; pleaded Asaph. &ldquo;Honest, I
+      wouldn't. Course, you and me know they're mean, miser'ble liars, but it's
+      her I'm thinkin' of. She's a young woman and single. And you're a good
+      many years older'n she is. And so, of course, you and she ain't ever goin'
+      to get married. And have you thought what effect it might have on her
+      keepin' her teacher's place? The committee's a majority against her as
+      'tis. And&mdash;you know <i>I</i> don't think so, but a good many folks do&mdash;you
+      ain't got the best name just now. Darn it all! I ain't puttin' this the
+      way I'd ought to, but YOU know what I mean, don't you, Cy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was leaning against the window frame, his head upon his arm. He
+      was not looking out, because the shade was drawn. Tidditt waited anxiously
+      for him to answer. At last he turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I'm much obliged to you. You've pounded it in pretty
+      hard, but I cal'late I'd ought to have had it done to me. I'm a fool&mdash;an
+      OLD fool, just as I said a while back&mdash;and nothin' nor NOBODY ought
+      to have made me forget it. For a minute or so I&mdash;but there! don't you
+      fret. That young woman shan't risk her job nor her reputation on account
+      of me&mdash;nor of Bos'n, either. I'll see to that. And see here,&rdquo; he
+      added fiercely, &ldquo;I can't stop women's tongues, even when they're as bad as
+      some of the tongues in this town, BUT if you hear a MAN say one word
+      against Phoebe Dawes, only one word, you tell me his name. You hear, Ase?
+      You tell me his name. Now run along, will you? I ain't safe company just
+      now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph, frightened at the effect of his words, hurriedly departed. Captain
+      Cy paced the room for the next fifteen minutes. Then he opened the kitchen
+      door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he called, &ldquo;come in and set in my lap a while; don't you want to?
+      I'm&mdash;I'm sort of lonesome, little girl.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The next afternoon, when the schoolmistress, who had been delayed by the
+      inevitable examination papers, stopped at the Cy Whittaker place, she was
+      met by Georgianna; Emily, who stood behind the housekeeper in the doorway,
+      was crying.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cap'n Cy has gone away&mdash;to Washin'ton,&rdquo; declared Georgianna. &ldquo;Though
+      what he's gone there for's more'n I know. He said he'd send his hotel
+      address soon's he got there. He went on the three o'clock train.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe was astonished.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone?&rdquo; she repeated. &ldquo;So soon! Why, he told me he should certainly be
+      here to hear some news I expected to-day. Didn't he leave any message for
+      me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper turned red.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miss Phoebe,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;he told me to tell you somethin', and it's so
+      dreadful I don't hardly dast to say it. I think his troubles have driven
+      him crazy. He said to tell you that you'd better not come to this house
+      any more.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XVIII
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      In the old days, the great days of sailing ships and land merchant fleets,
+      Bayport was a community of travelers. Every ambitious man went to sea, and
+      eventually, if he lived, became a captain. Then he took his wife, and in
+      most cases his children, with him on long voyages. To the stay-at-homes
+      came letters with odd, foreign stamps and postmarks. Our what-nots and
+      parlor mantels were filled with carved bits of ivory, gorgeous shells,
+      alabaster candlesticks, and plaster miniatures of the Leaning Tower at
+      Pisa or the Coliseum at Rome. We usually began a conversation with &ldquo;When
+      my husband and I were at Hong Kong the last time&mdash;&rdquo; or &ldquo;I remember at
+      Mauritius they always&mdash;&rdquo; New Orleans or 'Frisco were the nearest
+      domestic ports the mention of which was considered worth while.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But this is so no longer. A trip to Boston is, of course, no novelty to
+      the most of us; but when we visit New York we take care to advertise it
+      beforehand. And the few who avail themselves of the spring &ldquo;cut rates&rdquo; and
+      go on excursions to Washington, plan definite programmes for each day at
+      the Capital, and discuss them with envious friends for weeks in advance.
+      And if the prearranged programme is not scrupulously carried out, we feel
+      that we have been defrauded. It was the regret of Aunt Sophronia Hallett's
+      life that, on her Washington excursion, she had not seen the &ldquo;Diplomatic
+      Corpse.&rdquo; She saw the President and the Monument and Congress and &ldquo;the
+      relics in the Smithsonian Institute,&rdquo; but the &ldquo;Corpse&rdquo; was not on view;
+      Aunt Sophronia never quite got over the disappointment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Probably no other Bayporter, in recent years, has started for Washington
+      on such short notice or with so ill-defined a programme as Captain Cy. He
+      went because he felt that he must go somewhere. After the conversation
+      with Asaph, he simply could not remain at home. If Phoebe Dawes called, he
+      knew that he must see her, and if he saw her, what should he say to her?
+      He could not tell her that she must not visit the Cy Whittaker place
+      again. If he did, she would insist upon the reason. If he told her of the
+      &ldquo;town talk,&rdquo; he felt sure, knowing her, that she would indignantly refuse
+      to heed the malicious gossip. And he was firmly resolved not to permit her
+      to compromise her life and her future by friendship with a social outcast
+      like himself. As for anything deeper and more sacred than friendship, that
+      was ridiculous. If, for a moment, a remark of hers had led him to dream of
+      such a thing, it was because he was, as he had so often declared, an &ldquo;old
+      fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So Captain Cy had resolved upon flight, and he fled to Washington because
+      the business of the &ldquo;committee of one&rdquo; offered a legitimate excuse for
+      going there. The blunt message he had intrusted to Georgianna would, he
+      believed, arouse Phoebe's indignation. She would not call again. And when
+      he returned to Bos'n, it would be to take up the child's fight alone. If
+      he lost that fight, or WHEN he lost it, he would close the Cy Whittaker
+      place, and leave Bayport for good.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He had been in Washington once before, years ago, when he was first mate
+      of a ship and had a few weeks' shore leave. Then he went there on a
+      pleasure trip with some seagoing friends, and had a jolly time. But there
+      was precious little jollity in the present visit. He had never felt so
+      thoroughly miserable. In order to forget, he made up his mind to work his
+      hardest to discover why the harbor appropriation was not to be given to
+      Bayport.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The city had changed greatly. He would scarcely have known it. He went to
+      the hotel where he had stayed before, and found a big, modern building in
+      its place. The clerk was inclined to be rather curt and perfunctory at
+      first, but when he learned that the captain was not anxious concerning the
+      price of accommodations, but merely wanted a &ldquo;comf'table berth somewheres
+      on the saloon deck,&rdquo; and appeared to have plenty of money, he grew polite.
+      Captain Cy was shown to his room, where he left his valise. Then he went
+      down to dinner.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      After the meal was over, he seated himself in one of the big leather
+      chairs in the hotel lobby, smoked and thought. In the summer, before Bos'n
+      came, and before her father had arisen to upset every calculation and
+      wreck all his plans, the captain had given serious thought to what he
+      should do if Congressman Atkins failed, as even then he seemed likely to
+      do, in securing that appropriation. The obvious thing, of course, would
+      have been to hunt up Mr. Atkins and question him. But this was altogether
+      too obvious. In the first place, the strained relations between them would
+      make the interview uncomfortable; and, in the second, if there was
+      anything underhand in Heman's backsliding on the appropriation, Atkins was
+      too wary a bird to be snared with questions.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      But Captain Cy had another acquaintance in the city, the son of a still
+      older acquaintance, who had been a wealthy shipping merchant and mine
+      owner in California. The son was also a congressman, from a coast State,
+      and the captain had read of him in the papers. A sketch of his life had
+      been printed, and this made his identity absolutely certain. Captain Cy's
+      original idea had been to write to this congressman. Now he determined to
+      find and interview him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He inquired concerning him of the hotel clerk, who, like all Washington
+      clerks, was a walking edition of &ldquo;Who's Who at the Capital.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Congressman Everdean?&rdquo; repeated the all-knowing young gentleman. &ldquo;Yes.
+      He's in town. Has rooms at the Gloria; second hotel on the right as you go
+      up the avenue. Only a short walk. What can I do for you, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Gloria was an even bigger hotel than the one where the captain had his
+      &ldquo;berth.&rdquo; An inquiry at the desk, of another important clerk, was answered
+      with a brisk:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Everdean? Yes, he rooms here. Don't know whether he's in or not.
+      Evening, judge. Nice Winter weather we're having.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The judge, who was a ponderous person vaguely suggesting the great Heman,
+      admitted that the weather was fine, patronizing it as he did so. The clerk
+      continued the conversation. Captain Cy waited. At length he spoke.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Excuse me, commodore,&rdquo; he said; &ldquo;I don't like to break in until you've
+      settled whether you have it snow or not, but I'm here to see Congressman
+      Everdean. Hadn't you better order one of your fo'mast hands to hunt him
+      up?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The judge condescended to smile, as did several other men who stood near.
+      The clerk reddened.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Do you want to see Mr. Everdean?&rdquo; he snapped.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I did. But I can't see him from here without strainin' my
+      eyesight.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk sharply demanded one of the captain's visiting cards. He didn't
+      get one, for the very good reason that there was none in existence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tell him an old friend of his dad's is here on the main deck waitin' for
+      him,&rdquo; said Captain Cy. &ldquo;That'll do first rate. Thank you, admiral.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Word came that the congressman would be down in a few moments. The captain
+      beguiled the interval by leaning on the rail and regarding the clerk with
+      an awed curiosity that annoyed its object exceedingly. The inspection was
+      still on when a tall man, of an age somewhere in the early thirties,
+      walked briskly up to the desk.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who is it that wants to see me?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The clerk waved a deprecatory hand in Captain Cy's direction. The newcomer
+      turned.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;My name is Everdean,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Are you&mdash;hey?&mdash;Great Scott! Is
+      it possible this is Captain Whittaker?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was immensely pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I declare, Ed!&rdquo; he exclaimed. &ldquo;I didn't believe you'd remember me
+      after all these years. You was nothin' but a boy when I saw you out in
+      'Frisco. Well! well! No wonder you're in Congress. A man that can remember
+      faces like that ought to be President.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everdean laughed as they shook hands.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Don't suppose I'd forget the chap who used to dine with us and tell me
+      those sea stories, do you?&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I'm mighty glad to see you. What are
+      you doing here? The last father and I heard of you, you were in South
+      America. Given up the sea, they said, and getting rich fast.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy chuckled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's a good thing I learned long ago not to believe all I hear,&rdquo; he
+      answered, &ldquo;else I'd have been so sure I was rich that I'd have spent all I
+      had, and been permanent boarder at the poorhouse by now. No, thanks; I've
+      had dinner. Why, yes, I'll smoke, if you'll help along. How's your father?
+      Smart, is he?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman insisted that they should adjourn to his rooms. An
+      unmarried man, he kept bachelor's hall at the hotel during his stay in
+      Washington. There, in comfortable chairs, they spoke of old times, when
+      the captain was seafaring and the Everdean home had been his while his
+      ship was in port at 'Frisco. He told of his return to Bayport, and the
+      renovation of the old house. Of Bos'n he said nothing. At last Everdean
+      asked what had brought him to Washington.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said Captain Cy, &ldquo;I'll tell you. I'm like the feller in court
+      without a lawyer; he said he couldn't tell whether he was guilty or not
+      'count of havin' no professional advice. That's what I've come to you for,
+      Ed&mdash;professional advice.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He told the harbor appropriation story. At the incident of the &ldquo;committee
+      of one&rdquo; his friend laughed heartily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rather put your foot in it that time, Captain, didn't you?&rdquo; he said.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. Then I got t'other one stuck tryin' to get the first clear. How's it
+      look to you? All straight, do you think? or is there a nigger in the wood
+      pile?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean seemed to reflect.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, Captain,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I can't tell. You're asking delicate questions.
+      Politicians are like doctors, they usually back up each other's opinions.
+      Still, you're at least as good a friend of mine as Atkins is. Queer HE
+      should bob up in this matter! Why, he&mdash;but never mind that now. I
+      tell you, Captain Whittaker, you come around and have dinner with me
+      to-morrow night. In the meantime I'll see the chairman of the committee on
+      that bill&mdash;one of the so-called 'pork' bills it is. Possibly from him
+      and some other acquaintances of mine I may learn something. At any rate,
+      you come to dinner.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the invitation was accepted, and Captain Cy went back to his own hotel
+      and his room. He slept but little, although it was not worry over the
+      appropriation question which kept him awake. Next morning he wrote a note
+      to Georgianna, giving his Washington address. With it he enclosed a long
+      letter to Bos'n, telling her he should be home pretty soon, and that she
+      must be a good girl and &ldquo;boss the ship&rdquo; during his absence. He sent his
+      regards to Asaph and Bailey, but Phoebe's name he did not mention. Then he
+      put in a miserable day wandering about the city. At eight that evening he
+      and his Western friend sat down at a corner table in the big dining room
+      of the Gloria.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain began to ask questions as soon as the soup was served, but
+      Everdean refused to answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;pleasure first and business afterwards; that's a
+      congressional motto. I can't talk Atkins with my dinner and enjoy it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't, hey? You wouldn't be popular at our perfect boarding house back
+      home. There they serve Heman hot for breakfast and dinner, and warm him
+      over for supper. All right, I can wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The conversation wandered from Buenos Ayres to 'Frisco and back again
+      until the cigars and coffee were reached. Then the congressman blew a
+      fragrant ring into the air and, from behind it, looked quizzically at his
+      companion.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he observed, &ldquo;so far as that appropriation of yours is concerned&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and blew a second ring. Captain Cy stroked his beard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Um&mdash;yes,&rdquo; he drawled, &ldquo;now that you mention it, seems to me there
+      was some talk of an appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I've been making inquiries,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I saw the chairman of the
+      committee on the pork bill. I know him well. He's a good fellow, but&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I know. I've seen lots of politicians like that; they're all good
+      fellers, but&mdash;If I was in politics I'd make a law to cut 'But' out of
+      the dictionary.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, this chap really is a good fellow. I asked about the thirty
+      thousand dollars for your town. He asked me why I didn't go to the
+      congressman from that district, and not bother him about it. I said
+      perhaps I would go to the congressman later, but I came to him first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sartin. Same as the feller with a sick mother-in-law stopped in at the
+      undertaker's on his way to call the doctor. All right; heave ahead.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, we had a rather long conversation. I discovered that the Bayport
+      item was originally included in the bill, but recently had been stricken
+      out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I see. Uncle Sam had to economize, hey? Save somethin' for a rainy
+      day.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, possibly. Still the bill is just as heavy. Now, Captain Whittaker,
+      I don't KNOW anything about this affair, and it's not my business. But
+      I've been about to-day, and I asked questions, and&mdash;I'm going to tell
+      you a fairy tale. It isn't as interesting as your sea yarns, but&mdash;Do
+      you like fairy stories?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Land, yes! Tell a few myself when it's necessary. Sometimes I almost
+      believe 'em. Well?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Of course, you must remember this IS a fairy story. Let's suppose that
+      once on a time&mdash;that's the way they always begin&mdash;once on a time
+      there was a great man, great in his own country, who was sent abroad by
+      his people to represent them among the rulers of the land. So, in order to
+      typically represent them, he dressed in glad and expensive raiment, went
+      about in dignity, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And whiskers. Don't leave out the whiskers!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right&mdash;and whiskers. And it came to pass that the people whom he
+      represented wished to&mdash;to&mdash;er&mdash;bring about a certain needed
+      improvement in their&mdash;their beautiful and enterprising community.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sho! sho! how natural that sounds! You must be a mind reader.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No. But I have to make speeches in my own community occasionally. Well,
+      the people asked their great man to get the money needed for this
+      improvement from the rulers of the land aforementioned. And he was at
+      first all enthusiasm and upon the&mdash;the parchment scroll where such
+      matters are inscribed was written the name of the beautiful and
+      enterprising community, and the sum of money it asked for. And the deal
+      was as good as made. Excuse the modern phraseology; my fairy lingo got
+      mixed there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind. I can get the drift just as well&mdash;maybe better.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And the deal was as good as made. But before the vote was taken another
+      chap came to the great man and said: 'Look here! I want to get an
+      appropriation of, say, fifty thousand dollars, to deepen and improve a
+      river down in my State'&mdash;a Southern State we'll say. 'I've been to
+      the chairman of the pork bill committee, and he says it's impossible. The
+      bill simply can't be loaded any further. But I find that you have an item
+      in there for deepening and improving a harbor back in your own district.
+      Why don't you cut that item out&mdash;shove it over until next year? You
+      can easily find a satisfactory explanation for your constituents. AND you
+      want to remember this: the improvement of this river means that the&mdash;the&mdash;well,
+      a certain sugar-growing company&mdash;can get their stuff to market at a
+      figure which will send its stock up and up. And you are said to own a
+      considerable amount of that stock. So why not drop the harbor item and
+      substitute my river slice? Then&mdash;' Well, I guess that's the end of
+      the tale.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused and relit his cigar. Captain Cy thoughtfully marked with his
+      fork on the tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hum!&rdquo; he grunted. &ldquo;That's a very interestin' yarn. Yes, yes! don't know's
+      I ever heard a more interestin' one. I presume likely there ain't a mite
+      of proof that it's true?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not an atom. I told you it was a fairy tale. And I mustn't be quoted in
+      the matter. Honestly, the most of it is guess work, at that. But perhaps a
+      'committee of one,' dropping a hint at home, might at least arouse some
+      uncomfortable questioning of a certain great man. That's about all,
+      though. Proof is quite another thing.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain pondered. He was fully aware that the unpopularity of the
+      &ldquo;committee&rdquo; would nullify whatever good its hinting might do.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph!&rdquo; he grunted again. &ldquo;It's one thing to smell a rat and another to
+      nail its tail to the floor. But I'm mighty obliged to you, all the same.
+      And I'll think it over hard. Say! I can see one thing&mdash;you don't take
+      a very big shine to Heman yourself.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not too big&mdash;no. Do you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't wake up nights and cry for him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Everdean laughed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's characteristic,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;You have your own way of putting
+      things, Captain, and it's hard to be improved on. Atkins has never done
+      anything to me. I just&mdash;I just don't like him, that's all. Father
+      never liked him, either, in the old days; and yet&mdash;and it's odd, too&mdash;he
+      was the means of the old gentleman's making the most of his money.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He? Who? Not Heman?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, Heman Atkins. But, so far as that goes, father started him toward
+      wealth, I suppose. At least, he was poor enough before the mine was sold.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What are you talkin' about? Heman got his start tradin' over in the South
+      Seas. Sellin' the Kanakas glass beads and calico for pearls and copra&mdash;two
+      cupfuls of pearls for every bead. Anyhow, that's the way the yarn goes.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't help that. He was just a common sailor who had run away from his
+      ship and was gold mining in California. And when he and his partner struck
+      it rich father borrowed money, headed a company, and bought them out. That
+      mine was the Excelsior, and it's just as productive to-day as it ever was.
+      I rather think Atkins must be very sorry he sold. I suppose, by right, I
+      should be very grateful to your distinguished representative.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I do declare! Sho, sho! Ain't that funny now? He's never said a
+      word about it at home. I don't believe there's a soul in Bayport knows
+      that. We all thought 'twas South Sea tradin' that boosted Heman. And your
+      own dad! I declare, this is a small world!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's odd father never told you about it. It's one of the old gentleman's
+      pet stories. He came West in 1850, and was running a little shipping store
+      in 'Frisco. He met Atkins and the other young sailor, his partner, before
+      they left their ship. They were in the store, buying various things, and
+      father got to know them pretty well. Then they ran away to the diggings&mdash;you
+      simply couldn't keep a crew in those times&mdash;and he didn't see them
+      again for a good while. Then they came in one day and showed him specimens
+      from a claim they had back in the mountains. They were mighty good
+      specimens, and what they said about the claim convinced father that they
+      had a valuable property. So he went to see a few well-to-do friends of
+      his, and the outcome was that a party was made up to go and inspect. The
+      young fellows were willing to sell out, for it was a quartz working and
+      they hadn't the money to carry it on.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The inspection showed that the claim was likely to be even better than
+      they thought, so, after some bargaining, the deal was completed. They sold
+      out for seventy-five thousand dollars, and it was the best trade father
+      ever made. He's so proud of his judgment and foresight in making it that I
+      wonder he never told you the story.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;He never did. When was this?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;In '54. What?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I didn't speak. The date seemed kind of familiar to me, that's all.
+      Seem's as if I heard it recent, but I can't remember when. Seventy-five
+      thousand, hey? Well, that wan't so bad, was it? With that for a nest egg,
+      no wonder Heman's managed to hatch a pretty respectable brood of dollars.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, the whole seventy-five wasn't his, of course. Half belonged to his
+      partner. But the poor devil didn't live to enjoy it. After the articles
+      were signed and before the money was paid over, he was taken sick with a
+      fever and died.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? He died? With a FEVER?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes. But he left a pretty good legacy to his heirs, didn't he. For a
+      common sailor&mdash;or second mate; I believe that's what he was&mdash;thirty-seven
+      thousand five hundred is doing well. It must have come as a big surprise
+      to them. The whole sum was paid to Atkins, who&mdash;What's the matter
+      with you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was leaning back in his chair. He was as white as the
+      tablecloth.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Are you ill?&rdquo; asked the congressman anxiously. &ldquo;Take some water. Shall I
+      call&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain waved his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;No! I'm all right. Do you&mdash;for the Lord's
+      sake tell me this! What was the name of this partner that died?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Everdean looked curiously at his friend before he answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sure you're not sick?&rdquo; he asked. &ldquo;Well, all right. The partner's name?
+      Why, I've heard it often enough. It's on the deed of sale that father has
+      framed in his room at home. The old gentleman is as proud of that as
+      anything in the house. The name was&mdash;was&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For God sakes,&rdquo; cried Captain Cy, &ldquo;don't say 'twas John Thayer! 'Cause if
+      you do I shan't believe it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what it was&mdash;John Thayer. How did you guess? Did you know
+      him? I remember now that he was another Down Easter, like Atkins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain did not answer. He clasped his forehead with both hands and
+      leaned his elbows on the table. Everdean was plainly alarmed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm going to call a doctor,&rdquo; he began, rising. But Captain Cy waved him
+      back again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Set still!&rdquo; he ordered. &ldquo;Set still, I tell you! You say the whole
+      seventy-five thousand was paid to Heman, but that John Thayer signed the
+      bill of sale afore he died, as half partner? And your dad's got the
+      original deed and&mdash;and&mdash;he remembers the whole business?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he's got the deed&mdash;framed. It's on record, too, of course.
+      Remembers? I should say he did! He'll talk for a week on that subject, if
+      you give him a chance.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain sprang to his feet. His chair tipped backward and fell to the
+      floor. An obsequious waiter ran to right it, but Captain Cy paid no
+      attention to him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where's my coat?&rdquo; he demanded. &ldquo;Where's my coat and hat?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What ails you?&rdquo; asked Everdean. &ldquo;Are you going crazy?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Goin' CRAZY? No, no! I'm goin' to California. When's the next train?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XIX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The Honorable Heman Atkins sat in the library of his Washington home,
+      before a snapping log fire, reading a letter. Mr. Atkins had, as he would
+      have expressed it, &ldquo;served his people&rdquo; in Congress for so many years that
+      he had long since passed the hotel stage of living at the Capital. He
+      rented a furnished house on an eminently respectable street, and the
+      polished doorplate bore his name in uncompromising characters.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The library furniture was solid and dignified. Its businesslike appearance
+      impressed the stray excursionist from the Atkins district, when he or she
+      visited the great man in whose affairs we felt such a personal interest.
+      Particularly impressive and significant was a map of the district hanging
+      over the congressman's desk, and an oil painting of the Atkins mansion at
+      Bayport, which, with the iron dogs and urns conspicuous in its foreground,
+      occupied the middle of the largest wall space.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cheery fire was very comforting on a night like this, for the sleet
+      was driving against the windowpanes, the sidewalks were ankle deep in
+      slush, and the wet, cold wind from the Potomac was whistling down the
+      street. Somewhere about the house an unfastened shutter slammed in the
+      gusts. Mr. Atkins should have been extremely comfortable as he sat there
+      by the fire. He had spent many comfortable winters in that room. But now
+      there was a frown on his face as he read the letter in his hand. It was
+      from Simpson, and stated, among other things, that Cyrus Whittaker had
+      been absent from Bayport for over two weeks, and that no one seemed to
+      know where he had gone. &ldquo;The idea seems to be that he started for
+      Washington,&rdquo; wrote Tad; &ldquo;but if that is so, it is queer you haven't seen
+      him. I am suspicious that he is up to something about that harbor
+      business. I should keep my eye peeled if I was you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Alicia, the Atkins hopeful, rustled into the room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Papa,&rdquo; she said, &ldquo;I've come to kiss you good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her father performed the ceremony in a perfunctory way.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, all right,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Now run along to bed and don't bother
+      me, there's a good girl. I wish,&rdquo; he added testily to the housekeeper who
+      had followed Alicia into the room, &ldquo;I wish you'd see to that loose blind.
+      It makes me nervous. Such things as that should be attended to without
+      specific orders from me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The housekeeper promised to attend to the blind. She and the girl left the
+      library. Heman reread the Simpson letter. Then he dropped it in his lap
+      and sat thinking and twirling his eyeglasses at the end of their black
+      cord. His thoughts seemed to be not of the pleasantest. The lines about
+      his mouth had deepened during the last few months. He looked older.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The telephone bell rang sharply. Mr. Atkins came out of his reverie with a
+      start, arose and walked across the room to the wall where the instrument
+      hung. It was before the days of the convenient desk 'phone. He took the
+      receiver from its hook and spoke into the transmitter.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Hello! Yes, yes! stop ringing. What is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The wire buzzed and purred in the storm. &ldquo;Hello!&rdquo; said a voice. &ldquo;Hello,
+      there! Is this Mr. Atkins's house?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes; it is. What do you want?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hey? Is this where the Honorable Heman Atkins lives?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, I tell you! This is Mr. Atkins speaking. What do you want?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! is that you, Heman? This is Whittaker&mdash;Cy Whittaker.
+      Understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins understood. Yet for an instant he did not reply. He had been
+      thinking, as he sat by the fire, of certain persons and certain ugly,
+      though remote, possibilities. Now, from a mysterious somewhere, one of
+      those persons was speaking to him. The hand holding the receiver shook
+      momentarily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hello! I say, Heman, do you understand? This is Whittaker talkin'.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;er&mdash;understand,&rdquo; said the congressman, slowly. &ldquo;Well, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm here in Washin'ton.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have been informed that you were in the city. Well, sir?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! knew I was here, did you? Is that so? Who told you? Tad wrote, I
+      suppose, hey?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman did not reply immediately. This man, whom he disliked more
+      than anyone else in the world, had an irritating faculty of putting his
+      finger on the truth. And the flippancy in the tone was maddening. Mr.
+      Atkins was not used to flippancy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of information,&rdquo; he
+      said with chilling dignity. &ldquo;It appears to have been trustworthy. I
+      presume you have 'phoned me concerning the appropriation matter. I do not
+      recognize your right to intrude in that affair, and I shall decline to
+      discuss it. Yes, sir. To my people, to those who have a right to question,
+      I am and shall always be willing to explain my position. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! Hello! Hold on a minute. Don't get mad, Heman. I only wanted to say
+      just a word. You'll let me say a word, won't you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This was more like it. This was more nearly the tone in which Mr. Atkins
+      was wont to be addressed. It was possible that the man, recognizing the
+      uselessness of further opposition, desired to surrender.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I cannot,&rdquo; declared the Honorable, &ldquo;understand why you should wish to
+      speak with me. We have very little in common, very little, I'm thankful to
+      say. However, I will hear you briefly. Go on.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Much obliged. Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought maybe
+      you'd better have a little talk with me. I'm here at the hotel, the
+      Regent. You know where 'tis, I presume likely. I guess you'd better come
+      right down and see me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;<i>I</i> had better come and see YOU? I&mdash;! Well, sir! WELL! I am not
+      accustomed&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but I think you'd better. It's dirty weather, and I've got cold
+      somehow or other. I ain't feelin' quite up to the mark, so I cal'late I'll
+      stay in port much as I can. You come right down. I'll be in my room, and
+      the hotel folks 'll tell you where 'tis. I'll be waitin' for you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins breathed hard. In his present frame of mind he would have liked
+      to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would cause the person at
+      the other end of the line to shrivel under its heat. But he was a
+      politician of long training, and he knew that such blasts were sometimes
+      expensive treats. It might be well to hear what his enemy had to say. But
+      as to going to see him&mdash;that was out of the question.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I do not,&rdquo; he thundered, &ldquo;I do not care to continue this conversation. If&mdash;if
+      you wish to see me, after what has taken place between us, I am willing,
+      in spite of personal repugnance, to grant you a brief interview. My
+      servants will admit you here at nine o'clock to-morrow morning. But I tell
+      you now, that your interference with this appropriation matter is as
+      useless as it is ridiculous and impudent. It is of a piece with the rest
+      of your conduct.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, Heman, all right,&rdquo; was the calm answer. &ldquo;I don't say you've
+      got to come. I only say I guess you'd better. I'm goin' back to Bayport
+      tomorrer, early. And if I was you I'd come and see me to-night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I have no wish to see you. Nor do I care to talk with you further. That
+      appropriation&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Maybe it ain't all appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I cannot understand&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know, but <i>I</i> understand. I've come to understand consider'ble
+      many things in the last fortni't. There! I can't holler into this machine
+      any longer. I've been clear out to 'Frisco and back in eleven days, and I
+      got cold in those blessed sleepin' cars. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The receiver fell from the congressman's hand. It was a difficult object
+      to pick up again. Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely inadequate
+      way. Yet he wished to recover it very much.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait! wait!&rdquo; he shouted anxiously. &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;I dropped the&mdash;Are
+      you there, Whittaker? Are you&mdash;Oh! yes! I didn't&mdash;Did you say&mdash;er&mdash;'Frisco?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, San Francisco, California. I've been West on a little cruise. Had an
+      interestin' time. It's an interestin' place; don't you think so? Well, I'm
+      sorry you can't come. Good night.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wait!&rdquo; faltered the great man. &ldquo;I&mdash;I&mdash;let me think, Cyrus. I do
+      not wish to seem&mdash;er&mdash;arrogant in this matter. It is not usual
+      for me to visit my constituents, but&mdash;but&mdash;I have no engagement
+      this evening, and you are not well, and&mdash;Hello! are you there? Hello!
+      Why, under the circumstances, I think&mdash;Yes, I will come. I'll come&mdash;er&mdash;at
+      once.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time. Yet, to Heman
+      Atkins, that cab was years in coming. He paced the library floor, his hand
+      to his forehead and his brain whirling. It couldn't be! It must be a
+      coincidence! He had been an idiot to display his agitation and surrender
+      so weakly. And yet&mdash;and yet&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity for
+      more thought. But he gained little comfort from thinking. If it was a
+      coincidence, well and good. If not&mdash;
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room &ldquo;on the saloon deck.&rdquo; It
+      was a small room, very different from the Atkins library, and Captain Cy,
+      in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close to the steam radiator. He looked
+      far from well.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Evenin', Heman,&rdquo; he said as the congressman entered. &ldquo;Pretty dirty night,
+      ain't it? What we'd call a gray no'theaster back home. Sit down. Don't
+      mind my not gettin' up. This heatin' arrangement feels mighty comf'table
+      just now. If I get too far away from it I shiver my deck planks loose.
+      Take off your things.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat. His hat he tossed on the bed. He
+      glanced fearfully at his companion. The latter's greeting had been so
+      casual and everyday that he took courage. And the captain looked anything
+      but formidable as he hugged the radiator. Perhaps things were not so bad
+      as he had feared. He resolved not to seem alarmed, at all events.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have a cigar, Heman?&rdquo; said Captain Cy. &ldquo;No? Well, all right; I will, if
+      you don't mind.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He lit the cigar. The congressman cleared his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call of my&mdash;er&mdash;acquaintances,
+      but, even though we have disagreed of late, even though to me your conduct
+      seems quite unjustifiable, still, for the sake of our boyhood friendship,
+      and, because you are not well, I&mdash;er&mdash;came.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing him to
+      pieces. He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on the top of the
+      radiator.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Too bad,&rdquo; he observed. &ldquo;Tobacco gen'rally iles up my talkin' machinery,
+      but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship's dog shut up in the
+      hold. Why, yes, Heman, I see you've come. Much obliged to you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      This politeness was still more encouraging. Atkins leaned back in his
+      chair and crossed his legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I presume,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;that you wish to ask concerning the appropriation.
+      I regret&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You needn't. I guess we'll get the appropriation.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman's condescension vanished. He leaned forward and uncrossed his legs.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Indeed?&rdquo; he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain's placid face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes&mdash;indeed.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whittaker, what are you talking about? Do you suppose that I have been
+      the representative of my people in Congress all these years without
+      knowing whereof I speak? They left the matter in my hands, and your
+      interference&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I ain't goin' to interfere. I'M goin' to leave it in your hands, too. And
+      I cal'late you'll be able to find a way to get it. Um&mdash;hum, I guess
+      likely you will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The visitor rose to his feet. The time had come for another blast from
+      Olympus. He raised the mighty right arm. But Captain Cy spoke first.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Sit down, Heman,&rdquo; said the captain quietly. &ldquo;Sit down. This ain't town
+      meetin'. Never mind the appropriation now. There's other matters to be
+      talked about first. Sit down, I tell you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down. The captain coughed
+      again.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Heman,&rdquo; he began when the spasm was over, &ldquo;I asked you to come here
+      to-night for&mdash;well, blessed if I know exactly. It didn't make much
+      difference to me whether you came or not.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h! for the land sakes! Speechmakin' must be as bad as the rum
+      habit, when a feller's got it chronic as you have. No, it didn't make much
+      difference to me whether you came or not. But, honest, you've got to be a
+      kind of Bunker Hill monument to the folks back home. They kneel down at
+      your foundations and look up at you, and tell each other how many foot
+      high you are, and what it cost to build you, and how you stand for
+      patriotism and purity, till&mdash;well, <i>I</i> couldn't see you tumble
+      down without givin' you a chance. I couldn't; 'twould be like blowin' up a
+      church.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The purple had left the Atkins face, but the speechmaking habit is not
+      likely to be broken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus Whittaker,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;have you been drinking? Your language to
+      me is abominable. Why I permit myself to remain here and listen to such&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;If you'll keep still I'll tell you why. And, if I was you, I wouldn't be
+      too anxious to find out. This everlastin' cold don't make me over 'n'
+      above good-tempered, and when I think of what you've done to that little
+      girl, or what you tried to do, I have to hold myself down tight, TIGHT,
+      and don't you forget it! Now, you keep quiet and listen. It'll be best for
+      you, Heman. Your cards ain't under the table any longer. I've seen your
+      hand, and I know why you've been playin' it. I know the whole game. I've
+      been West, and Everdean and I have had a talk.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins had again risen from the chair. Now he fell heavily back into
+      it. His lips moved as if he meant to speak, but he did not. At the mention
+      of the Everdean name he made a queer, choking sound in his throat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I know the whole business, Heman,&rdquo; went on the captain. &ldquo;I know why you
+      was so knocked over when you learned who Bos'n was, the night of the
+      party. I know why you took up with that blackguard, Thomas, and why you've
+      spent your good money hirin' lawyers for him. I know about the mine. I
+      know the whole thing from first to last. Shall I tell you? Do you want to
+      hear it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The great man did not answer. A drop of perspiration shone on his high
+      forehead, and the veins of his big, white hands stood out as he clutched
+      the arms of his chair. The monument was tottering on its base.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's a dirty mess, the whole of it,&rdquo; continued Captain Cy. &ldquo;And yet, I
+      can see&mdash;I suppose I can see some excuse for you at the beginnin'.
+      When old man Everdean and his crowd bought you and John Thayer out, 'way
+      back there in '54, after John died, and all the money was put into your
+      hands, I cal'late you was honest then. I wouldn't wonder if you MEANT to
+      hand over the thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars to your partner's
+      widow. But 'twas harder and more risky to send money East in them days
+      than 'tis now, and so you waited, thinkin' maybe that you'd fetch it to
+      Emily when you come yourself. But you didn't come home for some years; you
+      went tradin' down along the Feejees and around that way. That's how I
+      reasoned it out these last few days on the train. I give you credit for
+      bein' honest first along.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But never mind whether you was or not, you haven't been since. You never
+      paid over a cent of that poor feller's money&mdash;honest money, that
+      belonged to his heirs, and belongs to 'em now. You've hung onto it, stole
+      it, used it for yours. And Emily worked and scratched for a livin' and
+      died poor. And Mary, she died, after bein' abused and deserted by that
+      cussed husband of hers. And you thought you was safe, I cal'late. And then
+      Bos'n turns up right in your own town, right acrost the road from you! By
+      the big dipper! it's enough to make a feller believe that the Almighty
+      does take a hand in straightenin' out such things, when us humans bungle
+      'em&mdash;it is so!
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't sure, Heman, what you meant to do when you found that the
+      child you'd stole that money from was goin' to be under your face and eyes
+      till you or she died. I cal'late you was afraid I'd find somethin' out,
+      wan't you? I presume likely you thought that I, not havin' quite the
+      reverence for you that the rest of the Bayporters have, might be sharp
+      enough or lucky enough to smell a rat. Perhaps you suspicioned that I knew
+      the Everdeans. Anyhow, you wanted to get the child as fur out of your
+      sight and out of my hands as you could&mdash;ain't that so? And when her
+      dad turned up, you thought you saw your chance. Heman, you answer me this:
+      Ain't it part of your bargain with Thomas that when he gets his little
+      girl, he shall take her and clear out, away off somewheres, for good?
+      Ain't it, now&mdash;what?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The monument was swaying, was swinging from side to side, but it did not
+      quite fall&mdash;not then. The congressman's cheeks hung flabby, his
+      forehead was wet, and he shook from head to foot; but he clenched his jaws
+      and made one last attempt at defiance.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I don't know what you mean,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;You&mdash;you seem to
+      be accusing me of something. Of stealing, I believe. Do you understand who
+      I am? I have some influence and reputation, and it is dangerous to&mdash;to
+      try to frighten me. Proofs are required in law, and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;S-s-h-h! You know I've got the proofs. They were easy enough to get, once
+      I happened on the track of 'em. Lord sakes, Heman, I ain't a fool! What's
+      the use of your pretendin' to be one? There's the deed out in 'Frisco,
+      with yours and John's name on it. There's the records to prove the sale.
+      There's the receipt for the seventy-five thousand signed by you, on behalf
+      of yourself and your partner's widow. There's old man Everdean alive and
+      competent to testify. There's John Thayer's will on file over to Orham.
+      Proofs! Why, you THIEF! if it's proofs you want, I've got enough to send
+      you to state's prison for the rest of your life. Don't you dare say
+      'proofs' to me again! Heman Atkins, you owe me, as Bos'n's guardian,
+      thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, with interest since 1854. What
+      you goin' to do about it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Here was one ray, a feeble ray, of light.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You're not her guardian,&rdquo; cried Atkins. &ldquo;The courts have thrown you out.
+      And your appeal won't stand, either. If any money is due, it belongs to
+      her father. She isn't of age! No, sir! her father&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy's patience had been giving way. Now he lost it altogether. He
+      strode across the room and shook his forefinger in his victim's face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So!&rdquo; he cried. &ldquo;That's your tack, is it? By the big dipper! You GO to her
+      father&mdash;just you go to him and tell him! Just hint to him that you
+      owe his daughter thirty-odd thousand dollars, and see what he'll do. Good
+      heavens above! he was ready to sell her out to me for fifty dollars' wuth
+      of sand bank in Orham. Almost ready, he was, till you offered a higher
+      price to him to fight. Why, he'll have your hide nailed up on the barn
+      door! If you don't pay him every red copper, down on the nail, he'll wring
+      you dry. And then he'll blackmail you forever and ever, amen! Unless, of
+      course, <i>I</i> go home and stop the blackmail by printing my story in
+      the Breeze. I've a precious good mind to do it. By the Almighty, I WILL do
+      it! unless you come off that high horse of yours and talk like a man.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the monument fell, fell prostrate, with a sickly, pitiful crash.
+      If we of Bayport could have seen our congressman then! The great man,
+      great no longer, broke down completely. He cried like a baby. It was all
+      true&mdash;all true. He had not meant to steal, at first. He had been led
+      into using the money in his business. Then he had meant to send it to the
+      heirs, but he didn't know their whereabouts. Captain Cy smiled at this
+      excuse. And now he couldn't pay&mdash;he COULDN'T. He had hardly that sum
+      in the world. He had lost money in stocks, his property in the South had
+      gone to the bad! He would be ruined. He would have to go to prison. He was
+      getting to be an old man. And there was Alicia, his daughter! Think of
+      her! Think of the disgrace! And so on, over and over, with the one
+      recurring burden&mdash;what was the captain going to do? what was he going
+      to do? It was a miserable, dreadful exhibition, and Captain Cy could feel
+      no pride in his triumph.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;There! there!&rdquo; he said at last. &ldquo;Stop it, man; stop it, for goodness
+      sakes! Pull yourself together. I guess we can fix it up somehow. I ain't
+      goin' to be too hard on you. If it wan't for your meanness in bein'
+      willin' to let Bos'n suffer her life long with that drunken beast of a dad
+      of hers, I'd feel almost like tellin' you to get up and forget it. But
+      THAT'S got to be stopped. Now, you listen to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Heman listened. He was on his knees beside the bed, his face buried in his
+      arms, and his gray hair, the leonine Atkins hair, which he was wont to
+      toss backward in the heated periods of his eloquence, tumbled and
+      draggled. Captain Cy looked down at him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;This whole business about Bos'n must be stopped,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and stopped
+      right off. You tell your lawyers to drop the case. Her dad is only hangin'
+      around because you pay him to. He don't want her; he don't care what
+      becomes of her. If you pay him enough, he'll go, won't he? and not come
+      back?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The congressman raised his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes,&rdquo; he faltered; &ldquo;I think he will. Yes, I think I could arrange
+      that. But, Cyrus&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain held up his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I intend to look out for Bos'n,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;She cares for me more'n anyone
+      else in the world. She's as much to me as my own child ever could be, and
+      I'll see that she is happy and provided for. I'm religious enough to
+      believe she was sent to me, and I intend to stick to my trust. As for the
+      money&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes! The money?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I won't be too hard on you that way, either. We'll talk that over
+      later on. Maybe we can arrange for you to pay it a little at a time. You
+      can sign a paper showin' that you owe it, and we'll fix the payin' to suit
+      all hands. 'Tain't as if the child was in want. I've got some money of my
+      own, and what's mine's hers. I think we needn't worry about the money
+      part.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God bless you, Cyrus! I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, all right. I'm sure your askin' for the blessin' 'll be a great
+      help. Now, you do your part, and I'll do mine. No one knows of this
+      business but me. I didn't tell Everdean a word. He don't know why I
+      hustled out there and back, nor why I asked so many questions. And he
+      ain't the kind to pry into what don't concern him. So you're pretty safe,
+      I cal'late. Now, if you don't mind, I wish you'd run along home. I'm&mdash;I'm
+      used up, sort of.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins arose from his knees. Even then, broken as he was&mdash;he
+      looked ten years older than when he entered the room&mdash;he could hardly
+      believe what he had just heard.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You mean,&rdquo; he faltered, &ldquo;Cyrus, do you mean that&mdash;that you're not
+      going to reveal this&mdash;this&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That I'm not goin' to tell on you? Yup; that's what I mean. You get rid
+      of Thomas and squelch that law case, and I'll keep mum. You can trust me
+      for that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but, Cyrus, the people at home? Your story in the Breeze?
+      You're not&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, they needn't know, either. It'll be between you and me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;God bless you! I'll never forget&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's right. You mustn't. Forgettin' is the one thing you mustn't do.
+      And, see here, you're boss of the political fleet in Bayport; you steer
+      the school committee now. Phoebe Dawes ain't too popular with that
+      committee; I'd see that she was popularized.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes; she shall be. She shall not be disturbed. Is there anything
+      else I can do?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I guess there is. Speakin' of popularity made me think of it.
+      That harbor appropriation had better go through.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      A very faint tinge of color came into the congressman's chalky face. He
+      hesitated in his reply.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I don't know about that, Cyrus,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;The bill will probably
+      be voted on in a few days. It is made up and&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Then I'd strain a p'int and make it over. I'd work real hard on it. I'm
+      sorry about that sugar river, but I cal'late Bayport 'll have to come
+      first. Yes, it'll have to, Heman; it sartin will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The reference to the &ldquo;sugar river&rdquo; was the final straw. Evidently this man
+      knew everything.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I'll try my best,&rdquo; affirmed Heman. &ldquo;Thank you, Cyrus. You have
+      been more merciful than I had a right to expect.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, I guess I have. Why do I do it?&rdquo; He smiled and shook his head.
+      &ldquo;Well, I don't know. For two reasons, maybe. First, I'd hate to be
+      responsible for tippin' over such a sky-towerin' idol as you've been to
+      make ruins for Angie Phinney and the other blackbirds to peck at and caw
+      over. And second&mdash;well, it does sound presumin', don't it, but I kind
+      of pity you. Say, Heman,&rdquo; he added with a chuckle, &ldquo;that's a kind of
+      distinction, in a way, ain't it? A good many folks have hurrahed over you
+      and worshipped you&mdash;some of 'em, I guess likely, have envied you;
+      but, by the big dipper! I do believe I'm the only one in this round world
+      that ever PITIED you. Good-by. The elevator's right down the hall.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      It required some resolution for the Honorable Atkins to walk down that
+      corridor and press the elevator button. But he did it, somehow. A guest
+      came out of one of the rooms and approached him as he stood there. It was
+      a man he knew. Heman squared his shoulders and set every nerve and muscle.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good evening, Mr. Atkins,&rdquo; said the man. &ldquo;A miserable night, isn't it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Miserable, indeed,&rdquo; replied the congressman. The strength in his voice
+      surprised him. The man passed on. Heman descended in the elevator, walked
+      steadily through the crowded lobby and out to the curb where his cab was
+      waiting. The driver noticed nothing strange in his fare's appearance. He
+      noticed nothing strange when the Atkins residence was reached and its
+      tenant mounted the stone steps and opened the door with his latchkey. But,
+      if he had seen the dignified form collapse in a library chair and moan and
+      rock back and forth until the morning hours, he would have wondered very
+      much indeed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile Captain Cy, coughing and shivering by the radiator, had been
+      summoned from that warm haven by a knock at his door. A bell boy stood at
+      the threshold, holding a brown envelope in his hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The clerk sent this up to you, sir,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It came a week ago. When
+      you went away, you didn't leave any address, and whatever letters came for
+      you were sent back to Bayport, Massachusetts. The clerk says you
+      registered from there, sir. But he kept this telegram. It was in your box,
+      and the day clerk forgot to give it to you this afternoon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain tore open the envelope. The telegram was from his lawyer, Mr.
+      Peabody. It was dated a week before, and read as follows:
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+    &ldquo;Come home at once.  Important.&rdquo;
+ </pre>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XX
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      DIVIDED HONORS
+    </h3>
+    <p>
+      The blizzard began that night. Bayport has a generous allowance of storms
+      and gales during a winter, although, as a usual thing, there is more rain
+      than snow and more wind than either. But we can count with certainty on at
+      least one blizzard between November and April, and about the time when
+      Captain Cy, feverish and ill, the delayed telegram in his pocket and a
+      great fear in his heart, boarded the sleeper of the East-bound train at
+      Washington, snow was beginning to fall in our village.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Next morning, when Georgianna came downstairs to prepare Bos'n's breakfast&mdash;the
+      housekeeper had ceased to &ldquo;go home nights&rdquo; since the captain's absence&mdash;the
+      world outside was a tumbled, driving whirl of white. The woodshed and
+      barn, dimly seen through the smother, were but gray shapes, emerging now
+      and then only to be wiped from the vision as by a great flapping cloth
+      wielded by the mighty hand of the wind. The old house shook in the blasts,
+      the windowpanes rattled as if handfuls of small shot were being thrown
+      against them, and the carpet on the floor of the dining room puffed up in
+      miniature billows.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      School was out of the question, and Bos'n, her breakfast eaten, prepared
+      to put in a cozy day with her dolls and Christmas playthings.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;When DO you s'pose Uncle Cyrus will get home?&rdquo; she asked of the
+      housekeeper. She had asked the same thing at least three times a day
+      during the fortnight, and Georgianna's answer was always just as
+      unsatisfactory:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't know, dearie, I'm sure. He'll be here pretty soon, though, don't
+      you fret.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, I ain't going to fret. I know he'll come. He said he would, and Uncle
+      Cy always does what he says he will.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      About twelve Asaph made his appearance, a white statue.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Godfrey scissors!&rdquo; he panted, shaking his snow-plastered cap over the
+      coal hod. &ldquo;Say, this is one of 'em, ain't it? Don't know's I ever see more
+      of a one. Drift out by the front fence pretty nigh up to my waist. This
+      'll be a nasty night along the Orham beach. The lifesavers 'll have their
+      hands full. Whew! I'm about tuckered out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Been to the post office?&rdquo; asked Georgianna in a low tone.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup. I been there. Mornin' mail just this minute sorted. Train's two
+      hours late. Gabe says more'n likely the evenin' train won't be able to get
+      through at all, if this keeps up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Was there anything from&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Tidditt glanced at Bos'n and shook his head.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Not a word,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Funny, ain't it? It don't seem a bit like him. And
+      he can't be to Washin'ton, because all them letters came back. I&mdash;I
+      swan to man, I'm beginnin' to get worried.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Worried? I'm pretty nigh crazy! What does Phoebe Dawes say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She don't say much. It's pretty tough, when everything else is workin'
+      out so fine, thanks to her, to have this happen. No, she don't say much,
+      but she acts pretty solemn.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Say, Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, what is it?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You don't s'pose anything that happened betwixt her and Cap'n Whittaker
+      that afternoon is responsible for&mdash;for his stayin' away so, do you?
+      You know what he told me to tell her&mdash;about her not comin' here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph fidgeted with the wet cap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aw, that ain't nothin',&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;That is, I hope it ain't. I did
+      say somethin' to him that&mdash;but Phoebe understands. She's a smart
+      woman.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You haven't told them boardin' house tattletales about the&mdash;Emmie,
+      you go fetch me a card of matches from the kitchen, won't you&mdash;of
+      what's been found out about that Thomas thing?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Course I ain't. Didn't Peabody say not to tell a soul till we was sure?
+      S'pose I'd tell Keturah and Angie? Might's well paint it on a sign and be
+      done with it. No, no! I've kept mum and you do the same. Well, I must be
+      goin'. Hope to goodness we hear some good news from Whit by to-morrer.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But when to-morrow came news of any kind was unobtainable. No trains could
+      get through, and the telephone and telegraph wires were out of commission,
+      owing to the great storm. Bayport was buried under a white coverlet, three
+      feet thick on a level, which shone in the winter sun as if powdered with
+      diamond dust. The street-shoveling brigade, meaning most of the active
+      male citizens, was busy with plows and shovels. Simmons's was deserted in
+      the evenings, for most of the regular habitues went to bed after supper,
+      tired out.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Two days of this. Then Gabe Lumley, his depot wagon replaced by a sleigh,
+      drove the panting Daniel into the yard of the Cy Whittaker place. Gabe was
+      much excited. He had news of importance to communicate and was puffed up
+      in consequence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The wire's all right again, Georgianna,&rdquo; he said to the housekeeper, who
+      had hurried to the door to meet him. &ldquo;Fust message just come through.
+      Guess who it's for?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Stop your foolishness, Gabe Lumley!&rdquo; ordered Miss Taylor. &ldquo;Hand over that
+      telegram this minute. Don't you stop to talk! Hand it over!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Gabe didn't intend to be &ldquo;corked&rdquo; thus peremptorily.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's pretty important news, Georgianna,&rdquo; he declared. &ldquo;Kind of bad news,
+      too. I think I'd ought to prepare you for it, sort of. When Cap'n Obed
+      Pepper died, I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;DIED! For the land sakes! WHAT are you sayin'? Give me that, you
+      foolhead! Give it to me!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She snatched the telegram from him and tore it open. It was not as bad as
+      might have been, but it was bad enough. Lawyer Peabody wired that Captain
+      Cyrus Whittaker was at his home in Ostable, sick in bed, and threatened
+      with pneumonia.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy, hurrying homeward in response to the attorney's former
+      telegram, had reached Boston the day of the blizzard. He had taken the
+      train for Bayport that afternoon. The train had reached Ostable after nine
+      o'clock that night, but could get no farther. The captain, burning with
+      fever and torn by chills, had wallowed through the drifts to his lawyer's
+      home and collapsed on his doorstep. Now he was very ill and, at times,
+      delirious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      For two weeks he lay, fighting off the threatened attack of pneumonia. But
+      he won the fight, and, at last, word came to the anxious ones at Bayport
+      that he was past the danger point and would pull through. There was
+      rejoicing at the Cy Whittaker place. The Board of Strategy came and
+      performed an impromptu war dance around the dining-room table.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Whe-e-e!&rdquo; shouted Bailey Bangs, tossing Bos'n above his head. &ldquo;Your Uncle
+      Cy's weathered the Horn and is bound for clear water now. Three cheers for
+      our side! Won't we give him a reception when we get him back here!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Won't we?&rdquo; crowed Asaph. &ldquo;Well, I just guess we will! You ought to hear
+      Angie and the rest of 'em chant hymns of glory about him. A body'd think
+      they always knew he was the salt of the earth. Maybe I don't rub it in a
+      little, hey? Oh, no, maybe not!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And Heman!&rdquo; chimed in Mr. Bangs. &ldquo;And Heman! Would you ever believe HE'D
+      change so all of a sudden? Bully old Whit! I can mention his name now
+      without Ketury's landin' onto me like a snowslide. Whee! I say, wh-e-e-e!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He continued to say it; and Georgianna and Asaph said what amounted to the
+      same thing. A change had come over our Bayport social atmosphere, a
+      marvelous change. And at Simmons's and&mdash;more wonderful still&mdash;at
+      Tad Simpson's barber' shop, plans were being made and perfected for
+      proceedings in which Cyrus Whittaker was to play the most prominent part.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Meanwhile the convalescence went on at a rapid rate. As soon as he was
+      permitted to talk, Captain Cy began to question his lawyer. How about the
+      appeal? Had Atkins done anything further? The answers were satisfactory.
+      The case had been dropped: the Honorable Heman had announced its
+      withdrawal. He had said that he had changed his mind and should not
+      continue to espouse the Thomas cause. In fact, he seemed to have whirled
+      completely about on his pedestal and, like a compass, now pointed only in
+      one direction&mdash;toward his &ldquo;boyhood friend&rdquo; and present neighbor,
+      Cyrus Whittaker.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's perfectly astounding,&rdquo; commented Peabody. &ldquo;What in the world,
+      captain, did you do to him while you were in Washington?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! nothin' much,&rdquo; was the rather disinterested answer. &ldquo;Him and me had a
+      talk, and he saw the error of his ways, I cal'late. How's Bos'n to-day?
+      Did you give her my love when you 'phoned?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So far as the case is concerned,&rdquo; went on the lawyer, &ldquo;I think we should
+      have won that, anyway. It's a curious thing. Thomas has disappeared. How
+      he got word, or who he got it from, <i>I</i> don't know; but he must have,
+      and he's gone somewhere, no one knows where. And yet I'm not certain that
+      we were on the right trail. It seemed certain a week ago, but now&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain had not been listening. He was thinking. Thomas had gone, had
+      he! Good! Heman was living up to his promises. And Bos'n, God bless her,
+      was free from that danger.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?&rdquo; he repeated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either then or
+      later. He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and now that
+      everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it again. He asked
+      nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer, acting under strict
+      orders, did not mention it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home town who
+      was not a member of his household.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How is&mdash;er&mdash;how's the teacher?&rdquo; he inquired one morning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;How's who?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why&mdash;Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher. Smart, is she?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, indeed! Why, she has been the most&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated. It was not
+      resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston on a
+      business trip, to be gone some time.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be taken
+      home. He was up and about, had been out for several short walks, and was
+      very nearly his own self again. He was in good spirits, too, at times, but
+      had fits of seeming depression which, under the circumstances, were
+      unexplainable. The doctor thought they were due to his recent illness and
+      forbade questioning.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the train,
+      but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful one that Mr.
+      Peabody, who had the day before returned from the city, suggested driving
+      over. So the open carriage, drawn by the Peabody &ldquo;span,&rdquo; was brought
+      around to the front steps, and the captain, bundled up until, as he said,
+      he felt like a wharf rat inside a cotton bale, emerged from the house
+      which had sheltered him for a weary month and climbed to the back seat.
+      The attorney got in beside him.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All ashore that's goin' ashore,&rdquo; observed Captain Cy. Then to the driver,
+      who stood by the horses' heads, he added: &ldquo;Stand by to get ship under way,
+      commodore. I'm homeward bound, and there's a little messmate of mine
+      waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't wonder. So don't hang around these
+      waters no longer'n you can help.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Just a minute, captain,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We've got another passenger. She came
+      to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would be an exciting
+      day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for it. So we kept her in
+      the background. It was something of a job but&mdash;Hurrah! here she is!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's wife, opened the front door. She was laughing.
+      The next moment a small figure shot past her, down the steps, and into the
+      carriage like a red-hooded bombshell.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus!&rdquo; she screamed joyously. &ldquo;Uncle Cyrus, it's me! Here I am!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And Captain Cy, springing up and shedding wraps and robes, received the
+      bombshell with open arms and hugged it tight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n!&rdquo; he shouted. &ldquo;By the big dipper! BOS'N! Why, you little&mdash;you&mdash;you&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      That was a wonderful ride. Emily sat in the captain's lap&mdash;he
+      positively refused to let her sit beside him on the seat, although Peabody
+      urged it, fearing the child might tire him&mdash;and her tongue rattled
+      like a sewing machine. She had a thousand things to tell, about her
+      school, about Georgianna, about her dolls, about Lonesome, the cat, and
+      how many mice he had caught, about the big snowstorm.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Georgianna wanted me to stay at home and wait for you, Uncle Cy,&rdquo; she
+      said, &ldquo;but I teased and teased and finally they said I could come over. I
+      came yesterday on the train. Mr. Tidditt went with me to the depot. Mrs.
+      Peabody let me peek into your room last night and I saw you eating supper.
+      You didn't know I was there, did you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You bet I didn't! There'd have been a mutiny right then if I'd caught
+      sight of you. You little sculpin! Playin' it on your Uncle Cy, was you? I
+      didn't know you could keep a secret so well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, yes I can! Why, I know an ever so much bigger secret, too. It is&mdash;Why!
+      I 'most forgot. You just wait.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain laughingly begged her to divulge the big secret, but she shook
+      her small head and refused. The horses trotted on at a lively pace, and
+      the miles separating Ostable and Bayport were subtracted one by one. It
+      was magnificent winter weather. The snow had disappeared from the road,
+      except in widely separated spots, but the big drifts still heaped the
+      fields and shone and sparkled in the sunshine. Against their whiteness the
+      pitch pines and cedars stood darkly green and the skeleton scrub oaks and
+      bushes cast delicate blue-penciled shadows. The bay, seen over the
+      flooded, frozen salt meadows and distant dunes, was in its winter dress of
+      the deepest sapphire, trimmed with whitecaps and fringed with stranded ice
+      cakes. There was a snap and tang in the breeze which braced one like a
+      tonic. The party in the carriage was a gay one.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Getting tired, captain?&rdquo; asked Peabody.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who? Me? Well, I guess not. 'Most home, Bos'n. There's the salt works
+      ahead there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      They passed the abandoned salt works, the crumbling ruins of a dead
+      industry, and the boundary stone, now half hidden in a drift, marking the
+      beginning of Bayport township. Then, from the pine grove at the curve
+      farther on, appeared two capped and coated figures, performing a crazy
+      fandango.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Who's them two lunatics,&rdquo; inquired Captain Cy, &ldquo;whoopin' and carryin' on
+      in the middle of the road? Has anybody up this way had a jug come by
+      express or&mdash;Hey! WHAT? Why, you old idiots you! COME here and let me
+      get a hold of you!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy swooped down upon the carriage like Trumet
+      mosquitoes on a summer boarder. They swarmed into the vehicle, Bailey on
+      the front seat and Asaph in the rear, where, somehow or other, they made
+      room for him. There were handshakings and thumps on the back.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What you doin' 'way up here in the west end of nowhere?&rdquo; demanded Captain
+      Cy. &ldquo;By the big dipper, I'm glad to see you! How'd you get here?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Walked,&rdquo; cackled Bailey. &ldquo;Frogged it all the way. Soon's Mrs. Peabody
+      wired you was goin' to ride, me and Ase started to meet you. Wan't you
+      surprised?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;We wanted to be the fust to say howdy, old man,&rdquo; explained Asaph. &ldquo;Wanted
+      to welcome you back, you know.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The captain was immensely pleased.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, I'm glad I've got so much popularity, anyhow,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Guess
+      'twill be different when I get down street, hey? Don't cal'late Tad and
+      Angie 'll shed the joyous tear over me. Never mind; long's my friends are
+      glad I don't care about the rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board looked at each other.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Tad?&rdquo; repeated Bailey. &ldquo;And Angie? What you talkin' about? Why, they&mdash;Ugh!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The last exclamation was the result of a tremendous dig in the ribs from
+      the Tidditt fist. Asaph, who had leaned forward to administer it, was
+      frowning and shaking his head. Mr. Bangs relapsed into a grinning silence.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      West Bayport seemed to be deserted. At one or two houses, however,
+      feminine heads appeared at the windows. One old lady shook a calico apron
+      at the carriage. A child beside her cried: &ldquo;Hurrah!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Aunt Hepsy h'istin' colors by mistake,&rdquo; laughed the captain. &ldquo;She ain't
+      got her specs, I guess, and thinks I'm Heman. That comes of ridin' astern
+      of a span, Peabody.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      But as they drew near the Center flags were flying from front-yard poles.
+      Some of the houses were decorated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What in the world&mdash;&rdquo; began Captain Cy. &ldquo;Land sakes! look at the
+      schoolhouse. And Simmons's! And&mdash;and Simpson's!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The schoolhouse flag was flapping in the wind. The scarred wooden pillars
+      of its portico were hidden with bunting. Simmons's front displayed a row
+      of little banners, each bearing a letter&mdash;the letters spelled
+      &ldquo;Welcome Home.&rdquo; Tad's barber shop was more or less artistically wreathed
+      in colored tissue paper. There, too, a flag was draped over the front
+      door. Yet not a single person was in sight.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For goodness' sake!&rdquo; cried the bewildered captain. &ldquo;What's all this mean?
+      And where is everybody. Have all hands&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He stopped in the middle of the sentence. They were at the foot of
+      Whittaker's Hill. Its top, between the Atkins's gate and the Whittaker
+      fence, was black with people. Children pranced about the outskirts of the
+      crowd. A shout came down the wind. The horses, not in the least fatigued
+      by their long canter, trotted up the slope. The shouting grew louder. A
+      wave of youngsters came racing to meet the equipage.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What&mdash;what in time?&rdquo; gasped Captain Cy. &ldquo;What's up? I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      And then the town clerk seized him by the arm. Peabody shook his other
+      hand. Bos'n threw her arms about his neck. Bailey stood up and waved his
+      hat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It's you, you old critter!&rdquo; whooped Asaph. &ldquo;It's YOU, d'you understand?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The appropriation has gone through,&rdquo; explained the lawyer, &ldquo;and this is
+      the celebration in consequence. And you are the star attraction because,
+      you see, everyone knows you are responsible for it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what!&rdquo; howled the excited Bangs. &ldquo;And we're goin' to show you what
+      we think of you for doin' it. We've been plannin' this for over a
+      fortni't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;And I knew it all the time,&rdquo; squealed Bos'n, &ldquo;and I didn't tell a word,
+      did I?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Three cheers for Captain Whittaker!&rdquo; bellowed a person in the crowd. This
+      person&mdash;wonder of wonders!&mdash;was Tad Simpson.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      The cheering was, considering the size of the crowd, tremendous.
+      Bewildered and amazed, Captain Cy was assisted from the carriage and
+      escorted to his front door. Amidst the handkerchief-waving, applauding
+      people he saw Keturah Bangs and Alpheus Smalley and Angeline Phinney and
+      Captain Salters&mdash;even Alonzo Snow, his recent opponent in town
+      meeting. Josiah Dimick was there, too, apparently having a fit.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      On the doorstep stood Georgianna and&mdash;and&mdash;yes, it was true&mdash;beside
+      her, grandly extending a welcoming hand, the majestic form of the
+      Honorable Heman Atkins. Some one else was there also, some one who
+      hurriedly slipped back into the crowd as the owner of the Cy Whittaker
+      place came up the path between the hedges.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Atkins shook the captain's hand and then, turning toward the people,
+      held up his own for silence. To all outward appearance, he was still the
+      great Heman, our district idol, philanthropist, and leader. His silk hat
+      glistened as of old, his chest swelled in the old manner, his whiskers
+      were just as dignified and awe-inspiring. For an instant, as he met the
+      captain's eye, his own faltered and fell, and there was a pleading
+      expression in his face, the lines of which had deepened just a little. But
+      only for an instant; then he began to speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Cyrus,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of your neighbors and
+      friends here assembled, to welcome you to your&mdash;er&mdash;ancestral
+      home after your trying illness. I do it heartily, sincerely, gladly. And
+      it is the more pleasing to me to perform this duty, because, as I have
+      explained publicly to my fellow-townspeople, all disagreement between us
+      is ended. I was wrong&mdash;again I publicly admit it. A scheming
+      blackleg, posing in the guise of a loving father, imposed upon me. I am
+      sorry for the trouble I have caused you. Of you and of the little girl
+      with you I ask pardon&mdash;I entreat forgiveness.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He paused. Captain Cy, the shadow of a smile at the corner of his mouth,
+      nodded, and said briefly:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;All right, Heman. I forgive you.&rdquo; Few heard him: the majority were
+      applauding the congressman. Sylvanus Cahoon, whispering in the ear of
+      &ldquo;Uncle Bedny,&rdquo; expressed as his opinion that &ldquo;that was about as
+      magnaminious a thing as ever I heard said. Yes, sir! mag-na-min-ious&mdash;that's
+      what <i>I</i> call it.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But,&rdquo; continued the great Atkins, &ldquo;I have said all this to you before.
+      What I have to say now&mdash;what I left my duties in Washington expressly
+      to come here and say&mdash;is that Bayport thanks you, <i>I</i> thank you,
+      for your tremendous assistance in obtaining the appropriation which is to
+      make our harbor a busy port where our gallant fishing fleet may ride at
+      anchor and unload its catch, instead of transferring it in dories as
+      heretofore. Friends, I have already told you how this man&rdquo;&mdash;laying a
+      hand on the captain's shoulder&mdash;&ldquo;came to the Capital and used his
+      influence among his acquaintances in high places, with the result that the
+      thirty thousand dollars, which I had despaired of getting, was added to
+      the bill. I had the pleasure of voting for that bill. It passed. I am
+      proud of that vote.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Tremendous applause. Then some one called for three cheers for Mr. Atkins.
+      They were given. But the recipient merely bowed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no,&rdquo; he said deprecatingly. &ldquo;No, no! not for me, my friends, much as
+      I appreciate your gratitude. My days of public service are nearly at an
+      end. As I have intimated to some of you already, I am seriously
+      considering retiring from political life in the near future. But that is
+      irrelevant; it is not material at present. To-day we meet, not to say
+      farewell to the setting, but to greet the rising sun. <i>I</i> call for
+      three cheers for our committee of one&mdash;Captain Cyrus Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      When the uproar had at last subsided, there were demands for a speech from
+      Captain Cy. But the captain, facing them, his arms about the delighted
+      Bos'n, positively declined to orate.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I&mdash;I'm ever so much obliged to you, folks,&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;I am so.
+      But you'll have to excuse me from speechmaking. They&mdash;they didn't
+      teach it afore the mast, where I went to college. Thank you, just the
+      same. And do come and see me, everybody. Me and this little girl,&rdquo; drawing
+      Emily nearer to him, &ldquo;will be real glad to have you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      After the handshaking and congratulating were over, the crowd dispersed.
+      It was a great occasion; all agreed to that, but the majority considered
+      it a divided triumph. The captain had done a lot for the town, of course,
+      but the Honorable Atkins had made another splendid impression by his
+      address of welcome. Most people thought it as fine as his memorable effort
+      at town meeting. Unlike that one, however, in this instance it is safe to
+      say that none, not even the adoring and praise-chanting Miss Phinney,
+      derived quite the enjoyment from the congressman's speech that Captain Cy
+      did. It tickled his sense of humor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ase,&rdquo; he observed irrelevantly when the five&mdash;Tidditt, Georgianna,
+      Bailey, Bos'n, and himself were at last alone again in the sitting room,
+      &ldquo;it DON'T pay to tip over a monument, does it&mdash;not out in public, I
+      mean. You wouldn't want to see me blow up Bunker Hill, would you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Blow up Bunker Hill!&rdquo; repeated Asaph in alarmed amazement. &ldquo;Godfrey
+      scissors! I believe you're goin' loony. This day's been too much for you.
+      What are you talkin' about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh, nothin',&rdquo; with a quiet chuckle. &ldquo;I was thinkin' out loud, that's all.
+      Did you ever notice them imitation stone pillars on Heman's house? They're
+      holler inside, but you'd never guess it. And, long as you do know they're
+      holler, you can keep a watch on 'em. And there's one thing sure,&rdquo; he
+      added, &ldquo;they ARE ornamental.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021">
+      <!--  H2 anchor --> </a>
+    </p>
+    <div style="height: 4em;">
+      <br /><br /><br /><br />
+    </div>
+    <h2>
+      CHAPTER XXI
+    </h2>
+    <h3>
+      CAPTAIN CY'S &ldquo;PICTURE&rdquo;
+     </h3>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Wonder where Phoebe went to,&rdquo; remarked Mr. Tidditt, a little later. &ldquo;I
+      thought I saw her with Heman and Georgianna on the front steps when we
+      drove up.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;She was there,&rdquo; affirmed the housekeeper. &ldquo;She'd been helpin' me trim up
+      the rooms here. What do you think of 'em, Cap'n Cyrus? Ain't they pretty?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The sitting room and dining room were gay with evergreens and
+      old-fashioned flowers. Our living room windows in the winter time are
+      usually filled with carefully tended potted plants, and the neighbors had
+      loaned their geraniums and fuchsias and heliotrope and begonias to
+      brighten the Whittaker house for its owner's return. Captain Cy, who was
+      sitting in the rocker, with Bos'n on his knee, looked about him. Now that
+      the first burst of excitement was over, he seemed grave and preoccupied.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;They look mighty pretty, Georgianna,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Fine enough. But what was
+      that you just said? Did&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yup,&rdquo; interrupted Miss Taylor, who had scarcely ceased talking since
+      breakfast that morning. &ldquo;Yes, 'twas teacher that helped fix 'em. Not that
+      I wouldn't have got along without her, but I had more to do than a little,
+      cleanin' and scrubbin' up. So Phoebe she come in, and&mdash;Oh! yes, as I
+      was sayin', she was out front with me, but the minute your carriage drove
+      up with that lovely span&mdash;AIN'T that a fine span! I cal'late they're&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What become of teacher?&rdquo; broke in Bailey.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, she run off somewheres. I didn't see where she went to; I was too
+      busy hollerin' at Cap'n Whittaker and noticin' that span. I bet you they
+      made Angie Phinney's eyes stick out. I guess she realizes that we in this
+      house are some punkins now. If I don't lord it over her when I run acrost
+      her these days, then I miss my guess. I&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Belay!&rdquo; ordered Captain Cy, his gravity more pronounced than ever. &ldquo;How
+      does it happen that you&mdash;See here, Georgianna, did you tell Ph&mdash;er&mdash;Miss
+      Dawes what I told you to tell her when I went away?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I told her. I hated to, dreadful, but I done it. She was awful
+      set back at fust, but I guess she asked Mr. Tidditt&mdash;Where you goin',
+      Mr. Tidditt?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The town clerk, his face red, was on his way to the door.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Asked Ase?&rdquo; repeated the captain. &ldquo;Ase, come here! Did you tell her
+      anything?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Asaph was very much embarrassed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he stammered, &ldquo;I didn't mean to, Cy, but she got to askin' me
+      questions, and somehow or nother I did tell her about our confab, yours
+      and mine. I told her that I knew folks was talkin', and I felt 'twas my
+      duty to tell you so. That's why I done it, and I told her you said&mdash;well,
+      you know what you said yourself, Cy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy was evidently much disturbed. He put Bos'n down, and rose to
+      his feet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well,&rdquo; he asked sharply, &ldquo;what did she say?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! she was white and still for a minute or two. Then she kind of stamped
+      her foot and went off and left me. But next time she met me she was nice
+      as pie. She's been pretty frosty to Angie and the rest of 'em, but she's
+      been always nice to Bailey and me. Why, when I asked her pardon, she said
+      not at all, she was very glad to know the truth; it helped her to
+      understand things. And you could see she meant it, too. She&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;So she has been comin' here ever since. And the gossip has been goin' on,
+      I s'pose. Well, by the big dipper, it'll stop now! I'll see to that.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy and the housekeeper were amazed.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gossip!&rdquo; repeated Bailey. &ldquo;Well, I guess there ain't nothin' said against
+      her now&mdash;not in THIS town, there ain't! Why, all hands can't praise
+      her enough for her smartness in findin' out about that Thomas. If it wan't
+      for her, he'd be botherin' you yet, Cy. You know it. What are you talkin'
+      about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy passed his hand over his forehead.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n,&rdquo; he said slowly, &ldquo;you run and help Georgianna in the kitchen a
+      spell. She's got her dinner to look out for, I guess likely. Georgianna,&rdquo;
+       to the housekeeper, who looked anything but eager, &ldquo;you better see to your
+      dinner right off, and take Emmie with you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Miss Taylor reluctantly departed, leading Bos'n by the hand. The child was
+      loath to leave her uncle, but he told her he wouldn't give a cent for his
+      first dinner at home if she didn't help in preparing it. So she went out
+      happy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Now, then,&rdquo; demanded the captain, &ldquo;what's this about Phoebe and Thomas? I
+      want to know. Stop! Don't ask another question. Answer me first.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      So the Board of Strategy, by turns and in concert, told of the drive to
+      Trumet and the call on Debby Beasley. Asaph would have narrated the story
+      of the upset sulky, but Bailey shut him up in short order.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Never mind that foolishness,&rdquo; he snapped. &ldquo;You see, Cy, Debby had just
+      been out to Arizona visitin' old Beasley's niece. And she'd fell in with a
+      woman out there whose husband had run off and left her. And Debby, she
+      read the advertisement about him in the Arizona paper, and it said he had
+      the spring halt in his off hind leg, or somethin' similar. Now, Thomas, he
+      had that, too, and there was other things that reminded Phoebe of him. So
+      she don't say nothin' to nobody, but she writes to this woman askin' for
+      more partic'lars and a photograph of the missin' one. The partic'lars
+      come, but the photograph didn't; the wife didn't have none, I b'lieve. But
+      there was enough to send Phoebe hotfoot to Mr. Peabody. And Peabody he
+      writes to his lawyer friend in Butte, Montana. And the Butte man he&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, the long and short of it is,&rdquo; cut in Tidditt, &ldquo;that it looked safe
+      and sartin that Thomas HAD married the Arizona woman while his real wife,
+      Bos'n's ma, was livin', and had run off and left her same as he did Mary.
