"I don"t believe in giving any man a better education than he will ever know what to do with; but then, this d.i.c.k Lee and you boys,--well, see what you can do; but no one must be allowed to contribute outside of the Foster and Kinzer families, and Frank. As for the rest, hem!--ah--I think I"ll say that there won"t be any difficulty."
"You, father?"
"Why not, Annie? Do you s"pose I"m going to let myself be beaten in such a matter by a mere country-boy like Dabney Kinzer?"
"Father," said Ford, "if you"d seen how d.i.c.k behaved, that night, out there on the ocean, in "The Swallow"!"
"Just as well, just as well, my son."
"Hurrah!" shouted Ford. "Then it"s all right, and d.i.c.k Lee"ll have a fair shake in the world!"
"A what, my son?" exclaimed his mother.
"I didn"t mean to talk slang, mother: I only meant--well, you know how dreadfully black he is; but then, he can steer a boat tiptop, and he"s splendid for crabs and bluefish; and Dab says he"s a good scholar too."
"Dab"s a very good boy," said Mrs. Foster; "but your friend d.i.c.k will need an outfit, I imagine,--clothing, and almost every thing. I must see Mrs. Kinzer about it."
Meantime d.i.c.k Lee"s part in the matter, and that of his family, had been taken for granted, all around. An hour later, however, Mrs. Kinzer"s first reply to her son, after listening to a calculation of his, which almost made it seem as if d.i.c.k would make money by going to Grantley, was,--
"What if Mrs. Lee should say she can"t spare him?"
Dab"s countenance fell. He knew Mrs. Lee, but he had not thought so far as that.
He said something not very intelligible, but to that effect.
"Well, Dabney, if we can make the other arrangements, I"ll see her about it."
Ham Morris had been exchanging remarkable winks with Miranda and Samantha, and now gravely suggested,--
"Maybe the academy authorities will refuse to take him."
"Ford says they had a blacker boy than he is, there, last year."
"Now, Dab!" exclaimed Ham.
"Well, I know he"s pretty black; but it don"t come off."
"Mother," said Samantha, "Mrs. Foster and Annie are coming through the gate."
Dab waited just long enough after that to learn the news concerning the "Richard Lee Education Fund" and Mr. Foster"s offer, and then he was off towards the sh.o.r.e.
He knew very well in which direction it was best to go; and, half way to the landing, he met d.i.c.k coming up the road with a basket of eels on his arm.
"d.i.c.k," shouted Dabney, "I"m going away to boarding-school, at an academy."
""Cad"my? Whar?"
"Up in New England. They call it Grantley Academy,--where Frank and Ford are going."
"Dat spiles it all," said d.i.c.k ruefully. "Now I"s got to fish wid fellers "at don"t know nuffin."
"No, you won"t. You"re going with us. It"s all fixed,--money and all."
d.i.c.k would never have thought, ordinarily, of questioning a statement made by "Captain Kinzer;" but the rueful expression deepened on his face, the basket of eels dropped heavily on the gra.s.s, the tough black fingers of his hands twisted nervously together for a moment, and then he sat mournfully down beside the basket.
"It ain"t no use, Dab."
"No use? Why not?"
"I ain"t a w"ite boy."
"What of it? Don"t you learn well enough, over at the school?"
"More dar like me. Wot"d I do in a place whar all de res" was w"ite?"
"Well as anybody."
"Wot"ll my mudder say, w"en she gits de news? You isn"t a-jokin", is you, Dab Kinzer?"
"Joking? I guess not."
"You"s lit onto me powerful sudden "bout dis. Yonder"s Ford an" Frank a-comin". Don"t tell "em. Not jes" yit."
"They know all about it. They helped raise the money."
"Did dey? I"s obleeged to "em. Well, "tain"t no use. All I"s good for is eels and crabs and clams and sech. Har dey come. Oh, my!"
Ford and Frank brought a fresh gust of enthusiasm with them, and they had d.i.c.k and his eels up from the gra.s.s in short order.
"We must see Mrs. Lee right away," said Ford. "It would never do to let d.i.c.k tell her."
"Guess dat"s so," said d.i.c.k.
Quite an emba.s.sy they made, those four boys, with Dab Kinzer for spokesman, and d.i.c.k Lee almost crouching behind them. Mrs. Lee listened with open mouth while Dab unfolded his plan, but when he had finished she shut her lips firmly together. They were not very thin, and not at all used to being shut, and in another instant they opened again.
"Sho! De boy! Is dat you, d.i.c.k? Dat"s wot comes ob dressin" on "im up.
How"s he goin" to git clo"es? Wot"s he got to do wid de "Cad"my, anyhow?
Wot am I to do, yer all alone, arter he"s gone? Who"s goin" to run err"nds an" do de choahs? Wot"s de use ob bringin" up a boy an" den hab him go trapesin" off to de "Cad"my? Wot good"ll it do "im?"
"I tole yer so, Dab," groaned poor d.i.c.k. "It ain"t no use. I "most wish I was a eel!"
Dabney was on the point of opening a whole broadside of eloquence, when Ford Foster pinched his arm, and whispered,--
"Your mother"s coming, and our Annie"s with her."
"Then let"s clear out. She"s worth a ten-acre lot full of us. Come on, boys!"
If Mrs. Lee was surprised by their very sudden and somewhat unceremonious retreat, she need not have been, after she learned the cause of it. She stood in wholesome awe of Mrs. Kinzer; and a "brush"
with the portly widow, re-enforced by the sweet face of Annie Foster, was a pretty serious matter.