"Everythin" bout him. If "twan"t for him I wouldn"t be here now. No sir-ee, "stead of settin" here swappin" yarns with you, Cap"n Sears, I"d be somewheres off Cape Horn, cookin" lobscouse and doughboy over a red-hot galley stove. Yes sir, that"s where I"d be. And I"d just as soon be here, and a dum sight juster, as the feller said. Ho, ho! Tut, tut, tut! You can"t never tell, can you? How many times I"ve stood in my galley with a gale of wind blowin", and my feet braced so"s I wouldn"t pitch into the salt-horse kittle every time she rolled, and thinkin"--"
"There, there, Judah! Bring her up, bring her up. You"re three points off again."
"Eh? So I be, so I be. I"ll try and hold her nose in the notch from now on. Well, "twas last October, a year ago, when I"d about made up my mind to go cook in the _Gallant Rover_, same as you said. I hadn"t signed articles, you understand, but I was cal"latin" to, and I was down on Long Wharf where the _Rover_ was takin" cargo, and her skipper, Cap"n Gustavus Philbrick, "twas--he was a Cape man, one of the Ostable Philbricks--he asked me if I wouldn"t cruise up to the Barstow Brothers"
office and fetch down some papers that was there for him. So I didn"t have nawthin" to do "special, and "twas about time for my eleven o"clock--when I"m in Boston I always cal"late to hist aboard one eleven o"clock, rum and sweetenen" "tis generally, at Jerry Crockett"s saloon on India Street and.... Aye, aye, sir! All right, all right, Cap"n Sears. I"ll keep her in the notch, don"t worry. Well--er--er--what was I sayin"? Oh, yes! Well, I had my eleven o"clock and then I cruised up to the Barstow place, and the fust mate there, young Crosby Barstow "twas, he was talkin" with this Ogden Minot. And when I hove in sight young Barstow, he sings out: "And here"s another Cape Codder, Ogden," he says.
"You two ought to know each other. Cahoon," says he, "this is Mr. Ogden Minot; his folks hailed from Bayport. That"s down your way, ain"t it?"
""You bet!" says I. "My home port"s Harniss, and that"s right next door.
Minot? Minot?" I says, tryin" to recollect, you understand. "Seems to me I used to know a Minot down that way. Why, yes, course I did! You any relation to old Ichabod Minot, that skippered the _Gypsy Maid_ fishin"
to the Banks? Ichabod hailed from--from--Denboro, seems to me "twas."
"He said no pretty sharp. Barstow, he laughed like fury and wanted to know if this Ogden Minot looked like Ichabod. "Is there a family resemblance?" he says. I told him I guessed not. "Anyhow," says I, "I couldn"t tell very well. I only seen Ichabod when he was drunk." That tickled Barstow most to death. "You never saw him but that once, then?"
he wanted to know. "Oh, yes," says I, "I seen him about every time he was on sh.o.r.e after a fishin" trip."
"That seemed to make him laugh more"n ever and even young Ogden laughed some. Anyhow, we got to talkin" and I told Barstow how I was cal"latin"
to go cook on the _Gallant Rover_. "And I"m sick of it," I says. "I"d like a nice snug berth ash.o.r.e." "You would?" says Barstow. Then he says, "Humph!" and looks at Minot. And Minot, he says, "Humph!" and looked at him. And then they both says, "Humph!" and looked at me. And afore I set sail from that office to carry Cap"n Philbrick"s papers back to him I"d agreed not to sign on for that v"yage as cook until I"d cruised down here to Bayport along of young Ogden Minot to see how I"d like to be sort of--of general caretaker and stevedore, as you might call it, at the General Minot place. You see, young Ogden was the General"s grandson and he"d had the property left him. And "twas part of the sailin"
orders--in the old General"s will, you understand--that it couldn"t be sold, but must always be took care of and kept up. Ogden could rent it out but he couldn"t sell it; that was the pickle _he_ was in.
Understand, don"t you, Cap"n Sears?"
Kendrick nodded. "Why--yes, I guess likely I do," he said. "But this Minot boy could live in it himself, couldn"t he? Why doesn"t he do that?
As I remember it, it was considerable of a house. I should think he would come here himself and live."