+      And the funny part of it is&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;The funny part of it is,&rdquo; declared Bangs, drowning his friend's voice by
+      raising his own, &ldquo;that somebody out there, some scalawag friend of this
+      Thomas, must have got wind of what was up, and sent word to him. 'Cause,
+      when they went to hunt for him in Boston, he'd gone, skipped, cut stick.
+      And they ain't seen him since. He was afraid of bein' took up for
+      bigamist, you see&mdash;for bein' a bigamy, I mean. Well, you know what
+      I'm tryin' to say. Anyhow, if it hadn't been for me and Phoebe&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;YOU and Phoebe!&rdquo; snorted Asaph. &ldquo;You had a whole lot to do with it,
+      didn't you? You and Aunt Debby 'll do to go together. I understand she's
+      cruisin' round makin' proclamations that SHE was responsible for the whole
+      thing. No, sir-ree! it's Phoebe Dawes that the credit belongs to, and this
+      town ain't done nothin' but praise her since it come out. You never see
+      such a quick come-about in your life&mdash;unless 'twas Heman's. But you
+      knew all this afore, Whit. Peabody must have told you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy had listened to his friends' story with a face expressive of
+      the most blank astonishment. As he learned of the trip to Trumet and its
+      results, his eyes and mouth opened, and he repeatedly rubbed his forehead
+      and muttered exclamations. Now, at the mention of his lawyer's name, he
+      seemed to awaken.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Hold on!&rdquo; he interrupted, waving his hand. &ldquo;Hold on! By the big dipper!
+      this is&mdash;is&mdash;Where IS Peabody? I want to see him.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Here I am, captain,&rdquo; said the attorney. He had been out to the barn to
+      superintend the stabling of the span, but for the past five minutes had
+      been standing, unnoticed by his client, on the threshold of the dining
+      room.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;See here,&rdquo; demanded Captain Cy, &ldquo;see here, Peabody; is this yarn true? IS
+      it, now? this about&mdash;about Phoebe and all?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Certainly it's true. I supposed you knew it. You didn't seem surprised
+      when I told you the case was settled.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Surprised? Why, no! I thought Heman had&mdash;Never mind that. Land of
+      love! SHE did it. She!&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He sat weakly down. The lawyer looked anxious.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Mr. Tidditt,&rdquo; he whispered, &ldquo;I think perhaps he had better be left alone
+      for the present. He's just up from a sick bed, and this has been a trying
+      forenoon. Come in again this afternoon. I shall try to persuade him to
+      take a nap.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The Board of Strategy, its curiosity unsatisfied, departed reluctantly.
+      When Mr. Peabody returned to the sitting room he found that naps were far,
+      indeed, from the captain's thoughts. The latter was pacing the
+      sitting-room floor.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where is she?&rdquo; he demanded. &ldquo;She was standin' on the steps with Heman.
+      Have you seen her since?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      His friend was troubled.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, yes, I've seen her,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I have been talking with her. She has
+      gone away.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Gone AWAY! Where? What do you mean? She ain't&mdash;ain't left Bayport?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No, no. What in the world should she leave Bayport for? She has gone to
+      her boarding house, I guess; at all events, she was headed in that
+      direction.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why didn't she shake hands with me? What made her go off and not say a
+      word? Oh, well, I guess likely I know the why!&rdquo; He sighed despondently. &ldquo;I
+      told her never to come here again.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You did? What in the world&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, for what I thought was good reasons; all on her account they was.
+      And yet she did come back, and kept comin', even after Ase blabbed the
+      whole thing. However, I s'pose that was just to help Georgianna. Oh, hum!
+      I AM an old fool.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      The lawyer inspected him seriously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Well, captain,&rdquo; he said slowly, &ldquo;if it is any comfort for you to know
+      that your reason isn't the correct one for Miss Dawes's going away, I can
+      assure you on that point. I think she went because she was greatly
+      disappointed, and didn't wish to see you just now.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Disappointed? What do you mean?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Humph! I didn't mean to tell you yet, but I judge that I'd better. No one
+      knows it here but Miss Dawes and I, and probably no one but us three need
+      ever know it. You see, the fact is that the Arizona woman, Desire Higgins,
+      isn't Mrs. Thomas at all. He isn't her missing husband.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;What?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, it's so. Really, it was too much of a coincidence to be possible,
+      and yet it certainly did seem that it would prove true. This Higgins woman
+      was, apparently, so anxious to find her missing man that she was ready to
+      recognize almost any description; and the slight lameness and the fact of
+      his having been in Montana helped along. If we could have gotten a
+      photograph sooner, the question would have been settled. Only last week,
+      while I was in Boston, I got word from the detective agency that a photo
+      had been received. I went to see it immediately. There was some
+      resemblance, but not enough. Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;but&mdash;they say Thomas has skipped out.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, he has. That's the queer part of it. At the place where he boarded
+      we learned that he got a letter from Arizona&mdash;trust the average
+      landlady to look at postmarks&mdash;that he seemed greatly agitated all
+      that day, and left that night. No one has seen him since. Why he went is a
+      puzzle. Where, we don't care. So long as he keeps out of our way, that's
+      enough.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy did not care, either. He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
+      probably explain the disappearance. And yet, oddly enough, this
+      explanation was not the true one. The Honorable Heman solemnly assured the
+      captain that he had not communicated with Emily's father. He intended to
+      do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon at the hotel, but the man had
+      fled. And the mystery is still unsolved. The supposition is that there
+      really was a wife somewhere in the West. Who or where she was no Bayporter
+      knows. Henry Thomas has never come back to explain.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved,&rdquo; went on Peabody.
+      &ldquo;She was dreadfully disappointed. She could hardly speak when she left me.
+      I urged her to come in and see you, but she wouldn't. Evidently she had
+      set her heart on helping you and the child. It is too bad, because,
+      practically speaking, we owe everything to her. There is little doubt that
+      the inquiry set on foot by her scared the Thomas fellow into flight. And
+      she has worked night and day to aid us. She is a very clever woman,
+      Captain Whittaker, and a good one. You can't thank her enough. Here! what
+      are you about?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room. The hat rack hung on the
+      wall by the side door. He snatched his cap from the peg, and was
+      struggling into his overcoat.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; demanded the lawyer. &ldquo;You mustn't attempt to walk
+      now. You need rest.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Rest! I'll rest by and by. Just now I've got business to attend to. Let
+      go of that pea-jacket.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;No buts about it. I'll see you later. So long.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He threw open the door and hurried down the walk. The lawyer watched him
+      in amazement. Then a slow smile overspread his face.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Captain,&rdquo; he called. &ldquo;Captain Whittaker.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy looked back over his shoulder. &ldquo;What do you want?&rdquo; he asked.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Mr. Peabody's face was now intensely solemn, but there was a twinkle in
+      his eye.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I think she's at the boarding house,&rdquo; he said demurely. &ldquo;I'm pretty
+      certain you'll find her there.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      All the regulars at the perfect boarding house had, of course, attended
+      the reception at the Cy Whittaker place. None of them, with the exception
+      of the schoolmistress, had as yet returned. Dinner had been forgotten in
+      the excitement of the great day, and Keturah and Angeline and Mrs. Tripp
+      had stopped in at various dwellings along the main road, to compare notes
+      on the captain's appearance and the Atkins address. Asaph and Bailey and
+      Alpheus Smalley were at Simmons's.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy knew better than to attempt his hurried trip by way of the
+      road. He had no desire to be held up and congratulated. He went across
+      lots, in the rear of barns and orchards, wading through drifts and
+      climbing fences as no sane convalescent should. But the captain at that
+      moment was suffering from the form of insanity known as the fixed idea.
+      She had done all this for him&mdash;for HIM. And his last message to her
+      had been an insult.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He approached the Bangs property by the stable lane. No one locks doors in
+      our village, and those of the perfect boarding house were unfastened. He
+      entered by way of the side porch, just as he had done when Gabe Lumley's
+      depot wagon first deposited him in that yard. But now he entered on
+      tiptoe. The dining room was empty. He peeped into the sitting room. There,
+      by the center table, sat Phoebe Dawes, her elbow on the arm of her chair,
+      and her head resting on her hand.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Ahem! Phoebe!&rdquo; said Captain Cy.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      She started, turned, and saw him standing there. Her eyes were wet, and
+      there was a handkerchief in her lap.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Phoebe,&rdquo; said the captain anxiously, &ldquo;have you been cryin'?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She rose on the instant. A great wave of red swept over her face. The
+      handkerchief fell to the floor, and she stooped and picked it up.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Crying?&rdquo; she repeated confusedly. &ldquo;Why, no, of course&mdash;of course
+      not! I&mdash;How do you do, Captain Whittaker? I'm&mdash;we're all very
+      glad to see you home again&mdash;and well.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She extended her hand. Captain Cy reached forward to take it; then he
+      hesitated.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I don't think I'd ought to let you shake hands with me, Phoebe,&rdquo; he said.
+      &ldquo;Not until I beg your pardon.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Beg my pardon? Why?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      He absently took the hand and held it.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;For the word I sent to you when I went away. 'Twas an awful thing to say,
+      but I meant it for your sake, you know. Honest, I did.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She laughed nervously.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Oh! that,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Well, I did think you were rather particular as to
+      your visitors. But Mr. Tidditt explained, and then&mdash;You needn't beg
+      my pardon. I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I knew you meant to be kind
+      to me.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;That's what I did. But you didn't obey orders. You kept comin'. Now, why&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why? Did you suppose that <i>I</i> cared for the malicious gossip of&mdash;such
+      people? I came because you were in trouble, and I hoped to help you. And&mdash;and
+      I thought I had helped, until a few minutes ago.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Her lip quivered. That quiver went to the captain's heart.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Helped?&rdquo; he faltered. &ldquo;Helped? Why, you've done so much that I can't ever
+      thank you. You've been the only real helper I've had in all this miserable
+      business. You've stood by me all through.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;But it was all wrong. He isn't the man at all. Didn't Mr. Peabody tell
+      you?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Yes, yes, he told me. What difference does that make? Peabody be hanged!
+      He ain't in this. It's you and me&mdash;don't you see? What made you do
+      all this for me?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked at the floor and not at him as she answered.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why, because I wanted to help you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I've been alone in the
+      world ever since mother died, years ago. I've had few real friends. Your
+      friendship had come to mean a great deal to me. The splendid fight you
+      were making for that little girl proved what a man you were. And you
+      fought so bravely when almost everyone was against you, I couldn't help
+      wanting to do something for you. How could I? And now it has come to
+      nothing&mdash;my part of it. I'm so sorry.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;It ain't, neither. It's come to everything. Phoebe, I didn't mean to say
+      very much more than to beg your pardon when I headed for here. But I've
+      got to&mdash;I've simply got to. This can't go on. I can't have you keep
+      comin' to see me&mdash;and Bos'n. I can't keep meetin' you every day. I
+      CAN'T.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She looked up, as if to speak, but something, possibly the expression in
+      his face, caused her to look quickly down again. She did not answer.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I can't do it,&rdquo; continued the captain desperately. &ldquo;'Tain't for what
+      folks might say. They wouldn't say much when I was around, I tell you. It
+      ain't that. It's because I can't bear to have you just a friend. Either
+      you must be more'n that, or&mdash;or I'll have to go somewheres else. I
+      realized that when I was in Washin'ton and cruisin' to California and
+      back. I've either got to take Bos'n and go away for good, or&mdash;or&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She would not help him. She would not speak.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;You see?&rdquo; he groaned. &ldquo;You see, Phoebe, what an old fool I am. I can't
+      ask you to marry me, me fifty-five, and rough from knockin' round the
+      world, and you, young and educated, and a lady. I ain't fool enough to ask
+      such a thing as that. And yet, I couldn't stay here and meet you every
+      day, and by and by see you marry somebody else. By the big dipper, I
+      couldn't do it! So that's why I can't shake hands with you to-day&mdash;nor
+      any more, except when I say good-by for keeps.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Then she looked up. The color was still bright in her face, and her eyes
+      were moist, but she was smiling.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Can't shake hands with me?&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Please, what have you been doing
+      for the last five minutes?&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Captain Cy dropped her hand as if his own had been struck with paralysis.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Good land!&rdquo; he stammered. &ldquo;I didn't know I did it; honest truth, I
+      didn't.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Phoebe's smile was still there, faint, but very sweet.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did you stop?&rdquo; she queried. &ldquo;I didn't ask you to.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Why did I stop? Why, because I&mdash;I&mdash;I declare I'm ashamed&mdash;&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      She took his hand and clasped it with both her own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;I'm not,&rdquo; she said bravely, her eyes brightening as the wonder and
+      incredulous joy grew in his. &ldquo;I'm very proud. And very, very happy.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      There was to be a big supper at the Cy Whittaker place that night. It was
+      an impromptu affair, arranged on the spur of the moment by Captain Cy,
+      who, in spite of the lawyer's protests and anxiety concerning his health,
+      went serenely up and down the main road, inviting everybody he met or
+      could think of. The captain's face was as radiant as a spring sunrise. His
+      smile, as Asaph said, &ldquo;pretty nigh cut the upper half of his head off.&rdquo;
+       People who had other engagements, and would, under ordinary circumstances,
+      have refused the invitation, couldn't say no to his hearty, &ldquo;Can't come?
+      Course you'll come! Man alive! I WANT you.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Invalid, is he?&rdquo; observed Josiah Dimick, after receiving and accepting
+      his own invitation. &ldquo;Well, I wish to thunder I could be took down with the
+      same kind of disease. I'd be willin' to linger along with it quite a spell
+      if it pumped me as full of joy as Whit seems to be. Don't give laughin'
+      gas to keep off pneumonia, do they? No? Well, I'd like to know the name of
+      his medicine, that's all.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      Supper was to be ready at six. Georgianna, assisted by Keturah Bangs, Mrs.
+      Sylvanus Cahoon, and other volunteers, was gloriously busy in the kitchen.
+      The table in the dining room reached from one end of the big apartment to
+      the other. Guests would begin to arrive shortly. Wily Mr. Peabody,
+      guessing that Captain Cy might prefer to be alone, had taken the Board of
+      Strategy out riding behind the span.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      In the sitting room, around the baseburner stove, were three persons&mdash;Captain
+      Cy, Bos'n, and Phoebe. Miss Dawes had &ldquo;come early,&rdquo; at the captain's
+      urgent appeal. Now she was sitting in the rocker, at one side of the
+      stove, gazing dreamily at the ruddy light behind the isinglass panes. She
+      looked quietly, blissfully contented and happy. At her feet, on the
+      braided mat, sat Bos'n, playing with Lonesome, who purred lazily. The
+      little girl was happy, too, for was not her beloved Uncle Cyrus at home
+      again, with all danger of their separation ended forevermore?
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      As for Captain Cy himself, the radiant expression was still on his face,
+      brighter than ever. He looked across at Phoebe, who smiled back at him.
+      Then he glanced down at Bos'n. And all at once he realized that this was
+      the fulfillment of his dream. Here was his &ldquo;picture&rdquo;; the sitting room was
+      now as he had always loved to think of it&mdash;as it used to be. He was
+      in his father's chair, Phoebe in the one his mother used to occupy, and
+      between them&mdash;just where he had sat so often when a boy&mdash;the
+      child. The Cy Whittaker place had again, and at last, come into its own.
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      He drew a long breath, and looked about the room; at the stove, the lamp,
+      the old, familiar furniture, at his grandfather's portrait over the
+      mantel. Then, in a flash of memory, his father's words came back to him,
+      and he said, laughing aloud from pure happiness:
+    </p>
+    <p>
+      &ldquo;Bos'n, run down cellar and get me a pitcher of cider, won't you?&mdash;there's
+      a good feller.&rdquo;
+     </p>
+    <p>
+      <br /> <br />
+    </p>
+<pre xml:space="preserve">
+
+
+
+
+
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diff --git a/old/cywht10.txt b/old/cywht10.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6a2ad36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/cywht10.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11610 @@
+Project Gutenberg Etext Cy Whittaker's Place, by J. C. Lincoln
+#9 in our series by Joseph C. Lincoln
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+Title: Cy Whittaker's Place
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+Author: Joseph C. Lincoln
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+This etext was produced by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com.
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+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+by JOSEPH C. LINCOLN
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER
+
+I.--THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+II.--THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+III.--"FIXIN' OVER"
+
+IV.--BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+V.--A FRONT DOOR CALLER
+
+VI.--ICICLES AND DUST
+
+VII.--CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+VIII.--THE "COW LADY"
+
+IX.--POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+X.--A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+XI.--A BARGAIN OFF
+
+XII.--"TOWN MEETIN'"
+
+XIII.--THE REPULSE
+
+XIV.--A CLEW
+
+XV.--DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+XVI.--A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+XVII.--THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+XVIII.--CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+XIX.--THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+XX.--DIVIDED HONORS
+
+XXI.--CAPTAIN CY'S "PICTURE"
+
+
+
+
+CY WHITTAKER'S PLACE
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE PERFECT BOARDING HOUSE
+
+
+It is queer, but Captain Cy himself doesn't remember whether the
+day was Tuesday or Wednesday.  Asaph Tidditt's records ought to
+settle it, for there was a meeting of the board of selectmen that
+day, and Asaph has been town clerk in Bayport since the summer
+before the Baptist meeting house burned.  But on the record the
+date, in Asaph's handwriting, stands "Tuesday, May 10, 189-" and,
+as it happens, May 10 of that year fell on Wednesday, not Tuesday
+at all.
+
+Keturah Bangs, who keeps "the perfect boarding house," says it was
+Tuesday, because she remembers they had fried cod cheeks and
+cabbage that day--as they have every Tuesday--and neither Mr.
+Tidditt nor Bailey Bangs, Keturah's husband, was on hand when the
+dinner bell rang.  Keturah says she is certain it was Tuesday,
+because she remembers smelling the boiled cabbage as she stood at
+the side door, looking up the road to see if either Asaph or Bailey
+was coming.  As for Bailey, he says he remembers being late to
+dinner and his wife's "startin' to heave a broadsides into him"
+because of it, but he doesn't remember what day it was.  This isn't
+surprising; Keturah's verbal cannonades are likely to make one
+forgetful of trifles.
+
+At any rate, whether Tuesday or Wednesday, it is certain that it
+was quarter past twelve, according to the clock presented to the
+Methodist Society by the Honorable Heman Atkins, when Asaph Tidditt
+came down the steps of the townhall, after the selectmen's meeting,
+and saw Bailey Bangs waiting for him on the opposite side of the
+road.
+
+"Hello, Ase!" hailed Mr. Bangs.  "You'll be late to dinner, if you
+don't hurry.  I was headin' for home, all sail sot, when I see you.
+What kept you?"
+
+"Town business, of course," replied Mr. Tidditt, with the
+importance pertaining to his official position.  "What kept YOU,
+for the land sakes?  Won't Ketury be in your wool?"
+
+Bailey hasn't any "wool" worth mentioning now, and he had very
+little more then, but he mopped his forehead, or the extension
+above it, taking off his cap to do so.
+
+"I cal'late she will," he said, uneasily.  "Tell you the truth,
+Ase, I was up to the store, and Cap'n Josiah Dimick and some more
+of 'em drifted in and we got talkin' about the chances of the
+harbor appropriation, and one thing or 'nother, and 'twas later'n
+I thought 'twas 'fore I knew it."
+
+The appropriation from the government, which was to deepen and
+widen our harbor here at Bayport, was a very vital topic among us
+just then.  Heman Atkins, the congressman from our district, had
+promised to do his best for the appropriation, and had for a time
+been very sanguine of securing it.  Recently, however, he had not
+been quite as hopeful.
+
+"What's Cap'n Josiah think about the chances?" asked Asaph eagerly.
+
+"Well, sometimes he thinks 'Yes' and then again he thinks 'No,'"
+replied Bailey.  "He says, of course, if Heman is able to get it he
+will, but if he ain't able to, he--he--"
+
+"He won't, I s'pose.  Well, _I_ can think that myself, and I don't
+set up to be no inspired know-it-all, like Joe Dimick.  He ain't
+heard from Heman lately, has he?"
+
+"No, he ain't.  Neither's anybody else, so fur as I can find out."
+
+"Oh, yes, they have. _I_ have, for one."
+
+Mr. Bangs stopped short in his double-quick march for home and
+dinner, and looked his companion in the face.
+
+"Ase Tidditt!" he cried.  "Do you mean to tell me you've had a
+letter from Heman Atkins, from Washin'ton?"
+
+Asaph nodded portentously.
+
+"Yes, sir," he declared.  "A letter from the Honorable Heman G.
+Atkins, of Washin'ton, D. C., come to me last night.  I read it
+afore I turned in."
+
+"You did!  And never said nothin' about it?"
+
+"Why should I say anything about it?  'Twas addressed to me as town
+clerk, and was concernin' a matter to be took up with the board of
+s'lectmen.  I ain't in the habit of hollerin' town affairs through
+a speakin' trumpet.  Folks that vote for me town-meetin' day know
+that, I guess.  Angie Phinney says to me only yesterday, 'Mr.
+Tidditt,' says she, 'there's one thing I'll say for you--you don't
+talk.'"
+
+Miss Phinney boarded with the Bangses, and Bailey was acquainted
+with her personal peculiarities; for that matter so were most of
+Bayport's permanent residents.
+
+"Humph!" he snorted indignantly.  "She thought 'twas a good thing
+not to talk, hey?  SHE did?  Well, by mighty! you never get no
+CHANCE to talk when she's around.  Angie Phinney!  Why, when that
+poll parrot of hers died, Alph'us Smalley declared up and down that
+what killed it was jealousy and disapp'inted ambition; he said it
+broke its heart tryin' to keep up with Angie.  Her ma was the same
+breed of cats.  I remember--"
+
+The talking proclivities of females is the one topic upon which
+Keturah's husband is touchiest.  Asaph knew this, but he delighted
+to stir up his chum occasionally.  He chuckled as he interrupted
+the flow of reminiscence.
+
+"There, there, Bailey!" he exclaimed.  "I know as much about
+Angie's tribe as you do, I cal'late.  Ain't we a little mite off
+the course?  Seems to me we was talkin' about Heman's letter."
+
+"Is that so?  I judged from what you said we wa'n't goin' to talk
+about it.  Aw, don't be so mean, Ase!  Showin' off your importance
+like a young one!  What did Heman say about the appropriation?  Is
+he goin' to get it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt paused before replying.  Then, bending over, he
+whispered in his chum's ear:
+
+"He never said one word about the appropriation, Bailey; not one
+word.  He wanted to know if we'd got this year's taxes on the
+Whittaker place.  And, if we hadn't, what was we goin' to do about
+it?  Bailey, between you and me and the mizzenmast, Heman Atkins
+wants to get ahold of that place the worst way."
+
+"He does?  He DOES?  For the land sakes, ain't he got property
+enough already?  Ain't a--a palace like that enough for one man,
+without wantin' to buy a rattletrap like THAT?"
+
+The first "that" was emphasized by a brandished but reverent left
+hand; the second by a derisively pointing right.  The two friends
+had reached the crest of the long slope leading up from the
+townhall.  On one side of the road stretched the imposing frontage
+of the "Atkins estate," with its iron fence and stone posts; on the
+other slouched the weed-grown, tumble-down desolation of the "Cy
+Whittaker place."  The contrast was that of opulent prosperity and
+poverty-stricken neglect.
+
+If our village boasted one of those horseless juggernauts, such as
+are used to carry sightseers in Boston from the old North Church to
+the Public Library and other points of interest--that is, if there
+was a "seeing Bayport" car, it is from this hill that its occupants
+would be given their finest view of the village and its surroundings.
+As Captain Josiah Dimick always says:  "Bayport is all north and
+south, like a codfish line.  It puts me in mind of Seth Higgins's
+oldest boy.  He was so tall and thin that when they bought a suit of
+clothes for him, they used to take reefs in the sides of the jacket
+and use the cloth to piece onto the bottoms of the trousers' legs."
+What Captain Joe means is that the houses in the village are all
+built beside three roads running longitudinally.  There is the
+"main road" and the "upper road"--or "Woodchuck Lane," just as you
+prefer--and the "lower road," otherwise known as "Bassett's Holler."
+
+The "upper road" is sometimes called the "depot road," because the
+railroad station is conveniently located thereon--convenient for
+the railroad, that is--the station being a full mile from Simmons's
+"general store," which is considered the center of the town.  The
+upper road enters the main road at the corner by the store, and
+there also are the Methodist meetinghouse and the schoolhouse.  The
+townhall is in the hollow farther on.  Then comes the big hill--
+"Whittaker's Hill"--and from the top of this hill you can, on a
+clear day, see for miles across the salt marshes and over the bay
+to the eastward, and west as far as the church steeple in Orham.
+If there happens to be a fog, with a strong easterly wind, you
+cannot see the marshes or the bay, but you can smell them, wet and
+salty and sweet.  It is a smell that the born Bayporter never
+forgets, but carries with him in memory wherever he goes; and that,
+in the palmy days of the merchant marine, was likely, to be far,
+for every male baby in the village was born with web feet, so
+people said, and was predestined to be a sailor.
+
+When Heman Atkins came back from the South Seas early in the '60's,
+"rich as dock mud," though still a young man, he promptly tore down
+his father's old house, which stood on the crest of Whittaker's
+Hill, and built in its place a big imposing residence.  It was by
+far the finest house in Bayport, and Heman made it finer as the
+years passed.  There were imitation brownstone pillars supporting
+its front porch, iron dogs and scroll work iron benches bordering
+its front walk, and a pair of stone urns, in summer filled with
+flowers, beside its big iron front gate.
+
+Heman was our leading citizen, our representative in Washington,
+and the town's philanthropist.  He gave the Atkins memorial window
+and the Atkins tower clock to the Methodist Church.  The Atkins
+town pump, also his gift, stood before the townhall.  The Atkins
+portrait in the Bayport Ladies' Library was much admired; and the
+size of the Atkins fortune was the principal subject of conversation
+at sewing circle, at the table of "the perfect boarding house,"
+around the stove in Simmons's store, or wherever Bayporters were
+used to gather.  We never exactly worshipped Heman Atkins, perhaps,
+but we figuratively doffed our hats when his name was mentioned.
+
+The "Cy Whittaker place" faced the Atkins estate from the opposite
+side of the main road, but it was the general opinion that it ought
+to be ashamed to face it.  Almost everybody called it "the Cy
+Whittaker place," although some of the younger set spoke of it as
+the "Sea Sight House."  It was a big, old-fashioned dwelling,
+gambrel-roofed and brown and dilapidated.  Originally it had
+enjoyed the dignified seclusion afforded by a white picket fence
+with square gateposts, and the path to its seldom-used front door
+had been guarded by rigid lines of box hedge.  This, however, was
+years ago, before the second Captain Cy Whittaker died, and before
+the Howes family turned it into the "Sea Sight House," a hotel for
+summer boarders.
+
+The Howeses "improved" the house and grounds.  They tore down the
+picket fence, uprooted the box hedges, hung a sign over the sacred
+front door, and built a wide veranda under the parlor windows.
+
+They took boarders for five consecutive summers; then they gave up
+the unprofitable undertaking, returned to Concord, New Hampshire,
+their native city, and left the Cy Whittaker place to bear the
+ravages of Bayport winters and Bayport small boys as best it might.
+
+For years it stood empty.  The weeds grew high about its foundations;
+the sparrows built nests behind such of its shutters as had not been
+ripped from their hinges by February no'theasters; its roof grew
+bald in spots as the shingles loosened and were blown away; the
+swallows flew in and out of its stone-broken windowpanes.  Year by
+year it became more of a disgrace in the eyes of Bayport's neat and
+thrifty inhabitants--for neat and thrifty we are, if we do say it.
+The selectmen would have liked to tear it down, but they could not,
+because it was private property, having been purchased from the
+Howes heirs by the third Cy Whittaker, Captain Cy's only son, who
+ran away to sea when he was sixteen years old, and was disinherited
+and cast off by the proud old skipper in consequence.  Each March,
+Asaph Tidditt, in his official capacity as town clerk, had been
+accustomed to receive an envelope with a South American postmark,
+and in that envelope was a draft on a Boston banking house for the
+sum due as taxes on the "Cy Whittaker place."  The drafts were
+signed "Cyrus M. Whittaker."
+
+But this particular year--the year in which this chronicle begins--
+no draft had been received.  Asaph waited a few weeks and then
+wrote to the address indicated by the postmark.  His letter was
+unanswered.  The taxes were due in March and it was now May.  Mr.
+Tidditt wrote again; then he laid the case before the board of
+selectmen, and Captain Eben Salters, chairman of that august body,
+also wrote.  But even Captain Eben's authoritative demand was
+ignored.  Next to the harbor appropriation, the question of what
+should be done about the "Cy Whittaker place" filled Bayport's
+thoughts that spring.  No one, however, had supposed that the
+Honorable Heman might wish to buy it.  Bailey Bangs's surprise was
+excusable.
+
+"What in the world," repeated Bailey, "does Heman want of a shebang
+like that?  Ain't he got enough already?"
+
+His friend shook his head.
+
+"'Pears not," he said.  "I judge it's this way, Bailey: Heman, he's
+a proud man--"
+
+"Well, ain't he got a right to be proud?" broke in Mr. Bangs,
+hastening to resent any criticism of the popular idol.  "Cal'late
+you and me'd be proud if we was able to carry as much sail as he
+does, wouldn't we?"
+
+"Yes, I guess like we would.  But you needn't get red in the face
+and strain your biler just because I said that.  I ain't finding
+fault with Heman; I'm only tellin' you.  He's proud, as I said, and
+his wife--"
+
+"She's dead this four year.  What are you resurrectin' her for?"
+
+"Land! you're peppery as a West Injy omelet this mornin'.  Let me
+alone till I've finished.  His wife, when she was alive, she was
+proud, too.  And his daughter, Alicia, she's eight year old now,
+and by and by she'll be grown up into a high-toned young woman.
+Well, Heman is fur-sighted, and I s'pose likely he's thinkin' of
+the days when there'll be young rich fellers--senators and--and--
+well, counts and lords, maybe--cruisin' down here courtin' her.  By
+that time the Whittaker place'll be a worse disgrace than 'tis now.
+I presume he don't want those swells to sit on his front piazza and
+see the crows buildin' nests in the ruins acrost the road.  So--"
+
+"Crows!  Did you ever see a crow build a nest in a house?  I never
+did!"
+
+"Oh, belay!  Crows or canary birds, what difference does it make?
+SOMETHIN' 'll nest there, if it's only A'nt Sophrony Hallett's
+hens.  So Heman he writes to the board, askin' if the taxes is
+paid, if we've heard any reason why they ain't paid, and what we're
+goin' to do about it.  If there's a sale for taxes he wants to be
+fust bidder.  Then, when the place is his, he can tear down or
+rebuild, just as he sees fit.  See?"
+
+"Yes, I see.  Well, I feel about that the way Joe Dimick felt when
+he heard the doctor had told Elviry Pepper she must stop singin' in
+the choir or lose her voice altogether.  'Whichever happens 'll be
+an improvement,' says Cap'n Joe; and whatever Heman does 'll help
+the Whittaker place.  What did you decide at the meetin'?"
+
+"Nothin'.  We can't decide yet.  We ain't sure about the law and we
+want to wait a spell, anyhow.  But I know how 'twill end:  Atkins
+'ll get the place.  He always gets what he wants, Heman does."
+
+Bailey turned and looked back at the old house, forlorn amidst its
+huddle of blackberry briers and weeds, and with the ubiquitous
+"silver-leaf" saplings springing up in clusters everywhere about it
+and closing in on its defenseless walls like squads of victorious
+soldiery making the final charge upon a conquered fort.
+
+"Well," sighed Mr. Bangs, "so that 'll be the end of the old
+Whittaker place, hey?  Sho! things change in a feller's lifetime,
+don't they?  You and me can remember, Ase, when Cap'n Cy Whittaker
+was one of the biggest men we had in this town.  So was his dad
+afore him, the Cap'n Cy that built the house.  I wonder the looks
+of things here now don't bring them two up out of their graves.  Do
+you remember young Cy--'Whit' we used to call him--or 'Reddy Whit,'
+'count of his red hair?  I don't know's you do, though; guess you'd
+gone to sea when he run away from home."
+
+Mr. Tidditt shook his head.
+
+"No, no!" he said.  "I was to home that year.  Remember 'Whit'?
+Well, I should say I did.  He was a holy terror--yes, sir!  Wan't
+no monkey shines or didos cut up in this town that young Cy wan't
+into.  Fur's that goes, you and me was in 'em, too, Bailey.  We was
+all holy terrors then.  Young ones nowadays ain't got the spunk we
+used to have."
+
+His friend chuckled.
+
+"That's so," he declared.  "That's so.  Whit was a good-hearted
+boy, too, but full of the Old Scratch and as sot in his ways as his
+dad, and if Cap'n Cy wan't sot, then there ain't no sotness.
+'You'll go to college and be a parson,' says the Cap'n.  'I'll go
+to sea and be a sailor, same as you done,' says Whit.  And he did,
+too; run away one night, took the packet to Boston, and shipped
+aboard an Australian clipper.  Cap'n Cy didn't go after him to
+fetch him home.  No, sir--ee! not a fetch.  Sent him a letter plumb
+to Melbourne and, says he:  'You've made your bed; now lay in it.
+Don't you never dast to come back to me or your ma,' he says.  And
+Whit didn't, he wan't that kind."
+
+"Pretty nigh killed the old lady--Whit's ma--that did," mused
+Asaph.  "She died a little spell afterwards.  And the old man pined
+away, too, but he never give in or asked the boy to come back.
+Stubborn as all get-out to the end, he was, and willed the place,
+all he had left, to them Howes folks.  And a nice mess THEY made of
+it.  Young Cy, he--"
+
+"Young Cy!" interrupted Bailey.  "We're always callin' him 'young
+Cy,' and yet, when you come to think of it, he must be pretty nigh
+fifty-five now; 'most as old as you and I be.  Wonder if he'll ever
+come back here."
+
+"You bet he won't!" was the oracular reply.  "You bet he won't!
+From what I hear he got to be a sea cap'n himself and settled down
+there in Buenos Ayres.  He's made all kinds of money, they say, out
+of hides and such.  What he ever bought his dad's old place for,
+_I_ can't see.  He'll never come back to these common, one-horse
+latitudes, now you mark my word on that!"
+
+It was a prophecy Mr. Tidditt was accustomed to make each year to
+the crowd at the post office, when the receipt for the draft for
+taxes caused him to wax reminiscent.  The younger generation here
+in Bayport regard their town clerk as something of an oracle, and
+this regard has made Asaph a trifle vain and positive.
+
+Bailey chuckled again.
+
+"We WAS a spunky, dare-devil lot in the old days, wan't we, Ase?"
+he said.  "Spunk was kind of born in us, as you might say.  And
+even now we're--"
+
+The Atkins tower clock boomed once--a solemn, dignified stroke.
+Mr. Tidditt and his companion started and looked at each other.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" gasped Asaph.  "Is that half past twelve?"
+
+Mr. Bangs pulled a big worn silver watch from his pocket and
+glanced at the dial.
+
+"It is!" he moaned.  "As sure's you're born, it is!  We've kept
+Ketury's dinner waitin' twenty minutes.  You and me are in for it
+now, Ase Tidditt!  Twenty minutes late!  She'll skin us alive."
+
+Mr. Tidditt did not pause to answer, but plunged headlong down the
+hill at a race-horse gait, Bailey pounding at his heels.  For "born
+dare-devils," self-confessed, they were a nervous and apprehensive
+pair.
+
+The "perfect boarding house" is situated a quarter of a mile beyond
+"Whittaker's Hill," nearly opposite the Salters homestead.  The
+sign, hung on the pole by the front gate, reads, "Bayport Hotel.
+Bailey Bangs, Proprietor," but no one except the stranger in
+Bayport accepts that sign seriously.  When, owing to an unexpected
+change in the administration at Washington, Mr. Bangs was obliged
+to relinquish his position as our village postmaster, his wife came
+to the rescue with the proposal that they open a boarding house.
+"'Whatsoe'er you find to do,' quoted Keturah at sewing-circle
+meeting, 'do it then with all your might!'  That's a good Sabbath-
+school hymn tune and it's good sense besides.  I intend to make it
+my life work to run just as complete a--a eatin' and lodgin'
+establishment as I can.  If, when I'm laid to rest, they can put
+onto my gravestone, 'She run the perfect boardin' house,' I'LL be
+satisfied."
+
+This remark, and subsequent similar declarations, were widely
+quoted, and, therefore, though casual visitors may refer to the
+"Bayport Hotel," to us natives the Bangs residence is always
+"Keturah's perfect boarding house."  As for the sign's affirmation
+of Mr. Bangs proprietorship, that is considered the cream of the
+joke.  The idea of meek, bald-headed little Bailey posing as
+proprietor of anything while his wife is on deck, tickles Bayport's
+sense of humor.
+
+The perspiring delinquents panted into the yard of the perfect
+boarding house and tremblingly opened the door leading to the
+dining room.  Dinner was well under way, and Mrs. Bangs, enthroned
+at the end of the long table, behind the silver-plated teapot, was
+waiting to receive them.  The silence was appalling.
+
+"Sorry to be a little behindhand, Ketury," stammered Asaph hurriedly.
+"Town affairs are important, of course, and can't be neglected.  I--"
+
+"Yes, yes; that's so, Ketury," cut in Mr. Bangs.
+
+"You see--"
+
+"Hum!  Yes, I see."  Keturah's tone was several degrees below
+freezing.  "Hum!  I s'pose 'twas town affairs kept you, too, hey?"
+
+"Well, well--er--not exactly, as you might say, but--"  Bailey
+squeezed himself into the armchair at the end of the table opposite
+his wife, the end which, with sarcasm not the less keen for being
+unintentional, was called the "head."  "Not exactly town affairs,
+'twan't that kept me, Ketury, but--My! don't them cod cheeks smell
+good?  You always could cook cod cheeks, if I do say it."
+
+The compliment was wasted.  Mrs. Bangs had a sermon to deliver, and
+its text was not "cod cheeks."
+
+"Bailey Bangs," she began, "when I was brought to realize that my
+husband, although apparently an able-bodied man, couldn't support
+me as I'd been used to be supported, and when I was forced to
+support HIM by keepin' boarders, I says, 'If there's one thing that
+my house shall stand for it's punctual promptness at meal times.  I
+say nothing,' I says, 'about the inconvenience of gettin' on with
+only one hired help when we ought to have three.  If Providence, in
+its unscrutable wisdom,' I says, 'has seen fit to lay this burden
+onto me, the burden of a household of boarders and a husband whom--'"
+
+And just then the power referred to by Mrs. Bangs intervened to
+spare her husband the remainder of the preachment.  From the
+driveway of the yard, beside the dining-room windows, came the
+rattle of wheels and the tramp of a horse's feet.  Mrs. Matilda
+Tripp, who sat nearest the windows, on that side, rose and peered
+out.
+
+"It's the depot wagon, Ketury," she said.  "There's somebody inside
+it.  I wonder if they're comin' here."
+
+"Transients" were almost unknown quantities at the Bayport Hotel
+in May.  Consequently, all the boarders and the landlady herself
+crowded to the windows.  The "depot wagon" had drawn up by the
+steps, and Gabe Lumley, the driver, had descended from his seat and
+was doing his best to open the door of the ancient vehicle.  It
+stuck, of course; the doors of all depot wagons stick.
+
+"Hold on a shake!" commanded some one inside the carriage.  "Wait
+till I get a purchase on her.  Now, then!  All hands to the ropes!
+Heave--ho!  THERE she comes!"
+
+The door flew back with a bang.  A man sprang out upon the lower
+step of the porch.  The eye of every inmate of the perfect boarding
+house was on him.  Even the "hired help" peered from the kitchen
+door.
+
+"He's a stranger," whispered Mrs. Tripp.  "I never see him before,
+did you, Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+The town clerk did not answer.  He was staring at the depot wagon's
+passenger, staring with a face the interested expression of which
+was changing to that of surprise and amazed incredulity.  Mrs.
+Tripp turned to Mr. Bangs; he also was staring, open-mouthed.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" gasped Asaph, under his breath.  "Godfrey--
+SCISSORS!  Bailey, I--I believe--I swan to man, I believe--"
+
+"Ase Tidditt!" exclaimed Mr. Bangs, "am I goin' looney, or is that--
+is that--"
+
+Neither finished his sentence.  There are times when language seems
+so pitifully inadequate.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE WANDERER'S RETURN
+
+
+Here in Bayport, nowadays, the collecting of "antiques" is a
+favorite amusement of our summer visitors.  Those of us who were
+fortunate enough to possess a set of nicked blue dishes, a warming
+pan, or a tall clock with wooden wheels, have long ago parted with
+these treasures for considerable sums.  Oddly enough Sylvanus
+Cahoon has profited most by this craze.  Sylvanus used to be judged
+the unluckiest man in town; of late this judgment has been revised.
+
+It was Sylvanus who, confined to the house by an illness brought on
+by eating too much "sugar cake" at a free sociable given by the
+Methodist Society, arose in the night and drank copiously of what
+he supposed to be the medicine left by the doctor.  It happened to
+be water-bug poison, and Sylvanus was nearly killed by the dose.
+He is reported as having admitted that he "didn't mind dyin' so
+much, but hated to die such a dum mean death."
+
+While convalescent he took to smoking in bed and was burned out of
+house and home in consequence.  Then it was that his kind-hearted
+fellow citizens donated, for the furnishing of his new residence,
+all the cast-off bits of furniture and odds and ends from their
+garrets.  "Charity," observed Captain Josiah Dimick at the time,
+"begins at home with us Bayporters, and it generally begins up
+attic, that bein' nighest to heaven."
+
+Later Sylvanus sold most of the donations as "antiques" and made
+money enough therefrom to buy a new plush parlor set.  Miss
+Angeline Phinney never called on the Cahoons after that without
+making her appearance at the front door.  "I'll get some good out
+of that plush sofy I helped to pay for," declared Angeline, "if
+it's only to wear it out by settin' on it."
+
+There are two "antiques" in Bayport which have not yet been sold or
+even bid for.  One is Gabe Lumley's "depot wagon," and the other is
+"Dan'l Webster," the horse which draws it.  Both are very ancient,
+sadly in need of upholstery, and jerky of locomotion.
+
+Gabe was, as usual, waiting at the station when the down train
+arrived, on the Tuesday--or Wednesday--of the selectmen's meeting.
+The train was due, according to the time-table, at eleven forty-
+five.  This time-table, and the signboard of the "Bayport Hotel"
+are the only bits of humorous literature peculiar to our village,
+unless we add the political editorials of the Bayport Breeze.
+
+So, at eleven forty-five, Mr. Lumley was serenely dozing on the
+baggage truck, which he had wheeled to the sunny side of the
+platform.  At five minutes past twelve, he yawned, stretched, and
+looked at his watch.  Then, rolling off the truck, he strolled to
+the edge of the platform and spoke authoritatively to "Dan'l
+Webster."
+
+"Hi there! stand still!" commanded Mr. Lumley.
+
+Standing still being Dan'l's long suit, the order was obeyed.
+Gabe then loafed to the door of the station and accosted the depot
+master, who was nodding in his chair beside the telegraph instrument.
+
+"Where is she now, Ed?" asked Mr. Lumley, referring to the train.
+
+"Just left South Harniss.  Be here pretty soon.  What's your hurry?
+Expectin' anybody?"
+
+"Naw; nobody that I know of, special.  Sophrony Hallett's gone to
+Ostable, but she won't be back till to-morrow I cal'late.  Hello!
+there she whistles now."
+
+Needless to say it was the train, not the widow Hallett, that had
+whistled.  The depot master rose from his chair.  A yellow dog, his
+property, scrambled from beneath it, and rushing out of the door
+and to the farther end of the platform, barked furiously.  Cephas
+Baker, who lives across the road from the depot, slouched down to
+his front gate.  His wife opened the door of her kitchen and stood
+there, her wet arms wrapped in her apron.  The five Baker children
+tore round the corner of the house, over the back fence, and lined
+up, whooping joyously, on the platform.  A cloud of white smoke
+billowed above the clump of cedars at the bend of the track.  Then
+the locomotive rounded the curve and bore down upon the station.
+
+"Stand still, I tell you!" shouted Gabe, addressing the horse.
+
+Dan'l Webster opened one eye, closed it and relapsed into slumber.
+
+The train, a combination baggage car and smoker, two freight cars
+and a passenger coach, rolled ponderously alongside the platform.
+From the open door of the baggage car were tossed the mail sack and
+two express packages.  The conductor stepped from the passenger
+coach.  Following him came briskly a short, thickset man with a
+reddish-gray beard and grayish-red hair.
+
+"Goin' down to the village, Mister?" inquired Mr. Lumley.  "Carriage
+right here."
+
+The stranger inspected the driver of the depot wagon, inspected him
+deliberately from top to toe.  Then he said:
+
+"Down to the village?  Why, yes, I wouldn't wonder.  Say! you're a
+Lumley, ain't you?"
+
+"Why! why--yes, I be!  How'd you know that?  Ain't ever seen you
+afore, have I?"
+
+"Guess not," with a quiet chuckle.  "I've never seen you, either,
+but I've seen your nose.  I'd know a Lumley nose if I run across it
+in China."
+
+The possessor of the "Lumley nose" rubbed that organ in a bewildered
+fashion.  Recovering in a measure he laughed, rather half-heartedly,
+and begged to know if the trunk, then being unloaded from the
+baggage car, belonged to his prospective passenger.  As the answer
+was an affirmative nod, he secured the trunk check and departed,
+still rubbing his nose.
+
+When he returned, with the trunk on the truck, he found the
+stranger, with his hands in his pockets, standing before Dan'l
+Webster and gazing at that animal with an expression of acute
+interest.
+
+"Is this your--horse?" demanded the newcomer, pausing before the
+final word of his question.
+
+"It's so cal'lated to be," replied Gabe, with dignity.
+
+"Hum!  Does he work nights?"
+
+"Work nights?  No, course he don't!"
+
+"Oh, all right!  Then you can wake him up with a clear conscience.
+I didn't know but he needed the sleep.  What's his record?"
+
+"Record?"
+
+"Yup; his trottin' record.  Anybody can see he's built for speed,
+narrow in the beam and sharp fore and aft.  Shall I get aboard the
+barouche?"
+
+The depot master, who was on hand to help with the trunk, grinned
+broadly.  Mr. Lumley sulkily made answer that his passenger might
+get aboard if he wanted to.  Apparently he wanted to, for he sprang
+into the depot wagon with a bounce that made the old vehicle rock
+on its springs.
+
+"Jerushy!" he exclaimed, "she rolls some, don't she?  Never mind,
+MY ballast 'll keep her on an even keel.  Trunk made fast astern?
+All right!  Say! you might furl some of this spare canvas so's I
+can take an observation as we go along.  Don't go so fast that the
+scenery gets blurred, will you?  It's been some time since I made
+this cruise, and I'd rather like to keep a lookout."
+
+The driver "furled the canvas"--that is, he rolled up the curtains
+at the sides of the carryall.  Then he climbed to the front seat
+and took up the reins.
+
+"Git up!" he shouted savagely.  Dan'l Webster did not move.
+
+The passenger offered a suggestion.  "Why don't you try hangin' an
+alarm clock in his fore-riggin'?" he asked.
+
+"Haw! haw!" roared the depot master.
+
+"Git up, you--you lump!" bellowed the harassed Mr. Lumley.  Dan'l
+pricked up one ear, then a hoof, and slowly got under way.  As the
+equipage passed the Baker homestead, the whole family was clustered
+about the gate, staring at the occupant of the wagon.  The stare
+was returned.
+
+"Who lives in there?" demanded the stranger.  "Who are those folks?"
+
+"Ceph Baker's tribe," was the sullen answer.
+
+"Baker, hey?  Humph! new folks, I presume likely.  Used to be Seth
+Snow's house, that did.  Where'd Seth go to?"
+
+Gabe grunted that he did not know.  He believed Mr. Snow was dead,
+had died years before.
+
+"Humph! dead, hey?  Then I know where he went.  Do you ever smoke--
+or does drivin' this horse make you too nervous?"
+
+Mr. Lumley thawed a bit at the sight of the proffered cigar.  He
+admitted that he smoked occasionally and that he guessed "'twouldn't
+interfere with the drivin' none."
+
+"Good enough! then we'll light up.  I can talk better if I'm under
+a head of steam.  There's a new house; who built that?"
+
+The "new" house was fifteen years old, but Gabe gave the name of
+its builder.  Then, thinking that the catechising had been
+altogether too one-sided, he ventured an observation of his own.
+
+"This is a pretty good cigar, Mister," he said.  "Smokes like a
+Snowflake."
+
+"Like a what?"
+
+"Like a Snowflake.  That's about the best straight five center you
+can get around here.  Simmons used to keep 'em, but the drummer's
+cart ain't called lately and he's all out."
+
+"That's a shame.  I told the train boy that these smoked like
+somethin', but I didn't know what to call it.  Much obliged to you.
+Here's another; put it in your pocket.  Oh, no thanks; pleasure's
+all mine.  Who's Simmons?"
+
+Gabe described the Simmons general store and its proprietor.  Then
+he added:
+
+"I was noticin' that trunk of yours, mister; it's all plastered
+over with labels, ain't it?  Cal'late that trunk's done some
+travelin', hey?"
+
+"Think so, do you?"
+
+"Yup.  Gee! I'd like to travel myself.  But no! I got to stay all
+my life in this dead 'n' alive hole.  I wanted to go to Boston and
+clerk in a store, but the old man put his foot down, and here I've
+stuck ever sence.  Git up, Dan'l!  What's the matter with you?"
+
+The passenger smiled, but there was a dreamy look in his gray eyes.
+
+"Don't find fault, son," he said.  "There's worse places in the
+world than old Bayport, and worse judgment than mindin' your dad.
+Don't forget that or you may be sorry for it some day."  He sniffed
+eagerly.  "Ah!" he exclaimed, "just smell that, will you?  Ain't
+that FINE?"
+
+"Humph! that's the flats.  You can smell 'em any time when the
+tide's out and the wind's right.  You see, the tide goes out pretty
+fur here and--"
+
+"Don't I know it?  Son, I've been waitin' thirty odd year for that
+smell and here 'tis at last.  Drive slow and let me fill up on it.
+Just blow that--that Snowstorm of yours the other way for a spell,
+won't you?  Thanks."
+
+The request to be driven slow was so superfluous that Mr. Lumley
+paid no attention to it.  He puffed industriously at the Snowflake
+and watched his companion, who, leaning forward on the seat, was
+gazing out at the town and the bay beyond it.  The "depot hill" is
+not as high as Whittaker's Hill, but the view is almost as
+extensive.
+
+"Excuse me, Mister," observed Gabe, after an interval, "but you
+ain't said where you're goin'."
+
+The passenger came out of his day dream with a start.
+
+"Why, that's right!" he exclaimed.  "So I haven't!  Well, now,
+where would you go, if you was me?  Is there a hotel or tavern or
+somethin'?"
+
+"Yup.  There's the Bayport Hotel.  'Tain't exactly a hotel, neither.
+We call it the perfect boardin' house 'round here.  You see--"
+
+He proceeded to tell the story of "the perfect boarding house."
+His listener seemed greatly interested, and although he laughed,
+did not interrupt until the tale was ended.
+
+"So!" he said, chuckling.  "Bailey Bangs, hey?  Stub Bangs!  Well,
+well!  And he married Ketury Payson!  How in time did he ever find
+spunk enough to propose?  And Ketury runs the perfect boardin'
+house!  Well, that ought to be job enough for one woman.  She runs
+Bailey, too, on the side, I s'pose?"
+
+"You bet you!  He don't dast to say 'boo' to a chicken when she's
+'round.  I say, Mister!  I don't know's I know your name, do I?  I
+judge you've been here afore so--"
+
+"Yes, I've been here before.  Whose is that big place up there
+across our bows?  The one with the cupola on the main truck?"
+
+"That, sir," said Mr. Lumley, oratorically, "belongs to the
+Honorable Heman G. Atkins, and it's probably the finest in this
+county.  Heman is our representative in Washin'ton, and--  Did you
+say anything?"
+
+The passenger had said something, but he did not repeat it.  He was
+leaning from the carriage and gazing steadily up the slope ahead.
+And his gaze, strange to say, was not directed at the imposing
+Atkins estate, but at its opposite neighbor, the old "Cy Whittaker
+place."
+
+Slowly, laboriously, Dan'l Webster mounted the hill.  At the crest
+he would have paused to take breath, but the driver would not let
+him.
+
+"Git along, you!" he commanded, flapping the reins.
+
+And then Mr. Lumley suffered the shock of a surprise.  The hitherto
+cool and self-possessed occupant of the rear seat seemed very much
+excited.  His big red hand clasped Mr. Lumley's over the reins, and
+Dan'l was brought to an abrupt standstill.
+
+"Heave to!" he ordered, sharply, and the tone was that of one who
+has given many orders and expects them to be obeyed.  "Belay!
+Whoa, there!  Great land of love! look at that! LOOK at it!  Who
+did that?"
+
+The mate to the big red hand pointed to the front door of the
+Whittaker place.  Gabe was alarmed.
+
+"Done what?  Done which?" he gasped.  "What you talkin' about?
+There ain't nobody lives in there.  That house has been empty for--"
+
+"Where's the front fence?" demanded the excited passenger.  "What's
+become of the hedge?  And who put up that--that darned piazza?"
+
+The piazza had been where it now was almost since Mr. Lumley could
+remember.  He hastened to reply that he didn't know; he wasn't
+sure; he presumed likely 'twas "them New Hampshire Howeses," when
+they ran a summer boarding house.
+
+The stranger drew a long breath.  "Well, of all the--" he began.
+Then he choked, hesitated, and ordered his driver to heave ahead
+and run alongside the hotel as quick as the Almighty would let him.
+Gabe hastened to obey.  He was now absolutely certain that his
+companion was an escaped lunatic, and the sooner another keeper was
+appointed the better.  The remainder of the trip was made in
+silence.
+
+Mrs. Bangs opened the door of the perfect boarding house and stood
+majestically waiting to receive the prospective guest.  Over her
+shoulders peered the faces of the boarders.
+
+"Good afternoon," began the landlady.  "I presume likely you would
+like to--"
+
+She was interrupted.  The newcomer turned toward her and extended
+his hand.
+
+"Hello, Ketury!" he said.  "I ain't seen you sence you wore your
+hair up, but you're just as good-lookin' as ever.  And ain't that
+Bailey?  Yes, 'tis, and Asaph, too!  How are you, boys?  Shake!"
+
+Mr. Bangs and his chum, the town clerk, had emerged from the
+doorway.  Their mouths and eyes were wide open and they seemed to
+be suffering from a sort of paralysis.
+
+"Well?  What's the matter with you?" demanded the arrival.  "Ain't
+too stuck up to shake hands after all these years, are you?"
+
+Bailey's mouth closed in order that it's possessor might swallow.
+Then it slowly reopened.
+
+"I swan to man!" he ejaculated.  "WELL! I swan to man!  I--I b'lieve
+you're Cy Whittaker!"
+
+"Course I am.  Have to dye my carrot top if I want to play anybody
+else.  But look here, boys, you answer my question: who had the
+cheek to rig up that blasted piazza on my house?  It starts to come
+down to-morrow mornin'!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+"FIXIN' OVER"
+
+
+Miss Angeline Phinney made no less than nine calls that afternoon.
+Before bedtime it was known, from the last house in Woodchuck Lane
+to the fish shanties at West Bayport, that "young Cy" Whittaker had
+come back; that he had come back "for good"; that he was staying
+temporarily at the perfect boarding house; that he was "awful well
+off"--having made lots of money down in South America; that he
+intended to "fix over" the Whittaker place, and that it was to be
+fixed over, not in a modern manner, with plush parlor sets--a la
+Sylvanus Cahoon--nor with onyx tables and blue and gold chairs like
+those adorning the Atkins mansion.  It was to be, as near as
+possible, a reproduction of what it had been in the time of the
+late "Cap'n Cy," young Cy's father.
+
+"_I_ think he's out of his head," declared Miss Phinney, in
+confidence, to each of the nine females whom she favored with her
+calls.  "Not crazy, you understand, but sort of touched in the
+upper story.  I says so to Matildy Tripp, said it right out, too:
+'Matildy,' I says, 'he's got a screw loose up aloft just as sure as
+you're a born woman!'  'What makes you think so?' says she.
+'Well,' says I, 'do you s'pose anybody that wan't foolish would be
+for spendin' good money on an old house to make it OLDER?' I says.
+Goin' to tear down the piazza the fust thing!  Perfectly good
+piazza that cost ninety-eight dollars and sixty cents to build; I
+know, because I see the bill when the Howeses had it done.  And
+he's goin' to set out box hedges, somethin' that ain't been the
+style in this town sence Congressman Atkins pulled up his.  'What
+in the world, Cap'n Whittaker,' says I to him, 'do you want of box
+hedges?  Homely and stiff and funeral lookin'!  I might have 'em
+around my grave in the buryin' ground,' I says, 'but nowheres
+else.'  'All right, Angie,' says he, 'you shall have 'em there;
+I'll cut some slips purpose for you.  It'll be a pleasure,' he
+says.  Now ain't that crazy talk for a grown man?"
+
+Miss Phinney was not the only one in our village to question
+Captain Cy Whittaker's sanity during the next few months.  The
+majority of our people didn't understand him at all.  He was
+generally liked, for although he had money, he did not put on airs,
+but he had his own way of doing things, and they were not Bayport
+ways.
+
+True to his promise, he had a squad of carpenters busy, on the day
+following his arrival, tearing down the loathed piazza.  These
+carpenters, and more, were kept busy throughout that entire spring
+and well into the summer.  Then came painters and gardeners.  The
+piazza disappeared; a new picket fence, exactly like the old one
+torn down by the Howeses, was erected; new shutters were hung; new
+windowpanes were set; the roof was newly shingled.  Captain Cy,
+Senior, had, in his day, cherished a New England fondness for white
+and green paint; therefore the new fence was white and the house
+was white and the blinds a brilliant green.  Rows of box hedge, the
+plants brought from Boston, were set out on each side of the front
+walk.  The Howes front-door bell--a clamorous gong--was removed,
+and a glass knob attached to a spring bell of the old-fashioned
+"jingle" variety took its place.  An old-fashioned flower garden--
+Cap'n Cy's mother had loved posies--was laid out on the west lawn
+beyond the pear trees.  All these changes the captain superintended;
+when they were complete he turned his attention to interior
+decoration.
+
+And now Captain Cy proceeded to, literally, astonish the natives.
+Among the Howes "improvements" were gilt wall papers and modern
+furniture for the lower floor of the house.  The furniture they had
+taken with them; the wall paper had perforce been left behind.  And
+the captain had every scrap of that paper stripped from the walls,
+and the latter re-covered with quaint, ugly, old-fashioned patterns,
+stripes and roses and flowered sprays with impossible birds flitting
+among them.  The Bassett decorators has pasted the gilt improvement
+over the old Whittaker paper, and it was the Whittaker paper that
+the captain did his best to match, sending samples here, there, and
+everywhere in the effort.  Then, upon the walls he hung old-fashioned
+pictures, such as Bayport dwellers had long ago relegated to their
+attics, pictures like "From Shore to Shore," "Christian Viewing the
+City Beautiful," and "Signing the Declaration."  To these he added,
+bringing them from the crowded garret of the homestead, oil paintings
+of ships commanded by his father and grandfather, and family
+portraits, executed--which is a peculiarly fitting word--by deceased
+local artists in oil and crayon.
+
+He boarded up the fireplace in the sitting room and installed a
+base-burner stove, resurrected from the tinsmith's barn.  He
+purchased a full "haircloth set" of parlor furniture from old Mrs.
+Penniman, who never had been known to sell any of her hoarded
+belongings before, even to the "antiquers," and wouldn't have done
+so now, had it not been that the captain's offer was too princely
+to be real, and the old lady feared she might be dreaming and would
+wake up before she received the money.  And from Trumet to Ostable
+he journeyed, buying a chair here and a table there, braided rag
+mats from this one, and corded bedsteads and "rising sun" quilts
+from that.  At least half of Bayport believed with Gabe Lumley and
+Miss Phinney that, if Captain Cy had not escaped from a home for
+the insane, he was a likely candidate for such an institution.
+
+At the table of the perfect boarding house the captain was not
+inclined to be communicative regarding his reasons and his
+intentions.  He was a prime favorite there, praising Keturah's
+cooking, joking with Angeline concerning what he was pleased to call
+her "giddy" manner of dressing and wearing "side curls," and telling
+yarns of South American dress and behavior, which would probably
+have shocked Mrs. Tripp--she having recently left the Methodist
+church to join the "Come-Outers," because the Sunday services of the
+former were, with the organ and a paid choir, altogether "too
+play-actin'"--if they had not been so interesting, and if Captain Cy
+had not always concluded them with the observation:  "But there! you
+can't expect nothin' more from ignorant critters denied the
+privileges of congregational singin' and experience meetin's; hey,
+Matilda?"
+
+Mrs. Tripp would sigh and admit that she supposed not.
+
+"Only I do wish Mr. Daniels, OUR minister, might have a chance to
+preach over 'em, poor things!"
+
+"So do I," with a covert wink at Mrs. Bangs, who was a stanch
+adherent of the regular faith.  "South America 'd be just the place
+for him; ain't that so, Keturah?"
+
+He evaded all personal questions put to him by the boarders,
+explaining that he was renovating the old place just for fun--he
+always had had a gang of men working for him, and it seemed natural
+somehow.  But to the friends of his boyhood, Asaph Tidditt and
+Bailey Bangs, he told the real truth.
+
+"I swan to man!" exclaimed Bailey, almost tearfully, as the trio
+wandered through the rooms of the Cy Whittaker place, dodging paper
+hangers and plasterers; "I swan to man, Whit, if it don't almost
+seem as though I was a boy again.  Why! it's your dad's house come
+back alive, it is so!  Look at this settin' room!  Seem's if I
+could see him now a-settin' by that ere stove, and Mrs. Whittaker,
+your ma, over there a-sewin', and old Cap'n Cy--your granddad--
+snoozin' in that big armchair--  Why! why, whit! it's the very
+image of the chair he always set in!"
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud.
+
+"It's more n' that, Bailey," he said; "it's THE chair.  'Twas up
+attic, all busted and crippled, but I had it made over like new.
+And there's granddad's picture, lookin' just as I remember him--
+only he wan't quite so much of a frozen wax image as he's painted
+there.  I'm goin' to hang it where it always hung, over the
+mantelpiece, next to the lookin' glass.
+
+"Great land of love, boys!" he went on, "you fellers don't know
+what this means to me.  Many and many's the time I've had this old
+house and this old room in my mind.  I've seen 'em aboard ship in a
+howlin' gale off the Horn.  I've seen 'em down in Surinam of a hot
+night, when there wan't a breath scurcely and the Caribs went
+around dressed in a handkerchief and a paper cigar, and it made you
+wish you could.  I've seen 'em--but there! every time I've seen 'em
+I've swore that some day I'd come back and LIVE 'em, and now, by
+the big dipper! here I am.  Oh, I tell you, chummies, you want to
+be fired OUT of a home and out of a town to appreciate 'em!  Not
+that I blame the old man; he and I was too much alike to cruise in
+company.  But Bayport I was born in, and in the Bayport graveyard
+they can plant me when I'm ready for the scrap heap.  It's in the
+blood and--  Why, see here!  Don't I TALK like a Bayporter?"
+
+"You sartin do!" replied Asaph emphatically.
+
+"A body 'd think you'd been diggin' clams and pickin' cranberries
+in Bassett's Holler all your life long, to hear you."
+
+"You bet!  Well, that's pride; that's what that is.  I prided
+myself on hangin' to the Bayport twang through thick and thin.
+Among all the Spanish 'Carambas' and 'Madre de Dioses' it did me
+good to come out with a good old Yankee 'darn' once in a while.
+Kept me feelin' like a white man.  Oh, I'm a Whittaker!  _I_ know
+it.  And I've got all the Whittaker pig-headedness, I guess.  And
+because the old man--bless his heart, I say now--told me I
+shouldn't BE a Whittaker no more, nor live like a Whittaker, I
+simply swore up and down I would be one and come back here, when
+I'd made my pile, to heave anchor and stay one till I die.  Maybe
+that's foolishness, but it's me."
+
+He puffed vigorously at the pipe which had taken the place of the
+Snowflake cigar, and added:
+
+"Take this old settin' room--why, here it is; see!  Here's dad in
+his chair and ma in hers, and, if you go back far enough, granddad
+in his, just as you say, Bailey.  And here's me, a little shaver,
+squattin' on the floor by the stove, lookin' at the pictures in a
+heap of Godey's Lady's Book.  And says dad, 'Bos'n,' he says--he
+used to call me 'Bos'n' in those days--'Bos'n,' says dad, 'run down
+cellar and fetch me up a pitcher of cider, that's a good feller.'
+Yes, yes; that's this room as I've seen it in my mind ever since I
+tiptoed through it the night I run away, with my duds in a bundle
+under my arm.  Do you wonder I was fightin' mad when I saw what
+that Howes tribe had done to it?"
+
+Superintending the making over of the old home occupied most of
+Captain Cy's daylight time that summer.  His evenings were spent at
+Simmons's store.  We have no clubs in Bayport, strictly speaking,
+for the sewing circle and the Shakespeare Reading Society are
+exclusively feminine in membership; therefore Simmons's store is
+the gathering place of those males who are bachelors or widowers
+or who are sufficiently free from petticoat government to risk an
+occasional evening out.  Asaph Tidditt was a regular sojourner at
+the store.  Bailey Bangs, happening in to purchase fifty cents'
+worth of sugar or to have the molasses jug filled, lingered
+occasionally, but not often.  Captain Cy explained Bailey's absence
+in characteristic fashion.
+
+"Variety," observed the captain, "is the spice of life.  Bailey
+gets talk enough to home.  What's the use of his comin' up here to
+get more?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Josiah Dimick, with a grin, "we let him do
+some of the talkin' himself up here.  Down at the boardin' house
+Keturah and Angie Phinney do it all."
+
+"Yes.  Still, if a feller was condemned to live over a biler
+factory he wouldn't hanker to get a job IN it, would he?  When
+Bailey was a delegate to the Methodist Conference up in Boston, him
+and a crowd visited the deef and dumb asylum.  When 'twas time to
+go, he was missin', and they found him in the female ward lookin'
+at the inmates.  Said that the sight of all them women, every one
+of 'em not able to say a word, was the most wonderful thing ever he
+laid eyes on.  Said it made him feel kind of reverent and holy,
+almost as if he was in Paradise.  So Ase Tidditt says, anyway; it's
+his yarn."
+
+"'Tain't nuther, Cy Whittaker!" declared the indignant Asaph.  "If
+you expect I'm goin' to father all your lies, you're mistaken."
+
+The crowd at Simmons's discuss politics, as a general thing; state
+and national politics in their seasons, but county politics and
+local affairs always.  The question in Bayport that summer, aside
+from that of the harbor appropriation, was who should be hired as
+downstairs teacher.  Our schoolhouse is a two-story building, with
+a schoolroom on each floor.  The lower room, where the little tots
+begin with their "C--A--T Cat," and progress until they have
+mastered the Fourth Reader, is called " downstairs."  "Upstairs"
+is, of course, the second story, where the older children are
+taught.  To handle some of the "big boys" upstairs is a task for a
+healthy man, and such a one usually fills the teacher's position
+there.  Downstairs being, in theory, at least, less strenuous, is
+presided over by a woman.
+
+Miss Seabury, who had been downstairs teacher for one lively term,
+had resigned that spring in tears and humiliation.  Her scholars
+had enjoyed themselves and would have liked her to continue, but
+the committee and the townspeople thought otherwise.  There was a
+general feeling that enjoyment was not the whole aim of education.
+
+"Betty," said Captain Dimick, referring to his small granddaughter,
+"has done fust rate so fur's marksmanship and lung trainin' goes.
+I cal'late she can hit a nail head ten foot off with a spitball
+three times out of four, and she can whisper loud enough to be
+understood in Jericho.  But, not wishing to be unreasonable, still
+I should like to have her spell 'door' without an 'e.'  I've always
+been used to seein' it spelled that way and--well, I'm kind of old-
+fashioned, anyway."
+
+There was a difference of opinion concerning Miss Seabury's
+successor.  A portion of the townspeople were for hiring a graduate
+of the State Normal School, a young woman with modern training.
+Others, remembering that Miss Seabury had graduated from that
+school, were for proved ability and less up-to-date methods.  These
+latter had selected a candidate in the person of a Miss Phoebe
+Dawes, a resident of Wellmouth, and teacher of the Wellmouth
+"downstairs" for some years.  The arguments at Simmons's were hot
+ones.
+
+"What's the use of hirin' somebody from right next door to us, as
+you might say?" demanded Alpheus Smalley, clerk at the store.
+"Don't we want our teachin' to be abreast of the times, and is
+Wellmouth abreast of ANYthing?"
+
+"It's abreast of the bay, that's about all, I will give in,"
+replied Mr. Tidditt.  "But, the way I look at it, we need disCIPline
+more 'n anything else, and Phoebe Dawes has had the best disCIPline
+in her school, that's been known in these latitudes. Order?  Why,
+say!  Eben Salters told me that when he visited her room over there
+'twas so still that he didn't dast to rub one shoe against t'other,
+it sounded up so.  He had to set still and bear his chilblains best
+he could.  And POPULAR!  Why, when she hinted that she might leave
+in May, her scholars more 'n ha'f of 'em, bust out cryin'.  Now you
+hear me, I--"
+
+"It seems to me," put in Thaddeus Simpson, who ran the barber shop
+and was something of a politician, "it seems to me, fellers, that
+we'd better wait and hear what Mr. Atkins has to say in this
+matter.  I guess that's what the committee 'll do, anyhow.  We
+wouldn't want to go contrary to Heman, none of us; hey?"
