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diff --git a/35570-0.txt b/35570-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..94ead0e --- /dev/null +++ b/35570-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6625 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and +Mrs. Aleshine, by Frank R. Stockton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine + +Author: Frank R. Stockton + +Illustrator: Frederic Dorr Steele + +Release Date: July 10, 2023 [eBook #35570] + +Language: English + +Credits: Jane Robins, Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed + Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. +LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE *** + + + +-------------------------------------------------------+ + | Note: No corrections in the text have been noted. | + +-------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE + +[Illustration: "THESE TWO WORTHY DAMES SPENT THE GREATER PART OF THEIR +TIME ON DECK."] + + + + + THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. + LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE + + BY + + FRANK R. STOCKTON + + WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY + FREDERIC DORR STEELE + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK + THE CENTURY CO. + 1903 + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1886, 1892, 1898. + BY THE CENTURY CO. + + + THE DEVINNE PRESS. + +[Illustration] + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PART I PAGE + + THESE TWO WORTHY DAMES SPENT THE GREATER PART + OF THEIR TIME ON DECK _Frontispiece_ + + DO YOU SEE THAT BOAT THERE? 6 + + MRS. ALESHINE PROVED TO BE A MORE DIFFICULT SUBJECT 11 + + WE WILL PULL AFTER THEM 15 + + STAND UP STRAIGHT, AND DON'T TALK SO MUCH 23 + + VIGOROUSLY WINKING AND BLOWING 25 + + THEY GOT ON REMARKABLY WELL 27 + + THERE'S NOTHIN' LIKE SAUSAGES FOR SHIPWRECK 31 + + + PART II + + MRS. LECKS WALKED BOLDLY UP TO THE FRONT DOOR + AND PLIED THE KNOCKER 45 + + I CLIMBED UP ONE OF THE COLUMNS 48 + + I GUESS YOU'LL BE COMFORTABLE, MR. CRAIG 52 + + THAT YELLER FROCK 55 + + MRS. ALESHINE HAD BEEN HARD AT WORK ALL THE + MORNING 61 + + "THERE'S ANOTHER THING," SAID SHE, "THAT I'VE + BEEN THINKIN' ABOUT" 67 + + MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE STANDING ON THE END + OF THE LITTLE WHARF 72 + + + PART III + + MR. ENDERTON WAS A PERSON OF ANOTHER SORT 83 + + I DID ALL THAT I COULD TO MAKE MISS RUTH'S TIME + PASS AGREEABLY 87 + + THEY WERE EVIDENTLY WAITING FOR ME 91 + + SMOKING THEIR PIPES IN PEACE 99 + + IT WAS PERFECTLY SAFE 102 + + I KNOWED IT WAS ALL RIGHT 105 + + THEY ASSISTED RUTH TO ARRAY HERSELF 111 + + + PART IV + + THE ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS SLOW AND TEDIOUS 121 + + "WHAT HAS HAPPENED?" I EXCLAIMED 123 + + MRS. LECKS WAS SITTING ON A STONE 129 + + I SOON HAD A CRACKLING FIRE 135 + + COULD YOU LEND ME A SMALL IRON POT? 141 + + WE WERE ABOUT TO SEND HIM A BASKET 150, 151 + + + PART V + + WE BEGAN TO SLIDE DOWNWARD 163 + + OH, WHICH IS EMILY, AND WHICH IS LUCILLE? 167 + + WE DREW UP ABOUT THE FIRE 174 + + REVEALING THE FAMILIAR FAT LITTLE GINGER-JAR 186 + + RUTH AND MISS LUCILLE STRUCK UP A WARM ACQUAINTANCE 191 + + + PART VI + + THE IMPIDENCE OF HIM! 204 + + ELIZABETH GROOTENHEIMER 215 + + "YOU MAN!" SHRIEKED MRS. LECKS 218 + + HE RESPECTFULLY TOUCHED IT WITH HIS LIPS 227 + + THE GREATEST WORK OF DECORATION WAS RESERVED + BY THE RED-BEARDED COXSWAIN FOR HIMSELF 231 + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE + +PART I + + +I was on my way from San Francisco to Yokohama, when in a very desultory +and gradual manner I became acquainted with Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. +Aleshine. The steamer, on which I was making a moderately rapid passage +toward the land of the legended fan and the lacquered box, carried a +fair complement of passengers, most of whom were Americans; and, among +these, my attention was attracted from the very first day of the voyage +to two middle-aged women who appeared to me very unlike the ordinary +traveler or tourist. At first sight they might have been taken for +farmers' wives who, for some unusual reason, had determined to make a +voyage across the Pacific; but, on closer observation, one would have +been more apt to suppose that they belonged to the families of +prosperous tradesmen in some little country town, where, besides the +arts of rural housewifery, there would be opportunities of becoming +acquainted in some degree with the ways and manners of the outside +world. They were not of that order of persons who generally take +first-class passages on steamships, but the stateroom occupied by Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine was one of the best in the vessel; and although +they kept very much to themselves, and showed no desire for the company +or notice of the other passengers, they evidently considered themselves +quite as good as any one else, and with as much right to voyage to any +part of the world in any manner or style which pleased them. + +Mrs. Lecks was a rather tall woman, large-boned and muscular, and her +well-browned countenance gave indications of that conviction of +superiority which gradually grows up in the minds of those who for a +long time have had absolute control of the destinies of a state, or the +multifarious affairs of a country household. Mrs. Aleshine was somewhat +younger than her friend, somewhat shorter, and a great deal fatter. She +had the same air of reliance upon her individual worth that +characterized Mrs. Lecks, but there was a certain geniality about her +which indicated that she would have a good deal of forbearance for those +who never had had the opportunity or the ability of becoming the +thoroughly good housewife which she was herself. + +These two worthy dames spent the greater part of their time on deck, +where they always sat together in a place at the stern of the vessel +which was well sheltered from wind and weather. As they sat thus they +were generally employed in knitting, although this occupation did not +prevent them from keeping up what seemed to me, as I passed them in my +walks about the deck, a continuous conversation. From a question which +Mrs. Lecks once asked me about a distant sail, our acquaintance began. +There was no one on board for whose society I particularly cared, and as +there was something quaint and odd about these countrywomen on the ocean +which interested me, I was glad to vary my solitary promenades by an +occasional chat with them. They were not at all backward in giving me +information about themselves. They were both widows, and Mrs. Aleshine +was going out to Japan to visit a son who had a position there in a +mercantile house. Mrs. Lecks had no children, and was accompanying her +friend because, as she said, she would not allow Mrs. Aleshine to make +such a voyage as that by herself, and because, being quite able to do +so, she did not know why she should not see the world as well as other +people. + +These two friends were not educated women. They made frequent mistakes +in their grammar, and a good deal of Middle States provincialism showed +itself in their pronunciation and expressions. But although they brought +many of their rural ideas to sea with them, they possessed a large share +of that common sense which is available anywhere, and they frequently +made use of it in a manner which was very amusing to me. I think, also, +that they found in me a quarry of information concerning nautical +matters, foreign countries, and my own affairs, the working of which +helped to make us very good ship friends. + +Our steamer touched at the Sandwich Islands; and it was a little more +than two days after we left Honolulu that, about nine o'clock in the +evening, we had the misfortune to come into collision with an +eastern-bound vessel. The fault was entirely due to the other ship, the +lookout on which, although the night was rather dark and foggy, could +easily have seen our lights in time to avoid collision, if he had not +been asleep or absent from his post. Be this as it may, this vessel, +which appeared to be a small steamer, struck us with great force near +our bows, and then, backing, disappeared into the fog, and we never saw +or heard of her again. The general opinion was that she was injured very +much more than we were, and that she probably sank not very long after +the accident; for when the fog cleared away, about an hour afterward, +nothing could be seen of her lights. + +As it usually happens on occasions of accidents at sea, the damage to +our vessel was at first reported to be slight; but it was soon +discovered that our injuries were serious and, indeed, disastrous. The +hull of our steamer had been badly shattered on the port bow, and the +water came in at a most alarming rate. For nearly two hours the crew and +many of the passengers worked at the pumps, and everything possible was +done to stop the enormous leak; but all labor to save the vessel was +found to be utterly unavailing, and a little before midnight the captain +announced that it was impossible to keep the steamer afloat, and that we +must all take to the boats. The night was now clear, the stars were +bright, and, as there was but little wind, the sea was comparatively +smooth. With all these advantages, the captain assured us that there was +no reason to apprehend danger, and he thought that by noon of the +following day we could easily make a small inhabited island, where we +could be sheltered and cared for until we should be taken off by some +passing vessel. + +There was plenty of time for all necessary preparations, and these were +made with much order and subordination. Some of the ladies among the +cabin passengers were greatly frightened, and inclined to be hysterical. +There were pale faces also among the gentlemen. But everybody obeyed the +captain's orders, and all prepared themselves for the transfer to the +boats. The first officer came among us, and told each of us what boats +we were to take, and where we were to place ourselves on deck. I was +assigned to a large boat which was to be principally occupied by +steerage passengers; and as I came up from my stateroom, where I had +gone to secure my money and some portable valuables, I met on the +companionway Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, who expressed considerable +dissatisfaction when they found that I was not going in the boat with +them. They, however, hurried below, and I went on deck, where in about +ten minutes I was joined by Mrs. Lecks, who apparently had been looking +for me. She told me she had something very particular to say to me, and +conducted me toward the stern of the vessel, where, behind one of the +deck-houses, we found Mrs. Aleshine. + +[Illustration: "'DO YOU SEE THAT BOAT THERE?'"] + +"Look here," said Mrs. Lecks, leading me to the rail, and pointing +downward; "do you see that boat there? It has been let down, and there +is nobody in it. The boat on the other side has just gone off, full to +the brim. I never saw so many people crowded into a boat. The other ones +will be just as packed, I expect. I don't see why we shouldn't take this +empty boat, now we've got a chance, instead of squeezin' ourselves into +those crowded ones. If any of the other people come afterward, why, we +shall have our choice of seats, and that's considerable of a p'int, I +should say, in a time like this." + +"That's so," said Mrs. Aleshine; "and me and Mrs. Lecks would 'a' got +right in when we saw the boat was empty, if we hadn't been afraid to be +there without any man, for it might have floated off, and neither of us +don't know nothin' about rowin'. And then Mrs. Lecks she thought of you, +supposin' a young man who knew so much about the sea would know how to +row." + +"Oh, yes," said I; "but I cannot imagine why this boat should have been +left empty. I see a keg of water in it, and the oars, and some tin cans, +and so I suppose it has been made ready for somebody. Will you wait here +a minute until I run forward and see how things are going on there?" + +Amidships and forward I saw that there was some confusion among the +people who were not yet in their boats, and I found that there was to be +rather more crowding than at first was expected. People who had supposed +that they were to go in a certain boat found there no place, and were +hurrying to other boats. It now became plain to me that no time should +be lost in getting into the small boat which Mrs. Lecks had pointed out, +and which was probably reserved for some favored persons, as the +officers were keeping the people forward and amidships, the other +stern-boat having already departed. But as I acknowledged no reason why +any one should be regarded with more favor than myself and the two women +who were waiting for me, I slipped quietly aft, and joined Mrs. Lecks +and Mrs. Aleshine. + +"We must get in as soon as we can," said I, in a low voice, "for this +boat may be discovered, and then there will be a rush for it. I suspect +it may have been reserved for the captain and some of the officers, but +we have as much right in it as they." + +"And more too," replied Mrs. Lecks; "for we had nothin' to do with the +steerin' and smashin'." + +"But how are we goin' to get down there?" said Mrs. Aleshine. "There's +no steps." + +"That is true," said I. "I shouldn't wonder if this boat is to be taken +forward when the others are filled. We must scramble down as well as we +can by the tackle at the bow and stern. I'll get in first and keep her +close to the ship's side." + +"That's goin' to be a scratchy business," said Mrs. Lecks, "and I'm of +the opinion we ought to wait till the ship has sunk a little more, so we +'ll be nearer to the boat." + +"It won't do to wait," said I, "or we shall not get in it at all." + +"And goodness gracious!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "I can't stand here +and feel the ship sinkin' cold-blooded under me, till we've got where we +can make an easy jump!" + +"Very well, then," said Mrs. Lecks, "we won't wait. But the first thing +to be done is for each one of us to put on one of these life-preservers. +Two of them I brought from Mrs. Aleshine's and my cabin, and the other +one I got next door, where the people had gone off and left it on the +floor. I thought if anythin' happened on the way to the island, these +would give us a chance to look about us; but it seems to me we'll need +'em more gettin' down them ropes than anywhere else. I did intend +puttin' on two myself to make up for Mrs. Aleshine's fat; but you must +wear one of 'em, sir, now that you are goin' to join the party." + +As I knew that two life-preservers would not be needed by Mrs. Lecks, +and would greatly inconvenience her, I accepted the one offered me, but +declined to put it on until it should be necessary, as it would +interfere with my movements. + +"Very well," said Mrs. Lecks, "if you think you are safe in gettin' down +without it. But Mrs. Aleshine and me will put ours on before we begin +sailor-scramblin'. We know how to do it, for we tried 'em on soon after +we started from San Francisco. And now, Barb'ry Aleshine, are you sure +you've got everythin' you want? for it'll be no use thinkin' about +anythin' you've forgot after the ship has sunk out of sight." + +"There's nothin' else I can think of," said Mrs. Aleshine; "at least, +nothin' I can carry; and so I suppose we may as well begin, for your +talk of the ship sinkin' under our feet gives me a sort o' feelin' like +an oyster creepin' up and down my back." + +Mrs. Lecks looked over the side at the boat, into which I had already +descended. "I'll go first, Barb'ry Aleshine," said she, "and show you +how." + +The sea was quiet, and the steamer had already sunk so much that Mrs. +Lecks's voice sounded frightfully near me, although she spoke in a low +tone. + +"Watch me," said she to her companion. "I'm goin' to do just as he did, +and you must follow in the same way." + +So saying, she stepped on a bench by the rail; then, with one foot on +the rail itself, she seized the ropes which hung from one of the davits +to the bow of the boat. She looked down for a moment, and then she drew +back. + +"It's no use," she said. "We must wait until she sinks more, and I can +get in easier." + +This remark made me feel nervous. I did not know at what moment there +might be a rush for this boat, nor when, indeed, the steamer might go +down. The boat amidships on our side had rowed away some minutes before, +and through the darkness I could distinguish another boat, near the +bows, pushing off. It would be too late now for us to try to get into +any other boat, and I did not feel that there was time enough for me to +take this one to a place where the two women could more easily descend +to her. Standing upright, I urged them not to delay. + +"You see," said I, "I can reach you as soon as you swing yourself off +the ropes, and I'll help you down." + +"If you're sure you can keep us from comin' down too sudden, we'll try +it," said Mrs. Lecks; "but I'd as soon be drowned as to get to an island +with a broken leg. And as to Mrs. Aleshine, if she was to slip she'd go +slam through that boat to the bottom of the sea. Now, then, be ready! +I'm comin' down." + +So saying, she swung herself off, and she was then so near me that I was +able to seize her and make the rest of her descent comparatively easy. +Mrs. Aleshine proved to be a more difficult subject. Even after I had a +firm grasp of her capacious waist she refused to let go the ropes, for +fear that she might drop into the ocean instead of the boat. But the +reproaches of Mrs. Lecks and the downward weight of myself made her +loosen her nervous grip; and, although we came very near going overboard +together, I safely placed her on one of the thwarts. + +[Illustration] + +I now unhooked the tackle from the stern; but before casting off at the +bow I hesitated, for I did not wish to desert any of those who might be +expecting to embark in this boat. But I could hear no approaching +footsteps, and from my position, close to the side of the steamer, I +could see nothing. Therefore I cast off, and, taking the oars, I pushed +away and rowed to a little distance, where I could get whatever view was +possible of the deck of the steamer. Seeing no forms moving about, I +called out, and, receiving no answer, I shouted again at the top of my +voice. I waited for nearly a minute, and, hearing nothing and seeing +nothing, I became convinced that no one was left on the vessel. + +"They are all gone," said I, "and we will pull after them as fast as we +can." + +And I began to row toward the bow of the steamer, in the direction which +the other boats had taken. + +"It's a good thing you can row," said Mrs. Lecks, settling herself +comfortably in the stern-sheets, "for what Mrs. Aleshine and me would +ha' done with them oars I am sure I don't know." + +"I'd never have got into this boat," said Mrs. Aleshine, "if Mr. Craig +hadn't been here." + +"No, indeed," replied her friend. "You'd ha' gone to the bottom, hangin' +for dear life to them ropes." + +When I had rounded the bow of the steamer, which appeared to me to be +rapidly settling in the water, I perceived at no great distance several +lights, which of course belonged to the other boats, and I rowed as hard +as I could, hoping to catch up with them, or at least to keep +sufficiently near. It might be my duty to take off some of the people +who had crowded into the other boats, probably supposing that this one +had been loaded and gone. How such a mistake could have taken place I +could not divine, and it was not my business to do so. Quite certain +that no one was left on the sinking steamer, all I had to do was to row +after the other boats, and to overtake them as soon as possible. I +thought it would not take me very long to do this, but after rowing for +half an hour, Mrs. Aleshine remarked that the lights seemed as far off, +if not farther, than when we first started after them. Turning, I saw +that this was the case, and was greatly surprised. With only two +passengers I ought soon to have come up with those heavily laden boats. +But after I had thought over it a little, I considered that as each of +them was probably pulled by half a dozen stout sailors, it was not so +very strange that they should make as good or better headway than I did. + +It was not very long after this that Mrs. Lecks said that she thought +that the lights on the other boats must be going out, and that this, +most probably, was due to the fact that the sailors had forgotten to +fill their lanterns before they started. "That sort of thing often +happens," she said, "when people leave a place in a hurry." + +But when I turned around, and peered over the dark waters, it was quite +plain to me that it was not want of oil, but increased distance, which +made those lights so dim. I could now perceive but three of them, and as +the surface was agitated only by a gentle swell, I could not suppose +that any of them were hidden from our view by waves. We were being left +behind, that was certain, and all I could do was to row on as long and +as well as I could in the direction which the other boats had taken. I +had been used to rowing, and thought I pulled a good oar, and I +certainly did not expect to be left behind in this way. + +"I don't believe this boat has been emptied out since the last rain," +said Mrs. Aleshine, "for my feet are wet, though I didn't notice it +before." + +At this I shipped my oars, and began to examine the boat. The bottom was +covered with a movable floor of slats, and as I put my hand down I could +feel the water welling up between the slats. The flooring was in +sections, and lifting the one beneath me, I felt under it, and put my +hand into six or eight inches of water. + +The exact state of the case was now as plain to me as if it had been +posted up on a bulletin-board. This boat had been found to be +unseaworthy, and its use had been forbidden, all the people having been +crowded into the others. This had caused confusion at the last moment, +and, of course, we were supposed to be on some one of the other boats. + +And now here was I, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in a leaky boat, +with two middle-aged women! + +"Anythin' the matter with the floor!" asked Mrs. Lecks. + +I let the section fall back into its place, and looked aft. By the +starlight I could see that my two companions had each fixed upon me a +steadfast gaze. They evidently felt that something was the matter, and +wanted to know what it was. I did not hesitate for a moment to inform +them. They appeared to me to be women whom it would be neither advisable +nor possible to deceive in a case like this. + +"This boat has a leak in it," I said. "There is a lot of water in her +already, and that is the reason we have got along so slowly." + +"And that is why," said Mrs. Aleshine, "it was left empty. We ought to +have known better than to expect to have a whole boat just for three of +us. It would have been much more sensible, I think, if we had tried to +squeeze into one of the others." + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "don't you begin findin' +fault with good fortune, when it comes to you. Here we've got a +comfortable boat, with room enough to set easy and stretch out if we +want to. If the water is comin' in, what we've got to do is to get it +out again just as fast as we can. What's the best way to do that, Mr. +Craig?" + +[Illustration: "'WE WILL PULL AFTER THEM.'"] + +"We must bail her out, and lose no time about it," said I. "If I can +find the leak I may be able to stop it." + +I now looked about for something to bail with, and the two women aided +actively in the search. I found one leather scoop in the bow; but as it +was well that we should all go to work, I took two tin cans that had +been put in by some one who had begun to provision the boat, and +proceeded to cut the tops from them with my jack-knife. + +"Don't lose what's in 'em," said Mrs. Lecks; "that is, if it's anythin' +we'd be likely to want to eat. If it's tomatoes, pour it into the sea, +for nobody ought to eat tomatoes put up in tins." + +I hastily passed the cans to Mrs. Lecks, and I saw her empty the +contents of one into the sea, and those of the other on a newspaper +which she took from her pocket and placed in the stern. + +I pulled up the movable floor and threw it overboard, and then began to +bail. + +"I thought," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that they always had pumps for leaks." + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "just gether yourself up on +one of them seats, and go to work. The less talkin' we do, and the more +scoopin', the better it'll be for us." + +I soon perceived that it would have been difficult to find two more +valuable assistants in the bailing of a boat than Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. +Aleshine. They were evidently used to work, and were able to accommodate +themselves to the unusual circumstances in which they were placed. We +threw out the water very rapidly, and every little while I stopped +bailing and felt about to see if I could discover where it came in. As +these attempts met with no success, I gave them up after a time, and set +about bailing with new vigor, believing that if we could get the boat +nearly dry I should surely be able to find the leak. + +But, after working half an hour more, I found that the job would be a +long one; and if we all worked at once we would all be tired out at +once, and that might be disastrous. Therefore I proposed that we should +take turns in resting, and Mrs. Aleshine was ordered to stop work for a +time. After this Mrs. Lecks took a rest, and when she went to work I +stopped bailing and began again to search for the leak. + +For about two hours we worked in this way, and then I concluded it was +useless to continue any longer this vain exertion. With three of us +bailing we were able to keep the water at the level we first found it; +but with only two at work, it slightly gained upon us, so that now there +was more water in the boat than when we first discovered it. The boat +was an iron one, and the leak in it I could neither find nor remedy. It +had probably been caused by the warping of the metal under a hot sun, an +accident which, I am told, frequently occurs to iron boats. The little +craft, which would have been a life-boat had its air-boxes remained +intact, was now probably leaking from stem to stern; and in searching +for the leak without the protection of the flooring, my weight had +doubtless assisted in opening the seams, for it was quite plain that the +water was now coming in more rapidly than it did at first. We were very +tired, and even Mrs. Lecks, who had all along counseled us to keep at +work, and not to waste one breath in talking, now admitted that it was +of no use to try to get the water out of that boat. + +It had been some hours since I had used the oars, but whether we had +drifted, or remained where we were when I stopped rowing, of course I +could not know; but this mattered very little; our boat was slowly +sinking beneath us, and it could make no difference whether we went down +in one spot or an other. I sat and racked my brain to think what could +be done in this fearful emergency. To bail any longer was useless labor, +and what else was there that we could do? + +"When will it be time," asked Mrs. Lecks, "for us to put on the +life-preservers? When the water gets nearly to the seats?" + +I answered that we should not wait any longer than that, but in my own +mind I could not see any advantage in putting them on at all. Why should +we wish to lengthen our lives by a few hours of helpless floating upon +the ocean? + +"Very good," said Mrs. Lecks; "I'll keep a watch on the water. One of +them cans was filled with lobster, which would be more than likely to +disagree with us, and I've throwed it out; but the other had baked beans +in it, and the best thing we can do is to eat some of these right away. +They are mighty nourishin', and will keep up strength as well as +anythin', and then, as you said there's a keg of water in the boat, we +can all take a drink of that, and it'll make us feel like new cre'tur's. +You'll have to take the beans in your hands, for we've got no spoons nor +forks." + +Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine were each curled up out of reach of the +water, the first in the stern, and the other on the aft thwart. The day +was now beginning to break, and we could see about us very distinctly. +Before reaching out her hands to receive her beans, Mrs. Aleshine washed +them in the water in the boat, remarking at the same time that she might +as well make use of it since it was there. Having then wiped her hands +on some part of her apparel, they were filled with beans from the +newspaper held by Mrs. Lecks, and these were passed over to me. I was +very hungry, and when I had finished my beans I agreed with my +companions that although they would have been a great deal better if +heated up with butter, pepper, and salt, they were very comforting as +they were. One of the empty cans was now passed to me, and after having +been asked by Mrs. Lecks to rinse it out very carefully, we all +satisfied our taste from the water in the keg. + +"Cold baked beans and lukewarm water ain't exactly company vittles," +said Mrs. Aleshine, "but there's many a poor wretch would be glad to get +'em." + +I could not imagine any poor wretch who would be glad of the food +together with the attending circumstances; but I did not say so. + +"The water is just one finger from the bottom of the seat," said Mrs. +Lecks, who had been stooping over to measure, "and it's time to put on +the life-preservers." + +"Very good," said Mrs. Aleshine; "hand me mine." + +Each of us now buckled on a life-preserver, and as I did so I stood up +upon a thwart and looked about me. It was quite light now, and I could +see for a long distance over the surface of the ocean, which was gently +rolling in wide, smooth swells. As we rose upon the summit of one of +these I saw a dark spot upon the water, just on the edge of our near +horizon, "Is that the steamer?" I thought; "and has she not yet sunk?" + +At this there came to me a glimmering of courageous hope. If the +steamer had remained afloat so long, it was probable that on account of +water-tight compartments, or for some other reason, her sinking had +reached its limit, and that if we could get back to her we might be +saved. But, alas, how were we to get back to her? This boat would sink +long, long before I could row that distance. + +However, I soon proclaimed the news to my companions, whereupon Mrs. +Aleshine prepared to stand upon a thwart and see for herself. But Mrs. +Lecks restrained her. + +"Don't make things worse, Barb'ry Aleshine," said she, "by tumblin' +overboard. If we've got to go into the water, let us do it decently and +in order. If that's the ship, Mr. Craig, don't you suppose we can float +ourselves to it in some way?" + +I replied that by the help of a life-preserver a person who could swim +might reach the ship. + +"But neither of us can swim," said Mrs. Lecks, "for we've lived where +the water was never more'n a foot deep, except in time of freshets, +when there's no swimmin' for man or beast. But if we see you swim, +perhaps we can follow, after a fashion. At any rate, we must do the best +we can, and that's all there is to be done." + +"The water now," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "is so near to the bottom of my +seat that I've got to stand up, tumble overboard or no." + +"All right," remarked Mrs. Lecks; "we'd better all stand up, and let the +boat sink under us. That will save our jumpin' overboard, or rollin' out +any which way, which might be awkward." + +"Goodness gracious me!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine. "You set the oysters +creepin' over me again! First you talk of the ship sinkin' under us, and +now it's the boat goin' to the bottom under our feet. Before any sinkin' +'s to be done I'd ruther get out." + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "stand up straight, and don't +talk so much. It'll be a great deal better to be let down gradual than +to flop into the water all of a bunch." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Aleshine; "it may be best to get used to it by +degrees; but I must say I wish I was home." + +As for me, I would have much preferred to jump overboard at once, +instead of waiting in this cold-blooded manner; but as my companions had +so far preserved their presence of mind, I did not wish to do anything +which might throw them into a panic. I believed there would be no danger +from the suction caused by the sinking of a small boat like this, and if +we took care not to entangle ourselves with it in any way, we might as +well follow Mrs. Lecks's advice as not. So we all stood up, Mrs. Lecks +in the stern, I in the bow, and Mrs. Aleshine on a thwart between us. +The last did not appear to have quite room enough for a steady footing, +but, as she remarked, it did not matter very much, as the footing, broad +or narrow, would not be there very long. + +I am used to swimming, and have never hesitated to take a plunge into +river or ocean, but I must admit that it was very trying to my nerves to +stand up this way and wait for a boat to sink beneath me. How the two +women were affected I do not know. They said nothing, but their faces +indicated that something disagreeable was about to happen, and that the +less that was said about it the better. + +The boat had now sunk so much that the water was around Mrs. Aleshine's +feet, her standing-place being rather lower than ours. I made myself +certain that there were no ropes nor any other means of entanglement +near my companions or myself, and then I waited. There seemed to be a +good deal of buoyancy in the bow and stern of the boat, and it was a +frightfully long time in sinking. The suspense became so utterly +unendurable that I was tempted to put one foot on the edge of the boat, +and, by tipping it, put an end to this nerve-rack; but I refrained, for +I probably would throw the women off their balance, when they might fall +against some part of the boat, and do themselves a hurt. I had just +relinquished this intention, when two little waves seemed to rise one on +each side of Mrs. Aleshine, and gently flowing over the side of the +boat, they flooded her feet with water. + +"Hold your breaths!" I shouted. And now I experienced a sensation which +must have been very like that which comes to a condemned criminal at the +first indication of the pulling of the drop. Then there was a horrible +sinking, a gurgle, and a swash, and the ocean over which I had been +gazing appeared to rise up and envelop me. + +[Illustration: "'STAND UP STRAIGHT, AND DON'T TALK SO MUCH.'"] + +In a moment, however, my head was out of the water, and, looking hastily +about me, I saw, close by, the heads and shoulders of Mrs. Lecks and +Mrs. Aleshine. The latter was vigorously winking her eyes and blowing +from her mouth some sea-water that had got into it; but as soon as her +eyes fell upon me she exclaimed: "That was ever so much more suddint +than I thought it was goin' to be!" + +[Illustration: "VIGOROUSLY WINKING AND BLOWING."] + +"Are you both all right?" + +"I suppose I am," said Mrs. Aleshine, "but I never thought that a person +with a life-preserver on would go clean under the water." + +"But since you've come up again, you ought to be satisfied," said Mrs. +Lecks. "And now," she added, turning her face toward me, "which way +ought we to try to swim? and have we got everythin' we want to take with +us?" + +"What we haven't got we can't get," remarked Mrs. Aleshine; "and as for +swimmin', I expect I'm goin' to make a poor hand at it." + +I had a hope, which was not quite strong enough to be a belief, that, +supported by their life-preservers, the two women might paddle +themselves along; and that, by giving them in turn a helping hand, I +might eventually get them to the steamer. There was a strong probability +that I would not succeed, but I did not care to think of that. + +I now swam in front of my companions, and endeavored to instruct them in +the best method of propelling themselves with their arms and their +hands. If they succeeded in this, I thought I would give them some +further lessons in striking out with their feet. After watching me +attentively, Mrs. Lecks did manage to move herself slowly through the +smooth water, but poor Mrs. Aleshine could do nothing but splash. + +"If there was anythin' to take hold of," she said to me, "I might get +along; but I can't get any grip on the water, though you seem to do it +well enough. Look there!" she added in a higher voice. "Isn't that an +oar floatin' over there? If you can get that for me, I believe I can row +myself much better than I can swim." + +This seemed an odd idea, but I swam over to the floating oar, and +brought it her. I was about to show her how she could best use it, but +she declined my advice. + +"If I do it at all," she said, "I must do it in my own way." And taking +the oar in her strong hands, she began to ply it on the water very much +in the way in which she would handle a broom. At first she dipped the +blade too deeply, but, correcting this error, she soon began to paddle +herself along at a slow but steady rate. + +"Capital!" I cried. "You do that admirably!" + +"Anybody who's swept as many rooms as I have," she said, "ought to be +able to handle anythin' that can be used like a broom." + +"Isn't there another oar?" cried Mrs. Lecks, who had now been left a +little distance behind us. "If there is, I want one." + +Looking about me, I soon discovered another floating oar, and brought it +to Mrs. Lecks, who, after holding it in various positions, so as to get +"the hang of it," as she said, soon began to use it with as much skill +as that shown by her friend. If either of them had been obliged to use +an oar in the ordinary way, I fear they would have had a bad time of it; +but, considering the implement in the light of a broom, its use +immediately became familiar to them, and they got on remarkably well. + +[Illustration: "THEY GOT ON REMARKABLY WELL."] + +I now took a position a little in advance of my companions, and as I +swam slowly they were easily able to keep up with me. Mrs. Aleshine, +being so stout, floated much higher out of the water than either Mrs. +Lecks or I, and this permitted her to use her oar with a great deal of +freedom. Sometimes she would give such a vigorous brush to the water +that she would turn herself almost entirely around, but after a little +practice she learned to avoid undue efforts of this kind. + +I was not positively sure that we were going in the right direction, for +my position did not allow me to see very far over the water; but I +remembered that when I was standing up in the boat, and made my +discovery, the sun was just about to rise in front of me, while the dark +spot on the ocean lay to my left. Judging, therefore, from the present +position of the sun, which was not very high, I concluded that we were +moving toward the north, and therefore in the right direction. How far +off the steamer might be I had no idea, for I was not accustomed to +judging distances at sea; but I believed that if we were careful of our +strength, and if the ocean continued as smooth as it now was, we might +eventually reach the vessel, provided she were yet afloat. + +"After you are fairly in the water," said Mrs. Aleshine, as she swept +along, although without the velocity which that phrase usually implies, +"it isn't half so bad as I thought it would be. For one thing, it don't +feel a bit salt, although I must say it tasted horribly that way when I +first went into it." + +"You didn't expect to find pickle-brine, did you?" said Mrs. Lecks. +"Though, if it was, I suppose we could float on it settin'." + +"And as to bein' cold," said Mrs. Aleshine, "the part of me that's in is +actually more comfortable than that which is out." + +"There's one thing I would have been afraid of," said Mrs. Lecks, "if we +hadn't made preparations for it, and that's sharks." + +"Preparations!" I exclaimed. "How in the world did you prepare for +sharks?" + +"Easy enough," said Mrs. Lecks. "When we went down into our room to get +ready to go away in the boats we both put on black stockin's. I've read +that sharks never bite colored people, although if they see a white man +in the water they'll snap him up as quick as lightnin'; and black +stockin's was the nearest we could come to it. You see, I thought as +like as not we'd have some sort of an upset before we got through." + +"It's a great comfort," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "and I'm very glad you +thought of it, Mrs. Lecks. After this I shall make it a rule: Black +stockin's for sharks." + +"I suppose in your case," said Mrs. Lecks, addressing me, "dark trousers +will do as well." + +To which I answered that I sincerely hoped they would. + +"Another thing I'm thankful for," said Mrs. Aleshine, "is that I thought +to put on a flannel skeert." + +"And what's the good of it," said Mrs. Lecks, "when it's soppin' wet?" + +"Flannel's flannel," replied her friend, "whether it's wet or dry; and +if you'd had the rheumatism as much as I have, you'd know it." + +To this Mrs. Lecks replied with a sniff, and asked me how soon I thought +we would get sight of the ship; for if we were going the wrong way, and +had to turn round and go back, it would certainly be very provoking. + +I should have been happy indeed to be able to give a satisfactory answer +to this question. Every time that we rose upon a swell I threw a rapid +glance around the whole circle of the horizon; and at last, not a +quarter of an hour after Mrs. Lecks's question, I was rejoiced to see, +almost in the direction in which I supposed it ought to be, the dark +spot which I had before discovered. I shouted the glad news, and as we +rose again my companions strained their eyes in the direction to which I +pointed. They both saw it, and were greatly satisfied. + +"Now, then," said Mrs. Aleshine, "it seems as if there was somethin' to +work for"; and she began to sweep her oar with great vigor. + +"If you want to tire yourself out before you get there, Barb'ry +Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you'd better go on in that way. Now what I +advise is that we stop rowin' altogether, and have somethin' to eat; for +I'm sure we need it to keep up our strength." + +"Eat!" I cried. "What are you going to eat? Do you expect to catch +fish?" + +"And eat 'em raw?" said Mrs. Lecks. "I should think not. But do you +suppose, Mr. Craig, that Mrs. Aleshine and me would go off and leave +that ship without takin' somethin' to eat by the way? Let's all gether +here in a bunch, and see what sort of a meal we can make. And now, +Barb'ry Aleshine, if you lay your oar down there on the water, I +recommend you to tie it to one of your bonnet-strings, or it'll be +floatin' away, and you won't get it again." + +As she said this, Mrs. Lecks put her right hand down into the water, and +fumbled about, apparently in search of a pocket. I could not but smile +as I thought of the condition of food when, for an hour or more, it had +been a couple of feet under the surface of the ocean; but my ideas on +the subject were entirely changed when I saw Mrs. Lecks hold up in the +air two German sausages, and shake the briny drops from their smooth and +glittering surfaces. + +[Illustration: "'THERE'S NOTHIN' LIKE SAUSAGES FOR SHIPWRECK.'"] + +"There's nothin'," she said, "like sausages for shipwreck and that kind +o' thing. They're very sustainin', and bein' covered with a tight skin, +water can't get at 'em, no matter how you carry 'em. I wouldn't bring +these out in the boat, because, havin' the beans, we might as well eat +them. Have you a knife about you, Mr. Craig?" + +I produced a dripping jack-knife, and after the open blade had been +waved in the air to dry it a little, Mrs. Lecks proceeded to divide one +of the sausages, handing the other to me to hold meanwhile. + +"Now don't go eatin' sausages without bread, if you don't want 'em to +give you dyspepsy," said Mrs. Aleshine, who was tugging at a submarine +pocket. + +"I'm very much afraid your bread is all soaked," said Mrs. Lecks. + +To which her friend replied that that remained to be seen, and forthwith +produced, with a splash, a glass preserve-jar with a metal top. + +"I saw this nearly empty, as I looked into the ship's pantry, and I +stuffed into it all the soft biscuits it would hold. There was some sort +of jam left at the bottom, so that the one who gets the last biscuit +will have somethin' of a little spread on it. And now, Mrs. Lecks," she +continued triumphantly, as she unscrewed the top, "that rubber ring has +kept 'em as dry as chips. I'm mighty glad of it, for I had trouble +enough gettin' this jar into my pocket, and gettin' it out, too, for +that matter." + +Floating thus, with our hands and shoulders above the water, we made a +very good meal from the sausages and soft biscuit. + +"Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, as her friend proceeded to cut the +second sausage, "don't you lay that knife down, when you've done with +it, as if 't was an oar; for if you do it'll sink, as like as not, about +six miles. I've read that the ocean is as deep as that in some places." + +"Goodness gracious me!