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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by Donald Lainson, charlie@idirect.com. + + + + + +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 + |