+
+"Tad" Simpson was known to be deep in Congressman Atkins's
+confidence.  The mention of the great man's name was received with
+reverence and nods of approval.
+
+"That's right.  We mustn't do nothin' to displease Heman," was the
+general opinion.
+
+Captain Cy did not join the chorus.  He refilled his pipe and
+crossed his legs.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted.  "Heman Atkins seems to be--  Give me a match,
+Ase, won't you?  Thanks.  I understand there's a special prayer
+meetin' at the church to-morrow night, Alpheus.  What's it for?"
+
+"For?"  Mr. Smalley seemed surprised.  "It's to pray for rain,
+that's what.  You know it, Cap'n, as well's I do.  Ain't everybody's
+garden dryin' up and the ponds so low that we shan't be able to
+get water for the cranberry ditches pretty soon?  There's need
+to pray, I should think!"
+
+"Humph!  Seems a roundabout way of gettin' a thing, don't it?  Why
+don't you telegraph to Heman and ask him to fix it for you?  Save
+time."
+
+This remark was received in horrified silence.  Tad Simpson was the
+first to recover.
+
+"Cap'n," he said, "you ain't met Mr. Atkins yet.  When you do,
+you'll feel same as the rest of us.  He's comin' home next week;
+then you'll see."
+
+A part at least of Mr. Simpson's prophecy proved true.  The Honorable
+Atkins did come to Bayport the following week, accompanied by his
+little daughter Alicia, the housekeeper, and the Atkins servants.
+The Honorable and his daughter had been, since the adjournment of
+Congress, on a pleasure trip to the Yosemite and Yellowstone Park,
+and now they were to remain in the mansion on the hill for some
+time.  The big house was opened, the stone urns burst into refulgent
+bloom, the iron dogs were refreshed with a coat of black paint, and
+the big iron gate was swung wide.  Bayport sat up and took notice.
+Angeline Phinney was in her glory.
+
+The meeting between Captain Cy and Mr. Atkins took place the
+morning after the latter's return.  The captain and his two chums
+had been inspecting the progress made by the carpenters and were
+leaning over the new fence, then just erected, but not yet painted.
+Down the gravel walk of the mansion across the road came strolling
+its owner, silk-hatted, side-whiskered, benignant.
+
+"Godfrey!" exclaimed Asaph.  "There's Heman.  See him, Whit?"
+
+"Yup, I see him.  Seems to be headin' this way."
+
+"I--I do believe he's comin' across," whispered Mr. Bangs.  "Yes,
+he is.  He's real everyday, Cy.  HE won't mind if you ain't dressed
+up."
+
+"Won't he?  That's comfortin'.  Well, I'll do the best I can
+without stimulants, as the doctor says.  If you hear my knees
+rattle just nudge me, will you, Bailey?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt removed his hat.  Bailey touched his.  Captain Cy
+looked provokingly indifferent; he even whistled.
+
+"Good mornin', Mr. Atkins," hailed the town clerk, raising his
+voice because of the whistle.  "I'm proud to see you back among us,
+sir.  Hope you and Alicia had a nice time out West.  How is she--
+pretty smart?"
+
+Mr. Atkins smiled a bland, congressional smile.  He approached the
+group by the fence and extended his hand.
+
+"Ah, Asaph!" he said; "it is you then?  I thought so.  And Bailey,
+too.  It is certainly delightful to see you both again.  Yes, my
+daughter is well, I thank you.  She, like her father, is glad to be
+back in the old home nest after the round of hotel life and gayety
+which we have--er--recently undergone.  Yes."
+
+"Mr. Atkins," said Bailey, glancing nervously at Captain Cy, who
+had stopped whistling and was regarding the Atkins hat and whiskers
+with an interested air, "I want to make you acquainted with your
+new neighbor.  You used to know him when you was a boy, but--but--
+er--Mr. Atkins, this is Captain Cyrus Whittaker.  Cy, this is
+Congressman Atkins.  You've heard us speak of him."
+
+The great man started.
+
+"Is it possible!" he exclaimed.  "Is it possible that this is
+really my old playmate Cyrus Whittaker?"
+
+"Yup," replied the captain calmly.  "How are you, Heman?  Fatter'n
+you used to be, ain't you?  Washin'ton must agree with you."
+
+Bailey and Asaph were scandalized.  Mr. Atkins himself seemed a
+trifle taken aback.  Comments on his personal appearance were not
+usual in Bayport.  But he rallied bravely.
+
+"Well, well!" he cried.  "Cyrus, I am delighted to welcome you back
+among us.  I should scarcely have known you.  You are older--yes,
+much older."
+
+"Well, forty year more or less, added to what you started with, is
+apt to make a feller some older.  Don't need any Normal School
+graduate to do that sum for us.  I'm within seven or eight year of
+bein' as old as you are, Heman, and that's too antique to be sold
+for veal."
+
+Mr. Atkins changed the subject.
+
+"I had heard of your return, Cyrus," he said.  "It gave me much
+pleasure to learn that you were rebuilding and--er--renovating
+the--er--the ancestral--er--"
+
+"The old home nest?  Yup, I'm puttin' back a few feathers.  Old
+birds like to roost comf'table.  You've got a fairly roomy coop
+yourself."
+
+"Hum!  Isn't it--er--I should suppose you would find it rather
+expensive.  Can you--do you--"
+
+"Yes, I can afford it, thank you.  Maybe there'll be enough left in
+the stockin' to buy a few knickknacks for the yard.  You can't
+tell."
+
+The captain glanced at the iron dogs guarding the Atkins gate.  His
+tone was rather sharp.
+
+"Yes, yes, certainly; certainly; of course.  It gives me much
+pleasure to have you as a neighbor.  I have always felt a fondness
+for the old place, even when you allowed it--even when it was most--
+er--run down, if you'll excuse the term.  I always felt a liking
+for it and--"
+
+"Yes," was the significant interruption.  "I judged you must have,
+from what I heard."
+
+This was steering dangerously close to the selectmen and the
+contemplated "sale for taxes."  The town clerk broke in nervously.
+
+"Mr. Atkins," he said, "there's been consider'ble talk in town
+about who's to be teacher downstairs this comin' year.  We've sort
+of chawed it over among us, but naturally we wanted your opinion.
+What do you think?  I'm kind of leanin' toward the Dawes woman,
+myself."
+
+The Congressman cleared his throat.
+
+"Far be it from me," he said, "to speak except as a mere member of
+our little community, an ordinary member, but, AS such a member,
+with the welfare of my birthplace very near and dear to me, I
+confess that I am inclined to favor a modern teacher, one educated
+and trained in the institution provided for the purpose by our
+great commonwealth.  The Dawes--er--person is undoubtedly worthy
+and capable in her way, but--well--er--we know that Wellmouth is
+not Bayport."
+
+The reference to "our great commonwealth" had been given in the
+voice and the manner wont to thrill us at our Fourth-of-July
+celebrations and October "rallies."  Two of his hearers, at least,
+were visibly impressed.  Asaph looked somewhat crestfallen, but he
+surrendered gracefully to superior wisdom.
+
+"That's so," he said.  "That's so, ain't it, Cy?  I hadn't thought
+of that."
+
+"What's so?" asked the captain.
+
+"Why--why, that Wellmouth ain't Bayport."
+
+"No doubt of it.  They're twenty miles apart."
+
+"Yes.  Well, I'm glad to hear you put it so conclusive, Mr. Atkins.
+I can see now that Phoebe wouldn't do.  Hum!  Yes."
+
+Mr. Atkins buttoned the frock coat and turned to go.
+
+"Good day, gentlemen," he said.  "Cyrus, permit me once more to
+welcome you heartily to our village.  We--my daughter and myself--
+will probably remain at home until the fall.  I trust you will be a
+frequent caller.  Run in on us at any time.  Pray do not stand upon
+ceremony."
+
+"No," said Captain Cy shortly, "I won't."
+
+"That's right.  That's right.  Good morning."
+
+He walked briskly down the hill.  The trio gazed after him.
+
+"Well," sighed Mr. Tidditt.  "That's settled.  And it's a comfort
+to know 'tis settled.  Still I did kind of want Phoebe Dawes; but
+of course Heman knows best."
+
+"Course he knows best!" snapped Bailey.  "Ain't he the biggest gun
+in this county, pretty nigh?  I'd like to know who is if he ain't.
+The committee 'll call the Normal School girl now, and a good
+thing, too."
+
+Captain Cy was still gazing at the dignified form of the "biggest
+gun in the county."
+
+"Let's see," he asked.  "Who's on the school committee?  Eben
+Salters, of course, and--"
+
+"Yes.  Eben's chairman and he'll vote Phoebe, anyhow; he's that
+pig-headed that nobody--not even a United States Representative--
+could change him.  But Darius Ellis 'll be for Heman's way and so
+'ll Lemuel Myrick.
+
+"Lemuel Myrick?  Lem Myrick, the painter?"
+
+"Sartin.  There ain't but one Myrick in town."
+
+"Hum!" murmured the captain and was silent for some minutes.
+
+The school committee met on the following Wednesday evening.  On
+Thursday morning a startling rumor spread throughout Bayport.
+Phoebe Dawes had been called, by a vote of two to one, to teach the
+downstairs school.  Asaph, aghast, rushed out of Simmons's store
+and up to the hill to the Cy Whittaker place.  He found Captain Cy
+in the front yard.  Mr. Myrick, school committeeman and house
+painter, was with him.
+
+"Hello, Ase!" hailed the captain.  "What's the matter?  Hasn't the
+tide come in this mornin'?"
+
+Asaph, somewhat embarrassed by the presence of Mr. Myrick, hesitated
+over his news.  Lemuel came to his rescue.
+
+"Ase has just heard that we called Phoebe," he said.  "What of it?
+I voted for her, and I ain't ashamed of it."
+
+"But--but Mr. Atkins, he--"
+
+"Well, Heman ain't on the committee, is he?  I vote the way I think
+right, and no one in this town can change me.  Anyway," he added,
+"I'm going to resign next spring.  Yes, Cap'n Whittaker, I think
+three coats of white 'll do on the sides here."
+
+"Lem's goin' to do my paintin' jobs," explained Captain Cy.  "His
+price was a little higher than some of the other fellers, but I
+like his work."
+
+Mr. Tidditt pondered deeply until dinner time.  Then he cornered
+the captain behind the Bangs barn and spoke with conviction.
+
+"Whit," he said, "you're the one responsible for the committee's
+hirin' Phoebe Dawes.  You offered Lem the paintin' job if he'd vote
+for her.  What did you do it for?  You don't know her, do you?"
+
+"Never set eyes on her in my life."
+
+"Then--then--  You heard Heman say he wanted the other one.  What
+made you do it?"
+
+Captain Cy grinned.
+
+"Ase," he said, "I've always been a great hand for tryin'
+experiments.  Had one of my cooks aboard put raisins in the
+flapjacks once, just to see what they tasted like.  I judged Heman
+had had his own way in this town for thirty odd year.  I kind of
+wanted to see what would happen if he didn't have it."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+BAILEY BANGS'S EXPERIMENT
+
+
+Lemuel Myrick's painting jobs have the quality so prized by our
+village small boys in the species of candy called "jaw breakers,"
+namely, that of "lasting long."  But even Lem must finish sometime
+or other and, late in July, the Cy Whittaker place was ready for
+occupancy.  The pictures were in their places on the walls, the
+old-fashioned furniture filled the rooms, there was even a pile of
+old magazines, back numbers of Godey's Lady's Book, on the shelf in
+the sitting room closet.
+
+Then, when Captain Cy had notified Mrs. Bangs that the perfect
+boarding house would shelter him no longer than the coming week, a
+new problem arose.
+
+"Whit," said Asaph earnestly, "you've sartin made the place rise up
+out of its tomb; you have so.  It's a miracle, pretty nigh, and I
+cal'late it must have cost a heap, but you've done it--all but the
+old folks themselves.  You can't raise them up, Cy; money won't do
+that.  And you can't live in this great house all alone.  Who's
+goin' to cook for you, and sweep and dust, and swab decks, and one
+thing a'nother?  You'll have to have a housekeeper, as I told you a
+spell ago.  Have you done any thinkin' about that?"
+
+And the captain, taking his pipe from his lips, stared blankly at
+his friend, and answered:
+
+"By the big dipper, Ase, I ain't!  I remember we did mention it,
+but I've been so busy gettin' this craft off the ways that I forgot
+all about it."
+
+The discussion which followed Mr. Tidditt's reminder was long and
+serious.  Asaph and Bailey Bangs racked their brains and offered
+numerous suggestions, but the majority of these were not favorably
+received.
+
+"There's Matildy Tripp," said Bailey.  "She'd like the job, I'm
+sartin.  She's a widow, too, and she's had experience keepin' house
+along of Tobias, him that was her husband.  But, if you do hire
+her, don't let Ketury know I hinted at it, 'cause we're goin' to
+lose one boarder when you quit, and that's too many, 'cordin' to
+the old lady's way of thinkin'."
+
+"You can keep Matildy, for all me," replied the captain decidedly.
+"Come-Outer religion's all right, for those that have that kind of
+appetite, but havin' it passed to me three times a day, same as
+I've had it at your house, is enough; I don't hanker to have it
+warmed over between meals.  If I shipped Matildy aboard here she
+and the Reverend Daniels would stand over me, watch and watch, till
+I was converted or crazy, one or the other."
+
+"Well, there's Angie.  She--"
+
+"Angie!" sniffed Mr. Tidditt.  "Stop your jokin', Bailey.  This is
+a serious matter."
+
+"I wan't jokin'.  What--"
+
+"There! there! boys," interrupted the captain; "don't fight.
+Bailey didn't mean to joke, Ase; he's full of what the papers call
+'unconscious humor.'  I'll give in that Angie is about as serious a
+matter as I can think of without settin' down to rest.  Humph! so
+fur we haven't gained any knots to speak of.  Any more candidates
+on your mind?"
+
+More possibilities were mentioned, but none of them seemed to fill
+the bill.  The conference broke up without arriving at a decision.
+Mr. Bangs and the town clerk walked down the hill together.
+
+"Do you know, Bailey," said Asaph, "the way I look at it, this
+pickin' out a housekeeper for Whit ain't any common job.  It's
+somethin' to think over.  Cy's a restless critter; been cruisin'
+hither and yon all his life.  I'm sort of scared that he'll get
+tired of Bayport and quit if things here don't go to suit him.  Now
+if a real good nice woman--a nice LOOKIN' woman, say--was to keep
+house for him it--it--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, I mean--that is, don't you s'pose if some such woman as that
+was to be found for the job he might in time come to like her and--
+and--er--"
+
+"Ase Tidditt, what are you drivin' at?"
+
+"Why, I mean he might come to marry her; there!  Then he'd be
+contented to settle down to home and stay put.  What do you think
+of the idea?"
+
+"Think of it?  I think it's the dumdest foolishness ever I heard.
+I declare if the very mention of a woman to some of you old baches
+don't make your heads soften up like a jellyfish in the sun!  Ain't
+Cy Whittaker got money?  Ain't he got a nice home?  Ain't he happy?"
+
+"Yes, he is now, I s'pose, but--"
+
+"WELL, then!  And you want him to get married!  What do you know
+about marryin'?  Never tried it, have you?"
+
+"Course I ain't!  You know I ain't."
+
+"All right.  Then I'd keep quiet about such things, if I was you."
+
+"You needn't fly up like a settin' hen.  Everybody's wife ain't--"
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence.
+
+"What's that?" demanded his companion, sharply.
+
+"Nothin'; nothin'.  _I_ don't care; I was only tryin' to fix things
+comf'table for Whit.  Has Heman said anything about the harbor
+appropriation sence he's been home?  I haven't heard of it if he
+has."
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was a grunt, signifying a negative.  Congressman
+Atkins had been, since his return to Bayport, exceedingly
+noncommittal concerning the appropriation.  To Tad Simpson and a
+very few chosen lieutenants and intimates he had said that he hoped
+to get it; that was all.  This was a disquieting change of
+attitude, for, at the beginning of the term just passed, he had
+affirmed that he was GOING to get it.  However, as Mr. Simpson
+reassuringly said:  "The job's in as good hands as can be, so
+what's the use of OUR worryin'?"
+
+Bailey Bangs certainly was not troubled on that score; but the town
+clerk's proposal that Captain Cy be provided with a suitable wife
+did worry him.  Bailey was so very much married himself and had
+such decided, though unspoken, views concerning matrimony that such
+a proposal seemed to him lunacy, pure and simple.  He had liked and
+admired his friend "Whit" in the old days, when the latter led them
+into all sorts of boyish scrapes; now he regarded him with a liking
+that was close to worship.  The captain was so jolly and outspoken;
+so brave and independent--witness his crossing of the great Atkins
+in the matter of the downstairs teacher.  That was a reckless piece
+of folly which would, doubtless, be rewarded after its kind, but
+Bailey, though he professed to condemn it, secretly wished he had
+the pluck to dare such things.  As it was, he didn't dare contradict
+Keturah.
+
+With the exception of one voyage as cabin boy to New Orleans, a
+voyage which convinced him that he was not meant for a seaman, Mr.
+Bangs had never been farther from his native village than Boston.
+Captain Cy had been almost everywhere and seen almost everything.
+He could spin yarns that beat the serial stories in the patent
+inside of the Bayport Breeze all hollow.  Bailey had figured that,
+when the "fixin' over" was ended, the Cy Whittaker place would be
+for him a delightful haven of refuge, where he could put his boots
+on the furniture, smoke until dizzy without being pounced upon, be
+entertained and thrilled with tales of adventure afloat and ashore,
+and even express his own opinion, when he had any, with the voice
+and lung power of a free-born American citizen.
+
+And now Asaph Tidditt, who should know better, even though he was a
+bachelor, wanted to bring a wife into this paradise; not a paid
+domestic who could be silenced, or discharged, if she became a
+nuisance, but a WIFE!  Bailey guessed not; not if he could prevent
+it.
+
+So he lay awake nights thinking of possible housekeepers for
+Captain Cy, and carefully rejecting all those possessing dangerous
+attractions of any kind.  Each morning, after breakfast, he ran
+over the list with the captain, taking care that Asaph was not
+present.  Captain Cy, who was very busy with the finishing touches
+at the new old house, wearied on the third morning.
+
+"There, there, Bailey!" he said.  "Don't bother me now.  I've got
+other things on my mind.  How do I know who all these women folks
+are you're stringing off to me?  Let me alone, do."
+
+"But you must have a housekeeper, Cy.  You'll move in Monday and
+you won't have nobody to--"
+
+"Oh, dry up!  I want to think who I must see this morning.  There's
+Lem and old lady Penniman, and--"
+
+"But the housekeeper, Cy!  Don't you see--"
+
+"Hire one yourself, then.  You know 'em; I don't."
+
+"Hey?  Hire one myself?  Do you mean you'll leave it in my hands?"
+
+"Yes, yes!  I guess so.  Run along, that's a good feller."
+
+He departed hurriedly.  Mr. Bangs scratched his head.  A weighty
+responsibility had been laid upon him.
+
+Monday morning after breakfast Captain Cy's trunk was put aboard
+the depot wagon, and Dan'l Webster drew it to its owner's home.
+The farewells at the perfect boarding house were affecting.  Mrs.
+Tripp said that she had spoken to the Reverend Mr. Daniels, and he
+would be sure to call the very first thing.  Keturah affirmed that
+the captain's stay had been a real pleasure.
+
+"You never find fault, Cap'n Whittaker," she said.  "You're such a
+manly man, if you'll excuse my sayin' so.  I only wish there was
+more like you," with a significant glance at her husband.  As for
+Miss Phinney, she might have been saying good-by yet if the captain
+had not excused himself.
+
+Asaph accompanied his friend to the house on the hill.  The trunk
+was unloaded from the wagon and carried into the bedroom on the
+first floor, the room which had been Captain Cy's so long ago.
+Gabe shrieked at Dan'l Webster, and the depot wagon crawled away
+toward the upper road.
+
+"Got to meet the up train," grumbled the driver.  "Not that anybody
+ever comes on it, but I cal'late I'm s'posed to be there.  Be more
+talk than a little if I wan't.  Git dap, Dan'l! you're slower'n the
+moral law."
+
+"So you're goin' to do your own cookin' for a spell, Cy?" observed
+Asaph, a half hour later, "Well, I guess that's a good idea, till
+you can find the right housekeeper.  I ain't been able to think of
+one that would suit you yet."
+
+"Nor I, either.  Neither's Bailey, I judge, though for a while he
+was as full of suggestions as a pine grove is of woodticks.  He
+started to say somethin' about it to me last night, but Ketury hove
+in sight and yanked him off to prayer meetin'."
+
+"Yes, I know.  She cal'lates to get him into heaven somehow."
+
+"I guess 'twouldn't BE heaven for her unless he was round to pick
+at.  There he comes now.  How'd he get out of wipin' dishes?"
+
+Mr. Bangs strolled into the yard.
+
+"Hello!" he hailed.  "I was on my way to Simmons's on an errand and
+I thought I'd stop in a minute.  Got somethin' to tell you, Whit."
+
+"All right.  Overboard with it!  It won't keep long this hot
+weather."
+
+Bailey smiled knowingly.  "Didn't I hear the up train whistle as I
+was comin' along?" he asked.  "Seems to me I did.  Yes; well, if I
+ain't mistaken somebody's comin' on that train.  Somebody for you,
+Cy Whittaker."
+
+"Somebody for ME?"
+
+"Um--hum!  I can gen'rally be depended on, I cal'late, and when you
+says to me:  'Bailey, you get me a housekeeper,' I didn't lose much
+time.  I got her."
+
+Mr. Tidditt gasped.
+
+"GOT her?" he repeated.  "Got who?  Got what?  Bailey Bangs, what
+in the world have--"
+
+"Belay, Ase!" ordered Captain Cy.  "Bailey, what are you givin'
+us?"
+
+"Givin' you a housekeeper, and a good one, too, I shouldn't wonder.
+She may not be one of them ten-thousand-dollar prize museum
+beauties," with a scornful wink at Asaph, "but if what I hear's
+true she can keep house.  Anyhow she's kept one for forty odd year.
+Her name's Deborah Beasley, she's a widow over to East Trumet, and
+if I don't miss my guess, she's in the depot wagon now headed in
+this direction."
+
+Captain Cy whistled.  Mr. Tidditt was too much surprised to do even
+that.
+
+"I was speakin' to the feller that drives the candy cart," continued
+Bailey, "and I asked him if he'd run acrost anybody, durin' his
+trips 'round the country, who'd be likely to hire out for a
+housekeeper.  He thought a spell and then named over some.  Among 'em
+was this Beasley one.  I asked some more questions and, the answers
+bein' satisfactory to ME, though they might not be to some folks--"
+another derisive wink at Asaph--"I set down and wrote her, tellin'
+what you'd pay, Cy, what she'd have to do, and when she'd have to
+come.  Saturday night I got a letter, sayin' terms was all right,
+and she'd be on hand by this mornin's train.  Course she's only on
+trial for a month, but you had to have SOMEBODY, and the candy-cart
+feller said--"
+
+The town clerk slapped his knee.
+
+"Debby Beasley!" he cried.  "I know who she is!  I've got a cousin
+in Trumet.  Debby Beasley!  Aunt Debby, they call her.  Why! she's
+old enough to be Methusalem's grandmarm, and--"
+
+"If I recollect right," interrupted Bailey, with dignity, "Cy never
+said he wanted a YOUNG woman--a frivolous, giddy critter, always
+riggin' up and chasin' the fellers.  He wanted a sot, sober
+housekeeper."
+
+"Godfrey!  Aunt Debby ain't frivolous!  She couldn't chase a lame
+clam--and catch it.  And DEEF!  Godfrey--scissors! she's deefer 'n
+one of them cast-iron Newfoundlands in Heman's yard!  Do you mean
+to say, Bailey Bangs, that you went ahead, on your own hook, and
+hired that old relic to--"
+
+"I did.  And I had my authority, didn't I, Whit?  You told me you'd
+leave it in my hands, now didn't you?"
+
+The captain smiled somewhat ruefully, and scratched his head.
+"Why, to be honest, Bailey, I believe I did," he admitted.  "Still,
+I hardly expected--Humph! is she deef, as Ase says?"
+
+"I understand she's a little mite hard of hearin'," replied Mr.
+Bangs, with dignity; "but that ain't any drawback, the way I look
+at it.  Fact is, I'd call it an advantage, but you folks seem to be
+hard to please.  I ruther imagined you'd thank me for gettin' her,
+but I s'pose that was too much to expect.  All right, pitch her
+out!  Don't mind MY feelin's!  Poor homeless critter comin' to--"
+
+"Homeless!" repeated Asaph.  "What's that got to do with it?  Cy
+ain't runnin' the Old Woman's Home."
+
+"Well, well!" observed the captain resignedly.  "There's no use in
+rowin' about what can't be helped.  Bailey says he shipped her for
+a month's trial, and here comes the depot wagon now.  That's her on
+the aft thwart, I judge.  She AIN'T what you'd call a spring
+pullet, is she!"
+
+She certainly was not.  The occupant of the depot wagon's rear seat
+was a thin, not to say scraggy, female, wearing a black, beflowered
+bonnet and a black gown.  A black knit shawl was draped about her
+shoulders and she wore spectacles.
+
+"Whoa!" commanded Mr. Lumley, piloting the depot wagon to the side
+door of the Whittaker house.  Dan'l Webster came to anchor
+immediately.  Gabe turned and addressed his passenger.
+
+"Here we be!" he shouted.
+
+"Hey?" observed the lady in black.
+
+"Here--we--be!" repeated Gabe, raising his voice.
+
+"See?  See what?"
+
+"Oh, heavens to Betsey!  I'm gettin' the croup from howlin'.  I--
+say--HERE--WE--BE!  GET OUT!"
+
+He accompanied the final bellow with an expressive pantomime
+indicating that the passenger was expected to alight.  She seemed
+to understand, for she opened the door of the carriage and slowly
+descended.  Mr. Bangs advanced to meet her.
+
+"How d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley!" he said.  "Glad to see you all safe
+and sound."
+
+Mrs. Beasley shook his hand; hers were covered, as far as the
+knuckles, by black mitts.
+
+"How d'ye do, Cap'n Whittaker?" she said, in a shrill voice.  "You
+pretty smart?"
+
+Bailey hastened to explain.
+
+"I ain't Cap'n Whittaker," he roared.  "I'm Bailey Bangs, the one
+that wrote to you."
+
+"Hey?"
+
+Mr. Lumley and Asaph chuckled.  Bailey colored and tried again.
+
+"I ain't the cap'n," he whooped.  "Here he is--here!"
+
+He led her over to her prospective employer and tapped the latter
+on the chest.
+
+"How d'ye do, sir?" said the housekeeper.  "I don't know's I just
+caught your name."
+
+In five minutes or so the situation was made reasonably clear.
+Mrs. Beasley then demanded her trunk and carpet bag.  The grinning
+Lumley bore them into the house.  Then he drove away, still
+grinning.  Bailey looked fearfully at Captain Cy.
+
+"She IS kind of hard of hearin', ain't she?" he said reluctantly.
+"You remember I said she was."
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"Yes," he answered, "you're a truth-tellin' chap, Bailey, I'll say
+that for you.  You don't exaggerate your statements."
+
+"Hard of hearin'!" snapped Mr. Tidditt.  "If the last trump ain't a
+steam whistle she'll miss Judgment Day.  I'll stop into Simmons's
+on my way along and buy you a bottle of throat balsam, Cy; you're
+goin' to need it."
+
+The captain needed more than throat balsam during the fortnight
+which followed.  The widow Beasley's deafness was not her only
+failing.  In fact she was altogether a failure, so far as her
+housekeeping was concerned.  She could cook, after a fashion, but
+the fashion was so limited that even the bill of fare at the
+perfect boarding house looked tempting in retrospect.
+
+"Baked beans again, Cy!" exclaimed Asaph, dropping in one evening
+after supper.  "'Tain't Saturday night so soon, is it?"
+
+"No," was the dismal rejoinder.  "It's Tuesday, if my almanac ain't
+out of joint.  But we had beans Saturday and they ain't all gone
+yet, so I presume we'll have 'em till the last one's swallowed.
+Aunt Debby's got what the piece in the Reader used to call a
+'frugal mind.'  She don't intend to waste anything.  Last Thursday
+I spunked up courage enough to yell for salt fish and potatoes--
+fixed up with pork scraps, you know, same's we used to have when I
+was a boy.  We had 'em all right, and if beans of a Saturday hadn't
+been part of her religion we'd be warmin' 'em up yet.  I took in a
+cat for company 'tother day, but the critter's run away.  To see it
+look at the beans in its saucer and then at me was pitiful; I felt
+like handin' myself over to the Cruelty to Animals' folks."
+
+"Is she neat?" inquired Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"I don't know.  I guess so--on the installment plan.  It takes her
+a week to scrub up the kitchen, and then one end of it is so dirty
+she has to begin again.  Consequently the dust is so thick in the
+rest of the house that I can see my tracks.  If 'twan't so late in
+the season I'd plant garden stuff in the parlor--nice soil and lots
+of shade, with the curtains down."
+
+From the rooms in the rear came the words of a gospel hymn sung in
+a tremulous soprano and at concert pitch.
+
+"Music with my meals, just like a high-toned restaurant," commented
+Captain Cy.
+
+"But what makes her sing so everlastin' LOUD?"
+
+"Can't hear herself if she don't.  I could stand her deefness,
+because that's an affliction and we may all come to it; but--"
+
+The housekeeper, still singing, entered the room and planted
+herself in a chair.
+
+"Good evenin', Mr. Tidditt," she said, smiling genially.  "Nice
+weather we've been havin'."
+
+Asaph nodded.
+
+"Sociable critter, ain't she!" observed the captain.  "Always
+willin' to help entertain.  Comes and sets up with me till bedtime.
+Tells about her family troubles.  Preaches about her niece out
+West, and how set the niece and the rest of the Western relations
+are to have her make 'em a visit.  I told her she better go--I
+thought 'twould do her good.  I know 'twould help ME consider'ble
+to see her start.
+
+"She's got so now she finds fault with my neckties," he added,
+"says I must be careful and not get my feet wet.  Picks out what I
+ought to wear so's I won't get cold.  She'll adopt me pretty soon.
+Oh, it's all right!  She can't hear what you say.  Are your dishes
+done?" he shrieked, turning to the old lady.
+
+"One?  One what?" inquired Mrs. Beasley.
+
+"They won't BE done till you go, Ase," continued the master of the
+house.  "She'll stay with us till the last gun fires.  T'other day
+Angie Phinney called and I turned Debby loose on her.  I didn't
+believe anything could wear out Angie's talkin' machinery, but she
+did it.  Angeline stayed twenty minutes and then quit, hoarse as a
+crow."
+
+Here the widow joined in the conversation, evidently under the
+impression that nothing had been said since she last spoke.
+Continuing her favorable comments on the weather she observed that
+she was glad there was so little fog, because fog was hard for
+folks with "neuralgy pains."  Her brother's wife's cousin had
+"neuralgy" for years, and she described his sufferings with
+enthusiasm and infinite detail.  Mr. Tidditt answered her questions
+verbally at first; later by nods and shakes of the head.  Captain
+Cy fidgeted in his chair.
+
+"Come on outdoor, Ase," he said at last.  "No use to wait till she
+runs down, 'cause she's a self-winder, guaranteed to keep goin' for
+a year.  Good-night!" he shouted, addressing Mrs. Beasley, and
+heading for the door.
+
+"Where you goin'?" asked the old lady.
+
+"No.  Yes.  Who said so?  Hooray!  Three cheers for Gen'ral Scott!
+Come on, Ase!"  And the captain, seizing his friend by the arm,
+dragged him into the open air, and slammed the door.
+
+"Are you crazy?" demanded the astonished town clerk.  "What makes
+you talk like that?"
+
+"Might as well.  She wouldn't understand it any better if 'twas
+Scripture, and it saves brain work.  The only satisfaction I get is
+bein' able to give my opinion of her and the grub without hurtin'
+her feelin's.  If I called her a wooden-headed jumpin' jack she'd
+only smile and say No, she didn't think 'twas goin' to rain, or
+somethin' just as brilliant."
+
+"Well, why don't you give her her walkin' papers?"
+
+"I shall, when her month's up."
+
+"I wouldn't wait no month.  I'd heave her overboard to-night.  You
+hear ME!"
+
+Captain Cy shook his head.
+
+"I can't, very well," he replied.  "I hate to make her feel TOO
+bad.  When the month's over I'll have some excuse ready, maybe.
+The joke of it is that she don't really need to work out.  She's
+got some money of her own, owns cranberry swamps and I don't know
+what all.  Says she took up Bailey's offer 'cause she cal'lated I'd
+be company for her.  I had to laugh, even in the face of those
+beans, when she said that."
+
+"Humph! if I don't tell Bailey what I think of him, then--"
+
+"No, no!  Don't you say a word to Bailey.  It's principally on his
+account that I'm tryin' to stick it out for the month.  Bailey did
+his best; he thought he was helpin'.  And he feels dreadfully
+because she's so deef.  Only yesterday he asked me if I believed
+there was anything made that would fix her up and make it more
+comfortable for me.  I could have prescribed a shotgun, but I
+didn't.  You see, he thinks her deefness is the only trouble; I
+haven't told him the rest, and don't you do it, either.  Bailey's a
+good-hearted chap."
+
+"Humph! his heart may be good, but his head's goin' to seed.  I'll
+keep quiet if 'twill please you, though."
+
+"Yes.  And, see here, Ase!  I don't care to be the laughin' stock
+of Bayport.  If any of the folks ask you how I like my new
+housekeeper, you tell 'em there's nothin' like her anywhere.
+That's no lie."
+
+So Mrs. Beasley stayed on at the Whittaker place and, thanks to Mr.
+Tidditt, the general opinion of inquisitive Bayport was that the
+new housekeeper was a grand success.  Only Captain Cy and Asaph
+knew the whole truth, and Mr. Bangs a part.  That part, Deborah's
+deafness, troubled him not a little and he thought much concerning
+it.  As a result of this thinking he wrote a letter to a relative
+in Boston.  The answer to this letter pleased him and he wrote
+again.
+
+One afternoon, during the third week of Mrs. Beasley's stay, Asaph
+called and found Captain Cy in the sitting room, reading the
+Breeze.  The captain urged his friend to remain and have supper.
+"We've run out of beans, Ase," he explained, "and are just startin'
+in on a course of boiled cod.  Do stay and eat a lot; then there
+won't be so much to warm over."
+
+Mr. Tidditt accepted the invitation, also a section of the Breeze.
+While they were reading they heard the back door slam.
+
+"It's the graven image," explained the captain.  "She's been on a
+cruise down town somewheres.  Be a lot of sore throats in that
+direction to-morrow mornin'."
+
+The town clerk looked up.
+
+"There now!" he exclaimed.  "I believe 'twas her I saw walkin' with
+Bailey a spell ago.  I thought so, but I didn't have my specs and I
+wan't sure."
+
+"With Bailey, hey?  Humph! this is serious.  Hope Ketury didn't see
+'em.  We mustn't have any scandal."
+
+The housekeeper entered the dining room.  She was singing "Beulah
+Land," but her tone was more subdued than usual.  They heard her
+setting the table.
+
+"How's she gettin' along?" asked Asaph.
+
+"Progressin' backwards, same as ever.  She's no better, thank you,
+and the doctor's given up hopes."
+
+"When you goin' to tell her she can clear out?"
+
+"What?"  Captain Cy had returned to his paper and did not hear the
+question.
+
+"I say when is she goin' to be bounced?  Deefness ain't catchin',
+is it?"
+
+"I wouldn't wonder if it might be.  If 'tis, mine ought to be
+developin' fast.  What makes her so still all at once?"
+
+"Gone to the kitchen, I guess.  Wonder she hasn't sailed in and set
+down with us.  Old chromo!  You must be glad her month's most up?"
+
+Asaph proceeded to give his opinion of the housekeeper, raising his
+voice almost to a howl, as his indignation grew.  If Mrs. Beasley's
+ears had been ordinary ones she might have heard the unflattering
+description in the kitchen; as it was Mr. Tidditt felt no fear.
+
+"Comin' here so's you could be company for her!  The idea!  Good to
+herself, ain't she!  Godfrey scissors!  And Bailey was fool enough
+to--"
+
+"There, there!  Don't let it worry you, Ase.  I've about decided
+what to say when I let her go.  I'll tell her she is gettin' too
+old to be slavin' herself to death.  You see, I don't want to make
+the old critter cry, nor I don't want her to get mad.  Judgin' by
+the way she used to coax the cat outdoors with the broom handle
+she's got somethin' of a temper when she gets started.  I'll give
+her an extry month's wages, and--"
+
+"You will, hey?  You WILL?"
+
+The interruption came from behind the partially closed dining-room
+door.  Mr. Tidditt sank back in his chair.  Captain Cy sprang from
+his and threw the door wide open.  Behind it crouched Mrs. Deborah
+Beasley.  Her eyes snapped behind her spectacles, her lean form was
+trembling all over, and in her right hand she held a mammoth
+trumpet, the smaller end of which was connected with her ear.
+
+"You will, hey? " she screamed, brandishing her left fist, but
+still keeping the ear trumpet in place with her right.  "You WILL?
+Well, I don't want none of your miser'ble money!  Land knows how
+you made it, anyhow, and I wouldn't soil my hands with it.  After
+all I've put up with, and the way I've done my work, and the things
+I've had to eat, and--and--"
+
+She paused for breath.  Captain Cy scratched his chin.  Asaph,
+gazing open-mouthed at the trumpet, stirred in his chair.  Mrs.
+Beasley swooped down upon him like a gull on a minnow.
+
+"And you!" she shrieked.  "You! a miserable little, good-for-
+nothin', lazy, ridiculous, dried-up-- . . . Oo--oo--OH!  You call
+yourself a town clerk!  YOU do!  I--I wouldn't have you clerk for a
+hen house!  I'm an old chromo, be I?  Yes! that's nice talk, ain't
+it, to a woman old enough to be--that is--er--er--'most as old as
+you be!  You sneakin', story-tellin', little, fat THING, you!  You--
+oh, I can't lay my tongue to words to tell you WHAT you are."
+
+"You're doin' pretty well, seems to me," observed Captain Cy dryly.
+"I wouldn't be discouraged if I was you."
+
+The only effect of this remark was to turn the wordy torrent in his
+direction.  The captain bore it for a while; then he rose to his
+feet and commanded silence.
+
+"That's enough!  Stop it!" he ordered, and, strange to say, Mrs.
+Beasley did stop.  "I'm sorry, Debby," he went on, "but you had no
+business to be listenin' even if--" and he smiled grimly, "you have
+got a new fog horn to hear with.  You can go and pack your things
+as soon as you want to.  I made up my mind the first day you come
+that you and me wouldn't cruise together long, and this only
+shortens the trip by a week or so.  I'll pay you for this month and
+for the next, and I guess, when you come to think it over, you'll
+be willin' to risk soilin' your hands with the money.  It's your
+own fault if anybody knows that you didn't leave of your own
+accord.  _I_ shan't tell, and I'll see that Tidditt doesn't.  Now
+trot!  Ase and I'll get supper ourselves."
+
+It was evident that the ex-housekeeper had much more which she
+would have liked to say.  But there was that in her late employer's
+manner which caused her to forbear.  She slammed out of the room,
+and they heard her banging things about on the floor above.
+
+"But where--WHERE," repeated Mr. Tidditt, over and over, "did she
+get that trumpet?"
+
+The puzzle was solved soon after, when Bailey Bangs entered the
+house in a high state of excitement.
+
+"Well," he demanded, expectantly.  "Did they help her?  Has
+anything happened?"
+
+"HAPPENED!" began Asaph, but Captain Cy silenced him by a wink.
+
+"Yes," answered the captain; "something's happened.  Why?"
+
+"Hurrah!  I thought 'twould.  She can hear better, can't she?"
+
+"Yes, I guess it's safe to say she can."
+
+"Good!  You can thank me for it.  When I see how dreadful deef she
+was I wrote my cousin Eddie T, who's an optician up to Boston--you
+know him, Ase--and I says:  'Ed, you know what's good for folks who
+can't see?  Ain't there nothin',' says I, 'that'll help them who
+can't hear?  How about ear trumpets?'  And Ed wrote that an ear
+trumpet would probably help some, but why didn't I try a pair of
+them patent fixin's that are made to put inside deef people's ears?
+He'd known of cases where they helped a lot.  So I sent for a pair,
+and the biggest ear trumpet made, besides.  And when I met Debby
+to-day I give 'em to her and told her to put the patent things IN
+her ears and couple on the trumpet outside 'em.  And not to say
+nothin' to you, but just surprise you.  And it did surprise you,
+didn't it?"
+
+The wrathful Mr. Tidditt could wait no longer.  He burst into a
+vivid description of the "surprise."  Bailey was aghast.  Captain
+Cy laughed until his face was purple.
+
+"I declare, Cy!" exclaimed the dejected purchaser of the "ear
+fixin's" and the trumpet.  "I do declare I'm awful sorry! if you'd
+only told me she was no good I'd have let her alone; but I thought
+'twas just the deefness.  I--I--"
+
+"I know, Bailey; you meant well, like the layin'-on-of-hands doctor
+who rubbed the rheumatic man's wooden leg.  All right; _I_ forgive
+you.  'Twas worth it all to see Asaph's face when Marm Beasley was
+complimentin' him.  Ha! ha!  Oh, dear me!  I've laughed till I'm
+sore.  But there's one thing I SHOULD like to do, if you don't
+mind: I should like to pick out my next housekeeper myself."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+A FRONT-DOOR CALLER
+
+
+Mrs. Beasley departed next morning, taking with her the extra
+month's wages, in spite of fervid avowals that she wouldn't touch a
+cent of it.  On the way to the depot she favored Mr. Lumley with
+sundry hints concerning the reasons for her departure.  She
+"couldn't stand it no longer"; if folks only knew what she'd had to
+put up with she cal'lated they'd be some surprised; she could "tell
+a few things" if she wanted to, and so on.  Incidentally she was
+kind of glad she didn't like the place, because now she cal'lated
+she should go West and visit her niece; they'd been wanting her to
+come for so long.
+
+Gabe was much interested and repeated the monologue, with imaginative
+additions, to the depot master, who, in turn, repeated it to his
+wife when he went home to dinner.  That lady attended sewing circle
+in the afternoon.  Next day a large share of Bayport's conversation
+dealt with the housekeeper's leaving and her reasons therefor.  The
+reasons differed widely, according to the portion of the town in
+which they were discussed, but it was the general opinion that the
+whole affair was not creditable to Captain Whittaker.
+
+Only at the perfect boarding house was the captain upheld.  Miss
+Phinney declared that she knew he had made a mistake as soon as she
+heard the Beasley woman talk; nobody else, so Angeline declared,
+could "get a word in edgeways."  Mrs. Tripp sighed and affirmed
+that going out of town for a woman to do housework was ridiculous
+on the face of it; there were plenty of Bayport ladies, women of
+capability and sound in their religious views, who might be hired
+if they were approached in the right way.  Keturah gave, as her
+opinion, that if the captain knew when he was well off, he would
+"take his meals out."  Asaph snorted and intimated that that Debby
+Beasley wasn't fit to "keep house in a pigsty, and anybody but a
+born gump would have known it."  Bailey, the "born gump," said
+nothing, but looked appealingly at his chum.
+
+As for Captain Cy, he did not take the trouble to affirm or deny
+the rumors.  Peace and quiet dominated the Whittaker house for the
+first time in three weeks and its owner was happier.  He cooked his
+own food and washed his own dishes.  The runaway cat ventured to
+return, found other viands than beans in its saucer, and decided to
+remain, purring thankful contentment.  The captain made his own
+bed, after a fashion, when he was ready to occupy it, but he was
+conscious that it might be better made.  He refused, however, to
+spend his time in sweeping and dusting, and the dust continued to
+accumulate on the carpets and furniture.  This condition of affairs
+troubled him, but he kept his own counsel.  Asaph and Bailey called
+often, but they offered no more suggestions as to hiring a
+housekeeper.  Mr. Tidditt might have done so, but the captain gave
+him no encouragement.  Mr. Bangs, recent humiliation fresh in his
+mind, would as soon have suggested setting the house on fire.
+
+One evening Asaph happened in, on his way to Simmons's.  He desired
+the captain to accompany him to that gathering place of the wise
+and talkative.  Captain Cy was in the sitting room, a sheet of note
+paper in his hand.  The town clerk entered without ceremony and
+tossed his hat on the sofa.
+
+"Evenin', Ase," observed the captain, folding the sheet of paper
+and putting it into his pocket.  "Glad you come.  Sit down.  I
+wanted to ask you somethin'."
+
+"All right!  Here I be.  Heave ahead and ask."
+
+Captain Cy puffed at his pipe.  He seemed about to speak and then
+to think better of it, for he crossed his legs and smoked on in
+silence, gazing at the nickel work of the "base-burner" stove.  It
+was badly in need of polishing.
+
+"Well?" inquired Asaph, with impatient sarcasm.  "Thinkin' of
+askin' me to build a fire for you, was you?  Nobody else but you
+would have set up a stove in summer time, anyhow."
+
+"Hey?  No, you needn't start a fire yet awhile.  That necktie of
+yours 'll keep us warm till fall, I shouldn't wonder.  New one,
+ain't it?  Where'd you get it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt was wearing a crocheted scarf of a brilliant crimson
+hue, particularly becoming to his complexion.  The complexion now
+brightened until it was almost a match for the tie.
+
+"Oh!" he said, with elaborate indifference.  "That?  Yes, it's new.
+Yesterday was my birthday, and Matildy Tripp she knew I needed a
+necktie, so she give me this one."
+
+"Oh!  One she knit purpose for you, then?  Dear me!  Look out, Ase.
+Widow women are dangerous, they say; presents are one of the first
+baits they heave out."
+
+"Don't be foolish, now!  I couldn't chuck it back at her, could I?
+That would be pretty manners.  You needn't talk about widders--not
+after Debby!  Ho! ho!"
+
+Captain Cy chuckled.  Then he suddenly became serious.
+
+"Ase," he said, "you remember the time when the Howes folks had
+this house?  Course you do.  Yes; well, was there any of their
+relations here with 'em?  A--a cousin, or somethin'?"
+
+"No, not as I recollect.  Yes, there was, too, come to think.  A
+third cousin, Mary Thayer her name was.  I THINK she was a third
+cousin of Betsy Howes, Seth Howes's second wife.  Betsy's name was
+Ginn afore she married, and the Ginns was related on their ma's
+side to a Richards--Emily Richards, I think 'twas--and Emily
+married a Thayer.  Would that make this Mary a third cousin?  Now
+let's see; Sarah Jane Ginn, she had an aunt who kept a boardin'
+house in Harniss.  I remember that, 'count of her sellin' my Uncle
+Bije a pig.  Seems to me 'twas a pig, but I ain't sure that it
+mightn't have been a settin' of Plymouth Rock hens' eggs.  Anyhow,
+Uncle Bije KEPT hens, because I remember one time--"
+
+"There! there! we'll be out of sight of land in a minute.  This
+Mary Thayer--old, was she?"
+
+"No, no!  Just a young girl, eighteen or twenty or so.  Pretty and
+nice and quiet as ever I see.  By Godfrey, she WAS pretty!  I wan't
+as old as I be now, and--"
+
+"Ase, don't tell your heart secrets, even to me.  I might get
+absent-minded and mention 'em to Matildy.  And then--whew!"
+
+"If you don't stop tryin' to play smarty I'll go home.  What's
+Matildy Tripp to me, I'd like to know?  And even when Mary Thayer
+was here I was old enough to be her dad.  But I remember what a
+nice girl she was and how the boarders liked her.  They used to say
+she done more than all the Howes tribe put together to make the Sea
+Sight House a good hotel.  Young as she was she done most of the
+housekeepin' and done it well.  If the rest of 'em had been like
+her you mightn't have had the place yet, Whit.  But what set you to
+thinkin' about her?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know!  Nothin' much; that is--well, I'll tell you some
+other time.  What became of her?"
+
+"She went up to New Hampshire along with the Howes folks and I
+ain't seen her since.  Seems to me I did hear she was married.  See
+here, Whit, what is it about her?  Tell a feller; come!"
+
+But Captain Cy refused to gratify his chum's lively curiosity.
+Also he refused to go to Simmons's that evening, saying that he was
+tired and guessed he'd stay at home and "turn in early."  Mr.
+Tidditt departed grumbling.  After he had gone the captain drew his
+chair nearer the center table, took from his pocket a sheet of
+notepaper, and proceeded to read what was written on its pages.  It
+was a letter which he had received nearly a month before and had
+not yet answered.  During the past week he had read it many times.
+The writing was cramped and blotted and the paper cheap and dingy.
+The envelope bore the postmark of a small town in Indiana, and the
+inclosure was worded as follows:
+
+
+CAPTAIN CYRUS WHITTAKER.
+
+DEAR SIR:  I suppose you will be a good deal surprised to hear from
+me, especially from way out West here.  When you bought the old
+house of Seth, he and I was living in Concord, N. H.  He couldn't
+make a go of his business there, so we came West and he has been
+sick most of the time since.  We ain't well off like you, and times
+are hard with us.  What I wanted to write you about was this.  My
+cousin Mary Thomas, Mary Thayer that was, is still living in
+Concord and she is poor and needs help, though I don't suppose she
+would ask for it, being too proud.  False pride I call it.  Me and
+Seth would like to do something for her, but we have a hard enough
+job to keep going ourselves.  Mary married a man by the name of
+Henry Thomas, and he turned out to be a miserable good-for-nothing,
+as I always said he would.  She wouldn't listen to me though.  He
+run off and left her seven year ago last April, and I understand
+was killed or drowned somewheres up in Montana.  Mary and [several
+words scratched out here] got along somehow since, but I don't know
+how.  While we lived in Concord Seth sort of kept an eye on her,
+but now he can't of course.  She's a good girl, or woman rather,
+being most forty, and would make a good housekeeper if you should
+need one as I suppose likely you will.  If you could help her it
+would be an act of charity and you will be rewarded Above.  Seth
+says why not write to her and tell her to come and see you?  He
+feels bad about her, because he is so sick I suppose.  And he knows
+you are rich and could do good if you felt like it.  Her father's
+name was John Thayer.  I wouldn't wonder if you used to know her
+mother.  She was Emily Richards afore she married and they used to
+live in Orham.
+
+Yours truly,
+
+ELIZABETH HOWES.
+
+P.S.--Mary's address is Mrs. Mary Thomas, care Mrs. Oliver, 128
+Blank Street, Concord, N. H.
+
+N.B.--Seth won't say so, but I will: we are very hard up ourselves
+and if you could help him and me with the loan of a little money it
+would be thankfully received.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter, folded it, and replaced it in his
+pocket.  He knew the Howes family by reputation, and the reputation
+was that of general sharpness in trade and stinginess in money
+matters.  Betsy's personal appeal did not, therefore, touch his
+heart to any great extent.  He surmised also that for Seth Howes
+and his wife to ask help for some person other than themselves
+premised a darky in the woodpile somewhere.  But for the daughter
+of Emily Richards to be suggested as a possible housekeeper at the
+Cy Whittaker place--that was interesting, certainly.
+
+When the captain was not a captain--when he was merely "young Cy,"
+a boy, living with his parents, a dancing school was organized in
+Bayport.  It was an innovation for our village, and frowned upon by
+many of the older and stricter inhabitants.  However, most of the
+captain's boy friends were permitted to attend; young Cy was not.
+His father considered dancing a waste of time and, if not wicked,
+certainly frivolous and nonsensical.  So the boy remained at home,
+but, in spite of the parental order, he practiced some of the
+figures of the quadrilles and the contra dances in his comrades'
+barns, learning them at second hand, so to speak.
+
+One winter there was to be a party in Orham, given by the
+Nickersons, wealthy people with a fifteen-year-old daughter.  It
+was to be a grand affair, and most of the boys and girls in the
+neighboring towns were invited.  Cy received an invitation, and,
+for a wonder, was permitted to attend.  The Bayport contingent went
+over in a big hayrick on runners and the moonlight ride was jolly
+enough.  The Nickerson mansion was crowded and there were music and
+dancing.
+
+Young Cy was miserable during the dancing.  He didn't dare attempt
+it, in spite of his lessons in the barn.  So, while the rest of his
+boy friends sought partners for the "Portland Fancy" and "Hull's
+Victory" he sat forlorn in a corner.
+
+As he sat there he was approached by a young lady, radiant in
+muslin and ribbons.  She was three or four years older than he was,
+and he had worshipped her from afar as she whirled up and down the
+line in the Virginia Reel.  She never lacked partners and seemed to
+be a great favorite with the young men, especially one good-looking
+chap with a sunburned face, who looked like a sailor.
+
+They were forming sets for "Money Musk"; it was "ladies' choice,"
+and there was a demand for more couples.  The young lady came ever
+to Cy's corner and laughingly dropped him a courtesy.
+
+"If you please," she said, "I want a partner.  Will you do me the
+honor?"
+
+Cy blushingly avowed that he couldn't dance any to speak of.
+
+"Oh, yes, you can!  I'm sure you can.  You're the Whittaker boy,
+aren't you?  I've heard about your barn lessons.  And I want you to
+try this with me.  Please do.  No, John," she added, turning to the
+sunburned young fellow who had followed her across the room; "this
+is my choice and here is my partner.  Susie Taylor is after you and
+you mustn't run away.  Come, Mr. Whittaker."
+
+So Cy took her arm and they danced "Money Musk" together.  He made
+but a few mistakes, and these she helped him to correct so easily
+that none noticed.  His success gave him courage and he essayed
+other dances; in fact, he had a very good time at the party after
+all.
+
+On the way home he thought a great deal about the pretty young
+lady, whose name he discovered was Emily Richards.  He decided that
+if she would only wait for him, he might like to marry her when he
+grew up.  But he was thirteen and she was seventeen, and the very
+next year she married John Thayer, the sailor in the blue suit.
+And two years after that young Cy ran away to be a sailor himself.
+
+In spite of his age and his lifetime of battering about the world,
+Captain Cy had a sentimental streak in his makeup; his rejuvenation
+of the old home proved that.  Betsy's letter interested him.  He
+had made guarded inquiries concerning Mary Thayer, now Mary Thomas,
+of others besides Asaph, and the answers had been satisfactory so
+far as they went; those who remembered her had liked her very much.
+The captain had even begun a letter to Mrs. Thomas, but laid it
+aside unfinished, having, since Bailey's unfortunate experience
+with the widow Beasley, a prejudice against experiments.
+
+But this evening, before Mr. Tidditt called, he had been thinking
+that something would have to be done and done soon.  The generally
+shiftless condition of his domestic surroundings was getting to be
+unbearable.  Dust and dirt did not fit into his mental picture of
+the old home as it used to be and as he had tried to restore it.
+There had been neither dust nor dirt in his mother's day.
+
+He meditated and smoked for another hour.  Then, his mind being
+made up, he pulled down the desk lid of the old-fashioned
+secretary, resurrected from a pile of papers the note he had begun
+to Mrs. Thomas, dipped a sputtering pen into the ink bottle and
+proceeded to write.
+
+His letter was a short one and rather noncommittal.  As Mrs. Thomas
+no doubt knew he had come back to live in his father's house at
+Bayport.  He might possibly need some one to keep house for him.
+He understood that she, Mary Thayer that was, was a good housekeeper
+and that she was open to an engagement if everything was mutually
+satisfactory.  He had known her mother slightly when the latter
+lived in Orham.  He thought an interview might be pleasant, for they
+could talk over old times if nothing more.  Perhaps, on the whole,
+she might care to risk a trip to Bayport, therefore he inclosed
+money for her railroad fare.  "You understand, of course," so he
+wrote in conclusion, "that nothing may come of our meeting at all.
+So please don't say a word to anybody when you strike town.  You've
+lived here yourself, and you know that three words hove overboard in
+Bayport will dredge up gab enough to sink a dictionary.  So just
+keep mum till the business is settled one way or the other."
+
+He put on his hat and went down to the post office, where he
+dropped his letter in the slot of the box fastened to the front
+door.  Then he returned home and retired at exactly eleven o'clock.
+In spite of his remarks to Asaph, he had not "turned in" so early
+after all.
+
+If the captain expected a prompt reply to his note he was
+disappointed.  A week passed and he heard nothing.  Then three more
+days and still no word from the New Hampshire widow.  Meanwhile
+fresh layers of dust spread themselves over the Whittaker
+furniture, and the gaudy patterns of the carpets blushed dimly
+beneath a grimy fog.  The situation was desperate; even Matilda
+Tripp, Come-Outer sermons and all, began to be thinkable as a
+possibility.
+
+The eleventh day began with a pouring rain that changed, later on,
+to a dismal drizzle.  The silver-leaf tree in the front yard
+dripped, and the overflowing gutters gurgled and splashed.  The bay
+was gray and lonely, and the fish weirs along the outer bar were
+lost in the mist.  The flowers in the Atkins urns were draggled and
+beaten down.  Only the iron dogs glistened undaunted as the wet ran
+off their newly painted backs.  The air was heavy, and the salty
+flavor of the flats might almost be tasted in it.
+
+Captain Cy was in the sitting room, as usual.  His spirits were as
+gray as the weather.  He was actually lonesome for the first time
+since his return home.  He had kindled a wood fire in the stove,
+just for the sociability of it, and the crackle and glow behind the
+isinglass panes only served to remind him of other days and other
+fires.  The sitting room had not been lonesome then.
+
+He heard the depot wagon rattle by and, peering from the window,
+saw that, except for Mr. Lumley, it was empty.  Not even a summer
+boarder had come to brighten our ways and lawns with reckless
+raiment and the newest slang.  Summer boarding season was almost
+over now.  Bayport would soon be as dull as dish water.  And the
+captain admitted to himself that it WAS dull.  He had half a mind
+to take a flying trip to Boston, make the round of the wharves, and
+see if any of the old shipowners and ship captains whom he had once
+known were still alive and in harness.
+
+"JINGLE!  Jingle!  JINGLE!  Jingle!  Jingle!  Jing!  Jing!  Jing!"
+
+Captain Cy bounced in his chair.  That was the front-door bell.
+The FRONT-door bell!  Who on earth, or, rather, who in Bayport,
+would come to the FRONT door?
+
+He hurried through the dim grandeur of the best parlor and entered
+the little dark front hall.  The bell was still swinging at the end
+of its coil of wire.  The dust shaken from it still hung in the
+air.  The captain unbolted and unlocked the big front door.
+
+A girl was standing on the steps between the lines of box hedge--a
+little girl under a big "grown-up" umbrella.  The wet dripped from
+the umbrella top and from the hem of the little girl's dress.
+
+Captain Cy stared hard at his visitor; he knew most of the children
+in Bayport, but he didn't know this one.  Obviously she was a
+stranger.  Portuguese children from "up Harniss way" sometimes
+called to peddle huckleberries, but this child was no "Portugee."
+
+"Hello!" exclaimed the captain wonderingly.
+
+"Did you ring the bell?"
+
+"Yes, sir," replied the girl.
+
+"Humph!  Did, hey?  Why?"
+
+"Why?  Why, I thought--  Isn't it a truly bell?  Didn't it ought to
+ring?  Is anybody sick or dead?  There isn't any crape."
+
+"Dead?  Crape?"  Captain Cy gasped.  "What in the world put that in
+your head?"
+
+"Well, I didn't know but maybe that was why you thought I hadn't
+ought to have rung it.  When mamma was sick they didn't let people
+ring our bell.  And when she died they tied it up with crape."
+
+"Did, hey?  Hum!"  The captain scratched his chin and gazed at the
+small figure before him.  It was a self-poised, matter-of-fact
+figure for such a little one, and, out there in the rain under the
+tent roof of the umbrella, it was rather pitiful.
+
+"Please, sir," said the child, "are you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?"
+
+"Yup!  That's me.  You've guessed it the first time."
+
+"Yes, sir.  I've got a letter for you.  It's pinned inside my
+dress.  If you could hold this umbrella maybe I could get it out."
+
+She extended the big umbrella at arm's length, holding it with both
+hands.  Captain Cy woke up.
+
+"Good land!" he exclaimed, "what am I thinkin' of?  You're soakin'
+wet through, ain't you?"
+
+"I guess I'm pretty wet.  It's a long ways from the depot, and I
+tried to come across the fields, because a boy said it was nearer,
+and the bushes were--"
+
+"Across the FIELDS?  Have you walked all the way from the depot?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  The man said it was a quarter to ride, and auntie said
+I must be careful of my money because--"
+
+"By the big dipper!  Come in!  Come in out of that this minute!"
+
+He sprang down the steps, furled the umbrella, seized her by the
+arm and led her into the house, through the parlor and into the
+sitting room, where the fire crackled invitingly.  He could feel
+that the dress sleeve under his hand was wet through, and the worn
+boots and darned stockings he could see were soaked likewise.
+
+"There!" he cried.  "Set down in that chair.  Put your feet up on
+that h'ath.  Sakes alive!  Your folks ought to know better than to
+let you stir out this weather, let alone walkin' a mile--and no
+rubbers!  Them shoes ought to come off this minute, I s'pose.  Take
+'em off.  You can dry your stockings better that way.  Off with
+'em!"
+
+"Yes, sir," said the child, stooping to unbutton the shoes.  Her
+wet fingers were blue.  It can be cold in our village, even in
+early September, when there is an easterly storm.  Unbuttoning the
+shoes was slow work.
+
+"Here, let me help you!" commanded the captain, getting down on one
+knee and taking a foot in his lap.  "Tut! tut! tut! you're wet!
+Been some time sence I fussed with button boots; lace or long-
+legged cowhides come handier.  Never wore cowhides, did you?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"I s'pose not.  I used to when I was little.  Remember the first
+pair I had.  Copper toes on 'em--whew!  The copper was blacked over
+when they come out of the store and that wouldn't do, so we used to
+kick a stone wall till they brightened up.  There! there she comes.
+Humph! stockin's soaked, too.  Wish I had some dry ones to lend
+you.  Might give you a pair of mine, but they'd be too scant fore
+and aft and too broad in the beam, I cal'late.  Humph! and your
+top-riggin's as wet as your hull.  Been on your beam ends, have
+you?"
+
+"I don't know, sir.  I fell down in the bushes coming across.
+There were vines and they tripped me up.  And the umbrella was so
+heavy that--"
+
+"Yes, I could see right off you was carryin' too much canvas.  Now
+take off your bunnit and I'll get a coat of mine to wrap you up
+in."
+
+He went into his bedroom and returned with a heavy "reefer" jacket.
+Ordering his caller to stand up he slipped her arms into the
+sleeves and turned the collar up about her neck.  Her braided
+"pigtail" of yellow hair stuck out over the collar and hung down
+her back in a funny way.  The coat sleeves reached almost to her
+knees and the coat itself enveloped her like a bed quilt.
+
+"There!" said Captain Cy approvingly.  "Now you look more as if you
+was under a storm rig.  Set down and toast your toes.  Where's that
+letter you said you had?"
+
+"It's inside here.  I don't know's I can get at it; these sleeves
+are so long."
+
+"Reef 'em.  Turn 'em up.  Let me show you.  That's better!  Hum!
+So you come from the depot, hey?  Live up that way?"
+
+"No, sir!  I used to live in Concord, but--"
+
+"Concord?  CONCORD?  Concord where?"
+
+"Concord, New Hampshire.  I came on the cars.  Auntie knew a man
+who was going to Boston, and he said he'd take care of me as far as
+that and then put me on the train to come down here.  I stopped at
+his folks' house in Charlestown last night, and this morning we got
+up early and he bought me a ticket and started me for here.  I had
+a box with my things in it, but it was so heavy I couldn't carry
+it, so I left it up at the depot.  The man there said it would be
+all right and you could send for it when--"
+
+"I could SEND for it?  _I_ could?  What in the world--  Say, child,
+you've made a mistake in your bearin's.  'Taint me you want to see,
+it's some of your folks, relations, most likely.  Tell me who they
+are; maybe I know 'em."
+
+The girl sat upright in the big chair.  Her dark eyes opened wide
+and her chin quivered.
+
+"Ain't you Captain Cyrus Whittaker?" she demanded.  "You said you
+was."
+
+"Yes, yes, I am.  I'm Cy Whittaker, but what--"
+
+"Well, auntie told me--"
+
+"Auntie!  Auntie who?"
+
+"Auntie Oliver.  She isn't really my auntie, but mamma and me lived
+in her house for ever so long and so--"
+
+"Wait! wait! wait!  I'm hull down in the fog.  This is gettin' too
+thick for ME.  Your auntie's name's Oliver and you lived in
+Concord, New Hampshire.  For--for thunder sakes, what's YOUR name?"
+
+"Emily Richards Thomas."
+
+"Em--Emily--Richards--Thomas"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"Emily Richards Thomas!  What was your ma's name?"
+
+"Mamma was Mrs. Thomas.  Her front name was Mary.  She's dead.
+Don't you want to see your letter?  I've got it now."
+
+She lifted one of the flapping coat sleeves and extended a crumpled,
+damp envelope.  Captain Cy took it in a dazed fashion and drew a
+long breath.  Then he tore open the envelope and read the following:
+
+
+DEAR CAPTAIN WHITTAKER:
+
+The bearer of this is Emily Richards Thomas.  She is seven, going
+on eight, but old for her years.  Her mother was Mary Thomas that
+used to be Mary Thayer.  It was her you wrote to about keeping
+house for you, but she had been dead a fortnight before your letter
+come.  She had bronchial pneumonia and it carried her off, having
+always been delicate and with more troubles to bear than she could
+stand, poor thing.  Since her husband, who I say was a scamp even
+if he is dead, left her and the baby, she has took rooms with me
+and done sewing and such.  When she passed away I wrote to Seth
+Howes, a relation of hers out West, and, so far as I know, the only
+one she had.  I told the Howes man that Mary had gone and Emmie was
+left.  Would they take her? I wrote.  And Seth's wife wrote they
+couldn't, being poorer than poverty themselves.  I was afraid she
+would have to go to a Home, but when your letter came I wrote the
+Howeses again.  And Mrs. Howes wrote back that you was rich, and a
+sort of far-off relation of Mary's, and probably you would be glad
+to take the child to bring up.  Said that she had some correspondence
+with you about Mary before.  So I send Emmie to you. Somebody's got
+to take care of her and I can't afford it, though I would if I
+could, for she's a real nice child and some like her mother.  I do
+hope she can stay with you.  It seems a shame to send her to the
+orphan asylum.  I send along what clothes she's got, which ain't
+many.
+
+Respectfully yours,
+
+SARAH OLIVER.
+
+
+Captain Cy read the letter through.  Then he wiped his forehead.
+
+"Well!" he muttered.  "WELL!  I never in my life!  I--I never did!
+Of all--"
+
+Emily Richards Thomas looked up from the depths of the coat collar.
+
+"Don't you think," she said, "that you had better send to the depot
+for my box?  I can get dry SOME this way, but mamma always made me
+change my clothes as soon as I could.  She used to be afraid I'd
+get cold."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+ICICLES AND DUST
+
+
+Captain Cy did not reply to the request for the box.  It is
+doubtful if he even heard it.  Mrs. Oliver's astonishing letter
+had, as he afterwards said, left him "high and dry with no tug in
+sight."  Mary Thomas was dead, and her daughter, her DAUGHTER! of
+whose very existence he had been ignorant, had suddenly appeared
+from nowhere and been dropped at his door, like an out-of-season
+May basket, accompanied by the modest suggestion that he assume
+responsibility for her thereafter.  No wonder the captain wiped his
+forehead in utter bewilderment.
+
+"Don't you think you'd better send for the box?" repeated the
+child, shivering a little under the big coat.
+
+"Hey?  What say?  Never mind, though.  Just keep quiet for a spell,
+won't you.  I want to let this soak in.  By the big dipper!  Of all
+the solid brass cheek that ever I run across, this beats the whole
+cargo!  And Betsy Howes never hinted!  'Probably you would be glad
+to take--'  Be GLAD!   Why, blast their miserable, stingy--  What
+do they take me for?  I'LL show 'em!  Indiana ain't so fur that I
+can't--  Hey?  Did you say anything, sis?"
+
+The girl had shivered again.  "No, sir," she replied.  "It was my
+teeth, I guess.  They kind of rattled."
+
+"What?  You ain't cold, are you?  With all that round you and in
+front of that fire?"
+
+"No, sir, I guess not.  Only my back feels sort of funny, as if
+somebody kept dropping icicles down it.  Those bushes and vines
+were so wet that when I tumbled down 'twas most like being in a
+pond."
+
+"Sho! sho!  That won't do.  Can't have you laid up on my hands.
+That would be worse than--  Humph!  Tut, tut!  Somethin' ought to
+be done, and I'm blessed if I know what.  And not a woman round the
+place--not even that Debby.  Say, look here, what's your name--er--
+Emmie, hadn't I better get the doctor?"
+
+The child looked frightened.
+
+"Why?" she cried, her big eyes opening.  "I'm not sick, am I?"
+
+"Sick?  No, no!  Course not, course not.  What would you want to be
+sick for?  But you ought to get warm and dry right off, I s'pose,
+and your duds are all up to the depot.  Say, what does--what did
+your ma used to do when you felt--er--them icicles and things?"
+
+"She changed my clothes and rubbed me.  And, if I was VERY wet she
+put me to bed sometimes."
+
+"Bed?  Sure! why, yes, indeed.  Bed's a good place to keep off
+icicles.  There's my bedroom right in there.  You could turn in
+just as well as not.  Bunk ain't made yet, but I can shake it up in
+no time.  Say--er--er--you can undress yourself, can't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes, sir!  Course I can!  I'm most eight."
+
+"Sure you are!  Don't act a mite babyish.  All right, you set still
+till I shake up that bunk."
+
+He entered the chamber, his own, opening from the sitting room, and
+proceeded, literally, to "shake up" the bed.  It was not a lengthy
+process and, when it was completed, he returned to find his visitor
+already divested of the coat and standing before the stove.
+
+"I guess perhaps you'll have to help undo me behind," observed the
+young lady.  "This is my best dress and I can't reach the buttons
+in the middle of the back."
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head.  Then he clumsily unbuttoned the wet
+waist, glancing rather sheepishly at the window to see if anyone
+was coming.
+
+"So this is your best dress, hey?" he asked, to cover his confusion.
+It was obviously not very new, for it was neatly mended in one or
+two places.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"So.  Where'd you buy it--up to Concord?"
+
+"No, sir.  Mamma made it, a year ago."
+
+There was a little choke in the child's voice.  The captain was
+mightily taken back.
+
+"Hum!  Yes, yes," he muttered hurriedly.  "Well, there you are.
+Now you can get along, can't you?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Shall I go in that room?"
+
+"Trot right in.  You might--er--maybe you might sing out when
+you're tucked up.  I--I'll want to know if you're got bedclothes
+enough."
+
+Emily disappeared in the bedroom.  The door closed.  Captain Cy,
+his hands in his pockets, walked up and down the length of the
+sitting room.  The expression on his face was a queer one.
+
+"I haven't got any nightgown," called a voice from the other room.
+The captain gasped.
+
+"Good land! so you ain't," he exclaimed.  "What in the world--
+Humph!  I wonder--"
+
+He went to the lower drawer of a tall "highboy" and, from the
+tumbled mass of apparel therein took one of his own night garments.
+
+"Here's one," he said, coming back with it in his hand.  "I guess
+you'll have to make this do for now.  It'll fit you enough for
+three times to once, but it's all I've got."
+
+A small hand reached 'round the edge of the door and the nightshirt
+disappeared.  Captain Cy chuckled and resumed his pacing.
+
+"I'm tucked up," called Miss Thomas.  The captain entered and found
+her in bed, the patchwork points and diamonds of the "Rising Sun"
+quilt covering her to the chin and her head denting the uppermost
+of the two big pillows.  Captain Cy liked to "sleep high."
+
+"Got enough over you?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, sir, thank you."
+
+"That's good.  I'll take your togs out and dry 'em in the kitchen.
+Don't be scared; I'll be right back."
+
+In the kitchen he sorted the wet garments and hung them about the
+cook stove.  It was a strange occupation for him and he shook his
+head whimsically as he completed it.  Then he took a flat iron, one
+of Mrs. Beasley's purchases, from the shelf in the closet and put
+it in the oven to heat.  Soon afterwards he returned to the
+bedroom, bearing the iron wrapped in a dish towel.