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "I hope we are not over +one of them deep spots." + +"There's no knowin'," said Mrs. Lecks, "but if it's more comfortin' to +think it's shallerer, we'll make up our minds that way. Now, then," she +continued, "we'll finish off this meal with a little somethin' to drink. +I'm not given to takin' spirits, but I never travel without a little +whisky, ready mixed with water, to take if it should be needed." + +So saying, she produced from one of her pockets a whisky-flask tightly +corked, and of its contents we each took a sip, Mrs. Aleshine remarking +that, leaving out being chilled or colicky, we were never likely to need +it more than now. + +Thus refreshed and strengthened, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine took up +their oars, while I swam slightly in advance, as before. When, with +occasional intermissions of rest, and a good deal of desultory +conversation, we had swept and swam for about an hour, Mrs. Lecks +suddenly exclaimed: "I can see that thing ever so much plainer now, and +I don't believe it's a ship at all. To me it looks like bushes." + +"You're mighty long-sighted without your specs," said Mrs. Aleshine, +"and I'm not sure but what you're right." + +For ten minutes or more I had been puzzling over the shape of the dark +spot, which was now nearly all the time in sight. Its peculiar form had +filled me with a dreadful fear that it was the steamer, bottom upward, +although I knew enough about nautical matters to have no good reason to +suppose that this could be the case. I am not far-sighted, but when Mrs. +Lecks suggested bushes, I gazed at the distant object with totally +different ideas, and soon began to believe that it was not a ship, +either right side up or wrong side up, but that it might be an island. +This belief I proclaimed to my companions, and for some time we all +worked with increased energy in the desire to get near enough to make +ourselves certain in regard to this point. + +"As true as I'm standin' here," said Mrs. Lecks, who, although she could +not read without spectacles, had remarkably good sight at long range, +"them is trees and bushes that I see before me, though they do seem to +be growin' right out of the water." + +"There's an island under them; you may be sure of that!" I cried. "Isn't +this ever so much better than a sinking ship!" + +"I'm not so sure about that," said Mrs. Aleshine. "I'm used to the ship, +and as long as it didn't sink I'd prefer it. There's plenty to eat on +board of it, and good beds to sleep on, which is more than can be +expected on a little bushy place like that ahead of us. But then, the +ship might sink all of a suddint, beds, vittles, and all." + +"Do you suppose that is the island the other boats went to?" asked Mrs. +Lecks. + +This question I had already asked of myself. I had been told that the +island to which the captain intended to take his boats lay about thirty +miles south of the point where we left the steamer. Now I knew very +well that we had not come thirty miles, and had reason to believe, +moreover, that the greater part of the progress we had made had been +toward the north. It was not at all probable that the position of this +island was unknown to our captain; and it must, therefore, have been +considered by him as an unsuitable place for the landing of his +passengers. There might be many reasons for this unsuitableness: the +island might be totally barren and desolate; it might be the abode of +unpleasant natives; and, more important than anything else, it was, in +all probability, a spot where steamers never touched. + +But, whatever its disadvantages, I was most wildly desirous to reach it; +more so, I believe, than either of my companions. I do not mean that +they were not sensible of their danger, and desirous to be freed from +it; but they were women who had probably had a rough time of it during a +great part of their lives, and on emerging from their little circle of +rural experiences, accepted with equanimity, and almost as a matter of +course, the rough times which come to people in the great outside world. + +"I do not believe," I said, in answer to Mrs. Lecks, "that that is the +island to which the captain would have taken us; but, whatever it is, it +is dry land, and we must get there as soon as we can." + +"That's true," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for I'd like to have ground nearer +to my feet than six miles; and if we don't find anything to eat and any +place to sleep when we get there, it's no more than can be said of the +place where we are now." + +"You're too particular, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "about your +comforts. If you find the ground too hard to sleep on, when you get +there, you can put on your life-preserver, and go to bed in the water." + +"Very good," said Mrs. Aleshine; "and if these islands are made of +coral, as I've heard they are, and if they're as full of small p'ints as +some coral I've got at home, you'll be glad to take a berth by me, Mrs. +Lecks." + +I counseled my companions to follow me as rapidly as possible, and we +all pushed vigorously forward. When we had approached near enough to the +island to see what sort of place it really was, we perceived that it was +a low-lying spot, apparently covered with verdure, and surrounded, as +far as we could see as we rose on the swells, by a rocky reef, against +which a tolerably high surf was running. + +I knew enough of the formation of these coral islands to suppose that +within this reef was a lagoon of smooth water, into which there were +openings through the rocky barrier. It was necessary to try to find one +of these, for it would be difficult and perhaps dangerous to attempt to +land through the surf. + +Before us we could see a continuous line of white-capped breakers, and +so I led my little party to the right, hoping that we would soon see +signs of an opening in the reef. + +We swam and paddled, however, for a long time, and still the surf rolled +menacingly on the rocks before us. We were now as close to the island as +we could approach with safety, and I determined to circumnavigate it, +if necessary, before I would attempt, with these two women, to land upon +that jagged reef. At last we perceived, at no great distance before us, +a spot where there seemed to be no breakers; and when we reached it we +found, to our unutterable delight, that here was smooth water flowing +through a wide opening in the reef. The rocks were piled up quite high, +and the reef, at this point at least, was a wide one, but as we neared +the opening we found that it narrowed very soon, and made a turn to the +left, so that from the outside we could not see into the lagoon. + +I swam into this smooth water, followed closely by Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. +Aleshine, who, however, soon became unable to use their oars, owing to +the proximity of the rocks. Dropping these useful implements, they +managed to paddle after me with their hands, and they were as much +astonished as I was when, just after making the slight turn, we found +stretched across the narrow passage a great iron bar about eight or ten +inches above the water. A little farther on, and two or three feet above +the water, another iron bar extended from one rocky wall to the other. +Without uttering a word I examined the lower bar, and found one end of +it fastened by means of a huge padlock to a great staple driven into the +rock. The lock was securely wrapped in what appeared to be tarred +canvas. A staple through an eyehole in the bar secured the other end of +it to the rocks. + +"These bars were put here," I exclaimed, "to keep out boats, whether at +high or low water. You see they can only be thrown out of the way by +taking off the padlocks." + +"They won't keep us out," said Mrs. Lecks, "for we can duck under. I +suppose whoever put 'em here didn't expect anybody to arrive on +life-preservers." + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +PART II + + +Adopting Mrs. Lecks's suggestion, I "ducked" my head under the bar, and +passed to the other side of it. Mrs. Lecks, with but little trouble, +followed my example; but Mrs. Aleshine, who, by reason of her stoutness, +floated so much higher out of the water than her friend and I, found it +impossible to get herself under the bar. In whatever manner she made the +attempt, her head or her shoulders were sure to bump and arrest her +progress. + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, who had been watching her, "if +you ever want to get out of this salt water, you've got to make up your +mind to take some of it into your mouth and into your eyes, that is, if +you don't keep 'em shut. Get yourself as close to that bar as you can, +and I'll come and put you under." So saying, Mrs. Lecks returned to the +other side of the bar, and having made Mrs. Aleshine bow down her head +and close her eyes and mouth, she placed both hands upon her companion's +broad shoulders, and threw as much weight as possible upon them. Mrs. +Aleshine almost disappeared beneath the water, but she came up +sputtering and blinking on the other side of the bar, where she was +quickly joined by Mrs. Lecks. + +"Merciful me!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, wiping her wet face with her +still wetter sleeve, "I never supposed the heathens would be up to such +tricks as makin' us do that!" + +I had waited to give any assistance that might be required, and, while +doing so, had discovered another bar under the water, which proved that +entrance at almost any stage of the tide had been guarded against. +Warning my companions not to strike their feet against this submerged +bar, we paddled and pushed ourselves around the turn in the rocky +passage, and emerged into the open lagoon. + +This smooth stretch of water, which separated the island from its +encircling reef, was here about a hundred feet wide; and the first thing +that arrested our attention as we gazed across it was a little wharf or +landing-stage, erected upon the narrow beach of the island, almost +opposite to us. + +"As sure as I stand here," exclaimed Mrs. Lecks, who never seemed to +forget her upright position, "somebody lives in this place!" + +"And it isn't a stickery coral island, either," cried Mrs. Aleshine, +"for that sand's as smooth as any I ever saw." + +"Whoever does live here," resumed Mrs. Lecks, "has got to take us in, +whether they like it or not, and the sooner we get over there, the +better." + +Mrs. Aleshine now regretted the loss of her oar, and suggested that some +one of us who could get under bars easily should go back after it. But +Mrs. Lecks would listen to no such proposition. + +"Let the oars go," she said. "We won't want 'em again, for I'll never +leave this place if I have to scoop myself out to sea with an oar." + +I told the two women that I could easily tow them across this narrow +piece of water; and instructing Mrs. Lecks to take hold of the tail of +my coat, while Mrs. Aleshine grasped her companion's dress, I began to +swim slowly toward the beach, towing my companions behind me. + +"Goodnessful gracious me!" suddenly exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, with a +great bounce and a splash, "look at the fishes!" + +The water in the lagoon was so clear that it was almost transparent, and +beneath us and around us we could see fish, some large and some small, +swimming about as if they were floating in the air, while down below the +white sandy bottom seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. + +"Now don't jerk my skeert off on account of the fishes," said Mrs. +Lecks. "I expect there was just as many outside, though we couldn't see +'em. But I must say that this water looks as if it had been boiled and +filtered." + +If any inhabitant of the island had then been standing on the wharf, he +would have beheld on the surface of the lagoon the peculiar spectacle of +a man's head surmounted by a wet and misshapen straw hat, and followed +by two other heads, each wearing a dripping and bedraggled bonnet, while +beneath, among the ripples of the clear water, would have been seen the +figures belonging to these three heads, each dressed in the clothes +ordinarily worn on land. + +As I swam I could see before me, on the island, nothing but a mass of +low-growing, tropical vegetation, behind which rose some palms and other +trees. I made for the little wharf, from which steps came down into the +water, and as soon as we reached it we all clambered rapidly up, and +stood dripping upon the narrow platform, stamping our feet and shaking +our clothes. + +"Do you see that house?" said Mrs. Lecks. "That's where they live, and I +wonder which way we must go to get there." + +From this somewhat elevated position I could plainly see, over the tops +of the bushes and low trees, the upper part of the roof of a house. When +I found the bars across the passage in the reef, I had easily come to +the conclusion that the inhabitants of this island were not savages; and +now since I had seen the wharf and the roof of this house, I felt quite +convinced that we had reached the abode of civilized beings. They might +be pirates or some other sort of sea miscreants, but they were certainly +not savages or cannibals. + +Leaving the wharf, we soon found a broad path through the bushes, and +in a few moments reached a wide, open space, in which stood a handsome +modern-built house. It was constructed after the fashion of tropical +houses belonging to Europeans, with jalousied porches and shaded +balconies; the grounds about it were neatly laid out, and behind it was +a walled inclosure, probably a garden. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "I'd like to be less drippin' +before I make a call on genteel folks!" + +"Genteel folks!" exclaimed Mrs. Lecks, indignantly. "If you're too proud +to go in as you are, Barb'ry Aleshine, you can go set in the sun till +you're dry. As for me, I'm goin' to ask for the lady of the house, and +if she don't like me she can lump me, so long as she gives me somethin' +to eat and a dry bed to get into." + +I was too much amazed to speak, but my companions took everything as a +matter of course. They had expected to see strange things in the outer +world, and they were not surprised when they saw them. My mind was not +capable of understanding the existence of an establishment like this on +a little island in mid-ocean. But it was useless for me to attempt to +reason on this apparent phenomenon; and, indeed, there was no time for +it, for Mrs. Lecks walked boldly up to the front door and plied the +knocker, stepping back immediately, so that she might not drip too much +water on the porch. + +"When they come," she said, "we'll ask 'em to let us in the back way, so +that we sha'n't slop up their floors any more than we can help." + +We waited for a couple of minutes, and then I, as the member of the +party who dripped the least, went up on the porch and knocked again. + +"It's my belief they're not at home," said Mrs. Lecks, after we had +waited some time longer, "but perhaps we'll find some of the servants +in," and she led the way to the back part of the house. + +As we passed the side of the mansion I noticed that all the +window-shutters were closed, and my growing belief that the place was +deserted became a conviction after we had knocked several times at a +door at the back of the building without receiving any answer. + +"Well, they're all gone out, that's certain!" said Mrs. Lecks. + +"Yes, and they barred up the entrance to the island when they left," I +added. + +"I wonder if there's another house in the neighborhood?" asked Mrs. +Aleshine. + +"I don't believe," said I, "that the neighborhood is very thickly +settled; but if you will wait here a few minutes, I will run around this +wall and see what there is beyond. I may find the huts of some natives +or work-people." + +I followed a path by the side of the garden wall, but when I reached the +end of the inclosure I could see nothing before me but jungle and +forest, with paths running in several directions. I followed one of +these, and very soon came out upon an open beach, with the reef lying +beyond it. From the form of the beach and the reef, and from the +appearance of things generally, I began to think that this was probably +a very small island, and that the house we had seen was the only one +on it. I returned and reported this belief to my companions. + +[Illustration: "MRS. LECKS WALKED BOLDLY UP TO THE FRONT DOOR AND PLIED +THE KNOCKER."] + +Now that Mrs. Aleshine had no fear of appearing in an untidy condition +before "genteel folks," her manner changed very much. "If the family has +gone into the country," said she, "or whatever else they've done, I want +to get into this house as soon as I can. I expect we can find something +to eat. At any rate, we can get ourselves dry, and lay down somewhere to +rest, for not a wink has one of us slept since night before last." + +"I should think," said Mrs. Lecks, addressing me, "that if you could +manage to climb up to them second-story windows, you might find one of +them that you could get in, and then come down and open the door for us. +Everybody is likely to forget to fasten some of the windows on the upper +floors. I know it isn't right to force our way into other people's +houses, but there's nothin' else to be done, and there's no need of our +talkin' about it." + +I agreed with her perfectly, and taking off my coat and shoes, I climbed +up one of the columns of the veranda, and got upon its roof. This +extended nearly the whole length of two sides of the house. I walked +along it and tried all the shutters, and I soon came to one in which +some of the movable slats had been broken. Thrusting my hand and arm +through the aperture thus formed, I unhooked the shutters and opened +them. The sash was fastened down by one of the ordinary contrivances +used for such purposes, but with the blade of my jack-knife I easily +pushed the bolt aside, raised the sash, and entered. I found myself in +a small hall at the head of a flight of stairs. Down these I hurried, +and, groping my way through the semi-darkness of the lower story, I +reached a side door. This was fastened by two bolts and a bar, and I +quickly had it open. + +Stepping outside, I called Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. + +"Well," said the latter, "I'm sure I'll be glad to get in, and as we've +squeezed most of the water out of our clothes, we won't make so much of +a mess, after all." + +We now entered, and I opened one of the shutters. + +"Let's go right into the kitchen," said Mrs. Lecks, "and make a fire. +That's the first thing to do." + +[Illustration: "I CLIMBED UP ONE OF THE COLUMNS."] + +But Mrs. Lecks soon discovered that this mansion was very different from +a country dwelling in one of our Middle States. Externally, and as far +as I had been able to observe its internal arrangements, it resembled +the houses built by English residents which I had seen in the West +Indies. It was a dwelling in which modern ideas in regard to +construction and furnishing adapted themselves to the requirements of a +tropical climate. Apparently there was no kitchen. There were no stairs +leading to a lower floor, and the darkened rooms into which my +companions peered were certainly not used for culinary purposes. + +In the meantime I had gone out of the door by which we had entered, and +soon discovered, on the other side of the house, a small building with a +chimney to it, which I felt sure must be the kitchen. The door and +shutters were fastened, but before making any attempt to open them I +returned to announce my discovery. + +"Door locked, is it?" said Mrs. Aleshine. "Just wait a minute." + +She then disappeared, but in a very short time came out, carrying a +bunch of large keys. + +"It's always the way," said she, as the two followed me round the back +of the house, "when people shut up a house and leave it, to put all the +door-keys in the back corner of some drawer in the hall, and to take +only the front-door key with them. So, you see, I knew just where to go +for these." + +"It's a poor hen," said Mrs. Lecks, "that begins to cackle when she's +goin' to her nest; the wise ones wait till they're comin' away. Now +we'll see if one of them keys fit." + +Greatly to the triumph of Mrs. Aleshine, the second or third key I tried +unlocked the door. Entering, we found ourselves in a good-sized kitchen, +with a great fireplace at one end of it. A door opened from the room +into a shed where there was a pile of dry twigs and fire-wood. + +"Let's have a fire as quick as we can," said Mrs. Lecks, "for since I +went into that shet-up house I've been chilled to the bones." + +"That's so," said Mrs. Aleshine; "and now I know how a fish keeps +comfortable in the water, and how dreadfully wet and flabby it must feel +when it's taken out." + +I brought in a quantity of wood and kindling, and finding matches in a +tin box on the wall, I went to work to make a fire, and was soon +rewarded by a crackling blaze. Turning around, I was amazed at the +actions of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. I had expected to see them +standing shivering behind me, waiting for the fire to be made; but +instead of that, they were moving rapidly here and there, saying not a +word, but going as straight to cupboard, closet, and pantry as the hound +follows the track of the hare. From a wild chaos of uncongenial +surroundings, these two women had dropped into a sphere in which they +were perfectly at home. The kitchen was not altogether like those to +which they had been accustomed, but it was a well-appointed one, and +their instincts and practice made them quickly understand where they +would find what they wanted. I gazed on them with delight while one +filled a kettle from a little pump in the corner which brought water +from a cistern, and the other appeared from the pantry, carrying a +tea-caddy and a tin biscuit-box. + +"Now, then," said Mrs. Lecks, hanging the kettle on a crane over the +fire, and drawing up a chair, "by the time we've got a little dried off +the kettle will bile, and we'll have some hot tea, and then the best +thing to do is to go to bed." + +"We'll take time to have a bite first," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for I was +never so near famished in my life. I brought out a box nearly full of +biscuits, and there's sardines in this, Mr. Craig, which you can easy +open with your knife." + +I piled on more wood, and we gathered close around the genial heat. The +sunshine was hot outside, but that did not prevent the fire from being +most comforting and refreshing to us. + +As soon as the kettle began to simmer, up jumped Mrs. Aleshine. A +sugar-bowl and some cups were placed upon a table, and in a short time +we were cheered and invigorated by hot tea, biscuits, and sardines. + +"This isn't much of a meal," said Mrs. Aleshine, apologetically, "but +there's no time to cook nothin', and the sooner we get off our wet +things and find some beds, the better." + +"If I can once get into bed," said Mrs. Lecks, "all I ask is that the +family will not come back till I have had a good long nap. After that, +they can do what they please." + +We now went back to the house, and ascended the main stairway, which led +up to a large central hall. + +"We won't go into the front rooms," said Mrs. Lecks, "for we don't want +to make no more disturbance than we can help; but if we can find the +smallest kind of rooms in the back, with beds in 'em, it is all we can +ask." + +The first chamber we entered was a good-sized one, neatly furnished, +containing a bedstead with uncovered mattress and pillows. Opening a +closet door, Mrs. Lecks exclaimed: "This is a man's room, Mr. Craig, and +you'd better take it. Look at the trousers and coats! There's no +bedclothes in here, but I'll see if I can't find some." + +In a few minutes she returned, bearing blankets, sheets, and a +pillow-case. With Mrs. Aleshine on one side of the bedstead and Mrs. +Lecks on the other, the sheets and blankets were laid with surprising +deftness and rapidity, and in a few moments I saw before me a most +inviting bed. + +While Mrs. Aleshine held a pillow in her teeth as she pulled on the +pillow-case with both hands, Mrs. Lecks looked around the room with the +air of an attentive hostess. "I guess you'll be comfortable, Mr. Craig," +she said, "and I advise you to sleep just as long as you can. We'll take +the room on the other side of the hall; but I'm first goin' down to see +if the kitchen fire is safe, and to fasten the doors." + +[Illustration: "'I GUESS YOU'LL BE COMFORTABLE, MR. CRAIG.'"] + +I offered to relieve her of this trouble, but she promptly declined my +services. "When it's rowin' or swimmin', you can do it, Mr. Craig, but +when it's lockin' up and lookin' to fires, I'll attend to that myself." + +My watch had stopped, but I suppose it was the middle of the afternoon +when I went to bed, and I slept steadily until some hours after sunrise +the next morning, when I was awakened by a loud knock at the door. + +"It's time to get up," said the voice of Mrs. Lecks, "and if your +clothes are not entirely dry, you'd better see if there isn't somethin' +in that closet you can put on. After a while I'll make a big fire in the +kitchen, and dry all our things." + +I found my clothes were still very damp, and after investigating the +contents of the closet and bureau, I was able to supply myself with +linen and a light summer suit which fitted me fairly well. I even found +socks and a pair of slippers. + +When I entered the kitchen, I first opened wide my eyes with delight, +and then I burst out laughing. Before me was a table covered with a +white cloth, with plates, cups, and everything necessary upon it; at one +end was a steaming tea-pot, and at the other a dish of some kind of hot +meat, and Mrs. Aleshine was just taking a pan of newly baked biscuits +from a small iron oven. + +"I don't wonder you laugh," said Mrs. Lecks, "but our clothes was still +wet, and we had to take just what we could find. I'm not in the habit of +goin' about in a white muslin wrapper with blue-ribbon trimmin's, and as +for Mrs. Aleshine, I did think we'd never find anything that she could +get into; but there must be one stout woman in the family, for that +yeller frock with black buttons fits her well enough, though I must say +it's a good deal short." + +"I never thought," said Mrs. Aleshine, as she sat down at the tea-pot, +"that the heathens had so many conveniences, specially bakin'-powders +and Dutch ovens. For my part, I always supposed that they used their +altars for bakin', when they wasn't offerin' up victims on 'em." + +"Have you got it into your head, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, +looking up from the dish of potted beef she was serving, "that this +house belongs to common heathen? I expect that most of the savages who +live on these desert islands has been converted by the missionaries, but +they'd have to take 'em from Genesis to Revelations a good many times +before they'd get 'em to the p'int of havin' force-pumps in their +kitchens and spring-mattresses on their beds. As far as I've seen this +house, it looks as if the family had always been Christians, and +probably either Catholics or Episcopalians." + +"On account of the cross on the mantelpiece in our room, I suppose," +said Mrs. Aleshine. "But whether they're given to idols or prayer-books, +I know they've got a mighty nice house; and considerin' the distance +from stores, there's a good deal more in that pantry than you'd expect +to find in any house I know of, when the family is away." + +"It is my opinion," said I, "that this house belongs to some rich man, +probably an American or European merchant, who lives on one of the large +islands not far away, and who uses this as a sort of summer residence." + +"I thought it was always summer in this part of the world," said Mrs. +Lecks. + +"So it is in effect," I replied, "but there are some seasons when it is +very unpleasant to remain in one of those towns which are found on the +larger islands, and so the owner of this house may come up here +sometimes for fresh sea air." + +"Or it's just as like," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that he lives somewhere up +in the iceberg regions, and comes here to spend his winters. It would do +just as well. But, whichever way it is, I can't help thinkin' it's +careless not to leave somebody in the house to take care of it. Why, for +all the family would know about it, tramps might break in and stay as +long as they like." + +"That's just what's happenin' now," said Mrs. Lecks, "and for my part I +ain't goin' to find no fault. I don't suppose the people would have been +so hard-hearted as to turn us away from their doors, but I've seen +enough of folks in this world not to be too sure about that." + +[Illustration: "THAT YELLER FROCK."] + +"How do you suppose," said Mrs. Aleshine, addressing me, "that the +family gets here and goes back? Do they keep a private steamboat?" + +"Of course they have a private vessel of some kind," I answered, +"probably a yacht. It is quite certain that ordinary steamers never +touch here." + +"If that's the case," said Mrs. Lecks, "all we can do is to wait here +till they come, and get them to send us away in their ship. But whether +they've just gone or are just a-comin' back depends, I suppose, on +whether they live in a freezin' or a burnin' country; and if they don't +like our bein' here when they come back, there's one thing they can make +up their minds to, and that is that I'm never goin' to leave this place +on a life-preserver." + +"Nor me nuther," said Mrs. Aleshine, finishing, with much complacency, +her third cup of tea. + +When breakfast was over, Mrs. Lecks pushed back her chair, but did not +immediately rise. With an expression of severe thought upon her face, +she gazed steadfastly before her for a minute, and then she addressed +Mrs. Aleshine, who had begun to gather together the cups and the plates. +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said she, "don't you begin to clear off the +table, nor touch a single thing to wash it up, till we've been over this +house. I want to do it now, before Mr. Craig goes out to prospect around +and see what else is on the island, which, I suppose, he'll be wantin' +to do." + +I replied that I had that intention, but I was quite willing to go over +the house first. + +"It's come to me," said Mrs. Lecks, speaking very gravely, "that it's no +use for us to talk of the family bein' here, or bein' there, till we've +gone over this house. If we find that they have, as far as we know, gone +away in good health and spirits, that's all well enough; but if +anything's happened in this house, I don't want to be here with what's +happened—at least, without knowin' it, and when we do go over the +house, I want a man to go with us." + +"If you'd talked that way last night, Mrs. Lecks," exclaimed Mrs. +Aleshine, "I'd never slept till after sun-up, and then got up and gone +huntin' round among them frocks and petticoats to find somethin' that +would fit me, with the quiet pulse I did have, Mrs. Lecks!" + +To this remark Mrs. Lecks made no reply, but, rising, she led the way +out of the kitchen and into the house. + +The rooms on the first floor were very well furnished. There was a large +parlor, and back of it a study or library, while on the other side of +the hall was a dining-room and an apartment probably used as a family +room. We found nothing in these which would indicate that anything +untoward had happened in them. Then we went up-stairs, I leading the +way, Mrs. Lecks following, and Mrs. Aleshine in the rear. We first +entered one of the front chambers, which was quite dark, but Mrs. Lecks +unfastened and threw open a shutter. Then, with a rigid countenance and +determined mien, she examined every part of the room, looked into every +closet, and even under the bed. It was quite plain that it was in one of +the chambers that she expected to find what had happened, if anything +had happened. + +The room on the other side of the hall was very like the one we first +examined, except that it had two beds in it. We next visited the chamber +recently occupied by my two companions, which was now undergoing the +process of "airing." + +"We needn't stop here," remarked Mrs. Aleshine. + +But Mrs. Lecks instantly replied: "Indeed, we will stop; I'm going to +look under the bed." + +"Merciful me!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, putting her hand on her friend's +shoulder. "Supposin' you should find somethin', and we sleepin' here +last night! It curdles me to think of it!" + +"It's my duty," said Mrs. Lecks, severely, "and I shall do it." + +And do it she did, rising from the task with a sigh of relief. + +My room was subjected to the same scrutiny as the others, and then we +visited some smaller rooms at the extreme back of the house, which we +had not before noticed. A garret, or loft, was reached by a steep +stairway in one of these rooms, and into its dusky gloom I ventured by +myself. + +"Now, don't come down, Mr. Craig," said Mrs. Lecks, "till you're sure +there's nothin' there. Of all places in the house, that cockloft, after +all, is the most likely." + +I had none of the fears which seemed to actuate the two women, but I had +a very unpleasant time of it groping about in the darkness and heat, +and, as the place was only partly floored, running the continual risk of +crashing down through the lath and plaster. I made myself quite sure, +however, that nothing had happened in that loft, unless some one had +suffocated there, and had dried up and become the dust which I raised at +every step. + +"Now, then," said Mrs. Lecks, when I descended, "as there is no cellar, +we'll go wash up the breakfast things; and if you want to take a walk, +to see if there's any genuwine heathens or anybody else a-livin' in this +island, we're not afraid to be left alone." + +For the whole of the rest of the morning I wandered about the island. I +investigated the paths that I had before noticed, and found that each of +them led, after a moderate walk, to some wide and pleasant part of the +beach. At one of these points I found a rustic bench; and, stuffed in +between two of the slats which formed the seat, I found a book. It had +been sadly wet and discolored by rain, and dried and curled up by the +wind and sun. I pulled it out, and found it to be a novel in French. On +one of the fly-leaves was written "Emily." Reasoning from the +dilapidated appearance of this book, I began to believe that the family +must have left this place some time ago, and that, therefore, their +return might be expected at a proportionately early period. On second +thoughts, however, I considered that the state of this book was of +little value as testimony. A few hours of storm, wind, and sun might +have inflicted all the damage it had sustained. The two women would be +better able to judge by the state of the house and the condition of the +provisions how long the family had been away. + +I then started out on a walk along the beach, and in little more than an +hour I had gone entirely around the island. Nowhere did I see any sign +of habitation or occupation except at the house which had given us +shelter, nor any opening through the surrounding reef except the barred +passageway through which we had come. + +When I returned to the house, I found that Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine +had been hard at work all the morning. They had, so to speak, gone +regularly and systematically to housekeeping, and had already divided +the labors of the establishment between them. Mrs. Aleshine, who prided +herself on her skill in culinary matters, was to take charge of the +cooking, while Mrs. Lecks assumed the care of the various rooms and the +general management of the household. This arrangement was explained to +me at length, and when I remarked that all this seemed to indicate that +they expected to remain here for a long time, Mrs. Lecks replied: + +"In my part of the country I could tell pretty close, by the dust on the +tables and on the top of the pianner, how long a family had been out of +a house; but dust in Pennsylvany and dust on a sea island, where there's +no wagons nor carriages, is quite different. This house has been left in +very good order, and though the windows wants washin', and the floors +and stairs brushin',—which will be easy considerin' that none of 'em +has carpets,—and everything in the house a reg'lar cleanin' up and +airin', it may be that the family hasn't been gone away very long, and +so it may be a good while before they come back again. Mrs. Aleshine and +me has talked it over, and we've made up our minds that the right thing +to do is just to go along and attend to things as if we was a-goin' to +stay here for a month or two; and it may be even longer than that before +the people come back. And I don't think they'll have anything to +complain of when they find their house in apple-pie order, their windows +washed, their floors clean, and not a speck of dust anywhere." + +"For my part," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I don't see what they've got to find +fault with, anyway. I look on this as part of the passage. To be sure, +we ain't movin' a bit on our way to Japan, but that's not my fault, nor +yet yours, Mrs. Lecks, nor yours, Mr. Craig. We paid our passage to go +to Japan, and if the ship was steered wrong and got sunk, we hadn't +anything to do with it. We didn't want to come here, but here we are, +and I'd like to know who's got any right to find fault with us." + +[Illustration: "MRS. ALESHINE HAD BEEN HARD AT WORK ALL THE MORNING."] + +"And bein' here," said Mrs. Lecks, "we'll take care of the things." + +"As far as I'm concerned," added Mrs. Aleshine, "if this island was +movin' on to Japan, I'd a great deal rather be on it than on that ship, +where, to my way of thinkin', they didn't know much more about +housekeepin' than they did about steerin'." + +"I think your plans and arrangements are very good," I said. "But how +about the provisions? Are there enough to hold out for any time?" + +"There's pretty nigh a barrel of flour," said Mrs. Aleshine, "a good +deal of tea and coffee and sugar, and lots of things in tins and jars. +There's a kind of cellar outside where they keep things cool, and +there's more than half a keg of butter down there. It's too strong to +use, but I can take that butter and wash it out, and work it over, and +salt it, and make it just as good butter as any we got on board the +ship." + +"But," said I, "you have given me nothing to do. I shall not be content +to stand about idle and see you do all the work." + +"There's nothin' in the house," said Mrs. Lecks, "which you need put +your hand to; but, if you choose to go out into that garden, and see if +there's anything can be done in it, or got out of it,—that is, if you +know anything about garden work,—I'm sure we'd be very glad of any +fresh vegetables we could get." + +I replied that I had been accustomed to garden work in an amateur way, +and would be glad to do anything that was possible in that direction. + +"I never seed into that garden," said Mrs. Aleshine, "but of all the +foolish things that ever came under my eye, the buildin' a wall around a +garden, when a picket fence would do just as well, is the foolishest." + +I explained that in these countries it was the fashion to use walls +instead of fences. + +"If it's the fashion," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I suppose there's no use +sayin' anything ag'in' it; but if the fashion should happen to change, +they'd find it a good deal easier to take down a barbed-wire fence than +a stone wall." + +This conversation took place in the large lower hall, which Mrs. Lecks +had been "putting to rights," and where Mrs. Aleshine had just entered +from the kitchen. Mrs. Lecks now sat down upon a chair, and, dust-cloth +in hand, she thus addressed me: + +"There's another thing, Mr. Craig, that me and Mrs. Aleshine has been +talkin' about. We haven't made up our minds about it, because we didn't +think it was fair and right to do that before speakin' to you and +hearin' what you had to say on one side or another of it. Mrs. Aleshine +and me has had to bow our heads to afflictions, and to walk sometimes in +roads we didn't want to; but we've remembered the ways in which we was +brought up, and have kept in them as far as we've been able. When our +husbands died, leavin' Mrs. Aleshine with a son, and me without any, +which, perhaps, is just as well, for there's no knowin' how he might +have turned out—" + +"That's so," interrupted Mrs. Aleshine, "for he might have gone as a +clerk to Roosher, and then you and me would 'a' had to travel different +ways." + +"And when our husbands died," continued Mrs. Lecks, "they left us +enough, and plenty, to live on, and we wasn't the women to forget them +and their ways of thinkin', any more than we'd forget the ways of our +fathers and mothers before us." + +"That's so!" said Mrs. Aleshine, fervently. + +"And now, Mr. Craig," continued Mrs. Lecks, "we don't know how you've +been brought up, nor anything about you, in fact, except that you've +been as kind to us as if you was some sort of kin, and that we never +would have thought of comin' here without you, and so me and Mrs. +Aleshine has agreed to leave this whole matter to you, and to do just as +you say. When us two started out on this long journey, we didn't expect +to find it what you call the path of roses, and, dear only knows, we +haven't found it so." + +"That's true!" ejaculated Mrs. Aleshine. + +"And what we've had to put up with," continued Mrs. Lecks, "we have put +up with. So, Mr. Craig, whether you say dinner in the middle of the day +at twelve, as we've always been used to, or at six o'clock in the +afternoon, as they had it on board that ship,—and how people ever come +to turn their meals hind part foremost in that way, I can't say,—we are +goin' to do it; if you've been brought up to six o'clock, you won't hear +no complainin' from us, think what we may." + +I was on the point of laughing aloud at the conclusion of this speech, +but a glance at the serious faces of the two women, who, with so much +earnest solicitude, awaited my reply, stopped me, and I hastened to +assure them that dinner in the middle of the day would be entirely in +accordance with my every wish. + +"Good!