Judah nodded. "You would think so, wouldn"t you?" he agreed. "But _he_ don"t think so, and what"s a mighty sight more account, his wife don"t think so. She"s one of them kind of women that--that--well, when she gets to heaven--course I ain"t layin" no bets on her gettin" there, but _if_ she does--the fust thing she"ll do after she fetches port is to find out which one of them golden streets has got the highest-toned gang livin" on it and then start in tryin" to tie up to the wharf there herself. _She_ wouldn"t live in no Bayport. No sir--ee! She"s got winter moorin"s up in one of them streets back of the Common, and summer times she"s down to a place called--er--er--Nahum--Nehimiah--No--jumpin"
prophets! What"s the name of that place out on the rocks abaft Lynn?"
"Nahant?" suggested his companion.
"That"s it. She and him is to Nahant summers. And what for _I_ don"t know, when right here in Bayport is a great, big, fine house and land around it and--and flower tubs in the front yard and--and marble top tables--and--and haircloth chairs and sofys, and--and a Rogers" statoo in the parlor and--and.... Why, say, Cap"n Sears, you ought to _see_ that house and the things in it. They"ve spent money on that house same as if a five dollar bill wan"t nawthin". Wasted it, I call it. The second day I was there I wanted to brush off some dust that was on the chair seats and I was huntin" round from bow to stern lookin" for one of them little brush brooms, you know, same as you brush clothes with.
Well, sir, I"d about give up lookin" when I happened to look on the wall of the settin"-room and there was one hangin" up. And, say, Cap"n Sears, I wisht you could have seen it! "Twas triced up in a--a kind of becket, as you might say, made out of velvet--yes, sir, by creepin", velvet! And the velvet had posies and gra.s.s painted on it. And, I don"t know as you"ll believe it, but it"s a fact, the handle of that brush broom was gilded! Yes sir, by Henry, _gilded_! "Well," thinks I to myself, "if this ain"t then I don"t know what is!" I did cal"late that I was gettin" used to style, and high-toned money-slingin", but when it comes to puttin" gold handles onto brush-brooms, that had me on my beam ends, that did. And ain"t it a sinful waste, Cap"n Sears, I ask you? Now ain"t it? And what in time is the _good_ of it? A brush-broom is just a broom, no matter if----"
Again the captain interrupted. "Yes, yes, of course, Judah," he agreed, laughing; "but what do you do up there all by yourself? In that big house?"
"Oh, I don"t live in the whole house. I could if I wanted to. Ogden, he don"t care where I live or what I do. All he wants of me, he says, is to keep the place lookin" good, and the gra.s.s cut and one thing or "nother.
He keeps hopin" he"s goin" to rent it, you know, but they won"t n.o.body hire it. The only thing a place big as that would be good for is to keep tavern. And we"ve got one tavern here in Bayport already."
Kendrick seemed to be thinking. He pulled his beard. Of course he wore a beard; in those days he would have been thought queer if he had not.
Even the Harvard students who came to Bayport occasionally on summer tramping trips wore beards or sidewhiskers; the very callowest Freshman sported and nourished a moustache.
"So you don"t occupy the whole house, Judah?" asked the captain.
"No, no," replied Mr. Cahoon. "I live out in the back part. There"s the kitchen and woodshed and dinin"-room out there and a couple of bedrooms.
That"s all _I_ want. There"s nine more bedrooms in that house, Cap"n,"
he declared solemnly. "That makes eleven altogether. Now what in tunket do you cal"late anybody"d ever do with eleven bedrooms?"
Kendrick shook his head. "Give it up, Judah," he said. "For the matter of that, I don"t see what you do with two. Do you sleep in one week nights and the other on Sundays?"
Judah grinned. "No, no, Cap"n," he said. "I don"t know myself why I keep that other bedroom fixed up. Cal"late I do it just for fun, kind of makin" believe I"m going to have company, I guess. It gets kind of lonesome there sometimes, "specially meal times and evenin"s. There I set at mess, you know, grand as the skipper of the _Great Republic_, cloth on the table, silver knife and fork, silver castor with blue gla.s.s vinegar and pepper-sa.s.s bottles, great, big, elegant mustache cup with "Forget Me Not" printed out on it in gold letters--everything so fine it couldn"t be no finer--but by creepin", sometimes I can"t help feelin"
lonesome! Seems foolish, don"t it, but I be."
Captain Kendrick did not speak. He pulled at his beard with more deliberation and the look in his eye was that of one watching the brightening dawn of an idea.
