Sears Kendrick sat upright on the settee. Of course he recognized the song, every man who had ever sailed salt water knew the old _Dreadnought_ chantey, but much more than that, he believed he recognized the voice of the singer. Leaning forward, he watched for the latter to appear.
Then, around the clump of lilacs which leaned over Captain Sol Snow"s fence at the corner, came an old white horse drawing an old "truck-wagon," the wagon painted, as all Cape Cod truck-wagons then were and are yet, a bright blue; and upon the high seat of the wagon sat a chunky figure, a figure which rocked back and forth and sang:
"Now the _Dreadnought"s_ a sailin" the (_Bang! b.u.mp!_) Atlantic so wide, While the (_Thump! b.u.mp!_) dark heavy seas roll along her black side, With the sails neatly spread (_Crump! Jingle!_) and the red cross to show, She"s the Liverpool packet; Good Lord, let----"
Captain Kendrick interrupted here.
"Ahoy, the _Dreadnought_!" he hailed. "_Dreadnought_ ahoy!"
"Good Lord, let "er go!" roared the man on the seat of the truck-wagon, finishing the stanza of his chantey. Then he added "Whoa!" in a mighty bellow. The white horse stopped in his tracks, as if he had one ear tipped backward awaiting the invitation. His driver leaned down and peered into the shadow of the lilac bush.
"Who--?" he began. "Eh? _What?_ Limpin", creepin", crawlin", jumpin"
Moses and the prophets! It ain"t Cap"n Sears Kendrick, is it? It is, by Henry! Well, well, _well_, WELL, _WELL_!"
Each succeeding "well" was louder and more emphatic than its predecessor. They were uttered as the speaker rolled, rather than climbed, down from the high seat. Alighting upon a pair of enormous feet shod in heavy rubber boots, the tops of which were turned down, he thumped up the little slope from the road to the sidewalk. Then, thrusting over the fence pickets a red and hairy hand, the size of which corresponded to that of the feet, he roared another string of delighted exclamations.
"Cap"n Sears Kendrick, on deck and all taut again! Well, by the jumpin", creepin"! If this ain"t--Cap"n Sears, sir, how be you?"
His broad-brimmed, battered straw hat had fallen off in his descent from the wagon seat, uncovering a partially bald head and a round, extremely red face, two-thirds of which was hidden by a tremendously thick and bristly tangle of short gray whiskers. The whiskers were now bisected by a broad grin, a grin so broad and so ecstatic that its wrinkles extended to the bulbous nose and the apple cheeks above.
"Cap"n Sears, sir," repeated the driver of the truck-wagon, "I"m proud to see you on deck again, sir. Darned if I ain"t!"
The captain leaned forward and shook the big red hand extended across the fence pickets.
"Judah Cahoon, you old salt herrin"," he cried heartily, "I"m just as glad to see you! But _what_ in the world are you doin" here in Bayport?"
CHAPTER II
Mr. Cahoon"s grin vanished and the expression of his face above the whiskers indicated extreme surprise.
"What am I doin" here?" he repeated. "Didn"t you know I was here, Cap"n Sears?"
"Of course I didn"t. The last I heard of you you had shipped as cook aboard the _Gallant Rover_ and was bound for Calcutta, or Singapore or somewhere in those lat.i.tudes. And that was only a year ago. What are you doin" on the Cape and pilotin" that kind of a craft?" indicating the truck wagon.
The question was ignored. "Didn"t they never tell you I was here?"
demanded Judah. "Didn"t that Joel Macomber tell you I been hailin" him every time he crossed my bows, askin" about you every day since you run on the rocks? Didn"t he tell you that?"
"No."
"Never give you my respects nor--nor kind rememberances, nor nawthin"?"
"Not a word. Never so much as mentioned your name."
"The red-headed shark!"
"There! There! Sshh! Never mind him. Come in here and sit down a minute, can"t you? Or are you in a hurry?"
"Eh? No-o, I ain"t in no "special hurry. Just got a deck load of seaweed aboard carting it up home, that"s all."
"Home? What home?"
"Why, where I"m livin". I call it home; anyhow it"s all the home I got.
