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 att.i.tude 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.
"h.e.l.lo, 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, b.u.t.toning 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.