+
+"My ma always used to put a hot flat to my feet when I was a young
+one and got chilled," he explained.  "I ain't used one for some
+time, but I guess it's a good receipt.  How do you feel now?  Any
+more icicles?"
+
+"No, sir.  I'm ever so warm.  Isn't this a nice bed?"
+
+"Think so, do you?  Glad of it.  Well, now, I'm goin' to leave you
+in it while I step down street and see about havin' your box sent
+for.  I'll be back in a shake.  If anybody comes to the door while
+I'm gone don't you worry; let 'em go away again."
+
+He put on his hat and left the house, walking rapidly, his head
+down and his hands in his pockets.  At times he would pause in his
+walk, whistle, shake his head, and go on once more.  Josiah Dimick
+met him, and his answers to Josiah's questions were so vague and
+irrelevant that Captain Dimick was puzzled, and later expressed the
+opinion that "Whit's cookin' must be pretty bad; acted to me as if
+he had dyspepsy of the brain."
+
+Captain Cy stopped at Mr. Lumley's residence to leave an order for
+the delivery of the box.  Then he drifted into Simmons's and
+accosted Alpheus Smalley.
+
+"Al," he said, "what's good for a cold?"
+
+"Why?" asked Mr. Smalley, in true Yankee fashion.  "You got one?"
+
+"Hey?  Oh, yes!  Yes, I've got one."  By way of proof he coughed
+until the lamp chimneys rattled on the shelf.
+
+"Judas!  I should think you had!  Well, there's 'Pine Bark Oil' and
+'Sassafras Elixir' and two kinds of sass'p'rilla--that's good for
+most everything--and--  Is your throat sore?"
+
+"Hey?  Yes, I guess so."
+
+"Don't you KNOW?  If you've got sore throat there ain't nothin'
+better'n 'Arabian Balsam.'  But what in time are you doin' out in
+this drizzle with a cold and no umbrella?  Do you want to--"
+
+"Never mind my umbrella.  I left it in the church entry t'other
+Sunday and somebody got out afore I did.  This 'Arabian Balsam'--
+seems to me I remember my ma's usin' that on me.  Wet a rag with
+it, don't you, and tie it round your neck?"
+
+"Yup.  Be sure and use a flannel rag, and red flannel if you've got
+it; that acts quicker'n the other kinds.  Fifteen cent bottle?"
+
+"I guess so.  Might's well give me some sass'p'rilla, while you're
+about it; always handy to have in the house.  And--er--say, is that
+canned soup you've got up on that shelf?"
+
+The astonished clerk admitted that it was.
+
+"Well, give me a can of the chicken kind."
+
+Mr. Smalley, standing on a chair to reach the shelf where the soup
+was kept, shook his head.
+
+"Now, that's too bad, Cap'n," he said, "but we're all out of
+chicken just now.  Fact is, we ain't got nothin' but termatter and
+beef broth.  Yes, and I declare if the termatter ain't all gone."
+
+"Humph! then I guess I'll take the beef.  Needn't mind wrappin' it
+up.  So long."
+
+He departed bearing his purchases.  When Mr. Simmons, proprietor of
+the store, returned, Alpheus told him that he "cal'lated" Captain
+Cy Whittaker was preparing to "go into a decline, or somethin'."
+
+"Anyhow," said Alpheus, "he bought sass'p'rilla and 'Arabian
+Balsam,' and I sold him a can of that beef soup you bought three
+year ago last summer, when Alicia Atkins had the chicken pox."
+
+The captain entered the house quietly and tiptoed to the door of
+the bedroom.  Emily was asleep, and the sight of the childish head
+upon the pillow gave him a start as he peeped in at it.  It looked
+so natural, almost as if it belonged there.  It had been in a bed
+like that and in that very room that he had slept when a boy.
+
+Gabe, brimful of curiosity, brought the box a little later.  His
+curiosity was ungratified, Captain Cyrus explaining that it was a
+package he had been expecting.  The captain took the box to the
+bedroom, and, finding the child still asleep, deposited it on the
+floor and tiptoed out again.  He went to the kitchen, poked up the
+fire, and set about getting dinner.
+
+He was warming the beef broth in a saucepan on the stove when Emily
+appeared.  She was dressed in dry clothes from the box and seemed
+to be feeling as good as new.
+
+"Hello!" exclaimed Captain Cy.  "You're on deck again, hey?  How's
+icicles?"
+
+"All gone," was the reply.  "Do you do your own work?  Can't I
+help?  I can set the table.  I used to for Mrs. Oliver."
+
+The captain protested that he could do it himself just as well, but
+the girl persisting, he showed her where the dishes were kept.
+From the corner of his eye he watched her as she unfolded the
+tablecloth.
+
+"Is this the only one you've got?" she inquired.  "It's awful
+dirty."
+
+"Hum!  Yes, I ain't tended up to my washin' and ironin' the way I'd
+ought to.  I'll lose my job if I don't look out, hey?"
+
+Before they sat down to the meal Captain Cy insisted that his guest
+take a tablespoonful of the sarsaparilla and decorate her throat
+with a section of red flannel soaked in the 'Arabian Balsam.'  The
+perfume of the latter was penetrating and might have interfered
+with a less healthy appetite than that of Miss Thomas.
+
+"Have some soup?  Some I bought purpose for you.  Best thing goin'
+for folks with icicles," remarked the captain, waving the iron
+spoon he had used to stir the contents of the saucepan.
+
+"Yes, sir, thank you.  But don't you ask a blessing?"
+
+"Hey?"
+
+"A blessing, you know.  Saying that you're thankful for the food
+now set before us."
+
+"Hum!  Why, to tell you the truth I've kind of neglected that, I'm
+afraid.  Bein' thankful for the grub I've had lately was most too
+much of a strain, I shouldn't wonder."
+
+"I know the one mamma used to say.  Shall I ask it for you?"
+
+"Sho!  I guess so, if you want to."
+
+The girl bent her head and repeated a short grace.  Captain Cy
+watched her curiously.
+
+"Now, I'll have some soup, please," observed Emily.  "I'm awful
+hungry.  I had breakfast at five o'clock this morning and we didn't
+have a chance to eat much."
+
+A good many times that day the captain caught himself wondering if
+he wasn't dreaming.  The whole affair seemed too ridiculous to be
+an actual experience.  Dinner over, he and Emmie attended to the
+dishes, he washing and she wiping.  And even at this early stage of
+their acquaintance her disposition to take charge of things was
+apparent.  She found fault with the dish towels; they were almost
+as bad as the tablecloth, she said.  Considering that the same set
+had been in use since Mrs. Beasley's departure, the criticism was
+not altogether baseless.  But the young lady did not stop there--
+her companion's skill as a washer was questioned.
+
+"Excuse me," she said, "but don't you think that plate had better
+be done over?  I guess you didn't see that place in the corner.
+Perhaps you've forgot your specs.  Auntie Oliver couldn't see well
+without her specs."
+
+Captain Cy grinned and admitted that a second washing wouldn't hurt
+the plate.
+
+"I guess your auntie was one of the particular kind," he said.
+
+"No, sir, 'twas mamma.  She couldn't bear dirty things.  Auntie
+used to say that mamma hunted dust with a magnifying glass.  She
+didn't, though; she only liked to be neat.  I guess dust doesn't
+worry men so much as it does women."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Oh, 'cause there's so much of it here; don't you think so?  I'll
+help you clean up by and by, if you want to."
+
+"YOU will?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I used to dust sometimes when mamma was out sewing.
+And once I swept, but I did it so hard that auntie wouldn't let me
+any more.  She said 'twas like trying to blow out a match with a
+tornado."
+
+Later on he found her standing in the sitting room, critically
+inspecting the mats, the furniture, and the pictures on the walls.
+He stood watching her for a moment and then asked:
+
+"Well, what are you lookin' for--more dust?  'Twon't be hard to
+find it.  'Dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return.'  Every
+time I go outdoor and come in again I realize how true that is."
+
+Emily shook her head.
+
+"No, sir," she said; "I was only looking at things and thinking."
+
+"Thinkin', hey?  What about? or is that a secret?"
+
+"No, sir.  I was thinking that this room was different from any
+I've ever seen."
+
+"Humph!  Yes, I presume likely 'tis.  Don't like it very much, do
+you?"
+
+"Yes, sir, I think I do.  It's got a good many things in it that I
+never saw before, but I guess they're pretty--after you get used to
+'em."
+
+Captain Cy laughed aloud.  "After you get used to 'em, hey?" he
+repeated.
+
+"Yes, sir.  That's what mamma said about Auntie Oliver's new bonnet
+that she made herself.  I--I was thinking that you must be peculiar."
+
+"Peculiar?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I like peculiar people.  I'm peculiar myself.  Auntie
+used to say I was the most peculiar child she ever saw.  P'raps
+that's why I came to you.  P'raps God meant for peculiar ones to
+live together.  Don't you think maybe that was it?"
+
+And the captain, having no answer ready, said nothing.
+
+That evening when Asaph and Bailey, coming for their usual call,
+peeped in at the window, they were astounded by the tableau in the
+Whittaker sitting room.  Captain Cy was seated in the rocking chair
+which had been his grandfather's.  At his feet, on the walnut
+cricket with a haircloth top, sat a little girl turning over the
+leaves of a tattered magazine, a Godey's Lady's Book.  A pile of
+these magazines was beside her on the floor.  The captain was
+smiling and looking over her shoulder.  The cat was curled up in
+another chair.  The room looked more homelike than it had since its
+owner returned to it.
+
+The friends entered without knocking.  Captain Cy looked up, saw
+them, and appeared embarrassed.
+
+"Hello, boys!" he said.  "Glad to see you.  Come right in.  Clearin'
+off fine, ain't it?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt replied absently that he wouldn't be surprised if it
+was.  Bailey, his eyes fixed upon the occupant of the cricket, said
+nothing.
+
+"We--we didn't know you had company, Whit," said Asaph.  "We been
+up to Simmons's and Alpheus said you was thin and peaked and looked
+sick.  Said you bought sass'p'rilla and all kind of truck.  He was
+afraid you had fever and was out of your head, cruisin round in the
+rain with no umbrella.  The gang weren't talkin' of nothin' else,
+so me and Bailey thought we'd come right down."
+
+"That's kind of you, I'm sure.  Take your things off and set down.
+No, I'm sorry to disappoint Smalley and the rest, but I'm able to
+be up and--er--make my own bed, thank you.  So Alpheus thought I
+looked thin, hey?  Well, if I had to live on that soup he sold me,
+I'd be thinner'n I am now.  You tell him that canned hot water is
+all right if you like it, but it seems a shame to put mud in it.
+It only changes the color and don't help the taste."
+
+Mr. Bangs, who was still staring at Emily, now ventured a remark.
+
+"Is that a relation of yours, Cy?" he asked.
+
+"That?  Oh!  Well, no, not exactly.  And yet I don't know but she
+is.  Fellers, this is Emmie Thomas.  Can't you shake hands, Emmie?"
+
+The child rose, laid down the magazine, which was open at the
+colored picture of a group of ladies in crinoline and chignons,
+and, going across the room, extended a hand to Mr. Tidditt.
+
+"How do you do, sir?" she said.
+
+"Why--er--how d'ye do?  I'm pretty smart, thank you.  How's
+yourself?"
+
+"I'm better now.  I guess the sass'parilla was good for me."
+
+"'Twan't the sass'p'rilla," observed the captain, with conviction.
+"'Twas the 'Arabian Balsam.'  Ma always cured me with it and
+there's nothin' finer."
+
+"But what in time--" began Bailey.  Captain Cy glanced at the child
+and then at the clock.
+
+"Don't you think you'd better turn in now, Emmie?" he said hastily,
+cutting off the remainder of the Bangs query.  "It's after eight,
+and when I was little I was abed afore that."
+
+Emily obediently turned, gathered up the Lady's Books and replaced
+them in the closet.  Then she went to the dining room and came back
+with a hand lamp.
+
+"Good night," she said, addressing the visitors.  Then, coming
+close to the captain, she put her face up for a kiss.
+
+"Good night," she said to him, adding, "I like it here ever so
+much.  I'm awful glad you let me stay."
+
+As Bailey told Asaph afterwards, Captain Cy blushed until the ends
+of the red lapped over at the nape of his neck.  However, he bent
+and kissed the rosy lips and then quickly brushed his own with his
+hand.
+
+"Yes, yes," he stammered.  "Well--er--good night.  Pleasant dreams
+to you.  See you in the mornin'."
+
+The girl paused at the chamber door.  "You won't have to unbutton
+my waist now," she said.  "This is my other one and it ain't that
+kind."
+
+The door closed.  The captain, without looking at his friends, led
+the way to the dining room.
+
+"Come on out here," he whispered.  "We can talk better here."
+
+Naturally, they wanted to know all about the girl, who she was and
+where she came from.  Captain Cy told as much of the history of the
+affair as he thought necessary.
+
+"Poor young one," he concluded, "she landed on to me in the rain,
+soppin' wet, and ha'f sick.  I COULDN'T turn her out then--nobody
+could.  Course it's an everlastin' outrage on me and the cheekiest
+thing ever I heard of, but what could I do?  I was fixed a good
+deal like an English feller by the name of Gatenby that I used to
+know in South America.  He woke up in the middle of the night and
+found a boa constrictor curled on the foot of his bed.  Next day,
+when a crowd of us happened in, there was Gatenby, white as a
+sheet, starin' down at the snake, and it sound asleep.  'I didn't
+invite him,' he says, 'but he looked so bloomin' comf'table I
+'adn't the 'eart to disturb 'im.'  Same way with me; the child
+seemed so comf'table here I ain't had the heart to disturb her--
+yet."
+
+"But she said she was goin' to stay," put in Bailey.  "You ain't
+goin' to KEEP her, are you?"
+
+The captain's indignation was intense.
+
+"Who--me?" he snorted.  "What do you think I am?  I ain't runnin'
+an orphan asylum.  No, sir!  I'll keep the young one a day or so--
+or maybe a week--and then I'll pack her off to Betsy Howes.  I
+ain't so soft as they think I am.  I'LL show 'em!"
+
+Mr. Tidditt looked thoughtful.
+
+"She's a kind of cute little girl, ain't she?" he observed.
+
+Captain Cy's frown vanished and a smile took its place.
+
+"That's so," he chuckled.  "She is, now that's a fact!  I don't
+know's I ever saw a cuter."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+CAPTAIN CY PROVES DELINQUENT
+
+
+A week isn't a very long time even in Bayport.  True, there was
+once a drummer for a Boston "notion" house who sprained his ankle
+on the icy sidewalk in front of Simmons's, and was therefore
+obliged to remain in the front bedroom of the perfect boarding
+house for seven whole days.  He is quoted as saying that next time
+he hoped he might break his neck.
+
+"Brother," asked the shocked Rev. Mr. Daniels, who was calling upon
+the stranger, "are you prepared to face eternity?"
+
+"What?" was the energetic reply.  "After a week in this town, and
+in this bedroom?  Look here, Mister, if you want to scare me about
+the future you just hint that they'll put me on a straw tick in an
+ice chest.  Anything hot and lively 'll only be tempting after
+this."
+
+But to us, who live here throughout the year, a week soon passes.
+And the end of the week following Emily Thomas's arrival at the Cy
+Whittaker place found the little girl still there and apparently no
+nearer being shipped to Indiana than when she came.  Not so near,
+if Mr. Tidditt's opinion counts for anything.
+
+"Gone?" he repeated scoffingly in reply to Bailey Bangs's question.
+"Course she ain't gone!  And, what's more, she ain't goin' to go.
+Whit's got so already that he wouldn't part with her no more'n he'd
+cut off his hand."
+
+"But he keeps SAYIN' she's got to go.  Only yesterday he was
+tellin' how Betsy'd feel when the girl landed on her with his
+letter in her pocket."
+
+"Sayin' don't count for nothin'.  Zoeth Cahoon keeps SAYIN' he's
+goin' to stop drinkin', but he only stops long enough to catch his
+breath.  Cy's tellin' himself fairy yarns and he hopes he believes
+'em.  Man alive! can't you SEE?  Ain't he gettin' more foolish over
+the young one every day?  Don't she boss him round like the
+overseer on a cranberry swamp?  Don't he look more contented than
+he has sence he got off the cars?  I tell you, Bailey, that child
+fills a place in Whit's life that's been runnin' to seed and needed
+weedin'.  Nothin' could fill it better--unless 'twas a nice wife."
+
+"WIFE! Oh, DO be still!  I believe you're woman-struck and at an
+age when it hadn't ought to be catchin' no more'n whoopin' cough."
+
+Mr. Bangs and the town clerk were the only ones, except Captain Cy,
+who knew the whole truth concerning the little girl.  Not that the
+child's arrival wasn't noted and vigorously discussed by a large
+portion of the townspeople.  Emily had not been in the Whittaker
+house two days before Angeline Phinney called, hot on the trail of
+gossip and sensation.  But, persistent as Angeline was, she
+departed knowing not quite as much as when she came.  The interview
+between Miss Phinney and the captain must have been interesting,
+judging by the lady's account of it.
+
+"I never see such a man in my born days," declared Angie disgustedly.
+"You couldn't get nothin' out of him.  Not that he wan't pleasant
+and sociable; land sakes! he acted as glad to see me as if I was his
+rich aunt come on a visit.  And he was willin' to talk, too.  That's
+the trouble; he done ALL the talkin'.  I happened to mention, just
+as a sort of starter, you know, somethin' about the cranb'ry crop
+this fall; and after that all he could say was 'cranb'ries,
+cranb'ries, cranb'ries!'  'Hear you've got comp'ny,' says I.  'Did
+you?' says he.  'Now ain't it strange how things'll get spread
+around?  Only yesterday I heard that Joe Dimick's swamp was just
+loaded down with "early blacks."  And yet when I went over to look
+at it there didn't seem to be so many.  There ain't much better
+cranb'ries anywhere than our early blacks,' he says.  'You take
+'em--'  And so on, and so on, and so on.  _I_ didn't care nothin'
+about the dratted early blacks, but he didn't seem to care for
+nothin' else.  He talked cranb'ries steady for an hour and a half
+and I left that house with my mouth all puckered up; it's tasted
+sour ever sence.  I never see such a man!"
+
+When Captain Cy was questioned by Asaph concerning the acid
+conversation, he grinned.
+
+"I didn't know you was so interested in cranb'ries," observed
+Tidditt.
+
+"I ain't," was the reply; "but I'm more interested in 'em than I am
+in Angie.  I see she was sufferin' from a rush of curiosity to the
+head and I cured her by homeopath doses.  Every time she opened her
+mouth I dropped an 'early black' into it.  It's a good receipt; you
+tell Bailey to try it on Ketury some time."
+
+To his chums the captain was emphatic in his orders that secrecy be
+preserved.  No one was to be told who the child was or where she
+came from.  "What they don't know won't hurt 'em any," declared
+Captain Cy.  And Emily's answer to inquiring souls who would fain
+have delved into her past was to the effect that "Uncle Cyrus"
+didn't like to have her talk about herself.
+
+"I don't know's I'm ashamed of anything I've done so far," said the
+captain; "but I ain't braggin', either.  Time enough to talk when I
+send her back to Betsy."
+
+That time, apparently, was not in the near future.  The girl stayed
+on at the Whittaker place and grew to be more and more a part of
+it.  At the end of the second week Captain Cy began calling her
+"Bos'n."
+
+"A bos'n's a mighty handy man aboard ship," he explained, "and
+you're so handy here that it fits in first rate.  And, besides, it
+sounds so natural.  My dad called me 'Bos'n' when I was little."
+
+Emily accepted the title complacently.  She was quite contented to
+be called almost anything, so long as she was permitted to stay
+with her new friend.  Already the bos'n had taken charge of the
+deck and the rest of the ship's company; Captain Cy and "Lonesome,"
+the cat, obeyed her orders.
+
+On the second Sunday morning after her arrival "Bos'n" suggested
+that she and Captain Cy go to church.
+
+"Mother and I always went at home," she said.  "And Auntie Oliver
+used to say meeting was a good thing for those that needed it."
+
+"Think I need it, do you?" asked the captain, who, in shirt sleeves
+and slippers, had prepared for a quiet forenoon with his pipe and
+the Boston Transcript.
+
+"I don't know, sir.  I heard what you said when Lonesome ate up the
+steak, and I thought maybe you hadn't been for a long time.  I
+guess churches are different in South America."
+
+So they went to church and sat in the old Whittaker pew.  The
+captain had been there once before when he first returned to
+Bayport, but the sermon was more somnolent than edifying, and he
+hadn't repeated the experiment.  The pair attracted much attention.
+Fragments of a conversation, heard by Captain Cy as they emerged
+into the vestibule, had momentous consequences.
+
+"Kind of a pretty child, ain't she?" commented Mrs. Eben Salters,
+patting her false front into place under the eaves of her Sunday
+bonnet.
+
+"Pretty enough in the face," sniffed Mrs. "Tad" Simpson, who was
+wearing her black silk for the first time since its third making-
+over.  "Pretty enough that way, I s'pose.  But, my land! look at
+the way she's rigged.  Old dress, darned and patched up and all
+outgrown!  If I had Cy Whittaker's money I'd be ashamed to have a
+relation of mine come to meetin' that way.  Even if her folks was
+poorer'n Job's off ox I'd spend a little on my own account and
+trust to getting it back some time.  I'd have more care for my own
+self-respect.  Look at Alicia Atkins.  See how nice she looks.
+Them feathers on her hat must have cost somethin', I bet you.
+Howdy do, 'Licia, dear?  When's your pa comin' home?"
+
+The Honorable Heman had left town on a business trip to the South.
+Alicia was accompanied by the Atkins housekeeper and, as usual, was
+garbed regardless of expense.
+
+Mrs. Salters smiled sweetly upon the Atkins heir and then added, in
+a church whisper:  "Don't she look sweet?  I agree with you, Sarah;
+it is strange how Captain Whittaker lets his little niece go.  And
+him rich!"
+
+"Niece?" repeated Mrs. Simpson eagerly.  "Who said 'twas his niece?
+I heard 'twas a child he'd adopted out of a home.  There's all
+sorts of queer yarns about.  I--  Oh, good mornin', Cap'n Cyrus!
+How DO you do?"
+
+The captain grunted an answer to the effect that he was bearing up
+pretty well, considering.  There was a scowl on his face, and he
+spoke little as, holding Emily by the hand, he led the way home.
+That evening he dropped in at the perfect boarding house and begged
+to know if Mrs. Bangs had any "fashion books" around that she
+didn't want.
+
+"I mean--er--er--magazines with pictures of women's duds in 'em,"
+he stammered, in explanation.  "Bos'n likes to look at 'em.  She's
+great on fashion books, Bos'n is."
+
+Keturah got together a half dozen numbers of the Home Dressmaker
+and other periodicals of a similar nature.  The captain took them
+under his arm and departed, whispering to Mr. Tidditt, as he passed
+the latter in the hall:
+
+"Come up by and by, Ase.  I want to talk to you.  Bring Bailey
+along, if you can do it without startin' divorce proceedings."
+
+Later, when the trio gathered in the Whittaker sitting room,
+Captain Cy produced the "fashion books" and spoke concerning them.
+
+"You see," he said, "I--I've been thinkin' that Bos'n--Emily, that
+is--wan't rigged exactly the way she ought to be.  Have you fellers
+noticed it?"
+
+His friends seemed surprised.  Neither was ready with an immediate
+answer, so the captain went on.
+
+"Course I don't mean she ain't got canvas enough to cover her
+spars," he explained; "but what she has got has seen consider'ble
+weather, and it seemed to me 'twas pretty nigh time to haul her
+into dry dock and refit.  That's why I borrowed these magazines of
+Ketury.  I've been lookin' them over and there seems to be plenty
+of riggin' for small craft; the only thing is I don't know what's
+the right cut for her build.  Bailey, you're a married man; you
+ought to know somethin' about women's clothes.  What do you think
+of this, now?"
+
+He opened one of the magazines and pointed to the picture of a
+young girl, with a waspy waist and Lilliputian feet, who, arrayed
+in flounces and furbelows, was toddling gingerly down a flight of
+marble steps.  She carried a parasol in one hand, and the other
+held the end of a chain to which a long-haired dog was attached.
+
+The town clerk and his companion inspected the young lady with
+deliberation and interest.
+
+"Well, what do you say?" demanded Captain Cy.
+
+"I don't care much for them kind of dogs," observed Asaph
+thoughtfully.
+
+"Good land! you don't s'pose they heave the dog in with the
+clothes, for good measure, do you?  Bailey, what's your opinion?"
+
+Mr. Bangs looked wise.
+
+"I should say--" he said, "yes, sir, I should say that was a real
+stylish rig-out.  Only thing is, that girl is consider'ble less
+fleshy than Emily.  This one looks to me as if she was breakin' in
+two amidships.  Still, I s'pose likely the duds don't come ready
+made, so they could be let out some, to fit.  What's the price of a
+suit like that, Whit?"
+
+The captain looked at the printed number beneath the fashion plate
+and then turned to the description in the text.
+
+"'Afternoon gown for miss of sixteen,'" he read.  "Humph! that
+settles that, first crack.  Bos'n ain't but half of sixteen."
+
+"Anyway," put in Asaph, "you need somethin' she could wear
+forenoons, if she wanted to.  What's this one?  She looks young
+enough."
+
+The "one" referred to turned out to be a "coat for child of four."
+It was therefore scornfully rejected.  One after another the
+different magazines were examined and the pictures discussed.  At
+length a "costume for miss of eight years" was pronounced to be
+pretty nearly the thing.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" exclaimed the admiring Mr. Tidditt.  "That's
+mighty swell, ain't it?  What's the stuff goes into that, Cy?"
+
+"'Material, batiste, trimmed with embroidered batiste.'  What in
+time is batiste?"
+
+"I don't know.  Do you, Bailey?"
+
+"No; never heard of it.  Ketury never had nothin' like that, I'm
+sure.  French, I shouldn't wonder.  Well, Ketury's down on the
+French ever sence she read about Napoleon leavin' his fust wife to
+take up with another woman.  Does it say any more?"
+
+"Let's see.  'Makes a beautiful gown for evening or summer wear.'
+Summer!  Why, by the big dipper, we're aground again!  Bos'n don't
+want summer clothes.  It's comin' on winter."
+
+He threw the magazine on the floor, rubbed his forehead, and then
+burst into a laugh.
+
+"For goodness sake, don't tell anybody about this business, boys!"
+he said.  "I guess I must be havin' an early spring of second
+childhood.  But when I heard those women at the meetin' house goin'
+on about how pretty 'Licia Atkins was got up and how mean and
+shabby Bos'n looked, it made me bile.  And, by the big dipper, I
+WILL show 'em somethin' afore I get through, too!  Only, dressin'
+little girls is some off my usual course.  Bailey, does Ketury make
+her own duds?"
+
+"Why, no!  Course she helps and stands by for orders, but Effie
+Taylor comes and takes the wheel while the riggin's goin' on.
+Effie's a dressmaker and--"
+
+"There!  See, Ase?  It IS some good to have a married man aboard,
+after all.  A dressmaker's what we want.  I'll hunt up Effie
+to-morrow."
+
+And hunt her up he did, with the result that Miss Taylor came to
+the Whittaker place each day during the following week and Emily
+was, as the captain said, "rigged out fresh from main truck to
+keelson."  In this "rigging" Captain Cy and his two partners--
+Josiah Dimick had already christened the pair "The Board of
+Strategy"--took a marked interest.  They were on hand when each new
+garment was tried on, and they approved or criticised as seemed to
+them best.
+
+"Ain't that kind of sober lookin' for a young one like Bos'n?"
+asked the captain, referring to one of the new gowns.  "I don't
+want her to look as if she was dressed cheap."
+
+"Land sakes!" mumbled Miss Taylor, her mouth full of pins.  "There
+ain't anything cheap about it, and you'll find it out when you get
+the bill.  That's a nice, rich, sensible suit."
+
+"I know, but it's so everlastin' quiet!  Don't you think a little
+yellow and black or some red strung along the yards would sort of
+liven it up?  Why! you ought to see them Greaser girls down in
+South America of a Sunday afternoon.  Color! and go!  Jerushy!
+they'd pretty nigh knock your eye out."
+
+The dressmaker sniffed disdain.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she retorted, "if you want this child to look
+like an Indian squaw or a barber's pole you'll have to get somebody
+else to do it.  I'm used to dressing Christians, not yeller and
+black heathen women.  Red strung along a skirt like that!  I never
+did!"
+
+"There, there, Effie!  Don't get the barometer fallin'.  I was only
+suggestin', you know.  What do you think, Bos'n?"
+
+"Why, Uncle Cyrus, I don't believe I should like red very much; nor
+the other colors, either.  I like this just as it is."
+
+"So?  Well, you're the doctor.  Maybe you're right.  I wouldn't
+want you to look like a barber's pole.  Don't love Tad Simpson
+enough to want to advertise his business."
+
+Miss Taylor's coming had other results besides the refitting of
+"Bos'n."  She found much fault with the captain's housekeeping.  It
+developed that her sister Georgiana, who had been working in a
+Brockton shoe shop, was now at home and might be engaged to attend
+to the household duties at the Whittaker establishment, provided
+she was allowed to "go home nights."  Georgiana was engaged, on
+trial, and did well.  So that problem was solved.
+
+School in Bayport opens the first week in October.  Of late there
+has been a movement, headed by some of the townspeople who think
+city ways are best, to have the term begin in September.  But this
+idea has little chance of success as long as cranberry picking
+continues to be our leading industry.  So many of the children help
+out the family means by picking cranberries in the fall that school,
+until the picking season was over, would be slimly attended.
+
+The last week in September found us all discussing the coming of
+the new downstairs teacher, Miss Phoebe Dawes.  Since it was
+definitely settled that she was to come, the opposition had died
+down and was less openly expressed; but it was there, all the same,
+beneath the surface.  Congressman Atkins had accepted the surprising
+defiance of his wish with calm dignity and the philosophy of the
+truly great who are not troubled by trifles.  His lieutenant, Tad
+Simpson, quoted him as saying that, of course, the will of the
+school committee was paramount, and he, as all good citizens should,
+bowed to their verdict.  "Far be it from me," so the great man
+proclaimed, "to desire that my opinion should carry more weight than
+that of the humblest of my friends and neighbors.  Speaking as one
+whose knowledge of the world was, perhaps--er--more extensive
+than--er--others, I favored the Normal School candidate.  But the
+persons chosen to select thought--or appeared to think--otherwise.
+I therefore say nothing and await developments."
+
+This attitude was considered by most of us to reflect credit upon
+Mr. Atkins.  There were a few scoffers, however.  When the
+proclamation was repeated to Captain Cy he smiled.
+
+"Alpheus," he said to Mr. Smalley, his informant, "you didn't use
+to know Deacon Zeb Clark, who lived up by the salt works in my
+granddad's time, hey?  No, course you didn't!  Well, the deacon was
+a great believer in his own judgment.  One time, it bein' Saturday,
+his wife wanted him to pump the washtub full and take a bath.  He
+said, no; said the cistern was awful low and 'twould use up all the
+water.  She said no such thing; there was water a-plenty.  To prove
+she was wrong he went and pried the cistern cover off to look, and
+fell in.  Mrs. Clark peeked down and saw him there, standin' up to
+his neck.
+
+"'Tabby,' says he, 'you would have your way and I'm takin' the
+bath.  But you can see for yourself that we'll have to cart water
+from now on.  However, _I_ ain't responsible; throw me down the
+soap and towel.'"
+
+"Humph!" grunted Smalley, "I don't see what that's got to do with
+it.  Heman ain't takin' no bath."
+
+"I don't know's it's got anything to do with it.  But he kind of
+made me think of Zeb, all the same."
+
+The first day of school was, of course, a Monday.  On Sunday
+afternoon Captain Cy and Bos'n went for a walk.  These walks had
+become a regular part of the Sabbath programme, the weather, of
+course, permitting.  After church the pair came home for dinner.
+The meal being eaten, the captain would light a cigar--a pipe was
+now hardly "dressed-up" enough for Sunday--and, taking his small
+partner by the hand, would lead the way across the fields, through
+the pines and down by the meadow "short cut" to the cemetery.  The
+cemetery is a favorite Sabbath resort for the natives of Bayport,
+who usually speak of it as the graveyard.  It is a pleasant, shady
+spot, and to visit it is considered quite respectable and in
+keeping with the day and a due regard for decorum.  The ungodly,
+meaning the summer boarders and the village no-accounts, seem to
+prefer the beach and the fish houses, but the cemetery attracts the
+churchgoers.  One may gossip concerning the probable cost of a new
+tombstone and still remain faithful to the most rigid creed.
+
+Captain Cy was not, strictly speaking, a religious man, according
+to Bayport standards.  Between his attendance to churchly duties
+and that of the Honorable Heman Atkins there was a great gulf
+fixed.  But he rather liked to visit the graveyard on Sunday
+afternoons.  His mother had been used to stroll there with him, in
+his boyhood, and it pleased him to follow in her footsteps.
+
+So he and Bos'n walked along the grass-covered paths, between the
+iron-fenced "lots" of the well-to-do and the humble mounds and
+simple slabs where the poor were sleeping; past the sumptuous
+granite shaft of the Atkins lot and the tilted mossy stone which
+told how "Edwin Simpson, our only son," had been "accidentally shot
+in the West Indies"; out through the back gate and up the hill to
+the pine grove overlooking the bay.  Here, on a scented carpet of
+pine needles, they sat them down to rest and chat.
+
+Emily, her small knees drawn up and encircled by her arms, looked
+out across the flats, now half covered with the rising tide.  It
+was a mild day, more like August than October, and there was almost
+no wind.  The sun was shining on the shallow water, and the sand
+beneath it showed yellow, checkered and marbled with dark green
+streaks and patches where the weed-bordered channels wound
+tortuously.  On the horizon the sand hills of Wellmouth notched
+the blue sky.  The girl drew a long breath.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed.  "Isn't this just lovely!  I do like the sea
+an awful lot."
+
+"That's natural enough," replied her companion.  "There's a big
+streak of salt water in your blood on your ma's side.  It pulls,
+that kind of a streak does.  There's days when I feel uneasy every
+minute and hanker for a deck underneath me.  The settin' room floor
+stays altogether too quiet on a day like that; I'd like to feel it
+heavin' over a ground swell."
+
+"Say, Bos'n," he said a few minutes later; "I've been thinkin'
+about you.  You've been to school, haven't you?"
+
+"Course I have," was the rather indignant answer.  "I went two
+years in Concord.  Mamma used to help me nights, too.  I can read
+almost all the little words.  Don't I help you read your paper
+'most every night?"
+
+"Sartin you do!  Yes, yes!  Well, our school opens to-morrer and
+I've been thinkin' that maybe you'd better go.  There's a new
+teacher comin', and I hear she's pretty good."
+
+"Don't you KNOW?  Why, Mr. Tidditt said you was the one that got
+her to come here!"
+
+"Yes; well, Asaph says 'most everything but his prayers.  Still, he
+ain't fur off this time; I cal'late I was some responsible for her
+bein' voted in.  Yet I don't really know anything about her.  You
+see, I--well, never mind.  What do you think?  Want to go?"
+
+Bos'n looked troubled.
+
+"I'd like to," she said.  "Course I want to learn how to read the
+big words, too.  But I like to stay at home with you more."
+
+"You do, hey?  Sho, sho!  Well, I guess I can get along between
+times.  Georgiana's there to keep me straight and she'll see to the
+dust and the dishes.  I guess you'd better go to-morrer mornin' and
+see how you like it, anyhow."
+
+The child thought for a moment.
+
+"I think you're awful good," she said.  "I like you next to mamma;
+even better than Auntie Oliver.  I printed a letter to her the
+other day.  I told her you were better than we expected and I had
+decided to live with you always."
+
+Captain Cy was startled.  Considering that, only the day before, he
+had repeated to Bailey the declaration that the arrangement was but
+temporary, and that Betsy Howes was escaping responsibility only
+for a month or so, he scarcely knew what to say.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted.  "You've decided it, have you?  Well, we'll
+see.  Now you trot around and have a good time.  I'm goin' to have
+another smoke.  I'll be here when you get back."
+
+Bos'n wandered off in search of late golden rod.  The captain
+smoked and meditated.  By and by the puffs were less frequent and
+the cigar went out.  It fell from his fingers.  With his back
+against a pine tree Captain Cy dozed peacefully.
+
+He awoke with a jump.  Something had awakened him, but he did not
+know what.  He blinked and gazed about him.  Then he heard a faint
+scream.
+
+"Uncle!" screamed Bos'n.  "O--o--o--h!  Uncle Cyrus, help me!  Come
+quick!"
+
+The next moment the captain was plunging through the scrub of
+huckleberry and bayberry bushes, bumping into pines and smashing
+the branches aside as he ran in the direction of the call.
+
+Back of the pine grove was a big inclosed pasture nearly a quarter
+of a mile long.  Its rear boundary was the iron fence of the
+cemetery.  The other three sides were marked by rail fences and a
+stone wall.  As the captain floundered from the grove and vaulted
+the rail fence he swore aloud.
+
+"By the big dipper," he groaned, "it's that cussed heifer!  I
+forgot her.  Keep dodgin', Bos'n girl!  I'm comin'."
+
+The pasture was tenanted by a red and white cow belonging to
+Sylvanus Cahoon.  Whether or not the animal had, during her
+calfhood days, been injured by a woman is not known; possibly her
+behavior was due merely to innate depravity.  At any rate, she
+cherished a mortal hatred toward human beings of her own sex.  With
+men and boys she was meek enough, but no person wearing skirts, and
+alone, might venture in that field without being chased by that
+cow.  What would happen if the pursued one was caught could only be
+surmised, for, so far, no female had permitted herself to be
+caught.  Few would come even so near as the other side of the
+pasture walls.
+
+Bos'n had forgotten the cow.  She had gone from one golden-rod
+clump to another until she had traversed nearly the length of the
+field.  Then the vicious creature had appeared from behind a knoll
+in the pasture and, head down and bellowing wickedly, had rushed
+upon her.  When the captain reached the far-off fence, the little
+girl was dodging from one dwarf pine to the next, with the cow in
+pursuit.  The pines were few and Bos'n was nearly at the end of her
+defenses.
+
+"Help!" she screamed.  "Oh, uncle, where are you?  What shall I
+do?"
+
+Captain Cy roared in answer.
+
+"Keep it up!" he yelled.  "I'm a-comin'!  Shoot you everlastin'
+critter!  I'll break your back for you!"
+
+The cow didn't understand English it seemed, even such vigorous
+English as the captain was using.  Emily dodged to the last pine.
+The animal was close upon her.  Her rescuer was still far away.
+
+And then the cemetery gate opened and another person entered the
+pasture.  A small person--a woman.  She said nothing, but picking
+up her skirts, ran straight toward the cow, heedless of the
+latter's reputation and vicious appearance.  One hand clutched the
+gathered skirts.  In the other she held a book.
+
+Don't be scared, dear," she called reassuringly.  Then to the cow:
+"Stop it!  Go away, you wicked thing!"
+
+The animal heard the voice and turned.  Seeing that the newcomer
+was only a woman, she lowered her head and pawed the ground.
+
+"Run for the gate, little girl," commanded the rescuer.  "Run
+quick!"  Bos'n obeyed.  She made a desperate dash from her pine
+across the open space, and in another moment was safe inside the
+cemetery fence.
+
+"Scat!  Go home!" ordered the lady, advancing toward the cow and
+shaking the book at her, as if the volume was some sort of deadly
+weapon.  "Aren't you ashamed of yourself!  Go away!  You needn't
+growl at me!  I'm not a bit afraid of you."
+
+The "growling" was the muttered bellow with which the cow was wont
+to terrorize her feminine victims.  But this victim refused to be
+terrorized.  Instead of screaming and running she continued to
+advance, brandishing the book and repeating her orders that the
+creature "go home" at once.  The cow did not know what to make of
+it.  Before she could decide whether to charge or retreat, a good-
+sized stick descended upon her back with a "whack" that settled the
+question.  Captain Cy had reached the scene of battle.
+
+Then the rescuer's courage seemed to desert her, for she ran back
+to the cemetery even faster than she had run from it.  When the
+indignant captain, having pursued and chastised the cow until the
+stick was but a splintered remnant, reached the haven behind the
+iron fence, he found her soothing the frightened Bos'n who was
+sobbing and hysterical.
+
+Emily saw her "Uncle Cyrus" coming and rushed into his arms.  He
+picked her up and, holding her with a grip which testified to the
+nerve strain he had been under, stepped forward to meet the
+stranger, whose coming had been so opportune.
+
+And she WAS a stranger.  The captain knew most of Bayport's
+inhabitants by this time, or thought he did, but he did not know
+her.  She was a small woman, quietly dressed, and her hair, under a
+neat black and white hat, was brown.  The hat was now a trifle to
+one side and the hair was the least bit disarranged, an effect not
+at all unbecoming.  She was tucking in the stray wisps as the
+captain, with Bos'n in his arms, came up.
+
+"Well, ma'am!" puffed Captain Cy.  "WELL, ma'am!  I must say that
+was the slickest, pluckiest thing ever I saw anywheres.  I don't
+know what would--I--I declare I don't know how to thank you."
+
+The lady looked at him a moment before replying.  Then she began to
+laugh, a jolly laugh that was pleasant to hear.
+
+"Don't try, please," she said chokingly.  "It wasn't anything.  Oh,
+mercy me!  I'm all out of breath.  You see, I had been warned about
+that cow when I started to walk this afternoon.  So when I saw her
+chasing your poor little girl here I knew right away what was the
+matter.  It must have been foolish enough to look at.  I'm used to
+dogs and cats, but I haven't had many pet cows.  I told her to 'go
+home' and to 'scat' and all sorts of things.  Wonder I didn't tell
+her to lie down!  And the way I shook that ridiculous book at her
+was--"
+
+She laughed again and the captain and Bos'n joined in the laugh, in
+spite of the fright they both had experienced.
+
+"That book was dry enough to frighten almost anything," continued
+the lady.  "It was one I took from the table before I left the
+place where I'm staying, and a duller collection of sermons I never
+saw.  Oh, dear! . . . there!  Is my hat any more respectable now?"
+
+"Yes'm.  It's about on an even keel, I should say.  But I must tell
+you, ma'am, you done simply great and--"
+
+"Seems to me the people who own that cow must be a poor set to let
+her make such a nuisance of herself.  Did your daughter run away
+from you?"
+
+"Well, you see, ma'am, she ain't really my daughter.  Bos'n here--
+that's my nickname for her, ma'am--she and I was out walkin'.  I
+set down in the pines and I guess I must have dozed off.  Anyhow,
+when I woke up she was gone, and the first thing I knew of this
+scrape was hearin' her hail."
+
+The little woman's manner changed.  Her gray eyes flashed
+indignantly.
+
+"You dozed off?" she repeated.  "With a little girl in your charge,
+and in the very next lot to that cow?  Didn't you know the creature
+chased women and girls?"
+
+"Why, yes; I'd heard of it, but--"
+
+"It wasn't Uncle Cyrus's fault," put in Bos'n eagerly.  "It was
+mine.  I went away by myself."
+
+Beyond shifting her gaze to the child the lady paid no attention to
+this remark.
+
+"What do you think her mother 'll say when she sees that dress?"
+she asked.
+
+It was Emily's best gown, the finest of the new "rig out" prepared
+by Miss Taylor.  The girl and Captain Cy gazed ruefully at the
+rents and pitch stains made by the vines and pine trees.
+
+"Well, you see," replied the abashed captain, "the fact is, she
+ain't got any mother."
+
+"Oh! I beg your pardon.  And hers, too, poor dear.  Well, if I were
+you I shouldn't go to sleep next time I took her walking.  Good
+afternoon."
+
+She turned and calmly walked down the path.  At the bend she spoke
+again.
+
+"I should be gentle with her, if I were you," she said.  "Her nerves
+are pretty well upset.  Besides, if you'll excuse my saying so, I
+don't think she is the one that needs scolding."
+
+They thought she had gone, but she turned once more to add a final
+suggestion.
+
+"I think that dress could be fixed," she said, "if you took it to
+some one who knew about such things."
+
+She disappeared amidst the graveyard shrubbery.  Captain Cy and
+Bos'n slowly followed her.  From the pasture the red and white cow
+sent after them a broken-spirited "Moo!"
+
+Bos'n was highly indignant.  During the homeward walk she sputtered
+like a damp firecracker.
+
+"The idea of her talking so to you, Uncle Cyrus!" she exclaimed.
+"It wasn't your fault at all."
+
+The captain smiled one-sidedly.
+
+"I don't know about that, shipmate," he said.  "I wouldn't wonder
+if she was more than half right.  But say! she was all business and
+no frills, wasn't she!  Ha, ha!  How she did spunk up to that
+heifer!  Who in the dickens do you cal'late she is?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+THE "COW LADY"
+
+
+That question was answered the very next day.  Bos'n, carefully
+dressed by Georgianna under the captain's supervision, and weighted
+down with advice and counsel from the latter, started for the
+schoolhouse at a quarter to nine.  Only a sense of shame kept
+Captain Cy from walking to school with her.  He spent a miserable
+forenoon.  They were quite the longest three hours in his varied
+experience.  The house was dreadfully lonely.  He wandered from
+kitchen to sitting room, worried Georgianna, woke up the cat, and
+made a complete nuisance of himself.  Twelve o'clock found him
+leaning over the gate and looking eagerly in the direction of the
+schoolhouse.
+
+Bos'n ran all the way home.  She was in a high state of excitement.
+
+"What do you think, Uncle Cyrus?" she cried.  "What DO you think?
+I've found out who the cow lady is!"
+
+"The cow lady?  Oh, yes, yes!  Have you?  Who is she?"
+
+"She's teacher, that's who she is!"
+
+The captain was astonished.
+
+"No!" he exclaimed.  "Phoebe Dawes?  You don't say so!  Well, well!"
+
+"Yes, sir.  When I went into school and found her sitting there I
+was so surprised I didn't know what to do.  She knew me, too, and
+said good morning, and was I all right again and was my dress
+really as bad as it looked to be?  I told her that Georgianna
+thought she could fix it, and if she couldn't, her sister could.
+She said that was nice, and then 'twas time for school to begin."
+
+"Did she say anything about me?" inquired Captain Cy when they were
+seated at the dinner table.
+
+"Oh, yes!  I forgot.  She must have found out who you are, 'cause
+she said she was surprised that a man who had made his money out of
+hides should have been so careless about the creatures that wore
+'em."
+
+"Humph!  How'd she get along with the young ones in school?"
+
+It appeared that she had gotten along very well with them.  Some of
+the bigger boys in the back seats, cherishing pleasant memories of
+the "fun" they had under Miss Seabury's easy-going rule, attempted
+to repeat their performances of the previous term.  But the very
+first "spitball" which spattered upon the blackboard proved a
+disastrous missile for its thrower.
+
+"She made him clean the board," proclaimed Bos'n, big-eyed and
+awestruck, "and then he had to stand in the corner.  He was Bennie
+Edwards, and he's most thirteen.  Miss Seabury, they said, couldn't
+do anything with him, but teacher said 'Go,' as quiet as could be
+and just looked at him, and he went.  And he's most as tall as she
+is.  He did look so silly!"
+
+The Edwards youth was not the only one who was made to "look silly"
+by little Miss Dawes during the first days of her stay in Bayport.
+She dealt with the unruly members of her classes as bravely as she
+had faced the Cahoon cow, and the results were just as satisfactory.
+She was strict, but she was impartial, and Alicia Atkins found, to
+her great surprise, that the daughter of a congressman was expected
+to study as faithfully and behave herself as well as freckled-faced
+Noah Hamlin, whose father peddled fish and whose everyday costume
+was a checkered "jumper" and patched overalls.
+
+The school committee, that is, the majority of it, was delighted
+with the new teacher.  Lemuel Myrick boasted loudly of his good
+judgment in voting for her.  But Tad Simpson and Darius Ellis and
+others of the Atkins following still scoffed and hinted at trouble
+in the future.
+
+"A new broom sweeps fine," quoted Mr. Simpson.  "She's doin' all
+right now, maybe.  Anyway, the young ones are behavin' themselves,
+but disCIPline ain't the whole thing.  Heman told me that the
+teacher he wanted could talk French language and play music and all
+kinds of accomplishments.  Phoebe--not findin' any fault with her,
+you understand--don't know no more about music than a hen; my wife
+says she don't even sing in church loud enough for anybody to hear
+her.  And as for French! why everybody knows she uses the commonest
+sort of United States, just as easy to understand as what I'm
+sayin' now."
+
+Miss Dawes boarded at the perfect boarding house.  There opinion
+was divided concerning her.  Bailey and Mr. Tidditt liked her, but
+the feminine boarders were not so favorably impressed.
+
+"I think she's altogether too pert about what don't concern her,"
+commented Angeline Phinney.  "Sarah Emma Simpson dropped in t'other
+day to dinner, and we church folks got to talkin' about the
+minister's preachin' such 'advanced' sermons.  And Sarah Emma told
+how she'd heard he said he'd known some real moral Universalists in
+his time, or some such unreligious foolishness.  And I said I
+wondered he didn't get a new tail coat; the one he preached in
+Sundays was old as the hills and so outgrown it wouldn't scurcely
+button acrost him.  'A man bein' paid nine hundred a year,' I says,
+'ought to dress decent, anyhow.'  And that Phoebe Dawes speaks up,
+without bein' asked, and says for her part she'd ruther hear a
+broad man in a narrer coat than t'other way about.  'Twas a regular
+slap in the face for me, and Sarah Emma and I ain't got over it
+yet."
+
+Captain Cy heard the gossip concerning the new teacher and it
+rather pleased him.  She appeared to be independent, and he liked
+independence.  He met her once or twice on the street, but she
+merely bowed and passed on.  Once he tried to thank her again for
+her part in the cow episode, but she would not listen to him.
+
+Bos'n was making good progress with her studies.  She was naturally
+a bright child--not the marvel the captain and the "Board of
+Strategy" considered her, but quick to learn.  She was not a saint,
+however, and occasionally misbehaved in school and was punished for
+it.  One afternoon she did not return at her usual hour.  Captain
+Cy was waiting at the gate when Asaph Tidditt happened along.
+Bailey, too, was with him.
+
+"Waitin' for Bos'n, was you?" asked the town clerk.  "Well, you'll
+have to wait quite a spell, I cal'late.  She's been kept after
+school."
+
+"Yes; and she's got to write fifty lines of copy," added Bailey.
+
+Captain Cy was highly indignant.
+
+"Get out!" he cried.  "She ain't neither."
+
+"Yes, she has, too.  One of the Salters young ones told me.  I knew
+you'd be mad, though I s'pose folks that didn't know her's well's
+we do would say she's no different from other children."
+
+This was close to heresy, according to the captain's opinion.
+
+"She ain't!" he cried.  "I'd like to know why not!  If she ain't
+twice as smart as the run of young ones 'round here then--  Humph!
+And she's kept after school!  Well, now; I won't have it!  There's
+enough time for studyin' without wearin' out her brains after
+hours.  Oh, I guess you're mistaken."
+
+"No, we ain't.  I tell you, Whit, if I was you I'd make a fuss
+about this.  She's a smart child, Bos'n is; I never see a smarter.
+And she ain't any too strong."
+
+"That's so, she ain't."  The idea that Emily's health was "delicate"
+had become a fixed fact in the minds of the captain and the "Board."
+It made a good excuse for the systematic process of "spoiling" the
+girl, which the indulgent three were doing their best to carry on.
+
+"I wouldn't let her be kept, Cy," urged Bailey.  "Why don't you go
+right off and see Phoebe and settle this thing?  You've got a right
+to talk to her.  She wouldn't be teacher if it wasn't for you."
+
+Asaph added his arguments to those of Mr. Bangs.  Captain Cy,
+carried away by his firm belief that Bos'n was a paragon of all
+that was brilliant and good, finally yielded.
+
+"All right!" he exclaimed.  "Come on!  That poor little thing
+shan't be put upon by nobody."
+
+The trio marched majestically down the hill.  As they neared the
+schoolhouse Bailey's courage began to fail.  Miss Dawes was a
+boarder at his house, and he feared consequences should Keturah
+learn of his interference.
+
+"I--I guess you don't need me," he stammered.  "The three of us 'll
+scare that teacher woman most to death.  And she's so little and
+meek, you know.  If I should lose my temper and rare up I might say
+somethin' that would hurt her feelin's.  I'll set on the fence and
+wait for you and Ase, Whit."
+
+Mr. Tidditt's scornful comments concerning "white feathers" and
+"backsliders" had no effect.  Mr. Bangs perched himself on the
+fence.
+
+"Give it to her, fellers!" he called after them.
+
+"Talk Dutch to her!  Let her know that there's one child she can't
+abuse."
+
+At the foot of the steps Asaph paused.
+
+"Say, Cy," he whispered, "don't you think I better not go in?  It
+ain't really my business, you know, and--and--  Well, I'm on the
+s'lectmen and she might be frightened if she see me pouncin' down
+on her.  'Tain't as if I was just a common man.  I'll go and set
+along of Bailey and you go in and talk quiet to her.  She'd feel so
+sort of ashamed if there was anyone else to hear the rakin' over--
+hey?"
+
+"Now, see here, Ase," expostulated the captain, "I don't like to do
+this all by myself!  Besides, 'twas you chaps put me up to it.  You
+ain't goin' to pull out of the race and leave me to go over the
+course alone, are you?  Come on! what are, you afraid of?"
+
+His companion hotly denied that he was "afraid" of anything.  He
+had all sorts of arguments to back his decision.  At last Captain
+Cy lost patience.
+
+"Well, BE a skulk, if you want to!" he declared.  "I've set out to
+see this thing through, and I'm goin' to do it.  Only," he muttered,
+as he entered the downstairs vestibule, "I wish I didn't feel quite
+so much as if I was stealin' hens' eggs."
+
+Miss Dawes herself opened the door in response to his knock.
+
+"Oh, it's you, Cap'n Whittaker," she said.  "Come in, please."
+
+Captain Cy entered the schoolroom.  It was empty, save for the
+teacher and himself and one little girl, who, seated at a desk, was
+writing busily.  She looked up and blushed a vivid red.  The little
+girl was Bos'n.
+
+"Sit down, Cap'n," said Miss Phoebe, indicating the visitor's
+chair.  "What was it you wanted to see me about?"
+
+The captain accepted the invitation to be seated, but he did not
+immediately reply to Miss Dawes's question.  He dropped his hat on
+the floor, crossed his legs, uncrossed them, and then observed that
+it was pretty summery weather for so late in the fall.  The teacher
+admitted the truth of his assertion and waited for him to continue.
+
+"I--I s'pose school's pretty full, now that cranb'ryin' 's over,"
+said Captain Cy.
+
+"Yes, pretty full."
+
+"Gettin' along first rate with the scholars, I hear."
+
+"Yes."
+
+This was a most unpromising beginning, really no beginning at all.
+The captain cleared his throat, set his teeth, and, without looking
+at his companion, dove headlong into the business which had brought
+him there.
+
+"Miss Dawes," he said, "I--I s'pose you know that Bos'n--I mean
+Emily there--is livin' at my house and that I'm taking care of her
+for--for the present."
+
+The lady smiled.
+
+"Yes," she said.  "I gathered as much from what you said when we
+first met."
+
+She herself had said one or two things on that occasion.  Captain
+Cy remembered them distinctly.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said hastily.  "Well, my doin's that time wasn't
+exactly the best sample of the care, I will say.  Wan't even a fair
+sample, maybe.  I try to do my best with the child, long as she
+stays with me, and--er--and--er--I'm pretty particular about her
+health."
+
+"I'm glad to hear it."
+
+"Yes.  Now, Miss Phoebe, I appreciate what you did for Bos'n and me
+that Sunday, and I'm thankful for it.  I've tried to thank--"
+
+"I know.  Please don't say any more about it.  I imagine there is
+something else you want to say, isn't there?"
+
+"Why, yes, there is.  I--I heard that Emmie had been kept after
+school.  I didn't believe it, of course, but I thought I'd run up
+and see what--"
+
+He hesitated.  The teacher finished the sentence for him.
+
+"To see if it was true?" she said.  "It is.  I told her to stay and
+write fifty lines."
+
+"You did?  Well, now that's what I wanted to speak to you about.
+Course I ain't interferin' in your affairs, you know, but I just
+wanted to explain about Bos'n--Emmie, I mean.  She ain't a common
+child; she's got too much head for the rest of her.  If you'd lived
+with her same as I have you'd appreciate it.  Her health's delicate."
+
+"Is it?  She seems strong enough to me.  I haven't noticed any
+symptoms."
+
+"Course not, else you wouldn't have kept her in.  But _I_ know, and
+I think it's my duty to tell you.  Never mind if she can't do quite
+so much writin'.  I'd rather she wouldn't; she might bust a blood
+vessel or somethin'.  Such things HAVE happened, to extry smart
+young ones.  You just let her trot along home with me now and--"
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," Miss Dawes had risen to her feet with a
+determined expression on her face.
+
+"Yes, ma'am," said the captain, rising also.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," repeated the teacher, "I'm very glad that you
+called.  I've been rather expecting you might, because of certain
+things I have heard."
+
+"You heard?  What was it you heard--if you don't mind my askin'?"
+
+"No, I don't, because I think we must have an understanding about
+Emily.  I have heard that you allow her to do as she pleases at
+home; in other words, that you are spoiling her, and--"
+
+"SPOILIN' her!  _I_ spoilin' her?  Who told you such an unlikely
+yarn as that?  I ain't the kind to spoil anybody.  Why, I'm so
+strict that I'm ashamed of myself sometimes."
+
+He honestly believed he was.  Miss Phoebe calmly continued.
+
+"Of course, what you do at home is none of my business.  I shouldn't
+mention it anyhow, if you hadn't called, because I pay very little
+attention to town talk, having lived in this county all my life and
+knowing what gossip amounts to.  I like Emily; she's a pretty good
+little girl and well behaved, as children go.  But this you must
+understand.  She can't be spoiled here.  She whispered this
+afternoon, twice.  She has been warned often, and knows the rule.  I
+kept her after school because she broke that rule, and if she breaks
+it again, she will be punished again.  I kept the Edwards boy two
+hours yesterday and--"
+
+"Edwards boy!  Do you mean to compare that--that young rip of a Ben
+Edwards with a girl like Bos'n?  I never heard--"
+
+"I'm not comparing anybody.  I'm trying to be fair to every scholar
+in this room.  And, so long as Emily behaves herself, she shall be
+treated accordingly.  When she doesn't, she shall be punished.  You
+must understand that."
+
+"But Ben Edwards!  Why, he's a wooden-head, same as his dad was a
+fore him!  And Emmie's the smartest scholar in this town."
+
+"Oh, no, she isn't!  She's a good scholar, but there are others
+just as good and even quicker to learn."
+
+This was piling one insult upon another.  Other children as
+brilliant as Bos'n!  Captain Cy was bursting with righteous
+indignation.
+
+"Well!" he exclaimed.  "Well! for a teacher that we've called to--"
+
+"And that's another thing," broke in Miss Dawes quickly.  "I've
+been told that you, Cap'n Whittaker, are the one directly
+responsible for my being chosen for this place.  I don't say that
+you are presuming on that, but--"
+
+"I ain't!  I never thought of such a thing!"
+
+"But if you are you mustn't, that's all.  I didn't ask for the
+position and, now that I've got it, I shall try to fill it without
+regard to one person more than another.  Emily stays here until her
+lines are written.  I don't think we need to say any more.  Good
+day."
+
+She opened the door.  Captain Cy picked up his hat, swallowed hard,
+and stepped across the threshold.  Then Miss Phoebe added one more
+remark.
+
+"Cap'n," she said, "when you were in command of a ship did you
+allow outsiders to tell you how to treat the sailors?"
+
+The captain opened his mouth to reply.  He wanted to reply very
+much, but somehow he couldn't find a satisfying answer to that
+question.
+
+"Ma'am," he said, "all I can say is that if you'd been in South
+America, same as I have, and seen the way them half-breed young
+ones act, you'd--"
+
+The teacher smiled, in spite of an apparent effort not to.
+
+"Perhaps so," she said, "but this is Massachusetts.  And--well,
+Emily isn't a half-breed."
+
+Captain Cy strode through the vestibule.  Just before the door
+closed behind him he heard a stifled sob from poor Bos'n.
+
+The Board of Strategy was waiting at the end of the yard.  Its
+members were filled with curiosity.
+
+"Did you give it to her good?" demanded Asaph.  "Did you let her
+understand we wouldn't put up with such cruelizin'?"
+
+"Where's Bos'n?" asked Mr. Bangs.
+
+Their friend's answers were brief and tantalizingly incomplete.  He
+walked homeward at a gait which caused plump little Bailey to puff
+in his efforts to keep up, and he would say almost nothing about
+the interview in the schoolroom.
+
+"Well," said Mr. Tidditt, when they reached the Whittaker gate, "I
+guess she knows her place now; hey, Cy?  I cal'late she'll be
+careful who she keeps after school from now on."
+
+"Didn't use no profane language, did you, Cy?" asked Bailey.  "I
+hope not, 'cause she might have you took up just out of spite.  Did
+she ask your pardon for her actions?"
+
+"No!" roared the captain savagely.  Then, banging the gate behind
+him, he strode up the yard and into the house.
+
+Bos'n came home a half hour later.  Captain Cy was alone in the
+sitting room, seated in his favorite rocker and moodily staring at
+nothing in particular.  The girl gazed at him for a moment and then
+climbed into his lap.
+
+"I wrote my fifty lines, Uncle Cyrus," she said.  "Teacher said I'd
+done them very nicely, too."
+
+The captain grunted.
+
+"Uncle Cy," whispered Bos'n, putting her arms around his neck, "I'm
+awful sorry I was so bad."
+
+"Bad?  Who--you?  You couldn't be bad if you wanted to.  Don't talk
+that way or I'll say somethin' I hadn't ought to."
+
+"Yes, I could be bad, too.  I was bad.  I whispered."
+
+"Whispered!  What of it?  That ain't nothin'.  When I was a young
+one in school I used to whis-- . . .  Hum!  Well, anyhow, don't you
+think any more about it.  'Tain't worth while."
+
+They rocked quietly for a time.  Then Bos'n said:
+
+"Uncle Cyrus, don't you like teacher?"
+
+"Hey?  LIKE her?  Well, if that ain't a question?  Yes, I like her
+about as well as Lonesome likes Eben Salter's dog."
+
+"I'm sorry.  I like her ever so much."
+
+"You DO?  Go 'long!  After the way she treated you, poor little
+thing!"
+
+"She didn't treat me any worse than she does the other girls and
+boys when they're naughty.  And I did know the rule about
+whispering."
+
+"Well, that's different.  Comparin' you with that Bennie Edwards--
+the idea!  And then makin' you cry!"
+
+"She didn't make me cry."
+
+"Did, too.  I heard you."
+
+The child looked up at him and then hid her face in his waistcoat.
+
+"I wasn't crying about her," she whispered.  "It was you."
+
+"ME!"  The captain gasped.  "Good land!" he muttered.  "It's just
+as I expected.  She's studied too hard and it's touchin' her
+brain."
+
+"No, sir, it isn't.  It isn't truly.  I did cry about you because I
+didn't like to hear you talk so.  And I was so sorry to have you
+come there."
+
+"You WAS!"
+
+"Yes, sir.  Other children's folks don't come when they're bad.
+And I kept feeling so sort of ashamed of you."
+
+"Ashamed of ME?"
+
+Bos'n nodded vigorously.
+
+"Yes, sir.  Everything teacher said sounded so right, and what you
+said didn't.  And I like to have you always right."
+
+"Do, hey?  Hum!"  Captain Cy didn't speak again for some few
+minutes, but he held the little girl very tight in his arms.  At
+length he drew a long breath.
+
+"By the big dipper, Bos'n!" he exclaimed.  "You're a wonder, you
+are.  I wouldn't be surprised if you grew up to be a mind reader,
+like that feller in the show we went to at the townhall a spell
+ago.  To tell you the honest Lord's truth, I've been ashamed of
+myself ever since I come out of that schoolhouse door.  When that
+teacher woman sprung that on me about my fo'mast hands aboard ship
+I was set back about forty fathom.  I never wanted to answer
+anybody so bad in MY life, and I couldn't 'cause there wasn't
+anything to say.  I cal'late I've made a fool of myself."
+
+Bos'n nodded again.
+
+"We won't do so any more, will we?" she said.
+
+"You bet we won't!  _I_ won't, anyhow.  You haven't done anything."
+
+"And you'll like teacher?"
+
+The captain stamped his foot.
+
+"No, SIR!" he declared.  "She may be all right in her way--I s'pose
+she is; but it's too Massachusettsy a way for me.  No, sir!  I
+don't like her and I WON'T like her.  No, sir-ee, never!  She--she
+ain't my kind of a woman," he added stubbornly.  "That's what's the
+matter!  She ain't my kind of a woman."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+POLITICS AND BIRTHDAYS
+
+
+"Town meeting" was called for the twenty-first of November.
+
+With the summer boarders gone, the cranberry picking finished,
+state election over, school begun and under way, and real winter
+not yet upon us, Bayport, in the late fall, distinctly needs
+something to enliven it.  The Shakespeare Reading Society and the
+sewing circle continue, of course, to interest the "women folks,"
+there is the usual every evening gathering at Simmons's, and the
+young people are looking forward to the "Grand Ball" on Thanksgiving
+eve.  But for the men, on week days, there is little to do except to
+"putter" about the house, banking its foundations with dry seaweed
+as a precaution against searching no'theasters, whitewashing the
+barns and outbuildings, or fixing things in the vegetable cellar
+where the sticks of smoked herring hang in rows above the barrels of
+cabbages, potatoes, and turnips.  The fish weirs, most of them, are
+taken up, lest the ice, which will be driven into the bay later on,
+tear the nets to pieces.  Even the hens grow lazy and lay less
+frequently.  Therefore, away back in the "airly days," some
+far-sighted board of selectmen arranged that "town meeting" should
+be held during this lackadaisical season.  A town meeting--and
+particularly a Bayport town meeting, where everything from personal
+affairs to religion is likely to be discussed--can stir up excitement
+when nothing else can.
+
+This year there were several questions to be talked over and
+settled at town meeting.  Two selectmen, whose terms expired, were
+candidates for re-election.  Lem Myrick had resigned from the
+school committee, not waiting until spring, as he had announced
+that he should do.  Then there was the usual sentiment in favor of
+better roads and the usual opposition to it.  Also there was the
+ever-present hope of the government appropriation for harbor
+improvement.
+
+Mr. Tidditt was one of the selectmen whose terms expired.  In his
+dual capacity as selectman and town clerk Asaph felt himself to be
+a very important personage.  To elect some one else in his place
+would be, he was certain, a calamity which would stagger the
+township.  Therefore he was a busy man and made many calls upon his
+fellow citizens, not to influence their votes--he was careful to
+explain that--but just, as he said, "to see how they was gettin'
+along," and because he "thought consider'ble of 'em" and "took a
+real personal interest, you understand," in their affairs.
+
+To Captain Cy he came, naturally, for encouragement and help,
+being--as was his habit at such times--in a state of gloom and
+hopeless despair.
+
+"No use, Whit," he groaned.  "'Tain't no use at all.  I'm licked.
+I'm gettin' old and they don't want me no more.  I guess I'd better
+get right up afore the votin' begins and tell 'em my health ain't
+strong enough to be town clerk no longer.  It's better to do that
+than to be licked.  Don't you think so?"
+
+"Sure thing!" replied his friend, with sarcasm.	 "If I was you I'd
+be toted in on a bed so they can see you're all ready for the
+funeral.  Might have the doctor walkin' ahead, wipin' his eyes, and
+the joyful undertaker trottin' along astern.  What's the particular
+disease that's got you by the collar just now--facial paralysis?"
+
+"No.  What made you think of that?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'!  Only I heard you stopped in at ten houses up to the
+west end of the town yesterday, and talked three quarters of an
+hour steady at everyone.  That would fit me for the scrap heap
+inside of a week, and you've been goin' it ever since September
+nearly.  What does ail you--anything?"
+
+"Why, no; nothin' special that way.  Only there don't seem to be
+any enthusiasm for me, somehow.  I just hint at my bein' a
+candidate and folks say, 'Yes, indeed.  Looks like rain, don't it?'
+and that's about all."
+
+"Well, that hadn't ought to surprise you.  If anybody came to me
+and says, 'The sun's goin' to rise to-morrer mornin',' I shouldn't
+dance on my hat and crow hallelujahs.  Enthusiasm!  Why, Ase,
+you've been a candidate every two years since Noah got the ark off
+the ways, or along there.  And there ain't been any opposition to
+you yet, except that time when Uncle 'Bial Stickney woke up in the
+wrong place and hollered 'No,' out of principle, thinkin' he was to
+home with his wife.  If I was you I'd go and take a nap.  You'll
+read the minutes at selectmen's meetings for another fifty year,
+more or less; take my word for it.  As for the school committee,
+that's different.  I ain't made up my mind about that."
+
+There had been much discussion concerning the school committee.
+Who should be chosen to replace Mr. Myrick on the board was the
+gravest question to come before the meeting.  Many names had been
+proposed at Simmons's and elsewhere, but some of those named had
+refused to run, and others had not, after further consideration,
+seemed the proper persons for the office.  In the absence of Mr.
+Atkins, Tad Simpson was our leader in the political arena.  But Tad
+so far had been mute.
+
+"Wait a while," he said.  "There's some weeks afore town meetin'
+day.  This is a serious business.  We can't have no more--I mean no
+unsuitable man to fill such an important place as that.  The
+welfare of our posterity," he added, and we all recognized the
+quotation, "depends upon the choice that's to be made."
+
+A choice was made, however, on the very next day but one after this
+declaration.  A candidate announced himself.  Asaph and Bailey
+hurried to the Cy Whittaker place with the news.  Captain Cy was in
+the woodshed building a doll house for Bos'n.  "Just for my own
+amusement," he hastily explained.  "Somethin' for her to take along
+when she goes out West to Betsy."
+
+Mr. Tidditt was all smiles.
+
+"What do you think, Cy?" he cried.  "The new school committee man's
+as good as elected.  'Lonzo Snow's goin' to take it."
+
+The captain laid down his plane.
+
+"'Lonzo Snow!" he repeated.  "You don't say!  Humph!  Well, well!"
+
+"Yes, sir!" exclaimed Bailey.  "He's come forward and says it's his
+duty to do so.  He--"
+
+"Humph!  His duty, hey?  I wonder who pointed it out to him?"
+
+"Well, I don't know.  But even Tad Simpson's glad; he says that he
+knows Heman will be pleased with THAT kind of a candidate and so he
+won't have to do any more huntin'.  He thinks 'Lonzo's comin' out
+by himself this way is a kind of special Providence."
+
+"Yes, yes!  I shouldn't wonder.  Did you ever notice how dead sure
+Tad and his kind are that Providence is workin' with 'em?  Seems to
+me 'twould be more satisfactory if we could get a sight of the
+other partner's signature to the deed."
+
+"What's the matter with you?" demanded Asaph.  "You ain't findin'
+fault with 'Lonzo, are you?  Ain't he a good man?"
+
+"Good!  Sure thing he's good!  Nobody can say he isn't and tell the
+truth."
+
+No one could truthfully speak ill of Alonzo Snow, that was a fact.
+He lived at the lower end of the village, was well to do, a leading
+cranberry grower, and very prominent in the church.  A mild,
+easygoing person was Mr. Snow, with an almost too keen fear of doing
+the wrong thing and therefore prone to be guided by the opinion of
+others.  He was distinctly not a politician.
+
+"Then what ails you?" asked Asaph hotly.
+
+"Why, nothin', maybe.  Only I'm always suspicious when Tad pats
+Providence on the back.  I generally figure that I can see through
+a doughnut, when there's a light behind the hole.  Who is 'Lonzo's
+best friend in this town?  Who does he chum with most of anybody?"
+
+"Why, Darius Ellis, I guess.  You know it."
+
+"Um--hum.  And Darius is on the committee--why?"
+
+"Well, I s'pose 'cause Heman Atkins thought he'd be a good feller
+to have there.  But--"
+
+"Yes, and 'Lonzo's pew in church is right under the Atkins memorial
+window.  The light from it makes a kind of halo round his bald head
+every Sunday."
+
+"Well, what of it?  Heman, nor nobody else, could buy 'Lonzo Snow."
+
+"Buy him?  Indeed they couldn't.  But there are some things you get
+without buyin'--the measles, for instance.  And the one that's
+catchin' 'em don't know he's in danger till the speckles break out.