Eh? Why, Cap"n Sears, ain"t they never told you that I"m livin" at the Minot place?"
"The Minot place! Why--why, man alive, you don"t mean the General Minot place, do you?"
"Um-hm. That"s what folks down here call it. There ain"t no Generals there though."
"And _you_ are livin" in the General Minot house? Look here, Judah, are you trying to make a fool of me?"
Mr. Cahoon"s countenance--that portion of it above the whisker tidemark, of course--registered horror at the thought. He had been cook and steward aboard Captain Kendrick"s ships for many voyages and his feeling for his former skipper was close kin to idolatry.
"Eh?" he gasped. "Me try to make a fool out of _you_, Cap"n Sears? _Me?_ No, no, I got _some_ sense left, I hope."
Kendrick smiled. "Oh, the thing isn"t impossible, Judah," he observed dryly. "It has been done. I have been made a fool of and more than once.... But there, never mind that. I want to know what you are doin"
at the General Minot place. Come aboard here and tell me about it. You can leave your horse, can"t you? He doesn"t look as if he was liable to run away."
"Run away! Him?" Judah snorted disgust. "Limpin" Moses! He won"t run away for the same reason old Cap"n Eben Gould didn"t say his prayers--he"s forgot how. I was out with that horse on the flats last week and the tide pretty nigh caught us. The water in the main channel was so deep that it was clean up to the critter"s garboard strake, and still, by the creepin", I couldn"t get him out of a walk. I thought there one spell he might _drift_ away, but I knew dum well he"d never run.... Whoa!
you--you hipponoceros you!" addressing the ancient animal, who was placidly gnawing at the Macomber hitching post. ""Vast heavin" on that post! _Look_ at the blasted idiot!" with huge disgust. "To home, by the creepin", he"ll turn up his nose at good hay and then he"ll cruise out here and start to swaller a wood fence. Whoa! Back! Back, or I"ll--I"ll bore a hole in you and scuttle you."
The old horse condescended to back for perhaps two feet, a proceeding which elicited a grunt of grudging approval from Mr. Cahoon. The latter then settled himself with a thump upon the settee beside Captain Kendrick.
"How"s the spars splicin"?" he inquired, with a jerk of his thumb toward the captain"s legs. "Gettin" so you can navigate with "em? Stand up under sail, will they?"
"Not for much of a cruise," replied Sears, using the same nautical phraseology. "I shan"t be able to run under anything but a jury rig for a good while, I"m afraid. But never mind the spars. I want to know how you happen to be down here in Bayport, and especially what on earth you are doin" at the Minot place? Somebody died and left you a million?"
Mr. Cahoon"s whiskers were split again by his wide grin.
"If I was left a million _I"d_ die," he observed with emphasis. "No, no, nothin" like that, Cap"n. I"m there along of ... humph! You know young Ogden Minot, don"t you?"
"No, I guess I don"t. I don"t seem to remember him. Ogden Minot, you say?"
"Sartin. Why, you must have run afoul of him, Cap"n Sears. He has a--a sort of home moorin"s at a desk in Barstow Brothers" shippin" office up on State Street. Has some kind of berth with the firm, they tell me, partner or somethin". You must have seen him there."
"Well, if I have I.... Hold on a minute! Seems to me I do remember him.
Tall fellow, dresses like a tailor"s picture; speaks as if--"
"As if the last half of every word was comin" on the next boat. That"s him. Light complected, wears his whiskers wing and wing, like a schooner runnin" afore the wind. Same kind of side whiskers old Cap"n Spencer of the _Farewell_ used to carry that voyage when I fust run afoul of you.
You was second mate and I was cook, remember. You recollect the skipper"s side whiskers, Cap"n Sears? Course you do! Stuck out each side of his face pretty nigh big as old-fashioned studdin" sails. Fo"mast hands used to call "em the old man"s "homeward-bounders." Ho, ho! Why, I"ve seen them whiskers blowin"--"
Kendrick interrupted.
"Never mind Cap"n Spencer"s whiskers," he said. "Stick to your course, Judah. What about this Ogden Minot?"