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, her eyes sparkling amid the plumpness +of her face, while an expression of calm relief passed over the features +of Mrs. Lecks. + +"And now I'll be off and get us somethin' to eat in less than no time," +said Mrs. Aleshine. "We didn't know whether to make it lunch or dinner +till we had seen you, so you can't expect much to-day, but to-morrow +we'll begin, and have everything straight and comfortable. I'm goin' to +get up early in the mornin' and bake a batch of bread, and you needn't +be afraid, Mr. Craig, but what I'll have you a bit of hot meat every +night for your supper." + +In the afternoon we all visited the garden, which, although a good deal +overgrown with luxuriant weeds, showed marks of fair cultivation. Some +of the beds had been cleared out and left to the weeds, and we found +some "garden truck," as my companions called it, with which we were not +familiar. But there were tomato-vines loaded with fruit, plenty of beans +of various kinds, and a large patch of potatoes, many of which had been +dug. + +From the lower end of the garden, Mrs. Aleshine gave a shout of delight. +We went to her, and found her standing before a long asparagus bed. + +"Well!" she exclaimed. "If there's anything that settles it firm in my +mind that these people is Christians, it's this bed of grass. I don't +believe there ever was heathens that growed grass." + +"I thought that was all settled when we found the bakin'-powders," said +Mrs. Lecks. + +"But this clinches it," answered her companion. "I can't tell from a +sparrowgrass bed what church they belong to, but they're no idolaters." + +The next morning I delivered to the genial Mrs. Aleshine a large basket +full of fresh vegetables, and we had a most excellent dinner. Somewhat +to my surprise, the table was not set in the kitchen, but in the +dining-room. + +"Me and Mrs. Aleshine have made up our minds," said Mrs. Lecks, in +explanation, "that it's not the proper thing for you to be eatin' in the +kitchen, nor for us neither. Here's table-cloths, and good glass and +china, and spoons and forks, which, although they're not solid silver, +are plated good enough for anybody. Neither you nor us is servants, and +a kitchen is no place for us." + +"That's so!" said Mrs. Aleshine. "We paid our money for first-class +passages, and it was understood that we'd have everything as good as +anybody." + +"Which I don't see as that has anything to do with it, Barb'ry +Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "for the steamship people don't generally +throw in desert islands as part of the accommodation." + +"We didn't ask for the island," retorted Mrs. Aleshine, "and if they'd +steered the ship right we shouldn't have wanted it." + +When we had finished our dinner, Mrs. Lecks pushed back her chair, and +sat for a few moments in thought, as was her wont before saying anything +of importance. + +"There's another thing," said she, "that I've been thinkin' about, +though I haven't spoke of it yet, even to Mrs. Aleshine. We haven't no +right to come here and eat up the victuals and use the things of the +people that own this house, without payin' for 'em. Of course, we're not +goin' to sleep on the bare ground and starve to death while there's beds +and food close to our hands. But if we use 'em and take it, we ought to +pay the people that the place belongs to—that is, if we've got the +money to do it with—and Mrs. Aleshine and me has got the money. When we +went down into our cabin to get ready to leave the ship, the first thing +we did was to put our purses in our pockets, and we've both got drafts +wrapped up in oil silk, and sewed inside our frock-bodies; and if you +didn't think to bring your money along with you, Mr. Craig, we can lend +you all you need." + +I thanked her for her offer, but stated that I had brought with me all +my money. + +"Now," continued Mrs. Lecks, "it's my opinion that we ought to pay our +board regular every week. I don't know what is commonly charged in a +place like this, but I know you can get very good board where I come +from for six dollars a week." + +[Illustration: "'THERE'S ANOTHER THING,' SAID SHE, 'THAT I'VE BEEN +THINKIN' ABOUT.'"] + +"That is for two in a room," said Mrs. Aleshine; "but havin' a room to +himself would make it more for Mr. Craig." + +"It ain't his fault," said Mrs. Lecks, somewhat severely, "that he +ain't got a brother or some friend to take part of the room and pay part +of the expense. But, anyway, the room isn't a large one, and I don't +think he ought to pay much more for having a room to himself. Seven +dollars is quite enough." + +"But then you've got to consider," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that we do the +cookin' and housework, and that ought to be counted." + +"I was comin' to that," said Mrs. Lecks. "Now, if me and Mrs. Aleshine +was to go out to service, which you may be sure we wouldn't do unless +circumstances was very different from what they are now—" + +"That's true!" earnestly ejaculated Mrs. Aleshine. + +"But if we was to do it," continued Mrs. Lecks, "we wouldn't go into +anybody's family for less than two dollars a week. Now, I've always +heard that wages is low in this part of the world, and the work isn't +heavy for two of us; so, considering the family isn't here to make their +own bargain, I think we'd better put our wages at that, so that'll make +four dollars a week for each of us two to pay." + +"But how about Mr. Craig?" said Mrs. Aleshine. "He oughtn't to work in +that garden for nothin'." + +"Fifty cents a day," said Mrs. Lecks, "is as little as any man would +work for, and then it oughtn't to take all his time. That will make +three dollars to take out of Mr. Craig's board, and leave it four +dollars a week, the same as ours." + +I declared myself perfectly satisfied with these arrangements, but Mrs. +Aleshine did not seem to be altogether convinced that they were just. + +"When a woman goes out to service," said she, "she gets her board and +is paid wages besides, and it's the same for gardeners." + +"Then I suppose, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "that we ought to +charge these people with our wages, and make 'em pay it when they come +back!" + +This remark apparently disposed of Mrs. Aleshine's objections, and her +friend continued: "There's a jar on the mantelpiece there, of the kind +the East Indy ginger comes in. It's got nothin' in it now but some brown +paper in which fish-hooks is wrapped. We came here on a Wednesday, and +so every Tuesday night we'll each put four dollars in that jar, under +the fish-hook paper; then if, by night or by day, the family comes back +and makes a fuss about our bein' here, all we have to say is, 'The board +money's in the ginger-jar,' and our consciences is free." + +Mrs. Lecks's plan was adopted as a very just and proper one, and at the +expiration of the week we each deposited four dollars in the ginger-jar. + +While occupying this house I do not think that any of us endeavored to +pry into the private concerns of the family who owned it, although we +each had a very natural curiosity to know something about said family. +Opportunities of acquiring such knowledge, however, were exceedingly +scarce. Even if we had been willing to look into such receptacles, the +several desks and secretaries that the house contained were all locked, +and nowhere could Mrs. Lecks or Mrs. Aleshine find an old letter or +piece of wrapping-paper with an address on it. I explained to my +companions that letters and packages were not likely to come to a place +like this, but they kept a sharp lookout for anything of the kind, +asserting that there could be no possible harm in reading the names of +the people whose house they were in. + +In some of the books in the library, which were English and French in +about equal proportions, with a few volumes in German, I found written +on the blank pages the names "Emily" and "Lucille," and across the +title-pages of some French histories was inscribed, in a man's hand, "A. +Dusante." We discussed these names, but could not make up our minds +whether the family were French or English. For instance, there was no +reason why an Englishwoman might not be called Lucille, and even such a +surname as Dusante was not uncommon either among English or Americans. +The labels on the boxes and tins of provisions showed that most of them +came from San Francisco, but this was likely to be the case, no matter +what the nationality of the family. + +The question of the relationship of the three persons, of whose +existence we had discovered traces, was a very interesting one to Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. + +"I can't make up my mind," said the latter, "whether Emily is the mother +of Lucille or her daughter, or whether they are both children of Mr. +Dusante, or whether he's married to Lucille and Emily is his +sister-in-law, or whether she's his sister and not hers, or whether he's +the uncle and they're his nieces, or whether Emily is an old lady and +Mr. Dusante and Lucille are both her children, or whether they are two +maiden ladies and Mr. Dusante is their brother, or whether Mr. Dusante +is only a friend of the family, and boards here because no two women +ought to live in such a lonely place without a man in the house." + +"Well," said Mrs. Lecks, "whether Mr. Dusante comes back with two +nieces, or a wife and daughter, or Mrs. Dusante and a mother-in-law, or +a pair of sisters, all we've got to say is, 'The board money's in the +ginger-jar,' and let 'em do their worst." + +In my capacity as gardener I do not think I earned the wages which my +companions had allotted to me, for I merely gathered and brought in such +fruits and vegetables as I found in proper condition for use. In other +ways, however, I made my services valuable to our little family. In a +closet in my chamber I found guns and ammunition, and frequently I was +able to bring in a few birds. Some of these were pronounced by Mrs. +Aleshine unsuitable for the table, but others she cooked with much +skill, and they were found to be very good eating. + +Not far from the little wharf which has been mentioned there stood, +concealed by a mass of low-growing palms, a boat-house in which was a +little skiff hung up near the roof. This I let down and launched, and +found great pleasure in rowing it about the lagoon. There was +fishing-tackle in the boat-house, which I used with success, the lagoon +abounding in fish. Offerings of this kind were much more acceptable to +Mrs. Aleshine than birds. + +"There's some kinds of fishes that's better than others," said she, +"but, as a gen'ral rule, a fish is a fish, and if you catch 'em you can +eat 'em; but it's a very different thing with birds. When you've never +seen 'em before, how are you goin' to tell but what they're some kin to +an owl, a pigeon-hawk, or a crow? And if I once get it into my head that +there's any of that kind of family blood in 'em, they disagree with me +just the same as if there really was." + +One afternoon, as I was returning in the boat from the point on the +other side of the island where I had found the rustic seat and Emily's +book, I was surprised to see Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine standing on +the end of the little wharf. This was an unusual thing for them to do, +as they were very industrious women and seldom had an idle moment, and +it seemed to be one of their greatest pleasures to discuss the work they +were going to do when they had finished that on which they were then +engaged. I was curious, therefore, to know why they should be standing +thus idly on the wharf, and pulled toward them as rapidly as possible. + +[Illustration: "MRS. LECKS AND MRS. ALESHINE STANDING ON THE END OF THE +LITTLE WHARF."] + +When I had rowed near enough to hear them, Mrs. Aleshine remarked with +cheerful placidity: + +"The Dusantes are comin'." + +The tide was quite low, and I could not see over the reef; but in a few +moments I had grounded the skiff and had sprung upon the wharf. Out on +the ocean, about a mile away, I saw a boat, apparently a large one, +approaching the island. + +"Now, then, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you'll soon see whether +it's his two nieces, or his daughters, wife and sister-in-law, or +whatever of them other relationships which you've got so pat." + +"Yes," said Mrs. Aleshine; "but, what's more, we'll find out if he's +goin' to be satisfied with the board money we've put in the ginger-jar." + +[Illustration] + + + + +PART III + +[Illustration] + + +When the boat which we saw approaching the island had come near enough +for us to distinguish its occupants, we found that it contained five +persons. Three sat in the stern, and two were rowing. Of those in the +stern, we soon made out one to be a woman, and after putting our +eyesight to its very best efforts, we were obliged to admit that there +was only one female on board. + +"Now, that's disapp'intin'," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for I've wondered and +wondered which I should like best, Emily or Lucille, and now that only +one of 'em has come, of course I can't tell." + +The boat came on, almost directly toward the passageway in the reef, and +it was not long before the two women had been able to decide that Mr. +Dusante was an elderly man, and that the lady was moderately young, and +in all probability his daughter. + +"It may be," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that the mother, whether she was +Emily, or whether she was Lucille, has died, and for that reason they +are comin' back sooner than they expected." + +"Well, I hope you're wrong there, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, +"for they'll see lots of things here that will freshen up their +affliction, and that won't make 'em any too lively people to be with." + +"On the other hand," said Mrs. Aleshine, "it may be that Emily, or else +Lucille, has got married, and has gone away with her husband to travel, +and by the time she's got a little baby she'll come here to live on +account of the sea air for the child, and that'll make the house +pleasant, Mrs. Lecks." + +"I'd like to know how long you expect to live here," said Mrs. Lecks, +regarding her friend with some severity. + +"That's not for me to say," replied Mrs. Aleshine, "knowin' nothin' +about it. But this I will say, that I hope they have brought along with +them some indigo blue, for I nearly used up all there was the last time +I washed." + +During this dialogue I had been thinking that it was a very strange +thing for the owners of this place to visit their island in such a +fashion. Why should they be in an open boat? And where did they come +from? Wherever they might live, it was not at all probable that they +would choose to be rowed from that point to this. From the general +character and appointments of the house in which we had found a refuge, +it was quite plain that its owners were people in good circumstances, +who were in the habit of attending to their domestic affairs in a very +orderly and proper way. It was to be presumed that it was their custom +to come here in a suitable vessel, and to bring with them the stores +needed during their intended stay. Now, there could be little or nothing +in that boat, and, on the whole, I did not believe it contained the +owners of this island. + +It would not do, however, to assume anything of the kind. There might +have been a disaster; in fact, I know nothing about it, but it was my +immediate duty to go and meet these people at the passage, for, if they +were unable to unlock the bars, their boat could not enter, and I must +ferry them across the lagoon. Without communicating my doubts to my +companions, I hurried into the skiff, and pulled as far as possible into +the passage through the reef. The bars, of which there were more than I +at first supposed, were so arranged that it was impossible for a boat to +go in or out at any stage of the tide. + +I had been there but a few minutes when the boat from without came +slowly in between the rocks; and almost as soon as I saw it, its +progress was suddenly stopped by a sunken bar. + +"Hello!" cried several men at once. + +"Hello!" cried I, in return. "Have you the key to these bars?" + +A stout man with a red beard stood up in the stern. "Key?" said he, +"what key?" + +"Then you do not belong here?" said I. "Who are you?" + +At this, the gentleman who was sitting by the lady arose to his feet. He +was a man past middle age, rather tall and slim, and when he stood up +the slight rolling of the boat made him stagger, and he came near +falling. + +"You'd better sit down, sir," said the man with the red beard, who I saw +was a sailor. "You can talk better that way." + +The gentleman now seated himself, and thus addressed me: + +"I am, sir, the Reverend Mr. Enderton, lately missionary to Nanfouchong, +China, and this is my daughter, Miss Enderton. We are returning to the +United States by way of the Sandwich Islands, and took passage in a +sailing-vessel for Honolulu. About two weeks ago this vessel, in some +way which I do not understand, became disabled—" + +"Rotten forem'st," interrupted the man with the red beard, "which give +way in a gale; strained and leaky, besides." + +"I did not know the mast was rotten," said the gentleman, "but, since +the occasion of our first really serviceable wind, she has been making +very unsatisfactory progress. And, more than that, the whole force of +seamen was employed night and day in endeavoring to keep the water out +of the tea, thereby causing such a thumping and pounding that sleep was +out of the question. Add to this the fact that our meals became very +irregular, and were sometimes entirely overlooked—" + +"Prog was gettin' mighty short," interpolated the red-bearded man. + +"You can easily discern, sir," continued the gentleman, "that it was +impossible for myself and my daughter to remain longer on that vessel, +on which we were the only passengers. I therefore requested the captain +to put us ashore at the nearest land, and, after more than a week of +delay and demur, he consented to do so." + +"Couldn't do it," said the man, "till there was land nigh enough." + +"The captain informed me," continued the gentleman, "that this island +was inhabited, and that I could here find shelter and repose until a +vessel could be sent from Honolulu to take me off. He furnished me with +this boat and three seamen, one of whom," pointing to the red-bearded +man, "is a coxswain. We have been rowing ever since early this morning, +with but a very moderate quantity of food and much discomfort. Now, sir, +you have heard my story; and I ask you, as one man to another, if you +still intend to bar your water-gates against us?" + +"I did not bar the gates," I said, "and I would gladly unlock them if I +could. I belong to a shipwrecked party who took refuge here some two +weeks ago." + +"And how did you get in?" hastily inquired the red-bearded coxswain. + +"Our boat sunk when we were within sight of the island, and we came here +on life-preservers, and so got under the bars." + +The two men who had been rowing now turned suddenly and looked at me. +They both had black beards, and they both exclaimed at the same moment, +"By George!" + +"I won't stop here to tell any more of our story," said I. "The great +point now is to get you all ashore, and have you cared for." + +"That's so!" said the coxswain. And the two sailors murmured, "Aye, aye, +sir." + +The bar which stopped the progress of the larger boat was just under the +surface of the water, while another a foot above the water kept my skiff +about six feet distant from the other boat. There was some loose +flooring in the bottom of the coxswain's boat, and he ordered two of the +boards taken out, and with them a bridge was made, one end resting on +the bow of the larger boat, and the other on the iron bar by my skiff. + +"Now," said the coxswain, "let the lady go first." + +The elderly gentleman arose, as if he would prefer to take the lead, but +his daughter, who had not yet spoken a word, was passed forward by the +coxswain, steadied over the bridge by one of the sailors, and assisted +by me into the skiff. Then her father came aboard, and I rowed with them +to the wharf. + +Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine came forward most cordially to meet them. + +"Mr. Dusante, I suppose?" said Mrs. Lecks, while Mrs. Aleshine hurriedly +whispered in my ear, "Is it Lucille or Emily?" + +As quickly as possible I explained the situation. For a few moments Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine stood speechless. Nothing which had happened to +them, the wreck of the steamer, the sinking of the boat, or our +experience with life-preservers, affected them so much as this +disappointment in regard to the problem of the Dusante family. Travel by +sea was all novel and strange to them, and they had expected all sorts +of things to which they were not accustomed, but they had never +imagined that Fate would be so hard upon them as to snatch away the +solution of this mystery just as they were about to put their hands upon +it. But, in spite of this sudden blow, the two good women quickly +recovered themselves, and with hearty and kindly words hurried the +missionary and his daughter to the house, while I went to bring over the +men. + +I found the three sailors busy in securing their boat so that it would +not be injured by the rocks during the rising and falling of the tide. +When they had finished this job, they had to do a good deal of +scrambling before they reached my skiff. + +"We thought at first, sir," said the coxswain, as I rowed them across +the lagoon, "that it was all gammon about your not livin' here, and +havin' no keys to them bars; but we've come to the 'pinion that if you'd +been able to unlock 'em you'd have done it sooner than take all this +trouble." + +I now related my story more fully, and the men were greatly astonished +when they heard that my companions in this adventure were two women. +Upon my asking the coxswain why he had come to this island, he replied +that his captain had heard that people lived on it, although he knew +nothing about them; and that, as it would be almost impossible to get +his brig here with the wind that was then prevailing, and as he did not +wish to go out of his course anyway, he made up his mind that he would +rather lose the services of three men than keep that missionary on board +a day longer. + +"You see, sir," said the coxswain, as we went ashore, "the parson +wouldn't never take it into account that we were short of prog, and +leakin' like Sam Hill; and because things were uncomfortable he growled +up and he growled down, till he was wuss for the spirits of the men than +the salt water comin' in or the hard-tack givin' out, and there was +danger, if he wasn't got rid of, that he'd be pitched overboard and left +to take his chances for a whale. And then, by sendin' us along, that +give the crew three half-rations a day extry, and that'll count for a +good deal in the fix they're in." + +When I reached the house I took the men into the kitchen, where Mrs. +Aleshine already had the table spread. There were bread and cold meat, +while the tea-kettle steamed by the fire. In a very short time three +happy mariners sat round that table, while Mrs. Aleshine, with beaming +face, attended to their wants, and plied them with innumerable +questions. They had not finished eating when Mrs. Lecks entered the +kitchen. + +"I put that minister and his daughter in the two front bedrooms," said +she to me, after hospitably greeting the three men, "which me and Mrs. +Aleshine had run and got ready for the Dusantes, as soon as you went in +your boat to meet 'em. The young lady was mighty nigh worn out, and glad +enough of the tea and things, and to get into bed. But the gentleman he +wanted a soft-boiled egg, and when I told him I hadn't come across no +hen-house yet on this island, he looked at me as if he didn't half +believe me, and thought I was keepin' the eggs to sell." + +"Which it would be ridiculous to do," said Mrs. Aleshine, "in the middle +of an ocean like this." + +"If he lets you off with soft-b'iled eggs, ma'am," said the coxswain, +very respectfully, "I think you may bless your stars." + +"Aye, aye, sir," said the two sailors with black beards. + +Miss Ruth Enderton and her father did not make their appearance until +the next morning at breakfast-time. I found the young lady a very +pleasant person. She was rather slight in figure, inclined to be pretty, +and was what might be called a warm-colored blonde. Her disposition was +quite sociable, and she almost immediately stepped into the favor of +Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. + +Mr. Enderton, however, was a person of another sort. He was a prim and +somewhat formal man, and appeared to be entirely self-engrossed, with +very vague notions in regard to his surroundings. He was not by any +means an ill-tempered man, being rather inclined to be placid than +otherwise; but he gave so little attention to circumstances and events +that he did not appear to understand why he should be incommoded by the +happenings of life. I have no doubt that he made existence on board the +disabled brig a hundred times more unsatisfactory than it would +otherwise have been. With his present condition he seemed very well +satisfied, and it was quite plain that he looked upon Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. +Aleshine, and myself as the proprietors of the establishment, having +forgotten, or paid no attention to, my statement in regard to our coming +here. + +As soon as she thought it fit and proper—and this moment arrived in the +course of the first forenoon—Mrs. Lecks spoke to Mr. Enderton on the +subject of the board which should be paid to the Dusantes. She stated +the arrangements we had made in the matter, and then told him that as he +and his daughter had the best accommodations in the house, each +occupying a large, handsome room, she thought that he should pay fifteen +dollars a week for the two. + +"Now, if your daughter," she continued, "can do anything about the house +which will be of real help, though for the life of me I don't see what +she can find to do, with me and Mrs. Aleshine here, somethin' might be +took off on account of her services; but of course you, sir, can't do +nothin', unless you was to preach on Sundays, and not knowin' what +denomination the Dusantes belong to, it wouldn't be fair to take their +money to pay for the preachin' of doctrines which, perhaps, they don't +believe in." + +[Illustration: "MR. ENDERTON WAS A PERSON OF ANOTHER SORT."] + +This financial proposal aroused Mr. Enderton's opposition. "When I came +here, madam," he said, "I did not expect to pay any board whatever, and +I think, moreover, that your rates are exorbitant. In Nanfouchong, if I +remember rightly, the best of board did not cost more than two or three +dollars a week." + +"I don't want to say anything, sir," said Mrs. Lecks, "which might look +disrespectful, but as long as I've got a conscience inside of me I'm +not goin' to stay here and see the Dusantes lose money by Chinese +cheapness." + +"I don't know anything about the Dusantes," said Mr. Enderton, "but I am +not going to pay fifteen dollars a week for board for myself and +daughter." + +The discussion lasted for some time, with considerable warmth on each +side, and was at last ended by Mr. Enderton agreeing to pay board at the +same rate as the two women and myself, and each week to deposit in the +ginger-jar eight dollars for himself and daughter. + +"You may not care to remember, sir," said Mrs. Lecks, with cold +severity, "that Mr. Craig and me and Mrs. Aleshine puts in services +besides, although, to be sure, they don't go into the jar." + +"I only remember," said Mr. Enderton, "that I am paying an unjustifiable +price as it is." + +Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, however, were not at all of this opinion, +and they agreed that, if it should be in their power, they would see to +it that the Dusantes lost nothing by this close-fisted missionary. + +After dinner—and I may remark that the newcomers were not consulted in +regard to the hours for meals—Mrs. Lecks had an interview with the +coxswain on the subject of board for himself and his two companions. +This affair, however, was very quickly settled, for the three mariners +had among them only one dollar and forty-three cents, and this, the +coxswain explained, they would like to keep for tobacco. It was +therefore settled that, as the three sailors could pay no money, as much +work as possible should be got out of them, and to this plan they +agreed heartily and cheerfully. + +"There's only one thing we'll ask, ma'am," said the coxswain to Mrs. +Lecks, "and that is that we be put in a different mess from the parson. +We've now eat two meals with the passengers, and me and my mates is +agreed that that's about as much as we can go." + +After this, therefore, the three men had their meals in the kitchen, +where they were generally joined by Mrs. Aleshine, who much delighted in +their company. But she made it a point sometimes to sit down with us in +the dining-room, merely to show that she had as much right there as +anybody. + +"As to the work for them sailormen," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I don't see +what they're goin' to do. Of course they don't know nothin' about +gardenin', and it seems to me that the best thing to be done is to put +'em to fishin'." + +Mrs. Lecks considered this a good suggestion, and accordingly the +coxswain and his companions were told that thereafter they would be +expected to fish for eight hours a day, Sundays excepted. This plan, +however, did not work very well. During the first two days the sailors +caught so many fish that, although the fishermen themselves had +excellent appetites for such food, it was found utterly impossible to +consume what they brought in. Consequently, it was ordered that +thereafter they should catch only as many fish as should be needed, and +then make themselves useful by assisting Mrs. Aleshine and Mrs. Lecks in +any manner they might direct. + +I found it quite easy to become acquainted with Miss Ruth Enderton, as +she was very much inclined to conversation. "It's ever so long," she +said, "since I've had anybody to talk to." + +She had left the United States when she was quite a little girl, and had +since seen nothing of her native land. She was, consequently, full of +questions about America, although quite willing to talk of her life in +China. Society, at least such kind as she had ever cared for, had been +extremely scarce in the little missionary station at which she had lived +so long, and now, coming from a wearisome sojourn on a disabled +sailing-vessel, with no company but the crew and a preoccupied father, +she naturally was delighted to get among people she could talk to. With +Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself she soon became very friendly, and +showed herself to be a most lively and interesting young person. + +I did all that I could to make Miss Ruth's time pass agreeably. I rowed +with her on the lagoon, taught her to fish, and showed her all the +pleasant points on the island which could be easily reached by walking. +Mr. Enderton gave us very little of his company, for, having discovered +that there was a library in the house, he passed most of his time in +that room. + +"You have made a very fair selection of books, sir," he remarked to me, +"but it may readily be conceived, from the character of the works, that +your tastes are neither ecclesiastic nor scientific." + +Several times I explained to him the ownership of the library and the +house, but he immediately forgot what I had said, or paid no attention +to it. When he paid his board at the end of the week, he handed the +money to Mrs. Lecks; and although before his eyes she put it into the +ginger-jar, beneath the paper of fish-hooks, I know very well that he +considered he was paying it to her for her own use and behoof. He was +comfortably lodged, he had all that he needed—and very nearly all that +he wanted—to eat, and I do not know that I ever saw a man more +contented with his lot. + +[Illustration: "I DID ALL THAT I COULD TO MAKE MISS RUTH'S TIME PASS +AGREEABLY."] + +As for the coxswain and the two sailors, they had a very pleasant time +of it, but Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine would not think of such a thing +as allowing them to eat in idleness the bread of the Dusantes. After +they had been with us a few days, Mrs. Lecks told me that she thought +she could show the coxswain and his mates how to dig and gather the +garden-stuff which was daily needed. + +"To be sure," said she, "that work goes ag'in' part of your board, but +fishin' and bringin' in fire-wood don't take up quarter of the time of +them sailors, and so that the garden work is done, I don't suppose it +matters to the Dusantes who does it. And that'll give you more time to +make things pleasant for Miss Ruth, for, as far as I can see, there +isn't a thing for her to do, even if she knows how to do it." + +The three mariners were more than willing to do anything desired by Mrs. +Lecks or Mrs. Aleshine, to whom they looked up with great admiration and +respect. The latter was their favorite, not only because she was with +them a great deal during their meals and at other times, but because of +her genial nature and easy sociability. The men were always trying to +lighten her labors, and to do something that would please her. + +One of them climbed to the top of what she called a "palm-leaf-fan +tree," and brought therefrom some broad leaves, which he cut and trimmed +and sewed, in true nautical fashion, until he made some fans which were +heavy and clumsy, but, as he said, they would stand half a gale of wind +if she chose to raise it. The coxswain caught or trapped two sea-birds, +and, having clipped their wings, he spent days in endeavoring to tame +them, hoping to induce them, as far as the power in them lay, to take +the place of the barn-yard fowls whose absence Mrs. Aleshine continually +deplored. Every evening the two black-bearded sailors would dance +hornpipes for her, much to her diversion and delight. + +"I've often heard," she remarked, "that in these hot cocoanut countries +the tricks of the monkeys was enough to keep everybody on a steady +laugh, but I'm sure sailormen is a great deal better. When you get tired +of their pranks and their tomfooleries you can tell 'em to stop, which +with monkeys you can't." + +It was about ten days after the arrival of the missionary's party that, +as I was going to get ready the boat in which Miss Ruth and myself +generally rowed in the cool of the evening, I saw Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. +Aleshine sitting on the beach in the shade of some low-growing trees. +They were evidently waiting for me, and as soon as I appeared Mrs. Lecks +beckoned to me; whereupon I joined them. + +"Sit down," said Mrs. Lecks; "there's somethin' I want to talk to you +about. Mrs. Aleshine and me have made up our minds that you ought to be +hurried up a little about poppin' the question to Miss Ruth." + +This remark astounded me. "Popping the question!" I exclaimed. + +"Yes," continued Mrs. Lecks, "and me and Mrs. Aleshine know very well +that you haven't done it yet, for both of us havin' been through that +sort of thing ourselves, we know the signs of it after it has +happened." + +"And we wouldn't say nothin' to hurry you," added Mrs. Aleshine, "if it +wasn't that the groceries, especially the flour, is a-gettin' low. We've +been talkin' to them sailormen, and they're pretty well agreed that +there's no use now in expectin' their captain to send for 'em; for if he +was a-goin' to do it at all, he'd 'a' done it before this. And perhaps +he never got nowhere himself, in which case he couldn't. And they say +the best thing we can all do when the victuals has nearly give out, +provided the Dusantes don't come back in time, is to take what's left, +and all get into their big boat, and row away to that island, which I +don't know just how far it is, that the captain of our ship was goin' +to. There we can stay pretty comfortable till a ship comes along and +takes us off." + +"But what has all that to do," I asked, "with Miss Ruth and me?" + +"Do?" cried Mrs. Lecks. "It has everythin' to do. When it's all settled +and fixed between you and Miss Ruth, there'll be nothin' to hinder us +from gettin' ready to start when we please." + +"But, my dear friends," I said with much earnestness, "I have not the +slightest idea of proposing to Miss Enderton." + +"That's just what I said to Mrs. Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "and that's +the reason we let our irons cool, and come out here to talk to you. It's +just like a young man to keep puttin' off that sort of thing, but this +can't be put off." + +"That's so!" cried Mrs. Aleshine; "and I'll just let you see how the +matter stands. There is housekeepers who allows a pint of flour a day to +each person, but this is for farm-hands and people who works hard and +eats hearty, and I've found that three quarters of a pint will do very +well, if the dough is kneaded conscientious and made up light, so that +it'll rise well when it's put into the oven. Now I've measured all the +flour that's left, and me and Mrs. Lecks we've calculated that, allowin' +three quarters of a pint of flour a day to each one of us, there's just +eight days more that we can stay here—that is, if the Dusantes don't +come back before that time, which, of course, can't be counted on. So +you can see for yourself, Mr. Craig, there's no time to be lost, even +considerin' that she hasn't to make up anything to be married in." + +[Illustration: "THEY WERE EVIDENTLY WAITING FOR ME."] + +"No," said Mrs. Lecks; "just for us and three sailors, that wouldn't be +needed." + +I looked from one to the other in dumb astonishment. Mrs. Lecks gave me +no time to say anything. + +"In common cases," said she, "this might all be put off till we got +somewhere; but it won't do now. Here you are, with everythin' in your +own hands, but just get away from here, and there's an end of that. +She's as pretty a girl as you'll see in a month of Sundays, and if she +leaves here without your gettin' her, there's no knowing who'll snap her +up. When we've got to that island, you may see her once a week, but +maybe you won't. She may go away in one ship, and you in another, and +there may be somebody right there—a missionary, for all I know—who'll +have her before you have a chance to put in a word." + +"And that's not the worst of it," said Mrs. Aleshine. "Supposin' them +Dusantes come back before we go. There's no knowin' what that Mr. +Dusante is. He may be a brother of Emily and Lucille. And what sort of a +chance would you have then, I'd like to know, with Miss Ruth right here +in his own house, and he ownin' the rowboat, and everythin'? Or it may +be he's a widower, and that'll be a mighty sight worse, I can tell you." + +"No matter whether they're widowers or never been married," said Mrs. +Lecks, "there'll be plenty that'll want her as soon as they see her; and +if it isn't for the girl's own pretty face, it'll be for her father's +money." + +"Her father's money!" I exclaimed. "What are you talking of?" + +"There's no good tellin' me anything about that," said Mrs. Lecks, very +decidedly. "There never was a man as close-fisted as Mr. Enderton who +hadn't money." + +"And you know as well as we do," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that in them +countries where he's been the heathens worship idols of silver and idols +of gold, and when them heathens is converted, don't you suppose the +missionaries get any of that? I expect that Mr. Enderton has converted +thousands of heathens." + +At this suggestion I laughed outright. But Mrs. Lecks reproved me. + +"Now, Mr. Craig," said she, "this is no laughin' matter. What me and +Mrs. Aleshine is sayin' is for your good, and for the good of Miss Ruth +along with you. I haven't much opinion of her father, but his money is +as good as anybody else's, and though they had to leave their trunks on +board their ship, what little they brought with them shows that they've +been used to havin' the best there is. Mrs. Aleshine and me has set up +till late into the night talkin' over this thing, and we are both of one +mind that you two need never expect to have the same chance again that +you've got now. The very fact that the old gentleman is a preacher, and +can marry you on the spot, ought to make you tremble when you think of +the risks you are runnin' by puttin' it off." + +"I've got to go into the house now to see about supper," said Mrs. +Aleshine, rising, "and I hope you'll remember, Mr. Craig, when your +bread is on your plate, and Miss Ruth is sittin' opposite to you, that +three quarters of a pint of flour a day is about as little as anybody +can live on, and that time is flyin'." + +Mrs. Lecks now also rose. But I detained the two for a moment. + +"I hope you have not said anything to Miss Enderton on this subject," I +said. + +"No," replied Mrs. Aleshine, "we haven't. We are both agreed that as +you're the one that's to do what's to be done, you are the one that's to +be spoke to. And havin' been through it ourselves, we understand well +enough that the more a woman don't know nothin' about it, the more +likely she is to be ketched if she wants to be." + +The two women left me in an amused but also somewhat annoyed state of +mind. I had no intention whatever of proposing to Miss Ruth Enderton. +She was a charming girl, very bright and lively, and withal, I had +reason to believe, very sensible. But it was not yet a fortnight since I +first saw her, and no thought of marrying her had entered into my head. +Had Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, or, more important than all, had Miss +Enderton, any reason to believe that I was acting the part of a lover? + +The latter portion of this question was almost immediately answered to +my satisfaction by the appearance of Miss Ruth, who came skipping down +to me and calling out to me in that free and hearty manner with which a +woman addresses a friend or near acquaintance, but never a suspected +lover. She betrayed no more notion of the Lecks and Aleshine scheme than +on the day I first met her. + +But, as I was rowing her over the lagoon, I felt a certain constraint +which I had not known before. There was no ground whatever for the wild +imaginings of the two women, but the fact that they had imagined +interfered very much with the careless freedom with which I had +previously talked to Miss Ruth. I do not think, however, that she +noticed any change in me, for she chatted and laughed, and showed, as +she had done from the first, the rare delight which she took in this +novel island life. + +When we returned to the house, we were met by Mrs. Aleshine. "I am goin' +to give you two your supper," she said, "on that table there under the +tree. We all had ours a little earlier than common, as the sailormen +seemed hungry; and I took your father's to him in the libr'ry, where I +expect he's a-sittin' yet, holdin' a book in one hand and stirrin' his +tea with the other, till he's stirred out nearly every drop on the +floor; which, however, won't matter at all, for in the mornin' I'll rub +up that floor till it's as bright as new." + +This plan delighted Miss Ruth, but I saw in it the beginning of the +workings of a deep-laid scheme. I was just about to sit down when Mrs. +Aleshine said to me in a low voice, as she left us: + +"Remember that the first three quarters of a pint apiece begins now!" + +"Don't you think that Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine are perfectly +charming?" said Miss Ruth, as she poured out the tea. "They always seem +to be trying to think of some kind thing to do for other people." + +I agreed entirely with Miss Enderton's remark, but I could not help +thinking of the surprise she would feel if she knew of the kind thing +that these two women were trying to do for her. + +"Have you taken any steps yet?" asked Mrs. Lecks of me, the next day. On +my replying that I had taken no steps of the kind to which I supposed +she alluded, she walked away with a very grave and serious face. + +A few hours later Mrs. Aleshine came to me. "There's another reason for +hurryin' up," said she. "Them sailormen seems able to do without 'most +anything in this world except tobacco, and Mrs. Lecks has been sellin' +it to 'em out of a big box she found in a closet up-stairs, at five +cents a teacupful,—which I think is awful cheap, but she says prices in +islands is always low,—and wrapping the money up in a paper, with 'Cash +paid by sailormen for tobacco' written on it, and puttin' it into the +ginger-jar with the board money. But their dollar and forty-three cents +is nearly gone, and Mrs. Lecks she says that not a whiff of Mr. +Dusante's tobacco shall they have if they can't pay for it. And when +they have nothin' to smoke they'll be wantin' to leave this island just +as quick as they can, without waitin' for the flour to give out." + +Here was another pressure brought to bear upon me. Not only the waning +flour, but the rapidly disappearing tobacco money was used as a weapon +to urge me forward to the love-making which Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine +had set their hearts upon. + +I was in no hurry to leave the island, and hoped very much that when we +did go we should depart in some craft more comfortable than a ship's +boat. In order, therefore, to prevent any undue desire to leave on the +part of the sailors, I gave them money enough to buy a good many teacups +full of tobacco. By this act I think I wounded the feelings of Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, although I had no idea that such would be the +effect of my little gift. They said nothing to me on the subject, but +their looks and manners indicated that they thought I had not been +acting honorably. For two days they had very little to say to me, and +then Mrs. Aleshine came to me to make what, I suppose, was their supreme +effort. + +"Mrs. Lecks and me is a-goin' to try," she said,—and as she spoke she +looked at me with a very sad expression and a watery appearance about +the eyes,—"to stretch out the time for you a little longer. We are +goin' to make them sailormen eat more fish; and as for me and her, we'll +go pretty much without bread, and make it up, as well as we can, on +other things. You and Miss Ruth and the parson can each have your three +quarters of a pint of flour a day, just the same as ever, and what we +save ought to give you three or four days longer." + +This speech moved me deeply. I could not allow these two kind-hearted +women to half starve themselves in order that I might have more time to +woo, and I spoke very earnestly on the subject to Mrs. Aleshine, urging +her to give up the fanciful plans which she and Mrs. Lecks had +concocted. + +"Let us drop this idea of love-making," I said, "which is the wildest +kind of vagary, and all live happily together, as we did before. If the +provisions give out before the Dusantes come back, I suppose we shall +have to leave in the boat; but, until that time comes, let us enjoy life +here as much as we can, and be the good friends that we used to be." + +I might as well have talked to one of the palm-trees which waved over +us. + +"As I said before," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "what is saved from Mrs. +Lecks's and mine and the three sailormen's three quarters of a pint +apiece ought to give you four days more." And she went into the house. + +All this time the Reverend Mr. Enderton had sat and read in the library, +or meditatively had walked the beach with a book in his hand; while the +three mariners had caught fish, performed their other work, and lain in +the shade, smoking their pipes in peace. Miss Ruth and I had taken our +daily rows and walks, and had enjoyed our usual hours of pleasant +converse, and all the members of the little colony seemed happy and +contented except Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. These two went gravely +and sadly about their work, and the latter asked no more for the +hornpipes and the sea-songs of her sailormen. + +But, for some unaccountable reason, Mr. Enderton's condition of tranquil +abstraction did not continue. He began to be fretful and discontented. +He found fault with his food and his accommodations, and instead of +spending the greater part of the day in the library, as had been his +wont, he took to wandering about the island, generally with two or three +books under his arm, sometimes sitting down in one place, and sometimes +in another, and then rising suddenly to go grumbling into the house. + +One afternoon, as Miss Ruth and I were in the skiff in the lagoon, we +saw Mr. Enderton approaching us, walking on the beach. As soon as he was +near enough for us to hear him, he shouted to his daughter: + +"Ruth, come out of that boat! If you want to take the air, I should +think you might as well walk with me as to go rowing round with—with +anybody." + +This rude and heartless speech made my blood boil, while my companion +turned pale with mortification. The man had never made the slightest +objection to our friendly intercourse, and this unexpected attack was +entirely indefensible. + +"Please put me ashore," said Miss Ruth, and without a word, for I could +not trust myself to speak, I landed her; and, petulantly complaining +that she never gave him one moment of her society, her father led her +away. + +[Illustration: "SMOKING THEIR PIPES IN PEACE."] + +An hour later, my soul still in a state of turmoil, but with the +violence of its tossings somewhat abated, I entered one of the paths +which led through the woods. After a few turns, I reached a point where +I could see for quite a long distance to the other end of the path, +which opened out upon the beach. There I perceived Mr. Enderton sitting +upon the little bench on which I had found Emily's book. His back was +toward me, and he seemed to be busily reading. About midway between him +and myself I saw Miss Ruth slowly walking toward me. Her eyes were fixed +upon the ground, and she had not seen me. + +Stepping to one side, I awaited her approach. When she came near I +accosted her. + +"Miss Ruth," said I, "has your father been talking to you of me?" + +She looked up quickly, evidently surprised at my being there. "Yes," she +said, "he has told me that it is not—suitable that I should be with you +as much as I have been since we came here." + +There was something in this remark that roused again the turmoil which +had begun to subside within me. There was so much that was unjust and +tyrannical, and—what perhaps touched me still deeper—there was such a +want of consideration and respect in this behavior of Mr. Enderton's, +that it brought to the front some very incongruous emotions. I had been +superciliously pushed aside, and I found I was angry. Something was +about to be torn from me, and I found I loved it. + +"Ruth," said I, stepping up close to her, "do you like to be with me as +you have been?" + +If Miss Ruth had not spent such a large portion of her life in the +out-of-the-world village of Nanfouchong, if she had not lived among +those simple-hearted missionaries, where it was never necessary to +conceal her emotions or her sentiments, if it had not been that she +never had had emotions or sentiments that it was necessary to conceal, I +do not believe that when she answered me she would have raised her eyes +to me with a look in them of a deep-blue sky seen through a sort of +Indian-summer mist, and that, gazing thus, she would have said: + +"Of course I like it." + +"Then let us make it suitable," I said, taking both her hands in mine. + +There was another look, in which the skies shone clear and bright, and +then, in a moment, it was all done. + +About five minutes after this I said to her, "Ruth, shall we go to your +father?" + +"Certainly," she answered. And together we walked along the thickly +shaded path. + +The missionary still sat with his back toward us, and, being so intent +upon his book, I found that by keeping my eyes upon him it was perfectly +safe to walk with my arm around Ruth until we had nearly reached him. +Then I took her hand in mine, and we stepped in front of him. + +"Father," said Ruth, "Mr. Craig and I are going to be married." + +There was something very plump about this remark, and Mr. Enderton +immediately raised his eyes from his book and fixed them first upon his +daughter and then upon me; then he let them drop, and through the narrow +space between us he gazed out over the sea. + +"Well, father," said Ruth, a little impatiently, "what do you think of +it?" + +Mr. Enderton leaned forward and picked up a leaf from the ground. This +he placed between the open pages of his book, and closed it. + +"It seems to me," he said, "that on many accounts the arrangement you +propose may be an excellent one. Yes," he added more decidedly; "I think +it will do very well indeed. I shall not be at all surprised if we are +obliged to remain on this island for a considerable time, and, for my +part, I have no desire to leave it at present. And when you shall place +yourself, Ruth, in a position in which you will direct the domestic +economies of the establishment, I hope that you will see to it that +things generally are made more compatible with comfort and gentility, +and, as regards the table, I may add with palatability." + +[Illustration: "IT WAS PERFECTLY SAFE."] + +Ruth and I looked at each other, and then together we promised that as +far as in us lay we would try to make the life of Mr. Enderton a happy +one, not only while we were on the island, but ever afterward. + +We were promising a great deal, but at that moment we felt very +grateful. + +Then he stood up, shook us both by the hands, and we left him to his +book. + +When Ruth and I came walking out of the woods and approached the house, +Mrs. Aleshine was standing outside, not far from the kitchen. When she +saw us she gazed steadily at us for a few moments, a strange expression +coming over her face. Then she threw up both her hands, and without a +word she turned and rushed indoors. + +We had not reached the house before Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine came +hurrying out together. Running up to us with a haste and an excitement I +had never seen in either of them, first one and then the other took Ruth +into her arms and kissed her with much earnestness. Then they turned +upon me and shook my hands with hearty vigor, expressing, more by their +looks and actions than their words, a triumphant approbation of what I +had done. + +"The minute I laid eyes on you," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I knowed it was +all right. There wasn't no need of askin' questions." + +I now became fearful lest, in the exuberance of their satisfaction, +these good women might reveal to Ruth the plans they had laid for our +matrimonial future, and the reluctance I had shown in entering into +them. My countenance must have expressed my apprehensions, for Mrs. +Aleshine, her ruddy face glowing with warmth, both mental and physical, +gave me a little wink, and drew me to one side. + +"You needn't suppose that we've ever said anything to Miss Ruth, or that +we're goin' to. It's a great deal better to let her think you did it all +yourself." + +I felt like resenting this imputation upon the independence of my +love-making, but at this happy moment I did not want to enter into a +discussion, and therefore merely smiled. + +"I'm so glad, I don't know how to tell it," continued Mrs. Aleshine, as +Mrs. Lecks and Ruth walked toward the house. + +I was about to follow, but my companion detained me. + +"Have you spoke to the parson?" she asked. + +"Oh, yes," said I, "and he seems perfectly satisfied. I am rather +surprised at this, because of late he has been in such a remarkably bad +humor." + +"That's so," said Mrs. Aleshine; "there's no gettin' round the fact that +he's been a good deal crosser than two sticks. You see, Mr. Craig, that +Mrs. Lecks and me we made up our minds that it wasn't fair to the +Dusantes to let that rich missionary go on payin' nothin' but four +dollars a week apiece for him and his daughter, and if we couldn't get +no more out of him one way, we'd do it another. It was fair enough that +if he didn't pay more he ought to get less; and so we gave him more fish +and not so much bread, the same as we did the sailormen; and we weakened +his tea, and sent him just so much sugar, and no more; and as for +openin' boxes of sardines for him, which there was no reason why they +shouldn't be left here for the Dusantes, I just wouldn't do it, though +he said he'd got all the fresh fish he wanted when he was in China. And +then we agreed that it was high time that that libr'ry should be cleaned +up, and we went to work at it, not mindin' what he said; for it's no use +tellin' me that four dollars a week will pay for a front room and good +board, and the use of a libr'ry all day. And as there wasn't no need of +both of us cleanin' one room, Mrs. Lecks she went into the parlor, +where he'd took his books, and begun there. And then, again, we shut +down on Mr. Dusante's dressing-gown. There was no sense includin' the +use of that in his four dollars a week, so we brushed it up, and +camphored it, and put it away. We just wanted to let him know that if he +undertook to be skinflinty, he'd better try it on somebody else besides +us. We could see that he was a good deal upset, for if ever a man liked +to have things quiet and comfortable around him, and everything his own +way, that man is that missionary. But we didn't care if we did prod him +up a little. Mrs. Lecks and me we both agreed that it would do him good. +Why, he'd got into such a way of shettin' himself up in himself that he +didn't even see that his daughter was goin' about with a young man, and +fixin' her affections on him more and more every day, when he never had +no idea, as could be proved by witnesses, of marryin' her." + +[Illustration: "'I KNOWED IT WAS ALL RIGHT.'"] + +"Mrs. Aleshine," said I, looking at her very steadfastly, "I believe, +after all, that you and Mrs. Lecks had your own way in regard to +hurrying up this matter." + +"Yes," said she, with happy complacency; "I shouldn't wonder if we had. +Stirrin' up the parson was our last chance, and it wasn't much trouble +to do it." + +Mrs. Lecks, whose manner toward me for the last few days had been +characterized by cold severity, now resumed her former friendly +demeanor, although she was not willing to let the affair pass over +without some words of reproach. + +"I must say, Mr. Craig," she remarked the next morning, "that I was +gettin' pretty well outdone with you. I was beginnin' to think that a +young man that couldn't see and wouldn't see what was good for him +didn't deserve to have it; and if Miss Ruth's father had just come down +with a heavy foot and put an end to the whole business, I'm not sure I'd +been sorry for you. But it's all right at last, and bygones is bygones. +And now, what we've got to do is to get ready for the weddin'." + +"The wedding!" I exclaimed. + +Mrs. Lecks regarded me with an expression in which there was something +of virtuous indignation and something of pity. "Mr. Craig," said she, +"if there ever was anybody that wanted a guardeen, it's you. Now, just +let me tell you this. That Mr. Enderton ain't to be trusted no further +than you can see him, and not so fur, neither, if it can be helped. He's +willin' for you to have Miss Ruth now, because he's pretty much made up +his mind that we're goin' to stay here, and as he considers you the +master of this island, of course he thinks it'll be for his good for his +daughter to be mistress of it. For one thing, he wouldn't expect to pay +no board then. But just let him get away from this island, and just let +him set his eyes on some smooth-faced young fellow that'll agree to take +him into the concern and keep him for nothin' on books and tea, he'll +just throw you over without winkin'. And Miss Ruth is not the girl to +marry you against his will, if he opens the Bible and piles texts on +her, which he is capable of doin'. If in any way you two should get +separated when you leave here, there's no knowin' when you'd ever see +each other again, for where he'll take her nobody can tell. He's more +willin' to set down and stay where he finds himself comfortable than +anybody I've met yet." + +"Of course," I said, "I'm ready to be married at any moment; but I don't +believe Miss Ruth and her father would consent to anything so speedy." + +"Don't you get into the way," said Mrs. Lecks, "of beforehand believin' +this or that. It don't pay. Just you go to her father and talk to him +about it, and if you and him agree, it'll be easy enough to make her +see the sense of it. You attend to them, and I'll see that everythin' is +got ready. And you'd better fix the day for to-morrow, for we can't stay +here much longer, and there's a lot of house-cleanin' and bakin' and +cookin' to be done before we go." + +I took this advice, and broached the subject to Mr. Enderton. + +"Well, sir," said he, laying down his book, "your proposition is +decidedly odd; I may say, very odd, indeed. But it is, perhaps, after +all, no odder than many things I have seen. Among the various +denominational sects I have noticed occurrences quite as odd; quite as +odd, sir. For my part, I have no desire to object to an early +celebration of the matrimonial rites. I may say, indeed, that I am of +the opinion that a certain amount of celerity in this matter will +conduce to the comfort of all concerned. It has been a very +unsatisfactory thing to me to see my daughter occupying a subordinate +position in our little family, where she has not even the power to turn +household affairs into the channels of my comfort. To-morrow, I think, +will do very well indeed. Even if it should rain, I see no reason why +the ceremony should be postponed." + +The proposition of a wedding on the morrow was not received by Ruth with +favor. She was unprepared for such precipitancy. But she finally yielded +to arguments; not so much to mine, I fear, as to those offered by Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. + +For the rest of that day the three mariners were kept very busy, +bringing in green things to deck the parlor, and doing every imaginable +kind of work necessary to a wedding which Mrs. Aleshine was willing to +give into their hands. As for herself and her good friend, they put +themselves upon their mettle as providers of festivals. They made cakes, +pies, and I never knew half so well as the three sailors how many other +kinds of good things. Besides all this, they assisted Ruth to array +herself in some degree in a manner becoming a bride. Some light and +pretty adornments of dress were borrowed from Emily or Lucille, they +knew not which, and, after having been "done up" and fluted and crimped +by Mrs. Lecks, were incorporated by Ruth into her costume with so much +taste that on the wedding morning she appeared to me to be dressed more +charmingly than any bride I had ever seen. + +The three sailors had done their own washing and ironing, and appeared +in cleanly garb, and with hair and beards well wet and brushed. Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine put on their best bibs and tuckers, and Mr. +Enderton assumed his most clerical air as he stood behind a table in the +parlor and married Ruth and me. + +"This," said Mr. Enderton, as we were seated at the wedding-feast, "is a +most creditable display of attractive viands, but I may say, my dear +Ruth, that I think I perceived the influence of the happy event of +to-day even before it took place. I have lately had a better appetite +for my food, and have experienced a greater enjoyment of my +surroundings." + +"I should think so," murmured Mrs. Aleshine in my ear, "for we'd no +sooner knowed that you two were to make a match of it than we put an +extry spoonful of tea into his pot, and stopped scrubbin' the libr'ry." + +For the next two days all was bustle and work on the island. Mrs. Lecks +and Mrs. Aleshine would not consent to depart without leaving everything +in the best possible order, so that the Dusantes might not be +dissatisfied with the condition of their house when they returned. It +was, in fact, the evident desire of the two women to gratify their pride +in their house-wifely abilities by leaving everything better than they +found it. + +Mr. Enderton was much surprised at these preparations for immediate +departure. He was very well satisfied with his life on the island, and +had prepared his mind for an indefinite continuance of it, with the +position of that annoying and obdurate Mrs. Lecks filled by a compliant +and affectionate daughter. He had no reasonable cause for complaint, for +the whole subject of the exhaustion of our supply of provisions, and the +necessity of an open-boat trip to an inhabited island, had been fully +discussed before him; but he was so entirely engrossed in the +consideration of his own well-being that this discussion of our plans +had made no impression upon him. He now became convinced that a +conspiracy had been entered into against him, and fell into an +unpleasant humor. This, however, produced very little effect upon any of +us, for we were all too busy to notice his whims. But his sudden change +of disposition made me understand how correct were the opinions of Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine concerning him. If I had left that island +with my marriage with Ruth depending upon Mr. Enderton's coöperation, my +prospects of future happiness would have been at the mercy of his +caprices. + +[Illustration: "THEY ASSISTED RUTH TO ARRAY HERSELF."] + +Very early on a beautiful morning Ruth and I started out on our wedding +journey in the long-boat. Mr. Enderton was made as comfortable as +possible in the stern, with Ruth near him. Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine +sat facing each other, each with a brown-paper package by her side, +containing the life-preserver on which she had arrived. These were to be +ever cherished as memorials of a wonderful experience. The three sailors +and I took turns at the oars. The sea was smooth, and there was every +reason to believe that we should arrive at our destination before the +end of the day. Mrs. Aleshine had supplied us with an abundance of +provisions, and, with the exception of Mr. Enderton, who had not been +permitted to take away any of the Dusante books, we were a contented +party. + +"As long as the flour held out," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "I'd never been +willin' to leave that island till the Dusantes came back, and we could +have took Emily or Lucille, whichever it was that kept house, and showed +her everythin', and told her just what we had done. But when they do +come back," she added, "and read that letter which Mr. Craig wrote and +left for them, and find out all that happened in their country-place +while they was away; and how two of us was made happy for life; and how +two more of us, meanin' Mrs. Lecks and me, have give up goin' to Japan, +intendin', instid of that, writin' to my son to come home to America and +settle down in the country he ought to live in,—why, then, if them +Dusantes ain't satisfied, it's no use for anybody to ever try to satisfy +'em." + +"I should think not," said Mrs. Lecks, "with the weddin'-cards on the +parlor table, not a speck of dust in any corner, and the board money in +the ginger-jar." + +[Illustration] + + + + +PART IV + +[Illustration] + + +When the little party, consisting of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, Mr. +Enderton, my newly made wife, and myself, with the red-bearded coxswain +and the two sailormen, bade farewell to that island in the Pacific where +so many happy hours had been passed, where such pleasant friendships had +been formed, and where I had met my Ruth and made her my wife, we rowed +away with a bright sky over our heads, a pleasant wind behind us, and a +smooth sea beneath us. The long-boat was comfortable and well appointed, +and there was even room enough in it for Mr. Enderton to stretch himself +out and take a noonday nap. We gave him every advantage of this kind, +for we had found by experience that our party was happiest when my +father-in-law was best contented. + +Early in the forenoon the coxswain rigged a small sail in the bow of the +boat, and with this aid to our steady and systematic work at the oars +we reached, just before nightfall, the large island whither we were +bound, and to which, by means of the coxswain's pocket-compass, we had +steered a direct course. Our arrival on this island, which was inhabited +by some white traders and a moderate population of natives, occasioned +great surprise; for when the boats containing the crew and passengers of +our unfortunate steamer had reached the island, it was found that Mrs. +Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself were missing. There were many +suppositions as to our fate. Some persons thought we had been afraid to +leave the steamer, and, having secreted ourselves on board, had gone +down with her. Others conjectured that in the darkness we had fallen +overboard, either from the steamer or from one of the boats; and there +was even a surmise that we might have embarked in the leaky small +boat—in which we really did leave the steamer—and so had been lost. At +any rate, we had disappeared, and our loss was a good deal talked about +and, in a manner, mourned. In less than a week after their arrival the +people from the steamer had been taken on board a sailing-vessel and +carried westward to their destination. + +We, however, were not so fortunate, for we remained on this island for +more than a month. During this time but one ship touched there, and she +was western bound and of no use to us, for we had determined to return +to America. Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had given up their journey to +Japan, and were anxious to reach once more their country homes, while my +dear Ruth and I were filled with a desire to found a home on some +pleasant portion of the Atlantic seaboard. What Mr. Enderton intended to +do we did not know. He was on his way to the United States when he left +the leaking ship on which he and his daughter were passengers, and his +intentions regarding his journey did not appear to have been altered by +his mishaps. + +By the western-bound vessel, however, Mrs. Aleshine sent a letter to her +son. + +Our life on this island was monotonous and to the majority of the party +uninteresting; but as it was the scene of our honeymoon, Mrs. Craig and +I will always look back to it with the most pleasurable recollections. +We were comfortably lodged in a house belonging to one of the traders, +and although Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine had no household duties to +occupy their time, they managed to supply themselves with +knitting-materials from the stores on the island, and filled up their +hours of waiting with chatty industry. The pipes of our sailor friends +were always well filled, while the sands of the island were warm and +pleasant for their backs, and it was only Mr. Enderton who showed any +signs of impatient repining at our enforced stay. He growled, he +grumbled, and he inveighed against the criminal neglect of steamship +companies and the owners of sailing-craft in not making it compulsory in +every one of their vessels to stop on every voyage at this island, +where, at any time, intelligent and important personages might be +stranded. + +At last, however, we were taken off by a three-masted schooner bound for +San Francisco, at which city we arrived in due time and in good health +and condition. + +We did not remain long in this city, but soon started on our way across +the continent, leaving behind us our three sailor companions, who +intended to ship from this port as soon as an advantageous opportunity +offered itself. These men heard no news of their vessel, although they +felt quite sure that she had reached Honolulu, where she had probably +been condemned and the crew scattered. As some baggage belonging to my +wife and my father-in-law had been left on board this vessel, I had +hopes that Mr. Enderton would remain in San Francisco and order it +forwarded to him there; or that he would even take a trip to Honolulu to +attend to the matter personally. But in this I was disappointed. He +seemed to take very little interest in his missing trunks, and wished +only to press on to the East. I wrote to Honolulu, desiring the +necessary steps to be taken to forward the baggage in case it had +arrived there; and soon afterward our party of five started eastward. + +It was now autumn, but, although we desired to reach the end of our +journey before winter set in, we felt that we had time enough to visit +some of the natural wonders of the California country before taking up +our direct course to the East. Therefore, in spite of some petulant +remonstrances on the part of Mr. Enderton, we made several trips to +points of interest. + +From the last of these excursions we set out in a stage-coach, of which +we were the only occupants, toward a point on the railroad where we +expected to take a train. On the way we stopped to change horses at a +small stage-station at the foot of a range of mountains; and when I +descended from the coach I found the driver and some of the men at the +station discussing the subject of our route. It appeared that there were +two roads, one of which gradually ascended the mountain for several +miles, and then descended to the level of the railroad, by the side of +which it ran until it reached the station where we wished to take the +train. The other road pursued its way along a valley or notch in the +mountain for a considerable distance, and then, by a short but somewhat +steep ascending grade, joined the upper road. + +It was growing quite cold, and the sky and the wind indicated that bad +weather might be expected; and as the upper road was considered the +better one at such a time, our driver concluded to take it. Six horses, +instead of four, were now attached to our stage; and as two of these +animals were young and unruly, and promised to be unusually difficult to +drive in the ordinary way, our driver concluded to ride one of the +wheel-horses, postilion fashion, and to put a boy on one of the leaders. +Mr. Enderton was very much afraid of horses, and objected strongly to +the young animals in our new team. But there were no others to take +their places, and his protests were disregarded. + +My wife and I occupied a back seat, having been ordered to take this +comfortable position by Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, who had +constituted themselves a board of instruction and admonition to Mrs. +Craig, and incidentally to myself. They fancied that my wife's health +was not vigorous, and that she needed coddling, and if she had had two +mothers she could not have been more tenderly cared for than by these +good women. They sat upon the middle seat with their faces toward the +horses, while Mr. Enderton had the front seat all to himself. He was, +however, so nervous and fidgety, continually twisting himself about +endeavoring to get a view of the horses or of the bad places on the +road, that Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine found that a position facing him +and in close juxtaposition was entirely too uncomfortable; and +consequently, the back of their seat being adjustable, they turned +themselves about and faced us. + +The ascent of the mountain was slow and tedious, and it was late in the +afternoon when we reached the highest point in our route, from which the +road descended for some eight miles to the level of the railroad. Now +our pace became rapid, and Mr. Enderton grew wildly excited. He threw +open the window, and shouted to the driver to go more slowly; but Mrs. +Lecks seized him by the coat and jerked him back on his seat before he +could get any answer to his appeals. + +"If you want your daughter to ketch her death o' cold you'll keep that +window open!" As she said this, she leaned back and pulled the window +down with her own strong right arm. "I guess the driver knows what he is +about," she continued, "this not bein' the first time he's gone over the +road." + +"Am I to understand, madam," said Mr. Enderton, "that I am not to speak +to my driver when I wish him to know my will?" + +To this question Mrs. Lecks made no answer, but sat up very straight and +stiff, with her back square upon the speaker. For some time she and Mr. +Enderton had been "out," and she made no effort to conceal the fact. + +Mr. Enderton's condition now became pitiable, for our rapid speed and +the bumping over rough places in the road seemed almost to deprive him +of his wits, notwithstanding my assurance that stage-coaches were +generally driven at a rapid rate down long inclines. In a short time, +however, we reached a level spot in the road, and the team was drawn up +and stopped. Mr. Enderton popped out in a moment, and I also got down to +have a talk with the driver. + +[Illustration: "THE ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAIN WAS SLOW AND TEDIOUS."] + +"These hosses won't do much at holdin' back," he said, "and it worries +'em less to let 'em go ahead with the wheels locked. You needn't be +afraid. If nothin' breaks, we're all right." + +Mr. Enderton seemed endeavoring to satisfy himself that everything about +the running-gear of the coach was in a safe condition. He examined the +wheels, the axles, and the whiffletrees, much to the amusement of the +driver, who remarked to me that the old chap probably knew as much now +as he did before. I was rather surprised that my father-in-law subjected +the driver to no further condemnation. On the contrary, he said nothing +except that for the rest of this downhill drive he should take his place +on the driver's unoccupied seat. Nobody offered any objection to this, +and up he climbed. + +When we started again, Ruth seemed disturbed that her father should be +in such an exposed position, but I assured her that he would be +perfectly safe, and would be much better satisfied at being able to see +for himself what was going on. + +We now began to go downhill again at a rate as rapid as before. Our +speed, however, was not equal. Sometimes it would slacken a little where +the road was heavy or more upon a level, and then we would go jolting +and rattling over some long downward stretch. After a particularly +unpleasant descent of this kind the coach seemed suddenly to change its +direction, and with a twist and an uplifting of one side it bumped +heavily against something, and stopped. I heard a great shout outside, +and from a window which now commanded a view of the road I saw our team +of six horses, with the drivers pulling and tugging at the two they +rode, madly running away at the top of their speed. + +Ruth, who had been thrown by the shock into the arms of Mrs. Aleshine, +was