+Fellers, this committee voted in Phoebe Dawes by just two votes to
+one, and one of the two was Lem Myrick.  Darius was against her.
+Now with Tad and his 'Providence' puttin' in 'Lonzo Snow, and Heman
+Atkins settin' behind the screen workin' his Normal School music
+box so's they can hear the tune--well, Phoebe MAY stay this term
+out, but how about next?"
+
+"Hey?  Why, I don't know.  Anyhow, you're down on Phoebe as a
+thousand of brick.  I don't see why you worry about HER.  After the
+way she treated poor Bos'n and all."
+
+Captain Cy stirred uneasily and kicked a chip across the floor.
+
+"Well," he said, "well, I--I don't know's that's--  That is,
+right's right and wrong's wrong.  I've seen bullfights down yonder--"
+jerking his thumb over his shoulder in the vague direction of
+Buenos Ayres, "and every time my sympathy's been with the bull.
+Not that I loved the critter for his own sake, but because all
+Greaserdom was out to down him.  From what I hear, this Phoebe
+Dawes--for all her pesky down-East stubbornness--is teachin' pretty
+well, and anyhow she's one little woman against Tad Simpson and
+Heman Atkins and--and Tad's special brand of Providence.  She
+deserves a fair shake and, by the big dipper, she's goin' to have
+it!  Look here, you two! how would I look on the school committee?"
+
+"You?" repeated the pair in concert.  "YOU?"
+
+"Yes, me.  I ain't a Solomon for wisdom, but I cal'late I'd be as
+near the top of the barrel as Darius Ellis, and only one or two
+layers under Eben Salters or 'Lonzo Snow.  I'm a candidate--see?"
+
+"But--but, Whit," gasped the town clerk, "are you popular enough?
+Could you get elected?"
+
+"I don't know, but I can find out.  You and Bailey 'll vote for me,
+won't you?"
+
+"Course we will, but--"
+
+"All right.  There's two votes.  A hundred and odd more'll put me
+in.  Here goes for politics and popularity.  I may be president
+yet; you can't tell.  And say! this town meetin' won't be DULL,
+whichever way the cat jumps."
+
+This last was a safe prophecy.  All dullness disappeared from
+Bayport the moment it became known that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was
+"out" for the school committee.  The captain began his electioneering
+at once.  That very afternoon he called upon three people--Eben
+Salters, Josiah Dimick, and Lemuel Myrick.
+
+Captain Salters was chairman of selectmen as well as chairman of
+the committee.  He was a hard-headed old salt, who had made money
+in the Australian packet service.  He had common sense, independence,
+and considerable influence in the town.  Next to Congressman Atkins
+he was, perhaps, our leading citizen.  And, more than all, he was
+not afraid, when he thought it necessary, to oppose the great Heman.
+
+"Well," he said reflectively, after listening to Captain Cy's brief
+statement of his candidacy, "I cal'late I'll stand in with you, Cy.
+I ain't got anything against 'Lonzo, but--but--well, consarn it!
+maybe that's the trouble.  Maybe he's so darned good it makes me
+jealous.  Anyhow, I'll do what I can for you."
+
+Joe Dimick laughed aloud.  He was an iconoclast, seldom went to
+church, and was entirely lacking in reverence.  Also he really
+liked the captain.
+
+"Ho, ho!" he crowed.  "Whit, do you realize that you're underminin'
+this town's constitution?  Oh, sartin, I'm with you, if it's only
+to see the fur fly!  I do love a scrap."
+
+With Lem Myrick Captain Cy's policy was different.  He gently
+reminded that gentleman of the painting contract, intimated that
+other favors might be forthcoming, and then, as a clincher, spoke
+of Tad Simpson's comment when Mr. Myrick voted for Phoebe Dawes.
+
+"Of course," he added, "if you think Tad's got a right to boss all
+hands and the cook, why, I ain't complainin'.  Only, if _I_ was a
+painter doin' a good, high-class trade, and a one-hoss barber tried
+to dictate to me, I shouldn't bow down and tell him to kick easy as
+he could.  Seems to me I'd kick first.  But I'M no boss; I mustn't
+influence you."
+
+Lemuel was indignant.
+
+"No barber runs me," he declared.  "You stand up for me when that
+townhall paintin's to be done and I'll work hard for you now, Cap'n
+Whittaker.  'Lonzo Snow's an elder and all that, but I can't help
+it.  Anyway, his place was all fixed up a year ago and I didn't get
+the job.  A feller has to look after himself these days."
+
+With these division commanders to lead their forces into the
+enemy's country and with Asaph and Bailey doing what they could to
+help, Captain Cy's campaign soon became worthy of respectful
+consideration.  For a while Tad Simpson scoffed at the opposition;
+then he began to work openly for Mr. Snow.  Later he marshaled his
+trusted officers around the pool table in the back room of the
+barber shop and confided to them that it was anybody's fight and
+that he was worried.
+
+"It's past bein' a joke," he said.  "It's mighty serious.  We've
+got to hustle, we have.  Heman trusted me in this job, and if I
+fall down it 'll be bad for me and for you fellers, too.  I wish he
+was home to run things himself, but he's got business down South
+there--some property he owns or somethin'--and says he can't leave.
+But we must win!  By mighty! we've GOT to.  So get every vote you
+can.  Never mind how; just get 'em, that's all."
+
+Captain Cy was thoroughly enjoying himself.  The struggle suited
+him to perfection.  He was young, in spite of his fifty-five years,
+and this tussle against odds, reminding him of other tussles during
+his first seasons in business, aroused his energies and, as he
+expressed it, "stirred up his vitals and made him hop round like a
+dose of 'pain killer.'"
+
+He did not, however, forget Bos'n.  He and she had their walks and
+their pleasant evenings together in spite of politics.  He took the
+child into his confidence and told her of the daily gain, or loss,
+in votes, as if she were his own age.  She understood a little of
+all this, and tried hard to understand the rest, preaching between
+times to Georgianna how "the bad men were trying to beat Uncle
+Cyrus because he was gooder than they, but they couldn't, 'cause
+everybody loved him so."  Georgianna had some doubts, but she kept
+them to herself.
+
+Among the things in Bos'n's "box" was a long envelope, sealed with
+wax and with a lawyer's name printed in one corner.  The captain
+opened it, at Emily's suggestion, and was astonished to find that
+the inclosure was a will, dated some years back, in which Mrs. Mary
+Thomas, the child's mother, left to her daughter all her personal
+property and also the land in Orham, Massachusetts, which had been
+willed to her by her own mother.  There was a note with the will in
+which Mrs. Thomas stated that no one save herself had known of this
+land, not even her husband.  She had not told him because she
+feared that, like everything else, it would be sold and the money
+wasted in dissipation.  "He suspected something of the sort," she
+added, "but he did not find out the secret, although he--"  She had
+evidently scratched out what followed, but Captain Cy mentally
+filled in the blank with details of abuse and cruelty.  "If
+anything happens to me," concluded the widow, "I want the land sold
+and the money used for Emily's maintenance as long as it lasts."
+
+The captain went over to Orham and looked up the land.  It was a
+strip along the shore, almost worthless, and unsalable at present.
+The taxes had been regularly paid each year by Mary Thomas, who had
+sent money orders from Concord.  The self-denial represented by
+these orders was not a little.
+
+"Never mind, Bos'n," said Captain Cy, when he returned from the
+Orham trip.  "Your ancestral estates ain't much now but a sand-flea
+menagerie.  However, if this section ever does get to be the big
+summer resort folks are prophesying for it, you may sell out to
+some millionaire and you and me'll go to Europe.  Meantime, we'll
+try to keep afloat, if the Harniss Bank don't spring a leak."
+
+On the day following this conversation he took a flying trip to
+Ostable, the county seat, returning the same evening, and saying
+nothing to anyone about his reasons for going nor what he had done
+while there.
+
+Bos'n's birthday was the eighteenth of November.  The captain, in
+spite of the warmth of his struggle for committee honors, determined
+to have a small celebration on the afternoon and evening of that
+day.  It was to be a surprise for Emily, and, after school was over,
+some of her particular friends among the scholars were to come in,
+there was to be a cake with eight candles on it, and a supper at
+which ice cream--lemon and vanilla, prepared by Mrs. Cahoon--was to
+be the principal feature.  Also there would be games and all sorts
+of fun.
+
+Captain Cy was tremendously interested in the party.  He spent
+hours with Georgianna and the Board of Strategy, preparing the list
+of guests.  His cunning in ascertaining from the unsuspecting child
+who, among her schoolmates, she would like to invite, was deep and
+guileful.
+
+"Now, Bos'n," he would say, "suppose you was goin' to clear out and
+leave this town for a spell, who--"
+
+"But, Uncle Cyrus--"  Bos'n's eyes grew frightened and moist in a
+moment, "I ain't going, am I?  I don't want to go."
+
+"No, no!  Course you ain't goin'--that is, not for a long while,
+anyhow," with a sidelong look at the members of the "Board," then
+present.  "But just suppose you and me was startin' on that Europe
+trip.  Who'd you want to say good-by to most of all?"
+
+Each name given by the child was surreptitiously penciled by Bailey
+on a scrap of paper.  The list was a long one and, when the great
+afternoon came, the Whittaker house was crowded.
+
+The supper was a brilliant success.  So was the cake, brought in
+with candles ablaze, by the grinning Georgianna.  Beside the
+children there were some older people present, Bailey and Asaph, of
+course, and the "regulars" from the perfect boarding house, who had
+been invited because it was fairly certain that Mr. Bangs wouldn't
+be allowed to attend if his wife did not.  Miss Dawes had also been
+asked, at Bos'n's well-understood partiality, but she had declined.
+
+Toward the end of the meal, when the hilarity at the long table was
+at its height, an unexpected guest made his appearance.  There was
+a knock at the dining-room door, and Georgianna, opening it, was
+petrified to behold, standing upon the step, no less a personage
+than the Honorable Heman Atkins, supposed by most of us to be then
+somewhere in that wide stretch of territory vaguely termed "the
+South."
+
+"Good evening, all," said the illustrious one, removing his silk
+hat and stepping into the room.  "What a charming scene!  I trust I
+do not intrude."
+
+Georgianna was still speechless, in which unwonted condition she
+was not alone, Messrs. Bangs and Tidditt being also stricken dumb.
+But Captain Cy rose to the occasion grandly.
+
+"Intrude?" he repeated.  "Not a mite of it!  Mighty glad to see
+you, Heman.  Here, give us your hat.  Pull up to the table.  When
+did you get back?  Thought you was in the orange groves somewheres."
+
+"Ahem!  I was.  Yes, I was in that neighborhood.  But it is hard to
+stay away from dear old Bayport.  Home ties, you know, home ties.
+I came down on the morning train, but I stopped over at Harniss on
+business and drove across.  Ahem!  Yes.  The housekeeper informed
+me that my daughter was here, and, seeing the lights and hearing
+the laughter, I couldn't resist making this impromptu call.  I'm
+sure as an old friend and neighbor, Cyrus, you will pardon me.
+Alicia, darling, come and kiss papa."
+
+Darling Alicia accepted the invitation with a rustle of silk and
+an ecstatic squeal of delight.  During this affecting scene Asaph
+whispered to Bailey that he "cal'lated" Heman had had a hurry-up
+distress signal from Simpson; to which sage observation Mr. Bangs
+replied with a vigorous nod, showing that Captain Cy's example had
+had its effect, in that they no longer stood in such awe of their
+representative at Washington.
+
+However true Asaph's calculation might have been, Mr. Atkins made
+no mention of politics.  He was urbanity itself.  He drew up to the
+table, partook of the ice cream and cake, and greeted his friends
+and neighbors with charming benignity.
+
+"Wan't it sweet of him to come?" whispered Miss Phinney to Keturah.
+"And him so nice and everyday and sociable.  And when Cap'n
+Whittaker's runnin' against his friend, as you might say."
+
+Keturah replied with a dubious shake of the head.
+
+"I think Captain Cyrus is goin' to get into trouble," she said.
+"I've preached to Bailey more 'n a little about keepin' clear, but
+he won't."
+
+"Games in t'other room now," ordered Captain Cy.  But Mr. Atkins
+held up his hand.
+
+"Pardon me, just a moment, Cyrus, if you please," he said.  "I feel
+that on this happy occasion, it is my duty and pleasure to propose
+a toast."  He held his lemonade glass aloft.  "Permit me," he
+proclaimed, to wish many happy birthdays and long life to Miss--  I
+beg pardon, Cyrus, but what is your little friend's name?"
+
+"Emily Richards Thayer," replied the captain, carried away by
+enthusiasm and off his guard for once.
+
+"To Em--" began Heman.  Then he paused and for the first time in
+his public life seemed at a loss for words.  "What?" he asked, and
+his hand shook.  "I fear I didn't catch the name."
+
+"No wonder," laughed Mr. Tidditt.  "Cy's so crazy to-night he'd
+forget his own name.  Know what you said, Cy?  You said she was
+Emily Richards THAYER!  Haw! haw!  She ain't a Thayer, Heman; her
+last name's Thomas.  She's Emily Richards Thayer's granddaughter
+though.  Her granddad was John Thayer, over to Orham.  Good land!
+I forgot.  Well, what of it, Cy?  'Twould have to be known some
+time."
+
+Everyone looked at Captain Cy then.  No one observed Mr. Atkins for
+the moment.  When they did turn their gaze upon the great man he
+had sunk back in his chair, the glass of lemonade was upset upon
+the cloth before him, and he, with a very white face, was staring
+at Emily Richards Thomas.
+
+"What's the matter, Heman?" asked the captain anxiously.  "Ain't
+sick, are you?"
+
+The congressman started.
+
+"Oh, no!" he said hurriedly.  "Oh, no! but I'm afraid I've soiled
+your cloth.  It was awkward of me.  I--I really, I apologize--I--"
+
+He wiped his face with his handkerchief.  Captain Cy laughed.
+
+"Oh, never mind the tablecloth," he said.  "I cal'late it's too
+soiled already to be hurt by a bath, even a lemon one.  Well,
+you've all heard the toast.  Full glasses, now.  Here's TO you,
+Bos'n!  Drink hearty, all hands, and give the ship a good name."
+
+If the heartiness with which they drank is a criterion, the good
+name of the ship was established.  Then the assembly adjourned to
+the sitting room and--yes, even the front parlor.  Not since the
+days when that sacred apartment had been desecrated by the
+irreverent city boarders, during the Howes regime, had its walls
+echoed to such whoops and shouts of laughter.  The children played
+"Post Office" and "Copenhagen" and "Clap in, Clap out," while the
+grown folks looked on.
+
+"Ain't they havin' a fine time, Cap?" gushed Miss Phinney.  "Don't
+it make you wish you was young again?"
+
+"Angie," replied Captain Cy solemnly, "don't tempt me; don't!  If
+they keep on playin' that Copenhagen and you stand right alongside
+of me, there's no tellin' what 'll happen."
+
+Angeline declared that he was "turrible," but she faced the
+threatened danger nevertheless, and bravely remained where she was.
+
+Mr. Atkins went home early in the evening, taking Alicia with him.
+He explained that his long railroad journey had--er--somewhat
+fatigued him and, though he hated to leave such a--er--delightful
+gathering, he really felt that, under the circumstances, his
+departure would be forgiven.  Captain Cy opened the door for him
+and stood watching as, holding his daughter by the hand, he marched
+majestically down the path.
+
+"Hum!" mused the captain aloud.  "I guess he has been travelin'
+nights.  Thought he ought to be here quick, I shouldn't wonder.  He
+does look tired, that's a fact, and kind of pale, seemed to me."
+
+"Well, there, now!" exclaimed Mrs. Tripp, who was looking over his
+shoulder.  "Did you see that?"
+
+"No; what was it?"
+
+"Why, when he went to open his gate, one of them arbor vity bushes
+he set out this spring knocked his hat off.  And he never seemed to
+notice, but went right on.  If 'Licia hadn't picked it up, that
+nice new hat would have been layin' there yet.  That's the most
+undignified thing ever I see Heman Atkins do.  He MUST be tired
+out, poor man!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+A LETTER AND A VISITOR
+
+
+"Whit," asked Asaph next day, "wan't you surprised to see Heman
+last night?"
+
+Captain Cy nodded.  He was once more busy with the doll house, the
+construction of which had progressed slowly of late, owing to the
+demands which the party and politics made upon its builder's time.
+
+"Yup," he said, "I sartinly was.  Pretty good sign, I shouldn't
+wonder.  Looks as if friend Tad had found the tide settin' too
+strong against him and had whistled for a tug.  All right; the more
+scared the other side get, the better for us."
+
+"But what in the world made Heman come over and have supper?  He
+never so much as stepped foot in the house afore, did he?  That's
+the biggest conundrum of all."
+
+"Well, I guess I've got the answer.  Strikes me that Heman's
+sociableness is the best sign yet.  Heman's a slick article, and
+when he sees there's danger of losin' the frostin' on the cake he
+takes care to scrape the burnt part off the bottom.  I may be
+school committeeman after town meetin'.  He'll move all creation to
+stop me, of course--in his quiet, round-the-corner way--but, if I
+do win out, he wants to be in a position to take me one side and
+tell me that he's glad of it; he felt all along I was the right
+feller for the job, and if there's anything he can do to make
+things easier for me just call on him.  That's the way I size it
+up, anyhow."
+
+"Cy, I never see anybody like you.  You're dead set against Heman,
+and have been right along.  And he's never done anything to you,
+fur's I see.  He's given a lot to the town, and he's always been
+the most looked-up-to man we've got.  Joe Dimick and two or three
+more chronic growls have been the only ones to sling out hints
+against him, till you come.  Course I'm working for you, tooth and
+nail, and I will say that you seem to be gettin' the votes some way
+or other.  But if Heman SHOULD step right out and say:  'Feller
+citizens, I'm behind Tad Simpson in this fight, and as a favor to
+me and 'cause I think it's right and best, I want 'Lonzo Snow
+elected'--well, _I_ don't believe you'd have more'n one jack and a
+ten spot to count for game."
+
+"Probably not, Ase; I presume likely not.  But you take a day off
+some time and see if you can remember that Heman EVER stepped right
+out and said things.  Blame it! that's just it.  As for WHY he
+riles me up and makes me stubborn as a balky mule, I don't know
+exactly.  All I'm sure is that he does.  Maybe it's 'cause I don't
+like the way he wears his whiskers.  Maybe it's because he's so
+top-lofty and condescendin'.   A feller can whistle to me and say:
+'Come on, Bill,' and I'll trot at his heels all day.  But when he
+pats me on the head and says:  'There there! nice doggie.  Go under
+the bed and lay down,' my back bristles up and I commence to growl
+right off.  There's consider'ble Whittaker in me, as I've told you
+before."
+
+The town clerk pondered over this rather unsatisfactory line of
+reasoning for some minutes.  His companion fitted a wooden chimney
+on the doll house, found it a trifle out of plumb, and proceeded to
+whittle a shaving off the lower edge.  Then Asaph sighed, as one
+who gives up a perplexing riddle, put his hand in his pocket, and
+produced a bundle of papers.
+
+"I made out a list of fellers down to the east'ard that I'm goin'
+to see this afternoon," he said.  "Some of 'em I guess 'll vote for
+you, but most of 'em are pretty sartin' for 'Lonzo.  However, I--
+Where is that list?  I had it somewhere's.  And--well, I swan!  I
+come pretty near forgettin' it myself.  I'm 'most as bad as
+Bailey."
+
+From the bundle of papers he produced a crumpled envelope.
+
+"That Bailey," he observed, "must be in love, I cal'late, though I
+don't know who with.  Ketury, I s'pose, 'cordin' to law and order,
+but--  Well, anyhow, he's gettin' more absent-minded all the time.
+Here's a letter for you, Cy, that he got at the post-office a week
+ago Monday.  'Twas the night of the church sociable, and he had on
+his Sunday cutaway, and he ain't worn it sence, till the party
+yesterday.  When he took off the coat, goin' to bed, the letter
+fell out of it.  I guess he was ashamed to fetch it round himself,
+so he asked me to do it.  Better late than never, hey?  Here's that
+list at last."
+
+He produced the list and handed it to the captain for inspection.
+The latter looked it over, made a few comments and suggestions, and
+told his friend to heave ahead and land as many of the listed as
+possible.  This Mr. Tidditt promised to do, and, replacing the
+papers in his pocket, started for the gate.
+
+"Oh!  Say, Ase!"
+
+The town clerk, his hand on the gate latch, turned.
+
+"Well, what is it?" he asked.  "Don't keep me no longer'n you can
+help.  I got work to do, I have."
+
+"All right, I won't stop you.  Only fallin' in love is kind of
+epidemic down at the boardin' house, I guess.  Who is it that's got
+you in tow--Matildy?"
+
+"What are you talkin' about?  Didn't I tell you to quit namin' me
+with Matildy Tripp?  I like a joke as well as most folks, but when
+it's wore into the ground I--"
+
+"Sho, sho!  Don't get mad.  It's your own fault.  You said that
+absent-mindedness was a love symptom, so I just got to thinkin',
+that's all.  That letter that Bailey forgot--you haven't given it
+to me yet."
+
+Asaph turned red and hastily snatched the papers from his pocket.
+He strode back to the door of the woodshed, handed his friend the
+crumpled envelope, and stalked off without another word.  The
+captain chuckled, laid the letter on the bench beside him and went
+on with his work.  It was perhaps ten minutes later when, happening
+to glance at the postmark on the envelope, he saw that it was
+"Concord, N. H."
+
+Asaph's vote-gathering trip "to the east'ard" made a full day for
+him.  He returned to the perfect boarding house just at supper
+time.  During the meal he realized that Mr. Bangs seemed to be
+trying to attract his attention.  Whenever he glanced in that
+gentleman's direction his glance was met by winks and mystifying
+shakes of the head.  Losing patience at last, he demanded to know
+what was the matter.
+
+"Want to say somethin' to me, do you?" he inquired briskly.  "If
+you do, out with it!  Don't set there workin' your face as if 'twas
+wound up, like a clockwork image."
+
+This remark had the effect of turning all the other faces toward
+Bailey's.  He was very much upset.
+
+"No, no!" he stammered.  "No, no!  I don't want you for nothin'.
+Was I makin' my face go?  I--I didn't know it.  I've been washin'
+carriages and cleanin' up the barn all day and I cal'late I've
+overdone.  I'm gettin' old, and hard work's likely to bring on
+shakin' palsy to old folks."
+
+His wife tartly observed that, if WORK was the cause of it, she
+guessed he was safe from palsy for quite a spell yet.  At any rate,
+a marked recovery set in and he signaled no more during the meal.
+But when it was over, and his task as dish-wiper completed, he
+hurried out of doors and found Mr. Tidditt, shivering in the
+November wind, on the front porch.
+
+"Now what is it?" asked Asaph sharply.  "I know there's somethin'
+and I've froze to death by sections waitin' to hear it."
+
+"Have you seen Cy?" whispered Bailey, glancing fearfully over his
+shoulder at the lighted windows of the house.
+
+"No, not sence mornin'.  Why?"
+
+"Well, there's somethin' the matter with him.  Somethin' serious.
+I was swabbin' decks in the barn about eleven o'clock, when he come
+postin' in, white and shaky, and so nervous he couldn't stand
+still.  Looked as if he had had a stroke almost.  I--"
+
+"Godfrey scissors!  You don't s'pose Heman's comin' back has
+knocked out his chances for the committee, do you?"
+
+"No, sir-ee! 'twan't that.  Cy's anxious to be elected and all, but
+you know his politics are more of a joke with him than anything
+else.  And any rap Heman or Tad could give him would only make him
+fight harder.  And he wouldn't talk politics at all; didn't seem to
+give a durn about 'em, one way or t'other.  No, 'twas somethin'
+about that letter, the one I forgot so long.  He wanted to know why
+in time I hadn't given it to him when it fust come.  He was real
+ugly about it, for him, and kept pacin' up and down the barn floor
+and layin' into me, till I begun to think he was crazy.  I guess he
+see my feelin's were hurt, 'cause, just afore he left, he held out
+his hand and said I mustn't mind his talk; he'd been knocked on his
+beam ends, he said, and wan't really responsible."
+
+"Wouldn't he say what had knocked him?"
+
+"No, couldn't get nothin' out of him.  And when he quit he went off
+toward home, slappin' his fists together and actin' as if he didn't
+see the road across his bows.  Now, you know how cool and easy
+goin' Whit generally is.  I swan to man, Ase! he made me so sorry
+for him I didn't know what to do."
+
+"Ain't you been up to see him sence?"
+
+"No, Ketury was sot on havin' the barn cleaned, and she stood over
+me with a rope's end, as you might say.  I couldn't get away a
+minute, though I made up more'n a dozen errands at Simmons's and
+the like of that.  You hold on till I sneak into the entry and get
+my cap and we'll put for there now.  I won't be but a jiffy.  I'm
+worried."
+
+They entered the yard of the Cy Whittaker place together and
+approached the side door.  As they stood on the steps Asaph touched
+his chum on the arm and pointed to the window beside them.  The
+shade was half drawn and beneath it they had a clear view of the
+interior of the sitting room.  Captain Cy was in the rocker before
+the stove, holding Bos'n in his arms.  The child was sound asleep,
+her yellow braid hanging over the captain's broad shoulder.  He was
+gazing down into her face with a look which was so full of yearning
+and love that it brought a choke into the throats of the pair who
+saw it.
+
+They entered the dining room.  The captain sprang from his chair
+and, still holding the little girl close against his breast, met
+them at the sitting-room door.  When he saw who the visitors were,
+he caught his breath, almost with a sob, and seemed relieved.
+
+"S-s-h-h!" he whispered warningly.  "She's asleep."
+
+The members of the Board of Strategy nodded understandingly and sat
+down upon the sofa.  Captain Cy tiptoed to the bedroom, turned back
+the bedclothes with one hand and laid Bos'n down.  They saw him
+tuck her carefully in and then stoop and kiss her.  He returned to
+the sitting room and closed the door behind him.
+
+"We see she was asleep afore we come in," explained Asaph.  "We see
+you and her through the window."
+
+The captain looked hurriedly at the window indicated.  Then he
+stepped over and pulled the shade down to the sill, doing the same
+with the curtains of the other two windows.
+
+"What's the matter?" inquired Bailey, trying to be facetious.
+"'Fraid of 'Lonzo's crowd spyin' on us?"
+
+Captain Cy did not reply.  He did not even sit down, but remained
+standing, his back to the stove.
+
+"Well?" he asked shortly.  "Did you fellers want to see me for
+anything 'special?"
+
+"Wanted to see what had struck you all to once," replied Mr. Tidditt.
+"Bailey says you scared him half to death this forenoon.  And you
+look now as if somebody's ghost had riz and hollered 'Boo!' at you.
+For the land sakes, Whit, what IS it?"
+
+The captain drew his hand across his forehead.
+
+"Ghost?" he repeated absently.  "No, I haven't SEEN a ghost.
+There! there! don't mind me.  I ain't real well to-day, I guess."
+He smiled crookedly.
+
+"Don't you want to hear about my vote-grabbin' cruise?" asked
+Tidditt.  "I was flatterin' myself you'd be tickled to hear I'd
+done so well.  Why, even Marcellus Parker says he may vote for
+you--if he makes up his mind that way."
+
+Marcellus was a next-door neighbor of Alonzo Snow's.  But Captain
+Cy didn't seem to care.
+
+"Hey?" he murmured.  "Yes.  Well?"
+
+"WELL!  Is that all you've got to say?  Are you really sick, Cy?
+Or is Bos'n sick?"
+
+"No!" was the answer, almost fierce in its utterance.  "She isn't
+sick.  Don't be a fool."
+
+"What's foolish about that?  I didn't know but she might be.
+There's mumps in town and--"
+
+"She's all right; so shut up, will you!  There, Ase!" he added.
+"I'm the fool myself.  Don't mind my barkin'; I don't mean it.  I
+am about sick, I cal'late.  Be better to-morrer, maybe."
+
+"What's got into you?  Was that letter of Bailey's--"
+
+"Hush!"  The captain held up his hand.  "I thought I heard a team."
+
+"Depot wagon, most likely," said Bailey.  "About time for it!
+Humph! seems to be stoppin', don't it?  Was you expectin' anybody?
+Shall I go and--"
+
+"No!  Set still."
+
+The pair on the sofa sat still.  Captain Cy stood like a statue in
+the middle of the floor.  He squared his shoulders and jammed his
+clenched fists into his pockets.  Steps crunched the gravel of the
+walk.  There came a knock at the door of the dining room.
+
+Walking steadily, but with a face set as the figurehead on one of
+his own ships, the captain went to answer the knock.  They heard
+the door open, and then a man's voice asked:
+
+"Is this Cap'n Whittaker?"
+
+"Yes," was the short answer.
+
+"Well, Cap, I guess you don't know me, though maybe you know some
+of my family.  Ha, ha!  Don't understand that, hey?  Well, you let
+me in and I'll explain the joke."
+
+The captain's reply was calm and deliberate.
+
+"I shouldn't wonder if I understood it," he said.  "Come in.
+Don't--"  The remainder of the sentence was whispered and the
+listeners on the sofa could not hear it.  A moment later Captain Cy
+entered the sitting room, followed by his caller.
+
+The latter was a stranger.  He was a broad-shouldered man of medium
+height, with a yellowish mustache and brown hair.  He was dressed
+in rather shabby clothes, without an overcoat, and he had a soft
+felt hat in his hand.  The most noticeable thing about him was a
+slight hesitancy in his walk.  He was not lame, he did not limp,
+yet his left foot seemed to halt for an instant as he brought it
+forward in the step.  They learned afterwards that it had been hurt
+in a mine cave-in.  He carried himself with a swagger, and, after
+his entrance, there was a perceptible aroma of alcohol in the room.
+
+He stared at the Board of Strategy and the stare was returned in
+full measure.  Bailey and Asaph were wildly curious.  They, of
+course, connected the stranger's arrival with the mysterious letter
+and the captain's perturbation of the day.
+
+But their curiosity was not to be satisfied, at least not then.
+
+"How are you, gents?" hailed the newcomer cheerfully.  "Like the
+looks of me, do you?"
+
+Captain Cy cut off further conversation.
+
+"Ase," he said, "this--er--gentleman and I have got some business
+to talk over.  I know you're good enough friends of mine not to
+mind if I ask you to clear out.  You'll understand.  You WILL
+understand, boys, won't you?" he added, almost entreatingly.
+
+"Sartin sure!" replied Mr. Tidditt, rising hurriedly.  "Don't say
+another word, Whit."  And the mystified Bangs concurred with a
+"Yes, yes!  Why, of course!  Didn't have nothin' that amounts to
+nothin' to stay for anyhow.  See you to-morrer, Cy."
+
+Outside and at the gate they stopped and looked at each other.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Asaph.  "If that ain't the strangest thing!  Who
+was that feller?  Where'd he come from?  Did you notice how Cy
+acted?  Seemed to be holdin' himself in by main strength."
+
+"Did you smell the rum on him?" returned Bailey.  "On that t'other
+chap, I mean?  Didn't he look like a reg'lar no-account to you?
+And say, Ase, didn't he remind you of somebody you'd seen
+somewheres--kind of, in a way?"
+
+They walked home in a dazed state, asking unanswerable questions
+and making profitless guesses.  But Asaph's final remark seemed to
+sum up the situation.
+
+"There's trouble comin' of this, Bailey," he declared.  "And it's
+trouble for Cy Whittaker, I'm afraid.  Poor old Cy!  Well, WE'LL
+stand by him, anyhow.  I don't believe he'll sleep much to-night.
+Didn't look as though he would, did he?  Who IS that feller?"
+
+If he had seen Captain Cy, at two o'clock the next morning, sitting
+by Bos'n's bedside and gazing hopelessly at the child, he would
+have realized that, if his former predictions were wiped off the
+slate and he could be judged by the one concerning the captain's
+sleepless night, he might thereafter pose as a true prophet.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A BARGAIN OFF
+
+
+"Mornin', Georgianna," said Captain Cy to his housekeeper as the
+latter unlocked the back door of the Whittaker house next morning.
+"I'm a little ahead of you this time."
+
+Miss Taylor, being Bayport born and bred, was an early riser.  She
+lodged with her sister, in Bassett's Hollow, a good half mile from
+the Cy Whittaker place, but she was always on hand at the latter
+establishment by six each morning, except Sundays.  Now she glanced
+quickly at the clock.  The time was ten minutes to six.
+
+"Land sakes!" she exclaimed.  "I should say you was!  What in the
+world got you up so early?  Ain't sick, are you?"
+
+"No," replied the captain wearily.  "I ain't sick.  I didn't sleep
+very well last night, that's all."
+
+Georgianna looked sharply at him.  His face was haggard and his
+eyes had dark circles under them.
+
+"Humph!" she grunted.  "No, I guess you didn't.  Looks to me as if
+you'd been up all night."  Then she added an anxious query:
+"'Tain't Bos'n--she ain't sick, I hope?"
+
+"No.  She's all right.  I say, Georgianna, you put on an extry
+plate this mornin'.  Got company for breakfast."
+
+The housekeeper was surprised.
+
+"For breakfast?" she repeated.  "Land of goodness! who's comin' for
+breakfast?  I never heard of company droppin' in for breakfast.
+That's one meal folks generally get to home.  Who is it?  Mr.
+Tidditt?  Has Ketury turned him out door because he's too bad an
+example for her husband?"
+
+"No, 'tain't Ase.  It's a--a friend of mine.  Well, not exactly a
+friend, maybe, but an acquaintance from out of town.  He came last
+evenin'.  He's up in the spare bedroom."
+
+"Well, I never!  Come unexpected, didn't he?  I wish I'd known he
+was comin'.  That spare room bed ain't been aired I don't know
+when."
+
+"I guess he can stand it.  I cal'late he's slept in consider'ble
+worse--Hum!  Yes, he did come kind of sudden."
+
+"What's his name?"
+
+"What difference does that make?  I don't know's his name makes any
+odds about gettin' his breakfast for him."
+
+Georgianna was hurt.  Her easy-going employer had never used this
+tone before when addressing her.
+
+"Oh!" she sniffed.  "Is THAT the way you feel?  All right!  I can
+mind my own business, thank you.  I only asked because it's
+convenient sometimes to know whether to call a person Bill Smith or
+Sol Jones.  But I don't care if it's Nebuchadnezzar.  I know when
+to keep my tongue still, I guess."
+
+She flounced over to the range.  Captain Cy looked ashamed of
+himself.
+
+"I'm kind of out of sorts to-day," he said.  "Got some headache.
+Why, his name is--is--yes, 'tis Smith, come to think of it--John
+Smith.  Funny you should guess right, wan't it?"
+
+"Humph!" was the ungracious answer.  "Names don't interest me, I
+tell you."
+
+The captain was in the dining room when Bos'n appeared.
+
+"Good morning, Uncle Cyrus," she said.  "You've been waiting,
+haven't you?  Am I late?  I didn't mean to be."
+
+"No, no! you ain't late.  Early, if anything.  Breakfast ain't
+quite ready yet.  Come here and set in my lap.  I want to talk to
+you."
+
+He took her on his knee.  She looked up into his face.
+
+"What's the matter, Uncle Cy?" she asked.  "What makes you so
+sober?"
+
+"Sober?  If you ain't the oldest young one for eight years I ever
+saw!  Why, I ain't sober.  No, no!  Say, Bos'n, do you like your
+school as well as ever?"
+
+"Yes, sir.  I like it better all the time."
+
+"Do, hey?  And that teacher woman--go on likin' her?"
+
+The child nodded emphatically.  "Yes, sir," she said.  "And I
+haven't been kept after since that once."
+
+"Sho! sho!  Course you ain't'!  So you think Bayport's as nice as
+Concord, do you?"
+
+"Oh! lots nicer!  If mamma was only here I'd never want to be
+anywhere else.  And not then, maybe, unless you was there, too."
+
+"Hum!  Want to know!  Say, Bos'n, how would you feel if you had to
+go somewheres else?"
+
+"To live?  Have we got to?  I'd feel dreadful, of course.  But if
+you've got to go, Uncle Cyrus, why--"
+
+"Me?  No; I ain't got to go anywheres.  But 'twas you I was thinkin'
+of.  Wouldn't want to leave the old man, hey?"
+
+"To leave YOU!  Oh, Uncle Cyrus!"
+
+She was staring at him now and her chin was trembling.
+
+"Uncle," she demanded, "you ain't going to send me away?  Haven't I
+been a good girl?"
+
+The captain's lips shut tight.  He waited a moment before replying.
+"'Deed you've been a good girl!" he said brusquely.  "I never saw a
+better one.  No, I ain't goin' to SEND you away.  Don't you worry
+about that."
+
+"But Alicia Atkins said one time you told somebody you was going to
+send me out West, after a while.  I didn't believe it, then, she's
+so mean, but she said you said--"
+
+"SAID!"  Captain Cy groaned.  "The Lord knows what I ain't said!
+I've been a fool, dearie, and it's a judgment on me, I guess."
+
+"But ain't you goin' to keep me?  I--I--"
+
+She sobbed.  The captain stroked her hair.
+
+"Keep you?" he muttered.  "Yes, by the big dipper!  I'm goin' to
+keep you, if I can--if I can."
+
+"Hello!" said a voice.  The pair looked up.  The man who had
+arrived on the previous night stood in the sitting-room doorway.
+How long he had been standing there the captain did not know.  What
+he did know was that Mr. John Smith by daylight was not more
+prepossessing than the same individual viewed by the aid of a lamp.
+
+Emily saw the stranger and slid from Captain Cy's knees.  The
+captain rose.
+
+"Bos'n," he said, "this is Mr.--er--Smith, who's goin' to make us a
+little visit.  I want you to shake hands with him."
+
+The girl dutifully approached Mr. Smith and extended her hand.  He
+took it and held it in his own.
+
+"Is this the--" he began.
+
+Captain Cy bowed assent.
+
+"Yes," he said, his eyes fixed on the visitor's face.  "Yes.  Don't
+forget what you said last night."
+
+Smith shook his head.
+
+"No," he replied.  "I ain't the kind that forgets, unless it pays
+pretty well.  There's some things I've remembered for quite a few
+years."
+
+He looked the child over from head to foot and his brows drew
+together in an ugly frown.
+
+"So this is her, hey?" he muttered musingly.  "Humph!  Well, I
+don't know as I'd have guessed it.  Favors the other side of the
+house more--the respectable side, I should say.  Still, there's a
+little brand of the lost sheep, hey?  Enough to prove property,
+huh?  Mark of the beast, I s'pose the psalm-singin' relations would
+call it.  D--n em!  I--"
+
+"Steady!" broke in the captain.  Mr. Smith started, seemed to
+remember where he was, and his manner changed.
+
+"Come and see me, honey," he coaxed, drawing the girl toward him by
+the hand he was holding.  "Ain't you got a nice kiss for me this
+fine mornin'?  Don't be scared.  I won't bite."
+
+Bos'n looked shrinkingly at Mr. Smith's unshaven cheeks and then at
+Captain Cy.  The latter's face was absolutely devoid of expression.
+He merely nodded.
+
+So Emily kissed one of the bristling cheeks.  The kiss was returned
+full upon the mouth.  She wiped her lips and darted away to her
+chair by the table.
+
+"What's your hurry?" inquired the visitor.  "Don't I do it right?
+Been some time since I kissed a girl--a little one, anyhow," he
+added, winking at his host.  "Never mind, we'll know each other
+better by and by."
+
+He looked on in wondering disgust as Bos'n said her "grace."
+
+"What in blazes!" he burst out when the little blessing was
+finished.  "Who put her up to that?  A left-over from the psalm-
+singers, is it?"
+
+"I don't know," answered the captain, speaking with deliberation.
+"I do know that I like to have her do it and that she shall do it
+as long's she's at this table."
+
+"Oh! she shall, hey?  Well, I reckon--"
+
+"She shall--AS LONG AS SHE'S AT THIS TABLE.  Is that real plain and
+understandable, or shall I write it down?"
+
+There was an icy clearness in the captain's tone which seemed to
+freeze further conversation on the part of Mr. Smith.  He merely
+grunted and ate his breakfast in silence.  He ate a great deal and
+ate it rapidly.
+
+Bos'n departed for school when the meal was over.  Captain Cy
+helped her on with her coat and hood.  Then, as he always did of
+late, he kissed her good-by.
+
+"Hi!" called Mr. Smith from the sitting room.  "Ain't I in on that?
+If there's any kisses goin' I want to take a hand before the deal's
+over."
+
+"Must I?" whispered Bos'n pleadingly.  "Must I, Uncle Cy?  I don't
+want to.  I don't like him."
+
+"Come on!" called Mr. Smith.  "I'm gettin' over my bashfulness
+fast.  Hurry up!"
+
+"Must I kiss him, Uncle Cyrus?" whispered Bos'n.  "MUST I?"
+
+"No!" snapped the captain sharply.  "Trot right along now, dearie.
+Be a good girl.  Good-by."
+
+He entered the sitting room.  His guest had found the Sunday box
+and was lighting one of his host's cigars.
+
+"Well," he inquired easily, "what's next on the bill?  Anything
+goin' on in this forsaken hole?"
+
+"There's a barber shop down the road.  You might go there first, I
+should say.  Not that you need it, but just as a novelty like."
+
+"Humph!  I don't know.  What's the matter with your razor?"
+
+"Nothin'.  At least I ain't found anything wrong with it yet."
+
+"Oh!  Say, look here! you're a queer guy, you are.  I ain't got you
+right in my mind yet.  One minute butter wouldn't melt in your
+mouth, and the next you're fresh as a new egg.  What IS your little
+game, anyway?  You've got one, so don't tell me you ain't."
+
+Captain Cy was plainly embarrassed.  He gazed at the "Shore to
+Shore" picture on the wall as he answered.
+
+"No game about it," he said.  "Last night you and I agreed that
+nothin' was to be said for a few days.  You was to stay here and
+I'd try to make you comfort'ble, that's all.  Then we'd see about
+that other matter, settle on a fair price, and--"
+
+"Yes, I know.  That's all right.  But you're too willin'.  There's
+something else.  Say!"  The ugly scowl was in evidence again.
+"Say, look here, you! you ain't got somethin' up your sleeve, have
+you?  There ain't somethin' more that I don't know about, is there?
+No more secrets than that--"
+
+"No!  You hear me?  No!  You'll get your rights, and maybe a little
+more than your rights, if you're decent.  And it'll pay you to be
+decent."
+
+"Humph!"  Mr. Smith seemed to be thinking.  Then he added, looking
+up keenly under his brows:  "How about the--the incumbrance on the
+property?  Of course, when I go I'll have to take that with me,
+and--"
+
+Captain Cy interrupted.
+
+"There! there!" he exclaimed, and there was a shake in his voice,
+"there! there!  Don't let's talk about such things now.  I--I--
+Let's wait a spell.  We'll have some more plans to make, maybe.  If
+you want to use my razor it's right in that drawer.  Just help
+yourself."
+
+The visitor laughed aloud.  He nodded as if satisfied.  "Ho! ho!"
+he chuckled.  "I see!  Humph! yes--I see.  The fools ain't all
+dead, and there's none to beat an old one.  Well! well!  All right,
+pard!  I guess you and me'll get along fine.  I've changed my mind;
+I WILL go to the barber shop, after all.  Only I'm a little shy of
+dust just at present.  So, to oblige a friend, maybe you'll hand
+over, huh?"
+
+The captain reached into his pocket, extracted a two-dollar bill,
+and passed it to the speaker.  Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head.
+
+"You can't come in on that, pard," he said.  "The limit's five."
+
+Captain Cy took back the bill and exchanged it for one with a V in
+each corner.  The visitor took it and turned toward the door.
+
+"Ta! ta!" he said, taking his hat from the peg in the dining room.
+"I'm off for the clippers.  When I come back I'll be the sweetest
+little Willie in the diggin's.  So long."
+
+Bos'n and the captain sat down to the dinner at noon alone.  Mr.
+Smith had not returned from his trip to the barber's.  He came in,
+however, just before the meal was over, still in an unshorn
+condition, somewhat flushed and very loquacious.
+
+"Say!" he exclaimed genially.  "That Simpson's the right sort,
+ain't he?  Him and me took a shine to each other from the go-off.
+He's been West himself and he's got some width to him.  He's no
+psalm singer."
+
+"Humph!" commented the captain, with delicate sarcasm.  "He don't
+seem to be much of a barber, either.  What's the matter?  Gone out
+of business, has he?  Or was you so wild or woolly he got discouraged
+before he begun?"
+
+"Great snakes!" exclaimed the visitor.  "I forgot all about the
+clippers!  Well, that's one on me, pard!  I'll make a new try
+soon's grub's over.  Don't be so tight-fisted with the steak; this
+is a plate I'm passin', not a contribution box."
+
+He winked at Bos'n and would have chucked her under the chin if she
+had not dodged.  She seemed to have taken a great aversion to Mr.
+Smith and was plainly afraid of him.
+
+"Is he going to stay very long, Uncle Cyrus?" she whispered, when
+it was school time once more.  "Do you think he's nice?"
+
+Captain Cy did not answer.  When she had gone and the guest had
+risen from the table and put on his hat, the captain said
+warningly:
+
+"There's one little bit of advice I want to give you, Mister Man:
+A bargain's a bargain, but it takes two to keep it.  Don't let your
+love for Tad Simpson lead you into talkin' too much.  Talk's cheap,
+they say, but too much of it might be mighty dear for you.
+Understand?"
+
+Smith patted him on the back.  "Lord love you, pard!" he chuckled,
+"I'm no spring chicken.  I'm as hard to open as a safe, I am.  It
+takes a can opener to get anything out of me."
+
+"Yes; well, you can get inside some folks easier with a corkscrew.
+I've been told that Tad's a kind of a medium sometimes.  If he
+raises any spirits in that back room of his, I'd leave 'em alone,
+if I was you.  So long as you're decent, I'll put up with--"
+
+But Mr. Smith was on his way to the gate, whistling as if he hadn't
+a care in the world.  Captain Cy watched him go down the road, and
+then, with the drawn, weary look on his face which had been there
+since the day before, he entered the sitting room and threw himself
+into a chair.
+
+Miss Phoebe Dawes, the school teacher, worked late that evening.
+There were examination papers to be gone over, and experience had
+demonstrated that the only place where she could be free from
+interruptions was the schoolroom itself.  At the perfect boarding
+house the shrill tones of Keturah's voice and those of Miss Phinney
+and Mrs. Tripp penetrated through shut doors.  It is hard to figure
+percentages when the most intimate details of Bayport's family life
+are being recited and gloated over on the other side of a thin
+partition.  And when Matilda undertook to defend the Come-Outer
+faith against the assaults of the majority, the verbal riot was, as
+Mr. Tidditt described it, "like feedin' time in a parrot shop."
+
+So Miss Phoebe came to the boarding house for supper and then
+returned to the schoolroom, where, with a lighted bracket lamp
+beside her on the desk, she labored until nine o'clock.  Then she
+put on her coat and hat, extinguished the light, locked the door,
+and started on her lonely walk home.
+
+"The main road" in our village is dark after nine o clock.  There
+is a street light--a kerosene lamp--on a post in front of the
+Methodist meeting house, but the sexton forgets it, generally
+speaking, or, at any rate, neglects to fill it except at rare
+intervals.  Simmons's front windows are ablaze, of course, and so
+are the dingy panes of Simpson's barber shop.  But these two
+centers of sociability are both at the depot road corner, and when
+they are passed the only sources of illumination are the scattered
+gleams from the back windows of dwellings.  As most of us retire by
+half-past eight, the glow along the main road is not dazzling, to
+say the very least.
+
+Miss Dawes was not afraid of the dark.  She had been her own escort
+for a good many years.  She walked briskly on, heard the laughter
+and loud voices in the barber shop die away behind her, passed the
+schoolhouse pond, now bleak and chill with the raw November wind
+blowing across it, and began to climb the slope of Whittaker's
+Hill.  And here the wind, rushing in unimpeded over the flooded
+salt meadows from the tumbled bay outside, wound her skirts about
+her and made climbing difficult and breath-taking.
+
+She was, perhaps, half way up the long slope, when she heard, in
+the intervals between the gusts, footsteps behind her.  She knew
+most of the village people by this time and the thought of company
+was not unpleasant.  So she paused and pantingly waited for whoever
+was coming.  She could not see more than a few yards, but the
+footsteps sounded nearer and nearer, and, a moment later, a man's
+voice began singing "Annie Rooney," a melody then past its prime in
+the cities, but popularized in Bayport by some departed batch of
+summer boarders.
+
+She did not recognize the voice and she did not particularly
+approve of singing in the streets, especially such loud singing.
+So she decided not to wait longer, and was turning to continue her
+climb, when the person behind stopped his vocalizing and called.
+
+"Hi!" he shouted.  "Hello, ahead there!  Who is it?  Hold on a
+minute, pard!  I'm comin'."
+
+She disobeyed the order to "hold on," and began to hurry.  The
+hurry was of no avail, however, for the follower broke into a run
+and soon was by her side.  He was a stranger to her.
+
+"Whee!  Wow!" he panted.  "This is no race track, pard.  Pull up,
+and let's take it easy.  My off leg's got a kink in it, and I don't
+run so easy as I used to.  Great snakes; what's your rush?  Ain't
+you fond of company?  Hello!  I believe it's a woman!"
+
+She did not answer.  His manner and the smell of liquor about him
+were decidedly unpleasant.  The idea that he might be a tramp
+occurred to her.  Tramps are our bugaboos here in Bayport.
+
+"A woman!" exclaimed the man hilariously.  "Well, say!  I didn't
+believe there was one loose in this tail-end of nowhere.  Girlie,
+I'm glad to see you.  Not that I can see you much, but never mind.
+All cats are gray in the dark, hey?  You can't see me, neither, so
+we'll take each other on trust.  'She's my sweetheart, I'm her
+beau.'  Say, Maud, may I see you home?"
+
+She was frightened now.  The Whittaker place on the hilltop was the
+nearest house, and that was some distance off.
+
+"What's the matter, Carrie?" inquired the man.  "Don't be scared.
+I wouldn't hurt you.  I'm just lonesome, that's all, and I need
+society.  Don't rush, you'll ruin your complexion.  Here! come
+under my wing and let's toddle along together.  How's mamma?"
+
+He seized her arm and pulled her back beside him.  She tried to
+free herself, but could not.  Her unwelcome escort held her fast
+and she was obliged to move as slowly as he did.  It was very dark.
+
+"Say, what IS your name?" coaxed the man.  "Is is Maud, hey?  Or
+Julia?  I always liked Julia.  Don't be peevish.  Tell us, that's a
+good girl."
+
+She gave a quick jerk and managed to pull her arm from his grasp,
+giving him a violent push as she did so.  He, being unsteady on his
+feet, tumbled down the low bank which edged the sidewalk.  Then she
+ran on up the hill as fast as she could.  She heard him swear as he
+fell.
+
+She had nearly reached the end of the Whittaker fence when he
+caught her.  He was laughing, and that alarmed her almost as much
+as if he had been angry.
+
+"Naughty! naughty!" he chuckled, holding her fast.  "Tryin' to
+sneak, was you?  Not much!  Not this time!  Did you ever play
+forfeits when you was little?  Well, this is a forfeit game and
+you're It.  You must bow to the prettiest, kneel to the wittiest,
+and kiss the one you love best.  And I'll let you off on the first
+two.  Come now!  Pay up!"
+
+Then she screamed.  And her scream was answered at once.  A gate
+swung back with a bang and she heard some one running along the
+walk toward her.
+
+"O Cap'n Whittaker!" she called.  "Come!  Come quick, please!"
+
+How she knew that the person running toward her was Captain Cy has
+not been satisfactorily explained even yet.  She cannot explain it
+and neither can the captain.  And equally astonishing was the
+latter's answer.  He certainly had not heard her voice often enough
+to recognize it under such circumstances.
+
+"All right, teacher!" he shouted.  "I'm comin'!  Let go of that
+woman, you--  Oh, it's you, is it?"
+
+He had seized Mr. Smith by the coat collar and jerked him away from
+his victim.  Miss Dawes took refuge behind the captain's bulky
+form.  The two men looked at each other.  Smith was recovering his
+breath.
+
+"It's you, is it?" repeated Captain Cy.  Then, turning to Miss
+Phoebe, he asked:  "Did he hurt you?"
+
+"No!  Not yet.  But he frightened me dreadfully.  Who is he?  Do
+you know him?"
+
+Her persecutor answered the question.
+
+"You bet your life he knows me!" he snarled.  "He knows me mighty
+well!  Pard, you keep your nose out of this, d'you see!  You mind
+your own business.  I wan't goin' to hurt her any."
+
+The captain paid no attention to him.
+
+"Yup, I know him," he said grimly.  Then he added, pointing toward
+the lighted window of the house ahead:  "You--Smith, you go in
+there and stay there!  Trot!  Don't make me speak twice."
+
+But Mr. Smith was too far gone with anger and the "spirits" raised
+by Tad Simpson to heed the menace in the words.
+
+"Smith, hey?" he sneered.  "Oh, yes, SMITH!  Well, Smith ain't
+goin', d'you see!  He's goin' to do what he pleases.  I reckon I'm
+on top of the roost here!  I know what's what!  You can't talk to
+me.  I've got rights, I have, and--"
+
+"Blast your rights!"
+
+"What?  WHAT?  Blast my rights, hey?  Oh, yes!  Think because
+you've got money you can cheat me out of 'em, do you?  Well, you
+can't!  And how about the other part of those rights?  S'pose I
+walk right into that house and--"
+
+"Stop it!  Shut up!  You'd better not--"
+
+"And into that bedroom and just say:  'Emmie, here's your--'"
+
+He didn't finish the sentence.  Captain Cy's big fist struck him
+fairly between the eyes, and the back of his head struck the walk
+with a "smack!"  Then, through the fireworks which were
+illuminating his muddled brain, he heard the captain's voice.
+
+"You low - down, good - for - nothin' scamp!" growled Captain Cy.
+"All this day I've been hatin' myself for the way I've acted to
+you.  I've hated myself and been tryin' to spunk up courage to say
+'It's all off!'  But I was too much of a coward, I guess.  And now
+the Lord A'mighty has MADE me say it.  You want your rights, do
+you?  So?  Then get 'em if you can.  It's you and me for it, and
+we'll see who's the best man.  Teacher, if you're ready I'll walk
+home with you now."
+
+Mr. Smith was not entirely cowed.
+
+"You go!" he yelled.  "Go ahead!  And I'll go to a lawyer's to-
+morrow.  But to-night, and inside of five minutes, I'll walk into
+that house of yours and get my--"
+
+The captain dropped Miss Dawes's arm and strode back to where his
+antagonist was sitting in the dust of the walk.  Stooping down, he
+shook a big forefinger in the man's face.
+
+"You've been out West, they tell me," he whispered sternly.  "Yes!
+Well, out West they take the law into their own hands, sometimes, I
+hear.  I've been in South America, and they do it there, too.  Just
+so sure as you go into my house to-night and touch--well, you know
+what I mean--just so sure I'll kill you like a dog, if I have to
+chase you to Jericho.  Now you can believe that or not.  If I was
+you I'd believe it."
+
+Taking the frightened schoolmistress by the arm once more he walked
+away.  Mr. Smith said nothing till they had gone some distance.
+Then he called after them.
+
+"You wait till to-morrow!" he shouted.  "You just wait and see
+what'll happen to-morrow!"
+
+Captain Cy was silent all the way to the gate of the perfect
+boarding house.  Miss Dawes was silent likewise, but she thought a
+great deal.  At the gate she said:
+
+"Captain Whittaker, I'm EVER so much obliged to you.  I can't thank
+you enough."
+
+"Don't try, then.  That's what you said to me about the cow."
+
+"But I'm almost sorry you were the one to come.  I'm afraid that
+man will get you into trouble.  Has he--can he--  What did he mean
+about to-morrow?  Who IS he?"
+
+The captain pushed his cap back from his forehead.
+
+"Teacher," he said, "there's a proverb, ain't there, about lettin'
+to-morrow take care of itself?  As for trouble--well, I did think
+I'd had trouble enough in my life to last me through, but I
+cal'late I've got another guess.  Anyhow, don't you fret.  I did
+just the right thing, and I'm glad I did it.  If it was only me I
+wouldn't fret, either.  But there's--"  He stopped, groaned, and
+pulled the cap forward again.  "Good night," he added, and turned
+to go.
+
+Miss Dawes leaned forward and detained him.
+
+"Just a minute, Cap'n Whittaker," she said.  "I was a little
+prejudiced against you when I came here.  I was told that you got
+me the teacher's position, and there was more than a hint that you
+did it for selfish reasons of your own.  When you called that
+afternoon at the school I was--"
+
+"Don't say a word!  I was the biggest fool in town that time, and
+I've been ashamed to look in the glass ever since.  I ain't always
+such an idiot."
+
+"But I've had to judge people for myself in my lifetime," continued
+the schoolmistress, " and I've made up my mind that I was mistaken
+about you.  I should like to apologize.  Will you shake hands?"
+
+She extended her hand.  Captain Cy hesitated.
+
+"Hadn't you better wait a spell?" he asked.  "You've heard that
+swab call me partner.  Hadn't--"
+
+"No; I don't know what your trouble is, of course, and I certainly
+shan't mention it to anyone.  But whatever it is I'm sure you are
+right and it's not your fault.  Now will you shake hands?"
+
+The captain did not answer.  He merely took the proffered hand,
+shook it heartily, and strode off into the dark.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+"TOWN-MEETIN'"
+
+
+"This is goin' to be a meMOriable town meetin'!" declared Sylvanus
+Cahoon, with unction, rising from the settee to gaze about him over
+the heads of the voters in the townhall.  "I bet you every able-
+bodied man in Bayport 'll be here this forenoon.  Yes, sir! that's
+what I call it, a me-MO-riable meetin'!"
+
+"See anything of Cy?" inquired Josiah Dimick, who sat next to
+Sylvanus.
+
+"No, he ain't come yet.  And Heman ain't here, neither.  Hello!
+there's Tad.  Looks happy, seems to me."
+
+Captain Dimick stood up to inspect Mr. Simpson.
+
+"Humph!" he muttered.  "Well, unless my count's wrong, he ain't got
+much to be happy about.  'Lonzo Snow's with him.  Tad does look
+sort of joyful, don't he?  Them that laughs last laughs best.  When
+the vote for school committee's all in we'll see who does the
+grinnin'.  But I can't understand--  Hello! there's Tidditt.
+Asaph!  Ase!  S-s-t-t!  Come here a minute."
+
+Mr. Tidditt, trembling with excitement, and shaking hands effusively
+with everyone he met, pushed his way up the aisle and bent over
+his friend.
+
+"Say, Ase," whispered Josiah, "where's Whit?  Why ain't he on hand?
+Nothin's happened, has it?"
+
+"No," replied the town clerk.  "Everything seems to be all right.
+I stopped in on the way along and Cy said not to wait; he'd be here
+on time.  He's been kind of off his feed for the last day or so,
+and I cal'late he didn't feel like hurryin'.  Say, Joe, now honest,
+what do you think of my chances?"
+
+Such a confirmed joker as Dimick couldn't lose an opportunity like
+this.  With the aid of one trying to be cheerful under discouragement
+he answered that, so far, Asaph's chances looked fair, pretty fair,
+but of course you couldn't always sometimes tell.  Mr. Tidditt
+rushed away to begin the handshaking all over again.
+
+From this round of cordiality he was reluctantly torn and conducted
+to the platform.  After thumping the desk with his fist he announced
+that the gathering would "come to order right off, as there was
+consider'ble business to be done and it ought to be goin' ahead."
+He then proceeded to read the call for the meeting.  This ceremony
+was no sooner over than Abednego Small, "Uncle Bedny," was on his
+feet loudly demanding to be informed why the town "hadn't done
+nothin'" toward fixing up the Bassett's Hollow road.  Uncle Bedny's
+speech had proceeded no further than "Feller citizens, in the name
+of an outrageous--I should say outraged portion of our community
+I--" when he was choked off by a self-appointed committee who knew
+Mr. Small of old and had seated themselves near him to be ready for
+just such emergencies.  The next step, judged by meetings of other
+years, should have been to unanimously elect Eben Salters moderator;
+but as Captain Eben refused to serve, owing to his interest in the
+Whittaker campaign, Alvin Knowles was, by a small majority, chosen
+for that office.  Mr. Knowles was a devout admirer of the great
+Atkins, and his election would have been considered a preliminary
+victory for the opposition had it not been that many of Captain Cy's
+adherents voted for Alvin from a love of mischief, knowing from
+experience his ignorance of parliamentary law and his easy-going
+rule.  "Now there'll be fun!" declared one delighted individual.
+"Anything's in order when Alvin's chairman."
+
+The proceedings of the first half hour were disappointingly tame.
+Most of us had come there to witness a political wrestling match
+between Tad Simpson and Cyrus Whittaker.  Some even dared hope that
+Congressman Atkins might direct his fight in person.  But neither
+the Honorable nor Captain Cy was in the hall as yet.  Solon
+Eldridge was re-elected selectman and so also was Asaph Tidditt.
+Nobody but Asaph seemed surprised at this result.  His speech of
+acceptance would undoubtedly have been a triumph of oratory had it
+not been interrupted by Uncle Bedny, who rose to emphatically
+protest against "settin' round and wastin' time" when the Bassett's
+Hollow road "had ruts deep enough to drown a cat in whenever there
+was a more'n average heavy dew."
+
+The Bassett's Hollow delegate being again temporarily squelched,
+Moderator Knowles announced that nominations for the vacant place
+on the school committee were in order.  There was a perceptible
+stir on the settees.  This was what the meeting had been waiting
+for.
+
+"No sign of Cy or Heman yet," observed Mr. Cahoon, craning his neck
+in the direction of the door.  "It's the queerest thing ever I
+see."
+
+"Queer enough about Cy, that's a fact," concurred Captain Dimick.
+"I ain't so surprised about Heman's not comin'.  Looks as if Whit
+was right; he always said Atkins dodged a row where folks could
+watch it.  Does most of his fightin' from round the corner.  Hello!
+there's Tad.  Now you'll see the crown of glory set on 'Lonzo
+Snow's head.  Hope the crown's padded nice and soft.  Anything with
+sharp edges would sink in."
+
+But Mr. Simpson, it seemed, was not yet ready to proceed with the
+coronation.  He had risen to ask permission of the meeting to defer
+the school committee matter for a short time.  Persons, important
+persons, who should be present while the nominating was going on,
+had not yet arrived.  He was sure that the gathering would wish to
+hear from these persons.  He asked for only a slight delay.
+Matters such as this, affecting the welfare of our posterity, ought
+not to be hurried, etc., etc.
+
+Mr. Simpson's request was unexpected.  The meeting, apparently,
+didn't know how to take it.  Uncle Bedny was firmly held in his
+seat by those about him.  Lemuel Myrick took the floor to protest.
+
+"I must say," he declared, "that I don't see any reason for waitin'.
+If folks ain't here, that's their own fault.  Mr. Moderator, I
+demand that the nominatin' go ahead."
+
+Tad was on his feet instantly.
+
+"I'm goin' to appeal," he cried, "to the decency and gratitude of
+the citizens of the town of Bayport.  One of the persons I'm--that
+is, we're waitin' for has done more for our beautiful village than
+all the rest of us put together.  There ain't no need for me to
+name him.  A right up-to-date town pump, a lovely memorial window,
+a--"
+
+"How about that harbor appropriation?" cried a voice from the
+settees.
+
+Mr. Simpson was taken aback.  His face flushed and he angrily
+turned toward the interrupter.
+
+"That's you, Joe Dimick!" he shouted, pointing an agitated
+forefinger.  "You needn't scooch down.  I know your tongue.  The
+idea of you findin' fault because a big man like Congressman Atkins
+don't jump when you holler 'Git up!'  What do YOU know about doin's
+at Washington?  That harbor appropriation 'll go through if anybody
+on earth can get it through.  There's other places besides Bayport
+to be provided for and--"
+
+"And their congressmen provide for 'em," called another voice.  Tad
+whirled to face his new tormentor.
+
+"Huh!" he grunted with sarcasm.  "That's Lem Myrick, _I_ know.
+Lem, the great painter, who votes where he paints and gets paid
+accordin'."
+
+"Order!" cried several.
+
+"Oh, all right, Mr. Moderator!  I'll keep order all right.  But I
+say to you, Lem, and you, Joe Dimick, that I know who put these
+smart notions into your heads.  We all know, unless we're born
+fools.  Who is it that's been sayin' the Honorable Heman Atkins
+was shirkin' that appropriation?  Who was it said if HE was
+representative the thing would have gone through afore this?  Who's
+been makin' his brags that he could get it through if he had the
+chance?  You know who!  So do I!  I wish he was here.  I only wish
+he was here!  I'd say it to his face."
+
+"Well, he is.  Heave ahead and say it."
+
+Everyone turned toward the door.  Captain Cy had entered the hall.
+He was standing in the aisle, and with him was Bailey Bangs.  The
+captain looked very tired, almost worn out, but he nodded coolly to
+Mr. Simpson, who had retired to his seat with surprising quickness
+and apparent discomfiture.
+
+"Here I am, Tad," continued the captain.  "Say your piece."
+
+But Tad, it appeared, was not anxious to "say his piece."  He was
+whispering earnestly with a group of his followers.  Captain Cy
+held up his hand.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he asked, "can I have the floor a minute?  All I
+want to say is that I cal'late I'm the feller the last speaker had
+reference to.  I HAVE said that I didn't see why that appropriation
+was so hard to get.  I say it again.  Other appropriations are got,
+and why not ours?  I DID say if I was a congressman I'd get it.
+Yes, and I'll say more," he added, raising his voice, "I'll say
+that if I was sent to Washin'ton by this town, congressman or not,
+I'd move heaven and earth, and all creation from the President down
+till I did get it.  That's all.  So would any live man, I should
+think."
+
+He sat down.  There was some applause.  Before it had subsided Abel
+Leonard, one of the quickest-witted of Mr. Simpson's workers, was
+on his feet, gesticulating for attention.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he shouted, "I want to make a motion.  We've all
+heard the big talk that's been made.  All right, then!  I move you,
+sir, that Captain Cyrus Whittaker be appointed a committee of one
+to GO to Washin'ton, if he wants to, or anywheres else, and see
+that we get the appropriation.  And if we don't get it the blame's
+his!  There, now!"
+
+There was a roar of laughter.  This was exactly the sort of "tit-
+for-tat" humor that appeals to a Yankee crowd.  The motion was
+seconded half a dozen times.  Moderator Knowles grinned and shook
+his head.
+
+"A joke's a joke," he said, "and we all like a good one.  However,
+this meetin' is supposed to be for business, not fun, so--"
+
+"Question!  Question!  It's been seconded!  We've got to vote on
+it!" shouted a chorus.
+
+"Don't you think--seems to me that ain't in order," began the
+moderator, but Captain Cy rose to his feet.  The grim smile had
+returned to his face and he looked at the joyous assemblage with
+almost his old expression of appreciative alertness.
+
+"Never mind the vote," he said.  "I realize that Brother Leonard
+has rather got one on me, so to speak.  All right, I won't dodge.
+I'll BE a committee of one on the harbor grab, and if nothin' comes
+of it I'll take my share of kicks.  Gentlemen, I appreciate your
+trustfulness in my ability."
+
+This brief speech was a huge success.  If, for a moment, the
+pendulum of public favor had swung toward Simpson, this trumping of
+the latter's leading card pushed it back again.  The moderator had
+some difficulty in restoring order to the hilarious meeting.
+
+Then Mr. Myrick was accorded the privilege of the floor, in spite
+of Tad's protests, and proceeded to nominate Cyrus Whittaker for
+the school committee.  Lem had devoted hours of toil and wearisome
+mental struggle to the preparation of his address, and it was
+lengthy and florid.  Captain Cy was described as possessing all the
+virtues.  Bailey, listening with a hand behind his ear, was moved
+to applause at frequent intervals, and even Asaph forgot the
+dignity of his exalted position on the platform and pounded the
+official desk in ecstasy.  The only person to appear uninterested
+was the nominee himself.  He sat listlessly in his seat, his eyes
+cast down, and his thoughts apparently far away.
+
+Josiah Dimick seconded the captain's nomination.  Then Mr. Simpson
+stepped to the front and, after a wistful glance at the door, began
+to speak.
+
+"Feller citizens," he said, "it is my privilege to put in nomination
+for school committee a man whose name stands for all that's good and
+clean and progressive in this township.  But afore I do it I'm goin'
+to ask you to let me say a word or two concernin' somethin' that
+bears right on this matter, and which, I believe, everyone of you
+ought to know.  It's somethin' that most of you don't know, and
+it'll be a surprise, a big surprise.  I'll be as quick as I can, and
+I cal'late you'll thank me when I'm done."
+
+He paused.  The meeting looked at each other in astonishment.
+There was whispering along the settees.  Moderator Knowles was
+plainly puzzled.  He looked inquiringly at the town clerk, but
+Asaph was evidently quite as much in the dark as he concerning the
+threatened disclosure.
+
+"Feller Bayporters," went on Tad, "there's one thing we've all
+agreed on, no matter who we've meant to vote for.  That is, that a
+member of our school committee should be an upright, honest man,
+one fit morally to look out for our dear children.  Ain't that so?
+Well, then, I ask you this:  Would you consider a man fit for that
+job who deliberately came between a father and his child, who
+pizened the mind of that child against his own parent, and when
+that parent come to claim that child, first tried to buy him off
+and then turned him out of the house?  Yes, and offered violence to
+him.  And done it--mark what I say--for reasons which--which--well,
+we can only guess 'em, but the guess may not be so awful bad.  Is
+THAT the kind of man we want to honor or to look out for our own
+children's schoolin'?"
+
+Mr. Simpson undoubtedly meant to cause a sensation by his opening
+remarks.  He certainly did so.  The stir and whispering redoubled.
+Asaph, his mouth open, stared wildly down at Captain Cy.  The
+captain rose to his feet, then sank back again.  His listlessness
+was gone and, paying no attention to those about him, he gazed
+fixedly at Tad.
+
+"Gentlemen," continued the speaker, "last night I had an experience
+that I shan't forget as long as I live.  I met a poor man, a poor,
+lame man who'd been away out West and got hurt bad.  Folks thought
+he was dead.  His wife thought so and died grievin' for him.  She
+left a little baby girl, only seven or eight year old.  When this
+man come back, well again but poor, to look up his family, he found
+his wife had passed away and the child had been sent off, just to
+get rid of her, to a stranger in another town.  That stranger fully
+meant to send her off, too; he said so dozens of times.  A good
+many of you folks right here heard him say it.  But he never sent
+her--he kept her.  Why?  Well, that's the question.  _I_ shan't
+answer it.  _I_ ain't accusin' nobody.  All I say is, what's easy
+enough for any of you to prove, and that is that it come to light
+the child had property belongin' to her.  Property! land, wuth
+money!"
+
+He paused once more and drew his sleeve across his forehead.  Most
+of his hearers were silent now, on tiptoe of expectation.  Dimick
+looked searchingly at Captain Cy.  Then he sprang to his feet.
+
+"Order!" he shouted.  "What's all this got to do with nominatin'
+for school committee?  Ain't he out of order, Alvin?"
+
+The moderator hesitated.  His habitual indecision was now complicated
+by the fact that he was as curious as the majority of those before
+him.  There were shouts of, "Go ahead, Tad!"  "Tell us the rest!"
+"Let him go on, Mr. Moderator!"
+
+Cy Whittaker slowly rose.
+
+"Alvin," he said earnestly, "don't stop him yet.  As a favor to me,
+let him spin his yarn."
+
+Simpson was ready and evidently eager to spin it.
+
+"This man," he proclaimed, "this father, mournin' for his dead wife
+and longin' for his child, comes to the town where he was to find
+and take her.  And when he meets the man that's got her, when he
+comes, poor and down on his luck, what does this man--this rich
+man--do?  Why; fust of all, he's sweeter'n sirup to him, takes him
+in, keeps him overnight, and the next day he says to him:  'You
+just be quiet and say nothin' to nobody that she's your little
+girl.  I'll make it wuth your while.  Keep quiet till I'm ready for
+you to say it.'  And he gives the father money--not much, but some.
+All right so fur, maybe; but wait!  Then it turns out that the
+father knows about this land--this property.  And THEN the kind,
+charitable man--this rich man with lots of money of his own--turns
+the poor father out, tellin' him to get the girl and the land if he
+can, knowin'--KNOWIN', mind you--that the father ain't got a cent
+to hire lawyers nor even to pay for his next meal.  And when the
+father says he won't go, but wants his dear one that belongs to
+him, the rich feller abuses him, knocks him down with his fist!
