"Why, Elizabeth," he faltered, "is that you?... Come in, won"t you?"
She did come in, that is, she came as far as the door mat. Then she turned, not to him, but to his companion.
"What do you mean by speaking in that way of my mother?" she demanded.
Esther was still a trifle off balance. Her answer was rather incoherent.
"I--I don"t know"s I--as I said--as I said much of anything--much," she stammered.
"I heard you. How dare you tell such--such _lies_?"
"Lies?"
"Yes; mean, miserable lies. What else are they? How dare you run to--to _him_ with them?"
Mrs. Tidditt"s hand, that grasping the handle of the mola.s.ses pitcher, began to quiver. Her eyes, behind her steel-rimmed spectacles, winked rapidly.
"Elizabeth Berry," she snapped, with ominous emphasis, "don"t you talk to me like that!"
"I shall talk to you as--as.... Oh, I should be ashamed to talk to you at all. My mother--my kind, trustful, unsuspecting mother! And you--you and he _dare_----"
Kendrick, in desperation, tried to put in a word.
"Elizabeth," he begged, "don"t misunderstand. Esther hasn"t been runnin"
here to tell me things. She came over to borrow some mola.s.ses from Judah, that"s all."
"Oh, stop! I tell you I heard what she said. And you were listening.
Listening! Without a word of protest. I suppose you encouraged her. Of course you did. No doubt this isn"t the first time. This may be her usual report. Not content with--with prying into closets and--and coal bins and--and----"
"Elizabeth!"
"Doing these things for yourself was not enough, I suppose. You must encourage her--pay her, perhaps--to listen and whisper scandal and to spy----"
"Stop! Stop right there!" The captain was not begging now. Even in the midst of her impa.s.sioned outburst the young woman paused, halted momentarily by the compelling force of that order. But she halted unwillingly.
"I shall not stop," she declared. "I shall say----"
"You have said a whole lot too much already. And you don"t mean what you have said."
"I do! I do! Oh, I can"t tell you what I think of you."
"Well," dryly, "you have made a pretty fair try at tellin" it. If it is what you really think of me it"ll do--it will be quite enough. I shan"t need any more."
He was looking at her gravely and steadily and before his look her own gaze wavered. If they had been alone it is barely possible that ... but they were not alone. Mrs. Tidditt was there and, by this time, as Judah would have said, "her neck-feathers were on end" and her spurs sharpened for battle. She hopped into the pit forthwith.
"_I_ need consider"ble more," she cackled, defiantly. "I"ve been called a spy and a scandal whisperer and the Lord knows what else. Now I"ll say somethin"."
"Esther, be still."
"I shan"t be still till I"m ready, not for you, Sears Kendrick, nor for her nor n.o.body else. I ain"t a spy, "Liz"beth Berry, and I ain"t paid by no livin" soul. But I see what I see with the eyes the Almighty give me to see with, and after I"ve seen it--not alone once but forty dozen times--I"ll talk about it if I want to, when I want to, to anybody I want to. Now that"s that much."
Elizabeth, scornfully silent, was turning to the door, but the little woman hopped--that seems the only word which describes it--in her way.
"You ain"t goin"," she declared, "till I"ve finished. "Twon"t take me long to say it, but it"s goin" to be said. I told Cap"n Sears that Eg Phillips was chasin" "round with your mother. He is. And if she ain"t glad to have him chase her then I never see anybody that was. I said them two was cal"latin" to get married. Well ... well, if they ain"t then they"d ought to be, that"s all I"ll say about _that_. And don"t you ever call me a spy again as long as you live, "Liz"beth Berry."
She hopped again, to the doorway this time. There she turned for a farewell cackle.
"One thing more," she said. "I told the cap"n I believed the reason that that Eg man wanted to marry Cordelia was on account of her bein" able to give him five thousand dollars and the Fair Harbor to live in. I do believe it. And you can tell her so--or him so. But afore I told anybody I"d think it over, if I was you, "Liz"beth Berry. And I"d think _him_ over a whole lot afore I"d let him and his "ily tongue make trouble between you and your _real_ friends.... There! Good-by."
She went away. Kendrick pulled at his beard.
"Elizabeth," he began, hastily, "I"m awfully sorry that this happened.
Of course you know that I----"
She interrupted him. "I know," she said, "that if I ever speak to you again it will be because I am obliged to, not because I want to."
She followed Mrs. Tidditt. Sears Kendrick sat down once more in the rocking chair.
He did a great deal of hard and unpleasant thinking before he rose from it. When he did rise it was to go to the drawer in the bureau of the spare stateroom where he kept his writing materials, take therefrom pen, ink and paper and sit down at the table to write a letter. The letter was not long of itself, but composing it was a rather lengthy process.
It was addressed to Elizabeth Berry and embodied his resignation as trustee and guardian of her inheritance from Judge Knowles.
"As I see it [he wrote] I am not the one to have charge of that money. I took the job, as you know, because the judge asked me to and because you asked me. I took it with a good deal of doubt. Now, considering the way you feel towards me, I haven"t any doubt that I should give it up. I don"t want you to make the mistake of thinking that I feel guilty. So far as I know I have not done anything which was not square and honest and aboveboard, either where you were concerned, or your mother, or what I believed to be the best interests of the Fair Harbor. And I am not giving up my regular berth as general manager of the Harbor itself.
Judge Knowles asked me to keep that as long as I thought it was necessary for the good of the inst.i.tution. I honestly believe it is more necessary now than it ever was. And I shall stay right on deck until I feel the need is over. I shan"t bother you with my company any more than I can help, but you will have to put up with it about every once in so often while we go over business affairs. So much for that. The trusteeship is different and I resign it to Mr. Bradley, who was the judge"s second choice."
He paused here, deliberated for a time, and then added another paragraph.
"I feel sure Bradley will take it [he wrote]. If he should refuse I will not give it up to any one else. At least not unless I am perfectly satisfied with the person chosen. This is for your safety and for no other reason."
He sent the letter over by Judah. Two days later he received a reply.
It, too, was brief and to the point.
"I accept your resignation [wrote Elizabeth]. It was Judge Knowles" wish that you be my trustee, and, as you know, it was mine also. Apparently you no longer feel bound by either wish, and of course I shall not beg you to change your mind. I have no right to influence you in any way. I have seen Mr. Bradley and he has consented to act as trustee for me. He will see you in a day or two. As for the other matters I have nothing to say. Whenever you wish to consult with me on business affairs I shall be ready."
There was a postscript. It read:
"I feel that I should thank you for what you have already done. I do thank you sincerely."