dreadfully frightened, and screamed for her father. I had been +pitched forward upon Mrs. Lecks, but I quickly recovered myself, and as +soon as I found that none of the occupants of the coach had been hurt, I +opened the door and sprang out. + +In the middle of the road stood Mr. Enderton, entirely uninjured, with a +jubilant expression on his face, and in one hand a large closed +umbrella. + +"What has happened?" I exclaimed, hurrying around to the front of the +coach, where I saw that the pole had been broken off about the middle of +its length. + +"Nothing has happened, sir," replied Mr. Enderton. "You cannot speak of +a wise and discreet act, determinately performed, as a thing which has +happened. We have been saved, sir, from being dashed to pieces behind +that wild and unmanageable team of horses; and I will add that we have +been saved by my forethought and prompt action." + +[Illustration: "'WHAT HAS HAPPENED?' I EXCLAIMED."] + +I turned and looked at him in astonishment. "What do you mean?" I said. +"What could you have had to do with this accident?" + +"Allow me to repeat," said Mr. Enderton, "that it was not an accident. +The moment that we began to go downhill I perceived that we were in a +position of the greatest danger. The driver was reckless, the boy +incompetent, and the horses unmanageable. As my remonstrances and +counsels had no effect upon the man, and as you seemed to have no desire +to join me in efforts to restrain him to a more prudent rate of speed, I +determined to take the affair into my own hands. I knew that the first +thing to be done was to rid ourselves of those horses. So long as we +were connected with them disaster was imminent. I knew exactly what +ought to be done. The horses must be detached from the coach. I had +read, sir, of inventions especially intended to detach runaway horses +from a vehicle. To all intents and purposes our horses were runaways, or +would have become so in a very short time. I now made it my object to +free ourselves from those horses." + +"What!" I exclaimed. "You freed us?" + +"Yes, sir," he answered; "I did. I got out at our first stop, and +thoroughly examined the carriage attachments. I found that the movable +bar to which the whiffletrees were attached was connected to the vehicle +by two straps and a bolt, the latter having a ring at the top and an +iron nut at the bottom. While you and that reckless driver were talking +together, and paying no attention to me, the only person in the party +who thoroughly comprehended our danger, I unbuckled those straps, and +with my strong, nervous fingers, without the aid of implements, I +unscrewed the nut from the bolt. Then, sir, I took my seat on the +outside of the coach, and felt that I held our safety in my own hands. +For a time I allowed our vehicle to proceed; but when we approached +this long slope which stretches before us, and our horses showed signs +of increasing impetuosity, I leaned forward, hooked the handle of my +umbrella in the ring of the bolt, and with a mighty effort jerked it +out. I admit to you, sir, that I had overlooked the fact that the horses +were also attached to the end of the pole, but I have often noticed that +when we are discreet in judgment and prompt in action we are also +fortunate. Thus was I fortunate. The hindermost horses, suddenly +released, rushed upon those in front of them, and, in a manner, jumbled +up the whole team, which seemed to throw the animals into such terror +that they dashed to one side and snapped off the pole, after which they +went madly tearing down the road, entirely beyond the control of the two +riders. Our coach turned and ran into the side of the road with but a +moderate concussion, and as I looked at those flying steeds, with their +riders vainly endeavoring to restrain them, I could not, sir, keep down +an emotion of pride that I had been instrumental in freeing myself, my +daughter, and my traveling companions from their dangerous proximity." + +The speaker ceased, a smile of conscious merit upon his face. For the +moment I could not say a word to him, I was so angry. But had I been +able to say or do anything to indicate the wild indignation that filled +my brain, I should have had no opportunity, for Mrs. Lecks stepped up to +me and took me by the arm. Her face was very stern, and her expression +gave one the idea of the rigidity of Bessemer steel. + +"I've heard what has been said," she remarked, "and I wish to talk to +this man. Your wife is over there with Mrs. Aleshine. Will you please +take a walk with her along the road? You may stay away for a quarter of +an hour." + +"Madam," said Mr. Enderton, "I do not wish to talk to you." + +"I didn't ask you whether you did or not," said Mrs. Lecks. "Mr. Craig, +will you please get your wife away as quick and as far as you can?" + +I took the hint, and, with Ruth on my arm, walked rapidly down the road. +She was very glad to go, for she had been much frightened, and wanted to +be alone with me to have me explain to her what had occurred. Mrs. +Lecks, imagining from the expression of his countenance that Mr. +Enderton had, in some way, been at the bottom of the trouble, and +fearing that she should not be able to restrain her indignation when she +found how he had done it, had ordered Mrs. Aleshine to keep Ruth away +from her father. This action had increased the poor girl's anxiety, and +she was glad enough to have me take her away and tell her all about our +accident. + +I did tell her all that had happened, speaking as mildly as I could of +Mr. Enderton's conduct. Poor Ruth burst into tears. + +"I do wish," she exclaimed, "that father would travel by himself! He is +so nervous, and so easily frightened, that I am sure he would be happier +when he could attend to his safety in his own way; and I know, too, that +we should be happier without him." + +I agreed most heartily with these sentiments, although I did not deem it +necessary to say so, and Ruth now asked me what I supposed would become +of us. + +"If nothing happens to the driver and the boy," I replied, "I suppose +they will go on until they get to the station to which we were bound, +and there they will procure a pole, if such a thing can be found, or, +perhaps, get another coach, and come back for us. It would be useless +for them to return to our coach in its present condition." + +"And how soon do you think they will come back?" she said. + +"Not for some hours," I replied. "The driver told me there were no +houses between the place where we last stopped and the railroad-station, +and I am sure he will not turn back until he reaches a place where he +can get either a new pole or another vehicle." + +Ruth and I walked to a turn at the bottom of the long hill down which +our runaway steeds had sped. At this point we had an extended view of +the road as it wound along the mountain-side, but we could see no signs +of our horses, nor of any living thing. I did not, in fact, expect to +see our team, for it would be foolish in the driver to come back until +he was prepared to do something for us, and even if he had succeeded in +controlling the runaway beasts, the quicker he got down the mountain the +better. + +By the time we had returned we had taken quite a long walk, but we were +glad of it, for the exercise tranquilized us both. On our way back we +noticed that a road which seemed to come up from below us joined the one +we were on a short distance from the place where our accident occurred. +This, probably, was the lower road which had been spoken of when we +changed horses. + +We found Mr. Enderton standing by himself. His face was of the hue of +wood-ashes, his expression haggard. He reminded me of a man who had +fallen from a considerable height, and who had been frightened and +stupefied by the shock. I comprehended the situation without difficulty, +and felt quite sure that had he had the choice he would have much +preferred a thrashing to the plain talk he had heard from Mrs. Lecks. + +"What is the matter, father?" exclaimed Ruth. "Were you hurt?" + +Mr. Enderton looked in a dazed way at his daughter, and it was some +moments before he appeared to have heard what she said. Then he answered +abruptly: "Hurt? Oh, no! I am not hurt in the least. I was just thinking +of something. I shall walk on to the village or town, whichever it is, +to which that man was taking us. It cannot be more than seven or eight +miles away, if that. The road is downhill, and I can easily reach the +place before nightfall. I will then personally attend to your rescue, +and will see that a vehicle is immediately sent to you. There is no +trusting these ignorant drivers. No," he continued, deprecatingly +raising his hand; "do not attempt to dissuade me. Your safety and that +of others is always my first care. Exertion is nothing." + +Without further words, and paying no attention to the remonstrances of +his daughter, he strode off down the road. + +I was very glad to see him go. At any time his presence was undesirable +to me, and under the present circumstances it would be more +objectionable than ever. He was a good walker, and there was no doubt he +would easily reach the station, where he might possibly be of some use +to us. + +Mrs. Lecks was sitting on a stone by the roadside. Her face was still +stern and rigid, but there was an expression of satisfaction upon it +which had not been there when I left her. Ruth went to the coach to get +a shawl, and I said to Mrs. Lecks: + +"I suppose you had your talk with Mr. Enderton?" + +[Illustration: "MRS. LECKS WAS SITTING ON A STONE."] + +"Talk!" she replied. "I should say so! If ever a man understands what +people think of him, and knows what he is, from his crown to his feet, +inside and outside, soul, body, bones, and skin, and what he may expect +in this world and the next, he knows it. I didn't keep to what he has +done for us this day. I went back to the first moment when he began to +growl at payin' his honest board on the island, and I didn't let him +off for a single sin that he has committed since. And now I feel that +I've done my duty as far as he is concerned; and havin' got through with +that, it's time we were lookin' about to see what we can do for +ourselves." + +It was indeed time, for the day was drawing toward its close. For a +moment I had thought we would give Mr. Enderton a good start, and then +follow him down the mountain to the station. But a little reflection +showed me that this plan would not answer. Ruth was not strong enough to +walk so far, and although Mrs. Aleshine had plenty of vigor, she was too +plump to attempt such a tramp. Besides, the sky was so heavily overcast +that it was not safe to leave the shelter of the coach. + +As might have been expected, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine took immediate +charge of the personal comfort of the party, and the first thing they +did was to make preparations for a meal. Fortunately, we had plenty of +provisions. Mrs. Aleshine had had charge of what she called our +lunch-baskets,—which were, indeed, much more like market-baskets than +anything else,—and having small faith in the resources of roadside +taverns, and great faith in the unlimited capabilities of Mr. Enderton +in the matter of consuming food on a journey, she had provided +bounteously and even extravagantly. + +One side of the road was bordered by a forest, and on the ground was an +abundance of dead wood. I gathered a quantity of this, and made a fire, +which was very grateful to us, for the air was growing colder and +colder. When we had eaten a substantial supper and had thoroughly +warmed ourselves at the fire, we got into the coach to sit there and +wait until relief should come. We sat for a long time—all night, in +fact. We were not uncomfortable, for we each had a corner of the coach, +and we were plentifully provided with wraps and rugs. + +Contrary to their usual habit, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine did not talk +much. When subjected to the annoyances of an ordinary accident, even if +it should have been the result of carelessness, their disposition would +have prompted them to take events as they came, and to make the best of +whatever might happen to them. But this case was entirely different. We +were stranded and abandoned on the road, on the side of a lonely, +desolate mountain, on a cold, bleak night; and all this was the result +of what they considered the deliberate and fiendish act of a man who was +afraid of horses, and who cared for no one in the world but himself. +Their minds were in such a condition that if they said anything they +must vituperate, and they were so kindly disposed toward my wife, and +had such a tender regard for her feelings, that they would not, in her +presence, vituperate her father. So they said very little, and, nestling +into their corners, were soon asleep. + +After a time Ruth followed their example, and, though I was very +anxiously watching out of the window for an approaching light, and +listening for the sound of wheels, I, too, fell into a doze. It must +have been ten or eleven o'clock when I was awakened by some delicate but +cold touches on my face, the nature of which, when I first opened my +eyes, I could not comprehend. But I soon understood what these cold +touches meant. The window in the door of the coach on my side had been +slightly lowered from the top to give us air, and through the narrow +aperture the cold particles had come floating in. I looked through the +window. The night was not very dark, for, although the sky was overcast, +the moon was in its second quarter, and I could plainly see that it was +snowing, and that the ground was already white. + +This discovery sent a chill into my soul, for I was not unfamiliar with +snows in mountain regions, and knew well what this might mean to us. But +there was nothing that we could now do, and it would be useless and +foolish to awaken my companions and distress them with this new +disaster. Besides, I thought our situation might not be so very bad, +after all. It was not yet winter, and the snowfall might prove to be but +a light one. I gently closed the window, and made my body comfortable in +its corner; but my mind continued very uncomfortable for I do not know +how long. + +When I awoke I found that there had been a heavy fall of snow in the +night, and that the flakes were still coming down thick and fast. When +Ruth first looked out upon the scene she was startled and dismayed. She +was not accustomed to storms of this kind, and the snow frightened her. +Upon Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine the sight of the storm produced an +entirely different effect. Here was a difficulty, a discomfort, a +hardship; but it came in a natural way, and not by the hand of a +dastardly coward of a man. With natural-happening difficulties they were +accustomed to combat without fear or repining. They knew all about +snow, and were not frightened by this storm. The difficulties which it +presented to their minds actually raised their spirits, and from the +grim and quiet beings of the last evening they became the same cheerful, +dauntless, ready women that I had known before. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, as she clapped her face to a +window of the coach, "if this isn't a reg'lar old-fashioned snow-storm! +I've shoveled my own way through many a one like it to git to the barn +to do my milkin' afore the men-folks had begun makin' paths, and I feel +jus' like as though I could do it ag'in." + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "if you're thinkin' of +shovelin' your way from this place to where your cows is, you'd better +step right out and get at it, and I really do think that if you felt +they were sufferin' for want of milkin' you'd make a start." + +"I don't say," answered Mrs. Aleshine, with an illuminating grin, "that +if the case was that way I mightn't have the hankerin', though not the +capableness; but I don't know that there's any place to shovel our way +to, jus' now." + +Mrs. Lecks and I thought differently. Across the road, under the great +trees, the ground was comparatively free from snow, and in some places, +owing to the heavy evergreen foliage, it was entirely bare. It was very +desirable that we should get to one of these spots and build a fire, +for, though we had been well wrapped up, we all felt numbed and cold. In +the boot at the back of the coach I knew that there was an ax, and I +thought I might possibly find there a shovel. I opened the coach door, +and saw that the snow was already above the lower step. By standing on +the spokes of the back wheel I could easily get at the boot, and I soon +pulled out the ax, but found no shovel. But this did not deter me. I +made my way to the front wheel, and climbed up to the driver's box, +where I knocked off one of the thin planks of the foot-board, and this, +with the ax, I shaped into a rude shovel, with a handle rather too wide, +but serviceable. With this I went vigorously to work, and soon had made +a pathway across the road. Here I chopped off some low dead branches, +picked up others, and soon had a crackling fire, around which my three +companions gathered with delight. + +A strong wind was now blowing, and the snow began to form into heavy +drifts. The fire was very cheery and pleasant, but the wind was cutting, +and we soon returned to the shelter of the coach, where we had our +breakfast. This was not altogether a cold meal, for Mrs. Aleshine had +provided a little tea-kettle, and, with some snow-water which I brought +in boiling from the fire in the woods, we had all the hot and comforting +tea we wanted. + +We passed the morning waiting and looking out, and wondering what sort +of conveyance would be sent for us. It was generally agreed that nothing +on wheels could now be got over the road, and that we must be taken away +in a sleigh. + +"I like sleigh-ridin'," said Mrs. Aleshine, "if you're well wrapped up, +with good hosses, and a hot brick for your feet; but I must say I don't +know but what I'm goin' to be a little skeery goin' down these long +hills. If we git fairly slidin', hosses, sleigh, and all together, +there's no knowin' where we'll fetch up." + +[Illustration: "I SOON HAD A CRACKLING FIRE."] + +"There's one comfort, Barb'ry," remarked Mrs. Lecks, "and that is that +when we do fetch up it'll be at the bottom of the hills, and not at the +top; and as the bottom is what we want to get to, we oughtn't to +complain." + +"That depends a good deal whether we come down hind part foremost, or +fore part front. But nobody's complainin' so fur, 'specially as the +sleigh isn't here." + +I joined in the outlooking and the conjectures, but I could not keep up +the cheerful courage which animated my companions; for not only were the +two elder women bright and cheery, but Ruth seemed to be animated and +encouraged by their example, and showed herself as brave and contented +as either of them. She was convinced that her father must have reached +the railroad-station before it began to snow, and therefore she was +troubled by no fears for his safety. But my mind was filled with many +fears. + +The snow was still coming down thick and fast, and the wind was piling +it into great drifts, one of which was forming between the coach and a +low embankment on that side of the road near which it stood. + +About every half-hour I took my shovel and cleared out the path across +the road from the other side of the coach to the woods. Several times +after doing this I made my way among the trees, where the snow did not +impede my progress, to points from which I had a view some distance down +the mountain; and I could plainly see that there were several places +where the road was blocked up by huge snow-drifts. It would be a slow, +laborious, and difficult undertaking for any relief-party to come to us +from the station; and who was there at that place to come? This was the +question which most troubled me. The settlement at the station was +probably a very small one, and that there should be found at that place +a sleigh or a sled with enough men to form a party sufficiently strong +to open a road up the mountain-side was scarcely to be expected. Men and +vehicles might be obtained at some point farther along the railroad, but +action of this kind would require time, and it was not unlikely that the +railroad itself was blocked up with snow. I could form no idea +satisfactory to myself of any plan by which relief could come to us that +day. Even the advent of a messenger on horseback was not to be expected. +Such an adventurer would be lost in the storm and among the drifts. On +the morrow relief might come, but I did not like to think too much about +the morrow; and of any of my thoughts and fears I said nothing to my +companions. + +At intervals, after I had freshly cleared out the pathway, the three +women, well bundled up, ran across the road to the fire under the trees. +This was the only way in which they could keep themselves warm, for the +coach, although it protected us from the storm, was a very cold place to +sit in. But the wind and the snow which frequently drove in under the +trees made it impossible to stay very long by the fire, and the frequent +passages to and from the coach were attended with much exposure and +wetting of feet. I therefore determined that some better way must be +devised for keeping ourselves warm; and, shortly after our noonday meal, +I thought of a plan, and immediately set to work to carry it out. + +The drift between the coach and the embankment had now risen higher than +the top of the vehicle, against one side of which it was tightly packed. +I dug a path around the back of the coach, and then began to tunnel into +the huge bank of snow. In about an hour I had made an excavation nearly +high enough for me to stand in, and close to the stage door on that +side; and I cleared away the snow so that this door could open into the +cavern I had formed. At the end opposite the entrance of my cave, I +worked a hole upward until I reached the outer air. This hole was, about +a foot in diameter, and for some time the light, unpacked snow from +above kept falling and filling it up; but I managed, by packing and +beating the sides with my shovel, to get the whole into a condition in +which it would retain the form of a rude chimney. + +Now I hurried to bring wood and twigs, and having made a hearth of green +sticks, which I cut with my ax, I built a fire in this snowy fireplace. +Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and Ruth had been watching my proceedings +with great interest; and when the fire began to burn, and the smoke to +go out of my chimney, the coach door was opened, and the genial heat +gradually pervaded the vehicle. + +"Upon my word," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "if that isn't one of the +brightest ideas I ever heard of! A fire in the middle of a snowbank, +with a man there attendin' to it, an' a chimney! 'T isn't every day that +you can see a thing like that!" + +"I should hope not," remarked Mrs. Lecks, "for if the snow drifted this +way every day, I'd be ready to give up the seein' business out and out! +But I think, Mr. Craig, you ought to pass that shovel in to us so that +we can dig you out when the fire begins to melt your little house and it +all caves in on you." + +"You can have the shovel," said I, "but I don't believe this snowbank +will cave in on me. Of course the heat will melt the snow, but I think +it will dissolve gradually, so that the caving in, if there is any, +won't be of much account, and then we shall have a big open space here +in which we can keep up our fire." + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Ruth, "you talk as if you expected to stay here +ever so long, and we certainly can't do that. We should starve to death, +for one thing." + +"Don't be afraid of that," said Mrs. Aleshine. "There's plenty of +victuals to last till the people come for us. When I pack baskets for +travelin' or picnickin', I don't do no scrimpin'. An' we've got to keep +up a fire, you know, for it wouldn't be pleasant for those men, when +they've cut a way up the mountain to git at us, to find us all froze +stiff." + +Mrs. Lecks smiled. "You're awful tender of the feelin's of other people, +Barb'ry," she said, "and a heart as warm as yourn ought to keep from +freezin'." + +"Which it has done, so far," said Mrs. Aleshine, complacently. + +As I had expected, the water soon began to drip from the top and the +sides of my cavern, and the chimney rapidly enlarged its dimensions. I +made a passage for the melted snow to run off into a hollow, back of the +coach; and as I kept up a good strong fire, the drops of water and +occasional pieces of snow which fell into it were not able to extinguish +it. The cavern enlarged rapidly, and in a little more than an hour the +roof became so thin that while I was outside collecting wood it fell in +and extinguished the fire. This accident, however, interrupted my +operations but for a short time. I cleared away the snow at the bottom +of the excavation, and rebuilt my fire on the bare ground. The high snow +walls on three sides of it protected it from the wind, so that there was +no danger of the flames being blown against the stage-coach, while the +large open space above allowed a free vent for the smoke. + +About the middle of the afternoon, to the great delight of us all, it +stopped snowing, and when I had freshly shoveled out the path across +the road, my companions gladly embraced the opportunity of walking over +to the comparatively protected ground under the trees and giving +themselves a little exercise. During their absence I was busily engaged +in arranging the fire, when I heard a low crunching sound on one side of +me, and, turning my head, I saw in the wall of my excavation opposite to +the stage-coach, and at a distance of four or five feet from the ground, +an irregular hole in the snow, about a foot in diameter, from which +protruded the head of a man. This head was wrapped, with the exception +of the face, in a brown woolen comforter. The features were those of a +man of about fifty, a little sallow and thin, without beard, whiskers, +or mustache, although the cheeks and chin were darkened with a recent +growth. + +The astounding apparition of this head projecting itself from the snow +wall of my cabin utterly paralyzed me, so that I neither moved nor +spoke, but remained crouching by the fire, my eyes fixed upon the head. +It smiled a little, and then spoke. + +"Could you lend me a small iron pot?" it said. + +I rose to my feet, almost ready to run away. Was this a dream? Or was it +possible that there was a race of beings who inhabited snowbanks? + +The face smiled again very pleasantly. "Do not be frightened," it said. +"I saw you were startled, and spoke first of a familiar pot in order to +reassure you." + +"Who, in the name of Heaven, are you?" I gasped. + +"I am only a traveler, sir," said the head, "who has met with an +accident similar, I imagine, to that which has befallen you. But I +cannot further converse with you in this position. Lying thus on my +breast in a tunnel of snow will injuriously chill me. Could you +conveniently lend me an iron pot?" + +[Illustration: "'COULD YOU LEND ME A SMALL IRON POT?'"] + +I was now convinced that this was an ordinary human being, and my +courage and senses returned to me; but my astonishment remained +boundless. "Before we talk of pots," I said, "I must know who you are, +and how you got into that snowbank." + +"I do not believe," said my visitor, "that I can get down, head +foremost, to your level. I will therefore retire to my place of refuge, +and perhaps we can communicate with each other through this aperture." + +"Can I get through to your place of refuge?" I asked. + +"Certainly," was the answer. "You are young and active, and the descent +will not be so deep on my side. But I will first retire, and will then +project toward you this sheepskin rug, which, if kept under you as you +move forward, will protect your breast and arms from direct contact with +the snow." + +It was difficult to scramble up into the hole, but I succeeded in doing +it, and found awaiting me the sheepskin rug, which, by the aid of an +umbrella, the man had pushed toward me for my use. I was in a horizontal +tunnel barely large enough for the passage of my body, and about six +feet in length. When I had worked my way through this, and had put my +head out of the other end, I looked into a small wooden shed, into which +light entered only through a pane of glass set in a rude door opposite +to me. I immediately perceived that the whole place was filled with the +odor of spirituous liquors. The man stood awaiting me, and by his +assistance I descended to the floor. As I did so I heard something +which sounded like a titter, and looking around I saw in a corner a +bundle of clothes and traveling-rugs, near the top of which appeared a +pair of eyes. Turning again, I could discern in another corner a second +bundle, similar to, but somewhat larger than, the other. + +"These ladies are traveling with me," said the man, who was now wrapping +about him a large cloak, and who appeared to be of a tall though rather +slender figure. His manner and voice were those of a gentleman, +extremely courteous and considerate. "As I am sure you are curious—and +this I regard as quite natural, sir—to know why we are here, I will at +once proceed to inform you. We started yesterday in a carriage for the +railway-station, which is, I believe, some miles beyond this point. +There were two roads from the last place at which we stopped, and we +chose the one which ran along a valley, and which we supposed would be +the pleasanter of the two. We there engaged a pair of horses which did +not prove very serviceable animals, and, at a point about a hundred +yards from where we now are, one of them gave out entirely. The driver +declared that the only thing to be done was to turn loose the disabled +horse, which would be certain, in time, to find his way back to his +stable, and for him to proceed on the other animal to the station to +which we were going, where he would procure some fresh horses and return +as speedily as possible. To this plan we were obliged to consent, as +there was no alternative. He told us that if we did not care to remain +in the carriage, there was a shed by the side of the road, a little +farther on, which was erected for the accommodation of men who are +sometimes here in charge of relays of horses. After assuring us that he +would not be absent more than three hours, he rode away, and we have not +seen him since. + +"Soon after he left us I came to this shed, and finding it tight and +comparatively comfortable, I concluded it would give us relief from our +somewhat cramped position in the carriage, and so conducted the ladies +here. As night drew on it became very cold, and I determined to make a +fire, a proceeding which, of course, would have been impossible in a +vehicle. Fortunately I had with me, at the back of the carriage, a case +of California brandy. By the aid of a stone I knocked the top off this +case, and brought hither several of the bottles. I found in the shed an +old tin pan, which I filled with the straw coverings of the bottles, and +on this I poured brandy, which, being ignited, produced a fire without +smoke, but which, as we gathered around it, gave out considerable heat." + +As the speaker thus referred to his fuel, I understood the reason of the +strong odor of spirits which filled the shed, and I experienced a +certain relief in my mind. + +The gentleman continued: "At first I attributed the delay of the +driver's return to those ordinary hindrances which so frequently occur +in rural and out-of-the-way places; but after a time I could not imagine +any reasonable cause for his delay. As it began to grow dark I brought +here our provision-baskets, and we partook of a slight repast. I then +made the ladies as comfortable as possible, and awaited with much +anxiety the return of the driver. + +"After a time it began to snow, and feeling that the storm might +interrupt communication with the carriage, I brought hither, making many +trips for the purpose, the rest of the brandy, our wraps and rugs, and +the cushions of the carriage. I did not believe that we should be left +here all night, but thought it prudent to take all precautions, and to +prepare for remaining in a place where we could have a fire. The morning +showed me that I had acted wisely. As you know, sir, I found the road in +each direction completely blocked up by snow, and I have since been +unable to visit the carriage." + +"Have you not all suffered from cold?" I inquired. "Have you food +enough?" + +"I will not say," replied the gentleman, "that in addition to our +anxiety we have not suffered somewhat from cold, but for the greater +part of this day I have adopted a plan which has resulted in +considerable comfort to my companions. I have wrapped them up very +closely and warmly, and they hold in each hand a hard-boiled egg. I +thought it better to keep these for purposes of warmth than to eat them. +About every half-hour I reboil the eggs in a little traveling tea-pot +which we have. They retain their warmth for a considerable period, and +this warmth in a moderate degree is communicated through the hands to +the entire person." + +As he said this a low laugh again burst forth from the bundle in one +corner of the room, and I could not help smiling at this odd way of +keeping warm. I looked toward the jocose bundle, and remarked that the +eggs must be pretty hard by this time. + +"These ladies," said the gentleman, "are not accustomed to the cold +atmosphere of this region, and I have therefore forbidden them to talk, +hoping thus to prevent injury from the inhalation of frosty air. So far +we have not suffered, and we still have some food left. About noon I +noticed smoke floating over this shed, and I forced open the door and +made my way for some little distance outside, hoping to discover whence +it came. I then heard voices on the other side of the enormous +snow-drift behind us; but I could see no possible way of getting over +the drift. Feeling that I must, without fail, open communication with +any human beings who might be near us, I attempted to shout; but the +cold had so affected my voice that I could not do so. I thereupon set my +wits to work. At the back of this shed is a small window closed by a +wooden shutter. I opened this shutter, and found outside a wall of snow +packed closely against it. The snow was not very hard, and I believed +that it would not be difficult to tunnel a way through it to the place +where the voices seemed to be. I immediately set to work, for I feared +that if we were obliged to remain here another night without assistance +we should be compelled to-morrow morning to eat those four hard-boiled +eggs which the ladies are holding, and which, very shortly, I must boil +again." + +"How did you manage to cut through the snow?" I asked. "Had you a +shovel?" + +"Oh, no," replied the other. "I used the tin pan. I found it answered +very well as a scoop. Each time that I filled it I threw the contents +out of our door." + +"It must have been slow and difficult work," I said. + +"Indeed it was," he replied. "The labor was arduous, and occupied me +several hours. But when I saw a respectable man at a fire, and a +stage-coach near by, I felt rewarded for all my trouble. May I ask you, +sir, how you came to be thus snow-bound?" + +I then briefly related the circumstances of our mishap, and had scarcely +finished when a shrill sound came through the tunnel into the shed. It +was the voice of Mrs. Aleshine. + +"Hello!" she screamed, "are you in there? An' you don't mean to tell me +there are other people in that hole?" + +Feeling quite certain that my wife and her companions were in a state of +mental agitation on the other side of the drift, I called back that I +would be with them in a moment, and then explained to the gentleman why +I could not remain with him longer. "But before I go," I said, "is there +anything I can do for you? Do you really want an iron pot?" + +"The food that remains to us," he answered, "is fragmentary and rather +distasteful to the ladies, and I thought if I could make a little stew +of it, it might prove more acceptable to them. But do not let me detain +you another instant from your friends, and I advise you to go through +that tunnel feet foremost, for you might, otherwise, experience +difficulties in getting out at the other end." + +I accepted his suggestion, and by his assistance and the help of the +rough window-frame, I got into the hole feet first, and soon ejected +myself into the midst of my alarmed companions. When they heard where I +had been, and what I had seen, they were naturally astounded. + +"Another party deserted at this very point!" exclaimed Ruth, who was +both excitable and imaginative. "This looks like a conspiracy! Are we to +be robbed and murdered?" + +At these words Mrs. Aleshine sprang toward me. "Mr. Craig," she +exclaimed, "if it's robbers, don't lose a minute! Never let 'em get +ahead of you! Pull out your pistol and fire through the hole!" + +"Gracious me! Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "you don't suppose the +robbers is them poor unfortunates on the other side of the drift! And I +must say, Mrs. Craig, that if there was any such thing as a conspiracy, +your father must have been in it, for it was him who landed us just +here. But of course none of us supposes nothin' of that kind, and the +first thing we've got to think of is what we can do for them poor +people." + +"They seem to have some food left, but not much," I said, "and I fear +they must be suffering from cold." + +"Couldn't we poke some wood to them through this hole?" said Mrs. +Aleshine, whose combative feelings had changed to the deepest +compassion. "I should think they must be nearly froze, with nothin' to +warm 'em but hard-b'iled eggs." + +I explained that there was no place in their shed where they could build +a fire, and proposed that we should give them some hot tea and some of +our provisions. + +"That's so!" said Mrs. Aleshine. "Just shout in to them that if they'll +shove them eggs through the hole, I'll bile 'em fur 'em as often as they +want 'em." + +"I've just got to say this," ejaculated Mrs. Lecks, as she and Mrs. +Aleshine were busily placing a portion of our now very much reduced +stock of provisions in the smallest of our baskets: "this is the first +time in my life that I ever heard of people warmin' themselves up with +hens' eggs and spirits, excep' when mixed up into egg-nog; and that they +resisted that temptation and contented themselves with plain honest +heat, though very little of it, shows what kind of people they must be. +And now, do you suppose we could slide this basket in without upsettin' +the little kittle?" + +[Illustration: "WE WERE ABOUT TO SEND HIM A BASKET."] + +I called to the gentleman that we were about to send him a basket, and +then, by the aid of an umbrella, I gently pushed it through the snow +tunnel to a point where he could reach it. Hearty thanks came back to us +through the hole, and when the basket and kettle were returned, we +prepared our own evening meal. + +"For the life of me," said Mrs. Lecks, as she sipped a cup of tea, "I +can't imagine, if there was a shed so near us, why we didn't know it." + +"That has been puzzling me," I replied; "but the other road, on which +the shed is built, is probably lower than this one, so that the upper +part of the shed could not have projected far above the embankment +between the two roads, and if there were weeds and dead grasses on the +bank, as there probably were, they would have prevented us from noticing +the top of a weather-worn shed." + +"Especially," said Mrs. Lecks, "as we wasn't lookin' for sheds, and, as +far as I know, we wasn't lookin' for anything on that side of the coach, +for all my eyes was busy starin' about on the side we got in and out of, +and down the road." + +"Which mine was too," added Mrs. Aleshine. "An' after it begun to snow +we couldn't see nothin' anyhow, partic'larly when everything was all +covered up." + +"Well," added Mrs. Lecks, in conclusion, "as we didn't see the shed, +it's a comfort to think there was reasons for it, and that we are not +born fools." + +It was now growing dark, and but few further communications took place +through the little tunnel. + +"Before we get ready to go to sleep," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for, havin' +no candles, I guess we won't sit up late, hadn't we better rig up some +kind of a little sled to put in that hole, with strings at both ends, so +that we kin send in mustard-plasters and peppermint to them poor people +if they happen to be sick in the night?" + +This little project was not considered necessary, and after receiving +assurances from the gentleman on the other side that he would be able to +keep his party warm until morning, we bade each other good night; and, +after having replenished the fire, I got into the stage, where my +companions had already established themselves in their corners. I slept +very little, while I frequently went out to attend to the fire, and my +mind was racked by the most serious apprehensions. Our food was nearly +gone, and if relief did not come to us very soon I could see nothing but +a slow death before us, and, so far as I could imagine, there was no +more reason to expect succor on the following day than there had been on +the one just passed. Where were the men to be found who could cut a road +to us through those miles of snow-drifts? + +Very little was said during the night by my companions, but I am sure +that they felt the seriousness of our situation, and that their slumbers +were broken and unrefreshing. If there had been anything to do, Mrs. +Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine would have been cheered up by the prospect of +doing it; but we all felt that there was nothing we could do. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PART V + +[Illustration] + + +After a second night spent in the stage-coach on that lonely and +desolate mountain road where we were now snow-bound, I arose early in +the morning, and went into the forest to collect some fuel; and while +thus engaged I made the discovery that the snow was covered with a hard +crust which would bear my weight. After the storm had ceased the day +before, the sun had shone brightly and the temperature had moderated +very much, so that the surface of the snow had slightly thawed. During +the night it became cold again, and this surface froze into a hard +coating of ice. When I found I could walk where I pleased, my spirits +rose, and I immediately set out to view the situation. The aspect of the +road gave me no encouragement. The snowfall had been a heavy one, but +had it not been for the high wind which accompanied it, it would have +thrown but moderate difficulties in the way of our rescue. Reaching a +point which commanded a considerable view along the side of the +mountain, I could see that in many places the road was completely lost +to sight on account of the great snow-drifts piled up on it. I then +walked to the point where the two roads met, and crossing over, I +climbed a slight rise in the ground which had cut off my view in this +direction, and found myself in a position from which I could look +directly down the side of the mountain below the road. + +Here, the mountain-side, which I had supposed to be very steep and +rugged, descended in a long and gradual slope to the plains below, and +for the greater part of the distance was covered by a smooth, shining +surface of frozen snow, unbroken by rock or tree. This snowy slope +apparently extended for a mile or more, and then I could see that it +gradually blended itself into the greenish-brown turf of the lower +country. Down in the valley there still were leaves upon the trees, and +there were patches of verdure over the land. The storm which had piled +its snows up here had given them rain down there and had freshened +everything. It was like looking down into another climate and on another +land. I saw a little smoke coming up behind a patch of trees. It must be +that there was a house there! Could it be possible that we were within a +mile or two of a human habitation? Yet, what comfort was there in that +thought? The people in that house could not get to us, nor we to them, +nor could they have heard of our situation, for the point where our road +reached the lower country was miles farther on. + +As I stood thus and gazed, it seemed to me that I could make a run and +slide down the mountain-side into green fields, into safety, into life. +I remembered those savage warriors who, looking from the summits of the +Alps upon the fertile plains of Italy, seated themselves upon their +shields and slid down to conquest and rich spoils. + +An idea came into my mind, and I gave it glad welcome. There was no time +to be lost. The sun was not yet high, but it was mounting in a clear +sky, and should its rays become warm enough to melt the crust on which I +stood, our last chance of escape would be gone. To plow our way to any +place through deep, soft snow would be impossible. I hurried back to our +coach, and found three very grave women standing around the fire. They +were looking at a small quantity of food at the bottom of a large +basket. + +"That's every crumb there is left," said Mrs. Aleshine to me, "and when +we pass in some to them unfortunates on the other side of the +drift,—which, of course, we're bound to do,—we'll have what I call a +skimpy meal. And that's not the worst of it. Until somebody gets up to +us, it will be our last meal." + +I took my poor Ruth by the hand, for she was looking very pale and +troubled, and I said: "My dear friends, nobody can get up to this place +for a long, long time; and before help could possibly reach us we should +all be dead. But do not be frightened. It is not necessary to wait for +any one to come to us. The snow is now covered with a crust which will +bear our weight. I have thought of a way in which we can slide down the +mountain-side, which, from a spot where I have been standing this +morning, is no steeper than some coasting-hills, though very much +longer. In a few minutes we can pass from this region of snow, where +death from cold and starvation must soon overtake us, to a grassy valley +where there is no snow, and where we shall be within walking distance of +a house in which people are living." + +Ruth grasped my arm. "Will it be safe?" she exclaimed. + +"I think so," I answered. "I see no reason why we should meet with any +accident. At any rate, it is much safer than remaining here for another +hour; for if the crust melts, our last chance is gone." + +"Mr. Craig," said Mrs. Lecks, "me and Mrs. Aleshine is no hands at +coastin' downhill, havin' given up that sort of thing since we was +little girls with short frocks and it didn't make no matter anyway. But +you know more about these things than we do; and if you say we can get +out of this dreadful place by slidin' downhill, we're ready to follow, +if you'll just go ahead. We followed you through the ocean, with nothin' +between our feet and the bottom but miles o' water and nobody knows what +sorts of dreadful fish; and when you say it's the right way to save our +lives, we're ready to follow you again. And as for you, Mrs. Ruth, don't +you be frightened. I don't know what we're goin' to slide on, but, +whatever it is, even if it's our own selves, me and Mrs. Aleshine will +take you between us, and if anything is run against, we'll get the +bumps, and not you." + +I was delighted to see how rapidly my proposition was accepted, and we +made a hasty breakfast, first sending in some of our food to the other +party. The gentleman reported through the hole of communication that +they were all fairly well, but a good deal stiffened by cold and want of +exercise. He inquired, in a very anxious voice, if I had discovered any +signs of approaching relief. To this I replied that I had devised a plan +by which we could get ourselves out of our present dangerous situation, +and that in a very short time I would come round to the door of his +shed—for I could now walk on the crusted snow—and tell him about it. +He answered that these words cheered his heart, and that he would do +everything possible to coöperate with me. + +I now went to work vigorously. I took the cushions from the coach, four +of them all together, and carried them to the brink of the slope down +which I purposed to make our descent. I also conveyed thither a long +coil of rawhide rope which I had previously discovered in the boot of +the coach. I then hurried along the other road, which, as has been said +before, lay at a somewhat lower level than the one we were on, and when +I reached the shed I found the door had been opened, and the gentleman, +with his tin pan, had scooped away a good deal of the snow about it, so +as to admit of a moderately easy passage in and out. He met me outside, +and grasped my hand. + +"Sir, if you have a plan to propose," he said, "state it quickly. We are +in a position of great danger. Those two ladies inside the shed cannot +much longer endure this exposure, and I presume that the ladies in your +party—although their voices, which I occasionally hear, do not seem to +indicate it—must be in a like condition." + +I replied that, so far, my companions had borne up very well, and +without further waste of words proceeded to unfold my plan of escape. + +When he had heard it the gentleman put on a very serious expression. "It +seems hazardous," he said, "but it may be the only way out of our +danger. Will you show me the point from which you took your +observations?" + +"Yes," said I; "but we must be in haste. The sun is getting up in the +sky, and this crust may soon begin to melt. It is not yet really winter, +you know." + +We stepped quickly to the spot where I had carried the cushions. The +gentleman stood and silently gazed first at the blocked-up roadway, then +at the long, smooth slope of the mountain-side directly beneath us, and +then at the verdure of the plain below, which had grown greener under +the increasing brightness of the day. "Sir," said he, turning to me, +"there is nothing to be done but to adopt your plan, or to remain here +and die. We will accompany you in the descent, and I place myself under +your orders." + +"The first thing," said I, "is to bring here your carriage cushions, and +help me to arrange them." + +When he had brought the three cushions from the shed, the gentleman and +I proceeded to place them with the others on the snow, so that the whole +formed a sort of wide and nearly square mattress. Then, with the rawhide +rope, we bound them together in a rough but secure network of cordage. +In this part of the work I found my companion very apt and skilful. + +When this rude mattress was completed, I requested the gentleman to +bring his ladies to the place, while I went for mine. + +"What are we to pack up to take with us?" said Mrs. Aleshine, when I +reached our coach. + +"We take nothing at all," said I, "but the money in our pockets, and our +rugs and wraps. Everything else must be left in the coach, to be brought +down to us when the roads shall be cleared out." + +With our rugs and shawls on our arms, we left the coach, and as we were +crossing the other road we saw the gentleman and his companions +approaching. These ladies were very much wrapped up, but one of them +seemed to step along lightly and without difficulty, while the other +moved slowly and was at times assisted by the gentleman. + +A breeze had sprung up which filled the air with fine frozen particles +blown from the uncrusted beds of snow along the edge of the forest, and +I counseled Ruth to cover up her mouth and breathe as little of this +snow powder as possible. + +"If I'm to go coastin' at all," said Mrs. Aleshine, "I'd as lief do it +with strangers as friends; and a little liefer, for that matter, if +there's any bones to be broken. But I must say that I'd like to make the +acquaintance of them ladies afore I git on to the sled, which"—at that +moment catching sight of the mattress—"you don't mean to say that +that's it?" + +"Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, from underneath her great woolen +comforter, "if you want to get your lungs friz, you'd better go on +talkin'. Manners is manners, but they can wait till we get to the +bottom of the hill." + +Notwithstanding this admonition, I noticed that as soon as the two +parties met, both Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine advanced and shook hands +with the ladies who had been their neighbors under such peculiar +circumstances, and that Mrs. Lecks herself expressed a muffled hope that +they might all get down safely. + +I now pushed the mattress which was to serve as our sled as close as was +prudent to the edge of the descent, and requested the party to seat +themselves upon it. Without hesitation Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine sat +down, taking Ruth between them, as they had promised to do. My young +wife was very nervous, but the cool demeanor of her companions, and my +evident belief in the practicability of the plan, gave her courage, and +she quietly took her seat. The younger of the two strange ladies stepped +lightly on the cushions, and before seating herself stood up for a good +look at the far-extending bed of snow over which we were to take our +way. The prospect did not appear to deter her, and she sat down promptly +and with an air that seemed to say that she anticipated a certain +enjoyment from the adventure. The elder lady, however, exhibited very +different emotions. She shrank back from the cushions toward which the +gentleman was conducting her, and turned her face away from the +declivity. Her companion assured her that it was absolutely necessary +that we should descend from the mountain in this way, for there was no +other; and asserting his belief that our slide would be a perfectly +safe one, he gently drew her to the mattress and induced her to sit +down. + +I now noticed, for the first time, that the gentleman carried under one +arm, and covered by his long cloak, a large package of some sort, and I +immediately said to him: "It will be very imprudent for us to attempt to +carry any of our property except what we can put in our pockets or wrap +around us. Everything else should be left here, either in your carriage +or our coach, and I have no fear that anything will be lost. But even if +our luggage were in danger of being molested, we cannot afford to +consider it under circumstances such as these." + +"My dear sir," said the gentleman, speaking very gravely, "I appreciate +the hazards of our position as keenly as yourself. Our valises, and all +the light luggage which we had with us in our carriage, I have left +there, and shall not give them another thought. But with the parcel I +hold under this arm I cannot part, and if I go down the mountain-side on +these cushions, it must go with me. If you refuse in such a case to +allow me to be one of your party, I must remain behind, and endeavor to +find a board or something else on which I can make the descent of the +mountain." + +He spoke courteously, but with an air of decision which showed me that +it would be of no use to argue with him. Besides, there was no time for +parleying, and if this gentleman chose to take his chances with but one +arm at liberty, it was no longer my affair. I therefore desired him to +sit down, and I arranged the company so that they sat back to back, +their feet drawn up to the edge of the mattress. I then took the place +which had been reserved for me as steersman, and having tied several +shawls together, end to end, I passed them around the whole of us under +our arms, thus binding us all firmly together. I felt that one of our +greatest dangers would be that one or more of the party might slip from +the mattress during the descent. + +When all was ready I asked the gentleman, who, with the elder lady, sat +near me at the back of the mattress, to assist in giving us a start by +pushing outward with his heels while I thrust the handle of my wooden +shovel into the crust and thus pushed the mattress forward. The starting +was a little difficult, but in a minute or two we had pushed the +mattress partly over the brink, and then, after a few more efforts, we +began to slide downward. + +The motion, at first slow, suddenly became quite rapid, and I heard +behind me a cry or exclamation, from whom I knew not, but I felt quite +sure it did not come from any of my party. I hoped to be able to make +some use of my shovel in the guidance of our unwieldy raft or +mattress-sled, but I soon found this impossible, and down we went over +the smooth, hard-frozen slope, with nothing to direct our course but the +varying undulations of the mountain-side. Every moment we seemed to go +faster and faster, and soon we began to revolve, so that sometimes I was +in front and sometimes behind. Once, when passing over a very smooth +sheet of snow, we fairly spun around, so that in every direction feet +were flying out from a common center and heels grating on the frozen +crust. But there were no more cries or exclamations. Each one of us +grasped the cordage which held the cushions together, and the rapidity +of the motion forced us almost to hold our breath. + +Down the smooth, white slope we sped, as a bird skims through the air. +It seemed to me as if we passed over miles and miles of snow. Sometimes +my face was turned down the mountain, where the snow-surface seemed to +stretch out illimitably, and then it was turned upward toward the +apparently illimitable slopes over which we had passed. + +[Illustration: "WE BEGAN TO SLIDE DOWNWARD."] + +Presently, my position now being in front of the little group that +glanced along its glittering way, I saw at some distance below me a long +rise or terrace, which ran along the mountain-side for a considerable +distance, and which cut off our view of everything below us. As we +approached this hillock the descent became much more gradual and our +progress slower, and at last I began to fear that our acquired velocity +would not be sufficient to carry us up the side of this elevation and so +enable us to continue our descent. I therefore called to everybody in +the rear to kick out vigorously, and with my shovel I endeavored to +assist our progress. As we approached the summit of the elevation we +moved slower and slower. I became very anxious, for, should we slide +backward, we might find it difficult or impossible to get ourselves and +the mattress up this little hill. But the gentleman and myself worked +valiantly, and as for Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, they kicked their +heels through the frozen crust with such energy that we moved sidewise +almost as much as upward. But in a moment the anxious suspense was over, +and we rested on the ridge of the long hillock, with the mountain-side +stretching down to the plain, which lay not very far below us. + +I should have been glad to remain here a few minutes to regain breath, +and give some consideration to the rest of our descent, but as some of +those behind continued to push, the mattress slid over the edge of the +terrace, and down again we went. Our progress now was not so rapid, but +it was very much more unpleasant. The snow was thinner; there was little +or no crust upon it, and we very soon reached a wide extent of exposed +turf, over which we slid, but not without a good deal of bumping against +stones and protuberances. Then there was another sheet of snow, which +quickened our downward impetus; and, after that, the snow was seen only +in occasional patches, and our progress continued over a long slope of +short, partly dried grass, which was very slippery, and over which we +passed with considerable quickness. + +I wished now to bring our uncouth sled to a stop, and to endeavor to +make the rest of the descent on foot. But although I stuck out my +heels, and tried to thrust the handle of my shovel into the ground, it +was of no use. On we went, and the inequalities of the surface gave an +irregularity of motion which was uncomfortable and alarming. We turned +to this side and that; we bounced and bumped; and the rawhide ropes, +which must have been greatly frayed and cut by the snow-crust, now gave +way in several places, and I knew that the mattress would soon separate +into its original cushions, if indeed they still could be called +cushions. Fearing increased danger should we now continue bound together +in a bunch, I jerked apart the shawl-knot under my arms, and the next +moment, it seemed to me, there was a general dissolution of our +connection with each other. Fortunately, we were now near the bottom of +the slope, for while some of us stuck fast to the cushions, others +rolled over, or slid, independent of any projection, while I, being +thrown forward on my feet, actually ran downhill! I had just succeeded +in stopping myself when down upon me came the rest of the company, all +prostrate in some position or other. + +Now from an unwieldy mass of shawls came a cry: + +"Oh, Albert Dusante! Where are you? Lucille! Lucille!" + +Instantly sprang to one foot good Mrs. Aleshine, her other foot being +entangled in a mass of shawls which dragged behind her. Her bonnet was +split open and mashed down over her eyes. In her left hand she waved a +piece of yellow flannel, which in her last mad descent she had torn from +some part of the person of Mrs. Lecks, and in the other a bunch of stout +dead weeds, which she had seized and pulled up by the roots as she had +passed them. Her dress was ripped open down her rotund back, and the +earth from the weed roots had bespattered her face. From the midst of +this dilapidation her round eyes sparkled with excitement. Hopping on +one foot, the shawls and a part of a cushion dragging behind her, she +shouted: + +"The Dusantes! They are the Dusantes!" + +Then, pitching forward on her knees before the two strange ladies, who +had now tumbled into each other's arms, she cried: + +"Oh, which is Emily, and which is Lucille?" + +I had rushed toward Ruth, who had clung to a cushion and was now sitting +upon it, when Mrs. Lecks, who was close beside her, arose to her feet +and stood upright. One foot was thrust through her own bonnet, and her +clothes gave evidence of the frenzy and power of Mrs. Aleshine's grasp, +but her mien was dignified and her aspect stately. + +"Barb'ry Aleshine!" she exclaimed, "if them Dusantes has dropped down +from heaven at your very feet, can't you give 'em a minute to feel their +ribs and see if their legs and arms is broken?" + +The younger lady now turned her head toward Mrs. Aleshine. "I am +Lucille," she said. + +In a moment the good woman's arms were around her neck. "I always liked +you the best of the two," she whispered into the ear of the astonished +young lady. + +Having found that Ruth was unhurt, I ran to the assistance of the +others. The gentleman had just arisen from a cushion, upon which, lying +flat on his back, he had slid over the grass, still holding under one +arm the package from which he had refused to part. I helped him to raise +the elder lady to her feet. She had been a good deal shaken, and much +frightened, but although a little bruised, she had received no important +injury. + +[Illustration: "'OH, WHICH IS EMILY, AND WHICH IS LUCILLE?'"] + +I went to fill a leather pocket-cup from a brook nearby, and when I +returned I found the gentleman standing, confronted by Mrs. Lecks, Mrs. +Aleshine, and Ruth, while his own companions were regarding the group +with eager interest. + +"Yes," he was saying, "my name is Dusante. But why do you ask at this +moment? Why do you show such excited concern on the subject?" + +"Why?" exclaimed Mrs. Lecks. "I will tell you why, sir. My name is Mrs. +Lecks, and this is Mrs. Aleshine, and if you are the Mr. Dusante with +the house on the desert island, this is the Mrs. Craig who was married +in that very house, and the gentleman here with the water is Mr. Craig, +who wrote you the letter, which I hope you got. And if that isn't reason +enough for our wanting to know if you are Mr. Dusante, I'd like to be +told what more there could be!" + +"It's them! Of course it's them!" cried Mrs. Aleshine. "I had a feelin' +while we were scootin' downhill that they was near and dear to us, +though exactly why and how, I didn't know. And she's told me she's +Lucille, and of course the other must be Emily, though what relations—" + +"Am I to understand," interrupted the gentleman, looking with earnest +animation from one to the other of us, "that these are the good people +who inhabited my house on the island?" + +"The very ones!" cried Mrs. Aleshine. "And what relation are you to +Emily? and Lucille to her?" + +The gentleman stepped backward and laid down the package which he had +held under his arm, and advancing toward me with outstretched hands, and +with tears starting to his eyes, he exclaimed: + +"And this man, then, to whom I owe so much, is Mr. Craig!" + +"Owe me!" I said. "It is to you that we owe our very lives, and our +escape from death in mid-ocean." + +"Do not speak of it," he said, shaking his head, with a sorrowful +expression on his face. "You owe me nothing. I would to Heaven it were +not so! But we will not talk of that now. And this is Mrs. Craig," he +continued, taking Ruth by the hand, "the fair lady whose nuptials were +celebrated in my house. And Mrs. Lecks, and Mrs. Aleshine." As he spoke +he shook hands with each. "How I have longed to meet you! I have thought +of you every day since I returned to my island and discovered that you +had been—I wish I could say—my guests. And where is the reverend +gentleman? and the three mariners? I hope that nothing has befallen +them!" + +"Alas!—for three of them at least," ejaculated Mrs. Aleshine; "they +have left us, but they are all right. And now, sir, if you could tell us +what relation you are to Emily, and what Lucille—" + +"Barb'ry!" cried Mrs. Lecks, making a dash toward her friend, "can't you +give the man a minute to breathe? Don't you see he's so dumflustered +that he hardly knows who he is himself! If them two women was to sink +down dead with hunger and hard slidin' right afore your very eyes while +you was askin' what relation they was to each other and to him, it would +no more'n serve you right! We'd better be seem' if anythin' 's the +matter with 'em, and what we can do for 'em." + +At this moment the younger of Mr. Dusante's ladies quickly stepped +forward. "Oh, Mrs. Craig, Mrs. Lecks, and Mrs. Aleshine!" she exclaimed, +"I'm just dying to know all about you!" + +"And which, contrariwise," cried Mrs. Aleshine, "is the same with us, +exactly." + +"And of all places in the world," continued the young lady, "that we +should meet here!" + +No one could have been more desirous than I was to know all about these +Dusantes, and to discuss the strange manner of our meeting; but I saw +that Ruth was looking very pale and faint, and that the elder Dusante +lady had sat down again upon the ground as though obliged to do so by +sheer exhaustion, and I therefore hailed with a double delight the +interruption of further explanations by the appearance of two men on +horseback who came galloping toward us. + +They belonged to the house which I had noticed from the road above, and +one of them had seen our swift descent down the mountain-side. At first +he had thought the black object he saw sliding over the snow-slopes was +a rock or a mass of underbrush, but his keen eye soon told him that it +was a group of human beings, and summoning a companion, he had set out +for the foot of the mountain as soon as horses could be caught and +saddled. + +The men were much surprised when they heard the details of our +adventure, but as it was quite plain that some members of our party +needed immediate nourishment and attention, the questions and +explanations were made very short. The men dismounted from their horses, +and the elder Dusante lady was placed upon one of them, one man leading +the animal and the other supporting the lady. Ruth mounted the other +horse, and I walked by her to assist her in keeping her seat; but she +held fast to the high pommel of the saddle, and got on very well. Mr. +Dusante took his younger companion on one arm, and his package under the +other, while Mrs. Lecks, having relieved her foot from the encircling +bonnet, and Mrs. Aleshine, now free from the entangling shawls, followed +in the rear. The men offered to come back with the horses for them, if +they would wait; but the two women declared that they were quite able to +walk, and intended to do no waiting, and they trudged vigorously after +us. The sun was now high, and the air down here was quite different from +that of the mountain-side, being pleasant and almost warm. The men said +that the snows above would probably soon melt, as it was much too early +in the season for snow to lie long on these lower sides of the +mountains. + +Our way lay over an almost level plain for about a mile. A portion of it +was somewhat rough, so that when we reached the low house to which we +were bound, we were all very glad indeed to get there. The house +belonged to the two men, who owned a small ranch here. One of them was +married, and his wife immediately set herself to work to attend to our +needs. Her home was small, its rooms few, and her larder very plain in +quality; but everything she had was placed at our disposal. Her own bed +was given to the elder Dusante lady, who took immediate possession of +it; and after a quickly prepared but plentiful meal of fried pork, +corn-bread, and coffee, the rest of us stretched ourselves out to rest +wherever we could find a place. Before lying down, however, I had, at +Ruth's earnest solicitation, engaged one of the men to ride to the +railroad-station to inquire about Mr. Enderton, and to inform him of our +safety. By taking a route which ran parallel with the mountain-chain, +but at some distance from it, the station, the man said, could be +reached without encountering snow. + +None of us had had proper rest during the past two nights, and we slept +soundly until dark, when we were aroused to partake of supper. All of +us, except the elder Dusante lady, who preferred to remain in bed, +gathered around the table. After supper a large fire, principally of +brushwood, was built upon the hearth; and with the bright blaze, two +candles, and a lamp, the low room appeared light and cheery. We drew up +about the fire—for the night was cool—on whatever chairs, stools, or +boxes we could find, and no sooner had we all seated ourselves than Mrs. +Aleshine exclaimed: + +"Now, Mr. Dusante, it ain't in the power of mortal man, nor woman +neither,—an' if put the other way it might be stronger,—to wait any +longer before knowin' what relation Lucille is to Emily, an' you to +them, an' all about that house of yours on the island. If I'd blown up +into bits this day through holdin' in my wantin' to know, I shouldn't +have wondered! An' if it hadn't been for hard sleep, I don't believe I +could have held in, nohow!" + +[Illustration: "WE DREW UP ABOUT THE FIRE."] + +"That's my mind exactly," said Mrs. Lecks; "and though I know there's a +time for all things, and don't believe in crowdin' questions on +played-out people, I do think, Mr. Dusante, that if I could have caught +up with you when we was comin' over here, I'd have asked you to speak +out on these p'ints. But you're a long-legged walker, which Mrs. +Aleshine is not, and it wouldn't have done to leave her behind." + +"Which she wouldn't 'a' been," said Mrs. Aleshine, "long legs or short." + +Ruth and I added our entreaties that Mr. Dusante should tell his story, +and the good ranchman and his wife said that if there was anything to +be done in the story-telling line they were in for it, strong; and +quitting their work of clearing away supper things, they brought an old +hair trunk from another room, and sat down just behind Mrs. Lecks. + +The younger Dusante lady, who, having been divested of her wraps, her +veil, and the woolen shawl that had been tied over her head, had proved +to be a very pretty girl with black eyes, here declared that it had been +her intention at the first opportunity to get us to tell our story, but +as we had asked first, she supposed we ought to be satisfied first. + +"I do not wish, my good friends," said Mr. Dusante, "to delay for a +moment longer than necessary your very pardonable curiosity concerning +me and my family; and I must say at the same time that, although your +letter, sir, gave me a very clear account of your visit to my island, +there are many things which naturally could not be contained within the +limits of a letter, and about which I am most anxious to make inquiries. +But these I will reserve until my own narration is finished. + +"My name is Albert Dusante. It may interest you to know that my father +was a Frenchman and my mother an American lady from New England. I was +born in France, but have lived very little in that country, and for a +great part of my life have been a merchant in Honolulu. For the past few +years, however, I have been enabled to free myself in a great degree +from the trammels of business, and to devote myself to the pursuits of a +man of leisure. I have never married, and this young lady is my +sister." + +"Then what relation," began Mrs. Aleshine, "is she to—?" + +At this moment the hand of Mrs. Lecks, falling heavily into the lap of +the speaker, stopped this question, and Mr. Dusante proceeded: + +"Our parents died when Lucille was an infant, and we have no near blood +relations." + +At this the faces of both Mrs. Aleshine and Mrs. Lecks assumed +expressions as if they had each just received a letter superscribed in +an unknown hand, and were wondering who it could possibly be from. + +"The lady who is now resting in the adjoining room," continued Mr. +Dusante, "is a dear friend who has been adopted by me as a mother." + +"Upon my word!" burst from Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, in as much +unison of time and tone as if the words had been a response in a church +service, while Miss Lucille leaned back against the wall near which she +sat, and laughed gleefully. Mr. Dusante, however, continued his +statements with the same quiet gravity with which he had begun. + +"This lady was a dear friend of my mother, although younger than she. I +adopted her as a mother to my little orphan sister, and, consequently, +placed her in the same maternal relation to myself, doing this with much +earnest satisfaction, for I hoped to be able to return, as a son, +something of the tender care and affection which she would bestow on +Lucille as a daughter." + +"And she is Emily?" cried Mrs. Aleshine. + +"She adopted our name," answered the speaker, "and she is Mrs. Emily +Dusante." + +"And she is your adopted _mother?_" said Mrs. Aleshine. + +"Adopted mother!" ejaculated Mrs. Lecks. + +"Yes," answered Mr. Dusante. + +"And that is the only relation she is to you two?" said Mrs. Lecks. + +"And you to her?" added Mrs. Aleshine. + +"Most assuredly," answered Mr. Dusante. + +Here Mrs. Lecks leaned back in her chair, folded her hands in her lap, +and ejaculated, "Well, well!" and then allowed her face to assume a +rigid intention of having nothing more to say at the present moment. + +"One thing is certain," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, in a tone which +indicated that she did not care who heard her; "I always liked Lucille +the best!" + +At this Ruth and I exchanged smiles with Miss Lucille, and Mr. Dusante +proceeded: + +"I do not wish to occupy too much of your time with our personal +affairs, and will therefore state that the island on which you found +refuge, and where I wish most heartily I had been present to act as +host, was bought by me as a retreat from the annoyances of business and +the exactions of society. I built there a good house—" + +"Which it truly was," said Mrs. Aleshine, "with fixtures in it for +water, and letting it off, which I never saw in a house so far out of +town." + +"I furnished it suitably," said Mr. Dusante. "We had books and music, +and for several years we passed vacations there which were both +enjoyable and profitable. But of late my sister has found the place +lonely, and we have traveled a good deal, making intermittent and often +short visits to the island. + +"As I never cared to leave any one on that lonely spot during our +absences from it, I arranged a gateway of bars across the only opening +in the reef, with the intention of preventing marauding visits from +fishing-boats or other small craft which might be passing that way. As +the island was out of the ordinary track of vessels, I did not imagine +that my bars would ever prove an obstacle to unfortunate castaways who +might seek a refuge there." + +"Which they didn't," remarked Mrs. Aleshine, "for under we bobbed." + +"I never exactly understood," said Mr. Dusante, "and I hope to have it +explained to me in due time, how you passed my bars without removing +them; and I have had a sore weight upon my conscience since I discovered +that shipwrecked persons, fleeing to my house from the perils of the +sea, should have found those inhospitable bars in their way—" + +"Which is a weight you might as well cast off, and be done with it," +said Mrs. Lecks, her deep-set notions on the rights of property obliging +her to speak; "for if a man hasn't a right to lock up his house when he +goes away and leaves it, I don't know what rights anybody has about +anything. Me, or Mrs. Aleshine, or anybody else here who has a house, +might just as well go off travelin', or to town visitin', and leave our +front door unlocked, and the yard gate swingin' on its hinges, because +we was afraid that some tramp or other body with no house or home might +come along and not be able to get in and make himself comfortable. Your +business, sir, when you left that house and all your belongin's on that +island, was to leave everything tight and safe; and the business of +people sailin' in ships was to go on their proper way, and not be +runnin' into each other. And if these last mentioned didn't see fit to +do that, and so got into trouble, they should have gone to some island +where there were people to attend to 'em, just as the tramps should go +to the poorhouse. And this is what we would have done—not meanin' the +poorhouse—if we hadn't been so over long-headed as to get into a leaky +boat, which, I wish it understood, is sayin' nothin' against Mr. Craig." + +"That's true," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for nobody has got a right to +complain that a fellow-bein' locks his own door after him. But it does +seem to me, sir, that in such scattered neighborhoods as your island is +in, it might be a good thing to leave something to eat an' +drink—perhaps in a bottle or in a tin pail—at the outside of your bars +for them as might come along shipwrecked, an' not be able to get inside +on account of bein' obliged to come in a boat, an' not as we did; an' +so, when they found they'd have to go on, they might have somethin' to +keep up their strength till they got to another house." + +"Now, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "when you start off on a +journey to Japan or any other place, an' leave mince-pies and buttered +toast a-stickin' on the p'ints of your pickets for tramps that might +come along and need 'em, you can do that kind of talkin'. But as that +time hasn't come, let's hear the rest of Mr. Dusante's story." + +"When I first visited my island this year," continued the narrator, "we +made but a short stay, as we were all desirous of taking a somewhat +extended sea-voyage in my steam-yacht. We visited several places of +interest, and when we returned, just six weeks ago to-day—" + +"Just one week, lackin' a day," exclaimed Mrs. Lecks, "after we left +that spot!" + +"If I'd 'a' knowed," said Mrs. Aleshine, rising to her feet, "that you'd +be back so soon, I'd 'a' made them sailormen live on fish, I'd 'a' eat +garden-truck myself, and I'd be bound I'd 'a' made the flour hold out +for six days more for the rest of 'em, if I'd 'a' had to work my fingers +to the skin and bone to do it!" Then she sat down solemnly. + +"When we returned," continued Mr. Dusante, "I was pleased to find my +bars intact; and when these were unlocked, and the boat from our yacht +went through with ourselves and our servants, it was very agreeable to +notice the good order which seemed to prevail everywhere. As we passed +from the wharf to the house, not even fallen boughs or weeds were seen +to indicate that we had been away from the place for more than two +months. When we entered the house, my mother and sister immediately +ascended to their chambers, and when the windows had been opened I heard +them from above calling to each other and remarking upon the freshness +and cleanliness of the rooms. I went to my library, and when I had +thrown open the window I was struck with the somewhat peculiar air of +order which seemed to obtain in the room. The books stood upon their +shelves with a remarkable regularity, and the chairs and other +furniture were arranged with a precision which impressed me as unusual. +In a moment, sir, I saw your letter upon the table addressed to me. +Greatly astonished, I opened and read it. + +"When I had finished it my amazement was great indeed; but obeying an +instant impulse, I stepped into the dining-room, which a servant had +opened, and took the ginger-jar from the mantelpiece. When I lifted from +it the little brown-paper parcel, and beneath it saw the money which had +been mentioned in the letter, you may imagine the condition of my mind. +I did not take out the money, nor count it; but covering it again with +the paper parcel, which I believed contained fish-hooks, and with the +jar in my hands, I returned to the library, where I sat down to ponder +upon these most astounding revelations. While so doing my mother and +sister hastily entered the room. Lucille declared in an excited manner +that she believed that the brownies or some other fairies had been there +while we were away and had kept the house in order. The whole place was +actually cleaner, she said, than when we left it. She had taken down a +thin dress from her closet, and it looked as if it had just come from +the hand of a laundress, with the ruffles ironed smoother and more +evenly than they had ever been since it was first stitched together. +'Albert,' said my mother, her face pale, 'there has been somebody in +this house!' Then she went on to say that the windows, which were left +unwashed because we went away in somewhat of a hurry, were as bright and +clean as if the maids had just been rubbing them; the floors and +furniture were cleaner and freer from dust than they had ever been +before; and the whole house looked as if we had just left it yesterday. +'In fact,' she said, 'it is unnaturally clean!'" + +During this part of Mr. Dusante's story Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine sat +very quiet, with an air of sedate humility upon their faces; but I could +see by the proud light in their eyes that they felt their superiority to +ordinary women, although they were properly resolved not to show such +feeling. + +"At that moment," continued Mr. Dusante, "a servant came hurrying into +the room, and informed us that the flour was all gone, and that there +was scarcely anything in the pantries to eat. At this my mother and my +sister, who knew that an abundance of provisions had been left in the +house, looked at each other aghast. But before they could express their +consternation in words, I addressed them. 