+Knocks down a poor, weak, lame invalid, just off a sick bed!  Is
+THAT the kind of a man we want on our school committee?"
+
+He asked the question with both hands outspread and the perspiration
+running down his cheeks.  The meeting was in an uproar.
+
+"No need for me to tell you who I mean," shouted Tad, waving his
+arms.  "You know who, as well as I do.  You've just heard him
+praised as bein' all that's good and great.  But _I_ say--"
+
+"You've said enough!  Now let me say a word!"
+
+It was Captain Cy who interrupted.  He had pushed his way through
+the crowd, down the aisle, and now stood before the gesticulating
+Mr. Simpson, who shrank back as if he feared that the treatment
+accorded the "poor weak invalid" might be continued with him.
+
+"Knowles," said Captain Cy, turning to the moderator, "let me
+speak, will you?  I won't be but a minute.  Friends," he continued,
+facing the excited gathering--"for some of you are my friends, or
+I've come to think you are--a part of what this man says is so.
+The girl at my house is Emily Thomas; her mother was Mary Thomas,
+who some of you know, and her father's name is Henry Thomas.  She
+came to me unexpected, bein' sent by a Mrs. Oliver up to Concord,
+because 'twas either me or an orphan asylum.  I took her in meanin'
+to keep her a little while, and then send her away.  But as time
+went on I kept puttin' off and puttin' off, and at last I realized
+I couldn't do it; I'd come to think too much of her.
+
+"Fellers," he went on, slowly, "I--I hardly know how to tell you
+what that little girl's come to be to me.  When I first struck
+Bayport, after forty years away from it, all I thought of was
+makin' over the old place and livin' in it.  I cal'lated it would
+be a sort of Paradise, and HOW I was goin' to live or whether or
+not I'd be lonesome with everyone of my folks dead and gone, never
+crossed my mind.  But the longer I lived there alone the less like
+Paradise it got to be; I realized more and more that it ain't
+furniture and fixin's that make a home; it's them you love that's
+in it.  And just as I'd about reached the conclusion that 'twas a
+failure, the whole business, why, then, Bos'n--Emily, that is--
+dropped in, and inside of a week I knew I'd got what was missin' in
+my life.
+
+"I never married and children never meant much to me till I got
+her.  She's the best little--little . . .  There!  I mustn't talk
+this way.  I bluffed a lot about not keepin' her permanent, bein'
+kind of ashamed, I guess, but down inside me I'd made up my mind to
+bring her up like a daughter.  She and me was to live together till
+she grew up and got married and I . . .  Well, what's the use?  A
+few days ago come a letter from the Oliver woman in Concord sayin'
+that this Henry Thomas, Bos'n's father, wan't dead at all, but had
+turned up there, havin' learned somehow or 'nother that his wife
+was gone and that his child had been willed a little bit of land
+which belonged to her mother.  He had found out that Emmie was with
+me, and the letter said he would likely come after her--and the
+land.
+
+"That letter was like a flash of lightnin' to me.  I was dismasted
+and on my beam ends.  I didn't know what to do.  I'd learned enough
+about this Henry Thomas to know that he was no use, a drunken,
+good-for-nothin' scamp who had cruelized his wife and then run off
+and left her and the baby.  But when he come, the very night I got
+the letter, I gave him a chance.  I took him in; I was willin' to
+give him a job on the place; I was willin' to pay for his keep, and
+more.  I DID ask him to keep his mouth shut and even to use another
+name.  'Twas weak of me, maybe, but you want to remember this had
+come on me sudden.  And last night--the very second night, mind
+you--he went out somewhere, perhaps we can guess where, bought
+liquor with the money I gave him, got drunk, and then insulted one
+of the best women in this town.  Yes, sir!  I say it right here,
+one of the best, pluckiest little women anywhere, although she and
+I ain't always agreed on certain matters.  I DID tell him to clear
+out, and I DID knock him down.  Yes, and by the big dipper, I'd do
+it again under the same circumstances!
+
+"As for the property," he added fiercely, "why, darn the property,
+I say!  It ain't wuth much, anyhow, and, if 'twas anybody's else,
+he should have it and welcome.  But it's Bos'n's, and, bein' what
+he is, he SHAN'T have it.  And he shan't have HER to cruelize,
+neither!  By the Almighty! he shan't, so long as I've got a dollar
+to fight him with.  I say that to you, Tad Simpson, and to the man--
+to whoever put you up to this.  There!  I've said my say.  Now,
+gentlemen, you can choose your side."
+
+He strode back to his seat.  There was silence for a moment.  Then
+Josiah Dimick sprang up and waved his hat.
+
+"That's the way to talk!" he shouted.  "That's a MAN!  Three cheers
+for Cap'n Whittaker!  Come on, everybody!"
+
+But everybody did not "come on."  The cheers were feeble.  It was
+evident that the majority of those present did not know how to meet
+this unexpected contingency.  It had taken them by surprise and
+they were undecided.  The uproar of argument and question began
+again, louder than ever.  The bewildered moderator thumped his desk
+and shouted feebly for order.  Tad Simpson took the floor and, in a
+few words and at the top of his lungs, nominated Alonzo Snow.  Abel
+Leonard seconded the nomination.  There were yells of "Question!
+Question!" and "Vote!  Vote!"
+
+Eben Salters was recognized by the chair.  Captain Salters made few
+speeches, and when he did make one it was because he had something
+to say.
+
+"Mr. Moderator," he said, "I, for one, hate to vote just now.  It
+isn't that the school committee is so important of itself.  But I
+do think that the rights of a father with his child IS pretty
+important, and our vote for Cap'n Whittaker--and most of you know I
+intended votin' for him and have been workin' for him--might seem
+like an indorsement of his position.  This whole thing is a big
+surprise to me.  I don't feel yet that we know enough of the inside
+facts to give such an indorsement.  I'd like to see this Thomas man
+before I decide to give it--or not to give it, either.  It's a
+queer thing to come up at town meetin', but it's up.  Hadn't we
+better adjourn until next week?"
+
+He sat down.  The meeting was demoralized.  Some were shouting for
+adjournment, others to "Vote it out."  A straw would turn the scale
+and the straw was forthcoming.  While Captain Cy was speaking the
+door had silently opened and two men entered the hall and sought
+seclusion in a corner.  Now one of these men came forward--the
+Honorable Heman Atkins.
+
+Mr. Atkins walked solemnly to the front, amidst a burst of
+recognition.  Many of the voters rose to receive him.  It was
+customary, when the great man condescended to attend such
+gatherings, to offer him a seat on the platform.  This the
+obsequious Knowles proceeded to do.  Asaph was too overcome by
+the disclosure of "John Smith's" identity and by Mr. Simpson's
+attack on his friend to remember even his manners.  He did not
+rise, but sat stonily staring.
+
+The moderator's gavel descended "Order!" he roared.  "Order, I say!
+Congressman Atkins is goin' to talk to us."
+
+The Honorable Heman faced the excited crowd.  One hand was in the
+breast of his frock coat; the other was clenched upon his hip.  He
+stood calm, benignant, dignified--the incarnation of wisdom and
+righteous worth.  The attitude had its effect; the applause began
+and grew to an ovation.  Men who had intended voting against his
+favored candidate forgot their intention, in the magnetism of his
+presence, and cheered.  He bowed and bowed again.
+
+"Fellow townsmen," he began, "far be it from me to influence your
+choice in the matter of the school committee.  Still further be it
+from me to influence you against an old boyhood friend, a neighbor,
+one whom I believe--er--had believed to be all that was sincere and
+true.  But, fellow townsmen, my esteemed friend, Captain Salters,
+has expressed a wish to see Mr. Thomas, the father whose story you
+have heard to-day.  I happen to be in a position to gratify that
+wish.  Mr. Thomas, will you kindly come forward?"
+
+Then from the rear of the hall Mr. Thomas came.  But the drunken
+rowdy of the night before had been transformed.  Gone was the
+scrubby beard and the shabby suit.  Shorn was the unkempt mop of
+hair and vanished the impudent swagger.  He was dressed in clean
+linen and respectable black, and his manner was modest and subdued.
+Only a discoloration of one eye showed where Captain Cy's blow had
+left its mark.
+
+He stepped upon the platform beside the congressman.  The latter
+laid a hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"Gentlemen and friends," said Heman, "my name has been brought into
+this controversy, by Mr. Simpson directly, and in insinuation by--
+er--another.  Therefore it is my right to make my position clear.
+Mr. Thomas came to me last evening in distress, both of mind and
+body.  He told me his story--substantially the story which has just
+been told to you by Mr. Simpson--and, gentlemen, I believe it.  But
+if I did not believe it, if I believed him to have been in the past
+all that his opponent has said; even if I believed that, only last
+evening, spurned, driven from his child, penniless and hopeless, he
+had yielded to the weakness which has been his curse all his life--
+even if I believed that, still I should demand that Henry Thomas,
+repentant and earnest as you see him now, should be given his
+rightful opportunity to become a man again.  He is poor, but he is
+not--shall not be--friendless.  No! a thousand times, no!  You may
+say, some of you, that the affair is not my business.  I affirm
+that it IS my business.  It is my business as a Christian, and that
+business should come before all others.  I have not allowed
+sympathy to influence me.  If that were the case, my regard for my
+neighbor and friend of former days would have held me firm.  But,
+gentlemen, I have a child of my own.  I know what a father's love
+is, as only a father can know it.  And, after a sleepless night, I
+stand here before you to-day determined that this man shall have
+his own, if my money--which you will, I'm sure, forgive my
+mentioning--and my unflinching support can give it to him.  That
+is my position, and I state it regardless of consequences."  He
+paused, and with raised right hand, like the picture of Jove in the
+old academy mythology, launched his final thunderbolt.  "Whom God
+hath joined," he proclaimed, "let no one put asunder!"
+
+That settled it.  The cheers shook the walls.  Amidst the tumult
+Dimick and Bailey Bangs seized Captain Cy by the shoulders and
+endeavored to lift him from his seat.
+
+"For the love of goodness, Whit!" groaned Josiah, desperately,
+"stand up and answer him.  If you don't, we'll founder sure."
+
+The captain smiled grimly and shook his head.  He had not taken his
+eyes from the face of the great Atkins since the latter began
+speaking.
+
+"What?" he replied.  "After that 'put asunder' sockdolager?  Man
+alive! do you want me to add Sabbath breakin' to my other crimes?"
+
+The vote, by ballot, followed almost immediately.  It was pitiful
+to see the erstwhile Whittaker majority melt away.  Alonzo Snow was
+triumphantly elected.  But a handful voted against him.
+
+Captain Cy, still grimly smiling, rose and left the hall.  As he
+closed the door, he heard the shrill voice of Uncle Bedny demanding
+justice for the Bassett's Hollow road.
+
+It had, indeed, been a "memoriable" town meeting.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+THE REPULSE
+
+
+When Deacon Zeb Clark--the same Deacon Zeb who fell into the
+cistern, as narrated by Captain Cy--made his first visit to the
+city, years and years ago, he stayed but two days.  As he had
+proudly boasted that he should remain in the metropolis at least a
+week, our people were much surprised at his premature return.  To
+the driver of the butcher cart who found him sitting contentedly
+before his dwelling, amidst his desolate acres, the nearest
+neighbor a half mile away, did Deacon Zeb disclose his reason for
+leaving the crowded thoroughfares.  "There was so many folks
+there," he said, "that I felt lonesome."
+
+And Captain Cy, returning from the town meeting to the Whittaker
+place, felt lonesome likewise.  Not for the Deacon's reason--he met
+no one on the main road, save a group of school children and Miss
+Phinney, and, sighting the latter in the offing, he dodged behind
+the trees by the schoolhouse pond and waited until she passed.  But
+the captain, his trouble now heavy upon him, did feel the need of
+sympathy and congenial companionship.  He knew he might count upon
+Dimick and Asaph, and, whenever Keturah's supervision could be
+evaded, upon Mr. Bangs.  But they were not the advisers and
+comforters for this hour of need.  All the rest of Bayport, he felt
+sure, would be against him.  Had not King Heman the Great from the
+steps of the throne, banned him with the royal displeasure!  "If
+Heman ever SHOULD come right out and say--" began Asaph's warning.
+Well, strange as it might seem, Heman had "come right out."
+
+As to why he had come out there was no question in the mind of the
+captain.  The latter had left Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father,
+prostrate and blasphemous in the road the previous evening.  His
+next view of him was when, transformed and sanctified, he had been
+summoned to the platform by Mr. Atkins.  No doubt he had returned
+to the barber shop and, in his rage and under Mr. Simpson's cross
+examination, had revealed something of the truth.  Tad, the
+politician, recognizing opportunity when it knocked at his door,
+had hurried him to the congressman's residence.  The rest was plain
+enough, so Captain Cy thought.
+
+However, war was already declared, and the reasons for it mattered
+little.  The first skirmish might occur at any moment.  The
+situation was desperate.  The captain squared his shoulders, thrust
+forward his chin, and walked briskly up the path to the door of the
+dining room.  It was nearly one o'clock, but Bos'n had not yet
+gone.  She was waiting, to the very last minute, for her "Uncle
+Cyrus."
+
+"Hello, shipmate," he hailed.  "Not headed for school yet?  Good!
+I cal'late you needn't go this afternoon.  I'm thinkin' of hirin' a
+team and drivin' to Ostable, and I didn't know but you'd like to go
+with me.  Think you could, without that teacher woman havin' you
+brought up aft for mutiny?"
+
+Bos'n thought it over.
+
+"Yes, sir," she said; "I guess so, if you wrote me an excuse.  I
+don't like to be absent, 'cause I haven't been before, but there's
+only my reading lesson this afternoon and I know that ever so well.
+I'd love to go, Uncle Cy."
+
+The captain removed his coat and hat and pulled a chair forward to
+the table.
+
+"Hello!" he exclaimed.  "What's this--the mail?"
+
+Bos'n smiled delightedly.
+
+"Yes, sir," she replied.  "I knew you was at the meeting and so I
+brought it from the office.  Ain't you glad?"
+
+"Sure!  Yes, indeed!  Much obliged.  Tryin' to keep house without
+you would be like steerin' without a rudder."
+
+Even as he said it there came to him the realization that he might
+have to steer without that rudder in the near future.  His smile
+vanished.  He smothered a groan and picked up the mail.
+
+"Hum!" he mused, "the Breeze, a circular, and one letter.  Hello!
+it isn't possible that--  Well! well!"
+
+The letter was in a long envelope.  He hastily tore it open.  At
+the inclosure he glanced in evident excitement.  Then his smile
+returned.
+
+"Bos'n," he said, after a moment's reflection, "I guess you and me
+won't have to go to Ostable after all."  Noticing the child's look
+of disappointment, he added:  "But you needn't go to school.  Maybe
+you'd better not.  You and me'll take a tramp alongshore.  What do
+you say?"
+
+"Oh, yes, Uncle Cy!  Let's--shall we?"
+
+"Why, I don't see why not.  We'll cruise in company as long as we
+can, hey, little girl?  The squall's likely to strike afore night,"
+he muttered half aloud.  "We'll enjoy the fine weather till it's
+time to shorten sail."
+
+They walked all that afternoon.  Captain Cy was even more kind and
+gentle with his small companion than usual.  He told her stories
+which made her laugh, pointed out spots in the pines where he had
+played Indian when a boy, carried her "pig back" when she grew
+tired, and kissed her tenderly when, at the back door of the
+Whittaker place, he set her on her feet again.
+
+"Had a good time, dearie?" he asked.
+
+"Oh, splendid!  I think it's the best walk we ever had, don't you,
+Uncle Cy?"
+
+"I shouldn't wonder.  You won't forget our cruises together when
+you are a big girl and off somewheres else, will you?"
+
+"I'll NEVER forget 'em.  And I'm never going anywhere without you."
+
+It was after five as they entered the kitchen.
+
+"Anybody been here while I was out?" asked the captain of Georgianna.
+The housekeeper's eyes were red and swollen, and she hugged Bos'n
+as she helped her off with her jacket and hood.
+
+"Yes, there has," was the decided answer.  "First Ase Tidditt, and
+then Bailey Bangs, and then that--that Angie Phinney."
+
+"Humph!" mused Captain Cy slowly.  "So Angie was here, was she?
+Where the carcass is the vultures are on deck, or words similar.
+Humph!  Did our Angelic friend have much to say?"
+
+"DID she?  And _I_ had somethin' to say, too!  I never in my life!"
+
+"Humph!"  Her employer eyed her sharply.  "So?  And so soon?  Talk
+about the telegraph spreadin' news!  I'd back most any half dozen
+tongues in Bayport to spread more news, and add more trimmin' to
+it, in a day than the telegraph could do in a week.  Especially if
+all the telegraph operators was like the one up at the depot.
+Well, Georgianna, when you goin' to leave?"
+
+"Leave?  Leave where?  What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Leave here.  Of course you realize that this ship of ours,"
+indicating the house by a comprehensive wave of his hand around the
+room, "is goin' to be a mighty unpopular craft from now on.  We may
+be on a lee shore any minute.  You've got your own well-bein' to
+think of."
+
+"My own well-bein'!  What do you s'pose I care for my well-bein'
+when there's--Cap'n Whittaker, you tell me now!  Is it so?"
+
+"Some of it is--yes.  He's come back and he's who he says he is.
+You've seen him.  He was here all day yesterday."
+
+"So Angie said, but I couldn't scarcely believe it.  That toughy!
+Cap'n Whittaker, do you intend to hand over that poor little
+innocent thing to--to such a man as THAT?"
+
+"No.  There'll be no handin' over about it.  But the odds are
+against us, and there's no reason why you should be in the rumpus,
+Georgianna.  You may not understand what we're facin'."
+
+The housekeeper drew herself up.  Her face was very red and her
+small eyes snapped.
+
+"Cy Whittaker," she began, manners and deference to employer alike
+forgotten, "don't you say no more of that wicked foolishness to me.
+I'll leave the minute you're mean-spirited enough to let that child
+go and not afore.  And when THAT happens I'll be GLAD to leave.
+Land sakes! there's somebody at the door; and I expect I'm a
+perfect sight."
+
+She rubbed her face with her apron, thereby making it redder than
+ever, and hurried into the dining room.
+
+"Bos'n," said Captain Cy quickly, "you stay here in the kitchen."
+
+Emmie looked at him in surprised bewilderment, but she suppressed
+her curiosity concerning the identity of the person who had
+knocked, and obeyed.  The captain pulled the kitchen door almost
+shut and listened at the crack.
+
+The first spoken words by the visitor appeared to relieve Captain
+Cy's anxiety; but they seemed to astonish him greatly.
+
+"Why!" he exclaimed in a whisper.  "Ain't that--  It sounds like--"
+
+"It's teacher," whispered Bos'n, who also had been listening.
+"She's come to find out why I wasn't at school.  You tell her,
+Uncle Cy."
+
+Georgianna returned to announce:
+
+"It's Miss Dawes.  She says she wants to see you, Cap'n.  She's in
+the settin' room."
+
+The captain drew a long breath.  Then, repeating his command to
+Emmie to stay where she was, he left the room, closing the door
+behind him.  The latter procedure roused Bos'n's indignation.
+
+"What made him do that?" she demanded.  "I haven't been bad.  He
+NEVER shut me up before!"
+
+The schoolmistress was standing by the center table in the sitting
+room when Captain Cy entered.
+
+"Good evenin'," he said politely.  "Won't you sit down?"
+
+But Miss Dawes paid no attention to trivialities.  She seemed much
+agitated.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she began, "I just heard something that--"
+
+The captain interrupted her.
+
+"Excuse me," he said, "but I think we'll pull down the curtains and
+have a little light on the subject.  It gets dark early now,
+especially of a gray day like this one."
+
+He drew the shades at the windows and lit the lamp on the table.
+The red glow behind the panes of the stove door faded into
+insignificance as the yellow radiance brightened.  The ugly
+portraits and the stiff old engravings on the wall retired into a
+becoming dusk.  The old-fashioned room became more homelike.
+
+"Now won't you sit down?" repeated Captain Cy.  "Take that rocker;
+it's the most comf'table one aboard--so Bos'n says, anyhow."
+
+Miss Phoebe took the rocker, under protest.  Her host remained
+standing.
+
+"It's been a nice afternoon," he said.  "Bos'n--Emmie, of course--
+and I have been for a walk.  'Twan't her fault, 'twas mine.  I kept
+her out of school.  I was--well, kind of lonesome."
+
+The teacher's gray eyes flashed in the lamplight.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she cried, "please don't waste time.  I didn't
+come here to talk about the weather nor Emily's reason for not
+attending school.  I don't care why she was absent.  But I have
+just heard of what happened at that meeting.  Is it true that--"
+She hesitated.
+
+"That Emmie's dad is alive and here?  Yes, it's true."
+
+"But--but that man last night?  Was he THAT man?"
+
+The captain nodded.
+
+"That's the man," he said briefly.
+
+Miss Dawes shuddered.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she asked earnestly, "are you sure he is really
+her father?  Absolutely sure?"
+
+"Sure and sartin."
+
+"Then she belongs to him, doesn't she?  Legally, I mean?"
+
+"Maybe so."
+
+"Are--are you going to give her up to him?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then what I heard was true.  You did say at the meeting that you
+were going to do your best to keep him from getting her."
+
+"Um--hum!  What I said amounts to just about that."
+
+"Why?"
+
+Captain Cy was surprised and a little disappointed apparently.
+
+"Why?" he repeated.
+
+"Yes.  Why?"
+
+"Well, for reasons I've got."
+
+"Do you mind telling me the reasons?"
+
+"I cal'late you don't want to hear 'em.  If you don't understand
+now, then I can't make it much plainer, I'm afraid."
+
+The little lady sprang to her feet.
+
+"Oh, you are provoking!" she cried indignantly.  "Can't you see
+that I want to hear the reasons from you yourself?  Cap'n Whittaker,
+I shook hands with you last night."
+
+"You remember I told you you'd better wait."
+
+"I didn't want to wait.  I believed I knew something of human
+nature, and I believed I had learned to understand you.  I made up
+my mind to pay no more attention to what people said against you.
+I thought they were envious and disliked you because you did things
+in your own way.  I wouldn't believe the stories I heard this
+afternoon.  I wanted to hear you speak in your own defense and you
+refuse to do it.  Don't you know what people are saying?  They say
+you are trying to keep Emily because--  Oh, I'm ashamed to ask it,
+but you make me:  HAS the child got valuable property of her own?"
+
+Captain Cy had been, throughout this scene, standing quietly by the
+table.  Now he took a step forward.
+
+"Miss Dawes," he said sharply, "sit down."
+
+"But I--"
+
+"Sit down, please."
+
+The schoolmistress didn't mean to obey the order, but for some
+reason she did.  The captain went on speaking.
+
+"It's pretty plain," he said, "that what you heard at the boardin'
+house--for I suppose that's where you did hear it--was what you
+might call a Phinneyized story of the doin's at the meetin'.  Well,
+there's another yarn, and it's mine; I'm goin' to spin it and I
+want you to listen."
+
+He went on to spin his yarn.  It was practically a repetition of
+his reply to Tad Simpson that morning.  Its conclusion was also
+much the same.
+
+"The land ain't worth fifty dollars," he declared, "but if it was
+fifty million he shouldn't have it.  Why?  Because it belongs to
+that little girl.  And he shan't have her until he and those back
+of him have hammered me through the courts till I'm down forty
+fathom under water.  And when they do get her--and, to be honest, I
+cal'late they will in the end--I hope to God I won't be alive to
+see it!  There!  I've answered you."
+
+He was walking up and down the room, with the old quarter-deck
+stride, his hands jammed deep in his pockets and his face working
+with emotion.
+
+"It's pretty nigh a single-handed fight for me," he continued, "but
+I've fought single-handed before.  The other side's got almost all
+the powder and the men.  Heman and Tad and that Thomas have got
+seven eighths of Bayport behind 'em, not to mention the 'Providence'
+they're so sure of.  My crowd is a mighty forlorn hope: Dimick and
+Ase Tidditt, and Bailey, as much as his wife 'll let him.  Oh, yes!"
+and he smiled whimsically, "there's another one.  A new recruit's
+just joined; Georgianna's enlisted.  That's my army.  Sort of
+rag-jacketed cadets, we are, small potatoes, and few in a hill."
+
+The teacher rose and laid a hand on his arm.  He turned toward her.
+The lamplight shone upon her face, and he saw, to his astonishment,
+that there were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Cap'n Whittaker," she said, "will you take an other recruit?  I
+should like to enlist, please."
+
+"You?  Oh, pshaw!  I'm thick-headed to-night.  I didn't see the
+joke of it at first."
+
+"There isn't any joke.  I want you to know that I admire you for
+the fight you're making.  Law or no law, to let that dear little
+girl go away with that dreadful father of hers is a sin and a
+crime.  I came here to tell you so.  I did want to hear your story,
+and you made me ask that question; but I was certain of your answer
+before you made it.  I don't suppose I can do anything to help, but
+I'm going to try.  So, you see, your army is bigger than you
+thought it was--though the new soldier isn't good for much, I'm
+afraid," she added, with a little smile.
+
+Captain Cy was greatly disturbed.
+
+"Miss Phoebe," he said, "I--I won't say that it don't please me to
+have you talk so, for it does, more'n you can imagine.  Sympathy
+means somethin' to the under dog, and it gives him spunk to keep on
+kickin'.  But you mustn't take any part in the row; you simply
+mustn't.  It won't do."
+
+"Why not?  Won't I be ANY help?"
+
+"Help?  You'd be more help than all the rest of us put together.
+You and me haven't seen a great deal of each other, and my part in
+the few talks we have had has been a mean one, but I knew the first
+time I met you that you had more brains and common sense than any
+woman in this county--though I was too pig-headed to own it.  But
+that ain't it.  I got you the job of teacher.  It's no credit to
+me; 'twas just bull luck and for the fun of jarrin' Heman.  But I
+did it.  And, because I did it, the Atkins crowd--and that means
+most everybody now--haven't any love for you.  My tryin' for school
+committee was really just to give you a fair chance in your
+position.  I was licked, so the committee's two to one against you.
+Don't you see that you mustn't have anything to do with me?  Don't
+you SEE it?"
+
+She shook her head.
+
+"I see that common gratitude alone should be reason enough for my
+trying to help you," she said.  "But, beside that, I know you are
+right, and I SHALL help, no matter what you say.  As for the
+teacher's position, let them discharge me.  I--"
+
+"Don't talk that way.  The youngsters need you, and know it, no
+matter what their fool fathers and mothers say.  And you mustn't
+wreck your chances.  You're young--"
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Oh, no! I'm not," she said.  "Young!  Cap'n Whittaker, you
+shouldn't joke about a woman's age."
+
+"I ain't jokin'.  You ARE young."  As she stood there before him he
+was realizing, with a curiously uncomfortable feeling, how much
+younger she was than he.  He glanced up at the mirror, where his
+own gray hairs were reflected, and repeated his assertion.  "You're
+young yet," he said, "and bein' discharged from a place might mean
+a whole lot to you.  I'm glad you take such an interest in Bos'n,
+and your comin' here on her account--"
+
+He paused.  Miss Dawes colored slightly and said:
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Your comin' here on her account was mighty good of you.  But
+you've got to keep out of this trouble.  And you mustn't come here
+again.  That's owner's orders.  Why, I'm expectin' a boardin' party
+any minute," he added.  "I thought when you knocked it was 'papa'
+comin' for his child.  You'd better go."
+
+But she stood still.
+
+"I shan't go," she declared.  "Or, at least, not until you promise
+to let me try to help you.  If they come, so much the better.
+They'll learn where my sympathies are."
+
+Captain Cy scratched his head.
+
+"See here, Miss Phoebe," he said.  "I ain't sure that you fully
+understand that Scripture and everything else is against us.  Did
+Angie turn loose on you the 'Whom the Lord has joined' avalanche?"
+
+The schoolmistress burst into a laugh.  The captain laughed, too,
+but his gravity quickly returned.  For steps sounded on the walk,
+there was a whispering outside, and some one knocked on the dining-
+room door.
+
+The situation was similar to that of the evening when the Board of
+Strategy called and "John Smith" made his first appearance.  But
+now, oddly enough, Captain Cy seemed much less troubled.  He looked
+at Miss Dawes and there was a dancing twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Is it--" began the lady, in an agitated whisper.
+
+"The boardin' party?  I presume likely."
+
+"But what can you do?"
+
+"Stand by the repel, I guess," was the calm reply.  "I told you
+that they had most of the ammunition, but ours ain't all blank
+cartridges.  You stay below and listen to the broadsides."
+
+They heard Georgianna cross the dining room.  There was a murmur of
+voices at the door.  The captain nodded.
+
+"It's them," he said.  "Well, here goes.  Now don't you show
+yourself."
+
+"Do you think I am afraid?  Indeed, I shan't stay 'below' as you
+call it!  I shall let them see--"
+
+Captain Cy held up his hand.
+
+"I'm commodore of this fleet," he said; "and that bein' the case, I
+expect my crew to obey orders.  There's nothin' you can do, and--
+Why, yes! there is, too.  You can take care of Bos'n.  Georgianna,"
+to the housekeeper who, looking frightened and nervous, had
+appeared at the door, "send Bos'n in here quick."
+
+"They're there," whispered Georgianna.  "Mr. Atkins and Tad and
+that Thomas critter, and lots more.  And they've come after her.
+What shall we do?"
+
+"Jump when I speak to you, that's the first thing.  Send Bos'n in
+here and you stay in your galley."
+
+Emily came running.  Miss Dawes put an arm about her.  Captain Cy,
+the battle lanterns still twinkling under his brows, stepped forth
+to meet the "boarding party."
+
+They were there, as Georgianna had said.  Mr. Thomas on the top
+step, Heman and Simpson on the next lower, and behind them Abel
+Leonard and a group of interested volunteers, principally recruited
+from the back room of the barber shop.
+
+"Evenin', gentlemen," said the captain, opening the door so briskly
+that Mr. Thomas started backward and came down heavily upon the
+toes of the devoted Tad.  Mr. Simpson swore, Mr. Thomas clawed
+about him to gain equilibrium, and the dignity of the group was
+seriously impaired.
+
+"Evenin'," repeated Captain Cy.  "Quite a surprise party you're
+givin' me.  Come in."
+
+"Cyrus," began the Honorable Atkins, "we are here to claim--"
+
+"Give me my daughter, you robber!" demanded Thomas, from his new
+position in the rear of the other two.
+
+"Mr. Thomas," said Heman, "please remember that I am conducting
+this affair.  I respect the natural indignation of an outraged
+father, but--ahem!  Cyrus, we are here to claim--"
+
+"Then do your claimin' inside.  It's kind of chilly to-night,
+there's plenty of empty chairs, and we don't need to hold an
+overflow meetin'.  Come ahead in."
+
+The trio looked at each other in hesitation.  Then Mr. Atkins
+majestically entered the dining room.  Thomas and Simpson followed
+him.
+
+"Abe," observed Captain Cy to Leonard, who was advancing toward the
+steps, "I'm sorry not to be hospitable, but there's too many of you
+to invite at once, and 'tain't polite to show partiality.  You and
+the rest are welcome to sit on the terrace or stroll 'round the
+deer park.  Good night."
+
+He closed the door in the face of the disappointed Abel and turned
+to the three in the room.
+
+"Well," he said, "out with it.  You've come to claim somethin', I
+understand."
+
+"I come for my rights," shouted Mr. Thomas.
+
+"Yes?  Well, this ain't State's prison or I'd give 'em to you with
+pleasure.  Heman, you'd better do the talkin'.  We'll probably get
+ahead faster."
+
+The Honorable cleared his throat and waved his hand.
+
+"Cyrus," he began, "you are my boyhood friend and my fellow
+townsman and neighbor.  Under such circumstances it gives me pain--"
+
+"Then don't let us discuss painful subjects.  Let's get down to
+business.  You've come to rescue Bos'n--Emily, that is,--from the
+'robber'--I'm quotin' Deacon Thomas here--that's got her, so's to
+turn her over to her sorrowin' father.  Is that it?  Yes.  Well,
+you can't have her--not yet."
+
+"Cyrus," said Mr. Atkins, "I'm sorry to see that you take it this
+way.  You haven't the shadow of a right.  We have the law with us,
+and your conduct will lead us to invoke it.  The constable is
+outside.  Shall I call him in?"
+
+"Uncle Bedny" was the town constable and had been since before the
+war.  The purely honorary office was given him each year as a joke.
+Captain Cy grinned broadly, and even Tad was obliged to smile.
+
+"Don't be inhuman, Heman," urged the captain.  "You wouldn't turn
+me over to be man-handled by Uncle Bedny, would you?"
+
+"This is not a humorous affair--" began the congressman, with
+dignity.  But the "bereaved father" had been prospecting on his own
+hook, and now he peeped into the sitting room.
+
+"Here she is!" he shouted.  "I see her.  Come on, Emmie!  Your
+dad's come for you.  Let go of her, you woman!  What do you mean by
+holdin' on to her?"
+
+The situation which was "not humorous" immediately became much less
+so.  The next minute was a lively one.  It ended as Mr. Thomas was
+picked up by Tad from the floor, where he had fallen, having been
+pushed violently over a chair by Captain Cy.  Bos'n, frightened and
+sobbing, was clinging wildly to Miss Dawes, who had clung just as
+firmly to her.  The captain's voice rang through the room.
+
+"That's enough," he said.  "That's enough and some over.  Atkins,
+take that feller out of this house and off my premises.  As for the
+girl, that's for us to fight out in the courts.  I'm her guardian,
+lawfully appointed, and you nor nobody else can touch her while
+that appointment's good.  Here it is--right here.  Now look at it
+and clear out."
+
+He held, for the congressman's inspection, the document which,
+inclosed in the long envelope, had been received that morning.  His
+visit to Ostable, made some weeks before, had been for the purpose
+of applying to the probate court for the appointment as Emily's
+guardian.  He had applied before the news of her father's coming to
+life reached him.  The appointment itself had arrived just in time.
+
+Mr. Atkins studied the document with care.  When he spoke it was
+with considerable agitation and without his usual diplomacy.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted.  "Humph!  I see.  Well, sir, I have some
+influence in this section and I shall see how long your--your TRICK
+will prevent the child's going where she belongs.  I wish you to
+understand that I shall continue this fight to the very last.  I--I
+am not one to be easily beaten.  Simpson, you and Thomas come with
+me.  This night's despicable chicanery is only the beginning.  This
+is bad business for you, Cy Whittaker," he snarled, his self-control
+vanishing, "and"--with a vindictive glance at the schoolmistress--
+"for those who are with you in it.  That appointment was obtained
+under false pretenses and I can prove it. Your tricks don't scare
+me.  I've had experience with TRICKS before."
+
+"Yup.  So I've heard.  Well, Heman, I ain't as well up in tricks as
+you claim to be, nor my stockin' isn't as well padded as yours,
+maybe.  But while there's a ten-cent piece left in the toe of it
+I'll fight you and the skunk whose 'rights' you seem to have taken
+such a shine to.  And, after that, while there's a lawyer that 'll
+trust me.  And, meantime, that little girl stays right here, and
+you touch her if you dare, any of you!  Anything more to say?"
+
+But the Honorable's dignity had returned.  Possibly he thought he
+had said too much already.  A moment later the door banged behind
+the discomforted boarding party.
+
+Captain Cy pulled his beard and laughed.
+
+"Well, we repelled 'em, didn't we?" he observed.  "But, as friend
+Heman says, the beginnin's only begun.  I wish he hadn't seen you
+here, teacher."
+
+Miss Dawes looked up from the task of stroking poor Bos'n's hair.
+
+"I don't," she said, "I'm glad of it."  Then she added, laughing
+nervously:  "Cap'n Whittaker, how could you be so cool?  It was
+like a play.  I declare, you were just splendid!"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A CLEW
+
+
+Josiah Dimick has a unique faculty of grasping a situation and
+summing it up in an out-of-the-ordinary way.
+
+"I think," observed Josiah to the excited group at Simmons's, "that
+this town owes Cy Whittaker a vote of thanks."
+
+"Thanks!" gasped Alpheus Smalley, so shocked and horrified that he
+put the one-pound weight on the scales instead of the half pound.
+"THANKS!  After what we've found out?  Well, I must say!"
+
+"Ya-as," drawled Captain Josiah, "thanks was what I said.  If it
+wan't for him this gang and the sewin' circle wouldn't have nothin'
+to talk about but their neighbors.  Our reputations would be as
+full of holes as a skimmer by this time.  Now all hands are so busy
+jumpin' on Whit, that the rest of us can feel fairly safe.  Ain't
+that so, Gabe?"
+
+Mr. Lumley, who had stopped in for a half pound of tea, grinned
+feebly, but said nothing.  If he noticed the clerk's mistake in
+weights he didn't mention it, but took his package and hurried out.
+After his departure Mr. Smalley himself discovered the error and
+charged the Lumley account with "1 1/4 lbs. Mixed Green and Black."
+Meanwhile the assemblage about the stove had put Captain Cy on the
+anvil and was hammering him vigorously.
+
+Bayport was boiling over with rumor and surmise.  Heman had
+appealed to the courts asking that Captain Cy's appointment as
+Bos'n's guardian be rescinded.  Cy had hired Lawyer Peabody, of
+Ostable, to look out for his interests.  Mr. Atkins and the captain
+had all but come to blows over the child.  Thomas, the poor father,
+had broken down and wept, and had threatened to commit suicide.
+Mrs. Salters had refused to speak to Captain Cy when she met the
+latter after meeting on Sunday.  The land in Orham had been sold
+and the captain was using the money.  Phoebe Dawes had threatened
+to resign if Bos'n came to school any longer.  No, she had
+threatened to resign if she didn't come to school.  She hadn't
+threatened to resign at all, but wanted higher wages because of the
+effect the scandal might have on her reputation as a teacher.
+These were a few of the reports, contradicted and added to from day
+to day.
+
+To quote Josiah Dimick again:  "Sortin' out the truth from the lies
+is like tryin' to find a quart of sardines in a schooner load of
+herrin'.  And they dump in more herrin' every half hour."
+
+Angeline Phinney was having the time of her life.  The perfect
+boarding house hummed like a fly trap.  Keturah and Mrs. Tripp had
+deserted to the enemy, and the minority, meaning Asaph and Bailey,
+had little opportunity to defend their friend's cause, even if they
+had dared.  Heman Atkins, his Christian charity and high-mindedness,
+his devotion to duty, regardless of political consequences, and the
+magnificent speech at town meeting were lauded and exalted.  The
+Bayport Breeze contained a full account of the meeting, and it was
+read aloud by Keturah, amidst hymns of praise from the elect.
+
+"'Whom the Lord hath joined,'" read Mrs. Bangs, "'let no man put
+asunder.'  Ain't that splendid?  Ain't that FINE?  The paper says:
+'When Congressman Atkins delivered this noble sentiment a hush fell
+upon the excited throng.'  I should think 'twould.  I remember when
+I was married the minister said pretty nigh the same thing, and I
+COULDN'T speak.  I couldn't have opened my mouth to save me.  Don't
+you remember I couldn't, Bailey?"
+
+Mr. Bangs nodded gloomily.  It is possible that he wished the
+effect of the minister's declaration might have been more lasting.
+Asaph stirred in his chair.
+
+"I don't care," he said.  "This puttin' asunder business is all
+right, but there's always two sides to everything.  I see this
+Thomas critter when he fust come, and he didn't look like no saint
+then--nor smell like one, neither, unless 'twas a specimen pickled
+in alcohol."
+
+Here was irreverence almost atheistic.  Keturah's face showed her
+shocked disapproval.  Matilda Tripp voiced the general sentiment.
+
+"Humph!" she sniffed.  "Well, all I can say is that I've met Mr.
+Thomas two or three times, and _I_ didn't notice anything but
+politeness and good manners.  Maybe my nose ain't so fine for
+smellin' liquor as some folks's--p'raps it ain't had the
+experience--but all _I_ saw was a poor lame man with a black eye.
+I pitied him, and I don't care who hears me say it."
+
+"Yes," concurred Miss Phinney, "and if he was a drinkin' man, do
+you suppose Mr. Atkins would have anything to do with him?  Cyrus
+Whittaker made a whole lot of talk about his insultin' some woman
+or other, but nobody knows who the woman was.  'Bout time for her
+to speak up, I should think.  Teacher," turning to Miss Dawes, "you
+was at the Whittaker place when Mr. Atkins and Emily's father come
+for her, I understand.  I wish I'd have been there.  It must have
+been wuth seein'."
+
+"It was," replied Miss Dawes.  She had kept silent throughout the
+various discussions of the week following the town meeting, but
+now, thus appealed to, she answered promptly.
+
+Angeline's news created a sensation.  The schoolmistress immediately
+became the center of interest.
+
+"Is that so?  Was you there, teacher?  Well, I declare!"  The
+questions and exclamations flew round the table.
+
+"Tell us, teacher," pleaded Keturah.  "Wasn't Heman grand?  I
+should so like to have heard him.  Didn't Cap'n Whittaker look
+ashamed of himself?"
+
+"No, he did not.  If anyone looked ashamed it was Mr. Atkins and
+his friends.  Perhaps I ought to tell you that my sympathies are
+entirely with Captain Whittaker in this affair.  To give that
+little girl up to a drunken scoundrel like her father would, in my
+opinion, be a crime."
+
+The boarders and the landlady gasped.  Asaph grinned and nudged
+Bailey under the table.  Keturah was the first to recover.
+
+"Well!" she exclaimed.  "Everybody's got a right to their opinion,
+of course.  But I can't see the crime, myself.  And as for the
+drunkenness, I'd like to know who's seen Mr. Thomas drunk.  Cyrus
+Whittaker SAYS he has, but--"
+
+She waved her hand scornfully.  Phoebe rose from her chair.
+
+"I have seen him in that condition," she said.  "In fact, I am the
+person he insulted.  I saw Captain Whittaker knock him down, and I
+honored the captain for it.  I only wished I were a man and could
+have done it myself."
+
+She left the room, and, a few moments later, the house.  Mr.
+Tidditt chuckled aloud.  Even Bailey dared to look pleased.
+
+"There!" sneered the widow Tripp.  "Ain't that--  Perhaps you
+remember that Cap'n Whittaker got her the teacher's place?"
+
+"Yes," put in Miss Phinney, "and nobody knows WHY he got it for
+her.  That is, nobody has known up to now.  Maybe we can begin to
+guess a little after this."
+
+"She was at his house, was she?" observed Keturah.  "Humph!  I
+wonder why?  Seems to me if _I_ was a young--that is, a single
+woman like her, I'd be kind of careful about callin' on bachelors.
+Humph! it looks funny to me."
+
+Asaph rose and pushed back his chair.
+
+"I cal'late she called to see Emily," he said sharply.  "The child
+was her scholar, and I presume likely, knowin' the kind of father
+that has turned up for the poor young one, she felt sorry for her.
+Of course, nobody's hintin' anything against Phoebe Dawes's
+character.  If you want a certificate of that, you've only got to
+go to Wellmouth.  Folks over there are pretty keen on that subject.
+I guess the town would go to law about it rather'n hear a word
+against her.  Libel suits are kind of uncomf'table things for them
+that ain't sure of their facts.  I'D hate to get mixed up in one,
+myself.  Bailey, I'm going up street.  Come on, when you can, won't
+you?"
+
+As if frightened at his own display of spirit, he hurried out.
+There was silence for a time; then Miss Phinney spoke concerning
+the weather.
+
+Up at the Cy Whittaker place the days were full ones.  There, also,
+legal questions were discussed, with Georgianna, the Board of
+Strategy, Josiah Dimick occasionally, and, more infrequently still,
+Miss Dawes, as participants with Captain Cy in the discussions.
+Rumors were true in so far as they related to Mr. Atkins's appeal
+to the courts, and the captain's retaining Lawyer Peabody, of
+Ostable.  Mr. Peabody's opinion of the case was not encouraging.
+
+"You see, captain," he said, when his client visited him at his
+office, "the odds are very much against us.  The court appointed
+you as guardian with the understanding that this man Thomas was
+dead.  Now he is alive and claims his child.  More than that, he
+has the most influential politician in this county back of him.
+We wouldn't stand a fighting chance except for one thing--Thomas
+himself.  He left his wife and the baby; deserted them, so she
+said; went to get work, HE says.  We can prove he was a drunken
+blackguard BEFORE he went, and that he has been drunk since he came
+back.  But THEY'LL say--Atkins and his lawyer--that the man was
+desperate and despairing because of your refusal to give him his
+child.  They'll hold him up as a repentant sinner, anxious to
+reform, and needing the little girl's influence to help keep him
+straight.  That's their game, and they'll play it, be sure of that,
+It sounds reasonable enough, too, for sinners have repented before
+now.  And the long-lost father coming back to his child is the one
+sure thing to win applause from the gallery, you know that."
+
+Captain Cy nodded.
+
+"Yup," he said, "I know it.  The other night, when Miss Ph--when a
+friend of mine was at the house, she said this business was like a
+play.  I didn't say so to her, but all the same I realize it ain't
+like a play at all.  In a play dad comes home, havin' been snaked
+bodily out of the jaws of the tomb by his coat collar, and the
+young one sings out 'Papa! Papa!' and he sobs, 'Me child! Me
+child!' and it's all lovely, and you put on your hat feelin' that
+the old man is goin' to be rich and righteous for the rest of his
+days.  But here it's different; dad's a rascal, and anybody who's
+seen anything of the world knows he's bound to stay so; and as for
+the poor little girl, why--why--"
+
+He stopped, rose, and, striding over to the window, stood looking
+out.  After an interval, during which the good-natured attorney
+read a dull business letter through for the second time, he spoke
+again.
+
+"I hope you understand, Peabody," he said.  "It ain't just
+selfishness that makes me steer the course I'm runnin'.  Course,
+Bos'n's got to be the world and all to me, and if she's taken away
+I don't know's I care a tinker's darn what happens afterwards.
+But, all the same, if her dad was a real man, sorry for what he's
+done and tryin' to make up for it--why, then, I cal'late I'm decent
+enough to take off my hat, hand her over, and say:  'God bless you
+and good luck.'  But to think of him carryin' her off the Lord
+knows where, to neglect her and cruelize her, and to let her grow
+up among fellers like him, I--I--by the big dipper, I can't do it!
+That's all; I can't!"
+
+"How does she feel about it, herself?" asked Peabody.
+
+"Her?  Bos'n?  Why, that's the hardest of all.  Some of the
+children at school pester her about her father.  I don't know's you
+can blame 'em; young ones are made that way, I guess--but she comes
+home to me cryin', and it's 'O Uncle Cy, he AIN'T my truly father,
+is he?' and 'You won't let him take me away from you, will you?'
+till it seems as if I should fly out of the window.  The poor
+little thing!  And that puffed-up humbug Atkins blowin' about his
+Christianity and all!  D--n such Christianity as that, I say!  I've
+seen heathen Injuns, who never heard of Christ, with more of His
+spirit inside 'em.  There!  I've shocked you, I guess.  Sometimes
+I think this place is too narrer and cramped for me.  I've been
+around, you know, and my New England bringin' up has wore thin in
+spots.  Seem's if I must get somewheres and spread out, or I'll
+bust."
+
+He threw himself into a chair.  The lawyer clapped him on the
+shoulder.
+
+"There, there, captain," he said.  "Don't 'bust' yet awhile.  Don't
+give up the ship.  If we lose in one court, we can appeal to
+another, and so on up the line.  And meantime we'll do a little
+investigating of friend Thomas's career since he left Concord.
+I've written to a legal acquaintance of mine in Butte, giving him
+the facts as we know them, and a description of Thomas.  He will
+try to find out what the fellow did in his years out West.  It's
+our best chance, as I told you.  Keep your pluck up and wait and
+see."
+
+The captain repeated this conversation to the Board of Strategy
+when he returned to Bayport.  Miss Dawes had walked home from
+school with Bos'n, and had stopped at the house to hear the report.
+She listened, but it was evident that something else was on her
+mind.
+
+"Captain Whittaker," she asked, "has it ever struck you as queer
+that Mr. Atkins should take such an interest in this matter?  He is
+giving time and counsel and money to help this man Thomas, who is a
+perfect stranger to him.  Why does he do it?"
+
+Captain Cy smiled.
+
+"Why?" he repeated.  "Why, to down me, of course.  I was gettin'
+too everlastin' prominent in politics to suit him.  I'd got you in
+as teacher, and I had 'Lonzo Snow as good as licked for school
+committee.  Goodness knows what I might have run for next, 'cordin'
+to Heman's reasonin', and I simply had to be smashed.  It worked
+all right.  I'm so unhealthy now in the sight of most folks in this
+town, that I cal'late they go home and sulphur-smoke their clothes
+after they meet me, so's not to catch my wickedness."
+
+But the teacher shook her head.
+
+"That doesn't seem reason enough to me," she declared.  "Just see
+what Mr. Atkins has done.  He never openly advocated anything in
+town meeting before; you said so yourself.  Even when he must have
+realized that you had the votes for committeeman he kept still.
+He might have taken many of them from you by simply coming out and
+declaring for Mr. Snow; but he didn't.  And then, all at once, he
+takes this astonishing stand.  Captain Whittaker, Mr. Tidditt says
+that, the night of Emily's birthday party, you and he told who she
+was, by accident, and that Mr. Atkins seemed very much surprised
+and upset.  Is that so?"
+
+Captain Cy laughed.
+
+"His lemonade was upset; that's all I noticed special.  Oh! yes,
+and he lost his hat off, goin' home.  But what of it?  What are you
+drivin' at?"
+
+"I was wondering if--if it could be that, for some reason, Mr.
+Atkins had a spite against Emily or her people.  Or if he had any
+reason to fear her."
+
+"Fear?  Fear Bos'n?  Oh, my, that's funny!  You've been readin'
+novels, I'm 'fraid, teacher, 'though I didn't suspect it of you."
+
+He laughed heartily.  Miss Dawes smiled, too, but she still
+persisted.
+
+"Well," she said, "I don't know.  Perhaps it is because I'm a
+woman, and politics don't mean as much to me as to you men, but to
+me political reasons don't seem strong enough to account for such
+actions as those of Mr. Atkins.  Emily's mother was a Thayer,
+wasn't she? and the Thayers once lived in Orham.  I wish we could
+find out more about them while they lived there."
+
+Asaph Tidditt pulled his beard thoughtfully.
+
+"Well," he observed, "maybe we can, if we want to, though I don't
+think what we find out 'll amount to nothin'.  I was kind of
+cal'latin' to go to Orham next week on a little visit.  Seth
+Wingate over there--Barzilla Wingate's cousin, Whit--is a sort of
+relation of mine, and we visit back and forth every nine or ten
+year or so.  The ten year's most up, and he's been pesterin' me to
+come over.  Seth's been Orham town clerk about as long as I've been
+the Bayport one, and he's lived there all his life.  What he don't
+know about Orham folks ain't wuth knowin'.  If you say so, I'll
+pump him about the Thayers and the Richards.  'Twon't do no harm,
+and the old fool likes to talk, anyhow.  I don't know's I ought to
+speak that way about my relations," he added doubtfully, "but Seth
+IS sort of stubborn and unlikely at odd times.  We don't always
+agree as to which is the best town to live in, you understand."
+
+So it was settled that Mr. Wingate should be subjected to the
+"pumping" process when Asaph visited him.  He departed for this
+visit the following week, and remained away for ten days.
+Meanwhile several things happened in Bayport.
+
+One of these things was the farewell of the Honorable Heman Atkins.
+Congress was to open at Washington, and the Honorable heeded the
+call of duty.  Alicia and the housekeeper went with him, and the
+big house was closed for the winter.  At the gate between the stone
+urns, and backed by the iron dogs, the great man bade a group of
+admiring constituents good-by.  He thanked them for their trust in
+him, and promised that it should not be betrayed.
+
+"I leave you, my fellow townsmen, er--ladies and friends," he said,
+"with regret, tempered by pride--a not inexcusable pride, I
+believe.  In the trying experience which my self-respect and
+sympathy has so recently forced upon me, you have stood firm and
+cheered me on.  The task I have undertaken, the task of restoring
+to a worthy man his own, shall be carried on to the bitterest
+extremity.  I have put my hand to the plow, and it shall not be
+withdrawn.  And, furthermore, I go to my work at Washington
+determined to secure for my native town the appropriation which it
+so sorely needs.  I shall secure it if I can, even though--" and
+the sarcasm was hugely enjoyed by his listeners--"I am, as I seem
+likely to be, deprived of the help of the 'committee,' self-
+appointed at our recent town meeting.  If I fail--and I do not
+conceal the fact that I may fail--I am certain you will not blame
+me.  Now I should like to shake each one of you by the hand."
+
+The hands were shaken, and the train bore the Atkins delegation
+away.  And, on the day following, Mr. Thomas, the prodigal father,
+also left town.  A position in Boston had been offered him, he
+said, and he felt that he must accept it.  He would come back some
+of these days, with the warrant from the court, and get his little
+girl.
+
+"Position offered him!  Um--ya-as!" quoth Dimick the cynical, in
+conversation with Captain Cy.  "Inspector of sidewalks, I shouldn't
+wonder.  Well, please don't ask me if I think Heman sent him to
+Boston so's to have him out of the way, and 'cause he'd feel
+consider'ble safer than if he was loose down here.  Don't ask me
+that, for, with my strict scruples against the truth I might say,
+No.  As it is, I say nothin'--and wink my port eye."
+
+The ten-day visit ended, Mr. Tidditt returned to Bayport.  On the
+afternoon of his return he and Bailey called at the Whittaker
+place, and there they were joined by Miss Dawes, who had been
+summoned to the conclave by a note intrusted to Bos'n.
+
+"Now, Ase," ordered Captain Cy, as the quartet gathered in the
+sitting room, "here we are, hangin' on your words, as the feller
+said.  Don't keep us strung up too long.  What did you find out?"
+
+The town clerk cleared his throat.  When he spoke, there was a
+trace of disappointment in his tone.  To have been able to
+electrify his audience with the news of some startling discovery
+would have been pure joy for Asaph.
+
+"Well," he began, "I don't know's I found out anything much.  Yet I
+did find out somethin', too; but it don't really amount to nothin'.
+I hoped 'twould be somethin' more'n 'twas, but when nothin' come of
+it except the little somethin' it begun with, I--"
+
+"For the land sakes!" snapped Bailey Bangs, who was a trifle
+envious of his friend's position in the center of the stage, "stop
+them 'nothin's' and 'somethin's,' won't you?  You keep whirlin' 'em
+round and over and over till my head's FULL of 'nothin',' and--"
+
+"That's what it's full of most of the time," interrupted Asaph
+tartly.  Captain Cy hastened to act as peacemaker.
+
+"Never mind, Bailey," he said; "you let Ase alone.  Tell us what
+you did find out, Ase, and cut out the trimmin's."
+
+"Well," continued Mr. Tidditt, with a glare at Bangs, "I asked Seth
+about the Thayers and the Richards folks the very fust night I
+struck Orham.  He remembered 'em, of course; he can remember Adam,
+if you let him tell it.  He told me a whole mess about old man
+Thayer and old man Richards and their granddads and grandmarms, and
+what houses they lived in, and how many hens they kept, and what
+their dog's name was, and how they come to name him that, and
+enough more to fill a hogshead.  'Twas ten o'clock afore he got out
+of Genesis, and down so fur as John and Emily.  He remembered their
+bein' married, and their baby--Mary Thayer, Bos'n's ma--bein' born.
+
+"Folks used to call John Thayer a smart young feller, so Seth said.
+They used to cal'late that he'd rise high in the seafarin' and
+ship-ownin' line.  Maybe he would, only he died somewheres in
+Californy 'long in '54 or thereabouts.  'Twas the time of the gold
+craziness out there, and he left his ship and went gold huntin'.
+And the next thing they knew he was dead and buried."
+
+"When was that?" inquired the schoolmistress.
+
+"In '54, I tell you.  So Seth says."
+
+"What ship was he on?" asked Bailey.
+
+"Wan't on any ship.  Why don't you listen, instead of settin' there
+moonin'?  He was gold diggin', I tell you."
+
+"He'd BEEN on a ship, hadn't he?  What was the name of her?"
+
+"I didn't ask.  What diff'rence does that make?"
+
+"Wasn't Mr. Atkins at sea in those days?" put in the teacher.  The
+captain answered her.
+
+"Yes, he was," he said.  "That is, I think he was.  He was away
+from here when I skipped out, and he didn't get back till '61 or
+thereabouts."
+
+"Well, anyhow," went on Asaph, "that's all I could find out.  Seth
+and me went rummagin' through town records from way back to glory,
+him gassin' away and stringin' along about this old settler and
+that, till I 'most wished he'd choke himself with the dust he was
+raisin'.  We found John's grandad's will, and Emily's dad's will,
+and John's own will, and that's all.  John left everything he had
+and all he might become possessed of to his wife and baby and their
+heirs forever.  He died poorer'n poverty.  What's the use of a will
+when you ain't got nothin' to leave?"
+
+"Why!" exclaimed Captain Cy.  "The answer to that's easy.  John was
+goin' to sea, and, more'n likely, intended to have a shy at the
+diggin's afore he got back.  So, if he did make any money, he
+wanted his wife and baby to have it."
+
+"Well, what they got wan't wuth havin'.  Emily had to scrimp along
+and do dressmakin' till she died.  She done fairly well at that,
+though, and saved somethin' and passed it over to Mary.  And Mary
+married Henry Thomas, after she went with the Howes tribe to
+Concord, and he got rid of it for her in double quick time--all but
+the Orham land."
+
+"So that was all you could find out, hey, Ase?" asked the captain.
+"Well, it's at least as much as I expected.  You see, teacher,
+these story-book notions don't work out when it comes to real
+life."
+
+Miss Dawes was plainly disappointed.
+
+"I wish we knew more," she said.  "Who was on this ship with Mr.
+Thayer?  And who sent the news of his death home?"
+
+"Oh, I can tell you that," said Asaph.  "'Twas some one-hoss doctor
+out there, gold minin' himself, he was.  John died of a quick
+fever.  Got cold and went off in no time.  Seth remembered that
+much, though he couldn't remember the doctor's name.  He said, if I
+wanted to learn more about the Thayers, I might go see--  Humph,
+well, never mind that.  'Twas just foolishness, anyhow."
+
+But Phoebe persisted.
+
+"To see whom?" she asked.  "Some one you knew?  A friend of yours?"
+
+Asaph turned red.
+
+"Friend of mine!" he snarled.  "No, SIR! she ain't no friend of
+mine, I'm thankful to say.  More a friend of Bailey's, here, if
+she's anybody's.  One of his pets, she was, for a spell.  A patient
+of his, you might say; anyhow, he prescribed for her.  'Twas that
+deef idiot, Debby Beasley, Cy; that's who 'twas.  Her name was
+Briggs afore she married Beasley, and she was hired help for Emily
+Thayer, when Mary was born, and until John died."
+
+Captain Cy burst into a roar of laughter.  Bailey sprang out of his
+chair.
+
+"De--Debby Beasley!" he stammered.  "Debby Beasley!"
+
+"She was that deef housekeeper Bailey hired for me, teacher,"
+explained the captain.  "I've told you about her.  Ho! ho! so
+that's the end of the mystery huntin'.  We go gunnin' for Heman
+Atkins, and we bring down Debby!  Well, Ase, goin' to see the old
+lady?"
+
+Mr. Tidditt's retort was emphatic.
+
+"Goin' to SEE her?" he repeated.  "I guess not!  Godfrey scissors!
+I told Seth, says I, 'I've had all the Debby Beasley _I_ want, and
+I cal'late Cy Whittaker feels the same way.'  Go to see her!  I
+wouldn't go to see her if she was up in Paradise a-hollerin' for
+me."
+
+"Nobody up there's goin' to holler for YOU, Ase Tidditt," remarked
+Bailey, with sarcasm; "so don't let that worry you none."
+
+"Are YOU going to see her, Captain Whittaker?" asked Phoebe.
+
+The captain shook his head.
+
+"Why, no, I guess not," he said.  "I don't take much stock in what
+she'd be likely to know; besides, I'm a good deal like Ase--I've
+had about all the Debby Beasley I want."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DEBBY BEASLEY TO THE RESCUE
+
+
+"Mrs. Bangs," said the schoolmistress, as if it was the most casual
+thing in the world, "I want to borrow your husband to-morrow."
+
+It was Friday evening, and supper at the perfect boarding house
+had advanced as far as the stewed prunes and fruit-cake stage.
+Keturah, who was carefully dealing out the prunes, exactly four to
+each saucer, stopped short, spoon in air, and gazed at Miss Dawes.
+
+"You--you want to WHAT?" she asked.
+
+"I want to borrow your husband.  I want him all day, too, because
+I'm thinking of driving over to Trumet, and I need a coachman.
+You'll go, won't you, Mr. Bangs?"
+
+Bailey, who had been considering the advisability of asking for a
+second cup of tea, brightened up and looked pleased.
+
+"Why, yes," he answered, "I'll go.  I can go just as well as not.
+Fact is, I'd like to.  Ain't been to Trumet I don't know when."
+
+Miss Phinney and the widow Tripp looked at each other.  Then they
+both looked at Keturah.  That lady's mouth closed tightly, and she
+resumed her prune distribution.
+
+"I'm sorry," she said crisply, "but I'm 'fraid he can't go.  It's
+Saturday, and I'll need him round the house.  Do you care for cake
+to-night, Elviry?  I'm 'fraid it's pretty dry; I ain't had time to
+do much bakin' this week."
+
+"Of course," continued the smiling Phoebe, "I shouldn't think of
+asking him to go for nothing.  I didn't mean borrow him in just
+that way.  I was thinking of hiring your horse and buggy, and, as
+I'm not used to driving, I thought perhaps I might engage Mr. Bangs
+to drive for me.  I expected to pay for the privilege.  But, as you
+need him, I suppose I must get my rig and driver somewhere else.
+I'm so sorry."
+
+The landlady's expression changed.  This was the dull season, and
+opportunities to "let" the family steed and buggy--"horse and
+team," we call it in Bayport--were few.
+
+"Well," she observed, "I don't want to be unlikely and disobligin'.
+Far's he's concerned, he'd rather be traipsin' round the country
+than stay to home, any day; though it's been so long sence he took
+ME to ride that I don't know's I'd know how to act."
+
+"Why, Ketury!" protested her husband.  "How you talk!  Didn't I
+drive you down to the graveyard only last Sunday--or the Sunday
+afore?"
+
+"Graveyard!  Yes, I notice our rides always fetch up at the
+graveyard.  You're always willin' to take me THERE.  Seems
+sometimes as if you enjoyed doin' it."
+
+"Now, Keturah! you know yourself that 'twas you proposed goin'
+there.  You said you wanted to look at our lot, 'cause you was
+afraid 'twan't big enough, and you didn't know but we'd ought to
+add on another piece.  You said that it kept you awake nights
+worryin' for fear when I passed away you wouldn't have room in that
+lot for me.  Land sakes! don't I remember?  Didn't you give me the
+blue creeps talkin' about it?"
+
+Mrs. Bangs ignored this outburst.  Turning to the school teacher,
+she said with a sigh:
+
+"Well, I guess he can go.  I'll get along somehow.  I hope he'll be
+careful of the buggy; we had it painted only last January."
+
+Mrs. Tripp ventured a hinted question concerning the teacher's
+errand at Trumet.  The reply being noncommittal, the widow
+cheerfully prophesied that she guessed 'twas going to rain or snow
+next day.  "It's about time for the line storm," she added.
+
+But it did not storm, although a brisk, cold gale was blowing when,
+after breakfast next morning, the "horse and team," with Bailey in
+his Sunday suit and overcoat, and Miss Dawes on the buggy seat
+beside him, turned out of the boarding-house yard and started on
+the twelve-mile journey to Trumet.
+
+It was a bleak ride.  Denboro, the village adjoining Bayport on the
+bay side, is a pretty place, with old elms and silverleafs shading
+the main street in summer, and with substantial houses set each in
+its trim yard.  But beyond Denboro the Trumet road winds out over
+rolling, bare hills, with cranberry bogs, now flooded and skimmed
+with ice, in the hollows between them, clumps of bayberry and
+beach-plum bushes scattered over their rounded slopes, and white
+scars in their sides showing where the cranberry growers have cut
+away the thin layer of coarse grass and moss to reach the sand
+beneath, sand which they use in preparing their bogs for the new
+vines.
+
+And the wind!  There is always a breeze along the Trumet road,
+even in summer--when the mosquitoes lie in wait to leeward like
+buccaneers until, sighting the luckless wayfarer in the offing,
+they drive down before the wind in clouds, literally to eat him
+alive.  They are skilled navigators, those Trumet road mosquitoes,
+and they know the advantage of snug harbors under hat brims and
+behind spreading ears.  And each individual smashed by a frantic
+palm leaves a thousand blood relatives to attend his funeral and
+exact revenge after the Corsican fashion.
+
+Now, in December, there were, of course, no mosquitoes, but the
+wind tore across those bare hilltops in gusts that rocked the buggy
+on its springs.  The bayberry bushes huddled and crouched before
+it.  The sky was covered with tumbling, flying clouds, which
+changed shape continually, and ripped into long, fleecy ravelings,
+that broke loose and pelted on until merged into the next billowy
+mass.  The bay was gray and white, and in the spots where an
+occasional sunbeam broke through and struck it, flashed like a
+turned knife blade.
+
+Bailey drove with one hand and held his hat on his head with the
+other.  The road had been deeply rutted during the November rains,
+and now the ruts were frozen.  The buggy wheels twisted and scraped
+as they turned in the furrows.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the schoolmistress, shouting so as to be
+heard above the flapping of the buggy curtains.  "Why do you watch
+that wheel?"
+
+"'Fraid of the axle," whooped Mr. Bangs in reply.  "Nut's kind of
+loose, for one thing, and the way the wheel wobbles I'm scart
+she'll come off.  Call this a road!" he snorted indignantly.  "More
+like a plowed field a consider'ble sight.  Jerushy, how she blows!
+No wonder they raise so many deef and dumb folks in Trumet.  I'd
+talk sign language myself if I lived here.  What's the use of
+wastin' strength pumpin' up words when they're blowed back down
+your throat fast enough to choke you?  Git dap, Henry!  Don't you
+see the meetin' house steeple?  We're most there, thank the
+goodness."
+
+In Trumet Center, which is not much of a center, Miss Dawes
+alighted from the buggy and entered a building bearing a sign with
+the words "Metropolitan Variety Store, Joshua Atwood, Prop'r,
+Groceries, Coal, Dry Goods, Insurance, Boots and Shoes, Garden
+Seeds, etc."  A smaller sign beneath this was lettered "Justice of
+the Peace," and one below that read "Post Office."
+
+She emerged a moment later, followed by an elderly person in a red
+cardigan jacket and overalls.
+
+"Take the fust turnin' to the left, marm," he said pointing.  "It's
+pretty nigh to East Trumet townhall.  Fust house this side of the
+blacksmith shop.  About two mile, I'd say.  Windy day for drivin',
+ain't it?  That horse of yours belongs in Bayport, I cal'late.
+Looks to me like--  Hello, Bailey!"
+
+"Hello, Josh!" grunted Mr. Bangs, adding an explanatory aside to
+the effect that he knew Josh Atwood, the latter having once lived
+in Bayport.
+
+"But say," he asked as they moved on once more, "have we got to go
+to EAST Trumet?  Jerushy! that's the place where the wind COMES
+from.  They raise it over there; anyhow, they don't raise much
+else.  Whose house you goin' to?"
+
+He had asked the same question at least ten times since leaving
+home, and each time Miss Dawes had evaded it.  She did so now,
+saying that she was sure she should know the house when they got to
+it.
+
+The two miles to East Trumet were worse than the twelve which they
+had come.  The wind fairly shrieked here, for the road paralleled
+the edge of high sand bluffs close by the shore, and the ruts and
+"thank-you-marms" were trying to the temper.  Bailey's was
+completely wrecked.
+
+"Teacher," he snapped as they reached the crest of a long hill, and
+a quick grab at his hat alone prevented its starting on a balloon
+ascension, "get out a spell, will you?  I've got to swear or bust,
+and 'long's you're aboard I can't swear.  What you standin' still
+for, you?" he bellowed at poor Henry, the horse, who had stopped to
+rest.  "I cal'late the critter thinks that last cyclone must have
+blowed me sky high, and he's waitin' to see where I light.  Git
+dap!"
+
+"I guess I shall get out very soon now," panted Phoebe.  "There's
+the blacksmith shop over there near the next hill, and this house
+in the hollow must be the one I'm looking for."
+
+They pulled up beside the house in the hollow.  A little, story-
+and-a-half house it was, and, judging by the neglected appearance
+of the weeds and bushes in the yard, it had been unoccupied for
+some time.  However, the blinds were now open, and a few fowls
+about the back door seemed to promise that some one was living
+there.  The wooden letter box by the gate had a name stenciled upon
+it.  Miss Dawes sprang from the buggy and looked at the box.
+
+"Yes," she said.  "This is the place.  Will you come in, Mr. Bangs?
+You can put your horse in that barn, I'm sure, if you want to."
+
+But Bailey declined to come in.  He declared he was going on to the
+blacksmith's shop to have that wheel fixed.  He would not feel safe
+to start for home with it as it was.  He drove off, and Miss Dawes,
+knowing from lifelong experience that front doors are merely for
+show, passed around the main body of the house and rapped on the
+door in the ell.  The rap was not answered, though she could hear
+some one moving about within, and a shrill voice singing "The Sweet
+By and By."  So she rapped again and again, but still no one came
+to the door.  At last she ventured to open it.
+
+A thin woman, with her head tied up in a colored cotton handkerchief,
+was in the room, vigorously wielding a broom.  She was singing in a
+high cracked voice.  The opening of the door let in a gust of cold
+wind which struck the singer in the back of the neck, and caused her
+to turn around hastily.
+
+"Hey?" she exclaimed.  "Land sakes! you scare a body to death!
+Shut that door quick!  I ain't hankering for influenzy.  Who are
+you?  What do you want?  Why didn't you knock?  Where's my specs?"
+
+She took a pair of spectacles from the mantel shelf, rubbed them
+with her apron, and set them on the bridge of her thin nose.  Then
+she inspected the schoolmistress from head to foot.
+
+"I beg pardon for coming in," shouted Phoebe.  "I knocked, but you
+didn't hear.  You are Mrs. Beasley, aren't you?"
+
+"I don't want none," replied Debby, with emphasis.  "So there's no
+use your wastin' your breath."
+
+"Don't want--" repeated the astonished teacher.  "Don't want what?"
+
+"Hey?  I say I don't want none."
+
+"Don't want WHAT?"
+
+"Whatever 'tis you're peddlin'.  Books or soap or tea, or whatever
+'tis.  I don't want nothin'."
+
+After some strenuous minutes, the visitor managed to make it clear
+to Mrs. Beasley's mind that she was not a peddler.  She tried to
+add a word of further explanation, but it was effort wasted.
+
+"'Tain't no use," snapped Debby, "I can't hear you, you speak so
+faint.  Wait till I get my horn; it's in the settin' room."
+
+Phoebe's wonder as to what the "horn" might be was relieved by the
+widow's appearance, a moment later, with the biggest ear trumpet
+her caller had ever seen.
+
+"There, now!" she said, adjusting the instrument and thrusting the
+bell-shaped end under the teacher's nose.  "Talk into that.  If you
+ain't a peddler, what be you--sewin' machine agent?"
+
+Phoebe explained that she had come some distance on purpose to see
+Mrs. Beasley.  She was interested in the Thayers, who used to live
+in Orham, particularly in Mr. John Thayer, who died in 1854.  She
+had been told that Debby formerly lived with the Thayers, and
+could, no doubt, remember a great deal about them.  Would she mind
+answering a few questions, and so on?
+
+Mrs. Beasley, her hearing now within forty-five degrees of the
+normal, grew interested.  She ushered her visitor into the
+adjoining room, and proffered her a chair.  That sitting room was a
+wonder of its kind, even to the teacher's accustomed eyes.  A gilt-
+framed crayon enlargement of the late Mr. Beasley hung in the
+center of the broadest wall space, and was not the ugliest thing
+in the apartment.  Having said this, further description is
+unnecessary--particularly to those who remember Mr. Beasley's
+personal appearance.
+
+"What you so interested in the Thayers for?" inquired Debby.  "One
+of the heirs, be you?  They didn't leave nothin'."
+
+No, the schoolmistress was not an heir.  Was not even a relative of
+the family.  But she was--was interested, just the same.  A friend
+of hers was a relative, and--
+
+"What is your friend?" inquired the inquisitor.  "A man?"
