The captain and Sylvester were leaning on the fence by the gate, looking up the road and waiting for Dan and the "two-seater" to heave in sight around the bend. The hired man had harnessed early and driven to the station at least thirty minutes before train time. Captain Elisha was responsible for the early start. Steve was coming on that train; possibly someone else was coming. The captain did not mean they should find no welcome or vehicle at the station.
The whistle had sounded ten minutes before. It was time for Dan to appear at the bend.
"I hope to thunder Jim got that telegram," observed the captain for the twentieth time, at least, since breakfast.
"So do I," replied his friend. "There"s no reason why he shouldn"t, is there?"
"No, no sensible one; but I"ve scared up no less than a couple of hundred of the other kind. If he shouldn"t come--my, my! she"d be disappointed."
"You wouldn"t feel any disappointment yourself, of course," said the lawyer, with sarcasm.
"Who? Me? Oh, I"d be sorer"n a scalded wharf rat in a barrel of pepper.
But I don"t count. There"s the real one up there."
He motioned with his head toward the window of Caroline"s room.
Sylvester nodded. "Yes," he said, "I suppose so. Captain, I"m somewhat surprised that you should be willing to trust that niece of yours to another man. She"s a pretty precious article, according to your estimate."
"Well, ain"t she accordin" to yours?"
"Yes. Pretty precious and precious pretty. Look at her now."
They turned in time to catch a glimpse of the girl as she parted the curtains and looked out on the road. She saw them looking at her, smiled, blushed, and disappeared. Both men smoked in silence for a moment. Then the captain said:
"Waitin". Hi hum! nothin" like it, when you"re waitin" for _the_ one, is there?"
"No, nothing."
"Yup. Well, for a pair of old single hulks our age, strikes me we"re gettin" pretty sentimental. You say you wonder I"d trust Caroline to another man; I wouldn"t to the average one. But Jim Pearson"s all right.
You"ll say so, too, when you know him as well as I do."
"I"ll trust your judgment, any time. So you won"t tell Steve yet awhile that he"s not broke?"
"No. And Caroline won"t tell him, either. Steve"s doin" fust-rate as he is. He"s in the pickle tub and "twill do him good to season a spell longer. But I think he"s goin" to be all right by and by. Say, Sylvester, this New York cruise of mine turned out pretty good, after all, didn"t it?"
"Decidedly good. It was the making of your niece and nephew. Caroline realizes it now; and so will Steve later on."
"Hope so. It didn"t do _me_ any harm," with a chuckle. "I wouldn"t have missed that little beat up the bay with Marm Dunn for a good deal. For a spell there we was bows abreast, and "twas hard to tell who"d turn the mark first. Heard from the Dunns lately?"
"No. Why, yes, I did hear that they were in a tighter box than ever, financially. The smash will come pretty soon."
"I"m sorry. The old lady"ll go down with colors nailed to the mast, I"ll bet; and she"ll leave a lot of suds where she sank. Do you know, I never blamed her so much. She was built that way. She"s consider"ble like old Mrs. Patience Blodgett, who used to live up here to the Neck; like her--only there never was two people more different. Pashy was the craziest blue-ribb.o.n.e.r you ever saw. Her one idea in life was gettin"
folks to sign the pledge. She married Tim Blodgett, who was the wust soak in the county--he"d have figgered out, if you a.n.a.lyzed him, about like a bottle of patent medicine, seventy-two per cent alcohol. Well, Pashy married him to reform him, and she made her brags that she"d get him to sign the pledge. And she did, but only by puttin" it in front of him when he was too drunk to read it."
The lawyer laughed heartily. "So you think Mrs. Corcoran Dunn resembles her, do you," he observed.
"In one way--yes. Both of "em sacrifice everything else to one idea.
Pashy"s was gettin" that pledge signed, and never mind ways and means.
Mrs. Dunn"s is money and position--never mind how they come. See what I"m drivin" at?"
Sylvester laughed again. "I guess so," he said. "Captain Warren, I never saw you in better spirits. Do you know what I think? I think that, for a chap who has just given away half of a good-sized fortune and intends giving away the other half, you"re the most cheerful specimen I ever saw."
The captain laughed, too. "I am, ain"t I," he said. "Well, I can say truthful what I never expected to say in my life--that _once_ I was wuth ha"f a million dollars. As for the rest of it, I"m like that millionaire--that.... Hi! Look! There comes Dan! See him!"
They peered eagerly over the fence. The Warren "two-seater" had rounded the bend in the road. Dan was driving. Beside him sat a young fellow who waved his hand.
"Steve!" cried the captain, excitedly. "There"s Steve! And--and--yes, there"s somebody on the back seat. It"s Jim! He"s come! Hooray!"
He was darting out of the gate, but his friend seized his coat.
"Wait," he cried. "I don"t want to lose the rest of that sentence. You said you were like some millionaire. Who?"
"Don"t bother me," cried Captain Elisha. "Who? Why, I was goin" to say I was like that millionaire chap who pa.s.ses out a library every time he wakes up and happens to think of it. You know who I mean.... Ahoy there, Jim! Ahoy, Steve!"
He was waving his hand to the pa.s.sengers in the approaching vehicle.
"Yes," prompted his friend, hastily, "I know who you mean--Carnegie."
"That"s the feller. I"ve come to feel about the way he says he does--that "twould be a crime for me to die rich."
THE END