'My dear mother,' said I, 'and +Lucille, there truly has been some one in this house. By this letter I +am informed that for several weeks eight persons have lived here under +this roof; a marriage has been solemnized, and the happy couple have +gone forth from our doors. These persons have eaten our food, they have +made use of our property, and this has been their temporary home. But +they are good people, honest and true-hearted, for they have left the +house in better order than they found it, and more than the price of all +they have consumed is in that ginger-jar.' And thereupon I read them +your letter, sir. + +"I cannot undertake to describe the wonder and absorbing interest with +which this letter filled our minds. All needful stores were brought +ashore from the yacht, which lay outside the reef, and we began our +usual life on the island; but none of the occupations or recreations in +which we formerly employed our time now possessed any attractions for +us. Our minds were filled with thoughts of the persons who had been so +strangely living in our house; and our conversation was mainly made up +of surmises as to what sort of people they were, whether or not we +should ever see them, and similar suppositions." + +"Yes, indeed!" exclaimed Miss Lucille. "I thought of you by day and by +night, and pictured you all in various ways, but never as you really +are. Sometimes I used to think that the boat in which you went away had +been sunk in a storm in which you were all drowned, and that perhaps +your ghosts would come back and live in our house, and sleep in our +beds, and clean our windows, and wash and iron our clothes, and do all +sorts of things in the night." + +"Goodnessful, gracious me!" cried Mrs. Aleshine, "don't talk that way! +The idea of bein' a cold ghost, goin' about in the dark, is worse than +slidin' down a snow-mountain, even if you had to do it on the bare of +your back." + +"Barb'ry!" said Mrs. Lecks, severely. + +"The idea is jus' as chillin'," replied her undaunted friend. + +"Two things connected with this matter," continued Mr. Dusante, "weighed +heavily on my mind. One of these I have already mentioned—the cruel +inhospitality of the barred entrance." + +I had refrained from adding to the interruptions to Mr. Dusante's +narrative, but I now felt impelled to assure the gentleman, on behalf of +myself and wife, that we shared the opinions of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. +Aleshine, and felt that he could in no way be blamed for thus protecting +his private property. + +"You are very good," said Mr. Dusante, "but I will say here that there +are now no bars to that entrance. I have left some people on the island, +who will take care of my property and succor any unfortunate castaways +who may arrive there. The other matter to which I alluded was, however, +the heavier load which oppressed me. This was the money in the +ginger-jar. I could not endure to reflect that I had been paid actual +money for the hospitality I would have been so glad to offer to you poor +shipwrecked people. Every sentiment of my being rebelled against such a +thing. I was grieved. I was ashamed. At last I determined I would bear +no longer the ignominy of this brand of inhospitality, and that, with +the ginger-jar in my hand, I would search over the world, if necessary, +for the persons who in my absence had paid board to me, and return to +them the jar with its contents uncounted and untouched. Your letter +informed me of the island to which you were bound, and if I did not find +you there I could discover to what port you had taken your departure. +There I could make further inquiries, and so follow you. When I proposed +this plan to my family they agreed to it instantly, for their interest +in the matter was almost as great as mine; and in a day or two we +started on our quest. + +"I easily traced you to San Francisco, and found the hotel at which you +had stopped. Here I obtained fresh news of you, and learned that you +had started East, and that the destination of the party was believed to +be Philadelphia. I had hoped that I should meet with you before you left +California; but supposing that by that time you had reached your +destination, or were, at least, far on your way, I yielded to the +solicitations of my sister and made some excursions in California, +intending then to follow you to Philadelphia, and there to advertise for +Mr. Craig, if he could not otherwise be found. However, by the rarest +and most fortunate of chances, we have met thus early, and for this I +can never be too devoutly thankful." + +"Nor we," said I, earnestly; "for our greatly desired acquaintance with +you and your family could not have begun too soon." + +"Now," said Mr. Dusante, "I will perform the duty for which my journey +was undertaken, and I assure you it is a great pleasure to me to be able +so soon to carry out this cherished purpose." + +He then took up from the floor by his side the package which he had so +safely guarded during his swift and perilous descent of the +mountain-side, and which he had since kept close by him. Placing this +upon his knee, he removed the light shawl in which it had been rolled, +and then several pieces of wrapping-paper, revealing to our eyes the +familiar fat little ginger-jar which had stood on the mantelpiece of the +dining-room in the house on the island, and in which we had deposited +our board money. + +"It would be simply impossible for me," said Mr. Dusante, "to consent to +retain in my possession money paid for the aid which I involuntarily +rendered to shipwrecked people. Had I been present on the island, that +aid would have been most heartily and freely given, and the fact of my +absence makes no difference whatever in regard to my feelings on the +subject of your paying for the food and shelter you found at my house. +Having understood from Mr. Craig's letter that it was Mrs. Lecks who +superintended the collection and depositing of the money, I now return +to you, madam, this jar with its contents." + +"And which," said Mrs. Lecks, sitting up very rigidly, with her hands +clasped behind her, "I don't take. If it had been a day and a night, or +even two nights and over a Sunday, it wouldn't have mattered; but when +me and Mrs. Aleshine—and the rest of the party can speak for +themselves—stays for weeks and weeks, without leave or license, in a +man's house, we pay our board—of course deductin' services. Good +night." + +[Illustration: "REVEALING THE FAMILIAR FAT LITTLE GINGER-JAR."] + +With that she arose, and walked, very erect, into the adjoining room. + +"It was all very well, Mr. Dusante," said Mrs. Aleshine, "for you to try +to carry out what you thought was right; but we have our ideas as to +what our duty is, an' you have your ideas as to what your duty is, an' +consciences is even." + +Having said this, she followed her friend. + +Mr. Dusante looked surprised and troubled, and he turned toward me. "My +dear sir," said I, "those two good women are very sensitive in regard to +right and justice, and I think it will be well not to press this subject +upon them. As for my wife and me, neither of us would consent to touch +money which was placed in that jar by Mrs. Lecks with the expectation +that no one but you or one of your family would take it out." + +"Very well, sir," said Mr. Dusante, replacing the wrapping-paper around +the jar; "I will drop the subject for the present. But you will allow me +to say, sir, that I also am very sensitive in regard to right and +justice." + +Early the next morning the man who had been sent to the railroad-station +came back, bringing news that a four-horse wagon would shortly be sent +for us, and also bearing a letter from Mr. Enderton to Ruth. In this +that gentleman informed his daughter that he was quite well, but that he +had suffered anxiety on account of her probable hardships in the +abandoned stage-coach. He had hoped, however, that the snow which had +precluded his return with assistance had fallen lightly in the elevated +position in which she had been left; and he had trusted also that Mr. +Craig had bethought himself to build a fire somewhere near the coach, +where his daughter might be warmed; and that the provisions, of which he +knew an ample quantity had been packed for the trip, had been properly +heated for her and given to her at suitable intervals. This anxiety, he +said, had added very much to his own mental disquietude occasioned by +the violent vituperations and unjust demands of the driver of the +stage-coach, who had seen fit to attack him with all manner of abuse, +and might even have resorted to personal violence had it not been for +the interference of by-standers and the locking of his room door. He was +now, however, much relieved by the departure of this driver, and by the +news that his daughter had reached a place of safety, which, of course, +he had supposed she would do, her detention having occurred on an +ordinary route of travel. + +While waiting for the arrival of the wagon, the adventures of Mrs. +Lecks, Mrs. Aleshine, and myself, as well as those of Ruth and her +father, from the time the one party left America and the other China, +were related at length to the Dusantes, who showed a deep interest in +every detail, and asked many questions. + +Mrs. Dusante, whose nervous equilibrium had been fully restored by her +night's rest, and who, although feeling a little stiff and bruised, now +declared herself quite well, proved to be a very pleasant lady of +fifty-five or thereabouts. She was of a quiet disposition, but her +speech and manner showed that in former years, at least, she had been a +woman of society, and I soon found out that she was much interested in +the study of character. This interest was principally shown in the +direction of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, whom she evidently looked +upon as most remarkable women. If any of her sentiments were those of +admiration, however, they were not returned in kind; Mrs. Lecks and +Mrs. Aleshine had but a small opinion of her. + +"There's mother-in-laws, and stepmothers, and real mothers, and +grandmothers, and sometimes great-grandmothers livin'," said Mrs. Lecks +to me, apart; "but though Mr. Dusante may be a well-meanin' man,—and I +don't doubt he is,—and wishin', I haven't the least reason to +disbelieve, to do his whole duty by his fellow-men, still I must say, +bein' brought up as I was, he hasn't any right to make a new kind of +mother. To be sure, a man can adopt children, but that isn't goin' +backward, like this is, which is ag'in' nat'ral law and gospel." + +"I expect," said Mrs. Aleshine, who was with us, "that them French has +got fashions that we don't know about, and thankful we ought to be that +we don't! I never had no patience with French heels an' French +arsenic-green beans; an' now, if there's to be adoptin' of mothers in +this country, the next thing will be gullotynes." + +"I don't see," said I, "why you look upon the Dusantes as French people. +They are just as much American as French." + +"Well," said Mrs. Lecks, "it's not for me and Mrs. Aleshine to set +ourselves up to judge other people. In our part of the country we don't +adopt mothers; but if they do it in France, or the Sandwich Islands, or +down East, I don't know that we ought to have anything to say." + +"He might as well have adopted a father at the same time," said Mrs. +Aleshine, "although, to be sure, he would 'a' had to been particular to +take one that was acquainted with Mrs. Dusante, and not had 'em +strangers to each other, though parents to him." + +"If I was you, Barb'ry Aleshine," said Mrs. Lecks, "I'd adopt some sort +of rag to the top of my head to serve for a bonnet; for here comes the +wagon, and I suppose now we'll be off." + +We took leave of the kind-hearted ranch people, who looked upon us as a +godsend into their lonely life, and disposed ourselves as comfortably as +we could in the large wagon. Our journey of seven or eight miles to the +railroad-station was slow, and over ways that were rough. Mrs. Dusante +was a delicate woman and not used to hardship, whereas Mrs. Lecks and +Mrs. Aleshine were exceedingly vigorous and tough. The consequence of +this difference was that the kindly hearts of the latter prompted them +to do everything they could to prevent Mrs. Dusante feeling the bumps +and jolts, and to give her such advantages of wraps and position as +would help her to bear better the fatigues of the journey. + +In doing this these good women gradually forgot the adopted mother, and +came to think only of the very pleasant lady who needed their +attentions, and who took such a lively and agreeable interest in their +family histories, their homes, their manner of living, and everything +that pertained to them; and before we reached the end of our trip these +three were talking together like old friends. Ruth and Miss Lucille had +also struck up a warm acquaintance, while I found Mr. Dusante a very +entertaining man—of sedate and careful speech, ingenious ideas, and of +a very courteous disposition. + +When we arrived at the railroad-station we were met by Mr. Enderton, who +showed a moderate degree of pleasure at seeing us, and an immoderate +amount of annoyance, exhibited principally to me, in being obliged to +give up to the women of our party the large room he had occupied in the +only lodging-house in the little settlement. + +[Illustration: "RUTH AND MISS LUCILLE STRUCK UP A WARM ACQUAINTANCE."] + +When I informed him that the strangers with us were the Dusantes, on +whose island we had been staying, he at first listened vaguely. He had +always looked upon the Dusante family as a sort of fable used by Mrs. +Lecks to countenance her exactions of money from the unfortunate +sojourners on the island. But when I told him what Mr. Dusante had done, +and related how he had brought the board money with him, and had offered +to pay it back to us, an eager interest was aroused in him. + +"I do not wonder," he exclaimed, "that the conscience-stricken man +wishes to give the money back, but that any one should refuse what +actually belongs to him or her is beyond my comprehension! One thing is +certain—I shall receive my portion. Fifteen dollars a week for my +daughter and myself that woman charged me, and I will have it back." + +"My dear sir," I said, "your board was reduced to the same sum as that +paid by the rest of us—four dollars a week each." + +"I call to mind no reduction," said Mr. Enderton. "I remember distinctly +the exorbitant sum charged me for board on a desert island. It made a +deep impression upon me." + +"I do not care to talk any further on this subject," I said. "You must +settle it with Mrs. Lecks." + +Mr. Enderton gave a great sniff, and walked away with dignity. I could +not but laugh as I imagined his condition two minutes after he had +stated his opinions on this subject to Mrs. Lecks. + +When Mr. Dusante had started from San Francisco on his search for us, he +had sent his heavy baggage ahead of him to Ogden City, where he purposed +to make his first stop. He supposed that we might possibly here diverge +from our homeward-bound route in order to visit the Mormon metropolis; +and, if we had done so, he did not wish to pass us. It was therefore now +agreed that we should all go to Ogden City, and there await the arrival +of our effects left in the snowed-up vehicles on the mountain-side. We +made arrangements with the station-master that these should be forwarded +to us as soon as the stage-coach and the carriage could be brought down. +All the baggage of my party was on the coach, and it consisted only of a +few valises bought in San Francisco, and a package containing two +life-preservers, which Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine said they would +take home with them, if they took nothing else. + +On the morning after our arrival at Ogden City, Mr. Dusante took me +aside. "Sir," he said, "I wish to confide to you my intentions regarding +the jar containing the money left by your party in my house, and I trust +you will do nothing to thwart them. When your baggage arrives, you, with +your party, will doubtless continue your eastern way, and we shall +return to San Francisco. But the jar, with its contents, shall be left +behind to be delivered to Mrs. Lecks. If you will take charge of the +jar, and hand it to her, sir, I shall be obliged greatly." + +I promised Mr. Dusante that I would not interfere with his intentions, +but asserted that I could, on no account, take charge of the jar. The +possession of that piece of pottery, with its contents, was now a matter +of dispute between him and Mrs. Lecks, and must be settled by them. + +"Very well, then, sir," he said. "I shall arrange to depart before you +and your company, and I shall leave the jar, suitably packed, in the +care of the clerk of this hotel, with directions to hand it to Mrs. +Lecks after I am gone. Thus there will be nothing for her to do but to +receive it." + +Some one now came into the smoking-room, where we were sitting, and no +more was said on this subject. Mr. Dusante's statement of his intention +very much amused me, for Mrs. Lecks had previously taken me into her +confidence in regard to her intentions in this matter. "Mr. Dusante," +she had said, "hasn't dropped a word more about the money in that +ginger-jar, but I know just as well as he does what he's goin' to do +about it. When the time comes to go, he's goin' to slip off quietly, +leavin' that jar behind him, thinkin' then I'll be obliged to take it, +there bein' nobody to give it back to. But he'll find me just as sharp +as he is. I've got the street and number of his business place in +Honolulu from his sister,—askin' about it in an offhand way, as if it +didn't mean anything,—an' if that jar is left for me, I'll pack it in a +box, money and all, and I'll express it to Mr. Dusante; and when he gets +to Honolulu he'll find it there, and then he'll know that two can play +at that sort of game." + +Knowing Mr. Dusante, and knowing Mrs. Lecks, I pictured to myself a box +containing a ginger-jar, and covered with numerous half-obliterated +addresses, traveling backward and forward between the Sandwich Islands +and Pennsylvania during the lifetime of the contestants, and, probably, +if testamentary desires should be regarded, during a great part of the +lifetime of their heirs. That the wear and tear of the box might make it +necessary to inclose it in a keg, and that, eventually, the keg might +have to be placed in a barrel, and that, after a time, in a hogshead, +seemed to me as likely as any other contingencies which might befall +this peregrinating ginger-jar. + +We spent three days in Ogden City, and then, the weather having +moderated very much, and the snow on the mountains having melted +sufficiently to allow the vehicles to be brought down, our effects were +forwarded to us, and my party and that of Mr. Dusante prepared to +proceed on our different ways. An eastward-bound train left that +evening an hour after we received our baggage, but we did not care to +depart upon such short notice, and so determined to remain until the +next day. + +In the evening Mr. Dusante came to me to say that he was very glad to +find that the westward train would leave Ogden City early in the +morning, so that he and his family would start on their journey some +hours before we should leave. "This suits my plans exactly," he said. "I +have left the ginger-jar, securely wrapped, and addressed to Mrs. Lecks, +with the clerk of the hotel, who will deliver it to-morrow immediately +after my departure. All our preparations are made, and we purpose this +evening to bid farewell to you and our other kind friends, from whom, I +assure you, we are most deeply grieved to part." + +I had just replied that we also regretted extremely the necessity for +this separation, when a boy brought me a letter. I opened it, and found +it was from Mr. Enderton. It read as follows: + + DEAR SIR: I have determined not to wait here until to-morrow, + but to proceed eastward by this evening's train. I desire to + spend a day in Chicago, and as you and the others will probably + not wish to stop there, I shall, by this means, attain my + object without detaining you. My sudden resolution will not + give me time to see you all before I start, but I have taken a + hurried leave of my daughter, and this letter will explain + my departure to the rest. + + I will also mention that I have thought it proper, as the + natural head of our party both by age and position, to settle + the amicable dispute in regard to the reception and disposition + of the money paid, under an excusable misapprehension, for our + board and lodging upon a desert island. I discovered that the + receptacle of this money had been left in the custody of the + clerk, addressed to Mrs. Lecks, who has not only already + refused to receive it, and would probably do so again, but who + is, in my opinion, in no wise entitled to hold, possess, or + dispose of it. I therefore, without making any disturbance + whatever, have taken charge of the package, and shall convey it + with me to Chicago. When you arrive there, I will apportion the + contents among us according to our several claims. This I + regard as a very sensible and prudent solution of the little + difficulty which has confronted us in regard to the disposition + of this money. Yours hurriedly, + + DAVID J. ENDERTON. + + P.S. I shall stop at Brandiger's Hotel, where I shall await + you. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PART VI + +[Illustration] + + +Mr. Enderton's letter astonished and angered me, but in spite of my +indignation, I could not help smiling at the unexpected way in which he +had put a stop to the probable perpetual peregrinations of the +ginger-jar. I handed the letter to Mr. Dusante, and when he had read it +his face flushed, and I could see that he was very angry, although he +kept his temper under excellent control. + +"Sir," he said presently, "this shall not be allowed. That jar, with its +contents, is my property until Mrs. Lecks has consented to receive it. +It is of my own option that I return it at all, and I have decided to +return it to Mrs. Lecks. Any one interfering with my intentions steps +entirely beyond the line of just and warrantable procedure. Sir, I shall +not go westward to-morrow morning, but, with my family, will accompany +you to Chicago, where I shall require Mr. Enderton to return to me my +property, which I shall then dispose of as I see fit. You must excuse +me, sir, if anything I have said regarding this gentleman with whom you +are connected has wounded your sensibilities." + +"Oh, don't think of that," I exclaimed. "Pitch into Enderton as much as +you please, and you may be sure that I shall not object. When I took the +daughter to wife, I did not marry the father. But, of course, for my +wife's sake I hope this matter will not be made the subject of public +comment." + +"You need have no fear of that," said Mr. Dusante; "and you will allow +me to remark that Mr. Enderton's wife must have been a most charming +lady." + +"Why do you think so?" I asked. + +"I judge so," he answered, with a bow, "from my acquaintance with Mrs. +Craig." + +I now went immediately to Ruth, who, I found, knew nothing of what had +occurred, except that her father had gone on to Chicago in advance of +our party, and had had time only to bid her a hasty good-by. I made no +remarks on this haste, which would not allow Mr. Enderton to take leave +of us, but which gave him time to write a letter of some length; and as +Ruth knew nothing of this letter, I determined not to mention it to her. +Her father's sudden departure surprised her but little, for she told me +that he always liked to get to places before the rest of the party with +whom he might be journeying. + +"Even when we go to church," she said, "he always walks ahead of the +rest of us. I don't understand why he likes to do so, but this is one of +his habits." + +When I informed Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine of what had happened, they +fairly blazed. + +"I don't know what Mr. Dusante calls it," exclaimed Mrs. Lecks, "but I +know what I call it." + +"Yes, indeed!" cried Mrs. Aleshine, her round eyes sparkling with +excitement; "if that isn't ex-honesty, then he ain't no ex-missionary! I +pity the heathen he converted!" + +"I'll convert him," said Mrs. Lecks, "if ever I lay eyes on him! Walkin' +away with a package with my name on it! He might as well take my gold +spectacles or my tortoise-shell comb!, I suppose there's no such thing +as ketchin' up with him, but I'll telegraph after him; an' I'll let him +know that if he dares to open a package of mine, I'll put the law on +him!" + +"That's so," said Mrs. Aleshine. "You kin send telegraphs all along the +line to one station an' another for conductors to give to him in the +cars, an' directed to Mr. Enderton, a tall man with gray-mixed hair an' +a stolen bundle. That's the way they did in our place when Abram Marly's +wife fell into the cistern, an' he'd jus' took the cars to the city, an' +they telegraphed to him at five different stations to know where he'd +left the ladder." + +"Which ain't a bad idea," said Mrs. Lecks, "though his name will be +enough on it without no description; an' I'll do that this minute, an' +find out about the stations from the clerk." + +"You must be very careful," I said, "about anything of that kind, for +the telegrams will be read at the stations, and Mr. Enderton might be +brought into trouble in a way which we all should regret; but a +despatch may be worded so that he, and no one else, would understand +it." + +"Very well," said Mrs. Lecks, "an' let's get at it; but I must say that +he don't deserve bein' saved no trouble, for I'm as sure as that I'm a +livin' woman that he never saved nobody else no trouble sence the first +minute he was born." + +The following despatch was concocted and sent on to Bridger, to be +delivered to Mr. Enderton on the train: + + The package you know of has been stolen. You will recognize the + thief. If he leaves it at Chicago hotel, let him go. If he + opens it, clap him in jail. + + MRS. LECKS. + +"I think that will make him keep his fingers off it," said Mrs. Lecks; +"an' if Mr. Dusante chooses to send somethin' of the same kind to some +other station, it won't do no harm. An' if that Enderton gets so skeered +that he keeps out of sight and hearin' of all of us, it'll be the best +thing that's happened yet. An' I want you to understan', Mr. Craig, that +nothin' 's goin' to be said or done to make your wife feel bad; an' +there's no need of her hearin' about what's been done or what's goin' to +be done. But I'll say for her that though, of course, Mr. Enderton is +her father, and she looks up to him as such, she's a mighty deal +livelier and gayer-hearted when he's away than when he's with her. An' +as for the rest of us, there's no use sayin' anything about our +resignedness to the loss of his company." + +"I should say so," said Mrs. Aleshine; "for if there ever was a man who +thought of himself ninety-nine times before he thought of anybody else +once, an' then as like as not to forgit that once, he's the man. An' +it's not, by no means, that I'm down on missionaries, for it's many a +box I've made up for 'em, an' never begrudged neither money nor trouble, +an' will do it ag'in many times, I hope. But he oughtn't to be called +one, havin' given it up,—unless they gave him up, which there's no +knowin' which it was,—for if there's anything which shows the good in a +man, it's his bein' willin' to give up the comforts of a Christian land +an' go an' convert heathens; though bein' willin' to give up the +heathens an' go for the comforts shows him quite different, besides, as +like as not, chargin' double, an' only half convertin'." + +Mr. Dusante was fully determined to go on with us until he had recovered +possession of the ginger-jar. His courteous feelings toward Mrs. Craig +and myself prevented his saying much about Mr. Enderton, but I had good +reason to believe that his opinions in regard to my father-in-law were +not very different from those of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. Ever +since Mr. Enderton had shown his petulant selfishness, when obliged to +give up his room at the railroad-station for the use of the women of his +party, Mr. Dusante had looked upon him coldly, and the two had had but +little to say to each other. + +We were all very glad that our pleasant party was not to be broken up; +and although there was no resignation at the absence of the ginger-jar, +we started on our journey the next day in a pleasanter mood for the +absence of Mr. Enderton. Before we left, Mr. Dusante sent a telegram to +Kearney Junction, to be delivered to Mr. Enderton when he arrived +there. What this message was I do not know, but I imagine its tone was +decided. + +Our journey to Chicago was a pleasant one. We had now all become very +well acquainted with each other, and there was no discordant element in +the combined party. Some of us were a little apprehensive of trouble, or +annoyance at least, awaiting us in Chicago, but we did not speak of it; +and while Ruth knew nothing of her father's misbehavior, it might have +been supposed that the rest had forgotten it. + +At Chicago we went at once to Brandiger's Hotel, and there we found, +instead of Mr. Enderton, a letter from him to Ruth. It read as follows: + + MY DEAR DAUGHTER: I have determined not to wait here, as + originally intended, but to go on by myself. I am sorry not to + meet you here, but it will not be long before we are together + again, and you know I do not like to travel with a party. Its + various members always incommode me in one way or another. I + had proposed to go to Philadelphia and wait for you there, but + have since concluded to stop at Meadowville, a village in the + interior of Pennsylvania, where, as they have informed me, the + two women, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, reside. I wish to see + the party all together before I take final leave of them, and I + suppose the two women will not consent to go any farther than + the country town in which they live. Inclosed is a note to your + husband relating to business matters. I hope that he will take + the best of care of you during the rest of the journey, and + thus very much oblige + + YOUR AFFECTIONATE FATHER. + +This was my note: + + MR. CRAIG. SIR: I should have supposed that you would have been + able to prevent the insolent messages which have been + telegraphed to me from some members of your party, but it is + my lot to be disappointed in those in whom I trust. I shall + make no answer to these messages, but will say to you that I am + not to be browbeaten in my intention to divide among its + rightful claimants the money now in my possession. It is not + that I care for the comparatively paltry sum that will fall to + myself and my daughter, but it is the principle of the matter + for which I am contending. It was due to me that the amount + should have been returned to me, and to no other, that I might + make the proper division. I therefore rest upon my principles + and my rights; and, desiring to avoid needless altercations, + shall proceed to Meadowville, where, when the rest of my party + arrive, I shall justly apportion the money. I suppose the man + Dusante will not be foolish enough to protract his useless + journey farther than Chicago. It is your duty to make him see + the impropriety of so doing. Yours, etc., + + D. J. ENDERTON. + +Ruth's letter was shown to all the party, and mine in private to Mr. +Dusante, Mrs. Lecks, and Mrs. Aleshine. When the first moments of +astonishment were over, Mrs. Lecks exclaimed: + +"Well, after all, I don't know that I'm so very sorry that the old sneak +has done this, for now we're rid of him for the rest of the trip; and +I'm pretty certain, from the way he writes, that he hasn't dipped into +that jar yet. We've skeered him from doin' that." + +"But the impidence of him!" said Mrs. Aleshine. "Think of his goin' to +the very town where we live an' gittin' there fust! He'll be settin' on +that tavern porch, with every loafer in the place about him, an' tellin' +'em the whole story of what happened to us from beginnin' to end, till +by the time we git there it'll be all over the place an' as stale as +last week's bread." + +"'The man Dusante,'" quietly remarked that individual, "will not +abandon the purpose of his journey. He left his island to place in the +hands of Mrs. Lecks, on behalf of her party, the ginger-jar with the +money inclosed. He will therefore go on with you to Meadowville, and +will there make formal demand, and, if necessary, legal requisition, for +the possession of that jar and that money; after which he will proceed +to carry out his original intentions." + +[Illustration: "'THE IMPIDENCE OF HIM!'"] + +We all expressed our pleasure at having him, with his ladies, as +companions for the remainder of our journey, and Mrs. Lecks immediately +offered them the hospitalities of her house for as long a time as they +might wish to stay with her. + +"The weather there," she said, "is often splendid till past Thanksgivin' +day, an' nobody could be welcomer than you." + +"I'd have asked you myself," said Mrs. Aleshine, "if Mrs. Lecks hadn't +done it,—which of course she would, bein' alive,—but I'm goin' to have +Mr. Craig an' his wife, an' as our houses is near, we'll see each other +all the time. An' if Mr. Enderton chooses to stay awhile at the tavern, +he can come over to see his daughter whenever he likes. I'll go as fur +as that, though no further can I go. I'm not the one to turn anybody +from my door, be he heathen, or jus' as bad, or wuss. But tea once, or +perhaps twice, is all that I can find it in my heart to offer that man +after what he's done." + +As the Dusantes and Ruth expressed a desire to see something of Chicago, +where they had never been before, we remained in this city for two days, +feeling that, as Mr. Enderton would await our coming, there was no +necessity for haste. + +Early in the afternoon of the second day I went into the parlor of the +hotel, where I expected to find our party prepared for a sight-seeing +excursion; but I found the room tenanted only by Mrs. Aleshine, who was +sitting with her bonnet and wraps on, ready to start forth. I had said +but a few words to her when Mrs. Lecks entered, without bonnet or shawl, +and with her knitting in her hand. She took a seat in a large +easy-chair, put on her spectacles, and proceeded to knit. + +"Mrs. Lecks!" exclaimed her friend, in surprise, "don't you intend goin' +out this afternoon?" + +"No," said Mrs. Lecks. "I've seen all I want to see, an' I'm goin' to +stay in the house an' keep quiet." + +"Isn't Mr. Dusante goin' out this afternoon?" asked Mrs. Aleshine. + +Mrs. Lecks laid her knitting in her lap; then she took off her +spectacles, folded them, and placed them beside the ball of yarn, and, +turning her chair around, she faced her friend. "Barb'ry Aleshine," said +she, speaking very deliberately, "has any such a thing got into your +mind as that I'm settin' my cap at Mr. Dusante?" + +"I don't say you have, an' I don't say you haven't," answered Mrs. +Aleshine, her fat hands folded on her knees, and her round face shining +from under her new bonnet with an expression of hearty good will; "but +this I will say,—an' I don't care who hears it,—that if you was to set +your cap at Mr. Dusante, there needn't nobody say anythin' ag'in' it, so +long as you are content. He isn't what I'd choose for you, if I had the +choosin', for I'd git one with an American name an' no islands. But +that's neither here nor there, for you're a grown woman an' can do your +own choosin'. An' whether there's any choosin' to be done is your own +business, too, for it's full eleven years sence you've been done with +widder fixin's; an' if Mr. Lecks was to rise up out of his grave this +minute, he couldn't put his hand on his heart an' say that you hadn't +done your full duty by him, both before an' after he was laid away. An' +so, if you did want to do choosin', an' made up your mind to set your +cap at Mr. Dusante, there's no word to be said. Both of you is ripe-aged +an' qualified to know your own minds, an' both of you is well off +enough, to all intents an' purposes, to settle down together, if so +inclined. An' as to his sister, I don't expect she will be on his hands +for long. An' if you can put up with an adopted mother-in-law, that's +your business, not mine; though I allus did say, Mrs. Lecks, that if +you'd been 'Piscopalian, you'd been Low-church." + +"Is that all?" said Mrs. Lecks. + +"Yes," replied the other; "it's all I have to say jus' now, though more +might come to me if I gave my mind to it." + +"Well, then," said Mrs. Lecks, "I've somethin' to say on this p'int, and +I'm very glad Mr. Craig is here to hear it. If I had a feelin' in the +direction of Mr. Dusante that he was a man, though not exactly what I +might wish, havin' somethin' of foreign manners, with ties in the +Sandwich Islands, which I shouldn't have had so if I'd had the orderin' +of it, who was still a Christian gentleman,—as showed by his acts, not +his words,—a lovin' brother, an' a kind an' attentive son by his own +adoption, and who would make me a good husband for the rest of our two +lives, then I'd go and I'd set my cap at him—not bold nor flauntin' nor +unbecomin' to a woman of my age, but just so much settin' of it at him +that if he had any feelin's in my direction, and thought, although it +was rather late in life for him to make a change, that if he was goin' +to do it he'd rather make that change with a woman who had age enough, +and experience enough, in downs as well as ups, and in married life as +well as single, to make him feel that as he got her so he'd always find +her, then I say all he'd have to do would be to come to me an' say what +he thought, an' I'd say what I thought, an' the thing would be settled, +an' nobody in this world need have one word to say, except to wish us +joy, an' then go along and attend to their own business. + +"But now I say to you, Barb'ry Aleshine, an' just the same to you, Mr. +Craig, that I haven't got no such feelin's in the direction of Mr. +Dusante, an' I don't intend to set my cap at him; an' if he wore such a +thing, and set it at me, I'd say to him, kind, though firm, that he +could put it straight again as far as I was concerned, an' that if he +chose to set it at any other woman, if the nearest an' dearest friend I +have on earth, I'd do what I could to make their married lives as happy +as they could be under the circumstances, and no matter what happened, I +wouldn't say one word, though I might think what I pleased. An' now you +have it, all straight and plain: if I wanted to set caps, I'd set 'em; +and if I didn't want to set 'em, I wouldn't. I don't want to, and I +don't." + +And, putting on her spectacles, she resumed her knitting. + +Mrs. Aleshine turned upon her friend a beaming face. + +"Mrs. Lecks," she said, "your words has lifted a load from off my mind. +It wouldn't ha' broke me down, an' you wouldn't never have knowed I +carried it; but it's gone, an' I'm mighty glad of it. An' as for me an' +my cap,—an' when you spoke of nearest and dearest friends you couldn't +mean nobody but me,—you needn't be afraid. No matter what I was, nor +what he was, nor what I thought of him, nor what he thought of me, I +couldn't never say to my son, when he comes to his mother's arms all the +way from Japan: 'George, here's a Frenchman who I give to you for a +father!'" + +Here I burst out laughing; but Mrs. Lecks gravely remarked: "Now I hope +this business of cap-settin' is settled an' done with." + +"Which it is," said Mrs. Aleshine, as she rose to meet the rest of our +party as they entered the room. + +For several days I could not look upon the dignified and almost courtly +Mr. Dusante without laughing internally, and wondering what he would +think if he knew how, without the slightest provocation on his side, a +matrimonial connection with him had been discussed by these good women, +and how the matter had been finally settled. I think he would have +considered this the most surprising incident in the whole series of his +adventures. + +On our journey from Chicago to the little country town in the interior +of Pennsylvania we made a few stops at points of interest for the sake +of Ruth and the Dusante ladies, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine generously +consenting to these delays, although I knew they felt impatient to reach +their homes. They were now on most social terms with Mrs. Dusante, and +the three chatted together like old friends. + +"I asked her if we might call her Emily," said Mrs. Aleshine in +confidence to me, "an' she said yes, an' we're goin' to do it. I've all +along wanted to, because it seemed to come nat'ral, considerin' we +knowed 'em as Emily and Lucille before we set eyes on 'em. But as long +as I had that load on my mind about Mrs. Lecks and Mr. Dusante I +couldn't 'Emily' his adopted mother. My feelin's wouldn't ha' stood it. +But now it's all right; an' though Emily isn't the woman I expected her +to be, Lucille is the very picter of what I thought she was. And as for +Emily, I never knowed a nicer-mannered lady, an' more willin' to learn +from people that's had experience, than she is." + +We arrived at Meadowville early in the afternoon, and when our party +alighted from the train we were surprised not to see Mr. Enderton on the +platform of the little station. Instead of him, there stood three +persons whose appearance amazed and delighted us. They were the +red-bearded coxswain and the two sailormen, all in neat new clothes, and +with their hands raised in maritime salute. + +There was a cry of joy. Mrs. Aleshine dropped her bag and umbrella, and +rushed toward them with outstretched hands. In a moment Mrs. Lecks, +Ruth, and myself joined the group, and greeted warmly our nautical +companions of the island. + +The Dusante party, when they were made acquainted with the mariners, +were almost as much delighted as we were, and Mr. Dusante expressed in +cordial words his pleasure in meeting the other members of the party to +whom his island had given refuge. + +"I am so glad to see you," said Mrs. Aleshine, "that I don't know my +bonnet from my shoes! But how, in the name of all that's wonderful, did +you get here?" + +"'T ain't much of a story," said the coxswain, "an' this is just the +whole of it. When you left us at 'Frisco we felt pretty downsome, an' +the more that way because we couldn't find no vessel that we cared to +ship on; an' then there come to town the agent of the house that owned +our brig, and we was paid off for our last v'yage. Then, when we had +fitted ourselves out with new togs, we began to think different about +this shippin' on board a merchant-vessel, an' gettin' cussed at, an' +livin' on hard-tack an' salt prog, an' jus' as like as not the ship +springin' a leak an' all hands pumpin' night an' day, an' goin' to Davy +Jones, after all. An' after talkin' this all over, we was struck hard on +the weather-bow with a feelin' that it was a blamed sight +better—beggin' your pardon, ma'am—to dig garden-beds in nice soft +dirt, an' plant peas, an' ketch fish, an' all that kind of shore work, +an' eatin' them good things you used to cook for us, Mrs. Aleshine, and +dancin' hornpipes for ye, and tamin' birds when our watch was off. +Wasn't that so, Jim an' Bill?" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" said the black-bearded sailormen. + +"Then says I, 'Now look here, mates; don't let's go and lark away all +this money, but take it an' make a land trip to where Mrs. Aleshine +lives'—which port I had the name of on a piece of paper which you gave +me, ma'am." + +And here Mrs. Aleshine nodded vigorously, not being willing to interrupt +this entrancing story. + +"'An' if she's got another garden, an' wants it dug in, an' things +planted, an' fish caught, an' any other kind of shore work done, why, +we're the men for her; an' we'll sign the papers for as long a v'yage as +she likes, and stick by her in fair weather or foul, bein' good for day +work an' night work, an' allus ready to fall in when she passes the +word.' Ain't that so, Jim an' Bill?" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" returned the sailormen, with sonorous earnestness. + +"Upon my word!" cried Mrs. Aleshine, tears of joy running down her +cheeks, "them papers shall be signed, if I have to work night an' day to +find somethin' for you to do. I've got a man takin' keer of my place +now; but many a time have I said to myself that if I had anybody I could +trust to do the work right, I'd buy them two fields of Squire Ramsey's, +an' go into the onion business. An' now you sailormen has come like +three sea angels, an' if it suits you we'll go into the onion business +on sheers." + +"That suits us tiptop, ma'am," said the coxswain; "an' we'll plant +inyans for ye on the shears, on the stocks, or in the dry-dock. It don't +make no dif'rence to us where you have 'em; just pass the word." + +"Well, well," said Mrs. Lecks, "I don't know how that's goin' to work, +but we won't talk about it now. An' so you came straight on to this +place?" + +"That did we, ma'am," said the coxswain. "An' when we got here we found +the parson, but none of you folks. That took us aback a little at fust, +but he said he didn't live here, an' you was comin' pretty soon. An' so +we took lodgin's at the tavern, an' for three days we've been down here +to meet every train, expectin' you might be on it." + +Our baggage had been put on the platform, the train had moved on, and we +had stood engrossed in the coxswain's narrative; but now I thought it +necessary to make a move. There was but one small vehicle to hire at the +station. This would hold but two persons, and in it I placed Mrs. +Dusante and Ruth, the first being not accustomed to walking, and the +latter very anxious to meet her father. I ordered the man to drive them +to the inn, where we would stay until Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine' +should get their houses properly aired and ready for our reception. + +"Mrs. Craig will be glad to get to the tavern and see her father," said +Mrs. Aleshine. "I expect he forgot all about its bein' time for the +train to come." + +"Bless you, ma'am!" exclaimed the coxswain, "is she gone to the tavern? +The parson's not there!" + +"Where is he, then?" asked Mrs. Aleshine. + +"He's at your house, ma'am," replied the coxswain. + +"An' what, in the name of common sense, is he doin' at my house?" +exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, her eyes sparkling with amazement and +indignation. + +"Well, ma'am, for one thing," said the coxswain, "he's had the front +door painted." + +"What!" cried Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, in one breath. + +"Yes," continued the coxswain; "the parson said he hated to see men +hangin' around doin' nothin'. An' then he looked about, an' said the +paint was all wore off the front door, an' we might as well go to work +an' paint that; an' he sent Jim to a shop to git the paint an' +brushes—" + +"An' have 'em charged to me?" cried Mrs. Aleshine. + +"Yes, ma'am," continued the coxswain. "An' Jim an' Bill holystoned all +the old paint off the door, an' I painted it, havin' done lots of that +sort of thing on shipboard; an' I think it's a pretty good job, +ma'am—red at top and bottom, an' white in the middle, like a steamer's +smoke-stack." + +Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine looked at each other. "An' he told you to +do that?" said Mrs. Lecks. + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the coxswain. "The parson said he never liked to +be nowhere without doin' what good he could. An' there was some other +paintin' he talked of havin' done, but we ain't got at it yet. I s'posed +he was actin' under your orders, an' I hope I haven't done no wrong, +ma'am." + +"You're not a bit to blame," said Mrs. Aleshine; "but I'll look into +this thing. No fear about that! An' how did he come to go to my house? +An' how did he get in, I'd like to know?" + +"All I know about that," said the coxswain, "is what the gal that's +livin' there told me, which she did along of askin' us if we was comin' +to live there too, an' if she should rig up beds for us somewhere in the +top-loft; but we told her no, not havin' no orders, an' payin' our own +way at the tavern. She said, said she, that the parson come there, an' +'lowed he was a friend of Mrs. Aleshine's an' travelin' with her, an' +that if she was at home she wouldn't let him stay at no tavern; an' +that, knowin' her wishes, he'd come right there, an' 'spected to be took +care of till she come. She said she felt uncertain about it, but she +tuck him in till she could think it over, an' then we come an' certified +that he was the parson who'd been along with Mrs. Aleshine an' the rest +of us. Arter that she thought it was all right, an', beggin' your pardon +if we was wrong, so did Jim an' Bill an' me, ma'am." + +"Now," exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, "if that isn't exactly like Elizabeth +Grootenheimer! To think of Elizabeth Grootenheimer thinkin'! The +Grootenheimers always was the dumbest family in the township, an' +Elizabeth Grootenheimer is the dumbest of 'em all! I did say to myself, +when I went away: 'Now, Elizabeth Grootenheimer is so stone dumb that +she'll jus' stay here an' do the little I tell her to do, an' hasn't +sense enough to get into no mischief.' An' now, look at her!" + +[Illustration] + +She waved her hand in the direction of the invisible Elizabeth +Grootenheimer. + +Mrs. Lecks had said very little during this startling communication, but +her face had assumed a stern and determined expression. Now she spoke: + +"I guess we've heard about enough, an' we'd better be steppin' along an' +see what else Mr. Enderton an' Elizabeth Grootenheimer is doin'." + +The homes of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine were not far from each other, +and were situated about midway between the station and the village inn, +and in the direction of these our party now started. Mrs. Aleshine, +contrary to her custom, took the lead, and walked away with strides of +unusual length. Mrs. Lecks was close behind her, followed by the two +Dusantes and myself, while the three mariners, who insisted upon +carrying all the hand-baggage, brought up the rear. We stepped quickly, +for we were all much interested in what might happen next; and very soon +we reached Mrs. Aleshine's house. It was a good-sized and +pleasant-looking dwelling, painted white, with green shutters, and with +a long covered piazza at the front. Between the road and the house was a +neat yard with grass and flower-beds, and from the gate of the +picket-fence in front of the yard a brick-paved path led up to the +house. + +Our approach had been perceived, for on the piazza, in front of the +gaily painted door, stood Mr. Enderton, erect, and with a bland and +benignant smile upon his face. One hand was stretched out as if in +welcome, and with the other he gracefully held the ginger-jar, now +divested of its wrappings. + +At this sight Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine made a simultaneous dash at +the gate; but it was locked. The two women stamped their feet in fury. + +"Put down that jar!" shouted Mrs. Lecks. + +"Elizabeth Grootenheimer! Elizabeth Grootenheimer!" screamed Mrs. +Aleshine. "Come here and open this gate." + +"Break it down!" said Mrs. Lecks, turning to the sailors. + +"Don't you do it!" exclaimed Mrs. Aleshine, throwing herself in front of +it. "Don't you break my gate! Elizabeth Grootenheimer!" + +"My friends," said Mr. Enderton, in clear, distinct tones, "be calm. I +have the key of that gate in my pocket. I locked it because I feared +that on your first arrival you would hurry up to the house in a +promiscuous way, and give heed to irrelevant matters. I wished to +address you in a body, and in a position where your attention would not +be diverted from me. I hold here, my friends, the receptacle containing +the money which, under a misapprehension, was paid for our board while +on a desert island. This money I have taken care of, and have carefully +guarded for the benefit of us all. Unfortunately, objections have arisen +to this guardianship, which were forwarded to me by telegraph; but I +have not heeded them. If you cannot see for yourselves the propriety of +my assumption of this trust, I will not now undertake to enlighten you. +But I hope there is no necessity for this, for, having had time to give +the matter your fullest attention, I doubt not that you entirely agree +with me. I will merely add, for I see you are impatient, that the sum +which will fall to the share of each of us is comparatively +insignificant and in itself not worth striving for; but what I have done +has been for the sake of principle. For the sake of principle I have +insisted that this money should be received by its rightful owners; for +the sake of principle I assumed the custody of it; and for the sake of +principle I shall now empty the contents of this jar—which by me has +not been examined or touched—upon the floor of this piazza, and I shall +then proceed to divide said contents into five suitable portions—the +three mariners, as I understand, having paid no board. The gate can then +be opened, and each one can come forward and take the portion which +belongs to him or to her. The portion of my daughter, whom I saw pass +here in a carriage, going, doubtless, to the inn, will be taken charge +of by myself." + +"You man!" shrieked Mrs. Lecks, shaking her fist over the fence, "if you +as much as lift that paper of fish-hooks from out the top of that +ginger-jar, I'll—" + +Here she was interrupted by the loud, clear voice of Mr. Dusante, who +called out: "Sir, I require you to put down that jar, which is my +property." + +"I'll let you know," said Mrs. Lecks, "that other people have +principles!" + +But what more she said was drowned by the voice of Mrs. Aleshine, who +screamed for Elizabeth Grootenheimer, and who was now so much excited +that she was actually trying to break open her own gate. + +I called out to Mr. Enderton not to make trouble by disturbing the +contents of the jar; and even Miss Lucille, who was intensely amused at +the scene, could be heard joining her voice to the general clamor. + +But the threats and demands of our united party had no effect upon Mr. +Enderton. He stood up, serene and bland, fully appreciating the +advantage of having the key of the gate's padlock in his pocket and the +ginger-jar in his hand. + +[Illustration: "'YOU MAN!' SHRIEKED MRS. LECKS."] + +"I will now proceed," said he. But at that moment his attention was +attracted by the three mariners, who had clambered over the pointed +pales of the fence, and who now appeared on the piazza, Bill to the +right hand of Mr. Enderton, Jim to the left, and the red-bearded +coxswain at his back. They all seemed to speak at once, though what they +said we could not hear, nothing but a few hoarse mutterings coming down +to us. + +But in consequence of what Bill said, Mr. Enderton handed him the key of +the gate; and in consequence of what Jim said, Mr. Enderton delivered to +him the ginger-jar; and in consequence of what the coxswain said, he and +Mr. Enderton walked off the piazza; and the two proceeded to a distant +corner of the yard, where they stood out of the way, as it were, while +the gate was opened. Bill bungled a little, but the padlock was soon +removed, and we all hurried through the gate and up to the piazza, where +Jim still stood, the ginger-jar held reverently in his hands. + +The coxswain now left Mr. Enderton, and that gentleman proceeded to the +open gate, through which he passed into the road, and then turned, and +in a loud and severe tone addressed Mrs. Aleshine: + +"I leave your inhospitable house, and go to join my daughter at the inn, +where I request you to send my valise and umbrella as soon as possible." + +Mrs. Aleshine's indignation at this invasion of her home and this +trampling on her right to open her own gate had entirely driven away her +accustomed geniality, and in angry tones she cried: + +"Jus' you stop at that paint-shop, when you git to the village, an' pay +for the paint you had charged to me; an' when you've done that you can +send for your things." + +"Come, now, Barb'ry," said Mrs. Lecks, "don't let your feelin's run away +with you. You ought to be thankful that he's let you off so easy, an' +that he's gone." + +"I'm all that," said Mrs. Aleshine; "an', on second thoughts, every +whip-stitch of his bag and baggage shall be trundled after him as soon +as I kin git it away." + +We all now stood upon the piazza, and Mrs. Aleshine, in calmer tones, +but with her face still flushed from her recent excitement, turned to us +and said: "Now, isn't this a pretty comin' home? My front gate fastened +in my very face; my front door painted red and white; the inside of the +house, as like as not, turned upside down by that man jus' as much as +the outside; an' where in the world, I'd like to know, is Elizabeth +Grootenheimer?" + +"Now don't you be too hard on her," said Mrs. Lecks, "after havin' been +away from her so long. I haven't a doubt she's feedin' the pigs; and you +know very well she never would leave them as long as she felt they +needed her. You needn't mind if your house is upset, for none of us is +comin' in, havin' only intended to see you to your door, which I must +say is a pretty blazin' one." + +"And now, Mrs. Lecks," said Mr. Dusante, taking, as he spoke, the +ginger-jar from the hand of Jim, "I think this is a suitable opportunity +for me to accomplish the object for which my present journey was +undertaken, and to return to you the contents of this jar." + +"Which," said Mrs. Lecks, in a very decided tone, "I don't take now no +more'n I did before." + +Mr. Dusante looked surprised and troubled. After all the dangers and +adventures through which that ginger-jar had gone, I believe that he +expected Mrs. Lecks would at last relent and consent to accept it from +him. + +"Now, look here," said Mrs. Aleshine, "don't let us have any more fuss +about the ginger-jar, or anything else. Let's put off talkin' about that +till we're all settled and fixed. It won't do for you to take the jar to +the tavern with you, Mr. Dusante, for like as not Mr. Enderton will git +hold of it ag'in, an' I know Mrs. Lecks won't let it come into her +house; so, if you like, you may jus' leave it here for the present, and +you may make up your minds nobody'll touch it while I'm about. An' about +I intend to be." + +This arrangement was gladly agreed upon, and the jar being delivered to +Mrs. Aleshine, we took our leave of her. + +Mrs. Lecks found no difficulty in entering her gate, where she was duly +welcomed by a man and his wife she had left in charge, while the +Dusantes and myself walked on to the inn, or "Hotel," as its sign +imported, about which the greater part of the little town clustered. The +three mariners remained behind to await further orders from Mrs. +Aleshine. + +By the afternoon of the next day the abodes of those two most energetic +and capable housewives, Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine, were fully +prepared for the reception of their visitors, and the Dusante family +were ensconced beneath the roof of the one, while my wife and I were +most warmly welcomed at the gaily adorned door of the other. + +Mr. Enderton remained at the inn, where he found very comfortable +quarters, an arrangement satisfactory to all parties. + +In Mrs. Aleshine's dwelling, where, from the very first, Lucille took +her position as a most constant visitor, being equally welcomed by Ruth +and the mistress of the house, all was satisfaction and high good humor. +The ceaseless activity and cheerful spirits of our hostess seemed to +animate us all. At Mrs. Lecks's home the case was different. There, I +could plainly see, there was a certain uneasiness amounting almost to +stiffness between Mrs. Lecks and Mr. Dusante. The latter had not +accomplished the purpose for which he had made this long journey; and +though, if things had turned out as he wished, he would have been very +glad to be the guest of Mrs. Lecks, still, under the present +circumstances, the situation did not suit him. Mrs. Lecks, too, +possessed an unsettled mind. She did not know when Mr. Dusante would +again endeavor to force back upon her the board money in the ginger-jar, +and in this state of uneasy expectancy she was not at her best. + +"He's not satisfied," said she to me, on the morning after the Dusantes +had come to her; "he wants to do somethin', or else to go away. I wish +that ginger-jar had dropped into the bottom of the sea while he was +bringin' it, or else had smashed itself into a thousand bits while he +was slidin' down the mountain, and the money had melted itself into the +snow. S'posin' at the end of the week he was to come to me and offer to +pay me board for himself and his family, sayin' that was no more than +I'd done to him! Of course the two cases are not a bit alike; for we +went to his house strangers, without leave or license, while he comes to +mine as a friend, bein' fully invited and pressed. But I don't suppose I +could make him see it in that light, and it worries me." + +I was convinced that something ought to be done to end this unpleasant +state of affairs, and I took my wife and Miss Lucille into council on +the subject. After we had deliberated a little while an idea came to +Ruth. + +"In my opinion," said she, "the best thing we can do with that board +money is to give it to those three sailors. They are poor and will be +glad to get it; Mr. Dusante and Mrs. Lecks ought to be fully satisfied, +for the one doesn't keep it and the other doesn't take it back; and I'm +sure that this plan will please all the rest of us." + +This proposition was agreed to by the council, and I was appointed to go +immediately and lay it before the parties interested. + +Mr. Dusante gave his ready consent to this proposal. "It is not what I +intended to do," said he, "but it amounts to almost the same thing. The +money is in fact restored to its owners, and they agree to make a +certain disposition of it. I am satisfied." + +Mrs. Lecks hesitated a little. "All right," said she. "He takes the +money and gives it to who he chooses. I've nothin' to say against it." + +Of course no opposition to the plan was to be expected from anybody +else, except Mr. Enderton. But when I mentioned it to him, I found, to +my surprise, that he was not unwilling to agree to it. Half closing the +book he had been reading, he said: "What I have done was on behalf of +principle. I did not believe, and do not believe, that upon an entirely +deserted island money should be paid for board. I paid it under protest, +and I do not withdraw that protest. According to all the laws of justice +and hospitality, the man who owned that island should not retain that +money, and Mrs. Lecks had no right to insist upon such retention. But if +it is proposed to give the sum total to three mariners who paid no +board, and to whom the gift is an absolute charity, I am content. To be +sure, they interfered with me at a moment when I was about to make a +suitable settlement of the matter, but I have no doubt they were told to +do so; and I must admit that while they carried out their orders with a +certain firmness, characteristic of persons accustomed to unreasoning +obedience, they treated me with entire respect. If equal respect had +been shown to me at the beginning of these disputes, it would have been +much better for all concerned." + +And opening his book, he recommenced his reading. + +That afternoon all of us, except Mr. Enderton, assembled on Mrs. +Aleshine's piazza to witness the presentation of the board money. The +three sailors, who had been informed of the nature of the proceedings, +stood in line on the second step of the piazza, clad in their best +toggery, and with their new tarpaulin hats in their hands. Mrs. Aleshine +went into the house, and soon reappeared carrying the ginger-jar, which +she presented to Mr. Dusante. That gentleman took it, and stood holding +it for a moment as if he were about to speak; but even if he had +intended to say anything, he had no further opportunity, for Mrs. Lecks +now stepped forward and addressed him. + +"Mr. Dusante," said she, "from what I have seen of you myself and heard +tell of you from others, I believe you are a man who tries to do his +duty, as he sees it, with a single heart and no turnin' from one side to +the other. You made up your mind that you'd travel over the whole world, +if it had to be done, with that ginger-jar and the board money inside of +it, till you'd found the people who'd been livin' in your house; and +then that you'd give back that jar, jus' as you'd found it, to the +person who took upon herself the overseein' of the reg'lar payin' of the +money and the puttin' of it therein. With that purpose in your mind you +carried that jar over the ocean; you wandered with it up and down +California; and holdin' it tight fast in your arms, you slid down the +slipperiest mountain that was ever made yet, I believe, and if it had +been your only infant child, you couldn't have held it firmer, nor +regarded it more careful. Through ups and downs, and thicks and smooths, +you carried that jar or followed it, and for the sake of doin' what +you'd set your mind on you came all the way to this place; to which, if +it hadn't been for that one idea, it isn't likely you'd ever dreamed of +comin'. Now, Mr. Dusante, we've all agreed on what we think is the right +thing to do, and you agreed with us, but I can see by your face that +you're disapp'inted. The thing you set out to do you haven't done; and +I'm not goin' to have it to say to myself that you was the only one of +all of us that wasn't satisfied, and that I was the stumblin'-block +that stood in your way. So I'll back down from sayin' that I'd never +touch that jar again, and you can put it into my hands, as you set out +to do." + +Mr. Dusante made no answer, but stepped forward, and taking Mrs. Lecks's +large brown and work-worn hand, he respectfully touched it with his +lips. It is not probable that Mrs. Lecks's hand had ever before been +kissed. It is not probable that she had ever seen any one kiss the hand +of another. But the hard sense and keen insight of that independent +countrywoman made her instantly aware of what was meant by that +old-fashioned act of courteous homage. Her tall form grew more erect; +she slightly bowed her head, and received the salute with a quiet +dignity which would have become a duchess. + +This little scene touched us all, and Mrs. Aleshine afterward informed +me that for a moment she hadn't a dry eye in her head. + +Mr. Dusante now handed the ginger-jar to Mrs. Lecks, who immediately +stepped toward Ruth and Lucille. + +"You two young ones," she said, "can jus' take this jar, an' your hands +can be the first to lift off that paper of fish-hooks and take out the +money, which you will then divide among our good friends, these +sailormen." + +Ruth and Lucille immediately sat down on the floor of the piazza, and +the one emptied the board money into the lap of the other, where it was +speedily divided into three equal portions, one of which was placed in +the hands of each mariner. + +The men stood motionless, each holding his money in his open right +hand, and then the red-bearded coxswain spoke. + +"It ain't for me, nor for Bill, nor for Jim nuther, to say a word ag'in' +what you all think is right and square. We've stood by ye an' obeyed +orders since we first shipped on that island, an' we intend to do so +straight along. Don't we, Jim an' Bill?" + +[Illustration: "HE RESPECTFULLY TOUCHED IT WITH HIS LIPS."] + +"Aye, aye, sir!" said Jim and Bill, in hearty hoarse response. + +"There's some of ye, specially Mrs. Aleshine, though meanin' no +disrespec' to anybody else, that we'd follow to the crosstrees of the +topgallantmast of the tallest ship that ever floated in the middle of +the ragin'est typhoon that ever blowed. Wouldn't we, Jim an' Bill?" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" sang out Jim and Bill. + +"But though we stand ready to obey orders," said the coxswain, "we made +up our minds, when we heard what was goin' to be done, that we'd listen +keerful fer one thing, an' we have listened keerful, an' we haven't +heard that one thing, an' that thing was what we should do with this +money. An' not havin' heard it, an' so bein' under no orders as to the +spendin' of it, we take the money, an' thank you kindly, one an' all. +Don't we, Jim an' Bill?" + +"Aye, aye, sir!" said Jim and Bill. + +And into the pocket of each mariner clinked the money. + +Mr. Dusante now took up the ginger-jar, and approached Mrs. Lecks. "I +hope, madam," he said, "that as the subject of our little differences +has now been removed from this jar, you will consent to accept it from +me as a memento of the somewhat remarkable experiences through which it +has accompanied us." + +"Take it, sir?" said she. "To be sure I will. An' very glad am I to get +it. As long as I live it shall stand on the mantelpiece in my parlor; +an' when I die it shall be left to my heirs, to be taken care of as long +as it holds together." + +Every reason for dissatisfaction having now been banished from our +little company, we all settled down for a season of enjoyment. Even Mr. +Enderton, who had found on the top shelf of a closet in his room at the +inn a lot of old books, appeared to be in a state of perfect content. To +the Dusantes a residence in this absolutely rural portion of our Middle +States in the autumnal season was an entirely novel experience. The +crisp and invigorating air, the mists and the glowing hues of the +Indian-summer time, the softness of the sunshine, and even those masses +of limbs and twigs which had already dropped their leaves and spread +themselves in a delicate network against the clear blue sky, were all +full of a novel beauty for these people who had lived so long in +tropical lands and among perennial foliage, and had never known the +delights of an American country life out of season. Having enjoyed Mrs. +Lecks's hospitality for a suitable period, they proposed to that +sensible woman that she should receive them as boarders until the winter +should set in; and to this practical proposition she gave a ready +assent, hoping that the really cold weather would long defer its coming. + +Ruth and I established ourselves on the same terms with Mrs. Aleshine. A +prolonged holiday from the labors of my business had been the object of +my attempted journey to Japan, and I could think of no place where it +would better please my young wife and myself to rest for a time than +here among these good friends. + +A continual source of amusement to us were the acts and doings of Mrs. +Aleshine and her three sailormen. These bold mariners had enlisted, soul +and body, into the service of the thrifty housewife; and as it was +impossible to do anything in connection with the growing of the onions +until the desired fields should be acquired and the spring should open, +many and diverse were the labors at which the coxswain and those two +able-bodied seamen Bill and Jim set themselves, or were set by Mrs. +Aleshine. + +The brilliantly painted front door, which at first had excited the good +woman's ire, gradually came to command her admiration; and when her +sailormen had done everything else that they could in the barns, the +fields, or at the woodpile, she gave them the privilege to paint various +portions of her property, leaving designs and colors to their own taste +and fancy. Whether they milked the cows, cut the wood, or painted the +sides of the house, they always worked like good fellows, and in +nautical costume. They holystoned the front deck, as they called the +floor of the piazza, until it seemed sacrilegious to set foot upon it; +and when the house and the pale-fence had been suitably painted, they +allowed their fancies lofty flights in the decoration of the smaller +outbuildings and various objects in the grounds. One of the men had a +pocket-chart of the colors adopted by the different steamship companies +all over the world, and now smoke-houses, corn-cribs, chicken-houses, +and so on, down to pumps and hitching-posts, were painted in great bands +of blue and red and white and black, arranged in alternating orders, +until an observer might have supposed that a commercial navy had been +sunk beneath Mrs. Aleshine's house grounds, leaving nothing but its +smoke-stacks visible. + +The greatest work of decoration, however, was reserved by the +red-bearded coxswain for himself, designed by his own brain, and +executed by his own hands. This was the tattooing of the barn. Around +this building, the sides of which were already of a color sufficiently +resembling a well-tanned human skin, the coxswain painted, in blue spots +resembling tattooing, an immense cable passing several times about the +structure, a sea-serpent almost as long as the cable, eight anchors, two +ships under full sail, with a variety of cannons and flags which filled +up all the remaining spaces. This great work was a long time in +execution, and before it was half finished its fame had spread over the +surrounding country. + +[Illustration: "THE GREATEST WORK OF DECORATION WAS RESERVED BY THE +RED-BEARDED COXSWAIN FOR HIMSELF."] + +The decoration of her premises was greatly enjoyed by Mrs. Aleshine. "It +gives 'em somethin' to do," said she, "till the onion season comes on; +it makes 'em happy; an' the leaves an' flowers bein' pretty nigh gone, I +like to see the place blossomin' out as if it was a cold-weather +garden." + +In the evenings, in the large kitchen, the sailormen danced their +hornpipes, and around the great fireplace they spun long yarns of haps +and mishaps on distant seas. Mrs. Aleshine always, and the rest of us +often, sat by the fire and enjoyed these nautical recreations. + +"Havin' myself done housekeepin' in the torrid zone," she once said, "a +lot of the things they tell come home to me quite nat'ral. An' I'd do +anything in the world to make 'em content to live on dry land like +common Christians, instead of cavortin' about on the pitchin' ocean, +runnin' into each other, an' springin' leaks, with no likelihood of +findin' a furnished island at every p'int where their ship happened to +go down." + +On one subject only did any trouble now come into the mind of Mrs. +Aleshine, and she once had a little talk with me in regard to it. + +"I've been afeard from the very beginnin'," she said, "an' after a while +I more'n half believed it, that Elizabeth Grootenheimer was settin' her +cap at the coxswain; so I just went to him an' I spoke to him plain. +'This sort o' thing won't do at all,' says I; 'an' although I haven't a +doubt you see it for yourself, I thought it my dooty to speak my mind +about it. There's plenty of young women in this township that would make +you sailormen fust-rate wives, an' glad enough I'd be to see you all +married an' settled an' gone to farmin' right here amongst us; but +Elizabeth Grootenheimer won't do. Settin' aside everythin' else, if +there was to be any children, they might be little coxswains, but they'd +be Grootenheimers too, stone-dumb Grootenheimers; an' I tell you plain +that this county can't stand no more Grootenheimers!' To which he says, +says he, 'I want you to understan', ma'am, that if ever me or Jim or +Bill makes up our mind to set sail for any sort of a weddin' port, we +won't weigh anchor till we've got our clearance papers from you.' By +which he meant that he'd ask my advice about courtin'. An' now my mind +is easy, an' I can look ahead with comfort to onion-time." + +I found it necessary to go to Philadelphia for a day or two to attend to +some business matters; and, the evening before I started, the coxswain +came to me and asked a favor for himself and his mates. + +"It mayn't have passed out of your mind, sir," said he, "that when me +an' Jim an' Bill took that money that you all give us, which wasn't +'zackly like prize-money, because the rest of the crew, to put it that +way, didn't get any, we listened keerful to see if anything was said as +to what we was to do with the money; an' nothin' bein' said, we took it, +and we wasn't long makin' up our minds as to what we was goin' to do +with it. What we wanted to do was to put up some sort of signal what +couldn't get blowed away, or, more like, a kind of reg'lar moniment as +would make them that looked at it remember the rough squalls and the +jolly larks we've gone through with together; an' it was when we was +talkin' about Mrs. Lecks bein' give' the ginger-jar to put on her +mantelpiece an' keep forever that me an' Jim an' Bill we said, says we, +that Mrs. Aleshine should have a ginger-jar too, havin' as much right to +one as her mate, an' that that would be the signal-flag or the moniment +that we'd put up. Now, sir, as you're goin' to town, we ask you to take +this money, which is the whole lot that was give' us, an' have a +ginger-jar built, jus' the size an' shape an' gen'ral trim of that other +one, but of no pottery-stuff, for you kin buy 'em jus' like that, an' +that ain't what we want. We want her built of good oak, stout an' +strong, with live-oak knees inside to keep her stiff an' save her from +bein' stove in, in case of a collision. We want her bottom coppered up +above the water-line with real silver, an' we want a turtle-back deck +with a round hatchway, with a tight-fittin' hatch, jus' like common +jars. We want her sides calked with oakum, an' well scraped an' painted, +so that with water inside of her or outside of her she won't leak. An' +on the bottom of her, so they kin be seen if she keels over, we wants +the names of me an' Jim an' Bill, which we've wrote on this piece of +paper. An' on her sides, below the water-line, on the silver copperin', +we want the names of all the rest of you, an' the latitood an' +longitood of that island, an' anything out of the logs that might 'a' +been kep' by any of you, as might help to be remembered the thing what +happened. An' then, if there's any room left on the copperin', an' any +money lef' to pay for 'em, you might have cut on as many anchors, an' +hearts, an' bits of cable, an' such like suitable things as would fill +up. An' that jar we're goin' to give to Mrs. Aleshine to put on her +mantelpiece, to stay there as long as she lives, or anybody that belongs +to her. An', by George, sir!" he added behind his hand, although there +was nobody to hear, "if ever them two jars run into each other, it won't +be Mrs. Aleshine's that'll go down!" + +I undertook this commission, and in due course of time there came to the +village the most astonishing ginger-jar that was ever built, and which +satisfied the three mariners in every particular. When it was presented +to Mrs. Aleshine, her admiration of this work of art, her delight in its +ownership, and her gratitude to the donors were alike boundless. + +"However could I have had the idee," said she privately to me, "that any +one of them noble sailormen could have brought himself down to marry +Elizabeth Grootenheimer!" + +It was not long after this happy event that another great joy came to +Mrs. Aleshine. Her son returned from Japan. He had heard of the loss of +the steamer in which his mother and Mrs. Lecks had set sail, and was in +great trouble of mind until he received a letter from his mother which +brought him speedily home. He had no intention of settling in +Meadowville, but it had been a long time since he had seen his mother. + +He was a fine young man, handsome and well educated, and we were all +delighted with him; and in a very short time he and Lucille Dusante, +being the only young bachelor and maiden of the company, became so +intimate and super-friendly that it was easy to see that to Mrs. +Aleshine might come the unexpected rapture of eventually being the +mother of Lucille. + +We stayed much later at Meadowville than we had expected. Even after the +little hills and vales had been well covered with snow, sleighing and +coasting parties, led by the lively new-comer, offered attractions, +especially to Lucille, which bound us to the cheery homes of Mrs. Lecks +and Mrs. Aleshine. But, after a time, the Dusantes considered it prudent +to go to Florida for the rest of the winter; Mr. Enderton had long since +read all the books on his closet shelf and departed for New York; and +Ruth and I determined that we, too, must move eastward. + +But, before our little company separated, Mrs. Aleshine's son and +Lucille Dusante had settled it between them that when the springtime +came they would set sail for a wedding port. This match was a highly +satisfactory one to all concerned, for Mr. Dusante could scarcely have +found a young brother-in-law who would make his sister so happy, and who +was, at the same time, so well fitted by disposition and previous +occupation to assist in his increasing business cares. + +In the spring the Dusante family came North again, and Lucille and her +lover were married; and then all of us, except Mr. Enderton, who had +obtained a most congenial position as assistant librarian in a public +institution seldom visited, gathered at Meadowville to spend a week or +two together, after which Ruth and I would repair to the New England +town which was to be our home, and the Dusante family, the young husband +included, would set out on a tour, partly of business and partly of +pleasure, through Canada and the far Northwest. + +It was arranged that, whenever it should be possible, Lucille and Mrs. +Dusante should spend their summers at Meadowville; and as this would +also give her much of the society of her son, the heart of Mrs. Aleshine +could ask no more. + +This visit to Meadowville was in the onion season; and one morning Ruth +and I sat upon a fence and watched the three sailormen busily at work. +The soil looked so fine and smooth that one might almost have supposed +that it had been holystoned; and the three nautical farmers, in their +tight-waisted, loose-bottomed trousers, their tarpaulin hats, and their +wide-collared shirts, were seated on the ground at different points, +engrossed in the absorbing task of setting out young onions as onions +had never been set out before. All the careful attention to patient +minutiæ which nautical handiwork had taught them was now displayed in +their new vocation. In a portion of the field which had been first +planted the onions had sprouted, and we could see evidences of +astonishing designs. Here were anchors in onions; hearts in onions; +brigs, barks, and schooners in onions; and more things pertaining to +ships, the heart's affections, and the raging main outlined in onions +than Ruth and I could give names to. + +"It seems to me," said I, "that there must have been some sort of +enchantment in that little island in the Pacific, for in one way or +another it has made us all very happy." + +"That is true," answered Ruth, "and, do you know, I believe the cause of +a great part of that happiness was the board money in the ginger-jar!" + +[Illustration] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CASTING AWAY OF MRS. LECKS +AND MRS. 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