+
+There was no reason why Miss Dawes should have changed color, but,
+according to Debby's subsequent testimony, she did; she blushed, so
+the widow declares.
+
+"No," she protested.  "Oh, no! it's a--she's a child, that's all--a
+little girl.  But--"
+
+"Maybe you're gettin' up one of them geographical trees," suggested
+Mrs. Beasley.  "I've seen 'em, fust settlers down in the trunk, and
+children and grandchildren spreadin' out in the branches.  Is that
+it?"
+
+Here was an avenue of escape.  Phoebe stretched the truth a trifle,
+and admitted that that, or something of the sort, was what she was
+engaged in.  The explanation seemed to be satisfactory.  Debby
+asked her visitor's name, and, misunderstanding it, addressed her
+as "Miss Dorcas" thereafter.  Then she proceeded to give her
+reminiscences of the Thayers, and it did not take long for the
+disappointed teacher to discover that, for all practical purposes,
+these reminiscences were valueless.  Mrs. Beasley remembered many
+things, but nothing at all concerning John Thayer's life in the
+West, nor the name of the ship he sailed in, nor who his shipmates
+were.
+
+"He never wrote home but once or twice afore he died," she said.
+"And when he did Emily, his wife, never told me what was in his
+letters.  She always burnt 'em, I guess.  I used to hunt around for
+'em when she was out, but she burnt 'em to spite me, I cal'late.
+Her and me didn't get along any too well.  She said I talked too
+much to other folks about what was none of their business.  Now,
+anybody that knows me knows THAT ain't one of my failin's.  I told
+her so; says I--"
+
+And so on for ten minutes.  Then Phoebe ventured to repeat the
+words "out West," and her companion went off on a new tack.  She
+had just been West herself.  She had been on a visit to her
+husband's niece, who lived in Arizona.  In Blazeton, Arizona.
+"It's the nicest town ever you see," she continued.  "And the
+smartest, most up-to-date place.  Talk about the West bein'
+oncivilized!  My land! you ought to see that town!  Electric
+lights, and telephones, and--and--I don't know what all!  Why, Miss
+What's-your-name--Miss Dorcas, marm, you just ought to see the
+photygraphs I've got that was took out there.  My niece, she took
+'em with one of them little mites of cameras.  You wouldn't believe
+such a little box of a thing could take such photygraphs.  I'm
+goin' to get 'em and show 'em to you.  No, sir! you ain't got to
+go, neither.  Set right still and let me fetch them photygraphs.
+'Twon't be a mite of trouble.  I'd love to do it."
+
+Protests were unavailing.  The photographs, at least fifty of them,
+were produced, and the suffering caller was shown the Blazeton City
+Hall, and the Blazeton "Palace Hotel," and the home of the Beasley
+niece, taken from the front, the rear, and both sides.  With each
+specimen Debby delivered a descriptive lecture.
+
+"You see that house?" she asked.  "Well, 'tain't much of a one to
+look at, but it's got the most interestin' story tagged on to it.
+I made Eva, that's my niece, take a picture of it just on that
+account.  The woman that lives there's had the hardest time.  Her
+fust name's Desire, and that kind of made me take an interest in
+her right off, 'cause I had an Aunt Desire once, and it's a name
+you don't hear very often.  Afterwards I got to know her real well.
+She was a widder woman, like me, only she didn't have as much sense
+as I've got, and went and married a second time.  'Twas 'long in
+1886 she done it.  This man Higgins, he went to work for her on
+her place, and pretty soon he married her.  They lived together,
+principally on her fust husband's insurance money, I cal'late,
+until a year or so ago.  Then the insurance money give out, and Mr.
+Higgins he says:  'Old woman,' he says--I'D never let a husband of
+mine call me 'old woman,' but Desire didn't seem to mind--'Old
+woman,' he says, 'I'm goin' over to Phoenix'--that's another city
+in Arizona--'to look for a job.'  And he went, and she ain't heard
+hide--I mean seen hide nor heard hair--What DOES ail me?  She ain't
+seen nor heard of him since.  And she advertised in the weekly
+paper, and I don't know what all.  She thinks he was murdered, you
+know; that's what makes it so sort of creepy and interestin'.
+Everybody was awful kind to her, and we got to be real good
+friends.  Why, I--"
+
+This was but the beginning.  It was evident that Mrs. Beasley had
+thoroughly enjoyed herself in Blazeton, and that the sorrows of the
+bereaved Desire Higgins had been one of the principal sources of
+that enjoyment.  The schoolmistress endeavored to turn the subject,
+but it was useless.
+
+"I fetched home a whole pile of them newspapers," continued Debby.
+"They was awful interestin'; full of pictures of Blazeton buildin's
+and leadin' folks and all.  And in some of the back numbers was the
+advertisement about Mr. Higgins.  I do wish I could show 'em to
+you, but I lent 'em to Mrs. Atwood up to the Center.  If 'twan't
+such a ways I'd go and fetch 'em.  Mrs. Atwood's been awful nice to
+me.  She took care of my trunks and things when I went West--yes,
+and afore that when I went to Bayport to keep house for that
+miser'ble Cap'n Whittaker.  I ain't told you about that, but I will
+by and by.  Them trunks had lots of things in 'em that I didn't
+want to lose nor have anybody see.  My diaries--I've kept a diary
+since 1850--and--"
+
+"Diaries?" interrupted Phoebe, grasping at straws.  "Did you keep a
+diary while you were at the Thayers?"
+
+"Yes.  Now, why didn't I think of that afore?  More'n likely
+there'd be somethin' in that to help you with that geographical
+tree.  I used to put down everything that happened, and--  Where
+you goin'?"
+
+Miss Dawes had risen and was peering out of the window.
+
+"I was looking to see if my driver was anywhere about," she
+replied.  "I thought perhaps he would drive over to Mrs. Atwood's
+and get the diary for you.  But I don't see him."
+
+Just then, from around the corner of the house, peeped an agitated
+face; an agitated forefinger beckoned.  Debby stepped to the window
+beside her visitor, and the face and finger went out of sight as if
+pulled by a string.
+
+Miss Phoebe smiled.
+
+"I think I'll go out and look for him," she said.  "He must be near
+here.  I'll be right back, Mrs. Beasley."
+
+Without stopping to put on her jacket, she hurried through the
+dining room, out of the door, and around the corner.  There she
+found Mr. Bangs in a highly nervous state.
+
+"Why didn't you tell me 'twas Debby Beasley you was comin' to see?"
+he demanded.  "If you'd mentioned that deef image's name you'd
+never got ME to drive you, I tell you that!"
+
+"Yes," answered the teacher sweetly.  "I imagined that.  That's why
+I didn't tell you, Mr. Bangs.  Now I want you to do me a favor.
+Will you drive over to Trumet Center, and deliver a note and get a
+package for me?  Then you can come back here, and I shall be ready
+to start for home."
+
+"Drive!  Drive nothin'!  The blacksmith's out, and won't be back
+for another hour.  His boy's there, but he's a big enough lunkhead
+to try bailin' out a dory with a fork, and that buggy axle is bent
+so it's simply got to be fixed.  I'd no more go home to Ketury with
+that buggy as 'tis than I'd--  Oh! my land of love!"
+
+The ejaculation was almost a groan.  There at the corner, ear
+trumpet adjusted, and spectacles glistening, stood Debby Beasley.
+Bailey appeared to wilt under her gaze as if the spectacles were
+twin suns.  Miss Dawes looked as if she very much wanted to laugh.
+The widow stared in silence.
+
+"How--how d'ye do, Mrs. Beasley?" faltered Mr. Bangs, not
+forgetting to raise his voice.  "I hope you're lookin' as well as
+you feel.  I mean, I hope you're smart."
+
+Mrs. Beasley nodded decisively.
+
+"Yes," she answered.  "I'm pretty toler'ble, thank you.  What was
+the matter, Mr. Bangs?  Why didn't you come in?  Do you usually
+make your calls round the corner?"
+
+The gentleman addressed seemed unable to reply.  The schoolmistress
+came to the rescue.
+
+"You mustn't blame Mr. Bangs, Mrs. Beasley," she explained.  "He
+wasn't responsible for what happened at Captain Whittaker's.  He is
+the gentleman who drove me over here.  I was going to send him to
+Mrs. Atwood's for the diary."
+
+"Who said I was blamin' him?" queried the widow.  "If 'twas that
+little Tidditt thing I might feel different.  But, considerin' that
+I got this horn from Mr. Bangs, I'm willin' to let bygones be past.
+It helps my hearin' a lot.  Them ear-fixin's was good while they
+lasted, but they got out of kilter quick.  _I_ shan't bother Mr.
+Bangs.  If he can square his own conscience, I'm satisfied."
+
+Bailey's conscience was not troubling him greatly, and he seemed
+relieved.  Phoebe told of the damaged buggy.
+
+"Humph!" grunted the widow.  "The horse didn't get bent, too, did
+he?"
+
+Mr. Bangs indignantly declared that the horse was all right.
+
+"Um--hum.  Well, then, I guess I can supply a carriage.  My fust
+cousin Ezra that died used to be doctor here, and he give me his
+sulky when he got a new one.  It's out in the barn.  Go fetch your
+horse, and harness him in.  I'll be ready time the harnessin's
+done."
+
+"You?" gasped the teacher.  "You don't need to go, Mrs. Beasley.  I
+wouldn't think of giving you that trouble."
+
+"No trouble at all.  I wouldn't trust nobody else with them trunks.
+And besides, I always do enjoy ridin'.  You could go, too, Miss
+Dorcas, but the sulky seat's too narrer for three.  You can set in
+the settin' room till we get back.  'Twon't take us long.  Don't
+say another word; I'm A-GOIN'."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A REMARKABLE DRIVE AND WHAT FOLLOWED
+
+
+The number of reasons given by Mr. Bangs one after the other, to
+prove that it would be quite impossible for him to be Mrs.
+Beasley's charioteer was a credit to the resources of his
+invention.  The blacksmith might be back any minute; it was dinner
+time, and he was hungry; Henry, the horse, was tired; it wasn't a
+nice day for riding, and he would come over some other time and
+take the widow out; he--  But Debby had a conclusive answer for
+each protest.
+
+"You said yourself the blacksmith wouldn't be back for an hour,"
+she observed.  "And you can leave word with the boy what he's to do
+when he does come.  As for dinner, I'll be real glad to give you
+and Miss Dorcas a snack soon's we get back.  I don't mind if it
+ain't a pleasant day; a little fresh air 'll do me good.  I been
+shut up here house-cleanin' ever since I got back from out West.
+Now, hurry right along, and fetch your horse.  I'll unlock the
+barn."
+
+"But, Mrs. Beasley," put in the schoolmistress, "why couldn't you
+give us a note to Mrs. Atwood and let us stop for the diary on our
+way home?  I could return it to you by mail.  Or you might get it
+yourself some other day and mail it to me."
+
+"No, no!  Never put off till to-morrer what you can do to-day.  My
+husband was a great hand to put off and put off.  For the last
+eight years of his life I was at him to buy a new go-to-meetin'
+suit of clothes.  The one he had was blue to start with, but it
+faded to a brown, and, toward the last of it, I declare if it
+didn't commence to turn green.  Nothin' I could say would make him
+heave it away even then.  Seemed to think more of it than ever.
+Said he wanted to hang to it a spell and see what 'twould turn
+next.  But he died and was laid out in that same suit, and I was so
+mortified at the funeral I couldn't think of nothin' else.  No,
+I'll go after them papers and the diary while they're fresh in my
+mind.  And besides, do you s'pose I'd let Sarah Ann Atwood rummage
+through my trunks?  I guess not!"
+
+Phoebe began to be sorry she had thought of sending for the diary,
+particularly as the chance of its containing valuable information
+was so remote.  Mrs. Beasley went into the house to dress for the
+ride.  The schoolmistress went with her as far as the sitting room.
+The perturbed Bailey stalked off, muttering, to the blacksmith's.
+
+In a little while he returned, leading Henry by the bridle.  Debby,
+adorned with the beflowered bonnet she had worn when she arrived at
+the Cy Whittaker place, and with a black cloth cape over her lean
+shoulders, was waiting for him by the open door of the barn.  The
+cape had a fur collar--"cat fur," so Mr. Bangs said afterwards in
+describing it.
+
+"Pull the sulky right out," commanded the widow.
+
+Bailey stared into the black interior of the barn.
+
+"Which is it?" he shouted.
+
+Mrs. Beasley pointed with her ear trumpet.
+
+"Why, that one there, of course.  'Tother's a truck cart.  You
+wouldn't expect me to ride in that, would you?"
+
+Mr. Bangs entered the barn, seized the vehicle indicated by the
+shafts, and drew it out into the yard.  He inspected it deliberately,
+and then sat weakly down on the chopping block near by.  Apparently
+he was overcome by emotion.
+
+The "sulky" bequeathed by the late doctor had been built to order
+for its former owner.  It was of the "carryall" variety, except
+that it had but a single narrow seat.  Its top was square and was
+curtained, the curtains being tightly buttoned down.  Altogether it
+was something of a curiosity.  Miss Dawes, who had come out to see
+the start, looked at the "sulky," then at Mr. Bangs's face, and
+turned her back.  Her shoulders shook:
+
+"It used to be a real nice carriage when Ezra had it," commented
+the widow admiringly.  "It needs ilin' and sprucin' up now, but I
+guess 'twill do.  Come!" to Bailey, who had not risen from the
+chopping block.  "Hurry up and harness or we'll never get started.
+Thought you wanted to get back for dinner?"
+
+Mr. Bangs stood up and heaved a sigh.
+
+"I did," he answered slowly, "but," with a glance at the sulky,
+"somethin' seems to have took away my appetite.  Teacher, do you
+mean to--"
+
+But Miss Dawes had withdrawn to the corner of the house, from which
+viewpoint she seemed to be inspecting the surrounding landscape.
+Bailey seized Henry by the bridle and backed him into the shafts.
+
+"Back up!" he roared.  "Back up, I tell you!  You needn't look at
+me that way," he added, in a lower tone.  "_I_ can't help it.  You
+ain't any worse ashamed than I am.  There! the ark's off the ways.
+All aboard!"
+
+Turning to the expectant widow, he "boosted" her, not too tenderly,
+up to the narrow seat.  Then he climbed in himself.  Two on that
+seat made a tight fit.  Bailey took up the reins.  Debby leaned
+forward and peered around the edge of the curtains.
+
+"You!" she shouted.  "You, Miss What's-your-name--Dorcas!  Come
+here a minute.  I want to tell you somethin'."
+
+The schoolmistress, her face red and her eyes moist, approached.
+
+"I just wanted to say," explained Debby, "that I ain't real sure as
+that diary's there.  I burnt up a lot of my old letters and things
+a spell ago, and seems to me I burnt some old diaries, too, but
+maybe that wan't one of 'em.  Anyhow, I can get them Arizona
+papers, and I do want you to see 'em.  They're the most INTERESTIN'
+things.  Now," she added, turning to her companion on the seat,
+"you can git dap just as soon as you want to."
+
+Whether or not Mr. Bangs wanted to "git dap" is a doubtful
+question.  But at all events he did.  Before the astonished Miss
+Dawes could think of an answer to the observation concerning the
+diary, the carriage, its long unused axles shrieking protests,
+moved out of the yard.  The schoolmistress watched it go.  Then she
+returned to the sitting room and collapsed in a rocking chair.
+
+Once out from the shelter of the house and on the open road, the
+sulky received the full force of the wind.  The first gust that
+howled in from the bay struck its curtained side with a sudden
+burst of power that caused Mrs. Beasley to clutch her driver's arm.
+
+"Good land of mercy!" she screamed.  "It blows real hard, don't
+it?"
+
+Mr. Bangs's answer was in the form of delicate sarcasm, bellowed
+into the ear trumpet.
+
+"Sho!" he exclaimed.  "I want to know!  You don't say!  Now you
+mention it, seems as if I had noticed a little air stirrin'."
+
+Another gust tilted the carriage top.  Debby clutched the arm still
+tighter.
+
+"Why, it blows awful hard!" she cried.  "I'd no idee it blew like
+this."
+
+"Want to 'bout ship and go home again?" whooped Bailey, hopefully.
+But the widow didn't intend to give up the rare luxury of a "ride"
+which a kind Providence had cast in her way.
+
+"No, no!" she answered.  "I guess if you folks come all the way
+from Bayport I can stand it as fur's the Center.  But hurry all you
+can, won't you?  I'm kind of 'fraid of the springs."
+
+"Springs?  What springs?  Let go my arm, will you?  It's goin' to
+sleep."
+
+Mrs. Beasley let go of the arm momentarily.
+
+"I mean the springs on this carriage," she explained.  "Last time
+I lent it to anybody--Solon Davis, 'twas--he said the bolts
+underneath was pretty nigh rusted out, and about all that held the
+wagon part on was its own weight.  So we'll have to be kind of
+careful."
+
+"Well--I--swan--to--MAN!" was Mr. Bangs's sole comment on the
+amazing disclosure; however, as an expression of concentrated and
+profound disgust it was quite sufficient.  He spoke but once during
+the remainder of the trip to the "Center."  Then, when his
+passenger begged to know if "that Whittaker man" had been well
+since she left, he shouted:  "Yes--EVER since," and relapsed into
+his former gloomy silence.
+
+The widow's stop at the Atwood house, which was in the immediate
+rear of the Atwood store, was of a half hour's duration.  Bailey
+refused to leave the seat of the sulky and sat there, speaking to
+no one; not even replying to the questions of a group of loungers
+who gathered to inspect the ancient vehicle, and professed to be
+in doubt as to whether it had been washed in with the tide or been
+"left" to him in a will.
+
+At last Debby made her appearance, her arms filled with newspapers.
+The latter she piled under the carriage seat, and then climbed to
+her former place beside the driver.  Henry, in response to a slap
+from the reins, got under way once more.  The axles squeaked and
+screamed.
+
+"Gee!" cried one youngster, from the steps of the store.  "It's the
+steam calliope.  When's the rest of the show comin'?"
+
+"Hi!" yelled another.  "See how close they're hugged up together.
+Ain't they lovin'!  It's a weddin'!"
+
+"Shut up!" roared the tortured Bailey, whose hat had blown back
+into the body of the sulky, leaving his bald head exposed to the
+cutting wind.
+
+The audience begged him to give them a lock of his hair, and added
+other remarks of a personal nature concerning the youth and beauty
+of the bridal couple and their chariot.  Mr. Bangs was in a state
+of dumb frenzy.  Debby, who, without her trumpet, had heard nothing
+of all this, was smiling and garrulous.
+
+"I found all the papers," she said.  "They're right under the seat.
+I'm goin' to look 'em over so's to have the interestin' parts all
+ready to show Miss Dorcas when we get home.  Ain't it nice I found
+'em?"
+
+In spite of her driver's remonstrances, unheard because of the
+nonadjustment of the trumpet, she reached under the seat and
+brought out the pile of Blazeton weeklies.  With her feet upon the
+pile to keep it from blowing away, she proceeded to unfold one of
+the papers.  It crackled and snapped in the wind like a loose
+mainsail.
+
+"Keep that dratted thing out of my face, won't you?" shrieked the
+agonized Bailey.  "How'm I goin' to see to steer with that smackin'
+me between the eyes every other second?"
+
+"Hey?  Did you speak to me?" asked the widow sweetly.
+
+"Did I SPEAK?  No, I screeched!  What in tunket--"
+
+"I want you to see this picture of the mayor's house in Blazeton.
+Eva, my husband's niece, lives right acrost the road from him.
+Many's the time I've set on their piazza and seen him come out and
+go to the City Hall."
+
+"Keep it out of my face, I tell you!  Reef it!  Furl it, you--you
+woman!  I wish to thunder the piazza had caved in on you!  I never
+see such an old fool in my born days.  TAKE IT AWAY!"
+
+Mrs. Beasley removed the paper, but only to substitute another.
+
+"Here's Eva's brother-in-law," she screamed.  "He's one of the
+prominent business men out there, so they put him in the paper.
+Ain't he nice lookin'?"
+
+Bailey's comments on the prominent business man's appearance were
+anything but flattering.  Debby continued to reach for more papers,
+carefully replacing those she had inspected in the pile beneath her
+feet.  The wind blew as hard as ever; even harder, for it was now
+almost dead ahead.  Henry plodded along.  They were in the hollow
+at the foot of the last long hill, that from which the blacksmith
+shop had first been sighted.
+
+"I know what I'll do," declared the passenger.  "I'll hunt for that
+missin' husband advertisement of Desire Higgins's.  Let's see now!
+'Twill be down at the bottom of the pile, 'cause the paper it's in
+is a last year one."
+
+She bobbed down behind the high dashboard.  Mr. Bangs stood up in
+order that her gymnastics might interfere, to a lesser degree, with
+his driving.  The equipage began to move up the slope of the hill,
+bouncing and twisting in the frozen ruts.
+
+"Here 'tis!" exclaimed Debby.  "I remember it's in this number,
+'cause there's a picture of the Palace Hotel on the front page.
+Let's see--'Dog lost'--no, that ain't it.  'Corner lot for sale'--
+wish I had money enough to buy it; I'd like nothin' better than to
+live out there.  'Information wanted of my husband'--Here 'tis!
+Um--hum!"
+
+She straightened up and eagerly began reading the advertisement.
+The hill was very steep just at its top, and the sulky slanted
+backward at a sharp angle.  A terrific burst of wind tore around
+the corner of the bluff.  It eddied through the sulky between the
+dashboard and the curtained sides.  The widow, in her excitement at
+finding the advertisement, had inadvertently removed her feet from
+the pile of papers.  In an instant the air was filled with whirling
+copies of the Blazeton Weekly Courier.
+
+Henry, the horse, was a sober animal who had long ago reached the
+age of discretion.  But to have his old ears and eyes suddenly
+blanketed with a flapping white thing swooping apparently from
+nowhere was too much even for his sedate nerves.  He jumped
+sidewise.  The reins were jerked from the driver's hands and fell
+in the road.
+
+"Mercy on us!" shrieked Debby, clutching her companion about the
+waist.  "What--"
+
+"Let go of me!" howled Bailey, pushing her violently aside.  "Whoa!
+Stand still!"
+
+But Henry refused to stand still.  The flapping paper still clung
+to his agitated head.  He reared and pranced, jerking the sulky
+back and forth, its wheels still wedged in the ruts.  Bailey sprang
+to the ground to pick up the reins.  He seized them, but fell as he
+did so.  The tug at his bits turned Henry's head, literally and
+figuratively.  He reared and whirled about.  The sulky rose on two
+wheels.  The screaming Mrs. Beasley collapsed against its downward
+side.  Another moment, and the whole upper half of the sulky--body,
+seat, curtains, and Debby--tilted over the lower wheels, and, the
+rusted bolts failing to hold, slid with a thump to the frozen road.
+The wind, catching it underneath as it slid, tipped it backward.
+Then Henry ran away.
+
+
+
+Miss Dawes, left alone in the house at the foot of the hill, had
+amused herself for a time with the Beasley library, which partially
+filled a shelf in the sitting room.  But "The Book of Martyrs" and
+"A Believer's Thoughts on Death" were not cheering literature,
+particularly as the author of the latter volume "thought" so
+dismally concerning the future of all who did not believe precisely
+as he did.  So the teacher laid down the book, with a shudder, and
+wandered about the room, inspecting the late Mr. Beasley's
+portrait, the photographs in splintwork frames, the "alum basket"
+on the mantel, the blue castles, blue trees, and blue people
+pictured on the window shades, and other works of art in the
+apartment.  She even peeped into the parlor, but the musty, shut-up
+smell of that dusky tomb was too much for her, and she sat down by
+the sitting-room window, under the empty bird cage, to look up the
+road and watch for the return of the sulky and its occupants.
+
+Sitting there, she was a witness of the alarming catastrophe on the
+hilltop, and reached the front gate just in time to see Henry go
+galloping by, dragging the four wheels and springs of the sulky,
+while, sprawled across the rear axle and still clinging to the
+reins, hung a familiar, howling, and most wickedly profane
+individual by the name of Bangs.
+
+The runaway dashed on toward the blacksmith shop.  Phoebe,
+bareheaded and coatless, ran up the hill.  Before she reached the
+crest, she was aware of muffled screams, which sounded as if the
+screamer was shut up in a trunk.
+
+"O-o-oh!" screamed Mrs. Beasley.  "O-o-oh!  Ow!  Let me out!  Help!
+I'm stuck!  My back's broke!  He-e-lp!"
+
+The upper part of the sulky, with its boxlike curtained top, lay on
+its side in the road.  From somewhere within the box came the
+groans and screams.  The gale swept the hilltop, and, for a quarter
+mile to leeward, the scenery was animated by soaring, fluttering
+copies of the Blazeton Courier, that swooped and ducked like
+mammoth white butterflies.
+
+The panting and alarmed teacher stooped and peered into the dark
+shadow between the dashboard and the back curtain.  All she could
+make out at first were a pair of thin ankles and "Congress" shoes
+in agitated motion.  These bobbed up and down behind the overturned
+seat and its displaced cushion.
+
+"O Mrs. Beasley!" screamed Phoebe.  "Are you hurt?"
+
+Debby, of course, did not hear the question.  She continued to
+groan and scream for help.  Her lungs were not injured, at all
+events.  The schoolmistress, dropping on her knees, reached into
+the sulky top and tugged at the seat.  It was rather tightly
+wedged, but she managed to loosen it and pull it toward her.
+
+The widow raised herself on an elbow and looked out between the
+flowers of her smashed bonnet.
+
+"Who is it?" she demanded.  "Oh, is that you, Miss Dorcas?  Oh, my
+soul and body!  Oh, my stars!  Oh, my goodness me!"
+
+"Are you hurt?" shrieked Phoebe.
+
+"Hey?  I don't know!  I don't know WHAT I be!  I don't know
+nothin'!"
+
+"Can you help yourself?  Can you get up?"
+
+"Hey?  I don't know.  Maybe I can if you haul that everlastin' seat
+out of the way.  Oh, my sakes alive!"
+
+Her rescuer pulled the seat forward, and, with an effort, tumbled
+it clear of the curtains.  Debby raised herself still higher.
+
+"Oh!" she groaned.  "Talk about--  Land sakes! who's comin'?  Men,
+ain't it?  Let me out of here quick! QUICK!"
+
+She scrambled out of her prison on hands and knees, and jumped to
+her feet with reassuring alacrity.  Her fur-collared cape was
+draped in a roll about her neck, and her bonnet hung jauntily over
+her left eye.
+
+"I'm a sight, ain't I?" she asked.  "Haul this bunnet straight,
+quick's ever you can.  Hurt?  No, no!  I ain't hurt none but my
+feelin's.  Hurry UP!  S'pose I want them men folks to see me with
+everything all hind side to?"
+
+Miss Dawes, relieved to find that the accident had had no serious
+consequences, and trying her hardest not to laugh, assisted the
+widow to rearrange her wearing apparel.  The blacksmith and his
+helper came running up the hill.
+
+"Hello, Debby!" hailed the former.  "What's the matter?  Hurt, be
+you?"
+
+Mrs. Beasley, whether she heard or not, did not deign to reply.
+
+"Get my horn out of that carriage," she ordered.  "Don't stand
+there gapin'.  Get it."
+
+The ear trumpet was resurrected from the interior of the vehicle.
+The widow adjusted it with dignity.
+
+"Had a spill, didn't you, Debby?" inquired the blacksmith.  "Upset,
+didn't you?"
+
+Debby glared at him.
+
+"No," she replied with sarcasm.  "Course I didn't upset!  Just
+thought I'd roll round in the road for the fun of it.  Smart
+question, that is!  Where's that Bailey Bangs gone to with the rest
+of my carriage?"
+
+The blacksmith pointed to his shop in the hollow.  Before it stood
+Mr. Bangs, holding Henry by the bridle, and staring in their
+direction.
+
+"He's all right," volunteered the "helper."  "The horse stopped
+runnin' soon's he got to the foot of the next hill."
+
+Mrs. Beasley was not, apparently, overjoyed at the news.
+
+"Humph!" she grunted.  "I 'most wish he'd broke his neck!  Pesky,
+careless thing! gettin' us run away with and upset.  Who's goin' to
+pay for fixin' my sulky, I want to know?"
+
+"Mr. Bangs will pay for it, I'm sure," said Phoebe soothingly.  "If
+he doesn't, I will.  Oh, Mrs. Beasley! did you find the diary?"
+
+"Diary?  No, no!  I told you I was afraid I'd burnt it up.  Well, I
+had, and a whole lot more of them old ones.  But I did get all them
+Arizona papers, and took the trouble to tote 'em all the way here
+so's you could look at 'em.  And now"--she shook with indignation
+and waved her hand toward a section of horizon where little white
+dots indicated the whereabouts of the Couriers--"now look where
+they be!  Blowed from Dan to Beersheby!  Come on to the house and
+let me set down.  I been standin' on my head till I'm tired.  Here,
+Jabez," to the blacksmith, "you tend to that carriage, will you?"
+
+She stalked off down the hill.  The schoolmistress turning to
+follow her, caught a glimpse of the "helper" doubled up with silent
+laughter, and the blacksmith grinning broadly as he stooped toward
+the capsized sulky.
+
+Phoebe was downcast and disappointed.  She was convinced, in her
+own mind, that the Honorable Atkins had some hidden motive for his
+espousal of the Thomas cause.  Asaph's fruitless quest in Orham had
+not shaken her faith.  Captain Cy had refused to seek Debby Beasley
+for information concerning the Thayers, and so she, on her own
+responsibility, had done so.  And this was the ridiculous ending of
+her journey.  The diary had been a forlorn hope; now that was
+burned.  Poor Bos'n! and poor--some one else!
+
+Debby marching down the hill, continued to sputter about the lost
+weeklies.
+
+"It's an everlastin' shame!" she declared.  "I'd just found the one
+with that advertisement in it and was readin' it.  I remember the
+part I read, plain as could be.  While we're eatin' dinner I'll
+tell you about it."
+
+But Miss Dawes did not care for dinner.  Like Mr. Tidditt and the
+captain, she had had about all the Debby Beasley she wanted.
+
+"Yes, yes, you will stop, too," affirmed the widow.  "I want to
+tell you more about Blazeton.  I can see that advertisement this
+minute, right afore my eyes--'Information wanted of my husband,
+Edward Higgins.  Five foot eight inches tall, sandy complected,
+brown hair, and yellowish mustache; not lame, but has a peculiar
+slight limp with his left foot--'"
+
+"What?" asked the schoolmistress, stopping short.
+
+"Hey?  'Has a peculiar limp with his left foot.'  I remember how
+Desire used to talk about that limp.  She said 'twas almost as if
+he stuttered with his leg.  He hurt it when he was up in Montana,
+and--"
+
+"Oh!" cried Miss Dawes.  The color had left her face.
+
+"Yes.  You see he used to be a miner or somethin' up there.  He'd
+never say much about his younger days, but one time he did tell
+that.  I'd just got as far as that limp when the sulky upset.  Talk
+about bein' surprised!  I never was so surprised in my life as when
+that horse critter rared up and--"
+
+Phoebe interrupted.  Her color had come back, and her eyes were
+shining.
+
+"Mrs. Beasley," she cried, "I think I shall change my mind.  I
+believe I will stay to dinner after all.  I'm EVER so much
+interested in Arizona."
+
+
+
+Bailey and the teacher began their long drive home about four
+o'clock.  The buggy axle had been fixed, and the wind was less
+violent.  Mr. Bangs was glum and moody.  He seemed to be thinking.
+
+"Say, teacher," he said at length, "I'd like to ask a favor of you.
+If it ain't necessary, I wish you wouldn't say nothin' about that
+upsettin' business to the folks to home.  It does sound so dum
+foolish!  I'll never hear the last of it."
+
+Miss Dawes, who had been in high spirits, now took a moment for
+reflection.
+
+"All right!" she said, nodding vigorously.  "We won't mention it,
+then.  We won't tell a soul.  You can say that I called at the
+Atwoods', if you want to; that will be true, because I did.  And
+we'll have Mrs. Beasley for our secret--yours and mine--until we
+decide to tell.  It's a bargain, Mr. Bangs.  We must shake hands on
+it."
+
+They shook hands, and Bailey, looking in her face, thought he never
+saw her look so well or as young.  She was pretty, he decided.
+Then he thought of his own choice of a wife, and--well, if he had
+any regrets, he hasn't mentioned them, not even to his fellow-
+member of the Board of Strategy.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE CAPTAIN REMEMBERS HIS AGE
+
+
+December was nearly over.  Christmas had come.  Bos'n had hung up
+her stocking by the base-burner stove, and found it warty and
+dropsical the next morning, with a generous overflow of gifts piled
+on the floor beneath it.  The Board of Strategy sent presents; so
+did Miss Dawes and Georgianna.  As for Captain Cy he spent many
+evening hours, after the rest of his household was in bed, poring
+over catalogues of toys and books, and the orders he sent to the
+big shops in Boston were lengthy and costly.  The little girl's
+eyes opened wide when she saw the stocking and the treasures heaped
+on the floor.  She sat in her "nighty" amidst the wonders, books,
+and playthings in a circle about her, and the biggest doll of all
+hugged close in her arms.  Captain Cy, who had arisen at half past
+five in order to be with her on the great occasion, was at least as
+happy as she.
+
+"Like 'em, do you?" he asked, smiling.
+
+"like 'em!  O Uncle Cy!  What makes everybody so good to me?"
+
+"I don't know.  Strange thing, ain't it--considerin' what a hard
+little ticket you are."
+
+Bos'n laughed.  She understood her "Uncle Cy," and didn't mind
+being called a "hard ticket" by him.
+
+"I--I--didn't believe anybody COULD have such a nice Christmas.  I
+never saw so many nice things."
+
+"Humph!  What do you like best?"
+
+The answer was a question, and was characteristic.
+
+"Which did you give me?" asked Bos'n.
+
+The captain would have dodged, but she wouldn't let him.  So one by
+one the presents he had given were indicated and put by themselves.
+The remainder were but few, but she insisted that the givers of
+these should be named.  When the sorting was over she sat silently
+hugging her doll and, apparently, thinking.
+
+"Well?" inquired the amused captain.  "Made up your mind yet?
+Which do you like best?"
+
+The child nodded.
+
+"Why, these, of course," she declared with emphasis, pointing with
+her dollie's slippered foot at Captain Cy's pile.
+
+"So?  Do, hey?  Didn't know I could pick so well.  All right; the
+first prize is mine.  Who takes the second?"
+
+This time Bos'n deliberated before answering.  At last, however,
+she bent forward and touched the teacher's gifts.
+
+"These," she said.  "I like these next best."
+
+Captain Cy was surprised.
+
+"Sho!" he exclaimed.  "You don't say!"
+
+"Yes.  I think I like teacher next to you.  I like Georgianna and
+Mr. Tidditt and Mr. Bangs, of course, but I like her a little
+better.  Don't you, uncle Cyrus?"
+
+The captain changed the subject.  He asked her what she should name
+her doll.
+
+The Board of Strategy came in during the forenoon, and the presents
+had to be shown to them.  While the exhibition was in progress Miss
+Dawes called.  And before she left Gabe Lumley drove up in the
+depot wagon bearing a big express package addressed to "Miss Emily
+Thomas, Bayport."
+
+"Humph!" exclaimed Captain Cy.  "Somethin' more for Bos'n, hey!
+Who in the world sent it, do you s'pose?"
+
+Asaph and Bailey made various inane suggestions as to the sender.
+Phoebe said nothing.  There was a frown on her face as she watched
+the captain get to work on the box with chisel and hammer.  It
+contained a beautiful doll, fully and expensively dressed, and
+pinned to the dress was a card--"To dear little Emmie, from her
+lonesome Papa."
+
+The Board of Strategy looked at the doll in wonder and astonishment.
+Captain Cy strode away to the window.
+
+"Well!" exclaimed Mr. Bangs.  "I didn't believe he had that much
+heart inside of him.  I bet you that cost four or five dollars;
+ain't that so, Cy?"
+
+The captain did not answer.
+
+"Don't you think so, teacher?" repeated Bailey, turning to Phoebe.
+"What ails you?  You don't seem surprised."
+
+"I'm not," replied the lady.  "I expected something of that sort."
+
+Captain Cy wheeled from the window.
+
+"You DID?" he asked.
+
+"Yes.  Miss Phinney said the other day she had heard that that man
+was going to give his daughter a beautiful present.  She was very
+enthusiastic about his generosity and self-sacrifice.  I asked who
+told her and she said Mr. Simpson."
+
+"Oh!  Tad?  Is that so!"  The captain looked at her.
+
+"Yes.  And I think there is no doubt that Simpson had orders to
+make the 'generosity' known to as many townspeople as possible."
+
+"Hum!  I see.  You figure that Thomas cal'lates 'twill help his
+popularity and make his case stronger; is that it?"
+
+"Not exactly.  I doubt if he ever thought of such a thing himself.
+But some one thought for him--and some one must have supplied the
+money."
+
+"Well, they say he's to work up in Boston."
+
+"I know.  But no one can tell where he works.  Captain Whittaker,
+this is Mr. Atkins's doing--you know it.  Now, WHY does he, a busy
+man, take such an interest in getting this child away from you?"
+
+Captain Cy shook his head and smiled.
+
+"Teacher," he said, "you're dead set on taggin' Heman with a
+mystery, ain't you?"
+
+"Miss Dawes," asked the forgetful Bailey, "when you and me went
+drivin' t'other day did you find out anything from--"
+
+Phoebe interrupted quickly.
+
+"Mr. Bangs," she said, "at what time do we distribute Christmas
+presents at your boarding house?  I suppose you must have many
+Christmas secrets to keep.  You keep a secret SO well."
+
+Mr. Bangs turned red.  The hint concerning secret keeping was not
+wasted.  He did not mention the drive again.
+
+A little later Captain Cy found Bos'n busily playing with the doll
+he had given her.  The other, her father's gift, was nowhere in
+sight.
+
+"I put her back in the box," said the child in reply to his
+question.  "She was awful pretty, but I think I'm goin' to love
+this one best."
+
+The remark seems a foolish thing to give comfort to a grown man,
+but Captain Cy found comfort in it, and comfort was what he needed.
+
+He needed it more as time went on.  In January the court gave its
+decision.  The captain's appointment as guardian was revoked.  With
+the father alive, and professedly anxious to provide for the
+child's support, nothing else was to be expected, so Mr. Peabody
+said.  The latter entered an appeal which would delay matters for a
+time, two or three months perhaps; meanwhile Captain Cy was to
+retain custody of Bos'n.
+
+But the court's action, expected though it was, made the captain
+very blue and downcast.  He could see no hope.  He felt certain
+that he should lose the little girl in the end, in spite of the
+long succession of appeals which his lawyer contemplated.  And what
+would become of her then?  What sort of training would she be
+likely to have?  Who would her associates be, under the authority
+of a father such as hers?  And what would he do, alone in the old
+house, when she had gone for good?  He could not bear to think of
+it, and yet he thought of little else.
+
+The evenings, after Bos'n had gone to bed, were the worst.  During
+the day he tried his best to be busy at something or other.  The
+doll house was finished, and he had begun to fashion a full-rigged
+ship in miniature.  In reality Emily, being a normal little girl,
+was not greatly interested in ships, but, because Uncle Cy was
+making it, she pretended to be vastly concerned about this one.  On
+Saturdays and after school hours she sat on a box in the wood shed,
+where the captain had put up a small stove, and watched him work.
+The taboo which so many of our righteous and Atkins-worshiping
+townspeople had put upon the Whittaker place and its occupants
+included her, and a number of children had been forbidden to play
+with her.  This, however, did not prevent their tormenting her
+about her father and her disreputable guardian.
+
+But the captain's evenings were miserable.  He no longer went to
+Simmons's.  He didn't care for the crowd there, and knew they were
+all "down" on him.  Josiah Dimick called occasionally, and the
+Board of Strategy often, but their conversation was rather
+tiresome.  There were times when Captain Cy hated Bayport, the
+house he had "fixed up" with such interest and pride, and the old
+sitting room in particular.  The mental picture of comfort and
+contentment which had been his dream through so many years of
+struggle and wandering, looked farther off than ever.  Sometimes he
+was tempted to run away, taking Bos'n with him.  But the captain
+had never run away from a fight yet; he had never abandoned a ship
+while there was a chance of keeping her afloat.  And, besides,
+there was another reason.
+
+Phoebe Dawes had come to be his chief reliance.  He saw a great
+deal of her.  Often when she walked home from school, she found him
+hanging over the front gate, and they talked of various things--of
+Bos'n's progress with her studies, of the school work, and similar
+topics.  He called her by her first name now, although in this
+there was nothing unusual--after a few weeks' acquaintance we
+Bayporters almost invariably address people by their "front" names.
+Sometimes she came to the house with Emily.  Then the three sat by
+the stove in the sitting room, and the apartment became really
+cheerful, in the captain's eyes.
+
+Phoebe was in good spirits.  She was as hopeful as Captain Cy was
+despondent.  She seemed to have little fear of the outcome of the
+legal proceedings, the appeals and the rest.  In fact, she now
+appeared desirous of evading the subject, and there was about her
+an air of suppressed excitement.  Her optimism was the best sort of
+bracer for the captain's failing courage.  Her advice was always
+good, and a talk with her left him with shoulders squared,
+mentally, and almost happy.
+
+One cold, rainy afternoon, early in February, she came in with
+Bos'n, who had availed herself of the shelter of the teacher's
+umbrella.  Georgianna was in the kitchen baking, and Emily had been
+promised a "saucer pie"--so the child went out to superintend the
+construction of that treat.
+
+"Set down, teacher," said Captain Cy, pushing forward a rocker.
+"My! but I'm glad to see you.  'Twas bluer'n a whetstone 'round
+here to-day.  What's the news--anything?"
+
+"Why, no," replied Phoebe, accepting the rocker and throwing open
+her wet jacket; "there's no news in particular.  But I wanted to
+ask if you had seen the Breeze?"
+
+"Um--hum," was the listless answer.  "I presume likely you mean the
+news about the appropriation, and the editorial dig at yours truly?
+Yes, I've seen it.  They don't bother me much.  I've got more
+important things on my mind just now."
+
+Congressman Atkins's pledge in his farewell speech, concerning the
+mighty effort he was to make toward securing the appropriation for
+Bayport harbor, was in process of fulfillment--so he had written to
+the local paper.  But, alas! the mighty effort was likely to prove
+unavailing.  In spite of the Honorable Heman's battle for his
+constituents' rights it seemed certain that the bill would not
+provide the thirty thousand dollars for Bayport; at least, not this
+year's bill.  Other and more powerful interests would win out and,
+instead, another section of the coast be improved at the public
+expense.  The congressman was deeply sorry, almost broken-hearted.
+he had battled hard for his beloved town, he had worked night and
+day.  But, to be perfectly frank, there was little or no hope.
+
+Few of us blamed Heman Atkins.  The majority considered his letter
+"noble" and "so feeling."  But some one must be blamed for a
+community disappointment like this, and the scapegoat was on the
+premises.  How about that "committee of one" self-appointed at town
+meeting?  How about the blatant person who had declared HE could
+have gotten the appropriation?  What had the "committee" done?
+Nothing! nothing at all!  He had not even written to the Capital--
+so far as anyone could find out--much less gone there.
+
+So, at Simmons's and the sewing circle, and after meeting on
+Sunday, Cy Whittaker was again discussed and derided.  And this
+week's Breeze, out that morning, contained a sarcastic editorial
+which mentioned no names, but hinted at "a certain now notorious
+person" who had boasted loudly, but who had again "been weighed in
+the balance of public opinion and found wanting."
+
+Miss Dawes did not seem pleased with the captain's nonchalant
+attitude toward the Breeze and its editorial.  She tapped the
+braided mat with her foot.
+
+"Captain Cyrus," she said, "if you intended doing nothing toward
+securing that appropriation why did you accept the responsibility
+for it at the meeting?"
+
+Captain Cy looked up.  Her tone reminded him of their first
+meeting, when she had reproved him for going to sleep and leaving
+Bos'n to the mercy of the Cahoon cow.
+
+"Well," he said, "afore this Thomas business happened, to knock all
+my plans on their beam ends, I'd done consider'ble thinkin' about
+that appropriation.  It seemed to me that there must be some reason
+for Heman's comin' about so sudden.  He was sartin sure of the
+thirty thousand for a spell; then, all to once, he begun to take in
+sail and go on t'other tack.  I don't know much about politics, but
+I know HE knows all the politics there is.  And it seemed to me
+that if a live man, one with eyes in his head, went to Washington
+and looked around he might find the reason.  And, if he did find
+it, maybe Heman could be coaxed into changin' his mind again.
+Anyhow, I was willin' to take the risk of tryin'; and, besides, Tad
+and Abe Leonard had me on the griddle at that meetin', and I spoke
+up sharp--too sharp, maybe."
+
+"But you still believe that you MIGHT help if you went to
+Washington?"
+
+"Yes.  I guess I do.  Anyhow, I'd ask some pretty p'inted questions.
+You see, I ain't lived here in Bayport all my life, and I don't
+swaller ALL the bait Heman heaves overboard."
+
+"Then why don't you go?"
+
+"Hey?  Why don't I go?  And leave Bos'n and--"
+
+"Emily would be all right and perfectly safe.  Georgianna thinks
+the world of her.  And, Captain Whittaker, I don't like to hear
+these people talk of you as they do.  I don't like to read such
+things in the paper, that you were only bragging in order to be
+popular, and meant to shirk when the time came for action.  I know
+they're not true.  I KNOW it!"
+
+Captain Cy was gratified, and his gratification showed in his
+voice.
+
+"Thank you, Phoebe," he said.  "I am much obliged to you.  But, you
+see, I don't take any interest in such things any more.  When I
+realize that pretty soon I've got to give up that little girl for
+good I can't bear to be away from her a minute hardly.  I don't
+like to leave her here alone with Georgianna and--"
+
+"I will keep an eye on her.  You trust me, don't you?"
+
+"Trust YOU?  By the big dipper, you're about the only one I CAN
+trust these days.  I don't know how I'd have pulled through this if
+you hadn't helped.  You're diff'rent from Ase and Bailey and their
+kind--not meanin' anything against them, either.  But you're broad-
+minded and cool-headed and--and--  Do you know, if I'd had a woman
+like you to advise me all these years and keep me from goin' off
+the course, I might have been somebody by now."
+
+"I think you're somebody as it is."
+
+"Don't talk that way.  I own up I like to hear you, but I'm 'fraid
+it ain't true.  You say I amount to somethin'.  Well, what?  I come
+back home here, with some money in my pocket, thinkin' that was
+about all was necessary to make me a good deal of a feller.  The
+old Cy Whittaker place, I said to myself, was goin' to be a real Cy
+Whittaker place again.  And I'd be a real Whittaker, a man who
+should stand for somethin', as my dad and granddad did afore me.
+The town should respect me, and I'd do things to help it along.
+And what's it all come to?  Why, every young one on the street is
+told to be good for fear he'll grow up like me.  Ain't that so?
+Course it's so!  I'm--"
+
+"You SHALL not speak so!  Do you imagine that you're not respected
+by everyone whose respect counts for anything?  Yes, and by others,
+too.  Don't you suppose Mr. Atkins respects you, down in his heart--
+if he has one?  Doesn't your housekeeper, who sees you every day,
+respect and like you?  And little Emily--doesn't she love you more
+than she does all the rest of us together?"
+
+"Well, I guess Bos'n does care for the old man some, that's a fact.
+She says she likes you next best, though.  Did you know that?"
+
+But Miss Dawes was indignant.
+
+"Captain Whittaker," she declared, "one would think you were a
+hundred years old to hear you.  You are always calling yourself an
+old man.  Does Mr. Atkins call himself old?  And he is older than
+you."
+
+"Well, I'm over fifty, Phoebe."  In spite of the habit for which he
+had just been reproached, the captain found this a difficult
+statement to make.
+
+"I know.  But you're younger than most of us at thirty-five.  You
+see, I'm confessing, too," she added with a laugh and a little
+blush.
+
+Captain Cy made a mental calculation.
+
+"Twenty years," he said musingly.  "Twenty years is a long time.
+No, I'm old.  And worse than that, I'm an old fool, I guess.  If I
+hadn't been I'd have stayed in South America instead of comin' here
+to be hooted out of the town I was born in."
+
+The teacher stamped her foot.
+
+"Oh, what SHALL I do with you!" she exclaimed.  "It is wicked for
+you to say such things.  Do you suppose that Mr. Atkins would find
+it necessary to work as he is doing to beat a fool?  And, besides,
+you're not complimentary to me.  Should I, do you think, take such
+an interest in one who was an imbecile?"
+
+"Well, 'tis mighty good of you.  Your comin' here so to help Bos'n's
+fight along is--"
+
+"How do you know it is Bos'n altogether?  I--"  She stopped
+suddenly, and the color rushed to her face.  She rose from the
+rocker.  "I--really, I don't see how we came to be discussing such
+nonsense," she said.  "Our ages and that sort of thing!  Captain
+Cyrus, I wish you would go to Washington.  I think you ought to
+go."
+
+But the captain's thoughts were far from Washington at that moment.
+His own face was alight, and his eyes shone.
+
+"Phoebe," he faltered unbelievingly, "what was you goin' to say?
+Do you mean that--that--"
+
+The side door of the house opened.  The next instant Mr. Tidditt, a
+dripping umbrella in his hand, entered the sitting room.
+
+"Hello, Whit!" he hailed.  "Just run in for a minute to say howdy."
+Then he noticed the schoolmistress, and his expression changed.
+"Oh! how be you, Miss Dawes?" he said.  "I didn't see you fust off.
+Don't run away on my account."
+
+"I was just going," said Phoebe, buttoning her jacket.  Captain Cy
+accompanied her to the door.
+
+"Good-by," she said.  "There was something else I meant to say, but
+I think it is best to wait.  I hope to have some good news for you
+soon.  Something that will send you to Washington with a light
+heart.  Perhaps I shall hear to-morrow.  If so, I will call after
+school and tell you."
+
+"Yes, do," urged the captain eagerly.  "You'll find me here
+waitin'.  Good news or not, do come.  I--I ain't said all I wanted
+to, myself."
+
+He returned to the sitting room.  The town clerk was standing by
+the stove.  He looked troubled.
+
+"What's the row, Ase?" asked Cy cheerily.  He was overflowing with
+good nature.
+
+"Oh, nothin' special," replied Mr. Tidditt.  "You look joyful
+enough for two of us.  Had good company, ain't you?"
+
+"Why, yes; 'bout as good as there is.  What makes you look so
+glum?"
+
+Asaph hesitated.
+
+"Phoebe was here yesterday, too, wan't she?" he asked.
+
+"Yup.  What of it?"
+
+"And the day afore that?"
+
+"No, not for three days afore that.  But what OF it, I ask you?"
+
+"Well, now, Cy, you mustn't get mad.  I'm a friend of yours, and
+friends ought to be able to say 'most anything to each other.  If--
+if I was you, I wouldn't let Phoebe come so often--not here, you
+know, at your house.  Course, I know she comes with Bos'n and all,
+but--"
+
+"Out with it!"  The captain's tone was ominous.  "What are you
+drivin' at?"
+
+The caller fidgeted.
+
+"Well, Whit," he stammered, "there's consider'ble talkin' goin' on,
+that's all."
+
+"Talkin'?  What kind of talkin'?"
+
+"Well, you know the kind.  This town does a good deal of it,
+'specially after church and prayer meetin'.  Seem's if they thought
+'twas a sort of proper place.  _I_ don't myself; I kind of like to
+keep my charity and brotherly love spread out through the week,
+but--"
+
+"Ase, are the folks in this town sayin' a word against Phoebe Dawes
+because she comes here to see--Bos'n?"
+
+"Don't--don't get mad, Whit.  Don't look at me like that.  _I_
+ain't said nothin'.  Why, a spell ago, at the boardin' house, I--"
+
+He told of the meal at the perfect boarding house where Miss Dawes
+championed his friend's cause.  Also of the conversation which
+followed, and his own part in it.  Captain Cy paced the floor.
+
+"I wouldn't have her come so often, Cy," pleaded Asaph.  "Honest, I
+wouldn't.  Course, you and me know they're mean, miser'ble liars,
+but it's her I'm thinkin' of.  She's a young woman and single.  And
+you're a good many years older'n she is.  And so, of course, you
+and she ain't ever goin' to get married.  And have you thought what
+effect it might have on her keepin' her teacher's place?  The
+committee's a majority against her as 'tis.  And--you know _I_
+don't think so, but a good many folks do--you ain't got the best
+name just now.  Darn it all!  I ain't puttin' this the way I'd
+ought to, but YOU know what I mean, don't you, Cy?"
+
+Captain Cy was leaning against the window frame, his head upon his
+arm.  He was not looking out, because the shade was drawn.  Tidditt
+waited anxiously for him to answer.  At last he turned.
+
+"Ase," he said, "I'm much obliged to you.  You've pounded it in
+pretty hard, but I cal'late I'd ought to have had it done to me.
+I'm a fool--an OLD fool, just as I said a while back--and nothin'
+nor NOBODY ought to have made me forget it.  For a minute or so I--
+but there! don't you fret.  That young woman shan't risk her job
+nor her reputation on account of me--nor of Bos'n, either.  I'll
+see to that.  And see here," he added fiercely, "I can't stop
+women's tongues, even when they're as bad as some of the tongues in
+this town, BUT if you hear a MAN say one word against Phoebe Dawes,
+only one word, you tell me his name.  You hear, Ase?  You tell me
+his name.  Now run along, will you?  I ain't safe company just
+now."
+
+Asaph, frightened at the effect of his words, hurriedly departed.
+Captain Cy paced the room for the next fifteen minutes.  Then he
+opened the kitchen door.
+
+"Bos'n," he called, "come in and set in my lap a while; don't you
+want to?  I'm--I'm sort of lonesome, little girl."
+
+
+
+The next afternoon, when the schoolmistress, who had been delayed
+by the inevitable examination papers, stopped at the Cy Whittaker
+place, she was met by Georgianna; Emily, who stood behind the
+housekeeper in the doorway, was crying.
+
+"Cap'n Cy has gone away--to Washin'ton," declared Georgianna.
+"Though what he's gone there for's more'n I know.  He said he'd
+send his hotel address soon's he got there.  He went on the three
+o'clock train."
+
+Phoebe was astonished.
+
+"Gone?" she repeated.  "So soon!  Why, he told me he should
+certainly be here to hear some news I expected to-day.  Didn't he
+leave any message for me?"
+
+The housekeeper turned red.
+
+"Miss Phoebe," she said, "he told me to tell you somethin', and
+it's so dreadful I don't hardly dast to say it.  I think his
+troubles have driven him crazy.  He said to tell you that you'd
+better not come to this house any more."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+CONGRESSMAN EVERDEAN
+
+
+In the old days, the great days of sailing ships and land merchant
+fleets, Bayport was a community of travelers.  Every ambitious man
+went to sea, and eventually, if he lived, became a captain.  Then
+he took his wife, and in most cases his children, with him on long
+voyages.  To the stay-at-homes came letters with odd, foreign
+stamps and postmarks.  Our what-nots and parlor mantels were filled
+with carved bits of ivory, gorgeous shells, alabaster candlesticks,
+and plaster miniatures of the Leaning Tower at Pisa or the Coliseum
+at Rome.  We usually began a conversation with "When my husband and
+I were at Hong Kong the last time--" or "I remember at Mauritius
+they always--"  New Orleans or 'Frisco were the nearest domestic
+ports the mention of which was considered worth while.
+
+But this is so no longer.  A trip to Boston is, of course, no
+novelty to the most of us; but when we visit New York we take care
+to advertise it beforehand.  And the few who avail themselves of
+the spring "cut rates" and go on excursions to Washington, plan
+definite programmes for each day at the Capital, and discuss them
+with envious friends for weeks in advance.  And if the prearranged
+programme is not scrupulously carried out, we feel that we have
+been defrauded.  It was the regret of Aunt Sophronia Hallett's life
+that, on her Washington excursion, she had not seen the "Diplomatic
+Corpse."  She saw the President and the Monument and Congress and
+"the relics in the Smithsonian Institute," but the "Corpse" was not
+on view; Aunt Sophronia never quite got over the disappointment.
+
+Probably no other Bayporter, in recent years, has started for
+Washington on such short notice or with so ill-defined a programme
+as Captain Cy.  He went because he felt that he must go somewhere.
+After the conversation with Asaph, he simply could not remain at
+home.  If Phoebe Dawes called, he knew that he must see her, and if
+he saw her, what should he say to her?  He could not tell her that
+she must not visit the Cy Whittaker place again.  If he did, she
+would insist upon the reason.  If he told her of the "town talk,"
+he felt sure, knowing her, that she would indignantly refuse to
+heed the malicious gossip.  And he was firmly resolved not to
+permit her to compromise her life and her future by friendship with
+a social outcast like himself.  As for anything deeper and more
+sacred than friendship, that was ridiculous.  If, for a moment, a
+remark of hers had led him to dream of such a thing, it was because
+he was, as he had so often declared, an "old fool."
+
+So Captain Cy had resolved upon flight, and he fled to Washington
+because the business of the "committee of one" offered a legitimate
+excuse for going there.  The blunt message he had intrusted to
+Georgianna would, he believed, arouse Phoebe's indignation.  She
+would not call again.  And when he returned to Bos'n, it would be
+to take up the child's fight alone.  If he lost that fight, or WHEN
+he lost it, he would close the Cy Whittaker place, and leave
+Bayport for good.
+
+He had been in Washington once before, years ago, when he was first
+mate of a ship and had a few weeks' shore leave.  Then he went
+there on a pleasure trip with some seagoing friends, and had a
+jolly time.  But there was precious little jollity in the present
+visit.  He had never felt so thoroughly miserable.  In order to
+forget, he made up his mind to work his hardest to discover why the
+harbor appropriation was not to be given to Bayport.
+
+The city had changed greatly.  He would scarcely have known it.
+He went to the hotel where he had stayed before, and found a big,
+modern building in its place.  The clerk was inclined to be rather
+curt and perfunctory at first, but when he learned that the captain
+was not anxious concerning the price of accommodations, but merely
+wanted a "comf'table berth somewheres on the saloon deck," and
+appeared to have plenty of money, he grew polite.  Captain Cy was
+shown to his room, where he left his valise.  Then he went down to
+dinner.
+
+After the meal was over, he seated himself in one of the big
+leather chairs in the hotel lobby, smoked and thought.  In the
+summer, before Bos'n came, and before her father had arisen to
+upset every calculation and wreck all his plans, the captain had
+given serious thought to what he should do if Congressman Atkins
+failed, as even then he seemed likely to do, in securing that
+appropriation.  The obvious thing, of course, would have been to
+hunt up Mr. Atkins and question him.  But this was altogether too
+obvious.  In the first place, the strained relations between them
+would make the interview uncomfortable; and, in the second, if
+there was anything underhand in Heman's backsliding on the
+appropriation, Atkins was too wary a bird to be snared with
+questions.
+
+But Captain Cy had another acquaintance in the city, the son of a
+still older acquaintance, who had been a wealthy shipping merchant
+and mine owner in California.  The son was also a congressman, from
+a coast State, and the captain had read of him in the papers.  A
+sketch of his life had been printed, and this made his identity
+absolutely certain.  Captain Cy's original idea had been to write
+to this congressman.  Now he determined to find and interview him.
+
+He inquired concerning him of the hotel clerk, who, like all
+Washington clerks, was a walking edition of "Who's Who at the
+Capital."
+
+"Congressman Everdean?" repeated the all-knowing young gentleman.
+"Yes.  He's in town.  Has rooms at the Gloria; second hotel on the
+right as you go up the avenue.  Only a short walk.  What can I do
+for you, sir?"
+
+The Gloria was an even bigger hotel than the one where the captain
+had his "berth."  An inquiry at the desk, of another important
+clerk, was answered with a brisk:
+
+"Mr. Everdean?  Yes, he rooms here.  Don't know whether he's in or
+not.  Evening, judge.  Nice Winter weather we're having."
+
+The judge, who was a ponderous person vaguely suggesting the great
+Heman, admitted that the weather was fine, patronizing it as he did
+so.  The clerk continued the conversation.  Captain Cy waited.  At
+length he spoke.
+
+"Excuse me, commodore," he said; "I don't like to break in until
+you've settled whether you have it snow or not, but I'm here to see
+Congressman Everdean.  Hadn't you better order one of your fo'mast
+hands to hunt him up?"
+
+The judge condescended to smile, as did several other men who stood
+near.  The clerk reddened.
+
+"Do you want to see Mr. Everdean?" he snapped.
+
+"Why, yes, I did.  But I can't see him from here without strainin'
+my eyesight."
+
+The clerk sharply demanded one of the captain's visiting cards.  He
+didn't get one, for the very good reason that there was none in
+existence.
+
+"Tell him an old friend of his dad's is here on the main deck
+waitin' for him," said Captain Cy.  "That'll do first rate.  Thank
+you, admiral."
+
+Word came that the congressman would be down in a few moments.  The
+captain beguiled the interval by leaning on the rail and regarding
+the clerk with an awed curiosity that annoyed its object exceedingly.
+The inspection was still on when a tall man, of an age somewhere
+in the early thirties, walked briskly up to the desk.
+
+"Who is it that wants to see me?" he asked.
+
+The clerk waved a deprecatory hand in Captain Cy's direction.  The
+newcomer turned.
+
+"My name is Everdean," he said.  "Are you--hey?--Great Scott!  Is
+it possible this is Captain Whittaker?"
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+"Well, I declare, Ed!" he exclaimed.  "I didn't believe you'd
+remember me after all these years.  You was nothin' but a boy when
+I saw you out in 'Frisco.  Well! well!  No wonder you're in
+Congress.  A man that can remember faces like that ought to be
+President."
+
+Everdean laughed as they shook hands.
+
+"Don't suppose I'd forget the chap who used to dine with us and
+tell me those sea stories, do you?" he said.  "I'm mighty glad to
+see you.  What are you doing here?  The last father and I heard of
+you, you were in South America.  Given up the sea, they said, and
+getting rich fast."
+
+Captain Cy chuckled.
+
+"It's a good thing I learned long ago not to believe all I hear,"
+he answered, "else I'd have been so sure I was rich that I'd have
+spent all I had, and been permanent boarder at the poorhouse by
+now.  No, thanks; I've had dinner.  Why, yes, I'll smoke, if you'll
+help along.  How's your father?  Smart, is he?"
+
+The congressman insisted that they should adjourn to his rooms.  An
+unmarried man, he kept bachelor's hall at the hotel during his stay
+in Washington.  There, in comfortable chairs, they spoke of old
+times, when the captain was seafaring and the Everdean home had
+been his while his ship was in port at 'Frisco.  He told of his
+return to Bayport, and the renovation of the old house.  Of Bos'n
+he said nothing.  At last Everdean asked what had brought him to
+Washington.
+
+"Well," said Captain Cy, "I'll tell you.  I'm like the feller in
+court without a lawyer; he said he couldn't tell whether he was
+guilty or not 'count of havin' no professional advice.  That's what
+I've come to you for, Ed--professional advice."
+
+He told the harbor appropriation story.  At the incident of the
+"committee of one" his friend laughed heartily.
+
+"Rather put your foot in it that time, Captain, didn't you?" he
+said.
+
+"Yup.  Then I got t'other one stuck tryin' to get the first clear.
+How's it look to you?  All straight, do you think? or is there a
+nigger in the wood pile?"
+
+Mr. Everdean seemed to reflect.
+
+"Well, Captain," he said, "I can't tell.  You're asking delicate
+questions.  Politicians are like doctors, they usually back up each
+other's opinions.  Still, you're at least as good a friend of mine
+as Atkins is.  Queer HE should bob up in this matter!  Why, he--but
+never mind that now.  I tell you, Captain Whittaker, you come
+around and have dinner with me to-morrow night.  In the meantime
+I'll see the chairman of the committee on that bill--one of the so-
+called 'pork' bills it is.  Possibly from him and some other
+acquaintances of mine I may learn something.  At any rate, you come
+to dinner."
+
+So the invitation was accepted, and Captain Cy went back to his own
+hotel and his room.  He slept but little, although it was not worry
+over the appropriation question which kept him awake.  Next morning
+he wrote a note to Georgianna, giving his Washington address.  With
+it he enclosed a long letter to Bos'n, telling her he should be
+home pretty soon, and that she must be a good girl and "boss the
+ship" during his absence.  He sent his regards to Asaph and Bailey,
+but Phoebe's name he did not mention.  Then he put in a miserable
+day wandering about the city.  At eight that evening he and his
+Western friend sat down at a corner table in the big dining room of
+the Gloria.
+
+The captain began to ask questions as soon as the soup was served,
+but Everdean refused to answer.
+
+"No, no," he said, "pleasure first and business afterwards; that's
+a congressional motto.  I can't talk Atkins with my dinner and
+enjoy it."
+
+"Can't, hey?  You wouldn't be popular at our perfect boarding house
+back home.  There they serve Heman hot for breakfast and dinner,
+and warm him over for supper.  All right, I can wait."
+
+The conversation wandered from Buenos Ayres to 'Frisco and back
+again until the cigars and coffee were reached.  Then the
+congressman blew a fragrant ring into the air and, from behind it,
+looked quizzically at his companion.
+
+"Well," he observed, "so far as that appropriation of yours is
+concerned--"
+
+He paused and blew a second ring.  Captain Cy stroked his beard.
+
+"Um--yes," he drawled, "now that you mention it, seems to me there
+was some talk of an appropriation."
+
+Mr. Everdean laughed.
+
+"I've been making inquiries," he said.  "I saw the chairman of the
+committee on the pork bill.  I know him well.  He's a good fellow,
+but--"
+
+"Yes, I know.  I've seen lots of politicians like that; they're all
+good fellers, but--  If I was in politics I'd make a law to cut
+'But' out of the dictionary."
+
+"Well, this chap really is a good fellow.  I asked about the thirty
+thousand dollars for your town.  He asked me why I didn't go to the
+congressman from that district, and not bother him about it.  I
+said perhaps I would go to the congressman later, but I came to him
+first."
+
+"Sartin.  Same as the feller with a sick mother-in-law stopped in
+at the undertaker's on his way to call the doctor.  All right;
+heave ahead."
+
+"Well, we had a rather long conversation.  I discovered that the
+Bayport item was originally included in the bill, but recently had
+been stricken out."
+
+"Yes, I see.  Uncle Sam had to economize, hey?  Save somethin' for
+a rainy day."
+
+"Well, possibly.  Still the bill is just as heavy.  Now, Captain
+Whittaker, I don't KNOW anything about this affair, and it's not my
+business.  But I've been about to-day, and I asked questions, and--
+I'm going to tell you a fairy tale.  It isn't as interesting as
+your sea yarns, but--  Do you like fairy stories?"
+
+"Land, yes!  Tell a few myself when it's necessary.  Sometimes I
+almost believe 'em.  Well?"
+
+"Of course, you must remember this IS a fairy story.  Let's suppose
+that once on a time--that's the way they always begin--once on a
+time there was a great man, great in his own country, who was sent
+abroad by his people to represent them among the rulers of the
+land.  So, in order to typically represent them, he dressed in glad
+and expensive raiment, went about in dignity, and--"
+
+"And whiskers.  Don't leave out the whiskers!"
+
+"All right--and whiskers.  And it came to pass that the people whom
+he represented wished to--to--er--bring about a certain needed
+improvement in their--their beautiful and enterprising community."
+
+"Sho! sho! how natural that sounds!  You must be a mind reader."
+
+"No.  But I have to make speeches in my own community occasionally.
+Well, the people asked their great man to get the money needed for
+this improvement from the rulers of the land aforementioned.  And
+he was at first all enthusiasm and upon the--the parchment scroll
+where such matters are inscribed was written the name of the
+beautiful and enterprising community, and the sum of money it asked
+for.  And the deal was as good as made.  Excuse the modern
+phraseology; my fairy lingo got mixed there."
+
+"Never mind.  I can get the drift just as well--maybe better."
+
+"And the deal was as good as made.  But before the vote was taken
+another chap came to the great man and said:  'Look here!  I want
+to get an appropriation of, say, fifty thousand dollars, to deepen
+and improve a river down in my State'--a Southern State we'll say.
+'I've been to the chairman of the pork bill committee, and he says
+it's impossible.  The bill simply can't be loaded any further.  But
+I find that you have an item in there for deepening and improving a
+harbor back in your own district.  Why don't you cut that item out--
+shove it over until next year?  You can easily find a satisfactory
+explanation for your constituents.  AND you want to remember this:
+the improvement of this river means that the--the--well, a certain
+sugar-growing company--can get their stuff to market at a figure
+which will send its stock up and up.  And you are said to own a
+considerable amount of that stock.  So why not drop the harbor item
+and substitute my river slice?  Then--'  Well, I guess that's the
+end of the tale."
+
+He paused and relit his cigar.  Captain Cy thoughtfully marked with
+his fork on the tablecloth.
+
+"Hum!" he grunted.  "That's a very interestin' yarn.  Yes, yes!
+don't know's I ever heard a more interestin' one.  I presume likely
+there ain't a mite of proof that it's true?"
+
+"Not an atom.  I told you it was a fairy tale.  And I mustn't be
+quoted in the matter.  Honestly, the most of it is guess work, at
+that.  But perhaps a 'committee of one,' dropping a hint at home,
+might at least arouse some uncomfortable questioning of a certain
+great man.  That's about all, though.  Proof is quite another
+thing."
+
+The captain pondered.  He was fully aware that the unpopularity of
+the "committee" would nullify whatever good its hinting might do.
+
+"Humph!" he grunted again.  "It's one thing to smell a rat and
+another to nail its tail to the floor.  But I'm mighty obliged to
+you, all the same.  And I'll think it over hard.  Say!  I can see
+one thing--you don't take a very big shine to Heman yourself."
+
+"Not too big--no.  Do you?"
+
+"Well, I don't wake up nights and cry for him."
+
+Everdean laughed.
+
+"That's characteristic," he said.  "You have your own way of
+putting things, Captain, and it's hard to be improved on.  Atkins
+has never done anything to me.  I just--I just don't like him,
+that's all.  Father never liked him, either, in the old days; and
+yet--and it's odd, too--he was the means of the old gentleman's
+making the most of his money."
+
+"He?  Who?  Not Heman?"
+
+"Yes, Heman Atkins.  But, so far as that goes, father started him
+toward wealth, I suppose.  At least, he was poor enough before the
+mine was sold."
+
+"What are you talkin' about?  Heman got his start tradin' over in
+the South Seas.  Sellin' the Kanakas glass beads and calico for
+pearls and copra--two cupfuls of pearls for every bead.  Anyhow,
+that's the way the yarn goes."
+
+"I can't help that.  He was just a common sailor who had run away
+from his ship and was gold mining in California.  And when he and
+his partner struck it rich father borrowed money, headed a company,
+and bought them out.  That mine was the Excelsior, and it's just as
+productive to-day as it ever was.  I rather think Atkins must be
+very sorry he sold.  I suppose, by right, I should be very grateful
+to your distinguished representative."
+
+"Well, I do declare!  Sho, sho!  Ain't that funny now?  He's never
+said a word about it at home.  I don't believe there's a soul in
+Bayport knows that.  We all thought 'twas South Sea tradin' that
+boosted Heman.  And your own dad!  I declare, this is a small
+world!"
+
+"It's odd father never told you about it.  It's one of the old
+gentleman's pet stories.  He came West in 1850, and was running a
+little shipping store in 'Frisco.  He met Atkins and the other
+young sailor, his partner, before they left their ship.  They were
+in the store, buying various things, and father got to know them
+pretty well.  Then they ran away to the diggings--you simply
+couldn't keep a crew in those times--and he didn't see them again
+for a good while.  Then they came in one day and showed him
+specimens from a claim they had back in the mountains.  They were
+mighty good specimens, and what they said about the claim convinced
+father that they had a valuable property.  So he went to see a few
+well-to-do friends of his, and the outcome was that a party was
+made up to go and inspect.  The young fellows were willing to sell
+out, for it was a quartz working and they hadn't the money to carry
+it on.
+
+"The inspection showed that the claim was likely to be even better
+than they thought, so, after some bargaining, the deal was
+completed.  They sold out for seventy-five thousand dollars, and it
+was the best trade father ever made.  He's so proud of his judgment
+and foresight in making it that I wonder he never told you the
+story."
+
+"He never did.  When was this?"
+
+"In '54.  What?"
+
+"I didn't speak.  The date seemed kind of familiar to me, that's
+all.  Seem's as if I heard it recent, but I can't remember when.
