Mrs. Coomber wondered whether she was thinking of the storm; whether she could tell them who she was, and where her friends might be found; and she ventured to ask her several questions about this, but failed to elicit any satisfactory answer. The child was sleepy, or had forgotten what Mrs. Coomber thought she would be sure to remember; but it was evident she had taken notice of her surroundings during the last few days, for after a little while she said, "Where"s der boys--dat d.i.c.k and Tom?"
Mrs. Coomber was amused. "They"re out in the boat looking after the nets," she said.
"When they toming home?" asked the little girl; "home to dis boat, I mean," she added.
"Oh, they"ll come soon," replied Mrs. Coomber. "But, now, can"t you tell me something about your mother and father, and where you lived, my deary?" she asked again.
"I tomed in a s"ip, and "ou my mammy now," said the child, looking round the cosy room with perfect content.
"But where is your own mammy, who taught you to say your prayers?" asked Mrs. Coomber.
The tears came into the sweet blue eyes for a minute as she said, "See dorn up dere, to tay in Dod"s house, and Tiny do too if see a dood dal."
Mrs. Coomber laid down the jacket she was patching, and kissed the serious little face. "Is your mother dead, my deary?" she asked, while the tears shone in her own eyes.
"See done to see daddy, and tell him about Tiny," answered the child; from which Mrs. Coomber gathered that mother and father were both dead; and when her husband came home she told him what she had heard, which seemed to afford the old fisherman a good deal of satisfaction.
"Then she"s ours safe enough, mother," he said, rubbing his hands, "and when she gets well she"ll toddle about the old boat like our own little Polly did."
"But I thought you said Peters was going to see the newspaper man to tell him to put something in the _Stamford Mercury_ about finding her, so that her friends should know she was saved, and come and fetch her."
"I said her mother or father," interrupted Coomber, sharply; "but if they"re dead, there ain"t anybody else likely to want such a little "un, and so we may keep her, I take it. But Peters shall go to the newspaper man, never fear," added Coomber; "I don"t want to rob anybody of the little "un; but if n.o.body don"t come in a week, why then, Mary----" and Coomber paused, and looked at his wife.
"Well, then, I"ll get out little Polly"s things; they"ll just about fit her," said Mrs. Coomber, hastily wiping her eyes with her ap.r.o.n for fear her husband should reproach her again for her tears.
When the boys came in, the little girl said, shyly, "Tome and tell me about the nets."
d.i.c.k looked at her, and then at his mother.
"What does she mean?" he asked, drawing near the little bed where Tiny lay.
"She wants to know about the fishing," said Mrs. Coomber. "Have you had a good take, d.i.c.k?" asked his mother, rather anxiously, for she wanted some more milk for Tiny, and her little secret store of halfpence was gone now.
"Oh, it ain"t much," said d.i.c.k; "Bob has taken a few plaice to Fellness, and I dessay he"ll bring back some bread or some flour."
"But I want some milk for the child; she can"t eat bread and fish and potatoes now she"s ill. Couldn"t you run up to the farm, d.i.c.k, and ask Mrs. Hayes if she wants a bit o" fish, and I"ll be thankful for a drop o" milk for it."
But d.i.c.k looked dubious. "I"d like to go," he said, "if it was only to have a word with Harry Hayes, and ask him about his rabbits; but father don"t like the farm people now, and he said I was never to speak to them. You know they"ve had a quarrel."
"Well, what are we to do? They are our only neighbours, and they ain"t a bad sort either, Mrs. Hayes is a kind soul, who has children of her own, and would let me have milk in a minute if she knew I wanted it for this poor little mite," said Mrs. Coomber, in perplexity as to the best thing to do.
"I"ll go, mother, if you can find any fish worth taking," at last said d.i.c.k.
Mrs. Coomber went and turned over what the boys had brought. The best had been picked out and sent to Fellness, and what was left was not more than sufficient for themselves; but she carefully looked out the largest she could find and washed it. While she was doing this her husband came in.
"It"s a poor take to-day, mother," he said.
"Yes, and I wanted a bit extra, to get some milk for the child," said Mrs. Coomber; "but I think I can manage with this," she said, still busying herself with the fish, and not turning to look at her husband.
"What are yer goin" to do wi" it?" he inquired.
"I want to send d.i.c.k up to the farm; Mrs. Hayes will give me some milk for it, I know," replied his wife, trying to speak in a matter-of-fact tone.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ""ME LIKES "OU," SHE SAID." (_See page 40._)]
"And you"d send d.i.c.k to that place when I said they shouldn"t go near the house," said her husband, angrily. "Take the fish and cook it for supper. Not a bit o" my fish shall they have."
"But the milk. What am I to do for the milk for the child now she"s ill?"
"What have yer done afore?" demanded her husband; and the poor woman was obliged to confess that she had taken milk from the man as he went past in his cart to the village each day since the child had been there. "She couldn"t do wi"out milk," protested Mrs. Coomber.
"How do you know she couldn"t?" said her husband. "What business have you to spend money for milk--what business have you wi" money at all?"
he inquired, suspiciously; for he saw in this wastefulness a cause for the recent strange scarcity of whisky; and he felt he had been deeply wronged. His quarrel with Hayes had also been disregarded, and this made him further angry with his wife, and he strictly charged her never to have any more dealings with any of the farm people.
"We can live very well without milk," he said. "I will feed the little "un, and you"ll see she can eat fish and bread as well as the rest of us."
It was useless for Mrs. Coomber to protest against this; she knew if her husband made up his mind to do anything he would do it; but she almost dreaded supper-time coming, for she could not tell how Tiny would like the proposed change in her nurse and diet.
But as it happened the little girl was very pleased to be lifted out of bed and seated on Coomber"s knee at the table.
"Me likes "ou," she said, patting his cheek with her little white hand; and she ate the fish and bread as though she was quite used to such food.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
CHAPTER III.
TINY"S HOPE.
The slant rays of the setting sun lay on the wide stretch of level sand surrounding Bermuda Point, for the tide was out, and had left it smooth, or slightly rippled as with tiny wavelets. Standing at the very edge of the sands, with her eyes shaded, and her clothes blowing round her bare legs, was a little fair-haired girl. She was slender and delicate-looking still, in spite of the sun-browned arms and face.
Months had pa.s.sed, but Tiny was still at the Point.
She stood gazing seawards for some minutes, and then turned and walked slowly across the rippled sand.
"I can"t see him, d.i.c.k," she said, in a disappointed tone.
"Oh, well, never mind," said the boy, who sat scooping the loose sand up in a heap, beyond the reach of the present ordinary tides.
"Have you filled both the baskets?" asked the little girl, as she waded through the loose dry sand to where the boy was sitting.
"No, that I ain"t," answered d.i.c.k, "mother said you could pick the samphire to-day."
"Yes, but you said you"d help me," said the girl, walking steadily across the sand to the salt-marsh beyond. Here the samphire grew in abundance, and the little girl set to work to fill the two large baskets that stood near.
"You might come and help, d.i.c.k," she called, hardly repressing a sob as she spoke.