"I told Ogden so last time he was down," continued Mr. Cahoon. "He asked me if I was comf"table and if I wanted anything more and I told him I didn"t. "Only thing that ails me," I says, "is that I get kind of lonesome bein" by myself so much. Sometimes I wisht I had comp"ny."
"Well, why don"t you _have_ comp"ny?" says he. "You"ve got room enough, lord knows." "Yes," I says, "but who"ll I have?" He laughed. "That"s your lookout," says he. "You can"t expect me to hire a companion for you.""
"Humph!" Kendrick regarded him thoughtfully. "So you would like company, would you, Judah?"
"Sartin sure I would, if "twas the right kind. I got a cat and that helps a little mite. And Cap"n Shubal Hammond"s wife told me yesterday she"d give me a young pig if I wanted one. That"s what I"m cartin" home this little mite of seaweed for, to bed down the pig sty. But cats and hogs, they"re all right enough, but they ain"t human."
"Do you keep hens?"
This apparently harmless question seemed to arouse Mr. Cahoon"s ire. His whiskers bristled and his nose flamed.
"Hens!" he repeated. "Don"t talk to me about hens! No, sir, by the prophets, I don"t keep hens! But them everlastin" Fair Harborers keep "em and if they"d keep "em to home I wouldn"t say a word. But they don"t. Half the time they"re over my side of the fence raisin" blue hob with my garden. Hens! Don"t talk to me about "em! I hate the sight of the critters."
Kendrick smiled. "And after all," he observed, "hens aren"t human, either."
Judah snorted. "Some are," he declared, "and them"s the worst kind."
There was, doubtless, a hidden meaning in this speech, but if so Sears Kendrick did not seek to find it. Laying a hand upon the broad shoulder of his former sea-cook he lifted himself to his feet.
"Judah," he asked, briskly, "is that seaweed in your cart there dry?"
"Eh? Dry? Yes, yes, dry as a cat"s back. Been layin" on the beach above tide mark ever since last winter. Why?"
"Do you suppose you could help me hoist myself aboard?"
"Aboard? Aboard that truck-wagon? For the land sakes, what for?"
"Because I want a ride. I"ve been in drydock here till I"m pretty nearly crazy. I want to go on a cruise, even if it isn"t but a half mile one.
Don"t you want to cart me down to your anchorage and let me see how you and General Minot and the gilt whisk broom get along? I can sprawl on that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat. Come on now! Heave ahead! Give us a hand up!"
"But--limpin" prophets, Cap"n Sears, I couldn"t cart you up the main road of Bayport in a seaweed cart. You, of all men! What do you cal"late folks would say if they see me doin" it? Course I"d love to have you ride down and see how I"m livin". If you"d set up on the thawt there,"
indicating the high seat of the truck-wagon, "I"d be proud to have you.
But to haul you along on a load of seaweed that"s goin" to bed down a hog! Cap"n, you _know_ "twouldn"t be fittin"! Course you do."
His horror at the sacrilege was so ludicrous that Kendrick laughed aloud. However, he insisted that there was nothing unfitting in the idea; it was a good idea and founded upon common-sense.
"How long do you think these sprung sticks of mine would last," he said, referring to his legs, "if they were jouncin" up and down on that seat aloft there? And I couldn"t climb up even if I wanted to. But, you and I between us, Judah, can get me in on that seaweed, and that"s what we"re goin" to do. Come, come! Tumble up! All hands on deck now!
Lively!"
The familiar order, given with a touch of the old familiar crispness and authority, had its effect. Mr. Cahoon argued no more. Instead he sprang to attention, figuratively speaking.
"Aye, aye, sir!" he said. "Here she goes. Take it easy, Cap"n; don"t hurry. Ease yourself down that bankin". If we was to let go and you come down with a run there"d be the divil and all to pay, wouldn"t there? So ... so.... Here we be, alongside. Now---- Aloft with ye."
They had reached the road by the tailboard of the wagon. And now Judah stooped, picked up his former skipper in his arms and swung him in upon the load of dry seaweed as if he were a two year old boy instead of a full-grown, and very much grown, man.
"Well," he asked, as he climbed to the seat, "all ready to make sail, be we? Any message you want to leave along with Sary? She won"t know what end you"ve made, will she?"
"Oh, she"ll guess I"ve gone buggy-ridin" with the doctor. He"s been threatenin" to take me with him "most any day now. Sarah"ll be all right. Get under way, Judah."