+Seventy-five thousand, hey?  Well, that wan't so bad, was it?  With
+that for a nest egg, no wonder Heman's managed to hatch a pretty
+respectable brood of dollars."
+
+"Oh, the whole seventy-five wasn't his, of course.  Half belonged
+to his partner.  But the poor devil didn't live to enjoy it.  After
+the articles were signed and before the money was paid over, he was
+taken sick with a fever and died."
+
+"Hey?  He died?  With a FEVER?"
+
+"Yes.  But he left a pretty good legacy to his heirs, didn't he.
+For a common sailor--or second mate; I believe that's what he was--
+thirty-seven thousand five hundred is doing well.  It must have
+come as a big surprise to them.  The whole sum was paid to Atkins,
+who--  What's the matter with you?"
+
+Captain Cy was leaning back in his chair.  He was as white as the
+tablecloth.
+
+"Are you ill?" asked the congressman anxiously.  "Take some water.
+Shall I call--"
+
+The captain waved his hand.
+
+"No, no!" he stammered.  "No! I'm all right.  Do you--for the
+Lord's sake tell me this!  What was the name of this partner that
+died?"
+
+Mr. Everdean looked curiously at his friend before he answered.
+
+"Sure you're not sick?" he asked.  "Well, all right.  The partner's
+name?  Why, I've heard it often enough.  It's on the deed of sale
+that father has framed in his room at home.  The old gentleman is
+as proud of that as anything in the house.  The name was--was--"
+
+"For God sakes," cried Captain Cy, "don't say 'twas John Thayer!
+'Cause if you do I shan't believe it."
+
+"That's what it was--John Thayer.  How did you guess?  Did you know
+him?  I remember now that he was another Down Easter, like Atkins."
+
+The captain did not answer.  He clasped his forehead with both
+hands and leaned his elbows on the table.  Everdean was plainly
+alarmed.
+
+"I'm going to call a doctor," he began, rising.  But Captain Cy
+waved him back again.
+
+"Set still!" he ordered.  "Set still, I tell you!  You say the
+whole seventy-five thousand was paid to Heman, but that John Thayer
+signed the bill of sale afore he died, as half partner?  And your
+dad's got the original deed and--and--he remembers the whole
+business?"
+
+"Yes, he's got the deed--framed.  It's on record, too, of course.
+Remembers?  I should say he did!  He'll talk for a week on that
+subject, if you give him a chance."
+
+The captain sprang to his feet.  His chair tipped backward and fell
+to the floor.  An obsequious waiter ran to right it, but Captain Cy
+paid no attention to him.
+
+"Where's my coat?" he demanded.  "Where's my coat and hat?"
+
+"What ails you?" asked Everdean.  "Are you going crazy?"
+
+"Goin' CRAZY?  No, no!  I'm goin' to California.  When's the next
+train?"
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE TOPPLING OF A MONUMENT
+
+
+The Honorable Heman Atkins sat in the library of his Washington
+home, before a snapping log fire, reading a letter.  Mr. Atkins
+had, as he would have expressed it, "served his people" in Congress
+for so many years that he had long since passed the hotel stage of
+living at the Capital.  He rented a furnished house on an eminently
+respectable street, and the polished doorplate bore his name in
+uncompromising characters.
+
+The library furniture was solid and dignified.  Its businesslike
+appearance impressed the stray excursionist from the Atkins district,
+when he or she visited the great man in whose affairs we felt such a
+personal interest.  Particularly impressive and significant was a
+map of the district hanging over the congressman's desk, and an oil
+painting of the Atkins mansion at Bayport, which, with the iron dogs
+and urns conspicuous in its foreground, occupied the middle of the
+largest wall space.
+
+The cheery fire was very comforting on a night like this, for the
+sleet was driving against the windowpanes, the sidewalks were ankle
+deep in slush, and the wet, cold wind from the Potomac was whistling
+down the street.  Somewhere about the house an unfastened shutter
+slammed in the gusts.  Mr. Atkins should have been extremely
+comfortable as he sat there by the fire.  He had spent many
+comfortable winters in that room.  But now there was a frown on his
+face as he read the letter in his hand.  It was from Simpson, and
+stated, among other things, that Cyrus Whittaker had been absent
+from Bayport for over two weeks, and that no one seemed to know
+where he had gone.  "The idea seems to be that he started for
+Washington," wrote Tad; "but if that is so, it is queer you haven't
+seen him.  I am suspicious that he is up to something about that
+harbor business.  I should keep my eye peeled if I was you."
+
+Alicia, the Atkins hopeful, rustled into the room.
+
+"Papa," she said, "I've come to kiss you good night."
+
+Her father performed the ceremony in a perfunctory way.
+
+"All right, all right," he said.  "Now run along to bed and don't
+bother me, there's a good girl.  I wish," he added testily to the
+housekeeper who had followed Alicia into the room, "I wish you'd
+see to that loose blind.  It makes me nervous.  Such things as that
+should be attended to without specific orders from me."
+
+The housekeeper promised to attend to the blind.  She and the girl
+left the library.  Heman reread the Simpson letter.  Then he
+dropped it in his lap and sat thinking and twirling his eyeglasses
+at the end of their black cord.  His thoughts seemed to be not of
+the pleasantest.  The lines about his mouth had deepened during the
+last few months.  He looked older.
+
+The telephone bell rang sharply.  Mr. Atkins came out of his
+reverie with a start, arose and walked across the room to the wall
+where the instrument hung.  It was before the days of the
+convenient desk 'phone.  He took the receiver from its hook and
+spoke into the transmitter.
+
+"Hello!" he said.  "Hello!  Yes, yes! stop ringing.  What is it?"
+
+The wire buzzed and purred in the storm.  "Hello!" said a voice.
+"Hello, there!  Is this Mr. Atkins's house?"
+
+"Yes; it is.  What do you want?"
+
+"Hey?  Is this where the Honorable Heman Atkins lives?"
+
+"Yes, yes, I tell you!  This is Mr. Atkins speaking.  What do you
+want?"
+
+"Oh! is that you, Heman?  This is Whittaker--Cy Whittaker.
+Understand?"
+
+Mr. Atkins understood.  Yet for an instant he did not reply.  He
+had been thinking, as he sat by the fire, of certain persons and
+certain ugly, though remote, possibilities.  Now, from a mysterious
+somewhere, one of those persons was speaking to him.  The hand
+holding the receiver shook momentarily.
+
+"Hello!  I say, Heman, do you understand?  This is Whittaker
+talkin'."
+
+"I--er--understand," said the congressman, slowly.  "Well, sir?"
+
+"I'm here in Washin'ton."
+
+"I have been informed that you were in the city.  Well, sir?"
+
+"Oh! knew I was here, did you?  Is that so?  Who told you?  Tad
+wrote, I suppose, hey?"
+
+The congressman did not reply immediately.  This man, whom he
+disliked more than anyone else in the world, had an irritating
+faculty of putting his finger on the truth.  And the flippancy in
+the tone was maddening.  Mr. Atkins was not used to flippancy.
+
+"I believe I am not called upon to disclose my source of
+information," he said with chilling dignity.  "It appears to have
+been trustworthy.  I presume you have 'phoned me concerning the
+appropriation matter.  I do not recognize your right to intrude in
+that affair, and I shall decline to discuss it.  Yes, sir.  To my
+people, to those who have a right to question, I am and shall
+always be willing to explain my position.  Good night."
+
+"Wait!  Hello!  Hold on a minute.  Don't get mad, Heman.  I only
+wanted to say just a word.  You'll let me say a word, won't you?"
+
+This was more like it.  This was more nearly the tone in which Mr.
+Atkins was wont to be addressed.  It was possible that the man,
+recognizing the uselessness of further opposition, desired to
+surrender.
+
+"I cannot," declared the Honorable, "understand why you should wish
+to speak with me.  We have very little in common, very little, I'm
+thankful to say.  However, I will hear you briefly.  Go on."
+
+"Much obliged.  Well, Heman, I only wanted to say that I thought
+maybe you'd better have a little talk with me.  I'm here at the
+hotel, the Regent.  You know where 'tis, I presume likely.  I guess
+you'd better come right down and see me."
+
+Heman gasped, actually gasped, with astonishment.
+
+"_I_ had better come and see YOU?  I--!  Well, sir!  WELL!  I am not
+accustomed--"
+
+"I know, but I think you'd better.  It's dirty weather, and I've
+got cold somehow or other.  I ain't feelin' quite up to the mark,
+so I cal'late I'll stay in port much as I can.  You come right
+down.  I'll be in my room, and the hotel folks 'll tell you where
+'tis.  I'll be waitin' for you."
+
+Mr. Atkins breathed hard.  In his present frame of mind he would
+have liked to deliver a blast into that transmitter which would
+cause the person at the other end of the line to shrivel under its
+heat.  But he was a politician of long training, and he knew that
+such blasts were sometimes expensive treats.  It might be well to
+hear what his enemy had to say.  But as to going to see him--that
+was out of the question.
+
+"I do not," he thundered, "I do not care to continue this
+conversation.  If--if you wish to see me, after what has taken
+place between us, I am willing, in spite of personal repugnance, to
+grant you a brief interview.  My servants will admit you here at
+nine o'clock to-morrow morning.  But I tell you now, that your
+interference with this appropriation matter is as useless as it is
+ridiculous and impudent.  It is of a piece with the rest of your
+conduct."
+
+"All right, Heman, all right," was the calm answer.  "I don't say
+you've got to come.  I only say I guess you'd better.  I'm goin'
+back to Bayport tomorrer, early.  And if I was you I'd come and see
+me to-night."
+
+"I have no wish to see you.  Nor do I care to talk with you further.
+That appropriation--"
+
+"Maybe it ain't all appropriation."
+
+"Then I cannot understand--"
+
+"I know, but _I_ understand.  I've come to understand consider'ble
+many things in the last fortni't.  There!  I can't holler into this
+machine any longer.  I've been clear out to 'Frisco and back in
+eleven days, and I got cold in those blessed sleepin' cars.  I--"
+
+The receiver fell from the congressman's hand.  It was a difficult
+object to pick up again.  Heman groped for it in a blind, strangely
+inadequate way.  Yet he wished to recover it very much.
+
+"Wait! wait!" he shouted anxiously.  "I--I--I dropped the--  Are
+you there, Whittaker?  Are you--  Oh! yes! I didn't--  Did you say--
+er--'Frisco?"
+
+"Yes, San Francisco, California.  I've been West on a little
+cruise.  Had an interestin' time.  It's an interestin' place; don't
+you think so?  Well, I'm sorry you can't come.  Good night."
+
+"Wait!" faltered the great man.  "I--I--let me think, Cyrus.  I do
+not wish to seem--er--arrogant in this matter.  It is not usual for
+me to visit my constituents, but--but--I have no engagement this
+evening, and you are not well, and--  Hello! are you there?  Hello!
+Why, under the circumstances, I think--  Yes, I will come.  I'll
+come--er--at once."
+
+The telephone enables one to procure a cab in a short time.  Yet,
+to Heman Atkins, that cab was years in coming.  He paced the
+library floor, his hand to his forehead and his brain whirling.  It
+couldn't be!  It must be a coincidence!  He had been an idiot to
+display his agitation and surrender so weakly.  And yet--and yet--
+
+The ride through the storm to the Regent Hotel gave him opportunity
+for more thought.  But he gained little comfort from thinking.  If
+it was a coincidence, well and good.  If not--
+
+A bell boy conducted him to the Whittaker room "on the saloon
+deck."  It was a small room, very different from the Atkins
+library, and Captain Cy, in a cane-seated chair, was huddled close
+to the steam radiator.  He looked far from well.
+
+"Evenin', Heman," he said as the congressman entered.  "Pretty
+dirty night, ain't it?  What we'd call a gray no'theaster back
+home.  Sit down.  Don't mind my not gettin' up.  This heatin'
+arrangement feels mighty comf'table just now.  If I get too far
+away from it I shiver my deck planks loose.  Take off your things."
+
+Mr. Atkins did not remove his overcoat.  His hat he tossed on the
+bed.  He glanced fearfully at his companion.  The latter's greeting
+had been so casual and everyday that he took courage.  And the
+captain looked anything but formidable as he hugged the radiator.
+Perhaps things were not so bad as he had feared.  He resolved not
+to seem alarmed, at all events.
+
+"Have a cigar, Heman?" said Captain Cy.  "No?  Well, all right; I
+will, if you don't mind."
+
+He lit the cigar.  The congressman cleared his throat.
+
+"Cyrus," he said, "I am not accustomed to run at the beck and call
+of my--er--acquaintances, but, even though we have disagreed of
+late, even though to me your conduct seems quite unjustifiable,
+still, for the sake of our boyhood friendship, and, because you are
+not well, I--er--came."
+
+Captain Cy coughed spasmodically, a cough that seemed to be tearing
+him to pieces.  He looked at his cigar regretfully, and laid it on
+the top of the radiator.
+
+"Too bad," he observed.  "Tobacco gen'rally iles up my talkin'
+machinery, but just now it seems to make me bark like a ship's dog
+shut up in the hold.  Why, yes, Heman, I see you've come.  Much
+obliged to you."
+
+This politeness was still more encouraging.  Atkins leaned back in
+his chair and crossed his legs.
+
+"I presume," he said, "that you wish to ask concerning the
+appropriation.  I regret--"
+
+"You needn't.  I guess we'll get the appropriation."
+
+Heman's condescension vanished.  He leaned forward and uncrossed
+his legs.
+
+"Indeed?" he said slowly, his eyes fixed on the captain's placid
+face.
+
+"Yes--indeed."
+
+"Whittaker, what are you talking about?  Do you suppose that I have
+been the representative of my people in Congress all these years
+without knowing whereof I speak?  They left the matter in my hands,
+and your interference--"
+
+"I ain't goin' to interfere.  I'M goin' to leave it in your hands,
+too.  And I cal'late you'll be able to find a way to get it.
+Um--hum, I guess likely you will."
+
+The visitor rose to his feet.  The time had come for another blast
+from Olympus.  He raised the mighty right arm.  But Captain Cy
+spoke first.
+
+"Sit down, Heman," said the captain quietly.  "Sit down.  This
+ain't town meetin'.  Never mind the appropriation now.  There's
+other matters to be talked about first.  Sit down, I tell you."
+
+Mr. Atkins was purple in the face, but he sat down.  The captain
+coughed again.
+
+"Heman," he began when the spasm was over, "I asked you to come
+here to-night for--well, blessed if I know exactly.  It didn't make
+much difference to me whether you came or not."
+
+"Then, sir, I must say that, of all the impudent--"
+
+"S-s-h-h! for the land sakes!  Speechmakin' must be as bad as the
+rum habit, when a feller's got it chronic as you have.  No, it
+didn't make much difference to me whether you came or not.  But,
+honest, you've got to be a kind of Bunker Hill monument to the
+folks back home.  They kneel down at your foundations and look up
+at you, and tell each other how many foot high you are, and what it
+cost to build you, and how you stand for patriotism and purity,
+till--well, _I_ couldn't see you tumble down without givin' you a
+chance.  I couldn't; 'twould be like blowin' up a church."
+
+The purple had left the Atkins face, but the speechmaking habit is
+not likely to be broken.
+
+"Cyrus Whittaker," he stammered, "have you been drinking?  Your
+language to me is abominable.  Why I permit myself to remain here
+and listen to such--"
+
+"If you'll keep still I'll tell you why.  And, if I was you, I
+wouldn't be too anxious to find out.  This everlastin' cold don't
+make me over 'n' above good-tempered, and when I think of what
+you've done to that little girl, or what you tried to do, I have to
+hold myself down tight, TIGHT, and don't you forget it!  Now, you
+keep quiet and listen.  It'll be best for you, Heman.  Your cards
+ain't under the table any longer.  I've seen your hand, and I know
+why you've been playin' it.  I know the whole game.  I've been
+West, and Everdean and I have had a talk."
+
+Mr. Atkins had again risen from the chair.  Now he fell heavily
+back into it.  His lips moved as if he meant to speak, but he did
+not.  At the mention of the Everdean name he made a queer, choking
+sound in his throat.
+
+"I know the whole business, Heman," went on the captain.  "I know
+why you was so knocked over when you learned who Bos'n was, the
+night of the party.  I know why you took up with that blackguard,
+Thomas, and why you've spent your good money hirin' lawyers for
+him.  I know about the mine.  I know the whole thing from first to
+last.  Shall I tell you?  Do you want to hear it?"
+
+The great man did not answer.  A drop of perspiration shone on his
+high forehead, and the veins of his big, white hands stood out as
+he clutched the arms of his chair.  The monument was tottering on
+its base.
+
+"It's a dirty mess, the whole of it," continued Captain Cy.  "And
+yet, I can see--I suppose I can see some excuse for you at the
+beginnin'.  When old man Everdean and his crowd bought you and John
+Thayer out, 'way back there in '54, after John died, and all the
+money was put into your hands, I cal'late you was honest then.  I
+wouldn't wonder if you MEANT to hand over the thirty-seven thousand
+five hundred dollars to your partner's widow.  But 'twas harder and
+more risky to send money East in them days than 'tis now, and so
+you waited, thinkin' maybe that you'd fetch it to Emily when you
+come yourself.  But you didn't come home for some years; you went
+tradin' down along the Feejees and around that way.  That's how I
+reasoned it out these last few days on the train.  I give you
+credit for bein' honest first along.
+
+"But never mind whether you was or not, you haven't been since.
+You never paid over a cent of that poor feller's money--honest
+money, that belonged to his heirs, and belongs to 'em now.  You've
+hung onto it, stole it, used it for yours.  And Emily worked and
+scratched for a livin' and died poor.  And Mary, she died, after
+bein' abused and deserted by that cussed husband of hers.  And you
+thought you was safe, I cal'late.  And then Bos'n turns up right in
+your own town, right acrost the road from you!  By the big dipper!
+it's enough to make a feller believe that the Almighty does take a
+hand in straightenin' out such things, when us humans bungle 'em--
+it is so!
+
+"Course I ain't sure, Heman, what you meant to do when you found
+that the child you'd stole that money from was goin' to be under
+your face and eyes till you or she died.  I cal'late you was afraid
+I'd find somethin' out, wan't you?  I presume likely you thought
+that I, not havin' quite the reverence for you that the rest of the
+Bayporters have, might be sharp enough or lucky enough to smell a
+rat.  Perhaps you suspicioned that I knew the Everdeans.  Anyhow,
+you wanted to get the child as fur out of your sight and out of my
+hands as you could--ain't that so?  And when her dad turned up, you
+thought you saw your chance.  Heman, you answer me this:  Ain't it
+part of your bargain with Thomas that when he gets his little girl,
+he shall take her and clear out, away off somewheres, for good?
+Ain't it, now--what?"
+
+The monument was swaying, was swinging from side to side, but it
+did not quite fall--not then.  The congressman's cheeks hung
+flabby, his forehead was wet, and he shook from head to foot; but
+he clenched his jaws and made one last attempt at defiance.
+
+"I--I don't know what you mean," he declared.  "You--you seem
+to be accusing me of something.  Of stealing, I believe.  Do you
+understand who I am?  I have some influence and reputation, and it
+is dangerous to--to try to frighten me.  Proofs are required in
+law, and--"
+
+"S-s-h-h!  You know I've got the proofs.  They were easy enough to
+get, once I happened on the track of 'em.  Lord sakes, Heman, I
+ain't a fool!  What's the use of your pretendin' to be one?
+There's the deed out in 'Frisco, with yours and John's name on it.
+There's the records to prove the sale.  There's the receipt for the
+seventy-five thousand signed by you, on behalf of yourself and your
+partner's widow.  There's old man Everdean alive and competent to
+testify.  There's John Thayer's will on file over to Orham.
+Proofs!  Why, you THIEF! if it's proofs you want, I've got enough
+to send you to state's prison for the rest of your life.  Don't you
+dare say 'proofs' to me again!  Heman Atkins, you owe me, as
+Bos'n's guardian, thirty-seven thousand five hundred dollars, with
+interest since 1854.  What you goin' to do about it?"
+
+Here was one ray, a feeble ray, of light.
+
+"You're not her guardian," cried Atkins.  "The courts have thrown
+you out.  And your appeal won't stand, either.  If any money is
+due, it belongs to her father.  She isn't of age!  No, sir! her
+father--"
+
+Captain Cy's patience had been giving way.  Now he lost it
+altogether.  He strode across the room and shook his forefinger
+in his victim's face.
+
+"So!" he cried.  "That's your tack, is it?  By the big dipper!  You
+GO to her father--just you go to him and tell him!  Just hint to
+him that you owe his daughter thirty-odd thousand dollars, and see
+what he'll do.  Good heavens above! he was ready to sell her out to
+me for fifty dollars' wuth of sand bank in Orham.  Almost ready, he
+was, till you offered a higher price to him to fight.  Why, he'll
+have your hide nailed up on the barn door!  If you don't pay him
+every red copper, down on the nail, he'll wring you dry.  And then
+he'll blackmail you forever and ever, amen!  Unless, of course, _I_
+go home and stop the blackmail by printing my story in the Breeze.
+I've a precious good mind to do it.  By the Almighty, I WILL do it!
+unless you come off that high horse of yours and talk like a man."
+
+And then the monument fell, fell prostrate, with a sickly, pitiful
+crash.  If we of Bayport could have seen our congressman then!  The
+great man, great no longer, broke down completely.  He cried like a
+baby.  It was all true--all true.  He had not meant to steal, at
+first.  He had been led into using the money in his business.  Then
+he had meant to send it to the heirs, but he didn't know their
+whereabouts.  Captain Cy smiled at this excuse.  And now he
+couldn't pay--he COULDN'T.  He had hardly that sum in the world.
+He had lost money in stocks, his property in the South had gone to
+the bad!  He would be ruined.  He would have to go to prison.  He
+was getting to be an old man.  And there was Alicia, his daughter!
+Think of her!  Think of the disgrace!  And so on, over and over,
+with the one recurring burden--what was the captain going to do?
+what was he going to do?  It was a miserable, dreadful exhibition,
+and Captain Cy could feel no pride in his triumph.
+
+"There! there!" he said at last.  "Stop it, man; stop it, for
+goodness sakes!  Pull yourself together.  I guess we can fix it up
+somehow.  I ain't goin' to be too hard on you.  If it wan't for
+your meanness in bein' willin' to let Bos'n suffer her life long
+with that drunken beast of a dad of hers, I'd feel almost like
+tellin' you to get up and forget it.  But THAT'S got to be stopped.
+Now, you listen to me."
+
+Heman listened.  He was on his knees beside the bed, his face
+buried in his arms, and his gray hair, the leonine Atkins hair,
+which he was wont to toss backward in the heated periods of his
+eloquence, tumbled and draggled.  Captain Cy looked down at him.
+
+"This whole business about Bos'n must be stopped," he said, "and
+stopped right off.  You tell your lawyers to drop the case.  Her
+dad is only hangin' around because you pay him to.  He don't want
+her; he don't care what becomes of her.  If you pay him enough,
+he'll go, won't he? and not come back?"
+
+The congressman raised his head.
+
+"Why, yes," he faltered; "I think he will.  Yes, I think I could
+arrange that.  But, Cyrus--"
+
+The captain held up his hand.
+
+"I intend to look out for Bos'n," he said.  "She cares for me
+more'n anyone else in the world.  She's as much to me as my own
+child ever could be, and I'll see that she is happy and provided
+for.  I'm religious enough to believe she was sent to me, and I
+intend to stick to my trust.  As for the money--"
+
+"Yes, yes!  The money?"
+
+"Well, I won't be too hard on you that way, either.  We'll talk
+that over later on.  Maybe we can arrange for you to pay it a
+little at a time.  You can sign a paper showin' that you owe it,
+and we'll fix the payin' to suit all hands.  'Tain't as if the
+child was in want.  I've got some money of my own, and what's
+mine's hers.  I think we needn't worry about the money part."
+
+"God bless you, Cyrus!  I--"
+
+"Yes, all right.  I'm sure your askin' for the blessin' 'll be a
+great help.  Now, you do your part, and I'll do mine.  No one knows
+of this business but me.  I didn't tell Everdean a word.  He don't
+know why I hustled out there and back, nor why I asked so many
+questions.  And he ain't the kind to pry into what don't concern
+him.  So you're pretty safe, I cal'late.  Now, if you don't mind, I
+wish you'd run along home.  I'm--I'm used up, sort of."
+
+Mr. Atkins arose from his knees.  Even then, broken as he was--he
+looked ten years older than when he entered the room--he could
+hardly believe what he had just heard.
+
+"You mean," he faltered, "Cyrus, do you mean that--that you're not
+going to reveal this--this--"
+
+"That I'm not goin' to tell on you?  Yup; that's what I mean.  You
+get rid of Thomas and squelch that law case, and I'll keep mum.
+You can trust me for that."
+
+"But--but, Cyrus, the people at home?  Your story in the Breeze?
+You're not--"
+
+"No, they needn't know, either.  It'll be between you and me."
+
+"God bless you!  I'll never forget--"
+
+"That's right.  You mustn't.  Forgettin' is the one thing you
+mustn't do.  And, see here, you're boss of the political fleet in
+Bayport; you steer the school committee now.  Phoebe Dawes ain't
+too popular with that committee; I'd see that she was popularized."
+
+"Yes, yes; she shall be.  She shall not be disturbed.  Is there
+anything else I can do?"
+
+"Why, yes, I guess there is.  Speakin' of popularity made me think
+of it.  That harbor appropriation had better go through."
+
+A very faint tinge of color came into the congressman's chalky
+face.  He hesitated in his reply.
+
+"I--I don't know about that, Cyrus," he said.  "The bill will
+probably be voted on in a few days.  It is made up and--"
+
+"Then I'd strain a p'int and make it over.  I'd work real hard on
+it.  I'm sorry about that sugar river, but I cal'late Bayport 'll
+have to come first.  Yes, it'll have to, Heman; it sartin will."
+
+The reference to the "sugar river" was the final straw.  Evidently
+this man knew everything.
+
+"I--I'll try my best," affirmed Heman.  "Thank you, Cyrus.  You
+have been more merciful than I had a right to expect."
+
+"Yes, I guess I have.  Why do I do it?"  He smiled and shook his
+head.  "Well, I don't know.  For two reasons, maybe.  First, I'd
+hate to be responsible for tippin' over such a sky-towerin' idol as
+you've been to make ruins for Angie Phinney and the other blackbirds
+to peck at and caw over.  And second--well, it does sound presumin',
+don't it, but I kind of pity you.  Say, Heman," he added with a
+chuckle, "that's a kind of distinction, in a way, ain't it?  A good
+many folks have hurrahed over you and worshipped you--some of 'em, I
+guess likely, have envied you; but, by the big dipper! I do believe
+I'm the only one in this round world that ever PITIED you.  Good-by.
+The elevator's right down the hall."
+
+It required some resolution for the Honorable Atkins to walk down
+that corridor and press the elevator button.  But he did it,
+somehow.  A guest came out of one of the rooms and approached him
+as he stood there.  It was a man he knew.  Heman squared his
+shoulders and set every nerve and muscle.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Atkins," said the man.  "A miserable night,
+isn't it?"
+
+"Miserable, indeed," replied the congressman.  The strength in his
+voice surprised him.  The man passed on.  Heman descended in the
+elevator, walked steadily through the crowded lobby and out to the
+curb where his cab was waiting.  The driver noticed nothing strange
+in his fare's appearance.  He noticed nothing strange when the
+Atkins residence was reached and its tenant mounted the stone steps
+and opened the door with his latchkey.  But, if he had seen the
+dignified form collapse in a library chair and moan and rock back
+and forth until the morning hours, he would have wondered very much
+indeed.
+
+
+
+Meanwhile Captain Cy, coughing and shivering by the radiator, had
+been summoned from that warm haven by a knock at his door.  A bell
+boy stood at the threshold, holding a brown envelope in his hand.
+
+"The clerk sent this up to you, sir," he said.  "It came a week
+ago.  When you went away, you didn't leave any address, and
+whatever letters came for you were sent back to Bayport,
+Massachusetts.  The clerk says you registered from there, sir.
+But he kept this telegram.  It was in your box, and the day clerk
+forgot to give it to you this afternoon."
+
+The captain tore open the envelope.  The telegram was from his
+lawyer, Mr. Peabody.  It was dated a week before, and read as
+follows:
+
+
+    "Come home at once.  Important."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+DIVIDED HONORS
+
+
+The blizzard began that night.  Bayport has a generous allowance of
+storms and gales during a winter, although, as a usual thing, there
+is more rain than snow and more wind than either.  But we can count
+with certainty on at least one blizzard between November and April,
+and about the time when Captain Cy, feverish and ill, the delayed
+telegram in his pocket and a great fear in his heart, boarded the
+sleeper of the East-bound train at Washington, snow was beginning
+to fall in our village.
+
+Next morning, when Georgianna came downstairs to prepare Bos'n's
+breakfast--the housekeeper had ceased to "go home nights" since the
+captain's absence--the world outside was a tumbled, driving whirl
+of white.  The woodshed and barn, dimly seen through the smother,
+were but gray shapes, emerging now and then only to be wiped from
+the vision as by a great flapping cloth wielded by the mighty hand
+of the wind.  The old house shook in the blasts, the windowpanes
+rattled as if handfuls of small shot were being thrown against
+them, and the carpet on the floor of the dining room puffed up in
+miniature billows.
+
+School was out of the question, and Bos'n, her breakfast eaten,
+prepared to put in a cozy day with her dolls and Christmas
+playthings.
+
+"When DO you s'pose Uncle Cyrus will get home?" she asked of the
+housekeeper.  She had asked the same thing at least three times a
+day during the fortnight, and Georgianna's answer was always just
+as unsatisfactory:
+
+"I don't know, dearie, I'm sure.  He'll be here pretty soon,
+though, don't you fret."
+
+"Oh, I ain't going to fret.  I know he'll come.  He said he would,
+and Uncle Cy always does what he says he will."
+
+About twelve Asaph made his appearance, a white statue.
+
+"Godfrey scissors!" he panted, shaking his snow-plastered cap over
+the coal hod.  "Say, this is one of 'em, ain't it?  Don't know's I
+ever see more of a one.  Drift out by the front fence pretty nigh
+up to my waist.  This 'll be a nasty night along the Orham beach.
+The lifesavers 'll have their hands full.  Whew!  I'm about
+tuckered out."
+
+"Been to the post office?" asked Georgianna in a low tone.
+
+"Yup.  I been there.  Mornin' mail just this minute sorted.
+Train's two hours late.  Gabe says more'n likely the evenin' train
+won't be able to get through at all, if this keeps up."
+
+"Was there anything from--"
+
+Mr. Tidditt glanced at Bos'n and shook his head.
+
+"Not a word," he said.  "Funny, ain't it?  It don't seem a bit like
+him.  And he can't be to Washin'ton, because all them letters came
+back.  I--I swan to man, I'm beginnin' to get worried."
+
+"Worried?  I'm pretty nigh crazy!  What does Phoebe Dawes say?"
+
+"She don't say much.  It's pretty tough, when everything else is
+workin' out so fine, thanks to her, to have this happen.  No, she
+don't say much, but she acts pretty solemn."
+
+"Say, Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+"Yes, what is it?"
+
+"You don't s'pose anything that happened betwixt her and Cap'n
+Whittaker that afternoon is responsible for--for his stayin' away
+so, do you?  You know what he told me to tell her--about her not
+comin' here?"
+
+Asaph fidgeted with the wet cap.
+
+"Aw, that ain't nothin'," he stammered.  "That is, I hope it ain't.
+I did say somethin' to him that--but Phoebe understands.  She's a
+smart woman."
+
+"You haven't told them boardin' house tattletales about the--Emmie,
+you go fetch me a card of matches from the kitchen, won't you--of
+what's been found out about that Thomas thing?"
+
+"Course I ain't.  Didn't Peabody say not to tell a soul till we was
+sure?  S'pose I'd tell Keturah and Angie?  Might's well paint it on
+a sign and be done with it.  No, no!  I've kept mum and you do the
+same.  Well, I must be goin'.  Hope to goodness we hear some good
+news from Whit by to-morrer."
+
+But when to-morrow came news of any kind was unobtainable.  No
+trains could get through, and the telephone and telegraph wires
+were out of commission, owing to the great storm.  Bayport was
+buried under a white coverlet, three feet thick on a level, which
+shone in the winter sun as if powdered with diamond dust.  The
+street-shoveling brigade, meaning most of the active male citizens,
+was busy with plows and shovels.  Simmons's was deserted in the
+evenings, for most of the regular habitues went to bed after
+supper, tired out.
+
+Two days of this.  Then Gabe Lumley, his depot wagon replaced by a
+sleigh, drove the panting Daniel into the yard of the Cy Whittaker
+place.  Gabe was much excited.  He had news of importance to
+communicate and was puffed up in consequence.
+
+"The wire's all right again, Georgianna," he said to the housekeeper,
+who had hurried to the door to meet him.  "Fust message just come
+through.  Guess who it's for?"
+
+"Stop your foolishness, Gabe Lumley!" ordered Miss Taylor.  "Hand
+over that telegram this minute.  Don't you stop to talk!  Hand it
+over!"
+
+Gabe didn't intend to be "corked" thus peremptorily.
+
+"It's pretty important news, Georgianna," he declared.  "Kind of
+bad news, too.  I think I'd ought to prepare you for it, sort of.
+When Cap'n Obed Pepper died, I--"
+
+"DIED!  For the land sakes!  WHAT are you sayin'?  Give me that,
+you foolhead!  Give it to me!"
+
+She snatched the telegram from him and tore it open.  It was not as
+bad as might have been, but it was bad enough.  Lawyer Peabody
+wired that Captain Cyrus Whittaker was at his home in Ostable, sick
+in bed, and threatened with pneumonia.
+
+
+
+Captain Cy, hurrying homeward in response to the attorney's former
+telegram, had reached Boston the day of the blizzard.  He had taken
+the train for Bayport that afternoon.  The train had reached
+Ostable after nine o'clock that night, but could get no farther.
+The captain, burning with fever and torn by chills, had wallowed
+through the drifts to his lawyer's home and collapsed on his
+doorstep.  Now he was very ill and, at times, delirious.
+
+For two weeks he lay, fighting off the threatened attack of
+pneumonia.  But he won the fight, and, at last, word came to the
+anxious ones at Bayport that he was past the danger point and would
+pull through.  There was rejoicing at the Cy Whittaker place.  The
+Board of Strategy came and performed an impromptu war dance around
+the dining-room table.
+
+"Whe-e-e!" shouted Bailey Bangs, tossing Bos'n above his head.
+"Your Uncle Cy's weathered the Horn and is bound for clear water
+now.  Three cheers for our side!  Won't we give him a reception
+when we get him back here!"
+
+"Won't we?" crowed Asaph.  "Well, I just guess we will!  You ought
+to hear Angie and the rest of 'em chant hymns of glory about him.
+A body'd think they always knew he was the salt of the earth.
+Maybe I don't rub it in a little, hey?  Oh, no, maybe not!"
+
+"And Heman!" chimed in Mr. Bangs.  "And Heman!  Would you ever
+believe HE'D change so all of a sudden?  Bully old Whit!  I can
+mention his name now without Ketury's landin' onto me like a
+snowslide.  Whee! I say, wh-e-e-e!"
+
+He continued to say it; and Georgianna and Asaph said what amounted
+to the same thing.  A change had come over our Bayport social
+atmosphere, a marvelous change.  And at Simmons's and--more
+wonderful still--at Tad Simpson's barber' shop, plans were being
+made and perfected for proceedings in which Cyrus Whittaker was to
+play the most prominent part.
+
+Meanwhile the convalescence went on at a rapid rate.  As soon as he
+was permitted to talk, Captain Cy began to question his lawyer.
+How about the appeal?  Had Atkins done anything further?  The
+answers were satisfactory.  The case had been dropped: the
+Honorable Heman had announced its withdrawal.  He had said that he
+had changed his mind and should not continue to espouse the Thomas
+cause.  In fact, he seemed to have whirled completely about on his
+pedestal and, like a compass, now pointed only in one direction--
+toward his "boyhood friend" and present neighbor, Cyrus Whittaker.
+
+"It's perfectly astounding," commented Peabody.  "What in the
+world, captain, did you do to him while you were in Washington?"
+
+"Oh! nothin' much," was the rather disinterested answer.  "Him and
+me had a talk, and he saw the error of his ways, I cal'late.  How's
+Bos'n to-day?  Did you give her my love when you 'phoned?"
+
+"So far as the case is concerned," went on the lawyer, "I think we
+should have won that, anyway.  It's a curious thing.  Thomas has
+disappeared.  How he got word, or who he got it from, _I_ don't
+know; but he must have, and he's gone somewhere, no one knows
+where.  And yet I'm not certain that we were on the right trail.
+It seemed certain a week ago, but now--"
+
+The captain had not been listening.  He was thinking.  Thomas had
+gone, had he!  Good!  Heman was living up to his promises.  And
+Bos'n, God bless her, was free from that danger.
+
+"Have you heard from Emmie, I asked you?" he repeated.
+
+He would not listen to anything further concerning Thomas, either
+then or later.  He was sick of the whole business, he declared, and
+now that everything was all right, didn't wish to talk about it
+again.  He asked nothing about the appropriation, and the lawyer,
+acting under strict orders, did not mention it.
+
+Only once did Captain Cy inquire concerning a person in his home
+town who was not a member of his household.
+
+"How is--er--how's the teacher?" he inquired one morning.
+
+"How's who?"
+
+"Why--Phoebe Dawes, the school-teacher.  Smart, is she?"
+
+"Yes, indeed!  Why, she has been the most--"
+
+The doctor came in just then and the interview terminated.  It was
+not resumed, because that afternoon Mr. Peabody started for Boston
+on a business trip, to be gone some time.
+
+And at last came the great day, the day when Captain Cy was to be
+taken home.  He was up and about, had been out for several short
+walks, and was very nearly his own self again.  He was in good
+spirits, too, at times, but had fits of seeming depression which,
+under the circumstances, were unexplainable.  The doctor thought
+they were due to his recent illness and forbade questioning.
+
+The original plan had been for the captain to go to Bayport in the
+train, but the morning set for his departure was such a beautiful
+one that Mr. Peabody, who had the day before returned from the
+city, suggested driving over.  So the open carriage, drawn by the
+Peabody "span," was brought around to the front steps, and the
+captain, bundled up until, as he said, he felt like a wharf rat
+inside a cotton bale, emerged from the house which had sheltered
+him for a weary month and climbed to the back seat.  The attorney
+got in beside him.
+
+"All ashore that's goin' ashore," observed Captain Cy.  Then to the
+driver, who stood by the horses' heads, he added:  "Stand by to get
+ship under way, commodore.  I'm homeward bound, and there's a
+little messmate of mine waitin' on the dock already, I wouldn't
+wonder.  So don't hang around these waters no longer'n you can
+help."
+
+But Mr. Peabody smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder.
+
+"Just a minute, captain," he said.  "We've got another passenger.
+She came to the house last evening, but Dr. Cole thought this would
+be an exciting day for you, and you must sleep in preparation for
+it.  So we kept her in the background.  It was something of a job
+but--  Hurrah! here she is!"
+
+Mrs. Peabody, the lawyer's wife, opened the front door.  She was
+laughing.  The next moment a small figure shot past her, down the
+steps, and into the carriage like a red-hooded bombshell.
+
+"Uncle Cyrus!" she screamed joyously.  "Uncle Cyrus, it's me!  Here
+I am!"
+
+And Captain Cy, springing up and shedding wraps and robes, received
+the bombshell with open arms and hugged it tight.
+
+"Bos'n!" he shouted.  "By the big dipper!  BOS'N!  Why, you little--
+you--you--"
+
+That was a wonderful ride.  Emily sat in the captain's lap--he
+positively refused to let her sit beside him on the seat, although
+Peabody urged it, fearing the child might tire him--and her tongue
+rattled like a sewing machine.  She had a thousand things to tell,
+about her school, about Georgianna, about her dolls, about
+Lonesome, the cat, and how many mice he had caught, about the big
+snowstorm.
+
+"Georgianna wanted me to stay at home and wait for you, Uncle Cy,"
+she said, "but I teased and teased and finally they said I could
+come over.  I came yesterday on the train.  Mr. Tidditt went with
+me to the depot.  Mrs. Peabody let me peek into your room last
+night and I saw you eating supper.  You didn't know I was there,
+did you?"
+
+"You bet I didn't!  There'd have been a mutiny right then if I'd
+caught sight of you.  You little sculpin!  Playin' it on your Uncle
+Cy, was you?  I didn't know you could keep a secret so well."
+
+"Oh, yes I can!  Why, I know an ever so much bigger secret, too.
+It is--  Why! I 'most forgot.  You just wait."
+
+The captain laughingly begged her to divulge the big secret, but
+she shook her small head and refused.  The horses trotted on at a
+lively pace, and the miles separating Ostable and Bayport were
+subtracted one by one.  It was magnificent winter weather.  The
+snow had disappeared from the road, except in widely separated
+spots, but the big drifts still heaped the fields and shone and
+sparkled in the sunshine.  Against their whiteness the pitch pines
+and cedars stood darkly green and the skeleton scrub oaks and
+bushes cast delicate blue-penciled shadows.  The bay, seen over the
+flooded, frozen salt meadows and distant dunes, was in its winter
+dress of the deepest sapphire, trimmed with whitecaps and fringed
+with stranded ice cakes.  There was a snap and tang in the breeze
+which braced one like a tonic.  The party in the carriage was a gay
+one.
+
+"Getting tired, captain?" asked Peabody.
+
+"Who?  Me?  Well, I guess not.  'Most home, Bos'n.  There's the
+salt works ahead there."
+
+They passed the abandoned salt works, the crumbling ruins of a dead
+industry, and the boundary stone, now half hidden in a drift,
+marking the beginning of Bayport township.  Then, from the pine
+grove at the curve farther on, appeared two capped and coated
+figures, performing a crazy fandango.
+
+"Who's them two lunatics," inquired Captain Cy, "whoopin' and
+carryin' on in the middle of the road?  Has anybody up this way had
+a jug come by express or--  Hey!  WHAT?  Why, you old idiots you!
+COME here and let me get a hold of you!"
+
+The Board of Strategy swooped down upon the carriage like Trumet
+mosquitoes on a summer boarder.  They swarmed into the vehicle,
+Bailey on the front seat and Asaph in the rear, where, somehow or
+other, they made room for him.  There were handshakings and thumps
+on the back.
+
+"What you doin' 'way up here in the west end of nowhere?" demanded
+Captain Cy.  "By the big dipper, I'm glad to see you!  How'd you
+get here?"
+
+"Walked," cackled Bailey.  "Frogged it all the way.  Soon's Mrs.
+Peabody wired you was goin' to ride, me and Ase started to meet
+you.  Wan't you surprised?"
+
+"We wanted to be the fust to say howdy, old man," explained Asaph.
+"Wanted to welcome you back, you know."
+
+The captain was immensely pleased.
+
+"Well, I'm glad I've got so much popularity, anyhow," he said.
+"Guess 'twill be different when I get down street, hey?  Don't
+cal'late Tad and Angie 'll shed the joyous tear over me.  Never
+mind; long's my friends are glad I don't care about the rest."
+
+The Board looked at each other.
+
+"Tad?" repeated Bailey.  "And Angie?  What you talkin' about?  Why,
+they--  Ugh!"
+
+The last exclamation was the result of a tremendous dig in the ribs
+from the Tidditt fist.  Asaph, who had leaned forward to administer
+it, was frowning and shaking his head.  Mr. Bangs relapsed into a
+grinning silence.
+
+West Bayport seemed to be deserted.  At one or two houses, however,
+feminine heads appeared at the windows.  One old lady shook a
+calico apron at the carriage.  A child beside her cried:  "Hurrah!"
+
+"Aunt Hepsy h'istin' colors by mistake," laughed the captain.  "She
+ain't got her specs, I guess, and thinks I'm Heman.  That comes of
+ridin' astern of a span, Peabody."
+
+But as they drew near the Center flags were flying from front-yard
+poles.  Some of the houses were decorated.
+
+"What in the world--" began Captain Cy.  "Land sakes! look at the
+schoolhouse.  And Simmons's!  And--and Simpson's!"
+
+The schoolhouse flag was flapping in the wind.  The scarred wooden
+pillars of its portico were hidden with bunting.  Simmons's front
+displayed a row of little banners, each bearing a letter--the
+letters spelled "Welcome Home."  Tad's barber shop was more or less
+artistically wreathed in colored tissue paper.  There, too, a flag
+was draped over the front door.  Yet not a single person was in
+sight.
+
+"For goodness' sake!" cried the bewildered captain.  "What's all
+this mean?  And where is everybody.  Have all hands--"
+
+He stopped in the middle of the sentence.  They were at the foot of
+Whittaker's Hill.  Its top, between the Atkins's gate and the
+Whittaker fence, was black with people.  Children pranced about the
+outskirts of the crowd.  A shout came down the wind.  The horses,
+not in the least fatigued by their long canter, trotted up the
+slope.  The shouting grew louder.  A wave of youngsters came racing
+to meet the equipage.
+
+"What--what in time?" gasped Captain Cy.  "What's up?  I--"
+
+And then the town clerk seized him by the arm.  Peabody shook his
+other hand.  Bos'n threw her arms about his neck.  Bailey stood up
+and waved his hat.
+
+"It's you, you old critter!" whooped Asaph.  "It's YOU, d'you
+understand?"
+
+"The appropriation has gone through," explained the lawyer, "and
+this is the celebration in consequence.  And you are the star
+attraction because, you see, everyone knows you are responsible for
+it."
+
+"That's what!" howled the excited Bangs.  "And we're goin' to show
+you what we think of you for doin' it.  We've been plannin' this
+for over a fortni't."
+
+"And I knew it all the time," squealed Bos'n, "and I didn't tell a
+word, did I?"
+
+"Three cheers for Captain Whittaker!" bellowed a person in the
+crowd.  This person--wonder of wonders!--was Tad Simpson.
+
+The cheering was, considering the size of the crowd, tremendous.
+Bewildered and amazed, Captain Cy was assisted from the carriage
+and escorted to his front door.  Amidst the handkerchief-waving,
+applauding people he saw Keturah Bangs and Alpheus Smalley and
+Angeline Phinney and Captain Salters--even Alonzo Snow, his recent
+opponent in town meeting.  Josiah Dimick was there, too, apparently
+having a fit.
+
+On the doorstep stood Georgianna and--and--yes, it was true--beside
+her, grandly extending a welcoming hand, the majestic form of the
+Honorable Heman Atkins.  Some one else was there also, some one who
+hurriedly slipped back into the crowd as the owner of the Cy
+Whittaker place came up the path between the hedges.
+
+Mr. Atkins shook the captain's hand and then, turning toward the
+people, held up his own for silence.  To all outward appearance, he
+was still the great Heman, our district idol, philanthropist, and
+leader.  His silk hat glistened as of old, his chest swelled in the
+old manner, his whiskers were just as dignified and awe-inspiring.
+For an instant, as he met the captain's eye, his own faltered and
+fell, and there was a pleading expression in his face, the lines of
+which had deepened just a little.  But only for an instant; then he
+began to speak.
+
+"Cyrus," he said, "it is my pleasant duty, on behalf of your
+neighbors and friends here assembled, to welcome you to your--
+er--ancestral home after your trying illness.  I do it heartily,
+sincerely, gladly.  And it is the more pleasing to me to perform
+this duty, because, as I have explained publicly to my fellow-
+townspeople, all disagreement between us is ended.  I was wrong--
+again I publicly admit it.  A scheming blackleg, posing in the
+guise of a loving father, imposed upon me.  I am sorry for the
+trouble I have caused you.  Of you and of the little girl with you
+I ask pardon--I entreat forgiveness."
+
+He paused.  Captain Cy, the shadow of a smile at the corner of his
+mouth, nodded, and said briefly:
+
+"All right, Heman.  I forgive you."  Few heard him: the majority
+were applauding the congressman.  Sylvanus Cahoon, whispering in
+the ear of "Uncle Bedny," expressed as his opinion that "that was
+about as magnaminious a thing as ever I heard said.  Yes, sir!
+mag-na-min-ious--that's what _I_ call it."
+
+"But," continued the great Atkins, "I have said all this to you
+before.  What I have to say now--what I left my duties in
+Washington expressly to come here and say--is that Bayport thanks
+you, _I_ thank you, for your tremendous assistance in obtaining the
+appropriation which is to make our harbor a busy port where our
+gallant fishing fleet may ride at anchor and unload its catch,
+instead of transferring it in dories as heretofore.  Friends, I
+have already told you how this man"--laying a hand on the captain's
+shoulder--"came to the Capital and used his influence among his
+acquaintances in high places, with the result that the thirty
+thousand dollars, which I had despaired of getting, was added to
+the bill.  I had the pleasure of voting for that bill.  It passed.
+I am proud of that vote."
+
+Tremendous applause.  Then some one called for three cheers for Mr.
+Atkins.  They were given.  But the recipient merely bowed.
+
+"No, no," he said deprecatingly.  "No, no! not for me, my friends,
+much as I appreciate your gratitude.  My days of public service are
+nearly at an end.  As I have intimated to some of you already, I am
+seriously considering retiring from political life in the near
+future.  But that is irrelevant; it is not material at present.
+To-day we meet, not to say farewell to the setting, but to greet
+the rising sun.  _I_ call for three cheers for our committee of
+one--Captain Cyrus Whittaker."
+
+When the uproar had at last subsided, there were demands for a
+speech from Captain Cy.  But the captain, facing them, his arms
+about the delighted Bos'n, positively declined to orate.
+
+"I--I'm ever so much obliged to you, folks," he stammered.  "I am
+so.  But you'll have to excuse me from speechmaking.  They--they
+didn't teach it afore the mast, where I went to college.  Thank
+you, just the same.  And do come and see me, everybody.  Me and
+this little girl," drawing Emily nearer to him, "will be real glad
+to have you."
+
+After the handshaking and congratulating were over, the crowd
+dispersed.  It was a great occasion; all agreed to that, but the
+majority considered it a divided triumph.  The captain had done a
+lot for the town, of course, but the Honorable Atkins had made
+another splendid impression by his address of welcome.  Most people
+thought it as fine as his memorable effort at town meeting.  Unlike
+that one, however, in this instance it is safe to say that none,
+not even the adoring and praise-chanting Miss Phinney, derived
+quite the enjoyment from the congressman's speech that Captain Cy
+did.  It tickled his sense of humor.
+
+"Ase," he observed irrelevantly when the five--Tidditt, Georgianna,
+Bailey, Bos'n, and himself were at last alone again in the sitting
+room, "it DON'T pay to tip over a monument, does it--not out in
+public, I mean.  You wouldn't want to see me blow up Bunker Hill,
+would you?"
+
+"Blow up Bunker Hill!" repeated Asaph in alarmed amazement.
+"Godfrey scissors!  I believe you're goin' loony.  This day's been
+too much for you.  What are you talkin' about?"
+
+"Oh, nothin'," with a quiet chuckle.  "I was thinkin' out loud,
+that's all.  Did you ever notice them imitation stone pillars on
+Heman's house?  They're holler inside, but you'd never guess it.
+And, long as you do know they're holler, you can keep a watch on
+'em.  And there's one thing sure," he added, "they ARE ornamental."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+CAPTAIN CY'S "PICTURE"
+
+
+"Wonder where Phoebe went to," remarked Mr. Tidditt, a little
+later.  "I thought I saw her with Heman and Georgianna on the front
+steps when we drove up."
+
+"She was there," affirmed the housekeeper.  "She'd been helpin' me
+trim up the rooms here.  What do you think of 'em, Cap'n Cyrus?
+Ain't they pretty?"
+
+The sitting room and dining room were gay with evergreens and old-
+fashioned flowers.  Our living room windows in the winter time are
+usually filled with carefully tended potted plants, and the
+neighbors had loaned their geraniums and fuchsias and heliotrope
+and begonias to brighten the Whittaker house for its owner's
+return.  Captain Cy, who was sitting in the rocker, with Bos'n on
+his knee, looked about him.  Now that the first burst of excitement
+was over, he seemed grave and preoccupied.
+
+"They look mighty pretty, Georgianna," he said.  "Fine enough.  But
+what was that you just said?  Did--"
+
+"Yup," interrupted Miss Taylor, who had scarcely ceased talking
+since breakfast that morning.  "Yes, 'twas teacher that helped fix
+'em.  Not that I wouldn't have got along without her, but I had
+more to do than a little, cleanin' and scrubbin' up.  So Phoebe she
+come in, and--  Oh! yes, as I was sayin', she was out front with
+me, but the minute your carriage drove up with that lovely span--
+AIN'T that a fine span!  I cal'late they're--"
+
+"What become of teacher?" broke in Bailey.
+
+"Why, she run off somewheres.  I didn't see where she went to; I
+was too busy hollerin' at Cap'n Whittaker and noticin' that span.
+I bet you they made Angie Phinney's eyes stick out.  I guess she
+realizes that we in this house are some punkins now.  If I don't
+lord it over her when I run acrost her these days, then I miss my
+guess.  I--"
+
+"Belay!" ordered Captain Cy, his gravity more pronounced than ever.
+"How does it happen that you--  See here, Georgianna, did you tell
+Ph--er--Miss Dawes what I told you to tell her when I went away?"
+
+"Why, yes, I told her.  I hated to, dreadful, but I done it.  She
+was awful set back at fust, but I guess she asked Mr. Tidditt--
+Where you goin', Mr. Tidditt?"
+
+The town clerk, his face red, was on his way to the door.
+
+"Asked Ase?" repeated the captain.  "Ase, come here!  Did you tell
+her anything?"
+
+Asaph was very much embarrassed.
+
+"Well," he stammered, "I didn't mean to, Cy, but she got to askin'
+me questions, and somehow or nother I did tell her about our
+confab, yours and mine.  I told her that I knew folks was talkin',
+and I felt 'twas my duty to tell you so.  That's why I done it, and
+I told her you said--well, you know what you said yourself, Cy."
+
+Captain Cy was evidently much disturbed.  He put Bos'n down, and
+rose to his feet.
+
+"Well," he asked sharply, "what did she say?"
+
+"Oh! she was white and still for a minute or two.  Then she kind of
+stamped her foot and went off and left me.  But next time she met
+me she was nice as pie.  She's been pretty frosty to Angie and the
+rest of 'em, but she's been always nice to Bailey and me.  Why,
+when I asked her pardon, she said not at all, she was very glad to
+know the truth; it helped her to understand things.  And you could
+see she meant it, too.  She--"
+
+"So she has been comin' here ever since.  And the gossip has been
+goin' on, I s'pose.  Well, by the big dipper, it'll stop now!  I'll
+see to that."
+
+The Board of Strategy and the housekeeper were amazed.
+
+"Gossip!" repeated Bailey.  "Well, I guess there ain't nothin' said
+against her now--not in THIS town, there ain't!  Why, all hands
+can't praise her enough for her smartness in findin' out about that
+Thomas.  If it wan't for her, he'd be botherin' you yet, Cy.  You
+know it.  What are you talkin' about?"
+
+Captain Cy passed his hand over his forehead.
+
+"Bos'n," he said slowly, "you run and help Georgianna in the
+kitchen a spell.  She's got her dinner to look out for, I guess
+likely.  Georgianna," to the housekeeper, who looked anything but
+eager, "you better see to your dinner right off, and take Emmie
+with you."
+
+Miss Taylor reluctantly departed, leading Bos'n by the hand.  The
+child was loath to leave her uncle, but he told her he wouldn't
+give a cent for his first dinner at home if she didn't help in
+preparing it.  So she went out happy.
+
+"Now, then," demanded the captain, "what's this about Phoebe and
+Thomas?  I want to know.  Stop!  Don't ask another question.
+Answer me first."
+
+So the Board of Strategy, by turns and in concert, told of the
+drive to Trumet and the call on Debby Beasley.  Asaph would have
+narrated the story of the upset sulky, but Bailey shut him up in
+short order.
+
+"Never mind that foolishness," he snapped.  "You see, Cy, Debby had
+just been out to Arizona visitin' old Beasley's niece.  And she'd
+fell in with a woman out there whose husband had run off and left
+her.  And Debby, she read the advertisement about him in the
+Arizona paper, and it said he had the spring halt in his off hind
+leg, or somethin' similar.  Now, Thomas, he had that, too, and
+there was other things that reminded Phoebe of him.  So she don't
+say nothin' to nobody, but she writes to this woman askin' for more
+partic'lars and a photograph of the missin' one.  The partic'lars
+come, but the photograph didn't; the wife didn't have none, I
+b'lieve.  But there was enough to send Phoebe hotfoot to Mr.
+Peabody.  And Peabody he writes to his lawyer friend in Butte,
+Montana.  And the Butte man he--"
+
+"Well, the long and short of it is," cut in Tidditt, "that it
+looked safe and sartin that Thomas HAD married the Arizona woman
+while his real wife, Bos'n's ma, was livin', and had run off and
+left her same as he did Mary.  And the funny part of it is--"
+
+"The funny part of it is," declared Bangs, drowning his friend's
+voice by raising his own, "that somebody out there, some scalawag
+friend of this Thomas, must have got wind of what was up, and sent
+word to him.  'Cause, when they went to hunt for him in Boston,
+he'd gone, skipped, cut stick.  And they ain't seen him since.  He
+was afraid of bein' took up for bigamist, you see--for bein' a
+bigamy, I mean.  Well, you know what I'm tryin' to say.  Anyhow, if
+it hadn't been for me and Phoebe--"
+
+"YOU and Phoebe!" snorted Asaph.  "You had a whole lot to do with
+it, didn't you?  You and Aunt Debby 'll do to go together.  I
+understand she's cruisin' round makin' proclamations that SHE was
+responsible for the whole thing.  No, sir-ree! it's Phoebe Dawes
+that the credit belongs to, and this town ain't done nothin' but
+praise her since it come out.  You never see such a quick come-
+about in your life--unless 'twas Heman's.  But you knew all this
+afore, Whit.  Peabody must have told you."
+
+Captain Cy had listened to his friends' story with a face
+expressive of the most blank astonishment.  As he learned of the
+trip to Trumet and its results, his eyes and mouth opened, and he
+repeatedly rubbed his forehead and muttered exclamations.  Now, at
+the mention of his lawyer's name, he seemed to awaken.
+
+"Hold on!" he interrupted, waving his hand.  "Hold on!  By the big
+dipper! this is--is--  Where IS Peabody?  I want to see him."
+
+"Here I am, captain," said the attorney.  He had been out to the
+barn to superintend the stabling of the span, but for the past
+five minutes had been standing, unnoticed by his client, on the
+threshold of the dining room.
+
+"See here," demanded Captain Cy, "see here, Peabody; is this yarn
+true?  IS it, now? this about--about Phoebe and all?"
+
+"Certainly it's true.  I supposed you knew it.  You didn't seem
+surprised when I told you the case was settled."
+
+"Surprised?  Why, no!  I thought Heman had--  Never mind that.
+Land of love!  SHE did it.  She!"
+
+He sat weakly down.  The lawyer looked anxious.
+
+"Mr. Tidditt," he whispered, "I think perhaps he had better be left
+alone for the present.  He's just up from a sick bed, and this has
+been a trying forenoon.  Come in again this afternoon.  I shall try
+to persuade him to take a nap."
+
+The Board of Strategy, its curiosity unsatisfied, departed
+reluctantly.  When Mr. Peabody returned to the sitting room he found
+that naps were far, indeed, from the captain's thoughts.  The latter
+was pacing the sitting-room floor.
+
+"Where is she?" he demanded.  "She was standin' on the steps with
+Heman.  Have you seen her since?"
+
+His friend was troubled.
+
+"Why, yes, I've seen her," he said.  "I have been talking with her.
+She has gone away."
+
+"Gone AWAY!  Where?  What do you mean?  She ain't--ain't left
+Bayport?"
+
+"No, no.  What in the world should she leave Bayport for?  She has
+gone to her boarding house, I guess; at all events, she was headed
+in that direction."
+
+"Why didn't she shake hands with me?  What made her go off and not
+say a word?  Oh, well, I guess likely I know the why!"  He sighed
+despondently.  "I told her never to come here again."
+
+"You did?  What in the world--"
+
+"Well, for what I thought was good reasons; all on her account they
+was.  And yet she did come back, and kept comin', even after Ase
+blabbed the whole thing.  However, I s'pose that was just to help
+Georgianna.  Oh, hum! I AM an old fool."
+
+The lawyer inspected him seriously.
+
+"Well, captain," he said slowly, "if it is any comfort for you to
+know that your reason isn't the correct one for Miss Dawes's going
+away, I can assure you on that point.  I think she went because she
+was greatly disappointed, and didn't wish to see you just now."
+
+"Disappointed?  What do you mean?"
+
+"Humph!  I didn't mean to tell you yet, but I judge that I'd
+better.  No one knows it here but Miss Dawes and I, and probably no
+one but us three need ever know it.  You see, the fact is that the
+Arizona woman, Desire Higgins, isn't Mrs. Thomas at all.  He isn't
+her missing husband."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Yes, it's so.  Really, it was too much of a coincidence to be
+possible, and yet it certainly did seem that it would prove true.
+This Higgins woman was, apparently, so anxious to find her missing
+man that she was ready to recognize almost any description; and the
+slight lameness and the fact of his having been in Montana helped
+along.  If we could have gotten a photograph sooner, the question
+would have been settled.  Only last week, while I was in Boston, I
+got word from the detective agency that a photo had been received.
+I went to see it immediately.  There was some resemblance, but not
+enough.  Henry Thomas was never Mr. Higgins."
+
+"But--but--they say Thomas has skipped out."
+
+"Yes, he has.  That's the queer part of it.  At the place where he
+boarded we learned that he got a letter from Arizona--trust the
+average landlady to look at postmarks--that he seemed greatly
+agitated all that day, and left that night.  No one has seen him
+since.  Why he went is a puzzle.  Where, we don't care.  So long as
+he keeps out of our way, that's enough."
+
+Captain Cy did not care, either.  He surmised that Mr. Atkins might
+probably explain the disappearance.  And yet, oddly enough, this
+explanation was not the true one.  The Honorable Heman solemnly
+assured the captain that he had not communicated with Emily's
+father.  He intended to do so, as a part of the compact agreed upon
+at the hotel, but the man had fled.  And the mystery is still
+unsolved.  The supposition is that there really was a wife somewhere
+in the West.  Who or where she was no Bayporter knows. Henry Thomas
+has never come back to explain.
+
+"I told Miss Dawes of the photograph and what it proved," went on
+Peabody.  "She was dreadfully disappointed.  She could hardly speak
+when she left me.  I urged her to come in and see you, but she
+wouldn't.  Evidently she had set her heart on helping you and the
+child.  It is too bad, because, practically speaking, we owe
+everything to her.  There is little doubt that the inquiry set on
+foot by her scared the Thomas fellow into flight.  And she has
+worked night and day to aid us.  She is a very clever woman,
+Captain Whittaker, and a good one.  You can't thank her enough.
+Here! what are you about?"
+
+Captain Cy strode past him into the dining room.  The hat rack hung
+on the wall by the side door.  He snatched his cap from the peg,
+and was struggling into his overcoat.
+
+"Where are you going?" demanded the lawyer.  "You mustn't attempt to
+walk now.  You need rest."
+
+"Rest!  I'll rest by and by.  Just now I've got business to attend
+to.  Let go of that pea-jacket."
+
+"But--"
+
+"No buts about it.  I'll see you later.  So long."
+
+He threw open the door and hurried down the walk.  The lawyer
+watched him in amazement.  Then a slow smile overspread his face.
+
+"Captain," he called.  "Captain Whittaker."
+
+Captain Cy looked back over his shoulder.  "What do you want?" he
+asked.
+
+Mr. Peabody's face was now intensely solemn, but there was a
+twinkle in his eye.
+
+"I think she's at the boarding house," he said demurely.  "I'm
+pretty certain you'll find her there."
+
+All the regulars at the perfect boarding house had, of course,
+attended the reception at the Cy Whittaker place.  None of them,
+with the exception of the schoolmistress, had as yet returned.
+Dinner had been forgotten in the excitement of the great day, and
+Keturah and Angeline and Mrs. Tripp had stopped in at various
+dwellings along the main road, to compare notes on the captain's
+appearance and the Atkins address.  Asaph and Bailey and Alpheus
+Smalley were at Simmons's.
+
+Captain Cy knew better than to attempt his hurried trip by way of
+the road.  He had no desire to be held up and congratulated.  He
+went across lots, in the rear of barns and orchards, wading through
+drifts and climbing fences as no sane convalescent should.  But the
+captain at that moment was suffering from the form of insanity
+known as the fixed idea.  She had done all this for him--for HIM.
+And his last message to her had been an insult.
+
+He approached the Bangs property by the stable lane.  No one locks
+doors in our village, and those of the perfect boarding house were
+unfastened.  He entered by way of the side porch, just as he had
+done when Gabe Lumley's depot wagon first deposited him in that
+yard.  But now he entered on tiptoe.  The dining room was empty.
+He peeped into the sitting room.  There, by the center table, sat
+Phoebe Dawes, her elbow on the arm of her chair, and her head
+resting on her hand.
+
+"Ahem!  Phoebe!" said Captain Cy.
+
+She started, turned, and saw him standing there.  Her eyes were
+wet, and there was a handkerchief in her lap.
+
+"Phoebe," said the captain anxiously, "have you been cryin'?"
+
+She rose on the instant.  A great wave of red swept over her face.
+The handkerchief fell to the floor, and she stooped and picked it
+up.
+
+"Crying?" she repeated confusedly.  "Why, no, of course--of course
+not!  I--  How do you do, Captain Whittaker?  I'm--we're all very
+glad to see you home again--and well."
+
+She extended her hand.  Captain Cy reached forward to take it; then
+he hesitated.
+
+"I don't think I'd ought to let you shake hands with me, Phoebe,"
+he said.  "Not until I beg your pardon."
+
+"Beg my pardon?  Why?"
+
+He absently took the hand and held it.
+
+"For the word I sent to you when I went away.  'Twas an awful thing
+to say, but I meant it for your sake, you know.  Honest, I did."
+
+She laughed nervously.
+
+"Oh! that," she said.  "Well, I did think you were rather particular
+as to your visitors.  But Mr. Tidditt explained, and then--  You
+needn't beg my pardon.  I appreciate your thoughtfulness.  I knew
+you meant to be kind to me."
+
+"That's what I did.  But you didn't obey orders.  You kept comin'.
+Now, why--"
+
+"Why?  Did you suppose that _I_ cared for the malicious gossip of--
+such people?  I came because you were in trouble, and I hoped to
+help you.  And--and I thought I had helped, until a few minutes
+ago."
+
+Her lip quivered.  That quiver went to the captain's heart.
+
+"Helped?" he faltered.  "Helped?  Why, you've done so much that I
+can't ever thank you.  You've been the only real helper I've had in
+all this miserable business.  You've stood by me all through."
+
+"But it was all wrong.  He isn't the man at all.  Didn't Mr.
+Peabody tell you?"
+
+"Yes, yes, he told me.  What difference does that make?  Peabody be
+hanged!  He ain't in this.  It's you and me--don't you see?  What
+made you do all this for me?"
+
+She looked at the floor and not at him as she answered.
+
+"Why, because I wanted to help you," she said.  "I've been alone in
+the world ever since mother died, years ago.  I've had few real
+friends.  Your friendship had come to mean a great deal to me.  The
+splendid fight you were making for that little girl proved what a
+man you were.  And you fought so bravely when almost everyone was
+against you, I couldn't help wanting to do something for you.  How
+could I?  And now it has come to nothing--my part of it.  I'm so
+sorry."
+
+"It ain't, neither.  It's come to everything.  Phoebe, I didn't
+mean to say very much more than to beg your pardon when I headed
+for here.  But I've got to--I've simply got to.  This can't go on.
+I can't have you keep comin' to see me--and Bos'n.  I can't keep
+meetin' you every day.  I CAN'T."
+
+She looked up, as if to speak, but something, possibly the
+expression in his face, caused her to look quickly down again.
+She did not answer.
+
+"I can't do it," continued the captain desperately.  "'Tain't for
+what folks might say.  They wouldn't say much when I was around, I
+tell you.  It ain't that.  It's because I can't bear to have you
+just a friend.  Either you must be more'n that, or--or I'll have to
+go somewheres else.  I realized that when I was in Washin'ton and
+cruisin' to California and back.  I've either got to take Bos'n and
+go away for good, or--or--"
+
+She would not help him.  She would not speak.
+
+"You see?" he groaned.  "You see, Phoebe, what an old fool I am.
+I can't ask you to marry me, me fifty-five, and rough from knockin'
+round the world, and you, young and educated, and a lady.  I ain't
+fool enough to ask such a thing as that.  And yet, I couldn't stay
+here and meet you every day, and by and by see you marry somebody
+else.  By the big dipper, I couldn't do it!  So that's why I can't
+shake hands with you to-day--nor any more, except when I say good-
+by for keeps."
+
+Then she looked up.  The color was still bright in her face, and
+her eyes were moist, but she was smiling.
+
+"Can't shake hands with me?" she said.  "Please, what have you been
+doing for the last five minutes?"
+
+Captain Cy dropped her hand as if his own had been struck with
+paralysis.
+
+"Good land!" he stammered.  "I didn't know I did it; honest truth,
+I didn't."
+
+Phoebe's smile was still there, faint, but very sweet.
+
+"Why did you stop?" she queried.  "I didn't ask you to."
+
+"Why did I stop?  Why, because I--I--I declare I'm ashamed--"
+
+She took his hand and clasped it with both her own.
+
+"I'm not," she said bravely, her eyes brightening as the wonder and
+incredulous joy grew in his.  "I'm very proud.  And very, very
+happy."
+
+
+
+There was to be a big supper at the Cy Whittaker place that night.
+It was an impromptu affair, arranged on the spur of the moment by
+Captain Cy, who, in spite of the lawyer's protests and anxiety
+concerning his health, went serenely up and down the main road,
+inviting everybody he met or could think of.  The captain's face
+was as radiant as a spring sunrise.  His smile, as Asaph said,
+"pretty nigh cut the upper half of his head off."  People who had
+other engagements, and would, under ordinary circumstances, have
+refused the invitation, couldn't say no to his hearty, "Can't come?
+Course you'll come!  Man alive!  I WANT you."
+
+"Invalid, is he?" observed Josiah Dimick, after receiving and
+accepting his own invitation.  "Well, I wish to thunder I could be
+took down with the same kind of disease.  I'd be willin' to linger
+along with it quite a spell if it pumped me as full of joy as Whit
+seems to be.  Don't give laughin' gas to keep off pneumonia, do
+they?  No?  Well, I'd like to know the name of his medicine, that's
+all."
+
+Supper was to be ready at six.  Georgianna, assisted by Keturah
+Bangs, Mrs. Sylvanus Cahoon, and other volunteers, was gloriously
+busy in the kitchen.  The table in the dining room reached from one
+end of the big apartment to the other.  Guests would begin to
+arrive shortly.  Wily Mr. Peabody, guessing that Captain Cy might
+prefer to be alone, had taken the Board of Strategy out riding
+behind the span.
+
+In the sitting room, around the baseburner stove, were three
+persons--Captain Cy, Bos'n, and Phoebe.  Miss Dawes had "come
+early," at the captain's urgent appeal.  Now she was sitting in the
+rocker, at one side of the stove, gazing dreamily at the ruddy
+light behind the isinglass panes.  She looked quietly, blissfully
+contented and happy.  At her feet, on the braided mat, sat Bos'n,
+playing with Lonesome, who purred lazily.  The little girl was
+happy, too, for was not her beloved Uncle Cyrus at home again, with
+all danger of their separation ended forevermore?
+
+As for Captain Cy himself, the radiant expression was still on his
+face, brighter than ever.  He looked across at Phoebe, who smiled
+back at him.  Then he glanced down at Bos'n.  And all at once he
+realized that this was the fulfillment of his dream.  Here was his
+"picture"; the sitting room was now as he had always loved to think
+of it--as it used to be.  He was in his father's chair, Phoebe in
+the one his mother used to occupy, and between them--just where he
+had sat so often when a boy--the child.  The Cy Whittaker place had
+again, and at last, come into its own.
+
+He drew a long breath, and looked about the room; at the stove, the
+lamp, the old, familiar furniture, at his grandfather's portrait
+over the mantel.  Then, in a flash of memory, his father's words
+came back to him, and he said, laughing aloud from pure happiness:
+
+"Bos'n, run down cellar and get me a pitcher of cider, won't you?--
+there's a good feller."
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg Etext Cy Whittaker's Place, by J. C. Lincoln
+
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